BARRY MARTIN wrote:
> KM> Linux drivers are in the kernel because back in the original
> KM> days, linux performance was so utterly glacial that drivers had
> KM> to integrated into to the kernel to get it to boot within your
> KM> lifetime. It was a bad design decision then, and it's not any
> KM> better now, but we're kinda stuck with it.
> Lots of things are based on antique designs: distance between car tires
> was set by the space between the two horses going down the road in Roman
> times.
When the antique design becomes crippling, it's time to redesign it.
Width of a vehicle is convenient at somewhere between 4 and 6 feet no
matter the era. Drivers in the kernel? Not so much.
> I don't know anywhere near the information to make a proper guess but
> seems some sort of integrated into the OS has to be done just so
> something will show on the display. Make the change to the better/nicer-
> looking/more specific driver later.
That's the video server, whatever it's properly called. X11 if your
distro hasn't switched to Wayland yet. Everything in the kernel, except
for the forty-'leven layers that all have to jury-rig connections to
every other part so they'll all work! X11 is basically a pile of shims
(hence extremely slow compared to other ways of doing video); Wayland is
still buggy, but at least from a design perspective, a significant improvement.
A few years back someone did a video that explained all this, and ...
X11 was as if you have to blow out the roof vent and turn on the laundry faucet
before flushing the toilet, it's got that type of inefficient communication.
And I was like... no wonder there's so much video lag on
older hardware.....
> KM> period where whether it would work with your perfectly standard
> KM> hardware was a bad-odds crapshoot (and it's still not 100%;
> KM> yonder is my Epson scanner, NOT SUPPORTED even tho it's been
> KM> their most popular small business model for the past ten years).
> Yes, that's a major problem: manufacturer can't or won't give the
> details on how the device works, either someone has to reverse-engineer
> or create their own driver. To me sounds like the manufacturer is
> excluding a large portion of the market but may not have much of a
> choice: possibly bound by legal agreements or afraid release of the
> details would make it too easy for competitors to steal a process.
Epson made source code available a long time ago. It's still on their
site. I found it and pointed our maintainer at it; he said he's added it
to our repo tho it hadn't propagated yet last time I checked.
> KM> Or you deal with problems like the current tangle of nVidia
> KM> drivers, and hope the Nouveau driver works if one of the others
> KM> doesn't.
>
> Yes, the nVidia drive on my Lenovo laptop worked fine with 18.04;
> updated to 20.04 and their driver no longer works.
Yep... in that case try the Nouveau driver and hope for the best!
> KM> And it's not been that long go that if you moved a linux install
> KM> HD to another PC, or swapped out the video card, that killed it
> KM> dead and unresurrectable due to driver conflicts (and the
> KM> steaming pile of shims that is the X11 video server. Wayland is
> KM> better-designed, but still a bugfest.) Now I can move some of 'em
> KM> and they'll reconfigure drivers to the new hardware, but it's not
> KM> universal.
>
> I haven't done that in ages but to my way of thinking almost expected:
> it's not the same system. Should not die: the system should still work,
> just complain and fall back to the generic driver.
The problem is that when drivers are internal to the kernel, unless the
OS has a mechanism for checking this, not loading what doesn't work, and
recompiling correct drivers on the spot, it's going to fail.
It's the same problem (tho one step more internalized) as when Windows
would throw up permanently because of exposure to a new motherboard.
> KM> What sort of generator do you have?
>
> Skippy the Hamster in a running wheel connected to a bicycle generator! <rs>!
Ah, just as I suspected. Gotta put those squirrelkin to work!
> No: Generac 16KW running on natural gas (the house has NG appliances).
> A little noisy; was sort-of looking for something with a Honda engine as
> supposedly quiet (had heard they were used at the John Deere Golf
> Tournament across the River). Since the generator was installed no
> power outages; barely any blinks.
Dunno about now but in the olden days it was thus:
Briggs and Stratton generator, buck-naked and noisy, $800.
Honda generator, actually a B&S generator in a nice noise-reducing frame
and a better paint job, $2000.
Yeah, some are quieter than others. Some of the RV generators are really
good now. Others... well... but I'm guessing you could put some
noise-reducing panels around it and suck up some of the decibels.
> KM> I'd like to have one that would run off natural gas since that's
> KM> unlikely to fail, but $$$$. Need to replace woodstove first.
> KM> (Dunno why but it won't draw at all, and me with 20 years heating
> KM> with wood/coal ain't the problem. Might be the flue is too big
> KM> for the stove.) Would like to have one that does both pellets and
> KM> chunks.
>
> Have seen pellet stoves; that's about it: seen 'em! LIS the house has
Yeah, seen 'em! <g>
> NG, so made sense to use for the back-up power. Storing that amount of
> gasoline just sounds dangerous; and going out and getting more may not be
Not especially, but it really doesn't go very far. NG is better when
you've got the choice.
> an option: roads blocked, gas station might not have power for their
> pumps.
And NG so much cheaper. Besides, if NG is off, chances are every other
energy source has already been eaten by the zombie apocalypse.
> Over the years I had considered a 'partial home' generator: just power a
> few basic areas: kitchen (mainly because of the refrigerator), the
> Computer Room (if I'm paying for a generator I'm getting something extra
> out of it!), the bedroom, the Sitting Room (Den -- no idea why it's
LOL, yeah :) I've thought about solar panels just to support the
computers, figuring since their power goes through a UPS, it might not
matter so much where it comes from.
> called by the old term) because the TV we usually watch is in there, the
> kitchenette area in the basement (freezer and refrigerator). Years
> later by the time got round to actually getting things going on a
> generator the price difference between a (say) 8KW unit for the partial- house
> configuration and 16 KW whole-house unit wasn't that much
> different. Pricing might have been a bit skewed by then as supply chain
> issues were noticeable.
By the time you build the engine and put the inverter on it, it doesn't
make that much difference if it's size X or size Y.
> KM> Especially having noted that right now Walmart has pellets half
> KM> price by the pallet.
> Buy Now! Give the termites a home for summer!
Haha, yeah, that's a problem...
> > Mainly the software was installed to be able to check on the battery.
> > And in the case of the defective UPS handy way to grab the information.
> KM> Yeah, that has utility. They get tired and show no sign until
> KM> woah, why did the power go out and 30 seconds later the UPS
> KM> beeped and died?
> BTDT! Have several old UPSs, know several if not all have some sort of
> warning light when the battery is about to fail but I don't recall any
> doing so.
Not a single hint, ever, 4 different brands.
However, I do have a large number of dead UPS batteries. When Things
Fall Apart, lead will be valuable! <g>
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