copy iso to usb using dd command

Today we are going to copy a iso to usb ready for use using the dd command. I suggest you first read up on what dd commands are before attempting this as they can be fatal and wiping hdd, usb and data etc.  click here used inmporperly might result in your hdd being wiped.

first we are going to  make sure the device path eg /dev/sdxx of teh usb that you want to copy the iso on. we will call this the usb key

1. open a terminal  and type df and see what we have in the /dev/sdxx  column
2. then plug in the usb key and run df again to see what new /dev/sd came up , the new /dev/sd   is the usb key. We MUST know the usb keys/dev/sd  to do anything. (we are going to give the usb key /dev/sdd)
3. Next locate the iso you want to copy (we will say ~/iso/test.iso, where ~/ = your home folder)
4. open a terminal and type cd ~/iso  (where ~/iso is the folder your iso is in)
5. type ls to check if the iso file you want to copy is there.
6. Stop before you continue note. the following command will wipe everything on the usb key (or other device you point to. make sure you know the exact device name /dev/sdx (run step 1 and 2 again if you need to) and make sure you dont have any data you need on teh usb key
7. in terminal run dd if=test.iso of=/dev/sdd Replace test.iso with the name of the iso file you want to copy and  Replace /dev/sdd with what your usb key is.
8. this should take about 5 minutes or so then you should be ready to boot from the usb device.

It Cracked

It happened. The other day I was rearranging my desk, I moved my screen it fell off the stand and hit something on desk front on. It’s got a crack up middle which is starting to bleed around the edge. Its a bit annoying but I can bare with it. Its not beyond using. And for this old pc not worry. I will look around for a cheap one on trademe might be able to get a bargin.

A look at SolusOS – Eveline

Over the last couple of days ive been looking into this release. What drew me into this release was that the project leader and founder is Ikey Doherty, who was one of the original people to work on LMDE. He also teamed up with Justin Krehel who also worked on LMDE, and in my opinion the linux mint community lost a great deal when they departed. However linuxmint’s loss is certainly SolusOS’s gain.
SolusOS is based on Debian Stable + Debian backports aswell as their own software repository. It uses an enhanced gnome 2 with polished look and feel. It will like most linux distrobutions have to make the move to gnome3 , but will continue to support gnome 2 as long squeeze is supported. They are already making plans for how gnome 3 will look and feel for SolusOS 2.
I booted up the live usb I had created with unetbootin. Before I let it boot into the live session , I wanted to see what boot options it had , not only did it have compatibility mode it had something I missed from the first release of LMDE , the option to by-pass the live user session and run only the installer.
It uses the same installer as LMDE, which isn’t too bad but in my opinion does leave room for improvement as there is no option for creating lvm’s or setting up encrypted partitions. It also requires users to either have made the partition(s) or it opens up gparted to make them , there is not a simple way of doing it like ubuntu’s ubiquity has. So that might be a little daunting for newcomers to linux. However I have been informed that these things might be included in future releases.
So after the installation had finished , I rebooted and logged in to find the best first run wizard I have ever used and the only one I found useful so far. It prompted me about network settings including the basic firewall options, however the thing that impressed me the most was the hardware wizard detected my hardware and told me which drivers needed to be installed, including the nvidia driver which I have been asked countless times , so its nice to see that it is covered easily here. Upon saying yes to the nvidia drivers , it showed me a list of was going to be installed, and even when this was done warned me that nouveau was running and I should restart to complete the process.
The desktop is easy on the eye and has a great layout , it comes with compiz and emerald theme manager . Not only does it look good and comes pre-packaged with all the usual software (Vlc , Libreoffice and Firefox) it also includes a lockdown editor useful to those who wish to create the own linux kiosk and for parents of young children aswell. Other useful software include PlayOnLinux, DropBox , Xchat, Openshot, Cheese and Minitube.
So for those who are newcomers to linux , distro-hoppers or those just wanting a change from what they’re using , this is an easy choice for me , easy to install, easy to configure and easy to use with a great community easily contact via the or in their irc channel #SolusOS which is at irc.silverirc.com

Thunderbird one of the best email clients.

Thunderbird is one of the leading email managers. a great thing about it is that it is cross platform meaning it is available for Windows, Mac, and many of the Linux based operating systems. It is based on the Mozilla platform (same as firefox and seamonkey browsers). has lots of great add-ons for all sorts of things. Thunderbird has great integration with gmail using the latest imap features. together with the lightening calendar add-on and your google calander(s) it si one very useful tool.

Here are some great ways to make Thunderbird email application even greater

• Load emails faster. click here
• How to Delete Messages from gmail online with imap:  click here

Add-ons in Thunderbird make it an even more powerful tool. To install and see what add-ons there are open Thunderbird click on “tools>addons>get add-ons” or click here to search them.  My common add-ons I use are.

• Lightening calendar: ad-on. click here great for managing your appointments. Combined with
• Provider for Google Calendar: click here great integration for lightening and your Gmail calendar
• Thunder Browse: click here a lightweight web browser handy for quickly viewing web links people email to you.
• Google Contacts: click here  Import your gmail contacts into the thunderbird addressbook.

My discussion with Clem on LMDE

Hi all. the other day I was in the Linux mint chat channel and I happened to Chat with Clem (one of the top developers of mint and LMDE) about Lmde and some things i had noticed.

• Q: Update from pack 3 – 4 does not include all that is in the Latest iso.
• A: It updates the apps and things installed only. it does not include any new apps or extras that may be in the iso. This makes for a self managed and maintained operating system.

• Q: As the idea of LMDE is to look and feel the same as the main mint distro why does LMDE have xfce version and Mint Main have lxde version.
• A: Clem was not really sure except to say that Its worth discussing and he might do a poll on it some time. I also mentioned about the rolling release graphics driver I found for lmde. Clem said he would look into it and perhaps add it to the official documentation.

This cleared up the questions I had from using LMDE and it was great. Thanks Clem for providing this valuable info

The Linux Mint Debian: Tidy up the Mate menu

More setup in Linux Mint Debian After installing Mate I noticed that I now had some double entries in the menu. At first I wondered why, then I remembered that gnome 3 was installed and one of the double menu entries pointed to a gnoem app and the other one to mate one. I went through the menu and removed the gnome ones to tidy it up.

1. Right click the menu
2. select edit menu
3. select a category on the left
4. look for double entry and right click one.
5. select preferences (this will show you the app)
6. if it says mate-(app command) then you know that is the mate entry
7. if it does not check the other entry
8. if neither say mate-(app name) then open synaptic and and look up the app command. it will tell you under the description if it is a mate or gnome app
9. un-select the gnome app

This may take some time but it will tidy up the menu for you. If you don’t intend to be suing gnome 3 then you may also want to delete the gnome apps.

Note: if you also have cinnamon installed you might have entries for cinnamon in the mate menu in addition to the gnome and mate ones.

Keep an eye out for my other posts on LMDE click here

Linux Mint Debian Releases Update Pack 4.

Last week Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) released Update Pack 4 and a new iso The new iso, if you don’t already have lmde, can be found click here  Update Pack 4 is a good stable update. here are a few things to note. For more info on lmde read my page about linux click here

1. Update includes gnome 3
2. option to stay with update pack 3 (for those who prefer gnome 2. this will not get many updates)
3. Includes Gnome, Gnome Classic, can install Mate, and  Cinnamon desktops (both included in the latest iso).

Note: if you upgrade from update pack 3 you may find your graphics drivers did not load. This is a bug that needs to be fixed, what i found is if you install sgfix package it will bring rolling updates to your graphics card. click here

Note2: you have a choice of installing mate and cinnamon.

• Mate is a fork of gnome 2 project (or what was the old gnome 2 we all know and love) designed to run on gnome 3.
• Cinnamon is the new linux mint desktop. Like mate it is trying to bring a more gnome 2 feel to your desktop. Cinnamon in lmde is missing all the addons and extras that are available in the standard mint 12 release.

I prefer Mate especially in lmde.

To install Mate all you need is to install mate-desktop-environment. you can do this in Synaptic Package Manager or by opening a terminal and typing

sudo apt-get install mate-desktop-environment

Mate is now becoming very polished. it brings allot of features of gnome 2 to gnome 3 so it is a great choice if you like gnome 2 but want an up to date system.

Here is how i setup Mate desktop.

1. I add a 2nd panel at top. To add apps etc is same as gnome 2 either right-click panel and click + add to panel. you can also drag apps from the menu. I also remove   including (|| = seperator)

• From Left: browsers, email, || pidgin (im), xchat (irc), skype || Rhythembox (musicplayer), vlc (video player), || libreoffice, gedit (txt editor) || picasa (photo), e-sword (bible app) || vbox, dropbox
  From Right: clock + weather, shutdown, LockScreen, IndicatorAppletSession, Monitor Workspace Switcher || search, FileBrowser, terminal, calculator