📅 November 2011

I completed the switch to F16 yesterday. I always had that error about the nouveau drivers not being able to handle dynamic processor switching between the nvidia video processor and the integrated graphics processors in F15.

In Fedora 16, I have an additional error that shows up in the boot sequence.

[drm:ironlake_update_pch_refclk] *ERROR* enabling SSC on PCH

This is a Toshiba Satellite P750 laptop running an intel core i7. The laptop boots okay after these couple errors. I don't know what it is about. A little googling shows that Linus Torvalds has encountered this error too, on his Lenovo machine.

But I can't find any resolution to the issue.

EDIT!!

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This has been fixed as of 14th Dec 2011. I guess things that Linus notices and Google pluses about get more attention than just random users whining about bigger problems.

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Nevermind the premature edit. It's back.

But that error is very trivial and the least of my concerns. My primary source of irritation with Fedora 16 is its appalling network connectivity and performance. My first impressions of Fedora 16 were somewhat mixed. The install went very smoothly. They have finally incorporated my wireless driver into the default package. So wireless is recognized right away.

However, the performance of the wireless driver is extremely poor. It is almost impossible to reliably connect with open wifi at work and other hotspots with the new Fedora 16. This is the speed I am getting from the T1 connection at work:


While my mobile phone with android was able to connect with every random wireless hotspot all across NYC, the stupid Fedora 16 laptop could not connect to ANY of them. Wireless performance has always been pretty subpar with Fedora 15. Now, with Fedora 16, it is just abysmally horrid. It only connects if the router is like 2 metres away from the laptop or has very strong signals. This is obviously not practical anywhere but home. So essentially, switching to Fedora 16 has converted my laptop into a home-bound desktop.

I cannot possibly be impressed with anything that constantly struggles to connect with wireless access points ALL the time. It's so bad, it's ridiculous.

Specifically, these modules and drivers:

• Kernel driver in use: rtl8192ce
• Kernel modules: rtl8192ce

are ultimate crap in driver technology.

Output of dmesg | grep firmware

[ 23.160984] NetworkManager[1048]: monitoring kernel firmware directory '/lib/firmware'.
[ 23.160992] NetworkManager[1048]: NetworkManager[1048]: monitoring kernel firmware directory '/lib/firmware'.
[ 23.309242] rtl8192c_common: Loading firmware file rtlwifi/rtl8192cfw.bin

I just found that I am not the only one whining.

There are other people out there who are having similar network problems with this wretched distribution. I cannot blame it on my linux "newbieness-I-probably-don't-know-what-I-am-doing" this time around.

Fedora 16. You really do SUCK. Big time.

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EDIT:
Some cool commands for investigating what exactly is going on here:
sudo cat /var/log/* | grep -e rtl -e firmware -e wlan -e wpa -e etwork | tail -n55
{gives you all the network related "happenings" as recorded by the system logs}

nm-tool
{gives you a list of networks that your computer can see}

iwconfig
{gives you the configuration of the wireless you are currently connected with}

dmesg | grep rtl
{gives you this:}
[ 20.066460] rtl8192ce 0000:03:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
[ 20.066469] rtl8192ce 0000:03:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[ 20.084887] ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'rtl_rc'
[ 20.085214] rtlwifi: wireless switch is on
[ 23.306151] NetworkManager[1048]: <info> (wlan0): new 802.11 WiFi device (driver: 'rtl8192ce' ifindex: 3)
[ 23.306168] NetworkManager[1048]: NetworkManager[1048]: <info> (wlan0): new 802.11 WiFi device (driver: 'rtl8192ce' ifindex: 3)
[ 23.309242] rtl8192c_common: Loading firmware file rtlwifi/rtl8192cfw.bin
[34868.924818] rtl8192c_common: Loading firmware file rtlwifi/rtl8192cfw.bin

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EDIT 2:
To anyone who is checking out this message, click the comment icon in the bottom and check out the comments too.

What's with the two kernels in Fedora 16?

rpm -qa | grep kernel
kernel-3.1.2-1.fc16.x86_64
kernel-3.1.0-7.fc16.x86_64

Anyone know about this?

Loving this view...

Walked past a club in Greenwich and was pleasantly surprised to find Sting wafting out, instead of the usual drone-y music.



Such a perfect song.

This is exactly what I had in mind ages ago when I was hunting for a low work table. And it is available in a million different colour combinations. Including an orange and black gradient spectrum.

http://www.roche-bobois.com/#/en-us/products/all/coffee-tables/all/818/fullscreen/

But the price tag is $4000+. Apparently there will be a 10% discount after Christmas. Fat difference that would make to the price. That's costlier than a lower end used car. Maybe I should keep my eyes peeled for discarded table tops on pavements, paint them orange and black and hinge them together into a revolving set...

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This post should really be categorized as Impracticality+++ in every way.

Mmm mmm

No subconscious messaging here.

What I would very much like to do right now is to get off this train and personally strangle everyone, who is chugging on their fags on the platform, to a bloody, airless, suffocating and gruesome death... and finish off by stomping on their cancer sticks.

The cigarette smoke is seeping through the insulation of the windows on the train and making me think of those precise adjectives.

Why doesn't the train move and leave these nutcases behind already??

The station reminds me of this completely delusional storyline in that crazy series, "Spooks" (known here as MI-5) where everyone (who didn't get themselves fried in a kitchen fryer) and their aunt spent most of the season dropping references to something called "Albany". I think I never got to know what it actually was, probably because the plot was so convoluted, it made no sense... and of course I was watching in 15 minutes per weekend sections.

I give up on anything that gives me a logic nightmare when watched in 15 min sections every weekend (or sometimes fortnight). Either that or it should meld gracefully into whatever other 15 minute-section-of-something I am watching.

I have the Nexus One. Which is nice. But its camera speed is from the paleolithic ages. Well, I think things might actually have been faster back then since they always had to outrun some wild beast or other; forget standing there and trying to shoot a honey badger with a Nexus one.

It takes such an E.T.E.R.N.I.T.Y for the camera to fuss through and get ready to finally take shot. Fast moving targets are a complete impossibility.

For instance, I just saw the creepiest life-size nativity scene right in the middle of nowhere somewhere in the middle of NY state, intentionally placed (I am sure) to appeal to the Godless heathen who take the train.

Well, this Godless heathen was unable to take a shot and share the creepinessl! No thanks to slow slow slow camera technology from Nexus One.

Arrrrgh.

Sweet!*

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\*only for peeps without a friend with a wifi ;-)