It’s a Blue World. Thanks to this awesome flashplayer bug!

I am running 64 bit Debian Squeeze. And well, when I went to watch an episode of hak5 I had smurf vision!

Darren and Shannon from Hak5.org as Smurfs

Hey guys. I didn’t know you drank too much blueberry juice. Who knew?

Since Adobe WILL NOT fix this (apparently ever, if you look at the bug), the only solution is to revert back to a previous 64 bit flashplayer.

This is what’s currently installed:

ii flashplugin-nonfree 1:2.8.2 Adobe Flash Player – browser plugin

Yes, that’s in the Debian 64 bit multimedia repo.

I had an old version 10 flashplayer laying around. So I used that.

We’ll leave it installed, but we’ll some file fixing, and fix it.

NOTE: THIS IS NOT FOR A N00B. DO NOT TRY THIS IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

You can get older versions of Flash from here.

1. Change to the directory:


cd /usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree


2. Create a backup. (Always have a path back to the way it was, before you messed it up!)


sudo mv libflashplayer.so libflashplayer.so.badv11


3. Copy over the old v10.3 flashplayer (64 bit).


sudo cp /home/youruserid/Downloads/libflashplayer.so .


or from where ever it’s located. Yes the period at the end IS significant!

4. Restart your browser.

Darren and Shannon magically de-smurfed

Hey guys. Glad to see you’re off the blueberry juice!

Thanks Loni, for the title!

Wayno

Let’s face it. Rebranded software (Icedove for Thunderbird and Iceweasel for Firefox) on Debian works, but they are UBER old. And if you are trying to get 64 bit versions of Firefox and Thunderbird. Good luck!

IceWeasel (rebranded Firefox Version 3!) is pre-installed. However Icedove does NOT come pre-installed.

The programmes on the mozilla site, are 32 bit critters. Which don’t always work in a 64 bit environment.

As a minimum, if you want to use the 32 bit Firefox or Thunderbird off the mozilla site, you will need to have at least the following 32 bit libraries installed on your 64 bit system:


sudo apt-get install ia32-libs
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs-gtk


Fortunately, I ran into Diopter on #debian on freenode.org

Here is where the latest stable 64 bit version are stored:

For the latest stable 64 bit Firefox

For the latest stable 64 bit Thunderbird

I have had some issues with the stable releases. So I use the nightly builds.

Nightly build for 64 bit Firefox (unstable)

Nightly build for 64 bit Thunderbird (unstable)

1. Once you have them downloaded, lets untar them to the right directory.


cd /usr/local


2. Now untar:


sudo tar -xjvf ~/home/Downloads/(name of file goes here)


-x says we want to extract the tar
-j says it is a bzip2 file
-v says we want verbose (lots of) output
-f says use archive mode

3. Now create a link. I want it system wide so we need to create a symlink in /usr/bin to where the files are stored.

As always the octothorpe (# is a comment and need NOT be coded)

For Firefox:


cd /usr/bin #change to the usr/bin director
sudo ln -s /usr/local/firefox/firefox .


or /usr/local/thunderbird/thunderbird

NOTE: THE PERIOD AT THE END IS SIGNIFICANT. IT SAYS PLACE THE PROGRAM (SYMLINK) RIGHT HERE!

4. to confirm that you have everything right:


which firefox


and you will get output that looks like:

/usr/bin/firefox

(or thunderbird)

If you go to /usr/bin and do an ls -l you will see:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 26 May 5 19:01 firefox -> /usr/local/firefox/firefox

(or thunderbird)

Thanks Joe and Loni!

Wayno

I had an issue, where I needed to let someone else login to my computer, and peek over my shoulder. But when they tried to start an x11vnc session, they of course got the “PAM authentication failed, cannot start X server” error message.

It’s an easy fix, that I found on linuxquestions.org Read this entry for full details on the “why it works!”

So I can’t claim any credit for this solution. (BUT it is simple and works wonderfully). So in my usual step by step approach:

1. Get to the right directory:


cd /var/run/console


2. Now create an empty file with the user name you want to be able to start an x-session:


sudo touch username


Touch will either create an empty (zero length) file, or if the file already exists, it will update the access time stamps. (might be a “good thing” if you want to backup a file!)

We have to become root (use of sudo or you can su -) to do the touch.

3. I start vnc as:

x11vnc -create -usepw -display :0

-create tells vnc to find the existing x session, or if necessary create it.

-usepw says to use or store a password in ~/.vnc/passwd

- display :0 is the x server display to connect to.

That’s it!

Wayno

Who knew?

For Windows use this method.

Of course in Linux Environment — it’s even simpler:

1. At a terminal window type: wall

2. Type in your message

3. End it with the End-of-file character (ctrl+d)

output looks like:

n@H:~$ wall
this is a test message
(NOTE: I entered ctrl+d to end the message)
Broadcast Message from n@H
(/dev/pts/2) at 22:35 …
this is a test message

n@H:~$

Wayno

It’s much much easier then I thought!

You need to use dosfsck!

1. If not already installed, install dosfsck: (it’s in sbin)


sudo apt-get install dosfsck


2. Find your device name.


sudo blkid


You will get output that looks like:

/dev/sdf1: LABEL=”CANON_DC” UUID=”713B-5AE2″ TYPE=”vfat”

Your device name will PROBABLY be different.

3. Check the usb drive or sd card:

Remember that the device should NOT be mounted, and that it needs to run as root (sudo or su -)


sudo dosfsck -av /dev/sdf1


-a says to automatically repair.

-v says to use verbose output.

You will get output that looks like:

dosfsck 3.0.9 (31 Jan 2010)
dosfsck 3.0.9, 31 Jan 2010, FAT32, LFN
Checking we can access the last sector of the filesystem
Boot sector contents:
System ID “PwrShot ”
Media byte 0xf8 (hard disk)
512 bytes per logical sector
32768 bytes per cluster
6304 reserved sectors
First FAT starts at byte 3227648 (sector 6304)
2 FATs, 32 bit entries
483328 bytes per FAT (= 944 sectors)
Root directory start at cluster 2 (arbitrary size)
Data area starts at byte 4194304 (sector 8192)
120752 data clusters (3956801536 bytes)
63 sectors/track, 128 heads
8192 hidden sectors
7736320 sectors total
Reclaiming unconnected clusters.
Checking free cluster summary.
/dev/sdf1: 693 files, 29358/120752 clusters

No errors. Good to go. Look Ma! No Windows!

Wayno

Yeah this required 3 hours of futzing to figure out.

1. Once you have the Subsonic Server installed, turn it off.


sudo service subsonic stop


2. Next change to the /var directory.

Remember anything with an octothorpe (#) is a comment and NEED not be coded.


cd /var # change to the /var
sudo mv subsonic subsonic.old # renames the existing folder
sudo service subsonic start # restart the subsonic server


3. Now we have to create a symbolic link for the lame transcoder, even if it is already installed.

To verify if lame is installed:


dpkg -l | grep lame


You would get output that looks like:

nwayno@Homer:~$ dpkg -l | grep lame
ii lame 3.98.4-0ubuntu1 An MP3 encoding library (frontend)
ii libmp3lame0 3.98.4-0ubuntu1 An MP3 encoding library
ii libtwolame0 0.3.12-1 MPEG Audio Layer 2 encoding library
ii twolame 0.3.12-1 MPEG Audio Layer 2 encoder (command line frontend)
nwayno@Homer:~$

If lame is NOT installed (the dpkg just returns a prompt) — install the lame decoder:


sudo apt-get install lame


as you can see, mine WAS installed.

4. Go back to localhost:4040 and re-enter all the information. If it complains that lame is not installed in the transcode directory, simply create a symbolic link.


which lame


should return:

/usr/bin/lame

5. so off we go again!


sudo service subsonic stop # stop the subsonic server
cd /var/subsonic/transcode # change back to the transcode dir
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/lame # create the symlink
sudo service subsonic start # start up the server so it gets change


it will just return a prompt.

to confirm the symbolic link is there:


ls -l


and you should get output that looks like:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 2012-02-01 15:10 lame -> /usr/bin/lame

which tells us that /usr/bin/lame is properly symlinked.

6. Now you can proceed to the Roku Box, and configure Subsonic TV.

Please note that subsonictv for Roku is not free. It is currently $5 USD plus applicable taxes.

The configuration will now save correctly on the Roku set top box, because it can now find the lame mp3 decoder.

Tested with Ubuntu 10.10 (64 bit), and Roku Model 2100X (hardwired)

Wayno

Need a strong, but easy to remember password? No need to remember, generate it! Up to 48 chars, works on any unix-like system:


read -s pass; echo $pass | md5sum | base64 | cut -c -16


Joe -

========================================

MD5SUM creates a 128 bit hash.

Base64 turns a binary number into ASCII

cut – simply removes sections for each line.

Output looks like:

n@H:~$ read -s pass; echo $pass | md5sum | base64 | cut -c -16
(I entered: abcdefg)
MDIwODYxYzhjM2Zl

Video Chat Cameras are nice. But they don’t always play nicely with the Linux version of Skype.

1. Here’s the camera I have: (here’s now to find out what you have.)


lsusb


and the output will look like:

Bus 005 Device 004: ID 046d:092e Logitech, Inc. QuickCam Chat

2. First step first. Let’s see if the camera works with Linux Cheese.

If not already installed, install cheese:


sudo apt-get install cheese


Cheese is a local loopback programme. It takes the output from the camera (/dev/video0) and loops it right back for you to view.

If successful, this will tell us, that Linux recognizes the camera, and that it works. The light may/may NOT be on.

3. Let’s try the next step: Installing Skype.

Lets get the latest version of Skype from the website.

The latest Linux version (as of this writing) is: 2.2.0.35. (YES, that is far far behind the Windows Version) — Since Microsoft owns Skype, the future of the Linux version is an unknown at this point.

4. Once the download is finished, install Skype:


sudo dpkg -i skype-ubuntu_2.2.0.35-1_i386.deb


They have a version for Debian, and 32 and 64 bits. The example shown above is for the 32 bit Ubuntu version. So make sure you get the right version, and make sure you get the right architecture: 32 or 64 bit.

NOTE: IF YOU ARE ON A 64 BIT DEBIAN SYSTEM, AND PLAN ON USING THE 64 BIT SKYPE, YOU MUST INSTALL THE 32 BIT LIBRARY:

TO GET SKYPE TO WORK ON A 64 BIT DEBIAN SYSTEM. Yeah makes no sense, but you need this if you are running 64 bit DEBIAN Skype.

5. If you do not already have a Skype account, sign up for one. Just follow the prompts. Test the audio by using the Skype Test Call.

6. Let’s try the video. RIGHT click on the green skype logo in your task bar, then LEFT click on Options/Video Devices.

Now hit the test button. You should hopefully see an image. If you do not, don’t panic!

This article gave me the information I needed to get it working. But of course, I found a much simpler method then what was given.

7. If you have no video, and this was especially true with the some of the Web Chat Cameras, all you may need to do is to pre-load the needed libraries.

Using your favourite editor (I’ll use nano in this case) create a file called skype.sh in your home directory (cd ~ )


nano skype.sh


enter the following in the file:


#!/bin/bash
#
# script preloads the video for linux (v4l) libs needed by skype
#
LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so /usr/bin/skype


control-o (control plus the “oh” key) to save, and control-x (control plus the “x” key to exit)

note that the library path name /usr/lib/libv4l/ may be different on your machine. This happens the be the correct path for 32 bit Ubuntu 10.04. The LD_Preload loads the Video for Linux Libraries, which Skype needs, but doesn’t get.

Now change the icon executable location to the script we just created:

Repeat step 6, and the video should now work!

Wayno

This is actually fairly easy, but there are a couple of tricks!

1. What is the IP address of that printer?

The easy way is to scan for it!

If you have not done so, install the arp-scan programme. Arp (Address Resolution Protocol) This will allow us to scan the network for all devices on the network.


sudo apt-get install arp-scan


2. Run arp-scan to see what’s on your network:


sudo arp-scan --interface=eth0 --localnet


arp-scan MUST be run as root, so that’s why we do the sudo.
We are limiting the search for anything we can reach, via our local ethernet connection.

You will get output that looks like:

$ sudo arp-scan –interface=eth0 –localnet
Interface: eth0, datalink type: EN10MB (Ethernet)
Starting arp-scan 1.6 with 256 hosts (http://www.nta-monitor.com/tools/arp-scan/)
192.168.1.1 00:12:34:56:78:81 (Unknown)
192.168.1.100 00:34:56:78:9a:5d Hewlett Packard
192.168.1.104 00:46:cd:ef:49:b1 (Unknown)
192.168.1.105 00:aa:bd:cb:d7:aa Roku, LLC

4 packets received by filter, 0 packets dropped by kernel
Ending arp-scan 1.6: 256 hosts scanned in 1.421 seconds (180.15 hosts/sec). 4 responded
$

Hmm. There’s something that says Hewlett Packard. Yup that’s my printer at address: 192.168.1.100

5. Go into: System/Administration/Printing and add your printer, if it is NOT already present. And follow the prompts for adding a printer. Almost done, couple of other chores.

6. Now click on Server and then Settings, and your screen should look like:

7. One last step. Enable the printer, and enable it for sharing. Also you may/may not want to set it as the default printer. Single right click on the printer icon, and select/check Enabled/Sharing:

8. Repeat these steps on each computer that you want to add this network printer too.

Wayno

Noob thing.

Might be interesting to find out if your password is on the list.

The top 25 worst passwords.

How do you change your password?


:~$ passwd


You will get output that looks like:

Changing password for (youruserid)
(current) UNIX password:
Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: password updated successfully
:~$

Wayno