Thursday, June 29, 2006
Yet Another XGL Video
XGL is great but when I discovered that tvtime didn't work with it I disabled it. Well, I decided to try xawtv instead after being told in a forum. It worked so I made a video.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Getting To Know My Nano Again
I tried iPod Linux a few months ago but didn't really like it too much. So when I heard Mark Shuttleworth mention Rockbox in a recent podcast, I decided to give it a try and I must say that I am very impressed. It allows you play ogg files and adds extra functionality and even voice. This is how they describe Rockbox on their site:
My nano was formatted on OS X so it had the hfs filesystem but Rockbox requires fat32 so I used the 'iPod Software Updater' for Windows, and 'restored' the iPod. I then followed the instructions for installing the bootloader on iPods here. Installing the bootloader is the trickiest part but if you if create a c:rockbox folder and download the files into that folder you basically can just copy and paste the lines into the command prompt.
Installation of rockbox itself was much easier, you just unzip the latest build into the top directory of your iPod. The next time you reboot the iPod (hold menu and the 'on' button for 4-5 seconds, the 'on' button is the center button) rockbox loads up.
Playing Music
You don't add music through iTunes, (you can but you wont be able to find the files through rockbox) you just put them on the ipod using disk mode wherever you want. I just created a 'Music' and a 'Podcasts' folder and drug what I wanted to in to those folders.
IMPORTANT: For some reason the files didn't write to the iPod if I just disconnected it from the computer. You must choose the 'safely remove hardware' icon in the system tray and stop the Ipod before proceeding to unplug it if your using Windows. Right click and unmount on Linux or eject on OS X. You will see a green check on the iPod when its safe to unplug.
Whenever you want to access your files press the middle (on) button and when you want to access options press the menu button.
Themes
Yes, It is kind of ugly at first but you can download extra themes from the WPS gallery that corresponds with your particular model of media player. I chose the 'remixed black glass' for the nano. I didn't know at first how to install the theme but it turned out to be pretty straight forward.
There is a folder named .rockbox which is hidden so obviously you have 'show hidden files' in order to see it in Windows. Then drag the contents of the files from the theme folders into the corresponding folders in the .rockbox folder on your iPod. There wasn't a 'fonts' folder so I just created one. Unmount the iPod then unplug it.
Remixed Black Glass theme. (WPS)
Plugins
The plugins that come with rockbox are varied and range from a calculator to Doom and getting Doom installed was easy. I just followed the instructions here. I was amazed at how smoothly it ran and it was even very controllable! If only I had an iPod video I'd try the Gameboy emulator, Rockboy...
Bubbles, Pacman, and Doom.
Rockbox is an Open Source replacement firmware for hard-disk digital audio players including the Archos Jukebox 5000, 6000, Studio, Recorder, FM Recorder, Recorder V2 and Ondio MP3 players. Development of Rockbox for the iriver H1xx and H3xx series of players as well as the iPod 4G grayscale, Color/Photo, Nano and Video (5G) is underway.Installation
My nano was formatted on OS X so it had the hfs filesystem but Rockbox requires fat32 so I used the 'iPod Software Updater' for Windows, and 'restored' the iPod. I then followed the instructions for installing the bootloader on iPods here. Installing the bootloader is the trickiest part but if you if create a c:rockbox folder and download the files into that folder you basically can just copy and paste the lines into the command prompt.
Installation of rockbox itself was much easier, you just unzip the latest build into the top directory of your iPod. The next time you reboot the iPod (hold menu and the 'on' button for 4-5 seconds, the 'on' button is the center button) rockbox loads up.
Playing Music
You don't add music through iTunes, (you can but you wont be able to find the files through rockbox) you just put them on the ipod using disk mode wherever you want. I just created a 'Music' and a 'Podcasts' folder and drug what I wanted to in to those folders.
IMPORTANT: For some reason the files didn't write to the iPod if I just disconnected it from the computer. You must choose the 'safely remove hardware' icon in the system tray and stop the Ipod before proceeding to unplug it if your using Windows. Right click and unmount on Linux or eject on OS X. You will see a green check on the iPod when its safe to unplug.
Whenever you want to access your files press the middle (on) button and when you want to access options press the menu button.
The options screen.
Themes
Yes, It is kind of ugly at first but you can download extra themes from the WPS gallery that corresponds with your particular model of media player. I chose the 'remixed black glass' for the nano. I didn't know at first how to install the theme but it turned out to be pretty straight forward.
There is a folder named .rockbox which is hidden so obviously you have 'show hidden files' in order to see it in Windows. Then drag the contents of the files from the theme folders into the corresponding folders in the .rockbox folder on your iPod. There wasn't a 'fonts' folder so I just created one. Unmount the iPod then unplug it.
Remixed Black Glass theme. (WPS)
Plugins
The plugins that come with rockbox are varied and range from a calculator to Doom and getting Doom installed was easy. I just followed the instructions here. I was amazed at how smoothly it ran and it was even very controllable! If only I had an iPod video I'd try the Gameboy emulator, Rockboy...
Bubbles, Pacman, and Doom.
HOWTO: SuSE 10.1 With Smart, Multimedia, And OSx86
After Installation
We are going to install Smart to use instead of Yast to install packages because Yast is way too slow. Don't worry, you will still have a graphical interface for smart if you prefer it to the terminal.
First we need to take care of 2 dependencies, open the terminal and:
x86 (each code box is one line):
su
Then install Smart:
x86_64 (each code box is one line):
su
Then install Smart:
All processor types:
Now we do a:
This will install apt and a sources.list and get the keys.
Lastly do:
NOTE: It is a good idea not to try to install anything else or do anything in yast while updating.
Reboot.
TIP: For codecs and flash, java, etc. type the following line in the terminal (all one line):
TIP:To get rid of the annoying updater icon in the systray and replace with a smart update notifier, right click on it and choose configure and uncheck the start on login box. Then open the control control center (Desktop>control center) and choose 'Sessions' in the system part. Click the Start up tab, then the add button and type 'ksmarttray' and close. Next time you reboot, all will be good.
The smart gui is in the menu under Applications>System>Configuration
You can also use the command line like apt:
"sudo smart update"
"sudo smart install"
"smart search"
"sudo smart upgrade"
For instructions on getting XGL to work go here.
OSx86 Support
First we will add OSx86 to the boot loader.
You will get a 'HFS partition error' when you try to boot OSx86 if you use yast to auto config grub, so we will manually change the 'menu.lst':
Add a 4 line entry to the end like this:
Next we will set up SUSE so that it mounts OSx86 (Windows too if it doesn't already) each time at boot.
Open up the terminal (Applications>System>Terminal) and type the followinnew fileg:
You will see this in the terminal:
Notice the area I highlighted in black, i added the lines:
control X, yes, and enter (to save)
NOTE: use the partitioner in the 'System' part of YaST if you want to see the partitions.
We are going to install Smart to use instead of Yast to install packages because Yast is way too slow. Don't worry, you will still have a graphical interface for smart if you prefer it to the terminal.
First we need to take care of 2 dependencies, open the terminal and:
x86 (each code box is one line):
su
rpm -ihv ftp://ftp.belnet.be/mirrors/ftp.opensuse.org/opensuse/distribution/SL-10.1/inst-source/suse/i586/rpm-python-*.rpm
rpm -ihv ftp://ftp.belnet.be/mirrors/ftp.opensuse.org/opensuse/distribution/SL-10.1/inst-source/suse/i586/python-elementtree*.rpmThen install Smart:
rpm -ihv http://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/misc/suser-guru/rpm/packages/System/smart/smart-0.42-12.guru.suse101.i686.rpmx86_64 (each code box is one line):
su
rpm -ihv ftp://ftp.belnet.be/mirrors/ftp.opensuse.org/opensuse/distribution/SL-10.1/inst-source/suse/x86_64/rpm-python-*.rpm
rpm -ihv ftp://ftp.belnet.be/mirrors/ftp.opensuse.org/opensuse/distribution/SL-10.1/inst-source/suse/x86_64/python-elementtree*.rpm Then install Smart:
rpm -ihv http://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/misc/suser-guru/rpm/packages/System/smart/smart-0.42-12.guru.suse101.x86_64.rpm All processor types:
Now we do a:
sudo smart update
This will install apt and a sources.list and get the keys.
Lastly do:
sudo smart install smart-gui smart-ksmarttraysudo smart upgrade
NOTE: It is a good idea not to try to install anything else or do anything in yast while updating.
Reboot.
TIP: For codecs and flash, java, etc. type the following line in the terminal (all one line):
sudo smart install vlc gstreamer010 libxine1* xvid java-1_5_0-sun-plugin totem-plugin RealPlayer banshee-plugins* flash-player
The smart gui is in the menu under Applications>System>Configuration
You can also use the command line like apt:
"sudo smart update"
"sudo smart install
"smart search
"sudo smart upgrade"
OSx86 Support
First we will add OSx86 to the boot loader.
You will get a 'HFS partition error' when you try to boot OSx86 if you use yast to auto config grub, so we will manually change the 'menu.lst':
sudo nano /boot/grub/menu.lst
title OSx86
root (hd0,1)
makeactive
chainloader +1
(hint: 'hd0,1' was my /sda2, so if it is on the first partition it will be hd0,0)root (hd0,1)
makeactive
chainloader +1
Next we will set up SUSE so that it mounts OSx86 (Windows too if it doesn't already) each time at boot.
Open up the terminal (Applications>System>Terminal) and type the followinnew fileg:
sudo mkdir /media/OSx86
sudo mkdir /media/Windows
sudo nano /etc/fstab
You will see this in the terminal:
Notice the area I highlighted in black, i added the lines:
/dev/sda1 /media/Windows ntfs nls=utf8,umask=0222 0 0
/dev/sda4 /media/OSx86 hfsplus defaults 0 0
control X, yes, and enter (to save)
NOTE: use the partitioner in the 'System' part of YaST if you want to see the partitions.
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