LITE-ON IT EZ-Dub USB DVD-RW

I purchased a Lite-On IT EZ-Dub external USB DVD re-writer when I started working on the UX300CN because I needed a DVD burner that I could hook up to save bundled software on. I wasn't at all interested in the EZ-Dub features, and since Microsoft Vista recognized the burner right away I had not even opened the set of CD that came with the drive until today. I needed to copy some files off an XP-Pro system that was old enough that it didn't have a DVD burner installed. No problem, I've got this external unit hanging around. I hooked it up, installed the drivers, which was a very simple process, and completely out of character, read the quick start guide.

If you've looked at the EZ-Dub link above, you know that they claim it is as simple as pushing the File button on the drive dragging/dropping files to write data to either CD, DVD or dual layer DVD. So I tried it, and guess what, it really is that simple! So if you are a Luddite, or know one you can do worse than looking at this unit. It is fairly large. It would have been nice if they used a laptop form factor drive to make the package more compact. There is also a block power supply, but at least it isn't a wall wart so it isn't necessary to re-wire the whole desk to find an outlet.

I haven't tried the Dub button yet but I expect it works equally well.

Linux on the Sony VAIO UX300CN

A new toy, Sony Vaio UX300CN, came into my possession. It comes preloaded with Microsoft Windows Vista Buisiness Edition which is only to be expected but, out of the box, runs a bit slowish on this 1.33GHz Intel Core Solo CPU. It has 1GB of RAM, and 37GB hard disk space (about 7GB are dedicated to a recovery partition and 20GB are gobbled up by Vista). As you can see from my tag line, I'm not really a proprietary systems guy so my first question was 'can it run Linux?' The answer is yes and so far it is relatively straight forward.

Googling UX300 and Linux did not result in any help, but I did find Linux on the Sony VAIO UX180P which was encouraging. The first step is to make sure you create the recovery media. With a USB DVD R/RW drive this is also easily done by following the Vaio documentation.

The next step is to shrink the Vista partition to make room for linux. On other Windows pre-installed systems I would have used Power Quests Partition Magic, now available from Symantec as Norton Partition Magic. However this is not compatable with Vista, fortunately Vista disk management tools include the ability to resize partitions. I was able to pry a whopping 7.6GB loose, plenty for a Linux install.

I used Fedora Core 6 because that is what we use in the shop, but other distributions should work as well. To boot the installation media some minor changes to the BIOS configuration are needed. Shut down the Vaio. Slide the screen up to access the keyboard. Locate the Fn and F2 keys. Turn the unit on and when you see the Vaio logo press and hold the Fn key while pressing the F2 key. It should switch immediately into BIOS configuration.

Paging over to the BIOS Boot menu will show six items that should boot before the internal hard drive. So why can't we boot from a USB DVD by just plug-and-go? Look closely at the very tiny screen to see that all six items are marked with an asterisk. On the right side is a note which says: External drives are available when the External Drive Boot is set to Enabled. Page back to the Advanced menu to find External Drive Boot, set it to Enabled, save the settings and away we go. While there the Keyboard Backlight can be Disabled if desired.

Install linux to your taste. To be able to dual boot linux and Vista you will can install the grub boot loader on the hard drive boot sector and follow the instructions here: Dual boot Linux Vista. Actuall Fedora Core 6 does this quite well for you.

What works: Sound, wired networking, Bluetooth, USB, touch screen (some calibration issues), dual head display (at least on intitial install). Apparently wireless networking works, but I'm still looking for a site that has all the RPMs in sync to do it without compiling the driver.

What doesn't work (yet): Motion Eye, finger print scanner. zoom buttons.

I'm not finished yet so more later.

unGPS

For Christmas I received a Garmin Street Pilot C330. This is a GPS based automotive navigation system featuring a 3.5 inch colour LCD touch screen, a road and address database for all of North America (or Europe), a suction cup mount and the ubiquitous cigarette lighter adapter. It will provide turn by turn guidance with on screen cues and voice directions in a number of languages with a pleasant female voice. I like the British English voice. It sounds a bit like Claudia Black paying Aeryn Sun on Farscape. The ubergageteers out there will be thinking this is old hat, but I still have enough Luddite in me to want to know what the technology is doing before I rely on it and I want to be technology's master, not its servant or peer. I've use a Belkin Bluetooth GPS and navigation software with my iPaq. It is a more open solution in that the GPS can be used with other software on the iPaq, or a Bluetooth enabled laptop. The road navigation software had some fatal flaws, I may post something on it latter. For now back to the street pilot.

As a pilot, armature radio operator and general techno geek I was immediately struck by how unGPSish the unit is. It won't, for example, give you a position by latitude/longitude or any of the other standard coordinate systems, nor will it give you the number of satellites it can receive or any information about the visible constellation. You can poke your finger at the streets on the map and it will give you a street number for that location if one exists. It does have a cellphone like cluster of 5 vertical bars of increasing size that tell you in a very general way how likely it is to know where you are. Given the intended market I understand these design choices, I'm just wondering how I will be able to get along with it.

One problem with all navigation systems is that the guidance is only as good as the available data. In the aviation world the required data are maintained by government authority and distributed on a 56 day update cycle by commercial companies, like Jeppesen. I'm not sure where Garmin gets the road database from, but if it contains errors, the GPS will provide bad directions.

The unit can be configured to avoid some of the less salubrious driving experiences: U-turns, highways, unpaved roads, toll roads and carpool lanes. A look at the on-line manual tells me that it will only avoid these things if doing so won't take me too far out of my way. I stumbled upon a way to add what the unit calls 'via points'. It will guide me to the via point then to my final destination, thus forcing the unit to guide me further out of the way than it normally would to avoid roads I don't want to drive. But that requires a knowledge of the route that eliminates the need for a navigation system.

The user interface for entering in text for city and street names is ABCDE format not QWERTY format. The back light is adjustable but even set to 0% intensity it is still brighter than I would like for night driving and not off which one might think. 100% intensity isn't bright enough for driving into the sun wearing shades if the unit is mounted to the windscreen. It will switch automatically between day and night mode, and remember the last brightness setting. Unfortunately it switches at sunset and sunrise, so the last remembered brightness will likely be too bright or too dim.

Things I like about it so far:

• It has a huge database. With the Belkin/iPaq solution I had to plan where I was going to go that I may need navigation help, then try to make the required maps fit on the SD memory card, go buy a bigger SD memory card, etc. With this unit I could be abducted by aliens and use it to find my way home, as long as they're North American aliens.
• The voice directions are loud, and clear and have a convenient volume knob (no piling into the car in front of you while surfing the menus just trying to get the thing to shut up).
• It is very fast calculating routes, taking only a few seconds to find its way halfway across the country.
• It turns on when given power from the cigarette lighter, and will turn off 30 seconds after power is removed unless battery operation is selected.
• It has a safe mode which warns you about playing with it while the car is moving. This mode can be turned of so a passenger can update the route.
• If no destination is programmed in it will display the next cross street eliminating the annoying search for the hidden street sign.
  

I recently had an opportunity to use the unit on a trip to a distant large city. The hotel we were going to was not located exactly where the database thought it was so we missed the entrance the first time, but the unit guided us neatly around the missed approach for another try. Over three days the unit took us shopping and eating and back to the hotel much more easily than we could have done with hard copy maps. On one excursion the digital sign over the expressway warned of 30-35 minute delays ahead. With two button pushes I was given new directions before I passed the next exit. Since I was supposed to meet someone in less that 30 minutes that trick alone is probably worth the price of the unit.

Finally the biggest advantage is that navigation errors can be blamed on the Garmin. This goes a long way to reduce the chances of an argument with the SO when stuck in traffic or lost. That is definitely worth the price of the unit.