Dual booting:
1. Insert Tiger install CD/DVD, power down, power on, hold “C” to boot from disc.
2. Open “Disk Utility”. Make 3 partitions: one HFS+ (16 MB, for bootloader), one HFS+ for OS X (you choose size), leave the rest as free space (will make an Ubuntu partition later, plus any others you desire)
3. Finish installing OS X
4. Download and burn Ubuntu 10.04 Alternate disc for PowerPC. (I tried the live disc, but it ran ridiculously slowly under this hardware configuration)
5. Power down, power on, hold “C” to boot from disc. Let it guide you through installing Ubuntu. The only part you need to pay attention to is the hard drive partitioning. Be sure to mark your 16MB partition as the Newworld boot partition. Create your Ubuntu partition (“Use as /”) as well as a swap partition ( >= 2GB) and any others you need.
6. When Ubuntu finishes, reboot. You should see the Yaboot PPC Bootloader come up. (Don’t panic if you can’t boot into OS X at this point, just press “L” and “enter” to boot Ubuntu)
7. In Ubuntu, open Disk Utility and check your install HD. You should see multiple partitions. Look for a partition in front of your OS X partition (it’s 160MB in size). This contains OS X boot info. Check what partition number it is (/dev/hda <- some number). Now open Terminal and enter the following:

sudo nano /etc/yaboot.conf

find the line “macosx=/dev/hda4″ (may be hda, some other number) and replace the number with the one you just checked. press CTRL + O, enter, CTRL + X. Now do:

sudo ybin

to load the config file into Yaboot. Reboot the iBook. Tada! OS X now boots as well.
8. Run updates on both OS’s.

Wifi Fix for Ubuntu 10.04

I’m not sure if my PCMCIA wifi card is a legitimate Apple Airport card (its a 2WIRE PCMCIA card case, wrapped in duct tape),  yet OS X and Lynx recognize it as an Airport. So I’m posting what I did to get wireless working in Ubuntu (after booting, it would see wireless networks, but never successfully connect).

In Terminal:

sudo mv /lib/firmware/agere_sta_fw.bin /lib/firmware/agere_sta_fw.bin.bak

sudo pccardctl eject

sudo pccardctl insert

Now reboot. You may have to do this again after running updates. For me, Ubuntu un-did these changes when I ran initial updates.

Conclusion: Ubuntu boots within seconds. Runs a little laggy, but with 256MB RAM, I guess I can’t complain. Yaboot has some interesting features, perhaps I will post more once I finish updates and start goofing around with it.

img: http://iphoneroot.com/

Before this Winter, I really had no interest in purchasing an iPhone. Between the cost of the phone and AT&T’s ridiculous data plan, it was simply out of the price range for a full time college student working a part time job. However, a friend of a friend generously bequeathed his battle damaged iPhone 2G to me after upgrading to the latest 3GS. Naturally, I researched everything I could about the device. Note that everything in this post applies to an iPhone 2G (Original iPhone), but I don’t see why most of the general options could be applied to a 3G/3GS/iTouch.

This is a process to Jailbreak the iPhone. If you choose to follow any or all of these steps, you do so at your own risk. Jailbreaking is a hack that takes advantage of the iPhone’s OS. You may lose data, void your warranty, or make the iPhone impossible to use. That said, you can learn a lot about the iPhone through this process and unlock new options to make your device more interesting, useful, and fun.

The term Jailbreaking sounds devious, but currently has no legal implications in the United States. Jailbreaking an iPhone voids the Apple warranty (however, the software my simply be restored through iTunes to a non-warranty-voiding state). Simply put, Jailbreaking circumvents the limitations of the iPhone OS, allowing users to install software from sources other than Apple’s iPhone App Store. This extraneous software is maintained by independent developer communities and also allows modifications and customizations not previously possible in the iPhone OS.

The easiest way to Jailbreak the device is to use Blackra1n, a Windows application developed by George Hotz. This process will completely erase everything previously on the iPhone and start completely from scratch. You will end up with a fresh install of the latest Jailbreak-able firmware.

Jailbreaking Process:

1. Install/upgrade to the latest version of iTunes. Note: Do NOT allow iTunes to update the iPhone! iPhone firmware 3.1.3 (the latest version) has not yet been Jailbroken! If your iPhone is using 3.1.3 you will have to restore the device to 3.1.2 before attempting Jailbreak.
2. Download iPhone firmware 3.1.2 -> Select your specific model and version number (Tap: Settings -> General -> About)
3. Put the iPhone in DFU mode: Turn off iPhone. Hold down the Power Button and the Home Button. When the Apple logo appears, keep holding the Home Button down and release the Power Button. It will enter DFU mode.
4. Install firmware 3.1.2. To do this, connect the iPhone to the computer and open iTunes. (Again, do not let iTunes try to update the iPhone!) Click on the iPhone in iTunes. Go to the Restore tab. Hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and click the restore button. This will open a file browser. Navigate to where you downloaded the 3.1.2 firmware file and choose that to install. Let it do its thang.
5. Download and run Blackra1n.
6. When the iPhone reboots, run the Blackra1n application. You will be able to select an application that allows you to download and install iPhone software. Choose Cydia (Icy has been discontinued).
7. Your iPhone is now Jailbroken (can install 3rd party software) and unlocked (can use SIM cards for any GSM network).

Important:

Once an iPhone is Jailbroken, its root user account is reset a default password: ‘alpine’. It is important to reset the root password right away. If you do not, malicious software or hackers may easily infiltrate your iPhone by using this default password! We will take care of this now, as well as demonstrate how to install software in Cydia.

1. Connect your iPhone to a wireless network with internet access.
2. Open the Cydia App. (If it prompts  you with updates, ignore them for now)
3. Tap ‘Search’ and type ‘mobileterminal’ in the search box. (Yes, all one word)
4. Tap on ‘MobileTerminal’ in the results.
5. Tap ‘Install’ on the top right. Tap ‘Confirm’ and wait for the package to install.
6. Exit Cydia.

Now open the Terminal application. You will see an old-school terminal window. Type ‘passwd’ and tap Return. For the old password, type ‘alpine’ and then press Return. Don’t screw up. Type a new password, Return, type again, Return. Done. (Be sure to remember this password, as you will use it if you decide to access your iPhone over SSH or FTP!)

Filed under: Computer, Science Tagged: 3.1.1, 3.1.2, baseband, break, cydia, firmware, iPhone, iTunes, jail, jailbreak, jailbroken ]]> http://curmudgneon.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/iphone-jailbreaking-and-unlocking-updated-42010/feed/ 0 Jason http://curmudgneon.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/storage-requirements/ http://curmudgneon.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/storage-requirements/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 04:52:58 +0000 Jason Andersen http://curmudgneon.wordpress.com/?p=35 ]]> When recommending data storage products to non-geeks, I always get the question “Megabytes? How much space is that?” Here’s a quick reference:

1.5 Kilobytes (i.e., about 12,000 bits) can basically store one double-spaced, type-written page.

1 Megabyte can store one long novel as text, one full-page black-and-white image, a 3 x 5 inch color picture, 2 minutes of telephone-quality sound, 7 seconds of CD-quality sound, or 0.04 seconds of broadcast-quality video.

4 Gigabytes can store an average feature-length film.

1 Terabyte can store 250 feature-length films.

(from Telecommunication Essentials, 2nd Ed., by Goleniewski, Lillian)

I’ve personally done a lot of research about some current looper pedals and will be posting my findings.  The models in question are the Boss RC-20xl, the Line 6 DL-4, the Roland SP-404, the Korg Kaoss Pad (KP2), and the Akai Headrush,. I will provide an overview of each units functions and features, include links to their manufacturer’s manuals, comment on their sound quality, and provide a link to a video demo of each unit in action. At the end of the post there are some external links, as well as some other units worth looking into.

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Boss LoopStation RC-20XL

MSRP: $259.00
eBay Low Price (Used): ~$160.00
Boss’s Site/User Manual
Harmony Central Review
Used by: Battles, Menomena

Boss pedals are infamous for being “built like a tank” and the RC-20XL is no exception. The unit is small, but heavy. Constructed mostly of thick metal, it boasts two large pedals that control the unit’s main features. There is a central dial that cycles through the unit’s eleven available loop files. Recording is simple and straightforward. Spin the dial to an empty loop file (A green LED indicates whether one of the files is empty or not) and tap the left pedal to begin recording. Tapping the pedal a second time starts playing the loop from the beginning. While the loop is playing, tapping the left pedal will turn overdub mode on or off. You can make as many overdubs as you like, but can only undo the most recent overdub by holding the left pedal down for a few seconds. Tapping the right pedal abruptly stops the loop.

The unit automatically calculates the temp of your loop when you finish recording it. It also has a tap tempo, which changes the speed of the loop without changing pitch. A guide dial adjusts the volume of an annoying drum track that plays along with the calculated tempo (There are 10 or 11 annoying drum tracks to choose from. How delightful!). The two inputs are nice, allowing you to connect an instrument level input and a mic level input, both with adjustable gain. A reverse button lets you play your loops backward (overdubbing a currently reversed loop, and then reversing the loop once again causes some trippy effects).

Other features include: autostart (begins loop recording as you start playing), tempo adjust (transitioning to a different loop bay will match it to the tempo of the currently playing loop), and a cheesy sample adjustment that attempts to subtract vocals from a sample. Footswitch jacks allow for up to 3 additional footswitches to be connected.  This allows you to switch to the next loop, switch to the previous loop, or reverse the current loop with each footswitch.  However, the footswitch jack to select prev/next loops require a strange stereo footswitch manufactured by Boss (which I have never been able to find on eBay). Connecting a regular footswitch only allows you to cycle forward through the eleven loops.

As you record a loop, it is floating in the unit’s RAM and is not save into the selected loop bay until you specifically press the WRITE button twice. Once the loop is written, it remains in memory even when the unit is unplugged. This feature is nice, because you can write some loops to memory, then call them up in a live setting and overdub/improvise over them. It is also easy to control with just your feet (especially with the additional footswitches), leaving your hands free instead of knob-twiddling. I believe it has 16 minutes of sample time, as opposed to the “RC-20″ previous model, which had around 5 minutes. The unit samples in 16 bit, I believe, and has low noise, does little to take away from your sound.

This unit does have its ‘gotchas’… Even though it is packed with nice features, the lack of MIDI makes it impossible to sync with other units. If you want to record and play loops live with a band, they will have to monitor the unit to stay in sync. But if you are a “one man band” project, there is a lot this unit can do to beef up your sound.

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Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler

MSRP: $249.99
eBay Low Price (Used): ~$150.00
Harmony Central Review
Line 6′s DL4 Site / User Manual
Used by: Battles, Muse

More of a digital delay modeling pedal than a loop pedal, the DL4 emulates 15 types of analog and digital delays. You can research more of its (excellent) delay options on your own, I am simply going to cover its loop sampling features. Turning the unit’s 1st dial (mode select) to the 6 o’ clock position activates its loop sampler. Though it only gives you fifteen seconds of actual sample time, it has some interesting features. Pressing the first footswitch button starts sample recording. A second press starts the looping and initiates overdub. Successive pressing turns overdub on or off, if you want to jam along with your loop, or record over it. The second switch abruptly stops or starts the loop, and the third switch causes the loop to play through one time. (Tapping this switch over and over lets you annoyingly repeat the first bit of your loop as fast as you can hit the button) Here’s where it gets interesting: the fourth switch plays the loop at half-speed/half pitch. Overdubbing in this mode and then bringing it back to normal speed doubles the pitch of your latest dub (chipmunk vocals, anyone?). Double-clicking this switch reverses the loop.

Fairly straightforward looping features. The DL4 allows you to add some basic delay to your signal as you loop, yielding some fun possibilities. The 15 seconds can be a little limiting, if you are planning on laying down long loops. You cannot permanently save any loops, so an accidental press of the Stop, Record switches will erase what you’ve laid down! There is no undo feature either. The unit has stereo inputs.

If you are looking for a versatile delay effect, and a minimal looper on the side, the DL4 does a great job of packing both into one, and its analog delay models are quite impressive. Additionally, it allows for an expression pedal to manipulate delays, and the case is solid metal and very sturdy.

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Roland SP-404

MSRP: $399.99
Used eBay Low Price (Used): $250.00
Roland’s SP 404 Site / User Manual
SP-404 User Forums
Harmony Central Review
Used by: Animal Collective, Radiohead, El Guincho, Various DJs

Just as the DL4 is more of a delay unit than a looper, the Roland SP-404 is more of a sampler/drum machine than a looper pedal. But because of it’s looping features, I’m going to include it here. Again, there is a lot this unit can do in terms of it’s non-looper features (built in effects, pattern and drum programming, and MIDI control) that I am not going to cover here.

The SP-404 is a the current iteration of the Boss Dr. Sample series of portable table-top samplers (Though it now has the Roland ‘name tag’, it bears a lot of the features and the same general design of the Dr. Sample series).  Designed for DJ use, the SP series features RCA stereo input/outputs, an on-board mic, a 1/4″ mic input, and a 1/4″ headphone output. The unit is very portable, can be powered by 6 AA batteries, and has 24 on-board effects. To get a good idea of how the sampling/resampling/pattern writing process works, I’d recommend taking a look at the manual, as it is fairly in-depth.

Simply put, the unit samples from “Ext. Source” which may be the on board mic, mic input, or the line-in input (or a combination of the line-in and one of the mic options). A single effect may be turned on at a time and may be applied to “Ext. Source” while recording a sample. After the sample is recorded, you may re-sample the sample into a new sample multiple times, applying a new effect each time. Samples are set to one of the twelve buttons (there are up to ten “bank” buttons, each containing twelve samples, matching the 1-12 buttons). Each sample can be set to “Loop” (loop indefinitely once pressed), “Gate” (only play as long as the button is held down), or “Loop and Gate” (which does what, do you think?).

You can then enter “Pattern” mode, which allows you to record sequences of samples to be triggered (which form a song, or drum loop, or what have you). The patterns run at a set BPM which can be controlled via MIDI (yay).

If you plan on using the SP-404 in a live setting, you will have to record your loops and samples before hand, and trigger or manipulate them via effects on-the-fly. This unit functions more as a sampler than a looper, as samples CANNOT be played back as you record. Additionally, the unit does NOT allow you to play a looped sample and “overdub” on top of it via “Ext. Source.” Each sample must be recorded individually, and mixed together after being recorded. An annoying process, if you are used to pedal-based loopers that allow you to overdub.

MIDI, however, is what makes the SP-404 a great device. You can pick up a cheap MIDI foot controller, and use it to trigger pre-recorded samples with your feet as you play a different instrument with your hands. Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien does this (in this clip he is just triggering samples by hand on a Boss SP-303, but I know there’s a clip of a live show where he uses a foot controller while playing guitar). It takes a little MIDI wizardry to set the thing up, but could lead to extremely versatile live performances. Note that it only has MIDI-in, not output or thru.

Physically, the unit has a metal top case, but a plastic frame and knobs. It feels well-built, but I would feel nervous about leaving it on the ground. This is a sampler, not a stomp-box. With some pre-programming, this is a great live tool, and on batteries it is quite portable. As the fourth in the generation of Dr. Sample units, the manufacturer’s have really weeded out the bugs and implemented a lot of nice touches (all buttons light up with LEDs, and the display blinks a bright blue pulse to the current BPM). At this price it is a great production tool, but may be too complicated if you are just in the market for a simple looping pedal.

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Akai E2 Headrush

MSRP: $199.99
eBay Low Price (Used): ~$120.00
Akai’s Site For Headrush E2 / Manual
Harmony Central Reviews

This is the only unit so far that I have not owned personally, but I am familiar with its functions and looping capability.  Like the Line 6 DL4, the Headrush functions as a delay pedal, allowing up to 35 seconds of 16-bit delay. It can emulate various types of delays (such as a multi-head tape delay) and has multiple outputs which can string along up to 5 amplifiers (eat your heart out, Edge). Gearwire has a must-see demo of this function here.

But back to the looping! This may be the simplest unit I’ve looked at so far. Two footswitches: one for play/stop and one for record/overdub. Ian Williams used two of these units in succession to achieve some of the experimental sounds in early Don Caballero. From my research, this seems to be the simplest looper pedal. I am not sure how many seconds of record time it is capable of, but once I find out, I shall update.

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Korg Kaoss Pad (KP2)

MSRP: $249.99
eBay Low Price (Used): ~$120.00
Korg’s KP2 Site + Manual
Harmony Central Reviews

While the latest model of Korg’s Dynamic Effects Sampler is the KP3, I am going to go over the KP2, as I have owned it myself and have more experience with that unit. The KP3 builds on the same basic features as the KP2, so if you are in the market for the latest model, this overview should give you a feel of the Korg Kaoss family.

The crux of the Korg Kaoss effect unit is its distinctive touchpad. Like a touchpad on a laptop, the unit reads the user’s X/Y position on the pad and can change parameters of two separate effects based on the X position and the Y position. The KP2 has 120 different effects, including distortion, chorus, reverb, delay, wah, as well as its own synthesized sounds. It has RCA in/out/phono, a 1/4″ headphone out, 1/4″ mic input, and MIDI in/out. Most of the effects are straightforward, and each can be assigned to one of the nine “favorite” buttons to call up quickly (cycling through 120 presets can get tedious).

The target market of this device is definitely the DJ. The phono and mic inputs allow you to manipulate your voice or turntable tracks on the fly for some out-of-this world sounds, and give the illusion of a remix which you can control on-the-fly.

In terms of sampling/looping capabilities, the unit is limited to two sample buttons, and can record up to a 6 second sample on each pad (not a lot of sample time!). You can loop either or both samples by pressing the sample pad and the “HOLD” button at the same time. You can also record a sample on one pad, manipulate it with effects from the touch pad, and record the new sound onto the second pad (repeat ad nauseum).

Though the touch pad seems a bit gimmicky, you’ll find once you use the unit that something about the tactile effect interfaces is really addictive and fun.  It is the sound quality of the built in effects that are hit-and-miss. If you want to replicate the effect of Muse’s Matt Bellamy and his Kaoss guitars, be prepared to do a lot of tweaking and run your guitar through an amp/mixer before connecting it to the Kaoss pad!

Because of its limited looping functions, the KP2 would probably function best as a supplement to another looper pedal. The Kp3, however, features four sample pads and longer sample time. If you are considering a Kaoss Pad for your loop-based performance, the KP3 is probably your best bet.

As a final note, the X-Y pad data can be sent over MIDI. If you are familiar with mapping MIDI signal, you could use the pad to manipulate parameters on your other effects units or MIDI-equipped guitar pedals.

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This concludes the overview of some looper pedals with varying degrees of complexity. For further research, I would check out Looper’s Delight, a forum and database of looping techniques and gear. Here are some additional models of looping gear that I am not experienced with, but have been popular:

• Gibson/Oberheim Echoplex
• Boomerang Phrase Sampler
• Zvex Loop Junky
• Electro-Harmonix 2880

Posted in Art, Music Tagged: analog, band, Battles, boss, boss rc-20, boss rc-20xl, boss rc20xl, delay, digital, dl-4, dl4, dr sample, drum machine, e2, effect, effects pedal, foot controller, footswitch, guitar, headrush, kaoss, korg, kp2, kp3, line 6 dl4, loop, looper, midi, muse, Music, radiohead, roland, sample, sampler, sp-404, sp404 ]]> http://curmudgneon.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/overviewreview-of-modern-looper-pedals/feed/ 8 Jason http://curmudgneon.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/centos-on-msi-wind-u120-part-2-of-2/ http://curmudgneon.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/centos-on-msi-wind-u120-part-2-of-2/#comments Wed, 20 May 2009 23:35:55 +0000 Jason Andersen http://curmudgneon.wordpress.com/?p=12 ]]>

The nice thing about setting up CentOS is that if problems arise with running the install DVD, you can simply burn a previous version (5.0, 5.1, 5.2), let it install, and then use a yum -upgrade to update that version to the current 5.3.

After CentOS is successfully installed and upgraded on the Wind, the next step is to outfit CentOS with up-to-date repositories/packages.  A thorough way to do this is to use DAG.  DAG has grown out of Dag Wieers’ personal collection of RPMs and can be run using the terminal command:

rpm -Uhv http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el5/en/i386/rpmforge/RPMS/rpmforge-release-0.3.6-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm

Note: This command works with CentOS 5.x, i386, or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 i386. For a full list of custom DAG arguments, see: DAG Frequently Asked Questions.  For a full list of DAG repositories, see DAG Package Listing.

This will be my last update concerning CentOS on the MSI Wind, as the project I am working with is scrapping CentOS (due to the fact that it does not support the most cutting edge kernels).  My future updates will cover Debian on the MSI Wind, as well as my own side project of triple booting Windows XP, Mac OS X, and Ubuntu on the Wind.

After watching Animal Collective on Letterman, I continued bombing around on YouTube and ended up watching AnCo’s video for “Peacebone” (2006).  It was a nice mashup of body horror and kitschy romance. I stalked the director, Timothy Saccenti, and recognized a lot of work he had done with other artists (Battles, Flying Lotus, Jamie Lidell) including album art, promotional photos, and a handful of music videos.

• Timothy Saccenti Site
• Timothy Saccenti on Partizan

The following posts are from an intermediate Linux user.  The purpose here is to keep a log of what I am doing as I set up CentOS (and possibly some other Linux distributions) on my MSI Wind u120, and sharing my findings with other Wind users.  If you own an MSI Wind, hopefully this and the following posts will help you out in setting up CentOS 5.3 (or simply Linux in general) on the MSI Wind.  Note that I am using the less common MSI Wind u120, but the specs are nearly identical to the more common MSI Wind u100.

CentOS ISOs: http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5/isos/

Since the MSI Wind has no optical drive, I used a USB to IDE bridge (pilfered from an old hard drive enclosure) to connect a DVD drive to the Wind.  (BIOS settings may need to be adjusted to boot from USB) Press F11 to select boot device.

Installing CentOS 5.3 on the netbook failed (initial install screen froze with a screen of random characters).  Thanks to a tip from Augie, a simple

boot: linux nonet

install could have saved the day.  Before knowing that, I tried the CentOS 5.1 DVD, which allowed me to install with no garbage screen.

The first thing you will notice booting into CentOS is the distorted screen resolution, as it attempts to squish/stretch an 800 x 600 resolution on the Wind’s 1024 x 600 display.

Possible Fixes:

• One
• Two
• Three

Next post, I will discuss setting up Wifi for the Wind’s RealTek RTL8187se chipset.

One last thing: Quick setup guide for CentOS on the Wind (Translated from French)

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: 1024 x 600, CentOS, CentOS 5.3, crash, install, linux, MSI Wind, MSI Wind u100, MSI Wind u120, resolution ]]> http://curmudgneon.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/centos-on-msi-wind-u120-part-1-of-x/feed/ 4 Jason