Since I upgraded to Ubuntu Hardy, I´ve had nothing but heartache when trying to play DVDs with VLC. Specifically, no matter what Audio Settings were used, there was no sound during playback. I am aware that Hardy has a new default sound server, Pulse Audio, and that there have been a fair number of issues. In fact, I myself had to make a change to the default sound settings, under System > Preferences > Sound. In order to enable system sound, I had to change everything from Automatic to ALSA.

I found all sorts of solutions, but none of them worked for me. One person said his problem was resolved by installing vlc-plugin-alsa while setting the ´Output Modules´ setting (visible by enabling ´Advanced Settings´) to ALSA. Given my previous issue, mentioned above, I thought this would be my fix, but again, no joy.

Then, I ran across a blog post in which the author aired his gripes with PulseAudio. Deep in the comments, a Pulse Audio developer explains the root of the problem; while doing so, he mentions a workaround: ´libflashsupport´. That was my fix! As it turns out, Ubuntu has the fix available via a package. It appears that the VLC dependencies haven´t been updated to include it.

As far as the problem was concerned, it never occurred to me that whenever I tried to run VLC, I´d also had Firefox open, which, due to issues with Flash 9, allowed YouTube or some other flash-dependent website to block access to my soundcard. Grrrr.

Since, he explained it a hell of alot better than I ever could, I´ll quote him directly:

This error is basically pulse saying it cannot open the front:0 device as it is in use by another application (e.g. something else has claimed exclusive access to the h/w). Pulse may indeed grab the audio hardware but alsa should be configured to route the “default” device via pulse and everything works as expected with all apps having access to audio “hardware”.

Pulse is not able to “lock your audio to the firefox stream” but if Firefox is eating all the streams, then this is probably an issue with an old version of Flash plugin which used the ALSA API totally incorrectly (opening as many connections as possible!). This has been fixed in newer flash plugins but the pulseaudio community also worked around this bug (in a closed source app!) via the libflashsupport plugin API. So the community has done everything they can to ensure this isn’t a problem.

Anyway, long story short, if you´re running Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) and having an issue with sound in VLC, close Firefox and try again. If you then get sound, you need to install the package ´libflashsupport´.

apt-get install libflashsupport

In years past, I regularly worked on our vehicles. It was an economic necessity. As a lower enlisted man in the Navy, I simply didn’t make enough money to pay someone else to work on my car. Hell, I could barely afford to do it myself.

With each newly acquired vehicle, I purchased the appropriate Haynes Repair Guide and learned my way around the car. I replaced alternators, starters, shock absorbers, brake pads and rotors and performed my own tune-ups. Once you gain a sense for how a car actually works, it really isn’t very difficult. But it can also be insanely frustrating. Lacking an expansive toolbox, I scraped plenty of knuckles, stripped plenty of nuts and swore and cursed enough to make my sailor buddies proud. Fucking cars.

Anyway, Jen drives a 2000 Volkswagen Jetta nowadays. Back when it was new and under warranty, we naturally sent it to the dealer for service. But once the warranty expired, Jen continued to insist on dealer service, believing it to be head and shoulders above the rest.

Until they droped the ball, that is.

For some reason, I’d always believed repair shops to be full of crooks and con artists just waiting for the next sucker. And, in my mind, “Authorized Dealer” repair shops were the worst. After one $600 repair bill after another (no matter the symptom), I think Jen came to agree with me. Bloodsuckers, all of them.

In my eternal quest to avoid dealing with scum, I’ve taken to paying cash for my vehicles, always used. Naturally, I maintained them as well. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve lost interest in sticking my head under the hood, even if it means keeping more of my hard earned cash.

Recently, my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee began to act up. As I sat at stop signs and traffic lights, the transmission slipped out of gear. Most times, it corrected itself once I hit the gas. I quickly realized that if I shifted to neutral, I could avoid the delay altogether. I *knew* the jeep needed to be serviced, I *knew* I couldn’t do it, but I *still* dealt with the inconvenience, not to mention the risk of costly repairs later on, rather than drive down the road to see my arch nemesis, the car mechanic. When it began to slip out of gear at speed (meaning, while I was moving), I was like “Uh oh….”.

Almost simultaneously, the Jeep began to stall randomly. Just as with the transmission issue, it acted up mostly at rest, with an occasional stall at speed. Stalling while in motion is no joke. That’s when I swallowed my pride and called Jen’s mechanic, who’s actually a pretty honest, trustworthy guy.

Having said that, I think it’s pretty clear that today’s mechanic relies upon the ever-present computer to tell him what’s wrong. This case was no different. He pulled the diagnostic codes and made his recommendations. There were two issues, an unrelated sensor issue (Evaporative Emission Control System Purge Control Valve Circuit) and the ignition coil. He explained that the ignition coil could cause the stalling issue, by interrupting spark. It sounded plausible, it really did. And besides, the computer said it needed to be replaced. $400 later, I was rolling out of there, content in the fact that I wouldn’t be left on the side of the road.

From there, I took the Jeep to Capitol Transmission, in Hartford. They found that the transmission issues were caused by leaking transmission fluid cooling lines. Thankfully, I didn’t need a transmission rebuild. $300 and I’m outta there. I was generally happy with the whole experience.

Two days later I was on the side of the road, on the phone with AAA.

I’ll save the rest of this story for a follow up post, mostly because I’m tired of typing. Don’t touch that dial.

You may remember my post re: exporting the native X :0 display via VNC. Well, I’ve discovered a better solution than the one I’d found previously.

I had no idea, but there is a Xorg vnc module available, vnc4server on Debian and Ubuntu. Pull this package down, make a couple minor xorg.conf edits, restart gdm, et voila, we’re in business!

This makes my MythTV frontend, built on a repurposed Akimbo 1st generation set-top box, that much more bad-ass. Now if only I could get the infrared remote to work.

The full instructions appear below, recorded for my forgetful self, ripped from the Highland Lakes LUG site in case they disappear (thanks guys!)…….

Read the rest of this entry »

I realize I commented on this once before, but the sheer magnitude of the number below almost knocked me out of my chair! Microsoft made almost 5 billion dollars in the first three months of the year.

The world’s largest software maker said net profit in the three months to 31 March was $4.93bn (£2.47bn) or 50 cents per share, up from $2.98bn last year.

That’s profit, folks, not revenue. I checked Wikipedia for the accounting definition of “profit” because I was fairly certain I had a basic misunderstanding of the word. It turns out there are various forms of profit and this figure (Gross profit, maybe?) likely represents something other than what they deposited at the bank, which would be “Net Profit after Tax”…..I think.

I tried to find a more definitive statement of what they took to the bank last quarter. I ran across this and this. I’m more confused than ever!

How much did they make?! An assload of money, that’s how much!

Those bastards have the audacity to put out a sub-standard product and rake in tens of billions of dollars a year??

Some of you are going to think: “If they’re making that much money, they must have the best product. They deserve it.” Well, I challenge you to buy a PC without some form of MS Windows installed. Believe me, I’ve tried. (Sidenote: Some have succeeded in getting a credit for the OS since they installed Linux instead, as stipulated in the MS license, but not me.) This is known to geeks as the MS tax.

And before you think to yourselves about how highly you regard the technical marvel of an operating system MS is making so much money off of, remember the last time your machine succumbed to a virus, a trojan, some piece of malware. Think back to the last time your machine slowed to a crawl and you weren’t able to figure out why. Think about the wasted time, whether it was yours or that of the family geek who came to your house to “clean it up”. How many times has that happened?

It doesn’t have to be that way. (Hint: it’s free.)

Wow, this video makes the geek in me positively giddy. The coolest bit is when they do a search for Gaudi (about the 1:25 mark) and then begin manipulating the retrieved photos.

UPDATE: Those sneaky bastards snuck ads into the video after I posted it here! I’ve redirected the link to YouTube. That ought to show them….

I hate Microsoft crap. Most of you probably already know that.

Every time I need to do an ldap bind against AD, I end up banging my head against the wall for at least 10 minutes. Granted, I’m not much of a MS guy, or even an LDAP guru, but it seems to me that Microsoft might make it a bit easier to view the LDAP schema. Most external authentication services/tools that have to bind to AD need to know what the base DN is. Guess how many Windows admins I’ve run across that can answer that question? Try none.

In order to view the schema, you’re forced to use a couple tools from the Support CD, ldp.exe and/or adsiedit.msc. Guess how many Windows admins have these tools installed? Try none.

You may be able to use the built-in Active Directory to find this information, but I don’t think so. I’ve looked several times.

This post will serve two purposes. The first was to bitch about MS and/or Windows. I honestly don’t understand why people subject themselves to such madness. Moving on….

The second purpose is to document, once and for all, the command I need to search an LDAP schema from my linux laptop. Rather than google it, I’ll be able to refer here when I need to do this again.

ldapsearch -x -b dc=domain,dc=tld -D cn=Administrator,cn=Users,dc=domain,dc=tld -h x.x.x.x -W

Of course, the command needs to be tweaked to the AD environment in question.

You may be wondering why I hadn’t just documented this here before. Because I’m an idiot, that’s why!

UPDATE: I found a win32 command to display User DN’s:

dsquery user dc=domain,dc=tld

I’m trying to re-purpose an Akimbo set-top box as a Mythtv frontend. I’ve gotten Ubuntu onto the hardware but I’m having some issues configuring X. Most of the problem stems from the fact that there is no vga out, only tv-out.

In an attempt to get X squared away, I’ve installed XFCE, with GDM as the desktop manager. But I realized that once GDM starts, I didn’t have a way to control the console. This guy gave me my answer.

First place is occupied by Hartford’s own La Paloma Sabanera. (here ya go, Luis, a little bit of Google juice for you). They’ve got it all: great friggin coffee, a cool atmosphere and free wifi.

Then, there’s Panera. They may not have the best coffee in the world, but this place is a traveling geek’s dream since they also offer free wifi. The agreement they flash in front of you before allowing access to the internet essentially says “Be courteous”, meaning don’t hog the big tables when we’re busy and you can stay as long as you like.

Even better, as I went up to the counter just now to order a coffee, the girl asked if I wanted it in a mug or a cup. I thought that odd since it was a couple minutes before 9pm, their closing time. When I pointed that out, she says “Oh we don’t kick anyone out…we’re here cleaning until at least 10pm anyway”. Man, that’s just awesome.

Take this as a lesson, Starbucks! You charge more for wifi as you do for your over-rated coffee and for that reason I’ve *always* headed to the nearest Panera when I’m on the road and in need of wifi. Bitches.

I’m an Ubuntu Linux guy, which, when it comes to config files, is to say I’m a Debian guy. Red Hat, and its derivatives, feel pretty foreign to me.

While throwing a Centos box together, I had a need for static routes since there are two nics in the box.

Google.
Google.
Google.

Found it. Documenting here so I don’t have to search again.

For each device, (say eth0) create the file: /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/route-eth0

And the contents should be something like:

10.0.1.0/24 via 192.168.2.4 dev eth0

10.0.4.0/24 via 192.168.2.2 dev eth0

technorati tags:centos, linux

…..and we continue to generate almost a billion dollars in profit every month.

from Bill Gates’ e-mail to employees

I’m convinced this isn’t going to be the case for too much longer. The landscape is changing and MS is going to have to adapt quickly or lose marketshare.

For example, we just purchased a couple laptops at work, Compaq V5000Ts. The base price: $497! Oh, but wait….we needed to modify the order to a configuration more suited to a business environment. So, upgrade the OS from XP Home to XP Pro, for an additional $79, and then add MS Office 2003 Basic, for another $149. If we conservatively assume that the original OS, XP Home, would have comprised about $20 of the original $497, then we’ve got fully 33% of the purchase price ($250 out of the final price of $750) going to Redmond! As the cost of the hardware continues to fall, MS software looks less and less attractive.

It’ll be interesting to see what effect Vista’s hardware requirements will have on people considering the upgrade when Vista is finally released. If you’re running WinXP, then you more than likely have a “Vista Capable PC”, which won’t get you any of the whiz-bang graphics niceties. In order to run the Aero user interface, you’ll need a “Vista Premium Ready PC”, which means a graphics card with 128MB of memory (256MB for higher res). In recent years, we’ve seen a trend in which system builders have reduced or done away with video memory in favor of shared memory architectures. This means that the PC you you may have just bought from Dell with 512MB of memory, is actually running at 448MB or so once the video card claims its chunk of precious memory. What’s going to happen when Vista is released? Will this trend be reversed? Will system prices rise as a result?

Let’s not overlook the fact that there are alternatives. And good ones, too….