My Tek Stuff

New Home For This Blog

2009-06-18T23:30:00.003+01:00

I've migrated this blog to finster.co.uk so there will be no more updates here.

Hopefully I'll post a bit more regularly on random tech stuff.

Ubuntu Wallpapers

2009-06-13T14:41:00.003+01:00

To install some nice wallpapers on Ubuntu, run the following command: -

sudo apt-get install peace-wallpapers tropic-wallpapers ubuntustudio-wallpapers blubuntu-wallpapers

Useful Plugins for Gimp

2009-04-03T21:29:00.002+01:00

Gimp is the image editing tool for Linux. To install additional plugins such as drop shadow etc, the easiest way is to install gimp-plugin-registry.

This can be done using the Ubuntu packages: -

sudo apt-get install gimp-plugin-registry

Backup of all MySQL databases

2009-03-28T08:10:00.005Z

To backup all MySQL databases on a machine, use the following command: -

mysqldump -u root -psecret --all-databases > backup.sql

To restore all databases, use the following command: -

mysql -u root -psecret < backup.sql

To restore a single database (from a cpanel backup etc), use the following command: -

mysql -u user -psecret dbname < dbbackup.sql

Starting a VM from the Command Line

2009-03-25T11:20:00.002Z

Starting a VM from the Command Line (or via a shortcut on the desktop) is easy - just use the command: -

VBoxManage startvm name_of_virtual_machine

for example : -

VBoxManage startvm "Windows XP"

USB in VirtualBox

2009-03-22T09:36:00.004Z

Here are the steps required to get USB working on a Linux host (tested with VirtualBox 2.1.4)

1. Create a group usbusers and put yourself in it.

sudo addgroup usbusers
usermod -a -G usbusers andy

2. Note down the vendor and id numbers for the USB devices that you want to enable after running the following command: -

VBoxManage list usbhost

3. In VirtuaBox's USB section add both of these devices, making sure you have the vendor and id numbers correct.

4. Add the following lines in /etc/fstab (you can get the ID of the usbusers group by looking in /etc/group) : -

# usbusers is the USB group (id 1001)
none /proc/bus/usb usbfs devgid=1001,devmode=664 0 0

5. A reboot is required.

Combining PDF Files

2009-01-02T15:34:00.003Z

Combining PDF files in Linux is ridiculously easy - its just a matter of installing the PDF Toolkit package (pdftk) and then running the following command: -

pdftk file1.pdf file2.pdf file3.pdf cat output newfile.pdf

Mounting QNAP from Linux

2008-12-21T21:24:00.003Z

Accessing the QNAP from Ubuntu is fairly easy.

First install "smbfs": -

sudo apt-get install smbfs

Then it's just a matter of creating the relevant directories in /mnt

sudo mkdir /mnt/Qdownload
sudo mkdir /mnt/public
sudo mkdir /mnt/Qmultimedia
sudo mkdir /mnt/Qweb

...and then editing /etc/fstab

//192.168.0.2/Qdownload /mnt/Qdownload cifs credentials=/root/.credentials,directio,iocharset=utf8,noacl,noperm,nosetuids,rw
//192.168.0.2/Public /mnt/public cifs credentials=/root/.credentials,directio,iocharset=utf8,noacl,noperm,nosetuids,rw
//192.168.0.2/Qmultimedia /mnt/Qmultimedia cifs credentials=/root/.credentials,directio,iocharset=utf8,noacl,noperm,nosetuids,rw
//192.168.0.2/Qweb /mnt/Qweb cifs credentials=/root/.credentials,directio,iocharset=utf8,noacl,noperm,nosetuids,rw

You then need to create a file with your username and password in it: -

sudo vi /root/.credentials

and put the following in it: -

username=user
password=pass

A simple "sudo mount -a" will mount these filesystems ready for use.

Firefox Backspace Button

2008-12-21T21:06:00.002Z

For some reason, by default in Ubuntu, pressing the "backspace" key in Firefox doesn't go back. Fortunately this is easy to fix: -

Open your firefox browser and type the following code into the address bar:

about:config

After that in the filter type:

browser.backspace_action

and change it's value to "0".

Fonts in Ubuntu 8.10

2008-10-26T08:59:00.005Z

By default in Ubuntu 8.10 the fonts aren't great. To fix this, first install the Microsoft Truetype fonts: -

sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts

Then install the Segoe UI font

cd ~
wget http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/2/9/1749988/segoe_ui.zip
mkdir .fonts
cd .fonts
unzip ../segoe_ui.zip

For a great Monospace font, take a look at Inconsolata : -

cd ~/.fonts
wget http://www.levien.com/type/myfonts/Inconsolata.otf

In Gnome, the fonts are changed via "System->Preferences->Appearance" under the Fonts tab - you can then change the default to "segoe_ui", and the monospace to "Inconsolata".

Finally, change the rendering to "Subpixel Smoothing".

Everything should now look much better.

Ubuntu 8.10 Under VirtualBox

2008-10-25T23:29:00.002+01:00

Ubuntu 8.10 works great under Sun's Virtual Box. To get everything working perfectly, you need to install "Guest Additions". This is done by selecting "Install Guest Additions" from the VirtualBox Menu, and then entering the following into a terminal: -

sudo /media/cdrom/VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run

This installs better mouse & video drivers and enables things like automatic resolution changing, and better mouse control.

For some reason, my xorg.conf file wasn't updated properly though - the following lines should be present in /etc/X11/xorg.conf : -

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "vboxmouse"
Option "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "vboxvideo"
EndSection

rsync on the QNAP TS-101

2008-08-25T09:03:00.005+01:00

rsync is a useful application which synchronizes files and folders between devices. The QNAP TS-101 supports this (with a bit of fiddling).

Setting up the QNAP

On the QNAP, go to the "Remote Replication" page, and turn on "Allow remote Rsync server to back up data to NAS". ("Enable backup from a remote server to the local host." should already be set, and the port should be the default of 873)

Fixing rsyncd.conf

Unfortunately, there seems to be a problem with the rsync configuration file - the master user is set as "admin" which doesn't exist (the root user on the QNAP is "administrator").

To fix this, edit /etc/rsyncd.conf and change: -

uid = admin

to

uid = administrator

Listing Remote Folders

To check that rsync is allowing connections, go to your client and enter: -

rsync 192.168.0.2::

You should get something similar to the following: -

Qmultimedia
Qdownload
Qweb
Qusb
Public

Backing up a directory

To back up a directory, its a simple matter of issuing an rsync command. For example: -

rsync -vrltz --progress --password-file=password.txt --delete --exclude-from=excludes.txt "/cygdrive/C/users/windows_user/Documents/" "qnap_user@192.168.0.2::qnap_folder/"

where: -

password.txt is a file containing your qnap password
excludes.txt is a file containing files not to synchronize
C/users/windows_user/Documents is the folder to copy
qnap_user is a QNAP user that has access to the remote folder
192.168.0.2 is the IP address of the QNAP device
qnap_folder is the destination

Linux Media Centres

2008-08-24T01:14:00.002+01:00

I'm toying with the idea of creating a Media Centre PC running Linux. Here are the main contendors for Linux Media Centres that I can find.

Twonky Supported Clients

2008-08-24T01:09:00.001+01:00

The latest firmware for the QNAP TS-101 (Version 2.3.0-Build 080618) includes an upgrade to TwonkyMedia V4.4.5

Here's a list of compatible clients from their website.

Media Players

Buffalo LinkTheater (needs firmware update to version 8.32 or higher)
Buffalo LinkTheater Wireless (PC-P4LWAG)
Digital Rise Xstream Player (video problems with latest firmware)
D-Link DSM-320 / DSM-320RD
D-LInk DSM-520 Wireless HD Meda Player
Fujitsu Siemens Activy Media Player 150
I-O Data AVeL LinkPlayer2 *
iTheater DMS 110
Kodak EasyShare EX811/EX1011
Loewe Connect TVs
Microsoft Xbox 360 (Video streaming supported from TwonkyMedia 4.2 onwards)
Netgear MP115
Netgear EVA 700 Digital Entertainer
Nokia N770
Nokia N800
Philips Streamium SLM5500 Wireless Multimedia Adapter
Philips Streamium SL300i
Philips Streamium MX6000
Philips Streamium SL400i
Roku Photobridge HD1000
Siemens Gigaset M740 AV
SnaZio Digital Media Player
Sony PS3
Sony STR-LV700R
Telegent TG100 Air Media (TwonkyMedia also enables playing videos which are larger than 4GB)
Viewsonic Wireless Media Adapter WMA 100 *
Zensonic Z400 Media Player*
Zensonic Z500 Series
Ziova CS505/510
Zyxel DMA-1000

Music Players

Allnet ALLSOUND WDAP*
Denon AVR-4306
D-LInk DSM-120
Freecom MusicPal
Grundig Ovation 2i
Joybien WorldRadio
Linksys WMLS11B
Macsense MP-100 HomePod
Medion Internet Radio
Netgear MP101 (MP3 only)
omnifi DMS1 Digital Media Streamer (MP3 only)
Philips Streamium MCW770
Philips SLA5500 / SLA5520
Philips WAC3500D
Philips WAK3300
Philips WAS7000
Pinnacle SoundBridge M1000 / Home Music
Pinnacle SoundBridge Radio
Roku SoundBridge
Sagem My Dual Radio 700
SMCWAA-B EZ Stream 11Mbps Wireless Audio Adapter *
SMCWAA-G EZ Stream 802.11g Wireless Audio Adapter
Sony NAS-CZ1 (Music formats are restricted to LPCM and MP3 - needs LAME plugin)
Sony PSP (only MP3 via RSS feeds)
Sony Vaio WA1
Teac WAP-5000
TechniSat InternetRadio 1
Terratec Noxon Audio
Terratec Noxon2
Terratec Noxon Radio
Terratec NOXON 2 radio for iPod
Transtechnology APX-300
Yamaha RX-V2700 (TwonkyMedia 4.2 onwards, limited to 5000 songs)

Software Players & Control Points

Windows Media Player 11 (Windows Vista)
Nokia N95
Cidero Java Control Point
Nero ShowTime
On2share plugin for the Windows Media Players
Rudeo Control
Sony's VAIO Media Player version 3.1.01.07260

DeltaCopy - rsync for Windows

2008-08-24T01:02:00.002+01:00

DeltaCopy is a free piece of software for Windows that allows you to interface with other computers running rsync. Basically, it is a "Windows Friiendly" wrapper around rsync. It is fairly easy to use, and also allows you to run rsync from the command line without having to install CygWin.

AJAX Libraries API

2008-08-24T00:54:00.004+01:00

The "AJAX Libraries API" is a google-sponsored initiative that hosts key javascript libraries: -

It handles the cache headers etc, and more importantly saves your bandwidth!

To use them, simply refer to them in your HTML. For example, to load Prototype version 1.6.0.2, place the following in your HTML:

<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/prototype/1.6.0.2/prototype.js"></script>

Linksys WRT54GL Super Router

2008-08-24T00:46:00.003+01:00

I've recently bought a Linksys WRT54GL Router. This is a great little unit that allows you to upload custom firmware.

After playing around with DD-WRT, OpenWRT, and Tomato, I finally settled on Tomato. The features are too many to list here so here's a link to the Wiki.

There's also a great article on Lifehacker here.

Multi-Platform Applications

2008-08-24T00:43:00.001+01:00

CrossPlatformApplications.org is a great little website that gives a summary of software that runs on a combination of Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Great for if you have different PC's running different OS's and want to use the same software.

Graphs and Charts

2008-08-24T00:37:00.004+01:00

Open Flash Chart is a great way to include fancy graphs and charts on your web site. There are plenty of examples and tutorials on the site - it's really easy to use.

Nintendo DS Lite Homebrew

2008-08-24T00:30:00.003+01:00

I have a DS Lite, and its great for running homebrew applications. The easiest way to do this is by buying a TopToy DSTT Multimedia Card (like this one) together with a compatible Micro SD card (such as this one).

After this, its a simple matter of downloading the software, copying the DSTT files onto the Micro SD card, and copying some homebrew software onto it. There's a great run-down of popular homebrew applications here.

Web Page Backgrounds

2008-08-24T00:26:00.002+01:00

Sometimes, you just need a simple background for a web page. BgPatterns is a great free website that allows you to create your own tiled/repeating backgrounds - ideal for web pages or desktops.

Book Comparison Website

2008-08-24T00:24:00.000+01:00

Usually, I just order books from Amazon without checking anywhere else, but it's worth checking on Book Butler as Amazon aren't necessarily the cheapest.

Totally Free Burner

2008-08-24T00:22:00.001+01:00

I've just found a great small new free piece of software : Totally Free Burner. This software burns audio, video, data, and ISO CDs and DVDs in just a few clicks. Great if you don't need the bloat of Nero or Roxio etc.

Hard Drive for QNAP TS-101

2008-08-24T00:15:00.002+01:00

Unfortunately, the QNAP Compatibility List doesn't have any Samsung drives listed as being tested, so I've had to try another brand in my TS-101.

I've opted for a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 SATA 500-GB Hard Drive which seems to get good reviews.

Hopefully it will support spin-down - I'll report more when I've tried it.

QNAP TS-101 Telnet Access

2008-08-23T22:51:00.001+01:00

The latest firmware (2.3.0 Build 080618) for the QNAP TS-101 has telnet enabled by default.

To access the device, use something like PuTTY to connect via port 13131. The user name is "administrator", and the password is the administrator that you set via the QNAP web interface.

QNAP TS-101 Introduction

2008-08-22T18:12:00.000+01:00

I've just received my new I've just acquired a QNAP TS-101 from ebay. It's main features are: -

File Server (Supporting Windows and Network file sharing)
TwonkyMedia software that supports UPnP and DLNA
Supports SATA Drives
BitTorrent, FTP and HTTP Download Manager
Mirrors data to external USB or eSATA hard drive..
Remove backup over internet/local network to another device
Web Server (with PHP and SQLite)
Printer Server (supports USB printers)
FTP Server
Telnet Access

I'm looking forward to looking at this device more closely....

Changing Speedtouch 585 to Bridged Mode

2008-08-08T22:28:00.007+01:00

I have internet access (24 Meg ADSL) from Be that comes with a free Speedtouch 585 Wireless Modem/Router (aka BeBox). Unfortunately, while it's great for connecting via ADSL2+, it's not that good at anything else.

I much prefer my Linksys WRT54GL for general network stuff, running Tomato firmware.

All is not lost - it's fairly easy to set the BeBox to work in "Bridged mode": -

Log onto the Bebox (http://192.168.1.254) and change the configuration to be "Multi IP 4 Data ports".

On the WRT54GL, in the WAN/Internet section, change to "Static" and enter the Be settings into "Static WAN IP address", "Wan NetMask" and "Gateway IP address".

You then need to connect the WRT54GL Wan port to the BeBox.

This is it. Unfortunately you lose the ability to log onto the BeBox to check ADSL status etc. To fix this, in Tomato, go to "Administration / Scripts"

Add this to "WAN Up": -

ip addr add 192.168.1.1/24 dev vlan1 brd +

and this to "Firewall": -

/usr/sbin/iptables -I POSTROUTING -t nat -o vlan1 -d 192.168.1.0/24 -j MASQUERADE

You should now be able to access your BeBox by going to http://192.168.1.254

(This is all assuming that your local network is 192.168.0.* like mine is)