(Updated 27 October, added recommended ln command, see below)
Today's update to conkyForecast, the program that enables the current weather conditions and a four-day forecast to be displayed on the screen, came with an unexpected downside. It stopped working. A bit of searching around for others with similar problems prompted me to look at the .xsession-errors file, in my home directory. From there, the message:
/usr/bin/conkyForecast: 3: /usr/bin/python2: not found
kept repeating. Having a look for the file /usr/bin/python2 showed that yes, that file was indeed non-existent. This was puzzling. I opened up the file /usr/bin/conkyForecast, to see where it was mentioned. It is only a short file of a couple of lines, but one of them did call python2. This is a link in the /usr/bin directory, pointing to python2.6.
There are two fixes to this. One, I edited the file /usr/bin/conkyForecast and changed python2 to python. This fixed it - the forecast was displaying on screen again, but further updates to the script would overwrite this, meaning you'd have to do it again. Therefore, I'd recommend the following method.
The other, recommended, way to fix it is to re-create the python2 link in /usr/bin: I just restored it from a backup made a few days ago (Yay for backintime!), but you could just create a link to python2.6 with the ln command, as below:
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/python2.6 /usr/bin/python2
As an update, a little further searching revealed this post on the Ubuntu forums. This is a known issue with Ubuntu 10.10, where there is no link to python2. ConkyForecast was updated to point to python2, in preparation for later versions of Python.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Upgrade to Maverick Meerkat - version 10.10 worked!
I am writing this from my newly-upgraded Ubuntu 10.10 system! This has been the second time I upgraded the installation, rather than start afresh. I was a little nervous, to be honest, but backups were made before the upgrade so there was an escape plan.
There were only a few issues that were pretty easily fixed, and I may, just may, have fixed the hanging on boot problem I had with version 10.04.
One problem I had was the Hard drive temperature reporting in Conky - it stopped displaying a temperature. This was because the hddtemp command could only be run as root - Conky doesn't run with those privileges, and I didn't want to start doing so. A quick search revealed a single line command to allow hddtemp to be run as a regular user:
After doing that, the disk temperature re-appeared and all was good.
Fixing the boot screen
This was a problem that I had in the previous version, 10.04, as well as in 10.10. It is to do with running the Nvidia proprietary drivers, and switching to different video modes. Basically, there are some steps to try at this site, which I did. It involves setting some video modes in the boot loader. I initially tried 1680x1050 (about the best that was supported by my card, even though it runs at 1920x1080 once at the desktop) and got a comically large ubuntu logo during boot. A later change to 1280x1024 yielded a much better result.
So far, the boot and shutdown screens look much better, and I haven't yet had it hang on me. I am hesitant to call it truly fixed until a few more weeks have passed.
Edit January 7, 2011: If you do these changes and then switch back to the open source driver (nouveau), you have to undo the changes to be able to set the proper resolution for your screen(s).
There were only a few issues that were pretty easily fixed, and I may, just may, have fixed the hanging on boot problem I had with version 10.04.
One problem I had was the Hard drive temperature reporting in Conky - it stopped displaying a temperature. This was because the hddtemp command could only be run as root - Conky doesn't run with those privileges, and I didn't want to start doing so. A quick search revealed a single line command to allow hddtemp to be run as a regular user:
sudo chmod u+s /usr/sbin/hddtemp
After doing that, the disk temperature re-appeared and all was good.
Fixing the boot screen
This was a problem that I had in the previous version, 10.04, as well as in 10.10. It is to do with running the Nvidia proprietary drivers, and switching to different video modes. Basically, there are some steps to try at this site, which I did. It involves setting some video modes in the boot loader. I initially tried 1680x1050 (about the best that was supported by my card, even though it runs at 1920x1080 once at the desktop) and got a comically large ubuntu logo during boot. A later change to 1280x1024 yielded a much better result.
So far, the boot and shutdown screens look much better, and I haven't yet had it hang on me. I am hesitant to call it truly fixed until a few more weeks have passed.
Edit January 7, 2011: If you do these changes and then switch back to the open source driver (nouveau), you have to undo the changes to be able to set the proper resolution for your screen(s).
Monday, October 11, 2010
Adding the new Ubuntu fonts to your existing installation
With the release of version 10.10 comes a new set of fonts, named Ubuntu. If you're not ready to upgrade to the new version just yet, you can install just the new fonts by downloading them here.
Just double-click the downloaded file to run the installer. You'll have to change the fonts used under System -> Preferences -> Appearance -> Font; change The Application, Document and Desktop fonts to "Ubuntu", the Window title font to "Ubuntu Bold".
If you're using Google Chrome, you can install this extension to use the new fonts. You will probably have to change the default fonts under the preferences menu.
Just double-click the downloaded file to run the installer. You'll have to change the fonts used under System -> Preferences -> Appearance -> Font; change The Application, Document and Desktop fonts to "Ubuntu", the Window title font to "Ubuntu Bold".
If you're using Google Chrome, you can install this extension to use the new fonts. You will probably have to change the default fonts under the preferences menu.
Friday, October 8, 2010
My list of tweaks - what I change and add after a fresh install
With the release of version 10.10 in a few days, this post partly serves as a reminder to myself what I have installed on my machine, and how it is set up. It will probably also make pause and reconsider doing a clean installation, when I look at the amount of configuration I would have ahead of me!
Programs not in Ubuntu repositories:
Crashplan - for backing up user data such as documents, music, photos. Not so much for system data - I use backintime for that.
Dropbox - for syncing some of my data between computers - e.g. between home and work PC.
A whole bunch of Google programs - Google Earth, Chrome, Picasa and Desktop. They probably now know more about me than I do...
conkyforecast - a part of Conky that supplies weather forecast info on the desktop, along with a bunch of other system stats that allow me to keep tabs on what's happening on the PC. One of the programs I consider essential. Working without it is like driving a car with no dashboard.
Photography/Image editing:
Flickr Uploader - I initially downloaded this because I stopped using F-Spot, as it was too damn buggy. When I was trying other programs, none of them had a way to upload photos to my flickr account. This utility is pretty handy, letting you tag photos individually or as a group.
DigiKam - I thought for a while before installing this, as it is a KDE program. Choosing to install this requires also installing a bunch of the KDE framework. If you are interested in keepiing a lean system, maybe this isn't for you. However, I was looking at some sort of photo management and editing software. Bibble and Adobe Lightroom are the main contenders. Bibble is a paid app, as is Lightroom, which has the downside of being Mac and Windows only. I thought, what the hell, digiKam is free, so I'll try this one first. So far, it has worked pretty well. It isn't quite as polished as the other two, but my wallet says it is just fine.
Music:
Rubyripper - an open-source equivalent of Exact Audio Copy for windows.
Other:
Bleachbit - does a similar job to what CCleaner does in Windows.
Virtualbox - for running virtual machines, testing other operating system installs. Good to tinker and learn things.
Deluge Bittorrent client. I prefer it to Transmission (which is installed by default).
HDParm: a later version, which includes a copy of the wiper script that performs garbage collection on solid state hard drives, marking sectors as deleted. The new version of Ubuntu should have this included by default (as well as the 2.6.35 kernel, that supports the TRIM command).
Tweaks:
Since I have a solid state hard drive in my system (and I highly recommend them for anyone looking to upgrade their PC) there are a few SSD-specific tweaks you can do to get the best out of them. This site has an excellent guide. I didn't do all of them, just enabled the noop disk scheduler and mounted filesystems with the noatime flag.
There are a number of things to be done with regards to MythTV, one of which is setting up LIRC for the remote control to work. One thing I noticed with a bit of early tinkering with a later kernel was that the remote ceased to work with that kernel - that's a concern I have with moving to the new version.
Enabling the medibuntu repositories to allow MP3 playback, DVDs and a few other restricted formats. Version 10.10 apparently has an option to enable all of these at install time, which is welcome.
That's just a few things I've changed, no doubt I'll think of many more, especially if I do a reinstall from scratch. I'll let you know how I go: if I do an upgrade (quick, convenient, chance of hosing the system), fresh install (time consuming with all the re-configuring and reinstalling, but will be a nice fresh system), or staying with 10.04 (quickest of all, but missing out on new toys). I might hold out for a little while, but I'm sure I'll succumb to the allure of new and shiny...
Programs not in Ubuntu repositories:
Crashplan - for backing up user data such as documents, music, photos. Not so much for system data - I use backintime for that.
Dropbox - for syncing some of my data between computers - e.g. between home and work PC.
A whole bunch of Google programs - Google Earth, Chrome, Picasa and Desktop. They probably now know more about me than I do...
conkyforecast - a part of Conky that supplies weather forecast info on the desktop, along with a bunch of other system stats that allow me to keep tabs on what's happening on the PC. One of the programs I consider essential. Working without it is like driving a car with no dashboard.
Photography/Image editing:
Flickr Uploader - I initially downloaded this because I stopped using F-Spot, as it was too damn buggy. When I was trying other programs, none of them had a way to upload photos to my flickr account. This utility is pretty handy, letting you tag photos individually or as a group.
DigiKam - I thought for a while before installing this, as it is a KDE program. Choosing to install this requires also installing a bunch of the KDE framework. If you are interested in keepiing a lean system, maybe this isn't for you. However, I was looking at some sort of photo management and editing software. Bibble and Adobe Lightroom are the main contenders. Bibble is a paid app, as is Lightroom, which has the downside of being Mac and Windows only. I thought, what the hell, digiKam is free, so I'll try this one first. So far, it has worked pretty well. It isn't quite as polished as the other two, but my wallet says it is just fine.
Music:
Rubyripper - an open-source equivalent of Exact Audio Copy for windows.
Other:
Bleachbit - does a similar job to what CCleaner does in Windows.
Virtualbox - for running virtual machines, testing other operating system installs. Good to tinker and learn things.
Deluge Bittorrent client. I prefer it to Transmission (which is installed by default).
HDParm: a later version, which includes a copy of the wiper script that performs garbage collection on solid state hard drives, marking sectors as deleted. The new version of Ubuntu should have this included by default (as well as the 2.6.35 kernel, that supports the TRIM command).
Tweaks:
Since I have a solid state hard drive in my system (and I highly recommend them for anyone looking to upgrade their PC) there are a few SSD-specific tweaks you can do to get the best out of them. This site has an excellent guide. I didn't do all of them, just enabled the noop disk scheduler and mounted filesystems with the noatime flag.
There are a number of things to be done with regards to MythTV, one of which is setting up LIRC for the remote control to work. One thing I noticed with a bit of early tinkering with a later kernel was that the remote ceased to work with that kernel - that's a concern I have with moving to the new version.
Enabling the medibuntu repositories to allow MP3 playback, DVDs and a few other restricted formats. Version 10.10 apparently has an option to enable all of these at install time, which is welcome.
That's just a few things I've changed, no doubt I'll think of many more, especially if I do a reinstall from scratch. I'll let you know how I go: if I do an upgrade (quick, convenient, chance of hosing the system), fresh install (time consuming with all the re-configuring and reinstalling, but will be a nice fresh system), or staying with 10.04 (quickest of all, but missing out on new toys). I might hold out for a little while, but I'm sure I'll succumb to the allure of new and shiny...
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