How to mount NTFS partition in Linux for Steam to work

 The scope of this post is to show you how you easily mount an NTFS partition in Ubuntu 17.10 x64
and use it Steam.
This way you can share the Steam download folder in dualboot  envirorment with Windows. So, doing like this you will not waste disk space with games run from Ubuntu or from Windows.
This article from Steam support site is incomplete. So, i have wrote this post.

First thing for you to do is to check if you have Disks installed. If not, you can install it like this:

sudo apt install gnome-disk-utility

Open Disk and select your ntfs partition, then click on the icon with 2 cogs and select Edit Mount options.

Then from it you should mount the desired partition with options like in this example:

This will create an entry (a single line) in /etc/fstab like this:

/dev/disk/by-uuid/7034C7A434C76BA2 /mnt/hdd/Data ntfs-3g locale=en_US.utf8,exec,uid=1000,gid=100,umask=000 0 0

After you remount the partition,or just restart,  you will be able to download and run steam games from it.
Just make sure that you select the same folder both in Windows and in Linux.

That's it! :)
If it works or not for you ...please provide some feedback. ;)

Ubuntu 13.04 and Picasa 3.9

This is how you will get Picasa running on Ubuntu Raring Ringtail 13.04 with working Google+ login.
This tutorial assumes that you don't have wine installed or you are using it in 32bit mode without any default libraries modifications.
Run this in a terminal window:

    $ cd ~/Downloads
    $ sudo apt-get install wine1.5 winetricks
    $ WINEARCH=win32 winecfg
    $ WINEARCH=win32 winetricks -q ie7
    $ wget http://dl.google.com/picasa/picasa39-setup.exe
    $ wine picasa39-setup.exe

After running Picasa setup, exit and from Unity Dash search "Picasa" and launch it from there. If you would like than drag that icon on your desktop and then you should set "Allow executing file as program" permission (right click on icon, properties, permissions).
That it! Simple.

Ubuntu OpenVPN Firestarter - How to setup OpenVPN

Ubuntu OpenVPN Firestarter - How to setup OpenVPN 

(EDITING IN PROGRESS)

If you want to setup OpenVPN on Ubuntu and also you are using Firestarter on the same machine then this is how you do it.
First, follow this guide: http://geeksandtweaks.com/wp/how-to-create-a-vpn-server-on-ubuntu-12-04/
I have this setup:
  eth0 = external interface
  eth2 = internal interface 192.168.0.0/24 (NAT)
  tun0 = openvpn interface (NAT)
All the openvpn clients are seeing the internal machines.
Then you will end up with the fallowing OpenVPN server.conf file:

#################################################
# Sample OpenVPN 2.0 config file for #
# multi-client server. #
# #
# This file is for the server side #
# of a many-clients <-> one-server #
# OpenVPN configuration. #
# #
# OpenVPN also supports #
# single-machine <-> single-machine #
# configurations (See the Examples page #
# on the web site for more info). #
# #
# This config should work on Windows #
# or Linux/BSD systems. Remember on #
# Windows to quote pathnames and use #
# double backslashes, e.g.: #
# "C:\\Program Files\\OpenVPN\\config\\foo.key" #
# #
# Comments are preceded with '#' or ';' #
#################################################

# Which local IP address should OpenVPN
# listen on? (optional)
;local a.b.c.d

# Which TCP/UDP port should OpenVPN listen on?
# If you want to run multiple OpenVPN instances
# on the same machine, use a different port
# number for each one. You will need to
# open up this port on your firewall.
port 1194

# TCP or UDP server?
;proto tcp
proto udp

# "dev tun" will create a routed IP tunnel,
# "dev tap" will create an ethernet tunnel.
# Use "dev tap0" if you are ethernet bridging
# and have precreated a tap0 virtual interface
# and bridged it with your ethernet interface.
# If you want to control access policies
# over the VPN, you must create firewall
# rules for the the TUN/TAP interface.
# On non-Windows systems, you can give
# an explicit unit number, such as tun0.
# On Windows, use "dev-node" for this.
# On most systems, the VPN will not function
# unless you partially or fully disable
# the firewall for the TUN/TAP interface.
;dev tap
dev tun

# Windows needs the TAP-Win32 adapter name
# from the Network Connections panel if you
# have more than one. On XP SP2 or higher,
# you may need to selectively disable the
# Windows firewall for the TAP adapter.
# Non-Windows systems usually don't need this.
;dev-node MyTap

# SSL/TLS root certificate (ca), certificate
# (cert), and private key (key). Each client
# and the server must have their own cert and
# key file. The server and all clients will
# use the same ca file.
#
# See the "easy-rsa" directory for a series
# of scripts for generating RSA certificates
# and private keys. Remember to use
# a unique Common Name for the server
# and each of the client certificates.
#
# Any X509 key management system can be used.
# OpenVPN can also use a PKCS #12 formatted key file
# (see "pkcs12" directive in man page).
ca ca.crt
cert server.crt
key server.key # This file should be kept secret

# Diffie hellman parameters.
# Generate your own with:
# openssl dhparam -out dh1024.pem 1024
# Substitute 2048 for 1024 if you are using
# 2048 bit keys.
dh dh1024.pem

# Configure server mode and supply a VPN subnet
# for OpenVPN to draw client addresses from.
# The server will take 10.8.0.1 for itself,
# the rest will be made available to clients.
# Each client will be able to reach the server
# on 10.8.0.1. Comment this line out if you are
# ethernet bridging. See the man page for more info.
server 10.8.0.0 255.255.255.0

# Maintain a record of client <-> virtual IP address
# associations in this file. If OpenVPN goes down or
# is restarted, reconnecting clients can be assigned
# the same virtual IP address from the pool that was
# previously assigned.
ifconfig-pool-persist ipp.txt

# Configure server mode for ethernet bridging.
# You must first use your OS's bridging capability
# to bridge the TAP interface with the ethernet
# NIC interface. Then you must manually set the
# IP/netmask on the bridge interface, here we
# assume 10.8.0.4/255.255.255.0. Finally we
# must set aside an IP range in this subnet
# (start=10.8.0.50 end=10.8.0.100) to allocate
# to connecting clients. Leave this line commented
# out unless you are ethernet bridging.
;server-bridge 10.8.0.4 255.255.255.0 10.8.0.50 10.8.0.100

# Configure server mode for ethernet bridging
# using a DHCP-proxy, where clients talk
# to the OpenVPN server-side DHCP server
# to receive their IP address allocation
# and DNS server addresses. You must first use
# your OS's bridging capability to bridge the TAP
# interface with the ethernet NIC interface.
# Note: this mode only works on clients (such as
# Windows), where the client-side TAP adapter is
# bound to a DHCP client.
;server-bridge

# Push routes to the client to allow it
# to reach other private subnets behind
# the server. Remember that these
# private subnets will also need
# to know to route the OpenVPN client
# address pool (10.8.0.0/255.255.255.0)
# back to the OpenVPN server.
;push "route 192.168.10.0 255.255.255.0"
push "route 192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0"

# To assign specific IP addresses to specific
# clients or if a connecting client has a private
# subnet behind it that should also have VPN access,
# use the subdirectory "ccd" for client-specific
# configuration files (see man page for more info).

# EXAMPLE: Suppose the client
# having the certificate common name "Thelonious"
# also has a small subnet behind his connecting
# machine, such as 192.168.40.128/255.255.255.248.
# First, uncomment out these lines:
;client-config-dir ccd
;route 192.168.40.128 255.255.255.248
# Then create a file ccd/Thelonious with this line:
# iroute 192.168.40.128 255.255.255.248
# This will allow Thelonious' private subnet to
# access the VPN. This example will only work
# if you are routing, not bridging, i.e. you are
# using "dev tun" and "server" directives.

# EXAMPLE: Suppose you want to give
# Thelonious a fixed VPN IP address of 10.9.0.1.
# First uncomment out these lines:
;client-config-dir ccd
;route 10.9.0.0 255.255.255.252
# Then add this line to ccd/Thelonious:
# ifconfig-push 10.9.0.1 10.9.0.2

# Suppose that you want to enable different
# firewall access policies for different groups
# of clients. There are two methods:
# (1) Run multiple OpenVPN daemons, one for each
# group, and firewall the TUN/TAP interface
# for each group/daemon appropriately.
# (2) (Advanced) Create a script to dynamically
# modify the firewall in response to access
# from different clients. See man
# page for more info on learn-address script.
;learn-address ./script

# If enabled, this directive will configure
# all clients to redirect their default
# network gateway through the VPN, causing
# all IP traffic such as web browsing and
# and DNS lookups to go through the VPN
# (The OpenVPN server machine may need to NAT
# or bridge the TUN/TAP interface to the internet
# in order for this to work properly).
push "redirect-gateway def1 bypass-dhcp"

# Certain Windows-specific network settings
# can be pushed to clients, such as DNS
# or WINS server addresses. CAVEAT:
# http://openvpn.net/faq.html#dhcpcaveats
# The addresses below refer to the public
# DNS servers provided by opendns.com.
;push "dhcp-option DNS 208.67.222.222"
;push "dhcp-option DNS 192.168.0.1"
push "dhcp-option DNS 8.8.8.8"

# Uncomment this directive to allow different
# clients to be able to "see" each other.
# By default, clients will only see the server.
# To force clients to only see the server, you
# will also need to appropriately firewall the
# server's TUN/TAP interface.
client-to-client

# Uncomment this directive if multiple clients
# might connect with the same certificate/key
# files or common names. This is recommended
# only for testing purposes. For production use,
# each client should have its own certificate/key
# pair.
#
# IF YOU HAVE NOT GENERATED INDIVIDUAL
# CERTIFICATE/KEY PAIRS FOR EACH CLIENT,
# EACH HAVING ITS OWN UNIQUE "COMMON NAME",
# UNCOMMENT THIS LINE OUT.
;duplicate-cn

# The keepalive directive causes ping-like
# messages to be sent back and forth over
# the link so that each side knows when
# the other side has gone down.
# Ping every 10 seconds, assume that remote
# peer is down if no ping received during
# a 120 second time period.
keepalive 10 120

# For extra security beyond that provided
# by SSL/TLS, create an "HMAC firewall"
# to help block DoS attacks and UDP port flooding.
#
# Generate with:
# openvpn --genkey --secret ta.key
#
# The server and each client must have
# a copy of this key.
# The second parameter should be '0'
# on the server and '1' on the clients.
;tls-auth ta.key 0 # This file is secret

# Select a cryptographic cipher.
# This config item must be copied to
# the client config file as well.
;cipher BF-CBC # Blowfish (default)
;cipher AES-128-CBC # AES
;cipher DES-EDE3-CBC # Triple-DES

# Enable compression on the VPN link.
# If you enable it here, you must also
# enable it in the client config file.
comp-lzo

# The maximum number of concurrently connected
# clients we want to allow.
;max-clients 100

# It's a good idea to reduce the OpenVPN
# daemon's privileges after initialization.
#
# You can uncomment this out on
# non-Windows systems.
;user nobody
;group nogroup

# The persist options will try to avoid
# accessing certain resources on restart
# that may no longer be accessible because
# of the privilege downgrade.
persist-key
persist-tun

# Output a short status file showing
# current connections, truncated
# and rewritten every minute.
status openvpn-status.log

# By default, log messages will go to the syslog (or
# on Windows, if running as a service, they will go to
# the "\Program Files\OpenVPN\log" directory).
# Use log or log-append to override this default.
# "log" will truncate the log file on OpenVPN startup,
# while "log-append" will append to it. Use one
# or the other (but not both).
;log openvpn.log
;log-append openvpn.log

# Set the appropriate level of log
# file verbosity.
#
# 0 is silent, except for fatal errors
# 4 is reasonable for general usage
# 5 and 6 can help to debug connection problems
# 9 is extremely verbose
verb 3

# Silence repeating messages. At most 20
# sequential messages of the same message
# category will be output to the log.
;mute 20

I have posted the whole file for you just to copy and paste it.
The most important stuff i have made is in firestarter configuration file: /etc/firestarter/user-pre :

# Allow traffic on the OpenVPN inteface
$IPT -A INPUT -i tun0 -j ACCEPT
$IPT -A OUTPUT -o tun0 -j ACCEPT
$IPT -A FORWARD -i tun0 -j ACCEPT
$IPT -A FORWARD -o tun0 -j ACCEPT
$IPT -t nat -A POSTROUTING -s 10.8.0.0/24 -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE

To speed up things a little bit edit /etc/sysctl.conf and add this line:

net.inet.ip.fastforwarding = 1 

Now i have a working OpenVPN tunnel with client internet tunneled through. :-)

Ubuntu - ExFAT

This is how to make Ubuntu 12.04 mount exFAT formated drives. If you plug an external drive then it will be mounted automatically into  "/media" folder.

        $sudo add-apt-repository ppa:relan/exfat
        $sudo apt-get update
        $sudo apt-get install fuse-exfat exfat-utils

If you need to mount it manually then you should do this (change /dev/sdc1 with your partition):
        $sudo mkdir /media/exfat
        $sudo mount -t exfat /dev/sdc1 /media/exfat
To remove the drive, just do:
        $sudo umount /media/exfat


That's it!

Update:
On Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtale, the packages are in the main repository, so you only need to:
                    $sudo apt-get install fuse-exfat exfat-utils
and your disks will mount automatically upon insertion. -)

Ubuntu - Batch Resize Photos

First we need imagemagick tool.

$sudo apt-get install imagemagick

Then we will resize all jpeg pictures with height over 1024 and width over 1280 from current folder, overwriting them (with 75 jpg quality):

$mogrify -quality 75 -resize '1280x1024>' *.jpg 

That's all.

EDIT: I have just found a better way! Download xnconvert. Just create a profile and use it every time. It is working perfectly with Ubuntu (10.04 - 12.04). You can also use this embedded in XNViewMP, a great multi-platform image viewer.

Ubuntu and Vodafone Mobile Broadband (Huawei K3765)

To get Vodafone Mobile Broadband with Huawei K3765 3G modem working on Ubuntu Lucid all you have to do is this:
1. Open up a terminal and enter this: (working internet connection required)
     $ sudo apt-get install usb-modeswitch usb-modeswitch-data
    Now you can close the terminal window.
    Note: You don't have to do this step with Ubuntu 11.10 and after.
2. Insert USB modem.
3. Open up from menu: System-Preferences-Network Connections. Select "Mobile Broadband" tab and click add. Select your device (if not already done). Next choose your country, provider and data plan. On next screen you have all the settings set up. All you have to do is to enter your pin and check "Connect automatically".

That it, now you have a working internet connection (max ~700KB/s).  :-)

Update: I have tested the stick in Raring 13.04 and it is working out of the box!
Update 2 : In 13.10 (saucy) i ran into troubles. I could saw the adapter with lsusb but network manager did not see it. I hat to install mdem-manager-gui and enable it from there.
  $ sudo apt-get install modem-manager-gui
Update 3 : In 14.04, again, i had some troubles. From lsusb command output i have got the vendor and product code (Bus 003 Device 003: ID 12d1:1520 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. K3765 HSPA)  for the following command:
  $ sudo usb_modeswitch -c /etc/usb_modeswitch.conf -v 12d1 -p 1520
Then i had to re-plug the modem and everything worked.

Experience with Ubuntu Karmic on ASUS EeePC 1201N

Asus EeePC 1201N specs:
Display:  12.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixels
CPU:        1.6GHz Intel Atom N330 dual core
Graphics & chipset: NVIDIA ION (GeForce 9400M)
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
Memory: 2GB DDR2
Storage: 320GB HDD
Wireless : Realtek RTL8191SE
LAN: Atheros AR8132 Gigabit Ethernet
Bluetooth:
I/O: HDMI, VGA, 3 USB 2.0 ports, SD card slot, mic, headphones
Webcam: 0.3MP
Touchpad: Supports multitouch gestures
Battery: 6 cells 
After a saw how Windows 7 works on it i decided to install Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala x86 edition.
Problems:

1. Installer could not detect any networking card (no wifi no lan). So, after it completes , i have booted with acpi=off kernel parameter and LAN began to work ! Very strange because i only need it once.

2. WiFi card is not known by current kernel so you have to download the drivers from here (Realtek site). Uncompress the file and install the driver withe these commands : sudo su; make; make install; reboot;
Also, the WIFI performance is very bad. 

3. The networking is unreliable (os crashes on large file transfer) i think  because of this bug: nForce2_smbus conflicts with ACPI region SM00. Let's hope that they will fix it soon. 

4. Under normal usage the battery lasted  only for 3,5 hours, not 8!

Good stuff: Everything else works as expected ! :-)



On this netbook, Ubuntu Karmic, with all this problems,, it's a much better experience than Win7!