Mavericks killed my Wi-Fi?

Cross posted from the Projapps Propaganda

It has been more than two weeks since I upgraded from Mountain Lion to Mavericks on my old MacBook Pro. It is also more than two weeks since the upgrade broke my Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi actually worked for a while before it went dead. A subsequent reboot resulted in the indicator showing "Wi-Fi: No hardware installed".

I have tried all the advices and solutions I could google. I tried anything from resetting the SMC/NVRAM/PRAM to doing a clean reinstall of the operating systems. Downgrading to Mountain Lion or using a USB network adapter did not help too. These had me thinking whether Mavericks had killed my Wi-Fi or my Wi-Fi is no longer supported with any device driver. Maybe it's the VirtualBox update I did but highly unlikely since I reinstalled...

Hence in comes the TL-WR702N by TP-LINK, a 150Mbps wireless N portable router. My friend happened to have one on hand so we gave its client mode a try. The client mode allows the router to be connected to another device via Ethernet core and acts as an adapter to send/receive the wireless signal from a wireless network.

It worked! Therefore I went out to get myself one for S$34. It is supposed to be a stopgap fix but with no solution in sight, apart from buying a new MacBook, I think I may have to carry the router around with me for good.

Fedora Core 4 up and running!

After many days of trying out what to install and how to configure the applications, I managed to settle for a simple desktop for home use. I am running Firefox 1.5 for internet surfing, SCIM for chinese and japanese input, and kopete for my various messenging services. Now I will be putting in lighttpd, MySql and Ruby on Rails in to try a bit of web development...

Update: I am running Fedora Core 5 now...

Two Special Linux Distributions

I will like to introduce two special linux distributions that I came across a couple of days ago. They are special because they are created to target small objectives. The first targets small computers while the second targets small people.

The first linux distribution is called Damn Small Linux, a.k.a DSL, and it must be one of the smallest linux distribution around, weighing in at 50MB only. It targets small computers and other computing devices. Given its small size, it can boot from a business card CD as a live linux distribution (LiveCD), a USB pen drive, and within Windows. So now you can carry around an operating system easily and not be afraid of using a non-personal computer away from home. Most importantly, you don't have to use Windows anymore if you dread to.

PS: This post is written using DSL.

The second linux distribution is called Edubuntu - Linux for Young Human Beings. It targets small people - kids between the age of 5 to 12 (adults are of course welcomed to use together). It basically is for school children to use in a classroom setting and at home. It is filled with applications which a school-going child can use to learn, do his/her homework, manage his/her time, and have fun. I certainly hope that such initiative for the benefit of children can continue and that more schools, teachers, and parents can help spread it around. I wish I can find people to help start a sort of community service to showcase edubuntu...

PS: A nice review of Edubuntu available here.

No Luck

Luck doesn't seemed to be on my side these few days. I tried to upgrade my own computer with the old parts my brother salvaged from his PC as well as other old computers but a problem was encountered which I have no solution for.

When I finished the installation process for Windows 2000, it refuse to boot. My guess is that the motherboard or its settings are not compatible with the OS but I can't figure out what is wrong. What am I suppose to do right now?