evad.zone

Using WM6-based phone as a GPRS/3G modem for Linux / Fedora machine via Bluetooth is pretty straightforward. However, Bluetooth has some quite obvious disadvantages - it’s a bit slower, and drains phone battery faster. USB connection is probably not so convenient, as you need to carry an extra cable around - but on the other hand speeds are better, and USB automatically charges battery. Nice. So, how to actually use it? I always thought it’s a rocket science, but it turned out it’s even easier than Bluetooth! Sounds interesting? Read more…

Once I’ve installed Fedora 8 and restored backup copy of my Zend Studio 5.5, I was stunned to see following error output while trying to run it:

java: xcb_xlib.c:52: xcb_xlib_unlock: Assertion `c->xlib.lock' failed.
Aborted

No worries tough. Google is always your friend, so solution came up pretty quickly. :) Sounds interesting? Read more…

Just a few days before official Fedora 8 release, I’ve got chance to play around with latest Ubuntu 7.10 LiveCD. I really liked it, pretty much everything worked well out of the box, interface was nice and had some interesting features which I miss in Fedora. For the very first time in my ‘career’ as a Linux-user I was seriously tempted to install permanently different distro. But few days later Fedora 8 was released. First thing to test was F8 LiveCD, as downloading DVD image took longer while. And again, just like with Ubuntu, first boot impression was great! Everything worked straight away, nice look-and-feel, and generally dirty thoughts about cheating beloved Fedora with Gutsy Gibbon went far far away in a matter of seconds. ;) Sounds interesting? Read more…

Fiddling around GNOME session settings (System -> Preferences -> Personal -> Session) could completely screw up your desktop. This is exactly the thing I’ve experienced today after changing some settings there. Result was lock-up while loading desktop, and compiz loaded without window decorations. I did some googling, however, and found the solution.

Basically, all I’ve had to do was removing ~/.gnome2/session file totally out of there. Restart X, and voila - good old desktop back in the business! I’ve also found solution at Ubuntu Forums, but it didn’t work quite well for me. Just removing file helped. Good luck out there!

Since newest kernels was released (like 2.6.21 and above, AFAIR), all VMware users were threatened with broken networking in their virtual machines. In fact, that was a reason why I did not make any updates to my computer for quite a long time, as I use Windows-in-a-box a lot at work. However, I have finally found a minute to sort the problem out. Sounds interesting? Read more…

Fedora 7 has finally arrived. Well, somehow I wasn’t as much excited about it as I was while waiting for FC6, but on the other hand I didn’t wait long to install it on my most used machines. My flatmate was first to install F7 and solve most common after-installation issues on his D620, so I just used his experience. Yes, lazy I am. :) Anyway, let’s get started. Sounds interesting? Read more…

Recent nvidia and xorg upgrade from FreshRPMs repository has brought an unpleasant surprise - desktop-effects stopped working at all. Fortunately, FreshRPMs’ mailing list brought a solution quite quickly. In my case executing nvidia-config-display enable command as root solved the problem. Check out a thread on the mailing list for other possible solutions, as well as reasons for that trouble.

Accessing WPA-secured networks in Linux is a little bit of challenge. While NetworkManager offers the most straightforward and relatively easy solution, it is still not perfect. I have quickly dropped using NM, after I found out it has serious problems with re-connecting to the wireless network once connection is lost somehow - unless machine is rebooted. I have started looking for alternative solution, most preferably using my favourite WiFi Radar - and I found it. Sounds interesting? Read more…

Recently I was faced to the problem of buying cellular modem on PCMCIA/CardBus interface for my laptop. One of the minimum requirements was Linux support - of course. I have found really good deal on Sierra AirCard 850 wireless GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA modem, and I also was more than happy to learn that it has (unofficial) Linux support. Well, once card has arrived, it turned out ‘Linux support’ wasn’t that straightforward, and I was really struggling to get it working, but finally I’ve succeeded. Sounds interesting? Read more…

After upgrading my MDA Vario II mobile phone to the latest Windows Mobile 6 OS, I have somehow lost ability to create rfcomm device over Bluetooth. I’ve been to lazy to resolve that problem, but I wasn’t lazy enough to find out how to use new WM6’s feature, which is internet connection sharing via Bluetooth PAN profile. It turned out to be quite easy and straightforward task. Read on. Sounds interesting? Read more…