Sunday, November 25, 2012

Pogoplug Arch Linux glibc update error

I have not updated Arch Linux on my Pogoplug for a period of time. When I finally tried to update it, I encountered dreaded glibc: /lib exists in filesystem error. I have tried all resources that I could find and was not able to update glibc. I was able to update all packages including linux by making symlink to usr/lib but not the glibc itself.

The funny thing is that I already had later glibc which was recommended on the archWiki site, but nothing worked. At the end I used -f flag on pacman command line and that broke the system. Do not use --force flag as it WILL break your system.
Fortunately for me I keep all important data on a drive which is separate from my system drive. I unmounted the data drive and  re-installed linux following original instructions. This time it went smooth as I already discovered and documented all pitfalls.

The best outcome without upgrading glibc would be achieved by following  these instructions. You will get linux installation error but everything else will install correctly. At this point you should uninstall linux but do not reboot! Next make symbolic link:
ln -s /usr/lib/modules /lib/modules
After this reinstall linux and it should install without any errors. Now you can reboot. You should have an updated system but with older glibc. If you know how to update glibc please post it in the comments.

After killing my system with --force, I simply deleted all data from my system drive and reinstalled from scratch. This took me less time then I spend on doing all of the experiments to fix the glibc error. The rolling distribution is not so "rolling" after all. You can get it in to a state in which it is not upgradable by simply lapsing your upgrades for a period of time.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

TPU Case for Galaxy 4.2

The Galaxy Player 4.2 cases are not as numerous as cases for iPod, to put it mildly. Finding a case for the player is a bit of a task. I purchased a black TPU case from eBay since nothing I wanted was available. I wanted to write a little description of this case so people looking for a case would have some point of reference.

I would like to get a soft silicon case, just like I have for iPod. The silicon case provides good protection for the device without adding too much of a bulk. Most importantly silicon case protects the device from breaking if it falls on a hard surface because of the relatively thick rubber around the device.

The TPU case is not the same quality as the silicon case that I have. It is not a bad quality case just not in the same league. The case is part shiny, part mate. Most of it is mate. The sides have nice roll-on texture providing for secure grip. The back has cut out for the camera, left side has a cut out for the strap and the bottom has two cut outs - headphones and USB connector. The cut outs are not 100% accurate. Some more accurate some less. The USB is the least accurate of all and the case prevents USB connector from fitting securely in to the hole. This is my biggest gripe with this case.

The case fits snugly over the device and does not add much to the dimensions. It protects device well from scratches and minor drops. The speaker grills are exposed and can be damaged so one needs to be careful when the device is in this case. The glass is mostly unprotected as the ridge in the front of the case is not very high.

The TPU case is easy to put on and take off but will not come off by itself. It is scratch resistant and looks good on the device. It is very inexpensive and provides good value for the money. I personally would prefer a different case but this is OK case to buy and I would recommend it in the absence of better alternatives.

Update after some use.

After using this case for a month or so, it stretched a little bit and now  it is easier to insert and remove the player. The case protected player well and the only inconvenience is that the include USB cable does not fit with the case on. I have to take out the bottom of the player from the case to securely insert the cable.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Samsung Galaxy 4.2 after a month of use

I am still very happy with my new Galaxy 4.2 player. It is much more pleasant to use than iPod touch and functionality is great.

The player is excellent as an alarm clock during travel. The speakers are very loud and unlike iPod it never locked up during the month while trying to sound alarm. I only wish to be able to select one of the World times as primary when traveling. When I move about the airports it would be useful.

The video playback is excellent and the battery seems to last a long time. I played over an hour of video and the player used only 5% of the battery. I know it is not linear but there is enough battery for a cross country trip on the plane.

Wifi seems to use battery more aggressively but it is not a problem for me since I do not browse web on this device. GrooveIP works really well and I could make calls without any problems. I had a problem with Cisco Webex calls but that is about it.

Book reading is great. The FBReader is way better app than anything on iPod. Combine this with bigger and more readable screen and you got a winner. Galaxy Note probably is a better reader but it is much bigger so portability looses.

For $5 I doubled the flash by installing 8GB card and now I have enough storage to keep more hours of video than I can watch on a single charge. I used class 4 Patriot flash and it works fine for streaming videos.

I also used camera to snap images of a document when copier was not available. This worked very well and images are readable and usable. For this exercise I used fluorescent light and was most concerned with images being readable. For this purpose device works very well. I am sure that the camera is far from the SLR quality but it meets my expectations.


Performance has not been any issue so far in any of my use cases. I am very happy with my purchase and would definitely recommend this player vs iPod touch. I finally removed the pile of junk that is iTunes from my computer.