Category: hardware

Formatting USB flash drives for write speed

Flash drives enjoy a reputation for being fast and that certainly goes for high-end models with their elaborate memory controllers and multi-bank layouts. A fundamental "problem" with current flash memory technology is that writing even a single bit of information requires that an entire block of flash memory is reset first [1], which greatly reduces … Continue reading Formatting USB flash drives for write speed →

Smaller brightness steps with the Asus N56VB and Ubuntu

Ubuntu on the laptop is definitely maturing. We're way past "at least it boots" and now that survival is ensured, it is time for luxury illnesses. One of those on the Asus N56VB is handling of screen brightness which, for my taste, comes in too steep steps. Especially the minimum brightness is still too bright … Continue reading Smaller brightness steps with the Asus N56VB and Ubuntu →

Running windows games with steam on a hybrid graphics card

I don't play much, but when I do, it's Sid Meier's Civilization on a Windows installation boxed into a VM. Earlier this year I got tricked by a Humble-Bundle offer into buying Civilization V, which came with the "trojan horse" of a steam account. Had I known the prerequisite of a Steam account before hand, … Continue reading Running windows games with steam on a hybrid graphics card →

Automatically regulating volume on a USB headset with Ubuntu

When you connect an external speaker or headset to your computer you normally expect the sound to play over those and you'd also expect the integrated speakers to mute. Windows does that well and you'd expect that Ubuntu can do that as well, unfortunately it doesn't. Not without some scripting. So here we go: The … Continue reading Automatically regulating volume on a USB headset with Ubuntu →