[ltp] Re: New T61. Some questions (32 vs 64, kernel, DVDs), some answers (esp. keyboard noise)...

[Daniel Pittman]

Ben Pearre <bwpearre@alumni.princeton.edu> writes:

> First: MANY thanks to all of you who pointed me to knetworkmanager.
> It works for me, although it took me a day to figure out that I needed
> the firmware-iwlwifi package... and apologies for the flamewar for
> which I feel strangely responsible.  

Firmware packages are a PITA, I agree. ;)

> The only thing that doesn't work for me is that the knetworkmanager
> icon sometimes vanishes from the KDE system tray (the tray (and ps)
> still thinks it's there, but just refuses to display it), and it won't
> come back no matter what I do.  Is there another way to access the
> damn thing?  

Not really, although the 'nm-applet' software provides the GNOME
interface.  I find the UI of that hideously confusing (left and right
click do completely different things, for example) but it is generally
reliable.

However, invest some effort in locating fault messages from the applet:
it shouldn't do that, and doesn't for me, so something is likely odd in
your versions or desktop environment somewhere.  Rooting that out will
probably save trouble down the track.

[...]

> 1) Power!  I have the Core2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz, 15.4" wsxga+ screen,
>    Intel graphics, 3G ram, fingerprint reader, 160G 5400rpm disk (with
>    encryption), the standard battery, etc.  Kpowersave's "Powersave"
>    profile is set up for 60% brightness, Dynamic CPU, ... (no way to
>    set hard disk spindown time with this tool, but let's assume the
>    hard disk is spinning).  CPUs are idle.  I'm running the 2.6.25-1
>    kernel from Debian Sid.  I let the computer die on battery power
>    and recharged to make sure that the gauge was calibrated.  And
>    Kpowersave claims that I can expect 3.5 hours of runtime.  Is that
>    reasonable?  How can I improve that?

My machine estimates about the same from powertop, but actually provides
closer to five hours if I nurse it.  I have the 9 cell extended battery
(and an NVIDIA power hog video chipset) though.

Other than what you note, no, not much can be done to improve things
really.  Poke at the Intel X driver notes, and consider the extended
battery. :)


> 2) 32 vs. 64?  I installed the 32-bit version of Debian.  It seems to
>    me that this ought to be the faster one for <=3G RAM, since
>    pointers and instructions and whatnot will be half the size, which
>    should tie up the memory bus less, give me effectively twice as
>    much cache, etc., and let's not even consider swapping :) Is this
>    not so?  Why would I want to run the 64-bit version?  My main
>    performance requirement is Matlab.

I would advise 64-bit: while some values are larger you gain access to
an extended register set and the ability of the compiler to assume
something more modern than a Pentium II out of the box.

They are generally a wash, performance-wise, and 64-bit support will
certainly not hurt -- the extra address space makes things a lot less
crowded when memory goes past 2GB.

The only minor inconvenience is support for 32-bit binary-only software
(notably Adobe Flash) which may require a touch of extra work to get
running -- but, frankly, not that much these days.  Those are solved
problems.

> 3) Which packaged kernel?  Given that I'm on 32 bits, which kernel
>    from Debian Unstable should I be running?  

The x86_64 one. ;)  More seriously...

>    I've been rolling my own kernels since 0.98.5, but I thought I'd
>    see how far I could get without worrying about that anymore (more
>    time for "real work", whatever that means).  I'm on the 686 one
>    now.  Would I do better to build my own?  I might have a few CPU
>    cycles around here somewhere...

...you should probably run the "generic" x86 kernel, if one is
available, or otherwise whatever reasonably closely matches your
architecture.

You are extremely unlikely to see enough performance boost from anything
but the 686 kernel, though, to actually notice it in the real world.

> 4) I have the 8x dual-layer DVD-burner.  I can't play DVDs.  Do I need
>    to set the region code on the drive first?  

Probably, as they don't like reading CSS data directly.  However...

>    Does that mean that the bastards won, and I can't play DVDs from
>    anywhere but Region X even with libdvdcss?  Or will setting the
>    region code advance me to the state of the art achieved 4 years ago
>    when my player could play any DVD?

...after you check with a lawyer, given it may be illegal in your part
of the world, you might look at installing 'libdvdread3' and running
/usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/install-css.sh or equivalent.

[...]

> 2) Fingerprint reader: very confusing when tf-tool --verify is happy
>    but nothing else works.  Until I figured out that the uinput module
>    doesn't autoload...

I am surprised you bothered.  Oh, on the power topic: Stefan Monnier
posted a note under the topic "Re: T61, Lenovo quality, Linux
pre-installed, alternatives" just the other day, detailing how he gained
a one watt reduction in power consumption by setting it to automatically
power down...

Regards,
        Daniel