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VMware server console keyboard problem in Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex

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Few days ago I have upgraded my Ubuntu to latest 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) and found that keyboard just doesn’t work in VMware Server Console. The problem was that I couldn’t use keyboard under guest operating system including Windows, Linux etc. After few hours of research I found simple solution which works for me:

$ setxkbmap
$ echo "xkeymap.nokeycodeMap = true" >> ~/.vmware/config

After this restart vmware-server-console and see if it helps. If not you can see other solutions of the same problem at this site:
http://nthrbldyblg.blogspot.com/2008/06/vmware-and-fubar-keyboard-effect.html

I hope it helps!

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Convert WMA to MP3 in Ubuntu

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In order to convert WMA file into MP3 format in Ubuntu (or Debian) you should install the following requirements first: 1. mplayer (sudo aptitude install mplayer) 2. lame (sudo aptitude install lame) 3. win32 codecs (sudo aptitude install ubuntu-restricted-extras) and then convert file.wma into file.mp3 using the following console command: mplayer -vo null -vc dummy -af resample=44100 -ao pcm:waveheader file.wma;lame -m s -V 3 audiodump.wav;mv audiodump.wav.mp3 file.mp3;rm audiodump.wav This also works for Fedora / Centos / Redhat family Linux distributions (requirements should be installed by … Read more

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FAQ: How to change Duplex and/or Auto-Negotiation NIC settings in Linux?

Q: How to disable auto-negotiation option of my network interface card and set up half/full duplex mode manually from Linux command line (CLI)? By the way, how to see current settings? A: There are several Linux utilities coming with almost any distribution including Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, RedHat, Mandriva, Centos whatever. See details below. ethtool This is rather powerful utility can display and change settings of ethernet network interface card. You can easily disable/enable autonegotiation option for your NIC, also it’s possible to manually set up … Read more

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FAQ: How to scrollback in GNU SCREEN?

Q: I was compiling kernel using GNU Screen utility but something happened during the compilation and I want to see full error’s output but I can’t just scrollback using Ctrl+PageUp. How to scrollback in GNU Screen? A: In GNU Screen press Ctrl + a + [ to enter Copy Mode, then scroll up/down using keys j or k. Below are some other navigation keys: h – Move the cursor left by one character j – Move the cursor down by one line k – Move … Read more

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Create .deb or .rpm from .tar.gz with checkinstall

Checkinstall is extremely useful utility to create .deb packages for Debian, Ubuntu (or .rpm packages for Fedora, RedHat, CentOs) from .tar.gz (or .tgz) source tarball after it’s compiled at your Linux box. In other words you can prepare binary package for later usage without need to compile software from sources every time you need to get it installed on certain Linux box. Another application of checkinstall is software deinstallation that was compiled and installed from sources. As you might already noticed, not every programmer adds … Read more

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FAQ: How to disable directory browsing in apache/httpd?

Question: How can I disable building of directory index in apache/httpd? In other words, how to prevent users from seeing the contents of published directories? Answer: Actually you are totally right that you wish to disable this feature. One of the “must do’s” on setting a secure apache web server is to disable directory browsing. Usually apache comes with this feature enabled but its always a good idea to get it disabled unless you really need it. First of all find where is the main apache’s … Read more

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Home video security with Zoneminder and Ubuntu

zoneminder logoThis weekend my colleague brought to our office simple 20$ webcam. I have to say that my previous attitude to such toys was quite ambiguous. But idea to build home/office video security system based on such webcam(s) and Ubuntu changed my mind especially taking into consideration extremely low cost of end system and it’s capabilities. First of all I was interested in events replay, multiple camera zones and web interface. As it was discovered later, such system provides tons of useful features.

ubuntu logoIn this post I’ll provide you with a free-style guide on how to set up home video security system that supports above mentioned features and is based on rather cheap webcams, free as beer software ZoneMinder and Ubuntu. I used Hardy Heron Ubuntu (8.04) for the installation but this guide should also work for 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) and Jaunty Jackalope (9.04).

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Read CHM files in Linux

CHM is the file extension for Microsoft Compiled HTML Help that is a proprietary format for online help files, developed by Microsoft and first released in 1997 as a successor to the Microsoft WinHelp format. It was first introduced with the release of Windows 98 crap.

There are three most popular tools to read CHM files in Linux: gnochm, xchm and kchmviewer.

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Adjust LCD brightness from command line

As many other Ubuntu users several days ago I’ve upgraded my Feisty to Gutsy at my Dell Inspiron 1501. Unfortunately many things that worked for me in Feisty doesn’t work in Gutsy just after upgrading. Among them are: suspend/hibernate and brightness adjustment. At this moment I’m trying to get these features working and certainly share results here but not workable brightness adjustment really disturbed me. So, until I didn’t find a solution how to adjust LCD brightness with keyboard, there is nice workaround: execute the … Read more

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Run Photoshop with Ubuntu (or any other Linux)

Adobe Photoshop (or simply Photoshop), is a graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Systems. Currently it’s market leader for commercial bitmap and image manipulation, and is the flagship product of Adobe Systems. Unfortunately it’s available for M$ Windows and Apple OS X users only. Thanks to heaven (and Wine’s developers of course) there is Wine allowing to execute M$ Windows applications (from simple executables to M$ Office and Adobe Photoshop) in Linux. The following instructions will help you to run Photoshop with you favorite … Read more