A typical use case is when an editor is setting its window title to the full long path name such that the actual important part, the file name, falls off the edge on the right and becomes invisible. Unfortunately the X11 window title is normally set internally by the application and its format is hard coded. A solution is to monitor the editor window title and modify it if its becomes too long.
Continue reading Change X11 window titleTag Archives: Linux
VirtualBox: install extension packs
Download and install extension packs to provide:
- The virtual USB 2.0 (EHCI) devices
- The virtual USB 3.0 (xHCI) device
- VirtualBox Remote Desktop Protocol (VRDP) support
- Host webcam passthrough
- Intel PXE boot ROM
- Disk image encryption with AES algorithm
- Cloud integration features
Repartition a new USB drive
I want to use my new USB drive exclusively with Linux, so I decided to wipe the factory default partitions and create a new ext4 filesystem on the drive. The drive uses 4096 byte physical sectors and we have to make sure that the new partition is correctly aligned. For some background information on partition alignment, see this link.
Check that we are wiping the correct drive
sudo parted /dev/sdb unit s print free
Note the details in case you want to restore the original partitioning scheme. Information on the factory default can also be found here.
Continue reading Repartition a new USB driveConvert two scanned A4 PDF files of an A5 booklet into a single PDF
When scanning an A5 booklet as individual A4 pages, but would still like to have them combined into an A5 PDF, the individual pages all end up in the ‘wrong’ place.
Continue reading Convert two scanned A4 PDF files of an A5 booklet into a single PDFAtril (evince, document viewer) default directory for Save As
For the XFCE desktop environment Atril is the default PDF viewer and I also use it to open any PDF files from Firefox. It is a great lightweight document viewer which does what I need most of the time. One exception is when after opening a PDF file from Firefox I decide to keep the file and select File Save As. Atril insists on saving the file in $HOME/Documents, which is practically never the directory I want to use…
Continue reading Atril (evince, document viewer) default directory for Save AsArduino IDE Linux installation
Download latest IDE tarball from the Arduino store, unpack the tar file and install bin symlink, desktop files and add menu entries.
Continue reading Arduino IDE Linux installationDisable annoying XFCE automatic maximise window feature
In XFCE when you move a window around and it gets close to the top edge of the screen it suddenly jumps to maximised size – this is never what I want and so I find this feature really annoying.
The setting where this feature can be turned off is hidden in a somewhat counter intuitive location:
Yes, the setting is called ‘Accessibility – Automatically tile …’!
Recovery of scanned PDF corrupted by email transfer
Occasionally when my scanner is emailing me a PDF it gets corrupted along the way. Most of the time the individual scanned images in the PDF are either perfectly valid or at least can viewed, even though the PDF viewer refuses to open the corrupt PDF file.
The bash script below will extract the images and then combine them again into a valid new PDF file.
Continue reading Recovery of scanned PDF corrupted by email transferCertwatch SSL certificate expiry warning
If you have just received an e-mail similar to the one below, read on.
From: root@your.domain.org
To: sysadmin@your.domain.org
Subject: The certificate for server.your.domain.org will expire in 13 days
Date: yesterday (BST)
################# SSL Certificate Warning ################
Certificate for hostname ‘sws.hlan.laczik.org’, in file (or by nickname):
/etc/pki/tls/certs/localhost.crt
The certificate needs to be renewed; this can be done
using the ‘genkey’ program.
Browsers will not be able to correctly connect to this
web site using SSL until the certificate is renewed.
##########################################################
Generated by certwatch(1)
Continue reading Certwatch SSL certificate expiry warning Touchscreen calibration
I found that I use my laptop’s touch screen more frequently – it is particularly useful for image editing. However, when I work in my (home) office I also use a multi-screen set-up with three monitors. The problem is that the touch region of the laptop screen automatically gets scaled to the overall size of my screen, which spans multiple monitors.
Continue reading Touchscreen calibrationInstall Google Chrome Remote Desktop
Install the Google Chrome Remote Desktop app on your client phone or tablet (see app on Google Play app store). Once installed, start the app.
Download and install the Google Chrome Remote Desktop server on your host computer.
Continue reading Install Google Chrome Remote DesktopLinux diff and patch
Crete a patch
The Linux diff program can be used to record differences between two directories, making it easy to update the old directory later with any of the changes created in the new version of the directory.
Continue reading Linux diff and patchFull colour emoji fonts for Linux
Full colour emoji fonts are now available for Linux. To install:
Continue reading Full colour emoji fonts for LinuxHP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 G1610T VirtualBox host random restart
My HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 G1610T VirtualBox host has been experiencing random restarts.
Continue reading HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 G1610T VirtualBox host random restartHide an element on a WordPress page
I wanted to hide an element on a static page I recently created for my WordPress site. The easiest way to do this is to create a custom CSS entry for the particular element, the title in my case.
Continue reading Hide an element on a WordPress pageCreate a custom WordPress theme
The best way to customise your WordPress site is to create a custom child theme based on one of the standard built-in themes.
Continue reading Create a custom WordPress themeHumax HDR-FOX-T2 dropbear ssh / sftp password change
On the Hummy, dropbear passwords are kept in /mod/etc/dropbear/shadow. To change the password, this file will have to be edited directly.
Continue reading Humax HDR-FOX-T2 dropbear ssh / sftp password changeList ssh tunnel connections
There are occasions when you would like to list ssh tunnel connections established to or from your server with information about the port numbers used.Continue reading List ssh tunnel connections
Send message to user logged in to an X11 session at a remote host
There are occasions when you want to contact a user working at a remote computer, but his/her phone is switched off. If the remote user is running an X11 session, and you have ssh access to the remote computer, and you have root privileges on the remote computer, here is a solution.
Continue reading Send message to user logged in to an X11 session at a remote hostTurn your desktop computer into a wireless access point
My desktop computer has a wired connection to the internet and so the built-in wifi card is normally not used. I decided to enable and use it as a wireless access point.
Unfortunately NetworkManager will only create an ad-hoc wifi network, and Android devices will only connect to infrastructure access points. Don’t ask why… A rooted Android phone or tablet can be configured to connect to an ad-hoc network, and if a separate program can configure a Linux box to act as an access point, NetworkManager should be able to do the same. As far as I can see, there are no good technical reasons for either of these deficiencies.
The solution is