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Activate Thinkpad R400 IBM Active Protection System on Ubuntu Karmic Koala

admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:38:39 +0000

After several weeks using Ubuntu on my Thinkpad R400, there are several features which doesn’t work out-of-the-box. One of them is Lenovo Thinkpad Active Protection System. Gladly, I found some nice article on the internet, then try to activate Active Protection System using those tutorial. It’s a good tutorial, now the Active Protection System is activated under Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala.

[Thinkpad HDAPS in Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty]

How to Fill the W8-BEN Form for Non-US Residents

admin — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 03:08:18 +0000

At least once a year, I had to re-submit the W8-BEN form to some of ads network company in US, and sometimes I forgot which column or row I had to fill. Friends from Jisportal had a nice tutorial on it, just download this image file and fill the form.

Credit goes to Jisportal

Finally Bought Thinkpad R400

admin — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 02:02:16 +0000

A weeks a go, I just bought a new notebook for myself, Lenovo Thinkpad R400 RZ7 which comes with pre-installed Windows Vista (free upgrade to Windows 7 ’til 31 Jan 2010), powered by Intel Core 2 Duo P7370 (2.0GHz, FSB 1066, Cache 3MB), Chipset Intel 45GM, 2GB DDR3 RAM, Intel Graphics 4500MHD, 14.1-inch WXGA TFT with 1280 x 800 resolution, 250GB hard drive, DVDRW, integrated camera 2.0MP, VGA out (no HDMI), WiFi, Bluetooh, card reader, LAN and modem.

Latest Project on Our Network

admin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:15:50 +0000

Eventhough there are many gadget blog out there, I still interested to have my own gadget blog. Being brief and short, that’s one of the main differentiation between my gadget blog and another blog. How about monetizing? Hmmm, I don’t have any plan to monetize my gadget in near times.

How to Uninstall Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR)

admin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:50:23 +0000

After upgrading to Ubuntu Karmic Koala (9.10), I try to install Ubuntu Netbook Remix in my wife’s HP MiniNote 1016. However since my wife doesn’t like it (it’s quite heavy in this machine), I decided to uninstall UNR and go back to the default GNOME.

There are several packages have to be removed, you can do that by writing this command in your terminal.

$sudo apt-get remove ubuntu-netbook-remix ubuntu-netbook-remix-default-settings maximus

There you go, UNR is removed and now back to GNOME default.

Rsync - Command Line Tools to Backup Files/Directories in Linux

admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:56:11 +0000

I have two hard drives, one is for daily use and another one is for backup needs. How to backup between those 2 hard drives in linux using command line (CLI) tools? Easy! Linux already have superb program called rsync, which can be used for backup or synchronize between two folder or drives or from hard drives to USB disk. Here is the command:

$ sudo rsync -avu –delete [source path] [destination path]

for example in my case:

$ sudo rsync -avu –delete /home/banteng/Business /media/2825dc9d-7018-49e0-bac4-2567a1d1a380/backup/Business/

options –delete (minus minus delete) is for deleting files or directories that is no longer exist in the source path, if you don’t use –delete then files or folder that is no longer exist still kept in the destination path.

You can combine this command with crontab so, you can run routine backup automatically for specific period, ie daily, weekly, etc….

Enabling X Window Reset (Ctrl Alt Backspace) in Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:16:34 +0000

By default, Ubuntu disable X window reset feature by keyboard shortcut in Jaunty (9.04) and Karmic (9.10). However we can still enable this feature, here is how:

1. Go to System > Preferences > Keyboard

2. Choose Layout Options

3. Choose Key Sequence to Kill X Server, make sure it’s checked.

SMC 2862 USB Wireless Works Out of the Box in Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

admin — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:42:11 +0000

In Jaunty and previous release of Ubuntu, I used to install my SMC 2862 G driver using ndiswrapper, it’s a little bit annoying since sometimes it makes Ubuntu won’t boot perfectly (I should unplug and plug it again). But it’s just an old story, since now Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic can detect it perfectly, no Wind*** driver needed, no ndiswrapper installed, it’s just works out of the box.

HP Mininote Broadcom Wireless Finally Working on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

admin — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:07:08 +0000

After success upgrading to Karmic on my PC, now it’s turn to upgrade my wife’s netbook which is HP Mininote 1016. Before upgrading, this netbook using Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex as it’s OS, and everything work out of the box. However after upgrading to Karmic, I found problems related to Broadcom Wireless driver, it doesn’t working! Then I search on Google and found the solutions, here is how:

Offline Mode [in case you can’t connect using wired connection]:

Open Synaptic Pacakage Manager
Make sure 9.10 LiveCd is in CD drive
Go to Settings > Repositories > Ubuntu Software
Check the installable from cd and close
Reload
Search for “bcmwl-kernel-source”
Mark for installation
Apply
Reboot computer

Online Mode [You can connect to internet whether using wired or other wireless device]:

Open Synaptic Package Manager
Search for “bcmwl-kernel-source”
Mark for installation
Apply
Reboot your computer

I’m using the second option [Online Mode] because I’m able to connect to the internet using my SMC USB Wireless Card.

Credit goes to Jomtois on Ubuntu Forums.

Video Playback Freeze Every Few Seconds / Minutes on Ubuntu

admin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:45:26 +0000

Just upgrading to Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala this morning, overall I’m quite happy with it’s performance, it’s faster than previous version (Jaunty, etc). However I’m still facing some minor problem that is not solved correctly until this Karmic release, that is when I play video on Totem or VLC, after several minutes the video becomes freeze and this happen every several seconds / minutes.

So I decided to find the solution on the Ubuntu forums and found the solution:

STEPS: Compiz Configuration

1. Download CompizConfig Settings Manager from Ubuntu repository.
2. Navigate to.. System –> Prefences –> CompizConfig Settings Manager
3. Navigate to.. General –> General Options
4. Click “General Options” to open window
5. Click “Display Settings” tab
6. Uncheck “Detect Refresh Rate”
7. Move “Refresh Rate” slider to 60, or set 60 in the box
8. Check “Sync to VBlank”
9. Click back button to move back to main CompizConfig window
10. Navigate to.. Utility –> Video Playback
11. Uncheck “Video Playback” then exit the CompizConfig Settings Manager.

STEPS: Nvidia Configuration

1. Pull up nvidia-settings
.. Navigate to.. Applications –> System Tools –> nvidia-settings
.. or open a terminal, type “nvidia-settings” , press enter
2. Click “X Server XVideo Settings”
3. Check “Sync to VBlank” _IF_ not checked
4. Click “OpenGL Settings”
5. Uncheck “Sync to VBlank” _IF_ checked
6. click quit button
7. click quit button
8. Reopen nvidia-settings to verify that config changes were saved.
.. IF they were saved, you are done with step 8.
.. IF they were not saved, ~/.nvidia-settings-rc in your home directory
.. may be under root permissions. You will need to chown chgrp for the file.
.. Then you will need to start back at Step 1 and repeat all steps.

IMPORTANT: Reboot your machine when finished. The driver changes won’t function correctly until you reboot

This is the screenshot of my nvidia settings after fixed:

That’s it, now I can enjoy watching my movie collections without freezing…

Reference:

Link on Ubuntu Forums:
Credit goes to shaundennie