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Shadow Wrought (586631)

Shadow Wrought
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Husband, Step-dad to 2 sons, and human to 2 dogs. Private (albeit not current) Pilot, writer (suffering from Creative ADD), and interested in learning coding, metalcasting, and glass blowing (someday...)

shadow tod wrought ta gmail tod com

Journal of Shadow Wrought (586631)

[ask the subset] 3 Geek Questions

[ #169943 ]
Monday April 23 2007, @02:25PM
X
Whether I feel like I should know the answers to these, the reality is I don't. So while I will dig myself, I'm hoping that some of you may have some thoughts and or advice.
  1. FreeBSD would only display 800x600 16 bit color on my old box. Vector Linux couldn't get X to work at all. DSL runs 24-bit 1024x768 without even so much as a blink. What's the difference that I'm missing?
  2. A friend's laptop (Insprion 700m) can see the local WiFi network (a free community one), but won't connect. Their site recommended a Wireless Modem to help the problem. She's obviously got a wireless card in there, but I'm unfamiliar with wireless modems. How would such a beast work and how much is a reasonable price to pay?
  3. We were given the gift of a wireless router! I'm going to ry and set it up tonight but am a wireless n00b. Anything I need to know? Not, "how do I do this?" so much as "Any common pitfalls to avoid?" I will also be checking out a book on wireless networks tonight, too, so that should also help.

Thanks once again for any and all thoughts!


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[ask the subset] 3 Geek Questions 9 Comments More | Login /

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  • As for which wireless card:
    http://slashdot.org/~nizo/journal/159784 [slashdot.org]

    I am pretty sure the pcmcia card is a no-brainer under DSL (I seem to recall it worked when I put DSL on my crappy old lappy and used that pcmcia card).

    As for configuring the wireless, turn of all the security/encryption/etc and make sure it is broadcasting the SSID when you set it up for the first time. It will be hard enough getting it all working without fighting with the "security" too. Then, turning on one feature at a time, continue v

    • Oh I forgot to mention, I can test that pcmcia card on my laptop with the newest version of DSL if you want before you buy it :-)
    • I'd also add:
      * Change the SSID to anything but the default
      * Use WPA instead of WEP if possible
      * Restrict adminstrative access on the access point to the ethernet/USB interface
      • * Use WPA instead of WEP if possible

        Nah, you've all got it wrong. Shadow, forget about WEP. WEP is no protection whatsoever. If you can't use WPA (better yet WPA2), consider your network as already hacked. Seriously. Save yourself the grief. If your router or wireless card don't support WPA, swap them for something that does. Period.
        • I concur, I was just allowing for the possibility that a free AP means a WEP-only AP.

          If your budget forces you to use WEP, you should consider the entire wireless network to be untrusted. Depending on your environment this may be acceptable, but... probably it's not. (WEP is about as secure as those gate locks that you can reach over the fence to open by pulling the lever. It won't just blow open in the wind, but anyone who wants to can walk through with hardly a pause.)
    • - Filtering hardware addresses (ask for how to get that info once you get to that point)

      Seconded. This step alone will keep out pretty much anyone who's not an uber-hacker.
      • That depends on your definition of "über hacker". I don't know a single Linux user who doesn't know that spoofing MACs is a trivial exercise. Most of them are hardly what *I* would consider even "regular" hackers, leave alone "über".

        OTOH, said filtering is a PITA when people come over and you want to allow them access to your network (e.g. when visiting relatives want to check their e-mail or transfer photos to you etc.). It requires you to 1) log into the router with authorized equipment, 2) find
  • What program does each of these distros use to write the initial xorg.conf file? What video driver is the one that's working using?

    If you really want to run one of the others, but X isn't working on it, you can backup the x.org.conf from the working install, then install the other OS, and copy in that one file. There's a good chance that will work, although for instance if the driver needed simply isn't included on the chosen OS, or in some cases if the version of X.org included is too different, that may n
  • X is a finicky beast sometimes. Usually it is easy enough to run xorgconfig and go with some safe choices, like vga or whatnot. Then I'll head in afterwards and try plaing with things, like drivers and whatnot. Just search "640x480" and that should get you to where you are looking for to change resolutions and whatnot. And search "vga" to find the driver location and choose according to what you believe the right driver for your video card would be. Maybe not the easiest thing to do, but atleast you ha

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