Mount your Android Smartphones on Ubuntu 14.04

First of all, install the MTP packages. Fire your terminal and type in the following commands

sudo apt-get install libmtp-common mtp-tools libmtp-dev libmtp-runtime libmtp9
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Next, make changes to the fuse.conf (facilitates in creation of a custom file system) file. More on FUSE
Use any text editor to make changes:

gksu gedit /etc/fuse.conf

The contents in the file would look like this:

#/etc/fuse.conf - Configuration file for Filesystem in Userspace (FUSE)

#Set the maximum number of FUSE mounts allowed to non-root users.
#The default is 1000.
#mount_max = 1000

# Allow non-root users to specify the allow_other or allow_root mount options. 
# user_allow_other

Change the last line of the file from ...
# user_allow_other
... to
user_allow_other

Do not edit the rest of the file. Now save the file contents of fuse.conf.

In terminal, type in:

lsusb

I get the following output:

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:8000 Intel Corp. 
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:8008 Intel Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 005: ID 0cf3:3004 Atheros Communications, Inc. 
Bus 003 Device 004: ID 046d:c31c Logitech, Inc. Keyboard K120 for Business
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 046d:c245 Logitech, Inc. G400 Optical Mouse
> Bus 003 Device 009: ID 0fce:01aa Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB <
Bus 003 Device 007: ID 03f0:2d12 Hewlett-Packard 
Bus 003 Device 006: ID 0424:2514 Standard Microsystems Corp. USB 2.0 Hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 174f:1474 Syntek 
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Bus 003 Device 009: ID 0fce:01aa Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is the one we should be interested in.

Note that 0fce is the Vendor ID and 01aa is the Product ID.

Now that we know the Vendor ID and the Product ID. We can proceed to make changes in the MTP udev rules.

gksu gedit /lib/udev/rules.d/69-mtp.rules

Then add the following lines of code:

#Sony Xperia M2
ATTR{idVendor}=="0fce", ATTR{idProduct}=="01aa", SYMLINK+="libmtp-%k", ENV{ID_MTP_DEVICE}="1", ENV{ID_MEDIA_PLAYER}="1" 

Note that I have used my device's Vendor ID and Product ID here. Remember to change it your device's Vendor ID and Product ID.

Next, make changes to the 51 android rules. Open the 51-android.rules file

gksu gedit /lib/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules

Now add the below line, and save the file.

ATTR{idVendor}=="0fce", ATTR{idProduct}=="01aa", MODE=”0666"

Note that I have used my device's Vendor ID and Product ID here. Remember to change it your device's Vendor ID and Product ID.

Next, unplug any USB device from your PC, and issue the following command in the terminal.

sudo service udev restart

Now, plug in your smartphone device. You should be able to access the filesystem for transfer and viewing. If you still can't access the filesystem, check if your phone screen is unlocked (by drawing a pattern or by providing a pin number). If you still cannot access the phone filesystem, reboot your PC and try again.

GNOME 3.0 for Ubuntu 11.04 users (Natty Narhwal)

Well, I have been an avid user of the previous GNOME 2.3 desktop. I was satisfied with it. I thought what else could fit into this environment, but it turns out that GNOME 3.0 has taken over this hysteria in me. GNOME 3.0 is cool! GNOME 3.0 is written from scratch, unlike previous versions.(They were just improvised versions of their previous counterparts.) GNOME 3.0 is fast,robust and reliable. Switch between windows, workspace management (switch through different workspaces faster). A single click will either create or delete a workspace. Overall, I am satisfied with the performance.

Well, let's install GNOME 3.0. First launch the terminal, login as a "root" user. Now, type in the commands one after the other :

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install gnome-shell

Restart your machine, and select GNOME 3.0 at the login prompt.

In case you did not like GNOME 3.0, all you need to do is to launch terminal, login as "root"

user, and type in: 

sudo ppa-purge ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3,  

And restart your computer!!

That's it, you are good to install/uninstall GNOME 3.0! Enjoy.

Please don't hesitate to write to me at nitinclix@gmail.com 

2Click Update

A superb utility to maintain and install updates!! 2ClickUpdate is an useful package for users who don't seem to get a hang on repos and package lists. I have been using this app for about a week now, and I must say, superb indeed. A total hassle free management of package lists, installs the latest updates and libraries (of course with prior permission of the user), and the most impressive feature is that it removes dependencies that are no more needed. Yup, most important, RAM performance is good ever since I installed this package!! Give it a try and you will love it!!

1. First, download the package, click here to download.
2. After you have downloaded the package, launch terminal, login as 'root' user, navigate to the folder which contains the .deb file and execute the following command: 

                              sudo dpkg -i 2ClickUpdate_6.0_all.deb

   3.  Once installed, you will find this extremely useful package under
                    Applications >> System Tools >> 2Click Update.

Enjoy,
Cheers,
If you have any suggestions in your mind, please leave a comment, or send an email to nitinclix@gmail.com.

BleachBit: Delete unnecessary files!!

Offlate, I am bumping into an Ubuntu which isn't quite fast. I have a CQ60 machine, loaded with Ubuntu 10.10. While I was thinking of all possible reasons for it's unusual slowness, I came up with a vague idea- "Hey!! Linux also does some amount of processing enough to generate files (junk files and cookies)" So here I was searching the Ubuntu Software Center (hail the USC and Ubuntu developers, I just love the USC!), and found a handy tool - BleachBit!! Analogous to the "MS Windows Disk Cleanup Utility", BleachBit lets you delete Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, unused packages and helps free up valuable disk space in Ubuntu.

Let's go through the installation steps, shall we?

1. Well first navigate to Ubuntu Software Center, type in "BleachBit" in the search box.
2. Click on install.
3. You can find this app under Applications >> System Tools >> BleachBit

That's it, easy as 1,2,3...!!

If you need assistance on how to run this application, do leave a comment and I will help you out!!

Offline Dictionary on Ubuntu 10.10

I was ever wondering if there is a way we can have a offline dictionary on Ubuntu 10.10, just like WordWeb or any other dictionary software that we could use on Ubuntu. After all the toil and work, I figured out that we indeed can have an offline dictionary on Ubuntu 10.10 (Note: This method works on Ubuntu 9.10 as well, haven't tested this on Ubuntu 10.04 and only applicable to GNOME environment). First of all we need an internet connection. This is how I installed the offline dictionary:
1. Launch "Terminal" and login as root user.
2.Type in without quotes "sudo apt-get install dictd" in the terminal.
3. Wait for the installation to complete, again type "sudo apt-get install dict-gcide" in terminal without quotes.
4.Wait for the installation to complete. It is a 23 MB package and will install dictionary definitions, while command at 3 will install the dictionary server.
5. Rest is a cakewalk. Now open the gnome-dictionary from Applications -> Office -> Dictionary
6. Go to Edit -> Preference, in the Preference dialog, click on Add.
7. Change the Description to Local Server and the host to 127.0.0.1 and click on Add again.
8.Select Local Server from the list in the preference dialog and close.
Done!

Make Firefox more faster!!

It's been two long months since I posted anything on my blog. There were a few things which kept me pre-occupied :P

Well, today I will throw some light on making Mozilla Firefox work faster!!

First of all, it's just a mere experiment I performed on my Compaq CQ 60 machine, and it worked The main motivation was to keep my web browser in sync with the Internet connection I have. Everytime I make a request the "request-time" keeps ticking, once when "request-time" is elapsed, there's another try to fetch the request, imagine working on a slow Internet connection, it would never fetch your request, or,  worse, "Page cannot be displayed" pops up!! Bugs me everytime!!

What happens with these "light weight browsers" is that they make a request packet lighter, in other words, they truncate all unwanted headers from a packet, hence making the packet light, so lighter the packet, easy it is to suit the bandwidth of the client and the server!! Our attempt is to tweak the application so that it fetches the information efficiently!!

PS:Note that every command or instruction that I provide here goes "without quotes"!!

1)Now open Firefox, in the address bar type in "about:config", there will be a notification button "I'll be careful, I promise", click on it.

2)In search bar type in "network.http.pipelining", you will see a list of results, double click on network.http.pipelining to set it's value to true.

3)Next, right click on an empty in your web browser, select "New"> select "Boolean", you will now see a dialog box,go ahead and type "network.http.pipelining.firstrequest" and set that to true as well.

4)Locate "network.http.maxrequests" by typing it in the search bar, double click and set it's value to 8.

5)Now, right click on an empty space, select "New" > select "Integer" and type "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and set it to 0 (zero), create another integer, name it "content.notify.interval"; set it to 0 (zero).

6)That's it, restart your browser, and feel the difference!!

Comments, welcome!!
nitinclix@gmail.com

Nautilus: Ubuntu's File browser!!

If you've ever used Windows 9x or Vista or Windows 7, try this, hit Windows key and R simultaneously, you will see the "Run" dialog pop up, now type "explorer.exe" (without quotes), you will see a whole new window in front of you on the screen. Windows manages its file browsing mechanism through explorer. Ubuntu uses Nautilus for file browsing. Nautilus is great, but we have to perform a make over to make the best use of Ubuntu. Nautilus-elementary is the name of the package which lets you browse files, every window has a zoom slider, window edges are smooth, cool breadcrumb feature and horizontal / vertical toolbar (to name a few functionalities).

Watch the video and get a glimpse of what Nautilus Elementary can do!! Enjoy!!
(Source:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JKDACNW620)

Now, let's go through the installation process:
Launch terminal, login as root. Type in these commands one after the other in order as it appears below:
1.sudo add-apt-repository ppa:am-monkeyd/nautilus-elementary-ppa
2.sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
3.nautilus -q
That's it, we're done!! Restart your machine, and enjoy the Nautilus experience!!

(The following process is for Karmic and Lucid users alone)
All my Lucid and Karmic users can install Nautilus Elementary by, launching Terminal, log in as root and type in the commands in the order of appearance:

1.sudo add-apt-repository ppa:am-monkeyd/nautilus-elementary-ppa
2.sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
3.nautilus -q

To install Breadcrumbs, launch terminal, log in as root and type in the following commands one after the other

1.cd
2.wget http://gnaag.k2city.eu/nautilus-breadcrumbs-hack.tar.gz
3.tar -xvf nautilus-breadcrumbs-hack.tar.gz

Next, open Nautilus file browser and goto Edit - Preferences - Tweaks, and Tick the show like breadcrumbs option.
Now restart Nautilus by typing
"nautilus -q" in the terminal window.

That's it we are done!! Enjoy, and don't forget to comment on this blog post. If you have any issues regarding Ubuntu 10.10 mail me at nitinclix@gmail.com

Cheers!!!

Unity 2D(Qt)... Linux's answer to Windows eye candy features!!!

Hi,

Today I will throw some light on Unity 2D(Qt), a superb graphical feature available in Ubuntu 10.10. All you need is an Internet access, and we are done by entering a few lines of commands in the terminal. 

P.S: Installing this will be at your own risk, I am not responsible if the kernel breaks, as it is a daily build.

But believe me, I have been using Unity for almost 5 months now, so far there's been no complain about it.

Launch terminal, login as root, and type in the following commands one after the other: 

1.sudo add-apt-repository ppa:unity-2d-team/unity-2d-daily

2.sudo apt-get update

3.sudo apt-get install unity-2d-default-settings

4.sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Let's have a quick look at the Unity 2D feature, well, I haven't told you much about it, Unity 2D is a desktop session(interface) just like Gnome desktop session. It's incredibly fast (faster than Unity 3D) and light. Works great on Ubuntu 10.10. The next distro of Ubuntu 11.04 will have Unity 2D as an option, this means you don't have to download the Unity package, you can use it straightaway in Ubuntu 11.04, I can't wait to get my hands on Ubuntu 11.04!!!

How do you USE Unity 2D??

When logging in, select "Unity Qt" instead of the regular Ubuntu Desktop session.
 

Here's a video on Unity 2D, enjoy!! (Source:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJzk4KR3zpg)

Trivia:

Know what PPA is, click here.

Missing battery applet and network applets!!!

Hi,

I am writing this new post of mine, because most of the users complain that the notification applets go missing in Ubuntu 10.10. This is one aspect that Ubuntu developers should have taken more care of. It so happens that sometimes you don't see the shutdown button, or worse the shutdown button becomes no more clickable. It irks me sometimes as well. Just in case your shutdown button becomes inoperable, run terminal and type "shutdown now" (without quotes), this is as good as "Shutdown" button. As I was speaking about the missing applets on your gnome desktop, there are a few methods to make them re-appear.

Make the "networkmanager" applet re-appear.

Method 1

Launch terminal type “sudo edit /etc/NetworkManager/nm-system-settings.conf” look for something like“managed=false”, change this to “managed=true”  and then save it.

In terminal type “killall nm-system-settings” and then reboot.

Method 2

Right click on Panel>Add to panel>Notification Area (Look at the picture below)

Method 3
Hit Alt+F2, this opens Run Application window. In the Run Application textbox type "nm-applet --sm-disable" (without quotes) and click Run. This ideally should bring the Network Manager in the notification area, if it does not, reboot your machine.

Secondly, to make the battery applet re-appear:

(Look at the image above.)

Right click on Panel>Add to panel>Indicator Applet

To make bluetooth applet re-appear:

Launch terminal and type "sudo bluetoothd -u" (without quotes).

If you have deleted the panel ignorantly, then launch terminal, login as root (sudo su root), and type in these commands one by one:

• gconftool --recursive-unset /apps/panel

• rm -rf ~/.gconf/apps/panel

• pkill gnome-panel 

You should have the panel back. Don't forget to send in your views to nitinclix@gmail.com.

Or leave a comment. Thanks and Cheers!!!

Install drivers of Wireless card of your laptop.

Hi,

I am here writing again to let you folks know that you can actually let Ubuntu 10.10 detect the firmware/driver of your laptop's wireless card. You need an Internet connection, you can choose to have a wired connection or mount your mobile phone (I could mount my Nokia 2690, and use Internet to update my Ubuntu distro!!) Once connected, navigate to System menu on your desktop, then choose "Administration" and then "Additional Drivers". This will take a while depending on the the speed of the internet. Once it's done, a dialog will pop up asking you to activate a driver, select the required driver (Usually, the driver name and it's description would appear in the bottom pane) and click on "Activate" and you are done. Restart your machine, and right click on the wireless applet, choose "Enable Wireless".

If you are still lost, then run terminal type in "lspci>res.txt" (without quotes) and hit enter. Now, navigate to your "Home Folder", you will find this "res.txt" file. Email it to me as an attachment.

You can mail me at nitinclix@gmail.com, I will reply to you at the earliest.

Cheers until then!!!

What is ALSA?

Well, ALSA is the acronym for Advanced Linux Sound Architecture. ALSA provides audio functionality for Linux operating system. It even has MIDI functionality. ALSA is a fully modularized sound driver. It supports all types of audio interfaces. 

To know if you sound card is compatible or not, click here.

To "test" your sound card, click here.

Click here to download.

For documentation, click here.

Typically, the ALSA is already installed in your Ubuntu 10.10 distro or Open SuSe 11.3 distro.Sometimes your desktop/laptop might not play sound files or video files as desired, or there can be no audio output, this is how you configure ALSA in case your sound card is not functioning as expected.

Run terminal and type "/sbin/alsa " where choice can be:

• unload, or
• reload, or
• force-unload, or
• force-reload, or
• suspend, or
• resume

I will update this post with the functionality of each of the options.
Cheers!!

 

"wget"

For all of those who are new to Ubuntu Linux, there is a free,non interactive downloader package. Unlike IDM's or Orbit, you don't get to see a GUI in wget. all you do is run terminal, and type in wget. The syntax of wget is:
wget http://www.someurl.com/somefile.txt

For eg: I need to download a file say abcd.pdf from website http://www.xyz.com, so the url would look something like this:
"http://www.xyz.com/abcd.pdf", copy this url, and type "wget http://www.xyz.com/abcd.pdf" (without quotes) in your terminal window and hit enter, this will download the pdf file in your "Home Folder"

Do it yourself, run terminal, type in
" wget http://www.asel.udel.edu/speech/tutorials/acoustics/wsq_ap7.wav", and see what happens.


Enjoy downloading!!!