URGE to Compute Wiki : Computers

Laptop Guide

Help us expand and improve this Guide to the use of our laptops.

To fix the LED for the WiFi; install linux-backports-modules-jaunty. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne

Benjamin Kanouse June 22, 2009, at 12:41 PM

Output resolution 1280 * 1024

If you're having problems getting the external monitor to output 1280*1024 (maximum resolution). Simply run this line:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

You will need to logout and log back in again. Zachary Marzec

UB VPN client error in ./vpn_install

If you're having trouble building the vpn client on a different (linux) laptop, it might be because you're using a 64-bit system, which the client does not support. Here's a workaround:

We're going to install a different vpn program called vpnc that's compatible with UB's cisco_ipsec vpn program. Type "sudo apt-get install vpnc" to get that.

Since this program doesn't use the same config files that the other vpn uses, we have to make our own. Download this script: pcf2vpnc, and save it into the UB vpn client folder. (Don't forget to chmod +x the script)

cd into the folder and run "./pcf2vpnc offcampus.pcf offcampus.conf" and "./pcf2vpnc oncampus.pcf oncampus.conf".

Now you have the config files for vpnc. The nice thing about this is that you can now edit these files and add your username and password to log in automatically.

Now move the two .conf files you created into /etc/vpnc to finish the job.

To log into UB's vpn, you just need to "sudo vpnc offcampus" or "sudo vpnc oncampus". (it will even change into a background process in a few seconds, so it doesn't lock up your terminal.)

If there's any problems getting this to work, let me know.

mwestley May 30, 2009, at 10:06 PM

Didn't work for me on the Linux Lab computers Zachary Marzec July 6, 2009

Keyboard equivalent of middle-click (paste selected text)

Shift-Ins works in the terminal. (Avoids having to simultaneously click left and right trackpad buttons.

John Ringland May 28, 2009, at 08:37 AM

Wireless Networking Refresh Problem

Ubuntu's Network Manager does not support a refresh feature natively. Therefore, if you are switching rooms, you may still have old networks appearing and may not see a new one you want to connect to. A program called Wicd Network Manager solves this issue and replaces the Ubuntu Network Manager. To install Wicd, simply type:

sudo apt-get install wicd

Zachary Marzec May 26, 2009, at 8:49 AM

Printing in UB Math Bldg, Room 135

All Cohort members: I now can give you each a key to Room 135. To set up your laptop to print to the printer in that room, follow these directions. The use of this room and printer is a privilege which should not be abused: it is for reasonable URGE-related purposes only. The key must be returned at the end of the Fall semester. John Ringland February 27, 2009, at 12:23 PM

My Favorite Unix Commands and Aliases

Please add your own discoveries of useful commands, command flags, and aliases to this this page.

Maple Installation Status

Please edit this Maple Installation Status page to let us see where everyone is with this process.

Kernel and Networking Status

Please edit this Kernel and Networking Status so we know what's going on with everyone's machine.

Computer discussion area

(Put new threads at top)

New fan control method avoids system lockups
Occasional system freezes may have been caused by acerfand which was included in the original system installation. To fix:
(1) Remove the line containing "acerfand" in /etc/rc.local (using sudo gedit).
(2) Follow the instructions at under NOISE (FAN CONTROL) at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne, except that you need to use sudo for the modprobe command. John Ringland March 08, 2009, at 11:33 AM

Hardwire problem: I connected to the internet via hardline and firefox is unusually slow. Is anyone else experiencing that? -ZM

I've had no problem with a wired connection. Was this on or off campus? -JR January 15, 2009, at 12:52 PM

I think because the firefox is configured to download its updates automaticaly, you could deactivate it going in edit> preferences>advanced>updates. JWM

A student in my MTH 337 class pointed me to this (from here):

ResNet Fix

Computers running any distribution of Linux with the 2.6 kernel have been found to experience connectivity slowness to the ResNet network. If you are experiencing unstable network access, follow these steps to apply a fix:

*1. sudo gedit /etc/rc.local

*2. replace the line with exit 0 at the end of the file with:

echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/neigh/eth0/locktime

*3. Save the file and restart your computer. The fix will now be applied on every system startup.

JR January 27, 2009, at 06:35 PM

This greatly improved the functioning of my wireless-card at UB and at home. Aaron Festinger

This fix does not work on my laptop. Zachary Marzec

Let's contact CIT Helpdesk (645-3542) about this. JR February 02, 2009, at 02:31 PM

I downloaded Maple. However, when I run xmaple, I just get a blank Maple screen but I cannot see what I am typing. Does anyone have any ideas why this might happen? Thanks John Dambra

This is a universal problem on all Ubuntu systems. You can find the solution by googling it. I'll post it later when I have a few minutes. In the meantime, I strongly recommend using Maple in text mode (just "maple") for reasons I can explain elsewhere. JR January 24, 2009, at 09:44 PM

There are two solutions: (1) tell Maple to use the Sun Java Runtime Environment instead of its own, (2) something to do with toolkits. I've just done the first one and it works: see the updated Maple installation instructions in the Laptop Guide. JR January 26, 2009, at 12:52 PM

If a button you need to see and click a is somewhere below the bottom of the screen, here's the solution. By default you can't move the top of the window above the top of the screen. But this can be changed. Type this in a terminal:

gconftool-2 --set /apps/compiz/plugins/move/allscreens/options/constrain_y --type bool 0

Then to move a window above the top of the screen follow this procedure:

   1. Put your mouse cursor over the window, preferably near the middle
   2. Hold down the Alt key
   3. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the window

JR January 21, 2009, at 06:56 PM

When playing youtube videos, it stalls. It just stops playing, even though the downloading bar continues to the end. Any ideas why?

Joaquin Carbonara January 19, 2009, at 08:17 PM

Try doing this: 1- right click on the top bar, 2-select "add to panel", 3- then add "cpu frequency and scalling monitor". Now you should see a icon on the bar showing the frequency of the cpu. 4- click on it, 5- change the frequency to 1.6ghz.

Jorge Wu Mok

Don't use the "CompizConfig Settings Manager" under Preferences - some settings, like window transparency, cause the computer to crash on every startup, and you have to log on in safe mode to fix it.

I haven't tried window transparency, but I like Desktop Cube and Rotate Cube, because the effect is so cool, and I've never had any problems. -JR

Wireless problem: the wireless wizard finds the wireless network of my home, and when it tries to connect, it asks for a wep password. I put the right password, however it keeps rejecting that password. It says that it is wrong. I also tried to change the password in the router but it does not work also. ps. I can connect to the ubwireless -JWM

I had the same problem - are you using "wep 128-bit passphrase" or "wep 40/128-bit key"? It worked when I changed it to the 40/128 bit key instead. -MW

I tried to change it, but it did not work also. What router are you using? - JWM

After updating the wireless card driver, I could connect to the wireless. -JWM

I'm curious, Jorge: how did you do that update? Can you provide details? -JR January 14, 2009, at 09:44 PM

When you start the linux, on the top right corner there is a icon that says click here to update the linux. After installing the linux update, I went to the acer website and downloaded the wireless card drive and reinstalled it. Here someone shows how to update it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnOFzyf9D0o - JWM

How did you update the wireless card driver, Jorge, not the OS (as shown in the youtube video you mention). Which web site did you go to to download the driver? - Joaquin Carbonara January 17, 2009, at 04:27 PM

Here's a link with instructions to update the wireless driver, along with some other useful things. It's near the top of the page.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne mwestley January 21, 2009, at 10:23 AM

Maple licensing error If you've been getting the "incorrect hostID" error message when you try to start Maple, here's the solution:

Open up your terminal, type in "sudo gedit /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules", and enter your password. You should see something like this:

            # This file maintains persistent names for network interfaces.
            # See udev(7) for syntax.
            #
            # Entries are automatically added by the 75-persistent-net-generator.rules
            # file; however you are also free to add your own entries.

            # PCI device 0x10ec:0x8136 (r8169)
            SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="00:23:8b:0c:e4:9d",
            ATTR{type}=="1",  KERNEL=="eth*", NAME="eth0"

            # PCI device 0x168c:0x001c (ath5k_pci)
            SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="00:23:4d:cd:e6:6e", 
            ATTR{type}=="1",  KERNEL=="wlan*", NAME="wlan0"

            # PCI device 0x10ec:0x8136 (r8169)
            SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="00:23:8b:1f:9b:90", 
            ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="eth*", NAME="eth1"

            # PCI device 0x168c:0x001c (ath5k_pci)
            SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="00:23:4e:2f:07:73",
            ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="wlan*", NAME="wlan1"

Look for the sections that say NAME="eth0" and NAME="eth1". Switch the 0 and the 1, save, restart your computer. Maple should work now.

(by the way, if you didn't know that it was already installed, Maple is in /opt/maple12/bin)

mwestley January 15, 2009, at 05:41 PM

Full instructions for getting Maple working

in the Laptop Guide.

JR January 24, 2009, at 05:19 PM

Skype problem: I tried to make a call using skype and I gives a sound hardware problem, does anyone have the same problem? Jorge Wu Mok

You probably just need to change your input and output Audio devices in Skype Options. See Laptop Guide above, item 1. JR January 21, 2009, at 07:00 PM

Maple running problem:

" Maple initialization error, Invalid host

 The hostid of this system does not match the hostid
 specified in the license file
 Feature:       Maple12
 Hostid:        00238b0ce49d
 License path:  /opt/maple12/license/license.dat
 FLEXlm error:  -9,57
 For further information, refer to the FLEXlm End User Manual,
 available at "www.macrovision.com".
 SN=UFXCPDWQNFV4XB5K"

Tried re-installation several times, but still could not solve this problem.

This is error message you get when your current hostid doesn't match the one recorded during activation. In my case it occurred because I activated maple while running kernel 2.6.27-9 and then tried to start maple in kernel 2.6.27-11. If you think your case may be similar press esc during startup and load the older kernel. Aaron Festinger

I have the same problem except my "FLRXlm error" was "-73,125" Zachary Marzec

The reference to "/opt/maple12/" makes me wonder if you are trying to use the original installation. Or did you just re-install to /opt/maple12? In any case, I suggest you completely remove the maple12 directory and then re-install from the download described in the Maple installation instructions in the Laptop Guide. JR January 26, 2009, at 06:13 PM

My machine says that I have successfully installed Maple. Then, when I try to run it, a message pops up telling me, "Maple Initialization Error: Invalid or missing license file," and so on.

Any ideas on how to fix this? Thanks.

Ryan Klafehn

One of the options in that dialog is to "Activate Now" or something to that effect. Have you gone through that process? JR January 28, 2009, at 11:02 AM

After typing in

   md5sum ~/Desktop/maple12.tar

I ended up with codes

   73feb5fa0c3912b588d78f3fbcf1105f

which is different from the one listed here. Could this difference be one of the problems that keep Maple from running normally on my Acer?

I have successfully installed and activated Maple but when I try to run it I get the message "Maple Initialization error, Local checkout filter rejected request" Any ideas? Becky Hager

This is what I found on the MapleSoft website:

The FLEXlm -73 error "Local checkout filter rejected request" is caused by a problem with the vendor_info line in the license file. The vendor_info line has been included in all Maplesoft license files since Maple 11. This error can occur for Maple 11 and 12 on Linux installations if the license.dat file contains a "DISK_SERIAL_NUM" as a hostid. The solution is to contact Maplesoft Technical Support and have a license file generated without a DISK_SERIAL_NUM. What should I do? Becky Hager

I have this exact same problem Becky. Zachary Marzec

All these Maple activation problems should now be resolved: see Maple installation page. JR February 03, 2009, at 03:57 PM