So, I became a fan of GridWars in  no small part to RedDead’s article on Ubuntumini.com.

However, under Karmic Koala, GridWars refuses to launch, even with the changes to the config file. This is due to the game requiring libstdc++.so.5, which simply is not available in Ubuntu 9.10 When running the game, you get:

/Downloads/gridwars_lin$ ./gridwars
./gridwars: error while loading shared libraries: libstdc++.so.5: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Also, if you use a deb from getdeb.net built for Intrepid or Jaunty, the installer reports an unresolveable dependency.

The solution is to install libstdc++.so.5. From where? Get a handy .deb from packages.debian.org. It installs perfectly on Ubuntu 9.10, and then you can install Gridwars from the official page here.

I’ve had issues getting the gridwars .debs to run properly on the netbook remix due to the resolution even after setting the config, so I just get the archive & run it after installing the libstdc++.so.5. Works great.

Give it a whirl.

So I finally got UNR 9.10 installed cleanly on the Mini 9. It runs beautifully, with noticeably faster boot times and a generally smoother experience in the GUI. Also, i notice that the wireless connects much more quickly this time around. I suspect that there has been some improvements to network-manager. Either way, it’s great.

Also, the /home partition is easily encrypted with just a simple checkbox during install. Security & speed. Can’t ask for much more than that

I installed the UNR 9.10 the other day, as an in-place upgrade, as 9.10 didn’t want to get to a full desktop on my Mini 9. It does boot up with acpi off and a couple of other incantations, however.

It’s snazzy, but I’ll hold off on opinions until after I’ve done a clean install this week. Stay tuned.

I haven’t updated in a while. Mostly, this has been due to some real-world activities unrelated to this blog’s topics of linux/gamig/other general geekery.

However, I’ve hit a drought in terms of content, primarily because I haven’t run into any issues. My Mini 9 has been running beautifully with UNR 9.04 on EXT4. flawlessly, in fact.

That being said, I’m hoping that 9.10 brings some exciting features. I hear that boot times are greatly improved, although it’s pretty fast on my SSD already. I hear that Pidgin is being dropped for Empathy. we’ll see how that goes…

I have ubuntuone installed,  but I haven’t tried it ouch much. I’ll try to take it for a spin repoirt back.

In other news, I’ve digging into my backlog of 360 games.

So I haven’t been as active as I’ve historically been. My Ubuntu systems have been running flawlessly, and Baby 2.0 has arrived, albeit with a rocky start.

As I’ve been in a new job, I didn’t plan on taking much time off for the baby, just the day itself followed by the weekend, actually. However, she arrived with lung problems that required an extended stay in the NICU, including a transfer to another hospital for advanced care.

Without going to further detail, after a week, Baby 2.0 arrived home safe, sound and fully healthy. All is well, so what follows is the official record:

After 39 weeks of compiling, Baby 2.0 was RTMed. However, there was an egregious read error while untarring the archive. After forcible extraction, a cycle of dependency hell ensued, with core components of the binaries refusing to unzip due to unmet depencies, ehich could not be met without the aforementioned components unzipping. Argh.

Eventually, new apt updates resolved the dependency issues, and all processes resumed normal functions. However, this scenario was the source of much woe and gnashing of teeth. Hope I never see these errors again.

Once this was resolved, I set out to try Warcraft III, including the Frozen Throne expansion, running under Wine, including the single-player campaign movies. After a bit of research I found the solution, and the games appears to run very well under wine. Next, I’m going to try to replicate it on th Mini 9.

I started a new job a month ago, doing security operations on firewalls for a Fortune 100 company. It’s appears to be a good place to work, and as I start getting the hang of things I think I’ll enjoy it. The new responsibilities have slowed my free time quite a bit as I ramp up, so my online presence has tapered off a bit the last few weeks or so.

The nice part is I get to spend part of my day SSH’ed into Unix systems, forcing my command-fu to improve, which I’ve always wanted to sharpen.  Firewalls: another great addition to my repertoire!

So, I used to use moto4lin with motorola phones a couple years back with great success. I just got a new Motorola Rival A455 after a year with an HTC running Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro.

Unfortunately, it appears enough has changed in Motorola’s operating system in 2 years that my configuration settings don’t work. Moto4lin sees th phone, but can’t connect in P2K mode, so I cannot see the file structure on the phone. I’ll keep plugging away and provide an update if I stumble on th correct settings. It’s a great little phone, but I’d prefer to jail break it if possible

Alright, the broadcom started acting up again 2 days in a row, so I wasted no more time fighting it.
Within a few minutes, I had the bottom panel of the Mini 9 opened, and the wireless cards swapped with the lid replaced. Once I added the new MAC to my router’s approved list, the Mini is back in business, just the way I like it.

Just an update.

Got the new Intel wireless card today from UPS. However, I haven’t installed it yet. The MIni is working perfectly right now, and I don’t want to do anything to break things again.

Love having my little war driver again.

Well, after tiring of trying to get the standard Broadcom 4312bcm wireless card to work again in the Mini, I’ve gone ahead and ordered an Intel 3945ABG mini pci wireless card from Amazon. I believe it’s the same as in my Inspiron 1420, and should work flawlessly.

Shipping was free, but it could more than a week to arrive. We’ll see if $30 will fix my Mini’s woes.