“The time has come…to talk of many [technologies].” –Lewis Carroll(‘The Walrus and the Carpenter’)
Gentoo
Connecting iPod to GNU/Linux System(Gentoo, Ubuntu, Fedora etc) Using Gtkpod
3A lot of media players on GNU/Linux support the iPod MP3 players these days(for eg: amaroK, Banshee, Rhythmbox etc). I personally use Gtkpod to transfer the music from my Gentoo machine to the iPod player. Once configured, its really easy to use the Gtkpod application to do the music transfers. First install it using the package manager available on your operating system:
On Gentoo:
sh# emerge gtkpod
(I have added ‘aac’ support to Gtkpod by adding a line ‘app-pda/gtkpod aac’ to /etc/portage/package.use file before doing the emerge)
On Debian/Ubuntu/Kubuntu:
sh# sudo apt-get install gtkpod
On Fedora/SuSE/Mandriva:
Use RPM files or Yum/Yast/urpmi/etc package managers to install Gtkpod.
Its a GTK application, so if GNOME is installed, Gtkpod should be very easy to install on any GNU/Linux distribution, even if it means compiling it from the sources.
Now connect iPod to the USB port of the computer using its data cable and use ‘dmesg’ command to find its device name:
sh# dmesg | tail
sdb: Write Protect is off
sdb: Mode Sense: 6c 00 00 08
sdb: assuming drive cache: write through
SCSI device sdb: 58605120 512-byte hdwr sectors (30006 MB)
sdb: Write Protect is off
sdb: Mode Sense: 6c 00 00 08
sdb: assuming drive cache: write through
sdb: sdb1 sdb2
Attached scsi removable disk sdb at scsi4, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
usb-storage: device scan complete
sdb: Write Protect is off
sdb: Mode Sense: 6c 00 00 08
sdb: assuming drive cache: write through
SCSI device sdb: 58605120 512-byte hdwr sectors (30006 MB)
sdb: Write Protect is off
sdb: Mode Sense: 6c 00 00 08
sdb: assuming drive cache: write through
sdb: sdb1 sdb2
Attached scsi removable disk sdb at scsi4, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
usb-storage: device scan complete
Don’t panic; just try to find the names that look like sdaX, sdbX, sdcX etc from the output. You can see sdb1 and sdb2 in the above output, so these are the two devices that represent iPod on my machine. The music files are stored in the second partition of the iPod, so I need to mount sdb2 in my filesystem before I run Gtkpod so that it can see the iPod music folders. Mount the device and run Gtkpod:
sh# mkdir /mnt/ipod
sh# mount /dev/sdb2 /mnt/ipod
sh# gtkpod
sh# mount /dev/sdb2 /mnt/ipod
sh# gtkpod
The name of the iPod device should be visible in the left pane of the Gtkpod application(along with the label ‘local’ which is used to store local playlists). Select the name that represents your iPod device and select File->Read iTunesDB (or “Read” button from the toolbar). All the tracks and playlists from iPod should now be imported into Gtkpod. You can click the visible tracks to play them on the computer.
To transfer music to iPod from the computer, either create a new playlist or select an existing playlist in the iPod. To create a new playlist, highlight the name of the iPod device as visible in the left pane of Gtkpod and click “New PL” from the toolbar. Enter a name for the playlist when prompted. Now highlight the playlist into which you want to add the new music files and then select File->Add Files or File->Add Dir. Select the music files and press “Open” or the “OK” button. To finally write the added files/directories to iPod, click the “Sync” button from the Gtkpod toolbar. Wait for the files to be transferred to the device and then quit the application. Before you disconnect iPod from the comupter, don’t forget to first unmount the device:
sh# umount /mnt/ipod
sh# eject /mnt/ipod
sh# eject /mnt/ipod
Now you can safely unplug iPod from the computer. Browse through the playlists in iPod to check if the files have been properly added to the device or not. Once you are satisfied, you can make the above process simpler by automating some of the steps that we have performed. As a first step, add the following line to the /etc/fstab file:
/dev/sdb2 /mnt/ipod noauto,users 0 0
Replace sdb2 and the mount directory as appropriate for your case. Now a simple command will mount the iPod player:
sh# mount /mnt/ipod
Gtkpod can be configured to automatically do this step for us at its startup time(and unmount the device when it exits). Go to Edit->Edit Preferences (or press Ctrl-P) and enter the mount directory(/mnt/ipod) in the first text field. Then check the field“Handle mounting/unmounting of ipod drive” visible just below the text box. Click the OK button. Now you can just plug the device to the USB port and start the gtkpod application; it will automatically handle mounting and unmounting of the device. However, if ever you get an error message while quitting the application that it was not able to unmount the device properly, make sure that you manually unmount the device before unplugging it.
You can do a lot more with your iPod from GNU/Linux using the Gtkpod application; more details are available in its ReadMe file.
Libraries like libnjb make it possible to connect a lot of other popular MP3 players(many of the Creative MP3 Players) to the GNU/Linux machines. The latest MTP devices released by Creative are a tough nut to crack though, but the cousin project of libnjb, called libmtp, might just make it possible within a short period of time. One of the several frontends available for the Creative MP3 Players that are supported by libnjb library is Gnomad2.
Update or Install Applications on a Gentoo Machine Without an Internet Connection
2If you use Gentoo on a computer that doesn’t has a fast Internet connection, you can still update it or install new applications on it, by downloading files on a different system that has a fast Internet connection and then copying them to your machine using media like CD, DVD or a USB Pen Drive. The complete procedure is given below.
- Download the following shell script and copy it to the home directory of the local machine:
shotsync.sh
If the browser displays the contents of the file, use File->Save As… menu item to save the file. Or right-click on the link and select “Save Target/Link as…” from the context menu.
We’ll need this script in Step 4. - Also download the following file on the machine with fast Internet connection:
dist-grabber.pyMake the file executable and place it in a directory that is in the system PATH.
sh# chmod +x distfile-grabber.py
sh# mv distfile-grabber.py /usr/binWe’ll need this script file in Step 6.
- On the machine that has a fast Internet connection, download the latest snapshot of the portage tree from:
Gentoo Portage SnapshotsLet’s call this file ‘snapshot.tar.bzip’.
- Copy this file in the home directory of the local machine. From the home directory on the local machine, run the following command:
sh# shotsync.sh snapshot.tar.bzip
(we had downloaded the shotsync.sh file in Step 1)
- On the local machine, create a list of files to be downloaded on the other machine using the following command:
sh# emerge -uDp –fetchonly world 2> /tmp/distfiles.txt
(that’s two hyphens(-) for ‘fetchonly’ option)
(replace ‘world’ with a package name if you don’t want to do a complete upgrade: sh# emerge -uDp –fetchonly lynx 2> /tmp/distfiles.txt )
- Copy the file generated in the above step(distfile.txt) to the machine with good Internet connection. Run the following command to download all the packages specified in the distfile.txt file:
sh# distfile-grabber distfiles.txt
(we had downloaded distfile-grabber.py script in Step 2)
- Copy all the above downloaded files into the /usr/portage/distfiles directory of the local machine. Then perform the final installation using the following command:
sh# emerge -uD world
(If you had used a package name in Step 5, use the same here too: sh# emerge -uD lynx)
Repeat Steps 3-7 at regular intervals to keep your Gentoo system updated. If you only want to install applications without doing a complete update of the portage tree(eg. its already updated), you can just follow Steps 5-7 by replacing ‘world’ with the name of the package.
Whenever you need to copy a file from local machine to the machine with fast Internet connection or vice versa, you can use any suitable media like CD, DVD, USB Pen Drive, Portable Hard disk etc.
More info: Gentoo Wiki
All the scripts mentioned in this post are taken from this source.
NOTE 1:
If the machine with fast Internet connection uses the Windows operating system, you can still use the dist-grabber.py script to download the packages, provided you have Python installed on that system(and is in the environment path). If you instead have Perl installed on the system, you can make use of the following perl script for the same job:
dist-grabber.pl
NOTE 2:
If you would rather use wget to download the package files, then get the required URLs, convert the URL list to wget format & then get the package files:
sh# emerge –pretend –fetchonly –update world 2> list.txt
sh# cat list.txt | sed ‘s/\shttp:/\nhttp:/gi’ | sed ‘s/\sftp:/\nftp:/gi’ > wgetlist.txt
sh# wget -i wgetlist.txt -nc
sh# cat list.txt | sed ‘s/\shttp:/\nhttp:/gi’ | sed ‘s/\sftp:/\nftp:/gi’ > wgetlist.txt
sh# wget -i wgetlist.txt -nc
(that’s two hyphens(-) for ‘pretend’ and ‘fetchonly’ options)
Apache + PHP + MySQL on Gentoo
5Most of the today's web applications need the combo of Apache, PHP and MySQL packages to be first installed on the system. Installing these software on a Gentoo system should be a straightforward process. Below is the complete procedure.
First add apache2 and mysql to the USE flag in the /etc/make.conf file:
sh# emacs -nw /etc/make.conf
USE="gtk gnome qt kde dvd alsa cdr hal howl imap maildir mysql apache2"
emerge the apache package:
sh# emerge apache
sh# /etc/init.d/apache2 start
sh# rc-update add apache2 default
sh# /etc/init.d/apache2 start
sh# rc-update add apache2 default
Test the installation by accessing the url http://localhost/ from a web browser. If you get a welcome message from apache, the installation is complete. More info here.
Now emerge PHP4 and the mod_php module for apache:
sh# emerge dev-php/php mod_php
Add the configuration directive(-D PHP4) to /etc/conf.d/apache2 file and restart the apache web server:
APACHE2_OPTS="-D DEFAULT_HOST -D PHP4"
sh# /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
Create a sample php script in the directory /var/www/localhost/htdocs with the following contents and access it from the web browser to test the php installation:
[php]
phpinfo();
?>[/php]
If you see a lot of information displayed about the version of PHP and other related things then PHP is installed and properly configured with the apache web server. Installation of PHP5 is also similar but be warned that still a lot of software runs only on PHP4(Eg: phpBB Bulletin Software). With a little bit of effort you can also run both PHP4 and PHP5 on the same system side by side.
Install MySQL and all the related tools:
Add the following lines to the /etc/portage/package.keywords file:
>=dev-db/mysql-administrator-1.1.5 ~x86
>=dev-db/mysql-query-browser-1.1.17 ~x86
>=dev-cpp/gtkmm-2.8 ~x86
>=dev-cpp glibmm-2.7 ~x86
sh# emerge mysql mysql-administrator mysql-query-browser
sh# emerge –config mysql-4.1.14
sh# /etc/init.d/mysql start
sh# emerge –config mysql-4.1.14
sh# /etc/init.d/mysql start
Set a root password for mysql server when prompted by the 'emerge –config' command. You can administer the mysql server by using either the command line tools or using the graphical tool mysql-adminstrator. Similarly, the command line client mysql can be used to create and view the database schemas or the graphical tool mysql-query-browser can be used. I recommed you give these two graphical applications a try.
Other databases, like PostgreSQL, can be used instead of MySQL whenever the applications support it, but a majority of the applications support only the MySQL database. WordPress for example doesn't support PostgreSQL.
A NFS Story on Gentoo
0I still carry the habit of storing all the large files in my Windows partitions from my bad old Windows days. That allows me to plug any kind of device into the computer and copy the files to/from it. Gnu/Linux supports all kinds of DVD writers and Pen drives too, but my friends sometimes carry such wierd devices(and mp3 players) that they can be connected only to a computer using the Windows operating system. Accessing files in the Windows OS from a GNU/Linux partition is a time consuming and inefficient process – I do it using the excellent tool called Explore2FS, but its not an ideal tool for copying large amounts of files and directories. So it suits me well: store the files on the Windows partitions and access them easily from both Windows and GNU/Linux(by using a simple mount command).
When I discovered that my old Debian Sarge installation was not detecting the USB port for some reason and that its DVD-ROM has also died upon me, my only way to transfer some files to it was through the LAN. The files were contained in an ISO file on a Windows NTFS partition on a different machine. Below is the description of what I had to do to make the ISO file contents available to my USB-less, DVD-less Debian system.
I use Gentoo as my primary operating system on my personal desktop. The first job for me was to mount the local Windows partition(hda7) that contained the needed ISO file in the Gentoo filesystem.
sh# mkdir /mnt/win_d
sh# mount /dev/hda7 /mnt/win_d
sh# ls /mnt/win_d/*.iso
sh# mount /dev/hda7 /mnt/win_d
sh# ls /mnt/win_d/*.iso
The ISO file was visible. I tried to export the /mnt/win_d directory using NFS and then tried to mount the ISO file on the Debian system, but it didn’t work out that way for me. Not in a mood to loose too much time over it, I mounted the ISO file on my Gentoo System itself and then exported this mounted directory:
sh# mkdir /mnt/myiso
sh# mount -o loop /mnt/win_d/myiso.iso /mnt/myiso
sh# ls /mnt/myiso
sh# mount -o loop /mnt/win_d/myiso.iso /mnt/myiso
sh# ls /mnt/myiso
All the files contained in the ISO file were visible. The next job is to install the NFS server and the related tools if they are already not available, and then export the /mnt/myiso directory using it.
sh# emerge nfs-utils
Put the following line /etc/exports:
/mnt/myiso 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0(async, no_subtree_check, ro, no_squash_root)
I have specified a range of IP addresses to export the directory to all the machines within the subnet. Only one IP address or a different IP address range can also specified there. Note that there should be NO space between the IP address/IP address range and the opening paranthesis that follows it. To learn more about the different options and their meanings that can be specified in the line, head on to this.
Start the nfs and portmap daemons and add them to the default runlevel(so that they start automatically at the boot time).
sh# /etc/init.d/nfs start
sh# rc-update add nfs default
sh# /etc/init.d/portmap start
sh# rc-update add portmap default
sh# rc-update add nfs default
sh# /etc/init.d/portmap start
sh# rc-update add portmap default
If you ever make changes to the /etc/exportfs file, then export all your changes using:
sh# exportfs -ra
sh# /etc/init.d/nfs reload
sh# exportfs
sh# /etc/init.d/nfs reload
sh# exportfs
The last command shows you all the directories that are currently exported.
Now go to the other machine(Debian in my case) and use a simple mount command to access the exported directory.
sh# mkdir /mnt/remote
sh# mount 192.168.0.7:/mnt/myiso /mnt/remote
sh# ls /mnt/remote
sh# mount 192.168.0.7:/mnt/myiso /mnt/remote
sh# ls /mnt/remote
You should see all the files from the exported directory. The IP address above is of the host system(Gentoo in my case) which is running the nfs daemon. Now you can use the /mnt/remote directory as any other directory on the local gnu/linux system. If the exported directory were a linux partition or a Windows FAT partition, then the write options could also have been ebabled by using the “rw” option in the /etc/exportfs file in place of the “ro” option. The following line can be added to the /etc/fstab file to mount this directory automatically at the boot time:
192.168.0.7:/mnt/myiso /mnt/remote nfs ro 0 0
The IP address, as above, is of the host system. You may be interested in this: NFS in Gentoo
Direct Server to Server Copy using FXP
2FTP is still the best way to upload or download the files/folders from a website. I use gFTP to upload the files to my web space and its quite efficient at the job. Even if the connection gets interrupted in the middle of a transfer, it automatically reconnects and completes the job. It has many other useful features too. One feature that I thought was lacking in it is the ability to move a folder from one location to the other within the same server. Other people had complained for its lack of ability to move a file from one server to another server without involving the local machine in the process. Though many FTP clients do support such a feature(including gFTP, as I discovered later), I started searching for a dedicated FXP client. But what is FXP? From Wikipedia:
File eXchange Protocol (FXP) is a method of data transfer which uses the FTP protocol to transfer data from one remote server to another without routing this data through the client’s connection.
Note that FXP transfers need relevant support on the server side too(they must support PASV mode and PORT commands) – otherwise the FXP client can’t do anything about it. To install a FXP client on Gentoo:
- Add the following line to the file /etc/portage/package.keywords :
>=net-ftp/gtkfxp-0.5 ~x86 - Emerge the package and run it:
sh# emerge gtkfxp
sh# gtkfxp &
Click the Connect button on the left side and fill the settings of the first server in the popped up dialog box, then click the Connect button on the right side and fill out the settings of the second server. You can now start transferring the files in between these two servers without involving your local machine. You can enter the information about the same server in both the dialog boxes if you want to transfer the files within the same server. Note that this software is buggy and very crash prone. gFTP too supports FXP transfers but it is seriously lacking in the documentation. I recently got an email from Chris explaining how to do FXP transfers in gFTP. The procedure described was like this:
Here’s how to use FXP wit gFTP: First, FXP requires you to connect to both sites
using the normal client. To do so please use Menu “FTP” -> “Window 1″ and then
select one of your bookmarked sites, and wait till it has properly connected.
You will see the file listing appear in window 1, which is the left panel.
Switch to “Window 2″ using “FTP” -> “Window 2″ and then connect via bookmark
to another (different!) site. That’s it. You can now transfer between them.
Thanks Chris for the great tip!
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