LIFE: What will happen if Company shutdown?

I'm having a big trouble right now. I was happy to have my internship at Grand Technology Resources, Malaysia. But, I went to lunch with a bunch of my office colleagues at Cosway, suddenly one of the permanent staff at GTR said something about company is going to shut down.

I was a bit surprise. I thought he might be joking around. I have to asked him to seek the truth, and the truth is he is not joking. He just do not know when the company is going to be shut down.

So, the main thing keep playing in my mind is, where should I go for my internship? Do I have to wait for the next semester to retake my internship? Do I have to delayed my Diploma Graduation just because of this company suck in the middle of nowhere?

I need a confirmation whether this company is going down or not, so I can take a proper action by calling my Polytechnic for options or actions. Really need a solid mind right now to be focus on life. Why this should happen to me at this moment when I've done nothing wrong?

LIFE: Hackergotchi 1st Try!

I tried my luck creating my first hackergotchi by using my own image.. and the outcome is just ok. Anyway.. I would like to know what people like to comment about my 1st hackergotchi try out. Please leave a comment...

This is my hackergotchi. Is it? I dont know..

UBUNTU: Meetup registration

I'll like to inform everyone reading this post to register and participate on our first Ubuntu Malaysia Meetup which will be held on 24th February 2008. Those who like to participate need to register so that the in charge person will know the quantity of persons who would like to join for further plan. To register please click on the banner below:

I really hope that this event will come alive and get support from everyone on the community or interested in opensource community. But I'll have to remind everyone, this community is a non-profit in nature community.

My Friend's Video Clip

Well he(my friend) was a little bit boring and came out with an excellent idea to produce a clip of him playing a cover song. So here is the outcome!

I'm enjoying it.. I hope you too! I'll try upload this clip to You Tube as soon as I have time!
Sayonara!

LIFE: New Templates on Negative Zero

I thinking about changing my blog's templates to something more bright in color. I hope everyone like this new look of my blog.

The change of templates doesnt mean I will change my scope of writing. More and more Ubuntu in the future!

UBUNTU: Lepaking day for Ubuntu Malaysia Members!

I cant canmo to the Ubuntu Lepaking event due to my sister's 'Meminang' event which was held on the same day as the Lepaking Event. I did not remember the exact date for the 'Pinangan' to he held. Here I want to appologise from all the community members which did make it at Starbucks garden, Midvalley.

I would like to personally seeking apology from Mr Fenris because I really cant make it to Midvalley on the day! Anyway some of the community member who did join the Lepaking day did share with us the photos.

To view the photos please click the link down below:

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/sumardi/sets/72157603803569001/

Thanks to Sumardi for the photos. Thanks to Mr Fenris for Ubuntu Event and make it happen. This is actually Ubuntu Malaysia first unofficial meetup and not so bad huh?

The official meetup will be held on 17th February 2008 while the place is not being confirm yet. To keep up to date with the event info, please visit Ubuntu Malaysia Website

UBUNTU: ATI Error to load Compiz

First of all it's kind of sad when ATI do not have a proper driver for linux. But thanks to the dev team who did a great job by making our ATI Graphic card useful nowadays. But the ATI driver do not load automatically after a fresh install of ubuntu(any version). So you cannot load any desktop effect(compiz). To enable desktop effect you have to install ATI driver from the restricted area. This how you can install ATI driver:

• Open System>Administrator>Restricted Driver Manager
• Tick for ATI restricted driver.
• This will install the driver automatically.
• After installation, you'll be ask for reboot, you need to reboot to run the new driver.

Sometimes, the desktop effect failed to activate even after you install the ATI Driver (fglrx). The error will tell you that you do not have composite. So there are solution for this issue. Maybe they didn't find the XGL on your system. All you need to do is:

• Open Terminal ( Applications>Accessories>Terminal)
• type sudo apt-get install xserver-xgl
  
• This will install the XGL server.
• On Gutsy Gibbon, the XGL will load automatically on start. But on feisty or any previous version of Ubuntu, you will need to do a few things to load XGL on startup.
• Follow instructions here to enable XGL on start up. XGL help.

I hope your Ubuntu will look great on compiz.

UBUNTU: Usplash disappeared on Gutsy (FIX)

I did post about clocksource TSC unstable couple of days before. Actually this error i received due to delay on booting Ubuntu. I had to view dmesg to find any error while booting, and the only error I found is clocksource TSC unstable. I did some research about this error and found out that there are a lot of other ubuntu user(mostly using Pentium Celeron M or Intel Xeon) encountered the same problem. But there is no solution yet until I do an update on my kernel using hardy heron alpha release kernel.

I kept on thinking if it's because of the kernel bug of maybe there is something else causing the delayed. So I reboot my ubuntu and press ctrl+alt+f6 after GRUB. I need to boot faster. After login to user account, I open up terminal and do dmesg to check error on clocksource. And the error still appear. So my solution is, clocksource TSC unstable didn't cause the delayed.

My Usplash did not appear when booting, so I do a check on the usplash config file, I found out that the resolution for my usplash did not match my screen resolution. It set at 1280 x 1600 .. so i tried to change it to 1280 x 800. And reboot. Walla, my problem solve! my ubuntu boot like usual, no delay at all. So for those who had encountered the same problem as mine, please check your usplash.conf file for resolution. Change it to your supported screen resolution.

The Steps is simple:

• Run terminal ( Application > Accessories > Terminal )
• sudo nano /etc/usplash.conf
• change the resolution to your supported one. For example my laptop support until 1280 x 800. So i change the config to:
• xres = 1280
• yres = 800
• Now, type "sudo dpkg-reconfigure usplash" for applying the new config.
  
• ctrl+x and press ENTER
• sudo reboot

Your usplash will appear after reboot.

UBUNTU: Setting up Sound Control For Acer Laptop

I was having problem with the hotkey on my cheap acer aspire. Whenever I press "FN+Vol Down/Vol Up" the sound won't turn down or even turn up. I do a search on google about this matters, but some of them would say it's something wrong with the "acerhk" which is Acer Hotkeys application is not being installed.

I do know that Acer dont have any acerhk for linux yet even some of thier product used Linpus. What a shame for Acer. But yeah I did figure out how to make your keyboard sound control works! I had to thank one of my friend for giving me idea to try Thinkpad method to deal with sound control. The same way to solve acer..

This is the step to enable Acer Keyboard Sound Control:

• Right click on the sound icon at the system tray>Open Volume Control
• Turn to Switches tab>make sure both mic and headphone is tick. ( Some of you will only have headphones only.. Doesnt matter, just tick it all. After that, close the Volume Control.
• Right click once again at the speaker icon at the systray> preferences> click on surrond. Then Close back the preferences.
• Open System> Preferences> Sound> Leave everything to the default setting. You just need to make a few changes at the bottom of the sound windows which is keyboard control. Please choose & click "Surround" to enable the keyboard control to control the surround volume.
• Click "close", then open up your player and play a song. Try adjusting the volume control by your hotkey on your keyboard. If it's work, then you are done. But if it's not, then you can leave me a comment.

For me, to make use of all the features on my laptop is a must. Why is it there if it's not going to be use by me?

Happy Ubuntu"ing"...

UBUNTU: Clocksource TSC unstable

I've fresh install Gutsy Gibbon a few weeks ago as I formerly used Feisty Fawn which work flawless ly with my laptop. I used ubuntu on my Acer 3640 and i got no problem at all using feisty except for my broadcom wireless and ATI which has another way to solve it.

So, I would like to try Gutsy Gibbon to see the latest version of Ubuntu. At first, I upgrade my Feisty Fawn to Gutsy Gibbon via alternate cd. I encountered no problem upgrading from feisty fawn to Gutsy Gibbon, no problem at all. I got a smooth boot up and my clock speed is fine.

But sometimes I do want to try the fresh install of Gutsy Gibbon because upgrading to Gutsy seem no major problem with the kernel. Once I did the fresh install, I reboot. And a problem appeared. My boot time take too long and delay about 2-3 minutes. At first I dint know what causing this delay.

I reboot my laptop again, and this time I reboot and choose the (recovery mode) option from GRUB list. It boot fine without any delay. So I guess this must be something with my kernel or my bios option. I reboot again, when the screen goes blank- I press Ctrl+Alt+F6 and I got text visual about what is going on when booting up ubuntu.

I realized that there was error about clocksource tsc and it's marked as unstable. So I google around and found out that there are a lot more Ubuntu/linux user having the same problem. No solution yet so far for the current Gutsy Gibbon kernel.

But after the Hardy Heron Alpha release, I tried to update my kernel. And when I boot up, the clocksource problem is solve! So I guess in hardy heron release, there will be no problem with the tsc clocksource anymore. I cant wait the stable release of Hardy Heron.

UBUNTU: DNS Keep Changing solution

I've encountered problems with DNS at my father's office router. When I connect using windows, there is no problem because windows could find a way to detect the DNS server itself. But with ubuntu, i have to set it manually.

As i connected to the router using DHCP to gain IP, my DNS keep changing to default after certain time. So I had to lock the resolv.conf to prevent my dns from changing. To lock the resolv.conf, I applied this command in terminal:

• sudo chattr +i /etc/resolv.conf

And everytime I want to connect to other AP(access point), I need to unlock my resolv.conf back. So I have to apply command:

• sudo chattr -i /etc/resolv.conf

As you can see the different between lock and unlock is the "+" and "-" symbol used before "i" letters. So it's hard for me to type it every time I need to lock and unlock the DNS. I've come to solution and make a bash script. Here is the way to make it simpler:

• Open up terminal (Application>Accessories>terminal)
• cd /usr/bin <-- Goto directory /usr/bin where all command was stored.
  
• sudo gedit dnslock <-- This will open up text editor for you to write the bash script.
• Copy this bash script:
• #!/bin/bash
  #
  # script to record MP3 broadcast stream
  # The command is all on one line ending with a semi-colon
  #
  # $1 is for lock or unlock
  # lock = +
  # unlock = -
  #
  
  sudo chattr $1"i" /etc/resolv.conf
  
  

• now we have a script called dnslock.
• sudo chmod 755 dnslock <-- to make script executable.
• Now, to lock your DNS you just have to apply "dnslock +" command on the terminal without the " quote. In other hands, to unlock it use "dnslock -" command.

Now you can just lock your DNS with simple command. You dont have to memorize the chattr +i or -i anymore. I't simple isnt it?

Happy Ubuntu"ing"!!

INTERNSHIP: 1st Day!

Today I woke up early around 6.30 am just to get ready for my first day as an internship at Grand Technology Resources Sdn Bhd. I dont have a clue on what is my job specification. A bit scared honestly, but I try my best to be cool and look smart to impress my employer.

I arrived late about half an hour because of the difficulty to get into the LRT(ramai jugak orang weh). I few tricks had to be done to get my ride to KLCC. I was lucky because all the staff at GTR Sdn Bhd understood the situation.

So, about a couple minutes as a trainee, my supervisor gave me a bundle of papers to read from A-Z cause it's my project for a month with the team. I was shock, they are proposing for a tender located in Afghanistan. I never knew that my company is a multinational level company. I was lucky huh.

Anyway my first meeting with the Afghan team was impressive as I was given a few roles to handle the tender itself. I'm learning about the policy and steps to handle it from a staff there. Yeah, nobody bully me, that is a bonus i think. At noon I was given a task to create a java base navigation(link) to be included on the current project developing a web for Health Ministy of Afghanistan. The project use Joomla as a CMS. Maybe, cause everybody busy doing their thing as the dateline is by the end of this month.

So that's all for the first day, nothing is important cause I have so much free time to spend. Haha... I'll wait for tomorrow!

UBUNTU: Ping from terminal success but Can't Browse Internet

I was at my dad's office and the office have a router+modem (linksys). The router was setup by a guy name syahmi, I was surprise when I look at the wireless network which is not encrypt at all. I was concern about the status of the unencrypted wireless which allow anonymous user to connect and used the internet for free, and the worst is capturing every single packet transfered on the router itself.

After seeking my dad's permission, he gave me authority to encrypt the wireless network and I open the router's ip address via firefox to open the router's web interface. And i was shock once again, no user and password was prompt to login to the web interface! No security at all! maybe someone has open the router's interface before, who knows!

I was a bit dizzy when looking at the router setting itself, because i'm not the one who set it up. Plus, i dont even know the user+password for the streamyx itself. So I cant reset the router to the factory setting because I dont know the streamyx username and password. Let's get to the point here, I'm connected to the router, so i should be able to surf and gain internet access. I double check my ip, it's assigned by dhcp, yeah it's a valid ip for the router. So i open up my firefox, but I I cant browse any site on the net.

I try to ping www.yahoo.com from my terminal, and the i got the reply in a gud condition without any lost packet. So I know that my ubuntu do have the internet access. But why I can't surf the web, or login to Pidgin? I message one of my friend, he said may be there is somthing wrong with my DNS setting. I open the router web, and find out that the router had a manual DNS setting set by syahmi.

So here is the solution:

• click on the network icon on systray>manual configuration.
• go to the DNS tabs
• delete the default DNS given by DHCP
• put the DNS given by router(the one I get from the router's web setting)
• and close.
• Open up terminal
• type sudo chattr +i /etc/resolv.conf to make your DNS unchange.

If you experiencing the same problem with me, you can try to solve it by the step given above. If you do not know what is the valid DNS for your router, then you can just use openDNS. You can find it here.

LIFE: Oppinion Need!

I want to get people oppinion base on my so called problem right here. I'm planning to migrate from Windows+Ubuntu user to fully Ubuntu user. I want to get rid of windows OS because I want to gain more experience with Ubuntu. If i still have Windows in my lappy, I will turn to Windows whenever I have problem with Ubuntu.

But I'm falter to make my final decision because of these problem:

• I'm going to start my internship program on 14th January, I still do not know what is my job scope. Do I have to use Windows during my internship? What kind of program should I use. (this is the big issue)
  
• Will I be tough enough to rely only on ubuntu on my daily basis?
• Can ubuntu serve me well?

So I hope to have others oppinion for me to make my decision. Please give me your point of view.

Ubuntu: Record Streaming media

I wonder how can i record streaming media? i google and i found one solution. The solution is to use streamripper and streamtuner which you can apt-get. So to get started please

• sudo apt-get install streamripper streamtuner xmms
• we need xmms to use with streamtuner. So in case you've already have xmms, so you can just apt-get streamripper and streamtuner.
• after finish installing from apt-get, we can start recording your online radio station.
  
• You can use terminal to start recording or you can just use streamtuner. To use streamtuner, go to Application>Sound&Video>Streamtuner.
• If you would like to use CLI, open terminal, make a new directory:
• mkdir streamoutput/
• cd streamoutput/
• streamripper (each mp3/played music will be recorded on different file/mp3)
• streamripper -a (will record on single output)
• our you can assign other option by reading the manual for streamripper.

There is other way to record streaming audio. This method use mplayer as recorder. Where mplayer has the option to record streaming as mp3. You can record it by typing command:

• mplayer -dumpstream -dumpfile /home//blablabla.mp3 -vc dummy -vo null
• or if you wanna use script, here it is:
• Open up terminal, and type gedit rec copy and paste the script below.
  

#!/bin/bash
#
# script to record MP3 broadcast stream
# The command is all on one line ending with a semi-colon
#
# $1 is the station
# $2 is the name of the music
#
#Replace with your user name

mplayer $1 -dumpstream -dumpfile /home//${2}.mp3 -vc dummy -vo null ;

• copy the script into /usr/bin/ and make it executable:
• sudo cp rec /usr/bin/
• chmod +x /usr/bin/rec
• Now to record your streaming radio, open terminal and type rec (URL) (Output Filename) and it will save your output at your home folder.
  

Ubuntu: Easy Way to View Your Network

I've been wondering quite sometime to find a suitable application to view my network from single pc/laptop. I keep searching and i found one interesting application named Nagios. This software let you to view your network including router, modem, server whether it's up or down.

Nagios check protocol like SMTP, POP3, HTTP, NNTP, PING and etc to find any problem with the services. This software also check modem, router for problem and you can check the uptime of your router with this application.

All reports you need can be access via web browser. The requirement for nagios:

• Apache web server
• Thomas Boutell's gdlibrary(version 1.6.3 or later)

It's being license under GNU General Public Lisence and being published by free software foundation. Here is how to install the nagios:

• If you dont have webserver installed on your ubuntu, you must install first to make nagios working. Install apache , GCC compiler and development libraries, and gd library:

• sudo apt-get install apache2
• sudo apt-get install build-essential
• sudo apt-get install libgd-dev

• Next thing you must create a user account for nagios.
• sudo -s (become root)
• sudo /usr/sbin/useradd nagios
• passwd nagios

• After adding user nagios, you need to create group for the new user created on the previous step.
  
• /usr/sbin/groupadd nagios
• /usr/sbin/usermod -G nagios nagios
  

• Create a new user name and group name nagcmd:
• /usr/sbin/useradd nagcmd
  
• /usr/sbin/usermod -G nagcmd nagios
• /usr/sbin/usermod -G nagcmd www-data

• Now you've just finish setting the requirement to install nagios. We may proceed to the installation. First you need to download two things from internet.
  
• wget http://osdn.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/nagios/nagios-3.0rc1.tar.gz
• wget http://osdn.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/nagiosplug/nagios-plugins-1.4.11.tar.gz

• After you've done downloading the files, all you need to do is extract it and compile as usual.
• tar zxvf (filename).tar.gz
• cd (filename)
• ./configure --with-command-group=nagcmd
• after finish, run make all
  
• make install
• make install-init
• make install-config
• make install-commandmode
• Now we need to configure the web interface:
• make install-webconf
• htpasswd -c /usr/local/nagios/etc/htpasswd.user nagiosadmin
• remember your password here cause you'll need it to login the web interface later.
  
• After this you need to install the plugin. All you need to do is extract the tar.gz file:
• tar zxvf (filename).tar.gz
• cd (filename)/
• ./configure --with-nagios-user=nagios --with-nagios-group=nagios
• make
• make install
• There you go.. but dont start the nagios yet. You need to change the contact configuration and provide you info inside it:
• sudo gedit /usr/local/nagios/etc/objects/contacts.cfg
• change the email address to your emel address. Nagios will email the address given if there is something unusual to your network.
• Now to start nagios:
• ln -s /etc/init.d/nagios /etc/rcS.d/S99nagios <--- this will make nagios start on startup
• /usr/local/nagios/bin/nagios -v /usr/local/nagios/etc/nagios.cfg <--- to verify nothing's wrong with your configuration.
• So if there is no error, you can start nagios by using this command:
• /etc/init.d/nagios start

And after you've finish installing those two files, all you need to do now is open your browser and type in the address bar http://localhost/nagios and it will ask for user and pass where the user is nagiosadmin and the password is the password you put earlier during installation.

So happy trying. Any problems you may leave it in the comment box, and i'll try to solve it for you!

Ubuntu: Installing x-chat 2.8.4 on fiesty

first of all, you cant upgrade your x-chat to latest version if you are using fiesty fawn. The latest version of x-chat nowadays is xchat 2.8.4
Currently, the latest version supported with fiesty fawn is xchat 2.8.0 - so there is 4 version behind the latest one. So to get the new xchat installed in your feisty fawn, all you have to do is:

• wget http://www.xchat.org/files/source/2.8/xchat-2.8.4.tar.bz2
• tar xjvf xchat-2.8.4.tar.bz2
• then go into folder xchat-2.8.4 : cd xchat-2.8.4/
• run script configure: ./configure
• make
• sudo make install
• then start the xchat from your Application menu.

We're done and good to go!
have fun with Ubuntu!