Tools for Manipulating .pdf’s

Posted on July 31, 2009 by phh

While working on a site recently had a need to manipulate .pdf files. I found pdftk (http://www.accesspdf.com/pdftk/) and swftools (http://www.swftools.org/) to be useful.

Swftools have been updated recently and for Ubuntu users Karmic Koala (9.10) will be the way to easily get the new version. I used it to convert the .pdf to a flash (.swf) file that allows to user to flip through the (.pdf) pages on the web site.

I also just used GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/) to convert the individual pages to .jpg image files and used slimbox2 (http://www.digitalia.be/software/slimbox2) to display them as a javascript powered slideshow.

http://www.dhc-1flyer.com
http://www.dhc-1flyer.com/preview2.html (flash flip book)
http://www.dhc-1flyer.com/preview.html (slimbox2 slideshow)

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Tweaking the rt2500pci for Jaunty

Posted on April 25, 2009 by phh

With the release of Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) it is time to dust off the tweaks I perform with each new version.

I have a few RaLink rt2500 based wireless (wifi) pci adapters from MSI . One issue I tweak for is well known and is due to the way the driver is initialised in the kernel at 1Mb/s instead of 54Mb/s.

The other problem is related to suspend. It is nice to see that suspend and resume is working so well in Jaunty. Unfortunately the rt2500pci doesn’t seem to wake up after resuming from suspend.

It appears that there is an easy solution for the rt2500pci or the hard way. The easy solution is to install linux-backports-modules-jaunty (sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-jaunty).

Problems solved.

(August 26, 2009 – Well not always. I seem to have to use the procedure below to get my machine to return from suspend without locking up.)

The more difficult (not recommended – but works more reliably for me) methods:

1) The old solution for the network connection speed was to type the following in the terminal:

sudo gedit /etc/rc.local

and add the line:

/sbin/iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M

Make sure it is before “exit 0″ and save it. After the next restart it should be operating at full speed. To make it happen sooner than after the next restart you can run this command in your favourite terminal:

sudo /sbin/iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M

and then uncheck and recheck “wireless networking” in the Network Manager Applet.

2) The old solution for suspend/resume was to add a file to the /etc/pm/config.d directory:

sudo gedit /etc/pm/config.d/rt2500pci

and add the line:

SUSPEND_MODULES="rt2500pci"

The file name can be whatever you want it to be but go ahead and save it and then after the next restart it should wake from suspend properly.

* Updated August 26, 2009 – Second set of procedures work better for me.

Posted in Desktop PC's, linux, netbook, networking, Tech Trouble, ubuntu, voip, wireless | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Looking Forward To Jaunty Netbook Remix

Posted on April 21, 2009 by phh

I have been working with Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) Beta and Release Candidate for a few weeks now and I am looking forward to the final release on April 23, 2009. I am particularly interested in the “Netbook Remix” version for my Acer Aspire One (and my Dell Mini 9). It has been testing well and performance improvements are welcome.

In my last post I was fairly frustrated with kernel support for the ath5k wifi chipset in my Acer Aspire One netbook. I had gone to the extent of replacing my wireless adapter with less than desirable results. I removed the hardware modifications (including the memory upgrade) and reinstalled Linpus Lite that shipped with the aao and returned to reliable operation. Although Linpus Lite works well with the aao and I was able to add most of the applications I wanted, I like (miss) the convenience of the Ubuntu repository and the support of the Ubuntu Community.

With the opportunity to try out Ubuntu 9.04 Beta I was pleased to notice the Netbook Remix version. The experience is still not free of tweaking and those with SSD (flash memory) storage will probably want perform additional changes to optimize performance and reduce unnecessary writes to the drive. As always, it is a good idea use the suggestions found at the Ubuntu Community web site for the Acer Aspire One. I usually perform a clean install rather than upgrading.

Wireless is now working reliably for me using the ath5k module. I have blacklisted ath_pci and acer_wmi in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist as suggested in the community documentation. I have the led working for wifi by installing linux-backports-modules-jaunty (sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-jaunty). Starting and shutdown is noticeably faster than the previous version of Ubuntu and suspend/resume is working well. Sound support is improved but be sure to pay attention to suggestions in the community documentation. The only other thing left is the right SD card reader which won’t hot plug yet but will work if you plug in the memory card before starting the machine. There is always hope that this will be solved by the time the final version is released.

At this point I will be switching back to Ubuntu 9.04 on my Acer Aspire One. I have even reinstalled the memory upgrade so that it has 1GB and will disable swapping so that I can reclaim the space a swap partition would have used on the SSD. I have fixed my problem with the keyboard not catching along the top by slightly bending the tabs on the top of the keyboard so that it catches the plastic of the case as it is supposed to and it feels nice and solid now. I am liking my aao again!

** UPDATE Apr. 24, 2009 – Wireless works “out of the box” without the need to blacklist the above mentioned modules. AspireOne Ubuntu Community Documentation has been updated to reflect this.

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Oops, Not So Fast

Posted on February 5, 2009 by phh

A few days after installing the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Mini PCI Express Adapter the Acer Aspire One stopped working. It would make it through the POST. It wouldn’t boot up either with the SSD or from Flash. I wasn’t sure if it was the memory expansion or the wireless adapter so I bit the bullet and prepared to send the system in for warranty service. I opened it up (yet again) and removed the memory upgrade and reinstalled the Atheros (AR5BXB63) wireless adapter. I reinstalled the factory version of Linpus Lite. It worked.

Acer Aspire One vs Dell Mini 9 Above ViewIt has continued to work for almost 2 months. I have decided to not waste any more time futzing with the aao and Ubuntu. I don’t want to crack open the case again since I am sure that if I do I will break something. The keyboard doesn’t catch along the top so it doesn’t feel solid any more. But it is working reliably.

The Dell Mini 9 has been working very well. Both with Ubuntu 8.10 and Ubuntu Netbook Remix and Windows XP. I am able to dual boot but there is not a great deal of elbow room with 8GB. I have almost a GB with windows and about 600MB with the Ubuntu partition left over. It would have been better to order it with 16GB for a dual boot machine. Still waiting for the flood of cheap ssd’s to appear.

I have been experimenting with running XP on-board and Ubuntu on a 8GB OCZ Rally2 USB flash drive but it is noticeably slower than the on-board STEC ssd. I would have preferred to run XP on the USB flash drive but that is of course not permitted/supported by Microsoft. I have been using the built in web cam with Google video chat which is only supported on Windows at this point.

If I was to do this over again I would have just bought the Dell Mini 9. I have found it to be a much more Ubuntu 8.10 friendly netbook than the Acer Aspire One. It required much less work getting it to work with Ubuntu. It is completely silent (I may be crying about thermal issues in the summer). The Dell Mini 9 is a bit smaller than the aao and should be easier to upgrade if I need to.

Posted in Buying Technology, linux, netbook, Quiet Computing, Tech Trouble, ubuntu, windows, wireless | Leave a comment

Fixed Wireless on Acer Aspire One

Posted on December 9, 2008 by phh

I feel like I have cheated. I have found a solution to the general flakiness of wireless on the One.

Wireless has been troublesome on the Acer Aspire One (aao). Kernel 2.6.27 support has been a “work in progress” but it still has a way to go. After the last update at the end of November I had found ath5k to be flaky at best. I would often have to shutdown and remove the battery before wireless would work. Often these bouts of flakiness would occur after resuming from suspend.

My solution has been to replace the Atheros (AR5BXB63) wireless adapter with an Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Mini PCI Express Adapter (WM3945AGM1WB). The flakiness has disappeared. The LED wifi indicator works. I am sure that eventually ath5k will work but I don’t want to wait.

Posted in linux, netbook, networking, ubuntu, wireless | Leave a comment

No Wireless After 2.6.27-9 Kernel Update

Posted on November 28, 2008 by phh

After the update to kernel version 2.6.27-9 on Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex), wireless stopped working on my Acer Aspire One. I added ath_pci to the blacklist in /etc/modprobe.d:

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist

and added to the bottom:

blacklist ath_pci

Saved and rebooted and now wireless is working again.

* Update – It appears I have spoken too soon. After another reboot I now have no joy with wireless again.

I have found that intermittently and usually after resuming from suspend, I need to shut down and disconnect both the power cord and the battery before wireless will work again. I have also removed linux-backports-modules-intrepid and wireless seems to be working again.

sudo apt-get remove linux-backports-modules-intrepid
sudo apt-get autoremove

**UPDATE – The Ubuntu community documentation also adds a line to /sbin/modprobe ath5k to /etc/init.d/rc. Thanks Stefan Oppl, hope it helps!

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A Tale of Three Power Supplies

Posted on November 21, 2008 by phh

I recently had the opportunity to try out the Antec New Solution NSK2480 Desktop Case which includes the Antec EarthWatts 380 power supply. The EarthWatts 380 is an 80Plus certified power supply and access to it gave me the opportunity to compare it with my trusty old 305W Dell power supply (NPS-305BB) and the PicoPSU 90 DC-DC power supply.

80Plus is a standard that guarantees that the power supply is at least 80% or greater energy efficient at 20%, 50% and 100% of the rated load. All power supplies waste a certain amount of power, usually in the form of heat. I had an older power supply that typically wasted about 22 watts and have since removed it from service. 80Plus is an effort to reduce that waste by encouraging manufacturers to raise their minimum standards for efficiency.

On the Quiet & Efficient PC I tried each of the three power supplies. This PC has a Biostar TF7050-M2 Motherboard, AMD Athlon X2 BE-2300 processor, 2 x 1GB 667 Mhz DDR2 Memory, LG GSA-4163B DVD-RW Drive, Seagate Momentus 5400.3 2.5″ 120GB SATA Hard Drive and it is running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 and recent Nvidia graphics drivers.

As mentioned in the past, with the PicoPSU-90 DC-DC Power Supply & 80W AC-DC External Power Supply the PC idled at 26W and ran benchmarks at 56W. With the EarthWatts 380 it idled at 32W and with the Dell 305W power supply it idled at 38W. In my testing in the past my non-80Plus power supply (Dell 305W) has been fairly consistent at using about 10-12 more watts when compared to the ~96% efficient PicoPSU 90. It is interesting that the EarthWatts 380 in this case saved about 6W compared to the Dell 305W. If you run a computer 24×7 that would yield only about $5 to $6 in electricity savings per year. So if they are about the same price, by all means buy the one that is 80Plus. I shouldn’t have to pay a premium for one, though.

As customers become aware of 80Plus this should not be an issue as they demand and seek 80Plus compliant products. To stay competitive, more manufacturers are adopting 80Plus compliant power supplies as a standard across their product lines. I have tried power supplies in the past that were much less efficient than the Dell 305W model I have been testing. Buying a power supply that is 80Plus certified will guarantee that it is at least 80% efficient. With anything else, who knows?

Another thing to keep in mind regarding power supplies is how quiet they are. The Dell and the EarthWatts 380 are quiet but they are not silent. The PicoPSU is totally silent since it has no cooling fan. The Silent PC Review Reference Section has great suggestions for quiet power supplies.

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Auto Login Prompts for Keyring Password for Wireless Connection

Posted on November 20, 2008 by phh

The kitchen computer is configured to login auto magically using an unprivileged user account. It is using Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) and it has the annoying habit of asking for the password to allow access to the local keyring for the wireless key. As it turns out, the solution is to use one of the new features in Network Manager. That is to use the “System Setting” option in the “Network Connections” dialog in Network Manager. Make sure you have your wireless key handy and ready for copying and pasting. If you need a good key why not visit Gibson Research Corporation and get a perfect key. If you do, you will need to change it on all your devices that use the wireless network.

To get there you would right click the Network Manager tray icon on the upper left and then select “Edit Connections“. Then click on the “Wireless” tab. Click on the wireless network you have previously created or create a new one. At the top of the dialog make sure the “Connect automatically” and “System setting” options are checked. Click on Ok to save the settings. To make this change you will have to use an account that has the rights to make administrative changes or it will ask you to authenticate using such an account.

You may need remove the keyring entry as well “Applications->Accessories->Password and Encryption Keys“. Click on the “Passwords” tab, click on the key for your wireless connection and then click on “Edit->Delete Key” and then “Key->Quit“. Now after a restart, if everything worked out well, the system should login to your wireless network without regard for who is logged in.

I am not sure when they added this feature to Network Manager, I haven’t noticed it before. It is a feature that I would have switched to Wicd to have and still might if I was not using Gnome as my display manager. This feature also allows the machine to connect if the display manager is shutdown or if there is no one logged in which is useful if you are running some services that need to be available to the network.

For those who are interested in the background in the picture. It is among the standard Gnome backgrounds that can be installed using the following:

sudo apt-get install gnome-backgrounds

It is one of the png based backgrounds called “Flow” but with the background changed to green.

* April 14, 2009 – For Jaunty Jackalope (Ubuntu 9.04) Check the “Available to all users” check box at the bottom of the edit network connections dialog window.

Posted in linux, networking, Tech Trouble, ubuntu, wireless | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Dual Boot Clock Problem

Posted on November 19, 2008 by phh

On machines that dual boot linux and windows you could have problems with the proper time on the real time clock on the computer. For example, I have a few machines that normally run windows but I periodically run them as mythbuntu diskless clients. When running windows the time is “correct” and when running as a mythbuntu diskless client it is off by about 4 or 5 hours.

The reason for this is that different operating systems make assumptions about what the real time clock in the computer should be set at (also called the hardware clock). Windows assumes that the real time clock is set at the local time. Many unix like operating systems assume that the real time clock is set at Coordinated Universal Time (UTC, Temps Universel Coordonné). Both operating system types also keep track of the time zone the computer is in and normally adjusts the clock as required.

One possible solution to this dual boot problem would be to adjust windows to use UTC on the real time clock. To do this you would need to add a value to the registry. For those who are unfamiliar with editing the registry on a windows computer please be cautious. Make a backup first and understand that it is possible to really mess up your configuration if you are not careful.

You need to create a DWORD value of “RealTimeIsUniversal” in “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation\” and you need to set its value to “1“. Restart the machine and go into the CMOS setup and adjust the time manually to UTC.

Some windows programs may not respect the windows registry setting. It is also possible to set the mythbuntu/ubuntu/debian machine to use local time instead of UTC. This setting is in /etc/default/rcS.

gksu gedit /etc/default/rcS

Change “UTC=yes” to “UTC=no”.

When you install Ubuntu after windows in a dual boot scenario, Ubuntu is supposed to detect this and install with UTC=no so that it uses local time. So it should not happen too often.

Time Machines – http://blog.grain-of-salt.com/index.php?itemid=391
IBM PC Real Time Clock should run in UT – http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/mswish/ut-rtc.html

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Inbound Caller ID

Posted on November 18, 2008 by phh

I am using Asterisk/1.4.21.2 and Asterisk GUI version 2.0 on Ubuntu 8.04.1. I recently noticed caller id was not being passed on inbound calls. The solution was to add “callerid=asreceived” to the trunk context(s) in /etc/asterisk/users.conf. You can edit the file directly using your favourite editor or use Asterisk GUI and select:

Options->Advanced Options->Show Advanced Options (to allow you to use the file editor in Asterisk GUI)

then select “File Editor” in the menu and use the drop down box to select “users.conf” and add “callerid=asreceived” to the trunk context which you would like inbound caller id passed on. Click on “Save” and “Apply Changes” to activate the change.

This may be fixed in newer builds of Asterisk GUI so it may be wise to update regularly.

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