Author: Ed

Might as well put all this all in one place for reference; that’s what this blog is all about.

Relevant for Xubuntu 8.10 with XFCE 4.6

Do that to get static network addresses.

Do that to get /dev/scanner created, which might not be needed with USB scanners.

Install xinetd

Create /etc/xinetd.d/saned with this stanza:

service sane-port
            {
              socket_type = stream
              server = /usr/sbin/saned
              protocol = tcp
              user = saned
              group = scanner
              wait = no
              disable = no
            }

Restart xinetd (this may not be needed): sudo /etc/init.d/xinetd restart

Add the IP addresses of any other local PCs that should be able to use the scanner to /etc/sane.d/saned.conf. If they’re in /etc/hosts, call them by name.

Add the IP address of this PC to the /etc/sane.d/net.conf files on those PCs. Again, if it’s in those /etc/hosts files, call this one by name.

Add the scanner group to any users who need it:
sudo usermod -a -G scanner userid
Log out and back in again to activate your new group membership.

And then it should Just Work…

I use static IP addresses on my simple DNS-free local net, but the 8.10 Gnome Network Manager applet is pooched: you cannot add another entry or change the existing one. Some sources indicate that deleting the existing Auto eth0 entry and adding your own static entry will work, but that failed for me.

Why this remains broken five months after the 8.10 release remains a puzzle, but there it is.

So…

Use the network manager applet to bring the network interface down. Perhaps ifdown will also work, although I don’t recall at this point: sudo ifdown eth0

Use Synaptic to get rid of network-manager and network-manager-gnome. The cute little system tray thing will remain behind until you log in again.

Make /etc/network/interfaces look like this, adjusted for whatever addresses seem appropriate in your network:

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.1.3
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.1.0
broadcast 192.168.1.255
gateway 192.168.1.1

Make /etc/resolv.conf look like this:

nameserver 208.67.222.222
nameserver 208.67.220.220

OpenDNS runs those nameservers and they may well be faster & better & less intrusive than whatever your ISP offers.

Bring the interface up: sudo ifup eth0

Enjoy …

Even a lean distro like Xubuntu has a bunch of fonts you’ll never use. Which ones you won’t need depends on who you are and where you live, but for my purposes the Asian and Arabic fonts just clutter up the font selection menus.

They’re all in /usr/share/fonts/truetype/, neatly stashed in separate directories. Figure out which ones you don’t need (perhaps browsing with Thunar will help), then:

cd /usr/share/fonts/truetype
sudo rm -rf arphic kochi thai

And so forth and so on, until you’re left with the ones you’ll actually use.

I also have a bunch of fonts I actually paid money for. While this is a single-user box, it’s easy enough to install ’em in the default system locations (rather than a user directory), with a pair of directories to organize them:

cd /usr/local/share/fonts
sudo mkdir truetype
sudo mkdir type1

Then copy the store-bought fonts into the appropriate locations. After doing this a few times, I organized the original fonts under a few directories, so this need not degenerate into a search-and-copy operation every time.

Worst case: when you’re done, just copy those two directories back to your font dump and copy them back for the next installation.

The final step is updating all the font caches, which point to directories & fonts that no longer exist:

sudo fc-cache -f -v

You may need the -r option to forcibly delete existing caches and re-scan from scratch.

More details there.

The details differ, often wildly, among distros, so perhaps this manual command-line fiddling will grossly confuse whatever automated GUI routines you’re supposed to use.

Oddly, Kmail seems to not have a configuration option for its main email directory, using ~/.kde/share/apps/kmail/mail if it has its way.

If you already have a ~/Mail directory, it’ll use that instead.

I stash my mail on the file server in the basement and NFS-mount the directory locally, so I set up a symlink:

ln -s /path/to/nfs/mount/Mail ~/Mail

That works fine, somewhat to my surprise, if you do it before starting Kmail for the first time.

Other files that must tag along to preserve the Kmail setup:

• ~/.kde/share/config/kmailrc — main config file with accounts & filters
• ~/.kde/share/config/emaildefaults — my name & address
• ~/.kde/share/config/emailidentities — account info
• ~/.kde/share/apps/kabc/std.vcf — contact list

The std.vcf thing has your entire contact list. Which, I’m sure, doesn’t integrate well into whatever Xubuntu uses for a contact list, but that’s a second-order problem.

Admittedly, this violates my meta-rule to not migrate the configurations, but the prospect of regenerating all those email filter rules and re-typing all the contacts is, um, daunting, even if most of them are cruft. I could hand-edit the new kmailrc file and insert the old filters, but …

Memo to Self: do this before starting Kmail the first time!

My desktop system has accreted a bunch of input devices over the years and the automagic X configuration system just doesn’t handle everything. Hence, some manual fiddling is in order every time I set up a new Linux installation.

Recall that I’m using Xubuntu because KDE4 Just Doesn’t Work with dual monitors.

Portrait-mode Monitor

You must use the nVidia restricted driver, so install that if you didn’t pick it during installation. I have no experience with ATI, other than reading many despairing posts saying ATI boards contribute great suckage to the Overall Linux Experience.

Use the Nvidia X Server Settings program to set up separate X sessions on each monitor. This is different from TwinView and Xinerama, which spread a single desktop over both screens, because it lets you independently switch between desktops on each screen. I want to edit my columns on the right-hand portrait screen while switching between PDF doc, simulations, schematics, and ahem email on the left screen, so separate X sessions are the way to go.

I save successive xorg.conf files in a directory in my home directory, then manually copy them into /etc/X11 as needed. That way, if (when!) an update clobbers the X setup, I can recover easily.

Save the file, copy it to /etc/X11/xorg.conf, log out, restart the X server (Ctrl-Alt-Backspace at the login screen will suffice), log back in again, make sure you have two monitor and separate X sessions, both in landscape mode. If not, fiddle around until you do.

Edit that xorg.conf file and add one line to the right-hand monitor’s Section “Screen”

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen1"
    Device         "Device1"
    Monitor        "Monitor1"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "metamodes" "DFP-1: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    Option	        "Rotate" "CCW"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Hardcoded rotation disables RandR, which seems to not matter, although it does prevent the XFCE Display config applet from starting. I tried RandR some time ago and it basically didn’t work on the setup I had, so I gave up. As I never change screen resolutions or rotations on the fly, it doesn’t solve a problem I have, anyway.

Update: it seems the “nvidia-auto-select +0+0” setting causes an occasional hang when logging out; I must ssh in and reboot the system. Replace that string in both Screen sections with the actual resolution: 1600×1200 and 1680×1050, respectively, leaving the DFP-? in place.

Save the new xorg.conf, copy it, log out, restart X, and log back in again. Now the right-hand monitor runs in portrait mode: wonderful for editing pages of text. Stand the right-hand monitor on its left ear.

Wacom Tablet

I have a Wacom Graphire tablet, which sort of worked with the default xorg.conf, but the mouse pointer switched to the right-hand screen in the middle of the left screen. I think the default single-X configuration confused it mightily.

These sections pin it to the left-hand screen, let it rove over the full screen, and swap the side-switch buttons on the stylus. Tweak these sections and save copies as needed

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier      "stylus"
        Driver          "wacom"
        Option          "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
        Option          "Type" "stylus"
        Option          "Mode" "Absolute"
        Option          "ScreenNo" "0"
        Option          "Button2" "3"
        Option          "Button3" "2"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier      "eraser"
        Driver          "wacom"
        Option          "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
        Option          "Type" "eraser"
        Option          "Mode" "Absolute"
        Option          "ScreenNo" "0"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier      "cursor"
        Driver          "wacom"
        Option          "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
        Option          "Type" "cursor"
        Option          "Mode" "Absolute"
        Option          "ScreenNo" "0"
EndSection

Trackballs

I have two trackballs, one on each side of the keyboard, to distribute the strain equally on both wrists. The default configuration treated them both as mice and didn’t allow separate configuration. That meant the left-hand ball operated in right-hand mode; a bit of a problem.

Fortunately, evdev now allows button configuration, so the setup was straightforward. Add these two sections

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier      "LogiBall"
        Driver          "evdev"
        Option          "Device" "/dev/input/by-id/usb-Logitech_USB_Receiver-event-mouse"
        Option          "Emulate3Buttons" "false"
        Option          "Buttons" "10"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier      "KenBall"
	Driver		"evdev"
        Option          "Device" "/dev/input/by-id/usb-Kensington_Kensington_Expert_Mouse-event-mouse"
        Option          "Emulate3Buttons" "false"
        Option          "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
        Option          "ButtonMapping" "3 2 1"       # Left hand
EndSection

The default mouse configuration now doesn’t do anything, so remove the automagically generated Section “InputDevice” for Mouse0.

ServerLayout

With all that in place, the Section “ServerLayout” entry becomes

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    Screen      1  "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
#   InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice     "LogiBall" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice     "KenBall" "SendCoreEvents"
    InputDevice     "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
    InputDevice     "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
    InputDevice     "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
EndSection

Save it, copy it, log out, restart the X server, log back in again, and enjoy …

Although your setup will differ from mine, here’s the entire xorg.conf file for your perusal and my backup. It’s saved as an OpenOffice odt document: just open it and Save As plain old text and it’ll work fine. There’s a bit more cruft than I mentioned, but that’s how it goes…

This doesn’t resolve the random USB disconnects and X hassles I described there, but now that I’m not wearing an acrylic overshirt it’s not so much of a problem.