dd-wrt part 2

So I reboot the computer into the Vista partition and I'm not on the internet.  I let Windows diagnose the problem and it says I don't have a valid ip address.  I read the help, which says to let the ip4 thing set it automatically.  I had set it to 192.168.1.9, because the instructions said to do that.

Once I set it automatically, now I"m on the internet.  Hm.

dd-wrt success!

So I was pretty frustrated because my client bridging wasn't connecting this computer to the internet.  I looked in the dd-wrt forums to try to find answers and someone posted my problem and got one of those answers that basically said you are an idiot.  It linked to posts that said don't get your software from the software page for you router, as I had done.  It said you had to do several hard resets before during and after the process and if they weren't timed exactly, things wouldn't work.  I was afraid I hadn't done this as thoroughly as I should.  It said to read the instructions, which I thought I had.

So I turned evertying off and I mean everyting in the house from this computer, all the way to the modem and went to bed.

I got up today and started turning everything back on.  This computer is dual booted with Ubuntu and 64 bit Vista and I have planned to get rid of the Ubuntu partitition for a while now because it's irritating that it boots to it by default.  So when I came back in here to check things, I tried the internet just for fun. 

It was there.  So all I needed to do was reboot everything.  Which I thought I had, at one point.  So something changed today that might not be ok tomorrow but for now, I was successful.

But I'll still read Networking for Dummies until I'm not a dummy anymore.

dd-wrt

I fried my wireless usb so I decided to set up an old WRT54GS router with dd-wrt and use it like a wireless card.

You can't just go in and install any old dd-wrt willy nilly.  You have to find your router on the dd-wrt web page and pick just the right one to flash it with.  It can't take the full size standard software right away, you have to flash it with something else first, something smaller  and then flash again with a full size fully functional version.  No sp1, which won't work as a client bridge, but sp2, which I guess is what they offer by default on the page for my router.

I followed the steps in the client bridge wiki and when I got to the part about changing the ip of the router to 192.168.1.6, I tried to log back into the router and instead I was logged into my main router,which I thought couldn't happen since I always set them to only be accessed by a wired connection.  Imagine my shock when I saw I had logged into my main router.  Netmagic, which still wants me to buy it can see every computer that was ever on my network and one thing I wasn't sure what it was but decided it had to be the blu-ray player.  Netmagic also said I was on the internet, which I was not.  I can see the router and every other computer in the house but I am not on the internet yet.

I shut off the main router and then was able to log back into the dd-wrt router and change it's ip and once I got everything back up, everybody can see everybody, but the dd-wrt router is still not connecting to the internet.  And I can't access the printer from the rest of the house, either, so I am about ready to abandon this whole thing and buy a new usb wireless adapter and get my network back up for real.

I would buy Netmagic if I actually were connected to the internet on that computer but I don't care for software that lies to me and I am thinking it is time to remove it from that computer for good.

I was also frustrated because I could not find where to change the channel in dd-wrt and ended up changing it on the main router which still did not result in getting the dd-wrt computer on the internet.

I saw a "networking for dummies" section in the dd-wrt wiki, maybe I should read that before I give up.  I always think there is something really simple and stupid I am missing when I am trying to get things like this to work.

Yes, I am tired of the assholes

A few years ago, one of my coworkers was talking about retirement with a customer he was waiting on.  She was a sweet little old lady.  He talked about the rotten economy that made retirement seem not feasible although he did long to leave.  And then she said "You're tired of the assholes."  Our jaws both dropped and she became my favorite customer that day.

My colleague retired a couple of years ago and was not replaced, so the lines are longer and the assholes are much harder to bear without others standing beside you to help with the burden.

For instance, if there's a big long line behind you and you have bought all the items you need, how hard is it to simply take a couple of steps to one side or the other so that the next person can come up?  This afternoon, I not only had someone who thought it was fine to just stand there and address an envelope at my window with at least a dozen people behind her but when I got her to step aside, she did not give me the 98 cents I needed to end her transaction and she even said, "Just a minute."

What.  The.  Fuck.

She continued to address the envelope and I asked for the money for the second or third time and she finally handed it over.  I imagine had I pointed out to her how rude, how stupid this behavior was, I would no doubt be in the wrong.

These kinds of incidents always launch me into corporal punishment fantasies, and I have beaten her bare ass savagely with my belt in my mind for the rest of this evening.  I tell her she has to take six of my best but she doesn't follow directions very well for counting them off and it ends up being more like a dozen.  Every man in line has a huge erection and one holds her down over the counter for me.  Everyone approves and applauds when I'm done.  A couple of women give me their phone numbers.  The universe has been set right and we can all get on with our lives.

Not Cool

Ok, the movie stopped and went back to the start again.  So I have to go into the disc menu and navigate to the approximate spot where it bailed and continue to watch the movie.  Not an optimal experience.

What the f*@%.  This Vizio Blu-Ray player is not my best purchase ever.  At $99 ( which did NOT include the HDMI cable) it was practically an impulse buy but I think I will resist any impulse to buy Vizio in the future.

I wonder how frustrating the Netflix part will be?  I have been really happy with Netflix streaming since I wired the computer to the router- no pauses for loading.  I wonder if I"ll have to take advantage of the replacement plan, maybe luck would get me a bug free player.

My First Blu-Ray Movie

Well it was another day in hell at the job I can't talk about.  But after I clocked out I met a retired co-worker at the back and we were visiting and I happened to mention I was heading to Wal-Mart to get my HDMI cable so I could use my new blu-ray DVD player and he said he had a cable at his house he wasn't using and I could have it.  I offered to pay for it but he said no, I'd worked on so many of his computers over the years, usually just for a six pack of beer, so he can have one on the house one of these days.

It looks nice and seems to be ok except for inexplicably stopping in the middle of the movie and returning to the beginning.  I took it back to the scene and it finished ok and hasn't done anything else weird.  Cars 2 is very entertaining and can be viewed many times.  I've got the director commentary going now.  I loved hearing Bruce Campbell's voice as a Mustang, although IMCDB called him a Dodge Challenger.  Wikipedia says his character is a "portmanteau" of a Challenger and a Mustang, which means blend to you, Bubba.  I don't keer, that front was pure Mustang.  And not to spoil anything but I just gotta say, my first car was a 1974 Gremlin and everything they say about them in this movie is true.

At lunch time I brought a basement computer upstairs and tried to set it up in the office but when I inserted the wireless usb, there were sparks!  When I placed the usb in every other available usb port, it said it couldn't load drivers for it and it was an unknown device.  The led would not come on.  When I put in the top usb ports (where it sparked) it was like both of those ports were dead, which might be the case after sparking, good grief.

So maybe I can get one of my other routers to get that computer online by using them as an access point.  That can be a project for that computer later on.  But tonight, I have forgotten to fix supper and I am very hungry and need to have something.

Boo Vizio

I bought a blu-ray player.  They had them for $99 at Wal-Mart and I thought, what the heck, it's about time, the vcr part of my dvd player is dead and the dvd part makes some strange noises some times.

But the hdmi cable necessary to attach it to my TV is not there.  "Be sure to buy a hdmi cable" is on the box in tiny letters and needs to be on there is giant freaking huge letters if you ask me.

I don't feel like heading out tonight to get one, and if I did it wouldn't be a big deal, since I live pretty close to Wal-Mart.  I moved my nice desktop into the living room and moved the modem and router up here and wired it all together and so far, I have not had Netflix stop to load yet.  So maybe using wired ethernet instead of wireless is the answer to that problem for me.

I'll stop off at Wal-Mart after work tomorrow and pick up the cable and watch my first blu-ray movie tomorrow night.  I bought Cars II.