Miscellaneous stupid problems

These issues are not related to music making, but to general settings on my laptop (a Sony Vaio VGN-SR29VN).

1. Keyboard layout messed up after having used a USB keyboard
When having used a USB keyboard, the automatic num lock setting (in both Ubuntu and the abominable Vista) is ON. Not being aware of this + not being used to a keyboard without a number pad = frustration. Lucky that the solution was so easy - Ctrl+NumLk to switch off num lock.

2. Keymap misbehaving with USB keyboard
After booting up Ubuntu Hardy with an external keyboard, I can't use accents (like é, which is a character in my name, so it's quite important to me). Typing "setxkbmap se" in the console does the trick. But I was already using the Swedish keymap! Maybe this is not a problem in Intrepid, I haven't checked yet.

3. Wireless networking with the Intel WiFi Link 5100 - in Hardy and in Intrepid
I had almost forgot that I had yet to configure the wireless network interface. In my computer, the interface is an Intel WiFi Link 5100, which, as I've learned after googling around, can be used with the iwl3945 kernel module. For those new to fiddling around with kernel modules, I can definitely recommend modconf, the module manager with graphical menus.

Apparently, the iwl3945 module comes with Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid), but not with 8.04 (Hardy). So when I want to record music (with the realtime capable kernel) I have to use Hardy, but if I want to be able to use dual screens or my wireless connection I need to use Intrepid if I don't want to hack around too much. Hardly ideal, but hey, at least everything works decently somewhere...

Speaking of wireless connections, I've found that wicd is better than network-manager for managing connections. For instructions on how to install it in Ubuntu, read this! (you'll need to scroll down a little bit.

First steps - I've got sound!

I have now installed Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy) on my laptop. Sadly, Hardy's ATI drivers for Xorg don't seem to support my ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3400, so I have to run proprietary drivers for now.

One possibly good piece of advice for anyone looking into Linux audio (or Linux in general) is "don't buy a laptop model that's too new!" or you will need a load of patience to hack around with it - sure, Ubuntu 8.10 recognizes most of my hardware, but in this case, I need to run 8.04 to get real time capabilities.

After some googling and hacking (among other things, I followed this thread about making Jack work in real time mode) I can now get sound through the Edirol FA-66. FINALLY!

Everything's not fine, though. Jack has crashed a couple of times during the last 20 minutes, Qjackctl seems to be inclined to freeze, and there is some annoying crackling and popping going on during playback in Ardour - although neither Qjackctl nor Ardour registers xruns (Ardour does, however, detect "spikes" in master output).

On one hand, I'm glad that I've gotten this far. There's definitely a sense of accomplishment, and I'm hopeful about this whole project. On the other hand, there are obviously some issues to be dealt with before I've got a stable, working setup.