Debian Etch: toward continuity

Great new stuff coming with Debian 4.0. Still, the greatest achievement of Etch is its stability, and the continuity in respect to past Debian releases.

Like ever, a big release. More than 18 200 packages. So lots of new software, nicely packaged, and very well tested. Every aspects of the desktop experience has been magnified, and most server components gained a few version numbers upgrade.

As I have been using Etch since January 2006 (when it was considered the “testing” part of Debian), Etch and I know each other just enough.

What comes out of all this? Let's see.

• On the desktop

Iceweasel 2.0.0.3 (Firefox with a funky name), Gaim 2.0 and OpenOffice 2.0 are just a few of the great programs shipping on top of your preferred desktop, be it Gnome (at version 2.14.3), KDE (3.5.5), Xfce (4.4) or other more minimal alternatives. All that Jazz on top of a new X modular server (7.1), providing improved hardware detection and spectacular visual enhancements. With AIGLX and Compiz included, anything is possible in the aesthetic department. Beryl fans will be glad to know that the Beryl project provides official Etch packages.

A fresh installation of Debian Etch, featuring Beryl on top of AIGLX

Another improvement toward usability: NetworkManager, with its excellent wired and wireless networks management. Many new power-management tools have been introduced or upgraded, like Gnome Power Manager and KPowersave. Laptop users will also find the new X server very much widescreen friendly.

From the non-free section of the repositories, some very popular applications and drivers are present: both Ati and Nvidia proprietary drivers, Sun's Java, Adobe's Flash, Microsoft's TrueType fonts, etc. Plus, the unofficial debian-multimedia packages (from Christian Marillat) provide the missing parts of the multimedia experience, mainly DVD and proprietary media formats related.

• On the server and under the hood

Etch is the first Debian release officially supporting the x86-64 architecture. Many improvements not so visible to the end user have been brought in. The Linux kernel 2.6 series, first introduced more than three years ago, is now part of a default Debian installation, for the first time (though it was available as an option in Sarge). Similarly, about two years after the first GCC 4 series compiler was released, Etch is now build upon it (the 4.1 version).


Better hardware detection and hotplug support (thanks to udev), on top of a specially crafted 2.6.18 kernel. Several enterprise level tools are also present: virtual machines (Xen, QEMU, KVM and the likes), Apache 2, PHP 5, and the powerful MySQL 5 database management system.

An important new Debian application is also introduced: a shiny new GTK+ graphical installer (loaded by typing installgui at boot prompt), which really works in continuity with the old ncurses based one. The debian-installer now avoid reboots during installation, so the process is that much faster.

Additionally, much work was done on the classic Debian administration tools. The Advance Packaging Tool (APT) has a great new security feature, namely the support for PGP signed repositories. The debian-volatile project is now officially part of Debian, providing regularly updated packages for rapidly changing applications (such as ClamAV and SpamAssassin). Non-English speakers will also like the use of UTF-8 character encoding by default, which is a definite step toward internationalization.

• The verdict?

At the end of the day, Debian Etch delivers an enterprise grade system for less effort than expected, and for free. It presents itself as an extremely stable system, well supported with regular security update -- for about the next three years (until one year after Debian's next release).

For a server or production machine, that is indeed ideal. On the other hand, those simply looking for a fun and fully featured desktop, will probably get bored over time with this rock-solid release. For those people, Debian Sid (unstable) or Lenny (testing) are perhaps more appropriate alternatives.

If you are the type of person that demand stability, flexibility and choice, Debian Etch is the real deal.

>>> Read the full article

Debian HOW-TO : AIGLX + Beryl

Last revision : April 23th, 2007

With the recent release of Beryl 0.2, the Beryl Project appears stronger then ever.

Folks using Debian have a good reason to be happy about that: a new Debian repository of Beryl packages has recently been unveiled.

This tutorial aims to explain in a clear and concise manner the installation and configuration of a Beryl enabled Debian desktop.

Setting up a Beryl desktop on Debian has never been simpler.

• Prerequisites

The whole process has been tested on Debian Etch, but should work just as well in Debian Sid. As always, I use sudo to get root privileges.

First, you need either an Intel, ATI, or NVIDIA video card. Regarding both ATI or NVIDIA cards, the proprietary drivers must be properly installed and configured (ie direct rendering enabled). If you need help about that, please refer to the appropriate tutorials (the ATI or the NVIDIA one).

The next step is to ensure that your /etc/X11/xorg.conf configuration file is rightly set up. As the requirement regarding this point are same as for Compiz, please refer to this article for a more in depth explanation.

Very briefly I will state them.

In Section "Modules", have

   Load   "dbe"

in first position.

The Section "Devices" needs this line:

   Option   "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps"   "true"

in last position.

Also, make sure that a Section "Extensions" with this content:

Section   "Extensions"
   Option   "Composite"   "Enable"
EndSection

is present.

NVIDIA users have a few extra requirements.

In Section "Devices", those lines are required:

   Option   "AllowGLXWithComposite"   "true"
   Option   "TripleBuffer"   "true"

Finally, the Section "Screen" must includes those entries:

   Option   "AddARGBGLXVisuals"   "true"
DefaultDepth   24

• Beryl

If you were using Compiz, I recommend uninstalling it, to avoid any potential conflicts:

sudo apt-get remove --purge compiz compiz-gtk compiz-core compiz-gnome compiz-plugins

For this point on, the rest of the process is extremely straight forward. Simply add the Beryl repository to your /etc/apt/sources.list file:

deb http://debian.beryl-project.org etch main
deb-src http://debian.beryl-project.org etch main

It is to be noted that an equivalent Ubuntu repository exists: http://ubuntu.beryl-project.org/

Then make sure the PGP key is part of your trusted sources:

wget http://debian.beryl-project.org/root@lupine.me.uk.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

And update the repositories:

sudo apt-get update

Finally you can actually install Beryl. Of course, remember to first uninstall Compiz (if you were using it).

GNOME or Xfce folks can use this command:

sudo apt-get install beryl emerald

which will fetch and set up Beryl, along with the Emerald themes manager.

Beside the default emerald, other themes managers exist : aquarine (KDE style) and heliodor (mimics GNOME).

That's it! The last step involves adding beryl-manager to your desktop environment startup script, so that it replaces your default window manager. Again, make sure you erase any prior entry related to Compiz, as the two will not sail along smoothly.

Gnome

In GNOME, go in Desktop -> Preferences -> Sessions and choose the Startup Programs tab. Simply add an entry for Beryl:

beryl-manager

KDE

Just create a file ~/.kde/Autostart/beryl.desktop with this content :

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Exec=beryl-manager &
GenericName[en_US]=
StartupNotify=false
Terminal=false
TerminalOptions=
Type=Application
X-KDE-autostart-after=kdesktop

Xfce

Just edit the file /usr/share/desktop-base/profiles/xdg-config/xfce4-session/xfce4-session.rc and replace xfwm4 with beryl-manager :

Client0_Command=beryl-manager

It's all over! You can enjoy the advanced eye candy feature of this thing of beauty called Beryl.

>>> Read the full article

Debian HOW-TO : QEMU virtual machine

Last revision : April 28th, 2007

Virtual machines software are rapidly gaining in popularity. Xen, VMware and VirtualBox are all interesting solutions. However there is one that often gets overlooked : QEMU.

Mandriva 2007 and Knoppix 5.1.1 both running in Debian Etch

While QEMU is an impressive piece of software, it can still benefit from the use of tools like KVM or Kqemu, which will further enhance its performances. As much as the above mentioned tools are considered optional components of the QEMU virtual machine, they do enhance QEMU emulation speed to a near native level.

• Preparation

KVM, as it relies on true hardware virtualization, is certainly the one that provides better added value. The only downside is that it requires a CPU with virtual capabilities.

To verify if you possess such a processor, check out the output of :

cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep flag

And look for either vmx or svm. If they show, then you can use KVM. Otherwise, Kqemu is your best option.

• Starting with QEMU

For starter you will need QEMU :

sudo apt-get install qemu

And a few tools :

sudo apt-get install module-assistant build-essential

Plus the proverbial kernel-headers (or linux-headers starting with Debian Etch) :

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

Next, we take on the installation of KVM, so those who will rely on Kqemu can skip to the Kqemu accelerator section directly.

• Hardware virtualization with KVM

For those about to use KVM, you must first install the userspace component (part of Debian's Sid repository). Download the require package :

wget http://snapshot.debian.net/archive/2007/02/08/debian/pool/main/k/kvm/kvm_12-1_i386.deb

Then simply install it like that :

sudo dpkg -i kvm_12-1_i386.deb

Linux Kernel 2.6.20

The module component of KVM is also required. You can either compile it as an external module, or use the latest Linux kernel, 2.6.20, which includes KVM. If you wish to compile a kernel, simply take a look at this tutorial.

Linux Kernel 2.6.19.x and below

Those using a Linux kernel version 2.6.19.x (or below) will have to build the KVM as an external module. The procedure is rather straight forward.

kvm-source, which is part of the Debian Sid official repository, is the required package.

Download it :

wget http://snapshot.debian.net/archive/2007/02/08/debian/pool/main/k/kvm/kvm-source_12-1_all.deb

Then install it :

sudo dpkg -i kvm-source_12-1_all.deb

At this point we can effectively compile the module (with module-assistant) :

cd /usr/src
sudo m-a prepare
sudo m-a a-i kvm

We now have everything needed to use KVM, just make sure you have the necessary rights to use it :

sudo adduser your_username kvm

You must of course use your own username instead of your_username. Then you'll need to log out and log back in so the (permission) changes take effects.

Now that KVM is appropriately set up, you can proceed with installing an OS in QEMU.

First you must load the right module (either kvm-intel or kvm-amd depending on your CPU). For example, installing Debian Etch is done like that :

sudo modprobe kvm-intel

Then create an image for Etch to install (sort of a virtual hard drive) :

qemu-img create etch_qemu.qcow 4G

Now that we have a 4G "disk", we can proceed with the actual installation. First download Etch netinstaller :

wget http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-builds/daily/arch-latest/i386/iso-cd/debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso

Then launch it :

kvm -hda etch_qemu.qcow -cdrom debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso -boot d -m 256

Once this virtual Etch is installed, you can run it like that :

kvm -hda etch_qemu.qcow -m 256

• Kqemu accelerator

While Kqemu's speed is not on par with KVM's one, it certainly constitutes a worthwhile alternative. Fortunately, installing Kqemu is rather simple with the help of module-assistant :

sudo apt-get install kqemu-source
cd /usr/src
sudo m-a prepare
sudo m-a a-i kqemu

Kqemu is now installed. Before using QEMU, Kqemu needs to be set up (this process must be redone after a reboot) :

sudo modprobe kqemu
sudo mknod /dev/kqemu c 250 0
sudo chmod 666 /dev/kqemu

The rest works exactly like when using KVM, except using the qemu command instead. Again let's take Debian Etch as an example on how to install and run an OS :

qemu-img create etch_qemu.qcow 4G
qemu -hda etch_qemu.qcow -cdrom debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso -boot d -m 256

• Tips about Virtual Computing

Unfortunately QEMU doesn't take care of loading the required modules associated with either Kqemu or KVM. So make sure you do load the appropriate module (kqemu, kvm-intel or kvm-amd) before starting QEMU.

Instead of launching QEMU from the shell, you can also use qemu-launcher, as it will take care of everything :

sudo apt-get install qemu-launcher

Additionnaly, QEMU can run pre-built VMWARE images, of which you can find a great selection on VMWARE community site.

Some Linux distributions won't work very well with KVM. For example, Ubuntu Edgy installer doesn't support KVM, so you simply launch the installer with QEMU (without KVM) :

qemu -hda ubuntu_qemu.qcow -cdrom ubuntu-6.10-desktop.iso -boot d -m 256

Once you have it installed, Ubuntu can be run with KVM :

kvm -hda ubuntu_qemu.qcow -m 256

Further Reading

Debian - Kernel Based Virtual Machine
Windows XP under QEMU
How to create Screencasts with QEMU

>>> Read the full article

Debian HOW-TO : Managing networks with NetworkManager

To manage both wired and wireless networks, nothing matches NetworkManager easiness and versatility.

The following tutorial will help you install it on Debian (Etch or Sid) and Ubuntu (Dapper or Edgy).


Keep in mind that I use sudo to get root privileges.

• Prerequisites

First, make sure your network devices are properly configured, as NetworkManager won't help you with that part. So once you have the necessary drivers for your network devices installed (chances are these drivers are included in the Linux kernel already), you can go on with the tutorial.

• Installation

The installation part is quite simple.

GNOME and XFCE users need to install network-manager-gnome :

sudo apt-get install network-manager-gnome

KDE fans will need network-manager-kde (which is called knetworkmanager in Ubuntu/Kubuntu) :

sudo apt-get install network-manager-kde

• Configuration

Once you have it installed, a few steps are needed to render it fully functional. First, both Debian and Ubuntu users will need to modify the file /etc/network/interfaces and comment everything except the loopback interface. So only those lines should be included :

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

While the previously mentioned step is not mandatory, it does speed up the network interfaces detection process at startup, as NetworkManager has its own method for automatically bringing up interfaces (and simply doesn't use /etc/network/interfaces).

Debian users have an additional step to perform. For NetworkManager to work, permissions have to be set rightly, so make your user part of the group netdev :

sudo adduser your_username netdev

Of course you need to replace your_username with your actual username.

Once all those steps are performed, simply reboot your machine to set things right.

• Notes

XFCE users might want to enable GNOME services at startup, so that NetworkManager will correctly remember connection passwords and preferences.

>>> Read the full article

Debian HOW-TO : Power Management

Last revision : Mai 5th, 2007

This article is intended to give general tips on how to properly manage power consumption and its different aspects (CPU frequency management, suspend/resume, and other common functionalities).

While most laptop users should care, any desktop user concerned with the environment (or their electricity bill) might want to put some efforts in this.

• Prerequisites

Keep in mind that the present tutorial contains only general guidelines and examples : the exact procedure will most likely differ on your machine.

To higher your chances of success, I suggest the use of a recent Linux distribution (like Debian Etch or Ubuntu Edgy), based on a recent Linux kernel (Etch will ship with a 2.6.18 kernel, Ubuntu Edgy ships with a 2.6.17 one : that's about what you need). The instructions posted here have been tested on Debian & Ubuntu.

• CPU frequency management

This is perhaps the main area where you can save energy. Please refer to this tutorial for more.

• X server

The X server configuration is equally important. I shall divide this question in 2 aspects : first, optimizations related to CPU/GPU consumption, and second, modifications concerning your machine's ability to suspend/resume properly.

The file to edit here is /etc/X11/xorg.conf (or /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 for Debian Sarge users).

About power

For the energy conservation minded laptop user, a few general guidelines are to be followed. First, always use 16 bit color depth instead of the default 24 (it will render 3D and images about 50% faster, or consume that much less power for about the same visual result). So in Section "Screen", make sure you have this line :

   DefaultDepth 16

Also, to make proper use of your graphic card memory (as a buffer of images), one might want to use :

   Option   "backingstore"   "true"

in Section "Device".

Also, to make sure hardware rendering is enabled, the line :

   Option   "RenderAccel"   "true"

should be present in Section "Device".

ATI cards users have an extra trick on hands (given the ATI proprietary driver is installed), as this line of code in Section "Device" activates GPU frequency management on their video card :

   Option   "DynamicClocks"   "true"

This option refer to a feature called powerplay (by ATI), which allows you to change GPU clocking of your card on-the-fly (see the Notes section of the present tutorial for more details).

About suspend/resume

A specific option can help your laptop properly resume from suspend to RAM. The code is :

   Option   "VBERestore"   "true"

which should be included in Section "Device" (again in your /etc/X11/xorg.conf).

• Suspend to RAM

For suspend to RAM to work properly, you will need a bit of luck and a bit work.

I personally use Powersave in conjunction with a collection of little subsidiary tools like laptop-mode-tools, hdparm, and others.

Installation

So minimally you would need to install those packages :

sudo apt-get install acpi acpid acpi-tools hdparm sdparm laptop-detect laptop-mode-tools powersaved

Also, many users will prefer a graphical front end to manage those utilities : the recommended one for KDE is kpowersave, while GNOME fans have gnome-power-manager.

It is to be noted that for powersaved to work correctly, you need to make your user part of the group powerdev :

sudo adduser your_username powerdev

Configuration

Obviously this is the tricky part, though in my experience it does work without too much effort on most recent laptops.

The main configuration file for powersaved is /etc/powersave/sleep. Fortunately only a few lines need to be changed, if any.

For example, on my Asus Z63A laptop, 5 lines needed to be changed :

UNLOAD_MODULES_BEFORE_SUSPEND2RAM="sdhci"
SUSPEND2RAM_FORCE="yes"
SUSPEND2RAM_ACPI_SLEEP="1"
SUSPEND2RAM_VBE_SAVE="yes"
SUSPEND2DISK_METHOD="uswsusp"

In ideal conditions, no changes at all should be required for the file discussed here (/etc/powersave/sleep). So you might as well try it before hacking it.

You can put your machine in suspend to RAM state by clicking on the battery icon in your system tray, and choosing "suspend". You can resume by (quickly) pressing the power button of your machine.

That's it folks !

• Notes

If you hesitated on any aspects of the X server configuration, you can check out some working examples I prepared (and tested) :

INTEL card xorg.conf
ATI card xorg.conf using proprietary drivers
NVIDIA card xorg.conf using proprietary drivers


You can verify that a certain feature related to the X server is enabled by looking at the output of

cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log

For example, on a properly configured ATI card, the output of

cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep -i dynamic

should look like that :

(**) RADEON(0): Option "DynamicClocks" "on"
(II) RADEON(0): Dynamic Clock Scaling Enabled

As stated earlier, machines equipped with ATI video cards can make use of the powerplay feature, provided the official ATI drivers are installed.

Several powerstates might be available depending of the card's model. This command will give you the complete list :

aticonfig --list-powerstates

You can find out more about this specific feature at thinkwiki.org

>>> Read the full article

Debian HOW-TO : CPU power management

Last revision : February 5th, 2007

CPU frequency management is one of the keys to power preservation.

The Linux kernel now provides all the necessary tools to properly manage CPU frequency : no need to use a daemon (like cpufreqd or powernowd) to take care of your CPU.

Of course the benefits of such power management are obvious for a laptop, but most desktop users should also consider this.

In this tutorial, I use sudo to get root privileges.

• Prerequisites

Debian Etch (and Sid) should automatically configure CPU frequency management on most processors that supports it, so it might very well be already enabled. You can verify if that is the case using this command :

cpufreq-info

and analyze the output regarding the current policy.

If CPU frequency management is off (or the command is not found), then you can go on with this tutorial.

In order to make this work, you need to install the required packages:

sudo apt-get install cpufrequtils sysfsutils

Next, verify your exact CPU model :

cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep "model name"

Which should output something like that :

model name      : Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 1.73GHz

Once you know your exact CPU type, the next step is to load the proper modules : the CPU frequency driver and the CPU frequency policy governor.

• CPU frequency driver

As you may guess the CPU frequency driver will differ depending on your type of CPU. For example, my laptop is equipped with a Pentium M, so I type :

sudo modprobe speedstep_centrino

to load the proper driver.

Some of the other common drivers (or modules) are :

AMD K6 processors : powernow_k6
AMD K7 processors (Athlon, Duron, Sempron 32 bits) : powernow_k7
AMD K8 processors (Athlon 64, Turion 64, Sempron 64, Opteron 64) : powernow_k8

Pentium 4, Celeron D, Pentium D, Celeron M : p4_clockmod
Pentium M, Core Duo, Core 2 Duo : speedstep_centrino

There are of course other CPU frequency drivers. In doubt, you can use the generic driver : acpi_cpufreq

• CPU policy governor

Once the proper driver is loaded, you need to choose the desired CPU policy governor. This policy governor will manage the actual behavior of your CPU. Here is some policy governors and their module names :

performance, which sets the CPU statically to the highest possible frequency : cpufreq_performance
powersave, which is the opposite, clocks the CPU statically to the lowest frequency : cpufreq_powersave
ondemand, which sets the CPU speed dynamically depending on the work load (ideal for desktops) : cpufreq_ondemand
conservative, which also sets the CPU dynamically, but less aggressively then the ondemand governor (ideal for laptops) : cpufreq_conservative

For example, my machine has a Pentium M processor, so I type :

sudo modprobe speedstep_centrino
sudo modprobe cpufreq_ondemand

to load both the CPU frequency driver and the CPU policy governor.

• CPU configuration

Once the modules are loaded, you need to configure the policy governor. For example, I use the ondemand governor, so :

echo ondemand | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

will enable it.

You can verify that everything went well with this command :

cpufreq-info

It should output your actual frequency, as well as the governor presently in use.

• System configuration

If everything is good, then you can make this configuration permanent. First make sure the proper modules are loaded at startup (in /etc/modules).

So in my case :

echo speedstep_centrino | sudo tee -a /etc/modules
echo cpufreq_ondemand | sudo tee -a /etc/modules

Finally, ensure that the CPU uses your policy governor of choice by default. Simply edit the file /etc/sysfs.conf with a line like this one :

devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor = ondemand

That's it !

>>> Read the full article

Debian HOW-TO : Update Firefox

Last revision : March 29th, 2007

Firefox 2.0 has been out for quite some time now.

You can install an updated version of Firefox quite easily in Debian or Ubuntu. Here is how.

• Download
  

First, download your Firefox version of choice. We'll use Firefox 2.0 (2.0.0.3 in fact) for this tutorial :

wget ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/2.0.0.3/linux-i686/en-US/firefox-2.0.0.3.tar.gz

You can also use the latest Seamonkey if you want a full featured Internet suite (browser and email client).

• Installation
  

Once you have Firefox, choose a place to install it. I'll install it in ~/apps/firefox/ :

mkdir -p ~/apps/

which is in fact /home/<your_user>/apps/.

Then put Firefox in that directory :

tar zxf firefox-2.0.0.3.tar.gz ~/apps/

Once uncompressed, we need to configure the plugins.

Delete the default (empty) Firefox 2.0 plugins directory :

cd ~/apps/firefox/
rm -r plugins

Then make a link from your old browser plugins directory :

On Debian Sarge and Etch

ln -s /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/

On Ubuntu Dapper

ln -s /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/

Of course, this new Firefox will use any plugins already present in ~/.mozilla/plugins/.

That's it, the executable for the new Firefox is /home/<your_user>/apps/firefox/firefox, so make a shortcut for it and start using it.

• Tips
  

Any plugins installed with your old browser will work just as well in Firefox 2.0. If the Flash and Java plugins weren't already installed, take a look at these tutorials, on Flash 9 and Java.

>>> Read the full article

Debian HOW-TO : NVIDIA drivers

Last revision : April 24th, 2007

A quick and easy tutorial about how to install NVIDIA drivers as simply as possible.

• Prerequisites

In this tutorial, I use sudo to get root privileges. Check out this tutorial if you need help in configuring sudo.

As a starting point, download the latest stable drivers.

Then you'll need to install a few packages :

sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)

Debian Sarge users have to replace linux-headers with kernel-headers.

• Installation

First you'll need to kill the X server. You can do that by switching to console #1 : press CTRL-ALT-F1 simultaneously.

Once there, log in with your username and password.

Stop the graphical login manager :

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop

Then install the drivers :

sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-9755-pkg1.run

and follow the installation process.

Make sure you tell the installer to automatically modify your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file so you'll end up using the NVIDIA drivers.

• xorg.conf

If you haven't, then you simply have to make a few changes to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. Here they are. Debian Sarge users have to modify /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 instead.

In Section "Modules" comment the dri and GLcore modules :

#Load "dri"
#Load "GLcore"

In Section "Device" make sure you use the NVIDIA driver :

Driver "nvidia"

And finally comment the whole Section "DRI" :

#Section "DRI"
#        Mode    0666
#EndSection

Here is an example xorg.conf file with the proper changes made.

• X

Once done, load the NVIDIA module :

sudo modprobe nvidia

And restart the graphical login manager, which will bring back X :

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start

• Tips

If you happen to update your kernel, then you don't need to reinstall the whole NVIDIA driver, but only the kernel module. So running this command will do the trick :

sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-9755-pkg1.run -K

>>> Read the full article

Debian HOW-TO : Task Manager XP Style

You like Linux a lot, but you miss the old time CTRL-ALT-DEL feature ? Pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL in this famous OS called Windows brings a very handy task manager, opening a world of new possibilities : it informs you on ressources consumption of all running processes, it allows you to kill an unresponsive process, etc.

With minimal tweaking, you can get this neat tool in Linux too.

• Prerequisites

These instructions will work on any Linux distributions running the GNOME desktop environment (default in Debian and Ubuntu).

KDE users can simply press CTRL + ESC to bring the task manager, and skip this HOW-TO.

• Installation

Make sure you have gnome-system-monitor installed (this will be our "task manager"). In Debian or Ubuntu :

sudo apt-get install gnome-system-monitor

will install it.


Then, instructions will differ depending on the windows manager you use : Metacity or Compiz. If you don't know, just do both parts, it will work just as well. Note that all commands below are to be run without root privileges, so just do it as a normal user.

For Metacity

Simply typing those 2 lines in a terminal will do it :

gconftool-2 -t str --set /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/run_command_9 "<control><alt>Delete"
gconftool-2 -t str --set /apps/metacity/keybinding_commands/command_9 "gnome-system-monitor"

For Compiz

The commands are similar, and still 2 lines :

gconftool-2 -t str --set /apps/compiz/general/allscreens/options/run_command9_key "<control><alt>Delete"
gconftool-2 -t str --set /apps/compiz/general/allscreens/options/command9 "gnome-system-monitor"

• Tips

If you are feeling lazy, just run this small script I prepared. Of course, read it before you execute it (don't trust anyone). Then simply typing:

sh task_manager_shortcut.sh

will do the trick.

That's it, just press CTRL-ALT-DEL and feel the magic !

>>> Read the full article

Debian HOW-TO : Writing to NTFS

Last revision : April 29th, 2007


On July 14th, Szakacsits Szabolcs, a developer for the Linux-NTFS project published a major update of the Linux NTFS driver. It is now possible to write to an NTFS partition in a safe manner.

I've tested it for months now and I have yet to report any issue. In fact, I have had more troubles with the old NTFS driver which allowed read-only operations on NTFS partitions. On February 21th, 2007, the first stable release of NTFS-3G was released as version 1.0.

So here we go...

• Installation
  

On Debian Etch

First, download NTFS-3g. 2 packages are needed here: ntfs-3g and libntfs-3g. You can use wget to download them:

wget http://snapshot.debian.net/archive/2007/03/01/debian/pool/main/n/ntfs-3g/libntfs-3g0_0.0.0+20061031-6_i386.deb
wget http://snapshot.debian.net/archive/2007/03/01/debian/pool/main/n/ntfs-3g/ntfs-3g_0.0.0+20061031-6_i386.deb

Then install the dependencies:

sudo apt-get install fuse-utils libfuse2

Finally you can install ntfs-3g (using the 2 Debian packages you just downloaded):

sudo dpkg -i libntfs-3g0_0.0.0+20061031-6_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i ntfs-3g_0.0.0+20061031-6_i386.deb

On Debian Sid, Ubuntu Edgy or Ubuntu Feisty

No need to download anything, nor to install any dependencies. Simply typing:

sudo apt-get install ntfs-3g

will do the trick.

• Mounting partitions

Mounting partition is done quite simply. For example, this command (one line):

sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sda1 /mnt/windows -o umask=0,nls=utf8

will mount a partition (/dev/sda1 in that case, replace with your actual windows partition) on the /mnt/windows directory (which must exist and be empty), using the utf8 character set (for maximum compatibility with foreign languages) and giving read/write/execute permissions to everyone.

Once you have established that this command work fine on your system, you can add an entry for it in /etc/fstab:

/dev/sda1 /mnt/windows ntfs-3g umask=0,nls=utf8 0 0

If you wish, you can unmount that partition in the standard way:

sudo umount /dev/sda1

• Tips

The output of

sudo fdisk -l | grep -i ntfs

will tell you the location of your windows partition.

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Debian HOW-TO : Flash 9

Last Revision : April 27th, 2007

Since October 18, Flash 9 is available (in beta version) for Linux. The official release is out since January 16, 2007.

Here is a quick how-to on how to install it.

In this tutorial, I use sudo to get root privileges.

• Installation

To ease the installation process, install the package flashplugin-nonfree :

sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree

For Debian Etch, Lenny, or Sid, that's all there is to it. The above mentioned package will take care of installing the latest Flash Player for you.

Debian Sarge users have a few extra steps to take care of though.

On Debian Sarge

Once you have flashplugin-nonfree installed, download Flash 9 directly like that :

wget http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/install_flash_player_9_linux.tar.gz

Once you have the file, you can decompress it like that :

tar zxf install_flash_player_9_linux.tar.gz

To effectively install the plugin, first navigate to the right directory :

cd install_flash_player_9_linux/

Then install it like that :

sudo cp libflashplayer.so flashplayer.xpt /usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree/

That's it, verify that the plugin is present by typing :

about:plugins

in Firefox address bar.

• Notes

Konqueror users may have to "rescan" the available plugins so the changes take effects :

Settings -> Configure Konqueror... -> Plugins -> Scan for New Plugins

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