LINUX SIG MEETING NOTES
Date of
meeting:
SIG leaders:
Dennis McCormick and Paul Scott
Location:
Dennis
McCormick start the meeting by showing a modified list of possible subjects for
future Linux SIG meetings:
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*
Paul
Scott asked questions about getting TV to work in Ubuntu.
He stated that a great resource is the "Linux TV" site at http://www.linuxtv.org.
One
error message that he encountered stated that a plugin
for "gstreamer" was missing. Dennis’ suggestion for
resolving the problem was to add an additional repository. "Ubuntu"
is supposed to go out and find a DVD player and a suitable CODEC. Dennis recommended that he add the "Medibuntu"
repository.
Another
of Paul’s questions was how to log in automatically in Ubuntu
without having to type in a password.
Dennis showed the following steps in Ubuntu 10..04:
Click on "System", "Administration", and
"Users and Groups". Click on the "Change.." button to the
right of "Password":
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*
Select
"Don't ask for password on login":
*
Click
on the "OK" button
Dennis
McCormick ran software updates on the TCS' laptop. He warned that you should always give the
caches time to "flush" before restarting, when asked to reboot.
Dennis
McCormick noted that there was a program called "Ksplice" that
allows you to update a running kernel.
It’s free for "Ubuntu" and
"Fedora 13". For other Linux distros there is a monthly charge for using it.
Dennis
Tallent said that she upgraded to the 64-bit version
of "Ubuntu 10.04" and YouTube
would not work. Dennis said he needed to
install the "Adobe Flash plug-in" from the "
Les
Stein saw a warning on the download page for Ubuntu: It stated that the 64-bit version of Ubuntu was "Not recommended for daily desktop use":
Francis
noted that he finally got "VirtualBox" virtual
machines to share real hard drive folders with the host. The trick was in the name: you could not have any spaces or dashes, only
characters or underscores on any folder on a physical hard drive that you wish
to share with a "VirtualBox" virtual
machine.
Dennis
showed Distrowatch:
• There is a free "Ubuntu" manual but they require that you give your
email.
• There is a new "Puppy
Linux" version
• "Parted
Magic 5.4" is available as a downloadable zip.
Dennis
got a "Fedora" update, but had trouble because the "Yum"
updater wouldn’t work. He used the
command line with the Yum command. He
typed “Yum update”. That updated the Yum
updater so he could get the Fedora update.
Dennis
talked about the new GUlDPartition Table.
You need a GPT if your drive is more than 2 Terabytes in size. If you want to change, don’t use "Parted
Magic". Just change the partition
table to GPT instead of the MS-DOS partition table and let the installer in Ubuntu create the partition. Of course, your data is lost that way. Dennis noted that "Fedora version 13" would not accept a
hard drive with a GPT.
Paul
Scott said he might have to drop back a couple versions of the kernel of Debian as WICD
would not run in the newest kernel.
Dennis
said he also saw an Iomega
video server for HD video but he did not try that. The Western Digital Live Plus is
$100+. Dennis said his router allows him
to plug in an external hard disk for storage.
SWS has a TrendNet or
D-Link router for $50. Les Stein said
CPU Magazine likes the Belkin routers.
Earl
Newkirk showed his latest Linux configuration: It consists of a "Ubuntu 10.04" virtual
machine located on a USB external drive running inside of "VirtualBox" which runs inside "Windows Vista
".
Laura
Tallent asked if she could install from the
"Live Disc" .iso file of "Ubuntu" in VirtualBox. The answer is yes. Put the .iso file
on the hard drive in the host operating system after creating the virtual
machine. Configure the boot order to
boot first from the CD/DVD
.iso file. After
installing, detach the .iso file from the CD/DVD .iso file from the virtual IDE or SCSI or SATA adapter so
that the virtual machine does not boot from the CD/DVD .iso
file again. Our step-by-step how-to instructions for installing "Ubuntu" into "VirtualBox"
are located at
http://aztcs.org/meeting_notes/linuxsig/ubuntuintovirtualbox/ubuntuintovirtualbox.htm
Paul
Scott mentioned that problems with Debian are
sometimes fixed if he restarts the browser.
He had major problem with the sound.
He had to drop back two versions of the kernel. The "Network Manager" applet is not
good so he runs WICD instead.
Dennis
said that with the "Grub 2" boot loader (in Ubuntu
or Fedora), you can hold
down the shift key during bootup to see the older
kernels. It automatically keeps three
versions of the kernel.
Dennis
showed his external Hauppage USB tuner for TV. He may get an internal card because it would provide
higher quality video. Dennis stated that
he recorded all his VHS tapes using Windows to the TS format.
Les
Stein complained that digital TV is more susceptible to the weather, and Dennis
said it is because they use less power for digital. Karl said he sometimes gets the sound and not
the picture.
Dennis
said he had a "Mythbuntu"
TV working on his older 1GHz test machine but it doesn’t keep up with the TV
transmissions and drops a lot of frames.
He is running Ubuntu 10.04 native. Francis recommended that he run Kaffeine either native on Ubuntu
or in VMWare.
Karl
complained about messages on his TV, such as "1080i". Dennis said Channel 6 is 720p and the others
are all stated to be 1080i, but the content is not up to that.
Karl
mentioned that a neighbor has Qwest form of IPTV, which uses DSL lines not
satellite and it is really bad. Dennis
said he gets 5MB per second from Cox and it’s ok even
though they recommend 10MB per second for high def.
Les
Stein said "OpenOffice" now has a "Sun PDF
Import Extension" that allows "OpenOffice"
to revise/modify Adobe pdf files.