Hi dukemaster !
I don't write english well, my language is spanish... but that's not important here, the important is the physic. The page that you checked isn't bad, but Margaret Trias solved the problem for the ideal gas case. I think that the book want the solution in the general case. I'll tell you the solution of the fisrt part, you can do the last part knowing the first.
Supose that the microestates number is function of E1 and E2 like: O(E1,E2) , where O is Omega (in spanish). The logarithm Ln(O(E1,E2)) decreases more quickly than the fuction O(E1,E2), then, we'll take an expansion in Taylor series about [E1] (averge value), this is:
Ln(O(E1,E2)) =Ln(O([E1],E2))+(E1-[E1])(d_1)Ln(O([E1],E2))+))+(E1-[E1])^2(d_2)Ln(O([E1],E2))+...
where (d_1) is the first derivate with respect E1 and (d_2) the second derivate with respect the same.
Check that the first term in the expansion is constant, the secod is zero (that's the equilibrium condition) and the third is differente to zero, then:
Ln(O(E1,E2)) =C+(E1-[E1])^2 (d_2)Ln(O([E1],E))
taking the exponetial in both sides:
O(E1,E2)) =Aexp{(E1-[E1])^2 (d_2)Ln(O([E1],E))}
that's is the Gaussian in the parameter E1. If you take the case of ideal classical gas O(E)=cte E^(3N/2), you'll find the solution of b).
Greetings to all!
I hope it will serve my comment.