“Mini How To” dd With Progress Bar? Try dcfldd.

Introduction

As you know dd works very well but it has no progress bar.  There is really no way to tell how far along dd is.  This is annoying if you are waiting for dd to finish.  In this how to I’ll show you how to install and use dcfldd.

How To Install dcfldd

Open terminal or adept or synaptec what ever is you flavor of choice.  In the latter search for dcfldd.  In terminal Type:

sudo apt-get install dcfldd

How To Use dcfldd

In basic the use of dcfldd is the same as the use of dd.  I have found that using bs=1k doesn’t work.  I had to remove the “k” from that option and then it worked.  The only change is the progress you can now see.

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Introduction

You know how to skip through the commands by using the arrow up and down keys but wouldn’t it be easier to search through the commands?  In this Mini How To I explain how to do it.

Recursive Search

You’ve typed in a long command for instance:

sudo hddtemp /dev/sda && sensors | grep Core\ 0 && sensors | grep Core\ 1

To check the temperatures of the machine that you’re working on.  You’ve checked it once and after a couple of days you want to use it again.  To do so as said you can scroll through the commands using the up and down arrow keys.  It might take while depending on how many commands you used after this one.

How To Invoke Recursive Search

You invoke recursive search by hitting the ctrl+r keys on your keyboard.  Then you type in one of the words out of the command I choose “sensors” and now the command will pop-up.

I’ve been using this a lot lately I use Terminal all the time so my list of commands are pretty big.  This is a real time saver.

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Open the XOrg configuration:

sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Find:

Section “InputDevice”
Identifier “Synaptics Touchpad”

And add the following lines

        Option          "FingerLow"             "7"
        Option          "FingerHigh"            "8"
        Option          "MaxTapTime"            "180"
        Option          "MaxTapMove"            "110

And that’s it. Now you can double tap on the touch pad.

For more info on the touch pad settings go here.

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Unfortunately there is no way to do this in a “point and click” manner. At least I’ve not been able to find one.

Let’s take a look at the contents of fstab:

nano /etc/fstab

Note where not editing yet so we do not need to sudo this command yet, we will do so this when we start editing.
Contents:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# < file system> < mount point> < type> < options> < dump> < pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/sda1 / ext3 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/sda3 /home ext3 nodev,nosuid,errors=remount-ro 0 2
/dev/sda5 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

Lets pick the line for root apart.

(from WikiPedia)

The columns are as follows:

1. The device name or other means of locating the partition or data source.
2. The mount point, where the data is to be attached to the filesystem.
3. The filesystem type, or the algorithm used to interpret the filesystem.
4. Options, including if the filesystem should be mounted at boot.
5. dump-freq adjusts the archiving schedule for the partition (used by dump).
6. pass-num indicates the order in which the fsck utility will scan the partitions for errors when the computer powers on.

Now let’s find out what the dev point is of the new partition:

sudo fdisk -l

The contens could look like this:

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x983b983b

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        4020    32290618+  83  Linux
/dev/sda2           14220       14593     3004155    5  Extended
/dev/sda3            4021       14219    81923467+  83  Linux
/dev/sda5           14220       14593     3004123+  82  Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 750.1 GB, 750156374016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 91201 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0002d62c

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1               1        6452    51825658+  83  Linux
/dev/sdb2            6453       39179   262879627+  83  Linux
/dev/sdb3           39180       91201   417866715   83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

In this case the first disk(sda) is a 120GB disk the second(sdb) is a 750GB disk.
sda has 5 Partitions sda1, sda2 etc.
sdb has 3 partitions sdb1, sdb2 and sdb3.

We’re going to add sdb1 to the fstab file. I get asked often what to do with the options the answer nothing unless you are experiencing problem.
We need to create a mount point. Most mount point are created in /media or /mnt but you could put the mount point any where you want. I always choose /media.

sudo mkdir /media/partiotion1

Open fstab for editing:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Now add the following line bellow what is already there:

/dev/sdb1 /media/partition1 ext3 defaults 0 3

let’s explain again:
/dev/sdb1: dev stands for “device file system” and sdb1 the partition on our hard disk.
/media/partition1: the mount point in other words the folder that the new partition will be mounted to.
ext3: the file system used on the partition.
defaults: the defaults option this will automatically define these options: rw,suid,dev,exec,auto,nouser,async all the options we need to get the partition to work properly.
0: the dump frequency all the fstabs I’ve seen so far don’t change this setting so it don’t either explanation of this will follow in another post some other time.
3: this sets the order of fsck file system checking I happen to like all my partitions checked every once in a while so I changed this to 3. If you don’t want the partition checked simply set this to 0.

Close the fstab file(ctrl->x y enter).

If there is anything you want further explanation of please feel free to leave a comment. Also comment if this post was helpful at all.

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To fix this you can do two things.

1. Edit fstab to change the UIDD to /dev/sda5(this is on my computer you’re machine might be different).

sudo fdisk -l

The above command will give you a list of hard drives in your computer.
Your swap partition is the one that says Linux swap / Solaris the part in front is what we need /dev/sda5

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Edit the fstab file look for swap and change the UUID in front of it to what fdisk told you it is.

2. replace the wrong UUID with the right one.

sudo blkid

This will give you a list of the HD’s with there corresponding UUID’s.
Result on my computer:

/dev/sda1: UUID="a6287f4c-1764-43bf-adec-0e442501f213" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda3: UUID="e2dd5ffd-1403-479a-a26a-496f6f0f234d" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda5: TYPE="swap" UUID="bd79927f-6687-4b64-8632-d5716677f068"

This one TYPE=”swap” id the one we want to copy the UUID of.
Edit fstab to change the UUID to the right one:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Restart you computer and you swap problems should be over.

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Description of the problem:

Normally ALSA(Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) will install Dmix out of the box and it will work right away in this case for some reason it didn’t. Possibly because of an issue during installation of the OS.

As a result of this problem Amarok kept popping up the same error. And my music wouldn’t play. Audicious same problem. I use Festival to to tell me I have mail or a message in my messenger. Festival would sometimes work and sometimes not.

To fix this I ran the following commands in Terminal:

Let’s make sure that we remove all the old ALSA stuff.

sudo apt-get remove --purge alsa-oss alsa-base

Remove the conf file out of /etc:

sudo rm /etc/asound.conf

Let’s reinstall everything.

sudo apt-get install  alsa-oss alsaplayer mpg321 alsaplayer-alsa alsa-base

At this point restart you computer.
Let’s test:

alsaplayer -o alsa -d plug:dmix some.mp3 &

Run that command twice with different MP3′s and you will notice it is now working.

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**10-23-2008** This how to still uses madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-current.tar.gz And has been tested by me and works for (K)Ubuntu 8.0.4.1(both x86-64 and i686) with kernel 2.6.24-21-generic. And once again every one who has problems please re-try the how to.

**09-17-2008** Thanks to Gideon, who told me the links weren’t working any more. This how to now uses madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-current.tar.gz As always this revision has been tested by me and works for (K)Ubuntu 8.0.4.1(both x86-64 and i686) with kernel 2.6.24-19-generic. And once again every one who has problems please re-try the how to.

**09-03-2008** This How to now uses the newest snapshot madwifi-hal-2008-08-15-r3862-20080903.tar.gz. As always this revision has been tested by me and works for (K)Ubuntu 8.0.4.1(both x86-64 and i686) with kernel 2.6.24-19-generic.

**09-01-2008** This How to now uses the newest snapshot madwifi-hal-2008-08-15-r3851-20080829.tar.gz. If you posted a comment to say it isn’t working then please re-run everything. And report back to verify that the solution is now working for you. As always this revision has been tested by me and works for (K)Ubuntu 8.0.4.1 with kernel 2.6.24-19-generic.

This is a revision of my original post using the solution provided by Madwifi it’s been tested by me and it works.

Windows drivers are here

If you own the same laptop as I do, a Toshiba A205-S5825, then you probably have the same problem, if you are using Hardy or Gutsy with the newest Kernel(2.6.24-19-generic) or older, the wireless doesn’t work out of the box.

It cost me about an hour to solve this mainly because no one knew anything about this particular chipset.

So here is the solution for the AR242x. If you have a chipset in the A5700 series then this could work for you too.

The solution is quite simple and only takes you a couple of minutes to apply and then you can use your wireless.

For this How to you do need wired internet to the computer.

Disclaimer:
The Package we’re about to use is as far as I know in beta. Installing this package might make your installation of Kubuntu(or Ubuntu) unstable. I am not responsible for any problems that arise after installing this package. But do feel free to post a comment for help if something doesn’t work right I will respond back and try to work with you to fix it. I am NOT responsible for damage to hardware as a result of applying anything you find on this website.

First let’s make sure your computer uses the same chipset(or something similar) run in terminal:

lspci | grep Atheros

If the result is as follows or something similar then you are able to use this fix.

05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)

If the result of the command ran is nothing the you don’t have an Atheros chipset and your read on this page stops here. Please go to the forums on Ubuntu and Kubuntu there is a big community there to help you solve your problem or try Google.

Before we start we need to make sure that already installed modules are not “in use”. Click on the Kubuntu start button go to system and click on the “Hardware Drivers Manager” this is where you will find all proprietary drivers. But we’re looking for everything that has Atheros in it. Tick the box behind of “Atheros Hardware Access Layer(HAL)” and “Support for Atheros 802.11 wireless LAN cards” and restart the computer.

In Terminal go to your desktop:

cd ~/Desktop

Then download the Madwifi driver needed for this How to:

wget -c http://snapshots.madwifi-project.org/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-current.tar.gz

Untar the Image file(don’t worry it will create a new folder):

tar xvf madwifi*.tar.gz

Go into the just created folder:

cd madwifi*r*

Because we are going to compile from source code we need to make sure the essentials to do so are installed.

sudo apt-get update && sudo aptitude install build-essential

Now run:

make

sudo make install

sudo modprobe ath_pci

sudo modprobe wlan_scan_sta

If you get any errors running the modprobe commands you probably forgot to switch off the modules in the first place go back to this and then try modprobe again.

As noted by “TheGreatGonzo” you might have to restart here. Before you can enable the proprietary drivers again.
As noted by “Choval” in case it doesn’t work after a restart:

blacklist ath_hal
(on /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist)
Reboot, and voila… works like a charm =)

Now the same as we did before:
Click on the Kubuntu start button go to system and click on the “Hardware Drivers Manager” this is where you will find all proprietary drivers. But we’re looking for everything that has Atheros in it. Tick the box in behind of “Atheros Hardware Access Layer(HAL)” and “Support for Atheros 802.11 wireless LAN cards” and restart the computer.

Now you have wireless.

Keep in mind that every time the Kernel gets updated you have to run these commands again:

sudo apt-get update && sudo aptitude install build-essential

Now run:

make clean

make

sudo make install

sudo modprobe ath_pci

sudo modprobe wlan_scan_sta

Off course in the madwifi folder. You might want to move the folder to your home folder because we’ll need it again after a Kernel update.

To get your wireless back up that is until they fix the problem in the Kernel and wireless works after restarting with the new Kernel.

Don’t be shy let us know in the comments below if the solution worked or not(in that case I can assist you and get it to work) .

If this page helped you out at all then please donate. Donations will go towards the hosting cost for this website.

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The simplest tool too use in Linux is fsck(F-Sack) “file system check” or “file system consistency check”.

When to scan?
When your system doesn’t boot anymore.
When you get the “Super block” error at start up.

Linux file systems(ext3 and ext2) hardly fragment(that’s why you can’t find a defragmenter) so don’t use this to defragment your hard drive it is not necessary and it’s not what fsck is meant for.

How to use fsck:

First make sure you obtain an Live CD off course I would go for the Kubuntu one.

Put the freshly burned Live CD in your drive and start or restart the system. Remember fsck will only run if the partition isn’t mounted. If the disk you checking doesn’t hold root(partition that holds the OS) partition then just unmount the partitions used on the disk and run fsck in terminal.

there is nothing special about the command:

fsck -pf /dev/sda1

-p: Option to make repairs in when the following inconsistencies occur:

1. Unreferenced inodes
2. Link counts in inodes too large
3. Missing blocks in the free map
4. Blocks in the free map also in files
5. Counts in the super-block wrong

Without the -p option fsck will interactively repair inconsistencies  it finds.
-f: Will force fsck to clean file systems
/dev/sda1: This is the partition that needs to be checked.
Run:

sudo fdisk -l

To find what device and partitions names are on you system.

as alway for more info run:

man fsck

for more information.

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Aug 18 2008: This is a The old version and this solution isn’t recommended anymore please use: the solution in my new post it’s been tested by me and it works.

If you own the same laptop as I do, a Toshiba A205-S5825, then you probably have the same problem, if you are using Hardy or Gutsy with the newest Kernel(2.6.24-19-generic) or older, the wireless doesn’t work out of the box.

It cost me about an hour to solve this mainly because no one knew anything about this particular chipset.

So here is the solution for the AR242x. If you have a chipset in the A5700 series then this could work for you too.

The solution is quite simple and only takes you a couple of minutes to apply and then you can use your wireless.

For this How to you do need wired internet to the computer.

Disclaimer:
The Package we’re about to use is as far as I know in beta.  Installing this package might make your installation of Kubuntu(or Ubuntu) unstable.  I am not responsible for any problems that arise after installing this package.  But do feel free to post a comment for help if something doesn’t work right I will respond back and try to work with you to fix it.  I am NOT responsible for damage to hardware as a result of applying anything you find on this website.

First let’s make sure your computer uses the same chipset(or something similar) run in terminal:

lspci | grep Atheros

If the result is as follows or something similar then you are able to use this fix.

05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)

If the result of the command ran is nothing the you don’t have an Atheros chipset and your read on this page stops here. Please go to the forums on Ubuntu and Kubuntu there is a big community there to help you solve your problem or try Google.

Thanks to Ubuntugeek for providing the primer for this post.

Here is the difference between the how to’s:

Before we start we need to make sure that already installed modules are not “in use”. Click on the Kubuntu start button go to system and click on the “Hardware Drivers Manager” this is where you will find all proprietary drivers. But we’re looking for everything that has Atheros in it. Tick the box behind of “Atheros Hardware Access Layer(HAL)” and “Support for Atheros 802.11 wireless LAN cards” and restart the computer.

In Terminal go to your desktop:

cd ~/Desktop

Then download the Madwifi driver needed for this How to:

wget -c http://madberry.org/wp-content/madwifi-ng-r2756+ar5007.tar.gz

Untar the Image file(don’t worry it will create a new folder):

tar xvf madwifi-ng-r2756+ar5007.tar.gz

Go into the just created dir:

cd madwifi-ng-r2756+ar5007

Because we are going to compile from source code we need to make sure the essentials to do so are installed.

sudo apt-get update && sudo aptitude install build-essential

Now run:

sudo make install

sudo modprobe ath_pci

sudo modprobe wlan_scan_sta

If you get any errors running the modprobe commands you probably forgot to switch off the modules in the first place go back to this and then try modprobe again.

Now the same as we did before:
Click on the Kubuntu start button go to system and click on the “Hardware Drivers Manager” this is where you will find all proprietary drivers. But we’re looking for everything that has Atheros in it. Tick the box in behind of “Atheros Hardware Access Layer(HAL)” and “Support for Atheros 802.11 wireless LAN cards” and restart the computer.

Now you have wireless.

Keep in mind that every time the Kernel gets updated you have to run these commands again:

sudo apt-get update && sudo aptitude install build-essential

Now run:

sudo make install

sudo modprobe ath_pci

sudo modprobe wlan_scan_sta

Off course in the madwifi folder. You might want to move the folder to your home folder because we’ll need it again after a Kernel update.

To get your wireless back up that is until they fix the problem in the Kernel and wireless works after restarting with the new Kernel.

If this page helped you out at all then please donate below. Donations will go towards the hosting cost for this website.

Thanks for donating.

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Let’s say you wanna install a package but you don’t know for sure if it’s in the repository’s.  Then you can use this Terminal command to do so:

We’ll search for firefox as an example.

apt-cache search firefox

As you can see this displays a list of all packages related to Firefox.

Now let’s install Firefox:

Here we have to use sudo or apt won’t work and tell you:

E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (13 Permission denied)
E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), are you root?

so let’s install:

sudo apt-get install firefox

Put your password in and answer yes to any questions.
And start using Firefox.

You could start Firefox from the Terminal( for debugging purposes) like this:

firefox

Or maybe you don’t want the debugging info add a space an &

firefox &

You can find Firefox under the start menu start->internet->Firefox
That’s it for this “Mini How To”.

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