*NIX (Linux, BSD)

Compression Hints

• 7z a -t7z -m0=lzma -mx=9 -mfb=64 -md=32m -ms=on <destination> <source file/dir>

• GZIP=-9  tar -czvf ./backup_sdcard_from_pi.img.tar.gz ./backup_sdcard_from_pi.img

• uncompress: tar xvzf file.tar.gz -C /path/to/somedirectory

  • x = extract the files

  • v = verbose

  • z = uncompress gzip

  • f = argument that says file name follows

  • C = (optional) argument to put output in directory that follows

dd Usage

This is mostly done with Linux, but I suppose it could work in BSD, Mac OS, others?

• "burn" ISO to USB: sudo dd bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync if=./some_distro.iso of=/dev/sdX

• backup and compress drive to image:  sudo bash -c "dd if=/dev/device-drive-or-partition | gzip > /media/disk/name-backup-file.gz"

• restore compressed drive image:  gunzip -c /media/disk/name-backup-file.gz | sudo dd of=/dev/device-drive-or-partition

Files & File Systems

• Move contents of folder one level up:

mv ./<target_contents_subfolder>/* . && mv ./target_contents_subfolder/.* .

• • NOTE: the trailing dot is part of the command

  • NOTE: there are two commands connected via "&&"

• Mount a remote file system through SSH.  This "just works" on Ubuntu, you may need to install/setup sshfs and/or fuse.

sshfs my_user@remote_host:/path/to/directory <local_mount_point>

• Download a shortened URL with curl:

curl -L -o filename.ext http://shortened.url

• Find files that are okay in Linux, but not Windows and put the list into a text file:

find . -name "*[&<>:\\|?*]*" > ~/AndSymbols.txt

I know, technically ampersand ("&") is allowed.  But FAT filesystems and older apps don't play nice.

• Mount a partition in /etc/fstab via PARTUUID by using blkid command.

LXDE / LXQT

Date/Time Widget

• Clock format: %I:%M %p

• Tooltip format: %a %x

Full Screen Windows

This will change/enable windows to be maximized by default.

• Edit ~/.config/openbox/lubuntu-rc.xml

• At end of file, un-comment: 

<!--

    <application type="normal">

      <maximized>true</maximized>

    </application>

    -->

Pinebook 1080p

I have the Pinebook 1080p system-on-chip laptop.  It is a nice device, but really a toy.  I can only really do one task with it; don't try streaming, even by itself. At least with the distros I've tried. I started a review, but it is so old, I might post it eventually. I do wish I had a purpose to the laptop.  Maybe someday something will occur to me.

Accessories

I bought this USB cable for power.  I use a powered USB hub and sometimes another computer to power the Pinebook. I also find the track pad sometime difficult, but don't plug it in until after boot.  

Manjaro

It's currently running Manjaro with KDE.  It is surprisingly performant if you are doing only one thing.  :-) I can watch YouTube or play music.  It's a shame the built-in speakers stink.  But hooked it up to external speakers and its good.  

KDE Neon

The OS loads, and one can move around.  But using it with apps gets a bit frustrating.  

KDE Neon also auto starts Firefox in the background.  This slows down the system, especially if you want to use Chromium instead.  To stop Firefox from pre-loading delete/move/modify the file below:

• • /usr/share/neon-settings-pinebook/plasma5-profile/autostart/firefox-preload.desktop

Personally, I comment out the exec line inside the file.

Scanning

Scanning is something that usually doesn't enter my mind.  It used to be when I couldn't get medical reports electronically.  But the late 20-teens had seen most medical institutions in the US be required to have electronic records.  Which are also shared; and that raises privacy issues, but I digress.  Now, working from home, there are still many processes that require printing -> signing -> scanning -> emailing documents.

And since my tried and true printer as well as scanner from the early 2000's finally died....

I bought a rather inexpensive HP Envy 7855.  It got many good reviews online for working with Linux.  Both as a printer and scanner.  It was relatively painless to setup but for those who are totally tech-clueless, you may want to rely on HP's tools and/or a USB connection.  If you understand basic IP networking, you can exit the first setup screen on the built-in touch panel and enter information manually.

Now with that done, onto scanning!

In the past, I had used gscan2pdf (noobies: link is to project, use your distro's package manager to install).  My old scanner was a flatbed, so no sheet feeder. The new HP Envy 7855 has one, and I'd rather use that feature.  I next tried Skanlite (again, project page), but it only seemed to scan to pictures, and I need PDF.  So then I tried Simple Scan (sudo apt install simple-scan); low and behold, nice shiny PDF output.  :-)  If you don't have fancy needs, Simple Scan is the way to go!

SDDM (Login/Display Manager)

• Change DPI in SDDM (method #1):

  • nano -w /etc/sddm.conf

  • paste in below:

[X11]

EnableHiDPI=true

ServerArguments=-nolisten tcp -dpi 144

• Change DPI in SDDM (method #2):

  • nano -w /usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup

  • /usr/bin/xrandr --dpi 201

SLiM (Login/Display Manager)

SLiM is one of the pieces of software that manages how users log into Unix-like systems, graphically.  They are referred to as both "login manager" and "display manager".  I usually use the default on any system, but FreeBSD did not have one for XFCE.  So I choose SLiM over XDM.

Below are some notes/hints/etc.

• In FreeBSD, config file = /usr/local/etc/slim.conf

• In FreeBSD, themes are in /usr/local/share/slim/themes/

• I made a simple theme to understand the files.

UDEV for Android Devices

Below are UDEV rules for connecting Android devices via USB on Linux.  At the end is the values for Amazon Fire 7" 5th Generation.

# udev rule to detect android devices

# Acer

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”0502", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Archos

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”0e79", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Asus

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”0b05", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Azpen Onda

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”1f3a”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# BQ

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”2a47", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Dell

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”413c”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Fairphone

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”2ae5", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Foxconn

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”0489", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Fujitsu Toshiba 

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”04c5", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Garmin-Asus

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”091e”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Google

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”18d1", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Haier

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”201e”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Hisense

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”109b”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# HTC, Wiko

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”0bb4", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Huawei

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”12d1", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Intel

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”8087", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# K-Touch

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”24e3", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# KT Tech

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”2116", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Kyocera

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”0482", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Lab126

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”1949", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Lenovo

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”17ef”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# LG

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”1004", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Meizu

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”2a45", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Micromax

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”1ebf”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Motorola

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”22b8", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# MTK

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”0e8d”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# NEC

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”0409", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Nook

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”2080", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Nvidia

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”0955", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# OnePlus Two (unknown vendor’s name)

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”2a70", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Oppo

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”22d9", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# OTGV

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”2257", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Pantech

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”10a9", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Pegatron

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”1d4d”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Philips

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”0471", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# PMC-Sierra

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”04da”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Qualcomm

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”05c6", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Rockcwell Electronics

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”2207", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# SK Telesys

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”1f53", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Samsung

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”04e8", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Sharp

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”04dd”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Sony

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”054c”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Sony Ericsson

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”0fce”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Spreadtrum

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”1782", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# T & A Mobile Phones

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”1bbb”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Teleepoch

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”2340", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Texas Instruments UsbBoot

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”0451", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Toshiba

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”0930", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Wearners

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”05c6", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Wileyfox

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”2970", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# XiaoMi

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”2717", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# YU

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”1ebf”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Zebra

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”05e0", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# ZTE

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”19d2", MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# ZUK

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”2b4c”, MODE=”0666", GROUP=”plugdev”

# Amazon Fire 5th

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTR{idVendor}==”1949", MODE=”0660", GROUP=”plugdev”