My journey to Linux...

So, earlier this week I became over the top frustrated with this dinosaur of a desktop that I have and began looking into options that didn't include spending money for a replacement. I am contemplating a laptop and desktop purchase, but have yet to finalize and I would like to get them both at the same time, if I in fact do purchase both.

Here are the two options I thought I was choosing between:

RE-INSTALL A NEWER VERSION OF WINDOWS

OR

FIND A WAY TO DO A FACTORY RESET ON THIS DELL

RE-INSTALL A NEWER VERSION OF WINDOWS:

I have had a newer version of windows cd for quite sometime, which was originally intended for my old laptop that went boom 9 months ago :-( I never used it before the laptops untimely demise and quite frankly was a little afraid to mess with the desktop. I don't have a key for that version but I was figuring with the magic of the internet that really wouldn't be a problem. 

FIND A WAY TO DO A FACTORY RESET ON THIS DELL:

This would really be the best option IF this funky desktop still had a recovery option. Where the heck is it, beats the living crap out of me!! All I know, I can't do it and it highly annoys me. No point in contacting Dell, model is too old for support and I'll be doggone if I'm gonna pay someone for something that isn't worth fixing except for a geeky hobby, such as I have! 

So, where does that leave me, you ask? Leads me on a googling frenzy! Basically I looked up options for replacing desktops and options for windows replacements etc.

I had heard of Linux but really felt it was for people more familiar with "programming" per se. 

So, I decided to jump in and found a great site that gave me a lot of pointers, HOWEVER, don't I always come up with issues!?!

I downloaded Ubuntu, suggested as the easiest to get your feet wet with Linux. It took me several tries to even get it to boot. It was actually a simple solution, I had not enable the computer to boot from the CD, so...duh! LOL

But, even after it was able to boot, it was very slow and choppy and to be honesty with you was a nightmare to work with.  I loved the concept and it does appear to be very easy to learn and get used to coming from windows. 

I figured barring any hardware issues that could be causing the problem I would try another version. The second version: Fedora works pretty well, AT FIRST! Then it is a repeat of the Ubuntu. 

So, I put on my thinking cap and thought could it possibly be because I am running it off the cd as the trial, which is really a great option that Linux has. I decided Since I have C, E and F drives I would leave the windows on C and install Fedora on the F drive. Giving it more thought, I decided that I could first try live USB over Live CD. That so far has be a 4 hour mess!

I have so far encountered:

1. Can't find the usb stick
2. Computer decides it doesn't want to recognize the usb once I do find it
3. Once those were settled then I downloaded the bootcreater or whatever to the wrong place
4. Straightened that out then the version I had already downloaded would not finish loading on the usb giving the error:  Verifying filesystem... Extracting live image to USB device... Cannot find 7z. Make sure to extract the entire liveusb-creator zip file before running this program. LiveUSB creation failed!
5. Checked out the issues that could be with that and then the USB ejects itself from the computer. Fix that and try an older version to download
6. Thought that was going well till it finished and I was told the there is no removable drive attached. 
7. Fixed that then I get the error:  Downloading Fedora-9-i686-Live.iso...
   Download complete!
   Verifying filesystem...
   Verifying SHA1 of LiveCD image...
   Error: The SHA1 of your Live CD is invalid. You can run this program with the --noverify argument to bypass this verification check.

SON OF A NUTCRACKER!!!!! Now I'm annoyed!

 Last try and I'm back to the same error in #4

I'm done...going to eat, shower, get dressed and party with Dona Tink LOL

Didjahear? Oh who asked ya?

Thinking of adding a "Didjahear?" and "Oh who asked ya?" section to each blog post...what do you think?? You know it would be something current and thought provoking or just plain gossip ;-)

What makes a song...

Not sure what attracts me to this particular song. I tried to dissect it to figure it out but I'm not sure. 

Thinking about most of the music that I love and it's usually something said/sung with such feeling that I feel it too. That piece right there, feeling what is being sung is my main attraction to Mary J. Blige as an artist. I've loved her since hearing her sing the hook on Father Mc's I'll do 4 you. Back then she didn't have the greatest singing voice but her voice told a story!

So, is it the lyrics, the melody, the voice, the beat...what makes a song?

I'm inclined not to believe that it's the voice because just about anyone that can carry a tune can sing Always and Forever and I'l appreciate it. I don't know for sure that it's the melody because plenty of songs have been remade and switched the melody and made the song just as classic. The beat...uhhh, the beat is probably and initial hook but at the end of the day some songs are just as powerful accapella. Leaving us with lyrics, and I'm going to have to say I have loved some songs with words I don't necessarily agree with. 

At the end of the day it's some  combinations and magical feeling, I think, that makes a song.

What are some of your favorite songs, lyrics, artists, etc and why?

If you want the lyrics, I found them here: http://www.metrolyrics.com/breakeven-lyrics-script.html

WINning!

So a few posts back, I explained that I had been through the process of rooting my D1 and after some trial and error was successful.
Well, although I started this post on 7/9/11 and it is now 8/24/11...I'm still winning. Well, sorta. LOL
I found this phenomenal ROM- Simply Stunning 5.4
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/chevyno1/150739-rom-ss-5-4-gb-2-3-4-5-31-11-a.html

It works super fast, looks good, has great customization options and has tons of support. As with good must come the bad....battery life sucks. (HOWEVER, I am hoping it's an app and not the ROM). Just today I exchanged messages with the developer ChevyNo1 regarding this issue.
Currently in the middle of waiting for the a full charge and will continue and update him as well as you guys! (ALL --uh how many of you are out there? Lol)

Along the way, I have found some pretty cool apps AND today was accepted as a beta tester for an app.

All the above is for the Motorola D1, I have been experimenting with the Coby Kyros mid7024 (tablet)-see future posts for information regarding this.

Things are moving along swimmingly...at least in the technical department of this life :-)

What I'll be trying next:

*change bootscreen animation

*upgrade to SS5.5

*find more beta testing opportunities

Not quite myself ...

Sometimes,  not very often thankfully it happens that things all just seem too much!
I feel like I can't breathe good, like everything is weighted down and nothing is working out.
Been fighting something that I don't think is even worth fighting ...might not be as bad as I think it would be.
We'll see ...

Almost had a $150 paperweight

So, since my last post I have tried two different ROMS: CM7.0.3 and Liquid Gingerbread. Each have their own pros and cons, currently working on that list but here is the  point of this post is to talk about the fact that Liquid Gingerbread was dropping calls left and right.I was going out and needed a reliable phone so I thought I would go back to it's original state and work out the kinks later. WELL...it turned into a nightmare. I went to ROM manager about an hour and 45 minutes before I was about to leave, thinking this can't be hard and shouldn't take long. I clicked on Manage and Restore Backups. Now, let me say here that I didn't exactly backup before flashing to CM7.0.3. The only backup was when it asks you to check those two options :

Maybe this wasn't good enough or maybe you can't go from gingerbread back to 2.2.2, I don't know. All I do know is that the phone got stuck in boot mode. I got DROID and I got the red eye and that was it over and over and over and the only fix was a battery pull. I wasn't too panicked yet because I figured all I had to do was get into the recovery screen (power and x) and I'd be able to do the back up from there. About now is when the panic did set in because I couldn't do anything in recovery, the phone would reboot before anything would take place.
So, I went hunting for help on the web...checked all the usual suspects but I started with the video I used to root with thinking there would be a clue there. What I did find was instructions on flashing a sbf file via bootloader using RSD. I used RSD 4.6 during my rooting process and thought this would probably work for me. I had a time getting the PC to recognize the phone but it finally did. I then searched for "2.2.2 sbf for original droid" and found a post about a sbf file:

VZW_A855_FRG83G_QSC6085BP_C_01.43.01P_SW_UPDATE.sb f

However, I couldn't find a place to download this file and ended up with :

JRDNEM_U3_3.4.3-36-1.1

After flashing this something still didn't work right, so I panicked more and tried to flash somethng used during rooting, I think that was my saving grace because I was given the option to wipe data and able to now get into recovery a little further than before. So I wiped data and then tried to flash  JRDNEM_U3_3.4.3-36-1.1 again. I was then back up and running but now here is my problem...it says Wifi error, I can't connect to wifi at all!
Here is a picture of my about phone so you can see what I'm working with:

So, needless to say, I'm shaking in my boots about any further "tweaking:" but I gotta do something!! 

HELP me!!

 

Technology may not have been my first love...

Like I said: technology may not have been my first love but it surely is a great love (no greater than God)!. I have been pondering rooting my Original Droid for quite some time but the thought of bricking my baby was so daunting! Finally, last week, I held my breath and jumped in. Okay, don't get me wrong, I did what I do first and that's research, research and research. I found 3 different versions of the easiest way to root and was ready to do it.

The first try was SuperOneClick, which I found instructions to on youtube.com but it didn't work. There was no error that I recall on the phone but on the PC there was an error. I was disappointed because I felt like this wasn't going to work. But I took a step back and said to myself: "Self, sometimes the best things are the things you work hardest for".

So, I moved onto the next tutorial that I found on youtube.com as well and that one was a bit labor intensive. I don't mind a lot of steps but it seemed to me that there were so many steps that I was bound to miss something and mess up. From watching the video the first time you don't realize that there are preparatory steps, so I moved onto the 3rd video.

By now I'm sweating and a little upset that I started this process at 11pm!!! The 3rd video was narrated by, what sounded like a 12 year old but I watched it twice to make sure I knew the steps. I downloaded everything, which I think was 1 or 2 files, prepped the PC and had the phone ready and raring to go. I followed the directions, felt like everything was going well and then NOTHING! I mean nothing! I was almost in a complete and utter panic. I realize I getting tired and to be quite honest a little cranky too! I put the phone down, got a cup of cold water and thought about the process and what I could have done wrong. I read a few more of the problems that people were having, none I saw as mine did nothing but I thought maybe I'd see something. So, I figured, I'd give it one more try before going to bed and starting fresh in the morning. YAY, for me the next try worked and I was super excited!

I'm rooted!! And the first thing I did was change my text signature to "~I'm ROOTED B@#%^!~"  and then I went to bed, ok after looking for a new ROM. It only took me 3 hours...I think that's pretty good considering all that I tested and tried first!

All of that brings me to this: since I was so excited about my Original Droid being rooted I wanted to root my friends G1...BIG MISTAKE!!! Wednesday I started the process and I wasn't able to successfully root it until Friday and now I can't get any ROM to work on it! I'm getting angry and frustrated and feeling really defeated right about now! I've tried CM5 & CM6 and Pyron_gingerbread. I've tried using the CM wiki instructions, I've tried flashing from recovery, installing SD...nothing works!!!
WHAT AM I DOING WRONG???

So, if there are any G1 rooters out there, HELP!!