I was having a dickens of a time, trying to force a browser make the user save the file, instead of trying to stream it. Here’s how to do it.

The original article is here.

1. in the directory where the file is located, we need to create a .htaccess file. So using the editor of your choice, create a filed name .htaccess (yes the period in front is important! It’s a hidden file.)


AddType application/octet-stream .wma


2. Now change the permissions on the file. Read and Write for the owner, and Read access for everyone else.


sudo chmod 640 .htaccess


it should like like:

-rw-rw—- 1 nwayno nwayno 38 2010-07-25 20:48 .htaccess

3. Restart the ftp server. If it’s standalone mode:


sudo service vsftpd restart


If vsftpd runs under xinetd (like I do), it will get the changes automatically since each new ftp session is a new process. (thanks Joe!)

4. Now when you try to ftp the file, such as:

ftp://servername/directory/filename.ext
(substitute your own information)

You will be prompted to save the file, instead of trying to stream it.

Thanks Loni

The built in speakers on the compaq desktop pro, while they work with WIN XP, don’t work with Ubuntu 10.04. However, if you plugin a set of speakers or earphones into the sound output jack on the back (green) works perfectly.

After installing the LIVECD onto the Compaq Desktop Pro, when I rebooted, everything looked okay. I run the updates. Then rebooted AFTER the updates, and then ran into trouble.

Nothing I tried worked! Then I found the secret! You need to create at LEAST 2 admin accounts Before doing the updates. One that you will do the updates after installing the LIVECD, and one that you will use AFTER you do the updates.

Here’s what’s going on. After installing the LIVED CD the monitor resolution is set to 800×600.

However, after installing the updates, the resolution switches to 1024×760. So that account you did the updates with: worthless!

If you logon after the updates with the second account, your good to go. But you need the snippet from here

I created the following file in /etc/X11/xorg.conf RIGHT AFTER DOING THE UPDATES!

DO NOT TRY TO CHANGE THE RESOLUTION TO ANYTHING BUT 1024×768. IT JUST WON’T WORK!


#
# /etc/X11/xorg.conf
#
Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel Corporation 82815 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller]"
Driver "intel"
BusID "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection
#
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Generic Monitor"
Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 31.5-48.5
VertRefresh 40-70
EndSection
#
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Intel Corporation 82815 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller]"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection


If you hose the resolution you can try this.


xrandr --output LVDS --mode 1024x768


Courtesy Jordan-U from #ubuntu (freenode.net)

Dual booting (Windows/Linux) can cause some unique situations. Windows will try to assert itself as the only game in town, which can cause grub to go into an endless boot loop. Here’s an easy way to fix grub after a Windows Install/Hiccup.

1. First boot off of a livecd You can get one here.

2. Go to a terminal window. Let’s first mount the Linux Partition.


sudo mount /dev/sda5 /mnt


3. We are going to mount major Linux access points lets do them one at a time. First the Linux Devices Files. The –bind allows us to mount a subtree somewhere else, so it’s available in both places.


sudo mount --bind /dev/ /mnt/dev


4. Now the proc files. The proc system allows files to be generated dymanically.


sudo mount --bind /proc/ /mnt/proc


5. Now let’s mount /sys. /sys exports information from the kernel to the user space.


sudo mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys


6. Chroot to the device that we earlier mounted. Chroot (change root) changes the Linux root to be the device we mounted earlier. Note the mount point: /mnt


sudo chroot /mnt


7. Finally re-install grub into the MBR (Master Boot Record)


sudo grub-install /dev/sda


Reboot and all the operating systems, Linux and Windows should be available.

From Joe:

How to configure samba using a graphical interface in Ubunbu

Thanks Joe!

I have a 1 t/b back up drive, which is a USB drive.

However, the device names seem to change automagically.

Power interruptions, or even things like Virtual Box will cause the drive to dismount and re-mount, changing the device name, and causing havoc elsewhere for things like my music and ftp site which are stored on this device.

So, what’s the easy way to fix this? Well thanks to Loni, here’s what we did:

1. Change directory so we can get information by UUID. (Universally Unique Identifier)


cd /dev/disk/by-uuid


2. Look at the UUID’s in the system:


ls -l


You will get output that looks like this:

@Homer:/dev/disk/by-uuid$ ls -l
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2010-07-08 00:21 14ff50b3-49c0-4dbb-a392-55fb94a7730f -> ../../sdb2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2010-07-07 17:21 5ed81b0d-ae9a-41b1-b4c7-02b500b94bea -> ../../sda5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2010-07-07 17:21 92569F58569F3C43 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2010-07-07 17:21 949CA48C9CA46A86 -> ../../sda3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2010-07-07 17:21 c07c1084-ff98-49dc-87c7-672651dc4d2e -> ../../sda4
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2010-07-08 00:21 FC1268B212687414 -> ../../sdb1

4. Now let’s edit the Linux file structure table, fstab

Note any thing with a # in it is a comment does not need to be coded!


cd /etc


5. First let’s backup the file in case we make mistake (always have a path back to the way it was, before you messed it up!) More complete details are here.


sudo cp fstab fstab.bkup


6. Now edit the file:


sudo nano fstab


OR


gksudo gedit fstab # use gedit


7. add the following similar lines:


UUID=14ff50b3-49c0-4dbb-a392-55fb94a7730f /waynobfd ext4 rw 0 0
#
UUID=FC1268B212687414 /waynontfs ntfs rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096 0 0


The first line above, mounts an ext4 partition by UUID (from the information we obtained before) and gives it the mount point of /waynobfd (previously created with the mkdir command.)

The second line above mounts an ntfs partition, called waynontfs. Handy for use with Windows.

By using UUID, if the device changes due to things like VirtualBox or maybe a power hiccup that affects the drive, though the device may change, the mount point will always be correct.

End of Problems! Thanks Loni!

For those of us who need to take breaks from our computer (mine for medical reasons), the gnome-typing-monitor is indispensable.

However, it does NOT work in Ubuntu 10.04 (lucid). Which for me, was a show stopper. I have Deep Vein Thrombosis and so I can’t sit for extended periods of time.

Ubuntu 10.04 Bug #565757 (gnome-typing-monitor)

This solution, fixes the problem. You will need to obtain the gnome-typing monitor from version 9.10. You can find 32 and 64 bit versions here.

Note that you will need to change the permissions (chmod) and ownership (chown) once you have downloaded and moved the file.

it needs to look like:

ls -l gnome-typing-monitor
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 34920 2010-07-07 23:53 gnome-typing-monitor


note that in the following example ‘#’ is the comment character.
You don’t code that or anything that follows: