Tom's blog

Is Blackberry platform starting to die ?

2011-11-09T11:18:00.000+01:00

Google has announced the deprecation of the Gmail application on blackberry... Still usable but won’t be supported or improved anymore... The ersatz is the gmail.com which is far from offering the same level of functionality, like "new mail notification"... without this last functionality, Gmail is useless... Or the phone is... This is severe drawback for blackberry users, and maybe we can

Google Chrome complaining about Flash plugin being too old...

2011-05-17T01:54:00.003+02:00

It's been quite some time that my google chrome was complaining about flash plugin beeing too old while I can see it updated regularly. I've been able to get rid of this message by deleting the old version on my system : thomas@daisybox:/opt/google/chrome$ locate libflashplayer.so /home/thomas/.mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so /home/thomas/.mozilla_backup_2009-08-13T21:48:02+0200/plugins/

Android Phone locked out - how to unlock it without Hard resetting it

2010-05-31T01:58:00.005+02:00

I was watching heroes season 3, playing with the unlock schema of my phone (Android(1.6) HTC Magic) drawing strange pattern until I locked it down. The phone shows a message : wait 30 seconds until next try (translated from french). I did hit by mistake the recovery button which lead me to a login form asking me for username and password to unlock the device. My phone is set-up with my google

Thecus NAS N4100Pro

2010-05-27T17:51:00.011+02:00

I've purchased a year and a half ago a NAS from Thecus. It's the N4100Pro model which you can see on the right. The purpose of this post is to tell how I'm satisfied with my Thecus NAS ! It's so rare that the product is good and the support by the company is so good that It needs to be shout ! ;) Usually, what you can read on internet is complains, issue... Here it's just about

Bacula upgrade while updating ubuntu to 10.04

2010-05-26T01:12:00.004+02:00

When you update your ubuntu to 10.04, the upgrade process forgets to update the bacula database which ends with this in bacula logs : 02-May 17:39 bacula-dir JobId 0: Fatal error: Version error for database "bacula". Wanted 12, got 10 02-May 17:39 bacula-dir JobId 0: Fatal error: Could not open Catalog "MyCatalog", database "bacula". 02-May 17:39 bacula-dir JobId 0: Fatal error: Version error

Ubuntu 10.04 : Install and set Sun JDK as default

2010-05-11T23:51:00.009+02:00

Since ubuntu 10.04, Sun JDK has been dropped and replaced by openjdk. Literally replaced, ie : Sun JDK remove, openjdk installed. This is performed during the upgrade without explicitly asking you for your consent... which is quite ugly... After the upgrade, my tomcat was not working anymore... Anyway, in order to install Sun JDK back you just have to : vi /etc/apt/sources.listand check if

Default windows 'temp' directory prevents Oracle Universal Installer to launch

2010-05-11T18:15:00.002+02:00

Today I was by a client to proceed on a delicate TIBCO iProcess upgrade, and I encounter a strange issue : Oracle Universal Installer (9.2.0.1 or 10.2.0.1) won't launch. If you watch in process explorer, you can see a java process (javaw.exe) launch and die. I found out that it was the default 'temp' (or tmp) directory that was preventing Oracle Universal Installer to launch. On this

Week number (on monday) in Google Calendar

2010-02-16T11:31:00.001+01:00

I've been using this calendar to have week number in google calendar : http://sites.google.com/site/gcalweeknumbers/googlecalendarweeknumbers But since a few weeks it fails to load. I try to re-add it without success from the webpage. I managed to make it work again by tweaking the url : https://www.google.com/calendar/hosted/GOOGLEAPPSDOMAIN.COM/render?cid=g0k1sv1gsdief8q28kvek83ps4@

Get up to date nvidia graphical drivers on laptop

2010-01-10T00:52:00.004+01:00

I've recently reinstalled my SONY VAIO laptop (VGN-SZ71E/B) with Windows 7 (with dual boot with Ubuntu 9.10, see this howto from lifehacker). When I try to install the last nvidia drivers I get this error : "nVidia setup program could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current hardware. Setup will now exit." So I tried the driver finder from nvdia download page, which one

Tune the way linux use the swap with the swappiness parameter

2009-10-17T21:30:00.003+02:00

On linux, you can tune the way the system use the swap via the 'swappiness' parameter. Check how the swap is used on your machine: You can print how the system is using the swap with the vmstat command : thomas@home:~$ vmstat 2 procs -----------memory---------- ---swap-- -----io---- -system-- ----cpu---- r b swpd free buff cache si so bi bo in cs us sy id wa 0 0

Reset Bacula database and files

2009-09-02T14:22:00.006+02:00

Today I need to purge my bacula for several reasons. Here is how I did. First backup the database and files used in your previous setup, one never knows you might actually need it after the purge... /usr/bin/mysqldump -aecqQ bacula > bacula_before_purge.sql and copy the volumes and bsr files. Stop bacula : service bacula-director stop service bacula-fd stop service bacula-sd

locale configuration issue on Ubuntu 9.04

2009-08-19T00:37:00.005+02:00

I've rent a new server by dedibox.fr and the ubuntu server version is tunned by the dedibox team... On the Ubuntu Server 9.04 64bit/english version, there's a locale configuration issue. whenever you do a aptitude update or run the 'locale' command you get a warning like this : thomas@sd1:~$ locale locale: Cannot set LC_CTYPE to default locale: No such file or directory locale: Cannot set

Add 2 disk for RAID 1 setup

2009-08-10T23:21:00.010+02:00

On the dev server I spoke previously, we add 2 hard drives of 500GB in order to have 500GB in RAID1 as a network storage. Here is the setup procedure: Check the disk sudo fdisk -l thomas@dev:~$ sudo fdisk -l Disk /dev/sda: 82.3 GB, 82348277760 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 10011 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes Disk identifier: 0x00059bfb Device Boot

Raid on linux - re-add a drive

2009-08-10T22:52:00.009+02:00

Today, one of the developer of 123Monsite.com mess up with one server, and this lead to this : They configure fake hardware on the mother board while it's a software raid... noticing it didn't work, they remove a drive to boot on a degraded raid... and try to find what's wrong... that's when I interrupt the massacre this lead to this : the partitions of the removed drive was marked as

Week Numbers in google calendar

2009-06-08T16:22:00.003+02:00

I've found this website :http://sites.google.com/site/gcalweeknumbers/googlecalendarweeknumbersthat provide a calendar that displays week numbers in you calendar which is very usefull as at work (at least in France) where we refer to week number for planning.

MySQL backup

2009-06-08T00:33:00.005+02:00

In this post, I'll setup an automatic backup script that create an sql compressed with bz2 file per database. sudo -s Autologin with MySQL : sudo -s vi /root/.my.cnf[client] user=root password=TheRootPassword protocol=tcp chmod 400 /root/.my.cnf Test : [root@dell1 ~]# mysql Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g. Your MySQL connection id is 870724 to server version:

setup tomcat6 (with native library) with apache2 integration

2009-06-07T19:13:00.012+02:00

In this post, I'll setup a apache2 with php5 and tomcat6 integrated with apache2.Since Tomcat 5, you don't need a front http server anymore, but since I want to have php5 and tomcat6 on port 80, I need the tomcat6-apache2 integration with modjksince a lot of operation need the root privilege, switch to root :sudo -sApache2 & PHP5 installationThe following command install php5, php5 command line

DHCP server with ubuntu

2009-06-07T18:49:00.007+02:00

first install the correct package : sudo aptitude install dhcp3-serverthen edit the configuration file : vim /etc/dhcp3/dhcpd.confddns-update-style none; # option definitions common to all supported networks... option domain-name "domain.tld" option domain-name-servers 80.10.246.3, 80.10.246.1, 80.10.246.129; default-lease-time 600; max-lease-time 7200; # If this DHCP server is the official

Upgrade from kubuntu 8.10 to 9.04 with raid disk : no block devices found

2009-04-10T23:23:00.011+02:00

Well... I could have waited 15 more days to have the stable version of Ubuntu 9.04 available for upgrade... but no... It seems I wasn't aware i've so much time to loose.So I've upgraded my kubuntu 8.10 (64bit) to the 9.04 version.All went smoothly until I reboot where I get this nice message :no block devices found (4 times)Gave up waiting for root device.ALERT! /dev/md3 does not exist. dropping

Send mail through gmail smtp server with Exim4 - What to do when gmail account has been disabled

2009-04-04T17:10:00.005+02:00

To send mail from a machine using gmail smtp server see this tutorial :http://www.manu-j.com/blog/wordpress-exim4-ubuntu-gmail-smtp/75/I've just ran into a problem with this config.I've created a gmail account just for this purpose because you need to set the gmail account password in exim4 configuration file on each machine.I didn't want to use my personnal gmail account for obvious reasons.As

Holidays...

2009-03-13T01:03:00.002+01:00

Hi, I'm in holdiays until the end of march, far far away from any computers ;)Thomas.

Gears on linux x64 ...

2009-02-06T23:20:00.007+01:00

gmail, google docs and google calendar now offers offline support with google Gears ! Great... but... Gears is not available for x64 linux... I've ask the google support for a release date of an official x64 build... but meanwhile, I've found (yes... google is my friend) this blog : http://nielspeen.com/blog/2009/02/google-gears-64-bit/ that gives a x64 build of gears that actually works ;)

Limit the upload bandwidth of your apache webserver with mod_bw

2009-02-05T22:57:00.010+01:00

I've a server at home on a ADSL connection which has 100kBytes/s of upload and 1.2MBytes/s of download as bandwidth.If someone download at full speed some large file on my web server, my internet connection become unusable.To avoid this, I start to ask my friends to use a download manager to limit their download speed... but it's somewhat far too tricky for a lot of them...So I use mod_bw

How to solve GPG warning about apt/aptitude repository update

2009-01-24T12:48:00.005+01:00

When you add a repository in your /etc/apt/sources.list and run a apt-update you'll get the update of the newly added repository but also a warning about a GPG key like the following one :Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net intrepid/main SourcesHit http://fr.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid-proposed/universe PackagesHit http://ppa.launchpad.net intrepid/main PackagesFetched 309B in 0s (519B/s)Reading package

Thoughs about Facebook

2009-01-03T05:44:00.009+01:00

Today I've converted one of my friends to Facebook...This lead me to think about why I like Facebook so much and why I think it's awesome :Basic facts :It allows you to keep in touch with your acquaintance, see what's happening in their lives without actually spying them ;)Give updates about you in the same way.Use some useful apps like 'Birthday Calendar' that help you not to forget you're

Using Konqueror with Gmail full featured version

2008-11-30T00:37:00.004+01:00

When I run on Windows XP, I've my standart gmail address opened in firefox (and 3 other google apps gmail), and a developper gmail adress (which subscribe many mailling list). Now that I'm on kubuntu (at home), I needed an extra browser to do the same, and it's obviously Konqueror... but what's sad is that it's a poor plain html interface that you get with gmail. So I switched the user agent

Switching from CVS to Baazar Version Control System

2008-10-14T00:14:00.004+02:00

(note : this post will be improved soon)I'm changing my server to a new machine as the existing one as capacitor leak issue on the motherboard...I switch from sme server to ubuntu server.And as I was almost finishing the migration of my cvs repository to the new server, I asked myself : and what about SVN ? and Bazaar on which I've read about on mysql developer site ? And git, the VCS used for

Convert your CVS repository to GIT

2008-10-13T19:10:00.006+02:00

While I was on sick list, this last two week, I've search to get away from the venerable CVS and it's painful merge capabilities. (Also I was curious to try something else). Here is how I converted my CVS repository to git : Install GIT : sudo apt-get install git-core git-cvs Install cvs for the conversion : sudo apt-get install cvs cvsps Get the CVS repository backup ( a tar jcf of the

mount a NTFS partition on hardware RAID0 controller under linux

2008-10-12T23:21:00.008+02:00

My main computer has a major hardware issue (probably the motherboard, maybe the cpu). I can't re-install windows, it crashes in the middle of the installation. To complicate things, I've installed my windows on a (fake)hardware RAID0. It's fake because the raid part is handle by the windows driver. That's why you can still see the hard drives under linux as /dev/sda /dev/sdb etc... even after

What I allways install/change on my ubuntu servers

2008-10-09T00:46:00.009+02:00

I'm installing several ubuntu servers for various purpose (home server, Secondary DNS server, new primary DNS server, web servers, development servers).For each one, I write the setup documentation (which are stored on a google apps premium account, which is by the way a must have for all the cooperative stuff).Here is what I do for all servers, no matter the final use :useful softwaresudo -s

Setting up UPS link with an ubuntu server

2008-10-08T19:22:00.022+02:00

I've bought a new server (build from parts) to replace the old one that has capacitor leak issues and died †And with it, I bought a new UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) to replace the old one that non longer work either...I've googled internet to setup this UPS with my linux server (ubuntu server 8.0.4.1) and here is the result of my search and work :When the UPS detect a power outage, it wait

How to remove a windows update

2008-07-22T23:43:00.012+02:00

here is how you should proceed to uninstall the an update : (here KB936357 )Insert you windows XP CD (any version) in your CD Rom drive, boot, use your boot Menu or go into your bios to choose your CD Rom drive as first boot deviceBoot on the CD (hit enter to boot on the CD)If you're using RAID 0 or RAID 1 for your C driveHit F6 to specify an additionnal driver when it tells you so in the bottom

Developping with googleMaps everywhere with the same licence id

2008-07-06T20:56:00.005+02:00

When you want to use google maps on a website, you need to signup and get a key for the internet domain name that will use google Maps.When your developing your googleMaps feature, it's not on the production site with the final url. (At least... I hope it's not so ;)And you may code some google feature for several sites, and all these sites, you often code it on your computer with a local Apache/

Spring Transaction support with JDBCTemplate and Java 1.5 Annotation

2008-07-06T18:55:00.006+02:00

Here is quick tutorial to enable transaction in a Spring project using JdbcTemplate and Java 1.5 Annotations.I'm using Spring 2.5.2, Java 1.6.(it should work with Spring 1.2 and Java 1.5 too, considering this blog post, which also gives some usefull info for people new to transaction with Spring)for example , as simply as this :@Transactional (propagation=Propagation.REQUIRED, rollbackFor=

MySQL last_insert_id and Spring Framework JdbcTemplate

2008-06-22T19:27:00.007+02:00

I'm using Spring Framework JdbcTemplate on a project with MySQL server as database.And I've noticed that the query "SELECT last_insert_id()" returns 0 most of the time.Using this syntax improves a bit :SELECT last_insert_id() from `last_inserted_table` LIMIT 1The reason is that for each jdbc access, Spring use a connection for it's connection pool.So it may use one connection from its pool, to

Open ssh connection through proxy with NTML authentication

2008-04-01T17:26:00.005+02:00

Here is the explanation of how to pass a ssh connection through a proxy that use NTLM authentication protocol (cryptographic authentication) instead of a plain login/password authenication.First follow the steps describes here :http://blog.mansonthomas.com/2008/01/open-ssh-connection-through-http-proxy.htmlNext we have to deal with NTLM authentication.Putty do not know how to talk with proxy that

How I setup GoogleApps Premium on an existing domain

2008-03-01T17:42:00.019+01:00

Mail administration is boring and time consuming... It continuously takes more importance in every days exchange and the loss of one mail can have huge consequence : What ! You didn't bought the bread ! I sent a mail so you don't forget... it's enough... I divorce ! :opNowdays, email takes a huge amount of space, that you need to backup... So we decided to migrate our client to google Apps : 7

Add image in the blogger link list

2008-02-16T20:56:00.017+01:00

I wanted to add link on my blog to blogs I read regularly.Ok, I've found the Link List module, I add it. Add few link I like...But, some of the blogs are in French other in English...So I've obviously tried to insert some or even ... nothing works...So I used the hard way : I've modified my template to add prototype + script.aculo.us...