tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45212435734221589132024-03-21T06:18:32.035-07:00Ubu the Tech Guru - All things Tech and LinuxKnowledgeable on tech things including but not limited to Linux, Windows, OS X, Xbox 360, Video Production (Linux Tech and Gaming Podcast), Console and PC Gaming, Graphics (GIMP), iDevices, Geo Caching, Networking (Consumer level), and Audio/Video setups.
I do it all and I do it with Open Source Software but I'm not against using proprietary solutions if they get the job done and done efficiently.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-61466586284634696422014-12-24T05:16:00.000-08:002015-02-18T04:00:51.885-08:00You can now show your support!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You can now support my efforts and hard work that's been occurring since I
learned Linux and about Open Source back in 2005. I created a Patreon because
YouTube advertising model just isn't tailored to the smaller content creators.
If you feel I have ever helped you in any way over xbox live, on a forum,
over the phone, on skype or any other way here's your chance to finally give
back to Ubu.
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<br /></div>
<a href="http://www.patreon.com/ubuntuaddicted" target="_blank">Patreon campaign for Linux Tech and Gaming Podcast</a>
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-Ubu out
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-40131017360349657462014-11-15T13:58:00.001-08:002014-11-15T13:58:54.316-08:00Ubuntu - Starting Minecraft Server Automagically FAILsI run a Minecraft server for myself and some close friends. One thing that I struggled with was getting Minecraft to auto-start when the machine booted up. This is important so that if my power is ever interrupted (not on a UPS, yet.....) the computer would auto-restart via the UEFI bios setting which would then auto-start the Minecraft server due to the init script being added to the default system run levels from using sudo update-rc.d defaults. The error within /var/log/boot.log was<br />
<div class="code">Cannot make directory '/var/run/screen': Permission denied</div><br />
When I googled the error message I found that it's a <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/screen/+bug/574773">bug</a>, apparently screen-cleanup is running via upstart much earlier than it expects to have run, and is failing to correctly clean up the /var/run/screen directory.
I'm not sure whether this is an acceptable fix or not but I found a solution after much googling and reading. Basically we're not going to rely on the screen-cleanup upstart or init script, we're going to remove that upstart job completely and within our Minecraft init script we'll create the /var/run/screen directory ourselves. I am using this <a href="http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Tutorials/Server_startup_script">minecraft init script</a> which is right from the Minecraft wiki page and in order to get around this Ubuntu screen bug we need to make a small modification to it. Note that this modification should work for any init script you're using to auto-start your Minecraft server if you have the same screen bug in Ubuntu. The applicable section looks like the following<br />
<div class="code">cd $MCPATH<br />
as_user "cd $MCPATH && screen -h $HISTORY -dmS minecraft $INVOCATION"<br />
sleep 7</div><br />
And we need to add the commands for making the /var/run/screen directory ourselves so make it look like this<br />
<div class="code">cd $MCPATH<br />
if ! test -d /var/run/screen; then<br />
mkdir /var/run/screen<br />
chown root:utmp /var/run/screen<br />
chmod 775 /var/run/screen<br />
fi<br />
as_user "cd $MCPATH && screen -h $HISTORY -dmS minecraft $INVOCATION"<br />
sleep 7</div><br />
It's important that after you alter your Minecraft init script you run the following commands to remove it from the various run levels and then re-add it. (I don't know if remove, defaults, and enable are ALL needed but that's what I did.<br />
<div class="code">sudo update-rc.d minecraft remove</div><br />
<div class="code">sudo update-rc.d minecraft defaults</div><br />
<div class="code">sudo update-rc.d minecraft enable</div><br />
Now when the computer starts up from it being off, a screen session will get created and your Minecraft server will get auto-started from within that screen session. You can then ssh into your server as user minecraft and issue<br />
<div class="code">screen -r</div><br />
and it will reattach you to your Minecraft server console. Hopefully this was helpful for you as I spent many hours trying to figure out why the init script was not working to auto-start the Minecraft server when the machine was turned on.
-Ubu out
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-67185591313046611462014-11-01T19:41:00.002-07:002014-11-01T19:41:45.485-07:00Upgrade HELL: iOS 7 (jailbroken) to iOS 8.1 upgrade troubleI have a 16GB iPhone 5S that had iOS firmware version 7.0.6 which I had jailbroken using Evasi0n. I've been jailbreaking my iPhones since the original untethered jailbreak was released years ago. Skip to the last paragraph if you don't want any back story.<br />
<br />
Jailbreaking your iDevice allows additional tweaks and functionality. I had previously upgraded from iOS 6 to iOS 7 using an older computer which has a 1.8Ghz Core2Duo with 2GB of memory. That process went without trouble what so ever and all was well in my world.<br />
<br />
Recently the iOS 8.x untethered jailbreak, P<a href="http://en.pangu.io/">angu</a>, was updated to include the ability to install Cydia during the jailbreak which is a great convenience. Previous to the update, Pangu would only give you root access to the iDevice and you still had to SSH into your device and manually download and install Cydia. Now that the Pangu jailbreak utility included the ability to install Cydia I was ready to upgrade my iPhone 5S to iOS 8.1.<br />
<br />
All of the tutorials I found made it clear that before I upgrade my iPhone to iOS 8.1 that I first needed to perform a restore to the iOS firmware 8.1. Simply doing an upgrade either OTA or using iTunes was not going to work, doing it those ways lead to boot loop issues and other unforeseen issues. I connected it to my computer I choose the Restore button and soon my problems began. It was stuck at "Restoring iPhone Software" within iTunes. I let it sit for about 20 minutes and without any change in the progress bar I realized that it was stuck and not doing what it was suppose to be doing.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_4O-HQ1MS48/VFU48gieZ7I/AAAAAAAAC-o/IP2emLw0rAk/s1600/restore_fail.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_4O-HQ1MS48/VFU48gieZ7I/AAAAAAAAC-o/IP2emLw0rAk/s1600/restore_fail.PNG" height="237" width="400" /></a></div>
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I jumped on the IRC channel #jailbreak_qa on freenode and they suggested the normal solutions of reinstalling iTunes and the AppleMobileDevice driver so I did those 2 things and it still was getting stuck at the exact same spot. I even attempted to put the iPhone into DFU mode and using shift+restore so that I could choose the IPSW file that I downloaded for my GSM iPhone 5S but again it was getting stuck at the same location. I even tried a different cable and that didn't work either.</div>
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The solution was to perform the restore using a better computer. Believe it or not using my main gaming rig which has Windows 7 Ultimate as the OS running an i5-4670k OC'd to 4.0Ghz and 8GB of DDRIII at 2133Mhz the restore worked immediately. I didn't need to use shift+restore either, I did however ensure the iPhone was in DFU mode before clicking the Restore button within iTunes. I can't believe that's how I solved the problem, I had spent countless hours googling and reading various forums and speaking with multiple people in the IRC channel as well. Now that the restore to 8.1 is complete, I will restore my iCloud backup so I get all my contacts and apps back onto the iPhone and once that's done, I will perform the Pangu jailbreak.Hopefully this post saves anyone else who's having an issue upgrading their iDevice to a newer firmware.</div>
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-Ubu out</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-85122925947998194432014-10-28T21:29:00.001-07:002014-10-28T22:21:05.303-07:00Seagate firmware flash using usb created in LinuxI had an older Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS (1TB SATA) drive that I literally just found laying among my pile of old hardware. I couldn't figure out why I just had a 1TB drive just sitting there so I put it into a handy SATA to USB enclosure, connected it to my system (Xubuntu 14.04) and fired up GSmartControl. It's a GUI app for testing hard drives and among all the info it shows that there's newer firmware for the drive. The GSmartControl log even gave me a <a href="http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/207931en" target="_blank">handy link</a> to go and find out if in fact there was newer firmware for my Seagate Barracuda 1TB drive.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxd3ES5e4Nq7e6D8OMyKfaPNlkqtd0Z46TknHLg8PHrNaGBXJFe0T1D6W_dz7quPgL42IDvV_caMxUvk7FcZSh4z05bCxTZEvYDnLaJHMXPWFQzk7oGv3gxaiASpHe82x1K8AJNkBmbTSX/s1600/seagate_firmware.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxd3ES5e4Nq7e6D8OMyKfaPNlkqtd0Z46TknHLg8PHrNaGBXJFe0T1D6W_dz7quPgL42IDvV_caMxUvk7FcZSh4z05bCxTZEvYDnLaJHMXPWFQzk7oGv3gxaiASpHe82x1K8AJNkBmbTSX/s1600/seagate_firmware.png" height="232" width="400" /></a></div>
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There was in fact newer firmware I could try out on the drive. I was running firmware version C44 and CC49 was available. Now many people will say if it's not broke don't fix it. Meaning if the drive is performing fine than just leave it be, don't bother flashing it with new firmware but I was feeling adventurous since I had just found it and it was empty. </div>
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Viewing the options for flashing they have a Windows executable (in .exe form) or an ISO but again refers to Windows. Since I don't use Windows I set out to find a way to accomplish this task and I found it after many hours of trial and error. First I downloaded the ISO file and mounted it in my system using the following commands:</div>
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Create a mount point for it first</div>
<div class="code">sudo mkdir /mnt/iso</div><br />
Now let's mount it (this command assumes your current working directory is the same location you saved the downloaded ISO file. You can cd to the directory which is most likely ~/Downloads)<br />
<div class="code">
mount -o loop Barracuda12-ALL-CC49.iso /mnt/iso</div>
It may warn you that it's read only which is fine cause we're only interested in copying a file out of the ISO. Open up your preferred file manager like Nautilus or Thunar, navigate to the /mnt/iso folder and grab the PH-CC49.ima file and copy it to somewhere on our system, I put it on my desktop. Now simply rename it from an .ima file to an .img file using (you may need sudo)<br />
<div class="code">
sudo mv ~/Desktop/PH-CC49.ima ~/Desktop/PH-CC49.img</div><br />
Now we need a flash drive, the .img file is only 5.4MB so a 256MB thumb drive should work just fine. I made sure that the thumb drive was empty by using GParted, I deleted all partitions and then made a new partition table with the msdos format. Then ensure you know which device node your thumb drive is by using the command (VERY IMPORTANT STEP, using dd is very dangerous so triple check you're running the dd command onto the correct /dev/sdX drive)<br />
<div class="code">sudo fdisk -l</div><br />
Which will return a list of all your harddrives that are in your system as well as each of their partition tables. Look for your thumbdrive, mine was /dev/sde. Now let's write the .img file to the thumb drive using the command<br />
<div class="code">dd if=~/Desktop/PH-CC49.img of=/dev/sde bs=512k</div><br />
After it's done it will output something that resembles the following<br />
<div class="code">33706002+0 records in<br />
33706002+0 records out<br />
17257473024 bytes (17 GB) copied, 34.791 s, 496 MB/s</div><br />
Now you're done, you now can boot your computer using the thumb drive that you just created and you'll be presented with the Seagate Flashing Utility. If you need some instruction for using the Firmware Flashing Utility you can find that <a href="http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/004989en">HERE</a>. Things to note are that the drive you want to flash will need to be connected to your motherboard directly, you can't use an external enclosure and usb. Hopefully this was helpful as I spent hours finding out how to accomplish flashing a Seagate hard drive with updated firmware.<br />
<br />
-Ubu outAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-36922802077628683722014-10-26T18:50:00.004-07:002014-10-27T04:56:37.459-07:00Guvcview black screen with Linux kernel 3.16Sorry I haven't posted anything in forever, I've just been really busy gaming and livestreaming using Linux via obs-studio along with nginx to push a 2,000Kbps flv stream to both <a href="http://hitbox.tv/ubuntuaddicted" target="_blank">Hitbox</a> and <a href="http://twitch.tv/ubuntuaddicted" target="_blank">Twitch</a> at the same time. This recent incident made me feel obligated to let other Linux users know what I experienced so I decided to come to my long forgotten blog and blog it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWGwaWSVxvZiA8ldDxljRWCydq9WGnTRf73fKOT4FPNoXQYToVRHBI9-DhykiEerBWDwBbs8uxu1-AoXF6_3rFjVurXuCuuPlBg_roXKE2Iza5twQM6bh_pr8H7m_Hh_jo1fPpNFKOHdU/s1600/guvcview.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWGwaWSVxvZiA8ldDxljRWCydq9WGnTRf73fKOT4FPNoXQYToVRHBI9-DhykiEerBWDwBbs8uxu1-AoXF6_3rFjVurXuCuuPlBg_roXKE2Iza5twQM6bh_pr8H7m_Hh_jo1fPpNFKOHdU/s1600/guvcview.png" height="157" width="400" /></a></div>
My system has been running rock solid as of late (Xubuntu 14.04) but my friend was telling me about Ubuntu 14.10 and how it had <a href="http://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_3.16" target="_blank">kernel 3.16</a> in it by default. I believe Xubuntu 14.04 will only ever have kernel 3.13 so after feeling inadequate I thought to myself, "what's preventing me from running kernel 3.16 also?" So I found a great <a href="http://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2014/08/install-upgrade-linux-kernel-3-16/" target="_blank">tutorial</a> for installing Ubuntu Utopic's mainline 3.16 kernel into my Xubuntu 14.04 system. It was painless and believe it or not DKMS actually worked for my proprietary <a href="http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html" target="_blank">Nvidia graphics driver</a> so I didn't even need to reinstall the graphics driver after installing the new kernel.<br />
<br />
The system booted right up and all was well, or was it? I noticed that when I launched <a href="http://guvcview.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">Guvcview</a> I was only getting a black screen. To the terminal I went, launching an app from a terminal window provides a lot of information that you just don't see when launching an app from a menu or launcher. The output looked like this<br />
<div class="code">
guvcview 1.7.1<br />
file guvcview_video.mkv has extension type 1<br />
file guvcview_image.jpg has extension type 0<br />
<br />
** (guvcview:2853): WARNING **: Couldn't connect to accessibility bus: Failed to connect to socket /tmp/dbus-RZEC5PqweK: Connection refused<br />
file guvcview_image.jpg has extension type 0<br />
Video file suffix detected: 0<br />
Image file suffix detected: 3<br />
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:618:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave<br />
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:1022:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave<br />
ALSA lib pcm.c:2239:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.rear<br />
ALSA lib pcm.c:2239:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.center_lfe<br />
ALSA lib pcm.c:2239:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.side<br />
bt_audio_service_open: connect() failed: Connection refused (111)<br />
bt_audio_service_open: connect() failed: Connection refused (111)<br />
bt_audio_service_open: connect() failed: Connection refused (111)<br />
bt_audio_service_open: connect() failed: Connection refused (111)<br />
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:1022:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave<br />
Cannot connect to server socket err = No such file or directory<br />
Cannot connect to server request channel<br />
jack server is not running or cannot be started<br />
<br />
(guvcview:2853): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme parsing error: gtk-widgets.css:63:17: Theming engine 'unico' not found<br />
video device: /dev/video0<br />
Init. UVC Camera (046d:081a) (location: usb-0000:00:14.0-3)<br />
{ pixelformat = 'YUYV', description = 'YUV 4:2:2 (YUYV)' }<br />
{ discrete: width = 640, height = 480 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 160, height = 120 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 176, height = 144 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 320, height = 176 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 320, height = 240 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 352, height = 288 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 432, height = 240 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 544, height = 288 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 640, height = 360 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 752, height = 416 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 800, height = 448 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 800, height = 600 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 864, height = 480 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 960, height = 544 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 960, height = 720 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1024, height = 576 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1184, height = 656 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1280, height = 720 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1280, height = 960 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 2/15, 1/5,<br />
{ pixelformat = 'MJPG', description = 'MJPEG' }<br />
{ discrete: width = 640, height = 480 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 160, height = 120 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 176, height = 144 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 320, height = 176 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 320, height = 240 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 352, height = 288 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 432, height = 240 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 544, height = 288 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 640, height = 360 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 752, height = 416 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 800, height = 448 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 800, height = 600 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 864, height = 480 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 960, height = 544 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 960, height = 720 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1024, height = 576 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1184, height = 656 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1280, height = 720 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1280, height = 960 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ pixelformat = 'RGB3', description = 'RGB3' }<br />
{ discrete: width = 640, height = 480 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 160, height = 120 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 176, height = 144 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 320, height = 176 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 320, height = 240 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 352, height = 288 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 432, height = 240 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 544, height = 288 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 640, height = 360 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 752, height = 416 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 800, height = 448 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 800, height = 600 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 864, height = 480 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 960, height = 544 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 960, height = 720 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1024, height = 576 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1184, height = 656 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1280, height = 720 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1280, height = 960 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ pixelformat = 'BGR3', description = 'BGR3' }<br />
{ discrete: width = 640, height = 480 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 160, height = 120 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 176, height = 144 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 320, height = 176 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 320, height = 240 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 352, height = 288 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 432, height = 240 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 544, height = 288 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 640, height = 360 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 752, height = 416 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 800, height = 448 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 800, height = 600 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 864, height = 480 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 960, height = 544 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 960, height = 720 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1024, height = 576 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1184, height = 656 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1280, height = 720 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1280, height = 960 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ pixelformat = 'YU12', description = 'YU12' }<br />
{ discrete: width = 640, height = 480 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 160, height = 120 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 176, height = 144 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 320, height = 176 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 320, height = 240 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 352, height = 288 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 432, height = 240 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 544, height = 288 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 640, height = 360 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 752, height = 416 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 800, height = 448 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 800, height = 600 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 864, height = 480 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 960, height = 544 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 960, height = 720 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1024, height = 576 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1184, height = 656 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1280, height = 720 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1280, height = 960 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ pixelformat = 'YV12', description = 'YV12' }<br />
{ discrete: width = 640, height = 480 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 160, height = 120 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 176, height = 144 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 320, height = 176 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 320, height = 240 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 352, height = 288 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 432, height = 240 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 544, height = 288 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 640, height = 360 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 752, height = 416 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 800, height = 448 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 800, height = 600 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 864, height = 480 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 960, height = 544 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 960, height = 720 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1024, height = 576 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1184, height = 656 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1280, height = 720 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
{ discrete: width = 1280, height = 960 }<br />
Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5,<br />
vid:046d<br />
pid:081a<br />
driver:uvcvideo<br />
mapping control for Pan (relative)<br />
UVCIOC_CTRL_MAP - Error: No such file or directory<br />
mapping control for Tilt (relative)<br />
UVCIOC_CTRL_MAP - Error: No such file or directory<br />
mapping control for Pan Reset<br />
UVCIOC_CTRL_MAP - Error: No such file or directory<br />
mapping control for Tilt Reset<br />
UVCIOC_CTRL_MAP - Error: No such file or directory<br />
mapping control for Focus (absolute)<br />
UVCIOC_CTRL_MAP - Error: No such file or directory<br />
mapping control for LED1 Mode<br />
UVCIOC_CTRL_MAP - Error: No such file or directory<br />
mapping control for LED1 Frequency<br />
UVCIOC_CTRL_MAP - Error: No such file or directory<br />
mapping control for Disable video processing<br />
UVCIOC_CTRL_MAP - Error: No such file or directory<br />
mapping control for Raw bits per pixel<br />
UVCIOC_CTRL_MAP - Error: No such file or directory<br />
mapping control for Off<br />
UVCIOC_CTRL_MAP - Error: Inappropriate ioctl for device<br />
checking format: 1196444237<br />
VIDIOC_G_COMP:: Inappropriate ioctl for device<br />
fps is set to 1/20<br />
drawing controls<br />
<br />
=======[ Output Device #1 ]=======<br />
Description: Built-in Audio Analog Stereo<br />
Name: alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo<br />
Index: 0<br />
Channels: 2<br />
SampleRate: 44100<br />
Latency: 10438 (usec)<br />
Card: 2<br />
<br />
=======[ Input Device #1 ]=======<br />
Description: 081a Analog Mono<br />
Name: alsa_input.usb-046d_081a_13339CA0-02-U0x46d0x81a.analog-mono<br />
Index: 0<br />
Channels: 1 (default to: 1)<br />
SampleRate: 48000<br />
Latency: 140 (usec)<br />
Card: 1<br />
<br />
=======[ Input Device #2 ]=======<br />
Description: Monitor of Built-in Audio Analog Stereo<br />
Name: alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo.monitor<br />
Index: 1<br />
Channels: 2 (default to: 2)<br />
SampleRate: 44100<br />
Latency: 0 (usec)<br />
Card: 2<br />
<br />
=======[ Input Device #3 ]=======<br />
Description: Built-in Audio Analog Stereo<br />
Name: alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo<br />
Index: 2<br />
Channels: 2 (default to: 2)<br />
SampleRate: 44100<br />
Latency: 59 (usec)<br />
Card: 2<br />
<br />
Checking video mode 320x240@32bpp : OK<br />
Ignoring empty buffer ...<br />
Ignoring empty buffer ...<br />
write /home/ubu/.config/guvcview/video0 OK<br />
free controls<br />
cleaned allocations - 100%<br />
Closing portaudio ...OK<br />
Closing GTK... OK</div>
<br />
Now I don't know exactly what this means but basically it's not receiving anything from the buffer. I tried to play around with the video format from MJPG to YU12 but that just changed the preview window from black to green.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhslrMcjp8Pao-sHwFmPQ6ufPBfTPuCsbMvXf6ZRPCgVPndLtREw1hslO4sFAOvGEI2qh3ycZZ9l5BR9GUs-PO04wfAxa-ISlKYNo0G3Q0fEFHvYTJvQS-cuVs0xX-LnvpRT_ntBkE0shwT/s1600/guvcview_green_screen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhslrMcjp8Pao-sHwFmPQ6ufPBfTPuCsbMvXf6ZRPCgVPndLtREw1hslO4sFAOvGEI2qh3ycZZ9l5BR9GUs-PO04wfAxa-ISlKYNo0G3Q0fEFHvYTJvQS-cuVs0xX-LnvpRT_ntBkE0shwT/s1600/guvcview_green_screen.png" height="264" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I thought maybe I needed to get a more recent version of Guvcview since the one that's provided within the Ubuntu 14.04 repository is only version 1.7.1 but even after enabling a <a href="https://launchpad.net/~pj-assis/+archive/ubuntu/ppa" target="_blank">PPA</a> which had version 2.0.0 that still provided the same results which was a black screen. The error I got using the 2.0.0 version was as follows:<br />
<div class="code">
GUVCIEW: Error - Couldn't decode frame<br />
V4L2_CORE: not decoding empty raw frame</div>
Booting my machine using kernel 3.13.0-38-generic made Guvcview work again so there's something wrong with Guvcview with the new 3.16 kernel but I would like to point out that Cheese, OBS-Studio (using the v4l plugin) as well as Skype video chat work just fine so I believe it's something specific to Guvcview or even possibly the module that it uses which is uvcvideo but I'm not so sure about that since those 3 other software titles worked with the 3.16 kernel.<br />
<br />
I really enjoy Guvcview because it has a lot of options that just aren't in Cheese and I haven't searched for any other applications that can record video from my Logitech C260 webcam. For now I have to just keep booting into kernel 3.13 if I want to use Guvcview. That's one thing I really like about Linux is it's versatility in options, I install a new kernel but if something isn't working right with the new kernel than all I have to do is watch for the GRUB boot menu and choose the kernel that I'd like to boot into. I can then either uninstall kernel 3.16 OR modify GRUB so that it boots the kernel I want by default and not just the latest installed kernel. Accomplishing that is possibly for another blog post so until next, I'll smell ya when I smell ya.<br />
<br />
-Ubu out<br />
<br />
UPDATE: The developer got back to me via email within about 6 hours and informed me that I needed to run his <a href="https://launchpad.net/~pj-assis/+archive/ubuntu/testing?field.series_filter=trusty" target="_blank">testing PPA</a> in order to get Guvcview to work with kernel 3.16 and sure enough as soon as I enabled the testing PPA now Guvcview works again. To reiterate the testing PPA has version 2.0.1 in it whereas the stable PPA only has version 2.0.0 for Trusty Tahr. YIPPIE!!! One thing I would like to point out about PPA's is that just removing a certain PPA (<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #222222; font-family: 'Ubuntu Mono', 'Ubuntu Beta Mono A', Consolas, 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">add-apt-repository -r)</span> does NOT revert packages back to their previously installed versions before you enabled a particular PPA, you need to use the <a href="https://launchpad.net/ppa-purge" target="_blank">ppa-purge command</a>. That not only removes a certain PPA but also reverts any packages that were installed using the PPA that you're purging so to ensure this all works if you had installed his Stable PPA which provided version 2.0.0 and it still didn't work ensure you used ppa-purge ppa:pj-assis/ppa and then add his Testing PPA using sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pj-assis/testing and you should be golden.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-53516516551564203392014-05-25T20:04:00.006-07:002014-05-25T20:04:52.076-07:00Downgrade Apple TV 2 so we can jailbreak itI recently found an AppleTV 2 just collecting dust in my fathers basement. Since I am already running XBMC in the family room on an original 40GB AppleTV via <a href="http://www.crystalbuntu.com/" target="_blank">Crystalbuntu 2.0</a>, it was an easy decision to want to put XBMC on it. When I booted it up and went to the about section within settings it showed that it was running software 6.1.4. In order to be able to install XBMC on it I have to jailbreak it and in order to jailbreak it, the software version needs to be 5.3. Hence the reason for the post.<br />
A critical thing to point out is that this is a version 2 AppleTV, version 3 AppleTV's haven't been jailbroken yet so if you're going to attempt at putting XBMC onto an AppleTV that you're going to buy ensure it's a version 2. Here's a video I found which explains which version is which.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ns1jMAhVa8Y?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
This post will show you how to get your device downgraded in case it's running any software which is higher than 5.3.<br />
Items you'll need to complete this task;<br />
-AppleTV version 2<br />
-Computer running Windows with iTunes installed (I used Windows 7 Ultimate and iTunes 11.2.0.115. NOTE: you can also do this within OS X but these instructions only cover using Windows)<br />
-Micro-USB cable (do NOT use a usb hub or usb extender)<br />
First you'll need to download the 5.3 ISPW file, I got mine from here: <a href="http://appldnld.apple.com/AppleTV/091-5256.20130618.MagBg/AppleTV2,1_5.3_10B809_Restore.ipsw" target="_blank">atv 2 5.3 ISPW</a><br />
Download that ISPW file and store it on your desktop for now. In order for us to downgrade the software on your atv 2 we'll need to get the device into DFU mode. Connect power to your atv 2 as well as connect the micro-usb cable to the back of the atv 2 and the other end to your computers usb port. Using the atv 2 remote hold the menu button along with the play button for approximately 10 seconds until the light on the front of the atv 2 starts blinking. If you did it correctly iTunes window should appear and state that your device is in recovery mode. That's what we want. If yours does anything like mine it wasn't as easy to get it into DFU mode as it sounds. The following steps are what worked for me:<br />
-Press menu+down for around 10 seconds and you'll see the light blink, this restarts the atv 2<br />
-Remove the power cord from the back of the atv 2 (it's still receiving some power from the usb plug)<br />
-Press menu+play for approximately 7 seconds or so (this should put it into DFU mode)<br />
-Replace the power cable and continue<br />
iTunes should now show that your device is in recovery mode.<br />
It's now that you hold the shift key on your keyboard and click on "Restore Apple TV...", navigate to where you stored the 5.3 ISPW file (your desktop if you followed along) and double click it, click Restore. iTunes should now be restoring your AppleTV 2 to software version 5.3. After approximately 5 minutes iTunes will inform you that your device has been restored.<br />
You can now unplug the micro-usb cable and connect the HDMI cable to your TV. You'll be presented with the screen where you choose the language you want your AppleTV 2 to be and proceed thru the setup and that's it. You're done. Your device is now running software version 5.3 and is ready to jailbreak.<br />
I may create a blog post covering how to jailbreak your AppleTV 2 but it all depends on how busy I am.<br />
<br />
-Ubu outAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-79905885122349293902014-05-17T11:05:00.001-07:002014-05-17T11:09:06.799-07:00Ubuntu 13.10 upgrade to 14.04 failureI was running Xubuntu 13.10 for a couple months, it was a new installation (not an upgrade from a previous version) when I had built my current Haswell all purpose rig. I had just upgraded my server from 12.04.4 to 14.04 so I figured it was finally time to upgrade my workstation to 14.04. Normally going from 1 release to the next is as simple as clicking the Update Manager located within System but I was receiving an error. It was
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
ERROR:root:Could not find any typelib for Dbusmenu </blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
ERROR:root:Could not find any typelib for Unity</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
WARNING:root:can not import unity GI cannot import name Dbusmenu</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br /></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(update-manager:2799): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme parsing error: gtk-widgets.css:3274:48: Expected ',' in color definition</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Checking for a new Ubuntu release</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(do-release-upgrade:2872): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme parsing error: gtk-widgets.css:3274:48: Expected ',' in color definition</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
** (do-release-upgrade:2872): WARNING **: Failed to load shared library 'libwebkitgtk-3.0.so.0' referenced by the typelib: libGL.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/gi/_gobject/__init__.py:58: Warning: cannot derive 'DistUpgrade+ReleaseNotesViewerWebkit+ReleaseNotesViewerWebkit' from non-derivable parent type 'void'</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
_gobject.type_register(cls, namespace.get('__gtype_name__'))</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Traceback (most recent call last):</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
File "/usr/bin/do-release-upgrade", line 152, in <module></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
fetcher.run()</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeFetcherCore.py", line 274, in run</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
if not self.showReleaseNotes():</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeFetcher.py", line 71, in showReleaseNotes</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
res = self._try_show_release_notes_webkit()</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeFetcher.py", line 81, in _try_show_release_notes_webkit</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
from .ReleaseNotesViewerWebkit import ReleaseNotesViewerWebkit</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/DistUpgrade/ReleaseNotesViewerWebkit.py", line 35, in <module></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
class ReleaseNotesViewerWebkit(WebKit.WebView):</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/gi/types.py", line 175, in __init__</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
super(GObjectMeta, cls).__init__(name, bases, dict_)</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/gi/_gobject/__init__.py", line 46, in __init__</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
cls._type_register(cls.__dict__)</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/gi/_gobject/__init__.py", line 58, in _type_register</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
_gobject.type_register(cls, namespace.get('__gtype_name__'))</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
RuntimeError: could not create new GType: DistUpgrade+ReleaseNotesViewerWebkit+ReleaseNotesViewerWebkit (subclass of void) </blockquote>
</blockquote>
I went to System Settings and then Menu Editor to find out what command "Software Updater" was running and it turned out it was only running
<br />
<div class="code">
/usr/bin/update-manager</div>
which I thought was weird as normally if you're updating your system files you'll need root access so I decided to run the command with gksudo. The command that worked is the following;
<br />
<div class="code">
gksudo update-manager</div>
NOTE: You don't need to use /usr/bin/ due to that directory being in your environment path anyway. After running that command I was presented with the possible upgrade to 14.04. I am now running Xubuntu 14.04 and everything is working great.<br />
<br />
-Ubu outAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-78096890012664039622014-04-28T19:02:00.002-07:002014-04-28T19:34:51.310-07:00Is your getty (tty) a black screen?For those running Linux who have ever been without a graphical user interface (GUI) have most likely gotten to know and love getty's. Getty is short for "get teletype", it's a program that manages physical or virtual terminals (TTY's). When it detects a connection, it prompts for a username and runs the 'login' program to authenticate the user.
<br />
<br />
Within Ubuntu based distributions there are a total of 7 tty consoles that a user can log into but note that tty7 has the X server running on it. If you ever want to get back to your GUI desktop from a tty console than you would merely hold ctrl and alt and then hit the f7 key and that should lead you to your desktop assuming your X server is properly configured and running. You get to getty consoles by holding ctrl and alt keys and then hitting the function number key that corresponds to the getty console you want to use, f1 is getty 1. So if you wanted to log into a console at tty4, you would hold ctrl and alt and then hit the f4 key. You can see how many getty's your system has running by issuing the following command
<br />
<div class="code">
ps aux | grep tty</div>
I am running Xubuntu 13.10 and this is the output of the above command<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
root 1071 0.0 0.0 23016 968 tty4 Ss+ 19:09 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty4</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
root 1079 0.0 0.0 23016 960 tty5 Ss+ 19:09 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty5</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
root 1098 0.0 0.0 23016 968 tty2 Ss+ 19:09 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty2</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
root 1099 0.0 0.0 23016 972 tty3 Ss+ 19:09 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty3</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
root 1102 0.0 0.0 23016 968 tty6 Ss+ 19:09 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty6</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
root 1261 3.8 1.8 262128 152288 tty7 Rs+ 19:09 0:23 /usr/bin/X -core :0 -auth /var/run/lightdm/root/:0 -nolisten tcp vt7 -novtswitch</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
root 1391 0.0 0.0 77984 2184 tty1 Ss 19:09 0:00 /bin/login -- </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
ubu 2812 0.0 0.0 30108 4016 tty1 S+ 19:10 0:00 -bash</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
ubu 3339 0.0 0.0 25424 1668 pts/0 S+ 19:14 0:00 man getty</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
ubu 3416 0.0 0.0 16644 948 pts/4 S+ 19:19 0:00 grep --color=auto tty</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
Tty consoles are best used for when you're uninstalling a graphics driver because you can't uninstall a driver that's in use by your X server. For example, I use the Nvidia binary from their website so after I download the .run file I go to tty1, stop my X server by stopping lightdm, run the .run file with root privileges and then when it's done installing I will restart the computer using sudo shutdown -r now so that it restarts the computer using the newly installed driver.<br />
<br />
The black tty consoles are usually caused because the graphical text-mode resolution set at boot is not compatible with your video card but there may be other reasons that I am unaware of. I will show you how to use uvesafb (it's a framebuffer) and get a high resolution console so that you can actually use them and they aren't just a black screen of nothing.<br />
<br />
It involves installing a package and changing your grub config file as well as some other files. Everyone's video card will support different resolutions so if a resolution isn't working for you than try a lower one until you get text within your tty consoles. If you don't want to just guess than you can use vbeinfo from within grub which will show you the resolutions that are supported. So when grub appears, hit the 'c' key and then type in vbeinfo and hit enter. If your grub doesn't normally appear than you can get it to show by holding the shift key while your computer boots. Note down the largest screen resolution that you would like your tty consoles to be. Mine was 1680x1050.<br />
<br />
Let's get to fixing. Open a terminal. The first command is to install the v86d package so that we can use uvesafb.<br />
<div class="code">
sudo apt-get install v86d</div>
Next we need to edit the grub config file.<br />
<div class="code">
gksudo gedit /etc/default/grub</div>
This will open the grub config file using the text editor called gedit. If you're using Xubuntu substitute gedit with mousepad or leafpad and if using Kubuntu then your text editor is kate I believe. Now that you're in the grub config file you need to make the following 3 different lines look like mine but using your resolution.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nomodeset video=uvesafb:mode_option=1680x1050-24,mtrr=3,scroll=ywrap"</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="vga=0x0369"</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
GRUB_GFXMODE=1680x1050</blockquote>
You'll need to look up your vga code for the resolution you want to use, google is your friend here. Once you're done make sure you save the file and then close it. Now we need to update the kernel modules file. Using the following command
<br />
<div class="code">
gksudo gedit /etc/initramfs-tools/modules</div>
Within that file you want to add the following line<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
uvesafb mode_option=1680x1050-24 mtrr=3 scroll=ywrap</blockquote>
Again make sure you save the file before closing it. Now we need to tell the system to use the framebuffer for your splash screen by issuing the following command. If you're not using a splash screen than I don't believe you need to perform this step. Despite me removing quiet and splash from my kernel boot line because I like seeing scrolling text in case there are any errors I still performed this step but it's up to you. This command will create a file in that location with that 1 line in it of FRAMEBUFFER=y<br />
<div class="code">
echo FRAMEBUFFER=y | sudo tee /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/splash</div>
Now that we have updated the config files we need to get those cofigurations into each bootable kernel and we do that by issusing the following commands<br />
<div class="code">
sudo update-grub2</div>
<div class="code">
sudo update-initramfs -u</div>
And that's it, if you restart your machine you should now have 6 high resolution consoles to use, tty1 thru tty6.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-72335694694931112082014-02-05T19:15:00.001-08:002014-11-11T04:09:41.580-08:00Linux Screencasting or LivestreamingThe goal of this post is to inform you about a GUI screencasting piece of software that I use for both recording my desktop gaming sessions as well the livestreaming them to sites like Twitch.tv and Hitbox.tv. I will show you how to compile and install the latest version from GIT as I feel it has some improvements within the code that are not available in the ppa version of the software. Compiling code shouldn't scare you away as it will not harm your system in anyway if you follow step by step. Many times it is necessary to compile software in Linux so that you can have the latest version of a package because the maintained versions within the official repositories are not up to date.<br />
<br />
There are various GUI software packages out there for Linux users in order to capture their desktop so they can create a screencast of how to complete a particular task in Linux or to create a video showing how to get past a certain level in a game like gtkrecordmydesktop, istanbul, and kazam, but when I attempted to use any of those I would always have issues with synchronization of the video and audio. Either it would be out of sync from the start or it would start to become out of sync over time. Also none of those packages allowed me to livestream the action in realtime (as close to real time as you can get). I came across a package called <a href="http://www.maartenbaert.be/simplescreenrecorder/" target="_blank">SimpleScreenRecorder</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z5cM29yl6Yg/UvKYmroTo0I/AAAAAAAAChc/6WEaCEn9WNM/s1600/ssr.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z5cM29yl6Yg/UvKYmroTo0I/AAAAAAAAChc/6WEaCEn9WNM/s1600/ssr.png" height="296" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Simplescreenrecorder is a GUI screencasting software. It's very similar to the other pieces of software that I listed above in that it uses FFMPEG at it's core but the key difference is that it has built in synchronization coding as well as the ability to livestream to sites like Twitch or Hitbox.tv. He has a PPA if you want to just try that version of the software but that version does not contain the ability to set the keyframe interval (which Twitch and Hitbox expect a value of 2 seconds for every keyframe) and it also doesn't contain the improvements he made to the syncronizer and scaling feature. Let's get right to it and compile SSR from GIT.<br />
<br />
The <a href="https://github.com/MaartenBaert/ssr" target="_blank">README.md file within the source files</a> contain all the information you'll need to build and install it for your Linux Distribution except for Ubuntu 13.10, it's missing 1 library so we'll walk through those steps together right now. These steps are for a 64bit architecture so if you're running a 32bit version of Ubuntu 13.10 than your steps may vary slightly but I believe Maartin has accounted for both 32bit and 64bit in his build and compile script so don't give up now.<br />
<br />
Let's get started, in Ubuntu 13.10 64bit you can open the terminal by holding the alt key and pressing F2 which will bring up the dash, then simple type in terminal and then click on gnome-terminal to open that application.<br />
First we need to install the dependencies. *NOTE* Ensure you scroll inside the code box to copy and paste everything required.<br />
<div class="code">
sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config qt4-qmake libqt4-dev libavformat-dev libavcodec-dev libavutil-dev libswscale-dev libasound2-dev libpulse-dev libjack-jackd2-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libglu1-mesa-dev libx11-dev libxfixes-dev libxext-dev libxi-dev g++-multilib libx11-6:i386 libxfixes3:i386 libglu1-mesa:i386 </div>
Let's first make sure you're in your /home directory. The cd command should get you there, just type in cd and hit enter in the terminal and then you can check by typing in pwd and hitting enter. It should show /home/youusernamehere. <br />
Now we need to get the code from his GIT project <br />
<div class="code">
git clone https://github.com/MaartenBaert/ssr.git </div>
<br />
NOTE: (switching branches is no longer required as he has merged the changes he made in the glinject-next branch into the main branch.)<br />
Now let's switch to his glinject-next branch with has the improvements to the code and the ability to set the keyframe interval as required by Twitch and Hitbox. First we'll need to cd into the newly created ssr folder (run the next 2 commands separately, 1 line per command)<br />
<div class="code">
cd ssr<br />
git checkout glinject-next </div>
Now we can run the simple-build-and-install script from the ssr folder. <br />
<div class="code">
./simple-build-and-install </div>
If you receive the following error than the 32bit libraries are not linked correctly for a 64bit system and we need to create some symlinks but it depends on what type of graphics drivers you're running on your system. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
checking for XOpenDisplay in -lX11... no<br />
configure: error: required library missing</blockquote>
If you're running open source drivers (intel, radeon, or nouveau) than you need to create the following symlinks. First cd into the appropriate directory and then create the 2 symlinks (run the next 3 commands separately, 1 line per command).<br />
<div class="code">
cd /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu<br />
sudo ln -s libGL.so.1 mesa/libGL.so<br />
sudo ln -s mesa/libGL.so libGL.so </div>
If you're running proprietary graphics drivers (fglrx or nvidia) than you need to create some additional symlinks which you can find out about by reading the SSR source README.me file. It's located within the ssr folder that you cloned from GIT.<br />
<br />
For all drivers we need to create these additional 4 symlinks. You should still be within the /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/ directory when you create these 4 (run the next 5 commands separately, 1 line per command) *NOTE* Ensure you scroll inside the code box to see all required symlinks required.<br />
<div class="code">
sudo ln -s libGLU.so.1 libGLU.so<br />
sudo ln -s libX11.so.6 libX11.so<br />
sudo ln -s libXext.so.6 libXext.so<br />
sudo ln -s libXfixes.so.3 libXfixes.so<br />
sudo ldconfig</div>
<br />
We can now cd back into the SSR directory so that we can run the simple-build-and-install script again now that we have properly linked to the 32bit libraries (run the next 2 commands separetly, 1 line per command) <br />
<div class="code">
cd ~/ssr<br />
./simple-build-and-install </div>
<br />
That should have successfully run and you should see the ending lines that appear like the following<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
See any operating system documentation about shared libraries for<br />
more information, such as the ld(1) and ld.so(8) manual pages.<br />
----------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
make[2]: Nothing to be done for `install-data-am'.<br />
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/vm1/ssr/build32/glinject'<br />
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/vm1/ssr/build32/glinject'<br />
Making install in scripts<br />
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/vm1/ssr/build32/scripts'<br />
make[2]: Entering directory `/home/vm1/ssr/build32/scripts'<br />
make[2]: Nothing to be done for `install-data-am'.<br />
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/vm1/ssr/build32/scripts'<br />
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/vm1/ssr/build32/scripts'<br />
Making install in src<br />
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/vm1/ssr/build32/src'<br />
make[2]: Entering directory `/home/vm1/ssr/build32/src'<br />
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/vm1/ssr/build32/src'<br />
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/vm1/ssr/build32/src'<br />
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/vm1/ssr/build32'<br />
make[2]: Entering directory `/home/vm1/ssr/build32'<br />
make[2]: Nothing to be done for `install-exec-am'.<br />
make[2]: Nothing to be done for `install-data-am'.<br />
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/vm1/ssr/build32'<br />
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/vm1/ssr/build32'<br />
Running post-install script ...<br />
Done.</blockquote>
<div>
You've just successfully compiled and installed SimpleScreenRecorder from GIT using the glinject-next branch. You won't be able to use SSR and encode (capture) using h264, aac, or mp3 yet though. For those to be applicable as a choice when you choose your encoding settings within SSR you'll need to install the ubuntu-restricted-extras package. You would just type in the following command into the terminal. It may prompt you to accept the installation of the packages by having to type in a "y", meaning Yes. It may also prompt you again for accepting the user license for true type fonts, mp3 and aac codec's, you would merely hit tab so that "ok" highlights and then hit enter.<br />
<div class="code">
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras </div>
*NOTE*If you're running Kubuntu, Lubuntu or Xubuntu, be sure you install it's applicable restricted-extras pacakge ie: xubuntu-restricted-extras.<br />
This was only to show you how to install SimpleScreenRecorder. I may do a follow up on how to use it properly but Maartin already has a lot of great information on his <a href="http://www.maartenbaert.be/simplescreenrecorder/" target="_blank">website.</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
-Ubu out</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-33157029156589997152013-11-29T06:41:00.001-08:002013-11-29T06:41:11.150-08:00Xbox 360 Controller and Steam Games (Valve's Source Engine Games)Some may yell at me for wanting to play PC games with a controller. They all say, "PC games are meant to be played with a keyboard and mouse." Well I grew up playing console games which always had a controller. It's not due to the lack of trying but when I play with keyboard and mouse my movement is less than adequate and my fingers don't have the buttons memorized yet so I end up dieing because I didn't move away from an enemy quick enough. W, S, D, and A are the buttons normally used in PC FPS games for moving forward, backward, and strafing side to side. The mouse is used for where your eyes are looking and or where your gun shoots. So until I get better with a keyboard and mouse I'd like to play my PC games with a controller at times.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqc_L9z95M74UyP4oqftZuFwz1hohXqmNsMQ70DZfOAFh7NI6xxU-B0KDMX08J10vHoqhyphenhyphenoffU9L31SZ5waGpFrRU3IBVeLUytUmOLDfYyJr6Qjyk77B7UUrrY0kEpq0DEX-rENvYXXv77/s1600/steam_controller.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqc_L9z95M74UyP4oqftZuFwz1hohXqmNsMQ70DZfOAFh7NI6xxU-B0KDMX08J10vHoqhyphenhyphenoffU9L31SZ5waGpFrRU3IBVeLUytUmOLDfYyJr6Qjyk77B7UUrrY0kEpq0DEX-rENvYXXv77/s200/steam_controller.png" width="164" /></a>I was happy to see that Serious Sam 3 BFE (a first person shooter) had controller support. Most Steam games will denote whether a game has controller support or not. Sometimes it may say "Partial Controller Support". I am not certain what that means but some controller support is better than none in my opinion. I took a chance and bought the game. When I fired it up my After Glow Xbox 360 Controller was supported immediately upon turning on the game. This is with a default Ubuntu 12.04.3 installation, it uses the xpad module (driver) and I didn't have to install the xboxdrv module (driver) which is a userspace driver. There are some advantages to using the xboxdrv module but I won't cover those in this post.<br />
<br />
Other games I quickly found the same controller did NOT work in, notably all the Source Engine Games by Valve. The ones I tried were Team Fortress 2, Portal, and Left 4 Dead 2 the controller did not work. I tried everything, from opening the console in game and entering "exce 360controller" and "exec 360controllerlinux" to allowing world readable permissions on the /dev/input/event11 device node which is what the controller was plugged into but nothing was working. Well after many hours of googling and trial and error I found what finally solved the controller issue for Valve's Source Engine Games. The original solution has to be credited back to <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/xboxdrv/UmzUNliCBYk" target="_blank">a google post</a> just to give credit where credit is due.<br />
<br />
First open the Steam Client and you'll notice that there is a place to click to activate Big Picture Mode, it's located on the upper right side of your Steam Client.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTiheAeznF62HQaKKwH3nQ-sM09a1BaSj9_e6GBWo6j2ZkKYVXMXqSZLImM4NlVV6gEyNFIpNvd3HGP0drhU19fe0ZEDGjtEIivLdkttwXSAyMFwZWuAYCEYtw3EDP87evPIbepFcb6kX/s1600/big_pic_mode.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="97" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTiheAeznF62HQaKKwH3nQ-sM09a1BaSj9_e6GBWo6j2ZkKYVXMXqSZLImM4NlVV6gEyNFIpNvd3HGP0drhU19fe0ZEDGjtEIivLdkttwXSAyMFwZWuAYCEYtw3EDP87evPIbepFcb6kX/s640/big_pic_mode.png" width="640" /></a></div>
Click that and it will activate Big Picture Mode which is basically Steam running in fullscreen. Use your mouse and click on the little gear symbol in the upper right corner which is where all the settings are. Now click on Controller. Next you'll see the following picture and hopefully it states that your controller is detected. If not, sorry I can't help any further, you'll have to investigate why Steam can't detect your controller.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9snV-gDR9q0yOQIvD4x-4IbQ8XF-lMjWOTUIBz43kkZoLDZfLv4cXpGGxao8MA1qnzXcIaPPAJqQpcVGC1s7SSYCe6xvar_7VUc4iYcqGc3KSBsXAFw7TVXqGGDDK36AeZG5haBNpIEtF/s1600/steam_controller_pic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9snV-gDR9q0yOQIvD4x-4IbQ8XF-lMjWOTUIBz43kkZoLDZfLv4cXpGGxao8MA1qnzXcIaPPAJqQpcVGC1s7SSYCe6xvar_7VUc4iYcqGc3KSBsXAFw7TVXqGGDDK36AeZG5haBNpIEtF/s400/steam_controller_pic.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Click on edit controls and you'll be taken to this screen. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcw-fNtCRHfHv56naCcCvrQ7sPeHzFQ6wqfwkHlWKUFWuz_yiuBnVw9J12qaywli7DbuqozQ2bAhPafIoOBv-bLGp3Zcf2lTiHiqirY0fU4EzpHecIno7fCShmdA5pqgEEQ7iGcg8KNv8H/s1600/steam_edit_controller.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcw-fNtCRHfHv56naCcCvrQ7sPeHzFQ6wqfwkHlWKUFWuz_yiuBnVw9J12qaywli7DbuqozQ2bAhPafIoOBv-bLGp3Zcf2lTiHiqirY0fU4EzpHecIno7fCShmdA5pqgEEQ7iGcg8KNv8H/s400/steam_edit_controller.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
You just go down the list, Steam shows the button on the screen in green and you click that corresponding button on your wire connected Xbox 360 controller. I am not sure whether this works with a wireless controller due to the Microsoft's wireless technology of the controller, you'll definitely need a wireless dongle from somewhere if they even make them. Once you have mapped each button then click save, you can choose to give it a name or overwrite the existing name that was there. Now you are all done.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
You can now use your controller within Team Fortress 2, Portal, and Left 4 Dead 2. One thing to note was that I did have to increase the sensitivity within TF2 because the movements were really slow but other than that I am very pleased I got the controller working.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
-Ubu out</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-61009496335855398092013-11-24T07:20:00.003-08:002013-11-24T09:23:01.977-08:00Linux Video Capture using an HD-PVR (model# 1212)Hello there fellow tech nerds. How has everyone been doing lately? I have been thrilled with life lately and I hope you as well.<br />
<br />
Todays post is going to cover how to capture hd video (720p) from a component video source onto your Linux computer so that you can edit it with video editing software. I do this to capture my Xbox 360 gameplay. I use a microphone and audacity to record commentary separately. I then edit the video files captured from the HD-PVR and the audio commentary together using Kdenlive, then render it and upload the videos to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/Ubuntuaddicted" target="_blank">YouTube</a>. I do this to help others with certain parts of a game or just provide general tips about a particular game. So let's get right into it.<br />
<br />
First you'll obviously need an Hauppauge HD-PVR but it has to be model number 1212 (the wiki states that model# 1445 is also supported but I don't see that as a model# on the Hauppauge Support page), the newer ones (HD-PVR2) don't have linux drivers so there is currently no way to capture from them. Luckily if you're using a recent Linux distribution the driver that allows this to work is built right into the Linux kernel. Any kernel 2.6.30 or above and the driver is included within the kernel. I am running Xubuntu 12.04.3 with kernel 3.7.0-030700-generic. You may possibly need a Windows computer to upgrade the firmware on the HD-PVR which is done by running a Windows executable file from <a href="http://www.hauppauge.com/site/support/support_hdpvr.html" target="_blank">Hauppauge's Support Page</a> which installs the driver but it also updates the firmware within the HD-PVR. The latest firmware is preferred, it's all explained <a href="http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Hauppauge_HD-PVR" target="_blank">HERE.</a><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Step 1 (determine current firmware on your HD-PVR)</span></b><br />
Open a terminal window and plug in your HD-PVR preferably into a USB2.0 port (I don't think USB1.1 is fast enough. I had issues using a USB3.0 port in which it would stop recording by itself so try to avoid if you can or try it out and see for yourself), type in<br />
<div class="code">
dmesg
</div>
Mine returns the following information<br />
[6307.550581] usb 1-3: new high-speed USB device number 13 using ehci_hcd<br />
[ 6307.727776] usb 1-3: New USB device found, idVendor=2040, idProduct=4903<br />
[ 6307.727779] usb 1-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3<br />
[ 6307.727781] usb 1-3: Product: Hauppauge HD PVR<br />
[ 6307.727783] usb 1-3: Manufacturer: AMBA<br />
[ 6307.727784] usb 1-3: SerialNumber: 00A49D0D<br />
[ 6307.755504] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: firmware version 0x1e dated Mar 7 2012 08:25:15<br />
[ 6307.755507] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: untested firmware, the driver might not work.<br />
[ 6307.869496] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: magic request returned 8<br />
[ 6307.878237] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: config call request for value 0x1700 returned 1<br />
[ 6307.887215] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: config call request for value 0x1500 returned 1<br />
[ 6307.922052] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: config call request for value 0x1200 returned 1<br />
[ 6307.931548] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: config call request for value 0x1300 returned 1<br />
[ 6307.940780] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: config call request for value 0x2900 returned 1<br />
[ 6307.950518] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: config call request for value 0x2a00 returned 1<br />
[ 6307.958510] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: config call request for value 0x2b00 returned 1<br />
[ 6307.967748] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: config call request for value 0x2c00 returned 1<br />
[ 6307.977615] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: config call request for value 0x2d00 returned 1<br />
[ 6307.996731] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: control request returned 4<br />
[ 6307.997589] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: no valid video signal or device init failed<br />
[ 6308.007835] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: control request returned 1<br />
[ 6308.025559] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: control request returned 1<br />
[ 6308.025561] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: allocating 64 buffers<br />
[ 6308.052476] hdpvr 1-3:1.0: device now attached to video1<br />
[ 6308.052495] usbcore: registered new interface driver hdpvr<br />
The hdpvr module should have autoloaded once you plugged in your HD-PVR, if it didn't we can load it manually by issuing<br />
<div class="code">
sudo modprobe hdpvr</div>
Nothing will appear to happen if all went well but to verify it's loaded you can issue<br />
<div class="code">
lsmod | grep hdpvr
</div>
That should return the following info<br />
<div class="code">
hdpvr 32700 0<br />
v4l2_common 21458 2 s2253,hdpvr<br />
videodev 130085 5 s2253,hdpvr,uvcvideo,videobuf2_core,v4l2_common
</div>
If it didn't you'll have to figure out what's wrong with the hdpvr module within the kernel you're using and this tutorial won't cover that sorry.<br />
So according to my dmesg output and the HD-PVR MythTV wiki I am running the latest firmware already. This is a good thing. If you're not running a firmware dated Mar 7 2012 then I suggest updating the HD-PVR firmware because it can fix various issues as well as fix color and saturation issues with previous firmwares. I am not sure this would work within a Virtual Machine so if you don't have a Windows computer see if you have any friends or family that would allow you to use it. You would just need to bring the HD-PVR with you, along with it's USB cable and if they had internet you could download the latest driver that linked to earlier, hook up the HD-PVR and run the .exe driver installer and it will update the HD-PVR with the latest firmware. If you can't for whatever reason update the firmware it's ok, you can still move forward with the tutorial just note that if issues arise it may be related to the old firmware on the HD-PVR. NOTE: Certain kernels (kernel lower than 3.3) and firmware combinations may also result in color and saturation issues as well, those issues can be read about <a href="http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Hauppauge_HD-PVR#Over-saturation_and_Color_Solution" target="_blank">HERE.</a><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Step 2 (setting some sane defaults for the HD-PVR)</span></b><br />
The way we set the module (a module is equivalent to a driver in Windows) defaults at least within Ubuntu is by creating a *.conf file and storing it within /etc/modprobe.d/. The *.conf file will be read by the kernel when it loads the hdpvr module. The settings that can be set are all listed <a href="http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Hauppauge_HD-PVR#Miscellaneous_Kernel_Module_Options" target="_blank">HERE.</a> Create the *.conf file<br />
<div class="code">
gksudo leafpad /etc/modprobe.d/hdpvr.conf
</div>
You can name it whatever you want but I named it hdpvr.conf so that I know what the conf file is for. I used leafpad but you can use whatever GUI text editor that's installed on your system. I run Xubuntu so the default editor is leafpad, yours may be gedit if you run straight Ubuntu.<br />
within the file paste the following<br />
<div class="code">
options hdpvr hdpvr_debug=1 video_nr=1 default_video_input=0 default_audio_input=0
</div>
I enabled the least log info possible while still showing some debug info (useful for troubleshooting). Since I have a webcam always connected I made the HD-PVR video device node 1 (will show up as /dev/video1). I want to capture the component input (versus composite-yellow, white, red) and finally I want to capture the audio from the rear RCA ports NOT the front ones. You can set those settings to match your system and situation. In order for the settings to take effect without having to reboot your machine you can issues the following to reload the hdpvr module which will then use your settings.<br />
<div class="code">
sudo rmmod hdpvr
</div>
That will unload the module
<br />
<div class="code">
sudo modprobe hdpvr
</div>
That will load it again using the settings from the *.conf file you created.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Step 3 (capture some video)</span></b><br />
Unfortunately for now there is no nice little GUI (Graphical User Interface) application that captures the HD-PVR video stream although I am in talks with the developer of SimpleScreenRecorder to see if he can incorporate capturing the HD-PVR with his application. So for now it's a pretty basic command in which we have to use the terminal. For this to work your user that you log in as needs to be part of the video group. I'm sure you can google how to achieve this as it's not hard but this tutorial won't cover that. So open a terminal window, then we want to change directories to where ever you want the recording to be saved. Ensure there is an ample space free within this folder since capturing HD video takes up a lot of space. It's around 500 megabytes (that's .5 gigabyte) of space for around a 10 minute video. That's done with<br />
<div class="code">
cd /home/username/Videos/
</div>
You obviously need to change the username to be YOUR username and ensure the full path is writable by you. So I have a Videos directory located in my home directory which I have write permissions to. Normally any folder within your entire home directory is writable by you. The command to capture the video is<br />
<div class="code">
cat /dev/video1 > video.ts
</div>
The Linux cat command concatenates and lists files. Basically we're using cat to spit out whatever is at /dev/video1 which in this case will be the video stream from the HD-PVR. The little forward pointing arrow ">" is the linux command called redirect. It redirects input somewhere else. So in this case it's taking the video stream from the cat command and redirecting it into a file called video.ts. That's pretty much it, whenever you want to stop recording you simply hit the control key plus the letter c (ctrl+c) which tells it to cancel the command.<br />
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Congrats, you now have a video file called video.ts which contains whatever was being displayed from your video device. In regards to the video and audio specifications the HD-PVR can record up to 1080i. Personally I prefer 720p over 1080i since the p means it's progressive which can lead to less flickering. It boils down to what resolution you're inputting into the HD-PVR, it has a passthrough, meaning whatever you're inputting in the HD-PVR that same signal will get passed out to a TV to view. At that same time the video is encoded within the device using h264 codec for the video and aac codec for the audio. The encoding information for the HD-PVR can be read about <a href="http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Hauppauge_HD-PVR" target="_blank">HERE,</a> it's all in the 2nd and 3rd paragraph if you're interested in learning about the bitrate, resolutions, codec etc etc. So in my example I play my Xbox 360 as 720p so the video.ts file contains an hd video which is HD quality (720p). Now go and create some masterpiece videos and showcase them on YouTube for the world to view.<br />
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Here's a sample of my work all done using Xubuntu Linux<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/oWE6ulXKNk4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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-Ubu out<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-71577939818926206352013-11-17T17:26:00.001-08:002013-11-17T17:26:53.003-08:00Transfer Ubuntu OS installation to a larger Hard Drive (2TB or smaller)Skip to "Let the tutorial begin" if you don't want to read any back story.<br />
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First I'd like to say sorry to those that follow this Blog, I have not posted in a very long time. I've been really hip deep in my <a href="http://www.youtube.com/ubuntuaddicted" target="_blank">YouTube Channel</a> and gaming (both in Linux and on Xbox 360) so I haven't had much to blog about in terms of technology goes. I am hoping to get a post up about SteamOS and other technology related stuff very soon but let's start with this post for now.<br />
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I was debating what to title this post exactly since theoretically it could be used to transfer other Linux distributions as well and heck, it may even work to transfer a Windows OS or even OS X installation to another hard drive but I figured I would only cover exactly what I did since I know it works. This post will go over the steps I took in order to successfully change from a small IDE 40GB hard drive to a larger SATA 160GB hard drive AND at the same time changing ALL my computer hardware as well.<br />
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A little backstory first. I built my 4th computer in 2007 and believe it or not I have been using that ever since. With my recent YouTube adventures and getting into more PC gaming the computer started to really show it's age as I couldn't play certain games and rendering videos for YouTube took forever and a day. So I finally decided I needed to upgrade everything. I was planning on saving my money for Black Friday or Cyber Monday but a deal for a used computer sprang up out of no where and for a really good price I might add. For a mere $200 I could get a completely new tower. The main specs of the tower are as follows:<br />
<br />
Sentey Modtower case with 7 fans<br />
AsRock Extreme6 FM1<br />
AMD A8-3870k 3.00Ghz<br />
G-Skill Sniper 2133Mhz DDR3 RAM (2x4GB totalling 8GB)<br />
XFX HD5750 1GB DDR5<br />
OCZ Synapse Cache SSD 64GB<br />
400w PSU that powers the motherboard and GPU<br />
380w PSU that powers everything else<br />
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My current Xubuntu 12.04.3 was currently on a 40GB IDE hard drive and since the new motherboard didn't have any IDE's ports I would need to figure out what to do to transfer my operating installation to my new used hardware. I found a 160GB SATA hard drive in another computer of mine, moved all the data of it onto my Western Digital My Book World Edition (a NAS basically) and I was ready to move my Xubuntu installation from the small 40GB drive to the larger 160GB drive.<br />
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<b>Let the tutorial begin</b><br />
Things needed<br />
-A computer to create the live usb sticks<br />
-You'll need a minimum of (2) 1GB flash drives (to run live usb versions of clonezilla and linux-secure-remix from) OR an optical disc such as cd-rom or a dvd....assuming your computer has an optical drive. You could use the same 1GB stick for both clonezilla and linux-secure-remix BUT it will take more time since you have to use linux-secure-remix in between using clonezilla.<br />
-A storage location large enough to backup the images of your partitions (network storage OR local external hard drive)<br />
-<a href="http://clonezilla.org/downloads/download.php?branch=stable" target="_blank">Clonezilla</a> (I choose amd64 because the computer I was running the live usb stick from had a 64bit chip. If you aren't sure it's ok to choose the i686pae version)<br />
-<a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-secure/files/" target="_blank">Linux-Secure-Remix</a> (choose linux-secure-13.04-64bit if the OS you're moving is a 64bit OS or choose linux-secure-13.04-32bit if the OS you're moving is a 32bit OS)<br />
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Alright, so I trust you downloaded the software you'll be using from above and we're ready to get going.<br />
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<b>Step 1 (install new hard drive)</b><br />
Install your new hard drive (this is the hard drive you're transferring your currently installed Operating System TO) into the computer which will be your final computer hardware you're going to settle with. In my case it was a completely different computer tower BUT your may only be transferring your OS to a new hard drive and not changing any hardware so you would install the hard drive into your current computer that you want the larger drive in.<br />
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<b>Step 2 (live clonezilla media creation)</b><br />
Using your current computer operating system, we'll use it to create the live usb or livecd of clonezilla. Clonezilla has some tips for creating it <a href="http://clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live.php" target="_blank">HERE</a>. You can not simply copy the clonezilla ISO to a usb stick or to a cd-rom as data, that won't work. You need to use software that writes the ISO to the usb stick or the optical media as well as making the usb stick or optical media bootable. Meaning, the computer BIOS sees it as a bootable device and the computer boots the usb stick or optical media versus the internal hard drive that's in the computer you're using. Once your done creating your live media of clonezilla shut down your computer<br />
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<b>Step 3 (backup partitions to image files)</b><br />
If you made a live cd or live dvd, put it in the optical drive and then turn off the computer which contains the hard drive that you want to transfer FROM. If you created a live usb stick, plug it once the computer is off. Turn the computer on and activate a boot menu if you can (it was F11 on mine), this will allow you to choose which device to boot to, in the case of a live cd, choose the correct optical drive. In the case of a live usb stick, choose the applicable usb stick. It should boot into clonezilla, hit enter to choose the defaults, choose the proper language and hit enter, I clicked "don't touch keymap" for the keyboard setting and hit enter. Choose Start Clonezilla, hit enter. Choose the device-image option (first option), hit enter. The next screen is where you choose where you want to backup your images (what they refer to as being /home/partimag) (<u><i>NOTE:</i></u> do NOT choose the new hard drive to store your images onto because it's going to be formatted later on), in my case I was using a 200GB external usb hard drive so that option is local_dev, hit enter. Then choose the folder or directory where the image will be saved to. Click beginner mode as that's the easiest and worked just fine for me. The next screen I choose saveparts option because I had a / partition and a /home partition I need to backup. Then choose the partition you want to create an image of by arrowing onto it and hitting the space bar (it will put an asterisk to signify that's the partition you're backing up), name it appropriately and hit enter. I can't find any screenshots so I am not certain on the next few steps but it should just be hitting enter and then hitting "y" telling it to perform the backup image creation. After it's done, you have the option of powering off, rebooting, starting over from scratch or starting over keeping the same location for storing another image. I choose to start over fresh just in case. So perform the same steps to backup your next partition but obviously this time choose the next partition you want to backup and when it comes time to name it, <i><u>ensure you choose a different name</u></i> because the default name will be the same as your first image backup. Hit "y" a few times and it should now create another image but this time of the newly selected partition you choose to create an image of. I only had 2 partitions so I am done with this step but if you have more partitions than keep creating images of them until you're done. Reboot the computer so it boots to your current operating system that you're using. Pfffff, that was a long step. Sorry about that.<br />
<br />
<b>Step 4 (live linux-secure-remix creation)</b><br />
If you don't have a second flash drive just use the same one you used for clonezilla. You'll use the same steps to write the linux-secure-remix ISO to the usb stick as you used during step 1. Remember, use a method that "burns the ISO image" onto the usb stick and makes it bootable as well.<br />
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<b>Step 5 (partition your new drive)</b><br />
This step you can either boot into your current OS installation OR insert the live media which contains linux-secure-remix on it into the computer that has the new hard drive. In my case I had to boot the live media since this new computer didn't have a hard drive with any OS in it. If using your current OS installation, than use whatever method needed to partition your new hard drive. This step is important in that you need to partition your new drive the same way your old drive is partitioned, not in size, but the partition numbering. NOTE: the new partitions should be larger than what they are now that you're transferring FROM. Primary and logical partitions need to match. I choose to stick with msdos (MBR) style partitioning versus going to the new GPT partitioning scheme which is required for drives larger than 2TB. MBR works for 2TB drives and lower. Sorry this tutorial won't go into switching from MBR to GPT but I have read it can be done without data loss. In my case I had sda1 as my only primary partition, sda2 was an extended partition which contained sda5 and sda6 as logical partitions. I formatted sda1 and sda6 as ext4. If using a livecd or live usb, then boot the computer and enter the BIOS boot menu so you can choose either the livecd or the live usb stick to boot to. Once booted into linux-secure-remix (it's basically Ubuntu 13.04 with some pre-installed applications) you'll want to open the application called Gparted.<br />
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<u><i>NOTE:</i></u> If you have more than 1 disk within this computer, ensure you're on the correct one. Follow the steps above for partitioning and ensure the partitions are the same as your old drive you're transferring FROM. Now you're done partitioning the new drive and it's ready to accept the images of your partitions that you're transferring. If you made a livecd then put the clonezilla livecd into your optical drive prior to shutting down. You can shut down your computer as it's time to reboot into Clonezilla.</div>
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<b>Step 6 (restore backup'd up images onto new hard drive)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
If you created a live usb stick, plug it in. Turn the computer on and activate a boot menu if you can (it was F11 on mine), this will allow you to choose which device to boot to, in the case of a live cd, choose the correct optical drive. In the case of a live usb stick, choose the applicable usb stick. If you can't activate a BIOS boot menu, then go into the BIOS and change the boot order to the proper media, whether it's the livecd or the live usb stick. It should boot into clonezilla, hit enter to choose the defaults, choose the proper language and hit enter, I clicked "don't touch keymap" for the keyboard setting and hit enter. Choose Start Clonezilla, hit enter. Choose the device-image option (first option), hit enter. The next screen is where you choose where you stored your images (what they refer to as being /home/partimag), in my case it was the 200GB external usb hard drive so that option is local_dev, hit enter. Then choose the folder or directory where the images were saved to. Click beginner mode as that's the easiest and worked just fine for me. The next screen I choose the restoreparts option because now we're "restoring a partition" to the new hard drive. Choose the image you want to restore, this will be your first image you created of your first partition, hit enter. Now choose the destination, which should be your first partition on your new hard drive, most likely sda1 if the new hard drive is your only hard drive in the computer. <i><u>NOTE:</u></i> ensure you choose the correct hard drive and partition as this will overwrite whatever is there with your backed up image and hit enter. There may be a few more enters or it's asking you a couple times if you're 100% positive that you want to perform this action since it's going to overwrite whatever is on the "target partition" with what's in the image file. Hit "y" if you're sure and off you're running. Once done you have just restored your first partition from your old smaller drive to your new larger drive. Perform the same steps again for anymore partitions that you imaged and then you're done restoring images onto the new hard drive. We're almost DONE. You can attempt to reboot your computer removing the clonezilla live media but I am betting it doesn't boot into your OS, I had a flashing cursor in the upper right corner and that was it. No Xubuntu for me.......YET.</div>
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<b>Step 7 (fixing your MBR/boot loader, most likely grub2)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I realized after the fact that if we had chosen advanced options when backing up the partitions to image files and the advanced options when restoring we may not have needed this step but I choose beginner so it is what it is and we need to install grub2 to the MBR so that the BIOS passes on the hardware to a bootloader which will then boot the installed OS. This is done using linux-secure-remix. So put it your linux-secure-remix livecd or livedvd in the optical drive OR plug in your live usb stick and boot the computer to one you created. Once inside linux-secure-remix we need to run the boot-repair application</div>
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Choose the recommended repair which is what fixed mine. When it shows you a URL for where it uploaded the boot-repair log file, write it down so in case this doesn't work, you can obtain help from others and point them to the boot-repair log file which will help others figure out why it's not working. You should now reboot your computer removing whatever live media you were using and it should now boot into your Operating System. </div>
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That's it, YOU DID IT! Congrats. I hope this was helpful to someone. Leave me a comment if I missed something somewhere or to say thank you if this helped you.</div>
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-Ubu out</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-57696844494360300072013-05-09T11:11:00.002-07:002013-05-09T11:13:51.691-07:00ATI Remote Wonder and Linux XBMCControlling XBMC from your couch can be achieved in many ways. The easiest solution would be to just get a wireless keyboard/mouse combo but us Linux users don't often go for what's easiest. We enjoy tinkering around and learning new things otherwise we'd just be using Windows in the first place. We like to innovate, at least I do. The next easiest thing to do would be to install an XBMC Remote control app on your smartphone, the Official XBMC Remote control app from joethefox is FREE within the Apple Store. There are other paid XBMC remote apps but the FREE one works just fine when tested on my iPhone 4S running iOS 6.1. However this post will be about getting an old ATI Remote Wonder working in Linux XBMC. I believe there are a couple different variations of the remote but the one that I have is pictured below, if yours looks different then your mileage may vary.<br />
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First let me inform you what versions of everything I am performing this on.<br />
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Ubuntu = Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS (running mythbuntu-desktop cause I dislike Unity)</div>
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Kernel = 3.2.0-40-generic i686</div>
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XBMC = 2:12.2~git20130502.1706-frodo-0precise (obtained from team-xbmc PPA)<br />
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This tutorial will mostly be done using a terminal session, if you're scared of the terminal don't be. I will try to explain what each command does and why sudo (root priveleges) are required. When you first plug in your ATI Remote Wonder usb receiver most likely the kernel will automagically load the "ati_remote" module and what that does is basically make the remote act like a mouse. If you used the large circular pad towards the top of the remote you'll see it moving your mouse and such. We don't want that so let's remove that module by issuing the following command. Sudo is required due to removing a module which interacts with the kernel but don't worry as that kernel module was only loaded because it sensed the usb reciever when it was plugged in. Normally that's a good that the kernel automagically loads modules when hardware is plugged in but in this case we don't want that functionality. Whenever you use sudo it asks for your users password, enter it and press the 'enter' key. It doesn't show you that you're entering any letters but you are in fact typing in your password.<br />
<span style="color: red;">sudo rmmod ati_remote</span><br />
If it says it can't remove it because it's in use then just ignore that and continue on with the tutorial. Now we need to make it so when we reboot the machine that module doesn't automagically load, this is done by editing a configuration file. Since this config is located within the /etc/ directory and is owned by root, we'll again need root privileges so we'll be using sudo but since we're opening a GUI (Graphical User Interface) application, we want to actually use 'gksudo'. This is the command (NOTE: gedit is the default GUI text editor for Ubuntu, if you're using Kubuntu it is kate I believe. I am using Mythbuntu so the GUI text editor is actually called mousepad for me. Replace the gedit command with whatever GUI text editor your distribution uses.<br />
<span style="color: red;">gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf</span><br />
Once the file opens in your GUI text editor we're going to add the following text in red to the very bottom of the file<br />
<span style="color: red;">#to get ATI Remote Wonder working</span><br />
<span style="color: red;">blacklist ati_remote</span><br />
The pound symbol is used for comments and isn't read as a configuration line. Save the file and close the text editor. Restart your computer ONLY if you previously couldn't remove the ati_remote module. When you restart it won't load this time because you blacklisted it. Now we need to install lirc which stands for 'Linux Infra-red Remote Control'. We again will do that from the terminal session and require sudo because installing software requires root privileges. Type in the following command:<br />
<span style="color: red;">sudo apt-get install lirc</span><br />
Choose 'Y' if it asks you if you're sure you want to install the software. If lirc was already installed and you'd like to reconfigure it you would use the following command:<br />
<span style="color: red;">sudo dpkg-reconfigure lirc</span><br />
It will bring up a debconf window. Debconf stands for debian configuration, most applications within Ubuntu are of the .deb extension and is the common package management tool used within Debian based Linux distributions. Within the debconf window using the up and down arrow keys, highlight the ATI/NVidia/X10 RF Remote (userspace) option and then click tab so that the '<Ok>' option is highlighted, then click the 'enter' key on your keyboard. The next window that appears is for a transmitter but we aren't transmitting anything so highlight 'None', click tab so that the '<Ok>' option is highlighted, then click the 'enter' key on your keyboard. If everything went ok lirc should have been installed and the proper config files should be in place. Now we just have to let XBMC know that we'll be using a remote instead of a keyboard to control it and that's done using a config file, Lircmap.xml which will need to be stored within your users .xbmc folder. To do this we don't need root privileges because we're writing the file within our own home directory which we have write access to. The tilde (~) is a short way of entering your users home directory, which is /home/yourusernamehere/, so the whole path is actually /home/yourusernamehere/.xbmc/userdata/. The command is as follows:<br />
<span style="color: red;">gedit ~/.xbmc/userdata/Lircmap.xml</span><br />
I uploaded my Lircmap.xml to pastebin, you can download the file from this link: <a href="http://pastebin.com/TzJRsipu">Lircmap.xml</a><br />
Note the 'L' is capital, that's important for the filename. So that button presses don't register twice I had to edit the advancedsettings.xml file located within my users home directory .xbmc/userdata/ and add the following lines. You may or may not already have an advancedsettings.xml file, if you don't have one just create it, if you already have one just add the single line for the remotedelay as you probably already have the top and bottom <advancedsettings> lines.<br />
<span style="color: red;"><advancedsettings></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><remotedelay>10</remotedelay></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"></advancedsettings></span><br />
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That should be it, fire up XBMC and your ATI Remote Wonder should now be working. If you want to know which button on the remote does what within XBMC just look at the Lircmap.xml file with a text editor. Example being the "back" command in XBMC is performed with the remote button 'c' as per the following in the Lircmap.xml file <back>c</back>.<br />
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<span style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-Ubu out</span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-56177991970734500932013-05-06T06:41:00.001-07:002013-05-06T06:42:50.633-07:00Portal - Released for Steam on LinuxLinux gaming is slowly making strides to become more mainstream. Valve opened the public BETA, Steam for Linux, back in late 2012 which has brought many titles to the Linux gaming platform. There has even been a Humble Bundle which featured many Linux titles and now Valve has released their popular puzzle game, Portal, to run natively within Linux. I have read that Portal 2 is coming to Linux soon as well.<br />
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Portal originally came out in 2007 for the PC and Xbox 360. It was later released for Playstation 3 as well as the OS X Operating System. It is of the First Person Puzzle/Platformer genre. It involves the creation of "portals", using a portal gun, to move yourself and possibly objects around a level so that you can get to the exit. It requires some real brain power at times which is what puzzle games are made for. Thinking outside the box will allow you to excel while playing Portal.<br />
It is available thru Steam for Linux now for only $9.99 USD. I happily paid the money and am already enjoying the game thoroughly. I am playing it on Xubuntu 12.04.2 64bit version with an Nvidia 8400GS ando only 2GB of DDRII Ram. The game doesn't require too beefy of a machine as you can see by my computer's specifications. My CPU is only an E4300, 1.8Ghz Core2Duo so I can assure you that you don't need much to enjoy the game. Are you going to purchase the game for Linux and show your support for Linux Gaming?<br />
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-Ubu out<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-65602577503068108712013-02-22T10:20:00.002-08:002013-02-22T10:53:14.562-08:00Crysis 3 DOUBLE XP - Feb 22 WeekendCrysis 3 came out on Tuesday, February 19th 2013 and they are already having DOUBLE XP so you can rank up faster.<br />
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I am thoroughly enjoying this game and sadly people aren't even giving it a try for whatever reason. Whether is's because they only play Call of Duty or because they haven't even heard of it. Crysis 3 is more of a hybrid First Person Shooter because your character has a nanosuit which allows you to have armor and cloaking capabilities. The map designs are excellent in my opinion and they have complex elevation changes and are not just simple maps with a flat playing field. There are also map interactions like being able to use items found throughout the maps like cars, poles, and air duct vent panels.<br />
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Have you purchased Crysis 3 yet? Here are some videos I created to help if you're new to the game.<br />
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-Ubu outAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-77979864905537179142013-02-14T14:23:00.000-08:002013-02-14T14:23:27.952-08:00Steam for Linux Celebration Sale - 50% to 75% OffSteam is having a huge Sale in Celebration for Steam for Linux. Linux game titles are from 50% all the way up to 80% off. Despite the sale stating it was as high as 75% off, I saw Serious Sam 3 BFE for 80% off, which brings it down to a mere $7.99 which is normally a $39.99 game.<br />
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There are now 100 items within Steam's Linux section. I am very excited about this. Here is just some of the games on sale;<br />
Intrusion 2 = 66% off brings it to $3.50<br />
Serious Sam 3 BFE = 80% off brings it to $7.99<br />
4th Year Anniversary World of Goo = 75% off brings it to $2.49<br />
Trine 2 = 75% off brings it to $3.74<br />
Half Life = 75% off brings it to $2.49<br />
Counter Strike Source = 75% off brings it to $4.99<br />
Bastion = 75% off brings it to $3.74<br />
Amnesia = 75% off brings it to $5.00<br />
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This is an awesome sale and I picked up Intrusion 2 and Bastion for a mere $7.24. What will you be picking up?<br />
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-Ubu outAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-29848296256740250602013-02-12T05:08:00.003-08:002013-02-12T05:09:34.399-08:00Linux on UEFI Windows 8 PCs, yes please<br />
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There is some great news for us Linux and Free Open Source Software (FOSS) advocates, there's a new tool that will let you run Linux on devices built for Microsoft's Windows 8. The Linux Foundation Secure Boot System will allow Linux to run on computers using the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware.</div>
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Microsoft's Windows 8 runs on new hardware controlled by UEFI firmware, which provides "secure-boot" technology. Although UEFI seeks to secure computers against malware by requiring a trusted key before booting, it has presented problems for other operating systems. Many in the Linux community feared that OEM may not provide a UEFI off-switch, effectively barring Linux from running on UEFI-enabled machines but now the latest releases of many major Linux distributions include a bootloader to work with UEFI, such as Ubuntu 12.10 and Fedora 18.</div>
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Linux Foundation technical advisory board member James Bottomley has been quoted saying the following, "The Linux Foundation wishes not only to enable Linux to keep booting in the face of the new wave of secure boot systems, but also enable those technically savvy users who wish to do so to actually take control of the secure boot process by installing their own platform key. The Linux Foundation bootloader provides a hash code certified by Microsoft, and supports the infrastructure to boot a generic Linux kernel. We have in place a protocol where Microsoft hands off the initial Microsoft signed EFI binary load to separately verified EFI binary chain, which individual distributions control. We did this because our mission is to enable any bootloader in the Linux ecosystem to work with secure boot."</div>
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I am very pleased to see there is a work-around for the new UEFI firmware so that I can install Linux on a machine or motherboard destined for Windows 8. Many of the newer motherboards are coming with UEFI and secure boot so this is great news for us Linux users. Does your motherboard have UEFI and secure boot?</div>
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-Ubu out</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-75125552328968587512013-02-04T09:41:00.003-08:002013-02-06T18:12:17.654-08:00Unteathered iOS 6.0 and up Jailbreak ReleasedThanks to the hard work of a new team of hackers known as Evad3rs, the Jailbreak, called "evasi0n", works on all versions of iOS from 6.0 thru 6.1, and it supports all current iOS 6.1 devices except for the third generation Apple TV. According to the Evad3rs team the following devices are supported:<br />
iPhone 5<br />
iPhone 4S<br />
iPhone 4<br />
iPhone 3GS<br />
iPad 4<br />
iPad 3<br />
iPad 2<br />
iPad Mini<br />
iPod Touch<br />
iPod Touch 5<br />
iPod Touch 4<br />
Apple TV 2 (NOT 3rd generation)<br />
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The unteathered status means that you can safely reboot your device without having to have it "tethered" to a computer in order for it to remain jailbroken and work. The tool is available for Mac OS X (10.5 or later), Windows XP or newer, and Linux from the <a href="http://www.evasi0n.com/" target="_blank">Evasi0n Website</a>. One thing that they are suggesting is that you should update to the latest firmware for your device but not using the OTA (Over the Air) method but you should download the firmware thru iTunes and update your device through iTunes. They are also recommending that you should fully back up your data via iCloud or iTunes.<br />
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I am very excited about this as I have been waiting for an unteathered Jailbreak since I got my iPhone 4 back in December of 2011 and now I have an iPhone 4S and can't wait to "release" it from the grips of Apple so that I can take full advantage of the hardware and it's capabilities by using apps from the most popular repository for community developed applications, Cydia. Will you be jailbreaking your iOS device?<br />
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Here's a tutorial I put together which shows how to update to the latest firmware and then perform the evasi0n jailbreak within Xubuntu 12.04.<br />
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-Ubu outAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-32987331603612451232013-01-31T22:07:00.000-08:002013-01-31T22:07:25.469-08:00Black Ops II - Double Weapon XP 2-1 thru 2-3Treyarch's twitter account tweeted out at around 1 pm Central Time on 1-31-2013 that this upcoming weekend there will be Double Experience Points for Weapons.<br />
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This is great news due to the recent Revolution Map Pack release which for the very first time in Call of Duty history included a gun, the Peacekeeper. It's a Small Machine Gun and Assault Rifle Hybrid. This weekends Double Weapon XP will mean that you earn double the amount of experience points when using your weapons. This will allow you to get attachments much faster and be able to "level up" your weapons quicker. This will allow you to apply your clan tag on your gun and if you level it up again, it allows you to apply your player card emblem.<br />
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Are you excited for this weekend's Double Weapon XP?<br />
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-Ubu outAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-65945193596278826182013-01-30T08:27:00.001-08:002013-01-30T19:27:33.244-08:00Black Ops II now has embedded Twitch.tv streaming built inThe ability to stream Call of Duty Black Ops II straight to your Twitch.tv account is now possible. You will be able to stream yourself playing either League Play or Public Matchmaking. Activision worked closely with Twitch to use its SDK (Software Development Kit) to make the streaming service automatically available. It requires no additional hardware.<br />
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Gamers will only need to enter their Twitch.tv account information within Black Ops II menu to begin streaming to the Twitch.tv website and viewing apps. Twitch has a <a href="http://blog.twitch.tv/2013/01/faq-call-of-duty-black-ops-ii-twitch-integration/" target="_blank">FAQ</a> section which does state they recommend 3mbps (megabits per second, which is 3,000 kbps) upload speed from your ISP. You can determine what your upload speed is by going to <a href="http://speedtest./net" target="_blank">SPEEDTEST</a>.net. Gamers can also share their streams through various social media networks like Twitter and Facebook after you link them within the Black Ops II settings menu, allowing friends to easily tune into their gaming sessions. In addition to streaming gameplay, viewers will be able to check out additional information about broadcasters, including class loadouts, recent match statistics, as well as career statistics across all supported Call of Duty games on Call of Duty Elite.<br />
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The broadcasting capability will be available to Xbox gamers only at launch but Twitch expects the feature to soon come to PS3 and the desktop versions of the game. I was informed by twitter handle, @konaskorner, who does high quality streams of various games to Twitch, that the resolution is only 360p. In addition to the game video, users will be able to hook up headsets and xbox 360 compatible video cameras (the kinect for example) to capture their audio commentary or video reactions as they stream their multiplayer session to Twitch. Here is a short video created by an employee at Twitch who goes by the twitter handle @MrErnestLe<br />
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This is a very neat feature that will be built into Black Ops II but if you desire to provide your viewers with a better resolution than a mere 360p you'll be better off just getting a dedicated capture device and streaming through your computer. Are you excited for this new feature?<br />
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-Ubu outAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-33945016580660312112013-01-23T09:39:00.001-08:002013-01-24T04:40:28.752-08:00Call of Duty Black Ops II - DOUBLE XP 1/25<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJlRP6rC2HxdPHDXHc8s_U9ZQtS01FdpEc_uttmCMGmeAk7r38RsK442kF7FYmVzfXsy5pQhnKR_yzPpaUrePCp8hcvlq1KkTAnMmvjekrO-8ztChVVDT8EdXcFpFsYAkyow7bFETXJ-Y4/s1600/treyarch_doublexp.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="71" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJlRP6rC2HxdPHDXHc8s_U9ZQtS01FdpEc_uttmCMGmeAk7r38RsK442kF7FYmVzfXsy5pQhnKR_yzPpaUrePCp8hcvlq1KkTAnMmvjekrO-8ztChVVDT8EdXcFpFsYAkyow7bFETXJ-Y4/s400/treyarch_doublexp.png" width="400" /></a></div>
The twitter account @treyarch just tweeted out that Call of Duty Black Ops II will have DOUBLE XP for this upcoming weekend. Starting at 10am/PST on January 25th 2013 and going until January 28 at approximately 10am/PST. It will be available for all platforms including Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and the Wii.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd0TbhrrGEes62Uc3DOzNFlUQpUJuq6jrayhpg3Hqf8_JN83U_b3BvOQvHgdqHxAP0xyXY5Pm9VTa7_VuYa-4uUy1pSuycAezZuYNQmzicRY_OQ58hTKAI41OY8tCNCEAr6cZ1V9vHn0jA/s1600/Call-of-Duty-Black-Ops-2-Double-XP-Weekend-Starts-Tomorrow-January-25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd0TbhrrGEes62Uc3DOzNFlUQpUJuq6jrayhpg3Hqf8_JN83U_b3BvOQvHgdqHxAP0xyXY5Pm9VTa7_VuYa-4uUy1pSuycAezZuYNQmzicRY_OQ58hTKAI41OY8tCNCEAr6cZ1V9vHn0jA/s320/Call-of-Duty-Black-Ops-2-Double-XP-Weekend-Starts-Tomorrow-January-25.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I am very excited about this upcoming weekend because I was planning on pushing the prestige button once another DOUBLE XP weekend came around and here it is! HOORAAHHHH!!!<br />
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-Ubu outAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-73267125541668287282013-01-22T07:07:00.000-08:002013-01-22T07:07:29.971-08:00MEGA may have MEGA security issues??????For those of you who are living under a rock, Kim Dotcom launched his new file-sharing website this past weekend called <a href="http://mega.co.nz/" target="_blank">MEGA</a>. It supposedly provides 50GB of FREE online storage with encryption capabilites.<br />
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The encryption "is less then ideal", according to Allan Woodward, from the Department of Computing at the University of Surrey. It's because it is all done through Javascript within a web-browser, which means that anyone who can break the SSL encryption on Mega could get a hold of the keys. The SSL encryption being used is only 1024-bit encryption, which can be broken easier then say 2048-encryption which is viewed as best-practice amoungst security experts.<br />
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Deduplication is another area of a possible security vulnerability. Deduplicaion of encrytped data requires that information to be decrypted, repackaged and then encrytped again. Basically this means that the files have the opportunity to be seen by someone if there was a man in the middle at which point the data was in the process of being decrypted and then repackaged and encrypted again.<br />
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Mega also uses Javascript's pseudorandom-number generator to produce keys which is also an issue as it is a method known to be predictable.<br />
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Last but not least is that currently a user has no way to recover their account if they forget their password. Mega has promised to let users reset passwords soon. So if you lose or forget your password, say goodbye to your files regardless of the level of encryption.<br />
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Keeping in mind all the security issues I have listed above, will you still use Mega to house your files? I am still undecided on whether I want to use the service and if I do, what files I may store there.<br />
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-Ubu outAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-59450468675307264622013-01-19T13:14:00.003-08:002013-01-19T13:14:40.433-08:00Kim Dotcom's launches new file-sharing site, MEGAA year ago today the popular file sharing website Megaupload.com was shutdown by the United States Department of Justice following the indictment and arrests of the owners for allegedly operating as an organization dedicated to copyright infringement.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAgSPPGWCxaJXvQz9f3jXiOACMogxuZv4uKYSXkIYyRQ2TpB3T6Q5fcoNOo5tg2iZMQ7_0B0Z8b8NEsGQXprzjb9Dl3PFb2eFzmuEbt9KTbr_5CuG8cHHXgehijfgK-VjkNUK6xM5lJUu1/s1600/mega3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="94" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAgSPPGWCxaJXvQz9f3jXiOACMogxuZv4uKYSXkIYyRQ2TpB3T6Q5fcoNOo5tg2iZMQ7_0B0Z8b8NEsGQXprzjb9Dl3PFb2eFzmuEbt9KTbr_5CuG8cHHXgehijfgK-VjkNUK6xM5lJUu1/s200/mega3.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPd7gOfZogz4qQUxMmbInk9v-7sJjFwDGyIDG1KeWStaFCZ4wiMn2OSOY71XDWXwXfuCGgtfKTZIS1Hsr-gqsgA5v2237v1ulP7-K8qsNTpOMRFbFmBcllD1GtP9Zx3IV8Y7r38VryVToU/s1600/mega2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="71" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPd7gOfZogz4qQUxMmbInk9v-7sJjFwDGyIDG1KeWStaFCZ4wiMn2OSOY71XDWXwXfuCGgtfKTZIS1Hsr-gqsgA5v2237v1ulP7-K8qsNTpOMRFbFmBcllD1GtP9Zx3IV8Y7r38VryVToU/s400/mega2.png" width="400" /></a>Today Kim Dotcom, legal name being Kim Schmitz, has launched a new file-sharing site, called Mega. It's located <a href="http://mega.co.nz/" target="_blank">HERE</a> but currently I couldn't access it as it's being pounded by users. He tweeted out that he has already had 100,000 new user accounts created within the first hour.<br />
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It will provide a cloud file system, including cross-account folder sharing for easy online collaboration. The Mega service encrypts and decrypts you data transparently in your browser, on the fly. High speed parallel batch uploading and downloading with resume capability are key features of the site. Thanks to encryption, Mega can connect a large number of hosting partners around the world without worrying about privacy breaches. Everyone can go to Mega to sign up and use the service, with a basic, free offering of 50GB of storage, plus three pricing tiers with additional storage and bandwidth capacity.</div>
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I myself don't condone using pirated software, movies, or music but that's not the only use of a site like this. Will you create an account and use this new service?</div>
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-Ubu out</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-67799389348702274272013-01-15T08:27:00.001-08:002013-01-15T08:27:20.161-08:00Google+ Hangouts improves single broadcaster functionalityGoogle+ Hangouts has the ability to do a group chat with full video and audio, on the web or in mobile apps, for free which is unmatched by any other service. Group chat is great but sometimes you may want to broadcast just yourself, previously you would be displayed in the main window but also in a smaller window along the bottom which is the participant strip. If you think about it, it was quite useless to have the participant strip along the bottom if you were the only person in the hangout.<br />
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Now, for these single participant streams, Google is making it possible to push the video to the entire window, maximizing the used space. It is now the default functionality, Google has updated their Google+ Hangouts functionality so that when there is only 1 broadcaster in the hangout, they are now presented in a full window.<br />
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I think this is a great feature which will allow the screen space to utilized by a broadcaster to it's fullest potential. Hopefully someday soon I will host a Google+ Hangout to chat technology related things with my subscribers and twitter followers.<br />
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-Ubu outAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521243573422158913.post-4246345902818397502013-01-11T07:07:00.003-08:002013-01-11T07:07:40.871-08:00Google Chrome 24 promises to speed things upGoogle has released an updated version of their internet browser, Google Chrome. It's now version 24 for Windows, Linux, and Mac. There are no real new features, just speed improvements and security fixes.<br />
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The biggest improvement on the user side of things is the speed increase. Google's own Octane JavaScript test shows that this is the fastest Chrome release yet. There have been some improvements for developers, Google has made sure the HTML 5 datalist element now supports suggesting a date and time and has also added support for MaathML. On the security side Google has fixed 24, yes that's right, 24, sort of ironic don't you think, bug fixes that can be read <a href="http://build.chromium.org/f/chromium/perf/dashboard/ui/changelog.html?url=/trunk/src&range=157509:164863&mode=html" target="_blank">HERE in the SVN revision log.</a><br />
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I am excited for this new version as it appears they have fixed a lot of security issues. You can download it <a href="http://www.google.com/chrome/" target="_blank">HERE.</a> We all know that browser security is almost the most important security on your computer as that's where most exploits lay on the internet.<br />
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-Ubu outAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14262290962104734884noreply@blogger.com0