LinuxQuestions.org - Blogs - carl0ski

Truecrypt Ubuntu Hardy (linux kernel 2.6.24 +)

carl0ski — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 12:43:40 GMT

After hours of fiddling i found a method of installing Truecrypt

What you'll need
$sudo apt-get build-essentials dmsetup linux-sources-`uname -r`
$cd /usr/src
$sudo tar -xvjpf linux-sources-`uname -r`.tar.bz2
$sudo ln -s linux-sources-`uname -r` /usr/src/linux

#patch i needed in Gentoo emerge tree
I needed to patch my kernel with the following

Code:

diff -Nrup a/Linux/Kernel/Dm-target.c b/Linux/Kernel/Dm-target.c
--- Linux/Kernel/Dm-target.c	2007-04-24 18:32:06.000000000 +0200
+++ b/Linux/Kernel/Dm-target.c	2007-12-22 15:07:56.000000000 +0100
@@ -375,7 +375,11 @@ static void dereference_bio_ctx (struct 
 	if (!atomic_dec_and_test (&bc->ref_count))
 		return;
 
+#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE < KERNEL_VERSION(2,6,24)
 	bio_endio (bc->orig_bio, bc->orig_bio->bi_size, bc->error);
+#else
+	bio_endio (bc->orig_bio, bc->error);
+#endif
 	mempool_free (bc, tc->bio_ctx_pool);
 }
 
@@ -417,24 +421,35 @@ static void work_process (void *qdata)
 }
 
 
+#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE < KERNEL_VERSION(2,6,24)
 static int truecrypt_endio (struct bio *bio, unsigned int bytes_done, int error)
+#else
+static int truecrypt_endio (struct bio *bio, int error)
+#endif
 {
 	struct bio_ctx *bc = (struct bio_ctx *) bio->bi_private;
 	struct target_ctx *tc = (struct target_ctx *) bc->target->private;
 	struct bio_vec *bv;
 	int seg_no;
 	
+#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE < KERNEL_VERSION(2,6,24)
 	trace (1, "end: sc=%llu fl=%ld rw=%ld sz=%d ix=%hd vc=%hd dn=%d er=%d\n",
 		(unsigned long long) bio->bi_sector, bio->bi_flags, bio->bi_rw, bio->bi_size, bio->bi_idx, bio->bi_vcnt, bytes_done, error);
+#else
+	trace (1, "end: sc=%llu fl=%ld sz=%ld rw=%ld ix=%hd vc=%hd er=%d\n",
+		(unsigned long long) bio->bi_sector, bio->bi_flags, bio->bi_size, bio->bi_rw, bio->bi_idx, bio->bi_vcnt, error);
+#endif
 
 	if (error != 0)
 		bc->error = error;
 
+#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE < KERNEL_VERSION(2,6,24)
 	if (bio->bi_size)
 	{
 		trace (2, "Outstanding IO: %d\n", bio->bi_size);
 		return 1;
 	}
+#endif
 
 	if (bio_data_dir (bio) == READ)
 	{

Save this as a text file named
truecrypt2.6.24.patch

Run
#sudo patch -p0 -i truecrypt2.6.24.patch

It will now look as follows

Code:

$ sudo  patch -p0 -i for2.6.23.patch
can't find file to patch at input line 4
Perhaps you used the wrong -p or --strip option?
The text leading up to this was:
--------------------------
|diff -Nrup a/Linux/Kernel/Dm-target.c b/Linux/Kernel/Dm-target.c
|--- carl/Linux/Kernel/Dm-target.c	2007-04-24 18:32:06.000000000 +0200
|+++ b/Linux/Kernel/Dm-target.c	2007-12-22 15:07:56.000000000 +0100
--------------------------
File to patch:

File to patch enter the full path into the ture crypt source code
/home/carl/Desktop/truecrypt-4.3a-source-code/Linux/Kernel/Dm-target.c

finally build truecrypt
$cd /home/carl/Desktop/truecrypt-4.3a-source-code/Linux
$sudo sh ./build.sh
$sudo sh ./install.sh

#load truecrypt module
$sudo modprobe truecrypt

All should be good to go

K9Copy: A gift from god - Backup DVD Disc/image or VOB files to x264 file with AC3 Sound

carl0ski — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 10:24:56 GMT

I saw this new x264 and felt in has evolved to a point it is a healthy choice for backing up my media

My goal copy a DVD to a High Quality x264 AVI file without losing the original digital 6 channel sound.

Tools needed

K9Copy
Transcode
x264
Mplayer w/ Mencoder
libdvdcss

First thing load k9copy
1- Put your DVD in you drive, open the DVD

From here you can rip to mpeg-4 , shrink dvd to a dvd-r or fiddle around with some tweaks. The later is what i need
2- Settings>Configure k9copy>mEncoder

What we are doing here is creating a new template for ripping DVD to AVI. There are 3 sections
Label: (descriptive name for template)

Video: (Where you chose your Video format, it is Equivilent to -ovc option in mencoder)

Audio: (Where you chose your Audio format, it is Equivilent to -oac option in mencoder)

i chose to call my template High Quality.
Video i chose x264
Audio i chose copy (since i want to purely copy the ac3 from the dvd)

My Choice
Label: High Quality
Video: x264
Audio: copy

4- Click Apply and look into the MPEG-4 settings on the left

5- Video Codec: here you should see your label High Quality Select it
(if it doesnt appear exit settings screen and try again)

6- Choose you size and resolution and you down
(click OK/Apply and hit the MPEG-4 button to begin)

7- Put your feet up and relax

EndNote
do black bars annoy you as much as you?
one last step if you want to rid them

Mplayer has a feature called autocrop
try it
mplayer dvd://1 -vf cropdetect
you'll notice the black bars top bottom left and right are gone. Whats even better it will tell you how to get rid of the permanently > below
[CROP] Crop area: X: 1..719 Y: 70..505 (-vf crop=704:432:10:72).

take this section
-vf crop=704:432:10:72
and tack it into you Mencoder setting in k9copy

I added to the Audio Section so it looks like this
copy -vf crop=704:432:10:72

XGL / Compiz & KDE

carl0ski — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 13:03:43 GMT

XGL may be blasted as eye candy , that may be true but it is also very productive.
The eye candy is in reality a side effect of the highly responsive nature of hardware drawn dektops
Windows move and scroll real time, Pages of text scroll by smoothly and dont grind down your machine.

The Novell guide went off without a hitch
http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/feature/17174.html

However some available option are out of date since it is fairly old
the gentoo one has a more detailed & upto date list.
http://gentoo-wiki.com/Compiz

my
~/.kde/Autostart/compiz.desktop

[Desktop Entry]

Encoding=UTF-8

Exec=compiz --replace miniwin decoration transset wobbly fade minimize cube rotate zoom scale move neg resize place switcher trailfocus water & gnome-window-decorator &

GenericName[en_US]=

StartupNotify=false

Terminal=false

TerminalOptions=

Type=Application

X-KDE-autostart-after=kdesktop

The top and bottom images are stored here
/usr/share/compiz/

My only grevance is the top and bottom bases have no productive purpose.

Are you a Linux Newbie? Fell off the Windows Ship Without a Paddle?

carl0ski — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 11:05:34 GMT

i just thought i'd make a quick list to aid in quickly understanding and feeling comfortable using Linux.
Since my favourite Distro is Mandriva , and i find it quite easy to learn.
I recommend it.

Recommended Software

KDE equivilent to the icons and Startbar in Windows.

Konquerer Equivilant to Internet Explorer both can be used to browse the web and manage files on your Hardrive. Even rips audio CDs 'audiocd://'.

Amarok Similar to iTunes, it Is easy to use powerful music player, and like itunes allows you to sort music very thoroughly. Added ability to drag files in and out of amarok to Konquerer.

Ksysguard Windows Task Manager

Kmix Windows Sound Volume Manager

Kcontrol Equivilent of Control Panel (kcontrol can configure every shortcut, icon, colour, how your desktop looks sounds feels acts)

Mandriva Control Centre Windows Control Panel features add/remove software/hardware, configure Hardware, Login Settings(Usernames)

How it Works

/ equivlent to C:/ drive in windows it is the heart of your system (is it helps just imagine there is a letter at the start.)

/home equivilent to Documents And Settings in Windows, This folder contains a folder for each user and stores all you personal settings, Documents and program history.

/etc Windows Registry, like the registry etc stores startup settings and hardware configurations

/bin
/lib is probably most like c:/Windows/System directory it keeps core applications, and extensions.

/usr Program Files: /usr directory tends to store most software you install for personal use including media players and browsers.

/tmp c:\windows\temp Linux however uses it differently purely delete immediately data only.

/var c:\windows\temp Linux uses the /var folder to temporarily store information for currently open programs, it generally isnt deleted since it caches software and aids in quick loading.

now anything contained within
/mnt/ is equivilent to drives available in "My Computer" excluding c:\
All descriptive names in /mnt/ can be changed to your liking,
the second word is the mount point it can be changed in the text file /etc/fstab

/mnt/floppy is a:\ in windows
/mnt/hdd can be any other harddrives in you system
/mnt/cdrom is your first cdrom generally d:\ in windows
/mnt/cdrom2 is your second cdrom generally e:\ in windows

finally
Swap c:\pagefile.sys unlike windows pagefile.sys linux swap is stored on a dedicated slice of you Harddrive, this allows it to run quickly efficently and doesnt fragment with other files (consistant performance).

Handy Recommended KDE Knowledge "Please Add"

carl0ski — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 12:04:10 GMT

Handy Hotkeys
* Alt-ctrl-ESC : Launch Xkill mouse point (next window you click, dies :)
* Ctrl-ESC : Launch Task Manager
* Alt-LeftMouse Button : Allows you to drag any window by moving mouse around freely
* Alt-RightMouse Button: Allows you to resize any window by moving mouse around freely

Emergency Global Keys

* Alt-Sys-E : send the terminate signal to all process
* Alt-Sys-I : stop all process (kill signal)
* Alt-Sys-U : put filesystems into 'read only' mode
* Alt-Sys-B : Reboot
* Alt-Sys-O : Switch off
* Alt-Sys-R : put the keyboard into raw mode
* Alt-Sys-S : instantly sync all hards disks
* Alt-Ctrl-Backspace : Kill X/KDE

Customised HotKeys in KDE
Kde as you'd expect has numerous options for using your keyboard
One of which is setting a key or string of keys to open programs
* Right click any Program shortcut on your desktop/KDE menu > Edit Item > Current Shortcut key
* Also can be found here > KControl > Accessibility > Keyboard Shortcuts > Command Shortcuts

* Don't Forget the Option "Multi Key Mode" allows more powerful shortcuts.
first key pressed launches a little menu, with list of actions.

ie set F1 , Z hide Window border
set F1 , X maximize Window
set F1 , F Launch Firefox (set Under 'Command Shortcuts' keys as shown above)

now press F1 , a menu is displayed
Hide Window Border Z Maximize Window X, Launch Firefox F

Some interesting 'powercommands' in linux (i didnt know any of them)

carl0ski — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 11:35:26 GMT

I felt the need to read through a big book about Bash commands so far here are some of my favourites

Alias command : allows assigning a long line of commands to a short phrase (alias shortcut='lengthycommand')

bittorrent-curses --maxport 6666 --minport 7777 --maxuploadrate 10 (a pain in the but to type)
but 'bit' isnt

#alias bit='bittorrent-curses --maxport 6666 --minport 7777 --maxuploadrate 10'
#bit suse.torrent
is now the same as
#bittorrent-curses --maxport 6666 --minport 7777 --maxuploadrate 10 suse.torrent

!! : automatically add the last command you typed
#ls /usr/src/
lists /usr/src

#!!linux
lists /usr/src/linux

TPUT Command allows you to alter terminal display.
for example
setb # "changes the background colour of you terminal screen"
setf # "changes the font colour of you terminal screen"
0-7 is support 0= black 7=white 2= green

smul "underlines all you text"
rmul "removes underlines of all you text

i made root permanently underlined green text with black backgroud by adding:
tput setb 0
tput setf 2
tput smul

to the file /etc/bashrc

Constantly change into a directory deep deep somewhere on your hdd? i do
cd /home/carl0ski/.kde/apps/
sure ~ variable helps but

CDPATH "a very powerful variable allows you to add directories to global access"
#export CDPATH=:.:/home/carl0ski/.kde/

now no matter where you are if you type cd apps guess where you end up :)
/home/carl0ski/.kde/apps#

more to follow

Cut
I hate it when posting a config file that it takes up muliple pages because of unneccessary # comments

Section "ServerFlags"
#DontZap # disable (server abort)
#DontZoom # disable / (resolution switching)
AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse does not work
EndSection

in this example i fetch info from xorg.conf send it to
cut , which -d looks for the # character and fetches everything before that (1st column) last that info is sent to
tr where -s shrinks extra spaces into one "" " "

cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf | cut -d '#' -f 1| tr -s "" " "

Section "ServerFlags"
AllowMouseOpenFail
EndSection

Pause equivilant in linux bash
SLEEP tseconds
#sleep 3; ls /

wait 3 seconds then list contents of / directory

Enter information into a prompt in linux bash
( commands, text, passwords etc )

(sleep 3; echo username; sleep 3; echo password; sleep 5; echo ping 127.0.0.1; sleep 3; echo "exit") | telnet hostname

Bash Rename Files (including spaces)
in this example i am renaming all file names
replacing ed, s0, 4e with Ed, S0, 4E

for i in *; do echo ${i}; a=`echo ${i}|replace ed Ed|replace s0 S0|replace 4e 4E`; mv -T "${i}" "${a}"; done

Source
ed - s04e13

Destination
Ed - S04E13

#store the Mplayer autocrop settings to $crop
#I wrote this line to help with Video encoding and mplayer playback
#
crop=$((sleep 5; echo "q")| mplayer /media/Videos/Films/The.Fifth.Element.1997.CD1.mkv -ss 600 -vf cropdetect|cut -d '(' -f 2|cut -d ')' -f 1|grep crop|tail -1)

#after the sleep period all commands in the brackets () will be launched through the pipe |
(sleep 5; echo "i've waited 5 seconds")|vi

#This will load VI text editor after 5 seconds "i've waited 5 seconds" will be typed into VI.

Fedora Core 4 (New Meaning to Dependancy hell)

carl0ski — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 00:15:03 GMT

i want to do something very simple
but fedora makes it rediculously difficult,
in a sense almost working against me.

i want to install this rpm
fglrx64_6_8_0-8.16.20-1.x86_64.rpm

dependancy hell is the result (i actually thought someone made this up since Mandrake never had it)

Yum is flakey at best it lacks, speed efficiency and user friendliness.
yum install
yum localinstall
refuse to install it

Total download size: 47 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
unsigned package fglrx64_6_8_0-8.16.20-1.x86_64.rpm
[root@carlos ~]#

In comparison urpmx
urpmi - "installs remote.rpms local.rpms anything in one step"
urpme - "removes stated package and its dependencies"

rpm -i
as i expected gives redundacy hell

Add Remove Software is an extremely flakey piece of software.
Lacks flexibility and a stand out bug/issue with it programming allows you to remove denpendencies,
without automatically removing or warning of those rpms that depend on them.

In comparison RPMdrake allows this and APT-get on SuSE is also fair more polished. although lack easy to use groups as in Fedora, the groups allow you install any program available in the Repos as RedHat calls them

Conclusion

Suse and Mandriva are definetly the right choice
Fedora isnt really suited to anyone who wishes to install software on it or plain use it for anything bar a server.
Permanent (locked) office station or kiosk would suit it.
but personal computer destroy the disc and burn it (piro).

Today URPMI S$%# itself and Fedora X86_64 DVD just happened to around. Good Idea??

carl0ski — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 11:21:10 GMT

The lesson i learned today is dont delete the entire /var cache directory
apparently it causes problems

To fix it i was going to quickly use mandriva repair/update

but Fedora was sitting there staring at me.

Am i happy?
not so far
Fedora core 4
1. come with KDE 3.4.0 (bit outdated and .0 isnt ever a favoured version)
2. Install took a very long time 30mins (equililent install in Mandriva x86_64 is 15mins)

i'll post more after i locate what Fedora uses instead of URPMI

#updatedb
#locate "urpmi alternative"

Me and my IrritATIng motherboard drivers

carl0ski — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 10:38:30 GMT

IrratATIng

ATI Xpress 200 i found to be truely magnificent piece of equipment , however the conducter is lazy.

Today i found my way to the ATI site (/me shudders) and followed my nose through to ATI Xpress 200 Linux X86_64 drivers
I though fantastic and downloaded the latest 8.19 South Bridge Drivers for ATI motherboards with GFX.
ATI Customer Care > Drivers and Software > Linux > Linux x86_64 > Motherboards with ATI Graphics > RADEON >

Foolishly i downloaded this 50 MB file twice and installed it countless times in every position you could imagine (and a rude response from ATI customer hate department in the middle somewhere).

I went back to the ATI site and in a slow and pain staking process went through that rediculously long list in the left frame,
(which happens not to be a collapsible tree format and linux half way down)
i found the previous drivers section. https://support.ati.com/ics/support/KBList.asp?folderID=1017

Despite the fact the newest were marked as Xpress 200 compatible on the download page they weren't according to the Previous Drivers list.

# ATI Proprietary Linux x86_64 Display Driver for XFree86 / X.Org Version 8.20.8
# ATI Proprietary Linux x86_64 Driver 8.13.3 for Radeon Xpress 200 Series

You Must L00k through the Previous drivers and locate the ones that are labelled with the "for Radeon Xpress 200 Series" tag.

The moral of the story?
Whoever educated ATI in Website Design should give up his day job.

Why someone hasnt hacked the ATI site and redisned it for them is beyond me.

When someone deems the differnce between their motherboard products and ATI Xpress 200
as not important.
Is a lunatic

Athlon64X2 + Xpress 200 Upgrade equates to Uplate

carl0ski — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 10:06:39 GMT

I Recently ploped down the cash on a MS-RS482M4 to accomidate a Athlon 64 X2.
Replacing an honourable Athlon XP (may its ashes rest in peace)

I installed Mandriva 2006 X86_64 on my new beast with a few hiccups.

First for some bizarre reason the Kernel on the install disc doesnt boot past IDE and SATA controllers unless
# noapic
is passed to the kernel like so
# linux noapic

that isnt a big deal however whenever noapic is passed in the kernel almost all onboard components do not work
#Realtek 10/100
#Realtek 7.1 HD ac97
#USB ports.
definetly do not work when noapic is passed.

but heres where things get strange once installation is finished
you must NOT! add noapic or nolocalapic as the computer will not boot if there is a USB device plugged and NIC will not connect ever!

but once i got past here all smooth sailing,
Well allllmost!! :(

to be concluded

Athlon 64 are so Fast even the time flies by.

carl0ski — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 09:52:05 GMT

an issue floating around with some Athlon 64 processors

the date wizzes by rapidly
what a nightmare
imagine waking up 9 december and seeing it is December 26
arghhhhhhhh crap!

My Resolution:
took a hell of lot experimenting but
append
'no_timer_check notsc' to your Bootloader

(/etc/lilo.conf) mine looks like this
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux"
root=/dev/hda5
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="no_timer_check notsc splash=silent apm=off"
vga=791