Vista (install and UAC) problems

• On installation: Windows could not determine if this computer contains a valid system volume This can occur if you have a USB drive in your machine on installation - see here for details.
• Turn off Windows needs your permission to continue (known as UAC) - Basically it can be done in a variety of ways (see this handy blog) - like using the user account control panel, msconfig or TweakUAC.
  

Ubuntu upgrading

Using graphical interface:
gksu "update-manager -c"

Or on the command line:

sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

On Ubuntu server:

sudo aptitude install update-manager-core
sudo do-release-upgrade

For more info see the Ubuntu Guide.

What Linux (Ubuntu) version am I running?

To display the version of the Ubuntu you're running - run this on the command/cmd line (Or check the contents of /etc/lsb-release):
lsb_release -a

An example response should look like:
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 7.04
Release: 7.04
Codename: feisty

In theory it should work on any LSB (Linux Standard Base) distro...

TheMobileOutlet suck

If you're looking for a review or rating of the mobile outlet then I would recommend that you do NOT touch these guys with a barge pole - they try every way possible to get out of paying cashback. I read and reread their T&C's and sent them all they asked for but they tried to bullshit me at the first hurdle - they ask you include the 'original' cover note with your first cashback claim (original bills included) - They tried to claim the one I'd sent 'em wasn't the original - how do they prove that?? I got some great help from the excellent Reestit Mutton site and things happened - for a while. They've now stalled again after sending only a couple out of the 5 cheques....

Never use them again (they are too good to be true). There are plenty more out there - see this handy Motley Fool article.

oprofile on Ubuntu problem

I tried to run oprofile 0.9.2 on gutsy and it comes up with and error:

sudo opcontrol --event=default
the following lines occur:

/usr/bin/opcontrol: 1: arith: syntax error: "NR_CHOSEN - 1"
/usr/bin/opcontrol: 1: arith: syntax error: "NR_CHOSEN - 1"
No events given.

ophelp --get-default-event gives the following
CPU_CLK_UNHALTED:100000:0:1:1

According to this bug report - Here's how to fix it: Replace /bin/sh with /bin/bash in the first line of /usr/bin/opcontrol

Found Big bug in Firefox - Helper apps inherit ALL open file descriptors

After some more investigations I've concluded that the Evince problem I've been seeing is actually due to a bug in Firefox - basically it does not close all file descriptors (as it should) when launching external helper apps hence evince inherits the open sound device and hangs onto it after firefox is closed. I've reported the bug on Ubuntu's launchpad - it could also be a nasty security vulnerability.

News flash: It seems that this bug was reported a while ago on the Firefox bugzilla but it _still_ hasn't been fixed??!!

Why does Evince seem to lock the audio?

Well actually it doesn't! It would appear that the gnome PDF/PS document viewer on Ubuntu (Gutsy 7.10) opens and blocks the ALSA/OSS audio (so other apps like realplayer etc can't do audio) - its being tracked as a bug on ubuntu launchpad and gnome. You can see its attached to audio using: lsof or fuser /dev/snd/pcm*

Using another app (such as xpdf - to get it on Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install xpdf-reader) won't help - the same thing happens.

It turns out that this only happens when Evince/Xpdf is started from Firefox - which is probably how alot of people start evince. It seems that this only happens if Firefox has already opened the audio device (e.g. after playing some flash content). So it's actually an issue with Firefox..... Darn. I suspect this may happen with any app spawned by Firefox... Firefox isn't very good with letting go of audio devices once it's done with them - or maybe it's Flash being crap....

It's a particular bummer when you restart firefox whilst leaving evince running 'cos then you're stuck with evince attached to the audio and the pesky thing won't play anything anymore. You'll have to restart evince as well in that case.

Manage vmware services on osx

VMware fusion starts up stuff but you may not want it started at all. To control its startup you need to edit the file:
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.vmware.launchd.vmware.plist

Using something like Launchd Editor or Apple's Property list editor (which comes with their dev package - (you'll need to run 'em using sudo) or just a text editor (e.g. sudo vim /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.vmware.launchd.vmware.plist). Basically if you want to disable the services then a add a new key:
<key>Disabled</key>
<true/>