Do coconuts migrate?

Kubuntu 11.10 not shutting down?

2011-10-29T21:45:00.000+02:00

I did several upgrades from Natty to Oneiric on most of our family PCs (we have got some seven PC running Ubuntu/Kubuntu). All seemed well and dandy untill I tried to shut them down.
Some of our Kubuntu PCs upgraded to KDE 4.7 through Kubuntu-backports refused to shut down. The computer went through the complete shutdown sequence but instead of shutting down at the end it was just sitting there, doing nothing. The strange thing was that it worked OK on some the upgraded PCs but not on the other ones. A short test of

shutdown now -h

revealed that it was not a kernel problem. And some googling later I found out that it was a problem with KDE upgrade. When the update manager asked me to replace or keep kdmrc file i in some cases selected "keep" and in some "replace". And on all PCs a had chosen "replace" the shutdown worked perfectly, the other ones had problems.
So, if you upgrade your Kubuntu to KDE 4.7 and your PC won't shut down properly, do the following:

go to /etc/kde4/kdm/
find kdmrc file and verify that you can find the line

HaltCmd= /sbin/shutdown -h now

to fix you can either follow the tutorial here

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/index.php?topic=3116268.msg259432#msg259432

or you can just replace your current kdmrc file with the new one kdmrc.dpkg-dist like this

cp kdmrc.dpkg-dist kdmrc

then you can just set all your KDM preferences through the standard KDE preferences

Smooth running so far...

2010-08-25T21:38:00.000+02:00

These guys are just great!

2010-08-24T17:07:00.001+02:00

Even if you don't understand a word - they sing in Breton. (Sorry for the title typo, fixed!)

Notes & Domino 8.5.2 just appeared on IBM's PA servers...

2010-08-24T16:48:00.003+02:00

I usually don't check IBM that often but today something somehow urged me to check it and - voilà - 8.5.2 is there waiting to be downloaded. I just hope that the Linux port can be installed on Ubuntu Lucid (that's 10.04) so that I can upgrade my work rig to something more recent than Karmic.
You have to have a valid subscription to download the beast, though.

Windows Phone 7 - DOA?

2010-07-23T00:27:00.000+02:00

At least Galen Gruman of InfoWorld thinks so...

http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/windows-phone-7-dont-bother-disaster-211

Ubuntu 10.04/Mint 9 boot ending in a blank screen?

2010-05-10T11:47:00.006+02:00

I have found some info about a problem I hit on an oldish notebook with an Intel 815 IGP. Hope it helps more people.

Originally taken from Linux Mint forums here

A tip for anyone with slightly more "experienced" hardware.

My old laptop with an intel 855gm graphics chipset would not boot the livecd.
(it was the same with Lucid)

I found a fix on ubuntugeek. Specifically the second fix.

Solution 2

Yes, I think you may be right about it being a graphics card problem. I think you may have the same problem that I did on my beat-up old Toshiba Satellite A10.

So, here is what should work:

At the very first screen, the one with just the rectangle (it’s meant to be a keyboard) and a human figure, press any key - spacebar will do.

Then choose your language.

Then make sure you have “Try Ubuntu without any changes” selected, and then press F6

Add this to the end of the command line:
Code: Select all i915.modeset=0 xforcevesa

Then press enter and it should boot successfully.

The sequence needed for mint is slightly different though.

1, Boot the machine with the livecd in

2, once the "automatically booting in ten seconds" screen appears hit the ENTER key.
(This will open the boot options screen)

3, With the boot options screen open make sure the first option in the list is selected and hit the TAB key.
(This will show the boot parameters for the livecd)

4, Once the list of parameters appears append the code quoted above to the list.

5, Hit the ENTER key

6, Enjoy the minty goodness. :D

Ubuntu Grub2 default system the easy way

2009-11-25T22:10:00.004+01:00

If you have already installed Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic) you probably noticed the new GRUB2 boot loader. But what if you need to change the default startup system? What if you need to start the Windows partition ydefault (e.g. for your wife or kids)? Do not despair - there is no need to study those config files, the solution is pretty simple. Just locate and install a package called "startupmanager". Once you install it you can use it to choose your default system, splash image etc..
I just wonder why it is not installed by default.

Custom MPEG-1 rendering in Kdenlive

2009-11-23T14:26:00.006+01:00

Ever wondered what kind of video format is the safest for Windows clients? Especially PowerPoint seems to be a really tricky target. Some videos play fine in Mediaplayer but cannot play when inserted into a presentation, some play fine on some systems but not on others. MPEG-1 is the safest bet here - no other format inserts and plays for sure everywhere every time.

Kdenlive 0.7.5 (the one in Kubuntu Karmic) unfortunately does not have any MPEG-1 rendering profiles. So here is just one to try. Create a new profile, call it whatever you want and:


format=mpeg video_rc_min_rate=0 video_bit_rate=12000000 audio_bit_rate=384000 frequency=48000 size=360x288 progressive=1

Enjoy!

Google Friend Connect - Google get social!

2009-08-13T11:41:00.004+02:00

Head over to Google Friend Connect to add various social gadgets to your blog..

Definitely looks very promising!

Google OS is coming your way

2009-07-08T09:08:00.002+02:00

It is /sort of/ official! The good people at Google are preparing a new OS for netbooks. Most likely based on Linux...

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html

Thanks: http://twitter.com/jantichy

You can now embedd Youtube videos in Slideshare

2009-01-22T11:32:00.002+01:00

Great stuff! Look here for details and watch the results here:

YouTube videos inside SlideShare

View more presentations or upload your own. (tags: slides presentations)

..oh Boy!

2008-06-16T23:07:00.004+02:00

More than a year without an update? This looks like another dead blog to me! But seriously - I will do my best to catch up a bit...

Rule No.99 - never blog with an unsupported browser!

2007-03-20T22:31:00.000+01:00

I tried to write a post from Konqueror. No idea why I tried that, maybe it did work in the original Blogger, but do not try that at home, kids!
My post got eaten, so no great story about my fight with broken Reiserfs volume for now...

Now watch this - and wait till the end!

2006-10-09T13:31:00.000+02:00

..or maybe all of you have seen it already?

BTW: You can find the whole thing at http://www.matrix-xp.com

No "New mail" sound notification on Notes client for Linux?

2006-10-03T09:41:00.000+02:00

That can happen, if you decided to try an unsupported config. I - for example - had the problem on my Kubuntu install.
The solution? Install "esd" sound server (now default in Gnome), the Notes client uses this software to produce any sounds.
A final notice: The sounds for notifications are located in "/usr/share/sounds" and the Notes client won't let you browse any other directories...

Jabber on Dapper? Not that easy!

2006-09-25T13:11:00.000+02:00

If you wanted to run Jabber 1.4 server on Ubuntu Dapper (6.06 LTS) you seem to be out of luck. The unsupported version (from Universe) works great untill the last client disconnects. Then it dies silently - no log entry, no error in /var/log/messages, nothing.
It turns out that the version in Dapper Universe was compiled with gcc 4.x and this simply does not work. You have to compile it with gcc 3.x. Or - download and manually install a version from Debian repositories. Look for jabber_1.4.3.3_i386.deb.
On a sidenote: Why would anyone want to install version 1.x when there is a newer 2.x line? Bacause the 1.x uses simple XML config files where 2.x uses MySQL to save account details. For an internal deployment 1.x line seems just OK and it can run on much weaker harware, too.

Vendetta Online - online MMORGP for Mac/Linux geeks

2006-09-13T22:22:00.000+02:00

Ever heard of Eve online space sim MMORPG? If you happen to run Linux or Mac, you're out of luck. The thing is Win-only and even the servers run on Windows. So the Linux client is highly unlikely. The same applies to some other popular games like Entropia Universe or Star Wars Galaxies online.
So - what's left for a Linux/Mac geek to have some fun? Well, you can try Vendetta online - http://www.vendetta-online.com (BTW - Windows version's available, too). The game has been in development for some 4 years, the "pay stage" has been a year or so. The community is rather small but responsive. Don't expect thousands of players online - you should expect rather tens - the total number of active players is somewhere around 300-400.
How does it play? Pretty well - you select a nation (Itani/Serco/UIT) and you are ready to go.
The skill system is simple but efficient - you have five different areas you can improve: Combat/Light weapons/Heavy weapons/Trading/Mining. You improve by using these skills and by completing special missions. So there is no "automatic learning mode" like in Eve, everything is hard-earned.
You can choose your fate - improve your stats in one particular area (though the first three are somewhat dependent). And as you progress you can buy better ships and equip better weapons - you know the line...
There are updates to the game engine (almost) every saturday. The game interface and functions have changed quite a lot since I subscribed. We even were blessed by robotic pirate ships in the "grey space"!
And more is to come - the devs are planning a real economy, creating introductory missions for newbies etc. The game is 10 USD/month with some discount if you subscribe for longer periods (6 months is 49 USD). You get free 8 hours online to try the game and I can guarantee you won't want your hard-trained character to disappear.
And finally some screenshots.

Lotus Notes on Linux works

2006-08-02T16:42:00.000+02:00

Want to try Lotus Notes on Linux? Now you can. IBM finally got decided that Notes on Linux is needed and created a full-blown client. Well - actually it is a plugin for Workplace client, which is a plugin for Eclipse. Ever heard of a box inside a box inside a box...?
But any way - thanks for the effort. The result is pretty good, for a first version.

First you have to find the download on Passport Advantage. And even if you select Lotus or Linux as your preferred downloads you won't find it. Look for this:
IBM Lotus Notes Client 7.0.1 for Linux eAssembly English(CR41WNA) - filename is C93D1NA.zip

It is a hefty download - some 380 MB - and the only supported system is claimed to be Red Hat Linux.
So I did some testing and tried several distros to see if I can make it work on them. On all of them I had to follow the install procedure for Debian and create the gre.conf file described here
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=7913

CentOS 4

Install as described in the manual, instead of Mozilla 1.7 install Seamonkey ("yum install seamonkey"). Do not forget to create the apropriate gre.conf file, use 1.7.13 as Mozilla version.
Works as expected, the only problem here is that CentOS is sort of too conservative for me.

SUSE 10.1

Works both under KDE and Gnome, the only thing I had to install besides Mozilla was OpenMotif package. Head for Yast to find it.

Ubuntu

Works both under Ubuntu and Kubuntu (Gnome and KDE).
A very comprehensive How-to on Ubuntu forums
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=222492

Pros

The client is not as slow as I feared. Actually it is quite bearable. I daresay it is faster than running the Win client through Wine.
The "international" bugs (those related to 2-byte characters) seem to be gone. Thank you, Java!

Cons

I am totally unable to run it on Ubuntu on one of company Dell notebooks. It installs fine and even the initial setup runs OK. Then something happens and all subsequent runs end up running NDS, The interesting part is that my home installation on Kubuntu works just OK. Maybe it is the 1600x1200 resolution..
Vieving attachments usually ends in NDS, running them does not work at all. I have to save them first to disk and open them from there.

One final warning - the client works only under KDE or Gnome. Under Windowmaker or IceWm I experienced some strange UI incosistencies where parts of database design were missing.

All in all - "Close but no cigar". The client is quite OK, but the instalation is too quirky. IBM should take some notes (pun intended) and make a decent installer or a proper RPM/DEB for the next version.

Where'd you get the coconuts?

2006-08-02T16:22:00.000+02:00

- We found them.
- Found them? In Mercia? The coconut's tropical!
- What do you mean?
- Well, this is a temperate zone.
- The swallow may fly south with the sun or the house martin or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land?
- Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?

..and in case you wonder where did you hear this dialogue - it is The Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail.
And No, I won't be writing about Pythons here (maybe just from time to time). I would like to write about things that I am struggling with - technology, computers, software - you get the idea. This is a start and I hope I will have enough time and energy to make this blog somehow regular.
Josef out!