I am going to write a very basic HowTo for those who are willing to use Linux. I assume you already know and use Windoze XP/98. Though I cannot guarantee that every concept in Linux will relate to that in windows analogically. There can be many new commands, procedures to be followed and concepts, while learning Linux for the first time.
So here it goes
---------------------------------------------------------
First of all allocate some space for installing Linux on your hard disk. You may use this tool to resize you partition, make some free space(say 10GB) and use that free space for Linux. Discussing how to partition your hard disk is out of scope, just make some free space in your extended partition by resizing logical drives. Then you will create SWAP partition(logical) in that space which will be typically of double the size of you RAM( If your RAM is 256MB, keep your SWAP 512MB approx.) Next you will create EXT3 partition(logical) of size around 9GB(10GB-512MB). Now thats done, partitioning part is over.
Its time to decide which Linux flavor you wish to install. For the first timers, Ubuntu(Kubuntu/Xubuntu) is recommended. Though you are free to try any other flavors listed below:
Fedora
Vector
Slackware ( ~ - ^ )
Debian
Download ISO image and burn it to CD/DVD. If you have very less bandwidth or limited download you can give me blank CD and I will return it to you with one of the flavors of your choice (currently I have slackware12DVD, Debian3.1CDs, Ubuntu7.04Cd, VectorLinux5.8SOHO CD etc)
Now its time to boot your install CD. Put it in drive, enable CD booting in BIOS settings and set priority to CD before your hard disk. Reboot, the CD will load its default kernel. At the boot prompt(if any) hit Enter.
Later part varies according to the flavor. In slackware installation is very straightforward if you have done partitioning beforehand. I will discuss the ubuntu method here. Most probably you will have Ubuntu Live CD, where you will get a nice GUI after booting. Click on Install icon on dektop. And just folllow the procedure. Its very simple. But at one point, it will ask about partitioning, select the option which says 'Manually set the partitioning'. Then you can assign the SWAP system on SWAP partition and the ROOT filesystem on the EXT3 partition you've just created. When the installation is complete you will probably reboot your pc and then Grub will appear on you screen. Grub is a bootloader, used for multi-booting with different OSs. Now you will have a complete Linux system with you, and surely you can play with it.
Try following tutorials for getting started with Linux,
http://www.linuxrsp.ru/win-lin-soft/table-eng.html
http://www.debianhelp.co.uk/commands.htm
http://www.reallylinux.com/docs/basic.shtml
http://rkrishna.tp.googlepages.com/slackerbasics
http://www.tuxfiles.org/linuxhelp/cli.html
After spending one week on command line[;-) seems adventurous] , you may like to check the GUI. For that try KDE, Gnome, XFCE and fluxbox ...
I am planning to write a short tutorial on compiling C programs under Linux.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Pacenet HOWTO for Linux users
As you know my ISP is pacenet-india (doesn't matter anyway if you don't know), I would like to make a small HOWTO for linux users for connecting to pacenet.
They use raspppoe on windoze to make a pppoe connection. And typically they do not support linux, as the case with many other ISPs. If you are a pacenet user and you want to connect to internet from linux, you will need a '@linuxuser' account. You will have to call at their customer care, numbers given below. Make a request for yourloginname@linuxuser account. Just append @linuxuser to your existing account id.
CC numbers:
Then you will need rp-pppoe package, which can be downloaded from here(rpm deb packages are also available, search for them) : http://www.roaringpenguin.com/pppoe/
Then run pppoe-setup
It ask for your username, type in username@linuxuser
Then it will ask for NIC card, type in eth0
Then it will ask if you want this connection on demand or always on, type in your choice
Then type in your password when asked for it
It will ask you if you want to write the current config to the file pppoe.conf , say yes (quite obvious)
Then run pppoe-discovery, you should get a list of access concentrators on your network. Remember the one which was told to be working by your cable guy(in case there are many)
Here is a catch, you have to edit /etc/ppp/pppoe.conf file and change the ACNAME and SERVICENAME fields. Put the names as shown by pppoe-discovery. Say for example it showed akd as ACNAME and cable as SERVICENAME then fill in those. save pppoe.conf file.
Type in pppoe-start, hit enter. You are done!
They use raspppoe on windoze to make a pppoe connection. And typically they do not support linux, as the case with many other ISPs. If you are a pacenet user and you want to connect to internet from linux, you will need a '@linuxuser' account. You will have to call at their customer care, numbers given below. Make a request for yourloginname@linuxuser account. Just append @linuxuser to your existing account id.
CC numbers:
Then you will need rp-pppoe package, which can be downloaded from here(rpm deb packages are also available, search for them) : http://www.roaringpenguin.com/pppoe/
Then run pppoe-setup
It ask for your username, type in username@linuxuser
Then it will ask for NIC card, type in eth0
Then it will ask if you want this connection on demand or always on, type in your choice
Then type in your password when asked for it
It will ask you if you want to write the current config to the file pppoe.conf , say yes (quite obvious)
Then run pppoe-discovery, you should get a list of access concentrators on your network. Remember the one which was told to be working by your cable guy(in case there are many)
Here is a catch, you have to edit /etc/ppp/pppoe.conf file and change the ACNAME and SERVICENAME fields. Put the names as shown by pppoe-discovery. Say for example it showed akd as ACNAME and cable as SERVICENAME then fill in those. save pppoe.conf file.
Type in pppoe-start, hit enter. You are done!
Friday, August 10, 2007
Embedded Servers
Before the Desktop PCs were invented a computer was a 10X10 ft. room having many large vaccum tubes and the programming was as complex as punching a card with binary code and feeding it to the computer. That was the vacuum tube era!
Now we are enjoying VLSI era, where we have Desktops, laptops , PDAs. Soon this concept will also be replaced by embedded technology. SoC, yess System on Chip! a 1x1 cm chip will be manufactured as a standalone computer which is able to interface input devices via bluetooth and which will show its magic on LCD also operated via bluetooth.
What is a form of server existing now? It is a normal pc with extraordinary processing capacity and huge storage. Server is essentially a piece of software which runs on this type of machine.
Field of embedded systems is ever challenging. We could see a web server on tiny silicon chip which has all capabilities of current server, in coming 5 years. Microcontrollers manufacturing is a boom in industry. The evergreen performer AVR, reliable PIC, and the powerfull ARM are the main players in embedded technology. Following links will give you an idea what is goin on in the field of embedded servers.
http://members.home.nl/bzijlstra/hardware/hardware.htm
http://www.ethernut.de/en/hardware/enut3/index.html
http://members.home.nl/bzijlstra/
http://stores.ebay.com/Avcom-TEC
Added to it the wireless technologies like bluetooth, Wi-max, Wi-fi we are not far away from the SoC era!
Now we are enjoying VLSI era, where we have Desktops, laptops , PDAs. Soon this concept will also be replaced by embedded technology. SoC, yess System on Chip! a 1x1 cm chip will be manufactured as a standalone computer which is able to interface input devices via bluetooth and which will show its magic on LCD also operated via bluetooth.
What is a form of server existing now? It is a normal pc with extraordinary processing capacity and huge storage. Server is essentially a piece of software which runs on this type of machine.
Field of embedded systems is ever challenging. We could see a web server on tiny silicon chip which has all capabilities of current server, in coming 5 years. Microcontrollers manufacturing is a boom in industry. The evergreen performer AVR, reliable PIC, and the powerfull ARM are the main players in embedded technology. Following links will give you an idea what is goin on in the field of embedded servers.
http://members.home.nl/bzijlstra/hardware/hardware.htm
http://www.ethernut.de/en/hardware/enut3/index.html
http://members.home.nl/bzijlstra/
http://stores.ebay.com/Avcom-TEC
Added to it the wireless technologies like bluetooth, Wi-max, Wi-fi we are not far away from the SoC era!
irc HOWTO for first time users
irc (Internet Relay Chat) is just another chat service like yahoo, but in contrast to other services irc is very mature and sophisticated. It has some rules and those has to be followed while chatting in the room.
An irc channel is like a chatroom. Your login name is called nick. Unlike yahoo there are many independent irc servers worldwide. And you need to register seperate nick on each server to be able to log on to it.
For using irc you will need software like Xchat
There are many other free softwares for irc, in linux/bsd as well as windows.
Steps to get going with irc.
1.Open the irc software and find where is the command prompt(usually you will be using commands instead if point and click GUI)
2.irc commands begin with a /
So type in server name, issue following command
/server irc.freenode.net
3.Choose your nick
/nick yournick
4.Register your nick
/msg nickserv register yourpassword
here nickserv is a bot which will authenticate you.
5.Now join a channel(i.e. chatroom). Any channel begins with a #
/join #linux
or
/join #ubuntu
or
/join #electronics
6.Now you can chat in the channel and send personal messages to others.
However note that if your behavior is found improper then channel-operators have right to throw you out of room and ban you. So make a habit of acting friendly.
Following is a good read on irc
Ubuntu-in irc guide
GNU guidelines
Now next time you will just type in
/nick yournick
/msg nickerv identify yourpassword
/join #linux
There is no such concept as *log out* in irc. Just disconnect from irc server and close irc application, you're done.
An irc channel is like a chatroom. Your login name is called nick. Unlike yahoo there are many independent irc servers worldwide. And you need to register seperate nick on each server to be able to log on to it.
For using irc you will need software like Xchat
There are many other free softwares for irc, in linux/bsd as well as windows.
Steps to get going with irc.
1.Open the irc software and find where is the command prompt(usually you will be using commands instead if point and click GUI)
2.irc commands begin with a /
So type in server name, issue following command
/server irc.freenode.net
3.Choose your nick
/nick yournick
4.Register your nick
/msg nickserv register yourpassword
here nickserv is a bot which will authenticate you.
5.Now join a channel(i.e. chatroom). Any channel begins with a #
/join #linux
or
/join #ubuntu
or
/join #electronics
6.Now you can chat in the channel and send personal messages to others.
However note that if your behavior is found improper then channel-operators have right to throw you out of room and ban you. So make a habit of acting friendly.
Following is a good read on irc
Ubuntu-in irc guide
GNU guidelines
Now next time you will just type in
/nick yournick
/msg nickerv identify yourpassword
/join #linux
There is no such concept as *log out* in irc. Just disconnect from irc server and close irc application, you're done.
Choosing a correct mp3 player for you.
Have you ever found yourself dreaming of an iPod? And how many of you are actually ready to spend that huge amount for brand name, apple. Think again.. there are many other players in the market which are just as good as an iPod. In this post I will try to find out iPod alternatives.
Electronics industry is as rapid as any other industry. A popular product may become obsolete the next month when another company launches a competitor. Price is a major factor, responsible for the changing nature of consumer electronics. iPods have always been expensive as compared to other mp3 players. But due to an excellent SNR they are very famous among audiophiles.
All mp3 players nowadays interface to PC using USB and some are capable of working with MiniSD cards. The battery used can be AA or AAA or an internal Li-ion battery. Even if they are called mp3 players, they support many other formats such as WMA, OGG etc....
On a broader sense mp3 players can be categorized as follows
1.Flash memory based mp3 players(small memory typical few GBs, 1GB,2GB ...)
2.Mini Hard disk based mp3 players(mid sized 5-6GB memory)
3.Hard disk based mp3 players(Huge memory, more than 20GB ..)
Lets discuss pros and cons of each type
1) Flash memory based mp3 players
+These are very rugged due to flash memory
+Lightweight
+More battery life on single charge
+Smaller in size
+Can be used for day to day data transfers as USB pen drive
-Cost/MB is more, i.e. expensive
-Less storage capacity
-Cant be used to large data transfers
Following are some popular models of this type
Transcend
Cowon
2)Mini HDD based
+These combine features of flash players and hdd players
+smaller in size as compared to hdd players
+more capacity than flash players
+Cost/MB is fair
-Less battery life as compared to flash type
Have a look at this model from creative
Creative
3)HDD based mp3 players
+Huge capacity, typically more than 20GB
+Can store anything you want and can be used as secondary hard disk
+Some players offer video playback
+Cost/MB is very economical
-Less battery life on video playback and in general also
-These players are bulky
-Sensitive to shocks, not rugged
Creative's Vision:M
-----------------------------------------------------------------
So decide your budget, chooose memory type and find out the models that fit your requirements of storage, file format support; and go with it. Following are some good brands :
http://www.cowonglobal.com/
http://www.transcendusa.com/
http://www.sony.com/
http://www.creative.com/
http://www.mobibluamerica.com/
http://www.iriver.com/
http://www.sandisk.com/
Electronics industry is as rapid as any other industry. A popular product may become obsolete the next month when another company launches a competitor. Price is a major factor, responsible for the changing nature of consumer electronics. iPods have always been expensive as compared to other mp3 players. But due to an excellent SNR they are very famous among audiophiles.
All mp3 players nowadays interface to PC using USB and some are capable of working with MiniSD cards. The battery used can be AA or AAA or an internal Li-ion battery. Even if they are called mp3 players, they support many other formats such as WMA, OGG etc....
On a broader sense mp3 players can be categorized as follows
1.Flash memory based mp3 players(small memory typical few GBs, 1GB,2GB ...)
2.Mini Hard disk based mp3 players(mid sized 5-6GB memory)
3.Hard disk based mp3 players(Huge memory, more than 20GB ..)
Lets discuss pros and cons of each type
1) Flash memory based mp3 players
+These are very rugged due to flash memory
+Lightweight
+More battery life on single charge
+Smaller in size
+Can be used for day to day data transfers as USB pen drive
-Cost/MB is more, i.e. expensive
-Less storage capacity
-Cant be used to large data transfers
Following are some popular models of this type
Transcend
Cowon
2)Mini HDD based
+These combine features of flash players and hdd players
+smaller in size as compared to hdd players
+more capacity than flash players
+Cost/MB is fair
-Less battery life as compared to flash type
Have a look at this model from creative
Creative
3)HDD based mp3 players
+Huge capacity, typically more than 20GB
+Can store anything you want and can be used as secondary hard disk
+Some players offer video playback
+Cost/MB is very economical
-Less battery life on video playback and in general also
-These players are bulky
-Sensitive to shocks, not rugged
Creative's Vision:M
-----------------------------------------------------------------
So decide your budget, chooose memory type and find out the models that fit your requirements of storage, file format support; and go with it. Following are some good brands :
http://www.cowonglobal.com/
http://www.transcendusa.com/
http://www.sony.com/
http://www.creative.com/
http://www.mobibluamerica.com/
http://www.iriver.com/
http://www.sandisk.com/
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