New Apps not showing up in Apple+Tab

So I was using my Mac (probably with way too much stuff running) and started a new App and then hid it (Apple+H) and then tried to Apple+Tab (Cmd-Tab) back to it but it didn't appear in the list of App Icons. The same happened when i started another Application.... I could always use Expose but I like Tab switcher...

So then I wondered which process controls the Tab switcher... It turns out that the Dock process not only runs the Dock bar at the bottom but also powers the Tab Switcher. So by just killing the Dock process it will then relaunch (by launchd) and sort it self out (provided you're not totally out of memory/disk space or something). You can do this from a Terminal window, using the following command:

killall Dock 

Counting lines of source code...

It seems easy at firstly sight (wc anyone?) then there's all the awkward stuff like comments, blank lines, coding style, header files, and stuff....

Anyway I came across a nice tool: sloccount which works on Linux, OSX and probably others, which does a good job of estimating "Source Code Line Count (SLOC)". Plus it also spits out coding time estimates based on some heuristics. There are other tools out there of course but this one just seems good.

Fixing vmxnet for vmwaretools-7.9.9 on Linux-2.6.32+

I just tried to load up vmwaretools on Ubuntu 10.04 Karmic (Kernel linux-2.6.32 - for later kernels see below) and things went ok till it tried to compile vmxnet.c - things have changed and VMware haven't kept up... So I fixed it - see attached patch below. I took a short cut to get the modified file into the vmware-install.pl build process: It copies the src files to a directory in /tmp/vmware-configX/ (where X is a number) - You'll need to run the vmware-install.pl script and then suspend (hit Ctrl-Z) it once it has got to the very first step of compiling vmxnet (ie before it starts the actual compilation) - then copy in the patched file and put the installer into the foreground (type '%'). I guess it's possible to copy it to a tar file somewhere but I didn't bother locating the correct one.

--- vmxnet.c 2011-01-05 17:46:30.820624430 +0000

+++ vmxnet.c.orig 2010-11-20 02:24:48.000000000 +0000

@@ -162,31 +162,6 @@

#define VMXNET_LOG(msg...)

#endif // VMXNET_DEBUG

-#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,3,43)

-/*

- *-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

- *

- * vmxnet_tx_timeout --

- *

- * Network device tx_timeout routine. Called by Linux when the tx

- * queue has been stopped for more than dev->watchdog_timeo jiffies.

- *

- * Results:

- * None.

- *

- * Side effects:

- * Tries to restart the transmit queue.

- *

- *-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

- */

-static void

-vmxnet_tx_timeout(struct net_device *dev)

-{

- netif_wake_queue(dev);

-}

-#endif /* LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,3,43) */

-

-

/* Data structure used when determining what hardware the driver supports. */

static const struct pci_device_id vmxnet_chips[] =

@@ -210,26 +185,6 @@

.probe = vmxnet_probe_device,

.remove = vmxnet_remove_device,

};

-static struct net_device_ops

-vmxnet_netdev_ops = {

- .ndo_open = vmxnet_open,

- .ndo_start_xmit = vmxnet_start_tx,

- .ndo_stop = vmxnet_close,

- .ndo_get_stats = vmxnet_get_stats,

- .ndo_set_multicast_list = vmxnet_set_multicast_list,

-#ifdef HAVE_CHANGE_MTU

- .ndo_change_mtu = vmxnet_change_mtu,

-#endif

-#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,3,43)

- .ndo_tx_timeout = vmxnet_tx_timeout,

-#endif

-#ifdef VMW_HAVE_POLL_CONTROLLER

- .ndo_poll_controller = vmxnet_netpoll,

-#endif

- /* Do this after ether_setup(), which sets the default value. */

- .ndo_set_mac_address = vmxnet_set_mac_address,

-};

-

#ifdef HAVE_CHANGE_MTU

static int

@@ -373,6 +328,8 @@

.set_tso = vmxnet_set_tso,

#endif

};

+

+

#else /* !defined(SET_ETHTOOL_OPS) */

@@ -649,6 +606,30 @@

}

+#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,3,43)

+/*

+ *-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ *

+ * vmxnet_tx_timeout --

+ *

+ * Network device tx_timeout routine. Called by Linux when the tx

+ * queue has been stopped for more than dev->watchdog_timeo jiffies.

+ *

+ * Results:

+ * None.

+ *

+ * Side effects:

+ * Tries to restart the transmit queue.

+ *

+ *-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ */

+static void

+vmxnet_tx_timeout(struct net_device *dev)

+{

+ netif_wake_queue(dev);

+}

+#endif /* LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,3,43) */

+

/*

*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

@@ -1072,9 +1053,25 @@

#endif

dev->irq = irq_line;

+

+ dev->open = &vmxnet_open;

+ dev->hard_start_xmit = &vmxnet_start_tx;

+ dev->stop = &vmxnet_close;

+ dev->get_stats = &vmxnet_get_stats;

+ dev->set_multicast_list = &vmxnet_set_multicast_list;

+#ifdef HAVE_CHANGE_MTU

+ dev->change_mtu = &vmxnet_change_mtu;

+#endif

+#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,3,43)

+ dev->tx_timeout = &vmxnet_tx_timeout;

dev->watchdog_timeo = VMXNET_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT;

+#endif

+#ifdef VMW_HAVE_POLL_CONTROLLER

+ dev->poll_controller = vmxnet_netpoll;

+#endif

- dev->netdev_ops = &vmxnet_netdev_ops;

+ /* Do this after ether_setup(), which sets the default value. */

+ dev->set_mac_address = &vmxnet_set_mac_address;

#ifdef SET_ETHTOOL_OPS

SET_ETHTOOL_OPS(dev, &vmxnet_ethtool_ops);

If you're running linux-2.6.35 (Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick) then you'll also need to apply the following patch (once you've applied the above one):

--- vmxnet.c 2011-01-06 14:44:41.000000000 +0000

+++ vmxnet.c.linux2.6.32 2011-01-06 14:44:41.000000000 +0000

@@ -2405,10 +2405,9 @@

{

struct Vmxnet_Private *lp = netdev_priv(dev);

volatile u16 *mcast_table = (u16 *)lp->dd->LADRF;

- struct netdev_hw_addr_list *mc_list = &dev->mc;

- struct netdev_hw_addr *ha;

+ struct dev_mc_list *dmi = dev->mc_list;

char *addrs;

- int j, bit, byte;

+ int i, j, bit, byte;

u32 crc, poly = CRC_POLYNOMIAL_LE;

/* clear the multicast filter */

@@ -2416,9 +2415,9 @@

lp->dd->LADRF[1] = 0;

/* Add addresses */

-

- netdev_hw_addr_list_for_each(ha, mc_list) {

- addrs = ha->addr;

+ for (i = 0; i < dev->mc_count; i++){

+ addrs = dmi->dmi_addr;

+ dmi = dmi->next;

/* multicast address? */

if (!(*addrs & 1))

@@ -2441,7 +2440,7 @@

crc = crc >> 26;

mcast_table [crc >> 4] |= 1 << (crc & 0xf); } - return mc_list->count;

+ return i;

}

/*

Skype 5 beta OSX sucks

If you're tempted by the idea of the new Skype 5 Beta for OSX - then forget it (well maybe apart from if you're interested in Group Calling). The new UI is a bad joke - Skype seems have lost its way. It is a huge ugly GUI that won't go away and very confused functionality. Fire the new GUI team leader!

I'm back to 2.8 as long as I can then if there's no change I'll be seeking a new Voip agent - Empathy Cocoa port anyone? Blink is a nice SIP client or Sip-communicator is pretty reasonable these days and it's cross platform.

However one should not forget that there are some new features...The main one being Group video calling, plus there extended search, and a new control bar which isn't so bad.

[updated 20jan11: A bit more upbeat - whilst the GUI sucks there are some good feature additions]

Time Machine backup...not

The other day I went to my Time Machine backup to try get a slightly older copy of a file that I'd been working on recently. But there was only a fairly ancient copy sitting there - and I KNEW I'd updated it since that date?!  My Time Machine backups seemed to be backing up just fine but only it wasn't..... Real handy?!

I Googled it and found a bunch of people had run into the same issue.

There are a bunch of files and directories that are normally excluded from backups - which are contained within the following plist files (You can see them just using a text editor or Quickview or edit them using e.g. Property List Editor) - check the 'ExcludeByPath' keys:

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist

/System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/StdExclusions.plist

Note: That in the com.apple.TimeMachine.plist there are a bunch of items that get added by certain Applications; Xcode adds the directories named 'build' (and maybe others) to the list exclusions, and Google's Chrome adds it's 'cache' directories to the exclusion list. There's probably others out there as it is achieved using a standard API call.

You can also find, using mdfind the OSX's command line version of Spotlight, all files or directories that have had the appropriate metadata attribute set (using xattr command) for backup exclusion:

sudo mdfind "com_apple_backup_excludeItem = 'com.apple.backupd'"

Out of interest you can list the metadata attributes on any file/dir:

mdls /path/to/that_curious_file

However in my case none of the above applied and it seems that under Sow Leopard there's some 'bug' that stops TM working properly if you haven't rebooted in a while (which I hadn't). So a simple reboot fixed it?! Not reassuring though.

There's a good list of things to check here and there.

Too many package managers

On every system someone seems to invent a new package management system which means you've gotta learn the nearly the same thing over and over again. Tedious... Here's some notes to myself about how you can do basic stuff in a few I use (OSX/MacPorts[port], Ubuntu/Debian[aptitude,apt], RedHat/RPM[rpm,yum]).

Install Package

OSX% port install ThatPeskyPackage
ubuntu% aptitude install ThatPeskyPackage
ubuntu% apt-get install ThatPeskyPackage
ubuntu% dpkg -i ThatPeskyPackage.deb
RedHat% yum install ThatPeskyPackage
RedHat% rpm -i ThatPeskyPackage.rpm

Remove Package

OSX% port uninstall ThatPeskyPackage [version]
ubuntu% aptitude remove ThatPeskyPackage
ubuntu% apt-get remove ThatPeskyPackage
RedHat% yum erase ThatPeskyPackage
RedHat% rpm -e ThatPeskyPackage.rpm

Package Info

OSX% port info ThatPeskyPackage
ubuntu% aptitude install ThatPeskyPackage
ubuntu% apt-get install ThatPeskyPackage
RedHat% yum info ThatPeskyPackage
RedHat% rpm -qi ThatPeskyPackage

Package Content: What files did it install?

OSX% port contents ThatPeskyPackage
ubuntu% dpkg -L ThatPeskyPackage
RedHat% rpm -ql ThatPeskyPackage

What package does this file belong to?

OSX% port provides /usr/some/place/weird/whatisthis
ubuntu% dpkg -S /usr/some/place/weird/whatisthis
RedHat% rpm -qf /usr/some/place/weird/whatisthis

Which packages have I got installed?

OSX% port installed
ubuntu% dpkg --get-selections
RedHat% rpm -qa
RedHat% yum list

What Linux release am I running?

For every Linux distribution/distro there seems to be a different way to work out which release version/name/codename you're running. Here's a the ways I've found, on the command line, to find out:

Ubuntu

lsb_release -a
cat /etc/lsb-release
cat /etc/debian_version

Note: For Ubuntu /etc/debian_version seems to contain the Debian base from which this version of Ubuntu originates.

Debian

cat /etc/debian_version
cat /etc/lsb-release
lsb_release -a

Note: The latter two are not always available on pure Debian systems.

Redhat/CentOS/Fedora

cat /etc/redhat-release

Gentoo

cat /etc/gentoo-release

Building and using a Linux initramfs

If your kernel needs to do 'stuff' during boot up or load modules that aren't compiled into it then an initramfs provides a way (initramfs supersedes the old initrd approach). Basically it is a file (cpio and gzipped) that contains a directory hierarchy containing all the necessary items to provide for loading of modules etc.

To enable the use of the initramfs you'll need to enable the relevant kernel option (e.g. General Setup --> Initial RAM filesystem and RAM disk (initramfs/initrd) support) and them supply the appropriate boot arguments to your boot loader (e.g. append initrd=my-initrd .....). At the very beginning of boot up you should see [on the console] the initrd being loaded (Loading initrd................), then further down it executes the ./init script within the initrd.

To build an initramfs from a suitably populated directory:

find . -print0 | cpio --null -ov --format=newc | gzip -9 > ../my-initrd

To check the contents of an initramfs:

gunzip -c my-initrd | cpio -t

To extract the contents of an initramfs into the current directory (you might want to create a temporary directory to unpack it into mkdir initrd.d ; cd initrd.d):

gunzip -c ../my-initrd | cpio -i -d -H newc --no-absolute-filenames

If you've been trying to use an initramfs and you're getting this error on boot up:

Failed to execute /init

Kernel panic - not syncing: No init found.  Try passing init= option to kernel.

Then maybe your ramfs image doesn't contain init, or it's not executable, or you're trying to use a shell within init that incompatible with your kernel's architecture (e.g. trying to use an amd64 arch shell with an i686 kernel).

There's a good Gentoo guide on building them.

On Ubuntu/debian there's a command to build an initrd called mkinitramfs. When running mkinitramfs whilst you can use an alternative config directory, it can only obtain kernel modules from /lib/modules/<kernel_version>. So you can run it using chroot, though its only a shell script so it can of course be tweaked....