Sometimes simple things become hard problems. This happened to me when I discovered that my Fedora 18 OS was obsolete (very old indeed) and I tried to upgrade it to the Fedora 20 version.
Fedora 18 doesn’t support the automatic OS upgrade so I had to spend some hours to find information on Internet and create the right DIY solution for my case. At the end of my little (sic!) research I discovered that I was able not only able to upgrade the PC to Fedora 20 but I also found a good “trick” to upgrade to the latest Fedora 21 following in just a couple of steps with the help of fedup and some other escamotages.
This is how I succeed…
First, you have to open a Terminal and type:
su
init 3
but you will immediately leave the Fedora GUI and so it’s better if you write the below commands on an -old style, paper notepad- to be sure to have all the right information in you hands and correctly manage the upgrade from Fedora 18 to Fedora 20
sudo su -
yum update
yum install fedup
fedup-cli --network 20 --nogpgcheck
It’s better to add –nogpgcheck because often you are not able to complete your upgrade for the “old”, “bad saved” gpg key in your system.
reboot
Now, at the boot-up menu (GRUB 2 menu) you have to choose “System Upgrade (Fedup)”.
Then just to be sure you really have an up to date OS, in Terminal, type:
Yum update
If you have problems with one or more of your “old” repositories don’t forget to deconfigure them. In my case I had to launch this command line in Terminal due to skip an old repository and proceed with the upgrade:
yum-config-manager --save --setopt=home_moritzmolch_gencfsm.skip_if_unavailable=true
At this point, to upgrade from Fedora 20 to Fedora 21 you have to open (again) the Terminal and type:
su
fedup --network 21 --product=workstation --nogpgcheck
OR
fedup --network 21 --product=server --nogpgcheck
(if your Fedora version is the server one)
OR
fedup --network 21 --product=cloud --nogpgcheck
(for the Fedora cloud edition for generic virtual machines or Container)
Take it easy and go to bed for a long snap because, in my case, the download took some hours as for 2,577 files to be upgraded…
At the end, as before, you have to Reboot and select “System Upgrade (Fedup)” at the boot-up menu (GRUB 2 menu) and all the necessary files will be installed. Again, take a good book to read while you wait the installation.
Good luck and remind you MUST backup all your data before you start any upgrade because unforeseen risks are always around the corner!
References:
https://ask.fedoraproject.org/en/question/37247/upgrade-fedora-18-to-fedora-20-via-yum-or-fedup/
http://tecadmin.net/steps-to-upgrade-fedora-19-to-20-using-fedup-tool/
http://www.unixmen.com/upgrade-fedora-20-fedora-21-using-fedup/
https://ask.fedoraproject.org/en/question/39558/how-to-remove-a-repository-from-my-system
The first time I noticed doubled icons appearing on my Android 4.4 smartphone I thought that it was a temporary problem. So I tried to solve that with a simple reboot but I didn’t succeed.
Moreover when I tried to delete just one of the doubled icons I uninstalled the App…. This kind of matter is typical of smartphones and it usually doesn’t happen on tablets or Android PCs where you have a dedicated room (the “menu” page) to uninstall software (Apps) and different “screens” to organize them.
This means that if you delete a App’s icon from one of the “screens” you will still have your software installed into your device. The problem of double icons on smartphones is caused by a wrong configuration of your personal settings on Google Play Store.
To solve it, you have to:
1 – find all the problematic Apps;
2 – go to Google Play — Settings – and deselect “Add icon to home screen”;
3 – uninstall the “problematic” Apps;
4 – reinstall them.
To conclude it’s better to solve this kind of problem as soon as you notice it because, to solve the matter, you will have to waste your time uninstalling and reinstalling all the Apps with doubled icons.
Starting from Ubuntu 12.04 we observed different graphics problems with “old” computers. When I say “old” I don’t mean obsolete hardware but PC with not more than three years of usage.
Many problems were especially noticed in systems with dual monitors or involving laptops. In few words, Ubuntu was not able to keep and memorize the correct video settings and it was necessary to set-up monitors configuration almost each time you logged on your OS. If you have the same problem and you are surfing the net to fix this “bug” don’t forget to search for solutions strictly connected to the laptop or graphic card you are really using. In fact in our experience there are more than few solutions possible and what it’s resolving for some hardware could become a real mess for different (but similar) machines.
The risk of damaging Ubuntu graphical interface while you try to fix the laptop – dual monitors problem is high. Or it has been in our experience because after some tests we were just able to use Ubuntu through the old line way in its safe mode boot. In any way, in our experience (IBM Thinkpad T43 and a HP L1950g monitor using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS with MATE as graphical interface) we solved all the matter just using Terminal and typing:
sudo apt-get update
and
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop
We are not able to explain why it works but it really fixed the bug. Probably, in one of the previous update one or more libraries conflicted with Ubuntu 12.04 configuration generating all the mess we fought against during the past months.
So, if you want to test our solution on your PC, do it at your risk, and type:
sudo apt-get install --reinstall ubuntu-desktop
or
sudo apt-get install --reinstall xubuntu-desktop
or
sudo apt-get install --reinstall kubuntu-desktop
or
sudo apt-get install --reinstall lubuntu-desktop
If you want to reinstall all (k)ubuntu-desktop dependencies:
sudo apt-cache depends ubuntu-desktop | awk -F ":" '{print $2}' | sed '/^$/d' | xargs sudo apt-get install --reinstall --install-recommends --yes
Don’t forget to choose your favourite k-x-l-u-buntu-desktop when you type all the above code in just one line and !
Good luck!…. and touch wood while you fix this really annoying bug….. 
If you want to improve your Google searches you can find many useful queries on internet and, if have time, you can also attend a specific Google free course.
But just few people know that there are specific queries available for Gmail.
I found some of them casually when I need to search some specific, old emails into my accounts some days ago. Then I discovered that Google itself published a complete list of all the possible queries accepted by Gmail.
I warmly suggest you to spend some minutes reading and exploring all the queries because they are really useful when you use Gmail in a professional way.
Here, I just want to sum-up some of them that, in my experience, are the most common you can use when you are becoming crazy looking for a specific email you sent or received.
The powerful feature is represented by the possibility to mix the different queries to create super-queries that can intercept the “wanted” email or documents in a less than a second.
Time
after:2010/10/24 before:2011/09/24
Here you are defining the time range and Gmail will show all the emails sent or received between the two specified dates.
From or To
from xyz@zyw.com to:xyz@zyw.com
Where xyz @zyw.com is the email address you are focusing on.
from:tom OR from:Luis from:tom OR from:Luis -meeting
In this case you are looking for an email from Tom or (plus) Luis but it hasn’t to contain (- minus) the word “meeting”.
Bcc or CC
bcc:xyz@zyw.com cc:xyz@zyw.com
Where xyz @zyw are specific email addresses you are looking for.
Filename
filename:invitation filename:(jpg OR jpeg OR png) filename:(doc OR docx OR pdf) filename:invitation(doc OR docx OR pdf)
Subject
subject:meeting
Attachment
has:attachment
Spam
in:spam
And you check into a specific folder. In my case: the Spam folder
Larger or Smaller
larger:25MB smaller:250MB
Some complex query examples:
from:xyz@zyw.com filename:(jpg OR jpeg OR png) to:xyz@zyw.com filename:(doc OR docx OR pdf) from:xyz@zyw.com filename:invitationfrom xyz@zyw.com to:xyz@zyw.com filename:(doc OR docx OR pdf) subject:meeting after:2011/10/24 before:2011/11/24 in:spam subject:meeting
First of all, I wanted to test one of the latest version of Android 4 but I didn’t want to spend money for a new device so I decided to use/sacrifice the Nook Color that I used rarely because I am a Kindle enthusiast.
Secondly I didn’t want to void the Nook warranty or permanently modify its ROM.
Last but not least I never pretended to discover a new way to modify the Nook but just find the most simple and practical tutorial into internet.
After some hours of internet surfing I found some interesting commercial solutions (e.g. n2acards) and a lot of good tutorial posts and my final choice was one by xda-developers.
I bought a class 4, 8 GB micro SD card and I followed the detailed instructions described into the xda-developers post…, but I had some practical problems because I didn’t read carefully all the text.
The xda-developers tutorial is really well done and full of right information but, as for my experience, it is best to focus your attention on some few points/steps.
In particular:
– you have to create a bootable micro SD card using these commands on Terminal:
sudo fdisk -l
(in this way you will discover the right address of your SD card, in my case was “sdc”. Pay attention! If you choose the wrong address you risk to wipe your hard disk)
sudo dd if=generic-sdcard-v1.3-CM7-9-10-larger-Rev5.img of=/dev/sdc
where generic-sdcard-v1.3-CM7-9-10-larger-Rev5.img is the the image file you find in the xda-developers webpage and sdc the right address of your SD card
– when you download the three necessary “software”, be sure to choose the right one for the CM you have chosen. I mean: if you choose to install CM 9 you need gapps-ics but, if you prefer CM 10, gapps-jb is the right software for you. If you don’t use the proper file, you will have this type of “error message” when you boot your new Android:
Unfortunately, Google services framework has stopped
Unfortunately, Setup Wizard has stopped
Adding the zip files suggested on the xda-developers guide you are now ready to test the Android 4 on your Nook. During the first boot up the Linux software on the SD card will inflate the proper files creating all the right folders and compiling the libraries. To complete this step you will need about 8/10 minutes and, at the end, the Nook will automatically shut down.
In my case I installed CM 10 and during my first boot-up, after I completed the installation, I was not able to use the Android Keyboard and I read this error message on the screen:
Unfortunately, Android keyboard (AOSP) has stopped
Luckily, I was not the first user to have this kind of problem and I read the right tip into another xda-developer blog. I had to come back at the beginning of the Tutorial and change the gapps zip file to an older version, more precisely the 2012-10-11. After this, the new installation the Android 4 run properly on the Nook Color.
For my experience, the Android 4 on the Nook Color is slowest than I supposed but it is not so slow to force me to come back to an older Android version. When I installed a couple of free apps, Startup Manager and Memory Booster, the speed improved and Android was more fluid.
The 2012 is ending and Yahoo has recently decided to update its services. I don’t actually like Yahoo new graphics and the GUI but this is really marginal.
The real problem with this Yahoo services upgrade is represented by many users who were not able to find the Notepad service previously offered into the Yahoo email.
The worst thing is that some of them had saved “confidential” information into the notes. I prefer not to say much about this point but…, please,… 2013 is coming and none can till think to “save” unencrypted confidential information in an online services like Yahoo Notepad…
To solve the mystery of disappeared Yahoo Notepad you can stop searching into the email menus and go directly to http://notepad.mail.yahoo.com where, using the same old (sic…) Yahoo mail password, you will be able to rescue all the notesa you previously have saved there.
Happy New Year!
Christmas time! And you want to buy some presents… ebay could represent a good option to save some money but it needs a lot of time because you want to be sure you are bidding at the right price to the best (used or not) item.
The web is full of websites which help you to discover and follow items on ebay but, in the real world, from the moment you find something to the end of a winning auction many days pass and often you have not time to follow and properly bid for your “catches”.
The software I use and recommend for ebay auctions is AuctionSieve. This software is written in Java and consequently it is multiplatform. In the Download Page you can always find the right version for the OS you are using.
On Linux, download AuctionSieve, extract the file and save it to (e.g.) Home. Open the folder you created and give the permission to execute as program to auctionsieve.jar (right button on the mouse –> Properties –> Permission –> Allow executing file as program”). Then open it with (in my case) -OpenJKD Java 6 Runtime-.
AuctionSieve is intuitive but you have to “play” with it for a couple of hours before dominating all its features. You can save your searches, focus on just one category, filter items using “catch” or “trash” words options, create personal watchlists and evaluate the price of a particular item using the “Price History” tab. If you repeat a specific search you did in the past, you can decide to automatically exclude all the items you have already seen before and you will spare more time examining the results. Moreover, when you begin a “New Sieve”, you can also import the same search criteria you created and selected during a previous search you did.
Let me suggest you to read the AuctionSieve Tour page before using it. In this way you will skip all the most common mistakes that beginners usually make.
I confess that I use Pogoplug as cloud server for my external hard disks because it is really simple to configure and trustful. Unfortunately the Linux version of the Pogoplug management software is not so simple to configure and has fewer features than the Windows and MAC versions.
Running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS I can manually mount the drives I connected to my Pogoplug device, following the path Network –> Windows –> etc.., but sometimes this way is not so fast and moreover I cannot access to Pogoplug Cloud.
Waiting for an updated software from the producer I decided to use the current version to automatize the process and mount the drives connected to the Pogoplug and its cloud as if they were physically attached to my Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.
After a “classic” Google search on this topics I found different suggestions. Unfortunately I also had more than few problems to configure the software provided by Pogoplug because some tips were not so clear or easy as I desired.
By my experience, the fastest and reliable way to configure Pogoplug drives on Ubuntu 12.04 is the following:
– open Terminal and type sudo apt-get install fuse-utils
– open Synaptic Package Manager and be double sure you have yet installed these packages: fusesmb, fusedav, fuseext2, fusefat
– download the Linux software provided into the Downloads section of Plogoplug website, unzip it and save the file in your Home folder
– open Terminal and type: sudo usermod -a -G fuse $(id -u -n)
– log out and then log in again on your Ubuntu account to be sure that Fuse is correctly running
– open Terminal again and create a directory (in Media) to be used as mount point: sudo mkdir /media/pogoplug
– then type: sudo chown root:fuse /media/pogoplug
– and: sudo chmod 0775 /media/pogoplug
– in Terminal launch this command:
/home/yourusernameonubuntu/pogoplugfs --password yourpassword --mountpoint /media/pogoplug --user yourusername
where:
1. yourusernameonubuntu means you have to insert the name of User profile you use when you log in Ubuntu on your computer
2. yourusername and yourpassword are the username and password you use on the Plogoplug Website
Now, after some seconds an many automatic text lines, an icon named Pogoplug will appear on your desktop and you will be able to manage the online Pogoplug features as a local disk.
Don’t forget that you have to use keys -control+c- in Terminal if you want to disconnect from Pogoplug.
At this point the work is done but you might create a launcher icon in your (e.g.) Applications menu following this instructions:
– go to: System Tools –> Preferences –> Main Menu and click on the group (menu) where you want to create your new launcher (in my case simply was Applications)
New Item –> Create Launcher
Then fill the required fields with:
Type = Application in Terminal
Name = Pogoplug
Command =
/home/yourusernameonubuntu/pogoplugfs --password yourpassword --mountpoint /media/pogoplug --user yourusername
(as for the example above)
If you want to personalize the button you can also choose your favorite icon clicking on the picture on the left high corner.
On my side I also preferred to automatize the launch of Pogoplug command at each boot up in this way:
– go to: System Tools –> Preferences –> Startup Applications
– click on Add
– fill the fields:
Name = Pogoplug
Command = Same command line you used to start Pogoplug drive:
/home/yourusernameonubuntu/pogoplugfs --password yourpassword --mountpoint /media/pogoplug --user yourusername
(as for the example above)
So, starting now, you will have your Pogoplug drive connected each time you boot Ubuntu. You will not have any annoying Terminal lines.
Security Warnings: don’t forget that the data you move to and back Pogoplug, are directed through the web. This means that they could potentially be intercepted (and read) by third parties but it’s also necessary to specify that, if you configure it on the website Settings area, Pogoplug uses SSL (HTTPS) to encrypt the connection with its servers.
Anyway, don’t forget that the data you store into Pogoplug are not encrypted. If you want to join a better level of security you can encrypt previously your data or your disks using different softwares as TrueCrypt or the command dm-crypt (for more details on this topic also visit http://archlinuxarm.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1761&p=9723). 
Computer Borders 