Services – starting in Gentoo

To mount Shares from Windows PC’s

Set up fstab

Set Regional settings, logon settings. menu.lst

Install Acroread, anacron, aosd_cat, Kompozer, kmymoney, pwm; konq-kim, sitecopy, kweather, openoffice.org, msttcorefonts, libdvdcss2 (allows dvd playing), w32codecs (allows windows media playing), libarts1-xine (allows sound previews in kde), mozplugger (some flash videos), myspell-en-gb (english for openoffice), kde-i18n-engb (english for kde)

To see (mount) the fat32 drive

do the following in a console window…

type in….

mount /dev/hdxn /mnt/win -t vfat

where hdxn is your windows partition

hda is the first drive

hdb is the second etc

hda1 is the primary partition

hda5 is the first logical partition

hda6 is the second logical partition

To permanently mount………

add into the /etc/fstab file the line (I used)

/dev/hda2 /home/robert/storage vfat defaults,umask=000 0 0

Understanding fstab

http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/Understanding_fstab

# Pluggable devices are handled by uDev, they are not in fstab
/dev/sda1 / ext3 defaults,noatime 1 1
/dev/sda2 swap swap sw,pri=1 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs devmode=0666 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0622 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs defaults 0 0
/dev/sda3 /home ext3 defaults,noatime 1 2
#added by robert
/dev/sdb1 /mnt/sdb1 ext3 defaults,noatime 0 1
/dev/sdb2 /mnt/bak ext3 defaults,noatime 0 1
# Dynamic entries below
/dev/cdrom /media/cdrom udf,iso9660 noauto,users,exec,ro 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom udf,iso9660 noauto,users,exec,ro 0 0

To mount Shares from Windows PC’s

Create directory e.g /share

To mount.... type...

smbmount //winsys/winshare some-mount-point

Example for me (X = win pc, C = Share name)
smbmount //X/C /share

To unmount (my example)...

smbumount –t smbfs /share

Mounting smbfs Shares Permanently

Using a text editor, create a plain text file containing two lines:

username=windows_username
password=windows_password

Substitute your actual Windows username and password for the italicized text. Save the file in your home folder as .smbpasswd (don’t forget the dot at the beginning of the filename, which makes the file hidden). Finally, change the permissions on the file so only you can open and change it by issuing the following command in a Terminal window:

chmod 600 .smbpasswd

3. On the Linux machine, open /etc/fstab in a text editor. (On Ubuntu, I used the command sudo gedit /etc/fstab. You can use another editor if you prefer.)

4. At the end of the file, add a new line containing the following:

//vista_pc_name/share_name   mount_folder_name smbfs credentials=/home/linux_username/.smbpasswd,uid=linux_username,gid=users  0 0

Use the UNC path for the Windows share, and replace mount_folder_name with the full path of the folder you created in Step 1 (in this example, /mnt/vista_public). Substitute your Linux username for the values in red. These credentials will be passed to the Vista machine. (Note: there’s no space after the comma and before the uid and gid.) [Update: Thanks to Jeremy Allison in the comments of the previous post for pointing out that smbfs is deprecated and no longer maintained. You can safely substitute cifs for smbfs in the fstab entry.] 

will mount /mnt/c for the user with user id 510, and will set the group id for 610. But the default group permission is read-only, so users of the same group cannot enter the directory (because it is not set executable).

Options like "defaults,uid=510,..." are only separated by ",". A space or a tab will give a message like:

You can change permissions using the parameter umask. But be aware that it must be the bitmask of permissions that are not present for the mountpoint. It is an octal number, formed like this:

first digit: permissions for everybody
second digit: group permissions
third digit: user permissions

The modes are as follows (the first column is the mode octal number):

Evolution

The files needed (for backup) are in the evolution/local directory

Sitecopy
man page.......
http://www.lyra.org/sitecopy/cygwin/man-sitecopy.html#lbAB

(or simply - man sitecopy)

.sitecopyrc.....
site mysite
  server fisherfamily.orconhosting.net.nz
  username *******
  password *******
  local /home/robert/Shared/robert/my_web
  remote ~/fisherfamily.orcon.net.nz/htdocs/

Maintenance
sitecopy --update sitename (or for the above)....
sitecopy --update mysite

http://www.imagemagick.org/

To resize...
# convert -sample 80x40 input.jpg output.jpg
for multiple files....
mkdir new
for n in *; do convert -sample blabla $n new/$n; done
where that asterisk stands for any shell glob pattern you wish to use to
match the files to be converted (you can also use more than one pattern,
space-separated).

For example.....
mkdir new
for n in *jpg; do convert -sample 80x40 $n new/$n; done

or
for n in *jpg; do convert -sample 400x400 $n new/$n; done

Someone else suggested.....
for x in *.jpg; do convert -sample 80x40 $x ${x/.jpg/640x480.jpg}; done

To rotate...
convert -rotate -90 dscf0010.jpg 10.jpg

Album
http://marginalhacks.com/Hacks/album/

To create captions file -
ls > captions.txt
you get a file with the names of all the pics in the directory, then edit it
with your captions. do it with the browser viewing the pics, and a xterm
editing the file open at the same time.

The smb ioslave enables you to browse the shares of a Windows� (or Samba) network.

To see the workgroups, enter smb:/.

smb:/a_workgroup will list the hosts in this workgroup.

To see the shares of a host, enter smb://the_host or smb:/a_workgroup/the_host.

To access a share directly enter smb://the_host/the_share or smb:/a_workgroup/the_host/the_share

The smb ioslave is a wrapper around the command line tool smbclient, which is part of the Samba package. This means you need to have Samba installed to use this ioslave.

To be able to authenticate to Windows� NT Domain Controllers, you need at least Samba 2.0. To access the shares of Windows� 2000 machines, you need at least Samba 2.0.7. To be able to write to Windows shares, you need at least Samba 2.2.4 or the patch from http://lisa-home.sourceforge.net/smbclientpatch.html.

You can set your default user name and password in the KControl in Network->Windows Shares. This is especially useful if you are a member of a Windows� NT domain. There you can also set your workgroup name, but in most cases this is not required.

This ioslave is tested and developed using mainly Samba 2.0.7, but other versions of Samba should work too.

SCP

To copy a file from where you are working to a remote machine, the command is

To retrieve a file from a remote machine, the order is reversed:

Use -r for recursive copies e.g.
scp -r /localfile user@othercomputer:/otherfolder

cat /proc/bus/usb/devices
cat /proc/pci
cat /proc/modules
cat /proc/cpuinfo
cat /proc/ioports
cat /proc/sys/dev/cdrom/info
cat /proc/scsi/scsi
cat /proc/version

To Display Messages as they occur

tail -f /var/log/messages

To find Default Gateway:-

route -n

netstat -rn

To Mount an iso image to see files....

mount -o loop -t iso9660 <isofilename> <mountpoint>

OR -  finding files with specific text......
find <dir> | xargs (z)grep <text> (e.g. find /etc | xargs grep GENTOO_MIRRORS=)
(the z is used for zipped files)

Racer - http://www.racer.nl/

NZ Mirrors - http://www.wlug.org.nz/NewZealandLinuxMirrors

Backups with Linux and Rsync

It will allow you to run a Linux desktop on one machine, and display it on another X Server (another Linux box or Cygwin XFree86).

Install Cygwin XFree86 (or Xorg) and edit startxdmcp.bat:

	SET REMOTE_HOST=<the address of the remote linux box>

Edit kdmrc and enable XDMCP:

	[Xdmcp]
	Enable=true

Edit Xaccess and uncomment the following lines:
(to look like these...)

	* #Any host can get a login window.
	* CHOOSER BROADCAST #Any indirect host can get a chooser
	* CHOOSER %hostlist #

I'm not sure what those lines mean or what security implications they may
cause.

Restart kdm with /etc/init.d/kdm restart

Run startxdmcp.bat on the Windows PC. It will start an X server on your
Windows PC and display a login prompt from your linux box. Once logged in
you will have your normal Linux desktop. The only things that are different
are that you can't use things like Alt-Tab, Alt-F4, Ctrl-Alt-Del and maybe a
few others.

GNU Info

Use the GNU Info system for wider and deeper explanations of commands.
For example, if you put the line:-
info:/tar
( Note that there is no trailing slash   '/'  on the end of the line )
into the Konqueror web browser, it will present you with a very detailed 
tutorial and explanation of the use of the 'tar'  utility.

There is a short-cut into the info system. It is the double hash,
i.e putting:-
##tar
into Konqueror serves the same purpose as the info:/tar line.

My Etherboot notes:
3C905b-tpo100
for Etherboot version 5.0.11
NB - You also need to select the Configure button (at Rom-o-matic)
And tick
REQUIRE_VCI_ETHERBOOT

MythTV notes

http://www.northernjourney.com/opensource/newbies/

KDE menu without mouse - Alt + F1

--------------------------------------

To ensure that the Mepis ssh daemon starts at boot time do the following:

1) update-rc.d -f ssh remove
2) update-rc.d ssh defaults

aosd_cat - On Screen Display

For my email notification..

echo "New mail has arrived for Robert." | aosd_cat -R red -p 7 -y -200 -e 1 -n "arial 20" -u 6000

Festival

echo "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that" | festival --tts
or
festival --tts atextfile.txt

Converting .rpm to .deb with alien

#1) open a konsole window
#2) type "su -"
#3) provide root password
#4) type "alien -d -v /path_to_where_rpm_file_is_saved/name_of_rmp_file.rpm" 

You have to run alien as root, otherwise you will be prompted that you have to do so. The "-d" option tells alien that it will convert the rpm file to a deb file (extension .deb). The "-v" option tells alien to display output as to what happens during the conversion of the rpm file to a deb file. The "-v" option is well, optional. If you do not supply it, you will be informed at the end of the conversion that it has completed.
#5) upon file conversion completed, type "exit" to exit root account and yet "exit" again to exit the konsole window.
#6) navigate to where the deb file was created. It should be located in the /home/user_name path. It will display the logo of Debian and have a similar name to the original rpm file. (In my case it was placed in /root/)
#7) click on the deb file. KPackage will open showing details of the deb file. If this does not happen, use "dpkg -i name_of_deb_file.deb" from within a konsole window. I think that is the correct syntax but I rarely use konsole window to install packages that way so, I am not sure about the corectness of the syntax.
#8) from within KPackage, click on Install to proceed with the installation.
#9) when prompted, supply the root password.

Converting_from_or_to_Debian

http://gentoo-wiki.com/TIP_Converting_from_or_to_Debian

Webcam on Mepis - Logitech Quickcam Chat for Skype

I've installed the gspca1 drivers pack (from this page, direct download for kernel up from 2.6.11) using the gspca_build script provided.

http://www.mepislovers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1416

How to create Image (ISO) files from CD/DVD

Assuming that /dev/cdrom is the location of CD/DVD-ROM

sudo umount /dev/cdrom
readcd dev=/dev/cdrom f=file.iso

or

Turn a CD/DVD into an .iso
sudo umount /dev/cdrom
dd if=/dev/cdrom of=file.iso bs=1024
Turn a folder into an .iso
mkisofs -r -o file.iso /location_of_folder/
Generate an MD5 checksum file
md5sum file.iso > file.iso.md5

 To test pop3 use telnet:

   telnet pop3.xtra.co.nz 110
   user xxxx
   pass yyyy
   list
   quit

Sound (MP3) previews in Konqueror on Mepis
Needs both libxine-extracodecs and libarts1-xine

To set up my USB Portable Hard drive enclosure.
Create ntfs partion with
cfdisk /dev/sdc

Format ntfs partition with
mkfs.ntfs /dev/sdc1 -L portable (portable = volume name)

Mount drive (writable) with
mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdc1 /mnt/usbdrive/ -o force
(Having first created folder /mnt/usbdrive)
or for my pocket drive.....
mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdc5 /mnt/usbpocket/ -o force

My bak backup......
root@beast:~# rsync -urC --delete /mnt/bak/ /mnt/usbpocket/bak/

apt-key add innotek.asc

Opera
gpg --keyserver subkeys.pgp.net --recv-key 6A423791
gpg --fingerprint 6A423791
gpg --armor --export 6A423791| apt-key add -

Power switch shutdown in KDE

- as root, edit /etc/powersave/events
- find the line EVENT_BUTTON_POWER="" and change to
EVENT_BUTTON_POWER="wm_shutdown"
- save file
- restart powersave (as root: /etc/init.d/powersaved restart)

The powersave daemon takes care of acpi events. The wm_shutdown action
will kick off a KDE shutdown process, with the advantage of it asking you
to save open files before shutdown and nicely closing the KDE session.

Mepis Multimedia howto....

http://www.sblinux.org/pages/mepis-media01.html

To see default gateway....

$ /sbin/route -n

From a terminal you can use either 'route -n' or 'ip route show'

netstat -rn

Firefox 3 Scroll wheel problem
my fix was to add a line to xorg.conf

Section "InputDevice"
  Identifier "PS/2 Mouse"
  Driver "mouse"
  Option "Protocol" "auto"
  Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
  Option "Emulate3Buttons" "false"
  Option "Emulate3Timeout" "70"
  Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
  Option "ButtonMapping" "1 2 3 4 5"
  Option "Buttons" "5"
EndSection

To Install Webmin
First, you need to install the components Webmin needs. This can be done with one command:  
#aptitude install libnet-ssleay-perl libauthen-pam-perl libio-pty-perl libmd5-perl 
When that is done, you need to download Webmin, the current version is 1.470. 
you could simply go to the webmin website and download it
After it is downloaded, install it using dpkg:  
#dpkg --install webmin_1.470_all.deb

When you add the repository, it will give an error message NOPUBKEY ####
sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com ####