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Trying Out Ubuntu 10 04 On A Desktop PC Part Two

This blog describes the multimedia playback capabilities (both audio and video) of the standard Ubuntu 10.04 - that is, what this 64-bit OS can play out-of-the-box. Let us start with the audio capabilities first.

Multimedia - Audio Playback

It was obvious from the start that Ubuntu can handle sound - but what format? A quick peek into the /usr/share/sounds directory gave me some answers. The sound file formats that Ubuntu can handle out-of-the-box are .wav and .ogg type files. The wav format is an uncompressed PCM one while the ogg format is a lossy compressed one. Both are free formats and that is the reason they were included on a standard Ubuntu (which has a strict policy regarding non-free or propriety formats - they simply are not included).

A test was carried out by plugging in a USB drive containing several audio and video files of various formats, into the Ubuntu 10.04 PC. The USB drive was recognized by the OS and mounted automatically - an icon for that drive appeared on the desktop. The OS also obligingly open the Nautilus file browser showing the contents of the USB drive. Hovering the cursor over the various audio files on the USB drive, I discovered that Ubuntu can indeed play back wav and ogg type audio files plus it also can play back flac type audio files. This format is a lossless compressed PCM type and it is a free format (flac = free lossless audio codec) - hence it was included in the standard Ubuntu. However, out of the box Ubuntu CANNOT play back mp3, mp4, aac, m4a and ape formatted audio files. Obviously, extra non-free or propriety codecs need to be installed to handle these formats.

A quick check with the official Ubuntu 10.04 document did not help much but checking the community document on restricted formats gave instructions on which package to install in order to get support for the other audio (and video) formats. The package is appropriately named ubuntu-restricted-extras and besides the codecs necessary for play back of the other formats, also includes Microsoft TTF fonts, Java runtime environment, Flash plugin, LAME (to create compressed audio files), and DVD playback. Opening the Synaptic Package Manager, I installed this package - which took a while - mainly due to the downloading of the various TTF fonts from a busy server.

After the ubuntu-restricted-extras package was installed, another test was performed on the other audio files on the USB drive. Hovering the cursor over the files I can now play back mp3, mp4, aac, m4a and ape formatted audio files. This package indeed took care of the most popular audio formats found. By the way, I also found out that the popular Microsoft TrueType fonts (like Times New Roman, Arial, Courier New, etc) were also installed on my system - a big plus and another reason to install this package.

Another audio capability test was then performed - the audio CD playback capability. Inserting an audio CD into the drive resulted in it being recognized and mounted (a icon will appear on the desktop). A message box will also pop-up telling me that I have inserted an audio CD and asked which application to use the CD with - the default is Rhythmbox. Note that I can make this the default action also - however, for this test I accepted the default application by clicking on OK. Rhythmbox, the music management and playback software for GNOME, was launched and I was able to play the CD by clicking on the Play button. The details about the CD (album name, artist, and track/song title) was also displayed. This test confirmed that Ubuntu was indeed capable of handling audio CDs.

Thats it as far as my needs for audio playback on Ubuntu 10.04 goes. In my next blog, I will be describing the video playback capabilities of the OS, so stay tuned.

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Trying Out Ubuntu 10 04 On A Desktop PC Part One

As mentioned in several of my previous blogs, I use Ubuntu Netbook Remix exclusively on my netbooks (a Lenovo S10-2 and an HP Mini 2140). After playing around with the relatively new UNR 10.04 on the HP, I grew to like the OS - so much so that I decided to install it on a spare PC that I had around (which was mainly used for testing) and play around with it some more. The PC is built around an Asus M2N-E motherboard and the CPU I had installed is an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+. The amount of RAM on the motherboard is 8 GB of DDR2-800. Clearly the 64-bit flavor of Ubuntu 10.04 was the choice of OS here. To top up the hardware, I also installed a ATI HD 4670 video card, a 550W power supply and a 320GB SATA hard disk. The display was an Acer 23 inch wide screen LCD. With all the hardware pieces in place, I ventured into the world of 64-bit Linux computing. This blog and more will describe my journey in that world.

After downloading the ISO image of the DVD, I burned it to a disc and used it for the installation. The actual installation was painless - the only unusual item of note is that I partitioned the hard disk manually and used ext3 filesystem instead of the default ext4. I also used my normal (normal for me, that is) partitioning scheme - i.e., a small boot partition, the root partition, a swap partition and a home partition. The reason for using the ext3 filesystem was mentioned also in my previous blog - it enables me to backup or clone my hard disk using the Arconis Home 2010 software, which at the moment can only handle ext3 type filesystem.

The first boot-up went without any problem and after logging in, was presented with the purple-colored desktop. The first thing I did was to change the screen desktop background to a more pleasing one - right-clicking on the desktop and selecting Change Desktop Background, I was presented with several choices. I selected Maraetai before sunrise as my background - at least it does not hurt my eyes as much as the default! :)

The second thing I did was un-mute my sound system, which, for some reason or other, the Ubuntu team decided to initially start off muted. I also adjusted the volume level sliders to a reasonable value. Note that the Sound Preference dialog box that appears upon clicking it, do not have the option to test the sound levels - a shortcoming which I urge the Ubuntu team to fix.

The next (and somewhat irritating) thing I fixed is the placement of the windows control (maximize, minimize and close) buttons from the top left side of the windows to the usual (and familiar) top right side.

As with my previous installation of UNR 10.04 on my HP netbook, I was prompted to update my system and it also indicated that propriety drivers were available for my system. Putting aside the drivers for the time being, I updated the system via the Update Manager - which took a while since there was a fair amount of updates that needed to be applied. Once completed a re-boot was required - this was done and the system restarted - this time it was accompanied with the Ubuntu startup sound.

The Firefox Browser

The first software I tried out on the Ubuntu 10.04 was the default web browser that come with it - the Firefox. I started it and changed my home page to news.google.com.my and then checked the installed plugins by executing about:plugins via the address bar. All the necessary multimedia and java plugins were installed except Shockwave flash-player and pdf-reader plugins.

The Shockwave flash-player plugin package (named flashplugin-nonfree) can be installed using the Synaptic Package Manager but note that this is a 32-bit plugin - the 64-bit one is still in beta and was not included in the standard installation of Ubuntu 10.04. As it is a 32-bit package, there was a lot of dependencies for it - the major ones being nspluginwrapper and ia32-libs. These are required to make the 32-bit plugin work on 64-bit Ubuntu. A lot of work to get one plugin to work - I just wish Adobe would get the 64-bit one working as soon as possible. However, the plugin worked - I verified it by playing a YouTube movie (my favorite HQ movie of Sarah Brighman singing Harem). The command about:plugins also verified that the shockwave flash is indeed installed.

The pdf-reader plugin, on the other hand, is not such a simple package to install. First the lucid partner repository need to enabled - this is done by editing the /etc/apt/sources.list file (as root) and un-commenting the two lines for the lucid partner repository. Then the Synaptic Package Manager need to be restarted and the package database refreshed by clicking on the Reload button. Alternatively, the command sudo aptitude update can be run from a console. Then a search for acroread need to be done and once found that package need to be installed. Note that this will also install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader and if you choose so, make it the default pdf type file reader. Once the plugin (and reader) has been installed, the Firefox browser has to re-started. The command about:plugins has also to be executed to verify that the pdf plugin is indeed installed - which in my case, was. In order to test the plugin I used a web page containing a pdf test document and it verified that the installed plugin worked. However, for some strange reason, the Acrobat Reader was not listed in the Applications menu list. Loggin out and then back in solved this - Acrobat Reader 9 was now listed in Applications -> Office.

Next I installed some extra essential (to me!) plugins - Adblock Plus, Download Statusbar, Webmail Notifier and Yoono (a social neworking app to mintor my twitter and facebook account). Once these were installed I now have the Firefox browser that I can use productively. In fact, I use the same setup for my netbooks and my Windows 7 workstations. Later I get my bookmarks synchronized across all my computers. I wonder if there is an application that will allow me to do so.

Next, I will check out the multimedia capabilities of Ubuntu 10.04 ... stay tuned.

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Ubuntu Auto remove old kernels when you are running out of space

If your root partition is running out of space, you can auto remove the old kernels with this command in the terminal:

 dpkg -l linux-* | sed /^ii/!d;/"$(uname -r | sed "s/(.*)-([^0-9]+)/1/")"/d;s/^[^ ]* [^ ]* ([^ ]*).*/1/;/[0-9]/!d | xargs sudo apt-get -y purge 

Source: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Documentation/RemoveOldKernels

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Two Half Life 2 Mods you Should Look out for

Back in 1998, when first person shooters all revolved around dreary hunts for key cards to unlock levels, a start-up company called Valve Corporation released its first product and so forever changed the FPS industry. Half-Life and its expansions---Blue Shift and Opposing Force---did away with the key cards-centric gameplay and introduced players to an unprecedented plot-centric approach. No longer just mindlessly blasting through levels, Half-Life players were immersed in a catastrophic event involving trans-dimensional beings, zombies, and black ops marines^*.



(^*It makes you wonder what game developers were doing with the first-person shooter genre before Half-Life arrived. The Wing Commander series had sci-fi simulation fighter games that really had meat to them. The key cards might have been too shiny to resist.)

>>>Free first-person shooter games HERE

The mods and links (Atomic PCs exclusive review of Black Mesa Source, links to both mods official sites, and Operation: Black Mesas official trailer) after the jump.

Blast From the Past Using Todays Technology

Fast forward to the present and nearly all video games have taken whole chapters from the way Half-Life was structured. Games now have more eye candy settings than you can whale at. However, only a few surpass Valves epic story about trans-dimensional invaders and a science facilitys struggle to contain the catastrophe.

Its not surprising then that several individuals have started projects aimed at resurrecting the Half-Life experience using todays technology.

The Mods and why you Should be on the Lookout for Their Release

One of the Half-Life 2 modifications is Black Mesa Source, a FREE mod that rebuilds the very first Half-life from the ground up using Valves Source engine. Thought it still is in the bug-testing phase, all you need to play it (when it comes out) is own a Source-powered game like Half-Life 2 or Counter-Strike: Source.

>>>Tactics and strategy games more your thing? Click HERE.

Cra_py Half-Life: Source its not

Most people found Half-Life: Source to be a disappointment. Once this mod launches however, you wont need to shell out 10 dollars for a bland overhaul; what media the mod developers have churned out are awesome as evidenced by this trailer:



Another Source-based free first-person shooter project is Operation: Black Mesa, a freeware project (again, provided that you own a Source game) that is recreating Half-Life: Opposing Force. The developers have recently made a media release, assuring fans that the project is still ongoing.

A video showcasing Operation: Black Mesas effects and creatures:



>>>Atomic PCs exclusive review of Black Mesa Source

Its pretty understandable that after the above August 31 review (and the fact that one of the projects devs mentioned a 2010 release), the Black Mesa Source forums are once again abuzz with activity.

Operation: Black Mesa videos:

Weapons


Concept art


>>>Black Mesa Source official site

>>>Operation: Black Mesa official site

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Trying Out Ubuntu 10 04 On A Desktop PC Part One Addendum

In my previous blog, I mentioned installing some extra add-ons. What I forgot to mention was that I had problem initially while trying to install ANY add-ons - an error #228 occurs eveytime. After researching the web, I found that this was a common problem with 64-bit Ubuntu and it had to do something with IPv6 support in Firefox. This has to be disabled before add-ons can be successfully installed.

Following the instruction, I executed about:config in Firefox and then clicked "Ill be careful" button on the warning that appeared. I then typed ipv6 in the filter box to get to the one and only line thats needed - that line will say network.dns.disableipv6. The default value is "false". I then double-clicked it to set the value to "true" (to disable IPv6). Once this was done and Firefox restarted, I could install the add-ons without any problems. Note that if you do require IPv6 support in Firefox you need to reverse the process.

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Ubuntu Find Out Your Block Size

The block size you have on your drives can significantly affect performance, but can also cause a lot of wasted space if you set it too large. In simple terms, the block size represents the minimum amount of physical disk space that is taken up by a file. Hence, if you have lots of tiny text files, then its a good idea to have a small block size in order to reduce wasted space. However, if you are using HDDs (traditional hard drives) to just store large media files such as movies and music, then you may find that you want to set a larger block size of perhaps 1 MiB for better read/write performance.

Why would Increasing The Block Size Increase Performance?

Each block needs to have some assosciated metadata. Thus if you have a smaller block size, then there is more metadata that has to be written when you write the entire file (e.g. file transfers). I assume this is particularly relevant to filesystem level encryption (e.g. truecrypt) where a tiny change to a file within the volume results in all the bits of the volume (thus all the blocks) changing and having to be updated. This is why serverbear benchmarks drives with block sizes at 1M and 64k as shown below:

Whats the Command to Find Out My Block Size?

sudo dumpe2fs /dev/sda1 | fgrep -e Block size

References

• Ubuntu Forums - command to get block size in Ubuntu?

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Twitter and Google Firehose deal to target logged out users

Twitter and Google are partners once again say CEO Dick Costolo. "Twitter CEO Dick Costolo today confirmed that Twitter has signed a firehose deal with Google, which will bring tweets back into Google searches"Read more here.

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Ubuntu Zoom in and out with Ctrl Super mousewheel

To check pixel-perfect webdesigns this is a must have feature!

First you need to install CompizConfig Settings Manager, if you did not before:

 sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager 

You can now start CCSM and click on the Enhanced Zoom Desktop icon.

Here set the Zoom In Button to <control><Super>Button4 and the Zoom Out Button to <control><Super>Button5.

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Two Fighters out this week Super Smash Bros 3DS and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

If youre a fan of fighting games, then this week is going to be a busy one! Of course it depends on what you like, but if you follow just about everything--then youll be happy to hear there are two major releases coming up; one of which will be here as early as tomorrow. So, just what are these two games? Well....

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax-

The first game (coming out tomorrow) is Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. This one is a must have, not only for fighting fans, but for Persona fans as well. The game itself is a sequel to Persona 4 Arena, and it features a full visual novel styled story mode taking place after the events of the original game (and before the Golden ending in Persona 4 Golden). On top of that, the game features brand new gameplay modes, new characters, shadow versions of the characters (both new and old) with different move sets, massive online lobbies (PS3 version only), and other general gameplay updates you might expect from a fighter.

While the game is a part of the Persona series and aimed at fans in general, it is still a solid fighter just about anyone can enjoy. Even if you arent a Persona fan, but enjoy fighters by Arc System Works (Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, etc), then it may be worth checking out.

Super Smash Bros 3DS -

This is the big one. After a long (LONG) wait, Super Smash Bros for the 3DS finally hits western shores. Since the release of the original back on the N64, the Smash Bros series has been one of the most well known games among gamers, and a must have for Nintendo fans. Featuring a wide range of characters from a wide verity of game series, Smash Bros is a game both casual and competitive players can enjoy, and now the full experience can be found on a handheld for the very first time. Of course a full HD release will be coming to the Wii U later this year, but for now those itching to play on the big screen will just have to settle for the 3DS.

While at their heart both versions of Smash Bros are the same game, the 3DS version and Wii U version do have their own gameplay modes and stages to play on, so you do get a bit of a different experience depending on your console of choice. (Which gives you a reason to pick up both versions if you can.)


So, if youre into fighting games, or love crossovers--get ready to play some great games this week! Rather it be Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, or Smash Bros 3DS (or both), dont forget to mark the date on your calender because the wait is almost over.

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