Making the switch -- the hackintosh post

I like Linux, and I generally like what Ubuntu brings to the table. I even spent a month trying really hard to like Ubuntu on my Dell Mini 9 netbook. Unfortunately there were a couple of deal-breakers for me (well -- there was one major deal breaker with each of two different "flavors" of Ubuntu):

• Factory-Installed Dell-ified Ubuntu 8.04 - The WiFi driver is buggy, and will intermittently lock up the entire system to the point that it will not accept any input (local or even remote via ssh)
• Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix - WiFi seems stable / fixed, but I never managed to get my Broadband2Go card to even be detected on the USB bus.

Therefore, I had network issues on my netbook -- regardless of which flavor of Ubuntu I tried to use. As the lyrics from Pink Floyd's The Trial say: "This will not do." As a result, I am currently taking part in the following activity:

UPDATE: Works pretty well. Not quite as snappy as my 3-year-old MBP, but extremely functional and usable so far. I also installed that BB2G card easily, and can now achieve netbook nirvana -- or something.


HOWTO do it yourself

Broadband2Go and Ubuntu 8.04 -- 1st success

No luck with NetworkManager (Bugs: Ubuntu, Gnome Network Manager).

Anyhow, the important parts:

1. edited /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-cd.rules and added ,RUN+="/usr/bin/eject %k" to the Novatel-generated entries
2. re-inserted the card and ran lsusb to verify that the Virgin Mobile card showed up in modem mode (1410:6002)
3. ran sudo modprobe usbserial vendor=0x1410 product=0x6002 to establish the ttyUSBx devices (I had gotten this far previously)
4. verified that said ttys were there via ls /dev/ttyU*
   
5. followed Sprint's instructions for wvdial, including sudo wvdialconf, sudo vi /etc/wvdial.conf (to set the parameters), and then sudo wvdial to establish the connection (when I tried wvdial w/o root, it couldn't modify /etc/ppp/chap-secrets or /etc/ppp/pap-secrets. I'll have to look into that, b/c root may not be strictly necessary here... I seem to recall a "dialout" group...)
6. NOTE: the wvdialconf and /etc/wvdial.conf items above are one-time steps...
   
7. NOTE: It's trivial to script the lsusb, modprobe, checking for tty, and launching wvdial tasks, and should be easy to add a launcher icon also. (UPDATE: it was pretty trivial -- see below)
   
8. Killed my WiFi (via Airplane Mode), then wrote this post via the 3G goodness. Verified no ip on eth1 (my wifi), and active ip on ppp0 via ifconfig
   
9. NOTE: leave the terminal window open, and simply hit <Ctrl>+C to disconnect when you're ready.

It's a good step in the right direction. Would be nice to get it working with Network Manager, but this reminds me of the good old days (when we upgraded our University's dial-up from SLIP to PPP and I had to figure out how to make it work with a distro based on the 0.99pl10 Linux kernel).

Initial Script

#!/bin/bash
# look for any Novatel Wireless device
VENDOR=1410
DEVICE=`lsusb |  grep $VENDOR | cut -d : -f 3`
# if a device exists, make sure it's the Virgin Mobile modem
# if it is the modem, make usbserial probe the device
if [ "${DEVICE:0:4}" != "6002" ];
    then echo Virgin Mobile card not found; exit 1
    else sudo modprobe usbserial vendor=0x$VENDOR product=0x$DEVICE;
fi
# make sure that usbserial created /dev/ttyUSBn device(s)
# if the USB tty is there, then initiate the ppp connection
TTYUSB=`ls /dev/ttyUSB*`
if [ -z "$TTYUSB" ];
    then echo No TTY created; exit 1
    else sudo wvdial;
fi

More RAM for the Mini 9

I happily spent $20 for a 2GB DDR2 SODIMM, and replaced the 1GB that came with my Mini 9. Both the BIOS and the kernel saw it correctly with no issues.

The only obvious improvements have been in Picasa and VLC -- but both are important parts of my plan for this netbook...

No BB2G on Ubuntu 8.04 -- yet

Well, I found some good references and managed to get the usbserial driver to create ttys for the USB device. But, I have not managed to successfully connect a ppp connection quite yet...

Here are some links. (The last two are the most relevant, but the others provide good context.)

NOTE: the Virgin Mobile card has a product ID of 0x6002, vs. the 0x6000 for Verizon's version.

The "Netbook" Experience

I have just added a Dell Mini 9 to my computing arsenal. I ordered it with the Dell-ized Ubuntu 8.04 precursor to "Netbook Remix" and after spending my first day with it am rather more pleased than I had expected...

Keyboard
Sure, the keyboard is somewhat compressed and "interesting," but the keys that are in weird locations are used infrequently during netbook-friendly tasks. The biggest exception to this general rule is the right Shift key, which requires a bit of a pinky stretch to get to, and will require training before muscle memory would render it easily-accessible. For completeness, here are the odd and quibble-worthy key placements:

• - / _ and = / + are to the right of the P, and not on the number row
• ' / " is down low, next to the "right-click menu" key (this can interfere with some normal typing activities, such as blogging or composing documents)
• `, ~, {, }, [, ], |, \, Insert, PrntScrn, PgUp, PgDn, Home, End, and the F1 through F10 keys all require use of the blue Fn key. (In other words, you wouldn't want to do any heavy programming or scripting using this keyboard.)
• There is only one (left) Ctrl key, and one (left) Alt key.
• The diagonal shift of the top row w/r/t the "home" row is practically non-existent. (Honestly, this hasn't bothered me or prevented me from touch-typing.)
• There is not even an embedded, Fn-key triggered number pad, as is common on many notebooks. You have to use the traditional (horizontal) typewriter layout to generate numerals.
• F11 and F12 don't exist (at least not directly)
  
• Esc, Tab, Caps Lock, and the right Shift key are all tiny, but usable. Enter and Backspace are quite generously sized...
• The arrow keys form an inverted T, but are surrounded by other active keys.
  

The Operating System
Full disclosure: I am a bit of an OS collector and aficionado, and entered this experience with no fear of using Linux.
I would have loved to see an Ubuntu 9.04 installation, and even preemptively downloaded the "Jaunty" ISO before receiving my system. But, I realize the 8.04 is the LTS release, and figured that I'd give it a fair shake before making any "radical" changes to my new toy...

My biggest dislike was that a slightly-rebranded (Web Browser) and non-update-able Firefox 3.0.5 was installed (To be fair, an update to a later 3.0.x was in the Dell repository). I suppose the rebranding was intended to help uninformed new users who may not know what Firefox is, but the inability to update just plain bothered me to the point of being unforgiveable. Fortunately, I was able to quickly and easily load Firefox 3.5.2, and reprogram the Dell desktop launcher to use that version (and its icon). I also replaced or removed many of the Yahoo! shortcuts that Dell placed in the launcher to "help" me. I was also successful in downloading and installing *.deb packages for Picasa 3 (library on external USB HDD), Skype, and some other staples...

OpenOffice 2.4 is there by default, and functional. I would have preferred to see 3.0, and will now have to investigate whether 2.4 can handle "Office 2007" file types (I don't think so, but could be pleasantly surprised if I'm wrong -- [I wasn't wrong.]).

The Dell launcher is actually quite convenient (much more so because it can be very easily customized). But, it looks like Canonical has made some improvements in UNR.

Summary of First Impressions
I got this as a bit of a toy, with the primary intended real use-case of "photographer's travel companion". Paired with my Photo Safe II backup device, and with the aid of Picasa, this use case will definitely become a reality. Since the Photo Safe II interacts with the computer as a USB HDD, the limited storage space on the built-in SSD is less of a concern (although upgrading to 64GB is still a distinct possibility). The 8.9-inch glossy screen and features of Picasa easily out-class the screens on my digital cameras, and those on the very expensive photo viewer devices, like the Epson P6000. Having access to a full-featured web browser (and Flash) on hotel and hotspot WiFi greatly outdoes the mobile phone experience, too. Hulu works quite nicely!

Watch this space for further impressions after I've lived with this for a while... I'm using this as my primary living room browsing experience right now.