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Topics - Dan

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General Discussion / A question about 32bit Google Chrome (in the post 32bit Google Chrome era)

« on: May 09, 2017, 08:52:08 PM »

Hi everyone; I hope you're all doing well!

I have a question that may draw some criticism for my stupidity...but here goes...

My wife uses our old 32bit laptop to watch Netflix and Amazon videos. The 32bit Firefox has stopped playing them for some reason, and I can't figure out why.

So...

I did some searching and found the last release of the 32bit version of Google Chrome. I threw caution to the wind...downloaded it and installed it. It plays both Netflix and Amazon perfectly.

So...

I made apps for both of them so that they would open in their own window. I then added "NoDisplay=true" to Google Chrome's desktop.file in /usr/share/applications so that the Chrome browser isn't "available" for my wife to use for browsing. All that can be done with Chrome is watching either Netflix or Amazon.

That's basically all that computer is used for...but...am I playing with fire?

Is anyone else experiencing this problem with 32bit Firefox lately? Firefox plays both perfectly on our 64bit machines...

Thanks!

General Discussion / Hi Everyone!

« on: January 18, 2017, 03:39:56 AM »

cheiron, leenie, Blaze, biffster, et al...

Hope you're all doing well!

General Discussion / Income Tax Software

« on: October 06, 2016, 03:12:18 PM »

Hi guys!

I do our taxes each year...a real pain, because my wife is a contracted travel agent...which means a lot of extra work on different areas of the tax return.

Anyway...I've used both H&R Block and Turbo Tax. There's another one that I've tried, but I can't remember the name. Anyway...I prefer Turbo Tax, because it's more user-friendly, but I use H&R Block simply because it's cheaper.

My questions are...

1. Has anyone here used either of those tax software products on Linux with Wine or PlayOnLinux...or...
2. Do you know of others who have...or...
3. Do you know if using such software on Linux is possible with Wine or POL?

I keep one Windows computer just for this purpose. If it wasn't for doing my own taxes, that computer would be Linux too.

General Discussion / Phone Browser Wars

« on: September 29, 2016, 03:15:45 AM »

Just wondering what folks prefer on their phones for web browsing.

After trying tons of them on my Android, I finally settled in with the Ghostery browser.

wattOS R10 / GUFW update

« on: September 04, 2016, 01:04:37 PM »

I ran updates yesterday and noticed an update for GUFW was included.

Today, I checked my firewall's status, and it wasn't active.

Now...I'm almost positive that I had turned on my firewall...I can't imagine that I wouldn't have. ~~So, I assume the update to GUFW turned it off?~~

All of that to say this...if you receive an update for GUFW, check your firewall's status afterwards...and you may want to check it after rebooting too.

Again...this could have been an oversight of mine, but it's better to be safe just in case.

EDITED TO ADD: It was apparently my oversight. I apparently hadn't turned it on. Don't know how that happened!

Tips and Tricks / Tips on how to change the panel clock

« on: September 03, 2016, 11:46:16 PM »

The panel clock comes set at a 24-hour clock. If you'd like to change it to a 12-hour clock, here are a few tips...

First, right click on the clock in the panel and choose "Digital Clock" Settings.

You'll change the settings for the clock by changing the code in the first space...next to Clock Format.

Option 1 - A 12-hour clock with a leading zero. Such as 01:30

Code: [Select]

%H:%M
Want to have AM/PM or am/pm after the time? Such as 01:30 PM or 01:30 pm

For capital AM/PM...

Code: [Select]

%H:%M %p
For lowercase am/pm...

Code: [Select]

%H:%M %P
Yes...for capital, you use a small p. For lowercase letters, you use a capital P.

Don't ask me why!

Option 2 - A 12-hour clock WITHOUT the leading zero. Such as 1:30

Code: [Select]

%l:%M
(that's a lowercase l ... l as in linux)

And of course you can add the AM/PM. As in 1:30 PM

Code: [Select]

%l:%M %p
...or the am/pm...as in 1:30 pm

Code: [Select]

%l:%M %P
There are WAY TOO MANY combinations to list, but I'll give one more...

You want to go completely whack-a-doodle, and have the clock show the time and date...like Windows has on their panel? Okay, but realize you'll either have to make your panel taller, or you may have to reduce the size of your fonts for it to fit!

You know how the Windows clock looks...like this...

1:30 PM
9/3/2016

Though I personally prefer the lowercase am/pm, I'll give the Windows capitalized AM/PM...you know how to change it to lowercase if you want.

Code: [Select]

%l:%M %p%n%-m/%e/%Y
If you use this, make sure to put a checkmark next to Center text before you close out the Digital Clock Settings window.

Now...if you want to know even more combinations/possibilities, here's a website that makes it pretty easy to find what you want...I wish I had known about it before I figured all this stuff out the hard way.

http://strftime.net/

wattOS R10 / How to easily change the Grub Screen's background on R10

« on: September 02, 2016, 09:00:27 PM »

I don't know if it's just me, but on both of my installs of R10 thusfar, the grub screen is that basic black and blue grub screen.

If anyone else is experiencing this, and you'd like to have the classic wattOS background on R10...here's the simplest way that I know without having to change any configuration files. All you need to do is copy and paste an image.

1. Open your file manager as root.

To open the file manager as root, you can either...

a) From the main menu, go to System Tools and click on Root File Manager. Then enter your password in the window that pops up.

...or...

b) Open your terminal, and enter the following command...

Code: [Select]

sudo pcmanfm
It will also ask for your password in the terminal after entering that command.

Either method will open your file manager as root.

Now...if you don't already have a shortcut to Filesystem Root in the side panel, click "Edit" in the tool bar, then click "Preferences". In the window that pops up, click on "Layout", and put a check mark next to "Filesystem Root". That will give you a shortcut and easy access to the root File System in your File Manager. Close the "Preferences" window.

2. Click the shortcut to Filesystem Root in the side panel, and go to /usr/share/wattOS

Right-click on green-grub.jpg and choose Copy.

3. Click the shortcut to Filesystem Root again, and go to /boot/grub

On any empty space in that folder, right-click and choose Paste

That should paste the copied picture into that folder.

4. Close the File Manager

5. Open your terminal, and enter this command...

Code: [Select]

sudo update-grub
When that finishes, Reboot your computer, and you should now have the wattOS grub screen.

wattOS R10 / Intermittant USB Mouse Availability?

« on: September 02, 2016, 01:34:06 AM »

First bug report...sorry!

The bug: This happened on both the live discs for 32bit and 64bit. When I first moved the mouse, there was no action. I looked at the mouse, and the light wasn't on. I clicked the mouse button, and it started working. After letting it sit idle for about 5-10 seconds, it would go dead again. I'd have to click the mouse to get it working again. This happened during the entire time that I tried out both distros. As long as the mouse was active, it would work fine...but let it sit idle a few moments, and it goes dead.

Luckily, I had an old PS2 mouse that I could use on my old computer, and it worked fine without a problem.

My laptop though...at least the touchpad worked.

I went ahead and installed the 64bit onto a USB hoping an update might fix it...no luck there. So I just tried to see if I could figure out the problem...no luck there either. I found several web links describing similar problems, but nothing I tried worked...so...I'm at a loss.

I can't remember the brand of mouse I had on the old computer, but I use a Logitech on this laptop. I did see a package in Synaptic for Logitech, but its description didn't sound as though it would be of benefit, so I haven't installed it.

wattOS R8 / Just installed R8

« on: August 25, 2016, 12:17:48 AM »

While waiting for the new R10 release, I thought I'd have some fun and install this Debian version.

At boot, it wouldn't connect via wifi for some reason...it just kept asking me to re-enter the wifi password. So I just plugged in the ethernet cable.

Install was great...at first I thought something was wrong when I clicked on the installer. I clicked it, and nothing happened. After about 45 seconds to a minute, it finally appeared. I really like that type of installer by the way.

After the install, it took quite a while to update the system...first, I changed the sources list from Wheezy to Jessie.

Had to go through a series of apt-get dist-upgrade and apt-get -f install commands, but after about an hour to an hour and 1/2, the system was updated to the current Debian version. There were a couple of packages that wouldn't upgrade no matter what, so I just removed them. I haven't noticed any problems from doing so.

After the update/upgrade, the wifi connected with no problem.

The only problem that I have encountered is that I can't install any .deb packages. When I try to enter my password, it's denied. Haven't figured that one out yet...but I like a challenge. I might try removing Gdebi and reinstalling it to see if that helps. I don't think the couple of packages that I removed had anything to do with it...

General Discussion / Check MD5Sum on Windows

« on: July 03, 2016, 08:31:54 PM »

For anyone thinking of switching from Windows to Linux, and you'd like to verify the Linux iso that you've downloaded, you may not be aware that you have a built-in checksum verifier. If you do a google search for checking the MD5sum of a downloaded file on Windows, you'll generally see links to various software that you can download and install; however, that's not needed. I will say though...I'm not sure if this works with Windows 10.

To check the MD5Sum of a downloaded file on Windows...

1. Open your file manager, and click on the downloaded file one time just to highlight it...NOT to open it.
2. After the file is highlighted, find the option in the tool bar of the file manager called "Copy path" and click it.
3. Open the Command Prompt (It's in your applications if you're not sure what it is).
4. Type the following command in the Command Prompt...what's written in red are instructions...so DON'T copy and paste this command!

CertUtil -hashfile right-click-your-mouse-here-and-click-paste MD5

5. Hit Enter on your keyboard.

The MD5Sum will be generated, but it will look a little different if you're used to seeing one generated in a Linux Terminal. Rather than all of the numbers and letters being one continuous string of characters, they will be divided up into only two characters at a time...

Now you have no more excuses for not switching to Linux!

General Discussion / Taking wattOS everywhere I go...

« on: June 13, 2016, 05:24:19 AM »

I've been looking at some of the distros that are popular for putting on USBs in order to have a portable Linux OS to use on any computer...so after looking at several, I decided to use...wattOS!

So today, I did a full install of the R9 32bit LXDE onto an 8 GB USB, ran the updates, saved a document to see if it would still be there the next time I used it, rebooted, and everything is there as though on an actual hard drive...and it's only taking up 2.5 GBs of the USB at this point.

I know this is nothing new, but it might be something of use to others.

wattOS R9 / [SOLVED] Sources error on both LXDE 32bit and 64bit.

« on: March 13, 2016, 06:29:47 PM »

Has anyone else been receiving the following error message...

W: GPG error: http://extras.ubuntu.com trusty Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 16126D3A3E5C1192

I've looked through my sources.list, but can't find a source by that exact name. The closest I have is...

## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by third-party
## developers who want to ship their latest software.
deb http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty main
deb-src http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty main

I'm going to comment that source out and see what effect it has.

Tips and Tricks / How to vastly improve font rendering on WINE.

« on: March 12, 2016, 02:06:14 PM »

I've found an even easier and faster method than what's described here in the next few posts. Scroll down a few posts to find it. I'll mark it in large letters as NEW METHOD!

I use WINE for a few things, and though it works great, the font rendering leaves little to be desired. I've tried various "How to" fixes, but none that I tried were very successful.

I finally found the fix, and it's absolutely perfect...and easy!

The article is from 2013, but it still applies today (3-12-2016). Just a few terminal commands, log out and log back in, and BAM!

It not only made the fonts in WINE look great, but it seems to have made all of the fonts system-wide look better too. Took less than 3 minutes to fix the fonts that I've tried to fix for years...

Here's the link to the article...I would recommend not using the PPA given in the article (due to some problems that I personally experienced after adding the PPA). There are links to a .deb package in the next post, which will allow you to install the package with the GDebi Package Installer rather than using the PPA.

http://www.webupd8.org/2013/06/better-font-rendering-in-linux-with.html

Tips and Tricks / How to enable Compton screen compositor (LXDE)

« on: February 24, 2016, 10:10:05 PM »

If you would like to have Compton on wattOS LXDE, it's quick and easy to install. Compton can provide some screen effects; such as, shadows around windows, windows fading in and out upon open and close, and it also can resolve screen tearing issues. I can't vouch for the screen tearing issues, because I've not experienced them myself, but people do say Compton fixes them.

I've included installation instructions in my configuration file. You have two choices...

1. Open Leafpad. Then copy and paste the the code below into it. Name the file compton.conf when you close and save it. Then follow the instructions included in the file.

...or...

2. Simply download the attached file at the bottom of this post, and follow the instructions.

Here's the code if you want to copy and paste...

Code: [Select]

#################################################################################################
#                                                                                               #
#                               INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS                                       #
#                                                                                               #
# Step 1 - Install Compton by opening your terminal, and enter the following command...         #
#                                                                                               #
#          sudo apt-get install compton                                                         #
#                                                                                               #
# Step 2 - Open your File Manager, click the View tab, and click Show Hidden.                   #
#          - Open the .config folder                                                            #
#          - Copy and paste this file into the .config folder.                                  #
#          - Make sure the file is named compton.conf                                           #
#          - You can close the File Manager now if you wish.                                    #
#                                                                                               #
# IMPORTANT! You can now try Compton BEFORE making it permanent. That way, you will see if      #
#            it causes any adverse effects on your system. To try Compton...                    #
#            - Open your menu and click Run.                                                    #
#            - In the window that pops up, type compton (all lower case), and hit Enter.        #
#            - Your screen may reset for a moment and reappear. Now try opening your menu,      #
#              and open some apps; such as, the file manager, terminal, Firefox, etc...         #
#            - If everything is working normally (apart from the expected shadows and fading),  #
#              proceed to Step 3. If you do have any adverse effects, log out of your computer. #
#              When you log back in, everything should return to normal. Remove Compton from    #
#              your system if you wish.                                                         #
#                                                                                               #                                                                                   
# Step 3 - Return to your terminal, and enter the following command...                          #
#                                                                                               #
#          sudo leafpad ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE/autostart                                      #
#                                                                                               #
#          That will open your autostart configuration file. We want Compton to start when      #
#          the computer starts, so simply add the following command to the autostart file...    #
#                                                                                               #
#          @compton                                                                             #
#                                                                                               #
#          Close the file, and save the changes when asked.                                     #
#                                                                                               #
# Step 4 - Log out of your computer, and log back in. Compton should now be actively working.   #
#          You can change the parameters of this file to suit your taste.                       #
#                                                                                               #
#################################################################################################

backend = "glx";
paint-on-overlay = true;
glx-no-stencil = true;
glx-no-rebind-pixmap = true;
vsync = "opengl-swc"; 

# These are important. The first one enables the opengl backend. The last one is the vsync method. Depending on the driver you might need to use a different method.
# The other options are smaller performance tweaks that work well in most cases. 
# You can find the rest of the options here: https://github.com/chjj/compton/wiki/perf-guide, and here: https://github.com/chjj/compton/wiki/vsync-guide


# Shadow
shadow = true;			# Enabled client-side shadows on windows.
no-dock-shadow = true;		# Avoid drawing shadows on dock/panel windows.
no-dnd-shadow = true;		# Don't draw shadows on DND windows.
clear-shadow = true;		# Zero the part of the shadow's mask behind the window (experimental).
shadow-radius = 12;		# The blur radius for shadows. (default 12)
shadow-offset-x = -15;		# The left offset for shadows. (default -15)
shadow-offset-y = -15;		# The top offset for shadows. (default -15)
shadow-exclude = [
 "! name~=''",
 "n:e:Notification",
 "n:e:Plank",
 "n:e:Docky",
 "g:e:Synapse",
 "g:e:Kupfer",
 "g:e:Conky",
 "n:w:*Firefox*",
 "n:w:*Chrome*",
 "n:w:*Chromium*",
 "class_g ?= 'Notify-osd'",
 "class_g ?= 'Cairo-dock'",
 "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-notifyd'",
 "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-power-manager'"
];

# The shadow exclude options are helpful if you have shadows enabled. Due to the way compton draws its shadows, certain applications will have visual glitches 
# (most applications are fine, only apps that do weird things with xshapes or argb are affected). 
# This list includes all the affected apps I found in my testing. The "! name~=''" part excludes shadows on any "Unknown" windows, this prevents a visual glitch with the XFWM alt tab switcher.

# Fading
fading = true; # Fade windows during opacity changes.
fade-delta = 5; # The time between steps in a fade in milliseconds. (default 10).
fade-in-step = 0.03; # Opacity change between steps while fading in. (default 0.028).
fade-out-step = 0.03; # Opacity change between steps while fading out. (default 0.03).
#no-fading-openclose = true; # Fade windows in/out when opening/closing

detect-client-opacity = true; # This prevents opacity being ignored for some apps. For example without this enabled my xfce4-notifyd is 100% opacity no matter what.

# Window type settings
wintypes:
{
  tooltip = { fade = true; shadow = false; };
};

wattOS R9 / [SOLVED] Compton killed my wattOS 64 bit.

« on: February 10, 2016, 05:03:31 AM »

I installed Compton on 2 of my wattOS computers...worked GREAT! I even wrote a "how to" and posted it...HOWEVER...I removed the post, because later, I installed it on a 64 bit laptop running wattOS LXDE 64 bit, and when I rebooted...got to the log in screen...entered my password...hit Enter...the log in went away, but the background image stayed and never went to the desktop. It was just stuck at the Lightdm greeter screen's image.

To make a long story short, I re-installed...tried it again...same result. I had even heard that Point Linux came with Compton pre-installed, so I even tried to install it (just to see what would happen), and it would go to the desktop, but nothing would show up on the desktop.

Something about Compton and this computer doesn't jive...does anyone have any ideas?

It's late here, so here's a quick rundown of the system...

It's a Toshiba

Processor      : 2x AMD Turion(tm) II Dual-Core Mobile M520
Memory      : 3786MB (641MB used)

-Display-
Resolution      : 1366x768 pixels
OpenGL Renderer      : Gallium 0.4 on AMD RS880
X11 Vendor      : The X.Org Foundation
-Multimedia-
Audio Adapter      : HDA-Intel - HDA ATI SB
-Input Devices-
Power Button
Lid Switch
Power Button
AT Translated Set 2 keyboard
Logitech USB Optical Mouse
SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad
Toshiba input device
Video Bus
HDA ATI SB Mic
HDA ATI SB Front Headphone
USB2.0 UVC WebCam

-SCSI Disks-
ATA FUJITSU MJA2320B
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GT20F

Is the easiest thing...I should just forget using Compton on this computer?

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