Re: Internet shortages
On Sun, 2009-06-14 at 16:39 +1200, Nick Rout wrote: > The other answer is that consumer grade dsl modems and modem/routers > just sometimes lost the plot. > > But there are many reasons. The only way to tell is by time tested > methods with ping, traceroute and other similar tools, testing ip > addresses (that don't need dns resolution) then host names. Indeed. At one job, the most sensible/cost effective way to provide fairly reliable internet access was to have 2 ADSL routers, and when the one in use failed, the spare was put in and the dead one replaced under warranty to become the new spare one. Knowing the IP address of a remote server that responds to a ping is a pretty reliable test of blame: it's very rare for the ISP to be that broken, so it's *probably* your kit that's at fault... Steve -- Steve Holdoway http://www.greengecko.co.nz MSN: st...@greengecko.co.nz
Re: Choosing a video card
On Sun, 2009-06-14 at 14:58 +1200, dave wrote: > On Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:44:57 Aidan Gauland wrote: > > steve wrote: > > > Last time I looked, nVidia support was far better than ATI, and with the > > > availability of the GPU for fun projects, would be my choice. > > > > Do you mean that the nVidia GPUs are more open? If not, then what do you > > mean by "availability of the GPU for fun projects"? > > > > -Aidan > Steve i think implies > 1. that you can use the power of the GPU to do things other than image > rendering. > > 2. better control of the rendering via Nivdia drivers to do things with > (whatever they maybe). > > if not then i'll keep quite. > > Dave Point 1. was exactly what I meant (: Steve -- Steve Holdoway http://www.greengecko.co.nz MSN: st...@greengecko.co.nz
Re: Choosing a video card
On Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 4:21 PM, Craig Falconer wrote: > Aidan Gauland wrote, On 14/06/09 14:29: >> >> I'm going to skip the narrative, and just cut to the chase: which video >> cards better support Linux, and sleep/hibernate on Linux. It looks as if >> there are better open-source ATI drivers than there are for NVIDIA, but I >> don't know about stability. I'm asking because I need to shop for a new >> video card. I really just care about what works best, and not what is most >> free (as defined by the FSF). > > Hard call. The ATI open source driver is better than the NV one, but > that's only a concern for the OS zealot. The NVidia binary driver works > really quite well, and is packaged in most distros these days, albeit in > some kind of restricted repo or source. > > The other hit against NVidia lately is their bad handling of the substrate > engineering issue. > http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1013947/nvidia-should-defective-chips > http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Nvidia-GPU-failure,6248.html > So while its more aimed at laptops, the issue will exist on all recent > nvidia cards. > > > Personally - get a cheap card and if it breaks, buy another one. Even the > cheap ones will be better than your old card. > Or consider a board replacement to get PCIe if you don't already have it. > If rendering good quality video is one of your aims then there is only one choice and its an nVidia card that supports vdpau.
Re: Internet shortages
On Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 4:14 PM, Craig Falconer wrote: > Ryan McCoskrie wrote, On 14/06/09 09:58: >> >> Does this sound familiar to anyone? >> Your router, network cards and ethernet cables are all in working >> order and all report that they are connected to each other and the >> internet >> but you can't actually access anything online? >> I've just reset the router and it's all working now but I'd like to know >> if anyone has had this problem recently (within the last week) and >> knows what it is. > > Yep. > > Don't assume your stuff is at fault because you can't see other sites on the > internet. There's still a lot of things in the mix between your ADSL router > and the far end. Especially so if you've changed nothing and "it just > stopped" > > First thing to do after checking your stuff is to get on the phone and call > your ISP. They should know something. Otherwise it'll be telecom messing > around - seems to be more likely if its a wholesaled line. > > Finally - the leading cause of "it stopped" if you have naked DSL is when a > contractor is somewhere near you, hunting for a spare pair. Their old > technique was to hook onto the line with a butt phone and listen for > conversation or a dial tone. If neither of those were heard, then its > "spare" and the documentation was wrong so they pinch that pair. Of course > there is no dialtone on naked DSL. > > The other answer is that consumer grade dsl modems and modem/routers just sometimes lost the plot. But there are many reasons. The only way to tell is by time tested methods with ping, traceroute and other similar tools, testing ip addresses (that don't need dns resolution) then host names.
Re: Choosing a video card
Aidan Gauland wrote, On 14/06/09 14:29: I'm going to skip the narrative, and just cut to the chase: which video cards better support Linux, and sleep/hibernate on Linux. It looks as if there are better open-source ATI drivers than there are for NVIDIA, but I don't know about stability. I'm asking because I need to shop for a new video card. I really just care about what works best, and not what is most free (as defined by the FSF). Hard call. The ATI open source driver is better than the NV one, but that's only a concern for the OS zealot. The NVidia binary driver works really quite well, and is packaged in most distros these days, albeit in some kind of restricted repo or source. The other hit against NVidia lately is their bad handling of the substrate engineering issue. http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1013947/nvidia-should-defective-chips http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Nvidia-GPU-failure,6248.html So while its more aimed at laptops, the issue will exist on all recent nvidia cards. Personally - get a cheap card and if it breaks, buy another one. Even the cheap ones will be better than your old card. Or consider a board replacement to get PCIe if you don't already have it. -- Craig Falconer
Re: Internet shortages
Ryan McCoskrie wrote, On 14/06/09 09:58: Does this sound familiar to anyone? Your router, network cards and ethernet cables are all in working order and all report that they are connected to each other and the internet but you can't actually access anything online? I've just reset the router and it's all working now but I'd like to know if anyone has had this problem recently (within the last week) and knows what it is. Yep. Don't assume your stuff is at fault because you can't see other sites on the internet. There's still a lot of things in the mix between your ADSL router and the far end. Especially so if you've changed nothing and "it just stopped" First thing to do after checking your stuff is to get on the phone and call your ISP. They should know something. Otherwise it'll be telecom messing around - seems to be more likely if its a wholesaled line. Finally - the leading cause of "it stopped" if you have naked DSL is when a contractor is somewhere near you, hunting for a spare pair. Their old technique was to hook onto the line with a butt phone and listen for conversation or a dial tone. If neither of those were heard, then its "spare" and the documentation was wrong so they pinch that pair. Of course there is no dialtone on naked DSL. -- Craig Falconer
Re: Choosing a video card
On Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:44:57 Aidan Gauland wrote: > steve wrote: > > Last time I looked, nVidia support was far better than ATI, and with the > > availability of the GPU for fun projects, would be my choice. > > Do you mean that the nVidia GPUs are more open? If not, then what do you > mean by "availability of the GPU for fun projects"? > > -Aidan Steve i think implies 1. that you can use the power of the GPU to do things other than image rendering. 2. better control of the rendering via Nivdia drivers to do things with (whatever they maybe). if not then i'll keep quite. Dave
Re: Choosing a video card
steve wrote: Last time I looked, nVidia support was far better than ATI, and with the availability of the GPU for fun projects, would be my choice. Do you mean that the nVidia GPUs are more open? If not, then what do you mean by "availability of the GPU for fun projects"? -Aidan
Re: Choosing a video card
On Sun, 2009-06-14 at 14:30 +1200, Aidan Gauland wrote: > Hello, > > I'm going to skip the narrative, and just cut to the chase: which video cards > better support Linux, and sleep/hibernate on Linux. It looks as if there are > better open-source ATI drivers than there are for NVIDIA, but I don't know > about stability. I'm asking because I need to shop for a new video card. I > really just care about what works best, and not what is most free (as defined > by the FSF). > > Thanks, > Aidan Last time I looked, nVidia support was far better than ATI, and with the availability of the GPU for fun projects, would be my choice. But I haven't looked closely in the last 9 months or so. Steve -- Steve Holdoway http://www.greengecko.co.nz MSN: st...@greengecko.co.nz
Choosing a video card
Hello, I'm going to skip the narrative, and just cut to the chase: which video cards better support Linux, and sleep/hibernate on Linux. It looks as if there are better open-source ATI drivers than there are for NVIDIA, but I don't know about stability. I'm asking because I need to shop for a new video card. I really just care about what works best, and not what is most free (as defined by the FSF). Thanks, Aidan
Re: Internet shortages
On Sun, 2009-06-14 at 09:57 +1200, Ryan McCoskrie wrote: > Does this sound familiar to anyone? > > Your router, network cards and ethernet cables are all in working > order and all report that they are connected to each other and the internet > but you can't actually access anything online? > I've just reset the router and it's all working now but I'd like to know > if anyone has had this problem recently (withen the last week) and > knows what it is. DNS? try using opendns servers 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 and see if that fixes it...
Re: Internet shortages
On Sunday 14 June 2009 09:57:41 Ryan McCoskrie wrote: > I'd like to know > if anyone has had this problem recently (withen the last week) and > knows what it is. Not in the last week but recently I had the same problem. Rob
Internet shortages
Does this sound familiar to anyone? Your router, network cards and ethernet cables are all in working order and all report that they are connected to each other and the internet but you can't actually access anything online? I've just reset the router and it's all working now but I'd like to know if anyone has had this problem recently (withen the last week) and knows what it is.
