ubuntu desktop enviroment summary

problem: keep forgetting this stuff

what im not doing: raking through forums every time i need reference


ubuntu (gnome desktop enviroment)
login manager: gdm
window manager: metacity
file manager: nautilus

kubuntu (kde desktop enviroment)
login manager: kdm
window manager: kwin
file manager: konqueror

xubuntu
login manager: xdm
window manager: xfce(4)
file manager: thunar

can all be mixed / matched / added / removed, but this is the default setup

bluetooth phone (samsung) to laptop (ubuntu 6.06 lts)

problem: installing strange, unstable drivers for cheap, bluetooth dongle on windows, but phone getting full.

what im not doing: installing strange, unstable drivers for cheap, bluetooth dongle on windows


stick in the dongle, lsusb;

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0a12:0001 Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode)

then dmesg to check if kernel modules are present and loading;

[17179599.760000] Bluetooth: HCI device and connection manager initialized
[17179599.760000] Bluetooth: HCI socket layer initialized
[17179599.816000] Bluetooth: HCI USB driver ver 2.9
[17179599.816000] usbcore: registered new driver hci_usb

the above makes me happy! so, to the terminal;

sudo gedit /etc/rc.local

and add to the bottom;

hciconfig hci0 inqmode 0 (not sure if this is required but google told me, restart the machine)

hcitool scan gives me the phones mac and all seems good to go! pair from the phone (1234 by default) and i thought i was there! unfortunately i couldnt find 'applications > accessories > bluetooth file sharing', so a quick;

sudo apt-get install gnome-bluetooth

start it up and send to the home folder. class, linux does it again!

the wee boys edubuntu usplash

problem: when the wee boys edubuntu box starts up, im getting 'cannot display this video mode' when i should be seeing usplash. the live cd displayed nice graphical usplash, but after install, black screen, white font. without getting out this seat (and im listening to the football) hes got an nvidia chipset graphics card and a dell 15" flatscreen monitor of some kind.

what im not doing: risking the install... the wee boy loves his classic arcade games (mame) and his box is now a mythtv backend when he is at his mums (more about this another day). i dont really want to reinstall...


google helps (as always) and first stop is checking the usplash config file:

less /etc/usplash.conf

this reads:

# Usplash configuration file
xres=1280
yres=1024

doesnt match current config (1024x768), so sudo gedit and altered usplash config file. then, the magic:

sudo initramfs-update -u

and sweat for a few seconds... reading lets me understand that as of 2.6 kernels, some initialisation can be shifted from the kernel to userspace, and loaded before initrd's. more reading https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Initramfs