Ubuntu - USB port problem

Since I updated from Ubuntu Fiesty Fawn to Gutsy Gibbon, I was facing challenges getting my USB drive to work. The OS will not detect my camera, and either of my two flash drives. If the USB device would be detected after several minutes of silence, within a few minutes, system would throw the following error message -

"To avoid serious data loss, disable removable drives with the "Eject" option in the drive icon's context menu on the desktop, Computer place, or drive applet."

After weeks of frustration, I resorted to IRC.freenode.net at channel #Ubuntu for help.

The IRC user HardDisk suggested I do this -

sudo rmmod ehci_hcd ---> This will change USB 2.0 to USB 1.0
sudo modprobe ehci-hcd ---> This will revert the above change

Both of these commands should be used in conjunction.

Bingo! This solved the problem.

I've done a lot of updates to my OS recently. But those for later.

EDIT 11/24/2008 - Installing usbmount resolves the problem forever without slowing transfer.
EDIT 12/08/2008 - Blacklisting uhci_hcd in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist might help too.

Portland Gardens

A weekend get away to Portland, Oregon. It was a two day trip, by road, with friends.

We stopped for a coffee break here.

The car crossed the railway station of Portland.Railways are popularly called Amtrak.

Union Station, Portland

The next planned stop was the waterfront of Portland. It was a very cold day and we rushed.

Waterfront, Portland

Portland has a huge China Town which has several Chinese Restaurants, Shops and a Chinese Garden. We ate at a Chinese Bistro that night. It is one of my favorites.

Entrance to China Town, Portland

The Garden of awakening Orchids, Portland.

The layout

The Rainbow Bridge at the Chinese Garden

The beautiful floor in the Chinese Garden

The Cave at the Chinese Garden

The Japanese Garden, Portland
The Japanese Garden is divided into multiple sections.

The Temple Lantern

Sand and Stone Garden

It reveals the stark simplicity of weathered stones
rising from a sea of raked sand.

Flat Garden

The two islands in the shape of sake and sake bottle (gourd)
represent pleasure—spiritual and temporal.

And those who have seen Kill Bill,
they might remember this features during duel
between O-ren ishii and the Bride.

After returning from the Japanese garden, I had a delicious meal of sushi in an authentic Japanese Restaurant, accompanied with Japanese Fried Ice cream (yummy).

The other places that we visited were - Powell Book Store in Portland and the state capital of Washington - Olympia.

Snowfall in Seattle

Snowfall was a luxury that I had no idea how to afford. Being in Seattle gave me an opportunity to be introduced to a preliminary snowfall last year in 2006 and last weekend it had full 3 inches of snowfall.

Wow!

Here are some of the pictures that I took from and around my apartment.

Leaf in Snow

Snow settling on the branches

Snow on the cobweb

My roomie's Linux penguin on our patio

Overwhelmed with snow

Preparing for Christmas

Snow was recently ploughed off

Reflection on snow

A Misspiece

After a long hiatus, I drew again! Below are the pictures of the my misspiece followed by the original.







I use to take drawing lessons during school. I revived my creative pursuits in Feb '07 when my friend and I bought art supplies and drew a lion together. And then there was a lull. I had a sense of satisfaction after completing this painting.

What critics say?
1) My roommates liked it. One of them however mentioned that the woman on right is thinner. I agree.

2) A visiting friend mistook the lady on left for Mira Jasmine. We teased him for his affinity towards the actress and it helped when I showed him the original.

3) My mom said the woman on left is slouching and face of the woman on right is distorted. I convinced her I'll practice and do better next time.

For A Rich

You are so cool that if you were any cooler...
... you would be me.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my mom's birthday. I wish her a very happy and long life. I always admire her emotional strength and perseverance. She has contributed in wonderful and intangible ways to make me the person I'm.

I thank her for giving me her love, more than I deserve.

I love you, mom. Happy Birthday!

A long story cut short

I've heard this short story in my childhood. A few days back, I narrated it for my friend. She is an avid reader herself but of course there is no pleasure like listening to a story, at bedtime, tucked in a cosy bed. She was all excited but not as much as I was. I was all prepared to give her a little surprise. Here is the version of story I told -

"Once upon a time, in a far far away kingdom of Shingmingling, there lived a king called Tinminging with his beautiful queen, Chinminaga. One day both died."

I took a pause and then said, "Good nite!"

And I got up to go to my bedroom. My otherwise effusive friend blinked blankly at me. I smiled and said this is, a, short story. She barely managed to say - it is the most horrifying story she has ever heard at bedtime. I was amused.

BTW, my story was adapted from following Hindi story -

"ek tha raja, ek thi rani,
dono mar gaye, khatam kahani"

I'm sure my friend had difficulty sleeping with the weird feelings.

On reflection, the story underlines the monotony of the cyclic path of life. It is a template of life which is provided to everyone by default at birth. It is our choices that decide what becomes of our life. It is ironical a decision that we made in past seems foolhardy in future. But this is the beauty of life, it keeps evolving.

So, keep trying.