Anyone who has read my previous posts knows that I love both Linux and old computers, specifically because Linux runs on old computers. Knowing that laptops are a bit touch and go, I am reticent to buy newer laptops, unless they are IBM Thinkpads, but I cannot afford to buy IBM Thinkpads.
Here is my problem (uh-oh), Compaq Armada 1750's are as old as IBM Thinkpad 600e's, yet getting sound to work on both of these laptops (both of which I owe) is still a bitch and a half. Given that my distro of choice is Debian, I can understand the hoops that I have to jump through on the Thinkpad (because of licenses), but when it comes to a Compaq Armada 1750, WTF! There is nothing that I have been able to find on the interweb that would indicate that the 8 hours I spent getting sound to work is related to licensing. I have seen, through my research, solutions dating back to Debian 3.1 (Sarge).
Debian 7 (Wheezy) was released this year; how the fuck is this still a problem? Just in case the poor, suffering developers of Debian want to feel victimized, sound doesn't work on Legacy OS either, and that is based on Puppy Linux.
How can I be expected to advocate for Linux, when I can't play a wav file on a computer with a Pentium 2, because of an oversight by the developers? Based upon my research, this is not isolated to Debian, but I do not see as how it is the problem of ALSA's developers, because when you follow the instructions on their webpage, it works.
Why do I have to go to the Alsa project webpage to figure out how to get this shit working? I put up with the hoops that I had to jump through for the Thinkpad 600e, and it made me a better Linux user for it, but I cannot figure out why I spent 6 hours (2 hours trying to find any distributions to work, and 6 hours on a clone of one of my other debian laptops) trying to get the same result, without the licensing restriction.
Is it time for me to say 'fuck you' to Linux, or should I just say 'fuck you' to Debian? Should I move forward, to BSD (that is never expected to work but does), or regress to Windoze?
No, you are not the only one. I have a 600e with Debian wheezy. The sound worked right away. No problems. But now it does not work. After working for several months, it now loads the wrong sound module.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I lose sound on my 600e, I check the BIOS and make sure that Quick Boot is disabled.
ReplyDelete