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linux

cool places / hardware / howto / linux / software / tutorials — 67 Comments
16
May 07

Hacking Aproach: NVIDIA Driver on Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn

nvidia driver ubuntuNeeded to install Nvidia driver for my Feisty Fawn (Ubuntu 7.04) box. Googled for a "how to". Noticed that all "how to"s in www follow one of three scenarios:

"Here is a tutorial on how to install Nvidia Driver…":

  • Make sure you know whether you card belongs to "1.0-71xx series" or "1.0-96xx series"
  • Get the driver’s installer  from nvidia site
  • Run the installer
  • Change the device driver from ‘nv’ to ‘nvidia’ in xorg.conf
  • You’re good to go"

                      OR

  • # sudo apt-get install nvidia-glx nvidia-kernel-common
  • # sudo nvidia-glx-config enable
  • You’re good to go

                      OR

  • Download this envy script
  • Run it
  • You’re good to go

    As you can see, there are multiple ways in Linux to solve a single problem, and it is wonderful, besides when none of them work. Yea, none of the above worked for me. I either had "GPU version mismatch – The 1.0-9755 NVIDIA driver will ignore (WW) NVIDIA(0): this GPU." or "Failed to load nvidia kernel module" or that "envy" stuff that said "my OS is not supported", etc..

I solved the problem and just wanted to share with everybody out there who might struggle, so you don’t.

I took a very "dirty approach" and did the following:

I knew my card falls into "1.0-96xx series" list by nvidia, so I went there and downloaded that installer.

Then I did:   sudo rm -rf `locate nvidia`   to make sure I have NO traces of any kind of nvidia stuff that came (?) with a clean Feisty install. (if locatedb is not populated, you can do   sudo find / -name "*nvidia*" -exec rm -rf {} \;   this will definitely clean your system from all nvidia guests)

Make sure if you have copied your driver to the directory with (or part of a) name "nvidia" rename it before deleting all the "nvidia" pieces:   mv nvidia/ myvidia/)

And only then, after I ran the installer from "nvidia", my GeForce MX 400 smiled broadly :)

Happy hacking!

cool places / hardware / linux / me / software / tutorials — 8 Comments
14
May 07

KISS that Technology by Learning

So you need to learn (about) this technology… So you go to google… So you spent X minutes (hours? days?) to find a good candidate-article (tutorial, how to, step-by-step guide, etc.)… So you finish reading it… and most of the time you doing what? – exactly!  – going back to google and keep searching.

More often than not there are two main things that we are looking for when we need to learn something new:

  1. We want to learn it fast
  2. We want to learn it fast

See the difference? :) Here it is – the "first fast" goes for the quality of content that a source has to offer. The better the quantity, the more we learn, the faster we learn. And the "second fast" goes to the amount of time we search for that source of knowledge.

The "first fast" is going to be solved by only dealing with SIMPLE tutorials/guides/ideas about many simple and comlex topics. Simplicity is the key to solve "the quality of content" problem. Think about an IBM Redbook on something you do not know about, let’s say web services. Although it is a great book – lot’s of content – it is a very poor example of an efficient tutorial (not for all, but for most), it just has too much and will take hours to go through. Most of the time a redbook will make you quite sleepy on the page number 24 (my own observation).

And for comparison take this picture from soaspecs.com:

webservices through uddi, wsdl and soap

and spice it up with "SOAP::Lite for Perl" quick guide.

A combination of the two (pic and guide) will take you 5-10 minutes to go over and will make you understand what/how/why/etc.. about webservices. Although the guide is Perl based, it will by no means distract you from understanding the material even if you are not familiar with Perl, why? Because it is SIMPLE, that’s why.

In order to solve the "second fast", I would like to speak to everybody who is going to read this post. If you have a very cool and SIMPLE tutorial, how-to, guide, etc.., please share it with everybody by going to the comments section of this post and putting one or more links to it, or ideas where to get these very simple tutorials.

Later on I will compile this list, and either post it on a different website (if you like, I can put your name as a contributor, with a link to the tutorial/idea and your website, if you have it) or I will create a different post. This will be solving the "second fast" – decreasing the time of searching for the right source.

Apply yourself – KISS that technology! :)

 

blogging / howto / linux / software — 16 Comments
13
May 07

Configure Spell Check with FCKEditor Plugin for WordPress

fck editor logo

FCKEditor plugin is a very useful plugin for WordPress – no doubt about that. However spell check integration with this plugin takes a bit of hands on if you host your blog from non-Windows OS, and edit your posts with non-Microsoft Internet Browser (IE). Yes, Windows/IE are defaults that FCKEditor plugin comes with.

Below "how to" will guide you step-by-step on integrating spell checking capabilities with FCKEditor. Here I used Ubuntu Linux OS as an example, but these instructions are good for any Linux distro just replace Ubuntu’s "apt-get install" with analog in your Linux OS.

1.     First thing first, in order to integrate a spell checker we will NEED a spell checker. For that we will install "aspell", and appropriate (English, in this case) dictionary "aspell-en". There is an 85% percent chance that if you have a Linux OS installed, you have aspell. You can just search for it, or try to run it to see if you do. If you don’t then install it by:

sudo apt-get install aspell

At this point (whether you just installed it or had already installed) try to run it like this:

echo "I mispeled it" | /usr/bin/aspell -a --lang=en_US --encoding=utf-8 -H

If there is no English dictionary installed you should see:

Error: No word lists can be found for the language "en_US".
-bash: echo: write error: Broken pipe

Let’s fix that by installing the dictionary:

sudo apt-get install aspell-en

Now if you run the command above, you should see aspell looking up "mispeled" in its aspell-en dictionary, identifying that it is spelled wrong, and offering you choices of correct spelling from that dictionary:

echo "I mispeled it" | /usr/bin/aspell -a --lang=en_US --encoding=utf-8 -H
@(#) International Ispell Version 3.1.20 (but really Aspell 0.60.4) * * * & mispeled 16 21: misspelled, misapplied, misled, dispelled, misfiled, misruled, mislead, spelled, spieled, misplaced, misplayed, misspell, misfield, misspend, simpled, misplay

Ok, so from Linux side, we are ready with Aspell, now let’s begin the integration.

2.   From WordPress FCKEditor’s plugin directory open
"wp-content/plugins/deans_fckeditor/custom_config_js.php" file* and set the following variable:

FCKConfig.SpellChecker = 'SpellerPages';

If you already have this variable set to something different, like "IESpell", just replace it with "SpellerPages"

This will do two things: it will redirect all the spelling requests to
"wp-content/plugins/deans_fckeditor/fckeditor/editor/dialog/fck_spellerpages/spellerpages/server-scripts/spellchecker.php", and, since "spellerchecker.php" exists (comes with plugin) it will enable the spell checker button:

fck editor toolbar

*NOTE: Depending on a version of the plugin, the file to edit might be "fckconfig.js" or "fckconfig_js.php"

3.   Almost there. The last thing to do is to tell "SpellerPages" to use Linux’s aspell, since by default it is configured to use it on Windows OS. For that edit
"wp-content/plugins/deans_fckeditor/fckeditor/editor/dialog/fck_spellerpages/spellerpages/server-scripts/spellcheker.php" by setting "$aspell_prog" variable to ‘aspell’ instead of "C:\Program Files\Aspell\bin\aspell.exe". That is what it should look like after you make a change (comment/uncomment):

//$aspell_prog  = '"C:\Program Files\Aspell\bin\aspell.exe"';   // by FredCK (for Windows)
$aspell_prog    = 'aspell';                                                        // by FredCK (for Linux)

Good job! Now you can login to your WordPress blog and enjoy the spell checking capabilities within your FCKEditor!

action / linux — 1 Comment
7
May 07

Automatix2 now comes with Crossover Office on Ubuntu 7.04 amd64

Automatix LogoAutomatix2 now comes with Crossover Office Standard and Professional on Ubuntu 7.04 amd64 (which basically means you can run a ton of 32 bit windows software on Ubuntu 7.04 amd64). Also.. what really caught our attention of late was that, Michael Dell, Founder and CEO of Dell Inc., uses Automatix2 on his home computer.

The above came from Automatix official website

action / linux / software — 2 Comments
1
May 07

Dell Set to Sell Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu on DellLinux has never been a consumer option on mainstream hardware from a name brand manufacturer. Until now.

Dell and Canonical today are announcing that Dell will ship PCs with Ubuntu Linux pre-loaded. The move follows an unprecedented outcry from Dell’s users who demanded that Dell support Linux for consumers and specifically Ubuntu Linux.

"We’re obviously very excited about this. It’s a strong endorsement of Ubuntu and is recognition for the traction and momentum that we’ve been building over the last few years," Jane Silber, director of operations at Canonical, told internetnews.com. "As well it is a true broadening off access and adoption for Linux in general and Ubuntu in particular on the desktop."

Though Linux has been available as an option for servers and business workstations from Dell and other hardware vendors before, consumer-targeted desktop PCs have never had this type of offering.

Initially the Dell Ubuntu pre-load option will be available only to U.S. consumers purchasing through Dell’s Web site. Dell engineers will be installing the recently launched Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn.

Dell will install the version of Ubuntu that is identical to that which is freely available and not some special version made just for Dell, according to Silber.

Canonical also noted that any demand that the Dell deal may drive toward Ubuntu will not be a problem. Ubuntu updates on a fairly regular basis, with users connecting to the Ubuntu update infrastructure to download patches and updates. In the case of the recent Feisty update, Ubuntu servers were overtaxed with users waiting many hours to download the full update.

"There is a big difference between providing updates, which are generally small, and having people waiting to download 700MB ISO images, which was the release-day issue," Silber explained. "We have a very healthy mirror system already; we have over 100 mirrors around the world and I don’t expect any problems."

Dell will not be offering the KDE Linux desktop variant of Ubuntu, called Kubuntu initially, and will focus only the GNOME Ubuntu version. That said Silber was quick to point out that this is just the beginning.

"We’ll see how it goes, as both companies are interested in serving a market that exists and, clearly right now, it looks like there is a pent-up demand for Ubuntu, and that’s what we’ll be delivering initially," Silber said.

Dell had been soliciting customer feedback since February through its IdeaStorm Web site about what people wanted. Pre-loading Linux became the first customer-requested option adopted by the company, with Ubuntu being the specific Linux version that users were asking for.

Though Silber declined to comment on the revenue arrangement surrounding the deal with Dell, she was quick to note that, as always, Ubuntu will remain free. She explained that Canonical’s business model is around support, certification and training. "With Ubuntu on Dell, commercial support is available for those that want it," Silber said. "For those that opt not to purchase, there is always community support."

Though the deal with Dell marks a significant milestone for Ubuntu and for Linux, Silber noted there are still some challenges.

"We will need to see the demand for the support offering; it’s unknown at this point," Silber said. "There is proven demand for pre-installed Linux this has been a well researched business decision to do this."

Silber added that she expects the Dell rollout to go smoothly but she’s been around long enough to know that there are always surprises.

Beyond Dell, Ubuntu already has a hardware certification deal with Sun. And Silber expects that with the Dell deal in check, Canonical will continue to expand its market share.

"The continued strengthening of the ecosystem both in terms of skills and education and in terms making Ubuntu available and accessible through this major distribution channel will continue the march toward much, much broader adoption of Ubuntu," Silber said.

 

right from the source

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