Installing Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex)

Ubuntu 8.10 has been released today, and given the leaps forward in ease-of-use and presentation that the last few releases have made, I’ve been counting the days. There’s always the option of upgrading, or even just leaving /home unformatted when you reinstall. Personally, I always like to do a clean install of the distro when it’s released, giving me a shiny clean system every six months.  The downside is that I always forget to back up something, so I thought I’d post up my experiences this time so that I don’t get caught out by the same old stuff next time – so I guess this is a basic pre- and post-install guide for Ubuntu 8.10. Continue reading “Installing Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex)”

Flickering Wireless LED in Ubuntu 8.10

A quick solution to that darned flashing wireless light in Ubuntu 8.10 – works on my Dell Vostro anyway.

This solution didn’t work for me – I had to make a slight adjustment to the directories updated. It does give some background on how it works if you’re interested though.
Save the following file as “/etc/network/if-up.d/iwl-no-blink” and make it executable for all.

#!/bin/sh
if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
  for dir in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*; do
    echo none > $dir/trigger
  done
fi

Now the wireless light is off when disconnected, blinks when I’m connecting, and is steady on when I’m connected.

Updated, 23th March 09
…but it doesn’t work on resume from suspend. When my Vostro 1310 resumes from suspend, it’s back to the defaults. I fixed this behaviour by adding a script /etc/pm/sleep.d/00wireless, executable for all.

#!/bin/sh
case "$1" in
        resume|thaw)
                /etc/network/if-up.d/iwl-no-blink
        ;;
        *)
        ;;
esac

Continue reading “Flickering Wireless LED in Ubuntu 8.10”

BarCamp Sheffield 2.1

For anyone out there who feels like a little social hacking and can get there, Sheffield BarCamp 2.1 is coming up.

Hosted at Sheffield’s Showroom Cinema 28th -30th November 2008, it’s ‘A melting pot of community, conversation and technology’. I’m expecting presentations, hacking sessions and more than a little eating, drinking and entertainment. I reckon the attendee list looks pretty respectable (except for me, of course) so might be well worth checking it out.

There’s a load of info, and an opportunity to have a say on the content here.

Hope to see you there!

Give Me Just A Little More Time…

Time is short at the moment. I’m working through the maths I need to start my first MSc module on 12th November and I’m already suffering from a chronic lack of time, although that’s largely because I’m working like crazy to wrap up as much stuff as I can before the course actually starts. Continue reading “Give Me Just A Little More Time…”

Freshers Week at 30

It was strange being back in a lecture theatre.

But that is where I found myself a week ago last Thursday, to take in some presentations about module choices for my MSc. The trip from Sheffield over to Manchester is a pleasant train ride through beautiful Peak District scenery for about an hour and a half, plenty of time to catch up with reading, listen to my podcasts and maybe just kick back a little and relax. I’ve not had any delays or problems on the trips I’ve made so far, but there’s plenty of time for that to change! Continue reading “Freshers Week at 30”

Starting off my MSc Blog

I think I was probably drunk.

I don’t remember too clearly – it was definitely New Year 2008, and somehow I decided it was time I did something about my CV – it hasn’t really got any formal qualifications in IT on it. After all, I have been working professionally in IT since 2001 – it can’t be that hard, can it? Continue reading “Starting off my MSc Blog”