Fedora 10 + nvidia (FC10+Quadro) --> get Compiz to work

FC10 comes with the standatd "nv" drivers which, with latest graphic cards, are not the best. In particular they dont support 3D accel.

1) download the latest NVIDIA drivers:

(!) dont use the www.nvidia.com site to download the dirvers (it's not updated).

1.1) use the forum: go to http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=14
1.2) look for the topic "Current NVIDIA Linux graphics driver releases", and get the "Current release".

2) launch the drivers installer:

2.1) to run the installer, you need to turn off the Xserver (type "init 3" in console)
2.2) launch the installer: /root/Downloads/NVIDIA......sh

now, if your really really lucky, the installer will download the kernel from nvidia ftp for you, and will configure the xorg.conf.
In that case, your done. startx and enjoy.

otherwise (99.9%:)

if your not , youll get an ERROR because you need to rebuild the kernel:

----------------------------------------
REBUILDING THE KERNEL for NVIDIA DRIVERS
----------------------------------------

1) type uname -r
2) yum install kernel-devel-
3) make a link to the sources: "ln -s /lib/modules/2.6.27.21-170.2.56.fc10.i686/build/ /usr/src/linux-2.6.27.21/"
4) set the enviroment variable: "export SYSSRC=/usr/src/linux-2.6.27.21" (DONT!!! add the trailing slash here !!!)

try to run the installer. If your still getting errors, try adding also the following packages:

5) yum groupinstall "Development Tools" "Development Libraries"
6) yum install kernel-devel xorg-x11-server-sdk pkgconfig

grub spash image

just add the image file to the /grub directory in .xpm.gz format
the default name should be splash.xpm.gz
then rebuild grub image

you can get ready-to-use images anywhere ... eg: here

example commands:

cd /boot/grub
wget http://ubuntuforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=17670&d=1161005960
update-grub

that's it :)

linux: change console resolution

to change the console resolution on linux, you need to append a parameter to the kernel boot line:
eg: kernel vga=788

this is the resolution table:

Colours   640x400 640x480 800x600 1024x768 1152x864 1280x1024 1600x1200
--------+--------------------------------------------------------------
4 bits  |    ?       ?      770       ?        ?        ?         ?
8 bits  |   768     769     771      773      353      775       796
15 bits |    ?      784     787      790      354      793       797
16 bits |    ?      758     788      791      355      794       798
24 bits |    ?      786     789      792       ?       795       799
32 bits |    ?       ?       ?        ?       356       ?

If you want to make it permanet, you can do it via grub:

1) by adding this param in menu.lst to the kernel section on each menu entry you want to use this resolution

eg: kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6. [...] vga=788

2) or by adding this param to the # defoptions

eg: # defoptions=quiet splash vga=788
NOTE: it is commented, but is used this way by grub, so leave it commented! ... it's long story :)

REMEMBER: once done, you have to rebuild the grub by issuing the command

$ upgrade-grub

My firefox addons

this is just a memo for myself :)
... but hope can be usefull to anyone

• WebDeveloper (developer toolbar)
• JSView (offer the ability to view the source code of external files)
• DOM Inspector (inspect & edit live the DOM of any page)
  
• FastVideoDownload (dowload .flv media from current page)
• FireShot (take screenshot)
• FoxyProxy (proxy manager, includes white/black list, etc...)
• BugMeNot (Bypass site registrations)
• ServerSpy (indicates what brand of HTTP server is running)
• LiveHTTPHeaders (view HTTP headers requests/responses)
• RefControl (check HTTP referer sent)
• Text/Plain (open select text as url)
• Snap Links (open multiple links in new tabs in 1 mouse move) (ff3 --> here)
  

How to watch BBC iPlayer shows outside the UK

i've found this very interesting post !!

the only variations i've applied on my own are:

1) installed PortableTor (instead of the standard version)

2) edited manually the file ./Data/Tor.cfg
adding the following lines:

StrictExitNodes 1
exitnodes anotherlink,CarlosNet,ciccio,connorPC,PD,MrNiceGuy,procurator,shortname,colinwillsdorkyahoo,Hilikme,

Thx to Cherie!

You wanth to donload BBC iPlayer videos too?
checkout this post.
UPTADES: this no longer works anymore :(

White screen with Compiz?

Compiz = white screen?

(1) TEMPORARY WORKAROUND

A quick way to temporary solve the white screen problem, is to remove compiz.

--> To quickly get out of the white screen, don't spend time rebooting in safe mode and stuff ...
Just follow those simple steps:

---

--> once you have your white screen desktop loaded ...

1) move to another desktop:
by pressing: CTRL + ALT + F1
2) login
3) remove compiz:
$ sudo apt-get remove compiz
$ sudo apt-get autoremove
4) return back to your desktop
CTRL + ALT + F7
5) restart the X session:
CTRL + ALT + BACKSPACE

---

(2) POSSIBLE SOLUTION

Running ATI? try this command:
$ aticonfig --initial -f

(3) POSSIBLE SOLUTION
Most of all is just a matter of configuration.
If you have a normal video card with 3D acceleration (even ATI :)) Compiz MUST work!

1) first of all update your system
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get upgrade
$ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
(or $ yum update ... :)
2) you need to have your video driver correclty installed (look here for ATI)
3) check that X server can run correctly ($startx) (troubleshooting here)
4) start compiz (possible problems here)
5) in case you messed up with your xorg.conf, try deleting it. If startx runs, then follow the steps here, to create a new clean xorg.file. Finally start adding the needed parameters to make 3D acceleration and stuff.

Common problems running compiz

I will run through the most common problems running COMPIZ with ATI drivers:

• Try runnign compiz as ROOT
  this may seems stupid, but solved a lot of issues
  $ killall compiz
  $ sudo compiz
  At lest, if it works, you'll know what direction you have to look.
  

• “desktop effects could not be enabled”
  if the desktop effects gui will raise this message, try running “compiz” inside a terminal, and see that it tells you.

• “Checking for Xgl: not present.”
  this message is not a real problem as it may seems, compiz tries other configs, so don't loose time trying to fix it. Go ahead on this guide instead

• “Another window manager is already running”
  this means exactly what it tells.
  Check inside “System preferences” → “Preferences” → “Sessions” if you have another wm running, for example: XCompMgr.
  In that case, kill it and try compiz again;
  $ killall xcompmgr
  $ sudo compiz

• compiz white screen
  After reboot, when you login in GDM, your desktop is just a white screen?
  Follow this other POST to get back to a normal desktop.

• compiz with no window decoration
  Your compiz has no window decoration? no window borders?
  This is mostly caused by compiz don't finding the needed files ...
  Open a termina and:
  $ killall compiz
  $ sudo compiz
  If this solved, you may need to check the System → preferences → Sessions and see what's wrong with the startup script.
  
  

• compiz with no window decoration [2]
  Another possible cause may be the Video Drivers you'r using. Check for the latest version !!! or look for another driver to use with a newer but similar video card to the one you have.