Acer C720 Linux Ubuntu Brightness Keys (ElementaryOS)

This is written for the Acer C720-3445 ("NX.SHEAA.019") running elementary OS Freya beta-1, but it should work for other Acer C720 models and/or other ubuntu-derived flavours.

After installing your favourite flavour of linux on your Acer C720 chromebook, you may notice that the special function keys above the numbers row do not work as anticipated.  These are actually just normal function keys (i.e. "F keys") that you see on a normal keyboard, but instead of being labelled F1, F2, F3... they are labelled with pictures.

You'll notice that you can use them just like normal Function keys.  For example, ALT + F4 (the fullscreen image key) will close a program and F1 (the "back" key) will pull up a Help Menu on most applications.  Getting the volume keys working is pretty straight forward.  The keys that normally control this function are XF86AudioMute XF86AudioLowerVolume and XF86AudioRaiseVolume, but we're going to change them to F8, F9, and F10, respectively.  In elementary OS and other ubuntu 14.04 derivations, this keybindings can be manually set quite easily from the System Settings > Keyboard > Media menu:

Settings the brightness keys is more difficult, since the option for brightness keybindings is not build into the elementary OS or ubuntu settings.  However, this can be accomplished through the custom keybindings settings in org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys custom-keybindings.  The goal is to use a package called xdotool to call the brighness keys behind the scenes.  We'll then bind this process to the F6 and F7 keys on the Acer keyboard.  Here's how it is accomplished:

First, grab the xdotool application.  It should already be accessible from the repositories:

sudo apt-get install xdotool

The keys we want are XF86MonBrightnessDown and XF86MonBrightnessUp.  You can test these commands by opening an terminal and running:

xdotool key XF86MonBrightnessDown
xdotool key XF86MonBrightnessUp

You should see your screen brightness decrease, then increase.  It should also tie in with elementary OS's info window.  Next is to check if you already have any custom keybindings.  Run:

dconf read /org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings

It should come back empty.... if not, you've probably already modified it and will need to make sure your current custom keybindings are not deleted.  Next, we will create two keybindings: one for brightness down and another for brightness up.  Let's call them custom1 and custom2, respectively:

gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys custom-keybindings "['/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom1/','/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom2/']"

You can check these settings visually with dconf (dconf-tools):

All that's left is to set the name, binding, and command parameters.  Start with brightness down/ F6:

gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom1/ name 'BrightnessDown'

gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom1/ binding 'F6'

gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom1/ command 'xdotool key XF86MonBrightnessDown'

And here's brightness up for F7:

gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom2/ name 'BrightnessUp'

gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom2/ binding 'F7'

gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom2/ command 'xdotool key XF86MonBrightnessUp'

The keys should work as per the keypad now.  Note that this will likely screw up your native F6 and F7 functions, which was not a problem for me since those keys were never used for anything else.  I also had to restart my computer before the keybindings took affect.

How to Fix Netflix (Google) DNS on Roku Update

This post will show you how to fix the Netflix's hardcoded Google DNS on the Roku.

Roku rolled out an update sometime in the last week in which the Netflix application switched from using global DNS settings to hardcoded 8.8.8.8 Google DNS settings.  I have nothing against Google DNS, but I need to use custom settings because I use Unblock-Us to trick Netflix into giving me USA content....and I'm in Canada.   My Roku is currently on version 5.4 build 3340.

Now, Roku is the only network device in my home that does not allow custom DNS settings.... but that's a different complaint for a different post.  Suffice to say that to trick any application on the Roku, custom DNS must be configured at the router level.

I'm going to outline 2 different router-level methods for fixing the Netflix hardcoded DNS: (1) Rerouting 8.8.8.8 to your gateway, and (2) outright blocking any communication with 8.8.8.8

Method 1 - Rerouting to your Gateway

The first step is to log in to your router.  If you don't know how to do that, stop reading and call your go-to tech support family member.  If you're feeling adventurous, see How to Find Your Router's IP Address.  Save the router's address for the configuration we're doing below.

In this example I'm using an old TRENDNET TEW-432BRP with local ip 192.168.10.1

Find your Routing Table settings.  In mine, it's under Routing > Static.  We're going to create a new static route so that every time the Roku (or any network device) looks for 8.8.8.8, it will be automatically directed to the 192.168.10.1 router ip.  As long as the 192.168.10.1 router is configured for custom DNS, it's bye-bye 8.8.8.8.  Enter the following settings:

Network Address: 8.8.8.8
Network Mask: 255.255.255.255
Gateway Address: 192.168.10.1 (router IP)
Interface: LAN
Metric: 2

Make sure you add & enable the route and that's it.

Method 2 - Blocking Google DNS

Get to your router's configuration page as per Method 1, and find your IP Filter configuration settings. On my TRENDNET, it's under Access > Filter > IP Filter.  Now, simply add the range 8.8.8.8 to 8.8.8.8 (the lone IP address) and enable the filter.  Now, all traffic trying to reach 8.8.8.8 will be blocked and timeout.  In the case of Roku's Netflix, it will timeout and default to the global DNS settings.

How to find Your Router's IP Address in Windows

This post explains how to find the IP address of your wireless or wired router.  In my case, this takes place on Windows 7, but it will also for for Windows XP, Windows Vista, etc.

Step 1 - Command Prompt

From the start menu, run the application Command Prompt or just search for "cmd"

Step 2 - Ipconfig

Type the following code and press enter.

ipconfig

Write down the default gateway IP address.  In my case below, I am connecting over WLAN (wireless) and my router default gateway address is 192.168.10.1

Step 3 - Browser

Launch your favourite browser and type the router (gateway) IP in the address bar and hit Enter.

192.168.10.1

You are now at your router's landing page and ready to configure.  Your router might need a password (usually "admin" / "admin")

Ubuntu Wired Ethernet Connection Not Working

I recently upgraded my home internet connection to 50 mbps.  Shaw (ISP) gave loaned me a new Cisco DPC3825 cable modem.  The Cisco DPC3825 also functions as a gateway, router, and wireless router, so I pulled the plug on my old Trendnet TEW-432BRP.  In doing this, I started to notice multiple failures between my PS3 and my Ubuntu 11.04 machine (running PS3 Media Server, both wired) in the form of frequent DLNA errors.  On top of this, Ubuntu sometimes wouldn't recognise the wired ethernet connection (even though the hardware lights activated).

Fixing/resetting this was simple:

sudo service network-manager stop
sudo ifconfig eth0 up
sudo dhclient eth0
sudo service network-manager start

These commands stop network manager, ensure the wired ethernet device (eth0 in my case) is being monitored, renew its DHCP lease, and restart network manager.  So far, it's worked for me every time.

After a little more digging, I believe the problem lies with my Cisco SPA2102 VOIP phone adapter.  It was running under the gateway and also assigning DHCP.  I've since turned this feature off and am hoping for less no more communication errors.

How to Manage WBFS Partitions in Ubuntu Linux

A previous post of mine, How To Play Nintendo Wii Games from a USB HD, deals only with the Windows OS.  Suppose you'd like to load Wii games from a USB HD, but you're using, say, Ubuntu Linux?  Well then you would need an alternative WBFS partition manager.

Enter Wiithon.

Wiithon is python-based GUI linux application for managing WBFS partitions.  It's clean, simple to use, and even supports remote updates of game info, pictures, etc.  If your external HD doesn't already have a WBFS partition, Wiithon can create one.  The application can even copy wii games from one partition to another...

The current stable version is 1.1 and I believe development might be at a standstill (the latest repo is Karmic), but it works great on Lucid.  To install, simply run the following commands from Terminal:

grep "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/wii.sceners.linux/wiithon-1.1/ubuntu karmic main" /etc/apt/sources.list || echo deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/wii.sceners.linux/wiithon-1.1/ubuntu karmic main | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list && sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 1F882273 && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install wiithon && sudo gpasswd -a $USER disk

This will add the Wiithon repository to your /etc/apt/source.list, and download and install the program.  Once installed, you can launch from the Applications > Games > Wiithon menu, but you must be in sudo mode to do so!

If you'd like to give the current user permission to launch (recommended), simply run

sudo gpasswd -a $USER disk

You can now launch Wiithon from the Applications menu using your current user profile!

How to Play Nintendo Wii Games from a USB HD

This guide will show you how to play wii games from an external USB HD.  Note that for this to work, you will need to have Hacked Your Wii to Play Burnt Games.

You will need:

• Hacked Nintedo Wii with Softmod (guide here)
• SD card or USB stick with Homebrew Apps (same guide as above)
• Computer with Windows XP/Vista/7 and SD card reader or USB slot
• External hd (with own power supply)

Step 1: Partition the USB HD

The Wii can't read games from a normal FAT, FAT32, or NTFS drive.  It needs an active drive formatted via WBFS.

1a - Select an external USB hd.  You will lose all data on the hd during the format, so make sure that everything is backed up beforehand.  Also, you may need to use a hd with an external  power supply, though I'm not 100% sure.... I originally started with a 500GB Western Digital My Passport Essential, but the Wii wouldn't detect it properly.  I switched to a cheap, generic 250 GB white box type with an external power supply and it worked fine.

1b - Connect your hd to an XP/Vista/7 computer and load Disk Management.  You can do this in XP by right-clicking on My Computer, and selecting Manage > Storage > Disk Management, and on Vista/7 by going to Control Panels > Administrative Tools > Computer Manager > Disk.

1c - Right click on the external hd and delete all partitions/the entire volume.   Then, right click on the empty volume below and create a new partition.  Make it a Primary partition and assign a letter to the drive (like Z:/) and do not format.  When choosing the size of the partition, remember that wii games will be between 0.5 GB and 6GB depending on the game.  You may also want to leave some space for a FAT/32 or NTFS partition on the drive, since windows will not be able to recognise the WBFS partition after formatting.  The above image shows an initial WBFS partition of 230 GB with a FAT partition of 3.4 GB on Disk 1 (external hd).

1d - Right click on the new partition, mark as active, and close Disk Manager.  

Step 2: Format USB HD & Copy Games 

2a - In order to complete this step, you will need WBFS Manager and .NET Framework on your computer. You probably already have .NET Framework from a Windows Update, but if not you can download it here. Next, download this package (password: justplainobvious), which contains WBFS Manager 3.0 and USB Loader GX 1.0.  Install WBFS Manager to your PC, and keep USB Loader GX for later.

2b - Run WBFS Manager from the Start Menu or Desktop, and select your new external drive letter in the top left hand corner (you may need to press Refresh once or twice).  Click Format and allow WBFS Manager to format the external hd.

2c - Once finished formatting, you can copy any ISO files from your local hd to the external drive by clicking Browse in the right windows of WBFS Manager.  Click the Add button to copy the selected ISO, and repeat this step for multiple files.   Note that WBFS Manager filters out junk material on the CD, so your game will probably be a lot smaller on the external hd than the 4.37 GB on your local hd.  Once finished copying, remove the ISOs from the right hand window by clicking Remove From List.

2d - Note that you cannot rip ISO files from a Wii disc on your computer like you would a normal dvd/cd.  There are only a handful of LG dvd-rom drives that can read wii discs and if you don't have this drive you're out of luck.  However, you can rip wii games directly to your external hd from the wii itself!  Just load up USB Loader GX (see below), and press the + button to copy.


Step 3: Play USB HD Games on Your Wii

3a - Start off by inserting your USB key or SD card into the PC and copying the USB Loader GX folder into the /apps/ directory.  If you don't have an /apps/ directory, see this guide.  (Note: I'm no longer recommending USB Loader GX and am now using NeoGamma) Boot up your Wii and insert the USB key or SD card into the slot (Note: if using a USB key, you must insert it into the top-most/right-most slot and must not plug in the external hd yet).  Load the Homebrew Channel (if you don't have the Homebrew Channel, again, see this guide).

3b - Once your Homebrew Channel has loaded, plug in the external hd to the left-most/bottom-most USB slot.  Run USB Loader GX (Note: or NeoGamma) and simply select your game from the menu!  You should download and run games from your coding region (i.e. NTSC for North America and PAL for Europe/Asia), but you should be able to run any region game using the Force option.  Just Force to your region (I haven't tested this).

Done.  You're all set !!

going mobile with the BlackBerry 8120

I was already pretty mobile. I have a work laptop, a work cellphone and I feel comfortable working pretty much everywhere. However, last week I took my mobility a step further with the BlackBerry 8120. Now, keep in mind that I'm not an experienced BB user. I've never had a BB before, nor any other SmartPhone device with email functionality. I've been a fairly avid cellphone user for the past who-knows-how-many years...but this is my first look at email on the go.
I knew that I didn't want to pay for some ridiculous data plan. I also can't stand being locked down to one specific carrier because I have big plans to travel the world and want to be able to swap out my SIM card. So, I went online to ebay and purchased the unlocked 8120 from ready2call's store. I looked at a bunch of other phones, but settled on the 8120 because of its slim design and 802.11 b/g wifi functionality. Within a few days the item had arrived (no customs duties!) and I was tearing open the packaging to play with my new toy. More on this in subsequent posts...

making your laptop shine

I just received a new travel laptop from work... the amazing Compaq nx6325. Alright, so she's not the youngest gal at the ball anymore, but a old, functional laptop is better than no laptop at all. The problem with this laptop has nothing to do with memory or speed; the problem is the screen brightness.

While this laptop screen isn't too dark to use, it's definitely not up there with lcd monitor quality. Futhermore, the brightness function keys are already at 100%. What to do? I'm using Compaq's ATI Radeon video driver, which doesn't seem to have much in the way of configurability.

The answer is ATI Catalyst Control Centre. This baby allows me to adjust all aspects of my screen, including brightness and gamma. If you are using an ATI Radeon driver, you need to get this application. Period.

Is it time to ditch your old laptop?

As I type away the thought occurs to me that you and I are looking at the exact same thing....my current laptop: the rip roarin' Gateway MX6958. I bought this factory refurbished laptop on ebay in July 2007, and I'm wondering if it isn't time to start looking again. With 1.6 GHz dual core and 1Gb of RAM, this baby isn't exactly the youngest girl at the ball. However, she's not the oldest either, and this laptop has been performing quite well for the last couple years.

But recently I've had to perform a few fixer-upper maneuvers. In the autumn of '08 I replaced a SATA hd. In the past I've had to flash the BIOS to get the OS to boot, and now I'm dealing with a failing CMOS battery. End result = my laptop doesn't always boot, and I'm constantly backing up my data to external disks.

"But Andrew" you say, "just replace the CMOS battery and all will be forgiven." It's not so easy. Do you know just how many CMOS batteries exist for a laptop that's no longer in production or supported? Not too many. I found one on ebay a couple weeks ago but can't seem to reconcile the $20. Besides, who trusts a guy selling used CMOS batteries on ebay? As wasteful as it may be, I'm closer to just buying a new laptop.

I'm always told that technology is changes too rapidly for someone to keep the same computer for more than a couple of years. This is a facade. The truth is that they just don't make 'em like they used to...