Solved problems for Ubuntu and Windows

Enable wireless on boot

2014-02-19T09:55:00.000+01:00

If wireless connection is not enabled by default on boot, you have to do two simple steps:

in a Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T) type sudo gedit /etc/profile.d/enable_wifi.sh and give your root password
copy the following line, save and close: nmcli nm wifi on

Now it should be enabled every time you boot the system.

Add keyboard shortcut for shutdown dialog

2014-02-19T09:47:00.002+01:00

If you want to add a custom keyboard shortcut to open the shutdown menu, you have to:

go on Menu --> Keyboard, and then on the "Shortcuts" tab
click on the "+" button
give a name you desire and the following command: gnome-session-quit --power-off
Select the new shortcut and press the key combination you want to assign to it
Close, and you're done!

You may find also this post useful: How to add hibernate option to Mint 13

Canon MG4250 installation on Mint13

2014-02-19T09:06:00.000+01:00

The instructions presented here are a more compact version of the ones provided in this blog, and improved for Linux Mint (but should suit well also to Ubuntu). For more detailed infos please refer to the link above.

Download the latest printer and scanner drivers (see links)
Exctract the two files: in a Terminal type
ls *mg4200series*.tar.gz | xargs -i tar xzf {}
Open the printer driver folder: cd cnijfilter-mg4200series-3.80-1-deb/
Run the installation: ./install.sh and follow the instructions on the terminal.
Open the scanner driver folder: cd ../scangearmp-mg4200series-2.00-1-deb/
Run the installation: ./install.sh
Since no launcher is created in the Menu, right click on the menu button and select "Edit menu" got to the category you desire to see the scanner in (e.g. "Graphics") and then click the "New item" button. Put whatever you desire under name and comment, and the following in the "Command" field: scangearmp
If the first time you launch the scanner an error appears, just proceed and click the button saying "Update scanner list"; wait a while, then your scanner should appear.

This should be all. As mentioned above, for more detailed instructions please refer to the guide linked in the first phrase.

Rotate webcam on Skype for Linux on ASUS laptops

2014-02-19T07:41:00.000+01:00

If you have an ASUS laptop and use Skype on Linux, you'll probably face the problem of having the webcam image rotated by 180° and only on Skype, not on other applications.
To solve this problem you need to install and load a 32-bit library (since Skype is compiled for such architectures) before launching Skype.
In addition to this, I'll show how to solve this problem also if you want to install a skype wrapper, in the case Skype is not always visible on the system tray.

These are the commands to type in a Terminal

add the skype-wrapper repository (optional): sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:skype-wrapper/ppa && sudo apt-get -qq update
install skype-wrapper (optional): sudo apt-get install skype-wrapper
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:libv4l/stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install libv4l-0:i386

Then, in a folder where it doesn't annoy you, create a file named skype.sh and copy these two lines inside it:

#!/bin/bash

LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libv4l/v4l1compat.so skype

ATTENTION: put skype-wrapper instead of just skype in the line above if you chose the option of installing the wrapper!

In you want Skype to automatically load at startup, on the Menu find "Startup Applications", remove other Skype launchers if available, and press the "Add" button. Give the name and comment you like, and in the "Command" field put the absolute path of the file created above, for example "/home/me/skype.sh".

The End.

Changing GRUB options

2014-02-19T07:06:00.000+01:00

If you want to change some options of the GRUB boot loader, like for example the timeout for the default option, or the order of the various options, this is what you have to do:

type sudo gedit /etc/default/grub in a Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T) and insert your password
edit the timeout expressed in seconds at "GRUB_TIMEOUT" or the default option at "GRUB_DEFAULT" (the number is the position of the desired option in the boot loader, starting from 0)
in the Terminal type sudo update-grub to update the GRUB configuration file

Automatically mount NFTS partition

2014-02-19T06:57:00.000+01:00

In order to automatically mount an NTFS partition on Ubuntu/Mint you just need to know where it is located on the file system: to do that, open "Disk utility" from the Menu, select the hard disk containing the desired partition, select the partition and look what is written near the label "Device", usually it's something like /dev/sdaN with a number instead of N.

Assume it is for example /dev/sda4, and that you want to mount it in a folder named "Files", then:

type sudo gedit /etc/fstab in a Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T) and insert your password
at the end of the file add two lines as follows:
# My automatically mounted partition
/dev/sda4 /media/Files ntfs defaults,uid=1000,gid=1000 0 1
save and close

The next time you'll reboot, it will be automatically mounted! =)

[SOLVED] Could not download all repository indexes

2014-01-10T10:02:00.000+01:00

If updating your software gives you one of the following problems

Could not download all repository indexes

The repository may no longer be available or could not be contacted because of network problems. If available an older version of the failed index will be used. Otherwise the repository will be ignored. Check your network connection and ensure the repository address in the preferences is correct.

Could not refresh the list of packages

ERROR###ERROR###ERROR###ERROR###ERROR###ERROR###ERROR

W:Failed to fetch http://packages.medibuntu.org/dists/precise/Release.gpg Could not connect to packages.medibuntu.org:80 (67.215.66.132). - connect (110: Connection timed out),

W:Failed to fetch http://packages.medibuntu.org/dists/precise/free/binary-amd64/Packages

Unable to connect to packages.medibuntu.org:http:

Ign http://packages.medibuntu.org precise Release

Ign http://packages.medibuntu.org precise/free amd64 Packages/DiffIndex

Err http://packages.medibuntu.org precise/free amd64 Packages

Unable to connect to packages.medibuntu.org:http:

W: Failed to fetch http://packages.medibuntu.org/dists/precise/Release.gpg Could not connect to packages.medibuntu.org:80 (67.215.66.132). - connect (110: Connection timed out)

W: Failed to fetch http://packages.medibuntu.org/dists/precise/free/binary-amd64/Packages Unable to connect to packages.medibuntu.org:http:

E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

it's because medibuntu packages are no more available, and thus can't be updated, but are not automatically removed from the packages which have to be updated. With this single command that I found here you can definitively eliminate this annoying problem: in a terminal type

sudo sed -i '/^deb http:\/\/packages.medibuntu.org*/d' /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list

insert your login password, and it's done! =)

Ubuntu: remove file generated by Firefox in the Home folder

2013-11-07T19:00:00.000+01:00

Mozilla Firefox creates - and keeps on creating - an annoying "C:\nppdf32Log\debuglog.txt" file in your home folder, and keeping on deleting it is useless: every time you open Firefox, it's generated again.

A simple solution to this bug is to hide the file: in order to do that, create a new empty document in the same folder, and call it "hidden", without extension. Open it and copy the name (extension included) of the file (or files, and/or folders) you want to hide, then save and close. Rename the file by adding a "." at the beginning, so the final name should be ".hidden". Refresh the folder, or close and open it again, and the file will be hidden.

To see hidden files, or to see and edit the ".hidden" one, press CTRL+H on the folder, and again to re-hide everything.

Ubuntu - add a folder to bookmarks on the left panel

2013-11-06T19:06:00.000+01:00

Bookmarking a folder on Ubuntu is easier as expected: just open the folder you want to have at hand in the left-hand-side panel, and from the above menu choose Bookmarks, and then Add Bookmark. In alternative, directly from the folder press CTRL+D, and a shortcut will be created in the bookmarks tab.

[SOLVED] Add custom characters to keyboard layout in Ubuntu

2013-10-08T10:47:00.000+02:00

After a lot of attempts, which were not definitive, I finally managed to add some custom characters to my keyboard layout which were not included, avoiding to switch form one layout to another for just some characters.

Here I use as example how I added some German characters (ä,ö,ü,...) on my Italian layout.

temporally change your layout with a similar one:
Menu -> Keyboard Layout -> Layout -> + -> chose a different one from your current (I chose English UK)
open a terminal (CTRL+ALT+T)
type cd /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/
type ls to see all the layouts, and identify which one your was (in my case it, in the following steps substitute it with your layout)
make a backup copy: sudo cp it it.backup
open the file: sudo gedit it &
identify the key you want to edit: if for example you want to add the "ä" as third option on the "A" key, search for the lines which contain "a" and "A" at the beginning; in this case it is:
key <AC01> { [a, A, aring, Aring] };
substitute the third element ("aring" or whatever you have) with "adiaeresis" and eventually the fourth with "Adiaeresis" in order to get an "Ä"; this in ALL lines (there can be more of them for different layout settings) where that specific key appears. 'A' key lines should then look like
key <AC01> { [a, A, adiaeresis, Adiaeresis] };
add other desired characters as well; if you don't know their code (e.g. "adiaeresis"), just look for them in that language's layout
save & close
in the Terminal type sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration and follow the on-screen instructions
then type sudo dpkg-reconfigure console-setup and follow the on-screen instructions
close all programs and reboot: sudo reboot
after logging in go again to Menu -> Keyboard Layout -> Layout, remove the previously set layout and add your default one; now, following the above example, you should be able to get an "ä" by AltGr+A and an "Ä" by SHIFT+AltGr+A

[SOLVED] Share folders between Linux Mint computers

2013-09-30T23:29:00.000+02:00

If you want to share a folder on a Mint machine, and to access it both from Windows and from Linux computer, you have to follow these simple steps:

INSTALLATION (on every Linux machine):

open a Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T)
install Samba: sudo apt-get install samba
create a login to access shared folders: sudo smbpasswd -a <whateverYouWant> and insert a password for it when asked

FOLDER SHARING (on every Linux machine you want to share some folder of)

make a backup of the Samba configuration file on your home folder: sudo cp /etc/samba/smb.conf ~
edit the configuration file: sudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf
for every folder you want to share, append something like this at the very end of the file:
[nameOfSharedFolder]
path = /path/to/shared/folder
available = yes
valid users = theUserYouCreatedInTheStepAbove
read only = no
browsable=yes
public = yes
eventually changing the values on the right-hand side of the = sign, and the name in the square brackets.
if you want to share the folder with another linux machine, add this line just after the line starting with "workgroup = ...": name resolve order = bcast host lmhosts wins
save and close the text editor
restart Samba: sudo service smbd restart
check that there are no errors: sudo testparm

Wait some minutes and then everything should work. If you have other questions just post a comment, I'll answer as soon as possible.

[SOLVED] Mint13 - Nvidia GeForce GT540M optimus (64 bit)

2013-04-04T17:39:00.000+02:00

Nvidia graphic cards with Optimus technology (such as GeForce GT540M) may take to errors in case of installation through the official Nvidia .run file or apt-get install nvidia-current, and result in a horrible VGA screen resolution (in the best cases).

At write time there wasn't a single working solution, but many different forum discussions each solving a subpart of the problem. Now that I managed to solve it, I report here all and only the necessary steps to finally use your Nvidia graphic card on your Ubuntu/Mint OS.

Note: tested on Mint13 64bit.

Important: follow all the steps in order, inserting password when prompted, always confirming

REMOVE PREVIOUS NVIDIA INSTALLATION ATTEMPTS:

open a Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T)
type sudo apt-get purge nvidia- and press 2times TAB fast; with the arrow up key reselect the command and complete it with each of the found options
type sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.* then enter
type sudo reboot then enter. The system will REBOOT! (close open programs/files before)

INSTALL BUMBLEBEE

open a Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T)
type sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bumblebee/stable then enter
type sudo apt-get update then enter
type sudo apt-get install bumblebee bumblebee-nvidia linux-headers-generic then enter
type sudo apt-get install virtualgl-libs:i386 then enter
type sudo usermod -a -G bumblebee $USER then enter
type sudo update-initramfs -u then enter
type sudo gedit /etc/init/bumblebeed.override then enter
write:
start on (runlevel [2345])
stop on (runlevel [016])
save and close;
type sudo reboot then enter. The system will REBOOT! (close open programs/files before)

TEST IT

open a Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T)
type optirun glxspheres then enter

Please let me know if it was successful for you. If some step gives you problem and you go on skipping it please let me know too! You don't need to register in order to comment!

Note: this guide solves also the following problems:

You do not appear to be using the NVIDIA X driver. Please edit your X configuration file (just run `nvidia-xconfig` as root), and restart the X server.
Could not apply the stored configuration for monitors
The Bumblebee daemon has not been started yet or the socket path /var/run/bumblebee.socket was incorrect

Program to merge, split, rotate and select pages from multiple PDF documents

2013-02-06T18:15:00.000+01:00

Are you using Ubuntu, Linux Mint or other similar distributions? Do you need a program to work on PDF pages? Here is the best one that you could use: PDFchain.

To install it just open a Terminal (CTRL + ALT + T), type
sudo apt-get install pdfchain
and insert your password to enable root privilege.

When the program is installed just search for "pdfchain" in the menu: you will then be able to import one or more PDF files, select pages from them, copy them, rotate them, give them an order, even encrypt the output. Then you can merge everything in a single output PDF document.

It's really fantastic! Have a try and enjoy it!

Windows: How to "install" a new downloaded FONT

2013-01-08T15:27:00.000+01:00

Did you download a new font and now you want to use it?
That's very easy: the only things you have to do are:

open your download folder (or after download in many browsers you find the option "view in folder" near the new font file)
right-click on the file -> copy (or cut if you don't need it in your download folder)
go to Computer, open the disk labelled with "(C)"
go to Windows, then Fonts
right-click in a white space of the folder and select paste

You should now view your new font in your text editor (Word or Writer).

If that doesn't work write a comment and I'll help you further.

Install a PDF printer in 30 seconds on Ubuntu

2013-01-03T09:39:00.002+01:00

Installing a PDF printer on Ubuntu will take no more than half minute:

open a Terminal (search Terminal in the Menu or CTRL+ALT+T)
type sudo apt-get install cups-pdf, then press Enter
insert your password to allow installation (it will seem you're not typing for security reasons), then press Enter again
wait until the installation finishes

You can now print your documents to PDF files choosing the printer named "PDF"; they will be saved by default in the folder PDF in your home.

How to use commands with options in shortcuts / at startup

2012-11-12T11:21:00.000+01:00

Running a shell command that has some options (command -opt) at startup or with a keyboard shortcut may not work, so the only solution is to create a bash script with the desired command inside and launch the script instead.
Here is what you have to do (assuming the script will be named myscript, your command is mycomm and has option -opt):

in a Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T) type gedit myscript (or another editor instead of gedit)
copy and paste the following code inside:
#! /bin/bash
mycomm -opt
save and close
in the Terminal type chmod +x myscript to make it executable
move the file in /usr/bin to make it runnable: sudo cp -a myscript /usr/bin
add /usr/bin/myscript as command to the startup processes or to your customized keyboard shortcuts.

How to add hibernate option to Mint 13

2012-11-12T10:58:00.002+01:00

If you have installed Mint 13, one of the first things you'll notice is that there is no hibernate option in the shutdown window.
Although there is no way to add the option from GUI, you can simply do it by following these instructions:

open a Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T) and type sudo gedit /etc/polkit-1/localauthority/50-local.d/com.ubuntu.enable-hibernate.pkla (or another text editor instead of gedit); then insert your password in the terminal

add the following lines at the end of the file, then save:

[Re-enable hibernate by default]
Identity=unix-user:*
Action=org.freedesktop.upower.hibernate
ResultActive=yes

Now (or in some cases after restart) you will see the hibernate option when you click the poweroff button..

Why linux is better

2012-11-03T14:34:00.000+01:00

For the people that are on this website because they had some trouble while managing their Linux distribution, I want to remind that despite some little (and solvable) problem, the penguin's OS is still the better.

Here I embed the homepage of whylinuxisbetter, a nice website in my opinion... For more details visit that webpage or navigate in the following iframe..

How to reset forgotten password in Ubuntu

2012-04-04T19:24:00.001+02:00

If you forget your password in Ubuntu, you can simply set a new one:

Reboot into recovery mode
In the recovery menu choose "boot"
Type "passwd <YOUR_LOGIN>"
Type the new password (it will look like you were not typing) and press enter
Retype (the same as above) and press enter
Type "exit" and press enter: you'll go back to the recovery menu
Select "resume normal boot"
If the system restarts in console mode type "startx" after having logged in.

That's all, simple and fast! ;)

mute drum sound before Ubuntu login

2011-09-28T10:05:00.000+02:00

If you tried all the HowTos but no one really solved that annoying drum sound before login, you can try my solution (tested on Ubuntu 10.10):

open a terminal and copy-paste the following command: sudo gedit /usr/share/gdm/autostart/LoginWindow/libcanberra-ready-sound.desktop
comment the line which begins with "Exec=" by adding a # at the beginning of the line
save, quit, and at next restart you won't have the login sound.

How to add a startup process on Windows (example: task manager)

2011-06-11T11:45:00.000+02:00

If you want a program to run automatically when you turn on your pc you have to follow these steps:

(I explain it through the example of task manager)

rightclick Start - Programs - Startup (italian: Start - Tutti i programmi - Esecuzione automatica) and select Open
rightclick on the folder and select New - Shortcut (italian: Nuovo - Collegamento)
insert the path of the executable file of the desired process (e.g. C:\Windows\System32\taskmgr.exe )
rightclick on your new shortcut and choose Properties if you want, for example, to run the program minimized to tray or if you want a normal window to open

provisional solution for /usr/lib/cups/backend/hp failed

2011-06-05T11:34:00.002+02:00

Since a few weeks I get this error when i try to print any document with my HP printer:

/usr/lib/cups/backend/hp failed

I spent hours googling for a solution, but none of the ones i found seems to work for me.
Then accidentally I did the following steps, and my printer started to work.
I don't know if it was by chance, or why it works, but if you haven't found a solution yet maybe you can try this one too:

turn off and then again on your printer
print the document
you should get a notification that the document has been printed, but the printer didn't move and the document is still in the print queue
go to the print queue and refresh job list (the blue curved arrow)
your doc should be held for about 5 minutes
turn off your printer and wait until the document will not be held, its status should become "pending"
turn on the printer; the doc should be printed

I hope it works for those who haven't found a solution for weeks..

let me know!

P.s.: obviuosly this is a provisional solution, it doesn't solve the problem..

Copying google maps in "My maps"

2011-03-27T16:03:00.001+02:00

If you need two similar google maps, and you don't want to create all labels again, you can copy a map from "My maps" doing as following:

go to the map you want to copy, and copy the URL you get click "Link"
paste somewhere else that URL and add "&output=kml" at the end
now copy the whole new URL
go in "My maps" and click "Create new map"
then another link saying "Import" will appear: click on it
paste the URL in the string filed and click on "Upload from URL"
now you have your copied map!

Share ubuntu printer with Windows 7

2011-03-12T14:56:00.000+01:00

If you use Ubuntu and you can't manage to share your printer with a Windows pc, you can try these steps:

remove comments (# character at the beginning of the line) of the following lines in smb.conf (sudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf):

load printers = yes
printing = cups
printcap name = cups

in the same file add the following line above [printers]:

use client driver = yes

Good luck! ;)

You can find useful informations about your printer at http://localhost:631/printers/

Ubuntu - hide files or folders

2011-03-06T21:58:00.001+01:00

To hide files and/or folders in Ubuntu you have two ways:

add a '.' (without quotes, obviously) at the beginning of file's/folder's name
if you don't want to rename the file/folder do this: in the same folder as the one in which are saved the files/folders you want to hide, create a new text file, and edit it writing the names of the files/folders you want to hide. Then save it and rename it as ".hidden" (without " too)

To see hidden files press CTRL+H.