Some years ago I made a few posts titled “Life with…”: first for netbooks, then after I got modern-at-the-time Apple hardware one for that, so here’s “Life with ThinkPad”! It’s been about a month since I put a new-to-me Lenovo ThinkPad T480 notebook computer into service as my travel machine, and I am beyond pleased … Continue reading
UNIX
ThinkPad, Part 2
So far, my ThinkPad has been working well, though it does have one broken keycap: the F key. It’s not a huge deal, but I usually run my fingertip over the bumps on the F and J keys when idle on the computer, so this is personally frustrating to me. I got a cheap replacement … Continue reading
Joining the ThinkPad Cult
I’ve known about the IBM, later Lenovo, ThinkPad notebook computer line since I was very young. At some point, I decided they would be outside my interest range, so I opted for Dell, Acer, and Asus laptops personally for the longest time. Well, a need came up for a “travel” machine, and my old hacked … Continue reading
Retrospectives
In the second post in my portable networking blog’s history, I talked about the WB4HRO Digital Repeater System I was managing at the time. This was my first “real” sysadmin experience, if I’m honest. It also taught me a lot about networking and the state of servers as it went along. This all started in … Continue reading
Quick Update and Some Planning
The trip I mentioned in the last post went well! It was a very long day, but I survived it somehow. I upgraded my gaming PC last year, recently got a new work laptop, so I’m in the market to next upgrade my personal laptop. My current laptop is an Acer Swift X purchased in … Continue reading
APRS Fun!
Hi folks! I’ve got a bit to report! I’ve been migrating my Linux servers to Debian from RHEL-derived distributions, and the last one to be migrated was the APRS node. I’ve had W4JDH-1 connected to APRS-IS for a long time: at least since 2011 and possibly earlier. For the longest time it was Xastir in … Continue reading
eeeRouter Online!
Well, I had pfSense working for a wired interface, but once I enabled the wireless interface and a client connected to it, the machine hardlocked. I am not one to be defeated by technology, so I dug out my IPCop install disc and attempted to load that on instead. Sadly IPCop 1.4 does not have … Continue reading
Netbooks as Routers
In my last post I talked about building an alternative to Cradlepoint’s routers, and as I’ve decided to use my Dell Mini 10v for my “carry” netbook, I’m looking at what to turn my Eee PC 901 into. The most obvious choice I’m seeing is loading pfSense on it and using it as a prototype … Continue reading
Building a Better Cradlepoint
A random search of “T-Mobile Rocket Linux” on Google retrieved a post showing how to make the T-Mobile webConnnect Rocket Stick HSPA+ device work in Linux. This is relevant because as of June 17, the Atlanta metro area has HSPA+. In my adventures with embedded computing, I’ve come across the PC Engines ALIX boards. These … Continue reading
The Netbook OS Shuffle, Part the Second!
In the end, the lack of xorgcfg and the seeming lack of documentation on writing a proper xorg.conf file led me to install Ubuntu Netbook Edition on the Eee. Works like a champ. Need to get a touchscreen installed now!