XP No More

Ubuntu review

2012-02-14T17:26:00.001-08:00

Louis Matisse (@LouisMatisse1)
2/14/12 7:09 PM
Ubuntu 11.10 Review: Benchmarked Against Windows 7 tomshardware.com/reviews/ubuntu…

Asterisk beware - apt-get remove

2012-02-11T14:48:00.001-08:00

Be very careful when using apt-get remove along with an asterisk.

Pay attention whenever using apt-get, actually.

I was attempting to fix a broken catalog. I tried the various tricks in the books,

dpkg --configure -a

apt-get install -f

The problem surfaced when I attempted an install of gstreamer* with the following command:

sudo apt-get install gstreamer*

When the above mentioned tricks didn't resolve the broken catalog, I thought I would first uninstall gstreamer, then reinstall it.

So I foolishly typed

sudo apt-get remove gstreamer*

and mindlessly clicked okay when it warned me that it would uninstall 247MB of files.

I clicked okay, then watched in horror as it ticked away all sorts of packages that I want and need; which had nothing to do with my gstreamer request.

Empathy, Exaile, Rhythmbox, Ubuntu-Desktop, Ubuntu Software Center, Banshee

All of these disappeared before I killed my terminal session in order to stop the hemorrhaging.

To recover, I had to first kill the dpkg left by killing an active apt-get session.

Then I had to manually reinstall the packages that were missing, starting with ubuntu software center.

I didn't catch a list of all that was removed; I'm sure I'll find more missing as I go along.

Ironically, after my hamfisted work, the catalog is no longer corrupted. Go figure.

Mint vs Oneiric

2012-02-10T20:38:00.001-08:00

toorghezi (@toorghezi)
2/10/12 6:15 PM

Comparing Mint 12 with Oneiric 11.10 when trying to completely dump Unity.:

OK. So I hate Unity with a passion. ...

bit.ly/w9ojHU

Very Clever Unity Tweak

2012-01-25T20:27:00.000-08:00

OMG! UBUNTU! (@omgubuntu)
1/25/12 5:18 PM
[How To] Change The Unity Dash Color in #Ubuntu 11.10 omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/01/how-to…

Sent from my iPad

Which distro is right for you?

2012-01-22T17:55:00.000-08:00

ITAdmnTools (@ITAdmnTools)
1/22/12 6:56 AM
Linux Mint 12 "Lisa" vs. Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - itadmintools.com/2011/11/linuxm… #Ubuntu #Mint #Linux

Sent from my iPad

Oneiric tweaks

2012-01-12T17:36:00.000-08:00

Jochen (@automatem)
1/12/12 7:59 PM

Great To Do List After installing Ubuntu 11.10 aka Oneiric Ocelot wp.me/p1G6ys-i6

Fixing Oneiric

2012-01-08T17:50:00.000-08:00

Asteris Masouras (@asteris)
1/8/12 6:58 PM
stuff missing from Gnome in Ubuntu Oneiric webupd8.org/2011/10/things… #zombiegnome

Tweaking Unity

2012-01-07T18:14:00.000-08:00

ShuffleOS (@ShuffleOS)
1/7/12 5:38 PM
How To Make Windows Borders Transparent in Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot dlvr.it/1429rt

Or, try Ubuntu Tweak 0.6.0 http://www.linuxnov.com/ubuntu-tweak-0-6-0-for-ubuntu-11-10-oneiric-ocelot/

Partitioning/Home/Moving - Community Ubuntu Documentation

2011-12-28T18:50:00.000-08:00

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Partitioning/Home/Moving

So, i should have put /home on its own partition? Didn't know that. Will have to try that at some point.

Upgrade linux mint in-place using apt - Linux Mint Community

2011-12-27T20:49:00.000-08:00

http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/62

I tried to do this on my Linux Mint 7 machine, and I broke something. Though it runs, it still comes up with Mint 7 splash. When I try to run apt-get, it locks up the machine.
I suppose i could take time to sort it out, or i could back it up and do a bare-metal restore.

The machine runs fine aside from any attempt to run apt-get, so it gets a lower priority than say my revenue-generating projects.

HowtoPartition/PartitioningBasics - Community Ubuntu Documentation

2011-12-25T20:28:00.000-08:00

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowtoPartition/PartitioningBasics

Learnig the basics. Some atuff is new. Some stuff I simply forgot.

The Linux Mint Blog » Blog Archive » How to upgrade Linux Mint 7 Gloria to Linux Mint 8 Helena (main and universal editions only)

2011-12-25T20:19:00.000-08:00

http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1144

There's a Graphical Tool for Mint upgrades? Wish I'd have seen that sooner.

How to upgrade to a newer release - Linux Mint Community

2011-12-25T20:10:00.000-08:00

http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/2

Mint Upgrades aren't as seamless as Ubuntu's, from the looks of it. I'm trying this now on my kids Linux Mint 7 PC. We'll see how it goes.

Why Java Isn't Dead On Ubuntu - Simon Says...

2011-12-24T21:47:00.000-08:00

http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/simon-says/2011/12/why-java-isnt-dead-on-ubuntu/index.htm

Irresponsible headline. Lazy readers with a tendency toward knee-jerk reactions. A wide spread panic based on error and misinformation.

I think we were all a little too quick to assume Oracle is Evil...

Okay, I'm not zaying they aren't. i'm saying openJava is a good thing.

Quality In Ubuntu | jonobacon@home

2011-12-24T21:14:00.000-08:00

http://www.jonobacon.org/2011/12/21/quality-in-ubuntu/

An interesting view into the world of Ubuntu.

@noyesk, 12/23/11 1:45 PM

2011-12-24T21:13:00.001-08:00

Katherine Noyes (@noyesk)
12/23/11 1:45 PM
Ubuntu 11.10 'Oneiric Ocelot' Will Power New PC Line soc.li/OHavKHl #linux

@omgubuntu, 12/23/11 6:53 AM

2011-12-24T21:13:00.000-08:00

OMG! UBUNTU! (@omgubuntu)
12/23/11 6:53 AM
New Version of Ubuntu Tweak Released goo.gl/fsFNd #linux #ubuntutweak #linux

A customizable user-experience was one of the things that attracted me to Ubuntu in the first place. Unity has taken some of that away.

New, Quieter Version Of Ubuntu

2011-12-24T21:12:00.002-08:00

http://jeremy.bicha.net/2011/12/18/ubuntu-12-04-now-with-quieter-logins/

MyUnity Fixes Annoyances in Ubuntu’s Unity

2011-12-24T21:12:00.001-08:00

http://www.ubuntu-news.net/2011/12/18/myunity-fixes-annoyances-in-ubuntus-unity-interface/

It works well, and enabled me to cope with Unity.

Ubuntu Squeezebox music server: update and modifications - Cliff Saran’s Enterprise blog

2011-12-24T21:12:00.000-08:00

http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/it-fud-blog/2011/12/ubuntu-squeezebox-music-server.html

I want to try this, if I ever get the time.

Ubuntu 11.10 without Unity shell shock

2011-12-24T21:11:00.000-08:00

http://deviceguru.com/ubuntu-11-10-without-shell-shock/

Well-written explanation of the Unity situation.

iTunes

2011-12-24T07:10:00.001-08:00

Charging up the iPod. Installing iTunes on the windows PC in the family room. First I have to install windows service packs. Then iTunes. Then import music. Then download it to iPod. So far so good. But i wanted more days off in which to do this.

I don't have to re-rip the music, since the music is already on my Ubuntu machine. But some of the files are in .wma format, which iTunes automatically converts to .w4a.

iTunes has its own quirks, like the inability to rescan a source disk and import *only new* files. Unlike Windows Media Player, or any of the linux Media Players I've tried - suck as Exaile, RhythmBox, and Banshee, iTunes doesn't have a rescan library function. You have to choose "Add Folder To Library", and if you do, and the folder already had been scanned, the files will be added again.

It's a nuisance bug that Apple should fix.

Gnome Has Been Forked?

2011-12-22T14:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, it's old news, but really? Gnome has been forked?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversy_over_GNOME_3

Mate' -- which I just learned is Mah-TAY not "Mate" -- is the new fork based on Gnome 2.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MATE_(desktop_environment)

@PaulBritPhoto, 12/19/11 10:54 PM

2011-12-19T20:08:00.000-08:00

Paul Roberts (@PaulBritPhoto)
12/19/11 10:54 PM
Get Rid of Unity and Bring Back to Old Ubuntu Look with a Few Tweaks [Ubuntu] (Gawker) feedzil.la/rDN9PE

@lifehacker, 12/19/11 6:44 PM

2011-12-19T20:05:00.000-08:00

Lifehacker (@lifehacker)
12/19/11 6:44 PM
Users who don't dig Ubuntu's new Unity interface can make a few quick tweaks to get their old faithful GNOME 2 UI back: lifehacker.com/5869503/get-ri…

xrandr again

2011-12-19T19:04:00.001-08:00

ted@TC:~$ xrandr --newmode "1920x1080" 173.00 1920 2048 2248 2576 1080 1083 1088 1120 -HSync +VSync
ted@TC:~$ xrandr --addmode VGA1 "1920x1080"

Comparison of X Window System desktop environments - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2011-12-18T20:46:00.000-08:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_X_Window_System_desktop_environments

Actually a good writeup on the various desktop flavors...

Xfce 4 vs. GNOME 3 | tuxmachines.org

2011-12-18T20:42:00.000-08:00

http://www.tuxmachines.org/node/54268

A well written article about xfce verses Gnome 3.

@pchowtodotorg, 12/18/11 10:04 PM

2011-12-18T20:27:00.000-08:00

PC How To (@pchowtodotorg)
12/18/11 10:04 PM
Ubuntu Squeezebox music server: update and modifications - ComputerWeekly.com (blog): ComputerWeekly.com (bl... bit.ly/v4PFUp

@mkovarski, 12/18/11 11:09 PM

2011-12-18T20:18:00.000-08:00

Mark Kovarski (@mkovarski)
12/18/11 11:09 PM
Java To Be Removed from Ubuntu, Uninstalled from User Machines omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/12/java-t… via @omgubuntu

In fact the very first thing I said back when Oracle bought Sun was, I hope they don't screw up Java. Now they're on their way to doing just that.

Spin off Gnome 3?

2011-12-16T19:32:00.000-08:00

Peter Mescalchin (@magnetikonline)
12/16/11 9:04 PM
Time to spin-off a Gnome 3 build of Ubuntu? I think this is a great idea - I really tried, but Unity failed for me bit.ly/vgiV5D

Fixing Gnome 3 In Ubuntu 11.10

2011-12-16T09:03:00.001-08:00

http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-350035-3520665

Top 4 Lightweight, Official Ubuntu Based Alternatives for Ubuntu 11.04's Unity 3D | Tech Drive-in

2011-12-15T20:52:00.000-08:00

http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/05/top-4-lightweight-official-ubuntu-based.html
Still searching...

unity - What could cause "normal" Ubuntu not to work but Ubuntu-2d to work? 11.10 - Ask Ubuntu - Stack Exchange

2011-12-15T20:36:00.000-08:00

http://askubuntu.com/questions/72978/what-could-cause-normal-ubuntu-not-to-work-but-ubuntu-2d-to-work-11-10

Wat did I do to break my Ubuntu install so that Unity 3d won't work?!.

Sent from my iPad

Introducing Ubuntu 11.10 Without Unity - Softpedia

2011-12-15T20:28:00.000-08:00

This could work.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Introducing-Ubuntu-11-10-Without-Unity-228425.shtml

Sent from my iPad

Lubuntu 11.10 review – a cure to Ubuntu’s Unity blues? | Linux User

2011-12-15T20:26:00.000-08:00

This looks promising.

http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/reviews/lubuntu-11-10-%E2%80%93-a-cure-to-ubuntu%E2%80%99s-unity-blues/

Sent from my iPad

Why Ubuntu 11.10 fills me with rage | ZDNet

2011-12-15T20:20:00.000-08:00

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/why-ubuntu-1110-fills-me-with-rage/19103

Sent from my iPad

Perfecting rsync

2011-12-12T22:08:00.000-08:00

What a powerful and robust backup utility, rsync.

It was an invaluable part of making my hard drive restore process so quick and painless.

I've been using the following simple command:

rsync -vaz --exclude=*.gz --exclude=*.vdi --exclude=*.iso --exclude=*.sav --exclude=Backups /home/myname/ /media/ACD61AD0D61A9AA2/myname

Now, I'm trying to add my wife's computer the rsync process, using the NFS mount I've already created. The command for that is:

rsync -vaz --exclude=*.png --exclude=*.PNG--exclude=*.gz --exclude=*.vdi --exclude=*.iso --exclude=*.sav --exclude=*.jpg --exclude=*.JPG --exclude=*.avi --exclude=*.mov --exclude=Pictures /mnt/hername/ /media/ACD61AD0D61A9AA2/hername

This works well, and requires all the excludes just to fit the results on my 80GB external HD I'm using for rsync backups. That actually defeats the purpose somewhat, since I'm excluding photos, and photos is what she does a LOT of on her computer. The real long-term solution there is to buy a larger external hard drive and remove the --excludes from the command.

Also, in this version, I'm scriptifying it with some handy features culled from the backups.sh scripts:

backup_top='/home/myname/Backups'
today=`date +%Y%m%d`
log=$backup_top/rsync_$today.log

banner rsync > $log
echo Today is $today | tee -a $log
echo Backup_top is $backup_top | tee -a $log
echo log is $log | tee -a $log
echo Last full backup was $since | tee -a $log

date +%a\ %D\ %T | tee -a $log

echo rsync -vaz --exclude=*.gz --exclude=*.vdi --exclude=*.iso --exclude=*.sav --exclude=Backups /home/myname/ /media/ACD61AD0D61A9AA2/myname

rsync -vaz --exclude=*.gz --exclude=*.vdi --exclude=*.iso --exclude=*.sav --exclude=Backups /home/myname/ /media/ACD61AD0D61A9AA2/myname | tee -a $log

echo rsync -vaz --exclude=*.gz --exclude=*.vdi --exclude=*.iso --exclude=*.sav --exclude=Backups /mnt/hername/ /media/ACD61AD0D61A9AA2/hername | tee -a $log

rsync -vaz --exclude=*.png --exclude=*.PNG--exclude=*.gz --exclude=*.vdi --exclude=*.iso --exclude=*.sav --exclude=*.jpg --exclude=*.JPG --exclude=*.avi --exclude=*.mov --exclude=Pictures /mnt/hername/ /media/ACD61AD0D61A9AA2/hername | tee -a $log
banner Done | tee -a $log
date +%a\ %D\ %T | tee -a $log
echo done | tee -a $log

Trying Unity

2011-12-12T21:59:00.000-08:00

I spent time avoiding Unity. Once 11.10 was installed and "Classic" option was omitted, I avoided the upgrade until I could be sure there was an alternative.

As soon as my upgrade completed, the first thing I did was install gnome.

But now I'm going to give Unity a try.

Fixing Gnome 3

2011-12-10T19:46:00.001-08:00

http://abhizweblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/gnome-3-in-natty.html

What version of Gnome am I using?

2011-12-10T19:25:00.001-08:00

From Terminal, enter:

gnome-shell --version

For me, I get the following response:

GNOME Shell 3.2.1

Display Hack for Ubuntu 10.04 and above (xrandr)

2011-12-10T19:20:00.001-08:00

My clunky old, 19" crt Gateway monitor stopped being recognized by Ubuntu, about the time that they rewrote the display handling and moved it into kernel mode.

The workaround is here, and involves manually executing xrandr from the command line to add back the modes that my monitor can support, but that Ubuntu is unaware of.

The commands are:

xrandr --newmode "1280x1024_60.00" 109.00 1280 1368 1496 1712 1024 1027 1034 1063 -hsync +vsync
xrandr --addmode VGA1 1280x1024_60.00

I know there's a way to make these come up automatically, and make them a permanent part of my system. But for now, I have a simple shell script which I execute from a terminal session which fixes the display. This is only necessary when I reboot, which is rarely.

How to add applets to panels in Gnome 3

2011-12-10T19:17:00.001-08:00

I noticed the typical right-click behavior to which I was accustomed had changed in Ubuntu 11.11 with Gnome 3.

I found the solution here.

Ubuntu UI Woes

2011-12-10T19:11:00.001-08:00

No to unity. It's too real-estate intensive, and too rigid.

But I have to say I'm still adjusting to the other changes which were made, which are more subtle. I switched to Gnome Classic as described here but I have noticed a few differences which remain.

1. What happened to the "Appearance" controls. Customizable themes are gone. Perhaps there's a synaptic package for that that I haven't found.

2. What happened to the menu? This is just a case of "they moved my cheese" but, for 3 years there have been three menus "Applications, Places, and System". Now system is gone, and its functions strewn elsewhere in the menu.

3. There are still more subtle changes which I haven't gotten used to. Panel controls are different - instead of right-click to customize the panel, you must do an alt-rightclick.

The only thing that didn't work out of the box after the upgrade was my version of VirtualBox. It failed to launch, but provided a very useful error message which clearly stated what the problem was, and what to do so solve it. Disable USB support for my virtual machine, which I did. Since I don't really need USB support on my VirtualBox Windows instance, I didn't spend any time trying to resolve this issue. If I ever need USB on that instance, I'll tackle the problem then.

Time To Upgrade

2011-12-10T11:23:00.001-08:00

I have held off upgrading to Ubuntu 11.10, due to the flack about the Unity interface.

Now that I've heard of a variety of alternatives, I'm going to go ahead and upgrade.

First, though, I'm going to download the CD image. Unlike my previous upgrade attempts, I'm going to download once, and use the CD image to upgrade the three PC's in my home that are running Ubuntu.

How To Upgrade Ubuntu From A CD Image

Which Codec?

2011-12-10T11:15:00.001-08:00

For some strange reason, I can't find a decent codec for ripping music from CD.

I noticed that the mp3 codecs were missing from my ubuntu install, so I installed them. But on ripping my new CD, I noticed a definitely degradation in quality on the ripped version.

I tried again with m4a, which seemed a little better. However, now I notice that Banshee doesn't see my m4a files.

I'd like the ability to play these files on Windows Media Player (at work) without having to re-rip them in a new format. (Otherwise I'd use the .ogg format which seems superior, and which comes natively supported on Ubuntu.)

So, is it possible to find a decent format which enjoys broad support by Windows, Ubuntu and oh, did I forget to mention, my iPad. And, on top of that, has a good sound?

Recovering...

2011-12-10T11:02:00.001-08:00

I can't abandon Ubuntu and return to Windows. It's a matter of self-respect.

My hard drive crashed - would not boot. I got a "Cannot Load BOOTMGR" message when attempting to boot.

Even from the Live CD the disk was unreadable.

However, from BIOS, the drive was readable.

I tried to mount the drive while on the Live CD, and for many hours the PC was unresponsive. Then, suddenly, the drive was recognized by the OS again.

I was able to boot off the drive again. Was it that the OS corrected errors on the drive? Was it just an intermittent glitch that has gone away, temporarily?

Before I assume all is good, I'm going to do a complete backup.

Thankfully, I had recently executed an rsync to a separate drive, so my data was reasonably safe. The rsync copies my home directory and everything in it.

Now I am also making backups to DVD, as well as updating my rsync.

Ironic Name

2011-12-03T11:31:00.001-08:00

I named this blog "XP No More", indicating my dissatisfaction with Windows, and my search for something else.

I tried Ubuntu, and stayed with it for over three years.

It has crossed my mind that my next PC will run Windows again. Though I haven't decided, and I haven't plunked down cash for a new machine, it's possible that I would return to the Windows world.

In which case, the name of the blog would be ironic. It would indicate my ultimate move from XP to ... (shudder) Windows 7.

Been A While

2011-06-04T14:51:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I've had to rebuild my ubuntu desktop from scratch. Here's what I find I have to reinstall after the rebuild:

Virtualbox (from Ubuntu software center)
Dropbox (from dropbox.com -- apparently not on Ubuntu Software Center)

Things I previously installed, but I am not reinstalling:

Banshee -- used to listen to music often on my desktop. Now, I'm going to try Rhythm Box again.
Google Chrome -- had it, never used it. Firefox works better.

It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time...

2011-06-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

After setting up my Mother-In-Law's new Macintosh, I found this cookbook for configuring my Ubuntu UI to look like Mac OSX.

I tried it and liked it. It worked great.

But I grew tired of the real estate that was consumed by the "avant window manager" dock at the bottom of the screen. I tried to undo the steps to revert to normal Ubuntu behavior ...
and that's when I ran in to trouble.

I ended up kaiboshing my gdm or X-windows settings. I lost higher resolution capabilities on my monitor.

I tried to rectify the situation, following instructions to manually edit gdm.xconf. That went disastrously -- now I can't even get into Ubuntu except at the command line.

Thankfull, Ubuntu provides a "safe mode", with "failsafe X Windows Graphic Mode" ... which works for me, and allows me to make backups and do a full restore of the system.

Hopefully when I do that, my monitor will be detected, and I'll be back in business again.

I used to rebuild with every Ubuntu release, but the last several releases I've performed upgrades instead. It's about time for a full rebuild.

Here goes...

Dual Boot - Ubuntu 10.10 / Windows XP

2010-12-27T08:09:00.000-08:00

As I wrote earlier, I had to reinstall Windows XP on my son's Dell Inspiron laptop. He had previously been quite happily using Ubuntu 10.10. However, Santa Claus brought him some Windows-only software, so I was compelled to reinstall Windows to ensure a happy Christmas Day for my son.

Of course, Windows XP doesn't comprehend dual boot installation, and it therefore cannot be installed as a secondary boot option on a hard drive which already has Ubuntu installed.

So, to accomplish this transition to dual boot, I had to:

a) back up my son's /home directory in Ubuntu. Fortunately this fit on a USB drive.
b) install Windows XP - wiping out and reformatting the entire hard drive in NTFS format and obliterating Ubuntu
c) boot from Ubuntu 10.10 live disk
d) install Ubuntu 10.10 as a dual-boot option. Ubuntu grasps this concept and makes it easy. It allowed my to dynamically resize the Window's partition, to insert an Ubuntu partition on the drive.
e) restore my son's backed up /home drive to the Ubuntu partition.

Windows install time 2.0 hours.

Ubuntu install time -- including resizing the windows drive -- 1.0 hours.

Issues installing Windows: nothing major. See my rant on the stupidity of Dell software for an explanation of the troubles I encountered.

Issues installing Ubuntu: none.

Now, Christmas was saved, and Windows only has to be used when absolutely necessary.

Windows Again?

2010-12-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

I'm reinstalling Windows on my son's laptop so that the Christmas present his grandma bought him will work, and he won't have a bad Christmas.

I'm running through the Dell "System Restore" process.

Their attempts to make the software installation process easy have made it brain-dead.

Example:

"click here to keep this message from showing up again."

This violates GUI standards. Do I clear the checkbox to suppress the message, or do a check it?

The Dell Utility installation disk presents a menu which shows a list of hardware components.

Approximately half of the items on the menu have a check mark to their left. There is no indication of what the check mark means. After studying it for a while, the items which have a check mark also have the description text, "A scan of your system indicates you have this hardware installed."

"Okay," I think to myself. "I have the hardware installed, that means I need to install the drivers."

I click through two pages of unnecessary text to find the button to install the driver. The button is not labeled "Install" but "Extract" -- another counter-intuitive design gaffe.

For each driver, I click extract. Half of the installation wizards end with a message, "This hardware is not installed." If it's not installed, why did you display a checkmark and the verbiage, "A scan of your system indicates you have this hardware installed." ??!?

"Okay," I think to myself, "Whatever software scans the hardware isn't perfect, it made some false positives. I can accept that."

The menu also gives no indication of what drivers have already been installed. Install a few, return to the main menu, and they still show with a checkmark.

Shouldn't the installation menu keep track of what I have installed? Shouldn't it clear the checkmark for hardware which already has the drivers installed?

This is just a case study in bad software design.

Dell and Microsoft. Designed for idiots, by idiots.

Crontab

2010-12-18T19:48:00.001-08:00

Trying to figure out why cron doesn't work -- or rather, why the script behaves differently in cron than when run interactively.

http://adminschoice.com/crontab-quick-reference

Split a gzipped archive to fit on a DVD

2010-12-18T13:43:00.001-08:00

split -d -b 4092m $1 $1

backup script version 5

2010-12-18T11:58:00.000-08:00

#version 0.5
# a single script that performs all the backups
# rather than a separate directory for each day,
# all backup files are in a single directory
# and the filename itself contains the date.
# This will make it easier to split the files and write them to a DVD.
#
backup_top='/home/ted/Backups'
today=`date +%Y%m%d`
log=$backup_top/TC_$today.log
since=`cat last_full_backup.dat`
banner TC > $log
echo Today is $today | tee -a $log
echo Backup_top is $backup_top | tee -a $log
echo log is $log | tee -a $log
echo Last full backup was $since | tee -a $log

date +%a\ %D\ %T | tee -a $log
echo tar -cvpzf $backup_top/TC_$today.tar.gz --newer=$since --exclude=/home/ted/.cache --exclude=/home/ted/.local/share/Trash --exclude=*.iso --exclude=/home/ted/Backups --exclude=/home/ted/.VirtualBox /home/ted
tar -cvpzf $backup_top/TC_$today.tar.gz --newer=$since --exclude=/home/ted/.cache --exclude=/home/ted/.local/share/Trash --exclude=*.iso --exclude=/home/ted/Backups --exclude=/home/ted/.VirtualBox /home/ted
ls -lart $backup_top/TC_$today.tar.gz | tee -a $log
tar -ztvf $backup_top/TC_$today.tar.gz | grep -v \/$ | tee -a $log

banner Done | tee -a $log
date +%a\ %D\ %T | tee -a $log
echo done | tee -a $log

First Ever Disk Repair under Ubuntu

2010-12-18T08:53:00.000-08:00

I moved my mother-in-law off of Windows almost 2 years ago. She couldn't stop infecting her own computer, despite having anti-virus installed. Unable to distinguish between a scam popup message which occurs during browsing, and a legitimate warning from anti-virus software. Consequently, she kept inviting these trojans and worms in through the front door.

Does precious little good to install a security system against burglars, when you essentially open the door and invite them in.

About a week ago her PC stopped working -- it wouldn't boot. I finally got around to taking a look at it, and selected "Recovery Mode" from the grub menu.

It prompted me to run fdsk, which I did. It notified me of block errors, inode errors, and so forth -- I simply selected "y" to autocorrect each one. It did.

After that, I rebooted again in recovery mode, and scanned the disk again. It came up clean.

Restarted again and booted normally, with no problems.

That couldn't be simpler.

While I have the machine here in my control, I'll perform the sorts of deferred maintenance that accumulates on the machine which is in daily-use by someone who knows nothing about computers.

-- Upgrade Ubuntu to 10.04 LTS from 9.04. The OS was installed on 1/29/2009, and yet the OS is currently at version 9.04. She must've upgraded somehow once since she got the computer. Perhaps I ran an upgrade once while I was visiting her house. Surely she couldn't have managed clicking that button, and following all those prompts, by herself.

-- Perform a backup. This is something that is overdue. At the time I built the machine and gave it to her, I hadn't found a backup solution for Ubuntu.

-- Implement an automated backup. She can't handle anything which requires her to press a button and feed disks into a machine. I might have her buy a stand-alone external hard drive, and implement automatic rsync's of her home directory to the secondary drive. This would have some sort of redundancy of the data.

-- Address her complaints -- at least the legitimate ones. Figuring out what is really wrong, versus what she perceives as a problem, is a challenge. She recently asserted that all her music was gone, when in fact, she simply needed to scroll down in her file browser. She also claims to be unable to view YouTube videos -- which may be a legitimate problem, or another user-error.

Lucid Dreaming

2010-05-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

Upgrading the Laptop from 9.10 to 10.04 -- Lucid Lynx here we come.

And, from the looks of it, it also has solved the Intel Graphics incompatibility problem that plagued 9.10 and which kept me from upgrading the desktops from 9.10; those boxes are still running 9.04.

I realize that 9.10's "Intel Graphics" problem was fixable, I just never got around to switching off the "kernel mode graphics" default that was introduced in 9.10 which caused the problem.

I am a nerd

2010-04-09T15:52:00.000-07:00

Apple Zone

2010-02-12T15:21:00.000-08:00

A linux user lambastes Apple ...

Network

2010-02-08T09:20:00.000-08:00

Remembering Regex

2010-02-05T19:13:00.001-08:00

I used to use it every day, and I used to know it without thinking about it. Now I have to look it up.

For all lines in the file, from 1 to the end, swap "George Bush" with "Barack Obama". Do it for all occurrences on the line (g)

:1,$s/George Bush/Barack Obama/g

Otherwise, do it only the first occurrence per line:

:1,$s/George Bush/Barack Obama/

Other helpful regex commands:

Put -- at the beginning of each line
:1,$s/^/--/

Put -- at the end of each line

:1,$s/$/--/

Find each semicolon which occurs at the end of a line and add a blank line afterwards

:1,$/;$/;\n/

Even better test web page using Python: ANOTHER.PY

2010-02-05T19:05:00.000-08:00

#!/usr/bin/python

import sys
import time

def index(req):

# Following line causes error to be sent to browser
# rather than to log file (great for debug!)

sys.stderr = sys.stdout

#print "Content-type: text/html\n"

#print """
blah1 = """
\A page from Python\

\This page is generated by a Python script!\
The current date and time is """

now = time.gmtime()
displaytime = time.strftime("%A %d %B %Y, %X",now)

#print displaytime,
blah1 += displaytime

#print """
blah1 += """
\

Well House Consultants demonstration

"""
return blah1

My first python web page - TEST.PY

2010-02-05T19:03:00.000-08:00

test.py:

def index(req):
 return "Test successful";

Which can be tested by pointing your browser to:

http://localhost/test.py

And getting the results:

Test successful.

Apache and Python In Ubuntu

2010-02-05T18:57:00.001-08:00

Python is already installed in Ubuntu distributions, by default.

But to install Apache, it was as easy as:

sudo apt-get install apache2

And then to install mod_python, which allowed me to write python web applications, it was simply:

sudo apt-get install libapache2-mod-python

There were a few configurations needed to enable it:

sudo cp /etc/apache2/mods-available/python.load /etc/apache2/mods-enabled

and then edit the default site config:

sudo vi /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default

and add the highlighted text below ...

       
              Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
              AllowOverride AuthConfig
              Order allow,deny
              allow from all

              AddHandler mod_python .py
                PythonHandler mod_python.publisher
                PythonDebug On

Finally restart apache2 with the following command:

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Locking Users In Ubuntu

2010-01-24T16:41:00.001-08:00

http://shibuvarkala.blogspot.com/2009/07/how-to-lock-unlock-user-in-ubuntu.html

Playing wma files from ubuntu

2010-01-01T08:52:00.001-08:00

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

2009-12-15T14:23:00.000-08:00

Blogofractal - XKCD

2009-12-15T12:45:00.001-08:00

http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_vdqi

And Then God spoke: Lisp

2009-12-07T10:18:00.001-08:00

http://xkcd.com/224/

Samba Solution?

2009-12-05T06:31:00.000-08:00

This makes no sense, but the problems I was having earlier, in "Samba Shortcomings", were resolved when I uninstalled the following:

Exaile
Quod Libet
Ex Falso
Real Player

It wasn't a satisfying victory. It wasn't an "AHA! Eureka! I have solved the problem." It was an unrelated move, something which should have had nothing to do with Samba, and yet seems to have solved it.

If I cared more about this, I'd go about it scientifically, reinstall each one individually and see which one causes the breakage. But I don't care that much. I am pragmatic about this ... it works, that's what matters, let's move on...

You're doing it wrong!

2009-12-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

XKCD nailed it with this one. Absolutely right.

If you're putting anti-virus on a voting machine, you're doing it wrong.

http://xkcd.com/463/

Samba Shortcomings ...

2009-12-03T15:50:00.000-08:00

Suddenly, Nautilus cannot browse the local network. No icons appear in the Places -> Network folder except the Windows Network Icon. Browse there and get the "Unable to open network" message.

I have spent probably 8 hours trying to resolve this. I tried uninstalling, reinstalling samba and every imaginable component of samba. I researched samba configurations ...

The log files showed this error message ...

Server requested plaintext password but 'client plaintext auth' is disabled
session setup failed: SUCCESS - 0

So far, no joy

Lost Local Network

2009-12-01T18:33:00.000-08:00

network-admin

sudo apt-get install gnome-network-admin

sudo aptitude reinstall smb* samba*

Net Nanny

2009-11-19T17:01:00.001-08:00

Apparently there are a few linux net nanny options, and apt-get dansguardian is one of them most recommended.

http://fixunix.com/ubuntu/126505-net-nanny.html

14 Best Linux Distros

2009-11-15T09:55:00.000-08:00

Not that I'm dissatisfied with Ubuntu, but I wonder what else is out there?

Samba Configuration

2009-11-14T07:56:00.000-08:00

Ubuntu has a pretty easy-to-use GUI interface for Samba configuration. This makes "Share A Folder" as easy to do in Linux as it is in Windows.

However, it's occasionally handy to have access to this configuration information behind-the-scenes. Randy Jensen's blog has a handy samba reference for just that purpose.

Puppy Linux 4.3.1

2009-11-12T11:19:00.000-08:00

Looking for a small linux distro to run on my son's ancient laptop...

md5sum pup-431.iso
561c83156b4dae5da0b6135b53d8c421 pup-431.iso
561c83156b4dae5da0b6135b53d8c421 pup-431.iso

Ubuntu Founder, Mark Shuttleworth...

2009-11-10T17:19:00.001-08:00

So this is what genius sounds like.

http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/288

Ten Worst Unix Command-Line Mistakes

2009-11-08T10:05:00.000-08:00

He made the mistakes and was brave enough to admit it...

http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/my-10-unix-command-line-mistakes.html

Listing contents of a TAR file

2009-11-07T09:08:00.000-08:00

Task: List the contents of a tar file

Use the following command:
$ tar -tvf file.tar
Task: List the contents of a tar.gz file

Use the following command:
$ tar -ztvf file.tar.gz
Task: List the contents of a tar.bz2 file

Use the following command:
$ tar -jtvf file.tar.bz2

Where,

* t: List the contents of an archive
* v: Verbosely list files processed (display detailed information)
* z: Filter the archive through gzip so that we can open compressed (decompress) .gz tar file
* j: Filter archive through bzip2, use to decompress .bz2 files.
* f filename: Use archive file called filename

Gnome rules, KDE drools

2009-11-03T09:50:00.000-08:00

I installed KDE desktop on my laptop, but really prefer gnome, so want to uninstall it ...

http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/2755/ubuntu_7_10_how_to_uninstall_kde/

And, as I recall from the last time I did this, I'll have to fix the kubuntu splash to return it to Ubuntu ...

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=428061

Karmic Koala Kunundrum

2009-11-02T09:15:00.001-08:00

I should have known better than to jump with both feet into the Karmic Koala release, Ubuntu 9.10, which went live just last week.

I clicked eagerly on the "Upgrade Now" button and waited hours for the downloads to complete.

When I rebooted, I had lost the 1024x768 resolution on my monitor, the largest available resolution was 800x600.

After the fact, I did some research on the problem and learned thatthere was a change to the Linux kernel regarding video drivers, and now the video modes were managed inside the kernel by default. Further research showed that my Intel video cards, with a somewhat aged 84915 chipset, were notoriously problematic.

I should have known not to be so eager to jump. In the past I've upgraded laptop first before desktop. Or I've downloaded and made a live-cd, and tried to boot off the live CD first.

I assume that they update the upgrade with bug fixes. Last time I waited three months after the new release before I upgraded; this time I might've been better off waiting. I'll do some more research and see if they update the published upgrade, or if it stays frozen.

Either of those precautions would've saved me agony and annoyance on Saturday. Instead of doing what I had wanted to do, I spent several hours backing up, wiping out, and reinstalling my PC. Most of the effort was spent getting a full backup. Even though I have regular backups, it was the end of the month, and my last full backup was a month old, I knew it'd be more difficult to restore a month-old full backup followed by a month's worth of incrementals.

So, I get the dumbass award.

Next time, before I jump into a new Ubuntu release, I will:

Download an iso and make a live cd.
Boot once off the live cd and ensure that the monitor graphics and network cards work.
Make a full backup first.
Wait a while before upgrading.

Launch a vm with a click

2009-11-01T17:05:00.000-08:00

The old way to launch a vm in VirtualBox is using the GUI.

Launch VirtualBox
Focus on the VM you want to launch
Click Start

There's a way to launch it from a shortcut, a launcher, or a script.

In ubuntu, the "command" of the launcher is:

VBoxManage startvm machine-name

I pointed the icon of the launcher to /usr/share/pixmaps/VBox.png and now it's a handsome-looking launcher that launches the vm with a click.

Hackintosh? Interesting idea...

2009-10-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

Check out gizmodo.com's how-to on making a dell mini into a mac netbook. What a great idea! Might be my next hack! Although, the how-to requires access to a Mac for making a bootable flash drive.

Getting Cubed

2009-10-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

What is the fantastic 3d cube I've heard about? How do I get it?

Go to "Add/Remove Software" (In versions prior to 9.10)
Go to "Ubuntu Software Center" (In Ubuntu 9.10...)

Search available software for "Compiz".

Install:

Compiz
Compiz Fusion Icon
Advanced Desktop Effects Settings (CCSM)
Simple CompizConfig Settings Manager

Once these are installed,

1. Configure your Workspace

a. Add "Workspace Switcher" to your main panel if it's not already there.
b. Right click on "Workspace Switcher" and choose Properties.
c. Set your workspaces to 4 columns, 1 row.

2. Configure Compiz

a. launch "Compiz Config Settings Manager" (sometimes listed as "Advanced Desktop Effects Settings")
b. enable "Desktop Cube"
c. enable "Rotate Cube"

Now you're in business.

By default, the cube is activated by holding down CTRL-ALT, holding down the left mouse button, and dragging the mouse. You can change this awkward key combination in CCSM.

Have fun.

Which Distro Is Right For Me?

2009-10-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

Clever little online quiz that helps lead you to a linux distro.

Backups.do v0.4

2009-09-19T10:15:00.001-07:00

#version 0.4
# a single script that performs all the backups
# rather than a separate directory for each day,
# all backup files are in a single directory
# and the filename itself contains the date.
# This will make it easier to split the files and write them to a DVD.
#
backup_top='/home/ted/Backups'
today=`date +%Y%m%d`
log=$backup_top/backups_$today.log
echo *** > $log
echo Today is $today | tee -a $log
echo Backup_top is $backup_top | tee -a $log
echo log is $log | tee -a $log

banner -w 40 TC
echo tar of TC... | tee -a $log
date +%a\ %D\ %T | tee -a $log
tar -cvpzf $backup_top/TC_$today.tar.gz -g$backup_top/TC.incr --exclude=*.gz --exclude=*.iso --exclude=/home/ted/Backups --exclude=/home/ted/.VirtualBox /home/ted | tee -a $log

banner -w 40 CS
echo tar of CS... | tee -a $log
date +%a\ %D\ %T | tee -a $log
tar -cvpzf $backup_top/CS_$today.tar.gz -g$backup_top/CS.incr --exclude=/mnt/CS/Pictures /mnt/CS | tee -a $log

banner -w 40 CS-Pictures
echo tar of CS-Pictures | tee -a $log
date +%a\ %D\ %T | tee -a $log
tar -cvpzf $backup_top/CS-Pictures_$today.tar.gz -g$backup_top/CS-Pictures.incr /mnt/CS/Pictures | tee -a $log

banner -w 40 XP
echo tar of XP... | tee -a $log
date +%a\ %D\ %T | tee -a $log
tar -cvpzf $backup_top/XP_$today.tar.gz -g$backup_top/XP.incr /mnt/XP | tee -a $log

banner -w 40 ThinkPad
echo tar of ThinkPad... | tee -a $log
date +%a\ %D\ %T | tee -a $log
tar -cvpzf $backup_top/ThinkPad_$today.tar.gz -g$backup_top/ThinkPad.incr --exclude=*.iso --exclude=*.vdi /mnt/ThinkPad | tee -a $log

banner -w 40 Done
date +%a\ %D\ %T | tee -a $log
echo done | tee -a $log

backups.do v0.3

2009-09-08T15:34:00.001-07:00

#version 0.3
# a single script that performs all the backups
# rather than a separate directory for each day,
# all backup files are in a single directory
# and the filename itself contains the date.
# This will make it easier to split the files and write them to a DVD.
#
backup_top='/home/ted/Backups'
today=`date +%Y%m%d`
log=$backup_top/backups_$today.log
echo *** > $log
echo Today is $today | tee -a $log
echo Backup_top is $backup_top | tee -a $log
echo log is $log | tee -a $log

echo tar of XP... | tee -a $log
date +%a\ %D\ %T | tee -a $log
tar -cvpzf $backup_top/XP_$today.tar.gz -g$backup_top/XP.incr /mnt/XP | tee -a $log

echo tar of ThinkPad... | tee -a $log
date +%a\ %D\ %T | tee -a $log
tar -cvpzf $backup_top/ThinkPad_$today.tar.gz -g$backup_top/ThinkPad.incr --exclude=*.iso --exclude=*.vdi /mnt/ThinkPad | tee -a $log

echo tar of CS... | tee -a $log
date +%a\ %D\ %T | tee -a $log
tar -cvpzf $backup_top/CS_$today.tar.gz -g$backup_top/CS.incr --exclude=/mnt/CS/Pictures /mnt/CS | tee -a $log

echo tar of CS-Pictures | tee -a $log
date +%a\ %D\ %T | tee -a $log
tar -cvpzf $backup_top/CS-Pictures_$today.tar.gz -g$backup_top/CS-Pictures.incr /mnt/CS/Pictures | tee -a $log

date +%a\ %D\ %T | tee -a $log
echo done | tee -a $log

Filelight - Graphical Disk Usage Analysis Tool

2009-08-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

I found this tool and installed it and found it very intuitive and very helpful.

Here's how you get it:

sudo apt-get install filelight

backups.do v0.1

2009-08-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

#version 0.1
#a single script that calls all the backups
#each day's backups in a separate directory
#
backup_top='/home/ted/Backups'
today=`date +%Y%m%d`
today_dir=$backup_top/$today
log=$today_dir/log_$today.log
mkdir $today_dir
echo *** > $log
echo Today is $today | tee -a $log
echo Backup_top is $backup_top | tee -a $log
echo Today_dir is $today_dir | tee -a $log
echo log is $log | tee -a $log
echo tar of XP... | tee -a $log
tar -cvpzf $today_dir/XP.tar.gz -g$backup_top/XP.incr /mnt/XP | tee -a $log
echo tar of ThinkPad... | tee -a $log
tar -cvpzf $today_dir/ThinkPad.tar.gz -g$backup_top/ThinkPad.incr --exclude=*.iso --exclude=*.vdi /mnt/ThinkPad | tee -a $log
echo tar of CS... | tee -a $log
tar -cvpzf $today_dir/CS.tar.gz -g$backup_top/CS.incr --exclude=/mnt/CS/Pictures /mnt/CS | tee -a $log
echo tar of CS-Pictures | tee -a $log
tar -cvpzf $today_dir/CS-Pictures.tar.gz -g$backup_top/CS-Pictures.incr /mnt/CS/Pictures | tee -a $log

echo done | tee -a $log

backups.do v0.2

2009-08-29T15:44:00.000-07:00

#Version 0.2
#each days backups are in a separate directory
#redundant code for backups is placed in a separate script
#
backup_top='/home/ted/Backups'
log=$backup_top/backup.log
echo *** > $log
echo Today is $today | tee -a $log
echo Backup_top is $backup_top | tee -a $log
echo Today_dir is $today_dir | tee -a $log
echo log is $log | tee -a $log
## _backup.do /source/dir /target/base target-file exclude-clause
. _backup.do /mnt/XP $backup_top XP | tee -a $log
. _backup.do /mnt/ThinkPad $backup_top ThinkPad --exclude=/mnt/ThinkPad/.VirtualBox | tee -a $log
. _backup.do /mnt/CS $backup_top CS --exclude=/mnt/CS/Pictures | tee -a $log
. _backup.do /mnt/CS/Pictures $backup_top CS-Pictures | tee -a $log
echo done | tee -a $log

_backup.do script v0.1

2009-08-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

#_backups.do
#this script is called repetitively by backups.do v0.2
#
source_dir=$1
target_base=$2
target_file=$3
exclude_clause=$4
echo source_dir = $source_dir
echo target_base = $target_base
echo target_file = $target_file
echo exclude_clause = $exclude_clause
today=`date +%Y%m%d`
todays_target_dir=$target_base/$today
mkdir $todays_target_dir
tar_filename=$todays_target_dir/$target_file.tar.gz
incr_filename=$target_base/$target_file.incr
echo Tar of $source_dir
tar -cvpzf $tar_filename $exclude_clause -g$incr_filename $source_dir
echo Tar of $source_dir done

Script: NFS Setup

2009-08-27T13:08:00.000-07:00

#NFS Setup
sudo apt-get install nfs-kernel-server nfs-common portmap
sudo dpkg-reconfigure portmap
sudo /etc/init.d/portmap restart

Linux Support

2009-08-27T12:59:00.001-07:00

Linux Humor

2009-08-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

[135537.327666] [drm:i915_getparam] *ERROR* Unknown parameter 6
[136137.334588] [drm:i915_getparam] *ERROR* Unknown parameter 6
[136655.627854] [drm:i915_getparam] *ERROR* Unknown parameter 6
[141095.595512] CIFS VFS: No username specified
[141095.595521] CIFS VFS: cifs_mount failed w/return code = -22
[141291.380800] VFS: Busy inodes after unmount of 0:11. Self-destruct in 5 seconds. Have a nice day...
[141311.873398] CIFS VFS: No username specified
[141311.873404] CIFS VFS: cifs_mount failed w/return code = -22
[141345.669559] CIFS VFS: No username specified
[141345.669566] CIFS VFS: cifs_mount failed w/return code = -22

New PC's

2009-08-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

Discards from a school district's hardware replacement program,

Microstar International Motherboards
Pentium 4
Came with 500MB memory
I upgraded to 2GB memory with memory from Fry's.

2GB for $49.99 -- incredible.

More memory sources ...

2009-07-27T18:51:00.001-07:00

Dimension 2400 Memory Specifications
Standard Memory 128 MB (Removable)
Maximum Memory 2.0GB
Memory Expansion 2 Sockets
Memory Comments PC2100/2700/3200 DDR SDRAM DIMM
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4 or Intel Celeron
Model Comments 400/533MHz FSB, Intel 845GV Chipset

Memory Upgrade for Dell Dimension 2400 Computer, the Dell Dimension 2400 Computer takes the PC2100/2700/3200 DDR SDRAM DIMM Memory Type, and comes installed with 128 MB (Removable) of Memory. You can upgrade your Dell Dimension 2400 Computer to up to a maximum of 2.0GB Memory, the system has 2 Sockets to install Memory, already with 128 MB (Removable) standard Memory installed. For best Computer performance use the maximum amount of allowed Memory per slot for your Computer.
Choose the following Memory Upgrade for Dell Dimension 2400 Computer.

Memory Size Chip Description Part Number Price OEM Part#
128MB Module 16x64-266MHz DDR266 PC2100, 184p DIMM, 2.5v, Sync, CL=2.5
508ms-131
$10.95 311-1280
256MB Module 32x64-266MHz DDR266 PC2100, 184p DIMM, 2.5v, Sync, CL=2.5
509ms-122
$14.95 311-1282
512MB Module 64x64-266MHz DDR266 PC2100, 184p DIMM, 2.5v, Sync, CL=2.5
520ms-161
$26.95 311-1325
256MB Module 256MB-DDR333 PC2700, 184p DIMM, 2.5v, Sync, CL=2.5
541ms-152
$19.95 311-2075
512MB Module 512MB-DDR333 PC2700, 184p DIMM, 2.5v, Sync, CL=2.5
542ms-157
$26.95 311-2076
1GB Module 128x64-266MHz DDR266 PC2100, 184p DIMM, 2.5v, Sync, CL=2.5
538ms-047
$39.95 In Stock
1GB Module 1GB-DDR333 PC2700, 184p DIMM, 2.5v, Sync, CL=2.5
543ms-170
$39.95 In Stock
1GB Module 128x64-400MHz DDR400 PC3200, 184p DIMM, 2.5v, Sync, CL=3.0
600ms-600
$39.95 In Stock

emachines T2042 Upgrade

2009-07-27T18:40:00.000-07:00

System Specs
Type of system: Desktops/Servers
Bus Architecture: PCI
Hard Drive Bus: Ultra ATA/100
Native OS: Windows XP Home
CPU Type: Intel Celeron 2.0GHz

Memory Specs
Standard Memory: 128 MB (removable)
Maximum Memory: 1 GB
Memory Expansion: 2 sockets
Memory Comments: PC2100 DDR SDRAM
Description Mfr Part No. Qty x OEM Part No. - Click item to view
128MB Module 1 x 128M-PC2100
256MB Module 1 x 256M-PC2100
512MB Module 1 x 512M-PC2100
Model Comments: 400MHz FSB, Intel 845GL Chipset
HD Comments: 40 GB

Dell Dimension 2400 Memory Upgrade

2009-07-27T18:39:00.000-07:00

Dell Dimension 2400 - Karen's Computer:

Memory
Architecture	DDR SDRAM
Memory connectors	two
Memory capacities	128-, 256-, or 512-MB
Minimum memory	128 MB shared DDR SDRAM NOTE: Between 32 and 64 MB of system memory may be allocated to support graphics, depending on system memory size and other factors.
Maximum memory	2 GB
Memory type	PC2100 (266-MHz) or PC2700 (333-MHz) DDR SDRAM (non-ECC)

How To Make .ISO Files

2009-07-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

The Ubuntu Guide web site runs down how to turn your CDs/DVDs and folders into .iso disk images. The process even demonstrates how to create your own MD5 checksum files. This surprisingly simple process makes it easy to create digital backups of all those installation CDs you've accumulated:

Turn a CD/DVD into an .iso

sudo umount /dev/cdrom
dd if=/dev/cdrom of=file.iso bs=1024

Turn a folder into an .iso
mkisofs -r -o file.iso /location_of_folder/

Generate an MD5 checksum file
md5sum file.iso > file.iso.md5

Although the process is specific to Ubuntu, you can follow the same tutorial to create .iso and MD5 checksum files in any distro.