Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2007 June 16

= June 16 =

How to install Xubuntu without nuking my recovery partition
I'm attempting to install Xubuntu 7.04 onto my Acer TravelMate notebook, but am unsure how to do so without erasing the Windows XP recovery partition on the hard disk.

The partition manager on the LiveCD identifies HDA1 as the recovery partition, HDA2 as the Windows partition (drive C), and HDA5 as drive D (Acer divides their hard drives into two even partitions, for some stupid reason). The recovery partition is about 2GB in size, whereas drives C and D are about 17.5GB each.

The only "guided" options are to resize the free space on the disk, or to use the entire disk; I don't want the second option, as I'm sure that'll nuke the recovery partition.

What should I do? Please help me, I'm tired of Windows and would dearly like to switch. --Lumina83 04:41, 16 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Use Manually edit partition table to resize hda2 to free up maybe 1gb for swap to make hda3, and free up at least 8gb from hda5 for root at hda6. --antilivedT 11:24, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

OS
Hi, I know this might sound dumb to many users, but where is the operating system stored in a computer? The hard disk?


 * Yes. --antilivedT 11:19, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Definately (unless its an old BBC Micro - that was stored on ROM)--Tugjob 13:52, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Not so fast. If your definition of computer includes more than just the common desktop personal computers, you will find it's very common to have the operating system on flash memory, which sometimes (usually in smaller microcontrollers) is even inside the CPU itself. Even on desktop personal computers, if you use network booting, the operating system comes from the network; you can also have the operating system on an optical drive (Live CD), on a USB flash drive (Live USB), or even on a floppy disk (several Mini Linux distributions). --cesarb 01:17, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Right. I'm sure most of our cell phones are running something that could be defined as an operating system. Root4(one) 02:17, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I believe most are. On the most advanced ones (smartphones, for instance), it's visible, but even the most basic ones probably use a small embedded operating system. And cell phones aren't the only place where you would find it; residential gateways are another common place, for instance (usually botting from flash). --cesarb 09:53, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Digital cameras, half decent network printers, modern cars, some fridges, one day your toaster will have an operating system, followed by your sun glasses. Vespine 22:21, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Name of this font
What is the name of the font used on the cover of the Tokyopop translation of Wedding Peach? I used to have this font, it's free for download but now I've forgotten what it's called. --Candy-Panda 09:41, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Dafont is always a good place to start your search -- Phoeba WrightOBJECTION! 01:50, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, but I still couldn't find the one I was looking for. --Candy-Panda 02:44, 17 June 2007 (UTC) http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/ - go there, and you'll need to have loaded your image into a nice program like Corel Draw, done some filters and conversions to get it looking neat, cropped, and then upload it to What The Font, which should go a long way to identifying it for you. Rfwoolf 17:53, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Graphics card
Can anyone tell me which graphics card is better: ATI X1100 or NVIDIA 7400? Thanks


 * From what i've heard (from a person who knows a lot about computers..believe me)most graphics cards are really the same unless you get a really good one, which i don't think are these two. The memory on it also doesn't really matter but just make sure you get 256mb or over so it fits with windows vista if you're getting it. I like ATI and never really tried NVidia. It's upto you, i don't think it would make any difference which one you bought. NVIDIA i've also heard is supposed to be better though.Wiki.user 14:09, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
 * If you ever plan to use linux, go with Nvidia.--67.181.167.227 15:03, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
 * WTF, that's terrible advice. Nvidia's closed-source drivers cause no end of trouble. If you ever plan to use Linux, go with Intel. —Keenan Pepper 01:41, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Intel makes integrated graphics, which A- limits your choice in motherboards, and B- sucks. Nvidia's drivers are fine, and I've never heard anyone having trouble with them. NEVER buy ATI if you plan on going with linux though, and hell, given my experience with them, I wouldn't even use them on Windows. The only time I'd buy an ATI product is inside a console. -- Phoeba WrightOBJECTION! 01:48, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
 * There are good open source drivers for ATI cards based on R200 and R300 chips, unlike any Nvidia chips. This means that both 2D and 3D graphics will stay supported on all foreseeable versions of Linux and x.org.  This is why I always buy ATI for Linux use.  84.239.133.38 10:36, 17 June 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm also looking into a new graphics card that works well with Linux (if it doesn't, the system becomes horribly slow, for starters). From what I've understood, Nvidia is one of those few companies that write Linux drivers themselves, which should be better for both the users (a good driver) and the developers (loads of spare time to put into other activities). If the drivers are good, it's no big deal if they are closed source, I'd say. Are you (Keenan) saying their drivers aren't good (enough)? DirkvdM 10:35, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Oh, another thing I just thought of. A closed source driver will no be part of a distro, so you'll have to install it yourself (yes?), which can be problematic in Linux (dependencies). I was thinking of the nVidia 'Personal Cinema' and that seems not to work under Linux (at least not the tv-in). I've read somewhere that the very similar ATI 'All In Wonder' has a driver in Suse 10.1 and that works well. So maybe closed source is indeed a bad idea. DirkvdM 12:38, 17 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Yeah, closed source drivers aren't in the distro itself, but it's no problem if you use something like Ubuntu Feisty's Restricted Drivers Manager, which automagically installs closed sourced drivers -- Phoeba WrightOBJECTION! 19:09, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

CPU fan won't start.
I just assembled a PC, and when I try to boot it, the CPU fan won't start. It kind of twitches, moving slightly (not even a full rotation), then it gives up and dies. The rear case fan starts up, but after 5 or 6 seconds the entire machine shuts off. 10 seconds later, it'll try to boot again, and this cycle repeats itself until I turn off the machine at the PSU's rocker switch. Any idea what I could have done wrong? I'm using a Core 2 Duo E6320 on a Gigabyte GA-945PL-S3(V3.3) motherboard. I'd appreciate any advice anyone can offer. Froglars the frog 13:30, 16 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Sonds like a worn out fan. I have had this problem on an old computer. Just give it a flick with the end of a pencil to see if it continues - worked on mine. Otherwise its new fan time !--Tugjob 13:51, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

It's a brand new fan, paid $240 for it just last week, and this is the first time I've tried to use it. 202.10.86.63 14:01, 16 June 2007 (UTC)


 * You mean $2.40 yes (not two hundred forty)? Take it back to the store.--Tugjob 14:05, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
 * No he means $240 for the fan which is bundled with the processor. Actually the funny thing is that the fan is behaving as it should, I had exactly the same scare when I first built my core 2 duo system recently, I put it together and turned it on, saw the CPU fan twitching, thought oh crap! and killed it straight away. After some forum searching I learned that this is normal, unless you start loading the CPU which only happens when I'm playing games, never on the internet, the fan won't actually need to run, the heat sink is enough to dissipate the heat without the fan. Now, the rest, with the case fan stopping and your PC shutting it self down, that IS definitely a problem.. Re read your mobo manual, make sure you have plugged in all the power leads correctly, there is MORE THEN ONE power lead to the mobo now! Then take out your components and re seat them, try the memory 1st and try again. Do you have onboard video? Do you have a decent power supply? Those are the 1st things I'd check, but the CPU fan thing, that's normal. Vespine 04:00, 18 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Make sure your Power Supply is enough for this system, most of the time if a fan is failing to go around, and if it turns off afterwords it usually is overheating or Power Supply problem... Check into that 200.35.168.129 18:59, 18 June 2007 (UTC)  Ag for MemTech

iPod?!?
My Ipod won't turn on! I've been to Apple help, but before I get it serviced, I want to try to fix the problem myself.

What's going on? My iPod was working normally until I plugged it into my computer. At that point, I turned it off. It never turned on again. SpeakoutLOUD 14:20, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
 * When you plug your iPod into the computer, does iTunes see it?--67.181.167.227 15:02, 16 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Is the battery completely flat? I guess it's hard to tell if you can't connect to your computer, but you could try using an external charger (mains or car) if you have access to one and charge it using that. Have you tried resetting? (BTW it could be relevant if you said which iPod you have). --jjron 15:30, 16 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Have you tried resetting it? If not, you might find this link helpful.  Dismas |(talk) 04:43, 17 June 2007 (UTC)


 * You might also try plugging it in directly to the wall adapter (you know, that little plug that came with it, which is nothing but a firewire plug and an A/C plug). Sometimes that can help it out when it won't start up, strangely enough. But yeah, try to reset it first, that fixes 90% of the problems (and doesn't delete anything). --24.147.86.187 11:28, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Blender Physics
In Blender (newest version), how can I make an object have its own gravity in the physics/game engine? Any help would be appreciated!--67.181.167.227 15:43, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes it can. I've never used the game engine, but to do it in the physics engine: in object mode select the object you want gravity for, press F7 twice to get the physics panel (or choose Animation -> Physics on the panel); then choose Field Type: Spherical. I can't remember if positive or negative strength gives an attractive force, but one of them does. You can fiddle with the other settings, or look them up at the Blender wiki. --Taejo|대조 23:08, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Getting songs from MySpace
Using a program called MySpace MP3 Gopher, you can download songs that are not marked as downloadable from the MySpace RTMP server or something like that. I am not too knowledgable about these things, so I don't know exactly how it works, besides that it records the music stream. Unfortunately, it appears that it encodes the songs at 96kbps no matter what. Is this just the bit rate that MySpace streams the songs at, or are there other programs out there that can record it at a higher bit rate? Thanks for the help. 71.117.45.75 16:44, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
 * If you are interested in recording anything from the internet but can't find a way to download it, you could (assuming you are running Windows) double-click the little volume button on the taskbar. On the window of sliders it opens up, go to Options. Click Properties. Select "Adjust volume for: Recording". Hit OK. Select "Stereo Mixer" and open up a program that records sound (Windows comes with a program called Sound Recorder). You are now recording the computer's output. If you have a program like Audacity you can record and export as mp3s and those kind of things. That doesn't really answer your question though...and yes, I believe myspace mp3 files would be around 96 kb/s. NIRVANA2764 21:54, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the advice on recording, but my sound card (actually I have two for some reason, and apparently they are in conflict...I don't know exactly what is wrong) is messed up and all I get is a weird monotone screech. Sound Recorder and Audacity yielded the same results. Well I guess 96 kbps isn't too bad... 71.117.45.75 05:09, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Lossless audio question
This is probably a pretty stupid question. I often do direct copies of discs and am wondering how I can maximize audio quality, I'm a bit of an audiophile so I'm nitpicky as to how it comes out. iTunes can import files from a CD as .wav or .aiff, I'm just wondering if there's really a difference between the two? I know they're both lossless but is one generally preferred over the other? Another thing - I have two CD drives, and Nero Express has a "Direct Copy" feature. Is doing this better or worse than lossless, or is there really no difference? Thanks for your time and assistance! NIRVANA2764 21:49, 16 June 2007 (UTC)


 * The WAV file format allows several different encodings and compressions, but it usually holds PCM or ADPCM data, which have nearly no compression (so the output file is huge). I don't know much about AIFF. Either way, any LOSSLESS format will retain maximum quality, and the only question you'll face is how much space are you willing to use with it. The "direct copy" feature is a bit-for-bit copy of a CD, so it doesn't matter what's in it, there will be no loss of quality. In any way, I'd recommend FLAC as a lossless audio format. FLAC is free and pretty portable. Monkey Audio is good too if you're on Windows. &mdash; Kieff | Talk 22:40, 16 June 2007 (UTC)


 * If you are seriously worried about making exact copies, use Alcohol 120%. It has a reputation of being one of the more exacting disc copiers. --24.147.86.187 23:03, 16 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Because CDs are digital, you either get a perfect copy or you get noticeable artifacts (dropouts, pops, stuttering). If your CDs are in good condition, all the methods (WAV, AIFF, whatever) will give you a perfect copy. If they're a little scratched, some audio extractors will give up too soon and produce artifacts, where others will reread the scratched section a few times to recover the perfect data. I recommend cdparanoia. —Keenan Pepper 01:38, 17 June 2007 (UTC)


 * The files on your CD are actually in AIFF format, so they could just be copied straight to the hard drive that way. There should be no loss converting it to WAV, but there's no need for the intermediary step. Finally, if you have two disc drives, just do the direct copy. No need to go to the hard drive at all.


 * Can you provide a reference for that information? I have never heard that before, and can't find any specifics in the AIFF or Red Book (audio CD standard) article.  -- LarryMac  | Talk  18:07, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't doubt that somewhere there are CDs with AIFF files on them and there are CD players which can play them, but CD Audio describes that the CD standard was developed by Phillips(whoops, I mean philips) in 1980 while AIFF was developed by Apple Computer in 1998 so I don't think the two are synonymous. Similarly, you can burn straight wavs to a CD and have them play in a CD player. Vespine 05:45, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Modifying a song
I have a hip-hop song in MP3 format in which I find the verses too long and too few iterations of the chorus. Thus, I'd like to insert extra copies of the chorus. But I don't want to end up with an uneven beat or broken notes, so I need the start and end of the copied chorus, and the insertion points, to be at precisely the same point in the loop. What's the easiest way to do this? Neon Merlin  23:18, 16 June 2007 (UTC)


 * You will need editing software. Audacity is a free and open-source digital audio editor.  Your request will require some skill and manual alignment of the song components.  Save backups of the file and practice until you are satisfied.  Nimur 23:59, 16 June 2007 (UTC)


 * What I meant was is there a free program (or an extension to Audacity) that will detect the exact length of the loop (after, if necessary, temporarily de-mixing it from the vocals) and snap the cursor accordingly? Neon  Merlin  02:37, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Not that I've heard of. Audacity shows the waveforms though so you can see where a drumbeat would be placed and you can zoom in extremely far and literally see the wave form in a line. Just select it, copy selection, create new stereo track, paste, and use the time-shift tool to drag it to the desired place. NIRVANA2764 02:54, 17 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Automatic detection and cursor-snapping would be a pretty complicated operation on its own. De-mixing the vocals would be almost impossible (though some tools use notch filters and bluntly remove entire blocks of the frequency spectrum where vocals usually reside).  I think you will have better luck manually adjusting the waveform. Nimur 10:18, 17 June 2007 (UTC)


 * I've had some experience with learning this, and it's not too difficult once you learn how to precisely find the first beat of a measure and line them up that way. It's not bad with practice. Someoneinmyheadbutit&#39;snotme 15:53, 17 June 2007 (UTC)


 * I know you're looking for a "free" way to do this...but im answering to the part you mentioned about the easiest way. I would recommend Acid, it used to be from Sonic Foundry, now it's Sony. This program has beat detection for songs, and it can split songs into measures, and will allow you to work with the file in any way you need. I would recommend this highly, you can even split the channels to try and get the voice only, i use this when making a "x" mix of a song.    P.S.> Let me also get home so i can check in my collection of audio editing software if there is any free way to get the same results  200.35.168.129 19:51, 18 June 2007 (UTC)   Ag for MemTech