Updating Adobe AIR in Linux
I don't use my dedicated Linux PC (running Fedora 10) as much as I used to a year or two ago. So, when I fired it up today to update Fedora and install Seesmic for Facebook, I found I also needed to update Adobe AIR from version 1.5 to 1.5.1. However, since I was logged in as an unpowered user (not root), AIR wouldn't auto update even if I su-ed to root and tried to run twhirl or Seesmic for Facebook to start the process. Here's what I ended up doing.
- Manually downloaded Adobe AIR 1.5.1 for Linux from the Get Adobe Air download page
- Open a terminal window
- su - to root (sudo on other Linux distros)
- cd (change directory) to where the AIR installer was downloaded
- chmod u+x AdobeAIRInstaller.bin
- Run the installer from the shell -> ./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin
The Adobe AIR installer detected the older version and asked if I wanted to install it. I clicked OK and the installation proceeded as expected.
Old GeForce FX 5200 Says Bye Bye
The old GeForce FX 5200 graphics board in my even older but reliable PC running Windows XP became unusable after years of service. You can see the first problem during the BIOS boot process where the GeForce boot info characters looks odd. Windows XP begins the boot process with its splash screen. But, it soon switches to a blank screen. Sometimes a screen of noise fills it up with an arrow cursor from XP. Other times, the screen just remains blank the LCD goes into sleep mode because it doesn't detect any signal. My guess is that corrosion of the solder points of one of the two graphic memory chips caused a short circuit. You can see the suspected culprit in the photo above.
I used the on-board graphics output to keep the PC running. However, after years of looking at the GeForce provided display, Windows XP looks horribly aliased and slow using the graphics chipset provided on the system board.