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How to Install Latest Nvidia Driver on Linux Mint 13 (Maya)

Sourojit Nandi — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 10:21:05 +0000

Installing the Graphics Card driver is the first thing that you will like to do just after installing Linux. Though nowadays you are provided with general drivers to meet your needs, you will find many features and desktop enhancements missing.

Now here we will be going through a brief guide to install Nvidia Driver manually on Linux Mint 13. This is the simplest non conventional guide I could figure out and will help specially first timers to Linux Mint. Why non conventional? Because I will be skipping Some steps from the traditional Method. You can say taking advantage of improved Linux.

[alert-announce] The tips below can be used with any Linux, Just the commands will change. With the guide you can install nvidia driver with just 2 commands. [/alert-announce]

Installing Nvidia Driver Manually on Linux

1) Download the Latest Nvidia Driver from Official Nvidia Website suiting your needs.

On the next screen you will be provided with the latest available driver, Download it. If you have 32 bit OS change Operating System to Linux 32-bit.

Once it is downloaded, open the download folder and copy the file in home directory. The file name will be NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-304.43.run. Remember 304.43 is the version, it will change as new versions are released.

So, you have copied the file to home directory. Now rename it to 1.run. Nothing specific just write any small name for convenience.

Q) Why did I move and renamed the file?

A) Well, it’s really not necessary. By doing the above step I reduced 1 command to go to location of file and also saved myself from typing a big name while installing.

You are now ready with every thing you needed before installing the Nvidia Driver.

2) Installing Nvidia Driver

By default you have the Noveau Driver installed in Mint/ Ubuntu and also in others that I have not tried yet. So to install the Nvidia driver this Noveau driver has to be stopped first. There are commands to manually stop this driver but I personally never used them. As my target is to reduce commands as much as possible, I will be using a so called 2 phase method.

Q) What the heck is this 2phase method?

A) There is nothing called as a 2 phase method officially in installing the driver. It’s basically using the setup twice.

First run: Just to disable the Noveau Driver.

Second run: Install Nvidia Driver.

Now lets move on with the installation. First thing you need to do is disable the X server. So you need to switch to text only or ttyl mode. Press ALT+CTRL+F1 to switch mode to text only if you need to come back to GUI press ALT+CTRL+F8. Login with your details. To stop X server use:

sudo service mdm stop

Xserver is stopped. Now to remove Noveau Driver (we are starting the 2 phase method)

First run:

 sudo sh 1.run

(1 is the renamed file, it will be anything you renamed the file to be)

Nvidia driver will detect the Noveau driver and create a file to stop it in next run. At last it will fail to install. Just use

sudo reboot

to reboot your computer. After reboot, again go to text only mode ALT+CTRL+F1. Stop the xserver and

Second run: Install Nvidia Driver

sudo sh 1.run

Go through the instructions and you are done. Reboot system by command.

To access the Nvidia X Server settings, go to menu and search for Nvidia. The application will appear in search list.

[alert-success] TIP: Paste the required commands in your terminal once and execute. Then in text mode you will not even be required to type them. Just use arrow keys to bring up past commands. Anyways its just 2 commands and really easy ones.[/alert-success]

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Play Super Mario Brothers on Windows/ Linux/ Mac OS, No Emulators Required

Sourojit Nandi — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 04:53:25 +0000

Mario, a name that is familiar to almost everyone. It reminds Us of our childhood days when we spent countless hours in adrenaline rush to cope up with speed of this game. If you missed it for so long, here you can download and play it directly on your Pc.

Ya it is true, developers have built this game from scratch for our Pc. It does not require any separate emulator or so. It is portable and light weight .exe file, to be precise it’s just 6 MB approx. Operating system does not matter at all because you can play this game over Windows, Mac & Linux so all major OS covered.

Features of Super Mario Brothers PC

Complete recreation of Super Mario Brothers.
Elements from Portal.
Portal gun that shoots portals.
4-player simultaneous co-op.
Level Editor that was used to create the levels in the game.
33 different hats, that’s some character customization.
Downloadable Map packs.
Game modifiers for extra fun.

Portal Guns! o ya, this is the recreation part, developers have added this stuff from the Portal Game. Now your Mario carries a portal gun, ready and loaded.

Super Mario Game Elements

Usually when we talk about Mario, we never give any spot light to Game graphics. It has got its own legacy, all it is about is the splendid game play. here on Pc you have few settings to graphics and audio. You can fully customize Mario with hats skins etc. In visual settings you can select shaders to improve visual quality or even select the old conventional television style.

All you have is just fun, from the music till the final flag. I still find making the same mistakes that I made fourteen years ago. So, whats the wait for? Give it a shot.

[button-red url=”http://stabyourself.net/mari0/#download” target=”_blank” position=”left”] Download Super Mario Brothers for PC [/button-red]

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Boot-Repair Restores GRUB Loader and MBR to get back access to Ubuntu

Rohit Langde — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:29:39 +0000

GRUB is a Boot Loader for Linux but there is an occasional failure when you are Dual Booting Windows and Ubuntu. Generally, we lose access to Linux Bootloader when you install Windows over Ubuntu or Format the partition using Windows. Reason behind is damaged Master Boot Record (MBR)

Boot-Repair is a program to solve and repair problems related to GRUB Bootloader caused due to our negligence. It can repair GRUB in few clicks thanks to it’s simple graphical User interface making easy even for not-so-geeky users.

Boot-repair restores access to any operating system that has been lost, and removes entries which are no longer valid. It allows you to restore the Master Boot Record if it has been previously saved. Then, lets you select the partition or disk on which to install the GRUB, and finally allows you to swap the boot order of the various systems installed.

How to repair GRUB Bootloader

Boot-Repair can be used in general session but you need it most during emergency when you have lost access to Ubuntu. So, it is obvious that you use it by running a session on Live CD of Ubuntu.

Then install Boot-repair

Open a terminal and type:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa yannubuntu / boot-repair

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-boot-repair

After successful installation, you can access it from Applications Menu.

Select the options accordingly to fix the problem. For example, you may select OS to Boot by default (in case of multiple operating system) or manually purge GRUB or place GRUB into SDA. Click Apply, OK to continue.

When you are done, confirmation window will pop-up and you will have to restart the system. Boot-Repair is indeed a good solution to fix general GRUB Bootloader issues occurring frequently. You can also Download Boot-Repair from Launchpad.

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Universal Mobile Phone PC suite ( Phone Manager ) for Linux

lilpirate — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 17:17:40 +0000

Most of us use our computers to backup all the contacts, messages and calendars. This is generally done with the “PC Suite”-like applications provided by the vendor. Some of the most popular ones are Sony Ericsson PC Suite (recently revamped as SE PC Companion), Nokia PC Suite and a few others.

They all do one single thing – synchronize contents from your phone with your PC. Most of these suites provided by the vendor are Windows-only ( or sometimes support Mac too ).

What if you are running your favorite Linux distro? Do you boot Windows to use these suites? Or try running them from WINE (which probably fails to work)?

There is actually an open source phone manager for Linux. It’s called Gammu (strange name, I know!). Gammu is actually a command-line tool to manage your phone. A fine-crafted GUI is also available. It’s called Wammu.

With Wammu, you can do almost all the things the vendor-supplied PC suites offer: View call logs,contacts,calendar,messages; backup all your phone data and much more!

Does my phone supports it?

Most of the phones are supported by Wammu. For the complete list, see – List of phones supported by Gammu

Installation

Installing Wammu is very easy. Just open terminal, and type the following:

Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install gammu wammu

Fedora: sudo yum install gammu wammu

Using Wammu

Wammu requires additional permissions to listen on the USB ports. So we recommend you starting Wammu as a root user from Terminal.

Just type

Ubuntu and Fedora users:

sudo wammu

Then connect your phone with USB cable or Bluetooth and select the proper port (you might have to try all listed there).

Note – Wammu cannot scan the ports unless you start it under root user. You must always start wammu as a root user as above

P.S: Even if your phone isn’t listed on the website, but your vendor name is, it is very likely that Wammu supports your phone. My W595 wasn’t listed but Wammu readily connected with all the features activated.

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Transform Ubuntu into Windows with Longhorn Linux Transformation Pack

Rohit Langde — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:15:14 +0000

If you are accustomed to Windows interface and miss it while using Ubuntu, Longhorn Linux transformation pack is a project intended to turn Ubuntu to look like Windows Longhorn.

Windows Longhorn was the operating system on which Microsoft began work shortly after the completion of Windows XP . Unfortunately, the project never made it’s debut on the market exactly as intended and ended up on the fact that a few years later we received a system in the form of Windows Vista.

We have already seen how to bring Windows 7 like Taskbar on Ubuntu with Group Tabs and Stacks. Here is something which can completely transform Ubuntu into Windows like interface.

Longhorn Linux Transformation Pack beta is a GUI for Ubuntu, which changes the system interface similar to Windows Longhorn. The project is being developed for many months, but only now jumped into the beta phase. The latest release of Longhorn Linux comes with the installer. Also, introduces Linux Aero Glass Overlay effects and the Windows icons. In addition, you can use the sidebar with gadgets.

How to transform Ubuntu into Windows

Download Longhorn Transformation Pack and extract the ZIP into a folder. Double click on install.sh and choose run in Terminal when prompted.

This will install following applications and themes:

GnoMenu and Longhorn menu theme
Aero-style GTK themes
Windows icons
Windows fonts
Screenlets and sidebar
Nautilus-elementary
RGBA (transparency) enabled GTK
Emerald theme

Note: This is still in Beta state and doesn’t guarantee perfect installation. You should install only if you know how to remove installed components afterwards if something goes wrong.

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Why you should try Linux? Benefits and Advantages of Linux over Windows

Siddharth — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 05:22:14 +0000

Linux has been on the OS scene for a very long time now. Even then it does not enjoy the same amount of popularity with users as Windows or Mac OS X . The greatest difficulty it faces is its image as an operating system for geeks.

What the common user does not understand, is that Linux has come a very long way from those days in which it was completely reliant on the dreaded command prompt. These days some distros of Linux exist, which are simpler than Windows.

We have actually compiled a list why you should try out linux.

It is absolutely free : The greatest advantage is that its free. Linux is open source i.e. it is developed, maintained and upgraded by the community. Compare it with the price of Windows 7 Ultimate ($320) and Mac OS X Snow Leopard ($29).
Software is also free (most of them) : What would the most commonly used software on a computer be? An office application (Microsoft Office Professional $500), photo editing (Adobe Photoshop CS5 690$) and so on and so forth. So, basically you get the idea. Linux has free and highly capable alternatives for each of them – Open Office and Gimp are nearly as good as their paid counterparts any day.
Linux rarely (if ever) crashes : If you have been using Windows all these years, then you will be very familiar with the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) and hanging. Earlier Windows versions 98 upto XP had the unfortunate problem of crashing when least expected, thereby leading to loss of data. This problem has been minimized in Windows 7 but it still does crash sometimes. Linux on the other hand, if you have not been tampering with the core kernel files will not crash period.
Anti virus software not necessary : Linux viruses are extremely rare and an anti virus can be done away with, while a Windows system connected to the internet without an antivirus gets infected within half an hour.
Varieties to choose from : Linux comes in various flavours or distributions (distros in short), each appealing to a different user group. Windows also has various flavours – home, professional, ultimate etc. but these are the same with each being a subset of another in terms of features included. Linux distros on the other hand are completely different from one another.
Open source customization : Linux is open source i.e. its code is freely available. Thus, if you know some coding, you can modify the operating system to your exact requirements. You can even build and distribute your own Linux distro. Take that Windows ! Check out Linux Wallpaper Mega Pack.

Truthfully, this list is endless. I cannot even begin to enumerate all the reasons why you should give linux a try. Though I hope I have been successful in convincing some of you.

In future articles, we will cover Linux right from the basics, starting from the various Linux distros and which is right for you, how to try it before installing, installing linux, what to do after installing etc.

If you have any queries, or would like an article covering a specific topic, please contact us.

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Windows 7 like Taskbar on Ubuntu with Group Tab and Stacks | DockbarX

Rohit Langde — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 09:15:32 +0000

People who are more used to Windows 7 taskbar like me often feel quite difficult working on Ubuntu. What if, we bring those features of wondrous Windows 7 Taskbar on Ubuntu taskbar.

DockbarX is Gnome taskbar applet with grouping and group manipulation, Though the developer of this applet says he never wanted to make clone of Windows 7 but what all matters to us is productive functionality which DockbarX offers.

Here are some screenshots:

Not just Group tabbing but also, you get menu options on right click for pinning like Windows 7.

How to install Windows 7 taskbar on Ubuntu

Run following commands one after another in terminal.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dockbar-main/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install dockbarx dockbarx-themes-extra

Then right click on current taskbar > Add to Panel > Select DockbarX Applet and press Add button.

DockbarX preferences lets you customize behavior with Shortcut keys, Looks and Appearance with Themes and more!

via Ubuntu Life

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How to install uTorrent client & Server Web UI on Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick

Rohit Langde — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 16:13:40 +0000

uTorrent is most popular Torrent client for Windows and unfortunately we don’t have any standalone native uTorrent client for Linux. Well, we have many alternatives but if you still want to use uTorrent client on Linux (Ubuntu) then it is possible with WINE in easy steps. Also, we will learn how to install uTorrent Server (Web UI).

How to install latest uTorrent 2.2 on Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat?

1. Install WINE which makes possible to run Windows application on Linux (Ubuntu).
Go to System > Administration > Synaptic Package manager. Search for Wine and mark it for installation and hit Apply.
Installation will be completed in few minutes.

2. Download uTorrent latest version from uTorrent Downloads. Now, right click on the downloaded file utorrent.exe and go to it’s properties.Check the box in front of “Allow executing File as Program” . You are marking that utorrent.exe as Executable script.

3. Done! Open the file with WINE by right clicking on file and select- Open with Wine Windows Program Loader. The uTorrent client interface is in front of you.

How to install uTorrent Server on Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick

On popular demand, uTorrent have released a native uTorrent Server which is web based control. It is not a stand alone client but on Web UI and on forums it was written that it is not recommended for beginners but I say- Try it.

1. Download utorrent-server-3.0-21701.tar.gz (version may vary) from uTorrent downloads.

2. Extract that TAR.GZ file to a folder. Double click on the file named utserver

3. On web browser (Say Firefox) Type the following in address bar: http://localhost:8080/gui/ It will ask for username and password which can be anything (user – admin and leave Password blank) to see the uTorrent Server Web UI.

By default the content gets downloaded to the directory where you have extracted uTorrent Server. To change the default download directory, Go to Preferences > Directory and change the Move completed downloads to location.

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Top 10 Game Download Websites For Linux

Tushar Dhara — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:31:18 +0000

Why are you not using LINUX?

Because :

1.There are no 3D games for Linux.

2.Used by Geeks only.

3.For any thing, must executed by command line.

So, friends it’s time to change your perspective about Linux. Now just double click, you can do any thing in Linux. As for myself, I am also Linux fan but love “double click” not “command line”. In the next few lines I want to show you the side that many of us do not know. Linux has both criteria of games, high end and well, not so high end. This is not a joke, most games size between a few MB’s upto about 8 GB. The following websites will tell you more about the LINUX based games:

1. Live.linux-gamers.net

In this Website you can download ISO files of the games. This creates Live CDs/DVDs or you can Mount the games onto a virtual drive, and play those games.