A present for Kenyan Linux users

How I enabled Clean URLs in Kubuntu 10.10

2010-11-07T20:52:00.001-08:00

For a myraid of web based applications running today, you ca]have the option of using clean URLs which would make URLs easier to crawl by search engines and easier to remember by the human race.

I had to do this when I set up drupal-6.19 on my laptop which I would then use as a development server as I develop a website. All said, on to the job:

Assuming you already have apache2 installed and running, we shall commence by enabling the rewrite module and restarting apache2 to confirm that it restarts successfully, this is illustrated below.

$ sudo a2enmod rewrite

$ sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

After which we shall be required to open /etc/apache2/sites-available/default in an editor of choice, mine being vi and scroll to the line containing "AllowOrride None" and change it to "AllowOrride All". Save the changes and restart your webserver as shown below:

$ sudo vi /etc/apache2/sites-available/default

$ sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Voila! We done. Depending on what you were targeting to accomplish, you may test whether it works in a web browser. If it works, don't worry yourself about buying me a beer, a cold bottle of coke will suffice.

5 Reasons I may stick with KDE after all

2010-10-15T01:48:00.001-07:00

About a month ago, I was ready to try out Fedora 13(code name Goddard) and this time I thought I should use the KDE desktop. Which I ditched a bunch of years ago since it would take me about an extra day or two to make it fit for use. Last I tried using it was when KDE 4 was out and it was so broken that you'd be so fortunate not to have to restart you system a handful of times on a single day-so unlike Linux.

1. Synchronize email, contacts and calendar with your machine

Evolution is great, cant deny this but KDE seems to be doing better, unforunately. By installing akonadi-googledata I can sychronize my gmail contacts and calendar with KMail, Kontact in addition to my email. What more would you desire to get from a Mail User Agent when you have all this? Myself, cant think of nay right now.

2. Choqok - Micro-blogging client

For all the while that I have been on Twitter I always kept trying various Twitter clients on Gnome and they wouldn't just work. I wonder why they shipped with the Linux distribution in the first place. I tried Pino, Gwibber and eventually settled for Tweetdeck which would always make my system hang/crash. Come to think of it, thats the only application that managed to crash or hang my system whilst running as a non-root(non-privileged) user.

Choqok, a Micro-blogging client by KDE on the hand works great out of the box without need for much a struggle. Choqok supports OAuth, an authentication mechanism used by both Twitter and identi.ca which doesn't require the passing of the username and password each time the client needs to connect with your accounts instead a token is used.

3. Blogilo - A blogging client

Blogilo, a KDE blogware made the managing of my blogs pretty easy for me. I enables you to create new blogs locally, edit / delete existing ones among other tasks. The best feature is you can blog with or without internet and submit to your blog when you are connected to the Internet.

4. KDE Community

Despite Gnome having a greater user base, the KDE community appears to be more vibrant and willing to support each other in times of need. Period. Point home.

5. Touchpad

Its impressive the amount of work that been done on the touchpad - multi-touch gestures. The last time I saw such a feature, I was trying out an Apple MacBook Pro v2.4. This is not the kind of technology I expected to find on KDE. I actually thought KDE4 still hadn't done much work on the touchpad until I rested my fingers on the touchpad only to see a webpage I was viewing scroll. Unfortunately, I can't say I discovered like Isaac Newton did when he saw a falling apple.

Setting system timezone in PHP 5.3

2010-10-04T02:38:00.000-07:00

If you just upgraded your server to support PHP 5.3 or you set up a new server and are getting the error message below:

Then you need to edit your php.ini configuration and set the right time zone. You need to choose the right timezone as predefined in the following list of timezones

Being in Kenya, I found the appropriate time zone in this list of African timezones.

Once you have found the appropriate timezone, open php.ini in a text editor of your choice. Move to the [Date] section and add the timezone definition as shown below:

[Date]
; Defines the default timezone used by the date functions
; http://www.php.net/manual/en/datetime.configuration.php#ini.date.timezone
;date.timezone =
date.timezone = Africa/Nairobi

Once completed, save and restart your web server. That should have your problem sorted.

Repairing SonyEricsson K800i "Operation failed" problem

2010-10-04T01:38:00.000-07:00

On October 1, 2010 I was so fascinated with progress I was getting on a Java Me app I was working on and happened to unplug the USB cable without safely disconnecting from the PC. This resulted in my phone giving the error "Operation failed" when I attempted to access the Applications or Games folders.

Forums indicated that flashing the phone was the only remedy. No amount of restarting the phone seemed to suffice. I took heart and proceeded as follows.

1. Downloaded XS++.rar from cybershot.4shared.com
2. Then downloaded the Sony Ericsson K800i firmware files: K800_R1KG001_FS_CENT_EUROPE_RED52.rar K800_R1KG001_MAIN_GENERIC_WI_RED52.rar (Note: The number R1KG001 and RED52 are similar in both files). These alike, I acquired from cybershot.4shared.com
3. Extract the MAIN and FS files and keep the on a folder in your desktop
4. Download and install the USB flash drivers from here
5. Extract and run XS++.exe from XS++.rar

6. Click on the Connect button

7. With your phone off and the 'C' button held down connect the phone to your phone's USB cable.
8. XS++ should detect your phone.

9. Select the Flash Main Firmware checkbox and choose the location of the MAIN file extracted earlier.
10. Repeat step 9 for the phones file system
11. Select the customize filesystem checkbox and choose the appropriate CDA and region. The current phone customix=zation can be checked with the following key sequences >*<<*<* then Service info>Software info. Mine is CDA102511/54 R5A France customization
12. Hit the Flash button and wait until XS++ instructs you to unplug your phone.
Note: You don't need to download any customization packs for your phone. XS++ will do the job for you

Argh! Deleted gnome-panel

2010-09-20T06:28:00.000-07:00

This is a mistake often made made by Linux newbies except that this time it only happened to a long time user of Linux and precisely, the Fedora distribution gnome desktop environment. Rushing quickly through tasks to customize my panel, I mistakenly deleted my panel.

The solution? Format. No, thats the last option. So I begin a journey to restore my panel. Sad news, I couldn't restore my configurations. I stand to be corrected but, I still had a reason to celebrate. I didn't get to the last option.

All I had to do was.
[user@tweetbird ~]$ gconftool-2 --shutdown
[user@tweetbird ~]$ rm -rf ~/.gconf/apps/panel/
[user@tweetbird ~]$ pkill gnome-panel

Voila! You just made both panels -top and bottom- disappear. Don't panic though, this happens for a few seconds before a default panel re-appears in place of the former.

Configuring a GSM Modem on your Linux Box-Kenya

2010-07-28T23:05:00.000-07:00

INTRODUCTION
I believe at one time or another Linux users in Kenya, have attempted to plug-in their USB modems to their Linux box(es) in an attempt to access the internet. Personally, I've noted a remarkable improvement particularly in Fedora which I have used right from Fedora Core 2. Today as I write this blog, am using Constantine(Fedora 12) which is not the latest; Goddard(Fedora 13) which am yet to download and install was release early in the month and I believe it has more to offer Linux users than its predecessor Constantine.

There are three major internet service providers widely used by Kenyans: Safaricom, Airtel(formerly Celtel, Zain or ... Is there another name? Guess not) and now Orange. I believe you won't be asking me which is cheapest because my answer is I don't know. Anyway, we can begin.

KNOW YOUR TOOLS
I'll probably cover configuration of the modems using a modem from one of the service providers and mention points of differences when using other modems. The modems mostly provided are Samba 75 by ~~Airtel~~ Zain and Huawei E220 and E160 used by Orange and Safaricom. I think I've seen a Zain-branded Huawei E220 as well.

For this guide, I'll be using Huawei E160 provided to be by Safaricom.

The Hardware details
This also helps us know if the Modem is detected by the kernel.

[stuart@delta ~]$ dmesg
usb 2-2: USB disconnect, address 2
usb 1-1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=12d1, idProduct=1003
usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=3, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
usb 1-1: Product: HUAWEI Mobile
usb 1-1: Manufacturer: HUAWEI Technology
usb 1-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...
scsi2 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
USB Mass Storage support registered.
usb 1-1: USB disconnect, address 3
usb-storage: device found at 3
usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
usb 1-1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=12d1, idProduct=1003
usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=3, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
usb 1-1: Product: HUAWEI Mobile
usb 1-1: Manufacturer: HUAWEI Technology
usb 1-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
scsi5 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
usb-storage: device found at 4
usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
scsi6 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
usb-storage: device found at 4
usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial
USB Serial support registered for generic
usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial_generic
usbserial: USB Serial Driver core
USB Serial support registered for GSM modem (1-port)
option 1-1:1.0: GSM modem (1-port) converter detected
usb 1-1: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB0
option 1-1:1.1: GSM modem (1-port) converter detected
usb 1-1: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usbcore: registered new interface driver option
option: v0.7.2:USB Driver for GSM modems
usb-storage: device scan complete
scsi 5:0:0:0: CD-ROM HUAWEI Mass Storage 2.31 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
usb-storage: device scan complete
scsi 6:0:0:0: Direct-Access HUAWEI MMC Storage 2.31 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
sr1: scsi-1 drive
sr 5:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr1
sr 5:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 5
sd 6:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0
sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 1
...

With the modem detected and blinking in Green/Blue depending on the signal type(Green=>GSM/2G and Blue=>3G), we can proceed the configurations.

*Note in Red the Modem details*

CONFIGURATION

Safaricom Internet Settings
User name: saf
Password: data
Phone No.: *99#

Configuration Methods

Method I: Using the Command Line Interface(CLI)
1.Open a suitable terminal. With the modem plugged in, execute “wvdialconf” to detect and configure modem.

[stuart@delta ~]$ sudo wvdialconf
Editing `/etc/wvdial.conf'.

Scanning your serial ports for a modem.

Modem Port Scan<*1>: S0 S1 S2 S3
WvModem<*1>: Cannot get information for serial port.
ttyUSB0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 -- OK
ttyUSB0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 Z -- OK
ttyUSB0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 -- OK
ttyUSB0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 -- OK
ttyUSB0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 -- OK
ttyUSB0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0 -- OK
ttyUSB0<*1>: Modem Identifier: ATI -- Manufacturer: huawei
ttyUSB0<*1>: Speed 9600: AT -- OK
ttyUSB0<*1>: Max speed is 9600; that should be safe.
ttyUSB0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0 -- OK
WvModem<*1>: Cannot get information for serial port.
ttyUSB1<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 -- OK
ttyUSB1<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 Z -- OK
ttyUSB1<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 -- OK
ttyUSB1<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 -- OK
ttyUSB1<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 -- OK
ttyUSB1<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0 -- OK
ttyUSB1<*1>: Modem Identifier: ATI -- Manufacturer: huawei
ttyUSB1<*1>: Speed 9600: AT -- OK
ttyUSB1<*1>: Max speed is 9600; that should be safe.
ttyUSB1<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0 -- OK

Found a modem on /dev/ttyUSB0.
Modem configuration written to /etc/wvdial.conf.
ttyUSB0: Speed 9600; init "ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0"
ttyUSB1: Speed 9600; init "ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0"

2.With a text editor of choice and as root, edit /etc/wvial.conf to appear as below.

[Dialer Defaults]
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
Modem Type = Analog Modem
Phone = *99#
ISDN = 0
Username = saf
Init1 = ATZ
Password = data
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
Baud = 9600

3.In the event that you require to configure an APN(Access Point Name) e.g. ke.celtel.com for Zain, insert the line below after Init2.

Init3 = AT+CGDCONT=1,”IP”,”ke.celtel.com”

Method II: Using Gnome Network Manager
1.Right Click on Network manager icon in the Task(Located next to the system time)
2.On the pop-up menu, Select “Edit connections...”
3.On the “Network connections” window that opens, Select the “Mobile Broadband” Tab
4.Select the “Add” button
5.A window titled, “New Mobile Broadband connect” appears with the modem name for which you should create settings selected.
6.Select the “Forward” at the bottom right corner button to proceed
7.Choose the country “Kenya” and hit the “Forward” button
8.Choose the Provider/Carrier to use. Listed is Econet, Safaricom, Zain/Celtel. In my case, I shall select Safaricom.
9.The next window is for one to choose a Billing plan. We can work with the “Default” which is selected.
10.The final window, requires confirmation for the Mobile Broadband settings. Hit the Apply button to complete.*
11.A window appears for you to edit your configurations. At these point you can key in the settings shown above. I however think the defaults would still work.

*As you can notice, there is an APN that appears sort of disabled. Ignore it. Its not important.

Method III: Using KPPP
1.Go to Applications=>Internet and select KPPP. You would require to know the root password to proceed.
2.On successful entering, the main KPPP window shows up. Hit the “Configure” button to commence configuration.
3.Select the “Modems” Tab, Click the “New” button.
4.Enter a desired Modem name and select /dev/ttyUSB0 for modem device. Finally, hit the “OK” button to save.
5.Then select the “Accounts” Tab and select “New” to create a new account.
6.Choose “Manual setup” and choose a suitable connection name and the phone number given above.
7.Hit “OK” to save the account and “OK” again to exit the configuration window.

CONNECT

Method I: Using the Command Line Interface(CLI)
On your open terminal, execute “wvdial” as root

Method II: Using Gnome Network Manager
Left-click on the Network Manager icon to see available networks.
Select the connection you desire to connect through.

Method III: Using KPPP
1.Open KPPP, Enter Login ID and Password as “saf” and “data” respectively. Am assuming the modem and network to connect to are rightfully chosen.
2.Hit the “Connect” to connect to the internet.

Choosing a Linux Distribution

2008-06-27T04:24:00.000-07:00

1. What is Linux?
The term 'Linux' is a generic term often used to refer to any Unix-like operating system that is based on the Linux kernel. However, to acknowlegde the work put in by the Free Software Foundation, you could refer to it as GNU/Linux( for more on this on the naming, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU/Linux_naming_controversy ). Its a prominent example of open source software implying its source code can be modified and redistributed both commercially and non-commercially depending on the terms of the licence mostly GNU General Public Licence.

The use of Linux is prominent in the server environment whereas, most desktops and laptops either run Mac OS X or Microsoft Windows with Linux having about 1-2 % of the desktop share. However, it tends to hold a larger market share generally due to its ability to run on a wide range of devices; from embedded devices such as mobile phones, smart phones and wristwatches to mainframes and supercomputers.

2. Why do you need the Linux on your PC?
Despite changing trends in the recent past, Linux still faces a lot of opposition as it is said not to be user-friendly a fact I’d boldly disagree with. This is a wrong notion that is brought about by using the wrong the distribution-one doesn’t use a table knife to cut uncooked meat. In my opinion, Linux is a Swiss pen-knife and is not meant for the faint-hearted.

Linux can fully be operated through the graphical user interface that ships with the operating system however in some cases it is necessary to execute tasks from the command line interface as the Gui's in some cases are absent or offer limited options.

A typical user may not need to learn how to perform tasks from the command line however, the know how is necessary. Often when the operating system crashes or rather fails, the command line interface mostly referred to as the shell survives and may be used to revert the last change that caused the failure.

In addition to, here are more advantages of Linux:
• Lower total cost of ownership-its free
• Quicker bug fixes
• Faster release cycles
• Wider support base
• No vendor lock-in
• Encourages innovation / creativity
• Good security
• Facilitates the understanding of concepts especially in academic institutions

3. Choosing the right Linux Distribution
Linux distributions are practically incomparable due to their techincal varia-
tions. Technical variations here being support for different hardware support
and systems or package configurations. There are three questions that should
guide when choosing the right Linux distribution, these are:

1. What needs should the Linux distribution meet?
The purpose for which the Linux OS is to be used is a crirical considera-
tion in the choosing the right distribution. Various distributiions are best
suited for certain task for instance Ubuntu Studio is best suited for those
who have interest in the mastering and developing of multimedia which
lack in most other Linux distros, BackTrack for firewalls among others.

2. What is the installation type?
This is determined by the purpose the operating system should server.
This may break the type of installations into two major type:
(a) Server install
(b) Workstations / Desktop install
The type of installation required also determines the packages to be
included in the system. However, for newbies and explores, you may
consider installing all packages to ease the strain of adding packages when
needed later in time.

3. Categorization of the distributions
Finally once the first two questions have been answered satisfactorily, we
can choose a Linux distribution from ether of the groups below:

(a) Size
For old PCs which may have very little storage space, small Linux
distributions such as Puppy Linux, Damn Small Linux, Piggy Linux
among others may be used.

(b) Novice vs Expert user
Depending on the intended users of the system, a perfect Linux dis-
tribution may be chosen. Where by a Novice may be adviced to use a
Linux distribution that is easy to install and has an easy to use soft-
ware updater such as Ubuntu whereas, Experts may go for systems
that may better perform the tasks needed but may not have very
good and well developed user interfaces which may make it difficult
to use for novices.

(c) Bleeding edge vs Stable
Based on the requirements of the user, a user may choose a bleeding-
edge distribution - here being a Linux distribution that attempts to
incorporate all new developments in the open source realm. Such
distributions are normally pleasant and fascinating to use however,
they have tendencies to become unstable especially if some of the
included software are still in ther alpha stages an example of such an
operating system is Fedora Linux and Ubuntu.

On the other hand, stable distributions tend to be released not so often and normally
have undergone thorough testing and do not include any software that may compromise their stability such systems include Debian, Solaris, CentOS and Redhat Enterprice Linux(RHEL).

Other qualities that need to be considered when choosing a distribution are such as:
i. Security
ii. Support
iii. Documentation