Friday, November 20, 2009
VBox audio driver for Windows 7 x64
I downloaded it from here. It's a Realtek chip. Please note the driver is unsigned (not recognized by Windows 7).
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Live a Ubuntu life: burning DVDs
Today is the first time I had the need. I have a Win7 installation ISO I need to burn on to a physical disc. I right clicked the file and selected "Open with Disc Burner". That opened up Brasero, then I realized I didn't actually have a burner on the system.
No worries. I plugged into eSATA a Dell E-module I could find, and put in a DVD-R blank. The disc was spinning for a long time, and Brasero still said "no disc available". So I took a closer look at the drive - it's a DVD-ROM. What a dummy! Who keeps DVD-ROM drives around anymore these days?
I went looking again and found a Buffalo external Blu-ray burner. That oughta do it. Plugged in the power and USB, inserted the blank disc, and in a minute Brasero saw the disc and I was able to start burning. A few minutes later I got my Win7 install disc.
So, except for my own dumb act, it was an entirely smooth operation. A few years back, Linux desktop distros were still deemed too troublesome to use (by some I should say). Now it challenges the best experience Windows or OS X can offer, with only a fraction of the hardware vendor cooperation those guys got, not to mention billions of dollars wasted on copy right protection and marketing. That's what I call bang for the buck.
No worries. I plugged into eSATA a Dell E-module I could find, and put in a DVD-R blank. The disc was spinning for a long time, and Brasero still said "no disc available". So I took a closer look at the drive - it's a DVD-ROM. What a dummy! Who keeps DVD-ROM drives around anymore these days?
I went looking again and found a Buffalo external Blu-ray burner. That oughta do it. Plugged in the power and USB, inserted the blank disc, and in a minute Brasero saw the disc and I was able to start burning. A few minutes later I got my Win7 install disc.
So, except for my own dumb act, it was an entirely smooth operation. A few years back, Linux desktop distros were still deemed too troublesome to use (by some I should say). Now it challenges the best experience Windows or OS X can offer, with only a fraction of the hardware vendor cooperation those guys got, not to mention billions of dollars wasted on copy right protection and marketing. That's what I call bang for the buck.
"Gone Google"?
Saw this ads by Google on Network World:
"Over 60% of Fortune 1000 have gone Google".
Of course there's a fine print attached to such claims: "Gone Google means using one of the Google enterprise offerings, from Google Apps to Postini...".
Sounds like a typical way of making one sound more important than actually is. Using one of your stuff means they are now in your camp? Come on. In fact, if there's one company doesn't have to do that kind of cheap marketing hype, it's Google. Doing that is just ... cheap.
On the other hand, the true target audience may not be as dismissive as I am. There are surely going to be people who start to sweat on the claim. M$ anyone?
"Over 60% of Fortune 1000 have gone Google".
Of course there's a fine print attached to such claims: "Gone Google means using one of the Google enterprise offerings, from Google Apps to Postini...".
Sounds like a typical way of making one sound more important than actually is. Using one of your stuff means they are now in your camp? Come on. In fact, if there's one company doesn't have to do that kind of cheap marketing hype, it's Google. Doing that is just ... cheap.
On the other hand, the true target audience may not be as dismissive as I am. There are surely going to be people who start to sweat on the claim. M$ anyone?
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Live a Ubuntu life: KeePass on Mono
I used pcorral for password safe on Windows. It's a nifty little program that allows me to carry around my huge list of passwords safely on a USB stick. When moving to Ubuntu, I wanted to do even better - something that allows me to do it cross-platform. Eventually I picked KeePass, which is a .NET program, so it can be run easily on Windows and Linux.
KeePass requires Mono 2.2 or higher on Linux. Since Jaunty only has 2.0.1 (Karmic is on 2.4), I had to enable the PPA source (monoxide) to install the newer Mono build. After that's done, KeePass was up and running in a minute. Cool!
KeePass requires Mono 2.2 or higher on Linux. Since Jaunty only has 2.0.1 (Karmic is on 2.4), I had to enable the PPA source (monoxide) to install the newer Mono build. After that's done, KeePass was up and running in a minute. Cool!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Live a Ubuntu life: VirtualBox
I've been using VMWare Workstation on Windows. USB support is the main reason I stayed with it instead of going for free VirtualPC. Now I'm on Ubuntu, I want to try the free option again. This time it's Sun's VirtualBox. I didn't go for the open source one, as Sun has put some serious limitations on it. With the free-to-use edition, things are looking really good.
I had no problem setting up Windows 7. I allocated 2 GB for the VM and 40 MB video memory. The only issues I had with running it were sound not working, and I couldn't use VirtualBox video driver, which results in limited choice for screen resolutions. Neither is a big deal, but I'll try to figure it out.
Migrating a Windows XP virtual machine from VMWare worked even better than I expected. I followed the two advices here, then just told VirtualBox to use the vmdk's. The VM just booted and ran like a champ! I actually forgot to do mergeIDE before migration, but I may have done it at some point before since the VM has survived previous migrations.
One sticking issue is that PPTP VPN doesn't seem to work on a NAT'ed guest for now, which I hope gets fixed soon.
UPDATE: I was able to re-enable the virtualbox video driver in Windows 7. Not sure why the first time after installing it didn't work.
I had no problem setting up Windows 7. I allocated 2 GB for the VM and 40 MB video memory. The only issues I had with running it were sound not working, and I couldn't use VirtualBox video driver, which results in limited choice for screen resolutions. Neither is a big deal, but I'll try to figure it out.
Migrating a Windows XP virtual machine from VMWare worked even better than I expected. I followed the two advices here, then just told VirtualBox to use the vmdk's. The VM just booted and ran like a champ! I actually forgot to do mergeIDE before migration, but I may have done it at some point before since the VM has survived previous migrations.
One sticking issue is that PPTP VPN doesn't seem to work on a NAT'ed guest for now, which I hope gets fixed soon.
UPDATE: I was able to re-enable the virtualbox video driver in Windows 7. Not sure why the first time after installing it didn't work.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Live a Ubuntu life: application scorecard
This should be a good way to track experience with a new computing environment - whether the things you need to do are now easier and harder to do, and whether they are done better or worse.
| Windows app | Linux app | Experience grade | Notes | |||
| Pidgin | Pidgin | better | Like the integration with notification applet; no separate download | |||
| Remote desktop | Terminal services client | same | ||||
| vnc viewer | remote desktop viewer | same | VNC into some Windows server seems to be a bit lagging in cursor movement | |||
| VMWare Workstation 6.5 | Sun VirtualBox 3 | same | price is definitely better! | |||
| Mapped drive | Connect to server: Windows share | same | CIFS server/share name work fine with no manual WINS config; hidden shares work fine |
Live a Ubuntu life: dual screen setup
I just have to have it. In my previous Windows life, I had no problem setting up Windows XP and Vista with a NEC MultiSync 90GX2, and a BenQ FP202W. I don't want to buy new stuff just to get the same amount of screen real estate.
It was a little harder than I expected. Took some command line rescues and online searching. Eventually the config working for me is like this. Since the graphics core in my laptop (Latitude E6400) is Nvidia Quatro NVS, the tool to use is nvidia-settings coming with the Nvidia binary driver. I used separated X screens with Xinerama enable. Both screens have auto resolution. That gives me the ability to freely move windows across the two monitors. I can still use multiple workspaces too.
I like my Compiz eye candies, but there's no way to get them working. Some suggested using twinview with no Xinerama. It didn't work for me. Well, it did, only for a minute or so after logging in. Compiz effects worked, but then the whole computer would lock up solid, requiring power button treatment.
If I use the laptop by itself, Nvidia correctly falls back to one screen setup on LCD. And all Compiz stuff will be alive again, which is a nice bonus.
I've yet to find a way to use 3 screen setup, with laptop LCD in the mix. But it should definitely be possible.
It was a little harder than I expected. Took some command line rescues and online searching. Eventually the config working for me is like this. Since the graphics core in my laptop (Latitude E6400) is Nvidia Quatro NVS, the tool to use is nvidia-settings coming with the Nvidia binary driver. I used separated X screens with Xinerama enable. Both screens have auto resolution. That gives me the ability to freely move windows across the two monitors. I can still use multiple workspaces too.
I like my Compiz eye candies, but there's no way to get them working. Some suggested using twinview with no Xinerama. It didn't work for me. Well, it did, only for a minute or so after logging in. Compiz effects worked, but then the whole computer would lock up solid, requiring power button treatment.
If I use the laptop by itself, Nvidia correctly falls back to one screen setup on LCD. And all Compiz stuff will be alive again, which is a nice bonus.
I've yet to find a way to use 3 screen setup, with laptop LCD in the mix. But it should definitely be possible.
Live a Ubuntu life
The title is a bit bigger than what I actually mean, but I like it. After all, "ubuntu" means humanity to others, which I definitely set as my life's benchmark. Philosophical discussion aside, this should start a series of postings about my transition into a Ubuntu based computer. It's a fairly drastic change, considering I work in and manage a mostly Windows environment.
So the first question is probably "why?". Well, I want to. I'm not a Microsoft hater, or an open-source purist. I am very practical. I hold multiple MCP certifications, but use open-source whenever applicable. I like the model of open-source, because I think humanity is at its best when we're in a collaborative mode. It's not always easy to make it sustainably workable, but like many good things, you just have to work for it. Also from a tech geek's point of view, using a proprietary only toolset greatly impairs one's ability to learn in-depth. After all a fundamentally blackbox setup is not encouraging for under-the-hood exploration.
A smaller but related "why?" is "why Ubuntu?" Simple: I like it the best. I've tried at least five other well-known distros. This Debian based gem combines the depth and ease of use the best - again, like humanity, the ones you like the best will probably be those with depth while being approachable.
With the "why" questions out of the way, a long series of "how" questions will follow...
So the first question is probably "why?". Well, I want to. I'm not a Microsoft hater, or an open-source purist. I am very practical. I hold multiple MCP certifications, but use open-source whenever applicable. I like the model of open-source, because I think humanity is at its best when we're in a collaborative mode. It's not always easy to make it sustainably workable, but like many good things, you just have to work for it. Also from a tech geek's point of view, using a proprietary only toolset greatly impairs one's ability to learn in-depth. After all a fundamentally blackbox setup is not encouraging for under-the-hood exploration.
A smaller but related "why?" is "why Ubuntu?" Simple: I like it the best. I've tried at least five other well-known distros. This Debian based gem combines the depth and ease of use the best - again, like humanity, the ones you like the best will probably be those with depth while being approachable.
With the "why" questions out of the way, a long series of "how" questions will follow...
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