random PC tips

Here's how I updated my server's Ubuntu from 11.10 to 12.04 LTS. I don't have a desktop installed on the server, so I had to run the upgrade from terminal. I have a forum running, a lot of MySQL databases and Apache 2 on the server. I'm also running sensord and other stuff like that. So some of the software will probably need some configuration. I logged on my server as root and ran apt-get update apt-get upgrade I installed all the updates, except new versions of the kernel. Maybe it's even better if you run apt-get dist-upgrade ... which will install a new kernel version. Then, using nano I edited the /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades file: nano /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades I changed it to read: Prompt=normal Then the update can be started: do-release-upgrade You might need to install the update manager first: apt-get install update-manager-core So the install started running, and quickly I was asked if I wanted to change the My...

I solved a problem with my Lenovo T410 Thinkpad. The machine often crashed when viewing HD video. Black parts appeared on the screen or the whole screen would go black, and the computer would go to a halt. Sometimes Windows 7 gave an error message: "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered". But the system was always in a halt and showing no signs of recovering. This was clearly a problem with the Intel HD Graphics adapter. I updated the graphics driver with Lenovo ThinkVantage Tools, using the Lenovo ThinkVantage System Update. However, the update did not solve the problem for me. After getting frustrated for a while, I found that Intel has a newer version of the driver on their site. You need to use Microsoft Internet Explorer to open this URL: http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect/graphics The website will aid you in updating your Intel drivers. Unfortunately you need to install some browser add-ins to get it to work, but it pays off in the end. I...