A day in the life of a techie

Fedora 10 stumbling blocks

2008-12-27T00:08:00.006+05:30

Hey Guys,

Having used Fedora (6, and subsequently, 8) for the past two years, I was excited to download the Fed10 DVD within the first few days of its release. The 'few days' was owing to my rather slow 256 kbps connection; the download began on the release day itself :). After 35 excruciating hours, the download was complete. Hurriedly, I burned the DVD and set it to work.

Unfortunately, my excitement was short-lived as I couldn't get it to work. The problem was fundamental: the installer screen appeared scrambled/corrupted. So, indeed, there was no question of proceeding any further. At that time, there were scant threads on any of the help forums, so I was unable to fix the problem. Now, however, things have been sorted out.

Here are the first two stumbling blocks any new Fedora 10 user is likely to encounter:

Installation screen is garbled / scrambled / corrupted / blank

The problem lies with 'Anaconda', Fedora's installer program. Here's how to fix it:

1. At the install screen of Fedora, press tab
2. A command line statement will appear. At the end of that statement, leave a single blank space, and type xdriver=vesa
3. Hit enter, and the installation will begin

That should take care of the problem. The rest of the installation is a piece of cake. Experienced Fedora users will find that there are fewer 'steps' in the installation process, and the dialogs are less ambiguous than previous editions.

Can't login as root from the login screen

Stupid thing (with the OS). Just follow the steps below:

Login as any user
$ su
Enter the correct root password
$ gedit /etc/pam.d/gdm
Find the line that reads auth required pam_succeed_if.so user != root quiet
Place a # (hash, or pound sign) at the beginning of that line. This will comment it out.
Save the file
Logout, and you shall have the right of passage as root

Cant connect to the internet using static IP

Now this is a cool one!! There is a bug in the configuration tool. It copies your default gateway address, to the subnet mask, irrespective of what subnet mask you specify !! Here's the solution:

Login as any user
Go to Applications > System Tools > Terminals
$ su
Enter the root password and hit enter
$ gedit /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
Step 5 assumes your network device is called eth0
This will open the network configuration file for the said device
Type the required subnet mask after NETMASK=
Save the file
Quit the text editor
Go to System > Administration > Services >
Disable network
Save settings and quit that dialog box
Go to Network Preferences > eth0 > Edit > Deselect 'Controlled by NetworkManager'
Reactivate eth0 (disable and enable, if already in the active state)
Test connection using your web-browser

That should set things straight. I am still wondering how such a big bug went unnoticed while testing.......

Remember that if you are using DHCP, you are unlikely to face any such problem. DHCP requires the Network-Manager to be enabled.

If you ask my opinion, I have to say, I am pretty disappointed with Fed10, because of these silly bugs and deficiencies, which were not present in the earlier versions, and which you certainly do not expect from any OS that is in its tenth edition!

-----------------------------
Note: The above guide assumes the reader is familiar with Linux in general, and Fedora in particular. Hence, several basic steps and commands have not been mentioned, assuming the reader knows where to find the desired option, and how to set the stuff....

Initial follow up on openSolaris (oSol)

2008-10-12T14:00:00.002+05:30

Okay, now that I've booted from my oSol live CD at least 15~20 times, I think I can say a few words about it.

Its a breeze for newbies (like me) to get going with this OS. You have an ISO image of the live CD which you just need to Download > Burn > Insert. The OS loads pretty quickly and requires no login in this mode.
It auto-detects and auto-configures your network (at least did that for my cable internet with static IP). It enables the LAN interface when your router/modem stabilises after powering on, and disables the interface when you power it off, or disconnect. Of course, it gives appropriate alerts after taking such actions. You can also turn this feature off, if you want manual control over the network connections.
Like Bjourn (see comment on previous post) said, its a very well-documented OS (what else can you expect from Sun! ), and that helps learners a lot. I found it extremely useful to have a link to the 'guide' located on the desktop, and the entire guide being there on the CD. Sometimes, you cannot / do not want to connect to the internet, and it helps a lot having some offline material to get started with.

Now, here are some shortcomings:

A big bug that exists in oSol 2008.05 is regarding the Screen Resolution setting. The system boots with a default setting of 800x600 px. If you try to change it to 1024x768, the screen goes irrecoverably blank, even though it is not turned off. And one is forced to shut down the system (using the 'soft' power switch; no need to soft-boot using the restart button; the system is still very much alive, even if one can't see anything..) and then start all over again. However, you can prevent this thing from happening by checking the "always use....." option in the same dialogue box. Strange !!
There's no OpenOffice :( Now, I know I'd be asking too much from Sun to providea copy of OO within the 700 MB live CD. Yet, I haven't been able to find a way to get a copy of OO working on oSol
Creating a user directory on a pen-drive doesn't seem to work in the live mode, at least. Will have to retry after making a disk installation

Welcome to openSolaris !!

2008-10-10T22:12:00.003+05:30

Hey guys,

Can't wait to write to you about this. Yesterday, I got onto the net to find out some details about SCJP. When I visited Sun's site, I saw a small advert of 'openSolaris'. Now, I had heard of Solaris. But this seemed something interesting... Curiosity got the better of me, and I clicked on the link. The site seemed attractive, and anything from Sun is always welcomed here with open arms. So, there was the link to download a Live CD. It seemed like a very interesting proposition, especially for someone who has got a 40 GB disk partitioned into 5 drives, with no more space left for OS installation !!

Now, until yesterday, I had Fedora 8 as my default OS. And even today, I have Opera as my default browser. Knowing things to be in safe hands (Fedora, Opera, Sun), I started what was to be a night-long download. However, I had never done this kind of thing before. Granted, I have an unlimited internet connection, so, technically, even a failed download should not matter that much. But the fact that the PC coninues to burn power and heat up all through the night, after abandoning the pursuit of a download, somehow makes for a depressing thought.

Anyways, those things apart, I started the download. Now, I have a 256 kbps connection. So, I wanted to get a realistic time estimate of the entire download, and also check on the real speed I was getting. Carefully, I chose a Dutch university server for downloading over FTP. But it didn't give a speed high enough to untilise my entire (though humble) bandwidth. After trying several options, i finally found the best one: BitTorrent download. Clicking on it also led me to discover that Opera (9.5 and later, for sure) has got a built-in torrent handler. So, there, the download started, and was giving a 'phenomenal' rate of 27 KBps (theoretical maximum for my connection is 30 KBps). The estimated time was 8 hours, which meant the file would be downloaded by the time I wake up next morning (I started the download a little before midnight)

When I got up the next morning, the Live CD ISO image was downloaded. Logging in to Windows XP (yeah, thats where I still like to burn my discs from, using old faithful Nero...) I burnt the CD image. Being a Live CD, I immediately inserted the CD for a quick preview, before I even had my breakfast. I expected to see something new, something great, something fascinating !!

However, all hopes were crashed, as I saw the now very familiar Linux-like desktop (I mean GNOME). Subsequently, I discovered that Solaris is also UNIX based, and although architecturally far apart from Linux, it shares the same desktop environment. Neat !

As i write this, I'm at the end of a day of seemingly endless discoveries. Since a Live CD won't remember your customisations the next time you boot up, I've started installing applications on my 8GB Kingston pen-drive (which, incidentally, I bought for a steal, at INR 1,000 ). Here's how I'm going about it:

I've created a /os folder at the root of the drive
Next, I've created the folders /os/fedora, /os/solaris, /os/win_xp, to house the programs (runnable copies, NOT setups ) belonging to each of those OSs
Within each of these direcories, I've created a app directory (e.g/ /os/solaris/app)
Then, I've extracted the TAR files into this directory. (Those who are well-versed with Linux will instantly recognise that applications in the UNIX world do not essentially requireto be setup; just extract the TARballs, and run the program file from its location.)

Thats it. Now, althought, the OS might not remember my customisations, the individual aplications will, as the pen-drive is a read-write media. Besides, I'm saved the hassles of installing these apps over and over again. Now, wherever I go, I carry my apps, ready-to-use, with me! What could've been better?

Now, I'm also exploring the possibility of having a user directory located directly on my pen-drive. Its neither a complex nor a tedious task. But I'd like to rename my drive, something that can be done only in Windows. I'll now logout, get the thing done, and then update you again. Tada.....!

Java (Sun JRE 1.6) plugin for Opera 9.5 on Fedora 8

2008-09-07T11:24:00.002+05:30

Here's the simplest, quickest and easiest way to get your Java plugin working in Opera 9.5:

Assuming you have successfully installed JDK/JRE on your computer, lets say at /usr/java/jdk1.6.0_03
Assuming you have successfully installed Opera 9.5 on your computer, lets say at /opt/opera
In Opera > Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Content > Enable Java
In Opera > Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Content > Java Options > Java Path, type /usr/java/jdk1.6.0_03 and click on Validate Path
Opera will automatically give a 'better' suggestion, for the Java path. Accept the suggestion, and click OK all the way back to the main screen
Restart Opera
Test installation by opening this site: http://www.bseindia.com/ If you see any tickers or 'Loading applet' boxes, your installation in successful

Another reason why a particular site may be unable to load the Java plugin on your computer, is, if Java plugins have been blocked for the site. To remedy this, while on the page itself, right-click > Edit site preferences > Enable Java

Things couldn't possibly be easier than this !!

The ONLY reliable JDK + JRE

2008-08-07T20:49:00.002+05:30

Fedora 8 comes with the bug-ridden IcedTea implementation of JRE with so-called version number 1.7 !! Although this means that you have a pre-installed JRE, it is not recommended to use this package. Instead, install the JDK+JRE provided on the official NetBeans DVD (if you are a hardcore programmer, and use NetBeans like MS Office :D) or download the JRE from Sun's official website: http://java.sun.com

NOTE: Use only Sun's JDK + JRE. Do not use any other implementations.

Fix for JRE/JDK error in Fedora 8

2008-08-07T20:27:00.003+05:30

Problem: JRE/JDK fails to install

Error message: Assertion 'c->xlib.lock' failed

Diagnosis: The file libmawt.so has a known bug that needs to be fixed

Solution:

Check if the JDK in question is visible throughout the system. For that, execute $ /usr/sbin/alternatives --config java
If JDK 1.6 is not present, but you are sure you have installed it, execute this: $ /usr/sbin/alternatives/ --install /usr/bin/java java /usr/java/jdk1.6.0_03/jre/bin/java 3
Copy paste the following code into a plain text file & save it with the extension '.sh' in any folder of your choice
Right-click on the file. Select Properties > Permissions > Allow executing file as program (Enable)
Close the dialog
Double-click the file. Select "Run in Terminal"

#!/bin/sh
# S. Correia
# 2007 11 21
# A simple script to patch the java library in order
# to solve the problem with "Assertion 'c->xlib.lock' failed."
# see bug http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=6532373
LIB_TO_PATCH=libmawt.so
for f in `find /usr/java/jdk1.6.0_03/jre/ -name "$LIB_TO_PATCH"`
do
echo "Patching library $f"
sudo sed -i 's/XINERAMA/FAKEEXTN/g' "$f"
done

Points to note:

The patch will work on "as is" basis only for Fedora 8, while trying to install JRE/JDK 1.6 from the NetBeans DVD. For other OSs / JREs, please modify the path: "/usr/java/jdk1.6.0_03/jre/ " given in the file to point to the directory where the JRE is installed
The file libmawt.so is present in multiple locations in a JRE and hence, finding each file and patching it manually is not recommended

Odd mix of units of measure in India

2008-07-09T22:48:00.002+05:30

The measurement system in India is peculiar for having an odd mix of Imperial & Metric systems of measurement. A few points will illustrate this:

A newborn's weight is measured in pounds, but grown-ups weight is measured in kilograms
Body temperature is measured in degrees Fahrenheit, but atmospheric temperature is measured in degrees Centigrade
A person's height is measured in feet & inches, but cloth is measured in metres
Apartment area is measured in square feet, but office space is measured in square metre
Road distances are measured in kilometres

Fedora can actually look much better....

2008-07-03T00:35:00.002+05:30

Friends, if you've been using GNOME and are sick of the cream and blue look, here's something you can try out. Visit http://art.gnome.org/ It has a good collection of themes, window fascias, window borders, icon sets and login screens. You can download them and drag-and-drop into the Appearances window found under System > Preferences > Look and Feel (in Fedora 8). Try out those themese until you settle in for one that suits you best..Happy experimenting !!

Up next for upgrade..........the way ahead..

2008-07-03T00:22:00.003+05:30

Being bitten by the upgrade bug, I can't help writing more about it. In this article, I'll disclose my future upgrade plans.

Now, there are 2 major things left to upgrade. Considering I've already made a sizeable investment in DDR memory, it implies I'm not looking forward to upgrade either the processor of the motherboard. Keeping in mind the inherent limitation that this PC can never be used for gaming (we have PlayStations for that, don't we?), there are 2 feel-good things that can be done.

A 19" TFT monitor, which must have a VGA connector, and
A 250GB or 500 GB HDD, which will ofcourse need to have an IDE interface

While the first upgrade is purely aesthetic, the second one is only marginally functional. Frankly speaking, I'm not likely to go in for any of these upgrades ever. What I am considering, though, is installing a TV-tuner card, that'll allow me to screen my DVDs on the TV in the living room, as well as provide for a way to see my own programs when mum wants to watch another.

Current configuration of my PC

2008-07-03T00:13:00.003+05:30

Intel Celeron 2.0 GHz processor
HIS-manufactured Intel 845-GL motherboard
1.25 GB RAM (1 x 1 GB DDR @ 400 MHz + 1 x 256 MB DDR @ 267 MHz)
Samsung 40 GB PATA HDD
Samsung CD writer (52-24-52)
Sony DVD writer DRU-840A
Sony 1.44" FDD
Samsung SAMTRON 15" CRT monitor 56V
Microsoft keyboard and wheel-mouse ( both wired)
Scientific-Atlanta Cable modem
HP PSC 500 All-in-One
Philips HTR-2000 5.1 Home Theatre System with FM Tuner
Bluetooth USB adapter
PCI IEEE-1394 adapter card
PCI LAN card

The Indian way of doing things

2008-07-02T23:48:00.002+05:30

The world over, Indians are known for one ability: their ability to extract the maximum possible out of existing resources. And I am no exception.

Stuck as I was with my relic of a PC, I could've easily discarded the machine altogether and gonein for a brand new one. However, I carefully studied my requirements. Since games and me have nothing in common, I figured out I could do with my current Celeron processor. What I needed was not huge instantaneous processing power, but simply more room to accommodate the running programs. Having zeroed in on the issue at hand, I went in for an upgrade that cost me the least: 1GB of RAM for INR 1,550 only.

Now compare that cost to the cost of a new PC: approx 20,000 for a respectable configuration that won't be outdated in atleast a year's time. Even if I had bought such a rig, it would've offered me no real performance gain over my currently upgraded PC.

So, the same result was achieved in a fraction of the cost of a new PC. Thats what the Indian spirit is all about!!

1 GB RAM installed

2008-07-02T23:03:00.003+05:30

Guys, you wont believe it. I got a RAM upgrade on 23-Jun-2008, that's a little more than a week back. But owing to sheer my laziness, I didn't update this blog. So, here's the update.

My PC, as you all are familiar now, is a 2004 relic that runs a 2.0 GHz Celeron on an 845-GL. It was bought with only 256 MB RAM. For four long years, I've struggled with this 1-room-kitchen of a memory called 256 MB. For the former part of my PC's life until today, the restrictions weren't as severe. They became obvious when I started using Fedora 6 earlier, and Fedora 8 later. My system was practically living off virtual memory. Every single operation required probably thousands of swaps out of and into the physical memory. The result was a PC slower than a snail, and a wait more frustrating than hearing Atal Behari Vajpayee's slowly progressing speech.

Opening every additional application meant a long-wait...sometimes taking several minutes. Saying that the waits were frustrating would be a gross understatement. To say the least, they were agonising.

Now, the better part. Soon after my vacations started, I decided to look into this issue. I asked Jatin to get me a quote for a 1 GB DDR RAM. Later I realised that the RAM speeds won't match. My motherboard supported a maximum of 267 MHz, while the only ones left in the market were 400 MHz. After discussing the issue out with Jatin, we finally came to the conclusion that a faster RAM would work with a slower board, at the maximum speed that the board supports. With that conclusion firmly in my head, I went to Lamington Road.

Now, a funny thing happened. I decided to check a few shops before buying the memory from the shop recommended by Jatin. So I checked out with not one, not two, but three shops. And all the counter-persons there told me that my conclusion was totally wrong, and that the RAM and board speeds had to match. To my astonishment, they were trying to sell me the slower RAM at double the cost of a faster one !!!

While the 400 MHz variant cost 1,500 bucks, the price quoted for the 267 MHz variant was......2,700 bucks ! Ridiculous! I phoned up Jatin again, and he assured me that our logic was correct and that I should go and purchase the specified RAM from the specified shop. I did as I was told.

Now, both of us has contemplated that the worst case scenario would be that both cards -- the older, slower one; and the faster, newer one -- may not work together. However, I myself had reasoned out that since the speed ceiling of the board coincided with the operating speed of the older RAM, the faster speed of the new one would be neglected, and both woudl operate harmoniously at 267 MHz.

Still unsure if I had blown up 1.5 grand, I reached home, anxious to test the card. First, I removed my old card and plugged in the new one. It worked!! Then, I plugged in my old card as well, and both worked!! I was the happiest creature on the planet alive. My PC's memory had just gone 5x. The machine ran fast. There were no hold-ups. From a time when my HDD access indicator used to flash all the time.....the indicator now acted as if it was off -- the disk being used only for loading programs once, and not for virtual memory swapping every millisecond.

Since then, the Fedora system manager has never shown a RAM utilisation of over 50%, and virtual memory has never been used since that day. Today my PC works really smooth. I'm happy and satisfied that I managed to identify the (performance) problem correctly, find the optimal solution (in terms of cost), and had enough knowledge and skills to rightly implement the solution. Equally important is the fact that, in Jatin, I had the right consultant at hand, and that I didn't hesitate to avail of his expert services.

Now, my PC has 1.25 GB RAM, and is one of the coolest machines in the world....atleast from my point of view.

Earlier, I had contemplated putting in a 512 MB card that would've cost me half as much. But I had turned down the proposal, because it wasn't future proof. Now, my PC can run smoothly for at least another 2 years. Besides, when I join the company, I might be posted out of this city. And it'll mean the PC is left only to be used by my folks for communicating with me via chat/video-chat, and for some internet-browsing and documentation work. So, the current rig should suffice.

CD Writer back in action !

2008-07-02T22:42:00.002+05:30

Proud to be an Indian!

Finally, I achieved today, what I had been wanting to do for a long time. Not that its any great achievement. Nor that it couldn't have been achieved earlier. Just that didn't find the time and motivation to look into the problem with a view to solving it.

So, what was the problem, you may ask? If you've read my older post, you'll know that I had to unplug my CD drive to accommodate my newly purchased DVD-drive. Today, I asked my dad to get me an IDE (PATA) cable. For those, not in the loop, my PC has an 845-GL motherboard of 2004 vintage, that has no SATA slots, and no PCI-Express slots either.

I opened the cover of my PC to plug the new cable. But silly me that I am, I realised that both, Primary, and Secondary IDE slots had already been occupied: the HDD was sitting on the Primary, as expected; while the DVD-drive was connected on the secondary. "Now what to do?" I asked myself. The most reliable person in such situations is Jatin, my hardware-guru friend. I phoned him and hebrought it to my notice that every IDE cable has an additional connector approximately mid-way along the length of the cable. He mentioned that it can be used to connect another device on the same cable.

However, I was sure that both drives were set to be 'Master' according to their default jumper settings. I knew that if my new configuration is to work, one of them has to be made a slave. But I had no clue which jumper setting will be interpreted as slave. Thanks to my systematic approach to filing of device manuals, I was able to quickly locate the Sony manual. I saw the installation instructions chart, and figured out the way to connect my old drive as a slave on the secondary.

Fortunately, there also existed 2 extra 4-pin mole connectors, more than my requirement of a single-one. To sort issues out, I removed all IDE and power cables, and after a few rejigs, everything was set right. All drives had power and signal cables; they were connected in not only correct, but the optimal fashion; and the CD-drive was now a Secondary slave, while the DVD-drive was the Secondary master.

Another thing I'd like to bring to your notice, guys. Sometimes, simple solutions elude us. Unlike, I mentioned earlier, the extra connector on the IDE cable is not located exactly mid-way, but is rather close to one of its ends. Now, stupid as it may seem, I was connecting one of the two closely-placed connectors, onto the motherboard, and wondering how to connect the remaining two to the two drives. The solution, as I saw from Sony's manual, was to connect the far end on the motherboard, leaving the two closely-spaced connectors to be connected to the two closely-spaced drives. Simple!

So, what did we learn?

Always preserve device manuals in an easily retrievable manner
Analyse the situation at hand before ordering parts
Apply your logic to other peopls's advice, instead of following it blindly
Look for simple solutions when you are stuck in a problem
Remember, there is no problem without a solution, only if you are willing to devote enough resources to solving that problem

DVD Writer Installed

2008-07-02T22:29:00.003+05:30

I have no clue as to how I forgot to write this post, which, by the way should have been written long back. I bought a Sony DVD-Writer DRU-840A in mid-March this year. It was a small celebration of me being placed in Asia's foremost IT company.

The drive cost me around 1,500 bucks. I bought it from Anupam Stationers (Borivli). It was box-packed and a completely legal purchase. Got home and connected it the same day. However, since I did not have any spare connecting cables, I removed the cables on my existing CD-RW Drive, and plugged them into the new drive.

So now, I finally had a DVD-Writer, which had been overdue. However, I regreted the fact that my old drive had to be unplugged from the system. Now see guys, I'm not the kind of person who runs behind new things. Although I fully acknowledge that adopting new technologies is essential if we are to progress, I'm also quite attached to old things that I've been using for a while.

Anyway, since I was in one of the two most traumatic semesters, I couldn't ever find the time and thinking resources to find away of keeping both drives plugged in. Of course, buying additional cables was always the option. But it was simply never implemented.

However, the DVD drive brought one of the most important change, that is, I was able to install Fedora 8.

Evolution of connectivity in India

2008-05-07T20:26:00.003+05:30

First of all, let me apprise you of the provocation for writing this article. A new unlimited internet connection has been activated at my place. My joy knows no bounds, today!! I think it's the best gift a techie can ever receive !!

So, India, indeed, has come a long way in providing internet connectivity to the common man. You can say that my family has been quite progressive in terms of technology, if not at the forefront. We were never able to afford things ahead of their time, but have mostly benefited every time some technology has just started to become commonplace. And so has been the case with net connectivity, as we have charted the progress over the past 11 years..

The story begins in 1997 when we first got the Internet connection. It was a 100 hour pack, purchase from then VSNL. The connection: 56 kbps dial-up. A new connection or purchase of the pack required a visit to VSNL's downtown office, something very, very far from the suburbs where I used to live. 100 hours might seem like a joke today. But, in those days, we used Outlook Express to check mail and there were only a handful of sites to be visited anyway. Remember, I am speaking of the days when there was no Orkut, Facebook, YouTube, etc, etc.... Those 100 hours used to be consumed thriftily, trying to prolong the renewal as far possible.

Another killer was that we had to pay uptime charges to the telephone operator
, for using the landline. The charges levied were the same as you being on a regular phone-call for that long !! So, using net meant having to pay VSNL, as well as the telecom company.

There's a certain patch after this that I don't remember. However, when we shifted back to Kandivli, we got ourselves a post-paid MTNL dial-up connection. It cost less than the setup at Vasai, but it was still time-metered. Then, under a new scheme, we bought a new landline number, one that offered unlimited Internet, ofcourse at 56 kbps. This setup continued for about....2 years, if I'm not mistaken.

The next wave of the true New India, hit us with the introduction of 256 kbps ADSL connection by MTNL. The old 24-hour line was disconnected, and replaced with an ADSL connection on the same line used for making regular telephone calls. An old single-port router was replaced by a new 4-port ethernet router, when we subscribed to IPTV service. This was the realisation of the full Triple-Play service envisioned by the telecom authorities.

Later on, the 256 Kbps connection was upgraded to a theoretical 2 Mbps connection; a move made by MTNL at no extra cost to the subscriber. It provided a realistic speed of 0.9 Mbps, and was quite satisfactory.

Then, tragedy struck. MTNL was continuing with its sloppy attitude towards customer management. The QoS of IPTV never stabilised to a point where it could be classified as acceptable. Frustrated, we replaced the service with the completely reliable TataSky, and have found no reason to complain in the 2 months that we have been using it.

Now see an important point here. Technologically, it is such that the IPTV service rides on top of a broadband connection. So, all IPTV users must be broadband users of the same service provider. However, now with the IPTV service gone, broadband was no longer a compulsion.

One Sunday (04-May-2008, precisely), I happened to read a newspaper insert by Hathway - a local cable-internet service provider. On offer was an unlimited 256 Kbps connection, at the price of a 1 GB connection offered by MTNL. No reason to switch? May be. But MTNL had fallen back on its promise of 2 Mbps. The connection speed had been down to about 240 Kbps in the past month. And there were growing concerns being voiced publicly that MTNL was unable to upgrade and expand its network as it waited endlessly for its chartered equipment supplier to deliver the new machines. The time was ripe, the opportunity was irresistible.

I decided to take the jump. The connection has changed from 256 kbps 1GB limit to 256 kbps unlimited. Those in advanced countries might not appreciate the speed; but what is of essence here is that its an unmetered connection ! Now I can actually get those podcasts, the iPlayer news, movies and all the media I ever wanted, but only window-shopped till today!

I'm really happy I made the change. I look forward to Hathway to provide a reliable service and live up to my expectations....

A taste of Java ME

2008-04-21T01:11:00.004+05:30

I returned home from college on Thursday (17th April 2008), after completing my Sem-6 project. And I immediately set to work on the B.E. project. The first task was to grasp the structure of Java ME.

Started with it that very day, and made great headways.
Continued my upstream struggle for the next two days, and today,
I am sitting comfortably,
with significant knowledge of the platform
to atleast begin designing my project in a native fashion.

------------------------------------
This article is only for chronicling purposes

Java EE installation problem on Fedora 8

2008-04-21T00:58:00.003+05:30

Java EE server may refuse to install on Fedora 8. You end up clicking on the link, and nothing happens, ever. So, here's what you do.

Open the terminal. Become root. Invoke the .bin file of Java EE from the terminal itself. You are likely to get a 'no such library' message. The library is something related to C++. Now, unfortunately, I forgot to blog when I had actually found the solution to the problem. So, I am not listing the steps below, as I usually do, but instead, all I can say is that please google the complete error message you get at the terminal. You should find the solution in a few clicks.

The solution basically involves adding the C++ library, which is a measly 250 KB (approx). Then, try running the .bin file again. It should work this time....

Skype 2.0 on Fedora 8

2008-04-21T00:17:00.008+05:30

It turns out Skype 2.0 has a hell lot of problems getting to work on Fedora 8. You need not get into the root cause of all those problems. Just implement the fix given below.

Please note:

Although the Skype 2.0 download is about 14.3 MB in size, the 'fix' is a staggering 59 MB. Ridiculous !! But there's no alternative I could come across either.
The entire process of getting Skype 2.0 to work on Fedora 8 may take hours. So, please be patient, and either have some work to do, side-by-side, or sit with your iPod, 'cause you are sure to get bored. However, do not leave the system unattended, except when downloads (esp the 59 MB jumbo download of QT4) are in progress, as your authorisation, and some other actions from your side, will be required time and again.

So, here we go:

Step 1: Download the libsigc++20-2.0.17-1.i386.rpm package:
# wget http://fedora.osmirror.nl/extras/5/i386/libsigc++20-2.0.17-1.i386.rpm
# rpm2cpio *.rpm | cpio -idmv

Step 2: Create directory /opt/libs32/ if you don't have it yet:
# mkdir /opt/libs32

Step 3:Copy libsigc-2.0.so.0 and libsigc-2.0.so.0.0.0 to /opt/libs32/ directory:
# cp ./usr/lib/libsigc-2.0.so.0 /opt/libs32/
# cp ./usr/lib/libsigc-2.0.so.0.0.0 /opt/libs32/

Step 4: Install everything that has anything to do with Qt4:
# yum install qt4*

Step 5: Download the skype-2.0.0.27-fc5.i586.rpm rpm package from http://download.skype.com/linux/skype-2.0.0.27-fc5.i586.rpm and enter command in terminal:
# rpm -i --force --nodeps skype-2.0.0.27-fc5.i586.rpm

Step 6: Give the path to those libraries:
# export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/opt/libs32/"

Step 7: Now you can run skype by typing:
# skype

The section mentioned above will only get the application to install and boot up on your system. In no way does it guarantee a problem-free run. Try making the Skype Test Call. If you are able to hear the sound as well as record and hear your own voice, congrats !! However, the chances of this occurence (of Skype running straight out of the box) are minimal, if any.

Here's the most likely condition. Skype Test Call fails to load, citing 'Audio playback problem'. To fix this, go to Options -> Sound Devices. The default 'Audio In', 'Audio Out' and 'Ringing' devices are unlikely to work. First, we will fix the 'Audio Out' problem, so that we can atleast get started with the Test Call. Select an option (apart from default) from the 'Audio Out' device menu. Click on Apply. Close the Options box. Try to make a test call. Keep repeating the procedure until the error message disappears, and you are able to at least hear the lady's voice.

Then, comes the next problem. The call might terminate due to 'Problems with Audio Capture', as shown in the call window. Again, go to Options -> Sound devices -> Audio In. Here, usually, the same option that worked for 'Audio Out' is likely to work for 'Audio In' as well. So try that option first. If it doesn't work, go ahead and try each of the other options one by one, just as you did for 'Audio Out'

After doing all this, you should be able to hear and record your own voice succesfully. In case it still doesn't work, maybe you could try invoking skype with this little piece of code i found somewhere on the net....

$ pasuspender skype

Happy Skyping !!

-------------------------

Some content used from the following sites:

http://www.sinoberg.com/blog/article.asp?id=13
http://www.pulseaudio.org/wiki/PerfectSetup#Skype

Full credit to the authors of the articles on the above mentioned sites

Installation Instructions for VLC Player for Fedora 8

2008-04-05T14:37:00.002+05:30

Become root. Execute the following commands at the terminal:

#> rpm -ivh http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-8.rpm
#> yum install vlc

VLC player supports almost all input streams, and contains decoders for almost every codec one could possibly come across, today. One stop solution for all your media playback issues in Fedora 8...

Flash player installation for Firefox and Opera

2008-04-02T23:56:00.002+05:30

Instructions for setting up flash player plugin for Firefox and Opera:
----------------------
1. Login as root
2. Unzip the tar.gz file onto the Desktop
3. Rename the extracted folder as 'flash'
4. Copy the folder into the /opt directory
5. Create a link to the 'libflashplayer.so' file
6. Copy the link file into /opt directory
7. Rename the link file to 'libflashplayer.so', that is, without the 'Link to..' part
8. For Firefox, copy the link file into the 'plugins' directory of your current firefox version
9. For Opera, copy the link file into the /home/USER_NAME/.opera/plugins directory, for every non-root user, and in the /root/USER_NAME/.opera/plugins directory for Root. Create the 'plugins' folder under each of the usernames, in case it does not exist.
10. Restart all browsers for which you have installed Flash
11. Test the working, and let me know if there are any problems

Log: Fedora 8 installed

2008-03-23T19:59:00.003+05:30

Not much time to write, but just that I installed Fedora 8 on the evening of Saturday, 15th March 2008. Bought the DVD from a pirated-DVDs vendor sitting at the GKB Optolabs corner ;)

Pulling the plug on Orkut

2008-03-23T19:22:00.002+05:30

Drat ! I had written a really lengthy article under this heading....only to realise that my logging out from orkut caused me to loguout from blogger as well !! When will service providers stop this stupidity? Why does the average Joe need to know that orkut and blogger are both operated by the same company, namely, Google Inc, and that all sites belonging to them store and delete a login cookie bearing the same signature?

To mention a gist of what I had written in the previous article, I've finally decided to quit orkut, owing to their lack of concern for safegauarding the privacy of their users, as also a complete loss of relevance of the services it offers, as seen in my rapidly evolving context.

I bid adieu at 19:27 on Sunday 23rd March 2008...

MP3 support in Fedora

2007-12-15T12:16:00.000+05:30

I really don't know what took me so long to figure this out (again). Since my latest installation of Fedora about 2 months back, I've been trying to hard to get it to play MP3s. Not that I didn't know how. I had done that before, 'N' times. But I just couldn't manage to do it again!!

Finally, cracked it today. Here's how:

$ yum install gstreamer-plugins-ugly

That's it! Yes, that's it. Just answer with y (yes) whenever your permission is required to proceed. Download size is just under 1 MB. It will enable MP3 support in Rhythmbox, the default media player under Fedora (GNOME)

Regional language (Indic scripts / Complex scripts) support in Fedora

2007-12-09T12:05:00.000+05:30

The following instructions have been tested to work correctly only for Devnaagarii script.

To enable Indic support, you need two things:

A font having Indic character definitions
A 'complex script' rendering engine

The first part is taken care of by the Arial Unicode MS font (see my Windows fonts tutorial). The complex script rendering engine in Fedora is called pango. I dont't kno about other applications, but its certainly required for Mozilla/Firefox.

Now Firefox can be 'built' from its source code either with the pango engine, or without it. The ordinary version that you download has been compiled WITHOUT pango. And although the source code is freely available for everyone to comiple, trust me, trying to compile it yourself is no easy task.

A better option is to use whichever version of Firefox that came with your Fedora installation.Such versions (1.5.0.7, in my case, on FC6) have been compiled using the pango engine, and that should make your task easier. However, you must take care to see to it that you use the older version only when you need Indic support. Older versions can have security vulnerabilities that can put your computer/data at risk.

A thing I consider extremely worthwhile mentioning is that multiple versions of Firefox can peacefully co-exist under Fedora. All you need to do is keep them in separate folders. You can make the default link poin to the latest version, and run the old version manually by executing

$ FIREFOX_HOME/firefox

where FIREFOX_HOME is the directory where your old Firefox installation resides. In my case it is /usr/lib/firefox-1.5.0.7

That done, you should be able to view regional scripts (Indic) correctly...!

Windows Fonts support in Fedora

2007-12-09T10:48:00.000+05:30

To install Windows (.ttf & .fot) fonts in Fedora, do the following:

Install MS Office in Windows XP with 'Complete' configuration
Copy the C:\Windows\Fonts folder onto a removable media
Log in to Fedora
Insert the removable media
Go to System > Preferences > Fonts > Details > Go to font folder
Drag and drop the font files from the removable media directly into the 'Fonts' folder that opens
Restart the system

(Tutorial courtesy: http://www.fedorafaq.org)

Derby Basics

2007-12-08T17:02:00.000+05:30

Once ij is set up, you can try the following commands at ij-prompt:

Creating a database 'MyDB'
ij> CONNECT 'jdbc:derby:MyDB;create=true';
ij (CONNECTION1)>

Opening a database
ij (CONNECTION1)> CONNECT 'jdbc:derby:MyDB';

Creating tables, inserting records and displaying records is as per standard SQL command set

To close a connection:
ij (CONNECTION1)> DISCONNECT

Java DB / Apache Derby Operating Instructions (Fedora)

2007-12-08T16:46:00.000+05:30

ij is an interactive SQL scripting tool that comes with Derby. It can be used with the Derby Embedded JDBC driver or with a client JDBC driver, such as the Derby Network Client.

Upon setup of Java EE SDK (as per my tutorial), do the following

$ export DERBY_INSTALL=/opt/SDK/javadb
$ export CLASSPATH=DERBY_INSTALL/lib/derby.jar:DERBY_INSTALL/lib/derbytools.jar
$ echo $CLASSPATH
/opt/SDK/javadb/lib/derby.jar:/opt/SDK/javadb/lib/derbytools7.jar:
$

Now,
$ java org.apache.derby.tools.ij

This will start IJ, with the IJ prompt ij>

Play MP3 in Fedora without hassles

2007-12-08T00:28:00.000+05:30

After fiddling along with GStreamer, Totem, Rhythmbox and more such stuff, I discovered an easy way to play MP3s (though not AAC):

Use LimeWire's in-built media player. Its a simple solution, and I really dont know why it took me so long to figure that out. For those heavy-users of LimeWire, its a handy tool, and avoids the mess of having to install MP3 codecs for hte default players.

FireFTP tested for the first time (5th Dec 2007)

2007-12-06T20:41:00.001+05:30

FireFTP, the Firefox-based file transfer utility was tested today

successfully. The test was carried out on the Brinkster-hosted
CSI-TCET website. This opens ur another world of opportunities, with
me now being able to manage a website, irrepective of the accessing
platform.

--
Sameer P. Karve
Mobile: +91-98-3344-2464

IEEE Member ID 80599447

--
Sameer P. Karve
Mobile: +91-98-3344-2464

IEEE Member ID 80599447

Internet Messenger setup in Fedora Core 6

2007-11-25T12:36:00.000+05:30

The built-in multi-protocol Internet Messenger GAIM is good enough for use with MSN, GTalk and Yahoo. Here are the settings you need to do for each of the serives. Firstly, go to Applications > Internet > Internet Messenger.

Yahoo accounts

In the Account dialog, click on Add
In the Add account dialog, select Protocol as Yahoo
Screen Name: yourYahooUsername
Enter the password, select 'Remember password.
Save. Your account is created. It will log in automatically

GTalk accounts

In the Account dialog, click on Add
In the Add account dialog, select protocol as Jabber
Screen name is your GMail ID, WITHOUT "@gmail.com"
Server: gmail.com
Under the Advanced tab, make Connect Server as talk.google.com
Leave other options unchanged. Save.
Your GTalk account will be activated

MSN / Windows Live accounts

In the Add account dialog, select protocol as MSN
In screen name, enter your COMPLETE Hotmail ID
Enter the password, remember password
Your MSN / Hotmail / Windows Live account will be created

This completes the setup of the most popular IM clients around

Network setup in Fedora Core 6

2007-11-25T12:19:00.000+05:30

In today's times, being connected to the Internet has become probably as much as a necessity as food and water and air. Network setup in FC6 is easy, but different than what you've been used to in Windows. This guide is specific to the following environment:

Location:Mumbai, INDIA
ISP: MTNL
Service: Tri-Band ADSL
Router: UT-Starcom model UT-300R2U
Router pre-configured with DHCP, bearing local IP 192.168.1.1

Given this setup, you may proceed in the following way:

Switch on the router before you switch on the PC
Go to System > Administration > Network
Select Device eth0 and click on Edit
Under the Ethernet Device dialog, select Statically set IP addresses and enter the following Manual IP address settings
Address: 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway address: 192.168.1.1
Click OK
Now, back to Network Configuration dialog, select the DNS tab
Enter Primary DNS as 203.94.227.43
Enter Secondary DNS as 203.94.243.70
Click File > Save
You can start your browser and ride the waves of the internet !

Printer setup in Fedora Core 6

2007-11-25T12:04:00.000+05:30

Printing with FC6 is really easy. Here's how I setup my HP PSC 500 Officejet:

Switch on your printer before starting your PC
Log in as root
Go to System > Administration > Printing
Click on New Printer
Printer Name: HP_PSC_500
Description: HP PSC 500
Location: Next to monitor
In Select Connection dialog, select HP PSC 500 LPT parport0 HPLIP
In Select Printer From Database option, select HP
Under Models select PSC 500
Once the printer is installed, the Printer Configuration dialog will be shown
Select Local Printers > HP_PSC_500
Click on Make default printer
Under Printer Options, select Page size as A4
Select Print test page under the Settings tab
If the page is printed correctly, no reason to worry!
Click on Apply and close the Printer Configuration dialog

The printer is setup. Although this guide is highly specific, I hope you have understood the basic steps in setting up a printer on Linux. You can follow the same steps (not literally) to setup your printers as well. A thing to note is that you should never be stuck with an old OS and a latest printer model, as that will mean the absence of the printer definition in the OS database. Ofcourse, there would be a workaround, but I haven't tried it out.

Java EE SDK Installation Instructions

2007-11-25T10:50:00.000+05:30

For as long as this link works, its a good generic reference for anyone wanting to update their JRE in Fedora/Linux. The steps below are specific to installing Sun's Java EE SDK (inclusive of JDK and JRE 1.6.0_06) on Fedora Core 6 32-bit i386. Should you be able to succesfully complete the following steps, you shall have the most enviable Java setups around. Here's how you go about it:

Before we begin, there are a few things you need to know. Whenever I mention something like:

$cd /opt

..it means that the command cd /opt must be typed at the prompt (so called as the dollar prompt) in the Terminal (that is Applications > Accessories > Terminal). Don't worry, you won't see a dollar sign in the terminal, but its just a convention of writing. Note that you must not type the dollar sign while entering the command.

Secondly, there is no such thing as a registry, in Linux. So you don't have to 'install' applications using an installer. You will generally get a .tar.gz or a .zip file from the download sites. These files must be simply extracted, and the resulting folder must be copied to any location of your choice. However, by convention, such folders are copied into /usr/lib/ directory under your file system. (The file system can be accessed from Applications > System Tools > File Browser). However, since there is no installation, some manual configuring effort is required. This effort is largely context dependent, and will vary as per:

Distribution of Linux (Fedora, RedHat, Ubuntu, Debian, Mandriva, Gentoo.....)
Version of distribution (Fedora 8, RedHat 10.....)
The hardware platform for the distribution (i386 in my case, for Intel 32-bit processors)
Application version you've downloaded
Where you've saved (or subsequently copied) the extracted folder

Thirdly, when performing setup operations, you must always login as root.

Now, with a basic understanding of these things, lets get to the real thing:

Stage 1: Downloading the correct file, to the correct place

Go to http://java.sun.com
Select Downloads > Java EE
Click on Download with JDK
Accept the License Agreement
Click on the link to Java EE SDK 5 Update 3 under Linux platform
If you are using Firefox with default settings, the java_ee_sdk-5_03-linux.bin file will get downloaded to your Desktop
Once done, copy the bin file to /opt (under your File System)

Stage 2: Installing the EE Server

Open Applications > Accessories > Terminal
$cd /opt
$chmod +x java_ee_sdk-5_03-linux.bin
$./java_ee_sdk-5_03-linux.bin
Now, Java's GUI installation will begin.
Proceed through the installation normally
At the end, click on Start Server. If the installation proceeded succesfully, you should see a "Your server is up and running" page when you type http://localhost:8080/ in your browser
Also, a SDK directory will be created under /opt

This completes half the story, that is, you built the environment. But still, other applications don't know of its presence, and, in my opinion, you should make it loud and clear! So here's what you do:

Stage 3: Setting up environment variables

Open Applications > Accessories > Text Editor
Copy paste the following things in a new (blank) file:

export JAVA_HOME=/opt/SDK/jdk
export JRE_HOME=/opt/SDK/jdk/jre
export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH
export J2RE_HOME=/opt/SDK/jdk/jre
export PATH=$J2RE_HOME/bin:$PATH

Stage 4: Configuring the environment for use throughout Fedora

Now save the file as java.sh in /etc/profile.d under your File System
Back, to the terminal, do the following things:
$source /etc/profile.d/java.sh
$which java
If you have proceeded correctly upto this stage, you should see /opt/SDK/jdk/jre/bin/java as the result.
Proceed ahead ONLY IF you get this result. Else, you've gone wrong and must retrace. There's no point in moving forward if you don't get this result.
Now, continue typing in terminal with the following commands:
$usr/sbin/alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /opt/SDK/jdk/jre/bin/java 2
$usr/sbin/alternatives --config java
Type 2 and hit enter
$java -version
If installation is complete, it should give the following result:

java version "1.6.0_03"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_03-b05)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.6.0_03-b05, mixed mode)

Stage 5: Installing the JRE plugin for Firefox

Now, the final stage remains that of hooking up the JRE with your browser. Assuming you have correctly installed Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.9 in /usr/lib/firefox do the following:

$ln -s /opt/SDK/jdk/jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/libjavaplugin_oji.so

Note that the entire statement above is on a single line, without hitting anywhere in between.

This will complete the entire installation procedure. I know its long and tedious, but trust me, its well worth the effort.

Four pillars of internet completed

2007-11-25T01:50:00.000+05:30

The migration to Fedora has gained strength, what with the completion of construction of the four pillars of the internet:

Browser (Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.9)
Messenger (GAIM; multi-protocol for GTalk and Yahoo)
File-sharing (Limewire 4.14)
Server (Java EE SDK, bundled with JDK+JRE 1.6.0_03)

Now, the full internet experience of Windows is available on Fedora! Detailed setup guides and installation instructions will be published tomorrow. (Its 1:55 midnight as I type) There are lots of them....and they are VERY important. Cya.

Shhh...The next episode is about to begin

2007-11-25T01:00:00.001+05:30

As if my achievements under Windows were not enough, now the domain of my knowledge acquisition has shifted to Linux (Fedora Core 6, in particular), and how! Today was a landmark day in the migration to Fedora. The dilapidated structure of Fedora 6 (its a very old release; the latest one being Fedora 8) was today strengthened by the addition of 3 great applications:

Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.9
Java EE SDK (JDK+JRE included)
Apache Tomcat 6.x

The applications, in effect have given me the latest browser, the latest enterprise (and JSP )server, and the latest JRE, required by many other applications as well. Tomcat, I suppose, will become redundant, what with EE-SDK taking over all Java development duties. In any case, I've been successfully able to run 2 simultaneous servers on Fedora.

Through the process, I've learnt a lot of new things like tarballs, echo, export, UNIX file system and so on. I am sure this knowledge will come in handy some day. The how-to's will follow:

Firefox 2.0.0.9 installation on Fedora Core 6

2007-11-24T15:48:00.000+05:30

Whew! After all that effort, I finally managed to upgrade the age-old Firefox 1.5 that comes bundled on the FC6 CDs. Here's how:

Login as root
Download the installation file (extension tar.gz) to your desktop
Double-click to open
Extract to /usr/lib/firefox
Shut down all running copies of firefox, including download windows, if any
Delete the firefox 1.5.x.x folder present in /usr/lib
Open terminal
$ yum install compat-libstdc++-33
Proceed throught the installation process, giving Yes (y) wherever required
Right click on the "Web browser" icon in the icon bar (on top) and select properties
Change the command to /usr/lib/firefox/firefox
Restart the system
Firefox 2.0.0.9 is all yours

P.S. Trash all the manuals and how to's found around tthe net. All of them are incomplete in some respects.

The triad will be complete......

2007-11-19T23:31:00.000+05:30

I'm not talking about Dobereiner, or about the Musketeers. The triad here is:

1. SonyEricsson K790i multi-media cell-phone
2. SonyErisccon HBH-PV-100 Bluetooth headset
3. SanDisk 4GB MemoryStick Micro (M2)

As if having a great phone didn't suffice, it was complemented a few days back by a disused, practically discarded bluetooth headset that had been lying in my drawer for months after my dad lost interest in it. I always like to collect discarded objects. Not from a historical collector's point of view, but with a will to get them working again. Then, why did it lie disused in my drawer for those many months? I wasn't able to figure out how to pair it with my cell-phone!! After trying all possible combinations on the headset's (3) keys, as well as my cell, I just gave up.

And then, a few days back, while clearing out my drawer, I stumpled upon this thing of great interest. I switched it on. I pressed its volume keys, and heard a ringer. I said, now, this can't be further from the truth. If the LED glows, if the speaker responds, if the volume keys work, it just can't be that the Bluetooth module has failed. That set my thoughts in motion, and I ended up Googling. After just a few minutes of search, I had found the solution. The headset was working, and it was mine!! The purpose behind why I had collected it, in the first place, had been achieved.

Today, it has become an inseparable part of my life. I can no longer imagine holding the phone in my hand for talking. Talking 'hands-free' has now become a way of life. With hands-free, my phone got its best partner. These two formed a beautiful pair.

Tomorrow, they will go one step further, when the card adds the necessary zing to the phone. This combination will be one of the most elaborate and advanced setups in the world. And I will be proud to have engineered this solution, one bit at a time...

4GB: Plans (Part 2)

2007-11-19T23:05:00.001+05:30

Coming straight to the point, without beating around the bush, here's what I intend to do with my 4GB card:

1. All my media will be consolidated, and kept in a single location, that is, my cell. My songs, photos, videos, and files. No more syncing. There's just one place to find my matter: my cell.

2. I am a big fan of 'organising'. I've already organised my 430 MP3 files into 26 folders (first), for each letter of the English alphabet, and sub-classified into further folders, whenever each folder exceeds a limit of 20 files, that I've set. All this has been done keeping in mind the feeble processing power of a cell-phone, as compared to a desktop PC. This organising has been done quite a few weeks back, and I'm all ready to take the plunge

3. Further, I discovered to 'construct' playlists. Now someone would call that stupid. Playlists are meant to be constructed :P But there are many more things to be taken care of, when you need to transport those playlists between two devices, and more so, something as disparate as a desktop PC and a tiny multi-function cell-phone. Anyway, having discovered how to 'construct' text-file playlists (M3U) exactly tailored to my requirements, I now plan to organise my collection even further, and actually send those playlists to my cell for playback.

4. Another long-pending dream, that of carrying all my memories with me (at least those in the form of pictures). Now, I'll be able to. Earlier, I had tried a mass-transform using Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition software that came bundled in the SonyEricsson PC Suite CD. The mass-transform was to convert 3.2 MP pictures to QVGA (320*240 resolution, the same as my phone's screen size). However, the transform created 'new' files, all bearing the same date of modification. This was a disaster, as my phone's photo album is supposed to show pictures classified by the date on which they were clicked. Now, I think I finally may be able to exploit that feature. Though I doubt how to put 1,000 or more pics in the single 'Camera Album' folder. This procedure is necessary, as it is the only way in which the Timeline View functions. I've tried fiddling with that procedure, already, without success.

5. The songs will take up 2.1 GB, the pics will take 1 GB, the videos 300 MB. Whatever little is left (500 MB or therabout; a 4GB card will always come with a usable space of about 3.7GB) will be used to keep my personal files. However, it is very very important to format the card as soon as it arrives, and transfer a bulk of the files in one go, to prevent them from being fragmented across the card. The major section of songs and pics is intended to be static, that is, no deletion. The remaining space, of videos and files may be reused as required.

4GB: Plans

2007-11-19T19:29:00.000+05:30

Now you must be wondering that if I've gone in for such a huge upgrade (by my standards), I must definitely be looking forward to doing a lot of things with it. What would they be? Here's a glance:

I've made the card purchase for Rs. 3,380 from ebay.in (thru their online credit-card based payment service PaisaPay, which I guess is the desi version of PayPal). Its a 4GB Memory Stick Micro (M2) for my Sony Ericsson K790i, which was gifted to me by my parents on the occasion of my 20th birthday in March 2007. All along, I made do with the default 64MB memory card that came in the package.

First things first. Is this card, an overhyped acquisition? NO. There are a lot of things to it. Firstly, ever since the invention of the iPod, it has become customary to carry your entire media collection (music, photos, videos, et all) on your portable device. The PC's role has been limited to downloading that content from the internet (officially, through iTunes store, or more popularly, over P2P networks like Gnutella/LimeWire), and feeding it into your portable media player.

P2P content is more popular, although illegal, because of the fact that it does not content DRM (Digital Rights Management, lookup http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRM), and hence, it is not locked onto a particular proprietary device. If you are a techie, I don't need to explain to you the importance of non-proprietary content.

So, the first and foremost use of the 4GB card is to store ALL of my media in one single location, and more importantly, always have that media with me, wherever I go. Now you must be wondering as to why am I laying such great stress on the media? It is because I own a precious collection of nearly 500 Hindi songs, that have been painstakingly collected from various sources. To add to that, a lot of effort has gone in tagging them with correct album, artist information and album art.

(--- Returning after a break, caused due to call with Petu, for a staggering 36 mins (avg call duration: 36 secs) -----)

(---- And another break, caused due to a call with Silent Assassin, lasting......ummm, forget it, didn't notice (This dude bought a K810, and needed some troubleshooting advice) ----)

Forget it, I'll complete my blog later.......now, there have been too many interruptions, and I need to have dinner.. Cya soon

4GB Memory Boost for my cell

2007-11-19T19:07:00.000+05:30

The day I've been waiting for, for so long, is finally here. My K790 came bundled with a measly 64 MB memory card, (in addition to 70 MB phone memory), with which I've pulled on for 9 months until now (since March 2007). I always wished to have more memory (everybody does), mainly because this was such an advanced multimedia phone, and that I could do so much with it. But, it was financially unaffordable for me to buy a 2GB card (costing 4,000 Rs. then, and the highest capacity available, to the best of my knowledge). So I waited, and waited more. The prices were coming down steadily. Then the 4GB cards appeared on the market, for about 5,000 Rs. Still too pricey, I thought.

Then there was a jolt. Sandisk released 8GB M2 cards on 18th October 2007. 4GB card prices tumbld down. I planned to buy that 8GB card sometime in March next year. But I put up a discussion on one of the tech forums (http://www.esato.com) regarding the compatibility of this humongous card with my ordinary (:P) cell-phone. To my dismay, I learnt that one smart-ass had contacted Sony Corporation regarding the same, and they had replied that K790 supported only upto 4GB of removable memory.

So, I decided upon buying a 4GB card, sometime, for sure, before I embarked on my IV (Industrial Visit to Delhi-Dehradun, Jan 2008). Then, due to some reasons which cannot be disclosed here, I decided to make a purchase right here, right now. The research had been done for too long (8 months, to be precise). I had tracked the prices for a long time. I knew which deal was VFM and which one was not. I had byhearted the sequence of steps required to go to this particular item on ebay, owing to the innumerable 'wish visits' I had made!

Today, when the day finally came, I just placed the order. I expect the card to be delivered tomorrow, or worst case, the day after, as the seller is in the same city. This card is not just a tiny piece of plastic and silicon measuring 1 sq.cm., its much more than that. How? Read the next post.

PHP Succesful

2007-11-18T08:51:00.001+05:30

Good morning to one and all! Had a good night's sleep. With server dreams, ofcourse! So what was it that I dreamt? Having done much of the foundation work, now it was time to try PHP for real. I had done that before, but had lost touch.

So, today, I setup the PHP server for Apache 2.2 Once done, I put the HelloWorld.php file in my htdocs folder in Apache. And simply call the file from my browser. It worked! Now, I am beginning to wonder if PHP should be setup on other servers as well (not concurrently). Watch this space for the answer....

Community Server for Testing (CST)

2007-11-17T21:11:00.000+05:30

Now that I have come so far, what with four servers running concurrently (see previous posts), I thought, why not do something to help those newbies (like me, formerly) out there, who want to test different web applications/services at little or no cost?

For that, I plan to setup my PC as a community server for testing. I might keep it free, or charge peanuts for its use, just enough to cover the additional load in my electricity bill every month, owing to my PC's increased uptime.

I'll have the four servers running. Developers can upload their service on the required server and test it remotely. Simple, na?

Additionally, it can also be used a resource base. I can theoretically provide unlimited downloads to people, as their 'download' will actually be an 'upload' for my server. And MTNL (my ISP) doesn't charge me for uploading :P . Now thats what I call amazing !!

My Brilliant Brain ! (Hey, thats just an upcoming series on National Geographic Channel. What did you think, I am talking about myself???........Well, maybe you weren't entirely wrong either.........)

IIS external accesibility issue resolved

2007-11-17T21:05:00.000+05:30

For those of you trying to figure out why IIS asks for username and password when you try to access it from Firefox, or a remote server, here's the solution:

Go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services > (local computer) > Default website
Right click and select Properties
Under Directory Security tab > Anonymous access and authentication protocol section > click on the Edit button
Check (select) Anonymous access (that is, enable it)
Leave other things unchanged
Click OK all the way out.
Restart your server
Done !

Update: Port manipulations fot Tomcat & IIS

2007-11-17T20:55:00.000+05:30

I guess, I never rest. So here's plugging two holes in my previous post, the port manipulations for Apache Tomcat & Microsoft IIS. Here goes:

Apache Tomcat:

Go to C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 6.0\conf
Open server.xml in Dreamweaver or Notepad
Change Connector port="7777" (for example, from the original 8080 or 80) where protocol="HTTP/1.1"
Be careful of the latter part. There are multiple 'connector' tags in the whole XML document, but you must change only the right one.
Save the file and restart the server.
Confirm at localhost:7777

Windows IIS

Go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services > (local computer name) > Default website.
Right click and select Properties.
Under the Website tab > Web Identification section > TCP Port > type 6666
(You can type any port number you wish, as usual)
Restart the server (software)

Thats it!

Multiple Concurrent Servers - A reality !!

2007-11-17T20:08:00.000+05:30

When I wrote my last post, I really wasn't sure if I would be able to run multiple servers on my system concurrently. I made three attempts between my last post, and about 19:30. And those attempts all resulted in failure. But as they say, "When things seem evermore difficult, you are really close to solving the problem". And solve I did.

How? No Googling, for a change !! Just plain common sense (of a techie, ofcourse) (jeez, i m getting vain)

So here's the change you make to your router settings that I already mentioned in my previous post. Under Virtual Server, change the Local port from 8080 (or whatever else) to 0 (zero) A zero number means forward all requests. Do not forget to Save and Reboot.

Then, set the different listening ports for your multitude of servers. I havnt figured out a way of changing Tomcat's port, so I let it remain 8080. I thought it safe to keep IIS on the default (80) port. But I changed the Java Application Server and Apache HTTP as follows:

For Sun Java:

Go to localhost:4848 (or whatever administrator port u've set up)
Login with the administrative username and password (which you must have noted down)
Go to Configuration > HTTP Service > HTTP Listeners > http-listener-1 > Listener port.
Enter a random port address between 1025 to 65535. I prefer 5282 (JAVA on ur mobile phone keypad) as it is easy to remember
Save and Logout.

For Apache HTTP:

Go to C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache 2.2\conf\httpd.conf (or whatever is the equivalent conf directory on your system)
You can open the file with notepad
Look for the text Listen
Change the number after that (should be 8080, or 80, before you make the changes) to any number of your choice (between 1025 and 65535)
I chose 9393, just like that
Save the file and close.

Restart your PC and your router. Once everything is up, start all your servers. In this case:

http://localhost/
http://localhost:8080/
http://localhost:5282/
http://localhost:9393/

Thats it. Go to your friend's place (it would be wiser to just call him up, and do the needful). Retrieve your IP address, for example, 59.182.147.56. Ask someone to type the following in simultaneously open browser tabs (or windows, in case the jerk of a friend still uses IE6, not Firefox):

http://59.182.147.56/
http://59.182.147.56:8080/
http://59.182.147.56:5282/
http://59.182.147.56:9393/

If all works fine, your jerk...oops...i mean friend, should get the default pages (or the index, in case you've put something there) for each of those servers.

Whew. Finally, I achieved what I set out to achieve. Now I can R.I.P. May god bless my soul. I don't think I'll be posting anytime soon. Cya until then.

Multiple Concurrent Servers?

2007-11-17T15:45:00.000+05:30

I never stop at solving a problem. I go further and find a new problem. Having setup a 'Server @ home', what I want to do next is to have multiple servers running simultaneously. To begin with, atleast IIS and Tomcat. It will require some fiddling with the settings I mentioned in my previous post. Not sure what to do, but will do so nevertheless.

Updates soon.....ciao

Server @ home - Tutorial

2007-11-17T15:27:00.000+05:30

Here's how you go about setting up a remotely accessible home-server:

Note that this manual pertains to my home setup only, which is:

Windows XP SP1
MTNL TriBand (Mumbai, INDIA)
UTSTarcom router UT-300R2U

So here's how you go about:

You will need to make the changes in your router setup. No changes are required to be made to your PC setup. The router setup is done via a browser, using a fixed IP address. To figure it out:

Run command prompt
Type ipconfig
Type the address of the Default Gateway in your browser
Type in the username and password (admin, admin) in my case
Go to Advanced tab
Click on Virtual Server
In Private IP, type the IP address as mentioned in your 'ipconfig' result
Select protocol TCP
Select local port 8080 (in case of Tomcat)
Destination port: any port.
Next, go to Filters.
In Oubound filter, add any source IP, any destination IP, any source port, any destination port, any protocol, action Aceept.
Do the same settings in inbound filter.
Go to Tools > Misc and click on Save and reboot.
Restart your PC

You are done with the setup. Now, to access your PC remotely, go to a friend's place (or any other damn PC outside your home; something that doesn't use your router). You will need your home PC running (not even on standby). Tomcat must also be running. You must have the IP address of the home PC (Found in Status under your router admin panel (thru the browser))

Now simply type the address, followed by the port number in your friend's browser. It should look something like: 59.182.27.28:8080

If you see Tomcat's welcome page, you've been succesful!!

Server @ home

2007-11-17T15:19:00.000+05:30

Having solved the JSP/Servlet problem, a new one arose. The problem of plenty, as I would like to call it.

By now, I know too much. Or more correctly, too many technologies. To fuel my hunger for knowledge, I had ended up downloading all the servers of the world (or so I think). Now, I had the following:

Microsoft IIS 5.0
Apache HTTP Server 2.2.4
Apache Tomcat 6.13
Java EE Server 5 Update 3
PHP Engine 5.2.2

My current default test site http://csi-tcet.org is hoster by Brinkster, which is a big fan of Billu (Bill Gates). So it provides only ASP and .net hosting (atleast under the Windows hosting scheme). That leaves me with a big bottleneck. Where do I test my products? Ofcourse, localhost is always an option. But it doesn't come anywhere close to the feel of a remote server. So, in principle, what I needed was a multi-protocol (so to say) remote server at my command.

And the only solution I saw, is t make my own PC as a remote server. I knew that PCs behin firewalls cannot be accessed. Googling revealed that what I needed to do was port forwarding. More googling brought up a site http://www.portforwarding.com A really useful resource. Looked up my model number, did a few things. Also looking up other tech forums, finally managed to get this thing done as well.

Now, I have my very own remotely accesible web-server at home!! How did I do it? Read the next post....

JSP Servlets - Explanation

2007-11-17T15:02:00.000+05:30

Now that I've posted a full-fledged tutorial, I guess there's some explanation that needs to be done. If you are new to servlets (or Java/JSP, for that matter), please look up resources on the net. A good place to start would be http://java.sun.com/ So now, for those familiar with servlets and their use, here goes...

After having developed test websites in ASP for years, i had finally hit a road-block. The road-block was that even after separating the 'processing logic', from the display related stuff, I was still stuck with having to put everything in an HTML page. I saw the solution in servlets.

So, on 15th November 2007, I finally took the big leap, and made the switch to JSP. I started up a new project, SAMS - Standard APIs for Mobile Services. I vowed not to touch ASP, no matter what.

It wasn't easy. I had developed a certain comfort level with ASP, kind of a relationship.. Now I had to start over again with some'one' else. But start I did. It began with the most frequently used include directive. The next major hurdle I wanted to cross was database connectivity. I managed to set the JDBC:ODBC things straight after a few Google searches. JSP, for now, was done. It was up and running, and that was sufficient for me.

Now, it was time for me to move on. And I saw 'servlets' as the next step. I got a sample servlet file, and tried hard to compile it in JCreator, which would keep giving errors of library not found. Googled hard again, but to no avail. Then somehting struck me.....it might require Java EE. Looked that up, and found out that my guess was right.

Downloading EE was quite a decision. I don't have unlimited downloads on my plan. 1GB a month. That's it. I was at the middle of the month, with 485 GB (nearly half) used up. EE would add another 90 MB. After deliberating a bit, I reckoned it would be money well invested. SO I went forth and downlaoded EE.

Tomcat was set up previously. EE was installed. I had everything running. My servlet was supposed to work. But it didnt. My servlet had compiled alright. But i didnt know where to put the class file. Googled again. Googled hard. Found the configurations to be made to the web.xml file. Did them, and voila, finally, it was running!!!

I had spent a good 4 hours researching and implementing my first servlet. It was 12:30 a.m. of 16th Nov 2007. Was tired already, but though of documenting everything. Wasn't blogging then. So composed a mail to myself.

That mal is what has been posted as the previous blog. Hope that it will be useful to a lot of newbies out there.

Cheers!

JSP Servlets Tutorial

2007-11-17T14:06:00.000+05:30

How to create and run a servlet?

You will require to have these Java components before you can run a servlet:

Java Runtime Environment (JRE)
Java software Development Kit (JDK)
Java Enterprise Edition Software Development Kit (Java EE SDK)

These 3 can be downloaded as a complete package, or individually also. To download the complete package (recommended)

Go to: "http://java.sun.com/javaee/downloads/index.jsp " and click on "Download with JDK button"
Accept agreement by clicking on the radio button
Under the header "Windows platfform" click on the file name to download
You can save the setup file to a folder of your choice
Once download completes, click on the file and run it. Proceed with the installation with all default options and settings
Restart the PC

Besides that, you will also need the Apache Tomcat JSP Server, which can be setup as follows:

Go to "http://tomcat.apache.org/"
In the left column, under the "Download" heading, click on the link to the latest version
Once on th downloads page, search for the heading "Binary Distributions"
Click on "Windows Service Installer" to save the file
You can save the setup file in a folder of your choice
Once download completes, click on the file and run it. Proceed with the installation with all default options and settings
Restart the PC

Assuming you have downloaded and setup all the tools, here's what you need to do to get your first servlet running

Write a HelloServlet.java file (see attached)
Save it to the JDK bin directory (In this case: "C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0_06\bin")
Start Menu> Run > Type "cmd" (without quotes) in the box. MS-DOS Command prompt will open
Change directory to JDK bin using the command (cd C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0_06\bin )
Compile the HelloServlet.java file using 'javac' (command: javac HelloWorld.java)
Your servlet will be compiled (if no errors are present) and put in the same bin directory
Go to Windows Explorer (My Computer)
Copy HelloServlet.class file FROM "C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0_06\bin" TO "C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 6.0\webapps\ROOT\WEB-INF\classes"
Add servlet info (copy from attached file "add_to_web_inf") to the web.xml file (final file with added code attached) located in web-inf
Stop the "Default Server" of Java EE SDK by right-clicking on the "Java EE 5 SDK" icon in system tray (besides the clock at right-bottom)
Manually start the Tomcat server by going to "C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 6.0\bin" and clicking on "tomcat"
Let the DOS window remain open throughout your session. If server starts successfully, it wil show INFO:server startup in 2748ms (example)
Execute the servlet by typing the path "http://localhost:8080/sams/HelloServlet" in your browser
Note: Do not add any extension to the servlet name in the path

---------
HelloServlet.java

import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
import javax.servlet.*;
import javax.servlet.http.*;

/**
* The simplest possible servlet.
*/

public class HelloServlet extends HttpServlet {

public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request,
HttpServletResponse response)
throws IOException, ServletException
{
response.setContentType("text/plain");
PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();

out.println("Servlet invoked! ");
out.println(new Date());
}
}

-------------------------

Hello World

2007-11-17T14:02:00.000+05:30

What else do u expect from a techie? This is the way we are supposed to greet the rest of the world, right?