Scanner update

OK, so I posted a few years ago about getting an old Cannon USB scanner working with Vista. Since then I have now got Windows 7 on the PC, and tried to get it working with that. I seemed to get the drivers to install, but there was nothing from the scanner. Seems like it's died on me.
I'm now the proud owner of a Canon CanoScan LiDE 210 Flatbed Scanner. A good value 4800dpi 48-bit colour scanner.

Ubuntu Lucid JRE and Formula 1 live timing

So, you have a fresh install of Lucid on your PC, and you're wanting to view the live timing from formula1.com, but all you get is a progress bar that doesn't finish, and a grey box where there should be live timing. Well, not to worry, you need to remove Open Java and IcedTea plugin, and install the Sun ones instead.

All well and good, but Canonical have removed the Sun JRE from the main repository. Fortunately it is available from the Partner repository. To enable this, you need to open System -> Administration -> Software Sources. On the Other Software tab, enable the ubuntu lucid partner. If it isn't available, click the Add button, and enter deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu lucid partner into the APT line box.

Ubuntu updates

Lucid Lynx has barely been out a day, but I now have a VM, a netbook and the desktop PC updated to the latest version of Ubuntu.

Everything went smoothly, until I messed up the grub update on the desktop (dual boot Vista and Ubuntu). For a brief while, I had a machine that would only come up with a grub rescue prompt. After a session with the Live CD, I now have a rescued desktop PC running Ubuntu Studio. As time goes on, I have less reason to use a Windows PC.

Canon FB 630 U and Vista

OK, before I get flamed to death for using Vista, it was pre-installed on my Dell PC.

For ages I was trying to get my Canon scanner running under Vista. Despite Vista (and Canon's own line) there are no drivers for Vista, you can get it working with the XP drivers.

You need to get the ScanGear Twain driver from Canon version 5.3.2. Extract these to a directory, by either running the exe, or using your favorite zip compatible program.

Plug in your scanner. It will come up with the usual hardware wizard. You will need to select the advanced path so you can select the location of the drivers. Select the directory you created (which has the FB63u.inf file in it) and the drivers should be found and installed with no compaints.

Voila - perfectly usable scanner now available on your Vista machine!!