In Ubuntu Karmic (and possibly Jaunty ?), when you install libsane, it adds a file /lib/udev/rules.d/40-libsane.rules which contains rules that match on supported scanners and set the environment variable "libsane_matched" to "yes".

This in turn triggers the following in /lib/udev/rules.d/70-acl.rules:

# USB scanners
ENV{libsane_matched}=="yes", ENV{ACL_MANAGE}="1"

<snip>

# apply ACL for all locally logged in users
LABEL="acl_apply", ENV{ACL_MANAGE}=="?*", TEST=="/var/run/ConsoleKit/database", \
  RUN+="udev-acl --action=$env{ACTION} --device=$env{DEVNAME}"

In the end, the result is that an ACL is created for the device, which allows locally logged in users to use it (read/write permission). eg for my scanner:

~# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 04b8:011c Seiko Epson Corp. Perfection 3200
~# ls -l /dev/bus/usb/001/005
crw-rw-r--+ 1 root root 189, 4 2009-12-28 00:11 /dev/bus/usb/001/005
~# getfacl /dev/bus/usb/001/005
getfacl: Removing leading '/' from absolute path names
# file: dev/bus/usb/001/005
# owner: root
# group: root
user::rw-
user:crox:rw-
group::rw-
mask::rw-
other::r--
~#

However, I also wanted to allow access to the scanner from other workstations through saned. In older Ubuntu versions, you could just add saned (or whatever user the service runs as) to the scanner group. This no longer works since the device belongs to root:root, and ACLs are added for specific users. The solution that works for me is to create a file /etc/udev/rules.d/99-sane-group.rules with the following contents:

# change group to scanner for sane devices
ENV{libsane_matched}=="yes", GROUP="scanner"

Then you just need to run

sudo udevadm trigger

and the group of the device magically changes to scanner.

Of course you could also add a similar rule specifically for a certain device instead, in my case this would work too:

ATTRS{idVendor}=="1d6b", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0002", GROUP="scanner"

To check that it worked, run the following:

sudo su -s /bin/bash -c 'scanimage -L' saned

Faced with a noisy Dell Precision 490 computer running Ubuntu Karmic, I found an easy way to reduce the noise level to an acceptable threshold. (fancontrol did not help since it seems not to be compatible with the chipset used by Dell at least on this computer.)

Step 1, install i8kutils:

sudo apt-get install i8kutils

Step 2, add i8k to /etc/modules:

sudo sh -c 'echo i8k >> /etc/modules'

Step 3, edit /etc/default/i8kmon so that it looks like this:

# /etc/default/i8kmon



# Change to one enable i8kmon

ENABLED=1

I8KMON_ARGS="--daemon --nouserconfig --auto"

Step 4, reboot and enjoy!

Thanks to Luca who provided me with a link to this table detailing VoIP (SIP) support in Nokia devices.

This is a copy of a post I made to the isdn4linux mailing-list.

The attached patch adds support to mISDN-1_1_9_2 for the Eicon DIVA USB ISDN adapter (071d:1005).

The bits I've added to hfcs_usb.c are from kernel 2.6.31. So far the adapter works fine for me (tested with 1 and 2 concurrent calls to asterisk 1.4.26.1 with chan_misdn).

You can get the patch here: misdn-1.1.9.2-Eicon-Diva-USB.patch.

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I've recently acquired an HP Photosmart Premium C309a all-in-one device (CC335B). I planned to use the device mainly for its scanner with duplex-capable automatic document feeder (ADF), in order to archive our mail electronically (more on that later). But I was also happy to get a device which can replace man different ones: it is also a fax, and a nice printer for documents, pictures and even (special) CD/DVDs.

I already have a Canon Selphy CP740 dye sublimation photo printer, which I like very much but has two limitations: 1. it's limited to 10x15 format (4x6 in), and 2. it seems that it's impossible to get the printer to work correctly when attached to a PC as a usb printer. It works nicely in stand-alone mode (ie printing from a digital camera with PictBridge or directly from a CF card), but so far I've only managed to waste paper and ink when trying to print directly from the computer. (I've even installed a fresh Windows XP to try the software from Canon, it didn't work any better.) So the good quality of the HP as a photo printer was one more argument in its favour.

Here is how I was able to print borderless photos directly from The Gimp:

1. If you want no border at all, the image should obviously have the same aspect ratio as the paper you'll print on. If necessary, use "Image" -> "Canvas size" or the Crop tool to adjust it.

2. "File" -> "Page setup": select the correct printer and paper size

3. "File" -> "Print":

- in "Page setup", select "Photo Tray" as paper source
- in "Image Settings", check the box "Ignore Page Margins", then adjust Width/Height so that the picture fills the paper (if it doesn't, get back to step 1)
- in "Advanced", select "Photo" as Printout mode, and "1200 dpi, Photo, Full Bleed" under "Resolution, Quality, Ink Type, Media Type" ("Controlled by 'Printout Mode'" seems to do as well)

4. Click "Print"

This is a copy of a post I made to the isdn4linux mailing-list.

In the latest kernel, char bus_id[20] has been removed from struct device. To read or set the device name, dev_name(device) resp. dev_set_name(device) have to be used instead. The attached patch does exactly that. It allows me to run mISDN-1_1_9_2 with kernel 2.6.30.5, with no problem so far. My understanding is that dev_name and dev_set_name have been introduced in 2.6.27.x, hence the check for >= 2.6.28. I haven't tested the patch with kernels older than 2.6.30.5 though.

You can get the patch here: misdn-1.1.9.2-no-bus_id.patch.

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There is actually at least one very straightforward way to install Ubuntu Netbook Remix without a USB key, without even downloading the image, over the network.

Just follow the instructions in my previous article to get a working Ubuntu Installer over PXE. By default this installer will only setup a very minimal Ubuntu system, without any server or desktop packages.

At some point during the installation, you are offered the possibility to install additional software packages. At this stage you can just tick the box in front of "Ubuntu Network Remix" and that's it! You don't need to select any other package (eg Ubuntu Desktop) for a fully working UNR install. Personally I added "OpenSSH Server" because I want to be able to login remotely. Of course you could also add those packages later on.

A friend recently brought us a Linksys WRT54GL which had been laying around for a while and whose password was not available anymore.

None of the "easy" password recovery methods seemed to work (like holding the reset button, power-cycling etc.) - possibly because the corresponding options had been previously disabled.

In the end, I used the TFTP method described here: http://oldwiki.openwrt.org/OpenWrtDocs(2f)Installing(2f)TFTP.html

However, it didn't work until all these conditions were met:

- the laptop with the firmware image and the tftp client had to be connected to the WRT through an external switch

- the switch had to be unplugged from the LAN

- I had to lauch a "ping -f 192.168.1.1" in a different terminal before powering on the WRT in order for the tftp transfer to start

- before and after the flashing I followed the 30/30/30 procedure (not sure if that one is mandatory but it is recommended)

To make sure the hardware was working I installed the latest firmware from the Linksys website (WRT54GL_v4.30.11_012_ETSI_EN_code.bin), but now I'll likely reflash it with OpenWRT - this time from the web interface :o)

Until now I always recommended to use PDF as a format to distribute documents in case the recipients don't need to alter them[1]. This supposedly guaranteed that the document would always look the same on any computer/platform. But today one of our customers (running Linux) contacted our support department requesting help because he was unable to view the contents of such a "portable document". To my surprise, I saw the following contents when opening the file with evince:

To view the full contents of this document, you need a later version of the PDF viewer. You can upgrade
to the latest version of Adobe Reader from www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
For further support, go to www.adobe.com/support/products/acrreader.html

There doesn't seem to be anything "magic" in this document that I haven't seen in documents using the "older" format, so maybe this is just an attempt from Adobe to regain market shares by forcing you to use their product. On the other hand I always thought of PDF as an open standard so it's probably just a matter of time until the "competitors" catch up. At least a bug has already been filled for evince.


[1] or even if they need to alter them, see this older post about Hybrid PDF-OpenDocument files

When trying to get the latest sys-libs/timezone-data on a somewhat old system, I got the following error:

[list of nearly all files the package was about to install]
 - Package 'sys-libs/timezone-data-2008i' NOT merged due to file
 - collisions. If necessary, refer to your elog messages for the whole
 - content of the above message.

According to equery, it looks like those files were installed by glibc:

# equery b /usr/share/zoneinfo/CET
sys-libs/glibc-2.3.4.20041102-r1 (/usr/share/zoneinfo/CET)

So I tried

# COLLISION_IGNORE="/usr/share/zoneinfo" emerge -av timezone-data

which showed less errors but still gave me:

 - sys-libs/glibc-2.3.4.20041102-r1
 -      /usr/bin/tzselect
 -      /usr/sbin/zdump
 -      /usr/sbin/zic

I ended up with

# COLLISION_IGNORE="/usr" emerge -av timezone-data

which worked well.

I looked at the ebuilds and saw that newer glibc packages depend on sys-libs/timezone-data, so upgrading glibc should solve the problem too. I've submitted bug 258802 since I didn't find the info anywhere else.

I've successfully installed and ran Android on my N810 following the instructions here along with the modifications described here. In the next days/weeks I'll have a deeper look at it and will also try to install some more apps.

There is another project (involving the same people?) called NITdroid, which allows to run Android directly, bypassing Maemo. However my understanding is that short of reflashing the kernel there is no easy way to switch between Maemo and Android (with the first method you only have to reboot to get back to Maemo after using Android). There are discussion here and there about using kexec to swich between Maemo and Android but so far I'm not aware of anybody getting kexec to work on a NIT.

android-n810 on SourceForge looks quite similar to NITdroid, according to the README in the distributed files.

Other things to look at some day:

• Gentoo on N810
• Debian on N810
• N810 Serial Console

This is a follow-up to my previous post about using the aXbo Sleep Phase Alarm Clock (SPAC) on linux. You should probably read that post first.

There is now a new 2.0 version of the "aXbo research" software (thanks rac for the hint). It is quite similar to version 1.0, with the added feature that you can upload new sounds to the device. It's still a Java application, using a number of Open Source components => Look at NOTICE.txt, and from what I saw it seems it's being developed on OS X - a shame that they don't provide an easy way to use it with linux: while version 1.0 was launched using Java Web Start, version 2.0 is installed locally in an OS-specific way which makes it a bit more complicated for the (not Mac / Windows) users. As far as I can tell the software should work fine on all platforms supported by RXTX (as long as there is a driver for the USB->serial converter of course)...

Here are the steps that allowed me to successfully run version 2.0 on linux:

- download aXbo_windows_2_0_11.exe

- run wine aXbo_windows_2_0_11.exe, this will install version 2.0.11 (don't install the drivers, only the application)

- at the end of the install process, you can directly start the program. for me this triggered the download of aXbo_windows_2_0_13.exe (why they don't offer this file for download directly is a mystery)

- install / update to version 2.0.13 using wine again (and again, don't install the drivers, only the application)

At this point you can already use aXbo research through wine. I didn't test the sound upload, but the rest seemed to work fine, although there were some glitches with the display. Here is how to run it without wine:

- create a directory to hold the files, eg mkdir ~/aXbo-2.0

- copy the .jar files to that directory, eg cp -rp ~/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/aXbo2/lib ~/aXbo-2.0/

- move axbo.jar one directory up, eg mv ~/aXbo-2.0/lib/axbo.jar ~/aXbo-2.0/

- get librxtxSerial.so, eg cd ~/aXbo-2.0/lib/ ; wget http://blog.crox.net/uploads/librxtxSerial.so

- run the application like this: cd ~/aXbo-2.0/ ; java -Djava.library.path=lib/ -jar axbo.jar


NOTE / RXTX:

- the librxtxSerial.so offered for download here is 32-bit, which means you need to run a 32-bit JRE.

- instead, you can also install a distribution-provided librxtxSerial.so, eg with Gentoo 64-bit:
emerge rxtx
java -Djava.library.path=/usr/lib64/rxtx-2/ -jar axbo.jar
(in this example you obviously have to select a 64-bit JRE)

(RXTX is distributed under a variant of the LGPL license, you'll find more info on the RXTX website.)


NOTE / Sounds Upload:

Be aware that the sounds upload function will upload the whole package at once, and that it will replace the sounds currently on the device, and not just add new ones.

This article discusses importing PDF files in OOo for editing with a new extension, which also brings a new feature called "hybrid PDF". Basically a regular PDF file compatible with any reader which also contains the original OpenDocument (odt, ods etc.) data. This extension requires OpenOffice.org version 3.0 and you can download it from here.

The article also mentions that Office 2007 SP2 will support ODF natively. This has been announced in May this year apparently but I missed it :o) The service pack will be available sometime in the first half of 2009.

If you own a Netgear DG834 ADSL modem/router/bridge, and for some reason you'd like to terminate the PPPoE connection on another device, you'll probably be disappointed as we first were to see that there is no "bridge mode" option in the web interface, even after a firmware upgrade followed by a factory reset.

This doen't mean however that you can't. It's just undocumented... Here is how we finally got it up & running, after trying several procedures found here and there. The exact model we used is the DG834Bv2, but from what I've seen it should work with other similar devices as well (at least with other DG834B versions and also with DG834G variants).

- to begin with we installed the latest available firmware, V3.01.37 (we had to go to netgear.de for this, the international website didn't have it)

- this was followed by a factory reset

- then from the "basic settings" page/section we set "does your internet provider require a login" to "No"

- from the "LAN IP Setup" page/section we unchecked "use router as DHCP server"

- after going through these steps you'll have to edit the URL in your browser to go to the "mode.htm" page - this should redirect you to 192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?next_file=mode.htm ; on that page you can set the device to operate in "modem-only" mode.

It's quite easy actually, once you know where to look.

Just browse to http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/[version]/main/installer-[arch]/current/images/netboot/ubuntu-installer/[arch]/ - eg http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/intrepid/main/installer-i386/current/images/netboot/ubuntu-installer/i386/.

The two files "linux" and "initrd.gz" can be used with pxegrub to boot a PC with a fully-working Ubuntu-installer (text-mode). See my other posts about my diskless / network boot setup for details on how I configured the network booting part, based on dhcp, tftp and pxegrub.

Alternatively, if you have a CF card USB stick etc. with a working GRUB install, you can just copy the two files over there.

What I still haven't found is how to do an Ubuntu NFS install directly. For now I'm stuck with my diskless Ubuntu install procedure where I first do a hard disk install and then make it diskless.

Credits: the whole thing was inspired by this article.