Computer woes
Sometime I wonder why I am so hard on myself. It usually starts out with a (seemingly) good idea that breezes through about 85% to 95% completion after which the final twist is agonizing. Case in point is the setup of my old computer.
Eight years ago we bought this top-of-the-line Gateway 2000 G6-400 computer with the hot new operating system Windows 98 (First Edition) and it was good. Pricey but a marvel of technology with a Pentium II 400MHz processor. Over the years I added hard drives, memory, peripheral cards, and a CD-ROM writer. At some point in time the operating system started behaving erratically (no more drag and drop in Explorer, for instance) so I tried Windows 98 Second Edition (without success). So when Windows XP Home Edition came out in late 2001 I bought the upgrade and did a clean install to a new drive and life was once again good. To a certain extent as I had a wonderful hardware DVD decoder that didn't have drivers available under WinXP. As I hardly ever watched DVD movies on the computer anyways I just took out that card and called it good.
What did irk us at that time was the fact that our National Geographic Magazine archives (a four DVD set with scans of all issues ever published) did not work under Windows XP. The manufacturer's website not only acknowledged this fact (only runs on Win98, not 2K nor XP) but also stated they were not planning any patch to make it so. Even running it in Compatibility Mode did not work. So that was about $150 down the drain.
Fast forward to 2006. Fry's Electronics had a good deal on a Hewlett Packard Pavillion a1450n desktop so we decided to replace our old Gateway with a more stable and faster unit. Over time as we loaded our Gateway it started to buckle under the pressure. I also had come across a good distribution of Linux, called Ubuntu (and its derivatives Kubuntu and Edubuntu). A plan started to develop in my head to reconfigure the old Gateway to run Windows 98 on one partition (so we could use our Natinal Geographic Magazine archives again), Windows XP on a second to allow the kids to play online games, and finally to install one of the -buntu flavors so we could get some exposure and experience to Linux.
The first hurdle was making this all work together and have a decent selection mechanism during boot. It took a while until I figured out how to use the GRUB boot manager in Linux. After that it was easy, and things worked just fine. I even had set up a little network so both computers could use the printer that is attached to the new HP a1450n. All three operating systems could use that printer.
But there I was, pushing my luck. The plan was to move the old computer upstairs and I don't have CAT5 cable running throughout the house. Well, wireless networking to the rescue one would think. And of course, this had to be done on the cheap so I picked up a Fry's special for $9.99. An Airlink101 AWLH3026 PCI card based on the Ralink RT61 chipset. This card comes with drivers and a utility program for Win2k/XP and Win98/ME. But only Win98SE it doesn't work under Win98 First Edition.
Getting it installed and connected under WinXP was a breeze, just follow the instructions. Under Win98 it refused to load the driver properly and under Linux I got it to work so it would connect to the network and printer but there I couldn't get the internet to work. This may have had its roots in the kernel used in the latest -buntu that came out while I was going through the process. The word is still out on that one even though there is a lively debate going on in the support forums.
In my presistance (call it stubborness) I tried installing Win98SE again as the card manufacturer claimed it would work with Second Edition. Lo and behold, it did work! But at what cost? Now the DVD drive in the old Gateway doesn't read DVDs anymore, only CDs. And the National Geographic Magazine archives are on DVD!!!
So I just got done reformatting the drive and reinstalling Windows 98 First Edition. And the device manager doesn't show any problems on the DVD drive yet it still doesn't read DVDs. Perhaps I need to upgrade the BIOS and the DVD firmware. Luckily Gateway still maintains a support website for these old computers where I can download these files. We'll see...
And since it doesn't seem to matter which edition of Win98 is installed I will try to get Second Edition on there again so the wireless card will work and I can move the darn box upstairs. Most likely this will cost me another night's sleep.
Oh well.....
Eight years ago we bought this top-of-the-line Gateway 2000 G6-400 computer with the hot new operating system Windows 98 (First Edition) and it was good. Pricey but a marvel of technology with a Pentium II 400MHz processor. Over the years I added hard drives, memory, peripheral cards, and a CD-ROM writer. At some point in time the operating system started behaving erratically (no more drag and drop in Explorer, for instance) so I tried Windows 98 Second Edition (without success). So when Windows XP Home Edition came out in late 2001 I bought the upgrade and did a clean install to a new drive and life was once again good. To a certain extent as I had a wonderful hardware DVD decoder that didn't have drivers available under WinXP. As I hardly ever watched DVD movies on the computer anyways I just took out that card and called it good.
What did irk us at that time was the fact that our National Geographic Magazine archives (a four DVD set with scans of all issues ever published) did not work under Windows XP. The manufacturer's website not only acknowledged this fact (only runs on Win98, not 2K nor XP) but also stated they were not planning any patch to make it so. Even running it in Compatibility Mode did not work. So that was about $150 down the drain.
Fast forward to 2006. Fry's Electronics had a good deal on a Hewlett Packard Pavillion a1450n desktop so we decided to replace our old Gateway with a more stable and faster unit. Over time as we loaded our Gateway it started to buckle under the pressure. I also had come across a good distribution of Linux, called Ubuntu (and its derivatives Kubuntu and Edubuntu). A plan started to develop in my head to reconfigure the old Gateway to run Windows 98 on one partition (so we could use our Natinal Geographic Magazine archives again), Windows XP on a second to allow the kids to play online games, and finally to install one of the -buntu flavors so we could get some exposure and experience to Linux.
The first hurdle was making this all work together and have a decent selection mechanism during boot. It took a while until I figured out how to use the GRUB boot manager in Linux. After that it was easy, and things worked just fine. I even had set up a little network so both computers could use the printer that is attached to the new HP a1450n. All three operating systems could use that printer.
But there I was, pushing my luck. The plan was to move the old computer upstairs and I don't have CAT5 cable running throughout the house. Well, wireless networking to the rescue one would think. And of course, this had to be done on the cheap so I picked up a Fry's special for $9.99. An Airlink101 AWLH3026 PCI card based on the Ralink RT61 chipset. This card comes with drivers and a utility program for Win2k/XP and Win98/ME. But only Win98SE it doesn't work under Win98 First Edition.
Getting it installed and connected under WinXP was a breeze, just follow the instructions. Under Win98 it refused to load the driver properly and under Linux I got it to work so it would connect to the network and printer but there I couldn't get the internet to work. This may have had its roots in the kernel used in the latest -buntu that came out while I was going through the process. The word is still out on that one even though there is a lively debate going on in the support forums.
In my presistance (call it stubborness) I tried installing Win98SE again as the card manufacturer claimed it would work with Second Edition. Lo and behold, it did work! But at what cost? Now the DVD drive in the old Gateway doesn't read DVDs anymore, only CDs. And the National Geographic Magazine archives are on DVD!!!
So I just got done reformatting the drive and reinstalling Windows 98 First Edition. And the device manager doesn't show any problems on the DVD drive yet it still doesn't read DVDs. Perhaps I need to upgrade the BIOS and the DVD firmware. Luckily Gateway still maintains a support website for these old computers where I can download these files. We'll see...
And since it doesn't seem to matter which edition of Win98 is installed I will try to get Second Edition on there again so the wireless card will work and I can move the darn box upstairs. Most likely this will cost me another night's sleep.
Oh well.....
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