LarsonsWorld -- just another persons /dev/null

With the previous story, I wanted a screen capture of my Gmail inbox. My 'Print Screen' key on the Acer Aspire One wasn't working.

To fix this, first I opened up the Synaptic Package Manager and made sure 'xfce4-screenshooter' was installed.
I then opened up the 'Keyboard' dialog box under 'Settings' on the menu. Once there, I selected 'Application Shortcuts' and then clicked the '+ Add' button. I typed 'xfce4-screenshooter' In the open 'Command:' box. After clicking 'OK' I touched my 'Print Screen' button, which assigned the command to that button.

I love hunting down, figuring out and then fixing these kind of things. It keeps my mind supple.

Well, my old way of having a black login background -- create a empty file in the /usr/share/backgrounds folder and rename it default_background.jpg -- no longer works. Doing this with the newest LMDE I end up with a blue background. So, I have created a 1920x1200 black jpg which I have placed in the above folder and named default_background.jpg. Shazam, I now my login background is black.

I have attached the image if you wish to use it. Remember, you need to paste and rename the file in the /user/share/backgrounds folder with root privileges -- gksu nautilus or sudo nautilus

I have messed around with the panel quite a bit while playing with Cinnamon. First I moved it to the top of the screen and then I started removing and adding things. One of the results, I ended up with a green panel. Ugh.
While searching for a way to adjust the panels width, I happened upon this thread in the Linux Mint Forums. It led me to the cinnamon.css file. Although I haven't figured out a way to adjust the width yet, I have been able to change the background color.

I ran:
gksu gedit /usr/share/cinnamon/theme/cinnamon.css

I then went down to the #panel section:
#panel {
color: #ffffff;
background-color: #000000;
font-size: 8.5pt;
font-weight: normal;
height: 25px;
}
and changed the background color from #555555 to #000000. After restarting Cinnamon (alt+F2, type r and enter), shazam, my panel is all black.

Now I just need to figure out how to center everything in the panel and auto size it.

When I first switched to Ubuntu, one of things that initially blew me away the virtual desktops. I took full advantage of them from the get go. It is such a simple thing that is made more apparent when I use someone elses Windows PC. I love them.

So, one of the first things I did after installing Cinnamon on my newly LMDE updated Dell was to figure out the virtual desktop deal. To add and remove virtual desktops you click on the 'Hot Corner' infinity emblem in the top left corner of the desktop.* This gives you a screen of all available desktops. On the right is a tab with a plus sign. Want more virtual desktops, click on it to your hearts content. To remove them, put the curser over a desktop and click on the 'X' in the top right corner.

Oh, one other thing I found today. I always used 'Ctrl+Alt+(Right Arrow or Left Arrow)' to move amongst desktops. With Cinnamon, if you select 'Ctrl+Alt+Up Arrow' it gives you a screen with all the desktops. Use 'Ctrl+Alt+(Right Arrow or Left Arrow)' to select the desktop you want and then 'Ctrl+Alt+Down Arrow' and it takes you there. It sounds more complicated that it really is.

Anyway, that is my first Linux Mint Debian with Cinnamon tip. There will be many more to come. I have a netbook and media server that will be changed over and need to make sure I have plenty of notes for when those days come.

* - It may be in the top right. I know, you are asking, well, what corner is it in? Well, the first thing I did after installing Cinnamon was to move the panel from the bottom to the top of the screen. Bam, the 'Hot Corner' was camoflaged for me. It took my checking out the Panel Settings, which led me to the Cinnamon Settings, where I found the Hot Corner settings, and once I moved that down to the bottom and clicked on it, I figured out what it was for. Trial by error or as they say RTFM.

Using Linux command line you can create a 32 digit password from any text phrase via md5sum.

$ echo "to be or not to be" | md5sum
$ f9d804763c3031cc22323d79e165b562

You will always get the same 32 digit code from the same phrase. Just remember the phrase and you will always have the password (as long as you have a Linux computer in hand.)

FYI -- it is case sensitive.

Thunderbird 5.0 has been out for a while but has yet to hit the Linux Mint Debian XFCE repository.On a whim I downloaded Thunderbird, extracted it and then, with root permissions in Thunar, I copied the 'thunderbird' folder into the /opt folder overwriting all the old files. Now when I start up Thunderbird I am running 5.0.

One thing I have noticed is Synaptic still shows Thunderbird as 3.17. I'm wonder what will happen when the 5.0 hits the repositories.

Not sure if this is right or wrong, but hey, it works. I mean, what could go wrong? Oh yea, if I toast my install, there are those 1000 updates to install!

By the way, the reason for my wanting to upgrade to 5.0 is that Lightning calendar project only works on 5.0

I have always liked a black background for the login screen.

** Warning: You can totally fuck up your install if you mess with the wrong file in your /root folder! Trust me on this one. **

For Linux Mint Debian you can accomplish this by first firing up your favorite file manager with root permissions and navigating to '/usr/share/backgrounds/linuxmint'. Rename the 'default_background.jpg' file to something else or delete it. Now create a empty file with the name 'default_background.jpg'.

Shazam! The next time you fire up your PC, there no background image for your login screen.

I am guessing this probably works for most Debian based systems.

This is a second installment of my notes detailing my move to Linux Mint Debian XFCE.
Part 1 - Part 3

So, let's continue my mish-mash list of thoughts:
(+ is a positive, - is a negative, ~ is a whatever and * is a tip)

~ Linux Mint released this distro on April 6th, four months ago yesterday. As of today there are 903 updates which requires 1093 files to be downloaded. Holy Shit Batman! Grab a good book or go out an play in the sprinkler while wait for the files to download. FYI: I didn't update the debian-system-adjustments. When this update appeared I installed it on my Dell laptop and had not stop problems with my internet connection. I never did install it on the Aspire and never had problems. That ain't the problem. I have installed it on my netbook and it works fine. Something else is wrong with the laptop. Damn

- Touch pad didn't work for tapping to click. Searched the Linux Mint Forums and found this fix for it. You might want to wait to change this. I both my computers I had to go back and fix this after the initial update. When I did change the file after the update, there was some warning about not altering the file but I did anyway and there hasn't been any problem.

- The Gnome terminal has a funny habit of shrinking. It's really bizarre. A work around is to install the XFCE terminal (xfce4-terminal)

~ There are no games installed. It's an easy fix by installing gnome-games but I find it strange.

+ The Directory Menu for the panel is cool. I don't know if this was available in the Gnome panel, but I like it.

* To get a weather applet in the panel, install xfce4-weather-plugin.

- The panel notifications are giant, especially on my netbook. It would be nice if they where a bit smaller.

* When I did the installation on my netbook, I reformated my entire hard drive. With Rhythmbox I figured out a way to get my playlists and music library back from my old installation. I'll be writing this work around up very soon and will add a link to it. Here it is.

* I always make sure I back up all my hidden configuration files. Because of this, when I install one of the programs I've used before, I copy those config files into /home. Now, when I open that particular program, it's just like I closed it the last time I used it on my old setup.

I recently did a fresh install with a disc reformat. One of the things I didn't want to have to deal with was the re-setup of Rhythmbox. I have a large music collection and many playlists that I didn't want to have to fix or import. Thus, I dug around a bit and come up with a way to get around this.

For this to work, you need to have a backup of your Home folder.

What you want to do is copy 'playlists.xml' and 'rhythmdb.xml' from the '.local/share/rhythmbox' folder in your backup to the same folder in your new home folder. Do this before you start up Rhythmbox for the first time. You will have to create the 'rhythmbox' folder in the 'share' folder as it won't be created yet. Now when you start up Rhythmbox, your playlists and music collection will be right there.