406 Not Acceptable

Update:

I thought the flickering problem was fixed, but there is a caveat. With Compiz watching videos under VLC and Xine the video flickers, but under SMPlayer, using X11 output the flicker is gone. The X11 output is the same quality as the XVideo or OpenGL output of other players; although, I would presume it takes more resources.

After upgrading to Ubuntu Hardy Xine crashed with two nasty errors: X Error of failed request… and option glx-shm does not exist. In addition to this, VLC output was blocky and I could not force VLC to work correctly with OpenGL simply changing the output method to OpenGL would crash VLC on startup. This is probably an issue users of modern ATi graphics cards will have, as the drivers aren’t really all that.

So here’s how to get Ubuntu Hardy video output sorted and have Compiz running too; as unlike Gutsy, Hardy does not fall foul of the ‘flickering video’ in Compiz. I know many people have issues with video under Compiz when using Fglrx, so this may help those people.

First, you should install Envy-Ng — you will need to configure Synaptic to use the Multiverse repository to install Envy-Ng– and let it sort out your graphics cards drivers. This program will keep your drivers uptodate and sort out your xorg.config for you. Use Envy-Ng to install the latest drivers for your card (at current Envy will install version 8-3.)You should then restart the X-Server (Ctrl-Alt-Backspace.)

Next up you will need to sort out your Xorg to run XVideo, without it being so blocky. This is due to Envy not setting the options for XVideo correctly. Open up xorg.conf with the following command in the terminal: sudo /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Now change the section “Device” to have TexturedVideoSync, TexturedVideo, and VideoOverlay on and have OpenGLOverlay off. The section should look as follows:

Section “Device”
Identifier  “aticonfig-Device[0]”
Driver “fglrx”
Option “TexturedVideoSync”  “on”
Option “TexturedVideo” “on”
Option “VideoOverlay” “on”
Option  “OpenGLOverlay” “off”
EndSection

You may want to check the following sections, with the following setting I get Compiz effects with no flickering video.

Section “ServerFlags”
Option  “AIGLX”  “true”
EndSection

Section “DRI”
Group  “video”
Mode  0666
EndSection

Section “Extensions”
Option “RENDER”  “Enable”
Option  “DAMAGE”  “Enable”
Option “XVideo”  “Enable”
Option  “Composite”  “Enable”
EndSection

Getting Diablo 2 mods working in Linux can be a pain (especially when you try running them from an Asus eee pc,) although Diablo runs perfectly in Wine, mods can be somewhat more tricky. I do know that any mod that uses Nefarius’s NefEx system will run perfectly, as I created and tested the Ragnarok mod using this system (on my eee too!) However, some mods can be more tricky to run and TFW: The Awakening is a special case as it utilises a vbs script to run under Windows. This is the only mod I know of that uses such a system.

One user on the Keep, AGUtilities, has created a nice bash script, which simulates the effects of the vbs script under Linux. All the calls to Wine are inserted in the script so all you have to do is put the script into your TFW folder and run it. Make sure you have Wine installed before running the script, otherwise you’ll just get a bunch of error messages.

I’ve checked the script and it does nothing malicious,  it’s pretty easy to understand what it is doing.

You can get the script from here.

I’ve provided a download mirror here.

We all know that a large portion of users are waiting for Microsoft to release Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Vista before they migrate to the operating system. This is an idea based on the success of Windows XP’s SP1, which made XP a very stable operating system. So Microsoft must be rather smug with the Service Pack’s progress. For those of you who are interested leeked versions of both Service Packs can be found, and I have provided links to sites with information at the bottom of this article.

If you’re using the built-in firewall that comes with Windows XP, you might want to consider using a different one. Windows XP’s built-in firewall is not bad but it doesn’t have configurable outbound protection. Comodo Firewall Pro is a good alternative to the one that comes with XP. It’s also free.

Now that Vista is finally upon us, what plans do Microsoft have for their future Operating Systems? First, it seems like an update for Vista will come sometime in 2008. Although, I’d expect a service pack to come before that to solve any outstanding issues — and increase sales.

The revision in 2008 — codename ‘Fiji’ — will be more than a minor patchup. It seems, from what little we know, that it will be akin to SP2 for Windows XP.

There are more reports that Windows Vista has been cracked The crack known as “TimeStop” only works on 32-bit versions of Windows Vista, but as that is most likely the most popular version Microsoft should be worried.

Five days ago DailyTech reported that Pirates have cracked Microsoft Windows Vista The operating system has not been fully cracked, but flaws in the activation system have already been exposed to keep users happy until the inevitable happens…

As Vista reaches its Release to Manufacturing build (6000.16386.061101-2205 it seems). So the last remaining bugs have been squashed 2 days before Microsoft’s goal of the 8th of November; although, one must remember Vista’s RTM version was originally planned for the 25th of October.