Ubuntu Backup Software

Backing up files can be useful in case you suffer hard drive issues, but it can also be helpful in case of “messing up” a file, and needing a backup of it.  There are many different backup options available for ubuntu.  Some backup to the internet, where your files exist in “the cloud,” and allow you to easily share the files with others, while other simply allow backing up to another hard drive, directory, or remote computer.  There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these approaches that I will be detailing as I analyze different peices of software available for backup.

All software packages that I will be mentioning in this post are available for other distributions of linux, but I am mainly going to focus on the installation and configuration for ubuntu.

Dropbox

Dropbox is one of my favorite pieces of software.  In addition to dropbox backing up files, it is also great for sharing files between computers, and friends.  Their software works on Macs, PCs, and Linux operating systems.  In this review, I am going to be focusing on the ubuntu linux operating system.

After you download the software for your computer, and create an account, a folder is created in your home folder (or wherever you chose to put it) labeled dropbox.  This folder initially comes with a few files in it to show you how it works.  There is also a photos folder in here by default (you can delete it) that you can add folders and images to, and then share via the web.  To do this, you place all of the files you want to share into a folder, and then right click on the folder, and select dropbox/copy public gallery link.  You can send this link to any friends, or share it on the web.  Here is an example of one of my dropbox albums that I made:

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Converting Ext3 to Ext4

The new version of ubuntu brought the option of selecting the ext4 filesystem instead of ext3.  After reading some reviews, I chose to do this on mine, and noticed quite a speed increase (benchmarks: http://www.linuxinsight.com/first_benchmarks_of_the_ext4_file_system.html).

After installing, my root partition was an ext4 partition, but my home partition was not since it was on a separate partition.  I decided to convert my home partition over to ext4 to get all of the benefits that it provides.

WARNING: Do not do this to a root partition unless you know what you are doing.  I have not tested this/looked it up, and I do not know how this will end.  Also, as with all tweaks (especially on a filesystem), there is some danger of messing up your computer.  I am not responsible for anything that happens.  Make sure all of your files are backed up before attempting this.

Converting

Make sure your operating system supports ext4, and if not, apply any relevant patches to the kernel.

Make sure you are using a live cd, or do not have the file system mounted.  Then, unmount the volume that you are converting, and convert it.

Example with /dev/sda1 (run “fdisk -l” to see your filesystems):

umount /dev/sda1
tune2fs -O extents,uninit_bg,dir_index /dev/sda1

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Ubuntu Jaunty Review: part 2

Ubuntu Jaunty was officially released today, and I have decided to write a continuation of my previous post with some fast download mirror links, and a screenshot tour of the install process. Feel free to post any fast download mirrors that you find in the comments section.

Download Mirrors:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/jaunty/ (torrent links recommended)

I have removed my links to the dropbox files that I had because the official mirrors appear to be just as fast now that they have recovered from the initial traffic.

I also went through the install process again, and took some screenshots to show how it went.  The overall process is very similar to previous ubuntu installs.

Part 1

Ubuntu Jaunty Review

I recently have been trying out the new ubuntu 9.04 beta. Normally, I have waited until the actual release to install the newest version of ubuntu, but in this case, I decided to go ahead and update early because I really wanted to try out the new notifications system and ext4 in Jaunty, and I had broken the networking in my current 8.10 install.

Install:

The install was easy enough.  The main difference that I noticed while installing the Ubuntu Jaunty was the change in the startup bar.  It has become a bit thinner and sleeker looking.

The install process is very much the same as it was in intrepid (see the screenshot tour of the install in part 2 of this review for more information).

New Desktop:

After the install, I rebooted the machine, and was quite pleased by the startup speed (they have made some definite improvements there).  Part of this could be due to my switch to the new ext4 filesystem (a custom option during the install, but not the default).  They have changed the login screen to a new, darker theme.  In my opinion, it looks much cleaner and nicer than previous versions.

Login Screen

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Xilinx ISE 10.1

I then ran the setup script in the root of the download folder. This appeared to install correctly, but after the software was installed, I could not figure out how to run the software (it installs no shortcuts for you). So, after a while, I figured out that the ISE software did not install because I was running a 64 bit version of Ubuntu. I eventually solved this by downloading the full version of webpack (instead of the 50mb web install). Then, I ran:

bin/lin/setup

This gave me an error:
error while loading shared libraries: libuuid.so.1

So, I looked this up online, and download the 32 bit libuuid deb from here (http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/e/e2fsprogs/libuuid1_1.38-2ubuntu2_i386.deb), extracted the deb file (right click, and select extract here), and extracted data.tar.gz. Then, cd to the data/lib folder from the extracted data.tar.gz, and move the two files to /usr/lib32

sudo cp libuuid.so.* /usr/lib32

After this, go to the install directory, and run:

10.1/ISE/bin/lin/ise

Most of ISE programs worked for me, but I had some trouble getting the floorplanner to work. You need libXm (http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/multiverse/o/openmotif/libmotif3_2.2.3-2_i386.deb). Install this in the same way that you installed libuuid (for more help, please request in the comments).

Impact:

I never got this to work (it didn’t work for me in Windows XP either though). I had to use the export software that came with with my fpga board). Since this does not work in linux, I tried running it through virtualbox (with usb host sharing). This unfortunately did not work, so I got it working under qemu (there are more details on how to get this working here (http://alien.slackbook.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=slackware:qemu#using_an_usb_device_in_qemu))

Sources:
http://braiden.org/?p=55
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Comp/comp.arch.fpga/2008-03/msg00838.html
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=203459

For school, we have just started using Xilinx 10.1 with the Digilent Basys board. When I looked on the Xilinx website, I was happy because the webpack (the software I needed for my class) worked with linux. I downloaded the software, and was hoping that it would be smooth sailing from there.

Mythtv Global TV Terminator

The most recent issue I have been having is getting my analog tv tuners to work. I have a Wintv-hvr-950, and a kworld global tv terminator. I have used my wintv-hvr-950 in the past in a mythbuntu box to record and watch ota atsc broadcasts. I also have struggled (yet never succeeded) to get my global tv terminator to work. Now, I am planning on bringing my computer to my college dorm so I can hook it up to the cable there, and record tv. Unfortunately, cable is an analog signal, so I attempted to use either of my tuners in analog mode (they both support this).

I had a lot of trouble getting sound with my wintv-hvr-950, and decided to try to get my kworld global tv terminator to work. I struggled with this for a while, sometimes getting audio to work, but the audio was playing back too fast, and it sounded like chipmunks were talking. Obviously, this was unwatchable.

I then remembered that I had a cable with the tuner that had audio out. I decided to hook this up to the line-in on my sound card. I set the correct options in mythtv, and eventually got this to work. No matter what I did, this audio also sounded aweful. It wasn’t playing back too fast, but there were popping noises, and clipping. Eventually, I decided to go back, and try using the tuner without the line-in, since that was not giving good quality.

I set the audio device in the backend back to /dev/dsp1, and then proceeded to play around with the sampling rate in the frontend:

setup/setup/TV Settings/Recording Profiles/software encoders/live tv

I eventually got 32000 to work for the sampling rate, and no one sounded like chipmunks anymore!

Notes:
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/KWorld_Global_TV_Terminator – A reference for the Kworld Global TV Terminator.

I edited /etc/modprobe.d/saa7134 to

options saa7134 card=65 tuner=54

for the Kworld Global TV Terminator in ubuntu/mythbuntu.

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Hauppauge_WinTV_HVR-950 – A reference for the Hauppauge WinTV HVR-950. I am not going to go into how to get this card working because there are other sites out there that do a much better job at explaining how to setup/use this card. Just search through the ubuntu forums for help getting it setup in ubuntu/mythbuntu.