Some intricate problem with linux
I have one weird problem with my 6~9 months old AMD64 computer. FC5, apparently installed without problem. Then i noticed that, my computer will somehow hang the GUI randomly. Sometimes, it happens after I used RealPlayer. Sometimes, it happens after I used skype & sometimes, it happens after I used either Skype or Realplayer & wanted to start another application from the pull down menu. Mysteriously, the open-sourced Mplayer works absolutely well, no matter how long I watch movie with. So I know, it's not a hardware issue at all.
Eventually, I found the root cause being the outdated, close-sourced RealPlayer & Skype software, and the solution, hilariously, is by changing the hardware. Let me explain.
So, I have some 6~9 months old nVidia motherboard, which is considered very new in linux's context. By now, all the drivers for nVidia 6150 VGA, nVIdia Gigabit network & nVidia HD audio are all installed very well by the various repocitories. However, one noticed that Realplayer's version is still stuck at Feb 2006, & skype, for heaven sake is still stuck at Skype for FC3!!!
So, the problem is that, RealPlayer will somehow work with the latest sound card driver but occasionally, it just hang the GUI when you start another application that activate the sound driver also. In this case, clicking the menu will create an audible sound also. The situation with Skype is the same, it works well for me to talk online. Again, after the skype talk, if I click on the menu & invoke the desktop sound, it will hang the GUI also.
Hilariously, the solution is nothing more than putting an old sound card like Yamah YMF724(atleast 7 years old) or a old sound card(by linux context) like Sound Blaster Live 5.1 digital into the system. It simply uses a driver that RealPlayer & Skype are 100% compatible off. So, now, there is no more hanging of GUI desktop after RealPlayer or Skype.
One thing to note though, when I install the addon sound card. FC5 is already advanced enough to detect two sound cards & let users to choose which to use. Bad thing is that, RealPlayer is still not updated enough to switch between the sound cards. And so, I have to disable the onboard sound to force Realplayer to use the addon sound card & finally working flawlessly. And RealPlayer is still needed to play some of the buggy real video clips that is stuck halfway. You can use the scroll bar to skip the stuck part in realplayer. On mplayer, it simply hangs the mplayer & you have to restart, which is not quite a viable solution still.
So, this is a strange dillemma of linux users. 6~9 months old hardwares are considered old by today's standard. Incidentally, AMD is already announcing the end-of-life of my AMD64 3000+ socket 939 cpu. Good enough, FC5's kernel is already at 2.6.17 just few days ago & to be fair, all drivers are fully operational now for my hardwares. Bad enough still, closed-sourced applications like RealPlayer &
Skype has till very slow update for linux & compatibility issues are till not catched up to the open-sourced community.
I think, this is worth putting in my blog...
Eventually, I found the root cause being the outdated, close-sourced RealPlayer & Skype software, and the solution, hilariously, is by changing the hardware. Let me explain.
So, I have some 6~9 months old nVidia motherboard, which is considered very new in linux's context. By now, all the drivers for nVidia 6150 VGA, nVIdia Gigabit network & nVidia HD audio are all installed very well by the various repocitories. However, one noticed that Realplayer's version is still stuck at Feb 2006, & skype, for heaven sake is still stuck at Skype for FC3!!!
So, the problem is that, RealPlayer will somehow work with the latest sound card driver but occasionally, it just hang the GUI when you start another application that activate the sound driver also. In this case, clicking the menu will create an audible sound also. The situation with Skype is the same, it works well for me to talk online. Again, after the skype talk, if I click on the menu & invoke the desktop sound, it will hang the GUI also.
Hilariously, the solution is nothing more than putting an old sound card like Yamah YMF724(atleast 7 years old) or a old sound card(by linux context) like Sound Blaster Live 5.1 digital into the system. It simply uses a driver that RealPlayer & Skype are 100% compatible off. So, now, there is no more hanging of GUI desktop after RealPlayer or Skype.
One thing to note though, when I install the addon sound card. FC5 is already advanced enough to detect two sound cards & let users to choose which to use. Bad thing is that, RealPlayer is still not updated enough to switch between the sound cards. And so, I have to disable the onboard sound to force Realplayer to use the addon sound card & finally working flawlessly. And RealPlayer is still needed to play some of the buggy real video clips that is stuck halfway. You can use the scroll bar to skip the stuck part in realplayer. On mplayer, it simply hangs the mplayer & you have to restart, which is not quite a viable solution still.
So, this is a strange dillemma of linux users. 6~9 months old hardwares are considered old by today's standard. Incidentally, AMD is already announcing the end-of-life of my AMD64 3000+ socket 939 cpu. Good enough, FC5's kernel is already at 2.6.17 just few days ago & to be fair, all drivers are fully operational now for my hardwares. Bad enough still, closed-sourced applications like RealPlayer &
Skype has till very slow update for linux & compatibility issues are till not catched up to the open-sourced community.
I think, this is worth putting in my blog...
posted by coyote at 7:56 PM
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