Transmission Remote GUI

Transmission Remote GUI

Now I have my Transmission daemon up and running which I can access from a web browser [see here ]  I thought I would try out the Transmission Remote GUI as this give me a few more option on a per download basis. First I need to add the package with;

$ sudo apt-get install transgui

Once installed open tools options and add the details of your connection to your remote host

Remote Host: static ip address of Transmission Host

Port: 9091

User name & Password

Now you should be able to see your download queue and manage it from your remote client.

Edit: Just found out you can only sudo apt-get this app from Natty, Maverick and below do not have this in the repos. So visit Transmisson Remote gui Homepage and download the transgui-3.0.1-i386-linux.zip or transgui-3.0.1-x86_64-linux.zip, extract the files to a suitable folder on your system then create a shortcut to the transgui program file.

Move multiple files from command line

Using find to copy or move multiple files

All the .txt files are located in directories and subdirectories of the ~/tmp folder and I want to copy them to ~/tmp2

To copy them, open a Terminal and use;

$ find ~/tmp -name ‘*.txt’ -exec cp ‘{}’ ~/tmp2 \;

This copies all the files in the original folders and sub folders and saves them to the ~/tmp2 folder.

or to move them,

$ find ~/tmp -name ‘*.txt’ -exec mv ‘{}’ ~/tmp2 \;

this deletes them from the original folders and sub folders and saves them to the ~/tmp2 folder.

Start up Sound

Start up Sound:

This works on my Xubuntu Natty install. I found a .ogg sound file that I wanted to use as a start up sound so needed an command line ogg player to play it.

$ sudo apt-get install ogg123

Now create a script in /usr/bin as follows [replace mousepad with the text editor of your choice];

$ sudo mousepad /usr/bin/startup

Add the following to the file

#!/bin/sh
#### play sound at startup ####
## reduce volume ##
sleep 5
StartupNotify=false
/usr/bin/amixer -c 0 sset Master,0 60%
## play sound ##
/usr/bin/ogg123 /path_to_my/sartupsound.ogg
## increase volume again ##
/usr/bin/amixer -c 0 sset Master,0 85%

save the script and make it executable with.

$ sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/startup

Now add the script to the system start up, in Xubuntu open [Settings], [Settings Manager], [Session and Startup], [Application Autostart], and then the [Add] button. Add a name of your choice in the Name field, and the same in the Description field, then the path to your script in the Command field i.e /usr/bin/startup in this case the [ok] to finish. You will then get a startup sound next time you log on.

Shutdown Sound

Shutdown Sound:

This works on my Xubuntu Natty install. I found a .ogg sound file that I wanted to use as a shutdown sound so needed an command line ogg player to play it.

$ sudo apt-get install ogg123

now add a script as follow script to /etc/init.d as follows

In a Terminal, create the file with, [change mousepad to your favourite text editor]

$ sudo mousepad /etc/init.d/K99shutdownsound.sh

copy the following into the script

#!/bin/sh
#### play sound at startup ####
## reduce volume ##
amixer -c 0 sset Master,0 50%
## play sound ##
/usr/bin/ogg123 /path_to my/shutdown.ogg

save the script and make it executable.

$ sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/K99shutdownsound.sh

now add a shortcut to /etc/rc0.d where shutdown scripts go and to /etc/rc6.d where reboot scripts go

$ sudo ln -s /etc/init.d/K99shutdownsound.sh /etc/rc0.d/K99shutdownsound.sh

$ sudo ln -s /etc/init.d/K99shutdownsound.sh /etc/rc6.d/K99shutdownsound.sh

Now I get a reboot and shutdown sound.

Sony Laptop, Special Function Buttons

Sony Laptop VGN-NS11J

This laptop has 2 extra keys on the top panel next to the Power Button, AV Mode and Mute

These keys are detected by Natty Xubuntu as;

AV MODE = XF86AudioMedia
Mute = XF86Launch1

These keys can be activated by opening the [Settings], [Keyboard] option, selecting [Application Shortcuts] tab then the [Add] option.

Add amixer set Master toggle to the [command] box of the Mute key then press [ok] and in the next window press the Mute key to activate it.

Add a command of your choice i.e /usr/bin/exaile [this will launch the Exaile media player] to the [command] box of the AV MODE key then press [ok] and in the next window press the AV MODE key to activate it.

Natty Unity

So I’ve been doing some ISO testing of the Natty Alpha 1 release and have had one or two problems [see previous post iso Testing Natty ] but my main problem with it has been the decision to replace the default Gnome desktop with Unity. Unity is a 3D replacement for the 2D Gnome desktop which Gnome are about to replace anyway with Gnome Shell. Ubuntu seem to have decided Gnome Shell is not the direction they want to go so are replacing the desktop with their own. Unity brings the notebook and desktop versions of Ubuntu together with only minor differences which will be detected and applied during install. The standard approach will therefore be a notebook type display on both desktop and notebook. The main difference will be the loss of the bottom panel, the replacement of the top panel with a more interactive menu and a Mac style icon dock down the left hand side.

When you install the Ubuntu default now you will need a 3D enabled graphics card to run Unity or you will be presented with a pop up message currently;

Information:
Sorry you don’t have 3D support, install it for
your graphic hardware to get Unity or please
reboot and select “Classic session” at startup.

Not a very helpful message in my opinion, basically you can go into [System], [Administration], [Login Screen] and change [Ubuntu desktop Edition] to [Ubuntu Classic Desktop] then log out and back in again to 2D Classic Mode but this is not obvious from the message. The other option would be to add the 3D driver [if your card supports 3D] and log out and back in again for Unity to display, Nvidia owners beware! The message is particularly unhelpful if you are running a Live CD version or USB stick with persistence not enabled because you will not be able to install the driver as a restart will wipe the changes, noobs will be confused.

Personally I don’t like Unity, it’s more Mac like styling, I don’t have 3D effects turned on and don’t want them, the dock on the left is unnecessary clutter but if I wanted one there are plenty of docks available without this being the default. We are told we can use the Classic 2D Gnome desktop if we don’t like Unity but that this will eventually disappear when Gnome Shell arrives and Gnome 2 is depreciated. My thoughts for Gnome Shell are much the same I just don’t want to go there so the hunt starts for an alternative. I’ve already tested Lubuntu with it’s LXDE desktop and although I like the styling it’s still a bit basic. So for now Xubuntu with it’s Xfce desktop is becoming my test o/s. I’m currently running Natty Xubuntu testing and loving it.