Tips and Tricks for Imation RipGo! Mini CD-R MP3 Player

I got a new-to-me Imation RipGo! mp3 player recently.  It burns and plays mini-CD's in mp3 format.  It's almost 2-decade old technology, but it's fun so far playing around with it.

Here's what I've noticed so far:

- I can't get it working with the USB connection to any computer.  Perhaps it only works with 32-bit .operating systems?  But you can burn CD-R's on your laptop, and just use those discs in the player.

- I've heard that CD-RW disks don't work.  I've heard that anything larger than 185 MB discs don't work.

- I had trouble with many mp3 ripping software programs, including ffmpeg and AIMP.  They would create mp3s fine, but those mp3s wouldn't play in the RipGo.  The filename would be read, but it would just skip to the next song.

- Instead, if you use itunes to rip the mp3, those mp3's work fine.  (Convert to wav first, then use itunes to convert to mp3)  https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204310

- Don't use 48,000 encoding.  Use 41,400.

- If the battery is really drained, nothing will turn on.  Just let it charge up for an hour, and try again.  If the battery is really low, the LCD screen won't even display that it's charging, even though it is.  Just be patient.

- Yes it's slow, and there's weird noises when the track starts.  What do you expect from 2-decade old technology?

How to record internal audio on your Mac

This is a pretty good concise tutorial for how to record internal audio on your Mac, while listening to the sound at the same time.  It uses Sunflower and QuickTime, which records the audio as a lossless ALAC .m4a file.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHzq6hdH3ok

Once you've set up the multi-audio output, you can't adjust the volume using the keyboard volume buttons, but a workaround is to temporarily change the output back to the internal speakers (or headphones), adjust the volume, and then switch the output back to multi-audio output.

How to load SP ATRAC1 songs on your Sony Net MD Minidisc Walkman in Fedora Linux 32

This will likely work with other Linux flavors besides Fedora Linux 32.  This is pretty exciting that you can (1) load SP quality audio on your Net MD, not just LP2 and LP4, and (2) you can load songs without Sony's SonicStream software.

This guy's script did the trick for me: https://www.reddit.com/r/minidisc/comments/934333/writing_to_minidisc_over_usb_heres_how_im_doing_it/

Download that, download vuori's fork linux-minidisc and netmd here: https://github.com/vuori/linux-minidisc, compile linux-minidisc, clone md_downloader from here https://github.com/derwhalfisch/md_downloader, plug your NetMD into your computer via a USB cable, and run the script like this:

./script.sh /path/to/wav/or/mp3/files/*

I forked vuori's linux-minidisc repo, because I wanted to add a python script to delete a minidisc: https://github.com/mhwong/linux-minidisc

Here's how I compiled linux-minidisc:

git clone https://github.com/mhwong/linux-minidisc.git

cd linux-minidisc

qmake-qt5

make -j8

# That's all you should have to do.  This will create the netmdcli/netmdcli executable.

Now you can load .wav files onto your Net MD like this:

./script.sh /path/to/wav/or/mp3/files/*

Here's some gotcha's I ran into:

• Python2 is no longer available on Fedora 32 via dnf, so download the latest stable python2 source, and compile and install it
• qt4 didn't work for me.  Use dnf to install qt5, to build linux-minidisc
• The main repository for linux-minidisc also didn't work for me, so I used the vuori version which worked
• When transferring files, your LCD screen on your Net MD recorder may not look like the files are being transferred, but be patient and let it transfer for a few minutes for each song.
• I tested this with a .wav file but not an .mp3 file
• Many of the commands you'll have to run as root
• You will have edit the source of script.sh to set your configuration variables (at a minimum, the netmdcli path)
• The python utilities in linux-minidisc, specifically the downloadhack.py, did not work for me to load in LP files.
• You can, however, successfully use lsmd.py to confirm that the file is on your Net MD correctly, in the correct LP format.
• I added a script to erase the entire minidisc on the commandline, in a new fork (https://github.com/mhwong/linux-minidisc).  Run "./netmd/eraseDisc.py".  Be cautious, because this will erase your entire disc, with no confirmation requested.  This might erase write-protected tracks, too.
• My device is a MZ-NE410
• I installed ffmpeg using this: https://computingforgeeks.com/how-to-install-ffmpeg-on-fedora/
• I got a usb error when verifying the transferred file, but the track still seemed to transfer ok.

How to load songs on your Sony Net MD MiniDisc Walkman using SonicStream and Windows 10

The following woks for my MZ-NE410.  I've always wanted a Sony MiniDisc player, ever since I saw them in stores like the  The Good Guys and Circuit City, back in the 90s.  Well, 3 decades later, I finally have one.  I bought a Sony MD Walkman MZ-NE410 from eBay, which is a "Net MD" model, from around 2003.  There is not optical or line in to record tracks.  Instead, you have to connect a USB cord to your laptop, and have the "SonicStage" software.  This software was last updated in 2007, but it still runs with Windows 10.  There are some tricks you have to do to get it running.  This is what worked for me:

http://forums.sonyinsider.com/topic/29620-guide-to-getting-your-net-md-walkman-working-on-windows-10/

In order to install the .inf driver, I had to turn off driver signing, which can be done like this:

https://jbcomp.com/disable-device-driver-signing-in-windows-10/

Finally, the SonicStage software didn't recognize my MiniDisc player when my USB cord was plugged into a USB hub.  When I plugged the USB cord directly into the computer, it worked fine.

Dr. Dr's "The Chronic" will be my first MiniDisc album.

The songs will be transferred under LP2 quality, which is 132 Kbps.  If you want SP quality at 292 Kbps, you'll need to use linux-minidisc.  See my other post for how to do that.

How to backup audio (music) CD's to your Windows 10 hard drive

I tried a few tools that didn't work, but here's what ultimately worked for me:

• Create a bin and cue file from your audio CD using ImgBurn (https://www.imgburn.com).  Choose the "Create image file from disk" option, and then choose "*.bin" for the "Save as type" option.
  
  
• Once you have the .bin and .cue file, you can mount the .cue file as a virtual drive using Daemon Tools Lite (https://www.daemon-tools.cc/products/dtLite).
• If you need the offline installer, it's here: https://www.filehorse.com/download-daemon-tools
  
  
• Once the .bin and .cue file is mounted as a virtual drive, you can use iTunes to create mp3's or lossless ALAC files.
  
  
• Alternatively, if you want to burn the bin and cue file to a blank CD-R or CD-RW, you can use ImgBurn. Choose the "Write image file to disc", and choose the .cue file.

Getting double-sided printing working on a HP printer in Windows 10

For whatever reason, every few years, it seems like I struggle with double-sided printing.  This is what finally worked for me: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/LaserJet-Printing/Duplex-printing-disabled-in-Windows-10/td-p/5521457

The trick was to open "Devices and Printers" in the control panel, left double-click on the printer, click on "Customize your printer, and click on the "Device Settings" tab.  Choose "Installed" for "Installable Options -> Duplex Unit".

I'm not sure why that dialog is so hard to find.

Getting sound working on Windows 98 in vmware

If you find yourself in need of getting a Windows 98 VM working in vmware and need sound, I had a hard time finding a solution.  Finally, this solution worked: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRdhNgYHHvE

How to get your DVD drive showing after upgrading to Windows 8 or 10

If you've upgraded to Windows 8 or Windows 10, and your DVD drive isn't being recognized, try this fix:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03370738

Specifically, clear the upper and lower registry filters, and reboot.  This worked for me.

How to format large (2TB+) drive on RHEL 6 and 7 Linux

This will work for USB drives, and internal drives too.

From https://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/fdisk-unable-to-create-partition-greater-2tb.html

umount /dev/sdb
parted /dev/sdb # make sure it's sdb
mklabel gpt
unit TB
mkpart primary 0.00TB 4.00TB # Change 4 to whatever your drive size is
print
quit
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1
mkdir /mnt/sdb1
mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/sdb1
df -k # Verify the drive size is correct

(Edit: Previously I had a typo in the title and said 2GB+ instead of 2TB+)

How to mount an Exfat USB drive on RHEL 6 or 7 Linux

sudo -i
yum group install 'Development Tools'
yum install fuse-devel gcc autoconf automake git
cd /usr/local/src && git clone https://github.com/relan/exfat.git
cd exfat
autoreconf --install
./configure --prefix=/usr
make && make install
make clean

or

[for RHEL 7]    yum install https://li.nux.ro/download/nux/dextop/el7/x86_64/nux-dextop-release-0-5.el7.nux.noarch.rpm
[for RHEL 6]    yum install https://li.nux.ro/download/nux/dextop/el6/x86_64/nux-dextop-release-0-2.el6.nux.noarch.rpm

From https://access.redhat.com/solutions/70050

How I got my 2005 Scion tC ready for a California Smog check in 12 hours

I tried to start up my 2005 Scion tC to drive it for a smog check, and the battery was dead.  I replaced the battery, but that cleared the ECU memory, meaning that the ODBII reader reported that the emissions tests were "NOT READY".

Most of the internal tests are easy to pass, but the infamously difficult ones to clear the test are the Catalytic Converter, and Evap tests.  Here's how I got both tests in the "ready" state in 12 hours:

• I started the car, warmed it up by driving it around for about 10 minutes, and then drove between 40-50 MPH for 7 minutes, trying my best not to stop or deviate from that speed range.  I found a road with a 45 MPH speed limit that went on for about 5-6 miles, with not many signal lights.  If you run into a few signal lights, you still might pass the test.  Then, the second part of the test is driving between 35-45 MPH for another 7 minutes.   Basically try to drive between 40-45 MPH for 14 minutes.  To my surprise, the Catalytic Converter passed, according to the ODBII reader I had.  I have another car that is having a hard time passing the Catalytic Converter test, but I think that car has a bad thermostat.  The Catalytic Converter test has to run at a certain temperature range.
• Next was getting the Evap test ready.  This was more challenging.  I stopped the engine, opened the gas cap, then started the engine.  I got the temperature up again, and then idled in park at 3500-4000 RPM for 12 seconds (at least 10).  Then I drove the car around for 15-50 minutes, turning on the A/C or front defroster when I ran into traffic or hit a red light.  This test didn't work, because you also have to make sure that the car engine is completely cooled before you start this test.  I waited 8 hours, and tried the test again.  weather.com said my city was 39 degrees, so I was worried the test wouldn't pass.  I heard that the temp has to be at least 40 degrees, or you can run the test twice if the temperature is less than 40 degrees (spaced 8 hours apart).  I went out, opened the gas cap and closed it, started the car to get it warmed up, and then plugged in the ODBII reader while the car was still on.  To my surprise, the Evap test was ready when I checked, after about 5 minutes of idling.  I was really surprised I didn't have to rev the engine again and let the car idle (with the A/C or defroster on) for 15-50 minutes.  I that what happened was that part of the test was completed 8 hours prior, but the car still needed to do the other part of the test, involving a cold engine start.

Now, the ODBII reader says the car is "ready" for all the tests, after about 12 hours.  I just need to do the actual test now, and hope that it passes!

How to start cygwin X in windowless/multiwindow mode

Double click on "Cygwin64 Terminal".

Then enter the command: startxwin

Then open another cygwin window, and enter this: env DISPLAY=:0.0 xterm

How to restart NoMachine nxserver on RHEL 7.0

sudo /usr/NX/bin/nxserver --restart

Closing laptop lid without suspending/hibernating on Fedora 27

1. As root, edit /etc/system/logind.conf

2. Change

    #HandleLidSwitch=suspend

    to

    HandleLidSwitch=ignore

3. Reboot

Change broken sun visor clip snap retainer holder for 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, or 2002 Toyota Corolla

This is a pretty easy DIY fix.  All you need is a standard phillips head screwdriver.  If your visor clip still holds the visor, but is kind of broken where it easily comes un-snapped, pick up something like this from eBay for well under $10:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-Gray-Sun-Visor-Clip-Snap-Retainer-Holder-Toyota-Lexus-Left-Right/192338123335

Unscrew the old one.  Pull the old one out.  You might have tug at it a little hard.  I even used a flathead screwdriver to pry a little of it off.  It will pop off eventually, and then you can easily install the new one.

Installing PhpPgAdmin on Fedora

Installation

Install postgresql and apache httpd

Install PhpPgAdmin:

sudo yum install phpPgAdmin

pg_hba.conf

Modify the pg_hba.conf file and change the following line:

local   all             all                                     peer

to this

local   all             all                                     md5

This will allow a password to be entered when the PhpPgAdmin app tries to login to the postgresql server.

phpPgAdmin.conf

If you've installed phpPgAdmin on Fedora (or likely other Linuxes such as CentOS or RHEL), you'll need to modify the /etc/httpd/conf.d/phpPgAdmin.conf to open up access.  In the Apache 2.4 section, put only this line in:

Require all granted

Then restart the httpd web server.

Then try to login here: http://localhost/phpPgAdmin - you will use the same login and password that you use to login into postgresql with the psql command line utility.

How to get Nvidia Driver working on Fedora Linux 27

I had a few problems with this, so I thought I'd blog about it.  There's a new way to install the Nvidia driver on Fedora.  First, check if your laptop has the Optimus technology (hybrid graphics).  If so, disable it in the BIOS.  Then follow these instructions:

https://www.if-not-true-then-false.com/2015/fedora-nvidia-guide

When you finally get ready to test out if your Nvidia driver was successfully installed, you can run glxgears and check the frame rate.  You may have to turn off "Sync to VBlank" in the nvidia-settings (in "OpenGL Settings") first.

These instructions are needed to download (or create) a patched version of the NVIDIA installer, for newer kernels such as 5.x (e.g. 5.5 and 5.6).

How to play a DVD movie on Fedora 24

This probably works on newer Fedora versions too.  You might have problems with DVDs not playing, due to them being encrypted and Fedora not coming with the decryption software.  Here's how to get your DVD movie playing.

sudo su

dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

dnf install gstreamer1-{ffmpeg,libav,plugins-{good,ugly,bad{,-free,-nonfree}}} --setopt=strict=0

nf -y install --nogpgcheck http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

dnf -y install gstreamer-ffmpeg gstreamer-plugins-base gstreamer-plugins-good gstreamer-plugins-good-extras gstreamer-plugins-bad gstreamer-plugins-ugly gstreamer-devel gstreamer-plugins-base-devel gstreamer1-libav gstreamer1-plugins-bad-freeworld gstreamer1-plugins-ugly

dnf -y install libdvdread libdvdnav lsdvd

sudo dnf -y install git autoconf automake libtool kaffeine

# Download and install libdvdcss

mkdir /path/to/anywhere

cd /path/to/anywhere

git clone https://code.videolan.org/videolan/libdvdcss.git

cd libdvdcss

autoreconf -i

./configure

make

sudo make install

Then start Kaffeine by pressing the Windows button on your keyboard, and searching for "Kaffeine". The DVD should start.

How to clear P0128 Check Engine Light (CEL) (coolant temperature below thermostat regulating temperature) on a 1999, 2000, 2001, or 2002 Toyota Corolla

Parts needed:

• Temperature sensor: http://www.ebay.com/itm/271937021784
• 19mm deep socket: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-3-8-in-Drive-19-mm-6-Point-Metric-Deep-Socket-H3D6PDP19MM/202913533
• 10mm socket
• Mini flathead screwdriver

Do this:

1. Park car in a place where you don't mind a little coolant leaking out, or put a basin under your car
2. Pop hood
3. Disconnect battery  (Disconnect black/negative first)
4. Remove battery from car
5. Remove engine air filter and air filter console.  You don't have to completely remove the top of the air filter console.  You can just move it off to the side. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXUNb9fTeG8 - you might need to remove two black plastic cable straps/ties which you can do by sticking in a mini flathead screwdriver in the opposite side (from the bottom).  Be careful not to drop any 10mm bolts down the hole in the air filter console.  You can wrap it in aluminum foil if you don't trust yourself.
6. Use your hands to unclip the wiring from the old temperature sensor.  It might be a tight fit, but you should be able to get your fingers in there if your fingers aren't too fat.  Be careful not to break the sensor wirings.
7. Remove the temperature sensor using the 19mm deep socket.  I used a breaker bar.
8. Some coolant might leak out, so quickly hand-screw in the new temperature sensor into the engine and tighten with the 19mm deep socket.
9. Reassemble.

The check engine will be cleared because the battery was removed, but the real test will take 50-200 miles of driving to make sure the car's computer keeps the P0128 code off.

Some people reported the temperature dial instantly going up to "H" right away, but I didn't experience that.

PHP warnings on Windows

In recent PHP distributions on windows, they give you a .zip file, and you just unzip it.  If you're not getting error or warning messages on the command line, here's what you can do to fix that:

copy \path\to\phpInstallDir\php.ini-development c:\Windows\php.ini

Allow access to phpMyAdmin to all IP address on Fedora 23 and Apache httpd 2.4

If you've installed phpMyAdmin using yum on Fedora 23, you may be getting "Forbidden: You don't have permission to access /phpmyadmin/index.php on this server." messages in the browser when you try to open up the phpMyAdmin in the web browser.  Fix the problem like this: Edit /etc/httpd/conf.d/phpMyAdmin.conf and make the following changes:

...
   <IfModule mod_authz_core.c>
     # Apache 2.4                                                            
     <RequireAny>
       Require all granted
#       Require ip xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx                                              
#       Require ip 127.0.0.1                                                    
#       Require ip ::1                                                        
     </RequireAny>

...

Speedrunning The Legend of Zelda

My hobby for the last few months has been watching Twitch streamers stream speed runs of Zelda (the original Zelda), and also taking a stab (no pun intended) at speed running myself.  It took me a long time to finally get my VCR-taped speed runs of Zelda in a digital format, but here it is:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqcHvzwj9Uk)

That is a video of my 38:36 which was a former PB (personal best).  I PB'd last night, at 38:30, but I don't have that video on youtube yet.  I've been doing commentary of my PB runs too, so I'll try to get that uploaded too.

The leaderboard is here: https://www.zeldaspeedruns.com/leaderboards/loz/1st-quest

How to download iPhone Voice Memos to your computer

I was trying to copy an iPhone voice memo to my Windows 7 computer today.  I literally tried for hours using iTunes, which I've successfully done before (with some effort).  I couldn't get it working today.  Instead, I tried a freeware utility called iFunbox, and it worked great.  Download it here:

http://www.i-funbox.com/en_download.html

There's also a MacOS version.

Once iFunbox is downloaded and installed, choose the "File Browser" tab at the top, and expand the "Voice Memos" option.  If there are no voice memos, then try going into iTunes, plug in your iPhone to your computer, choose the phone icon (after the music note, movie, TV show, and ellipsis icon at the top), and choose "Settings" | "Music", and make sure that "Include voice memos" is checked.  Then run iFunbox.

How to Install LiveSplit on 64-bit Fedora 20 Linux

1) Download the latest LiveSplit from here: http://livesplit.org/downloads/

2) install wine:

yum install wine

3) Download winetricks

wget http://winetricks.org/winetricks

chmod a+x winetricks

4) Setup a 32-bit wine prefix:

sudo su

export WINEARCH="win32"

export WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-PROGRAM-NAME/

wineboot -u

5) sudo su

winetricks dotnet40

6) unzip LiveSplit_1.5.5.zip

6) Run LiveSplit

sudo su

wine ./LiveSplit.exe

How can I download old versions of CentOS such as CentOS 6.3?

Download the .iso files here:

http://vault.centos.org

How to compile qemu for RHEL 6

1) Download, compile, and install SDL-1.2.15

2) Download qemu-2.2.1.  Configure like this:
./configure --enable-cdl

3) /path/to/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 -m 4096 /path/to/HardDriveImage.qcow2

4096 is the amount of memory you want to use, in MB.

If your hard drive image is from VirtualBox, http://cheznick.net/main/content/converting-a-virtual-machine-from-virtualbox-to-kvm explains how to convert the hard drive image to either a raw .img file or a qcow2 file:

1) VboxManage clonehd /path/to/hardDriveImage.vdi hardDriveImage.img --format raw
2) qemu-img convert -f raw hardDriveImage.img -O qcow2 hardDriveImage.qcow2

How to permanently show the Bookmarks Toolbar in Firefox

Right click on the tab area (right under the window title bar), and check the "Bookmarks Toolbar" option.

Enabling that feature was kind of hard to find for some reason...

How to force a Solr 5.0.0 field/column to be a certain type

Solr 5 uses a managed schema by default, while Solr 4 used the schema.xml file.  Solr 5 automatically creates the schema for you by guessing the type of the field.  Once the type is assigned to the field, you can't change it.  You have to set the type of the field before you add data to Solr 5.

To change the schema in Solr 5, you will want to use the Schema API, which is a REST interface. Go to https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/solr/Schema+API

https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/solr/Schemaless+Mode describes a little bit about the Schemaless Mode (i.e. managed schema).  That page states the following:

"You Can Still Be Explicit - Even if you want to use schemaless mode for most fields, you can still use the Schema API to pre-emptively create some fields, with explicit types, before you index documents that use them. ... Once a field has been added to the schema, its field type is fixed."

If you are using the quick start guide for Solr 5, here's what you have to do if you want to explicitly specify the field types:

After you enter the following command:

bin/solr start -e cloud -noprompt

Then enter a command like this:

curl -X POST -H 'Content-type:application/json' --data-binary '{    "add-field" : {        "name":"MYFIELDNAMEHERE",        "type":"tlong",        "stored":true}}' http://localhost:8983/solr/gettingstarted/schema

The previous command will force the MYFIELDNAMEHERE field to be a tlong.  Replace MYFIELDNAMEHERE with the field name that you want to be explicitly set, and change tlong to the Solr type that you want to use.

After doing that, then load your data as usual.

How to install Windows 98 without using a floppy disk drive

If you're reading this... no you didn't go back in time 15+ years.

I had to install Windows 98 to one of my computers, because my video capture card only has drivers for Windows 95 and Windows 98.  It had been so long since I've installed Windows 98, I forgot that the Windows 98 installation CD is not bootable.  I didn't think I had a floppy disk (even though that computer had a floppy disk drive), so here's how I installed Windows 98 instead:

1) Download Knoppix (http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html) and create a Knoppix CD

2) Create a Windows 98 boot CD from here: https://staff.washington.edu/curreri/windows-98-boot-cd-download-this-iso/

3) Boot my computer to the Windows 98 boot CD, repartition and format your hard drive to FAT32.  Use the format /s switch to copy the system files to the c drive.

4) If you only have 1 CD drive, boot to Knoppix, and copy the Windows 98 installation CD to the "C drive", which was mounted at /mnt/sda1 or /dev/sda1 for me.  You can use scp to copy the Windows 98 installation CD to your "C drive".  If you have 2 CD drives, you can skip the Knoppix step, and just change to the R or S drive (which should be the other CD drive) on steps 7 and 7.

5) Boot to the Windows 98 boot CD if you currently have Knoppix up.

6) Change to C drive by typing in "c:" at the DOS prompt (or change to the R or S drive)

7) Run the setup.exe Windows 98 install program

How to get multiple distributed shards working on Solr 5.0.0

Here's how to get distributed querying working with shards with Solr 5.0.0

1. Go through http://lucene.apache.org/solr/quickstart.html (see my blog here for hints http://muddyazian.blogspot.com/2015/03/how-to-get-solr-500-quick-start.html)
    
2. If you follow the quickstart, 2 shards are created on (i) port 8983 and (ii) port 7574.  Two replicas are also created, but the important thing to note is that port 8983 has one shard, and 7574 has the other shard.
   
   The data are automatically routed to either the 8983 shard or the 7574 shard when importing.
    
3. A query like
   
   http://localhost:8983/solr/gettingstarted/select?q=*:*
   
   will query on both shards, and merge the results together
    
4. If you only want results from one shard, then form the query like this:
   
   http://localhost:8983/solr/gettingstarted/select?q=*:*&shards=localhost:7574/solr/gettingstarted
   
   (Note: that you need the /gettingstarted at the end of the URL, which is something missing from the instructions at https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/solr/Distributed+Requests)

Information pieced together from:

• http://lucene.apache.org/solr/quickstart.html
• Apache Solr Reference Guide (https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/solr/Apache+Solr+Reference+Guide)
• https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/solr/SolrCloud
• https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/solr/Shards+and+Indexing+Data+in+SolrCloud
• https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/solr/Distributed+Requests

How to expand all trees Emacs and org mode

Usually, you expand a subtree by pressing TAB.  To expand the whole document, press:

Ctrl-u Ctrl-u Ctrl-u TAB

How to get solr 5.0.0 quick start tutorial working on Fedora linux

As of today, the current version of Solr is 5.0.0, and the quick start guide is here:

http://lucene.apache.org/solr/quickstart.html

When running:

$ bin/solr start -e cloud -noprompt

If you are getting the following error message:

WARN  - 2015-03-06 16:02:05.519; org.apache.solr.util.SolrCLI; Request to http://134.252.99.99:7574/solr/admin/collections?action=list failed due to: Connection timed out, sleeping for 5 seconds before re-trying the request ...

It's likely because your router or firewall is blocking connections to your own machine to port 7574 when using the IP address.

Here's a workaround:

Edit the /etc/hosts file and put in the following line:

134.252.99.99 localhost

(replace 134.252.99.99 with your IP address)

Your OS will know that 134.252.99.99 is localhost, and will bypass the router.

Now, when you go to http://localhost:8983/solr/#/~cloud you should see this diagram:

Note: 134.252.99.99 is not my IP address.  It's supposed to be a "dummy" IP address.  Apologies if that is your IP address.

How to get VNC server (vncserver) working with Fedora via yum

$ sudo yum install tigervnc-server
$ vncserver

On the client machine, download a vnc client (such as Tight VNC), and put in the following server IP address:

server.ip.address:5901

How to install VirtualBox .rpm on Fedora 16

No guarantees here, because there's a "rpm -i --force" involved...

wget ftp://ftp.pbone.net/mirror/archive.fedoraproject.org/fedora/linux/releases/17/Everything/x86_64/os/Packages/l/libpng-1.5.10-1.fc17.x86_64.rpm

sudo rpm -i --force libpng-1.5.10-1.fc17.x86_64.rpm

wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.3.24/VirtualBox-4.3-4.3.24_98716_fedora17-1.x86_64.rpm

rpm -i VirtualBox-4.3-4.3.24_98716_fedora17-1.x86_64.rpm

After that, add yourself to the vboxusers group  (in /etc/group)

Getting Networking to Work with VirtualBox and CentOS

Why isn't my network working when I've installed CentOS 6 on VirtualBox?  Try to do this:

1) Edit the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcg-eth0 file

2) Change

ONBOOT=no

to

ONBOOT=yes

3) Reboot the VM

Networking should work after that.

Convert flv video to mp4

Download ffmpeg and do this:

ffmpeg -i yourInputVideo.flv -ar 22050 output.mp4

Compile subversion for Fedora 19

If you've already tried to compile subversion for Fedora 19, and you got the error message when doing a svn update of svn checkout:

Unrecognized URL scheme for ...

then you have to compile subversion with https support.  This is done by default, but you have to have the serf libraries installed.  Here's how to get things working:

sudo yum install libserf libserf-devel apr-util apr-util-devel apr apr-devel

Then, you can compile subversion normally, like this:

tar -zxvf subversion-1.8.10.tar.gz
cd subversion-1.8.10
./configure
make -j16
sudo make install

Install Adobe Acrobat Reader on Fedora 20

Adapted from http://www.if-not-true-then-false.com/2010/install-adobe-acrobat-pdf-reader-on-fedora-centos-red-hat-rhel/

sudo su

wget http://ardownload.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/unix/9.x/9.5.5/enu/AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i486linux_enu.rpm

yum install nspluginwrapper.i686 libcanberra-gtk2.i686 adwaita-gtk2-theme.i686 PackageKit-gtk3-module.i686

yum localinstall AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i486linux_enu.rpm

Java Applet plugin on RHEL 6 Linux and Firefox

Here's how to run a Java applet in Fedora on RHEL 6 Linux:

1) Download the Java RPM from http://www.java.com

2) Install the RPM

3) Create a symbolic link to the Java shared library:

ln -s /usr/java/jre1.7.0_67/lib/i386/libnpjp2.so ~/.mozilla/plugins/

4) Restart Firefox

5) Confirm that you see the Java information when you type "about:plugins" in Firefox, on the locaiton bar.

Speed up Windows 7 and reduce hard drive activity

Disable Superfetch.  Start > Run > services.msc - then right click on Superfetch and stop the service.  Double click on Superfetch, and chnage the "Startup type" to "Disabled".

Change what is indexed for search.  Go to "Control Panel", and search for "Indexing options".  Don't search in Outlook or any other directory, except for the "Start Menu".

In Task Scheduler, disable defrag and "RACTask".

How to avoid yum from automatically running via PackageKit on Fedora

Run this:

sudo /usr/bin/gpk-prefs

Then choose the "Never" option.

How to change the screensaver lock timeout in Fedora 20 and Gnome

Run this on the command line (in Terminal):

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.session idle-delay 3600

Change 3600 to anything else you want.  The units are in seconds.

Install nvidia driver on Fedora Linux

See http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=234595

How to fix HDMI problem on Dell XPS 14 (2012 or 2013 version)

My HDMI port stopped working on both Fedora 19 and Windows 7 on my Dell XPS 14 laptop, which I purchased in 2013.  You may also have this problem with the Dell XPS 12 laptop.  Unfortunately, the solution to fix it was replace the motherboard, which Dell was able to do for no charge since my system had 1 week of warranty left.  If you don't have a warranty, you might be in an unfortunate situation.

I had been using the HDMI port for almost a year with no problems on both Linux and Windows.  When I started using the Display Port with the HDMI port to drive two external monitors, that worked for about a week, and then the HDMI port stopped working.  The Dell tech support person on the phone said that they do not recommend that I use both the HDMI and Display Port at the same time on the Dell XPS 14 model, because there is not enough power to drive both (for this particular laptop model).

Here is another guy who had a different Dell model with the same issue, and he also replaced the motherboards: http://www.experts-exchange.com/Hardware/Displays_Monitors/Q_28337978.html

How to hide keyboard when losing Text Field focus in iOS/iPhone/iPad programming in Objective C when using a UIScrollView

If you are making an iOS/iPhone/iPad app, and you are trying to hide the keyboard when clicking outside the UITextField, you can do this:

1) Make sure that your UITextField has an IBOutlet in the ViewController.h file.  If you need to set this up, open the "Assistant editor", click on the storyboard, make sure that the ViewController.h file is in the other window, and Ctrl-drag the UITextField down to the ViewController.h file.

2) Make sure that the Scroll View has a delegate connected to the View Controller.  If you need to set this up, click on the Scroll View, open the "Connections inspector", and drag the circle next to the delegate to the View Controller in the "View Controller Scene" menu

3) In your ViewController.m file, add in a function that looks like this:

-(void)scrollViewDidScroll:(UIScrollView *)scrollView

{

    [_myTextField endEditing:YES];

}

4) Instead of _myTextField, use whatever name you used in step 1 above.

Download a password protected webpage with Objective C for iOS/iPhone/iPad

1) Go to http://allseeing-i.com/ASIHTTPRequest and download the latest version (the .tar tarball file)

2) In Xcode, in your project, click on the file folder icon, which is the top left button, so that you can see all the .h and .m files in your project.

3) Open the .tar file in Finder, and drag-and-drop the Classes/ASI* files to Xcode, on the left hand side, in the same directory that the rest of your .h and .m files are.  NOTE: Don't copy the files manually through the command line (Terminal) nor outside of Xcode.

4) If you are creating an iPhone app, drag-and-drop the External/Reachability/Reachability* files to Xcode, on the left hand side, in that same directory.

5) Go to http://allseeing-i.com/ASIHTTPRequest/Setup-instructions and follow the step 2 directions, which is setting up the Build Phases.

6) If you are using ARC, then you need to disable ARC for the ASI* and Reachability* files.  Click on your main project on the left hand side, then choose "Build Phases", and expand the "Compile Sources" section.  For all of the ASI* and Reachability.m files, add in the following flag for "Compiler Flags": -fno-objc-arc (Also see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6646052/how-can-i-disable-arc-for-a-single-file-in-a-project)

7) At the top of your .m file where you want to download the webpage, paste the following line:

#import "ASIHTTPRequest.h"

8) In that same .m file, download the file by doing this:

    NSString* url = @"http://www.google.com";

    NSURL *nsurl = [NSURL URLWithString:url];
    ASIHTTPRequest *request = [ASIHTTPRequest requestWithURL:nsurl];
    [request setUsername:@"enterUsernameHere"];
    [request setPassword:@"enterPasswordHere"];

    

    [request startSynchronous];

    NSError *error = [request error];
    if (!error) {
        NSString *response = [request responseString];
        NSLog(response);
    }

That's it!

Solving "Error initializing QueryElevationComponent." with Solr

You may be getting the following error message when trying to start up Solr:

ERROR - 2014-08-11 16:49:49.554; org.apache.solr.core.CoreContainer; Unable to create core: collection1
org.apache.solr.common.SolrException: Error initializing QueryElevationComponent.
        at org.apache.solr.core.SolrCore.<init>(SolrCore.java:868)
        at org.apache.solr.core.SolrCore.<init>(SolrCore.java:643)
        at org.apache.solr.core.CoreContainer.create(CoreContainer.java:556)
        at org.apache.solr.core.CoreContainer$1.call(CoreContainer.java:261)
        at org.apache.solr.core.CoreContainer$1.call(CoreContainer.java:253)
        at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:262)
        at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:471)
        at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:262)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:615)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)
Caused by: org.apache.solr.common.SolrException: Error initializing QueryElevationComponent.
        at org.apache.solr.handler.component.QueryElevationComponent.inform(QueryElevationComponent.java:251)
        at org.apache.solr.core.SolrResourceLoader.inform(SolrResourceLoader.java:651)
        at org.apache.solr.core.SolrCore.<init>(SolrCore.java:851)
        ... 10 more

If you're getting this error, you may have changed your primary index from a string to an int.

To fix this, edit your example/solr/collection1/conf/elevate.xml file, and change it to the following:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

<!-- ... -->

<elevate>

 <query text="foo bar">

<!--

  <doc id="1" />

  <doc id="2" />

  <doc id="3" />

-->

 </query>

 <query text="ipod">

<!--   <doc id="MA147LL/A" />  

   <doc id="IW-02" exclude="true" />

-->

 </query>

</elevate>

Specifically, comment out the <doc ... /> tags.

How to retrieve a Text Field value in iOS/iPad/iPhone programming in Xcode

1) Drag the Text Field onto your storyboard

2) On the top right side of the screen, you'll see a button that looks like a tux with a bow tie.  It is labeled "Show the Assistant Editor".  Click on that button

3) You should see the storyboard side-by-side to a text window showing code.  Make sure that the .h is showing, such as ViewController.h - you can switch the file by clicking on "Automatic".

4) Scroll the text edit window down to the end, right before "@end".

5) Hold down control, and drag the Text Field to the ViewController.h text edit windows, and drop it right before the "@end".  Type in any name for the Text Field, such as textEntryField.

6) In the callback function (not necessarily a callback function for the Text Field) in the ViewController.m file, you can retrieve the value of the Text Field through "_textEntryField.text".  For example:

NSString* entryText = _textEntryField.text;

NSLog(@"The text in the Text Field is: %@", entryText);

Create callback to respond to button click in iOS with Xcode

1) Click on the storyboard that has the Button that you want to respond to.

2) Near the top right corner, you'll see a button that looks like a tux with a bow tie, entitled "Show the Assistant Editor".  Click on that.

3) Make sure that the .m file is showing (e.g. ViewController.m)

4) Hold down control and drag the button from the storyboard down to the text editor which will create a new function.  Type in a name for the function, such as "buttonTapped".

5) Click "Connect".

6) Now, fill in the callback function.

How to access a webpage/URL in Android using Apache .htaccess/.htpasswd password authentication

You can't download a webpage in the main thread.  You have to create an asynchronous task.  Here's how to do that:

Create a class called RetrieveFeedTask (change the hilighted text):


class RetrieveFeedTask extends AsyncTask<String, Void, Long> {

    private Exception exception;

    @SuppressLint("NewApi") protected Long doInBackground(String urlParam) {

     try 
   {
       DefaultHttpClient client = new DefaultHttpClient();
       client.getCredentialsProvider().setCredentials(new AuthScope(AuthScope.ANY_HOST, AuthScope.ANY_PORT), new UsernamePasswordCredentials("username", "password")); 
       HttpGet request = new HttpGet(urlParam);
       
       HttpResponse response = client.execute(request);
        
       HttpEntity entity = response.getEntity();
       InputStream inputStream = entity.getContent();
       
       StringWriter writer = new StringWriter();
       String encoding = StandardCharsets.UTF_8.name();
       IOUtils.copy(inputStream, writer, encoding);
       
       StringBuffer sb = writer.getBuffer(); 
       String finalstring = sb.toString();
        
   } 
   catch (IOException e) 
   {
       // TODO Auto-generated catch block
       e.printStackTrace();
   }
    catch (Exception e)
    {
e.printStackTrace();
    }
   
    return new Long(0L);
   
    }

     @Override
     protected Long doInBackground(String... arg0) {
return this.doInBackground(arg0[0]);
     }
}


In your activity file, open the url like this:

String url = "http://www.myPasswordProtectedWebServer.com";
new RetrieveFeedTask().execute(url);



In your AndroidManfiest.xml file, be sure to add the following:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>

Solution derived from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6343166/android-os-networkonmainthreadexception

Installing iOS 5.1 simulator on XCode 5.1

After upgrading to XCode 5.1, the iOS 5.1 simulator has been removed. You can restore it by using this procedure:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/22479215/install-ios-5-simulator-to-xcode-5-1

How to get the scroll view working in an iOS iPad/iPhone app

It's not straight forward, but it's not too bad to set up.  Here's a good tutorial about how to do it, which will only take 9 minutes (plus or minus) of your life:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lt1o_k9jUw

How to get a Picker working in Xcode for an iOS iPad/iPhone app

If you drag and drop a Picker onto the Storyboard, the picker won't show.  You have to connect it up to a data source.  Here's how to do that:

http://www.techotopia.com/index.php/An_iOS_7_UIPickerView_Example#The_PickerViewController.h_File

How to download and install an old version of Google Chrome on Windows 7

1) Uninstall Chrome

2) Go to: http://www.oldversion.com/windows/download/google-chrome-22-0-1229-0

3) Install Chrome 22

4) Once chrome is installed, enter about:plugins in the location bar

5) Search for "Google Update" and click on disable

Fixing Google Chrome on Windows with EMET

Sometime during the spring and summer of 2014, Google Chrome was conflicting with Windows EMET.  Sometimes, Chrome wouldn't display Flash pages, sometimes you'd get the "He's Dead Jim" message, sometimes you'd get the "Woah Google Chrome has crashed" message, and other times, Chrome would start but you'd just get blank white pages, even with the settings page.  The Chromium developers fixed it, but as of July 9, 2014, the stable and beta versions of Chrome are still broken.  Here's a simple fix: install Google Chrome Canary, which is a more cutting edge version, which is working fine for me.

How to get public_html in users directories working with Fedora 20 and Apache httpd

This is how to get the public_html directory working in users directories.

Edit the file /etc/httpd/conf.d/userdir.conf

Uncomment the UserDir line, and change it to:

UserDir enabled

Save the file and restart apache

sudo /sbin/service httpd restart

mkdir ~/public_html
chmod 755 ~
chmod 755 ~/public_html

Create a file called ~/public_html/index.html and put something in it.

How do I turn off the firewall in Fedora?

sudo /sbin/service firewalld stop
sudo /sbin/chkconfig --level 345 firewalld off

What to do if restarting apache httpd fails when trying build an OSM tile server

If you are using Fedora to create an Open Street Map tile server, when you restart apache, you might be getting this error:

Job for httpd.service failed. See 'systemctl status httpd.service' and 'journalctl -xn' for details.

When running systemctl status httpd.service, if the error looks like this:

Apr 29 23:23:22 hostname.com systemd[1]: Starting The Apache HTTP Server...

Apr 29 23:23:22 hostname.com httpd[6326]: AH00526: Syntax error on line 88 of /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf:

Apr 29 23:23:22 hostname.com httpd[6326]: Invalid command 'LoadTileConfigFile', perhaps misspelled or defined by a module not included i...guration

Make the following changes:

1. Rename the /etc/httpd/conf.d/mod_tile file to /etc/httpd/conf.d/mod_tile.conf
2. Change the contents of that file to the following:
   LoadModule tile_module /usr/lib/httpd/modules/mod_tile.so

Solve Windows 7 hanging upon boot when loading classpnp.sys

If your Windows 7 installation hangs upon boot with the Starting Windows icon, even with safe mode, here's what might fix it.  If the booting process stalls a bit on classpnp.sys in safe mode, try rebooting, going into the BIOS, and either resetting the BIOS to the factory default settings, or changing the HDD type to something different.  Then reboot either in Safe mode or normal mode, and hopefully you'll get the login screen.

How to view the source after a webpage has been loaded with AJAX

1. Use Chrome.
2. Bring up the developer tools by right clicking anywhere on the page, and selecting "Inspect Element.
3. Click on the "Elements" tab
4. Right click on the <html...> tag, and select "Copy as HTML"
5. Paste the clipboard into your favorite text editor.

How to save an encrypted iPhone voice mail as an mp3 on Windows

My daughter left me her voice mail today.  She had her mom's phone on the way home, called me, and cried for 72.78 seconds.  I had to save this voice mail, so this is how I did it:

1. Backup your iphone using iTunes
2. Download Backuptrans itunes Backup Extractor: http://www.backuptrans.com/itunes-backup-extractor.html
3. This will allow you to retrieve up to 3 voice mails
4. To convert the .amr file to .mp3, use http://audio.online-convert.com/convert-to-mp3

How to get gzip working for Jetty 8 and Solr

If you're getting the following error message in the solr.log file:

java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.eclipse.jetty.servlets.GzipFilter

Try doing the following:

Edit /opt/solr/solr-webapp/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml and put the following in it:

<web-app ... >

<filter>

      <filter-name>GzipFilter</filter-name>

      <filter-class>org.eclipse.jetty.servlets.GzipFilter</filter-class>

      <init-param>

        <param-name>mimeTypes</param-name>  

        <param-value>text/html,text/plain,text/xml,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml,text/css,application/javascript,image/svg+xml,application/json,application/xml; charset=UTF-8</param-value>

      </init-param>

    </filter>

    <filter-mapping>

      <filter-name>GzipFilter</filter-name>

      <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>

    </filter-mapping>

If you don't have a jetty-servlets*.jar file, then download it from http://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.eclipse.jetty/jetty-servlets and put it in /opt/solr/lib

Restart jetty:

sudo /sbin/service jetty restart

If solr doesn't start up, check the /opt/solr/logs/solr.log file.

How do I show PHP errors on a webpage?

In your /etc/php.ini file, add the following:

error_reporting(E_ALL);
ini_set('display_errors', 'on');

How to require password authentication for Apache Solr 4 and Jetty

Some of the documentation in the Solr wiki is outdated, so here's what worked for me.  In the following files, you can change the highlighted fields.

Edit /opt/solr/etc/jetty.xml and add the following:

<Configure>

    <Call name="addBean">
      <Arg>
        <New class="org.eclipse.jetty.security.HashLoginService">
          <Set name="name">Test Realm</Set>
          <Set name="config"><SystemProperty name="jetty.home" default="."/>/etc/realm.properties</Set>
          <Set name="refreshInterval">0</Set>
        </New>
      </Arg>
    </Call>

...

</Configure>

Edit  /opt/solr/solr-webapp/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml and add the following:

<web-app>
...
  <security-constraint>
    <web-resource-collection>
      <web-resource-name>Solr authenticated application</web-resource-name>
      <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
    </web-resource-collection>
    <auth-constraint>
      <role-name>core1-role</role-name>
    </auth-constraint>
  </security-constraint>

  <login-config>
    <auth-method>BASIC</auth-method>
    <realm-name>Test Realm</realm-name>

  </login-config>

...
</web-app>

Create a file in /opt/solr/etc/realm.properties and put the following in it:

admin: yourPasswordHere,core1-role

You can change "admin" to whatever username you want.

For the password, you can either use the literal password, or use an OBF/MD5/CRYPT hash.  To create a hash, you can do the following:

cd /opt/solr

java -cp /lib/jetty-util-8.1.10.v20130312.jar org.eclipse.jetty.util.security.Password admin yourPasswordHere

The above utility will print out the hash to the screen, and you can chose either the OBF, MD5, or CRYPT line.  Make sure that you copy the entire line, including the "OBF:..." part.  Copy this line to the /opt/solr/etc/realm.properties file; the result will look something like this:

admin: OBF:1x1v1xmk1w9b1pyh1oq31uum1xtv1zej1zer1xtn1uvk1or71pw51w8f1xmq1x0r

,core1-role

The above is all in one line.  No line break.  Make sure you put the comma before the "core1-role".

After you've changed everything, restart the solr server.  If you're using Fedora, do this:

sudo /sbin/service jetty.sh restart

Then open up your web browser to http://localhost:8983/solr/#/collection1/query and the web browser should ask you for a password.  Enter admin for the user name and yourPasswordHere for the password.

Hint: if you get an error on the Solr admin webpage, you can check the log for warning messages.  The log file is here: /opt/solr/logs/solr.log

More info:

http://wiki.apache.org/solr/SolrSecurity

http://wiki.eclipse.org/Jetty/Tutorial/Realms

http://acdha.tumblr.com/post/207608584/jetty-solr-password-cheatsheet

Ruby, yaml, and gem in Fedora Linux

If you're trying to use gem to install something, and you're getting the following error message:

It seems your ruby installation is missing psych (for YAML output)....

You could try to install libyaml like this:

yum install libyaml

If that still doesn't work, it might be because the libyaml library is not new enough.  If that's the case, install libyaml from source from here:

http://pyyaml.org/download/libyaml/

Then, uninstall ruby, and then re-install ruby.  Hopefully you'll have success after that.

S&P 500 during certain presidencies

I don't pretend to claim a causal relationship, but since we're at an all time high, I felt like looking up the facts:

Clinton: +210.69% http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=%5EGSPC+Interactive#symbol=%5Egspc;range=19930118,20010119;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;

Bush 43: -38.60% http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=%5EGSPC+Interactive#symbol=%5Egspc;range=20010119,20090120;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;

Obama: +108.32% http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=%5EGSPC+Interactive#symbol=%5Egspc;range=20090120,20131018;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;

To be fair, Reagan and Bush 41: +234.88% http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=%5EGSPC+Interactive#symbol=%5Egspc;range=19810119,19930120;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;

Resolve "Can't right click on message in Outlook 2003" issue

For a long time, I haven't been able to right click on an email in Outlook 2003 (e.g. to flag it).  This is how to resolve it:

1) Exit Outlook and other Office apps

2) Go to C:\users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\FORMS

3) Delete the FRMCACHE.DAT file

4) Restart Outlook

How to Convert MS Access Database to MySQL

MySQL Workbench (versions 5 and 6) contain a Migration Toolkit to convert external databases to MySQL, but Microsoft Access isn't an option.  However, it used to be an option in the predecessor tool: MySQL GUI Tools.  Fortunately, you can download an archived installer for MySQL GUI Tools here:

http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/gui-tools/5.0.html

With that, if you install MySQL GUI Tools (and install a 32-bit version of the Java JRE 6), if you start the MySQL Migration Toolkit, there is an option to convert from an Microsoft Access database.  I chose all of the default settings (except I asked for .sql scripts to be saved), and it converted fine.

How to change the default OS in grub on Fedora 16, Fedora 17, Fedora 18, and Fedora 19

See https://ask.fedoraproject.org/question/8885/how-can-i-change-default-operating-system-in-start-up-boot-menu/

Essentially, you will want to change the /etc/default/grub file and then perform the following:

grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

Why can't I click on the confirm box when encrypting a partition in the Fedora 18 or Fedora 19 installer (anaconda)?

If you are having trouble clicking or switching to the "confirm" box when typing in your passcode/password in the Fedora 18 or Fedora 19 installer, here's what you can do:

1. Ensure that your passcode is strong enough. Make sure that the red stop sign disappears.
2. Press "Tab" on the keyboard to switch to the "confirm" box.

That's it.

How to log every query in MySQL on Fedora

In /etc/my.cnf, in the [mysqld] section, add the following 2 lines:

general_log=1

general_log_file=/var/log/mysql.log

Then:

sudo su
touch /var/log/mysql.log
chown mysql:mysql /var/log/mysql.log

Restart mysqld:

sudo /sbin/service mysqld restart

Note that the "log" variable in my.cnf is now deprecated, and doesn't log files in Fedora 14.

How to Install MongoDB on Fedora

If you are using the instructions at http://docs.mongodb.org/manual/tutorial/install-mongodb-on-red-hat-centos-or-fedora-linux/ they say to create a file called /etc/yum.repos.d/10gen.repo - but if you try that, you may be getting the following error when trying to start the mongod service.

It turns out that mongodb is built into fedora (via yum), so you don't need to add the 10gen.repo file.  Here's how to install mongodb on Fedora:

1) Uninstall mongodb:

yum erase mongodb
yum erase mongo-10gen

2) Remove the 10gen.repo file

rm /etc/yum.repos.d/10gen.repo

3) Install mongodb via default yum

yum install mongodb mongodb-server

4) Start monogodb service

/sbin/service mongod start

NoSQL Comparison

Good overview of NoSQL databases: http://kkovacs.eu/cassandra-vs-mongodb-vs-couchdb-vs-redis

Why won't MySQL Workbench let me add a Foreign Key relationship?

You might be unable to check the desired foreign column box in MySQL Workbench.

If you are trying to add the foreign key on the command line, then you may also be getting "a can't create table 150 alter table" and Error Code 1005 error.

Make sure that you have the table and column names correct.

Also make sure that the two columns are EXACTLY the same type.  Check for int(10) vs int(11) and int(10) vs int (10) unsigned.  They have to be EXACTLY the same type.  MySQL Workbench may not show or let you change int(10) to int(10) unsigned, but you can check the exact column type using "show create table", and you can change it on the command line like this:

ALTER TABLE TableName CHANGE columnName columnName  int(10) unsigned DEFAULT NULL

After this, you should be able to check the desired box in MySQL Workbench.

Also, make sure that both tables are using InnoDB

Also see: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9018584/error-code-1005-cant-create-table-errno-150

How to recover found.000 folder that is locked

On Windows 7, if chkdsk recovers a found.000 folder, and you can't access it, and if changing ownership to you doesn't work, try this simple trick:

Copy the folder to another area.

Then try to access the copy of that folder.

For some reason, it works for me.

How to disable Java Updater Tray Icon in Windows

If you ask Java to disable the tray icon, sometimes it won't respect your wishes.  The issue is that the Administrator needs to disable it.  This what you do:

1) Start the command prompt as the Administrator
2) cd \Program Files\Java\jre6\bin
3) javacpl
4) Go to the Advanced Tab
5) Expand Miscellaneous
6) Uncheck the Place Java icon in system tracy
7) Right click the Java icon, and click on Cancel
8) Under Advanced | JRE Auto-Download, switch it to Never Auto-Download

Why does Windows 7 reboot itself every 2 minutes?

I ran into this issue: I had installed the 320.49-desktop-win8-win7-winvista-64bit-english-whql.exe NVidia GeForce driver.  This forced me to install some type of .NET 4 (extra?) runtime environment.  The next time I booted my computer, Windows 7 would automatically reboot itself after about 2-3 minutes.  If I were in safe mode, it didn't reboot.  This is how I solved it:

1. Booted Windows 7 in safe mode (press F8 when booting)
2. Installed an old NVidia driver, such as 314.07-desktop-win8-win7-winvista-64bit-english-whql.exe
3. Reboot Windows in normal mode
4. Now you have to be real quick before your machine reboots: uninstall the .NET 4 runtime environment that had just been installed.  The uninstaller will ask you to reboot your machine.  Reboot it into normal mode.
5. If all goes well, your system will be back to normal!

You can also try reading the logs in the Event Viewer for some hints.

Similar symptom, different solution: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/d7379f4d-9337-4800-9c8b-582fd0c439a7/windows-7-pro-keep-restarting-on-itself-will-not-last-longer-than-2-minutes-but-safemode-works

Ditto: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1672386/computer-rebooting-pretty-stumped.html

How to get viewvc working with Apache httpd and Fedora and subversion (svn)

1. Get subversion working with httpd first. (See http://muddyazian.blogspot.com/2013/05/how-to-start-subversion-repository-over.html)
2. yum install viewvc viewvc-httpd
3. Edit /etc/viewvc/viewvc.conf and modify the svn_roots and root_parents options.
4. Edit /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf and add in the following:
   
   <Directory /usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/viewvc/bin/mod_python>
     Order allow,deny
     Allow from all
     AuthType Basic
     AuthName "Subversion repositories"
     AuthUserFile /etc/svn-auth-users
     Require valid-user
   </Directory>
   
   <Directory /usr/share/viewvc/templates/docroot>
     Order allow,deny
     Allow from all
   </Directory>
   
   
   
   ...
   
   Alias /viewvc-static "/usr/share/viewvc/templates/docroot/images"
   
   
   
   ...
   
   ScriptAlias /viewvc /usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/viewvc/bin/cgi/viewvc.cgi
   ScriptAlias /query /usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/viewvc/bin/cgi/query.cgi
   
   
5. Restart the web server: /sbin/service httpd restart
6. Go to http://localhost/viewvc
7. If you haven't already done so, create the /etc/svn-auth-users file:
   
   htpasswd -cm /etc/svn-auth-users firstUsername
   New password:
   Re-type new password:
   Adding password for user firstUsername
   

You can test things out (sanity check) like this:

/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/viewvc/bin/standalone.py -r /path/to/svn/repository/location

Then in firefox, go to http://localhost:49152/viewvc

Change Font Size of Tabs in Eclipse Juno on Fedora

Edit ECLIPSE_HOME/plugins/org.eclipse.platform_4.2.2.v201302041200/css/e4_default_gtk.css

Change  the following


.MPartStack {
font-size: 6;

How to set up a email mailer post commit script with subversion on Fedora.

From http://stackoverflow.com/questions/501692/easiest-best-way-to-set-up-svn-commit-emails, the easiest way is to use the existing .py mailer script.

_____________

On Fedora 15, do the following:

yum install subversion-python

_____________

In your subversion repository:

cd hooks

cp post-commit post-commit.tmpl

Change

mailer.py commit "$REPOS" "$REV" /path/to/mailer.conf

to

/usr/share/doc/subversion-1.6.18/tools/hook-scripts/mailer/mailer.py commit "$REPOS" "$REV" /etc/mailer.conf

_____________

After that, do the following to setup the mailer.conf file:

cp /usr/share/doc/subversion-1.6.18/tools/hook-scripts/mailer/tests/mailer.conf /etc/mailer.conf

Edit the mailer.conf and:

uncomment  mail_command = /usr/sbin/sendmail

add in commit_subject_prefix

add in propchange_subject_prefix

add in lock_subject_prefix

add in unlock_subject_prefix

Add in from_addr

Add in to_addr

_____________

Test it out by committing a test revision.

Using Unity over proxy with Windows 7

1) Go to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\System and Go to "Advanced system settings".

2) Under the Advanced Tab, go to Environment Variables, and add two variables: HTTP_proxy and HTTPS_proxy.  Set it to your proxy, such as http://myproxy.domain.com:80 and restart Unity.

3) If you get certificate errors, you can manually activate, using the steps found here: http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/358967/peer-certificate-cannot-be-authenticated-with-know.html

Also from http://blog.gfx47.com/2011/03/08/unity3d-httphttps-proxy-problem-solved-o/

How to start a subversion repository over http using apache on Fedora or RHEL Linux

This is a great tutorial about how to do it really easily:

http://www.if-not-true-then-false.com/2010/install-svn-subversion-server-on-fedora-centos-red-hat-rhel/

Add Quick Launch Taskbar to Windows 7

See http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-7/add-the-quick-launch-bar-to-the-taskbar-in-windows-7/

Create a tracking branch off of a remote branch in git

git branch --track branchName origin/branchName
git checkout branchName

Resolve "Agent admitted failure to sign using the key."

You might be getting the following error message, perhaps when either using ssh or git:


Agent admitted failure to sign using the key.
Permission denied (publickey).
fatal: The remote end hung up unexpectedly

Solve this by this simple fix:

ssh-add

What may have happened, is that you changed your ssh key, and something got confused.

How to format JSON on the command line

Also known as pretty print.

echo myFile.json | python -mjson.tool

Why do I get SplFileInfo::getMTime()... errors in symfony2?

The error, in the browser, might look like this:

SplFileInfo::getMTime() [<a href='splfileinfo.getmtime'>splfileinfo.getmtime</a>]: stat failed for /var/www/html/Symfony/src/Srb/AnthonyBundle/Controller/.#DefaultController.php

If you are using emacs, make sure you save off all files.  If you don't, you might have a # file around, and symfony gets confused.

Install symfony2 and doctrine using composer

1A) Download composer, which will download the composer.phar file which can be kept anywhere:

cd /path/to/composer/install/dir
curl -s https://getcomposer.org/installer | php

1B) Install symfony:

cd /path/to/composer/install/dir
php composer.phar create-project symfony/framework-standard-edition /path/to/webroot/Symfony 2.1.x-dev

2) Check the configuration

Go to http://localhost/Symfony/web/config.php

3) Configure the database

Edit the /path/to/webroot/Symfony/app/config/parameters.yml file

4A) If you already have the database table created, make sure that the primary key is named id.

4B) If you already have the database table created, you can skip to creating an entity class:

php app/console doctrine:generate:entity --entity "MySpecificBundle:Things" --fields="id:int(11) price:float"

5) Edit the src/.../Controller/DefaultController.php file to do something interesting with the database table.

For example:

$row = $this->getDoctrine()
  ->getRepository('MySpecificBundle:Things')
  ->find($name);

if (!$row)
  {
  throw $this->createNotFoundException('No row found for id: '.$name);
  }

$otherVariable = $row->getOtherVariable();

return array('name' => $otherVaraible);

6) Open your browser to http://localhost/Symfony/web/app_dev.php/hello/1 to view the row

7) To create a CRUD scaffold, perform the following command:

php app/console doctrine:generate:crud --entity="MySpecificBundle:Things"

Then open your browser to http://localhost/Symfony/web/app_dev.php/things