Category: Techspeak

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Moving Grub from the MBR to the Install Partition

I realize this is nothing new to experienced Linux users, but I figured I’d document the process I used to move GRUB from the master boot record (MBR) of my notebook’s hard drive to the partition where I had Linux installed. I got the steps straight out of the Ubuntu forums as a result of a Google search for “move grub mbr.” The reason I am moving it is because, as I write this, I am using TrueCrypt to encrypt my entire Windows partition. To be able to boot Linux, I needed to move GRUB to make room for the TrueCrypt boot loader, since the MBR ain’t big enough for the both of them!
So, the process was:

  1. Identify the partition in which Linux is installed.
    mount
    Look for the / partition, which, in my case, is /dev/sda2 (as /dev/sda1 is where Windows lives on this machine).
  2. sudo grub-install /dev/sda2
    Voila! GRUB now lives in /dev/sda2 (as well as in the MBR).

Of course, there’s no real way to verify that this will work until you overwrite the MBR with something else, as GRUB still lives in the MBR, so effectively nothing has changed. In my case, I installed the TrueCrypt boot loader in the MBR. I then booted and selected my Linux partition from the TrueCrypt boot loader, which brought up my friendly GRUB boot menu! Now assured that things were working and that I could get back into Linux, even if I somehow hosed my Windows partition, I continued on with encrypting the entire partition.

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Stop Stealing My Focus!

A few weeks ago, my friend Dave Yates announced in his podcast how he accidentally typed his IRC password into the chat room that he was in. I can easily see how this could happen, while someone was trying to identify themselves to the server. To prevent this, he could have taken a couple of steps to ensure that he was not typing into an active chat window, so that even if he had made the same typo, his password would not be exposed. Alternately, just being careful might have prevented this.
Then again, it might not have… Continue reading “Stop Stealing My Focus!”

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Installing Ubuntu Netbook Interface

I decided to give the (recently much-ballyhooed) Ubuntu Netbook Remix a try on one of my virtual machines. Here are the steps I followed to get it installed:
sudo su
cat >> /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/netbook-remix-team/ubuntu hardy main
Ctrl-C
apt-get update
apt-get install go-home-applet window-picker-applet maximus human-netbook-theme \ ume-launcher
Once installed, I logged off, then logged back in and wham! I was in the new interface. Except, I wanted to see what it would look like on a small screen. I changed my resolution to 800×480, and it fits great, but the fonts did not scale accordingly, so they were unreadable.
I figured the quick fix might be to uninstall the packages I added, set my resolution to 800×480, then install them, because presumably it would detect and choose the correct font size then.
That didn’t work so well. I was able to remove and re-install the packages, but now the new interface won’t come up, and all I have is a little GNOME desktop.

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Fedora 9 GNOME Live CD Trial

Recall in my last post that I had some trouble with the Fedora 9 KDE live CD. So I decided to give the GNOME live CD a spin and see if I had any better luck.
I did not.
Fedora 9 GNOME kernel failure
Fedora, I’m sorry. I tried. Maybe I’ll see you again with Fedora 10.

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Kicking the Tires of Fedora 9 – KDE Live CD

I know I’m going to get some flak for this from our Fedora listeners, but I can’t restrain myself.
I downloaded the Fedora Live CD (KDE edition) to give it a whirl. Yes, I admit that I bundled three things I don’t particularly care for into one download (Fedora, KDE, and KDE 4), so you could argue I’m setting this micro review up for failure. (Miraculously, I was not intoxicated at the time, although I have been feeling under the weather for the last couple of days, so that may have been a contributing factor.) Anyway, I fired up a new VMWare machine, and booted from the Live CD ISO. After a few standard boot messages, I was greeted with the following image.

Kernel Failure

*sigh* Off to a great start here. Continue reading “Kicking the Tires of Fedora 9 – KDE Live CD”

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Fresh Ubuntu Podcast: Hardy Heron Round Table

Today we recorded the second Fresh Ubuntu round table episode, with many special guests! Harlem and I were joined by Chad Wollenberg from the Linux Basement podocast, Knightwise from the Knightcast, Emmett Stewart (aka “CafeNinja“), and Jason Watkins (formerly of the In the Trenches podcast). Later on, the second shift showed up, and Alan Pope and Tony Whitmore from the Ubuntu UK podcast, and Jorge Casto and Mike Basinger from the Ubuntu community. I also had the pleasure of editing and mixing this episode down – a first for me! It will be available for download tomorrow from the Fresh Ubuntu web site and via iTunes.

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Bethel Signs on to EC Fiber

From this week’s Select Board Meeting Minutes:

With respect to the Town joining with others through the ECFiber Interlocal Contract to develop and implement a communications system, Chairman Fox stated that the Town appears to be in receipt of sufficient legal advice to confirm that the draft Interlocal Contract for formation of ?ECFiber? should now be signed, it being anticipated that the initiative will move forward expeditiously, and that a final form of the contract will be available for consideration in the near future which, when executed, will perpetuate the association being formed at this time. He then made the motion to approve the subject contract, this motion being seconded by Joe De Freitas and unanimously carried. Justin McCoart asked if the Town had yet appointed an alternate representative to the ECFiber Board of Directors; Chairman Fox advised such has not yet been undertaken by the Board.

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gAIM -> Pidgin -> Funpidgin -> Carrier?

There’s a little program out there known as Pidgin, which is an open-source messaging project formerly known as gAIM. It supports communications with all of the popular chat platforms out there, like AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, and Jabber. I have been using it for years and love it.
However, there is a sense in the user community that the Pidgin developers have been unresponsive to user requests. Apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back was the latest version not allowing you to resize the text entry box, forcing the user to rely on the program doing so automatically. Continue reading “gAIM -> Pidgin -> Funpidgin -> Carrier?”