Tip Of The Day (3) : Linux Mint 13 and Petra Backports

Can't log in after the update of your Linux Mint with Petra Backports ?

Don't forget to read the other tips:

Tip Of The Day (5) : Batch Script to resize pictures in linux (Nemo)

Tip Of The Day (4) : Bulk renaming files in linux

Tip Of The Day (2) : Batch resizing pictures in linux

Tip Of The Day (1) : Screenshot 

After the update i shot down my PC, and the following day i couldn't log in and got 

"There was an error loading the theme XXXXXX" 

And no way to log or anything

Here is the Workaround : 

1. Press ctrl+alt+F1 to switch to the console
2. Log in
3. Then type sudo killall mdm
4.  and startx
5. Cinnamon will start correctly (we've just bypassed the login window)

if not done yet, make sure mint-meta-cinnamon , mint-mdm-themes are installed, and ubuntu-system-adjustments is up-to-date.

==> you've got a somewhat working PC now, but you'll need to repeat the process at every boot

Now fixing the issue : 

When the update was performed it erased the potentially custom theme we were using so mdm couldn't launch anything at boot ...

• Once in Cinnamon trying to start mdm in order to change the theme fails.
• Open /etc/mdm/mdm.conf as root
• Search for  HTMLTheme= and GraphicalTheme=
• Change theses values to : 

HTMLTheme=Mint-XGraphicalTheme=linuxmint

• Save the file, and reboot
• Log in, open mdm and choose the theme you want (html or gdm/gtk)

==> You've now recovered a fully working Linux Mint 13 with the Petra backports ! 

Alternate fix [source] : 

• Delete your MDM configuration with the command: sudo rm -f /etc/mdm/mdm.conf
• Reset the MDM configuration with the command: sudo touch /etc/mdm/mdm.conf
• Reboot the computer

Motorola Moto G

Previous article was 100% obsolete. 
This will be updated ASAP!

How to wireless charge your Moto G

Tip Of The Day (2) : Batch resizing pictures in linux

How to batch resize pictures in Linux (Mint and Ubuntu based distros)

Don't forget to read the other tips:

Tip Of The Day (5) : Batch Script to resize pictures in linux (Nemo)

Tip Of The Day (4) : Bulk renaming files in linux

Tip Of The Day (3) : Linux Mint 13 and Petra Backports

Tip Of The Day (1) : Screenshot 

first install imagemagick : 
sudo apt-get install imagemagick

then open in terminal the folder containing your pictures you want to resize, and then type the following : 
for file in *.[picture extension]; do convert $file -resize [size you want] [new-name]-$file; done

example, for .JPG files that you want to resize in 800*600 (the file will be sized to fit in a 800*600 frame without destroying ratio)
for file in *.JPG; do convert $file -resize 800x600 resized-$file; done

Your resized pictures are now called resized-*.JPG (original pics are not overwritten) ie : 
DSCF2248.JPG is now called resized-DSCF2248.JPG

Now you have forum-ready pics, for fast upload and quick sharing ;)

That's all folks !

CCFL : some experiments

A while ago i took apart some screens with CCFL backlight, and then did nothing with it.

It's time to change that ! 


What is used : 

• Old PSU
• CCFL inverter bought in a electronic shop
• Some CCFL took from screens
• some electric wire
• soldering iron
• soldering tin

the CCFL tube is longer than the Inverter can handle, that's why i played with it,with a smaller one i got a geeky desk light.

here is the lighting circuit : 

here is the result : 

And in the dark now : 

Ok, This was pointless ... but that was fun to play with

Tip Of The Day (1) : Screenshot

ScreenShots

Don't forget to read the other tips:

Tip Of The Day (5) : Batch Script to resize pictures in linux (Nemo)

Tip Of The Day (4) : Bulk renaming files in linux

Tip Of The Day (3) : Linux Mint 13 and Petra Backports

Tip Of The Day (2) : Batch resizing pictures in linux

On Gnome, and gnome based environments, Screenshots are taken by gnome-screenshot package

 there's a well made article about this here, so i'm not going to explain it that much

the only tip here is to start the app instead of taking the screenshot at a key strike, use : 

gnome-screenshot --interactive

and assign it to the dedicated key (Impr)

now, instead of having a screenshot taken instantly, the dialog box is displayed and give you some choices ;)

And ... Some Coins

a while ago i started to collect 2€ coins, first to get some of foreign countries, and second to get the special coins made for some events, but i can't find the box where they are... And so started a new one : 

Treaty of Rome :  first i found the Belgian edition of the Treaty of Rome : 

but i also have : 

Austrian edition

Luxembourg edition :

Finland edition : 

Spanish edition : 

German edition : 

One about the 2006 Torino Olympic Games : 

The Elysée Treaty (50years) :

French edition : 

German edition : 

Appeal of June 18th : 

Euro ten years : 
French edition :

French and Austrian edition : 

"Fête de la musique" : 

2008, French presidency at UE :

UEM 1999 : 

AIDS International Day 2014 : 

DDay 1944-2014:

70 years of "peace" in Europe, 2015:

UEFA EURO 2016:

François Mitterrand 2016:

Auguste Rodin 2017:

World Food Programme, Italy, 2004:

Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union, Belgium, 2005:

standard States coins : 

Cyprus :

Finland (1 and 2€) : 

Greece

i would need 2c and 1c coins to complete that country...

Malta (2€, 20c and 5c) : 

Slovenia (1€) :

Eire (Southern Ireland) : 

Austria : 

Monaco : 

Saarland limited edition (German coin, the Mint mark [A] indicates Berlin as origin) : 

Bayern limited edition (German coin, the Mint mark [D] indicates Munich as origin) : 

000

Editing PDF on Linux

Need to edit a PDF on Linux ?

There are a few softwares that can do the Job but...

Here was the Problematic : adding notes on a 215 pages PDF using a small and performance-less netbook

I first tried PDF import extension of LibreOffice (opened using Draw) two issues came out : 

• importing the PDF destroyed most pictures
• the 215 pages uncompressed for editing made the netbook lagging a lot

So I needed an alternative way

• splitting the enormous pdf in smaller parts
• using another program to add notes

• Splitting using pdfmod :

installing

sudo apt-get install pdfmod

using

once the PDF was in a few smaller time it was time to add notes : 

• Adding notes using flpsed

installing : 

sudo apt-get install flpsed

using

the look isn't fancy, but it does the Job : 

You may wait a lot for the file to open (mostly linked to pdf size and PC performance)

==> Then add notes, and export to pdf when the work is done ! 

Enjoy ;)

m@

PS: I'm still looking for better ways, feel free to share your own!

Customizing MDM

Customizing MDM : a few tips 

Considering we are on Linux Mint, we use MDM as Login Window, why won't we play with it?

MDM stands for "MDM Display Manager" this is a feature of Linux Mint, it has a menu for customizing the login window (but that's not enough ;) ) more info on Linux Mint website

default window is the following : 

first we can choose a new theme in the list :

We now have this login window : 

But hey! there is an issue, i can hardly read my login and password !

Let's fix it : 

open /usr/share/mdm/themes/Dark (since the choosen theme name is "Dark")

open dark.xml as root  :

and now let's edit what needs it ;) 

seek for this : 

change the color #d6d6d6 (light gray) to #000000 (black) or any color you would like for user -pw-entry : (For you, lazy guy, here is the exact line to edit) 

and now the theme is ready to use :D

enjoy ! 

m@