I just thought I'd give an update on some of current aspects of my life revolving around Linux.

BIOSLEVEL.com

For past articles on BIOSLEVEL, I've used Ubuntu 8.04 for benchmarking hardware in Linux. Around the middle of June, I replaced Ubuntu with Gentoo 2008.0. This is mostly due to reasons I've mentioned previously, mainly that Ubuntu simply doesn't feel responsive on a quad-core system, whereas Gentoo flies.

After testing some of the hardware I've already reviewed in Gentoo such as the Sapphire Radeon HD3870 Ultimate and Toxic. Since applications such as SDL and OpenAL are compiled from the source and optimized for the platform at hand in Gentoo, there is some performance benefit. Average FPS in Unreal Tournament 2004 increased by about five for both cards.

Matthew Daly recently published an article discussing the points on how Linux could be a better gaming OS than Windows. I have no doubt that it could, but driver support is still well behind Windows. If more game publishers released Linux ports of their games simultaneously with Windows versions, I'm sure there'd be more pressure on videocard manufacturers to get the drivers up to par. Although, AMD is promising CrossFire support sometime this year.

On a final note, BIOSLEVEL will soon be posting a review of one of Highpoint's SATA RocketRAID cards. The review will cover Linux alone, ignoring any sort of Windows compatibility or performance numbers. That said, BIOSLEVEL.com will be the first review site to look at the cards under Linux. Provided we finish the review on a timely schedule, our review and site will be promoted at LinuxWorld in August. Colin and I are partially crossing our fingers that Highpoint will offer to fly the two of us to LinuxWorld. I doubt that'll happen, however.

Linux on the MacBook

A few weeks ago, I decided that I'd had enough of OS X and installed Gentoo on my MacBook to replace it. The system "works", but a few key features aren't quite there yet. Namely wireless, 3D acceleration, and the touchpad.

My fifth-generation MacBook's Broadcom wireless adapter is supported by the Linux kernel, but the correct firmware needs to be found and "extracted" first so it can be loaded in to the card. This is where I'm stuck with wireless, but I'm hoping to have it resolved before school resumes at the end of August.

I waited until November of last year to purchase my MacBook so I'd have Intel's latest graphics chipset, the X3100. Intel's graphics and direct rendering are supported by the kernel, but full support varies from laptop to laptop. I've read that the kernel drivers only support up to OpenGL 1.5, depsite the adapter supporting DirectX 10. I'm not sure if OpenGL 2.0 is supported in Windows or not. Regardless, I may have to wait until a new kernel is released to get better support for this.

The graphics are what piss me off the most. One of the ideas of installing Linux on the MacBook was the though of being able to play games on it such as Unreal Tournament 2004 and World of Warcraft. While there are native ports of both of these games for OS X, the OS X version of UT2004 was only released for the PowerPC architecture, and thusly runs like crap on the Intel CPU.

Lastly, the touchpad. I guess the device doesn't appear correctly and has a different ID and name than what the kernel and synaptics driver expect. Moving and clicking work fine, but I can adjust the speed or sensitivty of the pad without the Synaptics driver properly working. Additionally, the MacBook has no right-click button. In OS X, a right-click can be simulated by tapping the touch pad with two fingers. This is possible in Linux as well, but as I said, my hardware is retarded.

Possible Upgrade?

I'm looking into getting a laptop from Asus for review. My previous laptop was an Asus barebones featuring a Pentium M CPU and GeForce 6600 videocard. Despite not being dual-core, the laptop was awesome. One of my reasons for ditching it for the MacBook was the form factor. A 15.4" laptop is simply too bulky to carry around at school in a bag that also holds your notebooks and one or two textbooks.

Ideally, the upcoming 8.9" or 10" Intel Atom-Power EeePCs from Asus would make great replacements for the MacBook, but over the last few weeks of spending time with friends, I've become rather sick of dismantling my small-form factor gaming PC and LCD monitor to drag to someone's house to game on. I miss the days of simply taking my laptop. I'm talking with Asus about obtaining one of their 14.1" widescreen notebooks with a discrete videocard (read: nVidia or ATI) to use for mobile gaming.

Of course, I doubt I'll get rid of the MacBook even if I keep the Asus laptop. Everyone needs two laptops, right?

That's it for now. I've been brainstorming ideas for my senior project for college this upcoming year, and I think I may have finally settled on something. "Something" is, of course, Linux-related. More to come.

I hate having to reinstall Windows. I try to avoid it like death, but sometimes it's just inevitable. Asus sent a new motherboard, and as I've written before, new motherboards usually mean new chipsets, which mean new drivers, which mean Blue Screens of Death for Windows.

Thankfully, there were no blue screens of death. However, one of my hard drives stopped working shortly after this, but I think it was already dying. Regardless, my installation of Vista had become overly bloated, so I reinstalled anyways. Things seem a little more responsive, and I don't have a shitload of unneeded baggage trying to start when Windows does.

I eventually got the broken drive working again. Now I just need to get my other broken drive working so I can retrieve my pictures.

Eventually, I will switch over to pure Linux. I'm just waiting on the Linux port of Unreal Tournament 3.

On the Agenda...

(A) Re-do my audio cables that run from computers to my surround sound receiver. I didn't insulate them properly, so there's constant buzzing in the background. It's faint, but noticeable. Ideally, I'd like to replace the receiver and run an HDMI cable to it for digital audio. For now, however, I need to purchase new jacks.

(B) Finalize my Linux installation on my MacBook. I still need to get the touchpad, 3D acceleration, and wireless working properly. I can't wait to be able to play Unreal Tournament 2004 on it.

(C) On top of all that, I need to finish a ton of reviews. I'm still looking for more PC cases for review as well.

(D) Did I mention Pittco is quickly approaching? August 16th-17th doesn't seem all that far away. And yet there's so much to do!

Nick was home from college this past week, and I took a lot of time away from working on the blog and BIOSLEVEL to spend some time with friends. It was a good time for sure, but I always come to regret it when I realize how little work I've done.

Hopefully I get things back on track over the next few days. I'm way behind on several reviews for BIOSLEVEL, and some of the products were just released in the last two weeks or so.

I also rebuilt two of my computers in to new housing, with a few new components that were sent to me for review. Let me say that I hate reviewing some CPU coolers. A certain company that will go unnamed for now sent two CPU coolers that otherwise seem impossible to install on an Intel machine. Stay tuned for a review, if I ever get them installed.

On top of all that, I somehow started playing World of Warcraft again.

I purchased my MacBook back in November of 2007, shortly after the Santa Rosa chipset update. I'd use Mac OS X a little previously, mostly in the form of trying out OSX86 on my old laptop. After using it for several months as my primary mobile platform, I decided it was time for something different.

OS X is nice and all. User-friendly, intuitive, and works fantastic with the hardware Apple ships. I still feel it's lacking in some areas where Linux excels, such as configurability and the space for customization. Not to mention that there's essentially no decent games out for OS X. I can install Linux and throw on a native version of UT2004 and play away now.

Installation wasn't horribly difficult, but Mac OS X was needed at least initially, and I didn't realize this. Gentoo now boots without an issue on the MacBook. All that I need to finish doing is installing the programs I need and setting up the WiFi.

I'm hoping that I have all the hardware working correctly in the next week or so, and that includes the web cam and touchpad. My only other concern is battery life. It'd be fantastic if I get the same amount or more battery out of the machine with Linux.

I finally took the plunge and had a car stereo installed in my 1998 Chevy Prizm. It's a cheap Sony model, but it has a detachable faceplate and front auxiliary input. The auxiliary input is what I was after, however. Unlike my old car, a Dodge Stratus, the Prizm doesn't have a tape deck or CD player. I was forced to play my music over an FM transmitter that ate two AAA batteries every two-to-three days. Modern technology, eh?

I eventually broke the transmitter and started listening to the radio, which gets repetitive. Amanda suggested getting a car stereo, so I finally gave in and had it done. Rather than spending a few hours putting the wiring hardness together, I had the fine folks at Circuit City do it for a small fee.

It works great. Now I just need to fix my air conditioning or buy a new car. Greeat.