Mom’s Day PC

Yesterday saw the culmination of a month-long project: rebuilding one of our PCs to replace the ancient E-Machine that belonged to my mother. I had thought about doing this ever since I requisitioned the AMD64 that Jack that Jack bought to make a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) and never quite got working. I have been using the AMD64 as my desktop for months now, and adore it, so finally decided it was time to turn loose of my previous desktop.


The main wrinkle, of course, was installing Linux. Jack and I have been using Linux for three or four years, and I am an old hand at installing it, but I wanted to make the rebuilt PC look as close as feasible to the Windows 98 environment. (I wasn’t too worried: Mom has used our Linux desktop computers here without any problem.) The main new experience for me was setting up a Linux machine with a dial-up modem. Ubuntu Linux, the operating system with which I have the most experience, is really designed for connecting through a router or cable modem, and dial-up modem support is an afterthought. I decided I would still rather stick with the Linux distribution I knew.

There were a few hardware issues as well, which I delegated to Jack. The DVD burner in the rebuilt machine needed to be replaced, and the fan developed a vibration requiring a replacement. Unwilling to pay a five dollar shipping charge for a five dollar part, Jack drove all over town to find a replacement, undoubtedly spending more on gas than he would have on shipping. After that I tested out the modem, and then performed a clean install of Hardy Heron, so Mom would be on the same release we are using here. I started up Firefox, which she is used to using, and customized the bookmarks with my weblog, my sister’s weblog, and the newspapers that she reads online.

Sunday I purchased a new mouse and keyboard and tested them to make sure they would work with the rebuilt machine. We dismantled everything and bundled the components into the car. I don’t think Mom quite knew what we were doing when we started carrying in equipment. I thought I had given away the surprise when I was checking out her PC last week to make sure I knew her dialup information.

In less than an hour of unhooking the old equipment, dusting out the desk, and hooking up the new equipment, I was able to place our first outgoing call using the modem. I had to fool around a bit with the screen resolution, since I was using a very old monitor at home when I built the machine, and Mom has a newer model with a higher resolution. (Ubuntu sets itself up based on the monitor it detects when you install it.)

At my mother’s request, we had dinner at Carrabbas, which is less than a mile from her place. I had tried to get reservations, but Carrabbas doesn’t take reservations. However, the guy who told me that told me to call an hour before we came, and they would put our name of the list. They gave me a pager when I got there, and it buzzed before Jack came in from parking the car. I felt a little guilty about all those people sitting there waiting, but mostly I felt happy not to wait, especially since there were no empty seats.

After we got back from dinner, we went through three or four cycles of Mom starting the PC, connecting to the Internet, and then shutting down. I took notes for her as she did so, then reviewed them with her before we left. (I thought about trying to do this before-hand, but decided it would be better to do them interactively, since I tend to make a lot of assumptions based on years of experience.)

As it happened, my sister had sent a spiffy new set of cordless phones, so Jack hooked those up as well. He also went to Home Depot and bought some flourescent lights to replace those that had burned out in the kitchen.

When I looked at my mail this morning, I found a thank you note that Mom sent after we left last night, indicating that she started up the machine and connected to the Internet on her own. Way to go, Mom! Now, if I can just convince her that the wheel on the new mouse is a wonderful feature, and not a bug.