[tlug] A tale of two computers

[Stuart Luppescu <lupp@example.com>]

Hi TLUGers, I have two computers next to each other on my desk, a work
computer and a personal computer. The work computer is a Dell Latitude
E7440, and the personal computer is an Intel NUC. They both have
similar hardware: both have i7 CPUs, 16GB RAM, SSD. The NUC has an
Intel 7265 wifi chip, and the Dell has a 7260. The NUC has an IRIS
Graphics 6100 video controller; the Dell has a Haswell-ULT Integrated
Graphics Controller. Both use the i915 kernel driver. Both run Gentoo
and Windowmaker. I maintain both systems so I've set them up as close
to the same as I can. But there are four differences that I can't
figure out.

1) When I log in, the ssh agent passphrase popup comes up, asks for the
passphrase for ~/.ssh/id_dsa (??) and I fill it in. In .xsession on
both computers I have these lines:

eval `/usr/bin/dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit-with-session`
eval `ssh-agent -s`
ssh-add 

And in both computers /etc/ssh/ssh_config has 
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa2

On the work computer the ssh-agent works as it should. But on my
personal computer when I try to ssh to a remote machine it prompts me
for the passphrase for ~/.ssh/id_rsa2, and then it connects. The other
computer connects without prompting for the passphrase.
?????

2) On the NUC, the video in Chrome has this weird skew. Every few lines
look like they're slid to the right a few millimeters. It goes away if
you move the cursor over the part with the skew or click near it. It's
only in Chrome. The Dell is normal.
?????

3) I use ibus and anthy to switch language input. It works fine on the
Dell, but on the NUC, I can't input Japanese in Chrome, but it works
fine in other programs.
??????

4) On the NUC, I use NetworkManager to control the network interfaces.
On the Dell, about a year ago I started getting a message when I tried
to select wifi "Device not available". After trying all kinds of
things, I went back to the Sys V network init scripts and
wpa_supplicant. This works, but it's rather less convenient.
???????

Any advice on any of these will be appreciated.
-- 
Stuart Luppescu
Chief Psychometrician (ret.)
UChicago Consortium on School Research
http://consortium.uchicago.edu

lupp@example.com