Technology in the age of the Internet

Category: Computers

  • Debian buster U-Boot network installation to PC Utilite Pro

    This manual explains how to install Debian buster on the internal SSD drive of the “Utilite Pro” device, made by CompuLab. Archived version of the official Utilite website is visible on Archive.org. Wheezy installation for Utilite is described here. First step is to download Debian armhf CD image, then partition the micro-SD card, upgrade U-boot to newer release,…

  • Coreboot installation on Chromebook ASUS C201PA

    Goal In this manual I will try to explain how to install Coreboot (2018 year version) on the Chromebook ASUS C201PA (later referred in the manual simply as C201) with the Paper build system. At the time of writing up this manual (Q1 2018), Libreboot didn’t have any updated sources for this laptop, so I…

  • Setting up ALSA on Chromebook Asus C201 Debian

    ALSA – Advanced Linux Sound Architecture After initial preparation of the bootable Debian images, I managed to boot into Debian from the SD card and run system upgrade and migrate the Operating System from Debian Jessie to Debian Stretch (current Debian testing release). The migration was successful. There are a few things that still require…

  • Libreboot with Debian on Chromebook C201

    A few months back I obtained a Google Chromebook Asus C201. It arrived preinstalled with Chrome OS as default operating system. This laptop was listed as one of the possible laptop models that can use Libreboot. Free Software developer Paul Kocialkowski has ported Libreboot to this Chromebook. Libreboot is a free BIOS or UEFI replacement…

  • GNU is 33 years old

    GNU is an operating system and an extensive collection of computer software. GNU is composed wholly of free software, most of which is licensed under GNU’s own GPL. GNU is a recursive acronym for “GNU’s Not Unix!”, chosen because GNU’s design is Unix-like, but differs from Unix by being free software and containing no Unix…

  • Compulab Utilite image with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr)

    A new image for Utilite devices is available. Default Utilite images were based on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) now there is a new image with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr). You can download it from here or from alternative download location. Once you have it on your hard drive, you can extract it to…

  • How to monitor Bind with Munin on Debian Jessie

    Munin is a networked resource monitoring tool for monitoring your servers. Bind is most widely used open source software that implements the Domain Name System (DNS) protocols for the Internet. This manual doesn’t cover Munin or Bind installation, only the manual how to sync those two together to display queries from Bind inside Munin, here…

  • I will buy a Lemote Yeeloong laptop

    Chinese company by the name Lemote produced a few batches of FSF endorsed laptops called Lemote Yeeloong back in 2010 – 2012. First Yeeloong was the model 8089B with a 8.9″ screen, followed by 8101B with a 10.1″ screen size. These laptops are now out of sale and only obtainable on a second hand market.…

  • Free hardware designs

    In the recent years the Free Software Foundation has encouraged (computer) hardware manufacturers to start producing free (free as in freedom) hardware. Most hardware produced and sold today has proprietary design (Apple, Intel, etc.) and is therefore restricted/encrypted and hard to use with free software, requiring programmers to use reverse engineering methods and write the…

  • Utilite computer 3.10.17 Linux kernel upgrade

    This is the manual about how to (properly) compile Utilite-developed Linux kernel for the Utilite computer (Utilite Pro) running “Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin)”. It’s mostly written for my own reference in case of possible future upgrades, but some might find it useful, as otherwise the information seems to be scattered around the Internet. We…