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Diffstat (limited to '.md/tutorials')
-rw-r--r-- | .md/tutorials/hardware/.description | 1 | ||||
-rw-r--r-- | .md/tutorials/hardware/common-gfx-card-installation-woes.md | 117 | ||||
-rw-r--r-- | .md/tutorials/www/how-to-use-the-internet.md | 78 |
3 files changed, 196 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.md/tutorials/hardware/.description b/.md/tutorials/hardware/.description new file mode 100644 index 0000000..94cba0e --- /dev/null +++ b/.md/tutorials/hardware/.description @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +Tips and tricks related to hardware diff --git a/.md/tutorials/hardware/common-gfx-card-installation-woes.md b/.md/tutorials/hardware/common-gfx-card-installation-woes.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f551896 --- /dev/null +++ b/.md/tutorials/hardware/common-gfx-card-installation-woes.md @@ -0,0 +1,117 @@ +I recently upgraded by PC from an Nvidia 1050 Ti card to a new 3060 Ti +card. I've been updating the drivers for this card since before there +was a Debian package, so I've been through the installation quite a few +times and run into my share of weird issues. This last upgrade was no +exception, so I figured I'd document the process in case anyone out +there is as bad at installing these as me! + +## Step 1: The Replacement + +The best part of installing a new graphics card is getting to open up +the guts of your computer (it's also the scariest part, since this is +also the best opportunity to knock out a hard drive or a RAM stick). +Fortunately this is pretty easy, first make sure you hit the little lever +(switch?) on the PCI slot to pop out the old card. Then just slide the +new guy in. Note though to people getting a card from the RTX 30 line +(or higher) -- these cards run pretty big, so make sure you have enough +space in you case. You can see I barely made it myself! + +A second note to RTX users: most if not all these cards come with an +extra power supply input (two 8-pin connectors). If your power supply is +short on outputs, you can get a splitter cable like the one you see in +the picture to match the inputs. I personally am running a 600 W supply +for everything right now, which seems to be running fine. You should +check some other power guides though if you're concerned your power +supply won't drive the card + +## Step 2: Re-installing the drivers + +At first I tried to just naively update and see what happened, but I +received a "broken packages" error for nvidia-driver and other related +packages after running this. + +```bash +$ sudo apt update +$ sudo apt upgrade +``` + +This turned out to be a two-part error, one was the driver itself, two +was an update in Debian sid. + +### Part one: Fix Broken Packages + +Whenever I see broken packages, I tend to to assume that the name of a +package got updated. In this case, there was a +[note](https://www.debian.org/releases/bookworm/amd64/release-notes/ch-information.en.html#non-free-split) +on the apt list changes that mentioned a separate "non-free-firmware" +branch had been made, which had some of the components I needed. I +just added "non-free-firmware" to my /etc/apt/sources.list: + +``` +deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ sid main contrib non-free non-free-firmware +``` + +Note: you may not need "non-free" here anymore, I simply had that since +that was where the package used to be. + +### Part two: Re-install nvidia-driver + +I tried to update again at this point, but encountered the same error. +At this point I figured the best thing to do was to just try to +reinstall all nvidia related software again: + +```bash +$ sudo apt purge nvidia-* +$ sudo apt update +$ sudo apt upgrade +``` + +Ok no errors on the update this time, let's try again: + +```bash +$ sudo apt install nvidia-driver +``` + +### Part negative three: Just in case + +In the dark days before the Debian team had an Nvidia package, you had +to install drivers manually. I haven't had to do this in years, but I +like having the option. You can download the latest drivers on their +website: + +https://developer.nvidia.com/vulkan-driver + +The file will have a really long name like +"NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-525.89.02.run," so I suggest renaming it first to +something like "driver.run" + +In order to run this file, you need to stop your graphics environment. +Press CTRL + ALT + F1 to log out and open a terminal-only session. +Login with your credentials. Then stop the X-server + +```bash +$ sudo service lightdm stop +``` + +If you use a different X manager you might need to replace "lightdm" +with "gdm" or "kdm" (Gnome and KDE). Now we can run the driver install: + +```bash +$ sudo chmod +x driver.run +$ sudo ./driver.run +``` + +Accept all the prompts and you'll have the factory made driver software. +Note, you have to manually update this way though. So try to figure out +the nvidia-driver package before resorting to this method! + +## Step three: Reboot and test + +Reboot and then check the Nvidia X server setting panel +(nvidia-settings) to make sure your card is detected correctly + + +But the ultimate test right now is Kerbal Space Program 2 (still in +early access) + + diff --git a/.md/tutorials/www/how-to-use-the-internet.md b/.md/tutorials/www/how-to-use-the-internet.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..925f367 --- /dev/null +++ b/.md/tutorials/www/how-to-use-the-internet.md @@ -0,0 +1,78 @@ +## Why? + +Changing times and a forgetful youth have forced me to write this guide. + +I am increasingly disturbed by the amount of people I meet (young and +old) that navigate their lives at least in part online, but are unable +to use the internet for it's intended purpose: finding infomation. +Writing to someone or posting a picture of your cat seems to be second +nature for most people, but converting a picture from a PDF or looking +up a study (or even a word!) you saw in an article is something else +entirely. + +For the most part, it is not anyone's fault or laziness. It's +the fault of what the internet *has become*. For one, there's just so +much more *stuff* now; it's hard to know exactly where to start and who +to trust. And so much of that stuff is now *garbage*, either in the way +it's presented--with disruptive ads that don't close correctly--or in +the way it's written--vague, misleading, or straight incorrect. But for +seconds: no one really teaches you how to use this thing do they? There +are no courses on "How to use a search engine" or "How to find good +posts on a forum," yet these are the kinds of skills you really need if +you want to navigate the modern world without getting constantly +distracted, misled, or totally lost. + +There are of course, countless guides on "netiquette" geared towards +every possible internet subculture you can find. While many of them have +influenced this document and give many helpful tips on writing good +informative posts, none of them really go over what I think is +most important: what to do with the information you're reading. + +This will probably be an evolving document as new services and websites +become available (or go down), but much of this material in the +beginning should be pretty generally applicable no matter what services +are available. + +## How to use a web browser + +## How to use a search engine + +As for which search engine to use: you should use all of them, until you +get the results you need. In my experience, none of the major search +engines are particularly good and I get inconsistent searches on all of +them depending on what I'm searching. There is much preaching these days +about privacy concerns, but to be honest I don't believe any service is +more "private" than another. These are all privacy nightmares, your best +bet is to just search often and as varied as you can. + +## How to read and find scholarly articles + +### How to use Wikipedia + +A common complaint lodged at me whenever I recommend Wikipedia is that +it's not a source of truth since they found X mistake somewhere, or made +Y edit when they were a teenager that's still there. No one has ever (or +should ever) claim Wikipedia is reliable. Frankly, you should not +consider *any* source to be reliable, but that's a separate issue. If +you know how to use Wikipedia you can use it to get closer to a true +understanding of whatever you're studying. + +For starters, as a general rule, you should not trust anything you read +on a topic that is less than 20 years old. We're still living through +the history at this point and new things can come to light. + +### How to find articles with Google Scholar + +## Advanced Topics + +### How to use tor to browse anonymously + +Many in the advertising world will boast about using a VPN for +anonymity, or using a VPN in conjuction with Tor to "increase privacy." +This is simply a misunderstanding of terms. A VPN provides *privacy* of +the user's connection since it provides encryption--only the VPN +provider can "see" what is searched. The goal of Tor is *anonymity* not +privacy. Anonymity means "no one knows who you are" not "no one knows +what you're doing." Technically, traffic is encrypted between nodes of +the Tor service, so some level of privacy is provided as well, but this +is most effective when using hidden services, not using Tor in general. |