I spent a big chunk of this weekend reconfiguring my Eee PC.  The Xandros install was just a bit to "funky" for my tastes and I kept running into weird limitations (like only having one login).  AsusTek did a good job of customizing it to make it easy for Linux n00bs, but it was just a bit too stripped down for my tastes.

So, I slapped XP on the internal SSD and then installed Ubuntu 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon" on a Sandisk 4 Gb SDHC card.  I had surprisingly few issues, but I'll go through them anyway.

That's my new Grub bootloader screen.  Ubuntu by default, XP if I wants it.

The XP install was pretty straight forward.  I did a base XP Pro SP2 install, then removed a bunch of the accessories (screensavers, wallpapers, games, etc) and extra bits (MSN Explorer - ick) to save some space on the internal 4Gb drive.  The only real Eee specific stuff I did was to install the drivers from the Eee support DVD and turn off the swap file.  Everything worked well, but startup and shutdown were a bit slow and there was a fair chunk of memory being sucked up.  I started picking through the services and set a bunch of them to manual to speed stuff up.  I guess I got a bit too aggressive, because the Atheros wireless util and Activesync started freaking out.  I re-enabled a few Com+ and DCOM services and they are now both functioning.  The Atheros stuff works fine (it would just GPF earlier), but Activesync is still a bit upset about smthng.  It works, it just complains about serial and infrared ports being missing.  I'll tackle that later.

I'm actually going to redo the whole XP install anyway...  I accidentally used an expired MSDN copy I had laying around and it won't activate.  Oops.  Nevermind, it'll at least last long enough to get me through my vacation before I have to fix it.  I'll probably redo the whole thing with an nLite install

The Ubuntu install wasn't quite as easy.  It's easier than I expected, but there are a few "gotchas" and some minor h@x0r1ng was required.  Basically, I slapped in the 4 Gb SDHC card, booted of the Ubuntu live DVD and started the install.  The only real customizing you have to do for the install itself is to change the partitions to use the entire SDHC card as the root volume ("/") and format it as EXT2 (although there's some online discussion regarding JFS being safer for flash drives - I may try that later).   Ubuntu will complain about not having a swap partition, but it works.  Finish off the install, then go fix some stuff...  I distinctly remember having to customize my fstab file to set all the partitions to noatime.  I also added all the temp and log directories as tempfs so they weren't writing all the time - although you might want to set up a script to save the logs on a shutdown.  There was some minor customization of the interface required - turn off constrain_y so you can move big dialog boxes and remove the dropshadow effect (it causes weird screen flashes sometimes, particularly in Firefox's fullscreen mode).  For convenience and to get more screen real-estate, I reset all the font sizes to 8 and installed the LittleFox theme for Firefox. Oh, also don't forget to grab the newest release of the Atheros madwifi drivers to support the onboard wireless.  That gets rid of the need for ndiswrapper, which beats the snot out of your CPU and battery life.

There are still some small issues, but they are bearable.  The standby mode doesn't work and I'm not sure if the webcam works... others have reported problems under Ubuntu, but I haven't tested it yet.  Eventually, I'll come back and put in links to all the fixes I had to do.  In the mean time, just go to EeeUser's Wiki and check out the Installing Alternative Operating Systems articles... they can run you through it.

Back to the XP side...  I installed Activesync just so I could use my Blackjack as a shared internet connection (sorry, no links to AT&T sites until they give me my Windows Mobile 6 update).  I tested it last night via the USB cable and it worked like a charm.  I also set up a bluetooth PAN this morning on the commuter train and it also worked great.  I downloaded Skype (21.5 MB) during the commute and was able to average 40Kbs on the download speed. I need a smaller bluetooth adaptor that I can just leave plugged in all the time, but it's good to know that it works.  I'll tackle the same connection on the Ubuntu side of the house later.

Anyway, that's it in a nutshell.  The Eee now rocks!  It does everything I need it to do, can connect using Ethernet, Wifi, Bluetooth, USB through the phone, whatever.  I basically have interwebs everywhere. :)

Update: Garmin released firmware 2.40, which fixes all of the issues I posted here.  Get the update!  This is now the GPS we'd originally hoped it would be and the problems with Geocaches, updating and rechargable batteries are now pretty much fixed.  I'm leaving the post up just because I don't think it's "right" to go changing stuff I've already put out there (sorry, it's one of my personal quirks or smthng).  Just keep it in mind if you're reading this post for the first time.

Hey again,

My Garmin Streetpilot 2610 is really close to being "dead", so I snagged one of the new Garmin Colorado 400t units the other day (available only at REI till February 11th).  I wanted to post up some issues with it before anyone else I know "takes the plunge".  Here are some of my observations and research...

First, it's a cool GPS unit.  It's the first I've ever used that can be entirely operated with one hand (hope you're not a lefty).  That doesn't sound like much, but trust me when I tell you it's a bit of a big deal if you're hiking through the woods or wearing gloves when it's below freezing.  Overall, the design is nice and it's got a good "feel" to it.

Satellite lock is pretty quick and seems to be very accurate (generally within about 10 feet).  The display is good and I particularly like the vertical screen (landscape never made much sense to me).  Controls are easily manipulated and buttons mostly make sense.  Customization is nice, but some die-hard GPS geeks aren't going to be happy with some of the stuff that they can't do... especially if they're accustomed to prior Garmin devices.

The Colorado series is an entirely new design for Garmin... both in hardware and software.  Unfortunately, that's painfully obvious at times.  If you haven't use a recent Garmin, you probably won't notice.  But, if you're someone who's used multiple Garmin units and have gotten used to certain things you expect to be there, chances are good that the Colorado is going to give you a pretty steep learning curve.  You're going to find a lot of things that you have taken for granted that aren't there on the Colorados or are buried very deeply in a weird menu system.

If you're fairly new to GPS's or just haven't dug very much into one that you already have, most of the shortcoming of the Colorado won't be noticeable.... it's hard to miss smthng you weren't aware of in the first place. ;)

Now on to some of the issues...

Rechargeable batteries - The Colorado has some pretty serious issues with NiMH batteries.  Someone appears to have forgotten to code for the voltage difference in NiMH's.  What this means is that the Colorado will read them as "dead" long before they're even close.  When I first slapped in a set of charged "Eneloop" batteries, I got two hours before the Colorado shut down.  That's ridiculously low.  After the most recent firmware upgrade, it's now up to about 7 hours.  Better, but I'm sure they'll "fix" it some more in the next firmware update.

Geocaching - There are some excellent advancements but also a couple of steps backwards with Geocaching.  First, it's WAY cool that the Colorado can store Geocache descriptions and logs!  This means no more need to create HTML files to dump to my cell phone for reading and no more printouts.  Yay!  Unfortunately, it seems that someone forgot to code in the ability to mark a cache as "found".  Not a big deal, as only very recent units (like Legend and Vista HCx) have had this option at all, but it's loss is irritating if you're used to it.  I'm sure this will be fixed in a very near future update.  Also, caches don't show up on the map.  This is kind of a big deal, IMO.  "Find nearest" and directional pointers to caches are available, so you can live without it, but it's a big pain to have to deal with it that way.  If I'm walking around town and know what general route I'm planning on, I'd like to see what caches are on the way so I can pick them up as I go.  Again, this is reasonably major for 'cachers, so I'm sure it'll be fixed real quick. Update: This is no longer an issue at all.

Updating - The update process is a hassle...  download the firmware update from Garmin's web site.  This will take the operating system up to 2.30 (as of 1/28/08), but it doesn't update the GPS code.  To do that, you have to run Garmin's Web Updater after you've done the 2.30 update.  Running the updater will take the GPS code up to 2.60.  This should be considered mandatory... do it as soon as you buy your unit before you go wandering anywhere.  There are a LOT of issues fixed in 2.3/2.6 that I haven't mentioned here. Update: The updater works much better than the previous runs.

In short, it's a cool unit and has some really sweet features.  But, it's a totally different direction for Garmin and there are some teething pains that they're clearly dealing with.  The first update from Garmin has shown that they are rapidly fixing the issues that are there and Garmin has an excellent reputation for support.  Expect the unit to get a lot better and have most of these issues fixed very quickly.  You're pretty safe banking on Garmin to address any problems.  If you're looking for a new unit that has a LOT of capabilities, ease of use and huge potential, I highly recommend the Colorado series... just be prepared for a few "break in" issues as Garmin updates it.

BTW... there's a very useful FAQ page someone set up to keep track of the issues, fixes and workarounds. Update: Keep in mind that the owner of the FAQ is in a worse boat than I am.  Garmin fixed so much that the guy pretty much has to redo his entire site, so the information there may or may not be current at this time.