Video thumbnails in BunsenLabs

I'm trying out BunsenLabs Linux on my old laptop. I came across the same problem I encountered in its predecessor CrunchBang Linux, namely I didn't get a thumbnail preview of video files in Thunar.

The solution I found at the time (see my review of CrunchBang), which was to install ffmpegthumbnailer, didn't work.

The solution this time was to install tumbler-plugins-extra.

HP Deskjet 3050 j610 on Crunchbang Waldorf

My printer works well with the latest version of HPLIP available on Debian Testing (Wheezy). I've installed it with ease in a Gnome environment and in XFCE, so I was rather surprised to find that it didn't work in Crunchbang Waldorf, which is based on Wheezy.

After several hours Goolgling, I found the problem: not all the required dependencies of HPLIP are installed in Waldorf, and the required user permissions are not set.

To check if HPLIP is set up correctly, run:

sudo hp-check -t

If there are unmet dependencies or permission issues, run the required fix to install and add automatically.

My symptoms were:

Could see printer in System>Printers>Configure Printers but not use.
Could see printer in device setup HPLIP gui (hp-toolbox) but not install.
Could install printer via hp-setup as root, but could not print from inside web pages (could print a text file) and could not administer printer from Device Manager.

Install QuodLibet on Crunchbang Waldorf

Quod Libet is my favourite music player, and I wanted to install it on Crunchbang, but I noticed the install was going to bring a cascade of unwanted dependencies, including a second CD burner application, Brasero.

The problem is described here, and I found a solution (modified) here.

sudo apt-get --no-install-recommends install quodlibet quodlibet-plugins

This installs Quod Libet without the unnecessary recommended dependencies.

The panel icon for Quod Libet is black and does not work well with the dark panel in Cruncbang. I have replaced the icon with one developed for the Faenza theme by ~poupoul2.

The notification icon uses the .svg icon supplied, but the panel needs an .png icon. I created my own.

New icons go in /usr/share/pyshared/quodlibet/images/.

Update: Icons can also go in the active icon theme. For me, the Panel > 22 folder.

Check GMail script for Conky on Crunchbang Waldorf

I'm trying out Crunchbang Waldorf. I found a script for Crunchbang Statler (the previous version) that displayed the number of my new GMail messages in my Conky desktop display, but it didn't work with Waldorf. I was looking around for a simple and efficient script and eventually found one that works on the Arch Linux forum.

 I modified it a little not to show the number of emails on the server, just the number of new emails.

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: UTF-8 -*-

import sys, imaplib

port = 993
server = 'imap.gmail.com'

username = 'name@gmail.com'
passwd = 'password'

imap_server = imaplib.IMAP4_SSL(server, port)
try:
    imap_server.login(username, passwd)
except:
    print('?? new')
    sys.exit( 1 )

typ, data = imap_server.select ('Inbox', True)
if typ == 'OK':
    total = int(data[0])
    typ, data = imap_server.search (None, 'SEEN')
    if typ == 'OK':
        seen = len(data[0].split())
        print('{} new'.format(total - seen))

if typ != 'OK':
    print('?? new')

imap_server.logout()

 Credit: rockin turtle.

Nicer fonts in Crunchbang

I went ahead and installed Crunchbang on my old Compaq Presario 900. All went well, but I was slightly disappointed with the way fonts are displayed. I came across a post on the Crunchbang forum which describes how to enable subpixel smoothing. One of the .fonts.conf files posted worked for me, as you can see in the following screen shots.Using gnema's configuration file (the third of three suggestions), fonts definitely look smoother and less bitty.

Live USB boot from floppy disk on old computer

I have access to my old Compaq Presario again, and tried booting it from my Crunchbang Live USB. To my disappointment, the BIOS was too old to allow a USB boot. However, I was delighted to find that there is a way round this- by booting from the floppy drive.

There are a couple of good guides I came across to getting round the BIOS restriction (How-to Geek and Instructables), but they focus on using a CD (my CD drive is kaput), and the guide that does mention floppies tells you how to write one in Windows, so here's a version for Linux.

1) Download Plop Boot Manager
2) Extract the files and dd the floppy image (plpbt.img) to a floppy disk using this command (change the floppy name if necessary):

dd if=plpbt.img of=/dev/fd0 bs=1024 conv=sync ; sync

 (From debian.org.)

Boot from the floppy with the USB inserted and you'll get an option screen which includes a USB boot.

I found that my keyboard didn't work in the Crunchbang option screen. The default option was a Live boot, and the keyboard worked once the OS had booted, but it doesn't look as if installation is going to be possible without a work-around.

Update: I tried the Live session again and realised that I'd hit the enter key, and Crunchbang was just taking a long time to load because it was running from a USB 1.0 socket: for about a minute or so, it looks like the menu is frozen.

NB: Running a Live OS from a USB 1.0 socket is s..l..o..w.

Conky in CruchBang

I've been playing around with CrunchBang recently. It's elegantly functional, in a minimalist way. It comes with Conky enabled by default. The default desktop seems to be designed for people who enjoy sitting in the dark wondering exactly what their computer is doing.

I messed about with my set up to see if I could reduce Conky to something more minimal, and also added one of my favourite wallpapers, something a little more light and airy and interesting to look at when I see the desktop.

Here's a close up of Conky:

The Gmail indicator uses this script, and the weather indicator this script (see this post for how to set up the location if you're not in the US).

If you try something similar, and wonder how to get Conky to display #!,put a "\" before the "#", which otherwise will turn the line into a comment.

${alignc}${font Liberation Sans:size=26}\#!${font}

CrunchBang! The minimalist marvel

I've been trying out CrunchBang on a Live USB. It's based on Debian Stable but uses the minimalist Openbox window manager. It's the sort of set up that works well on older computers with limited resources, but it's also the sort of set up that geeks tend to like, and usually not on a computer with limited resources, rather on a high performance system. The idea of running a really basic interface on a high performance machine seems to appeal. This example from the Debian forum caught my eye. It is very elegant in a minimalist way (and as it's being run on a Triple-Core i5 Processor with 6Gb RAM, it's probably not for want of resources).

Desktop by vrkalak. (Full size image available at link.)

I have my eye on CrunchBang as a replacement for Debian Lenny on my old laptop. It's a single core 1.8GHz machine, but even it can cope with Gnome 2 at the moment. CrunchBang certainly flies on my more modern dual core machine, even from a USB, so it will be interesting to try it on my older laptop later.

Being based on Debian Stable, it is as stable as a rock. It comes with multimedia enabled (MP3, Flash and DVD playback), and there are applications to take care of work and play (Libre Office [Correction: it comes with Abi Word and an install option for Libre Office, at least in the backports-enabled version], GIMP and VLC- which takes care of music and video playback.)

My three year old daughter moaned that she didn't get a thumbnail preview of her videos, but I found the solution to that the next day. (Install ffmpegthumbnailer.)

CrunchBang is highly configurable, but unlike my recent experience with KDE, configuration is done by editing the configuration file, which seems a lot better to me than the endless configuration options everywhere in KDE. Edit the configuration files in CrunchBang, and you can set it up just as you want. Then save the file and you're back to your minimalist desktop. Here's what I did in a hour.

CrunchBang comes with Conky on the desktop, something else that will appeal to geeks. I'm not that interested in seeing system information, but I was able to edit the configuration file to show some useful information in the bottom left of my wallpaper image. The resulting desktop is elegant and functional.

In summary, CruchBang is elegantly functional, in a minimalist way. It's probably going to appeal to the computer geek as much as owners of older computers or netbooks with limited resources. In either case, it certainly isn't going to take up resources for itself, but just let you get on with running the applications you want to without the operating system getting in the way.