Update on Emmy's computer

Having determined that the problem was almost certainly the motherboard (I remembered seeing a note on a Linux website that certain Promise IDE controllers scribble randomly into low memory, and I've seen symptoms that match that), I finally went down to a surplus joint and spent $70 on a Jetway V6FP.

At first it wasn't clear that it would support the 700MHz Duron CPU that I had -- it was only spec'ed to work for 800MHz and above. And indeed, when I first turned it on, I got a blank screen. Resetting the bus-speed jumper from 133MHz to 100MHz (supposedly the default, but who knows?) got a boot screen, a Linux boot sequence, a long sequence of kudzu prompts for the new hardware, a gdm login screen, and a very happy Mandelbear.

If only Windows was that simple! Alas, if Jetway's install disk has ever been seen by a QA person, said person should be made to use it with Windows 98 a few dozen more times before being introduced to Knoppix. With any luck their head would explode at that point. Windows is still only marginally useful after a reinstall, a dozen or reboots, many false starts, and about three hours.

Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln,...

Apart from smashing my head against Windows altogether too many times, the weekend was actually quite enjoyable. Emmy is still off at camp, and chaoswolf was visiting friends, so we had the house all to ourselves for the weekend, for the first time in years.

Delightful. Just delightful.