Different ways of installing software in Ubuntu

The second tutorial from my work at Ubuntu Life, here is:

Different ways of installing software in Ubuntu

This tutorial shows 3 different ways for you to install software on Ubuntu or an Ubuntu based version of Linux.

Disk labels in Linux

I have started writing new tutorials for www.ubuntulife.co.za/forums (where I am a staff writer and Moderator).

If I have time, I will rewrite them here, otherwise I will just post links to them here.

Here is the first Tutorial: Disk labels in Linux

More to follow soon.

www.ubuntulife.co.za

I have joined the Ubuntu Life team as a staff writer after accepting the open invitation to forum members.

The forum is focused on Ubuntu and it's derivatives, but also features other Linux distributions. It has a news section, where I post Linux news that we are the writers find interesting.

The forum started about 2 months ago, and has had visitors from all around the world. Still a small forum, but I am sure that it will grow quickly.

Why not join the forum and chat with us about Linux? Check out Ubuntu Life

My current Conky script

Because I love system monitors, I always go back to using Conky.

Here is my current Conky Script:


background yes
use_xft yes
xftfont Sans:size=8
xftalpha 1
update_interval 1.0
total_run_times 0
own_window yes
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_type normal
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager
double_buffer yes
minimum_size 200 700
maximum_width 400
draw_shades yes
draw_outline no
draw_borders no
draw_graph_borders yes
default_color white
default_shade_color black
default_outline_color white
alignment top_right
gap_x 12
gap_y 12
no_buffers yes
text_buffer_size 1024
uppercase no
cpu_avg_samples 2
override_utf8_locale no

TEXT
${font sans-serif:bold:size=8}SYSTEM ${hr 2}
${font sans-serif:normal:size=8}$sysname $kernel $alignr $machine
Host:$alignr$nodename
Uptime:$alignr$uptime
File System: $alignr${fs_type}

${font sans-serif:bold:size=8}PROCESSORS ${hr 2}
${font sans-serif:normal:size=8}${cpugraph cpu1}
CPU1: ${cpu cpu1}% ${cpubar cpu1}

${font sans-serif:bold:size=8}MEMORY ${hr 2}
${font sans-serif:normal:size=8}RAM $alignc $mem / $memmax $alignr $memperc%
$membar

${font sans-serif:bold:size=8}DISKS ${hr 2}
${font sans-serif:normal:size=8}/ $alignc ${fs_used /} / ${fs_size /} $alignr ${fs_used_perc /}%
${fs_bar /}
SWAP $alignc ${swap} / ${swapmax} $alignr ${swapperc}%
${swapbar}

${font sans-serif:bold:size=8}TOP PROCESSES ${hr 2}
${font sans-serif:normal:size=8}${top_mem name 1}${alignr}${top mem 1} %
${top_mem name 2}${alignr}${top mem 2} %
$font${top_mem name 3}${alignr}${top mem 3} %
$font${top_mem name 4}${alignr}${top mem 4} %
$font${top_mem name 5}${alignr}${top mem 5} %

${font sans-serif:bold:size=8}NETWORK ${hr 2}
${font sans-serif:normal:size=8}IP address: $alignr ${addr eth1}
ESSID: $alignr ${wireless_essid eth1}
${downspeedgraph eth1}
DLS:${downspeed eth1} kb/s $alignr total: ${totaldown eth1}
${upspeedgraph eth1}
ULS:${upspeed eth1} kb/s $alignr total: ${totalup eth1}

And here is a screenshot:

Printing on Peppermint

This has been something new for me, because when my Epson photo print broke a few years ago I never bought a replacement. I printed at small copy shop and was very happy because I did not need a lot of prints.

Now I have a HP 1010 laser printer and wanted to share my getting started experience.

Plugged it in, Peppermint detected it and started downloading drivers. I printed a test page and all seemed well. Unfortunately it would not print from LibreOffice or Firefox. I searched the Peppermint forums and found a suggestion to print from a different program. So I tried the Document Viewer and was able to Print a PDF file.

When it does not print: The document is sent to the print que, and as far as the computer knows, it is printed. Which of course makes no sense to me as I am not a programmer.

I am investigating and will post an update as soon as I have found the answer.

Update: a reboot later my printing problems are over. Not sure what happened, but it's working.

An Update on my Samsung Galaxy Pocket

My phone has once again started with it's old nonsense. So I have to accept that it is probably a hardware problem, or a glitch with the software that cannot be fixed to reloading it (reloading the software fixes it for about a week before trouble starts).

I have decided to stop trying to fix it. Instead I ripped out BBM out of my Blackberry 8520, which (although it is slow) has less serious flaws than this phone. Which is sad really as I like the Android phone more.

How to root and flash a ROM to your Android phone

Before we start, I have to warn you that if you root and flash a different ROM to your Android phone you will void your warranty.

You and you alone to take the responsibility for what happens to your phone. I will be using my Samsung Galaxy S5300 Pocket as an example here as it is the phone that I rooted and flashed.

[I tried to do this using Linux, instead of Odin I installed Heimdall and Heimdall-frontend, but the program would not communicate with my phone. So I had to do it on Windows. I feel bad to have a Windows based tutorial on a Linux blog, but such is life I suppose.]

What is root?

In Linux (of which many believe Android is a descendant!) having root access means having full system access to the hardware and software on the computer. If you want to install or remove software in Peppermint (or join a new WIFI network, etc.) you will need root access. This is important as a low level user cannot mess stuff up.

Having root access on your Android phone will allow you to:

• Load apps that require root access (see Titanium Backup)
• Load a different ROM onto your phone

What's a ROM?

Before I loose you, a ROM (read only memory) refers to the operating system on the phone. If you have root access you can load a different (customised) version of Android onto your phone. A stock ROM refers to the normal, plain, vanilla Android; while a custom ROM can have different themes, apps, etc. on it. For more info on custom ROMs click here.

Before we continue, if you flash a ROM and something goes wrong you could brick your phone. A soft brick can be fixed by flashing again. A hard brick means that your phone is now permanently stuffed up. So be careful when doing this.

The steps are:

1. Download and install Samsung KIES (if you have a Samsung phone, it will add all the necessary drivers for your phone to be able to talk to Windows).

2. Put your phone in debugging mode. Settings - Applications - Development - Debugging.

3. Go to this site, to download the unlock.zip file. Instructions from the site:

• How to Root Samsung Galaxy Pocket S5300:
• First of all download the rooting package on your computer and transfer it to your SD card by connecting your phone to computer in USB mass storage mode.
• Now switch off your phone and remove the battery. Put the battery back again and restart it back again into recovery mode.
• For entering into recovery mode, press the Volume Up button, Menu button (center button) and Power key all  together simultaneously.
• Once you have booted into recovery mode, choose the option “install zip from SD card” and choose the file that we copied in SD card above.   You can use volume key to navigate through the available options.
• Confirm the installation by pressing yes and wait until the process completes.
• Up next, press back key and choose the “reboot system now” option.

4. From this site, you can download the stock ROM. Instructions quoted:

How to flash stock firmware:

* Download the firmware here S5300XXLF5

* Extract zip (it contains *.tar.md5 file)

* Download & Extract Odin (it contains Odin application and *.pit file)

* Mobile should be in USB Debugging mode.

* Go to Download mode (switch off your mobile, then press Vol-down + Home + Power, then Vol-up to continue)

* If Lovely greed android will appear, its download mode.

* Open Odin Application on PC

* Connect your phone to PC

* Yellow Indication will appear on Odin in first small box,

* Click on PDA and browse downloaded firmware file (*.tar.md5)

* Click on Start (it will take time to finish)

* Done  Your phone will be reset, And now you have S5300XXLF5

Remember that these instructions are for a Samsung Galaxy S5300. If you have a different Samsung phone you will need to Google "Samsung Galaxy S2 root" and "Samsung Galaxy S2 stock ROM" or "Samsung Galaxy S2 custom ROM" (if you have a an S2, otherwise insert your phone model). You will only need KIES if you have a Samsung phone. 

I hope you have enjoyed this, I did not want to hotlink to the downloads as the forum members on the XDA forums have asked everyone not to. Rooting your phone is risky, but if you follow the instructions slowly, it should work.

I wanted to flash a different ROM onto my phone as I would periodically loose network connection (and my phone pretended it was still connected), which was very frustrating. The only way to check if I really had a connection to my carrier was to do a balance inquiry or to check my Voicemail every half an hour or so. Very frustrating. I am testing the stock Gingerbread ROM and hope that it does not suffer the same problem.