transfer photos from iphone to linux

here's a simple command to grab all photos off the iphone (tested on 4s) to linux.
apt-get install gphoto2
gphoto2 --auto-detect -P -R

Google Earth on Ubuntu 13.10

Google Earth requires ia32-libs, you'll see the following message when install Google Earth on Ubuntu 13.10:

dpkg -i google-earth-stable_current_amd64.deb

 google-earth-stable depends on ia32-libs; however:
  Package ia32-libs is not installed.

ia32-libs on 13.10 has been replaced by 3 separate packages as the following:

apt-get install ia32-libs

Reading package lists... Done

Building dependency tree       

Reading state information... Done

Package ia32-libs is not available, but is referred to by another package.

This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or

is only available from another source

However, the following packages replace it:

  lib32z1 lib32ncurses5 lib32bz2-1.0

apt-get install lib32z1 lib32ncurses5 lib32bz2-1.0

if you attempt to install google earth package again it would still complain missing ia32-libs, you can use the ignore-depends option to bypass this:
dpkg -i --ignore-depends=ia32-libs google-earth-stable_current_amd64.deb

you may need to run the following to correct some other missing packages:
apt-get install -f

In short, just copy & paste the following:
apt-get install lib32z1 lib32ncurses5 lib32bz2-1.0 ; \
dpkg -i --ignore-depends=ia32-libs google-earth-stable_current_amd64.deb ; \
apt-get install -f -y

k9copy on Ubuntu 13.10

k9copy is no longer available after Ubuntu 12.10, simply because the author does not believe in Linux anymore due to the war between different desktop & distro :-(
http://k9copy.sourceforge.net/web/index.php/en/nouveautes/12-theend
Thank you Jean-Michel for this wonderful program!

If you want to use k9copy, you can use the deb from 12.10:
64-bit:
sudo wget http://launchpadlibrarian.net/103736674/k9copy_2.3.8-3_amd64.deb

32-bit:
sudo wget http://launchpadlibrarian.net/103714201/k9copy_2.3.8-3_i386.deb

sudo apt-get -f install

Enjoy!

Picasa for Linux

Picasa for Linux was no longer supported by Google since years ago, I'm sure there are still a few people on Linux using it but they don't even provide the download files for the older version anymore. 

You can find them here:
http://packages.linuxmint.com/pool/import/p/picasa/

If the above link is no longer available, try google for the following files:

picasa_3.0.5724-01_amd64.deb	2008-Oct-27 12:21:39	29.7M	application/x-debian-package
picasa_3.0.5724-01_i386.deb	2008-Oct-27 12:20:12	29.8M	application/x-debian-package
picasa_3.0.5744-02_amd64.deb	2011-Jan-24 08:59:33	30.3M	application/x-debian-package
picasa_3.0.5744-02_i386.deb	2011-Jan-24 09:00:16	30.3M	application/x-debian-package

picasa on linux cannot gmail

first of all, I don't know why Google doesn't offer picasa linux version download anymore! it's really annoying.  Good that I kept a .deb file downloaded somewhere from the past.  With picasa installed on Ubuntu 11.10, I had problems sending out pictures through my gmail!

looking at the logs, it doesn't tell you much...
[173601742] id 1: Attempting connection type 0 (attempt 0)
[173601765] InternetQueryOption failed (87)
[173601775] Proxy information for connection: LAN Connection
Using direct connection
[173601777] InternetQueryOption failed (87)
[173601779] Proxy information for default connection:
Using direct connection
[173601786] id 1: Stream summary:
POST request: https://www.google.com/accounts/ClientAuth (0)
Modified request headers:
 Added header: Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=utf-8
Added header: Accept-Encoding: gzip

BindStatus messages received: 70,
Request made via proxy
Post data size: 112
[173601788] id 1: Error: HttpOpenRequest failed (12157)
[173601789] id 1: Failed to establish connection.  will retry if possible
[173601791] id 1: Attempting connection type 1 (attempt 1)
[173601796] id 1: Stream summary:
POST request: https://www.google.com/accounts/ClientAuth (0)

It turns out on my Ubuntu11 it's got libssl1.0.0 installed, but picasa is looking for
libssl0.9.8, so just install it picasa would work again through gmail!

apt-get install libssl0.9.8

UPDATE:
on 64-bit Ubuntu 13.10 , install the 32-bit
apt-get install libssl0.9.8:i386
also install:
apt-get install lib32nss-mdns

Ubuntu chkconfig equivalent

what's the command line service config tool in ubuntu for different runlevel?

apt-get install sysv-rc-conf

Empathy logs in Ubuntu

Empathy logs your conversation by default and it seems to store its log in different locations between different releases? on ubuntuforum thread people found it under:
~/.gnome2/Empathy/logs
~/.local/share/Empathy/logs
~/.local/share/empathy


On my Ubuntu 10.10 I found them here:

~/.local/share/TpLogger/logs

Reference: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1163726

Ubuntu 10.10 on Acer AspireOne 522

quite a few issues with Ubuntu 10.10 on AOD522


Problem #1 - it keeps hanging after login:
disable the atl1c driver and update the initramfs image:
add in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf this line
blacklist atl1c
update-initramfs -u

Problem #2 - getting AMD video driver to work:

sh ati-driver-installer-11-6-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/maverick
apt-get install -y debhelper dh-modaliases libqtgui4 execstack
sh ati-driver-installer-11-6-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/lucid
aticonfig --initial
aticonfig --resolution=0,1280x720

Problem #3 - speaker doesn't turn off after headset plugged in:

apt-get install pavucontrol
/etc/modprobe.d/options.conf
options snd-hda-intel model=laptop,dell-vostro position_fix=0,1

If you don't like the new interface with mutter, you can get the old netbook-launcher back:
apt-get install netbook-launcher-efl

using ipod shuffle under linux

I've been using gtkpod with my ipod shuffle.  A while ago, not sure what I have done when loading new songs into it, seems everything is corrupted, in gtkpod and hipo both shows the old songs, but when I play it there were only a few new songs available on the device and old ones were not in there.  Tried both gtkpod and hipo to delete the songs to start from fresh but had no luck.  At the end, command line tools does th trick, install gnupod-tools

gnupod_INIT -m /media/IPOD
gnucheck_--fixit -m /media/IPOD

Ubuntu netbook SD card reader issue in Acer AspireOne

Recently I got a new netbook Acer AspireOne D255

Installed Ubuntu 10.10, unfortunately the new clutter windows manager - mutter was a big disappointment, it has an obvious performance issue when comparing without mutter even on a slower atom processor! this made me go back to 10.04.

The new model seem to be using a different brand of SD card reader which has no driver support from linux...
lsusb shows the following:

ENE Flash

UB6250

606569746801

After google around, several of suggested grub and modprobe config changes doesn't work at all, finally found the driver has just been recently added to the kernel from version 2.6.36, which 10.04 came with 2.6.32 obviously wouldn't work.

The new kernel isn't available in the standard repository, but to add it, just follow these simple steps:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kernel-ppa/ppa 

sudo apt-get update

apt-get install linux-image-2.6.37-8-generic

reboot with the new 2.6.37-8 kernel then you'll see the SD card!

Reference:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/633852

vmware server on ubuntu 8.04 64bit

After installed vmware server 1.0.6 on ubuntu 8.04 64bit, I’ve encountered two problems:

1.
Unable to get the last modification timestamp of the destination file /etc/vmware/ssl/rui.key

solution: apt-get install ia32-libs

2.
Failed to launch vmware:
fwu@vm-master:~$ vmware
/usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware: /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1: version `GCC_3.4′ not found (required by /usr/lib32/libcairo.so.2)
/usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware: /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1: version `GCC_4.2.0′ not found (required by /usr/lib32/libstdc++.so.6)
/usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware: /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1: version `GCC_3.4′ not found (required by /usr/lib32/libcairo.so.2)
/usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware: /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1: version `GCC_4.2.0′ not found (required by /usr/lib32/libstdc++.so.6)
/usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware: /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1: version `GCC_3.4′ not found (required by /usr/lib32/libcairo.so.2)
/usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware: /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1: version `GCC_4.2.0′ not found (required by /usr/lib32/libstdc++.so.6)

solution:
fwu@vm-master:~$ sudo
mv /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1 /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1.bak
References:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=312981
http://radio.javaranch.com/davo/2008/06/18/1213791596327.html

scim doesn’t launch in firefox under ubuntu

Update the following content into these 3 files then you will be able to switch to scim input in firefox.

/etc/X11/xinit/xinput.d/scim
/etc/X11/xinit/xinput.d/none
/etc/X11/xinit/xinput.d/default

---

#
# Use “X input Method” for all applications
#
# Per Ming’s Documentation in SCIM, XIM Input Method is activated
# not only for old X-applications but also for GTK and QT application.
#
# If a user wish to use, GTK Input Method, (s)he can right-click input
# area and select “Input Methods” and change from “X input Method” to
# “SCIM Input Method”.
#

XIM=SCIM
XIM_PROGRAM=/usr/bin/scim
XIM_ARGS=”-d”
XIM_PROGRAM_SETS_ITSELF_AS_DAEMON=yes
GTK_IM_MODULE=”scim-bridge”
QT_IM_MODULE=”scim-bridge”
DEPENDS=”scim,scim-anthyscim-cannascim-chewingscim-pinyinscim-hanglescim-primescim-skkscim-tables-additionalscim-m17nscim-uimscim-tables-jascim-tables-koscim-tables-zh”

---

Reference: http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-528382.html

vmware server unable to see USB devices

vmware server under ubuntu is unable to see some USB devices
two ways to fix this:

1. execute this command:
mount -t usbfs none /proc/bus/usb

2. add the following to /etc/fstab
usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs auto 0 0

Reference:
http://www.blog.arun-prabha.com/2007/04/11/running-windows-under-ubuntu-edgy-using-vmware/

dvd burning failed in ubuntu gutsy

Not sure if this started to happen after gutsy upgrade, but DVD burning failed on random basis… until I run the following commands everytime before burning then it would be successful.

hdparm -d1 -X66 -c1 -Y /dev/hdc
hdparm /dev/hdc

k3b startup failed in Ubuntu

This is another bad side effect after an update in Ubuntu Gutsy.
For some reason k3b failed to startup and it was working right before the packages update! I kept on getting the following error:

X Error: BadDevice, invalid or uninitialized input device 159
Major opcode: 148
Minor opcode: 3
Resource id: 0×0
Failed to open device
X Error: BadDevice, invalid or uninitialized input device 159
Major opcode: 148
Minor opcode: 3
Resource id: 0×0
Failed to open device
kdecore (KLocale): WARNING: Definition of PluralForm is none of NoPlural/TwoForms/French/OneTwoRest/Russian/Polish/ Slovenian/Lithuanian/Czech/Slovak/Arabic/Balcan/Ma cedonian/Gaeilge/Maltese: Definition of PluralForm - to be set by the translator of kdelibs.po

I have tried to reinstall k3b, kdelibs and etc. Nothing helped, luckliy I found the following threads:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4409467 http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=695073&page=2
The solution was:
sudo apt-get remove language-pack-kde-en

It seems language-pack-kde-en cause some conflict during k3b startup when your ubuntu has other languages installed.

ubuntu gutsy keyboard delay problem

My keyboard started acting really weird after upgraded to Ubuntu Gutsy 7.10. There is a noticeable delay between key strokes, or sometimes the keys repeated itself like crazy. This strange behaviour was really annoying and drove me nuts. After googling and tried to fix it myself, none of the solution fixed my problem. Eventually I discovered the following message kept on repeating in /var/log/messages

usb 1-2: reset low speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 5

I tried to unplug my USB mouse and webcam, changed them into another USB ports then the messages stopped. Apparently that was the cause of the keyboard issue and more! I had failed to burn several DVDs with k3b and other burning tools previously, it was also contributed by this crazy USB port behaviour. Still not sure what is this problem, perhaps incompatibility with some USB ports on the motherboard or my USB port has problems…