Linux Mint Support only supports .deb package installation.
Therefore if you have some software in .rpm package format you can install it in Linux Mint easily by converting to .deb first. This is done by using the alien software.
To install alien, open a terminal (Press Ctrl+Alt+T) and copy the following command into the terminal:
sudo apt-get install alien dpkg-dev debhelper build-essential
Now to convert package from .rpm format to .deb format, use the following command.
sudo alien your_package.rpm
To install the deb package enter following command:
sudo dpkg -i your_package.deb
Monday, 5 November 2012
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Pc won't turn off (?)
The title of this post is the Google search that wasted many hours of my life.
You see, I had built a new pc and everything was sweet except when I shutdown the pc, Windows would shutdown but the hardware would stay on. It just would not turn off any way other than forcefully.
You see, I had built a new pc and everything was sweet except when I shutdown the pc, Windows would shutdown but the hardware would stay on. It just would not turn off any way other than forcefully.
I tried checking power connections, power button connections, booting from a Linux DVD, replacing the power supply and much more. Nothing worked.
I was amazed at how many people had the issue but none had a fix that worked for me until...
I flashed the BIOS and then flushed the BIOS memory. Huzza! That worked a treat.
I hope this helps someone.
I was amazed at how many people had the issue but none had a fix that worked for me until...
I flashed the BIOS and then flushed the BIOS memory. Huzza! That worked a treat.
I hope this helps someone.
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
How to move your installed Linux to another drive and keep it working.
When I was trialling Linux, I installed it onto a drive (partition) that became too small (as I was installing more and more things). I had my original and much larger Windows 7 drive gathering dust so I thought to get rid of that and move Linux there. Here's how I moved my Linux without having to re-install anything.
That's not an easy task under Windows and is fraught with danger, however it's easy under Linux. In fact I can keep both copies and be able to boot either, which is a great failsafe, should one not boot.
Copying
Don’t forget the asterisk after the source path.
but replace "hd(0,0)" with your partition’s number from above.
That’s it! You should now have a bootable working copy of your source drive on your destination drive! You can use this to move to a different drive, partition, or filesystem.
That's not an easy task under Windows and is fraught with danger, however it's easy under Linux. In fact I can keep both copies and be able to boot either, which is a great failsafe, should one not boot.
Copying
- Mount both your source and destination partitions.
- Run this command from a terminal:
Don’t forget the asterisk after the source path.
- After the command finishes copying, shut down, remove the source drive, and boot the live CD again.
Configuration
- Mount your destination drive (or partition).
- Run the command “gksu gedit” (or use nano or vi).
- Edit the file /etc/fstab. Change the UUID or device entry with the mount point / (the root partition) to your new drive.
- You can find your new drive’s (or partition’s) UUID with this command:
- Edit the file /boot/grub/menu.lst. Change the UUID of the appropriate entries at the bottom of the file to the new one.
Install Grub
- Run sudo grub.
- At the Grub prompt, type:
This will tell you what your new drive and partition’s number is.
(Something like hd(0,0))
- Type:
but replace "hd(0,0)" with your partition’s number from above.
- Type: setup hd(0) but replace "hd(0)" with your drive's number from above. (Omit the comma and the number after it).
That’s it! You should now have a bootable working copy of your source drive on your destination drive! You can use this to move to a different drive, partition, or filesystem.
Monday, 8 October 2012
Jellybean and the vanishing widgets.
I recently installed an experimental version of Android Jellybean. One "feature" I uncovered is that widgets are installed to the SD card and not internal storage. That is a bad thing and tends to make them vanish from the phone's desktop. The solution is move them using a tool such as Titanium Backup.
Problem solved. :-)
Problem solved. :-)
Android Jellybean for me
I recently upgraded my HTC One X so that I had root access. This gives me the ability for example, to block ads and remove manufacturer-installed programs. In doing so I broke the over the air (OTA) updates from HTC. This was a bummer because over time my phone's Wi-Fi became unusable.
A little bit of Google-Fu found that HTC had released an update to fix this issue but as I couldn't receive updates, I had to replace my HTC android with a custom "Rom".
I went with the well-respected Cyanogen Rom, version 10 using Android Jellybean. Jellybean is the newest Android.
A little bit of Google-Fu found that HTC had released an update to fix this issue but as I couldn't receive updates, I had to replace my HTC android with a custom "Rom".
I went with the well-respected Cyanogen Rom, version 10 using Android Jellybean. Jellybean is the newest Android.
As it turned out, it wasn't as simple as I had experienced before. I installed the Rom and the "Google apps" add-on without issue, however rebooting the phone showed it stuck it in a perpetual boot loop.
I found instructions that said to extract the file boot.img from the Rom and install that via the developers ADB kit from a pc.
For reasons I couldn't determine, my Linux pc would not properly see the phone via USB, so I had to resort to using a Windows pc to apply the file.
Once done, the phone booted fine.
I have say, I'm impressed especially as I installed a "nightly" version. That's a version that's freshly compiled and not tested. Talk about living on the edge, haha.
I'm loving my Jellybean though. It's snappy to the touch and noticeably faster then earlier Androids. The other great thing is that my Wi-Fi is now back to normal, really fast and reliable. Yippee!
I'm also experiencing occasional crashes of the phone. I'm yet to determine the cause of this but given I'm using an experimental Rom, I can't complain. I'll just update the Rom when a stable version is released.
I found instructions that said to extract the file boot.img from the Rom and install that via the developers ADB kit from a pc.
For reasons I couldn't determine, my Linux pc would not properly see the phone via USB, so I had to resort to using a Windows pc to apply the file.
Once done, the phone booted fine.
I have say, I'm impressed especially as I installed a "nightly" version. That's a version that's freshly compiled and not tested. Talk about living on the edge, haha.
I'm loving my Jellybean though. It's snappy to the touch and noticeably faster then earlier Androids. The other great thing is that my Wi-Fi is now back to normal, really fast and reliable. Yippee!
I'm also experiencing occasional crashes of the phone. I'm yet to determine the cause of this but given I'm using an experimental Rom, I can't complain. I'll just update the Rom when a stable version is released.
Thursday, 6 September 2012
Accessing other hard drives at boot up
Linux Mint will automatically mount other hard drives when you click on their partitions in the File Manager.
What if you want to access those drives on boot up without having to access the File Manager first? It's easily fixed!
You just need to add them to the /etc/fstab file
Run the following command in a terminal:
sudo gedit /etc/fstab
The gedit editor opens with fstab loaded.
Add a new line to end of the file:
/dev/sdb1 /media/D ntfs defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0 0
(/dev/sdb1 = physical drive) (/media/D = Folder where to mount drive) Do this for each drive you want to add.
Save and close the file. The drives will be loaded automatically at next boot.
The first part (/dev/sda1) is the actual physical disk. You can get this information by looking in the Disk Utility program.
The second part (/media/WindowXP) is the folder you want it be mounted to. Use /media but change the WindowsXP part to anything you want.
The remainder tells Linux what type of files system (Windows disks are typically ntfs) and some other stuff you don't need to worry about.
Note: If it is not a Windows disk then you will need to google what parameters to use.
What if you want to access those drives on boot up without having to access the File Manager first? It's easily fixed!
You just need to add them to the /etc/fstab file
Run the following command in a terminal:
sudo gedit /etc/fstab
The gedit editor opens with fstab loaded.
Add a new line to end of the file:
/dev/sdb1 /media/D ntfs defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0 0
(/dev/sdb1 = physical drive) (/media/D = Folder where to mount drive) Do this for each drive you want to add.
Save and close the file. The drives will be loaded automatically at next boot.
The first part (/dev/sda1) is the actual physical disk. You can get this information by looking in the Disk Utility program.
The second part (/media/WindowXP) is the folder you want it be mounted to. Use /media but change the WindowsXP part to anything you want.
The remainder tells Linux what type of files system (Windows disks are typically ntfs) and some other stuff you don't need to worry about.
Note: If it is not a Windows disk then you will need to google what parameters to use.
Running Windows programs under Linux
I have had success running various Windows applications (mostly games) under Linux using the software called 'Wine'.
To install Wine, run the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine1.5
Then to run a Windows application I recommend doing so from a terminal window as any errors can be seen and 'googled' for a fix.
So for example to run Microsoft Word, change to the directory containing the word.exe and run the command:
wine word.exe
If any errors are displayed then you need to google them and apply the recommended fix.
So, as you can see to run a Windows program just requires prefixing it with 'wine' first.
To install Wine, run the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine1.5
Then to run a Windows application I recommend doing so from a terminal window as any errors can be seen and 'googled' for a fix.
So for example to run Microsoft Word, change to the directory containing the word.exe and run the command:
wine word.exe
If any errors are displayed then you need to google them and apply the recommended fix.
So, as you can see to run a Windows program just requires prefixing it with 'wine' first.
Monday, 13 August 2012
Setting up TV tuner cards.
We should ensure we have the latest development V4L (Video For Linux) driver for the TV tuner to work.
Here are the steps in installing the latest V4L drivers.
In a terminal window type in the following to install gcc, mercurial and the kernel headers:
sudo apt-get install patchutils libproc-processtable-perl build-essential git-core linux-headers-`uname -r`
You may be asked for your password with the above commands, type it in and press Enter.
Move to the /usr/src/ folder with:
cd /usr/src
Download the latest V4L drivers with:
sudo git clone git://linuxtv.org/media_build.git
Move into the newly created folder with:
cd media_build
Now start the building process with:
sudo ./build
This will take a while.
Finally we install these drivers with:
sudo make install
Reboot your computer and the newer V4L drivers will be used.
Please note that if Ubuntu/Mint release a updated kernel you will have to go through the above steps again.
Here are the steps in installing the latest V4L drivers.
In a terminal window type in the following to install gcc, mercurial and the kernel headers:
sudo apt-get install patchutils libproc-processtable-perl build-essential git-core linux-headers-`uname -r`
You may be asked for your password with the above commands, type it in and press Enter.
Move to the /usr/src/ folder with:
cd /usr/src
Download the latest V4L drivers with:
sudo git clone git://linuxtv.org/media_build.git
Move into the newly created folder with:
cd media_build
Now start the building process with:
sudo ./build
This will take a while.
Finally we install these drivers with:
sudo make install
Reboot your computer and the newer V4L drivers will be used.
Please note that if Ubuntu/Mint release a updated kernel you will have to go through the above steps again.
Get rid of that pesky Caps Lock key!
To get rid of the Caps Lock key, we just need to use xmodmap.
Open a terminal and enter:
$ xmodmap -e "remove lock = Caps_Lock"
Now caps key is disabled.
To enable caps key, enter:
$ xmodmap -e "add lock = Caps_Lock"
Enter the following code to add it permanently to your shell startup file ~/.bash_profile or ~/.profile file: $ echo 'xmodmap -e "remove lock = Caps_Lock"' >> ~/.bash_profile
If the above doesn't work, use the setxkbmap command instead.
To turn off caps lock key, enter:
$ setxkbmap -option ctrl:nocaps
To reset caps lock. enter:
$ setxkbmap -option
Open a terminal and enter:
$ xmodmap -e "remove lock = Caps_Lock"
Now caps key is disabled.
To enable caps key, enter:
$ xmodmap -e "add lock = Caps_Lock"
Enter the following code to add it permanently to your shell startup file ~/.bash_profile or ~/.profile file: $ echo 'xmodmap -e "remove lock = Caps_Lock"' >> ~/.bash_profile
If the above doesn't work, use the setxkbmap command instead.
To turn off caps lock key, enter:
$ setxkbmap -option ctrl:nocaps
To reset caps lock. enter:
$ setxkbmap -option
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
Install Chrome on Mint
Here's a quick how-to to get Google Chrome on Linux Mint.
1. Open a terminal window.
2. Type in these three commands and hit <enter> after each one.
wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google.list'
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install google-chrome-stable
That's it :-)
1. Open a terminal window.
2. Type in these three commands and hit <enter> after each one.
wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google.list'
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install google-chrome-stable
That's it :-)
VPN issue and solution
As I am allowed to work from home twice a week, I needed the ability to connect via Cisco AnyConnect VPN. I was told that under Linux I should use the free OpenConnect software, as work colleagues do.
Try as I might I could not get access to some work servers. That traffic was being routed over my non-VPN connection. Why was only some of the traffic doing this? I'm no networking guru but I managed to fix it quite simply.
On a PC that could access all of the servers, I simply pinged the problem servers like:
$ ping google.com
This returned the following information:
PING google.com (74.125.237.104) 56(84) bytes of data.
Then I opened the hosts file as root:
$ sudo gedit /etc/hosts
and added the IP number followed by the URL:
74.125.237.104 google.com
Finally save and close the file and hey presto, problem solved.
Try as I might I could not get access to some work servers. That traffic was being routed over my non-VPN connection. Why was only some of the traffic doing this? I'm no networking guru but I managed to fix it quite simply.
On a PC that could access all of the servers, I simply pinged the problem servers like:
$ ping google.com
This returned the following information:
PING google.com (74.125.237.104) 56(84) bytes of data.
Then I opened the hosts file as root:
$ sudo gedit /etc/hosts
and added the IP number followed by the URL:
74.125.237.104 google.com
Finally save and close the file and hey presto, problem solved.
Thursday, 2 August 2012
Adding Multiple User logins to Mint 13
I discovered that if my screensaver locks the desktop, only my account can unlock it. What a pain! Thankfully using some google-fu I found the answer. Simply open a terminal and type the following command:
That simple command creates a symbolic (soft) link to fix user switching.
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/mdmflexiserver /usr/bin/gdmflexiserverThat simple command creates a symbolic (soft) link to fix user switching.
Sunday, 29 July 2012
Starting programs on Login
To have a program start when you login just add the command the rc.local file located in /etc/.
The simple way to do this is open a terminal in the /etc/ folder and type:
sudo gedit rc.local
You will be prompted for your password as you are editing a file you don't own. The command that causes this is sudo.
gedit is a simple file editor and rc.local is of course the file you are editing.
In my case I wanted to start Dropbox so I added:
# Start the Dropbox daemon
~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd &
The first line is a 'comment' so I know what I'm starting and the next line is the actual command to start Dropbox.
You will probably need to change the permissions of the rc.local file so it can run your stuff. Do this with the following command in the terminal you opened earlier:
chmod u+x /etc/rc.local
The simple way to do this is open a terminal in the /etc/ folder and type:
sudo gedit rc.local
You will be prompted for your password as you are editing a file you don't own. The command that causes this is sudo.
gedit is a simple file editor and rc.local is of course the file you are editing.
In my case I wanted to start Dropbox so I added:
# Start the Dropbox daemon
~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd &
The first line is a 'comment' so I know what I'm starting and the next line is the actual command to start Dropbox.
You will probably need to change the permissions of the rc.local file so it can run your stuff. Do this with the following command in the terminal you opened earlier:
chmod u+x /etc/rc.local
Desktop shortcuts a 'la Windows
To create a desktop shortcut to say a script that starts a game, you just need to create a softlink. A softlink is Linux speak for a shortcut. To do this, open a terminal in the games/applications folder and type the following:
ln -s script ~/Desktop/shortcut_to_the_script
To break that down, ln -s means to create a link (ln) of type soft (-s).
The script is simply the script you want to link and shortcut_to_the_script is the name of the shortcut as it will appear on your desktop. The ~/Desktop/ is the path to your Home directory (~) and then of course the Desktop folder in there.
ln -s script ~/Desktop/shortcut_to_the_script
To break that down, ln -s means to create a link (ln) of type soft (-s).
The script is simply the script you want to link and shortcut_to_the_script is the name of the shortcut as it will appear on your desktop. The ~/Desktop/ is the path to your Home directory (~) and then of course the Desktop folder in there.
Friday, 27 July 2012
Windows networking in Linux.
I found Linux Mint works quite nicely in a home Windows network. It uses Samba and after an install of 'system-config-samba', I fixed my last issue.
If you are getting issues opening Windows shares, try opening the Software Manager and typing Samba then click Search.
You should then see system-config-samba as an installable option. Install it and then press ALT+F2. This will open a terminal (command-line) window. In that window type sudo system-config-samba. It will then prompt for your password, so type that in and press <ENTER>.
This will display the settings for your Samba server in a window call Samba Server Configuration. This server is what other PCs will connect to access the stuff you've shared, so you'll need to do this on each PC you want to access shared stuff on.
Click Preferences and then Server Settings.
Select the Security tab and set Authentication Mode to Share. Click OK.
Click Preferences and then Samba Users. The Samba Users window is displayed.
Click Add User,
Select a user from the Unix Username drop down. This is the local user account to use.
Enter a user name in the Windows Username dialogue. This is the user you'll use on other PCs when it asks for a user name and password.
Now enter the password that you'll use in the Samba Password and Confirm Samba Password fields.
Click OK twice.
Back in the Samba Server Configuration window, click the plus (+) symbol to add something to share.
Click Browse to find a folder to share.
In the Share name: field, enter the name you want displayed when browsing the PCs shares from the network.
Tick Writable if you want to be able modify or delete stuff on your PC from another PC. This is probably not a good idea in most cases, especially if you have kids, haha.
Click the Access tab and tick the user you want to be able to access your stuff.
Click OK and close the Samba Server Configuration window.
Now when you browse the network from another PC, you can double click the PC and share you want to access and once you've entered the username and password from above, you should see what is shared.
Remember: you'll need to do the above on each PC you want access stuff on.
That's it. Enjoy :-)
If you are getting issues opening Windows shares, try opening the Software Manager and typing Samba then click Search.
You should then see system-config-samba as an installable option. Install it and then press ALT+F2. This will open a terminal (command-line) window. In that window type sudo system-config-samba. It will then prompt for your password, so type that in and press <ENTER>.
This will display the settings for your Samba server in a window call Samba Server Configuration. This server is what other PCs will connect to access the stuff you've shared, so you'll need to do this on each PC you want to access shared stuff on.
Click Preferences and then Server Settings.
Select the Security tab and set Authentication Mode to Share. Click OK.
Click Preferences and then Samba Users. The Samba Users window is displayed.
Click Add User,
Select a user from the Unix Username drop down. This is the local user account to use.
Enter a user name in the Windows Username dialogue. This is the user you'll use on other PCs when it asks for a user name and password.
Now enter the password that you'll use in the Samba Password and Confirm Samba Password fields.
Click OK twice.
Back in the Samba Server Configuration window, click the plus (+) symbol to add something to share.
Click Browse to find a folder to share.
In the Share name: field, enter the name you want displayed when browsing the PCs shares from the network.
Tick Writable if you want to be able modify or delete stuff on your PC from another PC. This is probably not a good idea in most cases, especially if you have kids, haha.
Click the Access tab and tick the user you want to be able to access your stuff.
Click OK and close the Samba Server Configuration window.
Now when you browse the network from another PC, you can double click the PC and share you want to access and once you've entered the username and password from above, you should see what is shared.
Remember: you'll need to do the above on each PC you want access stuff on.
That's it. Enjoy :-)
My switch from MS Windows to Linux
Firstly, I'll say this: I love technology, mostly. The issues and foibles are annoying but it is satisfying to fix, customise or improve something.
This blog is not really directed at anyone in particular, except perhaps those seeking answers to PC related problems. I'll be posting my solutions to problems as I find them, so I have a place I can find my solutions later. If they help you, that's great. If they don't sorry, so keep 'googling'. If you have a constructive comment, I'd love to hear it. If you are a 'hater', you are not welcome here and you will be blocked.
I have several children and as such I have many PCs. I always build my PCs as I get what I want for a fraction of the price of a 'brand name' PC. Of course, having many PCs with several kids as users, I get many problems I must fix, ugh..
Recently 3 of these PCs would make themselves unusable on an almost daily basis. I think the culprit was a 64 bit Windows 7 update, as my 32 bit Windows 7 still runs fine.
Anyway, I got incredibly sick of a daily PC fix using System Restore (if it worked) or having to do a complete reinstall. Therefore I thought I would go back and try Linux as it's free, much more resistant to viruses, reliable and very secure.
I hadn't really used Linux much for many years but I had started with it back around 1993. Back then, getting your mouse to work was something to brag about! Since then each time I tried Linux, it was better in user-friendliness.
I would not recommend Linux to newbies (new computers users) as I don't want to have train people.
Having heard of many people's dislike of the new Unity interface in Ubuntu Linux, I went with Linux Mint. I have to say I am loving how far Linux has come in only a few years. Here are some of my reasons:
This blog is not really directed at anyone in particular, except perhaps those seeking answers to PC related problems. I'll be posting my solutions to problems as I find them, so I have a place I can find my solutions later. If they help you, that's great. If they don't sorry, so keep 'googling'. If you have a constructive comment, I'd love to hear it. If you are a 'hater', you are not welcome here and you will be blocked.
I have several children and as such I have many PCs. I always build my PCs as I get what I want for a fraction of the price of a 'brand name' PC. Of course, having many PCs with several kids as users, I get many problems I must fix, ugh..
Recently 3 of these PCs would make themselves unusable on an almost daily basis. I think the culprit was a 64 bit Windows 7 update, as my 32 bit Windows 7 still runs fine.
Anyway, I got incredibly sick of a daily PC fix using System Restore (if it worked) or having to do a complete reinstall. Therefore I thought I would go back and try Linux as it's free, much more resistant to viruses, reliable and very secure.
I hadn't really used Linux much for many years but I had started with it back around 1993. Back then, getting your mouse to work was something to brag about! Since then each time I tried Linux, it was better in user-friendliness.
I would not recommend Linux to newbies (new computers users) as I don't want to have train people.
Having heard of many people's dislike of the new Unity interface in Ubuntu Linux, I went with Linux Mint. I have to say I am loving how far Linux has come in only a few years. Here are some of my reasons:
- It boots VERY fast (in seconds, not minutes),
- It auto-detects and uses new hardware quickly, if not instantly,
- It's reliable (not one system crash yet),
- Most software is free and is easy to get.
- A usable and compatible Office is included,
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)