Today I'm releasing a new version of Background Buddy. This release includes a major shift from closed to open source software. Versions 3.05 and later will now be licenced under the terms of the GNU GPL. Additionally, there is now a project on sourceforge.net to host future versions of both the source and the release versions of the software.
Major changes in this release:
• Removed all registration code
• Modified edition to signify "OSS"
• Corrected a few exception errors that still existed
NOTE: This application is not compatible with Windows Vista. I do not own Windows Vista, so I could not add full support.
For those that would like to see screenshots of Background Buddy, please browse to the Background Buddy blog post from June [ OR CLICK HERE ]
View Background Buddy on Sourceforge [ HERE ]
Download Background Buddy 3.05 [ HERE ]
Download Background Buddy 3.05 Source [ HERE ]
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
So long XBox, thanks for all the parts.
It's been a good run. You've entertained for years, but now you are dead. It's been slow, and painful. First went component out with green and red dying. You struggled on for a while, at least two weeks before your audio shut down. Last night though was the end with a final flash of orange before powering off for the last time.You'll be missed XBox, you'll be missed.
Being that XBox was flagged an organ doner, it's usable parts have been removed namely the power supply, muffin fan, controllers, and controller connectors. The supply and fan have been placed on ice waiting to be re-used and the controller plugs? Well they were immediately transplanted.A pair of controller connectors were soldered on to an old USB hub which is now hooked to my main linux rig. The pair of controllers hooked to it work splendidly.
Jan 6 10:33:02 deathstar kernel: [ 6854.423583] usb 3-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 2
Jan 6 10:33:02 deathstar kernel: [ 6854.652141] usb 3-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Jan 6 10:33:02 deathstar kernel: [ 6854.655075] hub 3-1:1.0: USB hub found
Jan 6 10:33:02 deathstar kernel: [ 6854.658024] hub 3-1:1.0: 4 ports detected
Jan 6 10:33:02 deathstar kernel: [ 6854.971245] usb 3-1.2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 3
Jan 6 10:33:03 deathstar kernel: [ 6855.083082] usb 3-1.2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Jan 6 10:33:03 deathstar kernel: [ 6855.086000] hub 3-1.2:1.0: USB hub found
Jan 6 10:33:03 deathstar kernel: [ 6855.088951] hub 3-1.2:1.0: 3 ports detected
Jan 6 10:33:03 deathstar kernel: [ 6855.402177] usb 3-1.4: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 4
Jan 6 10:33:03 deathstar kernel: [ 6855.514017] usb 3-1.4: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Jan 6 10:33:03 deathstar kernel: [ 6855.516940] hub 3-1.4:1.0: USB hub found
Jan 6 10:33:03 deathstar kernel: [ 6855.519932] hub 3-1.4:1.0: 3 ports detected
Jan 6 10:33:03 deathstar kernel: [ 6855.833114] usb 3-1.2.1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 5
Jan 6 10:33:03 deathstar kernel: [ 6855.944955] usb 3-1.2.1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Jan 6 10:33:03 deathstar kernel: [ 6855.947941] input: Microsoft Xbox Controller S as /class/input/input7
Jan 6 10:33:04 deathstar kernel: [ 6856.152328] usb 3-1.4.1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 6
Jan 6 10:33:04 deathstar kernel: [ 6856.264162] usb 3-1.4.1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Jan 6 10:33:04 deathstar kernel: [ 6856.267150] input: Microsoft Xbox Controller S as /class/input/input8
The controller connector uses the same color code as a standard USB connection, however the pinout is as follows:USB:
1. Red: VCC+
2. White: Data -
3. Green: Data +
4. Black: Ground
If looking at a female USB connector, pin one is to the left when the contacts face down. Just match the pins on the usb to the colors (as described above) on the XBox connector.
Diagrams for USB can be found [ HERE ] and for XBox [ HERE ]
(First published Jan 6, 2008 reposted on blogger)
HOW-TO: Create an automated apt-repository
Today we'll create an automated apt repository. For the automation, we'll use a simple script which is executed on a timer (in cron). This script will automatically detect and add new packages from an "incoming" directory. We'll sign our packages using a GPG key, and publish the site to users with apache. The repository example used will import i386 and amd64 packages for installation.
Starting with a fully patched Ubuntu host, we'll install the following debs:
apt-get install apache2 libapache2-mod-perl2 reprepro
If you would like to build custom debian packages (covered in a future article coming soon!), install the following additional packages.
apt-get install devscripts dh-make fakeroot build-essential linux-headers-`uname -r`
Once all of the packages have installed, edit the apache default site (this assumes that this server hosts no other sites, if so adjust accordingly).
Configure the default site as follows, changing the admin@fewt.com to a custom email address (Note: I'll de-ugly this as I figure out how to best post *ML on blogger):
NameVirtualHost *
<VirtualHost *>
ServerAdmin admin@fewt.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/
ServerName apt.asurion.com
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/error.log
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/access.log combined
<Directory "/var/www">
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
DirectoryIndex index.html
AllowOverride Options
Order allow,deny
allow from all
</Directory>
<Directory "/var/www/conf">
Order allow,deny
Deny from all
Satisfy all
</Directory>
<Directory "/var/www/db">
Order allow,deny
Deny from all
Satisfy all
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
Save and quit by pressing escape, followed by : then wq and enter ({ESC}:wq{ENTER})
Restart apache with the following command:
apache2ctl restart
Next, cd into /var/www and create the default directories needed for reprepro:
cd /var/www
mkdir conf
mkdir override
mkdir incoming
chown you:bin incoming
chmod 0775 incoming
Next; Create the default files:
cd conf
vi distributions
Origin: Your Name or Company Here
Label: public private whatever
Suite: stable
Codename: hardy
SignWith: default
Architectures: i386 amd64 all source
Components: main non-free contrib
Description: Something like "Packages for my systems"
Now; Create an options file:
vi options
verbose
ask-passphrase
basedir /var/www
Save and quit by pressing escape, followed by : then wq and enter ({ESC}:wq{ENTER})
Create your GPG key for repository signing and make sure it's in root's keystore:
sudo -s
gpg --gen-key
Note: If you choose a password for signing, automated package processing will not work.
Now, export the public key for import into apt:
gpg --list-public-keys
Using the line that states "pub" look for the hex numbers after the / (Ex: pub 1024D/5F6DEDCD 2008-07-10)
We'll use my temporary key hex for this example, be sure to change it.
gpg --export 0x5F6DEDCD >repo.key
Whenever you connect a new system to this apt repository you will need to place a copy of the key into your working directory and issue the following command:
apt-key add repo.key
Note: In a future article I will walk you through inserting this key into the Ubuntu keychain package for installation, and into a custom package for management.
Now we'll create the initial repository, then add the automation to ensure packages placed in /var/www/incoming are processed. Be sure to replace "hardy" with the Codename from the distributions file.
cd /var/www
reprepro check hardy
Once we have a repository, lets create the automation:
mkdir ~/bin
cd ~/bin
vi process-debs.sh (Note: add the following content, change all instances of hardy to match the Codename: line in the distributions file.)
#!/bin/bash
cd /var/www
if [ -e "./db/lockfile" ]; then
echo Error creating lockfile './db/lockfile', quitting.
exit
fi
for item in incoming/*deb; do
if [ ! -e $item ]; then
exit
fi
if [ -e $item ]; then
reprepro includedeb hardy $item >/dev/null 2>&1 && (rm $item >/dev/null 2>&1; logger -t user:notice Added package [$item] to the repository)
fi
done
Save and quit by pressing escape, followed by : then wq and enter ({ESC}:wq{ENTER})
Make the script owned by root and executable by world by issuing:
chown root:bin ./process-debs.sh
chmod 755 ./process-debs.sh
Create an entry in crontab containing the following (change the time to whatever you want here):
*/5 * * * * /path/to/process-debs.sh >> /var/log/repository.log 2>&1
Add a debian package to /var/www/incoming and wait. Once the job executes you should see it move to the pool.
Add an entry to a host to use the new repository (replace "main non-free contrib" with the definition of components in the distribution file):
vi /etc/apt/sources.list.d/my.repo
deb http://yourserver hardy main non-free contrib
Save and quit by pressing escape, followed by : then wq and enter ({ESC}:wq{ENTER})
If you have added the key using the steps above, you can 'apt-get update' then 'apt-get install what-ever-you-put-in-your-repo'
Starting with a fully patched Ubuntu host, we'll install the following debs:
apt-get install apache2 libapache2-mod-perl2 reprepro
If you would like to build custom debian packages (covered in a future article coming soon!), install the following additional packages.
apt-get install devscripts dh-make fakeroot build-essential linux-headers-`uname -r`
Once all of the packages have installed, edit the apache default site (this assumes that this server hosts no other sites, if so adjust accordingly).
Configure the default site as follows, changing the admin@fewt.com to a custom email address (Note: I'll de-ugly this as I figure out how to best post *ML on blogger):
NameVirtualHost *
<VirtualHost *>
ServerAdmin admin@fewt.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/
ServerName apt.asurion.com
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/error.log
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/access.log combined
<Directory "/var/www">
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
DirectoryIndex index.html
AllowOverride Options
Order allow,deny
allow from all
</Directory>
<Directory "/var/www/conf">
Order allow,deny
Deny from all
Satisfy all
</Directory>
<Directory "/var/www/db">
Order allow,deny
Deny from all
Satisfy all
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
Save and quit by pressing escape, followed by : then wq and enter ({ESC}:wq{ENTER})
Restart apache with the following command:
apache2ctl restart
Next, cd into /var/www and create the default directories needed for reprepro:
cd /var/www
mkdir conf
mkdir override
mkdir incoming
chown you:bin incoming
chmod 0775 incoming
Next; Create the default files:
cd conf
vi distributions
Origin: Your Name or Company Here
Label: public private whatever
Suite: stable
Codename: hardy
SignWith: default
Architectures: i386 amd64 all source
Components: main non-free contrib
Description: Something like "Packages for my systems"
Now; Create an options file:
vi options
verbose
ask-passphrase
basedir /var/www
Save and quit by pressing escape, followed by : then wq and enter ({ESC}:wq{ENTER})
Create your GPG key for repository signing and make sure it's in root's keystore:
sudo -s
gpg --gen-key
Note: If you choose a password for signing, automated package processing will not work.
Now, export the public key for import into apt:
gpg --list-public-keys
Using the line that states "pub" look for the hex numbers after the / (Ex: pub 1024D/5F6DEDCD 2008-07-10)
We'll use my temporary key hex for this example, be sure to change it.
gpg --export 0x5F6DEDCD >repo.key
Whenever you connect a new system to this apt repository you will need to place a copy of the key into your working directory and issue the following command:
apt-key add repo.key
Note: In a future article I will walk you through inserting this key into the Ubuntu keychain package for installation, and into a custom package for management.
Now we'll create the initial repository, then add the automation to ensure packages placed in /var/www/incoming are processed. Be sure to replace "hardy" with the Codename from the distributions file.
cd /var/www
reprepro check hardy
Once we have a repository, lets create the automation:
mkdir ~/bin
cd ~/bin
vi process-debs.sh (Note: add the following content, change all instances of hardy to match the Codename: line in the distributions file.)
#!/bin/bash
cd /var/www
if [ -e "./db/lockfile" ]; then
echo Error creating lockfile './db/lockfile', quitting.
exit
fi
for item in incoming/*deb; do
if [ ! -e $item ]; then
exit
fi
if [ -e $item ]; then
reprepro includedeb hardy $item >/dev/null 2>&1 && (rm $item >/dev/null 2>&1; logger -t user:notice Added package [$item] to the repository)
fi
done
Save and quit by pressing escape, followed by : then wq and enter ({ESC}:wq{ENTER})
Make the script owned by root and executable by world by issuing:
chown root:bin ./process-debs.sh
chmod 755 ./process-debs.sh
Create an entry in crontab containing the following (change the time to whatever you want here):
*/5 * * * * /path/to/process-debs.sh >> /var/log/repository.log 2>&1
Add a debian package to /var/www/incoming and wait. Once the job executes you should see it move to the pool.
Add an entry to a host to use the new repository (replace "main non-free contrib" with the definition of components in the distribution file):
vi /etc/apt/sources.list.d/my.repo
deb http://yourserver hardy main non-free contrib
Save and quit by pressing escape, followed by : then wq and enter ({ESC}:wq{ENTER})
If you have added the key using the steps above, you can 'apt-get update' then 'apt-get install what-ever-you-put-in-your-repo'
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