Booting Ubuntu without Monitor plugged in / switched off

There is a major issue with Ubuntu partly due to BulletproofX and the X window system, which requires the presence of a monitor for X window to start. If the monitor is switched off, or is not connected, then Ubuntu / X would not be able to detect it and thus would go into “low graphics mode”. So, basically your GDM would not start.

There are two scenarios in which the monitor is not connected / switched off

1. You wish to save energy and thus switch off the monitor, and then remotely reboot the machine
2. You have Ubuntu running as a Server and thus no dedicated monitor is connected to it and you remotely reboot the machine. Specially, if you have automatic login enabled along with Remote Desktop (vino/vnc) enabled, and rely on Network Manager to start your session (through Wifi perhaps). In this case, Ubuntu would go into low graphics mode, and your network manager would not be able to assign you an IP, and you have lost complete remote access to the machine. Isn’t it pathetic?

I am still not aware on how to take care of the first part, that is, monitor switched off intentionally by you.

However, if you are running Ubuntu as a server and have/need a GUI, then the solution is here. Thanks to nikgare / http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=7681232&postcount=8 for the pointer.

1. Modify /etc/X11/xorg.conf and remove all content and add the following
   
   Section "Device"
   Identifier "Configured Video Device"
   Driver "vesa"
   EndSection

   Section "Monitor"
   Identifier "Generic Monitor"
   HorizSync 58-62
   VertRefresh 75-117
   EndSection

   Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Configured Video Device"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection


2. You also may want to disable Bulletproof-X by modify /etc/gdm/gdm.conf and commenting out the line
   
   #FailsafeXServer=/etc/gdm/failsafeXServer

Now reboot, and X would start without monitor plugged in.

Skype Video on Ubuntu 64 Bit

I was very happy when I had got my new Core 2 Duo E8400 processor. I immediately installed Ubuntu Jaunty 9.04 64Bit on it. Everything I wanted to use worked, except Skype.  After a lot of research, I did manage to install Skype, but the Video always gave a green screen, and crashed when I started the video. Here’s how to make it work successfully.

1. Download the Skype for 64Bit Ubuntu OS. It is not a true 64Bit version, but manages the dependencies well. http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-linux-ubuntu-amd64
2. Sign In to Skype and see all works as per requirements. You may need to go to Skype Options and fiddle with the Audio settings and select your audio card instead of pulseaudio.
3. Through Synaptic, install lib32v4l. Through console, you can do apt-get install lib32v4l
4. Download skype.start script (right click and select Save Link As) and save it in the /usr/bin directory. You may need root privileges for that. Otherwise save it on your Desktop, and use it to run Skype with Video compatibility. The privileges of the script need to be made executable. Through console you can do chmod 755 /path/to/skype.start and through GUI you can right click on the file, select Properties and under the Permissions tab, select “Allow executing file as program”. Remember, you need to start skype.start and not skype for the video to work.

The new version of Skype probably will fix the issues. There has been a long thread on Skype Forums regarding Linux this where the developers have promised that it will be out “Real Soon Now(tm)”. However, a month and a half has passed. Regardless, the solution works for voice and video both, and I’m happy using it.

And yes, if you need the content of the skype.start script, here it is

#!/bin/bash
LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib32/libv4l/v4l1compat.so /usr/bin/skype

Have fun Skyping!

Auto shutdown KVM Virtual Machines on system shutdown

I have been  using KVM for virtualization for quite some time now, probably more than a year. Though the initial use was on the servers which were rarely shutdown, now I’ve started using it in my home envir0nment where frequent restarts or shutdowns are there. The challenge that I faced was to automatically shutdown the KVM virtual machines when the system was shutdown or restarted.

Thanks to Joern at linux-kvm.com, I was able to setup a script which does an auto shutdown of the Linux (basically any VM which has ssh available) machines. I am using it on Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) 64 Bit Desktop edition.

Steps

1. Add the host file entries
2. Make sure you are able to do ssh without entering any password from root into the VMs
3. Put the script into the /etc/init.d directory.
4. Test the script before rebooting the system
5. Reboot the system to check if it worked

Searches in Google show all sites to be Harmful

Probably a bug in Google’s search engine (http://www.google.co.in), all the searches showed the message “This site may harm your computer.” today, 31 January 2009 20:22 Hrs IST (GMT +0530). I thought, one of the rare things like this should be on a blog

Google India - All Sites are Harmful for your Computer

Howto – Fujitsu U1010 (U810) UMPC and Ubuntu Linux 8.04 Hardy Heron

Few weeks back I purchased a Fujitsu U1010 (U810 in US market). It ran Windows Vista. Though I have been using Ubuntu for all my computing needs, I thought let the UMPC run Windows much like my Nokia runs Symbian. However, in a matter of few days I got fedup with Vista and decided to install Ubuntu 8.04 – there were challenges, and fortunately with the help of some good souls on internet, I overcame majority of them. Now the UMPC is running full-time Ubuntu Linux.

Disclaimer

The steps mentioned below may not be suitable from security point of view. Please use them at your own discretion. I take no responsibility for anything done to your machine by following the instructions below.

Tasks covered

1. Installation of Operating System
2. Touchscreen Configuration using evtouch – Not perfect though
3. Switching On/Off of Keyboard Lights/LEDs/Headlights
4. Rotating the screen
5. Associating the keys / , // , and Screen Rotate on the panel with their desired functions, that is, switching on keyboard lights, running handwriting recognition application and rotating the screen.
6. Using the Webcam – still painful
7. Putting the system into suspend and recovering from it successfully.

Much Thanks to

1. Julian Brown – http://panic.cs-bristol.org.uk/~jules/fujitsu-u810-debian-install-notes.html – Without him, the most important feature for me, the Keyboard lights, would not have worked.
2. Nathan Eckenrode (n8k99) and LordOfThePigs – http://so.nacreo.us/2007/12/touch-me-i-sick.html – For touchscreen configuration and a shell script for screen rotation
3. zmiq2 – http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2202&forum=16&post_id=16973 – For an excellent tip on Suspend and Resume.

Thunderbird Active Directory LDAP lookups – hang issues

I was facing a lot of issues doing LDAP lookups on my company’s LDAP server. The searches were happening but they were very very slow, so most of the times while replying to an e-mail and selecting addresses, the Thunderbird application just hung.

I am using Ubuntu 7.10 with Thunderbird 2.0.0.14 in my office which has an Active Directory Setup. The comment as posted on http://www.linux.com/articles/114010 with the comment permalink being http://www.linux.com/?module=comments&func=display&cid=1147932

The solution for me was, just using Port 3268 instead of Port 389 which is common for LDAP. I am a happy man now

Locations in India – GPS Co-ordinates

I have compiled a small list of locations which I happened to visit after purchasing my GPS device. Thought would post it online – maybe it can be of some help.

Doing GPS Conversion – Degrees to Latitude Longitude and vice versa

Converting Degrees to Latitude Longitude

INDIA is North East (NE)

1. The whole units of degrees will remain the same (i.e. in 121.135° longitude, start with 121°).
2. Multiply the decimal by 60 (i.e. .135 * 60 = 8.1).
3. The whole number becomes the minutes (8′).
4. Take the remaining decimal and multiply by 60. (i.e. .1 * 60 = 6).
5. The resulting number becomes the seconds (6″). Seconds can remain as a decimal.
6. Take your three sets of numbers and put them together, using the symbols for degrees (°), minutes (‘), and seconds (“) (i.e. 121°8′6″ longitude)

You can do it fast by visiting http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/DDDMMSS-decimal.html

Convert Degree, Minutes, Seconds to Latitude and Longitude

1. latitude and longitude in a decimal format: 42.1361
2. latitude and longitude in degree, minute, second format: 42deg, 08min, 10sec
3. To convert coordinates from degrees, minutes, seconds format to decimal format, use this easy formula:

degrees + (minutes/60) + (seconds/3600)

The example coordinate above would be calculated as:

42 + (8/60) + (10/3600) = 42.1361
or
42 + (.1333) + (.0028 ) = 42.1361

Build a home of the future : Part 1 – the basics

A selected few would want to delve into this. No, this post is not about how the houses of the future would be. For that you may visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7348940.stm

This post is about how you, as a Linux enthusiast, can take a combination of all wonderful applications available, and leverage them to create something which defines what you are. This is no howto, and I just skim the surface as I myself am trying to figure out how to work out all this.

Following is where I am coming from : You wake up in the morning, ask for the time and weather outside. The system responds back. You give voice commands to take backups of the system, check your e-mails, record voice messages, play music, make phone calls, and watch your favorite TV channels. Then you leave for office. The home is now under surveillance mode. Any activity which happens behind your back is emailed to you instantly as a video. The primary power fails and the system switches to the secondary power. There are solar cells on top of your building which are charging the batteries. You come back with some friends of yours. You put the system in silent mode and record all activity that happens. Its night time now and you go to bed. The infra-red cameras keep a watch on the house.

Next day is a weekend, and you plan a trip outside. You get ready your stuff and take out the mini-computer which is connected with your base station wirelessly. The mini computer has GPS inbuilt which keeps a track of where you are and communicates it back to the base station. Your backpack has solar cells which keep charging the mini-computer. You are continuously updated of what’s happening back at home.

All of this is possible, though with some expenditure on the hardware front. Here’s what I think you would need

Hardware

1. Base Station : A laptop/battery powered device for the base station. A desktop would also do but power consumption may be a concern. A wifi router, UPS, a set of speakers and a good microphone and internet connection would be necessary.
2. Power Generation : Solar Cells, and a battery system which they can charge
3. Electrical Devices Control : I’ve heard about X10 and http://www.smarthome.com – am not sure as none of them is available here (in India).
4. Mini-Computer : A Gumstix motherboard with USB, Flash Memory, Wifi, GPS and LCD screen.
5. Monitoring : A infra-red webcam. A wireless one would be better, but USB one would also do.
6. Internet Connection : A USB based internet connection device which allows you to connect from anywhere. Shall be compatible with Linux & wvdial.

Software

1. Speech Recognition : HTK, Julius/Julian
2. Text to Speech : Festival, with MBROLA
3. Motion Detection : motion
4. Scripting Language : PHP and bash – this will help in defining and acting upon commands
5. Home Automation : Mister House
6. Others : wvdial for net connection, audacity for audio recording, mail tools for sending out e-mails, Apache for providing a connectivity to base station

The intention is to create a home of the future, today. I would keep on adding stuff here as and when I find time; the first one probably would be about Speech Recognition. I personally believe that the technology is available, and if used effectively, it can be really exciting.

Storage Nirvana – Unlimited Storage using LVM, iSCSI and AoE

If you want to have unlimited space like what google.com is doing with gmail, then here’s what you need to do. I used Ubuntu Feisty Fawn and Gutsy Gibbon to test out the solution.

1. Setup and understand the usage of a LVM
2. Setup iSCSI or AoE for network devices so that network storage can be used easily
3. Setup RAID so that redundancy can be provided to LVM Physical Volumes

Important: Following steps may corrupt your data or partitions. Use them at your own risk. Also, I have listed down the steps as I went ahead doing them. They may not be accurate in your environment or all scenarios may not be covered. I would recommend going through the entire article before attempting anything.

Assumptions

1. You are comfortable using Linux and fdisk
2. You have backed up your data so that in case something goes wrong, nothing is lost
3. You can connect to network and have access to more than 1 Linux machine to do the testing

This article is not complete and does not include the iSCSI and AoE related information as of now. I am working on it and will update it soon. However, you may continue on this page and learn about the LVM