Solving the BusyBox black screen problem in grub2/Ubuntu9.10 December 31, 2009
Posted by Sayantan in Linux Mint, Ubuntu, linux, ultimate edition 2.0.Tags: black screen, busybox, grub2, no boot, Ubuntu, ubuntu 9.10, update-grub
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Have you ever had a situation when Ubuntu was running perfectly fine moments ago and after restarting the system you are greeted with a black screen with white letters saying
‘Gave up waiting for device….
BusyBox v1.13.3(Ubuntu …….)
(initramfs)’??? I’ve had a few.
The screen is something like the one shown above. This is caused when the root drive is not available or not recognized while ubuntu is loading. Generally in grub 2 the drive is recognized by the UUID. This UUID does not match sometimes due to some inexplicable reason( atleast to me!). So there I was, with a laptop with a black screen. Google failed to find me a solution (for the first time!) or may be I didn’t search properly! Anyway, I had to play around with my system a little more and found out a simple solution.
For this workaround, you need to do two things.
1. Find out the root drive partition i.e. /dev/sdax or /dev/hday , where x and y are numbers. (If you know it then it becomes all the more easy.)
2. Replace the UUID with this /dev/sdax
Assuming you do not know/remember the root drive partition number, you would need to get hold of any live cd of Ubuntu or any linux OS.
Boot into the live cd and open a terminal
type this command
sudo fdisk -l
Then find the linux drive. It will be listed something like this
/dev/sda2 6 1918 15360000 83 Linux
So here /dev/sda2 is ur root drive.
In-case, you have two or more drives for linux and you are getting confused, go the GUI way! Open Gparted from System->Administration.
You will get something like the one shown below.
As you can see , it clearly tells the /home and / (root) partition. Once you make a note of this restart the system and bring you computer upto the grub menu.
Now here press e to edit the screen. The line you should be editing would look something like this
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-16-generic root=UUID=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ro quiet splash
delete that part UUID=xxxx and enter your root drive partition. It should look like this
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-16-generic root=/dev/sdax ro quiet splash
After editing, press TAB. You must press TAB. Else, it will not register. Then press ctrl+x to boot. You will be able to boot into Ubuntu 9.10 once again. Now, once you are in, open a terminal and run
sudo grub-update
This is to make the changes permanent. If you do not do this , every time you will have to make the manual changes. That’s it. Enjoy Ubuntu!
I hope this post will help a lot of new Ubuntu users.
Cheers!
How to install x64 flash in linux December 9, 2009
Posted by Sayantan in Ubuntu, browser, linux.Tags: fedora, flash player, linux, mint, Ubuntu, x64 flash
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Since Adobe released a new version of its x64 bit flash player , I am going to install it replacing my existing 32 bit flash player.
First, download the file from this link http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10_64bit.html.
Now go to the download directory and right click on the file and select ‘Extract here’. Go into the folder to find the file ‘ libflashplayer.so’
Now , open a terminal, and navigate to the downloaded directory. For me it is Downloads. So , in the terminal type
$ cd ~/Downloads
now do a find command to see where the libflashplayer.so files are located in
$ sudo find / -name 'libflashplayer.so'.
I get the following output. The second one you will get only if you use linux mint.
/usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so
/opt/mint-flashplugin-x64/libflashplayer.so
Now, we need to back up the existing files and copy the new file in place. that is all.
~/Downloads $ sudo mv /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so.bak
~/Downloads $ sudo cp libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so
~/Downloads $ sudo mv /opt/mint-flashplugin-x64/libflashplayer.so /opt/mint-flashplugin-x64/libflashplayer.so.bak
~/Downloads $ sudo cp libflashplayer.so /opt/mint-flashplugin-x64/libflashplayer.so
Now check if the files are copied fine. You will see there are two files. The one that you backed up and the other that you copied.
$ ls /opt/mint-flashplugin-x64/
libflashplayer.so libflashplayer.so.bak
$ ls /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/
libflashplayer.so.bak
libflashplayer.so
Thats it. Now restart your browser and you will see the new flash player has been installed.
x64 Adobe flash player prerelease for linux now available December 9, 2009
Posted by Sayantan in Ubuntu, browser, firefox, linux.Tags: adobe, flash, linux, Ubuntu, x64bit
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Adobe has just made available the second prerelease of x64bit flash player for all platforms. The version is 10,0,42,34. You can download the file from. http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10_64bit.html
Google Chrome beta for Linux officially available December 8, 2009
Posted by Sayantan in Ubuntu, browser, linux, open source, red hat.Tags: browser, chrome, chromium, fedora, google, linux, Ubuntu
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Google released the beta version of Chrome for Linux and Mac today. The packaged files for major distributions are availabe at http://www.google.com/chrome.
Users who were already using the dev channel version can find the beta packaged seperately in synaptic . Trying to install the beta will prompt you to uninstall the unstable version though. Try out and give your feedbacks. With extensions coming in thick and fast, personally i feel google chrome will shape up to be a great browser for the linux environment.
Along with chrome, chromium,the open source version of google chrome, also enters the beta stage.
Keep up the good work google! And the chromium devs too!
Firefox 3.6 beta 3 available in ubuntu 9.10 November 12, 2009
Posted by Sayantan in Ubuntu, firefox, linux.Tags: firefox 3.6 beta, ppa, Ubuntu
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Firefox 3.6 beta 3 is already available in Ubuntu 9.10. The Mozilla development team has released it to the development ppa . To install , add the mozilla ppa from the Ubuntu tweak 3rd party repository section and hit the refresh button.
A new window will pop up with newly available packages. Install firefox from there.
If you cannot find it, head over to synaptics package manager , accessible form system -> synaptic package manager and search for firefox 3.6
Click to install the software.
For those who want to add the repository to etc/sources.list here is the address.
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa/ubuntu karmic main #Firefox
GIMP single window mode is now available. November 11, 2009
Posted by Sayantan in Ubuntu, linux.Tags: GIMP, image editor, linux, photoshop replacement, Ubuntu
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GIMP can now be operated in a single window mode. All you need to do is enable the testing repository from Ubuntu Tweak.
Then hit the refresh button. When the update manager pops up just install the updated GIMP package.
Then open GIMP . go to Windows -> single windowed mode.
Thats it. enjoy !!
Catalyst 9.10 brings back compiz in Fedora 11 & support for Ubuntu 9.10 October 26, 2009
Posted by Sayantan in linux, red hat.Tags: ati, catalyst, compiz, fedora, linux, Ubuntu
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When I upgraded to kernel 2.6.30 on Fedora 11 , catalyst 9.9 stopped working and I got blank screens. I had to be content with the opensource graphics drivers which did not provide 3D acceleration in fedora 11 systems (surprisingly!)
Now, after the release of catalyst 9.10 , I’m back using compiz and my favourite wobbly effects.
Also, it officially brings in support for the upcoming Ubuntu 9.10.
Pidgin voice & video calls from gmail actually working!! August 30, 2009
Posted by Sayantan in Ubuntu, linux, open source.Tags: empathy, google, google video chat, pidgin, Ubuntu, video call, voice call, voip
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I have been testing video calls from the newly launched pidgin voice/video service. The test was done with a windows user on the other end , on a dell studio 15 laptop running windows vista home premium.
On my end i have been using the latest ubuntu 9.10 alpha4 daily release 29th of august 2009. This was done as the required voice /video libraries are currently not available in ubuntu 9.04. Hence you wont see the media option even if you install the latest version of pidgin in Ubuntu 9.04.
The voice is very clear and video is of good quality . I did not run into any trouble with my ancient webcam . Moreover I did not have to configure anything for the voice or video. Everything is very simple and works out of the box. The interface is very simple and user friendly.
I am sure this video call service will again get pidgin back in the default ubuntu installtion.
I even checked out the empathy videocall service for google mail under ubuntu 9.10 alpha 4 with a windows vista user on the other end. It works much bett
er than in ubuntu 9.04. I guess the new kernel (better video quality) , updated gnome and empathy libraries are responsible for improved support. In ubuntu 9.04 the voice used to crack and audio was sometimes too shrill to make a normal conversation. But now it is a real treat to talk . By the time Ubuntu 9.10 is released in October, Linux users will have two fantastic clients Pidgin and Empathy to make video calls apart from skype.
Skype 2.1 beta for Linux fraternity August 28, 2009
Posted by Sayantan in Ubuntu, linux, red hat.Tags: beta, chat, linux, pulseaudio, skype, Ubuntu, video call, voice call, voip
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TIme to rejoice for Skype Linux users!!!! Skype developers yesterday released the much awaited beta of skype 2.1 . This new version is hoped to improve on all the pulseaudio related issues in Ubuntu distros and all the other distros using pulseaudio as the main sound server. Plus it is touted to provide better video/voice quality.
Ubuntu 8.10 packaged .deb files are available for download. Surprisingly ubuntu 9.04 support is not mentioned but it is definitely supported!!
Here’s the list of features mentioned in the skype blog.
What’s new in this release:
- Skype’s SILK codec for outstanding quality with negligible bandwidth usage,
- HQ video support,
- PulseAudio support,
- SMS send support (*Sending SMS requires available Skype Credit),
- Contact groups,
- Contact labels, or tags, for easier contact organization,
- Chat window improvements (typing notification, message editing, s/geeky text/replacement/, new emoticons),
- Nicer contact list with mood messages and video capability icons,
- Nicer tray icon.
Download the latest skype 2.1 beta from here now!
Update
The new skype2.1 beta works well with Ubuntu 9.10 alpha 4. I have tested a skype test call on it. But there are video issues which i encountered.
To solve this problem , i follow’d the post by andrew.
Here’s what that needs to be done.
open an empty file and name it something like skype_video.sh and paste the following in it
#!/bin/bash sleep 2 LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l2convert.so skype
save it and right click on it. go to properties
and select execute for all the users.
Now edit the the ubuntu menu.
Right click on the menu -> edit menu
select internet -> select skype -> click properties
in the command box click on browse and select the skype_video.sh
And thats it.
Now everytime you open skype, your video will be crystal clear
Finally,Skype runs without a glitch in Ubuntu 9.04! July 28, 2009
Posted by Sayantan in Linux Mint, Ubuntu, linux.Tags: alsa, linux, pulseaudio, skype, Ubuntu, videocall, voip
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All of us who are using Ubuntu 9.04 &/or its derivatives like super os or linux mint 7 or ultimate edition 2.2 must have had the a few issues with skype.
1. Call drops after approx 4 mins
2. Call muting after approx 4 mins
3. High CPU usage .
4. Crashing of Skype.
Searching through the launchpad bugs on skype i stumbled upon this bug report https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pulseaudio/+bug/362203
where a few users have given their opinions how to reduce issues on skype. I can confirm that using a few of these steps together, I have managed to run skype without any issues and have made consecutive long calls for more than 30 mins.
Step 1: Install the latest linux kernel from jaunty repos ie: 2.6.30-10
Step 2: Install skype static from medibuntu repository
Step 3: Set the audio settings (System->Preferences->Sound->Detault mixer tracks) to HDA Intel (Alsa mixer).
Step 4: Then in Skype change all three sound device options (sound in, sound out, ring) to HDA Intel.
Step 5: click apply.
PS: the new linux kernel has issues with seep and hibernate on my comp. but the 2.6.30-10 kernel has improved graphics, improved sound and improved webcam support. The webcam picture quality has drastically improved in this kernel.
U can see the screenshots below.
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