Sunday, November 30, 2008

New Video Converting And Audio Ripping Tool With GUI

A new tool called WinFF does a great job of converting videos and ripping audio from videos. It is available in .deb packages, exe for Windows, RPM's for Red Hat and source code for other OS's.

Since I updated to Ibex and have the newest VLC, I have encountered a serious problem when converting videos. That problem being that I have no audio.
My previous tutorial on how to convert videos is now confined to VLC version 0.8.6

I'm not really sure whether the audio problem is with VLC or with the ffmpeg codec. There are many posts saying that due to patent conflicts, ffmeg no longer supports ac3 or mp3 audio streams. I can't verify that info at this time.
My feeling is that the problem is a bug in VLC.
WinFF however solves this problem, makes it much easier to convert a video, offers many more formats and rips audio with a few clicks.

The GUI is intuitive. It's only a matter of choosing what video you want to convert, what format you want it in and where to save it.
And the list of presets is extensive. It offers the user a choice that will suit almost every need.

The presets are as follows;
Audio formats include Mp3, m4a, Ac3, Wav and WMA
AVI including MS compatible, Xvid 4:3 and 16:9
Creative Zen in Xvid 4:3 and 16:9
DV in Raw DV 4:3 and 16:9
DVD that includes almost every format in Pal and NTSC
iPod formats in Xvid and H.264
Mobile Phones in the 3g2 and Blackberry formats
Mp4 uses the H.264 format
Other presets include formats in the Palm, PSP, Quicktime, Rockbox, VCD, FLV and WMV

As you can see, this provides you with plenty of options.
And it also rips and converts audio!!
Of course you will need all the extra codecs to access all the features.
Ubuntu users can get those codecs from Medibuntu.
Windows users can check out the packages at Free-Codecs.

Where do I get it from?
I'll give you some links that you can check out and download it from.

The creator's blog can be found here;
BiggMatt
Stop by and post a thanks for this handy tool.

Deb packages can be downloaded from this page;
WinFF .deb Downloads

Click on the arrow next to winff-0.43 to expand it then select the .deb package for either the !386 or the AMD64 depending what platform you are using.


The download page for OS's other then Ubuntu or .deb packages can be found here;
Winff Non-Deb

This is where you will find the exe, rpm and source packages.


I am very impressed with this tool and want to thank BiggMatt for all his hard work in providing the community with a very handy tool.

Enjoy!

TaZMAn



Friday, November 28, 2008

My Ubuntu File System Became Corrupted

The other day I was doing a few things on my Ubuntu system and decided to do a reboot.
On restart my system would hang on boot up.
So I rebooted and hit the ESC key to get access to the grub menu. I figured I'd try to try the recovery mode.

Well it wouldn't boot and reported a file system error. I told it to fix it. It tried but came back with a corrupt file system error.
OH SHEETZ!!
Remebering back to my Windows days this can be a 2 day job until I get all the updates and software installed.
Fortunately, this isn't the case with Linux.

I was running Gutsy and had planned to upgrade to Ibex as I have been reading and receiving positive reports about it.
But I wasn't really ready to do it yet. I hadn't set up a seperate Home partiton when I installed Gutsy so my first task was to retrieve and back that folder up.

I grabbed my trusty Knoppix DVD and booted it up to a Live session.
I like Knoppix because it is easy to change Read/Write permissions on a hard drive or partition and provides you with a ton of applications should you need them.

Once I was up and running in Knoppix I began the task of moving about 40 gigs of data from my Home folder to a different partition on my hard drive.
The whole process took about 2 hours. Not really that long and it may have been less as I didn't time it but I do know it was not more then 2 hours.

Now that my data was safe I grabbed my Cd of Ibex which I had burned a few weeks ago in anticipation of upgrading.
The new partitioner is nicer looking and provides more info and options about the hard drives and partitions.
It was set to Automatic and wanted to resize the original partiton that contained Gutsy. Since that file system was corrupt and I didn't want Gutsy I clicked on the Manual Partitioning setting.

I told the partitioner not to touch my other hard drive or partitions.
Then I set up a partition for Home, Root and Swap.
Got through the rest of the screens and clicked Install.

The Cd spun up and it was about 15 minutes later I get a message that the install is finished!
I pop out the Cd and reboot. It boots back up and I'm looking at the new desktop.

First things first. I go and grab the updates. All 170 megs of them. Also grab the Nvidia restricted driver.
Then I install Thunderbird and configure it. I move my email inbox and addy book from my backed up Thunderbird.
Kill my network connection and open Thunderbird to make sure everything is there. It is!
So I reconnect my network and get my email.

Next I install a few Firefox addons and import my passwords and bookmarks.
Then I install Flash and a few other plugins.
Go to Medibuntu and add in their repository to my list.
Now I open Synaptic and procede to grab all the software and goodies I usually use.
Finally I move my Nautilus scripts from the backed up folder to the new script folder.

Total time for install of Ubuntu until I finished moving the scripts was 2 1/2 hours!!
A whole lot better the the day or two I would have spent restoring a Windows machine.
There are several reasons as to why it takes much less time with Linux.
2 of the major reasons are as follows;

1) When you download and install the updates you only have to reboot once after they are all installed. This is due to the kernel update and the installation of the Nvidia driver.

2) All the software I needed was available from a single source list. I didn't need to look all over the internet for the software packages. Also, I didn't need to reboot after every software install.

There are a few things I have previously done that helped my restore my system.
One is that I use the Password Import/Export addon for Firefox and export my password file everytime I acquire a new password.
Secondly is that I export my bookmarks on a regular basis although this is not really needed as Firefox regularly backs up your bookmarks to a sub-folder within the Firefox folder.

And as to the $1,000,000 question as to what caused my file system to become corrupt?
I searched the log files I had from the Gutsy system.
I'm using a Desktop system but my cpu is a mobile processor.
I had been playing with the hibernate and suspend features.

According to the log files, hibernate had failed 2 times in the past few times I had used it.
When hibernate is implemented, all the open data is stored to Ram.
Because hibernate failed to properly implement, I believe the data in the Ram became corrupted and was written back to the hard drive in it's corrupted form.
This caused damage to the file system which recovery could not repair.

So now I am up to date with Ibex. Have everything back up to where I previously had been and didn't loose one bit of my personal data.
And it was all finished within 1/2 a day!
And now that I have my Home on a seperate partition, I won't have to worry about crashes like this one again.

The key is not to panic and have a clear cut plan of action as to backing up your data and reinstall procedures.

Good to be back!

TaZMAn

Monday, November 24, 2008

Online Shopping Deals Or Scams? Buyer Beware!

Buying online from a vendor can either be a good experience or a horror story.
Is that great deal really a deal or just some bait and switch tactic?
Will you get what you ordered or get a broken refurb? Or worse, nothing at all?
How about customer service and refunds?

Before you buy from that online merchant you may want to check them out at
Reseller Ratings
www.resellerratings.com

This site gives the customer a voice in expressing their opinions and experiences about many listed vendors.
Find out what experiences previous customers have had with an online store.
It may be a great deal by saving you money and grief.

Be safe!

TaZMAn

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Create A Slide Show Video From Your Pictures

Update!
Manslide has a new name. It is now called Smile.

The Smile .deb package can be downloaded from here;
Smile .deb Package Download

There is also a good Smile How-to in the forums found here;
Smile How-To

While essentially the same as Manslide, it adds a few new features and a new GUI but also removed one or two transition effects from the menu.
I also had it lock up on me once. I imagine that since they redesigned it, they still have a few bugs to iron out.
The older Manslide package does not work properly in Ibex due to window display conflicts. The rest of the older article below is still useful for the newer Smile software.
Smile will add a menu entry in the Graphics section.


Manslide is a program that will take your pictures, create a slide show from them and export it to a mpg video file using the mpgv codec.
It has a very easy to use graphical interface.

You select the pictures you want to include in the slideshow.
Then you set the amount of time you want the picture to be displayed.
It even has an effects package that gives you several transitional effects for the picture's entry onto the screen.
Finally it also includes the ability to add an audio track.

This software will be very useful for the photographer who wants to make a video disk to show others their pictures.
Use it to make a presentation video or a recreation of your vacation.
Take the mpeg video it creates and convert it to a DVD format then burn it. Now you have a universal media for play on any DVD player.

There doesn't seem to be an official home page for this project right now but I did find this page that seems to have the most updated info;

Manslide at GetDeb
http://www.getdeb.net/app/ManSlide

Ubuntu users can get this software through the Synaptic Package Manager.
Do a search for manslide and select the manslide package and the manslide-effects for the transition effects used in Manslide.

I know a former Windows user that tried making a video slide show in Windows that didn't turn out very well. I'm sure this package will work much better for him. :-)

Enjoy!

TaZMAn

Update Multiple Computers With a Cd Or DVD

Apt On Cd is handy utility that I had used during the Dapper and Feisty days.
As you update your computer, the packages you download are stored in the /var/cache/apt/archives
folder. They stay there as a sort of backup and if you reinstall a package.
This helps keep the strain off the repository server.

Apt On Cd takes advantage of the stored packages and creates an Iso file with configuration files that you can burn to a Cd or DVD then place it in another Ubuntu computer that needs updating.
Think of it as a portable repository.

This utility is perfect for multi computer users that have a slow internet connection or no connection at all on the other computers. It also makes updating the other computers faster as you no longer have to re-download the updates then install them.

Apt On Cd is available through the repositories. Open Synaptic Package Manager and do a search for aptoncd
Or you can get it from their website found here;
AptOnCD
http://aptoncd.sourceforge.net/

Windows Users Read This;

If you have a Windows system, I won't let you out of the loop.
There's a software app that grabs all the updates from the Microsoft server and creates an exe file that allows you to run it on other Windows computers of the same distro. It also lets you choose during the update process which updates you want to install.
And it has add-on products like Flash and Shockwave plus many tweaks.
You can get more info about it here;

AutoPatcher
http://www.autopatcher.com/

Enjoy!

TaZMAn

Spice Up Your Desktop With This CPU Monitor

Hot Babe will spice up your desktop while also showing your CPU usage.
Although CPU usage may not be on your mind at the time! LOL!!

Download packages are available for numerous distros or as source code.
There is even a package ported for Windows users.












As your CPU usage goes up, the clothing comes off. Makes you want to peg out your CPU. LOL!!

You can get it in Ubuntu from the Synaptic Package Manager by doing a search for hot-babe.
During the install you will get a disclaimer requiring you to consent to the install due to the mature theme.

Other distros can download the packages from their website found here;
Hot Babe
http://www.dindinx.net/hotbabe/index.php

Thanks to Rok for his suggestion to blog this.

And stay tuned for more desktop fun like penguins on your desktop or putting holes in your windows and task bar just for fun!

Enjoy!

TaZMAn

Saturday, November 22, 2008

A Sincere Thank You!!!

I want to thank all the visitors to my blog for reaching over 1600 visitors in a month.
To many of you this may not mean much. But to me it is a small victory.
When I started this blog, I didn't think anyone was visiting or even reading my entries.
So I installed a visitor meter to see how many people were coming here.
In the first week I was seeing somewhere around 30 visitors a day.
Today I had over 100 visitors!

This blog was started as a way for me to give back to the community regardless of what OS you use even though it is mostly geared towards Ubuntu.
To help those users solve problems or inform them of quality software, tricks and websites.
I've always been a teacher and mentor in the computer community.
And I hope that I can continue to bring you, my visitors, quality articles and help.

Again, it is to all of you that I say Thank You!
Now grab a brew and let's celebrate!!!!!

With much gratitude,

TaZMAn

Show Me How - Show Me Do Tutorials

Show Me Do is a website I stumbled across that stopped me dead. And that's hard to do!
A website loaded with video tutorials on just about everything Linux.
A hidden jewel that everyone needs to check out.

Want to learn programming like Python, Ruby, Perl or C?
How about graphics software such a Blender, Gimp or Inkscape?
And plenty of tutorials on Linux and Ubuntu.

Words can convey an idea. Videos can show you first hand how to do it.
For me, I can learn more from a 5 minute movie then if I read 30 minutes of tutorials.

So do yourself a favor and get over to Show Me Do and maybe you can now learn that new developer language or software you've been meaning to try.
That's Show Me Do at;
http://showmedo.com/

Enjoy the show and good luck on your new venture!

TaZMAn

Friday, November 21, 2008

Lock The Software or Kernel Versions

There are times you want to lock in your software or kernel version so that it won't upgrade to the next available version.
This article will show you how to do it and provide examples why you might want to do this.

You just got your Ubuntu system all tweaked out and running sweet. The Nvidia driver problems are all fixed and you are happy. BLINK! The updater has informed you about new updates.
So you click on the updater and start the download and install process. One of the updates is a new kernel. Cool! Might have some new features in it.
You finish the updates and restart your computer to enable the new kernel.

Disaster!!
The video is screwed again. The new kernel hosed your old settings. After a few minutes of making changes you toss up your hands and scream at the top of your lungs.
Lucky for you, you can reboot and select the old kernel for your boot up.
Then you can use one of the tips from my previous blog entry to remove that new kernel.
However, every time you start your computer, the updater informs you that you have a new update. That update is the kernel you just got rid of. How can we tell the updater to ignore it?
Here's how;

Open up the Synaptic Package Manager and do a search for linux-headers.
Find the version you are now using and highlight it.
Now go to the Package button and click on the Lock Version button.
Go back to the search field and do a search for linux-image.
Find the version you are now using and lock that version also.

Now the update manager won't bug you about an update for the new kernel.
You can also use this for software you have installed.
Use this technique to prevent update problems when your system takes a dive with a new kernel or software version.

Enjoy!

TaZMAn

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Is Your ISP Reading Your Email?

Recently I had an incident with email that got me pretty fired up.
Seems AO-Hell scans and possibly reads you emails!
I sent an email to a friend who has an email account with AO#. You know who I'm talking about.
In my email to him, I included a link to my web page. Or should I say a redirected link.
For convenience and ease I use the beam.to redirect service. Works for me and is easy to remember.

So I have this link in an email to him and send it off. Minutes later it bounces back from AO#.
In the bounce back it contains an AO# web page link as to why it was rejected.
Seems the beam.to redirection service is on their black list of banned sites due to abuse from this domain.
What! Who are they to decide what is acceptable and what isn't. I'm also a bit irritated because I now see they are scanning emails for certain words and links.

Okay! I'll fix their a$$e$. I put the original email content in a text file, wrote a new email explaining the attached text file and sent it on it's merry way. A minute later it comes bouncing back for the same reason!
Now that means they are not only scanning emails but are scanning text and document files!
This is starting to scream "Invasion of Privacy!"

Alright AO-Hell! I'm gonna beat you at this game. Insert text file in a zip file. Attach to new email message and fire it off. Guess what? Yep! You guessed it! It bounced back. Same reason! Blacklisted domain link.
But now that tells me they are unzipping archive files and scanning them.
Those Privacy screams are getting louder.

I finally re-zipped that text file but added a password to the zip file. Attached it to a new email which included the password. Guess he got it. It didn't bounce back but I also haven't gotten a reply. Maybe they forwarded it into cyberspace where it will never be seen again?

There is much of the above scenario that bothers me. First is the fact that this email service and I'm sure many others are scanning your emails for certain words or links.
I use the word 'scanning' very loosely because we don't really know if it's just a scan or if the email contains certain words or links that it isn't forwarded to a real person who then reads it.

It seems that our privacy means little in the name of safety and security.
I don't know about you, but I don't need some ISP or email service making decisions for me as to whether a link is safe or not. I don't need them censoring my personal emails or scanning for words that they deem unacceptable!

So from now on if I have any sensitive or confidential info to email or just forwarding a stinking link it will be in a password protected archive file.
Just remember that TaZMAn sent it to you and that is all you will need to know.





Take care, be aware, stay safe.

TaZMAn

Monday, November 17, 2008

Naultilus Scripts The Power Of The Right Click

Nautilus scripts are a collection of bash scripts that add a load of useful commands to your right click menu.
It's meant to be used in the Gnome Desktop manager. Sorry KDE users.

So how do you get these scripts? Simple. Go to this page and grab the package that interests you.
From a single script to the whole collection. That decision is up to you.
Get Nautilus Scripts
http://g-scripts.sourceforge.net/

Now open up your Home folder and click on the View button in the tool bar. Select show hidden files. Now browse your Home folder and look for the .gnome2 folder. Now look for the folder named nautilus-scripts and open it.
Extract the Nautilus archive you downloaded into this folder. NOTE!: The archive extracts the scripts into a folder named nautilus-scripts. This will create a double layered entry so copy the scripts from within the extracted folder and paste them into the original nautilus-scripts folder then delete the nautilus-scripts folder that was created when you extracted the files.
Example of what you will have;
.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/nautilus-scripts/'FOLDERS WITH SCRIPTS'
What you want is this;
.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/'FOLDERS WITH SCRIPTS'
Now select a file and right click on it and check the properties. Make sure the file is executable.
Close the folder and reboot Nautilus or the computer.

Now when you are back up and running you can right click on a file, folder or even the Desktop and from the menu you will see an entry called Scripts.
Move your cursor to it and from the flyout menu you will see several folder entries that are named for what they can do.
Open a folder and you will see the collection of scripts. Click on one to make it work.
If it doesn't work, check the file properties and make sure it's executable.

The list of scripts in the complete package is extensive but some of the useful ones include Root-Nautilus Here, Scale Images, Convert PNG to JPG, Convert JPG to PNG, CHMOD, RPM Tools, Set As Wallpaper and about 140 more!

Also, if you grab the Split Rar script from one of my earlier blog entries and put it in the nautilus-scripts folder it will be available from the right click menu.

Enjoy!

TaZMAn

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Ubuntu to debut on smartphones

Mobile phone chip designer Arm has announced an alliance with the makers of the Ubuntu open source software.

You can read the rest of the story at the BBC found here;
BBC Story


TaZMAn

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The Girl Who Silenced The World For 5 Minutes

A very powerful message to the U.N. from a 12 year old Vancouver girl.
Nothing I could say would come close to what she said.




TaZMAn

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Create Desktop URL Shortcuts With Deskcut

So I have a former Windows user who wants to clutter up their desktop with URL shortcuts. Go figure? LOL!!
They changed over to Ubuntu and have no complaints other then the inability to easily create url shortcuts on their desktop with Firefox.

Well I came across a Firefox plugin that fixed them right up. It's called Deskcut and can be had from here;
Deskcut
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/66

It adds a entry in the right click menu shell that easily allows you to make url shortcuts on the desktop. It even allows you to change how it names the shortcut.
So if you are a url shortcut junkie then this plugin is for you.

Enjoy!

TaZMAn

Another New Ubuntu User

I'm still on my 100 person crusade. My goal is to convert at least 100 people over to Ubuntu. Today I didn't add another person to that list. I added a business!!!
A local home center that is owned by my relatives were having major problems with viruses and spyware in XP. More about that later.

My nephew finally had enough. He had heard me talk about Ubuntu numerous times and asked if I could convert them over. Yep! No problem. I'll be down to do it.
And today it happened.

I got there and using my flash drive, I saved their documents. Then I popped in the new Ubuntu Ibex Cd and restarted the computer. Started Ubuntu as a Live Cd and checked out the hardware. Everything was detected and worked. Also to my relief, the printer they use is an HP. Opened up Firefox and went to HP's site to make sure it was supported. Found that it had full support. Good! Now to click the install link and start the process.

The system this was being installed in to is an older Pentium (1 Gig) CPU with 512 megs of Ram and using 32 megs of shared video. Not something that would be conducive to a Vista upgrade. Besides, the idea is to have a system that is immune from spyware and viruses.

The install was painless and took about 30 minutes. Once it was fully installed and I did the customary reboot and remove the Cd I was back up to their newly installed Ubuntu desktop. And I was also starring at the Updater blaring the Updates Available message. 68 of them including a kernel update.
Clicked on it and about 25 minutes later I was restarting the computer due to the kernel update.

Now I have the full system updated and ready to go. I still have some stuff to do. Get their bookmarks into Firefox and test out the printer. Everything works and looks good. Next I install VirtualBox. Huh!??? Why???
Well one of the sites they use to submit orders requires Internet Explorer because it uses ActiveX plugins to handle the login and displaying the catalog.
Talk about a security risk! Why anyone would require ActiveX to handle passwords is beyond me.
I also believe this was one of the backdoors that caused them problems with viruses and spyware.

So I install Virtual Box and XP from the Cd that came with their system.
The PC was a local computer shop build that came with a real XP Cd. But being a custom system presented it's own problems later on. I got XP installed in Virtual Box and got online with it.

Went to HP's web site and grabbed the XP drivers for the printer. Installed them, rebooted the XP and went to test the printer.
What The!.........
No printer is found! Checking around I find that there are no system drivers installed to support the USB for the motherboard.

Motherboard. What make is it? Don't know??? Nothing that identifies it. But from Ubuntu I see the audio drivers are Alsa drivers for an SIS motherboard.
Okay. Time to run some Google searches while I'm kicking myself in the arse for not bringing along my multi-driver Cd's.

Found a likely driver candidate for the USB and popped it in. New Hardware detected.
That's a good sign. Get it installed and now have a USB bus.
It's at this point I need to mention that XP had me very annoyed. Not only did it not have drivers for the USB unlike Ubuntu but everything I installed including the printer driver required a restart!

Got the USB drivers in then had to uninstall and reinstall the printer driver which required 2 more restarts! Grumble.......
Finally I got it up and running. Set up the security in Internet Explorer and shut down XP. Then I took a snapshot of the Virtual Box XP as a way to get back to a clean slate should anything happen.

I then advised them to only use XP and IE for only that site.
That using Firefox in Ubuntu will keep them clean and secure.
The job was finished.
Ubuntu install was nothing compared to the hassles I encountered with Virtual Box.

And before anyone screams foul, I will mention right now that I am not an XP newbie. I was an XP junkie and power user. I used to hack the shell and even rebuilt the dll controlling the animation for files being transferred to the trash. My version had a stick figure guy wiping his butt with the paper then put it into the trash bin.
I know my way around XP and had been using it for years.

Today was a triumphant day due to me converting a business over to Ubuntu but was also an eye opening day. I saw Windows in all it's ugliness and all I can say is I'm glad I made the switch from it.

I'm sure they will have a few questions as they get used to Ubuntu but at least they won't be calling about virus problems. And if they do, it will be in the Virtual Box XP and that will be fixed with one or two clicks.

TaZMAn

Friday, November 7, 2008

Multiboot Linux Cd And Automake Script Download

I have been asked numerous times about providing download links to some of my multiboot disks I have made. Unfortunately, they are all over 4 gigs as they contain 8 or more distros on them and my upload speeds make that type of upload almost impossible.

So I put together a small multiboot Cd that will provide you with Damn Small Linux, Puppy Linux and Memtest.
The total size is 136 megs and is split into 2 rar files (Using the script in my previous post) and is available via the 2 Rapidshare links.

MultiCd Part 1 75 Megs
http://rapidshare.com/files/161640669/multicd.iso-Split_RAR-75Megabyte_s_.part1.rar

MultiCd Part 2 61 Megs
http://rapidshare.com/files/161640671/multicd.iso-Split_RAR-75Megabyte_s_.part2.rar

Not only do you have a small Iso file but it contains 2 fully functional Linux systems and a utility to test your Ram! Also, both are very small and fast and will work on older, slower systems with minimal Ram and hardware.

It will also help you to see how a multiboot Cd is made although I have a confession to make.
Every other multiboot disk I have ever made was created by me from scratch. I did all the tedious editting and creating both the loader and menu.

But then I found a forum post that has a script to make multiboot disks.
It supports many distros and even a WinPE compilation.
There is a slight bug however that doesn't seem to affect the final Iso.
It has to do with the genisoimage version 1.1.6
I get an error that it expected a certain value but gets a different value.
No matter. I leave it run and it usually finishes with a working Iso.

But I have had the occasional tests where the script failed after getting that error.
It is a known bug when dealing with genisoimage version 1.1.6
If you use an older version you have no problems.
I must express the fact that the genisoimage bug is not due to itself but rather the way scripts are trying to use genisoimage.

Another con of this script is that it allows a limited choice of Linux distros.
The creator of the script has done a remarkable job of adding many distros but there are some good ones missing.
Also, because many distros use the same kernel you have to be careful of which versions you add into your compilation.

Examples would be Damn Small Linux and Knoppix. They both use the Knoppix kernel. Because the kernel of each Distro needs to be in the root path of the Cd and they are named the same you can't use both on a Cd unless you do custom editting of the files needed to boot up a renamed kernel.

But other then that it does a good job of creating multiboot Iso's.

The forum post can be found here;
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=718016

And the script file can be found on this page;
http://multicd.tuxfamily.org/

I strongly suggest you read all the pages in the forum post and the page at tuxfamily to understand how this script is used.

Enjoy!!

TaZMAn

P.S. I hope a few thank you's are in order.

Create Split Archives and Files Using A GUI

I came to Linux after using Windows for years and during that time I became spoiled using a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for almost all the software.
Winrar was one of those programs that I used to create split archives.

But when I started using Linux I found that archiving files into split rar files required me to open the terminal and type in the commands to arrive at the final solution.
But no more! That has changed with the help of a small script that creates a GUI and makes archiving and splitting files an easy process.

I know. I can hear the comments. Use File Roller or use the free 7zip.
Using either of these requires the use of the command line to create split archives.
I can also use the Windows version of 7zip in Wine which will create split files but using Wine is not the objective here. I'm trying to use software that is native to Linux and this script fits the bill.

The actual script download is found in an Ubuntu forum link that can be found here;
Ubuntu Forum
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=556756

This will require you to sign up for free as a member.

But if you don't want to sign up I'm providing the actual tar.gz file links to Rapidshare.
There are 2 versions and both come with updaters.
One is the standard interface and the other contains a modified interface.
Both tar.gz files are about 3k each.

Download links;
Standard GUI
http://rapidshare.com/files/161620313/mkrar_and_updater-PACKAGE_VERSION_2.1.tar.gz

Modified GUI
http://rapidshare.com/files/161620314/mkrar_and_updater-PACKAGE_VERSION_2.1_MODIFIED_INTERFACE.tar.gz

All I did was extract the tar.gz files to a folder. Then I opened the folder and clicked on the mkrar.sh file. It asked me what to do and I chose the Run option.
The GUI opened up and I was easily able to create several split files.

What you can do is integrate this into your menu as a software option or even include it into your right click shell just like you do with the Nautilus Scripts.

Also, you will see a file named mkrarupdater.sh
Running this file will check for any updates to this script.

There doesn't seem to be any bugs with this script but I haven't tried out all the options so if you do find any bugs you can contact the maker.

Enjoy!

TaZMAn


Monday, November 3, 2008

Poll: Hardy Heron and Nvidia Drivers

Still using Gutsy because of previous problems with Hardy and the Nvidia driver.
Since then, Hardy has updated many of their files and kernels. I also have upgraded to a pci-e x16 video card.

So I have to ask this question of the visitors to my blog;

Do you use Hardy with a Nvidia card and have you been able to get the proper resolutions with it?

Feel free to leave your comments below and to help others, maybe a short description of how you solved any problems.

Thanks!

TaZMAn