debianandi

Icedove Thunderbird - Debian Ubuntu not opening with NS_GetServiceManger Error

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:52:00 +0000

Icedove fails to open after system cleanup
I had a clean out of old applications and files on my work Debian Squeeze box, only to reboot and find that Icedove email client wouldn't run.

I opened the terminal and ran "icedove" and got this error message:

/usr/lib/icedove/icedove-bin: symbol lookup error: /usr/lib/icedove/components/libimgicon.so: undefined symbol: NS_GetServiceManager

A quick Google around a few forums and mailing lists showed it to be a lib error (probably from my recent clean out) and not specifically Icedove on Debian (Hence the reason i've posted this here and not on DebianAndI) as it also appeared for Ubuntu users and Thunderbird as well. Anyway, there's an easy fix.

1. Backup your Icedove email files just in case:

cp .icedove icedovebkp

2. Completely remove Icedove:

sudo apt-get remove --purge icedove

3. And then reinstall:

sudo apt-get install icedove

4: Open your terminal and type:

LD_BIND_NOW=1 icedove

Icedove should open and everything should be back to normal.

Convert to and split flash video (flv) files for Youtube

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:50:00 +0000

I recently got asked about uploading videos to Youtube by a friend, and decided to look at the best way to first convert them to Flash (.flv) and then split them into chunks to get round the Youtube video size restrictions.

Winff
If you've never used Winff before, then you'll love it. It allows you to choose your video file and convert into various formats, including Flash for Websites (.flv) It's available in most Linux repos, and you can find more info here: http://winff.org/html_new/

sudo apt-get install winff

Ffmpeg
Ffmpeg is the tool for everything video and audio. It's available in all Linux repos and you can find more info here: http://ffmpeg.org/

sudo apt-get install ffmpeg

VLC Media Player:
I would also recommend installing vlc which is probably the most complete lightweight Video/Audio player available. It's also available in all Linux repositories, more info here: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Basically you just convert and split.
1. Open Winff, open the file you want to convert, and choose Flash/Website
2. Let it convert then open your terminal ready for some ffmpeg-foo

Ok, so, case scenario:
You have a video file called "bacon" that is 30 minutes long and you want to create two 15 minute files. To get file number 1 you split from 0min for a duration of 15 minutes, and then for file number 2 you split from 15min for another duration of 15 minutes like this:

ffmpeg split originalbacon.flv from [startpoint 0] [for duration 15] to newbacon1.flv
ffmpeg split originalbacon.flv from [startpoint 15] [for duration 15] to newbacon2.flv

Which in the Terminal is like this:

ffmpeg -i input.flv -sameq -ss 00:00:00 -t 00:15:00 file1.flv

then:

ffmpeg -i input.flv -sameq -ss 00:15:00 -t 00:15:00 file2.flv

Happy splitting and uploading :)

Broadcom BCM4311 problem on Debian, Mint, Ubuntu

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:40:00 +0000

The STA driver does not work properly for the BCM4311 in Mint/Ubuntu/Debian.
The Restricted Driver Manager only gives you the Broadcom STA driver as an option.

Yesterday got asked by a friend to remove Ubuntu from his 5-year-old laptop. It's a 64bit, 1Gb Ram machine, with an Nvidia graphics card and Broadcom wireless.

I was pretty certain that the 64bit Linux Mint 12 would just work out of the box, even though i've had problems with the Broadcom firmware on other machines (wireless cutting out and needing to be restarted)

The install went fine, and I went straight to the "Restricted Drivers manager" for Nvidia and Broadcom. The STA driver was recommended so I installed it. Only to find it would work.

My laptop at home works ok with the older B43 module, so I went the traditional route and installed that instead.

Install:

sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer b43-fwcutter

Then unload both modules:

sudo modprobe -r b43 wl

Now reload the B43 module:

sudo modprobe b43

If when you reboot, the B43 module doesn't get loaded:, just add it to "modules":

sudo vim /etc/modules

and add b43 at the end of the list. Now it'll load at boot.

The STA module may also load at boot, so just blacklist it by adding it to the blacklist:

sudo vim /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

and it like this:

blacklist wl

Now reboot, and you'll have Broadcom 4311 wireless working.

Add PPA Repositories to Debian

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:20:00 +0000

Ubuntu PPAs on Debian?
I know some people are going to flip about "dirtying" their Debian box with Ubuntu PPAs, but sometimes there are external apps that you want (think new Gimp 2.8) which you either just can't get or you can't be asked to manually compile. In any case, if you are an experienced Debian user, you'll know how to reverse this if it causes any problems, and we all love a bit of breakage.

The DebPPA script

vim debppa.sh

Add this code:
http://aprendiom.com/downloads/debppa

Move it and make it executable:

sudo mv debppa.sh /usr/sbin/debppa
sudo chmod o+x /usr/sbin/debppa
sudo chown root:root /usr/sbin/debppa

Use it like this:

sudo debppa ppa:ppa-name

That's it, now you can add PPA repositories and get the latest applications.

Howto setup any HP printer on Debian

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Fri, 04 May 2012 10:22:00 +0000

Other Printers
I've written other guides on setting up printers with Cups in the web browser via localhost:631 (which is still an easy way to setup most printers, however, the drivers weren't listed for my current printer, so I Googled for the Hplip site at Sourceforge and found a neat little script.

Hp Deskjet 3050
In general with any Linux distro with a full desktop environment you would just install the Hplip package with GUI via the package manager. I have a minimal self-built Debian Squeeze with Openbox window manager, and as such, not all installed applications appear on the Obmenu (even the added Debian menu), so I have my own default menu with my frequently used apps. basically, when I installed the Hplip GUI there was no link to be seen on the menu, so I did an Alt+F2 to do arun-search of all the hp* references.

HP-Setup = No USB Printer Detected
I ran hp-setup and it informed me that there was no printer connected via USB, even though lsusb showed it listed. I checked for usual dependencies, unplugged and replugged the printer, nada, so off to Google I went.

Using the Hplip script from Sourceforge: http://sourceforge.jp/projects/sfnet_hplip/releases/

1. Find the latest *.run script (Currently hplip-3.12.4.run) and download it.

2. Open a terminal and go to your "Downloads" directory

cd Downloads

3. Create a HP directory (A lot of files will be downloaded when the script runs)

mkdir HP

4. Move the script there

mv hplip-3.12.4.run HP

5. Change to the HP directory

cd HP

6. Run the script as a regular user

sh hplip-3.12.4.run

Now just go through the motions, it's self explanatory and will guide you step by step. Basically after reading it turns out that I just said YES to all the default options, and now have a fully working HP Deskjet 3050 on Debian Squeeze.

Howto install Perl Volwheel volume controller

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:48:00 +0000

Volwheel is a nice little Perl script panel applet which provides a lightweight sound/volume controller on your chosen panel/toolbar. I use Tint2 on my Openbox desktop, and volwheel is always a part of my setup.

First download Volwheel

wget http://aprendiom.com/downloads/volwheel-0.2.8.tar.gz

Untar it

tar zxvf volwheel-0.2.8.tar.gz

Dependencies

sudo apt-get install libgtk2-trayicon-perl

Install

cd volwheel-0.2.8

sudo ./install.pl

Copy Icons to System

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/share/volwheel/icons

cd icons

sudo cp -a * /usr/local/share/volwheel/icons

Copy Libs to System

cd ..

cd lib

sudo cp -a * /usr/lib/perl5

Launch Volwheel

volwheel &

Change the theme and settings (I use static + speaker-black)

Right click on Volwheel icon, choose Preferences

Autostart for Openbox

vim .config/openbox/autostart.sh

Add this line:

## Start volumeicon after a slight delay
(sleep 5s && volwheel) &

That's it, now you have a nice Perl volume icon.

Send email from a fake address

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:53:00 +0000

How to send fake emails from fake/invented email addresses

Want to play a trick on your friends?

How about sending an email to your Linux-using Geek buddies from Linus Torvalds, or the Queen of England? Maybe your sister loves Justin Bieber?

Ok, you just need Postfix installed on your Linux box and a simple bash script, and the most excellent mime-construct. I use Vim text editor for my guide, but just replace it with the editor of your choice.

1. Install mime-construct from the repos:
sudo apt-get install mime-construct

2. Put this bash script in your /bin directory:

cd bin

vim fakemail.sh

And add this simple code:

#!/bin/bash
# Fake email just for fun
cat victims.txt | { while read; do
echo $REPLY >> fakemailog.txt
mime-construct --header 'Sender: queen_elizabeth@buckinghampalace.com' --header 'From: queen_elizabeth@buckinghampalace.com' --to $REPLY --subject 'Invitation to the Royal Ball' --file fakebody.txt
sleep 2
done
}

4. Make the script executable:

chmod +x fakemail.sh

5. Write your funny fake email message in a file called "fakebody.txt"

vim fakebody.txt

----------
The Queen is holding a special royal ball for the gullible people in your town.

You are invited to assist on the 1st of April, 2012

RSVP
----------

6. There is a log file in case you mail to multiple addresses
(to run a "tail -f fakemail.txt" to see how far the script has got with your list of victims):

vim fakemailog.txt

7. Now create the list of email addresses you want as victims :)

vim victims.txt

And add:
-----------
myvictim@aprilfool.com
myvictim2@biggerfool.com
etc
----------

8. Run your fake email script:

./fakemail.sh

Off you go and have some fun, I need to dash, I just received an email from the Queen!!

Getting Java Console on HP ILO to work with Iceweasel on Debian 64bit

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:59:00 +0000

Remote HP Server Administration via ILO
If you ever have to connect to remote servers, especially HP which have ILO (Integrated Lights Out) technology, you'll probably have come across the problem where you can get to the Administration page, but the Console won't open.

Using Windows
I used to just fire up Virtual Box with Windows Xp (32bit) installed an do everything from there. ILO allows you to connect with Java install and on windows the .NET framework.

Linux and 64bit Java
One of he main issues with Linux and Java was that you could get the (Sun) 32bit Java to work, but the 64bit Java would fail miserably.

Java Versions
Java can be a real pain if you don't have the latest version installed, and if you run Debian "Stable" (Currently Squeeze) you will have to install the Sun Java package from their website if you need the latest version as Debian is no longer going to have it in the repos: http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2011/15/#javarm

Java (64bit) Version/Package Experiments
One of my work colleagues recently called me over and showed me the ILO Java console open and working with Iceweasel on his Debian Squeeze box. I was amazed and asked how he did it.
He'd basically installed a specific version (jdk1.6.0_17) of the sun-java6-jdk package, and symlinked to it.

Howto:

1. Download the sun-jdk1.6.0_17 source (i'll post a link later)
2. Unpack it to /opt
3. Cd to /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins
4. Symlink these two files

libjavaplugin_jni.so -> /opt/java/jdk1.6.0_17/jre/lib/amd64/libjavaplugin_jni.so
libnpjp2.so -> /opt/java/jdk1.6.0_17/jre/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so

Howto Crunchbang install proprietary Ati drivers

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 10:02:00 +0000

Installing Manually on Crunchbang Statler (32/64bit)

This method uses the latest Catalyst driver downloaded from AMD/ATI's site.

This was tested on a virgin install with no other previous attempts at installing Ati drivers. If you have an already edited system, with other drivers installed, remove them "completely" first.

Do everything below as root, in the /root directory

Install the prerequisite packages:

apt-get install build-essential cdbs fakeroot dh-make debhelper debconf libstdc++6 dkms libqtgui4 wget execstack libelfg0 module-assistant

Make sure you are ready to go with Module Assistant:

m-a prepare

Download the latest Catalyst package:

This package contains both the 32-bit and 64-bit driver (if you are on a 64bit machine, install ia32-libs)

cd ~/; mkdir catalyst11.10; cd catalyst11.10/

wget http://www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/ati-driver-installer-11-10-x86.x86_64.run

chmod +x ati-driver-installer-11-10-x86.x86_64.run

Launch the Ati installer and go through the motions:

./ati*run

Now reboot, don't try glxgears or the catalyst control center, in fact don't touch anything, just reboot.

Howto Flash DarkyROM 10.2 Resurrection from Debian on your Samsung Galaxy S

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 08:22:00 +0000

Why this guide if it's all on DarkyROM Forums?
I'm posting this as I found the guides on the DarkyROM forums confusing, and they all recommend Odin (Pffft! Windows users). If you already have a Darky's ROM installed, or are coming from a Stock Froyo, it's easy, just follow the guides on the forum. In fact, before reading how I did it, go to the forums anyway.

This guide is how I got DarkyROM 10.2.2 Extreme Edition installed after a lot of trial and error trying to get rid of Cyanogenmod 7 with a custom kernel. (See my previous post for CM7) This is by no means as in-depth as the official guides, nor can I guarantee it will work for you. As with all ROM flashing shenanigans, you are responsible for your phone, not me.

6 Step Howto Guide

1. Download and install Heimdall CLI HERE

2. Download DarkyROM 10.2 Resurrection and unzip everything all into one directory. HERE

3. Open your terminal and cd to that directory

4. Copy and paste this line:

heimdall flash --repartition --pit s1_odin_20100512.pit --factoryfs factoryfs.rfs --cache cache.rfs --dbdata dbdata.rfs --primary-boot boot.bin --secondary-boot Sbl.bin --param param.lfs --kernel zImage --modem modem.bin

5. Put your phone into Download Mode (Volume Down+Power Button+Enter)

6. Plug USN cable into computer, then phone, and go back to the terminal and press Enter.

The Whole Story (For those who are about to brick their phone if they don't read this :D )
A few friends on Google Plus were using Darky ROM and singing it's praises, but I went for CM7 instead as it was easier to to install. I soon realised that I was losing battery every 8 hours, faster with heavy use. I could have tried different kernels and patches etc, but i'd already decided (as I do with Linux) to say goodbye and move on to a "Distro" (ROM) which was recommended and more suited to my needs. Darky's ROM.

Clockwork Mod and ROM manager
As I was on a rooted phone, and already had CWM installed via my custom kernel, I decided to go for the traditional Darky install via the ROM manager. I downloaded the latest DarkyROM 10.2.2, opened the ROM manager, told it to wipe my phone and install the .zip which had just been downloaded to the root of my internal SD card. The phone rebooted into CWM, I chose Factory reset, wipe cache etc, and chose the darkyrom-10.2.2.zip. It appeared to work, rebooted, and just got the Cyanogenmod 7 boot screen, and that's where the phone froze. I tried again with the 3-button-techinique, wiped again, reflashed. Same thing. I now had a phone that wouldn't boot. So I used the 3-button-technique to reflash Cyanogenmod7 (The zip was also on my internal SD card from the last time). CM7 worked.

Bricked (nearly) Phone, Odin and Heimdall and reverting to Stock Froyo
After a lot of downloading and attempted flashes with the 3BT, and ending up with an unbootable phone, I panicked a bit, and went off to Google. I read through the DarkyROM howto but came away even more confused, then found a link to a site that has all the Stock Samsung Galaxy S firmware. I downloaded the Samsung Galaxy S Froyo Firmware, and set off to find a guide about using Odin via USB cable to get my ~~brick~~ phone back to stock.

Odin vs Hemdall
I soon realised that Odin is a leaked application that Samsung uses to flash phones, and is a Windows app. I'm on Debian Squeeze Linux. Next I got wind of a Linux app called heimdall, which even comes with an Odin like GUI frontend called (funnily enough) heimdall-frontend, and there were .deb files. Cool beans methinks, I can flash via USB from Linux. I downloaded the .deb files and installed them with a quick "dpkg -i" All went well, opened it up to check, seems to work.

DarkyROM and Heimdall
Rather than go back to stock straight away, I thought i'd have one last go with Darky's ROM so I went back to DarkyROM forums and found somebody had posted a Heimdall guide, with screenshots. However, the gui looked nothing like mine, but I thought i'd muddle through. I unzipped the DarkyROM-10.22 package, and found that none of the files i needed were inside. Great! Went back and read some more forum posts, found I may need a version called Resurrection. Downloaded that and found the firmware files inside. I unzipped everything, tried to load the PDA.tar, and Heimdall-Frontend crashed at 99%. I tried again, crashed. In fact I went through a whole heap of files i'd previously downloaded, and either got "firmware.xml" missing, or the Gui would crash.

Ubuntu and Heimdall-Frontend
I compare Ubuntu to crack cocaine. It's ok for a quick fix, but you wouldn't want to use it every day :D
Ok, just kidding, I don't want hate mail form hoards of marauding Ubuntu Fanbois, in any case, it saved my ass this time. My daughter's laptop dual-boots Crunchbang with Ubuntu, so I decided to use Ubuntu as people said Heimdall worked fine on that. And it did. I flashed DarkyROM to my phone, it rebooted....... to the damned Cyanogenmod splash again!!

Stock Froyo ROM
Bugger it, i'm tired, i've got an unbootable phone, i'm going back to stock. I unzipped the firmware i had downloaded earlier, flashed it to my phone with heimdall-frontend, the phone booted into stock Froyo, Hurrah!

But!........ I-need-Darky's ROM!
What can I say, i'm an install freak, I HAVE to be able to fix something. I can't just walk away and leave this. I'm serious, I can't sleep if there is a challenge like this hanging in the air. Distros, databases, web sites, source apps. If Grant Galbraith can haz teh Darky ROM, I can haz it too :D

Back to DarkyROM forum's Heimdall guide
I scrolled down, and found that a forum moderator had posted a comand line for heimdall. YES! CLI! I fired up my Debian laptop. Unzipped all the files i saw in that command line into one single directory. Fired up my terminal, copy and pasted the line. Put my phone into download-mode, connected the USB cable, went back to my terminal, crossed my fingers, said a little prayer to Linus, and hit Enter. Bang! the beautiful commands scrolled past, my phone came to life with a gorgeous glow as it's new lifeblood started to flow into its circuitry. The phone restarted to an corrupted mutlicolour splash. A jittery robot voice stuttered something and it froze. My heart sank, I tried to restart it, I got the horrible dreaded black-screen-of death. My heart sank further as the words echoed through my head "you bricked your phone", "you had a stock froyo", "but you had to push it, and you bricked your phone", "stupid". I recalled something on the forum about "Something only Samsung can fix".

But all wasn't lost
I took my battery out, replaced and rebooted. I got a beautiful Matrix style splash screen welcoming me to Darky's ROM, the robot voice... that beautiful robot voice assured me that everything was fine, and I had in fact, successfully installed Darky's ROM... 10.2 Extreme Edition. It booted.

I am now the proud user of Darky's ROM 10.2.2 Extreme Edition, and it's staying that way!

Howto Cyanogenmod on Samsung Galaxy S GT i9000

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 09:42:00 +0000

Well, I was up until 5 am this morning pulling my hair out trying to get Cyanogenmod installed on my phone. I did all the downloading directly to my phone via the browser, and used free apps to get this done without the need for Linux/Windows/Mac and USB cables etc.

If you get this error........

E: failed to verify whole-file signature

E: signature verification failed

..........I am going to save you a whole heap of time.

ROOT:
I expect you know that you need to be root to flash a Cyanogenmod ROM, but if you didn't, search the Android Market for Z4Root which will root your phone quickly and painlessly.

Restrictive Recovery Manager
The problem is that the stock Froyo comes with the e3 Recovery Manager, which blocks the installation of unsigned ROMs. The earlier e2 Recovery Manager will let you install unsigned ROMs. So even if you install the recommended ClockwareMod or other ROM Managers to get your ROM installed, it won't work. And in any case, with my kernel solution you don't need them anyway.

So how do you get back to the e2 version?
You need to install a different kernel, but don't panic, there is a free app in the Android Market which will allow you to backup your kernel and flash a new one relatively painlessly.
Meet the SGS Kernel Flasher: (Download it via the Market)
https://market.android.com/details?id=neldar.sgs.kernel.flasher

Where to get the Kernel?
After reading a few guides the speedmod kernels came up time and time again, created by Hardcore. So I downloaded and installed this one. There are newer versions, but i stuck with what the guides said as I needed the old e2 Recovery Manager.
speedmod-kernel-k12u-500hz.zip
Here: http://www.hotfilesearch.com/download/55267311-speedmod-kernel-k12u-500hz.zip.html

So I opened up the SGS Kernel Flasher App, chose backup current kernel, then chose to flash the new downloaded kernel, navigated to it, crossed my fingers and tapped. The new kernel got added, and the phone rebooted. Next up was to see if it had indeed left me with a usable phone and the old e2 version.

Boot into System Recovery:
With your phone running, press Volume up + On/Off Button + Enter simultaneously until the phone shuts down and reboots, let go when you see the white GT i9000 boot screen and if all went well, you will now see a different recovery manager which does have the option to "Install from SDcard". (this option doesn't appear on the e3 version)

Cyanogenmod Download:
Now you can go and get the Cyanogenmod and download it from here:
http://download.cyanogenmod.com/get/update-cm-7.1.0-RC1-GalaxyS-signed.zip

Now (more or less) follow this guide again (but without any Clockwork or Rom App) by holding down the 3 buttons again: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S:_Full_Update_Guide

Method via Recovery

Place the CyanogenMod update.zip file on the root of the SD card.
Boot into Recovery (By holding down the 3 buttons, NOT with a ROM Manager).
Once the device boots into Recovery, use the side volume buttons to move around, and either the power button or the trackball to select.
Select the option to Wipe data/factory reset.
Then select the option to Wipe cache partition.
Select Install zip from sdcard.
Select Choose zip from sdcard.
Select the CyanogenMod update.zip.
Once the installation has finished, select +++++Go Back+++++ to get back to the main menu, and select the Reboot system now option. The Samsung Galaxy S should now boot into CyanogenMod.

Your phone will now reboot and you will see that beautiful Cyanogenmod Spalsh screen and you will scream WOOT!...... like I did, with all the enrgy I could muster at 5am after 3 hours of trying to find out why I couldn't install this Cyanogenmod that all the cool kids on G+ have on their phones.

Google Apps:
Finally I realized I didn't have the App Market, Gmail etc, so after a bit of Googling, downloaded the Gapps zip to my phone and installed it with the 3-button-recovery method, and now have the apps I need:
http://cmw.22aaf3.com/gapps/gapps-gb-20110613-signed.zip

Howto install Minus.com filesharing desktop app on Debian Squeeze or Crunchbang

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:32:00 +0000

Minus.com Free 10Gb Unlimited Bandwith Dropbox rival
I just recently heard about minus.com on Google + and thought that their claim of 10Gb FREE along with unlimited bandwidth was suspicious. My comment was "Wait until somebody uploads and publicly shares a Linux distro iso.

Then Phillip Newborough (Corenominal - Crunchbang Linux) said he had actually communicated with John Xie, one of the minus.com founders, aksing exactly the same thing. John said that the minus.com team are all Linux users and have no problem whatsoever with Linux users/developers sharing their isos via the service.

This-is-awesome! I am uploading all my Dropbox files as I type this. Minus.com is going to be huge if they can maintain this type of service.

Ok, so I signed up and immediately started to look for Android and Debian desktop synchronization. I found only Ubuntu and Arch packages, and the screenshots clearly show a Gnome desktop, but I thought "what the hell" an downloaded the 64bit Ubuntu.deb package and threw caution to the wind.

Installation on Debian Squeeze 64bit with Openbox Desktop:

Download and install the .deb file from:
http://minus.com/pages/tools

wget http://blog.minus.com/updates/minus-desktop-tool_amd64.deb

Install it:

sudo dpkg -i minus-desktop-tool_amd64.deb

Errors:
I got told I needed the libqt4-gui, I am on a very basic Squeeze with Openbox, so I just installed it.

dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of minus-desktop-tool:

minus-desktop-tool depends on libqt4-gui; however:

Package libqt4-gui is not installed.

dpkg: error processing minus-desktop-tool (--install):

dependency problems - leaving unconfigured

Errors were encountered while processing:

minus-desktop-tool

Get the dependencies:
sudo apt-get -f install

All done!

Just to check, I ran minus in the run dialog box, and hey presto! all working schwimmingly :)

Files:

The config.ini file is in ~/.local/share/data/minusdesktop
Minus runs from /usr/bin/minus

Autostart:
And i also added minus to start at login with my Openbox autostart.sh

vim .config/openbox/autostart.sh

And add:

# Autostart the Minus daemon

(sleep 30s && minus) &

Howto Debian Live – Build your own distro

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 08:48:00 +0000

How to build your own Debian
Debian live-build was created to help you to build a Debian Live CD or USB. There are other applications and scripts which allow you to respin/remaster, but live-build will help you buil a Debian-based distro "the Debian way".

Anybody can start with a base Debian and add a desktop environment and within around 30 minutes have their own Debian-based distro. It is that simple to use. A more experienced user could dig-in deep and add scripts, themes, wallpapers, specific applications and scripts.

Installation
You will need an installed Debian system to start. Install the live-build package.

*NOTE* sid-snapshot live-build error with squeeze builds

cp: cannot stat `/usr/share/syslinux/themes/debian-squeeze/isolinux-live'

If you want to build a Squeeze-based distro, use "squeeze-snapshots" to avoid the above error. If you want to build Wheezy/sid based distros, use the sid-snapshots repo. (live-build 3.0 is still under development, and therefore can break)

echo deb http://live.debian.net/debian/ sid-snapshots main contrib non-free >> /etc/apt/sources.list

echo deb-src http://live.debian.net/debian/ sid-snapshots main contrib non-free >> /etc/apt/sources.list

wget http://live.debian.net/debian/project/keys/archive-key.asc -O - | apt-key add -

apt-get update

apt-get install live-build dosfstools genisoimage memtest86+ mtools parted squashfs-tools genext2fs mtd-tools sudo fakeroot uuid-runtime win32-loader syslinux syslinux-themes-debian syslinux-themes-debian-squeeze

Configuration And Testing
Create a work directory as Root:

su
password

mkdir my-livecd

cd my-livecd

To create a simple test Live system (no X, just shell):

lb config

And you should end up with this directory structure:

|-- binary_debian-installer

|-- binary_grub

|-- binary_local-debs

|-- binary_local-hooks

|-- binary_local-includes

|-- binary_local-packageslists

|-- binary_local-udebs

|-- binary_rootfs

|-- binary_syslinux

|-- chroot_apt

|-- chroot_local-hooks

|-- chroot_local-includes

|-- chroot_local-packages

|-- chroot_local-packageslists

|-- chroot_local-patches

|-- chroot_local-preseed

|-- chroot_sources

|-- includes

`-- templates

The Config Directory
lb config will create a CONFIG directory with some very simple default settings in commented files that can be edited by hand. This is where you will be adding your config files, packages (.debs) and the contents of your skel directory. This will probably be the most important directory for live-build distro builders.

Get lb config info from your Debian terminal:

man lb_config

The Build Command
lb build will download the packages from the debian repository, install them in a chroot, apply hooks and other things and then create an ISO file which you can burn or run virtually.

Editing/Adding/Removing and Rebuilding
Each time you want to rebuild the live-cd to include some changes, you’ll have to run:

lb clean

lb build

The process will be repeated, but this time the packages you downloaded before will be reused from a cache directory where they were saved the first time round.

Build an Xfce4 based Debian
Debian Squeeze with Xfce live USB image and some extra stuff: (These are straight commands that will add the information to the live-build scripts. Obviously you can edit the scripts themselves manually, and have all this preconfigured so that you run "lb build", go and have a coffee and come back to a shiny new Debian iso, alreday to be fired up in VirtualBox to test.

lb clean

lb config --architecture i386 --archive-areas "main contrib non-free" --packages-list xfce

You can find more packages lists for gnome, kde and others in /usr/share/live/build/lists/.

debian-forensics debian-live-pxe-server gnome-core gnustep kde-extra lxde standard studio-gnome xfce debian-junior debian-science gnome-full kde kde-full minimal standard-x11 studio-kde xfce-junior debian-live-devel gnome gnome-junior kde-core kde-junior rescue studio studio-xfce [your-personal-list]

The i386 architecture boots on 32 and 64 bit processors.

Add some more packages you’d like:

lb config –packages “irssi screen obmenu obconf iptraf vim”

Rebuild

lb build

Customizations
You can make changes to the system interactively during the build process in a shell, using interactive shell parameter.

lb clean

lb config --interactive shell

lb build

A prompt will appear during the build process. Make the changes you want and then log out with “exit” to finish the build process. To disable interactive shell again for unattended builds run:

lb config --interactive disabled

Create Hooks to automate customizations:
Add the following example script inside config/chroot_local-hooks/, make it executable and then rebuild (more hooks in /usr/share/live-helper/hooks/):

#!/bin/sh

echo "HOOK: ssh server"

# install

apt-get install --yes --force-yes -y openssh-server

# disable root login

echo "I: disabling root login in ssh"

sed -i "s/PermitRootLogin yes/PermitRootLogin no/" /etc/ssh/sshd_config

# don't start ssh on boot (safer)

update-rc.d -f ssh remove

Now rebuild.

Skel and the /home/user directory
To add some files to the user $HOME directory, copy them to config/chroot_local-includes to the /etc/skel directory:

lb clean

mkdir -p config/chroot_local-includes/etc/skel

cp -ra ~/.config/openbox config/chroot_local-includes/etc/skel/

lb build

Installing to USB pendrive:

lb clean --binary

lb config -b usb-hdd

lb build

Now copy the resulting image file to the USB pen drive

dd if=binary.img of=/dev/sdb

Where /dev/sdb is the usb pendrive.

Persistent Pendrive (Allows you to save files and settings)
To save changes between boots (a.k.a. live persistence), create a new partition with the remaining free space in the pen and change the label of the new partition to “home-rw”. Boot with the “persistent” boot option to use it. Now the changes in $HOME will survive. They can be used again booting with “persistent” again.

Installing To Hard Disk
One of the advantages of live-helper is being closely linked to Debian, Debian Policy and to Debian-Installer. Once you have selected the packages you want and have the system setup/configured the way you want with your hooks and preseeds, you can use the livecd iso to install your distro to hard disk with debian-installer (d-i) as with a normal official Debian CD.

The installer work normally (language selection, partitioning) but when it comes to installing the system, it will extract the live system to disk, then remove the live addons and install a bootloader. It is actually much faster that the normal installation, because it doesn’t have to unpack all the deb packages.

Links:

Other people's guides:
Grant Galbraith
http://omnsproject.org/?p=831
http://omnsproject.org/?p=828

Debian guides:
http://debian-live.alioth.debian.org/,
http://wiki.debian.org/DebianLive/FAQ,
http://live.debian.net/manual/html/index.html,
http://www.debianuserforums.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=185.

Liquid Lemur - Openbox Edition Aborted

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 08:37:00 +0000

Well, I spent some time working on an Openbox Edition for Liquid Lemur Linux. But in the end decided that I couldn't commit to being part of a project, and have decided to amuse myself building my own personal Debian based distros for fun and home/work use.

Debian live-build scripts
I build them on Debian Squeeze and Wheezy bases, using the Debian live-build scripts. I just want to give some kudos to THESE PEOPLE (The Debian Live devs) who have worked hard to provide us with the framework to build our own Debian distros, the Debian Way. The live-build scripts are simply awesome.

Development
A while back I decided not to get involved with any new Linux projects, but after playing around with the live-helper (now called live-build) scripts, I got the distro dev-bug again. Whatsmore, what DragonPalemoon, Busprof, DigitalFreedom64 and JeffreyC are doing with Liquid Lemur is great. So after a chat with DragonPalemoon, I decided to join the crew and create an OpenBox Edition. In the end though, after thinking hard about everything, I decided it would be better to leave the project before things got too entrenched.

Openbox
I used to be a staunch Fluxbox user until I came across the Debian based (formerly Ubuntu) Crunchbang Linux with the Openbox desktop. Corenominal has created probably the best example of what can be done with an Openbox desktop. So all my Openbox desktops are heavily influenced by Crunchbang.

Dilemma
Obviously, being an ex-Crunchbang user, developing an Openbox distro, people were bound to start making comparisons. So I had the dilemma of creating an Openbox environment I like, while trying to stear away from the more common Crunchbang features. It wasn't easy, and was one of the reasons I decided to leave the idea. In my honest opinion no other Openbox based Linux will even come close to Crunchbang.

Tint2 vs other Panels and Docks
I have tried around 10 different docks and panels, but keep coming back to Tint2, it does what does well, so i'm sticking with it.

Conky
The same goes for Conky. I'm not one of the dedicated Conky hackers, and although I know how to add circles, weather charts and lua scripts, I prefer a simple, to-the-point Conky. So Conky stays as well.

Liquid Lemur (Crunchbang/ Mint/ Dreamlinux)
Liquid Lemur has incorporated some of the best scripts and applications from other distros. It includes (originally from Dreamlinux) a Gui Control Panel to configure the system, an Editions Gui which allows you to install non-debian-repo applications. The Xfce version has Crunchbang start-up scripts, and even the Crunchbang "first-run" terminal script. The Gui installer and slideshow was donated by Clem from Linux Mint. So it's a bit of a Paradox in that sense, catering for the 1337 and N00b5 :)

This also caused a conflict of interest (also with Dreamlinux) as I like everything to be installed from the official Debian repos, and have a personal list of preferred applications. Nelson and Andrefelipe wrote these Ruby scripts to provide new users with an easy way to install applications which were not in the Debian repos, as well as preinstalling different versions of applications from .deb files during the build.

So, I had a lot of fun building the Lemur Openbox edition, and got heaps of support from the Lemur community. Busprof and DigitalFreedom64 have worked hard on the graphic side of things, with everything from specific WM/DE related Wallpapers to Themes and even icons! I made a point of including only Lemur Art Team work in LOBE, to add some uniqueness.

So, Alpha One was released on the unsuspecting public, and hopefully somebody will take over and continue the Openbox Edition. Sadly that won't be me, and I wish the Liquid Lemur team all the success in the future.

How to: Shared Directory Permissions for specific Users of a specific Group

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 10:13:00 +0000

This guide is basically aimed at Debian server Administrators who want to control access to specific directories, to specific groups and/or users.

Scenario:

You want ONLY user1 and user2 to have Read/Write access to the_shared_dir

Create the new directory:

sudo mkdir the_shared_dir

Create new group:

sudo groupadd thenewgroup

Add users to the group:

sudo adduser user1 thenewgroup

sudo adduser user2 thenewgroup

Give the directory group permissions:

sudo chgrp -R thenewgroup the_shared_dir

Change the directory/file permissions to Recursive Root/Group Read/Write:

sudo chmod -R 774 the_shared_dir

sudo chmod g+s the_shared_dir

sudo setfacl -d -m group:thenewgroup:rwx the_shared_dir/

Use getfacl to see directory permissions:

sudo getfacl the_shared_dir/

Which will produce this output:

# file: the_shared_dir/

# owner: root

# group: thenewgroup

# flags: -s-

user::rwx

group::rwx

other::r--

default:user::rwx

default:group::rwx

default:group:thenewgroup:rwx

default:mask::rwx default:other::r-x

**Now the user has to log-off and on again for permissions to work**

Links:
ACL

http://wiki.debian.org/Permissions#Default_.28inherited.29_ACL

Getfacl

http://linuxcommand.org/man_pages/getfacl1.html

Setfacl

http://fuse4bsd.creo.hu/localcgi/man-cgi.cgi?setfacl+1

Permissions

http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=40627

How to install Libre Office 3.3.4 Final on Debian with Openbox Menu

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 07:05:00 +0000

LibreOffice 3.3.4 Final was released on 17th August 2011

You can find the .tar.gz packages containing 32 and 64bit .debs on the download page:

http://www.libreoffice.org/download/

32bit Debs

http://download.documentfoundation.org/libreoffice/stable/3.4.3/deb/x86/LibO_3.4.3_Linux_x86_install-deb_en-US.tar.gz

64bit Debs

http://download.documentfoundation.org/libreoffice/stable/3.4.3/deb/x86_64/LibO_3.4.3_Linux_x86-64_install-deb_en-US.tar.gz

Download and Unpack

First download the package for your version (mine is 64bit) to your "/downloads" directory, then unpack it:

cd downloads

ls (then copy and paste the package name after the "tar -xvf" command)

tar -xvf LibO_3.4.3_Linux_x86-64_install-deb_en-US.tar.gz

Install Libre Office 3.4.3

Change to the extracted LibO directory and install all the .deb packages in one go.

Java

**Note** If Libre Office asks for Java (and you want to install it)

sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre

Libre Office

cd LibO (hit Tab button to complete)

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

Where is Libre Office installed?

Libre Office 3.4.3 is now installed in /opt/libreoffice3.4/ and the application launchers are stored in /opt/libreoffice3.4/program

Add Libre Office to your Openbox menu

I use scite text editor to edit my Openbox menu basically as I have the option to save in .xml format (otherwise you get xml, end of line extra character errors etc) . You can also do this with Vim, Nano etc, if you know how to do it. I prefer having Scite already setup for xml editing.

Back-up and Edit

cp .config/openbox/menu.xml .config/openbox/menu.xmlBKP

scite .config/openbox/menu.xml

Add the Office Menu where you like

<menu id="Office" label="Office">

<item label="Office">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>

/opt/libreoffice3.4/program/soffice

</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="Writer">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>

/opt/libreoffice3.4/program/swriter

</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="Calc">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>

/opt/libreoffice3.4/program/scalc

</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="Impress">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>

/opt/libreoffice3.4/program/simpress

</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="Draw">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>

/opt/libreoffice3.4/program/sdraw

</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="Math">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>

/opt/libreoffice3.4/program/smath

</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="SQL">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>

/opt/libreoffice3.4/program/sbase

</execute>

</action>

</item>

</menu>

All done!

That's it, you now have the latest Stable edition of Libre Office and you can launch everything from your Openbox menu :)

So much editing after importing to Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:27:00 +0000

Well, one of the things I had installed on my wordpress blog was a script to add links from posts to specific pages. I have Perl, Howto, etc.

This was so that I could search all the Howto's by going to my Howto link list page, and hitting Ctrl+F and doing a search from my browser.

This feature doesn't exist on Blogger so I created the pages manually, then copy and pasted all the links from my Wordpress blog. Obviously all those links lead to my old URL and it looks like the only way to edit them all is manually *sigh*

The next peeve is that ALL Blogger post urls contain the year and month in the title !! So I can't just edit all the urls in a text editor with Find and Replace!

http://richs-lxh.com/title_of_the_post.html

Becomes..........

http://debianandi.blogspot.com/2011/03/title_of_the_post.html

...... and I suppose you've seen how many post i've made!

Oh well, no time like the present.

Come on Google, give us an Archive Link Page script!

Asterisk PBX on Debian Stable Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 08:59:00 +0000

Part Two Finally Arrived!
It's been a while since Part 1, but I decided to dig through my unfinished drafts and see what I fancy finishing off. At work we setup a lot of Asterisk servers for clients, so as you imagine a lot of it is preconfigured and installed with scripts.

Last week though, I got a Fujitsu Primergy TX200 S5 server to play with, and set about installing a KVM on Debian virtual system for testing. As we are looking to deploy some custom Asterisk servers for new clients, I decided that this would be my first test VM.

If you haven't already installed Asterisk, check out Part 1
So, first look at Part 1 for a basic setup, yes, it's still relevant for Squeeze. Now we are going to install and configure a software phone (VoixPhone) using the IAX protocol. This is a very basic setup, and will get you started.

Configuring Asterisk for Voixphone
There are two main files which need to be edited to achieve this, and they are both (as with all Asterisk .conf files) in /etc/asterisk.

/etc/asterisk/iax.conf
/etc/asterisk/extensions.conf

First add this to your iax.conf (using your name)

[general]
port=4569
bandwidth=low
disallow=all
allow=gsm
jitterbuffer=yes
tos=lowdelay

[richslxh]
type=friend
context=default
secret=4321
host=dynamic
allow=gsm
auth=plaintext,md5,rsa
callerid=richslxh
mailbox=richslxh
requirecalltoken=no ; THIS IS IMPORTANT IF YOU CAN'T CONNECT WITH VOIXPHONE

Now we need to add the coinciding information in /etc/extensions.conf

[from-sip]

exten => 9250,1,Dial(SIP/9250,20)
exten => 9250,2,Voicemail(u9250)
exten => 9250,102,Voicemail(b9250)

exten => 9250,103,Hangup

exten => 9251,1,Dial(SIP/9251,20)
exten => 9251,2,Voicemail(u9251)
exten => 9251,102,Voicemail(b9251)
exten => 9251,103,Hangup

exten => 2999,1,Voicemailmain()
exten => 2999,2,Hangup

include => from-iax

[from-iax]

exten => 4321,1,Dial(IAX2/4321,20)
exten => 4321,2,Voicemail(u4321)
exten => 4321,102,Voicemail(b4321)
exten => 43231,103,Hangup

include => demo ; I have added the demo so you can dial 1000 and test your phone

include => from-sip

Now to get/install VoixPhone
Download it from here: http://www.voixphone.com/voix-phone-download
Unpack it in to your /home/you/bin directory, make it executable (chmod +x) and double click the executable. That's it, just follow the installer.

Configure VoixPhone to use your Asterisk Server
Just click "Alt+F2" to get the run dialogue and run "VoixPhone" (Don't forget the capitals).

Now click the icon at the bottom that looks like a cog to get to the settings.
They are pretty self explanatory now that you have just configured Asterisk.

Server Address: 192.168.X.X - Your Asterisk server, obviusleh! ;)
Port: 4569
Username: richslxh
Password: 4321
Caller ID Name: richslxh
Caller ID Number: 4321

Next check your Sound Options to make sure your sound card has been detected.
It maybe the case that all 3 fields are empty, or you get a "Sound not working" error. Do not fear, you just need to load the oss module :)

sudo modprobe snd-pcm-oss

Just to be sure it loads at boot, you can add it to /etc/modules, but now you should have sound.

Now from the terminal run Asterisk, reload it, and then restart your VoixPhone. Everything should be hunky-dory :)

atserisk -r

reload

Now test VoixPhone with the Asterisk Demo by dialing 1000

Howto Quick n Easy Manual Wireless Wpa2 PSK

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:34:00 +0000

Manual Commandline Network setup:

So this guide is for those of you who only connect to the same router via Wpa2/Psk encrypted wireless. Although if you want to, you can scan and connect to any wireless connection manually using the wireless-tools suite of scripts.

Wireless setup via a Gui:

If you regularly roam and need to search for and connect to different wireless connections, i'd suggest you install wicd-gtk, it's in most Linux distro repositories. There's also network-manager-gnome which provides the nm-applet gui. I prefer the manual method as the gui apps tend to write over system config files. For example, nm-applet removes your dns configs in /etc/resolv.conf.

Wireless Firmware:

Ok, you need to have your wireless drivers installed and working. I'm using a Broadcom BCM4138, whose drivers are supplied via the "firmware-b43-installer" which fetches the firmware from openwrt.

More on B43 here: http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#b43_and_b43legacy

Next up you need to authenticate with Wpa using PSK TKIP, this is accomplished by installing wpasupplicant:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install wpasupplicant

Now you need to edit a couple of files:

sudo vim /etc/network/interfaces

Supposing your wireless card is called wlan0, and you want a static IP address you add this:

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet static
address 192.168.0.3
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.0.1
wpa-ssid youressid
wpa-psk yourpassword

Just to make sure you can surf the net, check your dns config. I put my router IP and the Google Open DNS IP as well.

sudo vim /etc/resolv.config

And add:

nameserver 192.168.0.1
nameserver 8.8.8.8

Now to connect, you only have to issue one command, then every time you login after that you will automatically be connected:

sudo ifup wlan0

That's it, no need for Gui applications sucking resources and overwriting important files. Just a quick and easy auto-connected wireless every time you bootup.

Howto install Libre Office on Debian Squeeze / Crunchbang Statler

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:37:00 +0000

**UPDATE**

LibreOffice 3.4.2 Final is available at the end of July

You can download the 3.4.2 RC3 tar.gz from here, unpack and install the .debs manually if you prefer. (see comments) http://www.libreoffice.org/download/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Libre Office is currently only available in the wheezy ,sid and squeeze-backports repositories at the moment so I chose to install it from squeeze-backports.

1. You need to add backports to your sources.list:

sudo vim /etc/apt/sources.list

And add this line:

#SQUEEZE-BACKPORTS
deb http://backports.debian.org/debian-backports squeeze-backports main

2. Update apt with:

sudo apt-get update

3. Then install Libre Office with:

apt-get -t squeeze-backports install libreoffice

E voilá !

How to add a Google Plus One button to your Wordpress blog

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:38:00 +0000

Now that Google + has finally started to let us all in, more and more peple want the Google + button on their websites, so i thought i'd put up a quick n easy guide.

Basically you need to add this code to the header of your site. In wordpress it's a separate file called "header.php" in your Theme directory. But most website headers have the same format.
**Add it just before the </head> tag.**

<script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"></script>
</head>

Now once that is done, you can add the following code to anywhere you want the Google Plus button to appear:

<g:plusone></g:plusone>

On wordpress, I need it to appear at the bottom of each post with the other "share" buttons, so I had to edit the "single.php" file, and place it just after the post content:

<?php the_content(); ?>
<g:plusone></g:plusone>

That's it, now you'll see a Google Plus One button so you can show me some love on Google + :)

Microsoft Outlook inbox doesn't refresh : Google it!

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 11:26:00 +0000

Yet another example of why Microsoft is losing to Google Docs and Open Office (Free Open Source).

Eurogaran Informatica
My company deals with Linux servers, we design and build high speed, secure networks and servers for corporations and large companies. This can be anything from mail/Web servers to RAIDed Mysql high-availability clusters.

Windows Desktop Support
We do however offer some desktop support to long-term clients. Windows desktop support! No complaint about the users, they do what they can, ad they aren't Geeks, so we help out with everything that Microsoft can throw at us. Let's get one thing straight. The fact that Microsoft has the gall to "sell" there products is beyond me, honestly, you wouldn't believe the bugs we find on a daily basis.

Outlook inbox doesn't Refresh
Microsoft Outlook is a Croc, no two ways about it, it's an absolute pile of crap. End of. We get various support requests for everything from it just freezing up (Outlook 4Gb storage limit), to new emails not being visible in the inbox as Outlook doesn't refresh. I mean this is schoolboy programming stuff, if Microsoft programmers can't get a simple view-refresh right, what hope is there of them securing your server?

Google it! - outlook+inbox+doesn't+refresh
Yeah! hundreds of thousands of posts on support forums, mailing lists and no reply whatsoever from Microsoft. No Service Pack 173b, to fix the latest flood of bugs and security flaws. Nada.

However, I did find some real cute fixes, which just left me flabbergasted:
http://forums.techguy.org/web-email/723805-outlook-2007-inbox-does-not.html

This is for a fresh installation of Office 2007

Close the outlook 2007 Application and open Word 2007 . You should get a Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program notification. Once you have done this , YOUR Outlook will work fine.

Thanks
Menino

WTF!? Oh by the way, I bookmarked that one, as I bet it actually works too! :)

More solutions:
http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/outlook-2007-inbox-view-does-not-refresh-new-mail-received-t3703037.html

I am adamantly against being forced to participate in a program that sends
"any" information to "anyone" regardless of their "Privacy Statements" in
order to have their application function as expected!!!

This requirement is ludicrous and I will be happy to post this to every blog
and Microsoft Support site on the internet unless Microsoft ceases and
corrects this IMMEDIATELY!

Good grief!

Howto create a Virtualbox 4 image clone

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:38:00 +0000

VirtualBox 4 for multiple OS availability
If you are like me and do a lot of testing with Virtual Machines, then you will know that to keep having to create a new machine and installing a Debian netinstall each time is a complete p.i.t.a

Cloning vdi's
No need for all that malarkey now. Just create a fresh VM, install a base Debian netinstall, or any other OS for the matter, i've got loads installed!

Once you have it all setup, shut down VirtualBox, open your terminal and issue a command like this:

vboxmanage clonevdi /home/rich/VirtualBoxVMs/Squeeze64/Squeeze64.vdi /home/rich/VirtualBoxVMs/Squeeze64b/Squeeze64b.vdi

As you can see, all my vdi's are stored in /home/rich/VirtualBoxVms so just adapt the command to suite your needs.

The output will be like this (with a new uuid created for the harddisk):

0%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100%
Clone hard disk created in format 'VDI'. UUID: cc76ae5a-719a-4833-b481-42f254f5fe2e

So, imagine you want to create a new Debian clone called "MyBigFatCopy".

cd /directory/where/your/vdis/are/stored/
mkdir MyBigFatCopy

Now run the code from before:

vboxmanage clonevdi /home/you/VirtualBoxVMs/ORIGINAL/original.vdi /home/you/VirtualBoxVMs/MyBigFatCopy/mybigfatcopy.vdi

Adding your new clone to the VirtualBox list
Now open up VirtualBox4, choose "NEW" and create a VM called MyBigFatCopy

(**NOTE** It has to have "exactly" the same name as the directory you just created).

Instead of creating a new harddrive, just choose an "existing" vdi, yup, you've guessed, navigate to your newly cloned mybigfatcopy.vdi :)

Finish off, restart VirtualBox4, and fire up your new mybigfatclone.

If you are on a network (or want to run several VM's at the same time), just make sure you change the hostname, and if it has a static IP address, change it to dhcp or a new static ip. Now you can fire up your clone alongside your original without any problems.

Happy Cloning! ;)

Warning email scam leads to FAKE login page

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 12:17:00 +0000

If you recieve an email like this:

Email Deletion Confirmation ( FINAL WARNING !!!! SECURE AND UPGRADE YOUR GMAIL ACCOUNT NOW?)
Gmail Team unao@mail.med.upenn.edu to yourmailshow details 11:39 AM (20 minutes ago)

Dear Customer, Verify that your account is still active and avoid been suspended as all dormant accounts will be suspended.
Verify Account

The "verify account" leads to: http://infinityformeblessgod.le-cv.com/ which is a FAKE Gmail login page. (I have notified the le-cv.com domain owner)

Please warn anybody you know with a Gmail account.

I have already reported the email address to upenn.edu's IT department.

New Microsoft Windows rootkit so severe, Complete re-install necessary

noreply@blogger.com (rich scadding) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 09:27:00 +0000

Microsoft security just keeps getting worse
It has just been announced that a new Trojan Rootkit can embed itself so deep into the Windows operating system, that a complete format of all data and a fresh re-install is needed to get rid of it, as it hooks itself to to the hard disk port driver for protection and then hides in the machine's boot sector.

From Microsoft Malware Protection:

The bootkit malware Trojan:Win32/Popureb.E has made some changes in its code compared to previous samples (specifically, Trojan:Win32/Popureb.B), and now it introduces a driver component to prevent the malicious MBR and other malicious data stored as disk sectors from being changed. The driver component protects the data in an unusual way – by hooking the DriverStartIo routine in a hard disk port driver (for example, atapi.sys).

Does your Windows computer feel sluggish today? You may just have the unremovable Popureb.E Trojan Rootkit offering up all your private data to the world!