How to convert Ext2/Ext3 file system to Ext4 (in 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope)

First of all make sure you have Ubuntu 9.04 installed so that you have an Ext3 file-system.

- Back-up all of your valued data.

- To convert the partition, reboot from the real CD, and run this code:

sudo bash
tune2fs -O extents,uninit_bg,dir_index /dev/sda1
e2fsck -pf /dev/sda1

In this case, the partiton you need to convert is /dev/sda1.

-Next, you must change Ext3 to Ext4 quite simply like below,

# /dev/sda1
UUID=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX / ext3
relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1

Change this code to:

# /dev/sda1
UUID=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX / ext4
relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1

No doubt you can tell that all that has changed is Ext3 and Ext4! You now MUST save the changes.

If you are upgrading from ext2 to ext4, when converting the partition use this code instead:

sudo bashtune2fs -O extents,uninit_bg,dir_index,has_journal /dev/sda1
e2fsck -pf /dev/sda1

That should be it for most people, all you need to restart your computer and voila, you are now running from an Ext 4 file system. However, if you come across the dreaded error 13 when restarting, it might be because it did not like one of the updates. This might help though,

sudo bashmount /dev/sda1 /mnt
grub-install /dev/sda –root-directory=/mnt –recheck

You have now successfully completed the conversion! enjoy !

Alter the colour of your Ubuntu

In order to change the colour of your Ubuntu, use the following command:

sudo apt-get install gnome-color-chooser

In future you can then discover the colours, under System >> Preferences.

Sun Microsystems Merges With Oracle

Sun Microsystems gets acquired by Oracle. This is the hot news making rounds on the net. This is a news which could have wide ramifications for the Open Source crowd. Why? Because Sun Microsystems creates some of the most well received, robust open source software around. Just to put it in perspective, let me list some of them which come to my mind.

MySQL - The most widely used database online.
Java - Was released under an Open source license.
OpenSolaris - The free as in beer and freedom UNIX operating system.
OpenOffice.org - The robust office suite which is a part and parcel of any Linux distribution.
VirtualBox - The virtualization software that most open source enthusiasts have grown to love.
Netbeans - The Java IDE
Sun xVM Server - The open source virtualization software for data centers.
Sun Microsystems is no doubt a awesome open source company. Will it stay that way under its new master namely Oracle ? Only time will tell.

Ext4 File System

Ext4 file system (4th extended file system) is the next generation file systems, retaining backward compatibility with the previous file system, ext3. Ext4 was released as a functionally complete and stable filesystem in Linux kernel 2.6.28. Ubuntu 9.04 was released with support for the ext4 file system.

One of the most evident advantages of ext4 for end users is the drastic reduction in time taken to do an fseek operation of your hard drives. The other advantages of ext4 file system over ext3 are - it provides better performance and greater reliability. Also it increases the maximum file system size to a whooping 1 exabyte. Compared to this, ext3 supports a maximum of only 16 TB of file system size.

Bottom line : A drive with ext4 file system cannot be mounted within older Linux distributions as they don't have support for ext4.

Google Chrome OS To Officially Make It's Debut In 2010

Hey guys, Google has eventually come out with the announcement that it is developing a unique Operating System - called the Google Chrome OS.

It will be Open Source, light weight, speedy, simple and secure. Google says the new OS will be targeted at Netbooks and will make it's debut in next year i.e 2010. As the name suggests, Google Chrome OS will in all probability be a browser centric OS; in that, most applications will be residing in the cloud. The OS will run on x86 and ARM architecture.

It is totally based on the Cloud Computing and all the data will be available for storage on d net itself...

Really exciting news for sure....enjoy..!!!

All about Ubuntu !!!

How to install VLC media player 1.0.0 in Ubuntu

VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3,).It can also be used as a server to stream in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.It doesn’t need any external codec or program to work.

First edit /etc/apt/sources.list file

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

add the following line

For Jaunty Users

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/c-korn/vlc/ubuntu jaunty main

For intrepid users

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/c-korn/vlc/ubuntu intrepid main

Save and exit the file

Install GPG key using the following command

sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 7613768D

Update sourcelist using the following command

sudo apt-get update

Install vlc using the following commnd

sudo apt-get install vlc mozilla-plugin-vlc

Using VLC

Open VLC from Applications—>Sound & Video—>VLC media player



Privacy screen click ok




VLC 1.0.0 screen




Version details

XP tricks

Stopping Unneeded Startup Services
and Making XP boot faster !

To reduce the number of services that start on bootup, you can access two different
areas of Windows XP.

The first is the System Configuration Utility. You can do that by entering the
command “msconfig” in the run menu.

Start  Run  msconfig

The Services tab shows you the services that start when the computer boots. You can stop a service from starting by simply clearing the check box next to the service and clicking OK.
However, before you do so, there is another way to disable services that you
may prefer because the interface gives you more information about the service
in question.

Open Control Panel  Administrative Tools Services or

Start  Run  services.msc

Stop Error Messages from Displaying
on Startup

Run the Registry Editor and go to

HKEY_LOCAL MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Windows

Create a new DWORD called NoPopupsOnBoot and give it a value of 1.
Exit the Registry and reboot for the setting to take effect. To disable it, either delete the DWORD value or give it a value of 0.

Disabling the Boot Logo

To remove the boot logo, follow these steps:

1. Select Start/Run , type msconfig, and click OK.
2. In the System Configuration Utility, click the BOOT.INI tab.
3. On the BOOT.INI tab, click the NOGUIBOOT check box option. Click OK.

A Flying Start for the Start Menu

A simple Registry tweak can give speed up your start menu and sub-menus.
Open the Registry Editor, and navigate to and select:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Double-click the

MenuShowDelay

icon on the right, and change 'Value data' from its default of 400 (milliseconds) to something speedier, like 0. When you have finished,press Enter.

Pop Up a Message at Start Up

To pop a banner which can contain any message you want to display just before a user
is going to log on, go to the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Now create a new string Value in the right pane named LegalNoticeCaption and enter the value that you want to see in the Menu Bar. Now create yet another new string value and name it LegalNoticeText. Modify it and insert the message you want to display each time Windows boots.