Enable VirtualBox USB Support In Ubuntu 8.10 Ibex

I just got around to installing VirtualBox in my newly installed Ibex system.
Finished the install and noticed a warning message that there were no USB ports present or supported.

I know from past experience that to have USB access in VirtualBox that you need the PUEL version from their website and not the OSE version from the repositories.

So I do some searching and found some info that fixed the USB problem and is a very easy fix. It should work for all Ibex users and hopefully this problem will be fixed in future versions.

First make sure you have added your user to the list of VirtualBox users group. To do this just copy and paste the following into your terminal;

$ sudo gpasswd -a YOURUSERNAME vboxusers

Where YOURUSERNAME is your user name.

Now let's add some USB support to VirtualBox. Open the fstab file so you can edit it. Since it needs root permissions we can do it through the terminal with this command;

sudo gedit /etc/fstab

Now that the fstab file is open add the following command to the bottom of the fstab file;

none /proc/bus/usb usbfs devgid=46,devmode=664 0 0

Close the file making sure to save it.
Now reboot your computer and when you open VirtualBox you will have USB support.

Simple enough?

Enjoy!

TaZMAn






Blog Entry Poster

Just downloaded and trying out a piece of software available through the Synaptic Package Manager called Blog Entry Poster.

It allows me to add new posts to this blog right from my desktop. No need to open up Firefox and log in to my page.

Well I guess I will still have to open my browser and go to my blog to see how this turned out. I do know one con about this software and that is the inability to add tags to any posts made with this software. It will require me to still log into my blog and edit the post to add the tags.

But this is still a good utility. Especially if I'm doing something and I want to do a quick post on this blog.

Enjoy!

TaZMAn

Editing the Grub Loader Menu

You have your computer set up as a dual boot system and the list of menu items keep growing every time there's a kernel update.

You know that annoying look. That screen shows your Microsoft OS, Memtest and several kernel entries along with their recovery mode images.

Here's how to pare down that list.

WARNING!
Not properly following the directions below may cause your system to not boot.
Proceed at your own risk. I will not be responsible for any damages incurred by your inability to follow directions.

We first need to open up the menu list for emitting. To do that open up a terminal window and type in the following;

sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

Type in your pasword when prompted.

Now your menu list will open with the permissions needed to edit it.

Look for entries in your menu list that look similar to this;

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-15-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-15-generic root=UUID=15024b26-e9da-497b-8744-ccfd6170eb84 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-15-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-15-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-15-generic root=UUID=15024b26-e9da-497b-8744-ccfd6170eb84 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-15-generic

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=15024b26-e9da-497b-8744-ccfd6170eb84 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=15024b26-e9da-497b-8744-ccfd6170eb84 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-13-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-13-generic root=UUID=15024b26-e9da-497b-8744-ccfd6170eb84 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-13-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-13-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-13-generic root=UUID=15024b26-e9da-497b-8744-ccfd6170eb84 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-13-generic

title Ubuntu 7.10, memtest86+
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

What we need to do is comment out all the older kernels and their recovery mode entries.
I strongly suggest that you keep the 2 newest entries and their recovery mode entries.
Here's how;

In the above example we can see there are 3 kernel entries.
The newest being 2.6.22-15-generic and the oldest being 2.6.22-13-generic
We want to get rid of the 2.6.22-13-generic and the 2.6.22-13-generic (recovery mode) entries from the boot menu.

So we will comment those entries out. To do that we will use the ## characters to do the commenting.

When it's done it should look like this;


## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-15-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-15-generic root=UUID=15024b26-e9da-497b-8744-ccfd6170eb84 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-15-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-15-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-15-generic root=UUID=15024b26-e9da-497b-8744-ccfd6170eb84 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-15-generic

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=15024b26-e9da-497b-8744-ccfd6170eb84 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=15024b26-e9da-497b-8744-ccfd6170eb84 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic

##title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-13-generic
##root (hd0,0)
##kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-13-generic ##root=UUID=15024b26-e9da-497b-8744-ccfd6170eb84 ro quiet splash
##initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-13-generic
##quiet

##title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-13-generic (recovery mode)
##root (hd0,0)
##kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-13-generic ##root=UUID=15024b26-e9da-497b-8744-ccfd6170eb84 ro single
##initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-13-generic

title Ubuntu 7.10, memtest86+
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST


As you can see, we put a ## in front of all the entries for the 2.6.22-13-generic kernel.
You need to do this to all the kernel entries older then the newest 2.
That way, should you have a problem with the newest kernel, you can boot into the next oldest one and fix the problem.

Now that we have that cleaned up, let's set the menu so that it doesn't keep adding new kernels to the list that we just cleaned up.

Here's what you need to do.
Look for an entry similar to this in the menu list;

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all

We need to edit the last entry that says # howmany=all
Change the =all to =2

It should look something like this;

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=2

Now your list should never display more then 2 kernel versions along with the recovery mode links.

Close the menu list and select the option to save the changes.

Now for the moment of truth.
Reboot your computer.
If you did everything properly you should only see the 2 newest kernels listed in the grub menu and it will boot up properly when you select the kernel to boot to.

Good luck and enjoy!!!

TaZMAn

Edit The Menu

Your Applications Menu can be used to install or remove software by using the Add/Remove link at the bottom of the menu.

And that menu can be customized to add or remove listings and/or category.
You can even add a new menu to the main menu.

Here's how;

Place your cursor over the Applications button in the tool bar.
Now right click on it and from the menu select Edit Menus.
There you will see each category and software listed within it.
Place a check mark next to the software to have it appear in the menu. Uncheck it to not have it listed in the menu.

You can even move a software listing from one category to another using the 'Drag and Drop' method.
One word of caution;
When you drag a software listing from one category to another you are actually doing a Copy and Paste.
The original stays put and a new listing will show up in the category you dragged it to.
So you will need to right click on the original listing and delete it unless you want it listed in 2 categories.

You can even add new categories (Menus).
There are many options and tools available to fully customize the menu to suit your liking.

TaZMAn