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I still have the bluetooth issue, but at least I have an idea it will be resolved. It's just a matter of how soon. Seems that once upon a time as things were changing Blueman (the bluetooth manager program recommended for Xubuntu 14 and Mint 17 Xfce) had some trouble with PulseAudio and so unloaded the PulseAudio bluetooth module and handled that itself. Or else PulseAudio had an issue, but the result was the same. Then whatever it was got fixed, the do-it-myself work-around in Blueman was removed, but the unloader was left in. Now I wait for a new stable version to reach the repositories so I can update it nicely and have a system without needing an incantation at every boot.
My vacation, which just ended, involved some time in Merrill visiting my mother and other family and friends. It was nice, relaxing week for me. And I brought home a few things, including a printer and flatbed scanner that had been sitting idle for some time. Also, a little USB-cassette gadget that I'd ordered a while back had arrived. All this stuff takes some room and my desk was a cluttered, jumbled mess. So the first order of business (after unloading the car, unpacking, and starting laundry...) was clearing and rearranging the desk. It's better now, but it still wouldn't appear in Better Homes & Gardens. I wouldn't want it to, anyway. It's to be used, not just for display.
The cassette gadget replaces a tape deck and I was amused that the software that was included was Audacity. Sure, the paper said it was Windows & Mac, but the device presents as a USB microphone and I've been using Audacity in Linux for years. But it only worked if I used a USB2 port, not a handier USB3 port. Port speed wasn't important, but that problem lead me to investigate. No USB3 ports were truly working. They had power, sure, but Mint 17 wasn't seeing them right. It was the IOMMU issue again. That took installing Grub Customizer so I could add 'iommu-soft' to the boot parameters and be done. And done it is. I have all the USB ports working again. And the USB-cassette gadget? Works fine, after a little fiddling with PulseAudio settings to get everything just so.
The printer install went very well indeed. I simply told Mint 17 to add a printer and it pretty much went, "Oh this one? Can I download this driver? Wanna print a test page?" and the biggest delay was finding paper. It went so fast that I was disappointed it didn't print, only to find out it had printed. It was just that fast about it. Now I wanted to print stuff, but realized I really only had a need to print a few times a year. At least now I can do that directly and be done.
The scanner took more doing. It's not exactly new. As in, it uses a USB 1.1 connection. And, alas, Linux scanning tools do not support it directly. The result was that while the system saw it fine, the scanning programs went, "What scanner?" The adventure began. Of all the various web pages, this one seemed to be the most useful, even if it was for a different scanner. It has its own problem, which is that Avasys no longer supports the scanner, Epson does. So instead of the Avasys page, I needed Epson's download page and then I goofed and wound up wasting too much time. There are two download pages needed, but three things to download. I kept missing the data file that everything else depended upon.
What's needed? These:
iscan-data_1.29.0-2_all.deb
iscan_2.29.3-1~usb0.1.ltdl7_amd64.deb
iscan-plugin-gt-s600_2.1.2-1_amd64.deb
Once I realized that error and snagged the data file, Epson's scanning program installed. Annoyingly, it then went, "Scanner? What scanner?" but Simple Scan finally went, "Oh, look, a scanner!" and works. I seem to need to disconnect & reconnect it for each session, but it does work. And despite USB 1.1, doesn't seem terribly slow. Now, what do I need to scan?
There are now Special Edition Kit-Kat bars. Not "white chocolate" that I could sample and be done. Not proper dark chocolate I could sample and be done, though tempted. They had to go do it, dagnabbit: Mint Kit-Kats. And I have sampled. And found them good. I really need to not get any more and avoid that aisle in Hy-Vee for a while.
Boingy boingy boingy
16 July 2003 09:53Altoids supply now replenished. One tin peppermint. Two tins cinnamon. Two tins spearmint. Two tins wintergreen... and a freebie wintergreen "tiny tin" too.
Called insurance agent to point out that I drive a Corolla CE and not a Corolla VE. All taken care of over the phone. Insurance company will send me revised papers and bill. A bill that will be $25 less than the one with the incorrect model listed.
Dagnabbit!
14 July 2003 15:49Out of Altoids. Need more. How'd I run out of peppermint, cinnamon, wintergreen, and spearmint all at once? (Yes, I know ginger also exists, but I have yet to find a local supply.)
This and that.
27 June 2003 17:32* Lawn was mowed. Mint & company was untouched. Good.
* Radio commercial for 'Triple Espresso: A Highly Caffeinated Comedy' managed to be completely not funny. Also didn't sound promising.
* Radio promo did manage to be funny, with the UNofficial disclaimer & rules. Much silliness. Memorable line, "...and no selling prizes on ebay. We've already tried that."
* Pondering visiting Rosenthorne this Sunday. A couple people who I knew would be there had to cancel due to illness. They were the clincher for going, now that they are not going, things are... unclinched?
* July 4 will make the weekend after this one a three day weekend for me. Current plans for what to do that weekend: Not a thing. Not beyond watching the fireworks Friday evening, anyway.
Minty aggression?
26 June 2003 17:28There are a couple spots in the yard where the grassy lawn is not present. One, on the corner of the lot by the streetcorner, has some sort of short decorative plant. Mainly short, which is sensible for on a streetcorner. This bit is walled off from the regular lawn by some bricks. Another patch, and that is what it is, a patch, is in a square of 4x4s or such.
Some weeks back I went at that patch and tried to get the weeds out and the soil tilled up a bit. And I planted some seeds: marigolds and moonflowers. These were properly planted, according to the directions on the newly purchased seed packets. As an afterthought I found a couple packets of seeds bought last year (mint and parsley) that had been lying in a drawer for a year or so. These I just threw about, broadcasting them, with no particular effort to do proper planting.
So far, no marigolds. I think a couple moonflowers made an attempt but didn't make it. Some parsley came up. And the mint took quite well. I consider this whole thing an experiment. I'm no gardener, I will freely admit. But I was still irked when that patch was mowed over last week by the folks who take care of the lawn. Guess it all looked like weeds to them. So now there is a sign, albeit a crude one, saying not to mow that patch. Hopefully it will be heeded.
This morning I looked the patch over. There was some of the parsley coming back, though not as tall as before. Still no marigolds or moonflowers. And the mint is coming back with a vengeance as if saying "Mow me, will you? I'll show you!" I'm not sure yet, but I think the mint is out-competing the weeds and the (now fewer than before) dandelions in that patch might not make it. I'd read that mint could be aggressive, but I wasn't expecting it to clobber weeds. I'm not complaining, merely pleasantly surprised.
