Laptop Puppy Linux

I have an old laptop that is used for couch surfing and Facebook updating. It can run Windows XP (very slowly) and Xubuntu is just a bit smoother. These both take forever to boot up though as they easily max out the laptop’s components.

I have been searching here and there for a lightweight linux distro that would recognize my wireless card and respond promptly with the hardware I have. After a few failed attempts with other distros, I reluctantly downloaded the latest (4.1.2) Puppy Linux release and was pleasantly surprised.

The live CD booted up quickly (after a few general system questions) and blew me away when I easily configured my wireless card to hook up to my network. The card’s lights did not turn on, but the connection worked none-the-less. This was a first for me.

I was so impressed that I decided to install Puppy on my HD and boot time took approximately 1 minute – power button to desktop – very nice! Opening programs is very snappy and I couldn’t be happier. Thank you Puppy Linux! I can’t wait to hop on and cruise Digg stories and chat with my peeps in Facebook!

Fluxbox Screen Resolution

Now that I have my Fluxbox setup established, I turned my attention to the screen resolution because VirtualBox had it set to low (and didn’t offer any options to increase it). I wanted it the same size as my Windows XP  screen so I could switch between the large desktops and have it fill all of my monitor’s real estate. I know there is a way to modify the xorg.conf file, but I was hoping for something simpler. I found an Ubuntu forum post about using the following method:

/usr/share/applications/ Screen & Graphics (icon)

After you use your file manager to navigate to the applications folder, you click on the Screen & Graphics icon to bring up a  simple GUI. I manually chose a generic LCD that displayed at 1024×768. After I made my selection the system told me I had to reboot or something. I did that and was greeted by my new (larger) screen resolution after I logged in. Sweet!

VirtualBox Guest Additions – Build Essentials

I have been playing with VirtualBox and setting up a minimalist Ubuntu install with the Fluxbox window manager. I did a basic command line install off a live CD, so I ended up with a very small hard drive system foot print – perfect for adding whatever programs I wanted.

I also wanted to install the VirtualBox Guest Additions module to get the cool benefits of the seamless interface and mouse integration. When I tried to do this, I received some error message that the system needed the build and header files for my kernel. I first had to find out what kernel I was running and then I had to get the files. This is how I did it…

In a terminal, I ran the following command which told me I was running kernal 2.6.24-19-generic:

uname -r

I then ran the following command to install the needed files:

sudo aptitude install build-essential kernel-header-2.6.24-19-generic

After the data was downloaded and installed, I tried the Guest Additions again and everything went as smooth as butter. Now I can pop in to and out of my Ubuntu guest with ease.

Fluxbox Wallpaper Flicker

This is a reminder to myself… when setting the wallpaper on a Fluxbox managed Ubuntu system, I need to comment out (#) any line that sets the background to a solid color after my wallpaper line. I kept getting a wallpaper flicker (to black screen) at boot time after I added my image location line to the startup file (/home/ubuntu/.fluxbox/startup) like so:

fbsetbg -f /home/ubuntu/.fluxbox/backgrounds/debian1600.png

After examining my startup file again, I noticed that there was another command a few lines down from my wallpaper location that set the background color to black like so:

/usr/bin/fbsetroot -solid black

This black background line might have been inserted automagically when I tried to load the wallpaper without the proper program to do so. After the system alerted me to this error, I installed the Eterm package that was required and went about adjusting the startup file without really looking at it. It is now fixed and I have purdy wallpaper!

Ubuntu Firefox – No Flash Sound

I recently started playing with the Ubuntu desktop again and really like it. After the install my sound was working fine, but I noticed there was no audio during flash videos (e.g. YouTube, Diggnation, etc.). I started Googling the problem and found that a component was needed to fix the problem. I searched Synaptic for the latest and greatest release of the libflashsupport module, and (after installing it) I was able to enjoy goofy YouTube videos again in all their audio glory!

Lighttpd Versus Apache2

Do you run a LAMP or a LLMP? When I jumped into the server realm I thought that Apache was the natural/right choice to use for my webserver. I found out that this isn’t necessarily true as Apache has some worthy competitors. A very popular one is called lighttpd and it is freely available for download and use. If you run an Ubuntu server like I do, lighttpd is in the repositories and is an easy install/setup.

After reading some blog and forum entries on the Apache versus lighttpd issue, I stumbled across someone who had actually taken the time to speed test different file size transmission rates on both webservers. It turns out that lighttpd can serve pages faster than Apache2. In some cases it was much, much faster. Therefore, I decided to change my LAMP to a LLMP. To accomplish this I had to remove Apache2, install lighttpd, and then configure CGI correctly. As you can see by the following entries, the change was simple and painless for me.

In the terminal, I ran through these four commands:
1) sudo aptitude remove apache2.2-common
2) sudo aptitude install lighttpd
3) sudo lighty-enable-mod cgi
4) sudo /etc/init.d/lighttpd force-reload

If you decide to go this route, you can test to see if lighttpd is now working. All you have to do is open your web browser (hopefully Firefox) and go to your localhost address (http://localhost/). You should see the lighttpd hold page instead of the Apache2 ‘It Works’ page. If so, you are golden! Happy lighttpd serving.

Web Server Tutorial – Part 2

For some crazy reason I decided to resurrect my home web server. I have been playing around with virtualization lately and see how it is wonderful for server management/server consolidation. I just tested out the VMware Server software and it is awesome.

I decided to blog the steps I am going through to set up my live web server so I have it for future reference. It might even help someone else who wants to give this a try. The first step in getting this all going is setting up the VMware server client on a minimal XFCE Ubuntu server installation (to keep it lightweight). Here is how I accomplished this:

Install – Ubuntu Server
1) Download the Ubuntu Server 8.04 edition and burn it to a CD
2) Put it in your PC/server’s optical drive and set the BIOS to boot via CD
3) Install Ubuntu, but only select the SAMBA server software (nothing else)
4) Complete the install, reboot, and login to your system

Terminal – Get Your GUI
1) sudo aptitude update
2) sudo aptitude install xfce4
3) sudo aptitude install firefox-3.0
4) sudo aptitude upgrade
5) startx

The following part of the tutorial was taken/modified from here.

Firefox – Get Serial Number
1) Register and get your free serial number here.

Terminal – VMware Server Needed
1) wget -c http://download3.vmware.com/software/vmserver/VMware-server-1.0.6-91891.tar.gz
2) sudo aptitude install build-essential linux-kernel-devel linux-headers-generic xinetd
3) sudo aptitude install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

Terminal – Unpack and Install
1) tar xf VMware-server-1.0.6-91891.tar.gz
2) cd vmware-server-distrib
3) sudo ./vmware-install.pl
4) accept all the defaults (just keep hitting enter)

Terminal – Symbolic Links
1) sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/gcc/i486-linux-gnu/4.2.3/libgcc_s.so /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1
2) sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/libpng12.so.0 /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libpng12.so.0/libpng12.so.0

VirtualBox – Ubuntu Server 8.04

I have been playing around with VirtualBox and the Ubuntu Server 8.04 LTS distro for possible web site hosting. Everything installs fine for the Hardy Heron server, but when the reboot comes to get into the new system, I get the following error message:

This kernel requires the following features not present on the CPU: 0:6

I first tried changing the OS Type in VirtualBox’s settings area, but that did not help. I then did some forum searching and finally found an answer that worked. I had to go into the Settings >> General >> Advanced tab. Once there, I checked the ‘Enable PAE/NX’ box in the Extended Features section and tried the virtual machine again. That fixed the error message and my new server sprang to life. Thanks forums!

Fluxbuntu Screen Resolution

I have been playing around with some Linux distributions and toying with the idea of running my own web server again. I wanted a lightweight Ubuntu distro and found Fluxbuntu. The install went fine, but the screen resolution was way too large and I couldn’t get it to resize correctly through the menu. I had to run through a few steps to fix this. First I had to set the root password in the terminal/console like so:

1) Type: sudo passwd
2) Enter new password
3) Confirm new password

Then I had to pop into Leafpad (i.e. notepad for Fluxbuntu) as root. I did this by going into the terminal and getting to my root access. I then launched Leafpad from the root account. This let me change/re-save the usually protected etc/X11/xorg.conf file. Here is how I got there:

1) Type: su
2) Enter the new root password you just assigned
3) Now as root, type: leafpad
4) Once Leafpad starts, navigate/open the xorg.conf file
5) Update the file as described below and re-save

Now that we can get access to the xorg.conf file, what should we add to it? The text below is what you will insert into the Section “Screen” area of the file. Make sure the new language falls under the Section “Screen” text, but before the EndSection tag like so:

Section “Screen”
Identifier “Default Screen”
Device “Intel Corporation 82810E DC-133 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller]”
Monitor “AOC A770″
DefaultDepth 24

SubSection “Display”
Depth 24
Modes “1024×768″ “800×600″ “640×480″
EndSubSection

EndSection

After a re-save, reboot your system and the new screen resolutions (what ever you listed in the Modes statement above) will now take effect. I only listed one mode to make sure my system runs the same all the time.

Crazy Busy Update #3

It has been a hectic couple of weeks and I haven’t had time to post. I have continued my IT adventures though. I have been doing some Linux distro hopping and like the PCLinuxOS versions (both the main and the mini). They are very polished just like the Ubuntu series of offerings. I have run into trouble getting my laptop’s wifi card to work in PCLinuxOS, but I think I found a work-a-around from the PCLinuxOS magazine website.

I am also going through a pretty neat life transition. I have decided to start a home IT consulting/repair business and have some customers lined up already. I just need to take care of the business end of things first. So, if you are in Wisconsin and live near Janesville/Madison – I will be offering my services soon. To help with marketing I have decided to keep my TekAdventures website and will convert it to my business home page.