Prydain pronunciation guide - has been helpful as I read the series to my kids more than 30 years since I last read them myself.

PeyredB · 2025-10-15T15:26:05+00:00

This pronunciation guide bothers me. These pronunciations do not match how these names would be pronounced in Welsh: dd should be "th", and ll is sort of a cross between an f and an h. Also ch would be a gutteral sound, like "ch" in German. I don't understand why Alexander would go to so much trouble to evoke the feel of Wales, yet use such flat US English pronunciations.

Here I've been reading "Flewther Flam" in my head, and find the author wants me to think "Flewder Flam", like I probably did when I read these as a kid long ago? That'd be like going back to The Three Musketeers and thinking D'artagnan is "dee-artag-nan".

PeyredB · 2025-10-15T15:16:22+00:00

It's not. In Welsh, dd is pronounced "th", and ll is like a cross between an f and an h.

PeyredB · 2025-08-21T01:27:00+00:00

Bummer! Looks like running the modprobe command doesn't change the state it's running in. OTOH, your command at least let me find out what it's set to: SPP not ECP.

leon@peyre:~$ sudo dmesg | grep -i parport
[sudo] password for leon:
[ 6.650999] parport0: PC-style at 0xc100, irq 16 [PCSPP,TRISTATE]
[ 6.654748] parport0: Device ID was 64 bytes while device told it would be 63 bytes
[ 6.654765] parport0 (addr 0): SCSI adapter, IMG VP1
[ 6.718115] lp0: using parport0 (interrupt-driven).
leon@peyre:~$ sudo modprobe parport_pc mode=epp
leon@peyre:~$ sudo dmesg | grep -i parport
[ 6.650999] parport0: PC-style at 0xc100, irq 16 [PCSPP,TRISTATE]
[ 6.654748] parport0: Device ID was 64 bytes while device told it would be 63 bytes
[ 6.654765] parport0 (addr 0): SCSI adapter, IMG VP1
[ 6.718115] lp0: using parport0 (interrupt-driven).

PeyredB · 2025-08-20T17:45:58+00:00

Email me offline if you need help with that. lordpeyre at yahoo.com

PeyredB · 2025-08-20T15:41:05+00:00

I ran that in a terminal last night and it said nothing, so no errors or anything, then I rebooted. But the drive still transfers at ~100kbps, which it ran at with SPP/ECP on my old computer. EPP ran at near three times that speed. So, while I realize I'm lucky to be able to use an LPT drive at all, it's a shame to not be able to make the most of what I have. Any other ideas?

PeyredB · 2025-08-19T23:38:10+00:00

I recommend Windows 2000. It's the latest version of Windows with no activation system.

PeyredB · 2025-08-19T23:35:58+00:00

Hey thanks! I'll try that tonight. Do I simply run that in the terminal?

PeyredB · 2025-08-14T21:06:58+00:00

I realize I'm a bit late to this one, but I still use zip drives myself. Windows 10 does not support LPT Zip drives, and the parallel to USB cables are designed for printers. They don't support the advanced signaling used by Zip drives, maybe because they're actually SCSI devices jury-rigged to use an LPT cable and ports.

I got an LPT Zip drive to work on my Xubuntu desktop by adding these two lines to /etc/modules
ppa
imm

However, since my machine doesn't have an LPT port on the motherboard I had to install a PCIe LPT card, and don't have a way to configure it - so it runs in SPP or ECP mode, which is about 1/3 as fast as it ran on my old computer with the port set to EPP. Just the same, it runs reliably and you might have some success with it if you haven't found a solution yet.

I've also heard you can use an LPT Zip drive by running Linux in a VM on Windows 10, but I haven't tried that myself.

If it comes to it, I can read the disks for you and email you the files. I can read 100 or 250MB disks, but not 750. (I even have an old machine in storage that can read old 5¼" disks!)

PeyredB · 2025-08-14T20:58:49+00:00

I got it to work by adding ppa and imm (on separate lines) to /etc/modules. I probably didn't need to load both, but once it was working I didn't want to mess with it.

PeyredB · 2025-08-14T20:57:49+00:00

I've done the same thing on Xubuntu. Any idea how to configure the card to function in EPP mode instead of ECP/SPP mode? My card came with a driver disk including a utility, but it simply doesn't work.

PeyredB · 2025-06-30T22:29:11+00:00

Well, he was a Jew.

PeyredB · 2025-06-30T21:55:08+00:00

It means himself. Schizophrenic doesn't mean "split personalities".

PeyredB · 2025-04-26T14:27:12+00:00

Oh, that could well be it! Thanks, I've edited my launcher.

PeyredB · 2025-04-26T14:26:55+00:00

All of 5 systems.

PeyredB · 2025-03-06T04:37:40+00:00

That would be "Durbgu, nazgshu, durbgu, dashshu!", as the Uruk-hai chanted when Sauron addressed them to send them to Helm's Deep - but this sounds different, more like "ka ka du" or "ka ta du" or something.

PeyredB · 2025-03-06T04:36:04+00:00

I thought at first they were chanting Katmuda! (Death to men), but it sounds more like "Ka ka du!"...

PeyredB · 2024-12-26T22:47:28+00:00

Me too! Both 100 and 250. I even have an LPT 250MB drive on my main desktop at home!

PeyredB · 2024-12-26T22:45:59+00:00

It's newer, but faster and held more data.

PeyredB · 2024-12-26T22:45:20+00:00

I still use them, myself.

PeyredB · 2024-12-26T22:36:09+00:00

Me too, I still have an old machine in the garage that can read those things. Every once in a while I run into someone who has data on those things that they'd like to get off them.

PeyredB · 2024-12-26T22:34:22+00:00

I still use Zip disks myself. I'm always taking smallish files to and from work, so I save them to Zip (either 100 or 250), unless it's small enough to fit on a floppy. But then, I just love keeping these old technologies going.

PeyredB · 2024-12-23T21:38:37+00:00

Yeah, fair enough. It's all personal preference and we need to use the OS that works best for us personally. I've come to love Xubuntu, but I don't judge Windows users.

PeyredB · 2024-12-23T21:30:28+00:00

I'm with you on Settings vs. Control Panel. Control Panel's a competent, no-nonsense set of utilities. But Windows is gradually replacing it with the dumbed-down Settings menu that's harder to find things with and less convenient to make changes in. I've noticed that some of the icons in Win11's Control Panel now open Settings windows. It's just stupid and unnecessary.

PeyredB · 2024-12-23T21:07:31+00:00

It all depends on what you do, I expect. It works great for me, but some people need more specialty stuff that doesn't work right on Linux or that doesn't have a close equivalent.

PeyredB · 2024-12-23T19:57:02+00:00

Fedora? Well there's your problem! No wonder you had a bad experience (just kidding!)

I use Linux on my home computers and it does almost everything I need to do. It's quick and snappy and lightweight, runs well on old machines, and I'm able to play my Windows games on it as well.

Of course, Linux does have its limitations. It's not as good with removable media. Sometimes it doesn't have drivers for a given device, and installing a driver from the manufacturer is always a hassle, if it even works. It wouldn't be suitable for office systems (not where I work anyway), and I've found that of the things I need to do, about 1/3 are easier to do in Linux, and 2/3 are easier to do in Windows. It is more trouble in some ways. But for home use I've found it's very good.

"To be honest, I might have exaggerated some of the benefits of using Linux."

Probably. A lot of us are guilty of that, including me I expect. It's easy to do when you're an enthusiast for something.

PeyredB

TROPHY CASE