Peter Vatistas

Now here is a common issue I see all the time for many Ubuntu laptop users. After installing Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon on a laptop the ability to control the volume using the laptop’s keyboard keys does not work (often times).

To fix this you’ll need to determine the device’s track the volume is actually adjusted on; by default I notice this is set to headphone and from my experience the correct one usually is PCM.

Open the volume control and press the volume up/down buttons to see which level moves. Once you’ve found the correct track (whether is be PCM or PCM2) you need to set it from within the sound preferences menu.

Go to system > preferences > sound and look at the bottom of the device tab. Select the correct track here and test; everything should now work properly.

Just got message from a loyal reader of mine asking if it is possible to stop Ubuntu from asking for the Ubuntu CD when he installs applications from packages. This is actually very simple, all you need to do is go to:

System>Administration>Software Sources

Select the “Third Party” tab and un-check “cdrom:” - reload your sources and your good to go!

I am in the process of building a social site using Drupal and realized I didn’t have GD support for PHP5 installed on my server. I’m sure this is a common roadblock for people new to installing Drupal or even just PHP so here is what you need to do:

Open terminal and type in the following command:

$ sudo apt-get install php5-gd

Now restart Apache

# sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

There you go, you now have GD Support for PHP5 in Ubuntu. Get your Drupal on!

In the last three weeks I have received 8 requests on how to install Cinelerra on Ubuntu (Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon to be exact). So, this is how to correctly install Cinelerra on Ubuntu and add a little more memory for it to run in the kernel.

System>Administration>Synaptic Package Manager:
Settings>Repositories>Third-Party Software Tab:

Click the Add button and add this repository:

deb http://giss.tv/~vale/ubuntu32 ./

Close, Reload the search “Cinelerra”. Mark for install & hit Apply (to install). When that is done just close out of Synaptic.

Now open terminal and type (I use ee to edit but you can also use gedit):

sudo ee /etc/sysctl.conf

And add this line to the bottom of the file (this adds the extra memory for Cinelerra to run properly):

kernel/shmmax=0x7fffffff

Now save and close and run this command (instead of rebooting):

sudo sysctl -p

Now go to Applications> Sound & Video>Cinelerra and get your editing on!

For those of you who are having troubles with updating the Avant Windows Navigator for Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon - I hope this helps.

After installing AWN you add these repositories to your source.list:

deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/syzygy42 gutsy avant-window-navigator
deb-src http://download.tuxfamily.org/syzygy42 gutsy avant-window-navigator

And when you sudo apt-get update you get this error:

W: GPG error: http://download.tuxfamily.org gutsy Release: The following signatures couldn’t be verified because the public
key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 3E231AC7F4ECF181

To fix this, please run the following commands:

$ wget http://download.tuxfamily.org/syzygy42/reacocard.asc
$ sudo apt-key add reacocard.asc
$ rm reacocard.asc

Now run

$ sudo apt-get update

No more errors!

Although its nice not having to rely on anything Microsoft anymore there are some things I need to properly do my job, one of which is testing our websites on all web browsers through dev. I recently came across this neat application that allows me to run Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (IE4, IE5, & IE6) on Ubuntu (as well as most distro’s of Linux).

IEs4Linux also is working hard on their next release which allows “us” Linux users to run Microsoft IE7!! I’ve been playing with the beta release of Internet Explorer 7 on Ubuntu and you can download the beta here.

IEs4Linux is probably the easiest app I have installed and works wonderfully in Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon). It’s there when I need it and it’s fast, all three versions.

To install IEs4Linux you have to enable universe packages first. It is also recommended that you use the official winehq ubuntu package:

1) Open a terminal

2) Open /etc/apt/sources.list

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

3) Uncomment (or add) following lines:

deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu edgy universe

4) Add this line:

deb http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt edgy main

5) Close gedit. Update and install wine and cabextract:

wget -q http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/387EE263.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine cabextract

6) Download IEs 4 Linux and install

wget http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/downloads/ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
tar zxvf ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
cd ies4linux-*
./ies4linux

Note for Dapper users: if you use ubuntu dapper, replace edgy with dapper on lines above. Note for Feisty users (7.04): if you use ubuntu Feisty, replace edgy with feisty in the lines above. Also replace gedit with kedit if running Kubuntu instead of Ubuntu.

For more information or steps to install on other distro’s please visit IEs4Linux.

If you find this application useful please donate here - this open source app was developed by Sérgio Luís Lopes Júnior, a 21 year old college student in Brazil. I always donate - it is really important to keep these guys (and kids) going.

Just wanted to let you guys know I installed Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon on my laptop and think it’s awesome. This is the first Linux OS that has worked perfectly on my laptop out of the box - Wifi, Video, Audio, EVERYTHING!!

Anyways, I’ve installed a bunch of neat apps and customized the heck out of it using Mac4Lin and Compiz-Fusion. Below you’ll find several screenshots of my desktop at the time I wrote this and I will make sure to post my app list and how too’s soon - till the please enjoy and post your comments!!

Updated Desktop Screenshot: