We’ve been looking at buying a new MiniPCI Wifi card for binky (Kate’s Laptop), and we’ve decided on the Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG (or similiar, maybe a 2915ABG, anything supported by the ipw2200) card, which seems to have really good Linux support.

One of our requirements is WPA-PSK, for use on the network where we are both working at the moment. There are a couple of references to a HOWTO for using wpa_supplicant with the ipw drivers (it has been at http://www.bughost.org/ipw/wpa_howto.txt) but the server appears to be down.

Google cache found a copy for me; which I will put up online as it would be very sad for a resource like this to be lost. You can find my mirror here.

I’ve spent some time recently tweaking kate’s laptop’s X configuration.

The display is an ATI Radeon Mobility M6 LY, using a Synaptics TouchPad.

The system is currently running Gentoo, Kernel 2.6.16 (r12) and X.org 7.0.

The major changes to the configuration have been due to an upgrade to Xorg 7.0, the fact that the nipple (Trackpoint) was not working under the previous configuration, and a general clean up.

Xorg.conf

I finally managed to dig up the specifications for the TX-900 Receiver we repaired a couple of months ago, I had attempted on a couple of occasions to find something reliable, but the best I can come up with are some E-Bay listings which contained the specifications; they are:

• Synthesized Tuner Amplifier
• 40watt per chan RMS @ 8ohms.
• 2 x 2 Channel Output (A+B, Left+Right)
• 40Hz-20kHz with no more than 0.3% THD.
• 30-Station FM/AM Random Preset Tuning.
• Direct Access Tuning Using Numeric Buttons.
• Six Program Inputs Including Video Sound with Logic Controlled Feather-Touch Keys.

This is a great little receiver, and has not failed to provide superb sound quality.

I recently had the fortunate experience of aquiring a Onkyo TX-900 Receiver and DX-702 CD Player along with a pair of Infinity Reference EL speakers. They “weren’t working”, because of a spilt coffee into the amp, however around 4 hours of gentle coaxing with some acetone and cotton tips, lots of patience and perseverence the circuit board was free of coffee.

The CD Player was in immaculate condition, except the exterior of the case (which was the same for the receiver) covered in spider webs and insects. It had been sitting in someone’s garage for quite some time. No work or cleaning was needed here.

Plugged in and testing with the Receiver and CD player I noticed the speakers were not handling the bass at all, so time to rip the covers off them (probably should have checked them out sooner, but no matter).

Out come the speaker and we find that the padding used in the box isn’t in good shape at all, so it came out. Next a gentle nudge on the speaker surround foam caused it to completely disintegrate.

The tweaters however are in perfect condition, so the setup is currently:

• Onkyo TX-900 Stereo Receiver
• Onkyo DX-702 CD Deck
• Behringer Eurodesk 802A Mixer
• Focal FAV-1 Crossovers
• Infinity Reference EL Speakers (currently tweaters only)
• Panasonic SB-AK45 Speakers

Currently I’m tracking down some foam speaker surrounds for the Infinity speakers and will attempt to replace them myself, full details of which will be posted as it occurs. If you have any idea where I can get decent foam surrounds in Sydney for a reasonable price please let me know. I am currently thinking Queensland Speaker Repair (E-Bay Shop) is the best way to go.