Trying to learn something new every day!
Posts tagged linux
Qt/PyQt 4 initialization failed when installing hplip
1If you found this error running hp-setup or diagnosed when running hp-check, just install python2-qt package. Run this on your terminal:
# pacman -S python2-qt
hp-check will give you all the diagnostic you’ll need to install your printer/scanner, in my case HP Officejet 4500, on your Arch installation.
VMWare Player modules update fails after kernel update linux-3.1.0-4-ARCH
0Again some issues with kernel updates when build wmware modules:
In action...
Bye Gnome 3, hello Xfce
0After 2 months using Gnome 3 I’ve reached my patient limits (Linus did the same) with all the desktop limitations, buggy shell extensions, etc. It looks nice, isn’t slow as some talk about, but it’s not practical for users that like having full control over the desktop.
In my case the most annoying ‘un-features’ is the fact that we don’t have control over the notification area and also multi-monitor is so bad, you cannot get control over the notification area that goes always to the 2nd screen.
VMWare Player 3.1.14 fails to start/build on kernel 3.0
0Yesterday I’ve made the big change updating to kernel 3.0 on my arch installation. One side effect, the only so far, was the fact that my VMWare Player was not loading. On all kernel updates VMWare loader detects kernel version changes, updates/recompile all it’s binaries and than loads without any problems, but this time it didn’t and was returning the error ‘Unable to initialize kernel module configuration’.
Fortunately, as always, the Arch community found the cause and the solution very fast. The problem relies on VMWare module builder not handling correctly the new version layout. In Order to fix an easy solution is to patch two binaries:
# sed 's/\x83\xe8\x03\x83\xf8\x01\x0f\x96\xc0/\x83\xe8\x02\x83\xf8\x01\x0f\x96\xc0/' -i /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware-modconfig-console.so/libvmware-modconfig-console.so # sed 's/\x83\xe8\x03\x83\xf8\x01\x0f\x96\xc0/\x83\xe8\x02\x83\xf8\x01\x0f\x96\xc0/' -i /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libvmware-modconfig.so/libvmware-modconfig.so
Here you can find the solution posted on Arch Wiki.
Cannot move dialog windows on Gnome 3
1There are those who hate, other who love and others that really don’t care why dialog windows have strange borders and don’t allow you to move them grabbing the title bar, oh wait 
, where is the title bar?
The solution is simple: gconf-editor to the rescue. Just open gconf-editor and untick /desktop/gnome/shell/windows/attach_modal_dialogs. Press Alt + F2, type r and press Enter (reloads gnome shell). Now you have the normal behavior back.
In case of using Arch, my home distro in this case, you need to install gconf-editor. Very easy with pacman:
$ sudo pacman -S gconf-editor
or
# pacman -S gconf-editor
Boost your Linux with preload
0preload is an adaptive readahead daemon. It monitors applications that users run, and by analyzing this data, predicts what applications users might run, and fetches those binaries and their dependencies into memory for faster startup times.
Install (for debian based distros) easily running this simple command in terminal:
sudo apt-get install preload
After installed the service will start without requiring additional actions. Several options are available. Using help switch (- – help or -h) to get help.
I’ve test on Ubuntu Natty 11.04 x64 and on Mint Julia 10 x64. On Mint, I must say, application launch improved a lot.
Why I write very trivial posts about linux in general?
0I believe there is a need for simpler information about the great distros we have available today. Why? I’m a Windows guy, at least for a bit more years, and I need to understand a completely different system. I’m not saying that we don’t have good information available, we have a lot, starting on the great forums/wiki’s that exist for all the major distros, but some times it could be hard to understand for basic linux users like me 
This is also a way to instruct my self, sharing my findings, trivial or not.
I’m very green on linux, that is, I’ve been using Windows since DOS + Windows 3.1 (still using Windows 7 x64 virtualized) and what I know, at “terminal” level, is the traditional command line (CMD). Right know, almost a year after starting to give real attention to Windows alternative, I have a very clear perspective about Windows v.x command line capabilities: it is really far far away from terminal.
How-to: List folder size on terminal
0For this task we have DU command available. Short usage example, list a folder size in GB typing and pressing enter:
du MyFolder/ -h -s
-h stands for human readable, that is the output would’t be bytes but in GB or MB and for that more readable;
-s stands for summarize. If not supplied all the objects inside the folder will be listed with the corresponding size.
To learn more about DU just type du –help or man du on your terminal window. Note to exit man hit ctrl+z.
How-to: Remove Fortune messages in the Terminal (Linux Mint 10 ‘Julia’)
0If you have the common feeling that fortune messages and very annoying, in particular if you use terminal on may occasions like me, just turn them off. Step-by-step:
- Open a terminal;
- Type:
gksu gedit /etc/bash.bashrc
or
sudo gedit /etc/bash.bashrc
- Go to the end of the file and remove the line /usr/games/fortune or comment (using #);
- Save the file.
Open a new terminal and fortune is gone for good.
