Oct 18, 2008
Ubuntu ate a frisbee
BY DERRICK SOBODASH
pparently I did something that Ubuntu really, really did not like. currently any GTK application that displays text will segfault. I think that includes just about … everything.
Thunar can run, but right clicking anything to view its properties causes a segfault.
I’m currently in the process of doing backups from the command line. I’d kind of like to install a dual-boot Windows and Ubuntu environment this time so that I can have a faster machine for Quark. An EeePC can run it, but it is painfully slow at times and the resolution leaves much to be desired. I used to run it in VirtualBox but got sick of the crashing.
Who knows, maybe I’ll throw on Windows for a change until the next Ubuntu release comes out. I need to figure out how to install Windows without a bootable CD-ROM or floppy device anyway.
For reference and retro value, this post was brought to you from a Dreamcast running the PlanetWeb Browser 3.0. It’s amazing. PlanetWeb works, Quake III works, but any time I attempt to get on Phantasy Star Online v2, it bitches at me that I have not configured an ISP on this Dreamcast.
Go figure. Anyone know how to fix that? It would be great to finally play that game on the free server.
A final though — WordPress is definitely not Dreamcast-friendly. I think the problem is it doesn’t support CSS … in any version.
Hooray!
If GTK is the problem, and you’re going to blow the install away soon anyway, why not install KDE for a while? (Note: not a fanboy post; I run Gnome on my own machine, ’cause KDE just isn’t fast enough on it, but hey it’s an idea.)
Also: your repo is most excellent, and your blog doubly so. Thank you, sir.
Installing Windows via USB is actually pretty easy to do with a few apps now. I’d definitely recommend it over installing it via a CD or Floppy or whatever, since it’s so much faster it’s hard to even compare.
As for your PSOv2 question, you may want to read this:
http://dreamcast.ign.com/articles/089/089710p1.html
Basically it says that you have to pay a fee to Sega to play v2 online. The original one has no fees though. Not sure about Blue Burst.
Yes, but you see, the actual PSO server went offline years ago. What’s left is a free server run by http://schtserv.com/. According to their site, all you need to do is make their server IP your primary DNS and it will take care of hijacking the old PSO URLs.
The problem is that PSO does not acknowledge that I have even configured a network connection. I read somewhere that it’s possible for certain programs to bork the network settings so PSO fails to read them, however, that should not be an issue since these directions said to use the Planetweb browser to reset it, which I did. I also tried setting the network info using the Quake III Arena disc.
Out of good ideas and no one seems to have a better guide. I can’t find the error I’m getting anywhere. I’d try 1.0, but I don’t think that supports the BBA.
Oh, also, the Windows over USB thing failed spectacularly. BartPE produced a non-booting USB stick. Three times. Granted it could be stick error, but I specifically hit ESC to boot only the stick, so it is technically a bootable device. I’d probably have been better off using the USB stick I install Linux from, but then I’d have lost Linux. Can’t make another one without an Ubuntu install, and can’t install Ubuntu without it.
Need more tools :/
Pressed ESC to boot from the stick? Not sure what that means. Whenever I installed via USB I changed the boot order in the firmware (power off computer, put in USB stick, boot to firmware, change USB stick to be the first thing to boot, restart computer, go from there).
As for the DNS thing, I think I had that problem too and I don’t remember how I fixed it, but I think that I may have upgraded the Dreamcast’s firmware somehow and that fixed it. Was a very slow process.
Also yeah, you need to get some more USB sticks. I have three in my bag alone (one has bootable Linux, one has XP, one is just other crap I want to be able to carry with me).
Most laptop BIOS have a secret ESC key that gives you a menu of all attached devices that are capable of booting. Not all USB sticks can be made bootable.
There are no DC firmware upgrades. There is a reflasher you can use to hack your region but you need to solder up a bunch of wires to give it the juice needed to rewrite the chip. I tanked a DC trying to make it PAL already — not going there again.
I could have more USB sticks if I had a reliable place to buy them. Even the Kingston ones here suck ass. The above failing stick never saves files even with cached write shut off, and half the time if you hex edit the file it turns out to be total rubbish.
Think I figured out the PSO thing. You have to have a dial-up modem and set a network connection there to get PSO to give you permission to set a broadband connection. It doesn’t matter anyway, because I found out v2 is dead. Sega killed the Hunter License server, so no version which checks Hunter License will ever run again. Guess I get to try fucking around with v1. Rumor is if you configure the BBA on v2 that it will continue working on v1.
I wish you luck. Still, of all the MMORPGs, why PSO? As for not being able to get reliable USB sticks, that’s rough. Maybe an SD Card? I’ve installed from an SD Card once, though it’s considerably more difficult to get set up.
PSO? Well, I never got to play it and I kind of liked the idea of it not depending on you being online all the time. I still haven’t got it working so I will probably just scrap the idea.
I think Booyaka still has VMU saves of all the extra quests that you used to be able to get, so I should just be able to download them and play them all offline.
Honestly, I’ve never played an MMORPG for more than 20 minutes. The whole idea just doesn’t appeal to me. I was only interested because it’s Phantasy Star and it’s something else to do with my Dreamcast.
Can’t install from SD card. My EeePC can do it, but this computer’s BIOS is too old. Honestly the best solution, if I were to need Windows again, would be to just take out the HD, put it in another laptop, install Windows, pull it out and stick it back in this machine.
Phantasy Star Online really doesn’t have much of a challenge at all since almost everyone can spam heal themselves. Its gameplay is kinda stale, but that’s partly due to its age.
Still, for what it’s worth I enjoyed it a LOT. I only played Blue Burst, but I had a lot of fun. I really liked how they tried to make a good story out of the missions as if it was a console game. FFXI does a good job of that too, but it’s awful in everything else.
Anyway, you should definitely keep trying to figure that PSO stuff out unless it’s completely out of the question. Also, browsing and typing from a Dreamcast? You always amaze me with something, it seems.. I never could get that internet browser stuff working on mine, but I was also only 12 years old or so.