Make Your Linux Boot Faster

Make Your Linux Boot Faster

Steps that can make your Linux system boot faster.

Step 1 :
Decide on the unnecessary services and stop them. Try to stop them using the following commands :

chkconfig ip6tables off
chkconfig setroubleshoot off
chkconfig vmware off
chkconfig bluetooth off
chkconfig sendmail off
chkconfig yum-updatesd off

Step 2 :
If the loop-back device is not needed, stop it to save 1 second . Add
ONBOOT=no in its ifcfg file.

Step 3 :
* Kill all splash screens,
* Grub splash (the line that has ‘splash image’ should be commented in grub.conf),
* Boot splash (edit/ etc/ sysconfig/ init and say No color there) and
* KDE splash (goto the control center and stop it ).

Normally kernel has lots of unnecessary modules that get loaded when the machine starts. Even if you use only the Ethernet, but still the kernel loads the wireless, Blue tooth and router related modules. Disable them or recompile the kernel.

This should save you more than 30 seconds each time u boot your machine. You can tweak your system as per your requirements & save some boot time.

Note: This is configured for PC which has 512 RAM , an Intel dual core processor with RHEL5.1. but holds good for all most all configurations. – Admin (CosmoCyber)

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Install Avast 4 for Ubuntu 8.10 [64-bit]

Install Avast 4 for Ubuntu 8.10 [64-bit]

Avast.com currently offers a free Avast download for Ubuntu. Unfortunately they only provide a deb package for 32-bit systems. Avast actually runs quite well on a 64-bit system, but the installation requires a few extra steps. This guide will walk you through the process of installing Avast on a 64-bit system.

1. Install the ia32-libs package if it’s not already installed.

sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

The ia32-libs package must be >= 2.2ubuntu18.

2. Download the Avast debian package here and save it to your desktop. The instructions below assume that the avast package can be found on your desktop so it’s important that you choose your desktop as the download location.

3. After it’s downloaded change to your desktop folder.

cd /home/YourUserName/Desktop

4. Install the avast deb package.

sudo dpkg –force-architecture -i avast4workstation_1.3.0-2_i386.deb

5. You need to make sure that all of the required libraries can be found in your /usr/lib32 folder. To help simplify this task I’ve created a libs package for avast and attached it to this post. Simply download the attachment and then type the following:

sudo dpkg -i ia32-avast-libs.deb

6. After the packages are installed make sure that all of the required libraries can be found. Type the following:

ldd /usr/lib/avast4workstation/bin/avastgui
ldd /usr/lib/avast4workstation/bin/avast

7. Scroll through both lists and make sure that none of them say ‘Not found’. As long as you didn’t find any libraries listed as ‘not found’ then you should now be able to run Avast from your Applications menu.

Library Not Found
If any say not found then you may need to install additional packages or as a last resort manually extract the libraries from a package into your /usr/lib32 folder. You can do a package contents search here. Just enter the name of the missing library and search for a package that contains it. Once you’ve found the package download the i386 version and use file-roller to extract the missing library into your /usr/lib32 folder.

To uninstall this package simply type the following:
sudo apt-get remove avast4workstation

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Change your forgotten password

Change your forgotten password in Ubuntu

1. Boot up your computer, and when you see the screen that says something like “Press ESC to enter grub,” press ESC (the escape key) as soon as you can.

2. Now you should see a menu with many options. Use the arrow keys to navigate to the newest kernel (the one with the highest number) that has “(recovery mode)” written next to it. Now, hit enter (return).

3. Next, your system should boot up normally. BUT, you WILL NOT see the boot splash. Don’t worry about that. Lots and lots of text WILL fly past you.

4. Now you are at a root shell.

5. Type

passwd username

replacing username with your username

6. Now a little thing will come up and say “New UNIX Password” or similar. Type the new password that you want. Hit enter. Type it again. Hit enter

7. Then, your password has been changed! Type

shutdown -r now

8. Your system is now rebooting. Once it comes back up, login with your new username and password.

Note: Not for Noobs. Highly dangerous, don’t try if u r not a perfect Ubuntu Programmer

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Install Wink for Ubuntu 8.10 [64-bit]

Install Wink for Ubuntu 8.10 [64-bit]

Wink Version: 1.5.1060

Wink is a great program for creating video tutorials through the use of flash animation. You can take screen captures with Wink either on-demand or on a time-delay basis and then compile those screenshots into a swf file for use in a web page. You can also add explanation boxes, buttons and titles to your presentations. If you’re looking for an easy way to create a video tutorial on how to use certain software applications or perhaps even a website then you definitely want to check out Wink. Unfortunately the wink package available in the Ubuntu repository is only available for the 32-bit architecture so this guide will walk you through installing it on the 64-bit version of Ubuntu.

1.First off you’ll need to install the following package.

sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

2.The next step is to download the Wink package. Click here for a list of download locations.. Select one of the listed mirrors and save the file to your desktop.

3.Open your terminal and type the following:

cd /home/[YourUserName]/Desktop
dpkg-deb –extract wink_1.5.1060-6_i386.deb wink
dpkg-deb –control wink_1.5.1060-6_i386.deb wink/DEBIAN
gedit ./wink/DEBIAN/control

4.Find the line that begins with “Architecture:” and replace the “i386” with “all”

Architecture: all

5.Delete the line that begins with “Original-Maintainer: Daniel Baumann “. This step isn’t mandatory but it will prevent an error from being displayed when the package is built.

6.Click Save and close gedit.

7.Type the following:

gedit ./wink/usr/share/applications/wink.desktop

8.Find the line that begins with “Icon=” and replace “wink” with “/usr/share/pixmaps/wink.xpm”. This step ensures that the correct icon will appear on your Applications > Graphics menu.

Icon=/usr/share/pixmaps/wink.xpm

9.Click Save and close gedit

10.The wink package requires that the libexpat.so.0 file be installed in your /usr/lib32 folder. Type the following.

mkdir -p ./wink/usr/lib32
sudo ln -s /usr/lib32/libexpat.so.1 ./wink/usr/lib32/libexpat.so.0

11.Type the following to build the package.

dpkg-deb –build wink

12.Click on the new wink.deb package to install it or type the following.

sudo dpkg -i ./wink.deb

13.Before running the program for the first time you need to make sure that all required libraries are installed. After you install the newly created package type the following:

ldd /usr/lib/wink/wink

14.If none of the libraries say “not found” then you should now be able to open wink from the Applications > Graphics menu.

Note: If any libraries are listed as not found then you may need to install additional packages or as a last resort manually extract the files from a package into your /usr/lib32 directory. You can search the Ubuntu repository for the name of the missing library. Click here to use the "Package Contents" search.. Enter the name of the library you are missing and search for a package that contains it. When you’ve found the correct package download the i386 version and extract the missing library into your /usr/lib32 folder.

To uninstall type the following:

sudo apt-get remove wink

Clean all Unnecessary Junk files

Clean all Unnecessary Junk files

Getting rid of Residual Config packages – In Synaptic Package Manger, there is a built-in feature that gets rid of old Residual Config packages. Residual Config packages are usually dependency packages that are left behind after you uninstall a package from your machine. To use this feature, go to System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager. On the bottom left hand corner of the window, click the Status button. In the list above the Sections, Status, Search, and Custom buttons, you should see the following text:

Installed
Installed (local or obsolete)
Not installed
Residual config

Click on the “Residual config” text. (If the “Residual config dialogue does not appear, that means you do not have any Residual Config packages on your machine and you can skip down to Tip #2.) Do you see the packages that popped up in the window on the right? Those are the Residual Config packages. To get rid of these pests, click on the box to the left of the package name and select “Mark for Complete Removal”. After you have done that for all of the Residual Config packages, look at the top of the Synaptic Package Manger window. Do you see the green check mark with the text “Apply” right under it? Click that button, and you’ll flush all those Residual Config packages

Getting rid of partial packages – This is yet another built-in feature, but this time it is not used in Synaptic Package Manager. It is used in the Terminal. To access the Terminal, go to Applications > Accessories > Terminal. Now, in the Terminal, key in the following command (or you can just copy and paste from here)

sudo apt-get autoclean

Enter your password when prompted and press Enter. See the package names that appeared in the Terminal? Those were partial packages that have just been deleted. This command deletes the not-so-fully-downloaded packages that you acquire when a package that is being downloaded is suddenly cancelled.

Getting rid of unnecessary locale data – For this tip, you need to download the “localepurge” package found in Synaptic Package Manager. “localepurge” is just a simple script to recover diskspace wasted for unneeded locale files and localized man pages. It will automagically be invoked upon completion of any apt installation run.

To open Synaptic Package Manager, follow the instructions in Tip #1. After opening up Synaptic Package Manager, click the Sections button on the bottom left hand corner of the window, if it is not already clicked. Next, at the top of the Synaptic Package Manager window, click the Search button. In the search window, key in the following text :

localepurge

Did the “localepurge” package popup in the package window? It probably did, unless you do not have the correct Repositories. Now, click on the box next to the “localepurge” package name. Click on Mark for Installation. Now click the Apply button at the top of the window and wait for the downloading and installing of the “localepurge” package to finish. Once it is done, a new window should popup that has a bunch of abbreviations on it. for example:

en
fr
po
sp
ka
etc…

Select en. Then click next.

Getting rid of “orphaned” packages – For this tip, you need to download the “deborphan” package found in Synaptic Package Manager. “deborphan” finds “orphaned” packages on your system. It determines which packages have no other packages depending on their installation, and shows you a list of these packages. It is most useful when finding libraries, but it can be used on packages in all sections.

To open Synaptic Package Manager, follow the instructions in Tip #1. After opening up Synaptic Package Manager, click the Sections button on the bottom left hand corner of the window, if it is not already clicked. Next, at the top of the Synaptic Package Manager window, click the Search button. In the search window, key in the following text :

deborphan

Did the “deborphan” package popup in the package window? It probably did, unless you do not have the correct Repositories. Now, click on the box next to the “deborphan” package name. Click on Mark for Installation. Now click the Apply button at the top of the window and wait for the downloading and installing of the “deborphan” package to finish. Once that is done, open up the Terminal. Instructions for doing that are located in Tip #2. After you have gotten the Terminal open, key in the following command (or copy and paste from here):

sudo deborphan | xargs sudo apt-get -y remove –purge

Enter your password when prompted and press Enter. See the package names that appeared in the Terminal? Those were orphaned packages that have just been deleted.

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Migrating bookmarks from XP to FireFox Ubuntu

Migrating bookmarks from XP to FireFox Ubuntu

There are 3 methods to get your bookmarks, if you already have firefox on Windows, if you do not, and if you want to use Xmarks.

If there is no Firefox on XP, then Install Firefox on XP.
Use Firefox to import bookmarks, it might do this on first run.

Via Xmarks
Xmarks is a convenient way to synchronise bookmrks and setting across multiple firefox installations. While very convenient, it will embed itself into some pages such as Google (this can be disabled), and requires an account. Also, if privacy is a concern, I don’t recommend Xmarks, as your information will be uploaded to Xmarks servers. There is no cost to use Xmarks.

1. (on XP) from Firefox, install the Xmarks addon

2. Restart firefox, Xmarks will pop up. Follow the prompts to set up Xmarks. Ensure you sync your bookmarks to the server.

3. (on Ubuntu) from Firefox, install the Xmarks addon

4.Restart firefox, Xmarks will pop up. Follow the prompts to set up Xmarks. Ensure you sync your bookmarks FROM the server, and delete the bookmarks on the computer.

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Moving Outlook Accounts on XP to Thunderbird/Kmail/etc on Ubuntu

Moving Outlook Accounts on XP to Thunderbird/Kmail/etc on Ubuntu

Use this for a perfect account-migration from XP to Ubuntu. You might be required to re-enter a users mail password for most programs, otherwise, all their messages/accounts/mailbox settings will be migrated.

1. Install Thunderbird on XP

2. Use the ThunderBird to import the Outlook profiles.
Thunderbird and most open-source mail applications use or recognise a standard arrangement of folder/files, importing to Thunderbird sets this up for you.

3. Copy all the files in %AppData%\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\
Where %AppData% can be found by typing %AppData% into the windows command-line. Usually AppData can be found in the desired users “Documents and Settings” folder, then “Application Data” or “Roaming” folders. xxxxxxxxx is a string of random characters.

4. Paste these files into a removable drive, or somewhere you can find when you reboot into *buntu. Additionally, if you can find this folder in *buntu, then you don’t need to copy it, just open it in *buntu.

5. Install Thunderbird in *buntu if not already installed.

6. Find the ~/.thunderbird/xxxxxxxx.default/ folder.
Where ~ is your own home folder, most file-managers such as Dolphin or Nautilus have dedicated home buttons. You might need to find the setting to show hidden files, as .thunderbird is hidden. You may also type it into the navigation bar. xxxxxxxxx is again, random characters.

7. Copy the folder, and paste it in the same folder, name the new folder xxxxxxxx.default.bk
This is just a backup folder, in case anything goes horribly wrong, just delete xxxxxxx.default and then remove the “.bk” from the folder you just made if things don’t work.

8. Find the previous files you copied/located. Copy everything from the original xxxxxxx.default folder into the new xxxxxxx.default folder, if asked, overwrite everything.

9. Open Thunderbird, it should now have all your messages and account settings! You might be asked for your mail password when you first open Thunderbird.

10. If you prefer other programs, open the program you prefer to use, and find the import features to import your account settings (very much like we imported the outlook account into thunderbird); importing to Kmail is under the “Import Messages” option.

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Playing Encrypted DVDs

Playing Encrypted DVDs in Ubuntu

Canonical, due to legal constraints, cannot actually provide you with the ability to play encrypted DVDs out of the included media. Below assumes you’ve installed the restricted-extras (if not, when you try to play a movie the program will prompt you to install the extras package anyway)

1. Open a Terminal Application

2. Enter (Under Jaunty):
sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/jaunty.list –output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

Enter (Under Karmic):
sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/karmic.list –output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

3. Type your password if requested.

4. Continue with the following Commands:
sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring
sudo apt-get update

5. If using a 32-bit copy of *buntu:
sudo apt-get install w32codecs libdvdcss2

If using a 64-bit copy of *buntu:
sudo apt-get install w64codecs libdvdcss2

Note: If unsure, I believe installing the 32-bit codecs might still work. Attempt to play a Hollywood DVD, if it fails, remove the 32-bit codecs and install the 64-bit instead.

Create a Passwordless / Guest Login

Create a Passwordless / Guest Login

Step 1:
Make sure you have created a user. For the sake of this example, let’s say you called the account username guest. You can give it any temporary password you want. We’re going to change that password shortly anyway. I’m assuming you know how to do this already. If you don’t, I can assure you that this HowTo is not one you should be following, and you would be very likely to screw up the next step.

Step 2
Next, go to the terminal and type this command:

sudo nano -B /etc/shadow

This will open the /etc/shadow file (the one that contains all the passwords) in a text editor called Nano.

Once you have it open, find the appropriate line for the account in question. It’ll look something like this:

guest:$1$2TUdk8Z0$tb2Fn6Idgo8dq9EgYv4xZ0:13721:0:99999:7:::

Change the second part (in bold here) to match this second part (also in bold):

guest:U6aMy0wojraho:13721:0:99999:7:::

Then save the file (Control-X, Y, Enter).

Now you should be able to log into the guest (or whatever you called it) account without entering a password.

Warning: Even though this method is simple (few steps), it is extremely dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. Do not attempt this if you are worried that you might mess up the /etc/shadow file, thus screwing up ur Ubuntu system.

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Run windows programs in Ubuntu

Run windows programs in Ubuntu

The version of Linux called Ubuntu is a full featured, free, easy to use operating system. Sometimes you need to use certain programs that exist only as Windows applications. Following steps will show you how to use Wine, a Windows emulator, to run Microsoft Windows programs from inside Ubuntu:

1. In Ubuntu, go to ‘Add/Remove’
2. Select ‘All Open Source Applications’
3. Scroll down to ‘Wine Windows Emulator’
4. Mark the Check box
5. Click on ‘Apply Changes’. Wine will download and install.
6. Follow installation instructions which will guide you through the process of creating a Windows partition and file system on your hard drive

When you click on a link for the download of an executable Windows application, you will get a menu that includes the option ‘open with Wine (default). This will install the program using Wine. If you have already downloaded an executable file, right click on it and choose ‘Open with Wine’. In order to run your Windows applications, click on the wine glass icon and browse for your program, same as you would do in Windows.

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