Linux system upgraded
The Linux system that hosts this web site has been upgraded.
1) Increased the memory from 256MB to 512MB
Of course, I was actually trying to increase the memory to 768MB. I have two memory slots and there was a 256MB memory module in one of the slots, so I put the 512MB module in the other. But the system stayed at 256MB. Lots of attempts to find some way to modify this. Somehow caused a mysterious power failure on the system (which was miraculously resolved, so I can only conclude that either (a) the laws of physics were changing on me or (b) the power cord that looked totally connected to the surge protector, was actually not plugged in. But the original memory mystery was resolved by learning that my motherboard only supports 512MB. So, I took out the 256, put in the 512 and all was well. Except of course, that I wasted $35 purchasing extra RAM - but the old 256MB module has already found a good home.
2) Added a second hard drive
When your primary hard drive is only 6GB, this becomes necessary. Also, if you try to clean up disk space by deleting files that are still being written to, then VERY bad things will happen - e.g. all your disk space will vanish. But fortunately, a reboot brings it all back. You can read this thread for more details. Of note is that most of the guides for installing a new hard drive are written for the generic linux system and onlyuse command line programs - bypassing all the extras that the various vendors have added. I wanted to take advantage of the UI-based tools, so my steps were:
a. Make sure the jumpers on the drive were set correctly (e.g. to slave)
b. Installed the hard drive in the machine
c. Checked that the BIOS recognized the drive (it did)
d. Ran the Partioner tool on SuSE (YaST -> System -> Partitioner)
e. Deleted the old partition (this was an onld NTFS disk)
f. Created a new partition, accepting all the defaults (actually changed /usr2 to /home2)
It all worked just fine. Note: I am running SuSE 9.0 if anyone is actually reading.
3) Added a video card
My Intel 815 graphics were old and flakey (and using up valable shared memory) and a friend had a spare Nvidia MX400 card - a little old, but 64MB. I read the recommendations and Nvidia recommends using Yast, which fits my "use the tools" approach. So I used Yast Online Update for the first time - and certainly installed lots of patches. But the Nvidia drivers wouldn't install. I kept getting an error on "fetchnvidia". Well, it turns out that I had overlooked the obvious - you have to install the video card first and the drivers second (exactly the opposite of installing network adapters on Windows). Installed the card and then Yast Online Update was fine. I don't have 3D acceleration, but I do have a flicker free monitor. More details on this thread.