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fsmithred

Administrator

Registered: 2016-11-25

Posts: 2,486  

Re: [SOLVED, don't buy one to begin with] dell xps-13

Oh, I didn't realize you have an ethernet port. You're all set. Plug in, then

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
apt-get install broadcom-sta-dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential

You might need to reboot to get it to work.

Maybe the local coffee shop will let you plug in with a wire. Then you don't have to wait for the next visit to a hotel.

While you're there, you can install whatever php packages you need. You should already have ncurses. I don't understand the part about matching versions - I didn't think they were related in any way. ncurses-base in ascii is 6.0+20161126-1+deb9u2 and php7.0 is 7.0.30-0+deb9u1.

A search for 'php-ncurses debian' brings up a a few hits. This one from 2015 looks promising, but my browser is timing out trying to get there. http://grosan.co.uk/how-to-install-php- … on-debian/

crankypuss

Member

Registered: 2018-09-15

Posts: 58  

Re: [SOLVED, don't buy one to begin with] dell xps-13

Oh, I didn't realize you have an ethernet port. You're all set. Plug in, then

Presumably you mean after i've installed the OS from the .iso file referenced in some post above this one which i can't access at this point.   And after installing the recommended .iso file in some partition and
rebooting to run the newly installed OS.  At that point in the process i run the following commands to install the broadcom drivers.  If that is correct, then 'uname' should in some way correspond to the version number or codename of the version that you recommend.  i think that was the latest one, its name escapes me at present but will resurface immediately prior to its download. <g>

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
apt-get install broadcom-sta-dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential

You might need to reboot to get it to work.

If i only have to boot it once after powering up that will be an order of magnitude better than ubuntu, and i'll omit the rant on that one.  for now.  the one on systemd and how it jammed up everyone's nose.

Maybe the local coffee shop will let you plug in with a wire. Then you don't have to wait for the next visit to a hotel.

The nearest equivalent to a local coffee shop is a casino restaurant about 6 miles south, and i expect to be in a hotel again within a week.  Just not a Marriot, i'm tired of their double-charge method of authoriztion lameness when you use a debit card.  Should skip that rant too.

While you're there, you can install whatever php packages you need. You should already have ncurses. I don't understand the part about matching versions - I didn't think they were related in any way. ncurses-base in ascii is 6.0+20161126-1+deb9u2 and php7.0 is 7.0.30-0+deb9u1.

A search for 'php-ncurses debian' brings up a a few hits. This one from 2015 looks promising, but my browser is timing out trying to get there. http://grosan.co.uk/how-to-install-php- … on-debian/

The deal with ncurses is that being an archaic interface is not the worst of it, the worst of it is the way PHP was basically subsumed for corporate profit and one has to use some PECL or something to install a version of the PHP/ncurses interface.  And at some version or other, variable naming was changed so that the ncurses interfaces no longer match, and nobody has bothered to fix it.  I doubt that anybody is even using it besides me, due to its limitations, but i have an extensive nautilus extension that does everything but unplug the kitchen sink, and i'm not about to waste time contributing to zend/whatever's profit, so the latest version of the PECL extension should imo determine the version number of a corresponding PHP.

I think few agree with the way i see things.  The project i'm currently working on will be largely proprietary because that is, in practical terms, the only way to ensure that a standard is followed.  At the same time it would save me a lot of work to pick up some copyable arithmetic routines, though it doesn't matter that much since that all has to follow a common interface to allow various arithmetic hardware to be used.

Dang, running on again, my bad.  Anyway i'll definitely check here for footprints before installing.  I expect it to be no big deal, and apologize for not realizing prior to spending a week in various hotels that simply plugging in a cable would do the trick. 

BTW, can anyone tell me what happened to the kind of discussions we used to have on usenet, last time i looked it was just a few trolls talking to itselves.

fsmithred

Administrator

Registered: 2016-11-25

Posts: 2,486  

Re: [SOLVED, don't buy one to begin with] dell xps-13

Presumably you mean after i've installed the OS from the .iso file referenced in some post above this one which i can't access at this point.   And after installing the recommended .iso file in some partition and
rebooting to run the newly installed OS.  At that point in the process i run the following commands to install the broadcom drivers.  If that is correct, then 'uname' should in some way correspond to the version number or codename of the version that you recommend.

Yes, install the wireless firmware after you install the system to hard drive. I forget which iso you're using, too. If you're using one of the installer isos, you could use an ethernet cable during the installation and pull packages from the repository. The live-isos just install from the media.

uname -r is a command that returns the version number of the running kernel. Putting it in the package name like that is using command substitution, and you can run that apt-get command exactly the way I posted it. Bash will substitute the kernel version, and you'll get the right linux-headers package. It's also possible to represent it like this: linux-headers-`uname -r`. It does the same thing, and it's easier to type, but it's less visible in a forum post.

crankypuss

Member

Registered: 2018-09-15

Posts: 58  

Re: [SOLVED, don't buy one to begin with] dell xps-13

Well here i am LMAO.  Pulled the laptop out, plugged it in, noticed that it wasn't charging; diagnostics claim it's getting volts but no amps through a 1watt charger (oops!).  Looks like the ampmeter-circuit to measure charger output and battery volts is kaput, or the battery is.

Anyway it works but does not charge.   Not sure what to do about this, maybe install onto an external drive, maybe pull the hard-drive out and pitch the rest, maybe buy a new laptop, but unfortunately those cost money.  Moot until next time i'm set up with an ethernet connection i guess.  LOL.

Those running happily on a laptop, or not so happily, if it was laptop-xmas time, what would you get?  Since my blackberry is limping along, maybe i can find a laptop/phone combination that works well together.

Or maybe i can use good sense (for a change) and use the Dell without worrying over the battery.

fsmithred

Administrator

Registered: 2016-11-25

Posts: 2,486  

Re: [SOLVED, don't buy one to begin with] dell xps-13

Or maybe i can use good sense (for a change) and use the Dell without worrying over the battery.

That's what I do on my 12-year-old Dell laptop. There always seems to be a wall outlet nearby, and I don't have to worry about working too long and running down the battery.

crankypuss

Member

Registered: 2018-09-15

Posts: 58  

Re: [SOLVED, don't buy one to begin with] dell xps-13

Or maybe i can use good sense (for a change) and use the Dell without worrying over the battery.

That's what I do on my 12-year-old Dell laptop. There always seems to be a wall outlet nearby, and I don't have to worry about working too long and running down the battery.

I've been known to let things limp along too.  I've also been known to go buy a new computer or phone
just because i want to.  It isn't as though i'm forced to Adult all the time, once you're retired you can
more or less do what you please, though i've been doing so much as-i-please lately that i have to Adult for
a while. <G>

Probably i'll just install as i would otherwise, once it's installed i can back it up with the other dozen or
so distros i have laying around on removable media.  An installed copy of linux is remarkably portable.
If i black out and end up with a new Surface device i'll have it ready to go.

I wonder if anybody else is sick of the keyboard/editor circus.  Between my Dell, my Chromebook, and
my Blackberry, i have 3 different keyboard layouts, and as a touch typist it makes me kind of nuts.

crankypuss

Member

Registered: 2018-09-15

Posts: 58  

Re: [SOLVED, don't buy one to begin with] dell xps-13

Okay.  I was in a hotel with a hardline ethernet connection.  I downloaded the netinst iso as recommended on the download page.  It went through the install and left me with 3200x1800 screen resolution which is unreadable, but that's to be expected.  What wasn't expected is that it never asked about proprietary drivers and when all was said and done there weren't any.

linux is just not worth the trouble.  never has been, since ubuntu-oneiric.  i'm sure other peoples' mileage varies, but i'm disgusted by the whole situation.  it could be so much better.  if not for copyrights and word-twisting lawyers and patents nobody can afford to file for when they know anything worth stealing will be stolen once it's proven its value.  money and lawyers.  nuff sed.

HextorBRX

Member

Registered: 2017-08-20

Posts: 106  

Re: [SOLVED, don't buy one to begin with] dell xps-13

Proprietary drivers are automatically installed if they match your computer requirements. However, when you choose the "advanced installation", you are prompted to install your system with or without proprietary drivers. Therefore, the best way to handle proprietary drivers individually is to use the script in the desktop live iso.

crankypuss

Member

Registered: 2018-09-15

Posts: 58  

Re: [SOLVED, don't buy one to begin with] dell xps-13

Or maybe i can use good sense (for a change) and use the Dell without worrying over the battery.

That's what I do on my 12-year-old Dell laptop. There always seems to be a wall outlet nearby, and I don't have to worry about working too long and running down the battery.

In my case, since i'm offgrid, and cloud-effect often occurs in the afternoon, bumping the solar array voltage over its limit, my 110v AC has a tendency to cut out for 30 seconds until the solar controller has a chance to catch up.  Fortunately the modification i made to its charger cable, along with another gizmo, lets me run it on 12vDC and i've some of those outlets around.

I just wish i hadn't shorted whatever i shorted when making that modification, it had/has good battery life when combined with linux suspend.

I resolved the wifi-card issue by replacing the damn Broadcom chip with a generic Intel one, it was easy to replace and only cost about $12 or so.  As a result of that i can now run Devuan on it, as well as on my "windows box" a thinkpad t510.

Thanks to all who attempted to help.

Anyone who has an xps-13?  Ditch the Broadcom chip.