Wednesday, August 4

How to Install Skype on your Linux Distro

                                                            
Hi all,
Ever Wondered How to Get Skype Work on your Linux Distro ? if Yes then,

Follow Some Simple Steps Given Below :

1. Get the rpm for your distro ... from here.
      In my case , i used fedora so rpm for fedora is here.

2. Become root by typing  su .

3. Then , Go to the Directory Where Your rpm is ...
     like;  #cd /Downloads

4. Now Simply Install Your rpm by; rpm -ivh package_name command.
     like; rpm -ivh  skype-2.1.0.81-fc10.i586.rpm

5. Now Go to Applications > Internet > Skype   

6. Enjoy & Thank me (Thank me optional )

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Post Installation Instructions

 To  Check if your microphone and Headphones (or speakers) is working properly

Go to System> Preferences > Sound ....
and adjust In (tab) for microphones and Out (tab) for Headphones(or speakers) .
Adjust it in your own preference.

Regards,
Aditya

Wednesday, July 28

How to customize desktop effects in fedora


This is very easy with the help of Compiz Fusion.

With Compiz Fusion you can use beautiful 3D effects like wobbly windows or a desktop cube on your desktop.

Note:To customize your desktop in fedora your system must have a 3D-capable graphics card with its driver installed ....(See.. Nvidia Driver Installation Guide  )

Installing Compiz Fusion

To install Compiz Fusion, open a terminal (Applications > System Tools > Terminal) and become root:
su
Then install Compiz Fusion as follows:

yum install emerald-themes compiz-fusion-extras emerald compiz-fusion compiz-manager compiz-fusion-extras-gnome libcompizconfig compiz-fusion-gnome ccsm

Enabling Compiz Fusion

To enable Compiz Fusion, go to System > Preferences > Desktop Effects:

Select Compiz:


Click on Enable Desktop Effects:






The new settings are now being tested. If everything seems to work ok, click on Keep settings (otherwise you won't be able to use Compiz Fusion):



Afterwards, you can enable Windows Wobble when Moved and Workspaces on a Cube, if you like, and click on Close to leave the Desktop Effects window:



Compiz Fusion should now be working.
To configure Compiz Fusion, open the CompizConfig Settings Manager (System > Preferences > CompizConfig > Settings Manager):



In the CompizConfig Settings Manager you can define the behaviour of Compiz Fusion:

Here's a list of the most common Compiz Fusion keyboard shortcuts:
SUPER+SHIFT+DRAG LEFT MOUSE = draw fire
SUPER+SHIFT+C = clear fire
CTRL+ALT+DRAG LEFT MOUSE = rotate cube
CTRL+ALT+LEFT ARROW = rotate cube
CTRL+ALT+DOWN ARROW = flat desktop
SHIFT+ALT+UP = initiate window picker
CTRL+ALT+DOWN = unfold cube
ALT+TAB = window switch
SUPER+TAB = flip switcher or ring switcher, depending on which is enabled.
ALT+F7 = initiate 'move windows'
SHIFT+F9 = water effect
SHIFT+F10 = slow animations
CTRL+ALT+D = show desktop
For Grouping and Tabbing:
SUPER+S = select single window
SUPER+T = tab group
SUPER+Left = change left tab
SUPER+Right = change right tab
SUPER+G = group windows
SUPER+U = ungroup windows
SUPER+R = remove group window
SUPER+C = close group
SUPER+X = ignore group
Hold the SUPER button then select the windows you want to group and then hit SUPER+G.
The SUPER key is the Windows key on most keyboards.

6 Some Screenshots

Here are some screenshots of Compiz Fusion in action:


Click here to find 
out more!



How to install nvidia driver in fedora

 

 

 

Graphics Driver Options

In newer versions of Fedora there are 3 options for video drivers that support or allow usage of Nvidia hardware in some form. They are:
  • nouveau - hardware accelerated open source driver. This driver is included with newer versions of Fedora. This is a work in progress however provides 3D for some hardware as well as multiple monitor support.
    No additional steps are required to install this driver.
  • nvidia - hardware accelerated closed source proprietary driver. This driver is provided only from Nvidia and provides the best high performance video and 3D functionality. However there are many versions that Nvidia produces which may not be compatible with Fedora.
  • vesa - very basic open source video driver. This driver just provides limited support for video. It is only for use where neither of the above work.

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Determining PCI ID

Which driver depends on the specific hardware. The name of the product is typically useful (e.g. GeForce FX5900, Quaddro NV140M), however hardware is best identified using PCI ID's.

To find the PCI ID of a particular device use the lspci command. depending on the version and usage of the lspci command various output is shown. In Fedora, use the following to identify the PCI ID (Note: the grep is added to filter the output):

Code:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ /sbin/lspci -nn | grep 'VGA\|NV'
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: nVidia Corporation NV34 [GeForce FX 5200] [10de:0322] (rev a1)
Use the PCI ID and look it up under Nvidia's Supported Product List OR using Appendix A. Supported NVIDIA GPU Products in any newer Nvidia driver documentation.
In this example the PCI ID is 0322. According to Appendix A, this ID corresponds to the Legacy version (173.xx series) driver.

Note: It is very important to know which driver your hardware requires. Typically many users will have newer hardware and NOT have to worry about this issue. However users with older hardware who install a newer driver may have non functional X-servers.

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Driver Packaging

There are 2 common ways of installing a driver for Nvidia hardware. Both methods will work and install the driver, however each has advantages and disadvantages.

Nvidia.com Binary Installer

Using the installer from Nvidia will try to compile a driver for your setup and install it. It will also modify any configuration files required to load. The only requirements for the installer are the necessary kernel files (usually kernel headers and the gcc compiler). This installer is only available through the Nvidia website and has the filename in the form of: NVIDIA-Linux-x86-XYZ.AB.pkg1.run.
The advantage of this method is that it can be run in almost any version of linux and can be installed for custom kernels. It is usually immediately available.
The disadvantage of this method is that the installer is the only application that tracks the modification of the system. If you are using a distribution that uses packag management (i.e. RPM's for Fedora) then the installer may interfere with your package manager and cause problems when you add/remove other software. The most critical problem with this method is that since each install depends on a specific kernel version, if you update and boot into a new kernel the driver will not load. You must manually re-install the driver from the command line since the X-server will not load.

3rd Party Repository

The Nvidia Installer can be extracted and reconfigured into an installable package which is specific to the distribution (RPM, DEB, etc.). Since Fedora uses RPM the driver would be an RPM package(s). The recommended 3rd Party Repository for the Nvidia driver with Fedora is RPMFusion.
The advantage of this method is that it can be installed faster and easier (often a smaller download) using the package manager e.g. YUM in Fedora. The packages can be automatically updated with new kernels and easily added or removed. The most beneficial advantage with this method is that if a newer kernel, X-server or driver is incompatible the package will automatically switch to an alternate driver. This way the X-server access is never lost.
The disadvantage of this method is that depends entirely on the 3rd Party Repository to ensure that updates are available on their servers and properly built to match current kernel releases. Typically in the past many problems relating to repositories, mirror syncing and build issues have reduced the advantages of this method of installation.

NOTE: It is recommended by most distribution developers to use the installation method that most closely aligns with the distribution's package management. Fedora users are strongly recommended to use the RPMFusion repository.

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Installation Using RPMFusion

To install the nvidia driver using RPMFusion and YUM.
  1. Install the repository configuration files for YUM. Run the following commands (enter 'root' password when prompted):
    # rpm -ivh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm
    # rpm -ivh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm
     

  2. Due to the inclusion of nouveau in Fedora 11 and newer, it must first be disabled. After this step, a reboot is recommended.


    • Fedora 12 and Fedora 13
      Edit (as root): /boot/grub/grub.conf To the end of the default kernel (usually the first), edit the kernel line.
      Add the following: rdblacklist=nouveau
      to the end of the kernel line.
      -OR- Modify the initramfs:

      [mirandam@charon ~]$ su -
      Password: 
      # mv /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r).img /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r)-nouveau.img
      # dracut /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r).img $(uname -r)
      
      # exit

    • Fedora 11

      [mirandam@charon ~]$ su -
      Password:
      [root@charon ~]# mv /boot/initrd-$(uname -r).img /boot/initrd-$(uname -r)-nouveau.img
      [root@charon ~]# mkinitrd /boot/initrd-$(uname -r).img $(uname -r)
      [root@charon ~]# exit
    A reboot is recommended.

  3. Select the proper KMOD (Fedora Kernel Module) which matches the driver you need.
    This MUST match the specific driver for the PCI ID you determined earlier.
    The following lists what is SUPPORTED BY NVIDIA/RPMFUSION. If you cannot find your driver/hardware combination, then most likely it is not supported.

    KMOD's for Fedora 13 (Currently only newest Nvidia hardware):
    Latest Version
    kmod-nvidia



    KMOD's for Fedora 11 and Fedora 12:
    Latest VersionLegacy 173.xxLegacy version 96.xx
    kmod-nvidiakmod-nvidia-173xxkmod-nvidia-96xx
    NOTE: (32-bit Users) Users with 'PAE' kernels should use that kmod. This for 32-bit users with 4GB of memory, or users running 32-bit Fedora on 64-bit hardware. Run: uname -rm if you are unsure. Proper names:

    • kmod-nvidia-PAE
    • kmod-nvidia-173xx-PAE
    • kmod-nvidia-96xx-PAE
  4. Install the proper KMOD Using the yum command (enter 'root' password when prompted):
    [mirandam@charon ~]$ su -c 'yum install kmod-nvidia'

    NOTE: YUM will automatically determine any extra packages needed for the installation. If a new kernel is needed, then a reboot is required before the Nvidia driver will load.

How to play all media files in fedora

                               

Fedora comes with a default movie player called "Totem Movie Player".
Many users choose to replace it with other players because it is unable to play patented video formats like mp3,avi, rmvb and so on.

To Play mp3 files you have to open terminal and use following commands sequence (you must have root access to do so ... )

Code:
rpm -Uvh   http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm
Code:
rpm -Uvh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm

Code:
yum install gstreamer-plugins-ugly

more details .... 

Now ... for all media files  ... Please follow the steps as mentioned...

1. Add the repository for libdvdcss which will be needed by dvd playback.
Code:
rpm -ivh http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-9.rpm
2. Get the codecs ready. We are going to use xine to support totem play movies. Xine can make use of the same codecs as mplayer does. So download from http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/rele...071007.tar.bz2. Extract it to /usr/lib/codecs. Xine would search for the codecs in this directory.
Code:
cd Download //replace Download with the directory where you put the archive file
tar -jxvf all-20071007.tar.bz2
cp ./all-20071007/* /usr/lib/codecs
3. Install everything that's needed.
Code:
yum install totem-xine libdvdnav libdvdcss xine-lib-extras xine-lib-extras-freeworld
4. Tell totem to use xine's help.
Code:
totem-backend -b xine
It's done. Now you can insert your DVD disk and choose the default option from the popped up dialog window or double-click any video file to enjoy your movie. Hope it's useful.

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For those who are not satisfied yet.... there are several other methods (which are less efficient in my view ... although a bit easier or ... )

1.Method One
2.Method Two
3.Method Three : ask me directly