Copying files from Rhythmbox to usb device

Create a file called ".is_audio_player". Put the following code into the file.

audio_folders=mp3/
folder_depth=1

Then plug in the usb stick and Rhythmbox detects the USB stick as an audio device. - From http://www.webupd8.org/2010/06/how-to-use-rhythmbox-to-transfer-music.html

Changing the ip address range in Virtual Box

Go to a terminal and type:

VBoxManage modifyvm "VM name" --natnet1 "192.168/16"

This changes the ip range to a 192.168 rather than the default 10.0 range

Installing an Epson Perfection 1670 Scanner

From Ubuntu Forums

HOWTO: Epson Perfection 1670 Scanner

The scanner firmware comes in a file called ESFW30.BIN, which apparently is only available if you install the software on the CD-ROM provided with the scanner. Unfortunately, the software only installs under Windows and then you have to copy the software from the Windows machine to the linux machine. Or you can follow this simple process to download the firmware (provided by Jeff Silverman) and then update your /etc/sane/saned.conf

$ wget http://www.commercialventvac.com/~jeffs/ESFW30.BIN
$ sudo cp ESFW30.BIN /etc/sane.d

Edit /etc/saned.d/snapscan.conf and change the line...

firmware /path/to/your/firmware/file.bin

...to point to /etc/sane.d/ESFW30.BIN

$ scanimage -L

You should see that your scanner is now detected. If so, you can now scan using XSane.

joomla

To get to the user log in page is:

index.php?option=com_user&view=login

on the end of the base URL.

The submit link is:

index.php?option=com_content&view=article&layout=form

The administrator panel is:

administrator


How to change the number of items showing - http://kb.siteground.com/article/How_to_reduce_the_number_of_articles_displayed_in_Joomla_15.html

To find out the links for pages go Menu > Select the relevent Menu > Then put a tick in the box and go edit to find out the link for the page.

Info on creating pages: http://thejoomlablog.blogspot.com/2006/03/making-links-to-pages-that-arent-in.html.

Numlock not working in Ubuntu

If the numlock won't work, despite pressing the numlock key then go to:

system > preferences >keyboard > mouse key tab and uncheck the box.

In /etc/ssh/sshd_config :
Comment out Subsystem sftp /usr/lib/openssh/sftp-server and replace it with:

Subsystem sftp internal-sftp

At the end of the sshd_config add the following:

Match group sftponly
ChrootDirectory /home/%u
X11Forwarding no
AllowTcpForwarding no
ForceCommand internal-sftp

Type the following commands as root, i.e. sudo in front of each command or sudo -s before you start.

1. chown root.root /home/
2. usermod -d /
3. adduser sftponly

Changing Default Browser from Konqueror to Nautilus in Gnome

If anyone else ever sees this I know it looks a bit strange, but I installed Konqueror as I like it for web browsing sometimes. Then whenever I mounted an external drive Konqueror would pop up instead of Nautilus. I happen to prefer Nautilus as a file browser.

Anyway, put up with it for ages and then found a ridiculously easy fix!. Just Open Konquerer, browse to any folder, right click and go 'open with' then select Nautilus.

To mount an AFP share using commandline on a Mac

mount_afp afp://username:password@host_ip:548/apps /Volumes/apps

.htaccess

Put the following in the .htaccess file which should be in the top directory you want to restrict access to.

AuthUserFile /server/path/to/.htpasswd
AuthName "Login and Password Required"
AuthType Basic
 
require valid-user

You then have to create the .htpasswd file:

htpasswd -c /path/to/where/you/want/it/.htpasswd username

This will then prompt you to set the password for that username as a part of the file creation.

Best to have it a level above where the .htaccess file is for security reasons and make sure that the permissions are 644.

chmod 644 filename

In the httpd.conf - in apache2 probably /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default - within the tags change AllowOverride None to AllowOverride ALL.


If you get a message "Invalid command 'RewriteEngine', perhaps mis-spelled or defined by a module not included in the server configuration" then run the following command:

sudo a2enmod rewrite

Getting CGI working

Add the following to the apache.conf - or sites-enabled conf file

ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /usr/lib/cgi-bin/


Options +ExecCGI
AddHandler cgi-script cgi pl



Make sure the permissions are right on the file - chmod a+x and the owner should be www-data.

Make sure that the path to the interpreter is correct i.e. with perl - /usr/bin/perl.

Useful information about CGI configuration.

Where is sftp connected drive mounted?

If you mount a drive using ssh in Ubuntu 9.10 via the Places > Connect to Server dialog, you see it as a shortcut in Nautilus. However it's not obvious 'where' it is actually mounted if you want to browse to it for any reason.

The command 'mount' shows you something like this: gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/username/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon. The mount point is: /home/username/.gvfs

SAMBA Shares

Add the following to the bottom of the /etc/samba/smb.conf

[sharename]
comment = a comment
writable = yes or no
locking = no
path = /path/to/shared/folder
public = yes or no
valid users = username

Uncomment the line in the smb.conf:
security = user

You need to add an existing user to the sambashare group:
sudo usermod -g sambashare username

Create a samba password for the user - the -a is only needed the first time you set up a password for a new samba user:
sudo smbpasswd -a username

Restart SAMBA:
sudo smbd -D
sudo nmbd -D

Listening to windows based Radio Streams

What a performance to listen to the radio stream when they set up the website to cater only for windows users!! You have to wget the asx file viewing page source if necessary to get it. Then cat the downloaded file to get the mms file. Then you can use mplayer to listen. For future reference the Radio Dunedin one is mms://ac1.streaming.net.nz/tvworks-radun, or
mms://ac1-bak.streaming.net.nz/tvworks-radun or
mms://ac2-bak.streaming.net.nz/tvworks-radun.

Backing up failing hard drives

After getting tired of going skip with mc (midnight commander) each time a file couldn't be read I looked harder for an alternative. Tar seems to do the job nicely.

tar -cvf --ignore-failed-read bundled_filename.tar directory_name/.

This way you can tar the whole directory and every time a file can't be read it just ignores it and tars the next one. If you use screen as well you can check on it from any computer you are logged into.

Vodem on Ubuntu - EEEPC701

After spending ages trying all I could think of to get the vodem going with both Ubuntu 8.04 and 9.04 on two EEEPCs, finally got it sussed! Created a live usb stick with the standard Ubuntu 9.10, booted off that (hit esc at the start of booting to get a boot menu) while the vodem was plugged in. Unmounted the vodem which was showing as a usb drive. Right click on the networking icon at the top right of the screen. Select 'edit connections'. Select mobile broadband. Go add. Select the device under "create a connection for this mobile broadband device". Select the country (New Zealand in this case), select the provider (Vodafone), next, then select 'unrestricted'. From there just go next until complete leaving everything as defaults. Save it then left click on the networking icon and you should see the option of 'Mobile Broadband' and under that you can click on Vodafone unrestricted. It should then connect, assuming you have a signal. Now all I need to do is check that everything else works with 9.10.

Retrospect Settings for Linux

To install on Ubuntu 9.10 download the redhat version. Create a deb file from that by using alien with the --scripts parameter. Install the deb package. Set the password by running ./rpm-post-install.sh in the /usr/local/dantz/client/ directory. If you need to reset the password you need to delete the /var/log/retroclient.state file (or rename it to be safe)

You can exclude directories by editing the /etc/retroclient.excludes file. Then run retrocpl with the -exclude on option, e.g. retrocpl -exclude on

For Reference:
/usr/local/dantz/client/retrocpl help file contents:
[OPTIONS]
-on|off Turn the client on or off without shutting down
the client process
-stop Shutdown the client process
-readonly [on|off] Set the client read-only mode
(default is read/write)
-exclude [on|off] Turn on or off processing of
/etc/retroclient.excludes
-notifyafter [on|off] Turn on or off notification after backup
dialog message
-notifynobackup [on|off]Turn on or off notification dialog if no
backup in days
-notifynumdays [number of days] Set the number of days before a notification
of no backup dialog appears
-log n Set the logging level to n (default=6)
Logs are saved in /var/log/retroclient.log
and /var/log/retropds.log
--help Display this message

[PROACTIVE_OPTIONS]
asap Request a backup as soon as possible
normal Return to the normal backup schedule
mm:dd:yyyy:hh:mm Defer backup until after the specified time
skipdays=n Defer backup for n days

Retrospect Client version 7.6.100
Visit our website for more information

---

If there is a problem with backups may need to comment out the "RETROSPECT_HOME" lines in /etc/profile - from a discussion board. I don't have a "DISPLAY", since everything is managed via command line. The installer automatically puts the "RETROSPECT_HOME" environment variable in the system login (profile) script. Perhaps when the server was trying to back up the system, it tries to put up a dialog. Because there is no GUI, it fails which defers the backup.