After many delays, procrastinations, doubts, and nasty Quantum mechanical uncertainties, I have finally gotten around to building...

My Home page!

...which is in urgent need of a facelit.

Welcome, btw, in case this was not at all obvious.

Now before we start, a brief consolitory note to all those under stress for whatever reason (it doesn't even have to be a good reason)...

Normally you'd see a 'Don't Panic' graphic, but since
you can't, you can't...

So what will this contain?

That'a a very good question. So good in fact that it deserves an answer. The first thing which i wish to make abundantly clear is that this page is under construction. The ultimate plan for this thing is to include such things as:

The HH quote list (maybe, pending time (yet again))

Some Goon show stuff if I can find something which I consider completely irrelevant to everything

My life history in under 2 minutes

But all that takes time, of which I have very little at the moment. Separate from the above list is of course a list of things which have actually been implemented; these appear below. Hopefully this list will grow at a greater rate than the one above it.

Personal things

A very small collection of personal things. It now contains two items, but I think the subjects are important enough to warrant it.

	My daughter Laura and son Matthew have their own presence on the web. It's easier to have a single page rather than separate pages, since they'll be together most of the time.
	Much has been written about the content of various parenting courses distributed by Growing Families International (GFI). This article outlines my views on the points raised by various authors.

Linux things

This is a collection of linux documents and other miscellaneous things which I have collected or written. At this stage it's not much of a collection (more like an arrangement of letters which happen to spell out meaningful english sentences), but it's a start. The most recently added things are at the top.

29 May 2008: Version 1.3.0 of set_rlimits has been released. This integrates a Makefile patch by Lucas C. Villa Real and adds an option to specify non-standard library locations (which must be secured directories) to the called executable.

17 November 2006: Jack_play 0.1 is a small command line tool allowing one to play any file supported by libsndfile to arbitary JACK ports. It's based heavily on jack_capture. While there remains much to be done but it's still usable in its current state.

7 June 2006: Audiosync 0.4 is a quick and dirty program to resynchronise audio tracks recorded on separate machines which were not locked to wordclock. Full operation is detailed in the enclosed README file, manpage and the source itself. This is the first public release of audiosync. It is released under the GNU GPL.

11 January 2006: Set_rlimits 1.2.0 is a new version of what was previously called set_rtlimits. It is a small program written to give unpriviledged users access to realtime scheduling via the new rlimits added to kernel 2.6.12. The new name reflects the fact that the program can control resource limits rather than just those related to realtime priorities. This new version adds a more flexible configuration file format, easier command line use and the ability to control the memlock resource limit. Read the enclosed README file and manpage for full details.

7 June 2005: Set_rtlimits 1.1.0 is a small program written to give unpriviledged users access to realtime scheduling via the new rlimits added to kernel 2.6.12. The initial version 1.0.0 is available for completeness. Permission to use elevated realtime resource limits is granted on a user/group basis for each desired program in a central configuration file. Read the enclosed README file and manpage for full details.

8 December 2003: Batchrec 1.2.0 is the latest version of a small text-mode sound recording utility I wrote. It features a level meter (in dB), and automatic track splitting based on a user-defined amount of silence (where the level of `silence' is also user-defined). This version adds raw output of audio data to stdout allowing (for example) realtime conversion to formats other than the internally supported WAV format. I often have the need to simply sample something before using ecasound/slab/ardour/etc for further processing, and I find batchrec more suited to this than most other tools out there. The track splitting is especially useful, since it allows automatic unattended sampling of a number of tracks. It's released under the GPL.
Versions 1.0.0 and 1.1.0 are still available if anyone wants them.

6 August 2003: Some time ago I posted a number of requests on the Linux kernel mailing list and the NFS list regarding some oopses I was seeing on a 2.4.18 fileserver at work. The problem was triggered when a client used NLM locking (as Digital Unix 4 and several others do), and eventually I tracked down an answer in the form of a patch from Trond. This patch was not easy to find and since that time others have emailed me asking whether the problem was resolved. The short answer is "yes, it has been resolved", and the magic patch can be found here. The problem was fixed in 2.4.19.

5 February 2003: Trackedit 0.1 is another small text-mode audio program I wrote. It is designed to allow very large audio files to be skimmed through and for sections to be selected and saved off into separate files. Full usage details are included in the README file and the online help. The interface is currently textmode only, but the program may grow an (optional) GUI at some stage when/if I have time. Like batchrec, it's released under the GPL.

5 February 2003: Batchrec 1.1.0 is the latest version of a small text-mode sound recording utility I wrote. It features a level meter (in dB), and automatic track splitting based on a user-defined amount of silence (where the level of `silence' is also user-defined). I often have the need to simply sample something before using ecasound/slab/ ardour/etc for further processing, and I find batchrec more suited to this than most other tools out there. The track splitting is especially useful, since it allows automatic unattended sampling of a number of tracks. It's released under the GPL.
Version 1.0.0 is still available if anyone wants it - but 1.1.0 is better. :)

8 March 2002: I have produced an updated tclx/tix patch giving tix access to tclx functions. This is a diff patch against tix 8.1.3 and was tested with tcl/tk 8.3.4 and tclx 8.3. This patch also includes a small change to config/acinclude.m4 which ensures compiler variables are correctly set up in `configure' scripts; without it some tests (noteably the `unsigned char' test) are incorrectly failed. (Note that in this patch, only the unix/tkX8.3/configure file has this fix applied.)

The `ping' program included in many recent distributions (including Slackware 8.0) comes from the netkit-base-0.17 release. This version has a problem which causes a false error message to be displayed if the ping time is more than the sending interval - usually one second. This small patch fixes the problem; to apply, change into the netkit-base-0.17 directory and do `patch -p1 < /netkit-0.17.diff'. (Note: the netkit maintainer is aware of this problem and it has been fixed in the current development tree as of 6 November 2001.)

NSS1 compatibility module package for Slackware 7.x. This is needed for binaries statically linked against glibc 2.0.x which use NSS services, since the NSS modules are not automatically included in the binary during the static linking process. The package contains the "compat", "db", "dns", "files" and "nis" NSS modules from Slackware 4.0. Note that for many situations symlinking libnss_*_.so.1 to the glibc 2.1.x equivalents will work; however, there appear to be some subtle problems with this which show up only for certain query values, making the "proper" modules necessary.
ephem 4.29. This version is mainly a code cleanup from v4.28 to increase its stability under modern operating systems such as Linux. It has not, however, been tested on systems other than Linux (2.2.13 kernel, glibc 2.1, egcs 1.1.2) so any feedback would be appreciated.
A patch against wavplay 1.3 which fixes a number of glitches/bugs and adds a time display.

Here is another xwave2 patch, this time against the last official release I am aware of. This is a bugfix patch - no new features are added, but with it the program actually compiles. There are still minor problems with the program but it is quite useable now.

I have written a patch against xwave2 (an audio wave editor) which fixes a number of bugs and adds the loop button functionality originally written for xwave 0.6.

This file contains extensions to Tix version 4.1.0 which give applications using the Tix extensions to Tcl/Tk 8.0 access to TclX commands (unix only). It is a tar file which should be extracted in the Tix base directory. A directory unix/tkX8.0/ will be created - to build Tix with TclX extensions (tixwishx) go to this directory rather than the tk8.0 directory. Otherwise follow the standard documentation. This was written since I could find nothing on the web indicating how to create tixwishx (even though there were about 4 references to people using it). If there is an "official" way to do this I would love to know.

I have an XFree86 configuration file for a Gateway Solo 2100 laptop computer here. It is for XFree 3.1.2; However, I suspect that the standard XF86Setup program now works correctly for this laptop and it should be used in preference to this file.

Installing Linux on a Toshiba Tecra-550CDT laptop computer describes the steps to take when installing Linux on this machine, hardware settings required, and a number of points to watch out for.

ALS-007 Linux and programming notes are a collection of notes I wrote about soundcards based on the Avance Logic ALS-007 chip while I was writing a kernel driver for them. Links to the patch against OSS/Free 3.8s6 (and 3.8s9) are provided in this document.

An ALS-007 quick guide which concisely describes how to set up an ALS-007 based soundcard under Linux. This is more or less an HTML-ised version of the Linux/Documentation/Sound/ALS007 file in the kernel source distribution (>=2.1.105) and is provided for those who don't want to plough through the full set of programming notes.

Hardware/electronics things

Here you'll find a few pieces of computer hardware documentation and other electronic-related information which I have written. The newest things are at the top.

It seems that the Prime3b chip is still used on some `current' boards: Tom Perkins informed me of the existance of the `DTC Ultima Pro' and its usermanual. The original site for the manual is here.
Documentation on another multi-IO card has come my way. This time, Ian Hamilton has provided some information on the AI-1078E Super (Enhanced) IO card. This card is based on a Goldstar Prime 2C chip.
Thanks to Andrew Su, I now have documentation on a card based on the LGS Prime 3B Mark II chip. As for the Prime 3B chip dealt with below, there appears to be practically no documentation on the internet regarding these cards.
A miscellaneous collection of minidisc-related information, mainly dealing with servicing and hardware. It's slanted towards the Sony MDS-S30 model since that's what I have, but owners of other similar models may find it useful as well.
Documentation on a multiIO card made by Kentech Computer (HK) based on the LGS Prime 3B chip. There seems to be little else on the net in the way of documentation of this chip, so hopefully this page will remedy the situation slightly.

Links to interesting places

(As before, the most recently added links are towards the top. Maybe.)

	Observational evidence for a fifth state of administration is the latest "paper" I've co-written with a friend.
	How to keep an idiot busy ... says it all, really.
	The AIR homepage. This includes links to information about the IG-Nobel prizes, and the AIR-2000 project.
	A general theory of relativistic television programming is another "paper" I've co-written with a friend...
	In the spirit of the "ADG Antics and mayhem page" (see below) comes the Weird Stuff page. Of particular note is the Strawberry PopTart Blowtorches which gives an excellent example of a proper physics practical and how it should be written up.
	You can finally download The Ultra-Complete Index to the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy via the web for your convenience! If you can't cope with the gzipped format, mail me and i'll see what i can do.
	Link to the one and only, daily updated (well, ideally anyway) Humourscope.
	Yes, I have finally got a Goon Show site on here...
	Here is unequivocal evidence that microsoft doesn't place much emphasis on bug fixes...
	The Douglas Adams worship page contains links to all sorts of DNA-related stuff. This includes searchable indexes for the Hitchhikers and Dirk Gently series.
	The special theory of administrative relativity is a "paper" i wrote with a friend...
	As a starting point for Muppet related info on and in the web, try Bill Sherman's Muppets Home Page. It's an unofficial collection of Muppet-related madness and info, gathered with the help of the alt.tv.muppets newsgroup.
	If you've ever wondered what workers at SGI get up to in their spare time, take a look at ADG Antics and mayhem page. At the bottom of the page are further links to interesting activities which include blowing up a mac. Share and enjoy!

Random ravings by the author

Long-time visitors to this page will note that the general layout hasn't changed all that much, which is fairly consistant with the way things have gone since 1996. I have darkened the background slightly since some people were complaining that it was too light and made the text too hard to read. Items continue to be added to the list of implemented things, but they are certainly not announced with a fanfair of superfluous graphical rubbish. For those who want dramatic layout changes, you've come to the wrong place - this page is more for information rather than for showing off the latest and greatest in HTML effects. I don't have time to do all that. Get used to it - life goes on :).

And now, as you pass on your merry (or not-so-merry) way, and you feel it necessary to complain about the lack of time (as I frequently have good reason to), try very hard not to forget...

   Time is an illusion; Lunchtime doubly so.

This page was last updated on 7 June 2005.

My name is Jonathan Woithe and you can mail me by clicking here if you think it's important.

Marvin doesn't, but then again, Marvin doesn't seem to think anything is important. Other than complaining about all the diodes down his left hand side, or being a manically depressed robot...

	The HH quote list (maybe, pending time (yet again))
	Some Goon show stuff if I can find something which I consider completely irrelevant to everything
	My life history in under 2 minutes

	29 May 2008: Version 1.3.0 of set_rlimits has been released. This integrates a Makefile patch by Lucas C. Villa Real and adds an option to specify non-standard library locations (which must be secured directories) to the called executable.
	17 November 2006: Jack_play 0.1 is a small command line tool allowing one to play any file supported by libsndfile to arbitary JACK ports. It's based heavily on jack_capture. While there remains much to be done but it's still usable in its current state.
	7 June 2006: Audiosync 0.4 is a quick and dirty program to resynchronise audio tracks recorded on separate machines which were not locked to wordclock. Full operation is detailed in the enclosed README file, manpage and the source itself. This is the first public release of audiosync. It is released under the GNU GPL.
	11 January 2006: Set_rlimits 1.2.0 is a new version of what was previously called set_rtlimits. It is a small program written to give unpriviledged users access to realtime scheduling via the new rlimits added to kernel 2.6.12. The new name reflects the fact that the program can control resource limits rather than just those related to realtime priorities. This new version adds a more flexible configuration file format, easier command line use and the ability to control the memlock resource limit. Read the enclosed README file and manpage for full details.
	7 June 2005: Set_rtlimits 1.1.0 is a small program written to give unpriviledged users access to realtime scheduling via the new rlimits added to kernel 2.6.12. The initial version 1.0.0 is available for completeness. Permission to use elevated realtime resource limits is granted on a user/group basis for each desired program in a central configuration file. Read the enclosed README file and manpage for full details.
	8 December 2003: Batchrec 1.2.0 is the latest version of a small text-mode sound recording utility I wrote. It features a level meter (in dB), and automatic track splitting based on a user-defined amount of silence (where the level of `silence' is also user-defined). This version adds raw output of audio data to stdout allowing (for example) realtime conversion to formats other than the internally supported WAV format. I often have the need to simply sample something before using ecasound/slab/ardour/etc for further processing, and I find batchrec more suited to this than most other tools out there. The track splitting is especially useful, since it allows automatic unattended sampling of a number of tracks. It's released under the GPL. Versions 1.0.0 and 1.1.0 are still available if anyone wants them.
	6 August 2003: Some time ago I posted a number of requests on the Linux kernel mailing list and the NFS list regarding some oopses I was seeing on a 2.4.18 fileserver at work. The problem was triggered when a client used NLM locking (as Digital Unix 4 and several others do), and eventually I tracked down an answer in the form of a patch from Trond. This patch was not easy to find and since that time others have emailed me asking whether the problem was resolved. The short answer is "yes, it has been resolved", and the magic patch can be found here. The problem was fixed in 2.4.19.
	5 February 2003: Trackedit 0.1 is another small text-mode audio program I wrote. It is designed to allow very large audio files to be skimmed through and for sections to be selected and saved off into separate files. Full usage details are included in the README file and the online help. The interface is currently textmode only, but the program may grow an (optional) GUI at some stage when/if I have time. Like batchrec, it's released under the GPL.
	5 February 2003: Batchrec 1.1.0 is the latest version of a small text-mode sound recording utility I wrote. It features a level meter (in dB), and automatic track splitting based on a user-defined amount of silence (where the level of `silence' is also user-defined). I often have the need to simply sample something before using ecasound/slab/ ardour/etc for further processing, and I find batchrec more suited to this than most other tools out there. The track splitting is especially useful, since it allows automatic unattended sampling of a number of tracks. It's released under the GPL. Version 1.0.0 is still available if anyone wants it - but 1.1.0 is better. :)
	8 March 2002: I have produced an updated tclx/tix patch giving tix access to tclx functions. This is a diff patch against tix 8.1.3 and was tested with tcl/tk 8.3.4 and tclx 8.3. This patch also includes a small change to config/acinclude.m4 which ensures compiler variables are correctly set up in `configure' scripts; without it some tests (noteably the `unsigned char' test) are incorrectly failed. (Note that in this patch, only the unix/tkX8.3/configure file has this fix applied.)
	The `ping' program included in many recent distributions (including Slackware 8.0) comes from the netkit-base-0.17 release. This version has a problem which causes a false error message to be displayed if the ping time is more than the sending interval - usually one second. This small patch fixes the problem; to apply, change into the netkit-base-0.17 directory and do `patch -p1 < /netkit-0.17.diff'. (Note: the netkit maintainer is aware of this problem and it has been fixed in the current development tree as of 6 November 2001.)
	NSS1 compatibility module package for Slackware 7.x. This is needed for binaries statically linked against glibc 2.0.x which use NSS services, since the NSS modules are not automatically included in the binary during the static linking process. The package contains the "compat", "db", "dns", "files" and "nis" NSS modules from Slackware 4.0. Note that for many situations symlinking libnss_*_.so.1 to the glibc 2.1.x equivalents will work; however, there appear to be some subtle problems with this which show up only for certain query values, making the "proper" modules necessary.
	ephem 4.29. This version is mainly a code cleanup from v4.28 to increase its stability under modern operating systems such as Linux. It has not, however, been tested on systems other than Linux (2.2.13 kernel, glibc 2.1, egcs 1.1.2) so any feedback would be appreciated.
	A patch against wavplay 1.3 which fixes a number of glitches/bugs and adds a time display.
	Here is another xwave2 patch, this time against the last official release I am aware of. This is a bugfix patch - no new features are added, but with it the program actually compiles. There are still minor problems with the program but it is quite useable now.
	I have written a patch against xwave2 (an audio wave editor) which fixes a number of bugs and adds the loop button functionality originally written for xwave 0.6.
	This file contains extensions to Tix version 4.1.0 which give applications using the Tix extensions to Tcl/Tk 8.0 access to TclX commands (unix only). It is a tar file which should be extracted in the Tix base directory. A directory unix/tkX8.0/ will be created - to build Tix with TclX extensions (tixwishx) go to this directory rather than the tk8.0 directory. Otherwise follow the standard documentation. This was written since I could find nothing on the web indicating how to create tixwishx (even though there were about 4 references to people using it). If there is an "official" way to do this I would love to know.
	I have an XFree86 configuration file for a Gateway Solo 2100 laptop computer here. It is for XFree 3.1.2; However, I suspect that the standard XF86Setup program now works correctly for this laptop and it should be used in preference to this file.
	Installing Linux on a Toshiba Tecra-550CDT laptop computer describes the steps to take when installing Linux on this machine, hardware settings required, and a number of points to watch out for.
	ALS-007 Linux and programming notes are a collection of notes I wrote about soundcards based on the Avance Logic ALS-007 chip while I was writing a kernel driver for them. Links to the patch against OSS/Free 3.8s6 (and 3.8s9) are provided in this document.
	An ALS-007 quick guide which concisely describes how to set up an ALS-007 based soundcard under Linux. This is more or less an HTML-ised version of the Linux/Documentation/Sound/ALS007 file in the kernel source distribution (>=2.1.105) and is provided for those who don't want to plough through the full set of programming notes.

	It seems that the Prime3b chip is still used on some `current' boards: Tom Perkins informed me of the existance of the `DTC Ultima Pro' and its usermanual. The original site for the manual is here.
	Documentation on another multi-IO card has come my way. This time, Ian Hamilton has provided some information on the AI-1078E Super (Enhanced) IO card. This card is based on a Goldstar Prime 2C chip.
	Thanks to Andrew Su, I now have documentation on a card based on the LGS Prime 3B Mark II chip. As for the Prime 3B chip dealt with below, there appears to be practically no documentation on the internet regarding these cards.
	A miscellaneous collection of minidisc-related information, mainly dealing with servicing and hardware. It's slanted towards the Sony MDS-S30 model since that's what I have, but owners of other similar models may find it useful as well.
	Documentation on a multiIO card made by Kentech Computer (HK) based on the LGS Prime 3B chip. There seems to be little else on the net in the way of documentation of this chip, so hopefully this page will remedy the situation slightly.