10 ways to dodge Linux hardware issues

Sometimes, you just have to accept the fact that a piece of hardware won’t work on Linux. But if you approach things the right way — and you have some good troubleshooting techniques — you can often sidestep problems and get your hardware working.

1: Don’t use very old or cutting-edge hardware

It should be obvious why very old hardware is to be avoided. First, it is going to be on its last legs. Second, the newer distributions are less and less likely to contain legacy support for a piece of hardware that hasn’t been sold for five years. But cutting-edge hardware should also be avoided because its drivers will be iffy at best. Although it’s tempting to want that latest-greatest piece of hardware, many times you will only wind up frustrated because your distribution of choice has yet to catch up with the manufacturers. This is becoming less an issue (as more companies hop on the Linux bandwagon), but it’s still a concern. I tend to avoid anything released within the last six months of the most recent release of my distro of choice. This system doesn’t always work — but with the exception of the Wacom Bamboo Pen tablet, so far so good.

2: Verify support

Before you buy, check whether the product supports either Linux or Mac. If it supports Mac, chances are it supports Linux. This is especially true for printers. Of course, this is not always the case. But if the hardware states that it supports Linux, it’s a sure thing. Before purchasing hardware, I like to find out what the company’s reputation is with Linux. NVidia is always a good choice because it makes drivers for the Linux operating system to run its hardware. This is also true for Lexmark printers. (You will always see Tux on those boxes.)

3: Use proprietary drivers

I know this one burns the bulk of open source fans out there, but sometimes the proprietary drivers just work better. NVidia is a great example of this. Yes, there are the Nouveau drivers for NVidia cards, but those drivers are still suffering from a lack of maturity. Give them time and they will probably stand up to the NVidia proprietary drivers. But even though it might really burn you up to use a proprietary driver, if you need your hardware to work as well as it can, you might have to swallow your pride and use it.

4: Know your log files

There are tons of log files to comb through on a Linux box. But not all of them will help you out with hardware. The log files you need to know are all in /var/log:

• Xorg.0.log — For any X Windows issues
• cups/error_log — For printing issues
• messages — For any hotplugging issues and any issues that involve the kernel, such as non-authentication-based networking issues
• syslog — Sort of a catch-all log file; if you can’t find it in the other log files, you might find it in syslog.

 

5: Don’t use a cutting-edge distribution

It is tempting to live on the cutting edge with your distribution. The problem is the Fedoras and the OpenSuSEs tend to break support for hardware, even if for a short period. This can get frustrating when you do an update only to have it bring X Windows to a screeching halt. Instead, if you like your hardware support to be steady, go with a distribution that offers something like the Ubuntu LTS (Long Term Support). That way, you know the distribution will work with your hardware for the long haul.

6: Don’t draw a conclusion from a Live CD

I have had this happen to me. You have your new machine and you slap in a Live CD only to find out that one piece of hardware doesn’t work. Instead of scrapping that distro, go ahead and install it. In some cases, the full installation will offer much more hardware support than the Live version. This is especially true when proprietary drivers are needed. I recently booted up Ubuntu 10.04 on an Asus laptop that had no wireless support. I plugged that laptop into my wired network, installed the OS, and let the hardware detection discover that a proprietary driver was necessary for wireless to function. Once that was installed, wireless worked perfectly.

7: With wireless, try an open network

There have been instances where I assumed a wireless card wouldn’t work, even though it was detected by the OS. No matter how many times I tried to connect to a network, it simply wouldn’t work. If I see this happening, one of the first things I will do (if I have access) is temporarily drop the security on the wireless access point and see if the machine can then connect. If so, the issue could be encryption. For that, sometimes a different wireless manager will work.

8: Wipe out the xorg.conf file

If you’re using a new distribution (especially Ubuntu >= 9.04), the whole of X Windows has been changed. Instead of heavily relying on the xorg.conf to configure video, a new system is in place that doesn’t require a preconfigured configuration file. If something happens to X, and the only way you can log in is with terminal, make a backup of that xorg.conf file and then delete the original. Once you have done that, restart X (or reboot the machine), and X should come back. If it doesn’t, your video driver is most likely suffering from a bit of a breakdown.

9: Learn the commands

Lots of command-line tools are available to help troubleshoot issues. For instance, the xinput command helps troubleshoot problems with input devices. If you issue the command xinput list, you will get a list of all input devices seen by your kernel. Sometimes, a piece of hardware will have its own tools. Take, for example, the Wacom tablets. When you install the drivers for these pieces of hardware, you will often install troubleshooting tools like wacdump. If you use NVidia proprietary drivers, you can take advantage of the nvidia-config tool (which has an outstanding GUI). It can help you configure advanced features for your video hardware.

10: Try the hardware on a different machine

After much frustration and work, you sometimes need to be 100 percent sure that the issue isn’t faulty hardware. This was the case in my struggle to get a Wacom Bamboo Pen to work with any Linux distribution. At one point, I had to give the hardware a try on my wife’s Mac. It worked fine, so I knew for sure the issue was with Linux. Had the tablet not worked on the Mac, I would have known the hardware to be bad and given up. In this situation, however, the hardware was good and my struggle continued.

Hardware troubleshooting

Most of the time, you can alleviate hardware issues with an update or upgrade. But not every time. And of course, there are many more methods for troubleshooting hardware in Linux. What is your method for doing so?

10 things network administrators need to know about Windows Phone 7

Microsoft has spent a fortune on marketing Windows Phone 7, but there are some areas in which the system just doesn’t measure up. In all fairness, Microsoft redesigned the Windows Mobile operating system from scratch, so this could be considered a 1.0 release — and like any 1.0 release, there is bound to be room for improvement. In addition, a number of features that previously existed in Windows Mobile 6.x have been removed. All of this adds up to some headaches for admins. This list outlines what you need to know before adopting Windows Phone 7.

1: The interface takes a little getting used to

Windows Phone 7 uses a new interface that is completely different from anything Microsoft has ever created before. This new interface requires you to use several touch gestures and can take a bit of getting used to. While some areas of the interface are completely intuitive, others may leave you scratching your head.

2: Some of the hardware is optional

Although Microsoft made phone manufacturers adhere to a strict set of hardware requirements, some components are optional. In other words, the Windows Phone 7 OS will support these components, but the manufacturers are not obligated to include them in the phone. Some of the optional hardware components include:

• Wi-Fi (802.11g and 802.11n)
• Bluetooth
• Expandable storage
• A hardware keyboard

 

3: Some ActiveSync policy settings are missing

Unlike Windows Mobile 6.1, Windows Phone 7 supports only some of the ActiveSync policy settings that are offered by Exchange Server. These Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) policies include:

• Password Required (applicable only to Exchange 2003 SP2)
• Minimum Password Length
• Idle Timeout Frequency Value
• Device Wipe Threshold
• Allow Simple Password
• Password Expiration
• Password History

There are a few other EAS policy settings that are technically enabled, but that will always return a value of True. These include:

• Disable Removable Storage
• Disable IrDA
• Disable Desktop Sync
• Block Remote Desktop
• Block Internet Sharing

All other EAS policy settings always return a value of False.

4: Managing certificates is more difficult

Windows Mobile 6.x had a built-in applet for managing certificates. Microsoft has done away with this applet in Windows Phone 7. Windows Phone 7 devices have built- in trusts for well-known commercial certificate authorities, but there is no interface for managing certificates that were issued by an in-house enterprise certificate authority.

In spite of the fact that the Certificates applet is gone, all is not lost. I have found that you can install a certificate by emailing it to yourself and then opening the attached certificate through the phone. When you do, the mobile operating system will install the certificate.

5: There’s no access to the file system

For as long as I can remember, Windows Mobile operating systems have included an applet called File Explorer that allows you to navigate the device’s file system. This applet has been removed from Windows Mobile 7, and the underlying file system is no longer directly exposed. Unfortunately, it seems that navigating the device’s file system through a PC when the device is connected to a USB port is not an option either.

6: The initial build is incomplete

Less than a month after the Windows Phone 7 launch, Microsoft announced that an update would soon add copy and paste functionality to Windows Phone 7. Since that time, there have been rumors that a much larger update is on the horizon that may add support for HTML 5 and app multitasking.

7: It won’t work with all mobile networks

I have used Sprint as a cellular carrier since the mid-90s, and my last several phones have had Windows Mobile operating systems. Imagine my shock and disappointment when I learned that the only carriers in the United States that support Windows Phone 7 are AT&T and T-Mobile. It is worth noting, however, that there are rumors circulating about an upcoming CDMA version of Windows Phone 7 that will work on Sprint and Verizon networks. In fact, I recently discovered a Web site that allegedly shows a picture of a soon-to-be-released HTC device from Sprint running Windows Phone 7.

8: It’s really a consumer device

When you read about the missing ActiveSync policies, you might have wondered why so many policy settings aren’t supported by Microsoft’s latest mobile operating system. Microsoft’s official answer to this question is that Windows Phone 7 was developed primarily as a consumer device, not an enterprise device. However, Microsoft hints that more enterprise features may show up in future phone updates.

9: Cell providers can block updates

Many of the smartphones on the market can technically be updated, but many of the mobile carriers have a history of taking measures to block updates. After all, it is in a mobile carrier’s best interest to sell you a new phone, not to extend the life of your existing phone.

When Windows Phone 7 was introduced, Microsoft decided to follow in Apple’s footsteps and provide updates to the phone. However, it has recently been revealed that mobile carriers will have the right to block Microsoft updates for their customers, at least for a while. Microsoft’s corporate vice president and director of Windows Phone Program Management, Joe Belifore, was recently quoted as saying, “We build updates for all Windows Phone users but must certify them with the carriers. They’ll happen on a regular cadence like they do on the PC. If a carrier wants to stop an update, they can. But they will get it out on the next release.”

10: The emulator is broken

In recent years, Microsoft has provided an emulator as a part of the Software Development Kit for Windows Mobile. In the case of Windows Mobile 5 and 6.x, the emulator was an exact replica of a physical Windows Mobile device.

Although Microsoft has released an emulator for Windows Phone 7, it has locked the emulator so that most of the operating system’s features are hidden. Almost immediately, someone hacked the emulator and released a patch that will unlock it. Even so, some areas of the emulator are still inaccessible. For example, the options to set up email accounts and social networking accounts do not seem to do anything.