Developer’s diaries

PulseAudio is so damn annoying. I am trying to install Ubuntu 8.10 on a friend’s computer. All went well with the installation, but it didn’t recognize the sound card. So i went with the usual - terminal -> alsaconf -> configure sound card …. but wait… what the?

“alsaconf: command not found”

After this I just look stupid and try not to destroy my monitor. apt-get install alsa-utils, done, alsaconf… not found… what the!? 

After reading through the forums it seems that they have thrown out alsaconf because it broke some dependencies with the packaging system. 

So I was went to uninstalling pulseaudio. removed all packages using aptitude to resolve the deps. reboot -> still no sound. 

I downloaded alsa-utils from http://www.alsa-project.org and tried to compile it, but some tools were missing and i had to travel to Sofia, so I left it as it was. 

I returned a few days ago, but just today i could work on the problem again. I download alsa-driver, alsa-lib, alsa-util and installed from source. Still i couldn’t load the drivers.  They get loaded as it can be seen from modprobe output, but it’s like it doesn’t know which sound card it is using. The driver is loaded, but still no sound devices detected. I finally gave up and downloaded opensuse 11.0, which i am currently installing and i hope it will just work. 

That’s why i sometimes hate linux… but what can i do, i still like it

I will write soon with the results from this exercise.

I just did an online nerd test at NerdTests and guess what my score was

So, people .. I greet you with Weird Al Yankovic - White and nerdy - never joke with a nerd! I bite!

I wish hosting providers sold services, which were offered in the adverts. The host I currently use, say they provide fast and good service, but today I was left in a WTF?! condition after a 10 minute wait to open the blog. I used to surf with such a speed in the dial-up age, almost 6-7 years ago. Could a hosting provider use a dial-up connection for the servers ?

Wow, even now, while writing this post I stumble upon some serious errors, caused by the slowness of the service. I wonder how long will this last and when will I move to another hosting provider…

Apart of the hosting problems, lately I’ve been very busy coding my latest projects, which for now will remain secret . One of them is almost ready, but still testing for bugs. The other should be ready in a few days and then a week or two more to test it and it will open for the public. I will write, once it is up and running.

I can’t think of anything else to tell you for now. “Me, Over!”

It’s been few rough days lately. On Sunday I was at the second test at the NBU (New Bulgarian Universiy) and I hope I did well. I had 66 (sixty six) points out of 100 at the first one and I think that was a good result, as 98.54% of the other people who took the test had a lesser score. The results from the second test should be available very soon (tommorow, I hope).

After the test I got back home and needed a loong relaxing sleep, but instead I took my time and reorganized my noteook’s files. Surely a time eating process. As usual I stood up late and got to bed well after midnight and today I am like a beaten up - my head hurts badly, my eyes are closing, as I feel so sleepy, as I never felt before.

On the other hand the only thing that still keeps me up is that I got my brand new Buffalo WHR-125G wireless router/accesspoint and I am still playing with it. I will write a review of it tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, or when I feel like writing about it . Surely it’s a great router, from what I have seen/tested for a few hours, though I couldn’t find any way to play with TTL values, but this is a subject of a little firmware touching .

P.S. School can damage your brain very hard!!

Biser Perchinkov

There it comes - the new begining, which this blog needed for very long time now. Sure enough it has been a while since I last updated this page and this was due to my lack of interest in the subject named ‘blogging’. Now I have gained some interest, or may be I want to explore a new type of communication with the people around the world.

As communication is a two-way process, I want to make the first step and introduce myself to those who don’t know me. I am Biser Perchinkov, 18 years old programmer from the small, Eastern Europe country of Bulgaria. Now you may think if I am Bulgarian, why don’t I write in Bulgarian language as well? The answer is simple - I want to practice my english and I think this is a good way to do that. This will be a dual-language site, of course I cannot keep people from my country who don’t speak/read english away from the site, can I?

About the topics you would see me writing about are mainly related to computing, programming and stuff I personally like, dislike, etc. Don’t expect me to strictly bind myself to programming topics, or to personal stuff. There will be a bit of everything here. If you are interested in given topic, you can browse the categories you like from the sidebar.

I think that’s enough for now. If you want to say something, or share any cool ideas, write me (you will find contact information in the About page).

Biser Perchinkov