Disabling the way too loud Umbongo login sound at startup in Ubuntu Oneiric

You'd think that the bug in Oneiric beta would have been sorted out by the time 11.10 was generally available, but no, they're still thumping away at every startup.

Up until 11.04, hey used to obey the volume you had set in your sound preferences, but they don't seem to anymore - they're always deafening.

Some of this may be down to the messing about I had to do just to get login to work at all (lightdm didn't work with nvidia-current for my nvidia graphics card, so I had to switch back to gdm), but all I know if that no matter what I did, I couldn't get those drums to SHUT UP.

Here are a few methods:

1) At terminal type:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.sound event-sounds false

Result: this didn't work for me, although it has worked for others. Retried same with sudo, no difference.

2) At terminal type:

gksudo gedit /usr/share/gnome/autostart/libcanberra-login-sound.desktop

Go to the line that reads "NoDisplay=true" and change true to false.

Result: this also didn't work.

3) Read the rest of that file, and noticed that the command called is:

/usr/bin/canberra-gtk-play --id="desktop-login" --description="GNOME Login"

However, the umbongo drum sound file is actually "system-ready.ogg", and not "desktop-login.ogg" which is actually rather nice.

I concluded that this file has nothing whatsoever to do with the bongo drums that make my ears bleed.

4) At terminal type:

sudo rm /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/system-ready.ogg

Result: I don't actually know, since this somehow seemed like cheating ;) However, I can't see why it wouldn't work.

5) Since that file mentions canberra, I searched synaptic package manager for canberra. Found "gnome-session-canberra", description: GNOME session log in and log out sound events. Decided to uninstall it.

Result: No more bleeding eardrums and spilt coffee :D

Edit:
If all else fails, this one is sure to work...
$ sudo su gdm -c "gconftool-2 --set /desktop/gnome/sound/event_sounds --type bool false"


All this really does beg the question: did they really have to make it so hard for people to turn a login sound off, or at least turn it down?

Configuring Synaptics Touchpad in Ubuntu

If you want to take advantage of the more advanced features of your Synaptics touchpad in Ubuntu, such as two-finger scrolling, multitouch and circular scrolling (or chiral scrolling), then you'll need to know how to configure it.

Open a terminal and type:

synclient -l                                                                      


This will list the current touchpad settings, which might look something like this:

pchelptech@ubuntu:~$ synclient -l

Parameter settings:

    LeftEdge                = 1773

    RightEdge               = 5471

    TopEdge                 = 1665

    BottomEdge              = 4829

    FingerLow               = 24

    FingerHigh              = 29

    FingerPress             = 255

    MaxTapTime              = 180

    MaxTapMove              = 248

    MaxDoubleTapTime        = 180

    SingleTapTimeout        = 180

    ClickTime               = 100

    FastTaps                = 0

    EmulateMidButtonTime    = 75

    EmulateTwoFingerMinZ    = 280

    EmulateTwoFingerMinW    = 6

    VertScrollDelta         = 113

    HorizScrollDelta        = 113

    VertEdgeScroll          = 1

    HorizEdgeScroll         = 1

    CornerCoasting          = 0

    VertTwoFingerScroll     = 0

    HorizTwoFingerScroll    = 0

    MinSpeed                = 1

    MaxSpeed                = 1.75

    AccelFactor             = 0.0353482

    TrackstickSpeed         = 40

    EdgeMotionMinZ          = 29

    EdgeMotionMaxZ          = 159

    EdgeMotionMinSpeed      = 1

    EdgeMotionMaxSpeed      = 452

    EdgeMotionUseAlways     = 0

    TouchpadOff             = 0

    LockedDrags             = 0

    LockedDragTimeout       = 5000

    RTCornerButton          = 2

    RBCornerButton          = 3

    LTCornerButton          = 0

    LBCornerButton          = 0

    TapButton1              = 1

    TapButton2              = 3

    TapButton3              = 2

    ClickFinger1            = 1

    ClickFinger2            = 1

    ClickFinger3            = 1

    CircularScrolling       = 0                                                   
    CircScrollDelta         = 0.1                                                 

    CircScrollTrigger       = 0

    CircularPad             = 0

    PalmDetect              = 0

    PalmMinWidth            = 9

    PalmMinZ                = 199

    CoastingSpeed           = 20

    CoastingFriction        = 50

    PressureMotionMinZ      = 29

    PressureMotionMaxZ      = 159

    PressureMotionMinFactor = 1

    PressureMotionMaxFactor = 1

    ResolutionDetect        = 1

    GrabEventDevice         = 1

    TapAndDragGesture       = 1

    AreaLeftEdge            = 0

    AreaRightEdge           = 0

    AreaTopEdge             = 0

    AreaBottomEdge          = 0

Let's say you want to enable circular scrolling, starting at the top right hand corner, here's how you'd do it:

pchelptech@ubuntu:~$ synclient CircularScrolling=1 CircScrollTrigger=2

For a full list of available functions, check out this page:

http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/karmic/man4/synaptics.4.html

Time for Skype to stop installing affiliate software

This evening when I checked my Skype for missed messages and was presented with the request from GameXNGO.exe, which apparently wanted to use my Skype:

I chose to deny it access, since I don't need it and at no stage did I choose to install it. I'm sure there are plenty of Skype users who'd be more than happy to have random software forced on them like this, and who knows? It mightn't even be all that bad.

If you're one of the people who's happy to try it out - go ahead. If you're not, then you might be wondering what the hell it is, and what you can do to get it off your system.

First I searched my disks for the program, and found it here:

C:\ProgramData\GameXN\GameXNGO.exe (on Windows 7)

Then I searched for it on Google. Turns out it belongs to EasyBits Go, an affiliate partner of Skype, who provide their gaming platform, which I don't actually use. I'm sure it's great, but I don't really have the time for it, and I don't appreciate having any software forced on me - that's a crapware or even malware kind of behaviour.

Next, I checked in Control Panel > Programs and Features, and there it was:

Thankfully, this was easily removed.

If you're not sure what else you might have kicking about on your system, courtesy of Skype, you might want to go to Skype > Tools > Options > Advanced > Manage other programs' access to Skype, and look at what's listed there:

You'll notice that not only is GameXNGO there, but also EasyBitsGO - which belongs to the same company, and was offered about 6 months ago. That one required a special uninstaller to be downloaded from EasyBits, which was pretty sneaky. Apparently, although I somehow missed it at the time (must have been something to do with being in the middle of exams ;), this one caused a bit of a stir, and a lot of angry customers threatened to leave Skype over it.

Thankfully, in my case at least, it seems that this one isn't quite as much of a pain - I hope the same is true for the majority of people. 

Linux attribute fun: preventing read-only access from being overwritten with chattr

Image via Wikipedia

Have you ever wanted to make attributes, such as rwx permissions, for a file or group of files fixed and impossible to change by chmod, even for the root user (unless they know how to override it)? If yes, then chattr is the command you need.

As an example, let's say you have one or more files in a directory named /var/opt/xst that you need to protect the attributes of (e.g. make them read only).

Here's how you would do it:


1) Set permissions for the file, or files in a directory.
e.g. chmod 444 /var/opt/xst/xst.ini OR chmod 444 /var/opt/xst/*

2) ls -la /var/opt/xst/ to confirm the permission was changed

3) To make the file permissions immutable:
chattr -i /var/opt/xst/xst.ini OR chattr -i 444 /var/opt/xst/*

4) To revert:
chattr +i /var/opt/xst/xst.ini OR chattr +i 444 /var/opt/xst/*

There's also the option to make the attributes for any file "append-only" (chattr +a).

Note: You can check current attributes by using lsattr.

Related articles

• Power of the Command Line (nofluffjuststuff.com)

Realtek rtl8192SE wireless driver issues on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

Image via Wikipedia

A few weeks back, after applying a series of updates and rebooting, my Lucid Lynx stopped purring contentedly and started coughing up furballz. Kernel panics seemed to occur at random, for next to nothing.

With a backlog of work to get through, I just decided to leave it to one side and boot into my Windows 7 64-bit option instead, and made do with the perfectly OK user experience that Win7 offers.
Missing the warm glow of Ubuntu (well, more of a purple haze, really), I could stand it no more.
It was time to boot her up and recreate the issue.

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long. Mid-update, the kernel didn't so much panic, as shat itself.

A quick review of the /var/log/messages showed this was what flashed through the kernel's mind before it died:

Apr 20 20:05:24 ubuntu kernel: [   55.810805] rtl8192_SetWirelessMode(), wireless_mode:10, bEnableHT = 1
Apr 20 20:05:26 ubuntu kernel: [   57.292343] Linking with ThomsonE20565,channel:11, qos:0, myHT:1, networkHT:0, mode:6 cur_net.flags:0x406
Apr 20 20:05:26 ubuntu kernel: [   57.292355] Linking with ThomsonE20565,channel:11, qos:0, myHT:1, networkHT:0, mode:6 cur_net.flags:0x406
Apr 20 20:05:26 ubuntu kernel: [   57.292400] ===>rtllib_associate_procedure_wq(), chan:11
Apr 20 20:05:26 ubuntu kernel: [   57.292403] HTSetConnectBwMode():pHTInfo->bCurBW40MHz:0
Apr 20 20:05:26 ubuntu kernel: [   57.306383] rtl8192_SetWirelessMode(), wireless_mode:4, bEnableHT = 0
Apr 20 20:05:26 ubuntu kernel: [   57.310749] Associated successfully
Apr 20 20:05:26 ubuntu kernel: [   57.310752] normal associate
Apr 20 20:05:26 ubuntu kernel: [   57.310760] Using G rates:108
Apr 20 20:05:26 ubuntu kernel: [   57.310763] Successfully associated, ht not enabled(0, 0)
Apr 20 20:05:26 ubuntu kernel: [   57.310766] ===>rtl8192se_link_change():ieee->iw_mode is 2
Apr 20 20:05:26 ubuntu kernel: [   57.311970] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
Apr 20 20:05:26 ubuntu kernel: [   57.312052] RX: IEEE802.1X EPAOL frame!
Apr 20 20:05:26 ubuntu kernel: [   57.317744] RX: IEEE802.1X EPAOL frame!
Apr 20 20:05:26 ubuntu kernel: [   57.317826] alg name:TKIP
Apr 20 20:05:26 ubuntu kernel: [   57.334236] ===========>set_swcam():EntryNo is 4,KeyIndex is 0,KeyType is 2,is_mesh is 0
Apr 20 20:05:27 ubuntu kernel: [   58.333004] RX: IEEE802.1X EPAOL frame!
Apr 20 20:05:27 ubuntu kernel: [   58.333080] alg name:TKIP
Apr 20 20:05:27 ubuntu kernel: [   58.333095] ===========>set_swcam():EntryNo is 1,KeyIndex is 1,KeyType is 2,is_mesh is 0
Apr 20 20:05:27 ubuntu kernel: [   58.862950] dm_check_edca_turbo():iot peer is unknown, bssid:00:1d:68:69:7b:07
Apr 20 20:05:30 ubuntu kernel: [   61.294502] DHCP pkt src port:68, dest port:67!!
Apr 20 20:05:30 ubuntu kernel: [   61.305901] DHCP pkt src port:68, dest port:67!!
Apr 20 20:05:56 ubuntu kernel: [   91.920932] ===>rtl8192se_link_change():ieee->iw_mode is 2
Apr 20 20:05:57 ubuntu kernel: [   93.439161] ===>rtl8192se_link_change():ieee->iw_mode is 2
Apr 20 20:06:20 ubuntu kernel: [  115.992107] lo: Disabled Privacy Extensions
Apr 20 20:06:46 ubuntu kernel: [  141.928983] ===>rtl8192se_link_change():ieee->iw_mode is 2
Apr 20 20:06:47 ubuntu kernel: [  143.454210] ===>rtl8192se_link_change():ieee->iw_mode is 2
Apr 20 20:07:36 ubuntu kernel: [  191.921344] ===>rtl8192se_link_change():ieee->iw_mode is 2
Apr 20 20:07:37 ubuntu kernel: [  193.443392] ===>rtl8192se_link_change():ieee->iw_mode is 2
Apr 20 20:07:39 ubuntu kernel: [  195.865137] CE: hpet increasing min_delta_ns to 15000 nsec
Apr 20 20:08:56 ubuntu kernel: [  271.921266] ===>rtl8192se_link_change():ieee->iw_mode is 2
Apr 20 20:08:57 ubuntu kernel: [  273.446210] ===>rtl8192se_link_change():ieee->iw_mode is 2
Apr 20 20:10:36 ubuntu kernel: [  371.925695] ===>rtl8192se_link_change():ieee->iw_mode is 2
Apr 20 20:10:37 ubuntu kernel: [  373.466177] ===>rtl8192se_link_change():ieee->iw_mode is 2
Apr 20 21:44:07 ubuntu kernel: imklog 4.2.0, log source = /proc/kmsg started.

The last message shows when Linux was restarted, so I read upwards from that.
Looking at other bits of the log for other crashes (and digging around in the archived messages too, of course), I could see that these last few messages were pretty common.

Guessing that it was probably something to do with the wireless network driver, I went looking for a new/old/stable-at-least driver for my Realtek 8192SE on-board wireless networking device.

A google search for "ubuntu rtl8192se" and trawling the forum posts that came up in the results pointed me to two resources:

• http://218.210.127.131/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=48&PFid=48&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true#2302
• https://launchpad.net/~matt-price/+archive/mattprice/+packages

Having read on many forums that getting the official Realtek driver to compile, I was drawn to the DKMS version provided by Matt Price (second link).

I downloaded the .deb package, installed it, rebooted and now my Lucid Lynx is a happy kitty once again!

Related articles

• Ubuntu 8.04 LTS approaches end of life (h-online.com)
• Ubuntu Server 11.04 is half way home (go.theregister.com)
• Ubuntu 11.04 Beta 2 Ready For Download Name: Natty Narwhal (mwd.com)
• Remove Outdated Kernels and Headers to Save Space (Linux) (helpdeskgeek.com)
• Quick Realtek RTL8192SU Ubuntu driver fix (omgubuntu.co.uk)
• Ubuntu Server geared for future clouds (infoworld.com)

Arrr!! Pirate Hard Drive Offers Infinite Capacity - File Sharing Community

Arrr!! Pirate Hard Drive Offers Infinite Capacity - File Sharing Community

Skype Autostart Problem

This little post is about a problem I had with getting Skype to autostart. However, if you want to STOP Skype from autostarting, just skip to the last paragraph.

Ever since a recent upgrade (I'm currently on 4.2.0.187, and about to upgrade to latest version), Skype hasn't been starting when Windows 7 x64 starts.

Looking at msconfig, I could see the following startup entry:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Skype\\Phone\Skype.exe" /nosplash /minimized
Note the \\ where there should only be \

To fix this, open regedit and browse to:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
Then edit the value for the key by double clicking on it, and remove one of the slashes before Phone\Skype.exe...

How to stop Skype (or any program) from autostarting:

If Skype is autostarting and you want to stop that from happening, simply delete the entry for Skype under 
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

Related articles

• Is the Skype Crash Windows' Fault or Skype's? (pcworld.com)
• Skype Explains Outage In-Depth (mashable.com)
• China Rules Skype Illegal. Tell Me Something New. (chinalawblog.com)
• A Game of Clue: What Killed Skype (zdnet.com)