by Lynwood » Sat Feb 13, 2010 5:43 pm
Hello, again,
Sorry for the long delay in responding to all your very helpful responses. I've been too busy to be able to follow up on this.
First, here are my current system specs:
Two white boxes
Main unit
Kubuntu 8.10 with Gnome DE metadata & Xfce metadata installed; using Gnome nearly exclusively
MB: Biostar M7VIG Pro
Processor: Athlon 2700+, 1800-1900 (?) MHz
Memory: 1 GB: 2 512 DDR DSRAM
Two hard drives:
Fujitsu MAN3367MP, SCSI, 40 GB: partitioned; 1st contains current OS, Ubuntu 9.10; 2nd empty, soon to contain
64-bit Ultimate Edition 2.5.
Seagate SX4464524, SCSI, ~36 GB: data
Video card: ATI Radeon 7000 (32 MB ram)
Backup unit
Windows XP Pro, SP3 w nearly all updates, FAT 32
MB: PCChips M812LMR (?)
Processor: Athlon XP, 1533 MHz,
RAM: 1 GB: 2 512 DDR SDRAM
Maxtor 2B020H1, ~20 GB
Video card: ATI 3D Rage LT Pro
Modem: Zyxel EQ-660R ADSL Router
Router: Netgear MR814 v3
I'm not making this my signature because it looks now like I'll be replacing my main computer with new castoff guts, after which the guts of my current main computer will become those of my backup computer. This is a week or two away, if all works well. If it goes as planned, then, after I've gotten it fully working, I'll make a specs signature. Happy to do this.
It looks like my new main computer will have an Athlon XP 64 3200+ processor and 1 or 2 gigs of ram (not sure whether it'll be DDR or DDR2; I'll almost certainly have to buy the latter, and that's a lot of money for me). I'll keep my hdds, the OS one of which now has U 9.10 only on it and a second partition for Ultimate Edition 2.5. The other one holds my data. I've just downloaded the 64-bit version of Ultimate Edition 2.5, and it went flawlessly! Fantastic (see next paragraph).
Second, apparently my problem is solved, though I don't know what it was. First, I was wrong about the download speed. It is kBps, not kbps, which is exactly right for the download speed I've bought. Second, whatever the problem was seems to have been solved, either because of time (?) or because I've installed Ubuntu 9.10 over my previous Kubuntu (with the Gnome and Xfce metapackages installed, together with sundry other software).
Finally, I do still have a problem with my main computer. I think it's minor, but it does seem to cause some problems, though I can do normal OS/apps and 'net work. Two knowledgeable people I know think that the problem is the video card driver (ATI Radeon 7000 (32 MB ram). Here are the problems:
1. When I try to display the System Monitor, I get a wavy-lined display the size of the SM. If I click in the upper, right corner, it goes away, just as it would if the window-control buttons were visible. Thank heavens.
2. At various times, normally when I press any key in Abiword, the processor goes into some kind of loop, effectively locking it up for ~5 seconds. And, when I'm in a graphics-heavy portal site, similarly, it goes into that lockup loop when I click on a link. This can last from 5 to 15 seconds.
No one need offer help on this since I'm expecting to change computer guts shortly. I'll either get local help for this problem or simply wait for the new hardware. I will need it to be solved, however, since I think I'll be using the same hardware in the backup computer, and I intend to dump Windows as soon as I become comfortable with GNU/Linux, including running my few Windows programs on it.
Now I'll answer as many of your questions as I can.
I'm wired on both computers but broadcasting a wireless signal, which I could receive on either computer (both have receivers). I don't believe I have download acceleration. In my new 9.10, I have and use Fx 3.5.7, Chrome, presumably current, and Opera 10.10 (current), so far, usually in that order. But, unless I can get Fx 3.6 soon, I can see myself using Chrome more often than Fx. I generally use Opera for downloads, as I love its download manager.
Not seeing any of your other posts, I'll have to make another post to answer the remaining questions.
Thanks for your considerate, attentive responsiveness. I look forward to exploring Ultimate Edition 2.5, and I'm sure I'll have questions, likely plenty of them. The biggest one that occurs to me now is whether I'll have to reinstall each update version or can simply update it over the 'net, especially when new versions come out.