When you restore a Dell computer with a restore disk it may give the error:

Windows could not start becuase of a computer disk hardware configuration problem.
Could not read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware.
Please check the Windows documentation about hardware disk configuration and your hardware reference manuals for additional information.

The Dell expected to find a special Dell Partition at the beginning of the hard drive, and a newly formatted drive will not have this partition.

The process for creating this partition really is simple – I’m going to give a simple overview, and then more detailed instructions. The key here is not to overthink things. The GOOD news is, if you’re starting with a blank hard drive, you have nothing to lose!

Simple Overview

(If you are familiar with booting into a live linux environment and fdisk, this should be all you need!)

1. delete the existing partition table
2. create a new dell partiton spanning the first 7 cylinders. (1-7)
3. create a second partition for windows spanning the rest of the drive. (8-default max)
4. set the first partition to type “de” (dell partition)
5. set the second partiton to type 7 (NTFS)
6. write the changes
7. exit, and install windows

Detailed process (all command line language is in italics)

1. Download an Ubuntu Desktop CD
2. Boot with the CD
3. F12 is the “one time boot menu on my computer; choose CD/DVD Drive – if this doesn’t work for you, enter BIOS and change the first boot device to the CD drive.
4. When the CD menu opens choose your language
5. Select “Try Ubuntu without any change to your computer”
6. Wait a minute while the CD loads. When it is done, you will see an ubuntu desktop.
7. Choose Applications > Accessories > Terminal
8. At the command line type: sudo bash (any linux nerd will tell you this can lead to trouble – we need to become the root user so we can modify the partition table)
9. fdisk -l (this tells fdisk to list your partitions. note the name under “Device” that you want to work with)
10. The target device will look something like “/dev/sd?”, where “?” represents a letter of the alphabet)
11. fdisk /dev/sda (instead of “/dev/sda”, use the correct name of the device listed in fdisk -l; do NOT add the number at the end of the device)
12. You are now in the fdisk utility. My instructions cannot fit every case perfectly, so you may need to improvise, but it’s easy. Type m if you need some guidance in fdisk. Protip: None of the changes you make will be written until you choose to write them. If you quit without writing, no changes (damage) will be done!
13. d (delete the existing partition table)
14. If you have multiple partitions you will be asked which one to delete. Delete them all one at a time. IF you only have one, it will automatically select it. Continue when you can type  fdisk -l and see a blank partition table.
15. Time to create the dell partition:
    Type n to create a new parition.
    Type p to make this a primary partition.
    Type 1 to make it the first partition.
    Type  1 to make the paritition start at the first cylinder.
    Type  7 to end the partition at cylinder 7.
16. Now we label the partition as a Dell partition:
    Type t to change the type of the partition.
    Type de to change the partition to type Dell.
17. Time to create the Windows partition:
    Type n to create a new parition.
    Type p to make this a primary partition.
    Type 2 to make it the second partition.
    Type  8 to make the paritition start at the first cylinder.
    Press Enter to end the partition at the last available cylinder of the hard drive.
18. Now we label the partition as a NTFS partition:
    Type t to change the type of the partition.
    Type 2 to select the second partition.
    Type 7 to change the partition to type NTFS.
19. Now all you have to do is press w to write your changes and exit. If you do not write your changes before you exit, you will probably spend a long time trying to figure out why things didn’t work.
20. I always run fdisk -l one last time before I exit the command line to make sure I did everything right!
21. Shut down the computer.
22. Reboot the computer using the Dell Rescue CD and install windows.

If you try this and it doesn’t work the first time, I suggest retrying. One common mistake is to run fdisk on /dev/sda1 (wrong) rather than /dev/sda (right!). Be sure you’re fdisking the correct volume! I have also talked to people that exit fdisk without writing the changes. If you exit without writing, it was just a dry run – nothing happened!

I am attaching some sequential screenshots – they are not complete, but they may help you understand the process if you’re having difficulty!

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Data recovery from a failed drive using dd_rescue over ssh:

1. Use Helix3 as a boot disk; ensure the network is connected; Make sure the bad/recovered hard drive is connected, but do not mount it in helix – it causes unnecessary disk activity. I prefer the console mode.
2. Identify the correct disk to recover. You might already know this, but use fdisk -l to be sure.
3. dd_rescue /dev/hda – | ssh huanix@192.168.1.4 ‘dd of=/media/data/test.img’
4. sometimes this hangs and i have to ctrl-z and restart. accept the RSA key and enter the user password.
5. The rescue can take a lot of time depending on how well the head transfer went, or how damaged the platters are. My worst case average is 1gb/hr
6. Now that you have the image on a safe machine, i like to make a copy of the disk image, just to be safe!
7. examine/build the partition table. I struggle here, but i eventually get it right.
8. fdisk -l to check the drive format
9. fdisk /dev/hda
10. enter expert mode (x)
11. set the sectors (s), heads (h), and cylinders (c), then return to home (r) and then write (w)
12. Calculate the offset: fdisk -lu //media/data/test.img
13. look in the “start” column, find the value and multiply it by 512 to get your offset.
14. the following mounts a fat32 partition (vfat)
15. sudo mount -t vfat -o loop,offset=32256 /media/data/test.img /media/test

Primary references:

http://www.debianadmin.com/recover-data-from-a-dead-hard-drive-using-ddrescue.html

http://www.linux-usb.org/gadget/file_storage.html

As I research this method I’m learning more about dd_rescue vs. ddrescue. I’m working to use the newer, better ddrescue… this is just for reference!

Incoming search terms:

• ddrescue ssh
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wine-116-itunes-no-devices.sh
(right-click the link to download this script)

to run it:
save the script to your desktop or home folder
open a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal), navigate to the same directory as the script.
type: chmod 777 wine-116-itunes-no-devices.sh (hit enter)
then type: ./wine-116-itunes-no-devices.sh (hit enter)

This script will build a custom version of wine 1.1.6 that will run iTunes 8.0.1 on Ubuntu 8.10. The resulting installation of wine will *NOT* (?) recognize iPhones or iPods. This installation will NOT conflict with your existing wine installation – it is separate!!!

Expect to download 500+ mb of stuff and compile for 2+ hours. I may find a way to simplify it later, but my goal now is to get it working reliably and predictably for everyone running Ubuntu 8.10.

Please leave detailed feedback including your operating system and version of iTunes as well as other information (i expect people to try lots of different things). “it worked” or “it didn’t work” are not useful comments!!
As far as getting devices to work, my best shot was Marteen  Lankhorst’s rejected patches (http://www.winehq.org/pipermail/wine-patches/2008-May/054483.html), but i haven’t gotten them to work with iTunes 8 (not sure why). Just in case you weren’t clear: This version WILL run iTunes 8, but it will NOT recognize your iPod/iPhone.  My current solution for that is with VirtualBox: http://www.huanix.com/2008/11/03/fixing-usb-on-virtualbox-to-allow-iphone-sync-with-an-ubuntu-host-running-windows-xp/

For the latest developments on this, go to the wiki at : http://www.huanix.com/sync-in-linux/index.php/ITunes_8_through_modified_Wine

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The iPhone was designed specifically to work with Apple iTunes, and to the best of my knowledge, you still can’t get away without attaching it to iTunes to activate it, but after the dirty business of activating and jailbreaking, many of us want to return to a world free of DRM and big brother.

There are several tools available to people using iPhone (or iPod) with Linux, but or some reason I haven’t been able to find one page that has a good list; I’m going to try to set that up here.

Music Management

• Amarok is fairly easy to set up with instructions by Arnold Daniels
• GTKpod looks good, but I haven’t used it much; here’s a guide.

Media Conversion Tools

• ffmpeg: ffmpeg is probably the single most important utility for encoding audio and video into a format that can be transferred to the iPhone. The trick is, you will probably have to build from source to enable the correct (proprietary) codecs. Even better – install the version of ffmpeg from medibuntu; here are instructions
• myth2ipod: myth2ipod converts your pvr recordings to a feed that can be downloaded to your ipod. At this point I have only had success with this on iTunes, but I do know that you can add feeds in amarok, but I haven’t done well with video feeds. I actually have myth2ipod set up on Knoppmyth which runs VERY nice!

Libraries and Codecs

• libgpod: A library designed to allow access to the ipod by developers of GTKpod.
• fuse: a framework to allow sshfs to work, fuse = Filesystem in USErspace.
• MP4box: ?? don’t know .. it exists, but i haven’t looked at it yet.
• nuvexport: a component of myth2ipod.. not sure of its role… i think it generates XML…

Mounting the file system

• sshfs: This is a neat utility to access a file system over ssh. People who are new to iphone on Linux may not realize that the primary mode of access is over wifi rather than usb.

Tutorials

•  Howto: Encode H.264 Video for the iPod using ffmpeg

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The Point of my story is that I DID eventually run a memory test before attempting an install and discovered that the RAM had errors-  which is USUALLY the answer when you have intermittent undiagnosable failure. I went to the corsair helpdesk (http://www.corasir.com/helpdesk)  and answered a few quick questions; they accept a failed memory test as grounds for replacement under their lifetime guarantee, so I expect an RMA and a new chip rather soon. I think if this works out and my Mythbox runs smoothly again I’m going to share some good Christmas tidings with Cecil. (Paypal style!)

1. edit /etc/mysql/my.cnf to remove the lock for localhost (127.0.0.1)

sudo nano +47 /etc/mysql/my.cnf
comment out the line (add a # at the VERY beginning of the line)

#bind-address = 127.0.0.1


2. edit /etc/hosts.allow to allow connections from your server (10.0.0.1 in this example – change it to the address you are connecting FROM). Note: “ALL” is too general, but I had trouble using “mysqld”, which was recommended.

sudo nano /etc/hosts.allow

scroll to the bottom and add:

ALL : 10.0.0.55

3. Add the user in mysql with the correct host identification. Enter mysql as root (mysql -u root -p) and do the following:

create user remoteguy@10.0.0.55 identified by 'l33ta0l';

4. You could restart your mysql and inet services, but i just restart the server – sometimes easier

NOW, go to the client (in this case, we’re calling it 10.0.0.55) and do, (we’re calling the mysql server 10.0.0.2) :

mysql -u remoteguy@10.0.0.55 -p -h 10.0.0.2


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I have started participating in triathlons lately, and one of the necessary evils I’ve discovered is the need to practice swimming by doing laps in a pool. I want a way to keep track of my laps, and to keep track of my progress over time. Finis has a “swim lap tracker” at $70 that keeps track of your laps as you swim, but I don’t have $70, and I think I could do a better solution for cheaper.

I’ve got several old laptops laying around; the plan is to use a serial input linked to a simple php script to keep track of my current laps and store the results in a database. The frontend should tell the the number of laps I’ve done and the time of the last lap (color coded for time compared to average?). Further, so I don’t have to touch the laptop when I’m done, the serial input device should create a key combo that will tell the laptop to shutdown.

The serial input should be on a telephone line type plug that will terminate in or at the water on a waterproof button … maybe a big red one Total cost should be about $15 for the button, I have everything else.

The laptop will run debian or xubuntu – the minimum i would need to get a browser up on a gui. it’ll need apache, php, and mysql.

–Update
I’m still gathering resources, I’ll create my list here:

• google search term: linux 9-pin serial input keyboard button
  • http://linuxfocus.org/English/January2001/article186.shtml
  • http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-mini/IO-Port-Programming.html
• sourceforge.net searchterm: serial key mapping
  • http://sourceforge.net/projects/scontrol/
  • http://sourceforge.net/projects/slsnif/
  • http://sourceforge.net/projects/jsbuttons/
  • http://sourceforge.net/projects/serial-io/

Incoming search terms:

• audrino swim lap

I implore you, if you’ve discovered this product, please let me know! I would certainly prefer a netgear product, but at this point i’d be willing to take one manufactured by Mattel.

Incoming search terms:

• i have netgare 8 port switch i have to take dm of that

 Anyway, the configuration is what i wanted to talk about! I previously had 10 partitions, a 150 GB partition for XP, and 10 x 10 GB partitions for various linux distros. The big change I made is to commit to working on a few major distros and focusing a little less on checking out new distros.

 The new configuration is:
100 GB for Windows XP – I think i will continue to shrink this as I get away from Windows.
20 GB for Ubuntu – currently as Feisty Beta.
20 GB for Red Hat – because I really don’t have much experience with it.
20 GB for Suse – Again with the variety, Suse is such a strong distro, you just can’t ignore it.
20 GB for Knoppix – Another Debian distro, but it’s quite different from Ubuntu.
35 GB for “Documents” – part of my getting away from XP means migrating my data to an OS independent drive.

The plan is to get into a routine of booting into a different OS every day until I really get a good gut feeling for what distro executes what task most efficiently.

Now, I’m not breaking a sweat, but i am being seriously challenged and having a lot of fun doing it. i think that with enough practice, (fun practice) i will become good enough to break a serious sweat.

 I see several advantages to the game format of exercise:

 1. It’s a game, and I’m constantly encouraged to earn a higher score.

 2. It has interesting graphics.

 3. I’m staring at the tv, which is usually worthless.

 4. I don’t have to get dressed to exercise, and i’m not impressing anyone..

in all, i’ve found DDR great for exercise.. only time will tell if it’s effective!