Dave's Tech Blog
A Third Eye on Technology

Last night I attempted to reinstall Ubuntu Linux 8.04 Beta on my system and hit a road block: Every time I burned an Ubuntu Install CD and tried to boot from it, I would get the following error that I’m sure some of you Linux veterans have seen before:

ISOLINUX: Image Checksum Error, Sorry Boot Failed

I’ve seen people screaming (in ALL CAPS, that is) and pull their hair out (probably) over this error in many linux forums, desperately trying to figure out the cause of this problem and how to solve it. Some people who have encountered it manage to “fix” the problem by burning their ISO files at a slow speed (say, 2x or 4x). I tried that 3 times, but no bueno. I would still get the same error no matter what…except on one accidental occasion this morning where I took one disc I had tossed in the trash the night before, tried it again, and it actually booted… at least to the installer menu. It failed to load much of anything though. So, as you can see, my DVD drive seemed to be acting kind of flaky.

But then I decided to check and see if my BIOS was up to date. Sure enough, it wasn’t. And in addition to that, one of the bugs the latest BIOS version release notes claimed to fix was “Booting from a CD-ROM which is on the same IDE channel as the primary hard drive.” Kooky little bug indeed. After updating my BIOS, Ubuntu 8.04 installed without a single hitch, and I’m happy to report it’s running better than I ever anticipated; much more stable than 7.10 (particularly Compiz, but that’s a separate story). I’ll soon be writing another blog about the new features to be found in 8.04.

So how did I update my BIOS?

Well, for starts I needed a floppy disk…I could have burnt a boot ISO image to a CD (see this guide here if you want to make a CD instead of a floppy), but considering how flaky these Linux ISO boots were going, I didn’t want to chance a checksum error on my BIOS image or anything weird like that. And speaking of my floppy drive, I had to open the case and plug the damn thing back in and blow off some dust on it’s faceplate because I’ve probably only used the thing a couple times in the whole life of the computer. I had disconnected it so my boot time would be a little faster. And I’m sure some of you probably laughed a moment ago saying, “A f—ing boot floppy tutorial? Are you kidding me? What’s a floppy, haw haw haw!” Hey, I know how you feel.

Captain Not-So-Obvious Warning: “Floppy’s are unreliable! Try to use a brand new one if you intend to do this. A corrupt floppy could cause your BIOS image file or flash utility to contain an error, which could disrupt the BIOS flash process, and turn your computer into a paper weight. So be careful, got it? Because I’m not saying it again, damn it!”

The basic steps to make the BIOS update floppy in Ubuntu Linux are:

• Download the FreeDOS floppy disk image from here and save it to your Desktop.
• Right-Click on the FDSTD.144.gz file you just downloaded and select “Extract Here”. A new file, FDOEM.144 will appear on the desktop.
• Open a Terminal window (Applications>Accessories>Terminal) and browse to your Desktop by typing “cd Desktop” (case-sensitive) then hit the Enter Key.
• Insert your floppy disk. Then type in terminal “dd if=FDOEM.144 of=/dev/fd0” — This will write the FDOEM.144 FreeDOS image to your floppy disc, making it bootable.

Now that the basic boot image and files are on the disc, we’ll need to mount it and copy the bios update files to the floppy. To mount the floppy, enter the following two commands into a terminal window:

• sudo mkdir /media/floppy
• mount /dev/fd0 /media/floppy

Your floppy disc should now be mounted and have it’s own icon in your Places menu as well as the Desktop. Now we need to copy your new bios files to the floppy. (For example purposes, here’s where my BIOS was downloaded from. Consult your motherboard manufacture’s website for your correct BIOS images).

When you download a BIOS upgrade from your motherboard manufacture, it usually comes in the form of a compressed ZIP file, which contains two files (see above). One is a *.bin file, and the other is a small program that’s made to inject that *.bin file and replace the previous BIOS version. All you have to do is extract these two files, then copy them both to your newly created boot floppy. Once these two files are copied over, you can reboot with the floppy in the drive, and once you’re at your A:> prompt, you can then execute your BIOS upgrade utility.

What else might cause a ISOLINUX Checksum Error?

A corrupt copy of an ISO file can cause a bad checksum error. Re-download the ISO if this is the case and try burning it again. Also remember that you have to burn an ISO file by telling your burning software that you want to “burn an image”. A bad burner could also be the cause of the problem, as is the case with drives that have seen heavy use (I’ve worn a few out myself).

One other possible solution you could try using is a boot-disk image called Smart Boot Manager. This utility boots from a floppy, but then allows you to point to another device on the PC to boot from. It’s a good utility if your BIOS doesn’t support CD-ROM booting. Unfortunately, when I tried this utility out, it failed to see my CD-ROM device (but in its defense, this was before I upgraded my BIOS, so that probably factored into this little bug).

As a last resort I also tried to create a bootable USB flash drive to install Ubuntu from. Not all PC’s are capable of booting from a USB drive though and as of this writing, I’ve not yet tested this possible feature out on my PC since updating. But you can give it a shot by following this guide.

That’s all for now! After the break, more CCNA posts and a close look at Ubuntu 8.04.

Yesterday, I decided to try to upgrade one of my Ubuntu 7.10 systems to Ubuntu 8.04 Beta, which is scheduled to be released in 19 days. I had no guarantee things would go smooth, but I decided to go ahead and risk it anyway, even though I have been warned that it may cause a serious problem for me and I was aware of potential bugs. And after this recent experience, I would recommend you not waste your time doing something like this. Those who have had luck have usually installed 8.04 Beta fresh from a CD on an empty system. I, on the other hand, wanted to try upgrading, and upon hitting this snag, I ended up digging myself into a hole by trying to work around the problem.

Upgrade from Hardy to Gutsy? That sounds pretty ass backwards. What’s going on here? Ha ha ha, at least I think I’m in a hole… I can tell that some things have updated and it looks like I am actually running 8.04… But certain programs aren’t working. I’ve decided to reinstall Ubuntu and start fresh for a change. So today, I’m going to talk specifically about reinstalling Ubuntu.

Preparing to Reinstall Ubuntu (and how it’s easier than reinstalling Windows)

If you’re a long time Windows user, you’ve probably reinstalled your operating system at least once. The routine you typically go through begins with you backing up all of your music, videos (porn?), documents and personal files. Then boot from your XP installation CD, select the hard drive you want the OS to reside on and format the drive before installing your fresh copy of XP. Then after that, there’s the system update>reboot>update>reboot tango, then reinstalling your third party anti-virus software, firewall, spyware remover, perhaps Firefox and a whole mess of other applications, installing them one at a time… (deep breath) And STILL! after that software is installed, you’ve got to import your e-mail settings and folders, Internet Favorites (Firefox bookmarks), blah blah blah blah blah! Man…that sound like it can be really time consuming (how do you Windows users put up with this nonsense?). There is software out there that will do almost all of this for you automatically, and it’s a little pricey.

How would you do this with Ubuntu? Simple! You just backup your Home Folder.

In Ubuntu, the Home Folder is kind of like the My Documents folder in Windows, but much more. Sure, it holds some of your data files for you but it also contains a bunch of hidden folders that hold personal preferences and settings for every program on your computer. To see what I’m talking about, try the following:

• Open your Home Folder (Places>Home Folder)
• Press CTRL-H to reveal Hidden Files

Inside your Home Folder, you’ll see many folders that begin with a period. For example, there is a folder for Evolution called “.evolution”. There is a folder for Firefox called “.mozilla”. If I wanted to backup the preferences for just those two applications, all I would have to do is copy those two folders to a backup drive, and after reinstalling Ubuntu, copy those two folders back into my new Home Folder. Really, that’s all you have to do!

The other great thing that you’ll be able to do that Windows users can’t do is install multiple applications at once using either Add/Remove or Synaptic Package Manager. You’ll also get updates for every piece of software on your computer installed automatically with the update manager all at once too. All of these features found in Ubuntu Linux are a huge time saver, especially when compared to how much time you could spend reinstalling XP and securing it.

And they say Linux is complicated…

Tip: It’s probably best to keep backup-restore copies of your home folder in alignment with your version number. Meaning, what I’m about to do (copy an Ubuntu version 7.10 home folder over top of my 8.04 Beta home folder) may be a bad idea. I’ll let you know tomorrow, after I’ve installed a fresh copy of Hardy Heron.

Recently, I wrote about Creative Labs going after a certain community software modder whose sin was to make his audio drivers work the way they’re supposed to work. Here’s an excerpt of what he had to say about it:

—–

It all started when Creative released the first beta of ALchemy for X-Fi cards, saying it used X-Fi’s advanced capabilities (EAX5). After some investigation, I’ve found an EAX5.0 check and patched it… and it worked! Sometime later, they released the final version of ALchemy X-Fi and the paid version of ALchemy Audigy.

 

I was really mad at them, they didn’t release a new Audigy driver and were charging Audigy owners for a software that runs on top of bugged drivers? What is the point of that? Then I modified the X-Fi “free” version of ALchemy, not the paid version. I did the same with the later versions, but when they released the 1.00.11, I couldn’t patch it anymore. So I bought it, just for the sake of it.

 

Well, I did manage to patch the latest version of ALchemy X-Fi to run on any card, without even removing Safecast, but I’m done with that.

 

[...]

 

Modding is OK

 

I don’t think there was something wrong with mods themselves. Modding is a common practice among enthusiasts and I don’t recall some company threatening a modder, unless you allow an exclusive feature to be used with competitor products (ie: SLI on non-NVIDIA chipsers or ALchemy on competitor products, as I’ve said before).  Remember the Promise Ultra to Fasttrak mod? It was even published on a well known review site. There was also the GeForce to Quadro mod, the NVIDIA nForce 4 to SLI mod, also published on review sites.

 

What I did wrong

 

I’ve asked for donations. Do I really need the money? No, thank God I don’t. I thought it would be ok to ask for donations so I could buy new hardware to support. I did buy some hardware: an used Live! 5.1 for ~$15 and a new Audigy SE for $60. Computer hardware is really expensive here in Brazil. An X-Fi Xtreme Gamer costs about $240 here, with taxes and shipping, The same card can be bought for ~$80 in the US. I just can’t spend my money buying new hardware that I won’t even use. Even the features I’ve enabled, I don’t use.

 

Later I tried to encourage donations to release the DDL feature for X-Fi and Crystalizer for Audigy. I said something like “the more people donate, the faster I’ll release”. This was even worse, but I was so eager to modding that I didn’t think straight. I was hoping to get a X-Fi asap. While I did ask for donations, once released, the downloads would be public. I do recognize that I deserve some criticism for that. To date, I’ve got $146, with amounts ranging from $1 to $50 (this value is still uncleared).

 

Reversing ALchemy was also wrong, I know. But I reiterate, what is the point of improving ALchemy and charging for it, when it requires an improved driver? It was my protest against Creative.

 

What Creative did wrong

 

- They publicly threatened me, just to show their arrogance. If they had contacted me by e-mail or private message I would do the same thing (remove everything) and no one would know about their insatisfaction.

- Removed everything I posted in the forums, even if unrelated to the “forbidden” stuff.
If they can’t provide better drivers, let people make their own choice.

- They did not recognize my hard work.

I’ve been supporting about every Creative PCI soundcard, would even support USB devices if I had one of them.  To date, the Audigy Vista Support Pack was downloaded about 20,000 times.

 

The current situation

 

DDL encoder and Crystalizer were not publicly released. I’ve deleted the P17 to Xtreme Audio mod and ALchemy from FileFront (where I store the files). I’ve been told they will allow me to continue with my mods, except the “forbidden” ones. I’m also allowed to receive donations.

 

Download of my mods

http://hosted.filefront.com/braziliantech/

A client of mine recently wiped his computer clean when they accidentally initiated a destructive recovery via the F10 key during POST. This caused their hard drive to be formated and their OS to be reinstalled as it was when it was originally installed at the factory. The lost files on the system were not recoverable, and the only alternative would be to have an advanced data forensics lab extract the old data off, the cost of which could go up as high as a couple thousand dollars.

There are some simple things you should get in the habit of doing if you want to decrease your odds of facing such a horrid situation as the one above:

Unplug your PC when there is lightning outside

I shouldn’t have to tell people this, but some of you uber-nerds out there think that the bigger their basement-computer-bedroom-cave-hermit dwelling is, the more invincible they are. It’s not a matter of probability of being struck, but probability of surviving a lightning strike unscathed. Like the Black Knight from Monty Python.

Don’t let the price tag on that expensive Uninterrupted Power Supply fool you. Its purpose isn’t to safe-guard you from a lightning strike, but to sustain power to your PC in the event of an unexpected outage and to compensate for brownouts and power spikes. Lightning can still penetrate it and make its way to your computer. Once there, it’s up in the air how much damage it might inflict, and hard to diagnose the extent of damage after the fact. Every time I’ve seen a system that’s been hit by lightning, I’ve ended up having to tell people to buy a new computer, because so many parts were damaged in a split second.

Do what most people do during severe weather: Watch TV till the power goes out, grab a radio and flash light, salvage the remaining beer from the unpowered refrigerator, and hope for the best when you regain consciousness in the morning. Or whatever floats your boat.  If you have an Internet addiction like I do, use a wireless device like a laptop or a cell phone to get your info fix.

Backup to an external storage device

Here’s what I’ve got pictured above from left to right:

• An external USB hard drive. Advantages: Cheap for price per megabyte, easy to setup and use. Disadvantages: Subject to failure from old age after several years of use (see your warranty), and sometimes bulky (depends on how cheap you are).
• A USB Flash Drive. Advantages: Small, handy, convenient, instant plug-and-play capable (usually). Disadvantages: Must be replaced after about 250 uses, easy to misplace and lose (get a nice 4 dollar lanyard like I did). Costly if you have lots of data to backup.
• A cell phone with a MicroSD card. Same as the USB flash drive, but slower. The advantage is that it’s in your phone, and you probably aren’t as likely to misplace that thing.
• Network Attached Storage. Network attached storage is basically a “computer-less” hard drive that attaches to your local network (router) and shares hard drive space to other computers on the network. Advantage: Highest fault tolerance (there are multiple copies of files spread across hard drives, so if one drive fails, the file is not lost). Disadvantage: Expensive.

You can also backup data to external CD’s or DVD’s and keep them in a dark place. Doing so will keep your data safe for a long time. But it’s good to shed old storage media after several years of data sitting on them and move data to a fresher medium that is less likely to suddenly flake out unexpectedly.

You can also use software to automate backing data up. A good one is Amanda Open Source Backup. I’ll write more about it sometime in the future. But for now, you should consider using one of the external devices above and practice good habits to protect your computer and your documents from being lost.