Technology

Gigabyte X79-UP4 Linux Horror

So I am not much of a Windows user, I have one Windows machine that doesn’t get used all the much. I tend to use Linux and have done for about 15 years. One of my work machines has caused a bit of trouble. The system was built around the Gigabyte X79-UP4 motherboard. This is on the face of it a good main-board, nice spec, good components. However I have had a lot of trouble with it. Its all about the USB 3 chipset, Linux hates it. The symptoms are as follows:

Anything plugged into the USB 3.0 ports and the machine will not shutdown, it instantly reboots.
USB 3.0 devices are unstable, and don’t always function.
With anything in the USB 3.0 ports the system can become unstable/unresponsive.

The solution was to deactivate all the USB 3.0 chipsets on the main-board. The the system behaves itself. I didn’t however discover this very quickly. I first tried replacing the PSU as I thought it had become damaged somehow. I then complained to Gigabyte who asked me to send the board back to them. Which I did at cost to me. They checked the board and said it was fine. They however refused to check the board with any Linux install. It is hard to replace a X79 main-board now. I so I have to continue to use it. I have however installed a PCIe USB 3.0 card that is now running the front ports on my system, and 2 on the back. I tried this board with a couple of difference Linux versions, including Ubuntu 14 and Opensuse 13.3/Leap 42.1. So, this means that I will probably never risk a Gigabyte project again, to risky.

Lightworks 12.6 working on Opensuse 13.2 & Leap 42.1

This might have been covered but I wasn’t able to find it easily so I thought I would post it up.

I have been trying to get Lightworks 12.6 working on Opensuse 13.2 and ran into some problems. It would hang on with the loading banner up and not do anything. So I tried running ntcardvt from the command line and got:

./ntcardvt: error while loading shared libraries: libcrypto.so.10: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

In Opensuse libcrypto.so.10 is provided by the libopenssl package as /lib64/libcrypto.so.1.0.0

So its both named incorrectly and also in the wrong place for Lightworks to find.

Easy fix, as root make a sym link:

ln -s /lib64/libcrypto.so.1.0.0 /usr/lib64/libcrypto.so.10

Seems to work now, although I haven’t tested extensively. I think this will be the same for Leap 42.1 but my normal machine is waiting on a motherboard replacement so I cannot test that.

DV and Hi8 Video Decks

I think I already said, I have an interest in video and audio. I enjoy recording and filming things. My interest in all things capturing sound an image extends back to my childhood. Where I loved cameras, and not just what they could do but the physical objects themselves. So now an adult with a bit more money and access to eBay i can feed this obcession. Last week I bought a Sony DV deck, which accepts both DVCAM and miniDV tapes. The unit is great, old school with lights button and knobs. Also an LCD screen that shows the video and a menu. Its a boadcast deck, so well made and solid. I have just bought, but not yet receive, a Hi8 editing deck also a Sony. This also looks awesome, it plays Hi8 tapes but has basic editing fercilaties. My intention is to connect them both to my (one of my) computers. The DV deck has firewire, not sure if my computer does anymore… the Hi8 doesn’t. I will have to connect that either via s-video or component connectors. I am not sure yet, I will need to get hold of some sort capture card. Back to eBay, i will have to get a VCR too.

I have decided to admit that i am addicted to technology. I love it. I like the way it looks, i like the way it smells, and i like messing about with it. This is a fact brought home by my resent eBay activity. I have just bought a Sony digital video deck. Why? I like playing around with video. I am planning to buy a Hi8 deck too. My interest in technology centres around audio and video. These are my favourite things. I have got into film making for my job, and i have always been into photography. This obcession costs me a fair amount of money, but i am running out of things to buy. So thats good. Plus, it’s a hobby and it makes me happy so why worry. I will post some pictures of my expanding kit soon. Maybe both the sound and video kit…