On the relative lack of straws
February 11th, 2006
Ok, so on thursday we finally get our first assignment for Computer Graphics (this is programming OpenGL, not image editing, mind you). Friday I spend a good chunk of time making sure I have the right libraries on my new Ubuntu Linux installation - I had never liked my laptop more - and testing to make sure it works. Pack up, head home for the weekend.
Bring it out today. And the stupidest thing failed.
THe sensor that detects if the screen is up or down.
So when the laptop first starts up, it immediately goes into sleep mode. Hit power again, and the screen’s backlight never comes on. You can see the slightest images, quite dark - so I hook up a monitor, and yes, things are booting fine. And then it hits Ubuntu.
First Caveat: I can’t see enough to enable the display in the ATI control panel.
Second Caveat: Since the Ubuntu installation actually worked, it has this usually-nice feature of password-protecting the laptop when it detects the screen/lid has been closed. Which at this point is around every seventeen seconds.
Interesingly, I can still boot WinXP and work decently with an external monitor attached. Which I did not set up for the OpenGL development.
[To be inserted here: Teh Sud punting the lappy-kun into goal, american football style. It isn't 'good', and yet it is.]
-Sud.
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