Category Archives: Fedora 10

Freeing up RAM in Linux

NOTE: Little clarification, this is not needed at all ,as memory is freed when required.

WHY IT MAY BE HELP-FULL: This clears the page-cache , dentires and inodes.

IT’S TRANSLATION : It may be that you are watching a movie or using a Virtual Machine , a resource hungry process has filled up your ram by caching data and the data needs to be continuously removed  to make space for new data . This is managed by the kernel.

IF YOU STILL DON’T  GET IT: Notice  video in your movie hanging (not audio) while your ram gets cached Or your system running a bit slow ?


1) Stop the process consuming loads of memory. (Check System Monitor).
2) Open a terminal with root privileges .
3) Sync
4) echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches
5) echo 0 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches

Install XBMC

XBMC (a.k.a. XBOX Media Center) is a great media center available on all platforms

If you have Ubuntu then see this
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?p=185738

For Fedora an unofficial rpm is available at http://www.fedorajunkies.com/index.php/XBMC

Installing From source:

0) Get Latest SVN Snapshot

svn co http://xbmc.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/xbmc/branches/linuxport/XBMC/

Fedora:
1)Get RPMFusion Repo:

rpm -Uvh  http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm

2)Install Dependencies :

yum install SDL* glew glew-devel libmad-devel tre tre-devel libogg libogg-devel libvorbis libvorbis-devel boost 
boost-devel bzip2-devel bzip2-libs fribidi* lzo lzo-devel mysql-libs mysql-devel jasper jasper-devel faac faac-devel 
enca enca-devel hal hal-devel hal-libs cmake gperf nasm libXmu-devel fontconfig-devel freetype-devel libXinerama-devel 
pcre-devel gcc-c++ sqlite-devel curl-devel pulseaudio-libs-devel libsmbclient-devel

3)Make sql symbolic link
– For i386

ln -s /usr/lib/mysql/libmysqlclient.so.15.0.0 /usr/lib/libmysqlclient.so

For 64 bit

ln -s /usr/lib64/mysql/libmysqlclient.so.15.0.0 /usr/lib64/libmysqlclient.so

4)Configure

cd linuxport/XBMC
./configure

5)Make

make

During this some errors may occur:
A)

../xbmc/utils/CharsetConverter.h:31:39: error: fribidi/fribidi_char_sets.h: No such file or directory

Sol:

cd xbmc
ln -s lib/libfribidi/ fribidi
cd ..
make

B)

/usr/include/jpeglib.h:1096:55: error: jpegint.h: No such file or directory

Sol:

cp xbmc/lib/cximage-6.0/jpeg/jpegint.h /usr/include/
make

C) For any other errors refer to fedorajunkies.com or fedoraforums.org

6) Install

make install

7) Configuring

Open xbmc by typing   xbmc in terminal or ALT+F2

-Settings > System >Audio Hardware
-Change Audio Output to Digital
-Change Audio Output Device and Passthrough Output Device to same device settings

(pulse -for fedora , hdmi/spdif- for ubuntu/debian systems)

You can also find out your device by using

aplay -L

8) To learn More about plugins and scripts Visit

http://www.xbmc.org/wiki

fglrx install script for fedora 10

REFER TO NEWER POST  HERE

Yes, this is a script to install fglrx on fedora 10 due to problems faced by people.

Note:

– Remove all packages related to previous attempts to install fglrx

– For time being this supports only 32 bit Fedora 10

– Since its new it will have many unobserved bugs even though it has been tested

-This uses the ati driver at http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html

-Any bugs encountered please comment them at this blog

To install put driver and script in same folder and run sh installfglrx (root mode)

DOWNLOAD LINK

AFTER INSTALL(if everything is working_:

edit /boot/grub/menu.conf

instead  of nomodset put vga=0xA

A is the VESA mode http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VESA_BIOS_Extensions

Reliance ATZ USB CDMA Modem on fedora , ubuntu and other linux

1) Find Vendor and ProdID

Do

cat /proc/bus/usb/devices

In the generated list where Manufacturer is ZTE , Incorporated

Take Vendor and ProdID

eg. Vendor=19d2 ProdID=fffd

-You can also use lsusb to get entry with ONDA Communication S.p.A in format   a:b

eg  19d2:fffd

2) Load Module
modprobe usbserial vendor=0x19d2 product=0xfffd

After this step 3 interfaces /dev/ttyUSB* where *(0-2)
should be created .(if not then rmmod usbserial ->remove device->modprobe again->insert device )

3)Configure (Run in root mode)(NOT FOR FEDORA go to 6)
wvdialconf

4)Edit /etc/wvdial.conf
Add number eg. #777
Add your username and password in the fields.

5)Run
Ideally running wvdial should be enough.
(try ping google.com to check if you are connected)

6)However in fedora(and if above steps dont work for you) after modprobe
Go to System>Administration>Network>New>Modem>
In Modem Properties (Despite error)
change device to /dev/ttyUSB0
Modem Volume=low
->Forward
Phone number #777
Username and Password -as you have
Provider Name -any
->Forward
Save And activate
Try ping google.com

Installing ATI fglrx for compiz Fedora 10

These instructions are for installing fglrx on ATI cards it also removes the flickering that radeon might be giving.
You could also follow the guide at fedora forums but this is more simple.(Using 8.12 Driver)

(if you have followed other methods, please roll-back to previous system state,remove related packages)

1)Get Fedora 9s libdrm

32 Bit

rpm -ivh --nodeps --oldpackage http://mirror.yandex.ru/fedora/linux/releases/9/Everything/i386/os/Packages/libdrm-2.4.0-0.11.fc9.i386.rpm

64 Bit

rpm -ivh --nodeps --oldpackage http://mirror.yandex.ru/fedora/linux/releases/9/Everything/x86_64/os/Packages/libdrm-2.4.0-0.11.fc9.x86_64.rpm

2)Go to AMD official Site Download the driver:

http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/linux/linux-radeon.html

3)Install driver

./ati-driver-installer-8-12-x86.x86_64.run

4)Create a blank xorg.conf in /etc/X11 (if u have a xorg.conf ,delete and make empty file)

5)

aticonfig --initial -f

6) Edit xorg.conf

Add following to “Device”

   Option      "OpenGLOverlay" "off"
   Option      "VideoOverlay" "on"

7)In the end add

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

Save

8)Backup Old initrd

mv /boot/initrd-`uname -r`.img /boot/initrd-`uname -r`.img.0

9)Remake initrd for the kernel (So the radeon module is not force loaded)

mkinitrd  /boot/initrd-`uname -r`.img `uname -r`

10) Prevent libdrm from being upgraded

perl -i -pe "s/([.*])/1nexclude=libdrm/"  /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora.repo
perl -i -pe "s/([.*])/1nexclude=libdrm/" /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora-updates.repo

11)Open

/boot/grub/grub.conf in root mode

Go to

kernel

line and add

vga=0xmode

mode for me was

323

which was 1024×768 32 bit

12)Edit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist

Add radeon

13)Reboot and Voila !!

VlC , KAFFEINE , REALPLAYER Problems Fedora 10

Well Just as Fedora 9 , Fedora 10 media players couldn’t play my videos by default.

1)VLC(only for below 0.9+):

1) Go to Settings>Preferences>Check Advanced Options
2)Audio>Output Modules>Select ALSA Audio output >ALSA>Refresh List>Select Device
3)Video>Output modules>Select X11 Video Output

2)KAFFEINE:

1)Settings>Xine Engine Parameters>Video>Select Beginner Options

2) Select xv or xshm (Previously xshm used to work now xv does)

3) REAL PLAYER:

Tools>Preferences>Hardware

For me Alsa couldn’t be initialized. Hence RealPlayer 11 can be used on OSS. (You may have to disable XVvideo)

Wifi in Fedora 10 (broadcom wl)

To make them work you have 2 ways:

1)Install Ndiswrapper

or

2)Install Broadcom Driver for linux

Faster is the Broadcom route so here goes:–

You need to install these packages either through package manager or download them seperately from

http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/releases/10/Everything/i386/os/

and use rpm -ivh <name>  (Remember: ALT+F2>gnome-terminal>su – >then yum install <name> or rpm -ivh <name>)

kmod-wl-*

broadcom-wl-*

* means all packages for your kernel version and architecture
to find kernel version uname -r

3)Open /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-wlan0 (assuming wlan0 is the wireless interface)

change ONBOOT=off to ONBOOT=on

Fedora 10 Cambridge Essentials Guide Part 2: More Config

NOTE:All Commands to be entered in terminal in Super User/root mode. (.:. su – or sudo)

1) Setup sudo
In Fedora the root and normal user accounts are different and one can switch between them to do administrative tasks.
However if you want to give a user other than root administrative priviliges

nano /etc/sudoers

Add to the end

<name> ALL=(ALL) ALL

is the user name you want to give sudo privilige.

<name> ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

if you dont want to be asked the password .(NOT RECOMMENDED)

2)Permanantly Mounting Partitions:

Fedora 10 has ntfs 3g preinstalled but sometimes the partitions don’t get mounted (or you just may want to get rid of manual mounting)

Editing fstab gives read/write support on boot

a) use fdisk : /sbin/fdisk -l

b) note down partions u wnt to access name (eg sda1) type (eg ntfs or FAT32)

c)Make mount points:

mkdir /media/<name>
<name>can be replaced by whatever name you choose.

d)open gedit in sudo mode

e)Open /etc/fstab

f)For ntfs drive ( mount point here is DATA)

   /dev/sda1 /media/DATA ntfs-3g rw,defaults,umask=0000 0 0
or /dev/sda1 /media/DATA ntfs-3g defaults 0 0

if drive is FAT32/FAT16 use vfat instead of ntfs-3g , other lines are NOT REQUIRED

3)Macromedia Flash :

For 32 bit:

install the Adobe YUM repository, and install through yum:

rpm -ivh http://linuxdownload.adobe.com/adobe-release/adobe-release-i386-1.0-1.noarch.rpm
rpm –import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-adobe-linux

yum install flash-plugin (if you dont do this no sound for flash applicatons)
For 64 bit:

There are 2 ways.

OLDER WAY:

mkdir -p /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins
yum install nspluginwrapper.{i386,x86_64} pulseaud/io-lib.i386
yum install flash-plugin
mozilla-plugin-config -i -g -v

NEWER WAY:

Download 64 bit Flash Player 10 (currently alhpa stage)
http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10.html

4) Installing Sun Java

a) Download JDK from http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads
To install rpm
rpm -ivh .rpm
To install bin
chmox +x .bin
./.bin

/usr/sbin/alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /usr/java/jre/bin/java 100
/usr/sbin/alternatives --install /usr/bin/jar jar /usr/java/jre/bin/jar 100
/usr/sbin/alternatives --install /usr/bin/javavc javavc /usr/java/jre/bin/javavc 100
/usr/sbin/alternatives --install /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so 100

b) To use Switch among javas:
/usr/sbin/alternatives --config java
/usr/sbin/alternatives --config libjavaplugin.so
/usr/sbin/alternatives --config jar

c)For Java Programs(You Probably Already Have This):
yum install libXp compat-libstdc++-*

Fedora 10 Cambridge Essentials Guide Part 1: Getting Started

Fedora 10 Cambridge essentials guide

Well Howdy Folks ! ,thou having trouble with getting Fedora 10 Cambridge Up and Running ?

Well then you have come to the right place !!!
NOTE:all commands r to be typed in terminal with sudo or su login or su -c
PS: All yum commands can be replaced by package kit alternatives type “info pkcon” in terminal.

1)RPM-FUSION:Adding rpmfusion as a repository to get access to lot of other packages and features.

(VERY ESSENTIAL ALL OTHER STEPS REQUIRE THIS)

rpm -ivh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm  http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm

yum update

To install something in command line use

yum install Name of Packages Seperated by spaces -y

of course to find the exact package name use

yum search Package


2)Package Management Frontend GUI :

Fedora already has PackageKit (System>Administration>Add/Remove Software)

but it doesn’t quite compare up to yumex

yum install yumex

3)MP3 Support:

Well, everybody loves their songs right ?

yum install gstreamer-plugins-ugly gstreamer-plugins-bad gstreamer-plugins-good gstreamer-plugins-pulse libmad libid3tag xine-lib-extras xine-lib-extras-freeworld


4)Music Players:

Everybody has a different choice of a music player , I personally prefer Amarok which has everything from cover management ,id3tag editing,online Music Store Support and Global key Shortcuts.

Few of the most used players.

                     -Amarok
                     -Audacious
                     -Banshee
                     -Exaile
                     -Listen
                     -Rhythmbox
                     -Xmms

4)GCC compatibility:

GCC is the GNU compiler supporting a lot of languages.Its needed for

yum install gcc gcc-c++ compat-libstdc++-33 compat-libstdc++-296

5)Video Codecs:

Fedora doesn’t with proprietary codecs for playing Codecs.

Download them.

wget  http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/all-20071007.tar.bz2

then

mkdir -p /usr/lib/codecs

tar -jxvf all-20071007.tar.bz2 --strip-components 1 -C /usr/lib/codecs/

5)Video Players:

Totem is installed by default but its not a favourite of mine.

Real Player

Download RealPlayer 11 GOLD from: http://www.real.com/linux/. ( preferably use .bin file)

Select: “Advanced Installation RedHat Package”

Before installing RealPlayer, make sure to have the compat-libstdc++-33 compatibility libraries installed.
yum install compat-libstdc++-33

chmod +x name.bin

./name.bin

Read Agreement Go to end and press y and enter (keep pressing enter, till it starts installing)

For RPM:
sudo rpm -ivh RealPlayer11.rpm

note:if real/helix or any plugin doesnt load in firefox use:
sudo /usr/bin/mozilla-plugin-config -i -f

Other Players

mplayer: yum install mplayer mplayer-gui mplayer-skins mplayer-fonts mplayerplug-in mencoder
xine:       yum install xine xine-lib-extras xine-lib-extras-nonfree libdvdcss
vlc:         yum install vlc

kaffeine yum install kaffeine kdemultimedia kdemultimedia-libs

Dragon : yum install dragon kdemultimedia kdemultimedia-libs

Note: After this if it doesn’t work refer to my other posts