Getting The Modem To Work In Hardy

If you upgraded your install from Gutsy Gibbon to Hardy Heron, your modem may not work. You need to install the new hsfmodem deb. If you have the older version of the Conexant Modem driver, please uninstall it before installing the new one.

You can find the driver here. This is only for the 32bit version of Ubuntu, the one I use and recommend. 64 bit users will need to go here. There is no deb for the 64bit driver so installation can be a bit of a chore.

After installing the modem driver, you might get a pop-up window telling you that the Volume Control has quit unexpectedly and asks you to reload (or not reload) the panel. Click on Reload. Afterwards, the sound icon on the top right corner of the screen changes to "mute", but sound should be fine. A logout/login or GDM restart should have solved the issue. This issue happens because the modem driver lays down its own set of sound codecs and unloads the snd-hda-intel module during the installation process. But it doesn't, when I tried to modprobe snd-hda-intel I received an error. If you check the comments Mmandx has found a workaround. You can download an version of the alsa-driver package (from the ALSA project) with improved support for the HSF driver here.

edited by pHreaksYcle

What is The Terminal & How Do I Find It

I realized that I talk about using the terminal a lot in this blog. Just about every guide asks users to fire up a terminal. I never have bothered to explain what it is or how to find it, and for that I'm sorry new Ubuntu/Linux users.

When I say terminal I really mean, a command line interpreter. The command line interpreter is a computer program that reads lines of text entered by a user and interprets them in the context of a given operating system or programming language.

The terminal gives you complete access to your operating system and often allows you to do things faster and more efficiently.

To access Ubuntu's terminal go to: Applications>Accessories>Terminal


It looks like this:


I know this may seem silly to many long time readers and hardcore Linux users, but if it wasn't for my buddy Muki showing me the terminal, I would have been asking this question to, or maybe I would have just googled it.

edited by pHreaksYcle

Fix PulseAudio - Play Video & Audio While Playing Flash

There is a known issue with Firefox/Flash and PulseAudio.

PulseAudio is the standard sound server in Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04. A sound server is a background process that accepts sound input from one or more sources (like your applications) and redirecting it to one or more sinks (like your sound card). Unfortunately it doesn't quite work with Flash 9 support in Firefox.

There is an easy fix:
In a terminal type:
sudo apt-get install libflashsupport

Now when you have audio and video playing, Flash will have sound and vice-versa.


To get the most out of PulseAudio, you may want to download and install the device chooser.

In a terminal type:
sudo apt-get install padevchooser
sudo apt-get install pavucontrol

edited by pHreaksYcle

Make KDE Look Like Gnome

This guide will show you how to make KDE applications look just like and feel like Gnome applications. I can't live without my KDE applications, specifically Amarok, k3b or k9copy; but have always been annoyed by the clashing of styles on my desktop.

KDE Applications Before Using The Guide:







After using the Guide:








Configure KDE
To make this guide work you first need to download the KDE Control Center, kControl. It is the centralized settings manager for the KDE desktop environment.

To Download kControl
sudo apt-get install kcontrol

To launch kControl, enter kcontrol into a run box (Alt+F2), or type it into a terminal.


Gnome Style
Klearlook is a widget style for KDE that is based off the QtCurve style. As its name suggests, it is intended to be a KDE replica of the GTK theme "Clearlooks". Navigate to Appearance & Theme>Style.

To Download Klearlook
sudo apt-get install kde-style-klearlook
Select Klearlooks from the drop down menu under Widget Style.


Gnome Icons
Human Icon Pack for Kde is the best replica of the Human theme for Kde I have seen. It cover all major and minor icons. Navigate to Appearance & Theme>Icons.

To Download Human_KDE.tar.gz, click this link.
Select Install New Theme and navigate to where you saved the Human_KDE.tar.gz file and install it.


Gnome Colors
To make the color scheme in KDE match Gnome, navigate to Appearances & Themes>Colors.

Enter these values to match Gnome color layout.
Inactive Title Bar #C1C5AB
Active Title Bar #D5A637
Standard Text #000000
Selected Text #F8C779
Standard Background #FFFFFF
Link #0000C0
Followed Link #800080


Gnome Feel (Mouse Options)
To make KDE applications feel more like Gnome applications, navigate to Peripherals>Mouse to change KDE's single click default to match Gnome's double click default.

edited by pHreaksYcle

Linux on the Linksys WRT54GL

In a move to put Linux on everything I own, I just installed DD-WRT on my Linksys router. DD-WRT is free Linux-based firmware for several wireless routers, most notably the Linksys WRT54G family. Many of DD-WRT's features are not included in typical router firmware. These features include support for the Kai network, daemon-based services, IPv6, Wireless Distribution System, RADIUS, advanced quality of service, radio output power control, overclocking capability, and software support for a Secure Digital Card hardware modification.

The Linksys WRT54GL was released in 2005 to support third-party firmware based on Linux. Its fully compatible with DD-WRT. This guide also works for a couple of other LinksysWRT54G, models WRT54G v4 and earlier, but the WRT54GL is the the preferred router to buy/use.

If you want to see what other routers are DD-WRT compatible go here.

BEFORE YOU START:
Use an ethernet cable to connect your PC to your router (use port 1)
DO NOT attempt to use the guide via wifi, you will brick your router.

Step 1: Get Your Router Ready
Type the following into your browser's URL box:
http://192.168.1.1

Restore your router to its factory settings:
In the Administration tab, under Factory Defaults, select YES and the SAVE the Settings.

Log Back Into Your Router:
http://192.168.1.1
name= *Leave It Blank*
password= admin


Step 2: The Inital Flash
Download dd-wrt.v23_mini_generic.bin

Unzip the dd-wrt.v23_sp2_mini.zip file

Go to Firmware Management, under Administration>Firmware Management.
Select the dd-wrt.v23_mini_generic.bin file
Select UPGRADE to begin the process.
* Do not interrupt the process * make sure the router stays plugged in

You will see an Upgrade Successful screen message
Click CONTINUE.


Step 3: Reset and Flash Firmware Again
Find the reset button on the back of the WRT54GL
Hold down the reset button for 30 seconds
Release the reset button
Allow the lights to blink for 15 seconds

Log Back Into Your Router:
http://192.168.1.1
username= root
password= admin

Download the dd-wrt.v23_generic.bin

Unzip the dd-wrt.v23_sp2_standard.zip file

Go to Firmware Management, under Administration>Firmware Management.
Select the dd-wrt.v23_generic.bin file
Select UPGRADE to begin the process.
* Do not interrupt the process * make sure the router stays plugged in

Find the reset button on the back of the WRT54GL
Hold down the reset button for 30 seconds
Release the reset button
Allow the lights to blink for 15 seconds


Step 4: Login & Setup Your Router
http://192.168.1.1
username= root
password= admin

Reconfigure Xorg File (xserver-xorg)

If you need to reconfigure your xserver-xorg file, are having issues with your monitor resolution, need to reset xorg or just plain can't get a graphical interface to load, use this command.

In a terminal type:
dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

This will allow you to reconfigure your xorg settings, resolution, graphical problems etc.

edited by pHreaksYcle

Installing Wine In Hardy Heron

Wine is a software application which aims to allow Unix-like computer operating systems on the x86 architecture to execute programs that were originally written for Microsoft Windows.

There are two methods to installing Wine
1. Install Wine from Ubuntu's own repository, it is an older but officially supported version for Hardy Heron.
In a terminal type:
sudo apt-get install wine

2. Add Wine's own repository, this gives you the newest version of Wine and access to all future updates
In a terminal type:
wget -q http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/387EE263.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

Next, add the repository to your system's source list:
In a terminal type:
sudo wget http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winehq.list

Update Your Source List:
In a terminal type:
sudo apt-get update

Install Wine
In a terminal type:
sudo apt-get install wine

Once installed (either method) you can configure Wine by running:
winecfg

Make Wine Graphical User Interface Match Ubuntu's
Ina terminal type:
gedit ~/.wine/user.reg

Replace the [Control Panel\\Colors] section with

[Control Panel\\Colors] 1176981676
"ActiveBorder"="239 235 231"
"ActiveTitle"="203 133 61"
"AppWorkSpace"="198 198 191"
"Background"="93 77 52"
"ButtonAlternativeFace"="200 0 0"
"ButtonDkShadow"="85 85 82"
"ButtonFace"="239 235 231"
"ButtonHilight"="255 255 255"
"ButtonLight"="255 255 255"
"ButtonShadow"="198 198 191"
"ButtonText"="0 0 0"
"GradientActiveTitle"="239 235 231"
"GradientInactiveTitle"="239 235 231"
"GrayText"="198 198 191"
"Hilight"="246 200 129"
"HilightText"="0 0 0"
"InactiveBorder"="239 235 231"
"InactiveTitle"="239 235 231"
"InactiveTitleText"="255 255 255"
"InfoText"="0 0 0"
"InfoWindow"="255 255 166"
"Menu"="239 235 231"
"MenuBar"="239 235 231"
"MenuHilight"="246 200 129"
"MenuText"="0 0 0"
"Scrollbar"="239 235 231"
"TitleText"="255 255 255"
"Window"="255 255 255"
"WindowFrame"="0 0 0"
"WindowText"="0 0 0"

A Quick Screenshot:

edited by pHreaksYcle