Okay, as i mentioned earlier, I installed the new version of Ubuntu Linux, named Hardy Heron. I have been using this on my main desktop for a while, now, so I thought I might give it a review.

Given one sentence to describe it, I would say: "Stay Away."

Having used Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon for a long time, and having seen reviews and articles about various other versions, I have come to the conclusion that this is the worst Ubuntu version to come out. Basically, just looking at it, there is no visible difference, except a slightly different wallpaper. My first point of contention was the graphics. It was a PAIN to get my Nvidia graphics card installed, I had to manually download and install the driver. In addition, the Screens And Grahpics manager that I had gotten so fond of no longer exists. I have yet to find a GUI that lets you manage your graphics cards and monitors. There is one simple window in which you can change your screen resolution and refresh rate, but that is all. To change my graphics properties, I have to boot into Recovery Mode. However, Recovery mode has been improved. When booting into it, a blue screen comes up with three options: Boot into normal mode, repair graphics, and boot into command line. This is a big bonus, whenever I had to repair the graphics via Recovery Mode in Gutsy, it was a PAIN, with my limited UNIX knowledge. However, as I mentioned earlier, I got Windows and Hardy Heron running simultaneously. However, this might also be possible on Gutsy, I do not know. Also, I have had some compatibility issues. VMware got trashed, and FF3b5 crashes more often. Also, that is another bone of contention. They installed a beta version of a browser in a full public release of the OS. No offense to them, but that is a ...dumb... idea.

Other than that, I have not had any major problems, at least that I can think of. If you are a normal home user, looking for a more stable OS than Windows, you would not have a problem. However, for the more hardcore users, I would suggest you stick to Gutsy 7.10

Here is a link to Ubuntu, if you are interested in it, and do not yet use it (if that is possible).

Watch PCWizKid's Video on upgrading to Ubuntu 8.04 here

Distro Linux yang dipakai Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon

Pelaksanaan Workshop:

Hari/Tanggal : Minggu, 11 Mei 2008

Pukul : 13.00 - 16.00

Fasilitas :

- 1 Peserta 1 komputer

- Gratis 1 CD Ubuntu 7.10

- Tutorial Operasi Perintah Dasar Linux

- Sertifikat

- Gratis Instalasi Ubuntu dan Free Konsultasi migrasi Linux 1 bulan

Kontribusi Peserta :

- Umum Rp. 65.000,-

- Pelajar Rp. 35.000,-

Tempat Pendaftaran :

Izzy.NET2 : Jl. Miji Baru Satu No.7 Mojokerto, Telp (0321)393181

NB: Maaf Peserta Terbatas (15 Peserta)

Segera Daftar !!!!!!!!

Those of you who have a need for exposing iscsi targets to other machines for discovery, but who do not want to invest in an external USB hard disk OR who do not want to have a USB external hard disk connected to a desktop 24x7, there is a better way of creating and exposing iscsi target logical volumes.

This method does not need installing openfiler either as noted in my earlier article Combining Openfiler and Virtualbox (Ubuntu guest OS on windows host).

A simple solution..

The method is simple: create logical volumes based on SCSI devices on a Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 installation using virtualbox.

The advantage of using Ubuntu is that it creates the hard disk devices as scsi devices (with the naming convention /dev/sd*, instead of /dev/hd*). I have seen that in other unix OS like SuSE linux, the local disks are listed as /dev/hd* (IDE). Ubuntu seems to have better disk drivers.

If you use Hardy Heron 8.04 Ubuntu, it is *really* easy to get iscsitarget package working. If you try to make the iscsi-target package work with Gutsy Gibbon 7.x release of Ubuntu, there is a very good chance that you will run into lot of compilation issues. I went down this path myself and later realized that a lot of bugs existed for Gutsy Gibbon release. (e.g. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/gutsy/+source/iscsitarget/+bug/160104, http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=692651) and eventually found https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/iscsitarget/+bug/145539 which said that the module was fixed in Hardy Heron 8.04.

So instead of breaking my head over making iscsi-target package work in Gutsy Gibbon 2.6.22, I decided to give Hardy Heron 8.04 (still beta) a try.

Thankfully, with a little effort, I was able to make it work. In this article, I present a simplistic scenario in which we create three logical volumes that can be easily discovered by another virtualbox iscsi initiator machine(s) using open-iscsi package. This is the beauty of the entire approach.

Here is a block diagram of the end configuration:

Click here for a bigger view

Iscsi support in Hardy Heron 8.04 Ubuntu..

The first thing to understand is that as per the published features of Hardy Heron 8.04 Ubuntu at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardyHeron/Beta#head-da07b62e1e43afd0bef06ab8b60d2502c734a0f9, the iscsi support is enabled out of the box if we add iscsi=true in the boot options during the installation.

Click here for a bigger view

While installing Hardy 8.04 OS using virtualbox or any other virtualization software being used, remember to add iscsi=true in the boot options (after pressing F6)

Click here for a bigger view

Configuring iscsi targets..

I would like to give credit to a really awesome link I found through google: http://www.linuxconfig.org/Linux_lvm_-_Logical_Volume_Manager, which I rate as a one of the best article s for doing this!

Some other relevant links are:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SettingUpLVM-WithoutACleanInstall
http://t3flyers.wordpress.com/2007/04/24/logical-volume-manager-on-ubuntu-feisty-704/
http://www.howtoforge.com/linux_lvm

After Ubuntu installation, the output of uname -a looks like this:

HARDY# uname -a
Linux gverma-laptop 2.6.24-16-generic #1 SMP Thu Apr 10 13:23:42 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

And the output of fdisk -l looks like this:

HARDY# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 16.5 GB, 16592666624 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 2017 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0004ccc2
Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        1927    15478596   83  Linux
/dev/sda2            1928        2017      722925    5  Extended
/dev/sda5            1928        2017      722893+  82  Linux swap / Solaris

At this point, I added two more hard disks to the virtualbox virtual machine. Virtualbox 1.5.6 allows upto three hard disk devices to be attached to a machine.

Click here for a bigger view

After booting up HARDY again, /dev/sdb and /dev/sdc were also visible in the output of fdisk -l. Using fdisk, I created a single partition in both devices that spanned the entire device, resulting in /dev/sdb1 and /dev/sdc1:

HARDY# fdisk -l

...
Disk /dev/sdb: 21.4 GB, 21474836480 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 2610 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xd310045f

Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1               1        2610    20964793+  83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdc: 21.4 GB, 21474836480 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 2610 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x93d4c692

Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1               1        2610    20964793+  83  Linux

Also make sure that you configure host only networking so that other virtual machines (scsi initiators) are able to ssh/telnet into HARDY. Please look at article to understand how host only networking can be setup: Virtualbox Case Study: Making host only networking work between two Ubuntu Guest OS (virtual machine) on Windows Vista host

Getting the right packages installed..

Now, we need to create the target physical volume, virtual group, and logical volume, in that order. These logical volumes will serve as SCSI targets that can be discovered by other iscsi initiator machines or virtual machines as per your configuration.

Make sure you reload the package definitions from the configured repositories (get the latest packages that are published from the ubuntu repositories). You can do this from the Synaptic Package Manager:

Click here for a bigger view

Now, you should install the lvm2 package in Synaptic Package Manager:

Click here for a bigger view

Create the physical volumes:

HARDY# lvm

lvm> pvcreate /dev/sdb1
Physical volume "/dev/sdb1" successfully created
lvm> pvcreate /dev/sdc1
Physical volume "/dev/sdc1" successfully created
lvm> pvdisplay
--- NEW Physical volume ---
PV Name               /dev/sdb1
VG Name
PV Size               19.99 GB
Allocatable           NO
PE Size (KByte)       0
Total PE              0
Free PE               0
Allocated PE          0
PV UUID               OHKhOq-AMG7-XtYz-7CrP-q2VH-2b53-tW0yMO

--- NEW Physical volume ---
PV Name               /dev/sdc1
VG Name
PV Size               19.99 GB
Allocatable           NO
PE Size (KByte)       0
Total PE              0
Free PE               0
Allocated PE          0
PV UUID               M9qXXB-GVxC-FZjI-9Zb7-IhcH-rbhb-vQ3aek

Create the virtual group:

lvm> vgcreate vg /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdc1
Volume group "vg" successfully created
lvm> vgdisplay
--- Volume group ---
VG Name               vg
System ID
Format                lvm2
Metadata Areas        2
Metadata Sequence No  1
VG Access             read/write
VG Status             resizable
MAX LV                0
Cur LV                0
Open LV               0
Max PV                0
Cur PV                2
Act PV                2
VG Size               39.98 GB
PE Size               4.00 MB
Total PE              10236
Alloc PE / Size       0 / 0
Free  PE / Size       10236 / 39.98 GB
VG UUID               GkUMNq-3atR-qKTK-lG0b-gM0n-budV-Uc4lH8

lvm>

Create logial volumes:

lvm> lvcreate -L 1G -n ocr vg
Logical volume "ocr" created
lvm> lvcreate -L 1G -n vote vg
Logical volume "vote" created
lvm> lvcreate -L 35G -n asm vg
Logical volume "asm" created

If you get an error message saying:
/proc/misc: No entry for device-mapper
you can get around it by issuing sudo modprobe dm-mod

lvm> lvdisplay
--- Logical volume ---
LV Name                /dev/vg/ocr
VG Name                vg
LV UUID                a2ARIQ-11dn-kdoB-cHCd-gtoR-aokO-HGqoo4
LV Write Access        read/write
LV Status              available
# open                 0
LV Size                1.00 GB
Current LE             256
Segments               1
Allocation             inherit
Read ahead sectors     0
Block device           254:0

--- Logical volume ---
LV Name                /dev/vg/vote
VG Name                vg
LV UUID                1DqYL0-Ptsx-9kmE-UHmn-PmE9-ebVm-bfr0r0
LV Write Access        read/write
LV Status              available
# open                 0
LV Size                1.00 GB
Current LE             256
Segments               1
Allocation             inherit
Read ahead sectors     0
Block device           254:1

--- Logical volume ---
LV Name                /dev/vg/asm
VG Name                vg
LV UUID                UKWcPz-aNGl-VdPm-51wa-Ewvm-ahvD-Y7N57v
LV Write Access        read/write
LV Status              available
# open                 0
LV Size                35.00 GB
Current LE             8960
Segments               2
Allocation             inherit
Read ahead sectors     0
Block device           254:2

lvm>

Now, you can check the logical volume devices like this:

HARDY# ls -l /dev/vg
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 18 2008-05-03 02:42 asm -> /dev/mapper/vg-asm
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 18 2008-05-03 02:41 ocr -> /dev/mapper/vg-ocr
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 2008-05-03 02:41 vote -> /dev/mapper/vg-vote

You can also check the newly created devices in the /dev/disk/* directories on HARDY:

HARDY# ls -l /dev/disk/*
/dev/disk/by-id:
..
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 2008-05-03 02:42 dm-name-vg-asm -> ../../mapper/vg-asm
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 2008-05-03 02:41 dm-name-vg-ocr -> ../../mapper/vg-ocr
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20 2008-05-03 02:41 dm-name-vg-vote -> ../../mapper/vg-vote
..

/dev/disk/by-path:
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 2008-05-02 22:30 pci-0000:00:01.1-scsi-0:0:1:0 -> ../../sdb
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2008-05-03 02:34 pci-0000:00:01.1-scsi-0:0:1:0-part1 -> ../../sdb1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 2008-05-02 22:30 pci-0000:00:01.1-scsi-1:0:1:0 -> ../../sdc
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2008-05-03 02:35 pci-0000:00:01.1-scsi-1:0:1:0-part1 -> ../../sdc1

You need to install the iscsitarget package using Synaptic Package Manager:

Click here for a bigger view

Now, you need to configure the /etc/ietd.conf file with the Target names and entries for each logical volume. The target names just need to unique within the network and are totally upto your imagination.

HARDY# more /etc/ietd.conf
Target iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.vote
Lun 0 Path=/dev/vg/vote,Type=fileio
Target iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.ocr
Lun 0 Path=/dev/vg/ocr,Type=fileio
Target iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.asm
Lun 0 Path=/dev/vg/asm,Type=fileio

To enforce these entries, we need to restart the iscsitarget service manually now.

Keep in mind that there is no dash (-) between iscsi and target in the name of the service, as in openfiler 2.2 (openfiler's IET implementation service has the name iscsi-target)

HARDY# /etc/init.d/iscsitarget restart
Removing iSCSI enterprise target devices: succeeded.
Stopping iSCSI enterprise target service: succeeded.
Removing iSCSI enterprise target modules: succeeded.
Starting iSCSI enterprise target service: succeeded.

To double check if the logical volumes have been discovered and published, you can check content of /proc/net/iet/volume on HARDY:

::::::::::::::
/proc/net/iet/volume
::::::::::::::
tid:3 name:iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.asm
lun:0 state:0 iotype:fileio iomode:wt path:/dev/vg/asm
tid:2 name:iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.ocr
lun:0 state:0 iotype:fileio iomode:wt path:/dev/vg/ocr
tid:1 name:iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.vote
lun:0 state:0 iotype:fileio iomode:wt path:/dev/vg/vote

If you do a more of /proc/net/iet/session, you can clearly see that no iscsi-initiator machine have connected to HARDY yet (there are no session sub-entries under the volume name):

HARDY# more /proc/net/iet/session
tid:3 name:iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.asm
tid:2 name:iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.ocr
tid:1 name:iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.vote

Here is a quick check of the physical volume, volume group, and logical volume :

HARDY# lvm
lvm> lvscan
ACTIVE '/dev/vg/ocr' [1.00 GB] inherit
ACTIVE '/dev/vg/vote' [1.00 GB] inherit
ACTIVE '/dev/vg/asm' [35.00 GB] inherit

lvm> pvscan
PV /dev/sdb1 VG vg lvm2 [19.99 GB / 0 free]
PV /dev/sdc1 VG vg lvm2 [19.99 GB / 2.98 GB free]
Total: 2 [39.98 GB] / in use: 2 [39.98 GB] / in no VG: 0 [0 ]

lvm> vgscan
Reading all physical volumes. This may take a while...
Found volume group "vg" using metadata type lvm2
lvm>

Discovering the iscsi targets from another iscsi initiator machine..

We will assume that the iscsi initiator machine name is GUTSY and it has the open-iscsi package installed (this also installs iscsiadm utility along with it). We will also assume that the IP of HARDY (iscsi target) is 192.168.0.7.

You can leave the majority default values in /etc/iscsi.conf. Make sure you disable the CHAP authentication parameter values since we have not configured them in the scsi target.

Discover the new iscsi targets in HARDY:

GUTSY# iscsiadm -m discovery -t st -p 192.168.0.7
192.168.0.7:3260,1 iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.asm
192.168.0.7:3260,1 iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.ocr
192.168.0.7:3260,1 iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.vote

Verify the newly discovered target machine:

GUTSY# sudo iscsiadm -m discovery
192.168.0.6:3260 via sendtargets
192.168.0.7:3260 via sendtargets  --> the new iscsi target got added to the local database

Check the combination of discovered iscsi-target and logical volumes (the new ones are in BLUE color):

GUTSY# sudo iscsiadm -m node
192.168.0.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:openfiler.ocr
192.168.0.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:openfiler.vote
192.168.0.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:openfiler.asm
192.168.0.7:3260,1 iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.asm
192.168.0.7:3260,1 iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.ocr
192.168.0.7:3260,1 iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.vote

But, at this point, we have no active sessions connected to these targets:

GUTSY# iscsiadm -m session
iscsiadm: No active sessions.

Establish connection to the scsi targets from the initiator:

GUTSY# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.asm -p 192.168.0.7 -l
Login session [iface: default, target: iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.asm, portal: 192.168.0.7,3260]
GUTSY# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.vote -p 192.168.0.7 -l
Login session [iface: default, target: iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.vote, portal: 192.168.0.7,3260]
GUTSY# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.ocr -p 192.168.0.7 -l
Login session [iface: default, target: iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.ocr, portal: 192.168.0.7,3260]

Verify the newly formed connections:

GUTSY# iscsiadm -m session
tcp: [1] 192.168.0.7:3260,1 iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.asm
tcp: [2] 192.168.0.7:3260,1 iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.vote
tcp: [3] 192.168.0.7:3260,1 iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.ocr

Now that the TCP scsi connections have been formed, let us check if the scsi devices are visible from fdisk -l:

GUTSY# fdisk -l

..
Disk /dev/sdb: 37.5 GB, 37580963840 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 35840 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/sdb doesn't contain a valid partition table

Disk /dev/sdc: 1073 MB, 1073741824 bytes
34 heads, 61 sectors/track, 1011 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2074 * 512 = 1061888 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/sdc doesn't contain a valid partition table

Disk /dev/sdd: 1073 MB, 1073741824 bytes
34 heads, 61 sectors/track, 1011 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2074 * 512 = 1061888 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/sdd doesn't contain a valid partition table
GUTSY#

The newly discovered devices can also be checked under the contents of /dev/disk/*:

GUTSY# ls -l /dev/disk/*
/dev/disk/by-id:
total 0
..
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 2008-05-02 23:05 scsi-149455400000000000000000001000000795600000e000000 -> ../../sdc
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 2008-05-02 23:05 scsi-1494554000000000000000000020000004f5600000e000000 -> ../../sdd
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 2008-05-02 23:05 scsi-149455400000000000000000003000000a45600000e000000 -> ../../sdb
..

/dev/disk/by-path:
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 2008-05-02 23:05 ip-192.168.0.7:3260-iscsi-iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.asm-lun-0 -> ../../sdb
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 2008-05-02 23:05 ip-192.168.0.7:3260-iscsi-iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.ocr-lun-0 -> ../../sdd
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 2008-05-02 23:05 ip-192.168.0.7:3260-iscsi-iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.vote-lun-0 -> ../../sdc
..

Relevant messages in the system log of scsi initiator (GUTSY)

# dmesg
...
[ 1156.290868] scsi2 : iSCSI Initiator over TCP/IP
[ 1156.607026] scsi 2:0:0:0: Direct-Access     IET      VIRTUAL-DISK     0    PQ: 0 ANSI: 4
[ 1156.607026] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] 73400320 512-byte hardware sectors (37581 MB)
[ 1156.607026] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[ 1156.607026] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 77 00 00 08
[ 1156.607026] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[ 1156.607111] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] 73400320 512-byte hardware sectors (37581 MB)
[ 1156.608275] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[ 1156.608293] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 77 00 00 08
[ 1156.610635] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[ 1156.610665]  sdb: unknown partition table
[ 1156.619320] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI disk
[ 1156.619398] sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[ 1163.865083] scsi3 : iSCSI Initiator over TCP/IP
[ 1164.132972] scsi 3:0:0:0: Direct-Access     IET      VIRTUAL-DISK     0    PQ: 0 ANSI: 4
[ 1164.135287] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdc] 2097152 512-byte hardware sectors (1074 MB)
[ 1164.136424] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
[ 1164.136438] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 77 00 00 08
[ 1164.138002] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdc] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[ 1164.140341] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdc] 2097152 512-byte hardware sectors (1074 MB)
[ 1164.141443] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
[ 1164.141460] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 77 00 00 08
[ 1164.144746] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdc] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[ 1164.144809]  sdc: unknown partition table
[ 1164.154241] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI disk
[ 1164.154290] sd 3:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0
[ 1170.533158] scsi4 : iSCSI Initiator over TCP/IP
[ 1170.798343] scsi 4:0:0:0: Direct-Access     IET      VIRTUAL-DISK     0    PQ: 0 ANSI: 4
[ 1170.798343] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] 2097152 512-byte hardware sectors (1074 MB)
[ 1170.801229] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
[ 1170.801263] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 77 00 00 08
[ 1170.806093] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[ 1170.809875] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] 2097152 512-byte hardware sectors (1074 MB)
[ 1170.812347] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
[ 1170.812380] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 77 00 00 08
[ 1170.816757] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[ 1170.816757]  sdd: unknown partition table
[ 1170.828375] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Attached SCSI disk
[ 1170.828446] sd 4:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0

Cross checking incoming sessions at scsi target (HARDY)..

In the meanwhile, in HARDY, the incoming sessions can be checked by:

HARDY# more /proc/net/iet/*
::::::::::::::
/proc/net/iet/session
::::::::::::::
tid:3 name:iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.asm
sid:281474997486080 initiator:iqn.1993-08.org.debian:01:950a218cdd1
cid:0 ip:192.168.0.6 state:active hd:none dd:none
tid:2 name:iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.ocr
sid:844424984461824 initiator:iqn.1993-08.org.debian:01:950a218cdd1
cid:0 ip:192.168.0.6 state:active hd:none dd:none
tid:1 name:iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.vote
sid:562949990973952 initiator:iqn.1993-08.org.debian:01:950a218cdd1
cid:0 ip:192.168.0.6 state:active hd:none dd:none
::::::::::::::
/proc/net/iet/volume
::::::::::::::
tid:3 name:iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.asm
lun:0 state:0 iotype:fileio iomode:wt path:/dev/vg/asm
tid:2 name:iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.ocr
lun:0 state:0 iotype:fileio iomode:wt path:/dev/vg/ocr
tid:1 name:iqn.2001-04.com.ubuntu:scsi.disk.vg.vote
lun:0 state:0 iotype:fileio iomode:wt path:/dev/vg/vote
root@gverma-laptop:/home/gverma#

Conclusion..

Congratulations! You have been successful in creating a poor man's scsi target and discovered them using open source softwares in an easy manner. Now GUTSY can read/write to /dev/vg/asm etc logical volumes. For more machines to do the same thing, similar setup is needed on them and they should also be access these volumes in a clustered fashion. This kind of setup is most beneficial for creating your own Oracle 10g RAC sandbox environment or for doing installs over shared disk.

In this case, we did not format the discovered logical volumes in ext3 or OCFS2 file system, because it is assumed that these volumes will be used as raw devices only.

After using Hardy Heron, which weighed down my computer, I starting digging around in the CD box for some Linux to use.  I completely forgot about Kliket until I pulled out the DVD.  Now that I'm back, I get all the unique features:

1.  "Start" folder - has just about everything... ATI drivers, DVD support, etc.

2.  My Broadcom 4318 wireless works by default.

3.  Previews of the windows can be seen in the task bar.

3.  Software warehouse that is not CNR!

There's also all sorts of stuff in Kliket that I completely forgot about... It's nice to be back!

Anyway, my previous Xubuntu installation broke somehow and so can't update to 8.04. Now my only option is to go back to the only working installation disks I have, from version 6.10 Feisty Fawn. I really should just use Feisty, as it works beautifully and never gave me any trouble (and the computer I'll be running it on is a bit slow), but I'd like to fiddle with the Heron. So I'm installing 6.10, and then I'll update it, and then upgrade to 7, and then update that, and then upgrade it to 8.04. I imagine the process will take something along the lines of, oh, 500 years. But what can you do?

Also, apparently you can't buy single CDs from anywhere. You can get a $12 DVD from Amazon with all kinds of unnecessary bells and whistles or a pack of 20 from Canonical. Of course, I could also get the free CD, but that would take 6-10 weeks! I'd happily pay for a regular, old-fashioned alternate-install CD. That option is missing, and I imagine someone could make some money doing it.

Fair enough, so I changed permissions on this folder to be writable by all. Still no luck.

After about a month of being bloody pissed off with this arrangement, but unable to fix it, I happened across a tip that suggests deleting the folder and recreating it. So simple, but it might just work....

And it did! So if you're having the same problem, heres how to go about fixing it.

1. Open a terminal and run the command "cd .config"

2. Now, check the permissions of the files in this folder, run "ls -l", this lists the properties of the files within the current folder. We're interested in the properties of the "autostart" folder.

3. Find the line corresponding to the autostart folder, it will be the top one, or very close to it, now, after the series of letters ( e.g rwrx--r--rw etc.) it should list your username as the owner of the folder. If you see 'root' here, this may be your problem, you can remedy it by running the following command,

"sudo chown username autostart" (Replacing 'username' with your username obviously).

4. Try the sessions manager again, if it doesn't fix your problem, we'll move onto the next step.

5. Once again navigate to the .config folder, this time we're going to delete the folder and recreate it, so run the following command, it will do both operations at once.

"sudo rm autostart;mkdir autostart"

6. This should fix the problem, so give sessions manager a go again.

Let me know if this works for you, it drove me crazy for a while, hopefully you found this post before it does the same to you!

BTW - I've typed this whole post without looking at the keyboard once, my own very blunt way of teaching myself to touch type! Its a pain in the arse, but I'll let you know if it works!

For one, I installed Ubuntu 7.10, the previous version.  Then, without applying any updates, quickly upgraded to Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron.  The entire upgrade took a little over two hours, and I was in my new system:

Oh yeah! (The theme I'm using is the Human-Clearlooks theme... very cool!)

Não farei aqui um review completo de minhas impressões sobre a nova versão vez que grande parte dos sites e blogs já fizeram isso. Um ótimo release você pode ler aqui. Na verdade o Hardy não é uma revolução, principalmente em relação a nova interface gráfica tão esperada, porém o que já fizeram deu uma nova vida ao sistema. Na minha ótica o novo Ubuntu é sim uma evolução.

Muitas funcionalidades foram implementadas, a que mais me chamou a atenção foi a nova configuração do Xorg. Praticamente não se mexe nele em modo texto, pelo menos para a configuração do vídeo. Porém aqui eu tive de mexer. Mas foi tranquilo.

Como no meu caso minha placa de vídeo é da VIA, modelo Chrome 9, desde que troquei meu portátil vinha sofrendo com a confirguração ideal. No Gutsy eu tive que fazer alguns malabarismos e funcionou. No Hardy até que foi fácil, porém o GDM insistia em ficar com uma resolução maior que o normal.

Consegui configurar o problema fazendo um pequeno ajuste no Xorg, dica do Marcelo Minholi. Funcionou 100%.

Mas nem tudo são flores. O ajuste do brilho do LCD usando a combinação FN + F7/F8, literalmente não funciona. Fiquei "P" da vida porque na faculdade preciso ficar com o portátil ligado e nem sempre tem uma tomada disponível. Como lá o wireless é liberado para os alunos do curso de Sistemas, sempre to olhando meus emails, lendo algumas coisas na internet ou fuçando em algo para passar o tempo no intervalo e assim a bateria acaba indo pro espaço, pois a combinação LCD e wireless esfola a bateria rapidinho.

Para esse problema segui este tutorial escrito no tutolivre.net e garanto, é realmente funcional. Vale a pena. Sei que para alguns é chato ficar entrando no Consola terminal, porém para mim não faz diferença nenhuma. Rodo o scripr e pronto, o problema tá resolvido.

Bem, o Hardy realmente me impressionou. Tá rodando maravilhosamente bem. Notei que está mais rápido. Isso pode até ser papo de quem fica deslumbrado com coisas novas, mas acredito que essa impressão não foi só minha. Agora é usar e abusar, afinal, são 3 anos de suporte e atualizações.

I did not bother even attempting to upgrade on Thursday, as I knew that the upgrade servers would be so busy, I would not have a hope of getting the new version downloaded.  I waited until 10am (BST) this morning.  Even then, the upgrade took three hours to download and install, finishing just before I had to head off to work.

I tried and failed to install the latest version of Envy.  However, a little messing around with the system revealled that I did not actually need it.  The nVidia GeForce driver that comes as a standard with 8/04LTS is sufficiently advanced to allow me to run Cedega, and therefore Guild Wars on my desktop.

However, the best thing about  the latest version of Ubuntu has to be Firefox 3 Beta 5, the most advanced version of the Mozilla Project's open source Web Browser.  Firefox 2 made Microsoft's Internet Explorer look sad, Firefox 3 simply blows it out of the water.

In short, BitTorrent allows you to download files from other people, meanwhile sharing the parts you have already downloaded with other people who, just like you, are eager to try out the latest and greatest the open source community has to offer.

To download files using BitTorrent, you need a BitTorrent client. Since Xubuntu 8.04 includes Transmission, that is what we will be using. If you're not using 8.04, make sure to install it.

The first thing we need, is a torrent file, a file with a name ending in .torrent that contains all the information Transmission needs to download the appropriate files. The Xubuntu 8.04 torrent can be downloaded from Ubuntu's torrent website, where you can select the graphical Desktop CD (which is what most people want) or the text-based Alternate Install CD. We want the torrent files for Intel x86 architectures (most computers) or for AMD64 architectures (you'd probably know if you need this, using 64 Bit). A torrent file is not that big, so it should not take too long to download and does not place much of a burden on the servers.

After having downloaded the file to wherever you like, open up Transmission from Applications->Network->Transmission.

When newly installed, Transmission will download all files into the same directory as the torrent file. Instead of adapting to software (by remembering where it downloads files to), I make software adapt to me, so when I open a torrent file with Transmission, I want it to ask me where I want the files to be downloaded to.

Luckily, this is easy: simply open File->Preferences. While the preferences window is filled with cryptic terminology, the option I'm looking for is quickly found: all I need to do, is check the checkbox in front of Always prompt for download directory.

You can configure a whole host of additional options in the prefences window, such as the maximum download and upload speed. Be aware, though, that if you lower the maximum upload speed (i.e. the speed with which you are sharing the files with other people), the download speed will also decrease, so as to encourage everybody to share as much as they can.

When you're done configuring Transmission, click Close in the Prefences window - it's time to start downloading! Click File->Add and locate the torrent file you downloaded earlier. After you've opened the file and selected a target folder, Transmission will start downloading. While it will still be a long wait (the Xubuntu ISO image is a whopping 544 MB), if a lot of people are sharing the love then it'll be faster than a direct download, and you're helping other users at the same time.

Once you're done downloading, you'll want to verify that the file you downloaded is the correct one. After you've done that, the big moment is there: you can install Xubuntu!

Don't close Transmission though! If you leave the window open after your download has completed, Transmission will continue sharing the downloaded file with other users - this is called seeding and is a good habit if you want to be a Nice Guy. You can also resume seeding after you've closed a torrent - simply re-open the torrent file and select the same download location.

All in all, while often associated with illegal downloading, there are plently of legit situations in which BitTorrent saves the day. Now spread the love!

A continuación explicaré brevemente los sencillos pasos a seguir para activar la tableta gráfica wacom.

Primero que nada hay que instalar un paquete de herramientas de wacom necesarias.
$ sudo apt-get install wacom-tools

Una vez instalado el paquete vamos a /etc/X11/xorg.conf
sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

y bajando al final veremos comentado 3 lineas sobre wacom. Las descomentamos y al reiniciar tendremos una tableta funcionando sin problemas, en este caso sobre un tablet pc.
# Uncomment if you have a wacom tablet
InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"

One word to describe Ubuntu Linux's Gutsy Gibbon distribution: Beautiful!

Some observations:

It's way more user-friendly than the other OSs I have used (Mac not included). Can be customised to any extent...even by a lay user. Since most of the stuff is not built-in and one has to do some searching on 'How to' wikis, there is a personal sense attachment and achievement that develops over a period of time. That's why I can tolerate not being able to watch VCDs (.dat files), a screwed up flash player, a menu bar that changes its alignment by itself and can still be happy.

This is how my desktop looks after I tweaked it a bit:

Many thanks are due to Santhosh for installing the OS. God bless you!

-----------#-------------

Sleepless Summer Night

Too much activity in my brain meant that I could not fall asleep yesterday night. So, picked up my brother's phone, plugged the ear phones and started the music player. Usually I am very choosy about the songs I listen to, so decided to curb that instinct. And it felt good. Accepting whatever played. Lesson learned:Being too choosy can be troublesome at times.

The fusion of songs and thoughts went something like this:

Dus bahane karke le gaye dil...oh le's change this one...no, don't pick that stylus...let the song play...stay away! darn...ok.

When will I start writing the way I want to...Mahi we, teri yaad aati hai re...hmm good song...shall we jump to the next one? No, remember the resolution.

Maula mere maula mere...beautifully sung chorus, but Roop Kumar Rathod's voice sounds constipated, shall we jump? Stop being too pesky.

Yaaron, na fikar the parvaah, bah! this one's by that copycat Pritam...and it has Sonu Nigam to add to the woes...let's jump this one...please! No way...a word is a word. Sigh...OK...

Kya mujhe yaar hai...mhmmm used to like this one. not bad..let it play...

Ae mere humsafar...ahaa...those good old days

And so it went on, though my ears were beginning to hurt. Turns out I listened to no less than 29 songs on the trot...fell asleep listening to Rahman and Fateh Ali Khan's Gurus of peace...woke up with Only you from the same album. Unplugged the head phones. Had a blissful sleep.

-----------#-------------

The Sunday Bath

This is the third straight Sunday I've had to take a bath. Two weeks back it was Gudi Padwa, then it was Sriramanavami and today it is my dear God Hanuman's budday. Sigh...can't they spare me a bath on Sundays?

Anyway, heard this song playing at the nearby Hanuman temple: Aaj Hanuman Jayanti hai, aaj Hanuman Jayanti hai, aisa lagta hai jaise saari jahaan mein masti hai, aaj Hanuman Jayanti hai. Tune borrowed without permission from the yesteryear marriage anthem, Aaj mere yaar ki shaadi hai. These bhakts I tell you....That apart, my good old friend, Sumit Kale is getting married. The dude had a tough time finding a job of his choice till about an year ago...now he's got the job and a girl too. And here I am, single and ready, and no girl gives a darn. Such is life.

-----------#-------------

Take Me With You

My niece came calling yesterday. I was about to leave for work. She came up to the door to say bye bye. The sun was shining down on her face and the shadow of the grills on her face made a pretty scene. I stopped and clicked.

-----------#-------------

Chargers Take on Riders

The IPL is on. Deccan Chargers play Knight Riders. it's 47/2. Gilly and Monkeyman Symonds are out there. I hope they kick the Riders' ass. At least that will make the other monkey, SRK, quiet.

-----------end of update-------------thank you for reading-------------

Lyrics for the moment

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
'relax,' said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave! - Eagels, Hotel California

Up until about six months ago I was a Windows guy. I had never even run a stand alone linux machine before I had become fed up with vista on my laptop and decided it was time for a change. Originally, I bought a 160GB drive to put my Vista partition on and I was going to try out Ubuntu Gutsy on my old 80 GB drive, but I decided to try it out on my 160GB to keep from having to copy my partition over from the 80, and I'm kinda glad I did. I use the qualifier, "kinda" because, while I've stuck with Ubuntu, the relief it brought was only temporary, like how the joy of masturbation is only temporary.

I had earlier tried Edgy after my first hard drive failed about a year ago and I was not impressed. First, it took me three days to figure out how to get my wireless card to work. Second, while it was functional, Ubuntu seemed more like a novelty, a toy, rather than a full-fledged operating system. I later installed vista, and was happy, for a time. Come my hard drive upgrade and I'm ready to dive off the bow into anything but vista.

So it's been about six months and my Ubuntu install is well lived-in. There are many things I like about it and many more things I don't. In the interest of fairness, I will reveal both to you.

PRO: System Updating For Everything

This is totally awesome. Virtually every single piece of software on the machine receives semi-automatic updates via the update manager. Anything that's in an available "repository" is automatically checked for new version releases and updated at your notice. Every operating system should have this function built-in. Well, I think every one does, except windows.

CON: Troubleshooting

I often find myself at the ubuntu forums trying to find out how to do something or fix something. Usually it's one of three things: quick and easy, slow and painful, or impossible. This is important, because if I can't do something quickly and easily I usually don't want to do it unless I have some time and it's important for me to do it, and while it is usually easy to find the information on how to do it, it is sometimes very complicated and lengthy to get it accomplished.

PRO: UI + Visual Effects (Compiz)

While it didn't come enabled correctly out of the box, I was able to easily correct that via a tutorial on the Ubuntu Forums (which I use, A LOT) that allowed for some stunning UI action. I use the multiple desktops (also a PRO) which work great with the visual effects, which make switching desktops seem like the turning of a big cube, or prismatic hexagon in my case, which works and looks fantastic. The window manipulation is also pretty great. Windows flex and ripple when you move them, which sometimes leads to a permanent wiggle, but is easily corrected. They also close and fade away in an almost identical way to vista, but the window seems to fall over as it fades away. I sat down in a computer lab at school and found myself trying to bring up another program by switching to another desktop and I couldn't figure out why it wasn't working until I had that V8 moment.

CON: Software Compatibility

This is the Biggie folks. There are simply so many mainstream pieces of software that do not work great, or in most cases, at all with linux. Games, flash, music organizers, none of them work unless they are explicitly designed to work.
While some games work through wine, the windows emulator for linux, the performance is so low compared to how they would run in XP that in most cases it isn't worth the case unless you have a rockin' system. Flash, for the most part, is broken. While videos play and web sites load, they often stutter and are impaired functionality-wise. For example: webcams don't work with flash websites, at all. Want to watch a youtube video full screen? Forget about it. Flash games seem to work right, for the most part. I have an iPod, and while there are some players that claim iPod functionality, they are either too unstable (songbird), too ugly (banshee), or too unusable (amarok) to bother hooking my iPod up to them.
I am also learning how to code C++, but the compiler I use only works for windows, which also works great in wine, but none of the programs I make work correctly in the command line. I have to go over to my windows machine and test my compiled programs there, which is really a pain.

PRO: Virus Free

Since I've been using Ubuntu, I haven't had a single infection which means I don't have to run anti-virus, which means I don't have to dedicate memory and computing cycles to running it and I don't have to be a-feared of surfing some shifty porn site.

CON: Tiring

Lastly I just want to say how tiring running Ubuntu is, even for me. Every few days is an uphill battle to conquer some misbehaving software or research solutions to specific problems, where on windows it would be relatively simple. The forums are great and all, but it begins to be repetitive when you go back every other week for something.

Linux is great and is extremely stable, but sometimes it just seems like its a big puzzle with some missing pieces and some pieces that sometimes don't fit together correctly. With that said it's highly unlikely that I'll ever go back to windows for anything more than a sabbatical and I await Hardy Heron with great anticipation.

Thanks Tux.

-Taylor

Update: I've gotten a new laptop and my first try to dual boot Heron with vista didn't pan out so well, but I still plan on dual-booting when it gets to release.

A new release gives me the temptation to jump right in to see what it is all about. Oh, but I have had the “new release” experience, and would like to send a note of caution, to those like myself, who might show signs of gastronomic distress when faced with frustration.

Having a new operating system can be great fun. You get to run around your desktop and explore all the new bells and whistles. It is great to check out new features, and how well the old ones you are used to are working.

You'll see new graphics, and much of what is happening behind the scenes of your GUI may have changed as well. It is here where you notice the twitches and shudders begin. Is it the operating system, or your possibly system hardware match that is having a moment of discomfort adjusting to each other?

Gutsy Gibbon has gas, but occasionally it blows sideways. Graphics and sound performance appear much improved, but I know it has given my old IBM laptop a few shudders. Moving photos makes my system shut down, and Gutsy has got Firefox showing adjustment problems as well.

Yesterday, I spent the whole day grumbling at my Internet provider for the fact I couldn't get anything done on the Internet. My pages wouldn't load. My friend came by and showed me I could use Synaptic Package Manager to check my download connection.

Doing a download outside of my browser allowed me to see that my Internet provider was not the problem. Using Synaptic Package Manager, I downloaded Opera, and then ran it as my browser. No problems, I fly in cyberspace once more.

Now that Firefox knows it has some competition, it has settled down and is working perfectly. Figure that. I don't know all that goes on inside my computer, but I know it acts how I sometimes feel when faced with new challengers. My laptop seems to have its own moments of digestive adjustment.

The Ubuntu programmers are much better at finding solutions for these software problems. I will leave that to them. When new releases come out they are very busy. Meanwhile, I will enjoy watching my laptop get used to it new companion, Gutsy Gibbon.

The gas has passed and things are getting better. The photo transfer issues I am experiencing may mean I need to take a trip to the Ubuntu Forums where those who know more, and suffer less, can shine there light on my discomfort.

Switching your OS can be quite an adventure. Picking up some Tums before you get started, might not be a bad idea. Smiles. ET

• Distribuzione: Fedora
• Desktop Manager: GNOME o KDE? Non ho idea ...

Nei giorni di mezzo, tra la meditazione e ieri, mi sono convinto di stare su GNOME in quanto lo uso da anni e mi sono sempre trovato bene senza problemi. Se il buon KDE ha tante belle cosine grafiche mi fà piacere ma per lavorare non mi servono e quindi possono stare a casetta loro.

Ieri stavo leggendo un pò di discussioni sulla questione di compatibilità col modello del mio portatile. Ho visto che Ubuntu risulta più compatibile ed anche più "semplice" da configurare rispetto a Fedora.

Sempre ieri ho visto apparire nel feed-reader una notizia di aggiornamento di una Ubuntu7.10 ad una Ubuntu8.04 ed il mio neurone ha avuto una bellissima idea malsana. Ok, l'avete già capita!

Siccome la Fedora8 sul mio portatile non vuole saperne di andare in quanto sin dal suo primo rilascio si inchioda ogni tanto ieri ho pensato:

Tanto non ho ancora installato nulla. Tanto tra poco esce la versione 9. Scarichiamo la nuova Ubuntu e proviamola.

Anzi, l'idea originale è stata ben diversa:

Installo la versione 7.10 che ho a casa e poi tento di fare l'upgrade diretta avanzando di versione. Cavolo, il cd che ho non è una versione Alternate e quindi dovrei scaricarmela che palle ...

Così ieri sera, prima di andare a far spinning nonostante il problema del ginocchio, ho lanciato il download della Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron Beta Alternate. I perchè ho scaricato la versione Beta e non la versione corrente sono molto semplici:

• Risparmio un download di Ubuntu ( la versione 7.10 nome in codice Gutsy Gibbon )
• Risparmio un aggiornamento di sistema operativo (da Gutsy Gibbon a Hardy Heron)
• Risparmio un avanzamento che potrebbe dare problemi (Ogni tentativo mi ha sempre dato crash del sistema)

Questa sera purtroppo non posso mettermi a giocare perchè subito dopo nuoto devo andare a casa di LadyChobin a vedere la nuova stagione di CSI e parlare di un paio di cose. Domani nel pomeriggio, allenamenti e/o altri impegni permettendo, potrei concedermi di giocare un pochetto con la iso scaricata.

Chissà, se riesco a configurare tutto l'hardware in modo semplice e veloce prima di partire per le ferie sarei davvero felice. Troverò un parente che avrà una WLan a cui appoggiarmi :)

Qualcuno di voi ha già provato la Ubuntu 8.04 Beta Alternate oppure no? Son curioso e speriamo di non aver problemi in fase di installazione.

La domanda sorge spontanea: riuscirò a vedere il bellissimo GNOME a fine dell'installazione oppure no? Io sono fiducioso di si ...

After the seeing how smoothly Ubuntu was updated on my laptop, I decided to update my Kubuntu 7.10 to 8.04 beta.  I already am using the KDE 4.0.3 version of Kubuntu 8.04 so the next step was the KDE 3.5.9 version of Hardy Heron.  This time the update was very painful.  I had to install it from scratch after the update because I could not do anything with it.  Thank God for live cd's because there were some data that I had not backed up before attempting this update.  From what I have been experiencing Kubuntu is buggier than Ubuntu.  The KDE 4 version of Kubuntu has less bugs from my experience.  Everything will be fixed by April 24th and both Kubuntu distros will be great.

Il Gibbone Coraggioso [Ubuntu 7.10] sarà sostituito dall'Airone Ardito [o dall'Airone Robusto... a seconda di come vogliamo tradurlo], la versione 8.04 dell'ottimo Sistema Operativo.

Chi invece non riesce ad aspettare, può "tranquillamente" scaricare la pre-release dal sito ufficiale e provare ad aggiornare la propria versione...

Io spero solo che abbiano risolto i problemi con certe stampanti Epson

In this article I have various walkthroughs on enabling the advanced desktop effects which allow you to have the 3D cube, wobbly Windows, virtual desktop areas and many more

Read the full article here on PCWizKid's Official blog

Secara default, Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon telah menghilangkan support untuk /proc/bus/usb/*. Agar USB device dapat digunakan di VirtualBox, editlah berkas /etc/init.d/mountdevsubfs.sh:

$ sudo nano /etc/init.d/mountdevusbfs.sh

kemudian carilah barislah berikut:

..........
# Magic to make /proc/bus/usb work
#
#mkdir -p /dev/bus/usb/.usbfs
#domount usbfs «» /dev/bus/usb/.usbfs -obusmode=0700,devmode=0600,listmode=0644
#ln -s .usbfs/devices /dev/bus/usb/devices
#mount --rbind /dev/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb
..........

Uncomment beberapa baris di atas, sehingga tampak seperti ini:

..........
# Magic to make /proc/bus/usb work
#
mkdir -p /dev/bus/usb/.usbfs
domount usbfs «» /dev/bus/usb/.usbfs -obusmode=0700,devmode=0600,listmode=0644
ln -s .usbfs/devices /dev/bus/usb/devices
mount --rbind /dev/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb
..........

Lalu tambahkan group dengan nama usbusers (System > Administrations > Users and Groups) kemudian tambahkan username Anda ke dalam groups usbusers tadi. Lakukan pengeditan untuk berkas 40-permissions.rules

$ sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/40-permissions.rules

Carilah line berikut ini:

# USB devices (usbfs replacement)
SUBSYSTEM=="usb_device",                    MODE="0664"

Ubah seperti ini:

# USB devices (usbfs replacement)
SUBSYSTEM=="usb_device",  GROUP="usbusers"    MODE="0664"

Setelah semua “resep” dilakukan, restart komputer Anda. Lalu jalankan VirtualBox Anda. Lihatlah di bagian setting, akan terdapat menu USB. Selamat mencoba… :D

(sumber: http://balikpapan.linux.or.id)

Daca ar fi sa traducem conform wiki "Compiz is one of the first compositing window managers for the X Window System3D graphics hardware to create fast compositing that uses desktop effects for window management", ar iesi ceva de genul:

compiz este un manager de ferestre compozitional pentru sistemul de ferestre X, care foloseste placa video pentru a crea efecte de desktop obtinute printr-o tehnica de compozitie a imaginii care in consta in combinarea mai multor elemente vizuale pentru a crea un tot ....

... o definitie nu tocmai eleganta. De aceea, sa lasam imaginile sa vorbeasca:

Imaginile sunt destul de mari (1024x768), deci se vor incarca ceva mai greu la cei cu net mai putin bun. In cazul in care v'ati plictisit sa se tot incarce, youtube it or google it .

Instalarea

Instalare nu presupune nimic altceva decat instalarea urmatoarelor pachete: compizconfig-settings-manager, emerald si gnome-compiz-manager. Si - evident, va trebui sa aveti driverul de la placa video instalat.

1. via Terminal

• deschideti Terminalul (logic, nu?)
• instalam pachetele de mai sus scriind pentru fiecare in parte sudo apt-get install numele_pachetului
• siii.... tadaaam! aveti compiz-fusion cu emerald instalate

P.S. in caz ca nu v-ati prins, comenzile erau: sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager, sudo apt-get install emerald si sudo apt-get install gnome-compiz-manager

2. via SPM (aka Synaptic Package Manager, ala din System > Administration)

• deschidem SPM
• cautam, folosind Search-ul, pachetele de mai sus
• le bifam cu optiunea Mark For Installation (inclusiv pachetele aditionale aka dependecies)
• Apply
• and voila! compiz-fusion si emeral au fost instalate

Asadar nu e cine stie ce mare filosofeala sa instalezi Compiz-Fusionul.

Cum functioneaza?

Probabil asta va intrebati acum. Ok, ca sa testam sa vedem daca merge faceti una din urmatoarele:

• goto System > Preferences > Advanced Desktop Effects Settings, bifati: Desktop Cube, Rotate Cube si Cube Reflection; tineti apasate Ctrl+Alt+Click stanga si miscati putin mouseul (dupa care puteti sa NU mai tineti apsate tastele Ctrl+Alt) si acum ar trebui sa invartiti un cub sau o ... foaie... in cazul in care cubul vostru are doar 2 fete (aka aveti doar desktopuri)
• apasati Super + E (Super = tasta aia cu logoul de la windows) si ar trebui sa vedeti 2 (sau 4, sau cate aveti) desktopuri aliniate

Cum activati/dezactivati pluginuri?

Mai intai tre' sa intelegeti ce e ala un plugin. Comiz-Fusionu' e un fel de... engine - prin intermediul lui aveti acces la diferite pluginuri, fiecare facand un anume lucru. Asa cum toate jocurile video au un engine in spate, asa si pluginurile pentru Compiz-Fusion au in spate - guess what - Compiz-Fusion! Pentru a administra aceste pluginuri goto System > Preferences > Advanced Desktop Effects Settings.

Pentru a activa/dezactiva pluginuri folositi checkboxul din dreptul fiecarui plugin. Iar pentru a accesa diferitele setari (printre care si tastele cu care il vizualizati) ale pluginului, click pe el (e sub forma de buton) , next to za checkbox.

Enjoy!

Si eres usuario de Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon en AMD64 o x86-64 con una tarjeta Nvidia, sabes que no tienes "splash screen" desde el principio. El problema fue reportado ya en la beta, hace seis meses. Sin embargo, Canonical no se ha puesto con ello hasta hace mes y medio/dos meses. El bug es el 147623. Hubo más gente que lo reportó, incluído yo, pero ese es el "oficial". Nótese que se reportó en la beta de Gutsy, pero Canonical se ha negado a ofrecer una solución para esa distribución.

Usuarios de Hardy: el bug está resuelto en Hardy Heron. Ejecutad sudo apt-get update ; sudo apt-get upgrade.

Sinceramente, aunque queden, ahora mismo, 25 días tan solo para la salida de Hardy Heron y tenga planeado actualizar, me parece muy poco considerado por su parte que se niegen a solucionar el bug en Gutsy Gibbon, que es la distribución publicada actualmente y de la que, supuestamente, dan soporte durante 18 meses. Canonical, vas por mal camino.

La solución en Hardy Heron Beta ha venido de la mano de una nueva versión del paquete libx86-1. Nótese que la versión de Gutsy es la 0.99-1.2ubuntu2 y la de Hardy es la 0.99-1.2ubuntu3, de manera que hay pocos cambios, parece. Lamentablemente, el paquete binario está enlazado contra la libc 2.7, nueva en Hardy.

Pero eso no significa que no puedas disfrutar de ella en Gutsy. El procedimiento es el siguiente:

$ sudo apt-get install fakeroot build-essential
$ sudo apt-get build-dep libx86-1
$ wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/libx/libx86/libx86_0.99-1.2ubuntu3.dsc
$ wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/libx/libx86/libx86_0.99-1.2ubuntu3.tar.gz
$ tar xzvf libx86_0.99-1.2ubuntu3.tar.gz
$ cd libx86-0.99
$ fakeroot dpkg-buildpackage
(Da algunos errores porque no puede firmar el paquete, pero no pasa nada.)
$ cd ..
$ sudo dpkg -i libx86-1_0.99-1.2ubuntu3_amd64.deb
$ sudo update-initramfs -u

Al reiniciar, podrás disfrutar de tu bonita barra de progreso ya en la parada de la máquina y, por supuesto, en el arranque.

La pregunta es: si el mismo código fuente que sirve para Hardy también sirve para Gutsy, ¿por qué se niega Canonical a publicar el parche?