The Syncing Apple An Exploration of Technology and Devices

21Jan/102

Current Issues with 1201N and Ubuntu 9.10

Issues that I'm trying to fix:

1. Dual monitors (using the VGA out)
Issue: Connecting a monitor or projector to the VGA is a PITA. The Nvidia Control panel detects it, but cannot enable it without re-writing a new Xorg.conf file, which is owned by root, and so the new file must be written to /tmp and moved over, then X needs to be restart-ed. Even then, moving an open window into the 2nd screen won't always work, even though the screen is there and I can move the mouse into the window.

Aso, the GPU acceleration seems off when a 2nd screen is connected via VGA. I haven't tried the HDMI out yet.

[01/24/10] SOLVED: See my page on the wiki where I'm also tracking these issues and solutions.

2. Microphone not working
Issue: I installed Skype and it worked great w/ the video camera, however the microphone does not work, even though Skype detected it and claims that it is there.

3. Trackpad
Issues: Multiple issues
- trying to get multitouch to work - Fixed, logged and source.
- trying to turn it off when a mouse is present
- getting middle mouse button when emulating 3 buttons (the mouse button is a rocker, so clicking both is impossible)

Filed under: EEE, karmic, ubuntu 2 Comments
21Jan/100

EEE PC 1201N vs Macbook Air

I've been trying to use the 1201N as my daily machine, at least in place of my Macbook Air. There are several advantages the 1201N has over the Air, and several disadvantages

Pros
- 4GB of RAM
- Plenty of disk space
- Smaller size

Cons
- No wifi after sleep, or sometimes after disconnecting from network
- Short Battery life
- Can run Omnigraffle
- Funky trackpad

The biggest issue with the Air is the the measly 80GB hard drive, it just isn't enough space. Upgrading it in this 1st gen Air is not financially feasible, as the HD costs as much as the 1201N itself. Not having Omnigraffle is forcing me to go back to the Mac for that one app. So far OpenOffice has been great at editing the various file I'm forced to deal with at work.

Filed under: EEE, Mac No Comments