trop simple...

Profile-sync-daemon (psd) is a tiny pseudo-daemon designed to manage your browser's profile in tmpfs and to periodically sync it back to your physical disc (HDD/SSD). This is accomplished via a symlinking step and an innovative use of rsync to maintain back-up and synchronization between the two. One of the major design goals of psd is a completely transparent user experience.

This script installs the latest GitHub versions of some fine GNOME themes into the current user's .themes folder. Run the script again whenever you want to get the latest theme updates. Many of these themes are updated frequently with bugfixes and enhancements.

It supports GNOME versions 3.22 and above.

Powerful yet simple to use screenshot software.

Boot Rescue

In this document, we will walk through restoring the ability to boot Solus.

The inability to boot Solus can be attributed to various issues, such as:

   Multi-booting with an other operating system that “owns” GRUB and fails to show Solus after an upgrade of Solus is performed.
   Upgrades, such as to the kernel, that may not have applied correctly. In which case this could affect “legacy boot” (non-UEFI) or UEFI systems.

Multi-Booting

Multi-booting is when you have multiple operating systems on the same device. Also referred to as “dual-booting” when only having two operating systems on the same device.

The inability to access Solus in a multi-boot scenario typically applies to “legacy boot” (non-UEFI), where the other operating system owns GRUB, which is used booting itself and Solus. This can be resolved by accessing the other operating system and running sudo update-grub.
Incorrectly Applied Updates

In the case that updates have not been applied correctly by the system or the updates were interrupted, it may be possible to boot rescue the Solus system. To do so, you will need:

   A Live ISO of Solus booted on your system
   A terminal in that Live ISO opened

Mounting your system

Whether you’re using GRUB or UEFI, you will need to mount your Solus root (/) partition as the first step of performing a boot rescue. This is typically your primary partition, formatted as the filesystem type ext4.

   First we need to be root as the user. Type: sudo su
   Next we make a directory where we will mount our local Solus system: mkdir /target
   Now, using lsblk, determine the /dev/sdX# partition of the Solus system. We recommend checking the size of the partition listed and if it matches the size of your Solus install, use that. It will likely be something along the lines of /dev/sdb# or /dev/sda#.
   Once found, replace the “sdX#” in the following command with the partition and mount to the target directory we created: mount /dev/sdX# /target

UEFI

If your system uses UEFI as opposed to GRUB, you will also need to mount your EFI System Partition, otherwise referred to as ESP. If you followed our UEFI guide during installation of Solus, then in all likelihood your ESP will be about 500mb in size. If you’re unsure of the partition, run the following, replacing X with the same letter during your mounting of your root file system, minus the number:

fdisk -o Device,Size,Type -l /dev/sdX

Your output may look something similiar to:

Device       Size Type
/dev/sda1    512M EFI System
/dev/sda2  111.3G Linux filesystem

Notice we have /dev/sda1 as the Device with the EFI System type and roughly 500mb in size. This is the partition we will be mounting.

With our ESP device known, let’s go ahead and mount it, replacing sdX# in the case below with our partition.

mount /dev/sdX# /target/boot

Chrooting to your Solus system

To access your system and perform boot rescue, you will need to mount specific directories from the host system (in this case, our Live ISO), to our Solus system, and then chroot (change root) to the Solus system.

First run the following commands:

mount --bind /proc /target/proc
mount --bind /dev /target/dev
mount --bind /sys /target/sys

Assuming all goes well, you should now be able to chroot into your Solus system by doing chroot /target

Once in the chroot, run the following command, which will generate the necessary GRUB configuration files, EFI loader files, etc.

sudo clr-boot-manager update

After this, you should exit your chroot with exit then reboot your system. In the event you are still unable to access Solus, please contact us.

Prendre le temps de lire ca voir si ce n'est pas encore du bullshit...


Have you ever wondered what to do with an old computer sitting in a closet collecting dust? Why not create your own digital jukebox! This Do It Yourself (DIY) project will guide you through the steps to do just that with the help of Fedora and open-source software. In this article we will:

   *Explain the concept of real-time processing and why it is necessary in achieving bit-perfect playback
   *Give a step-by-step tutorial in configuring the kernel for real-time processing and optimizing the hardware for audio priority
   *Show you how to install the basic tools required for configuring and displaying your audio device (i.e. sound card, or Digital Audio Converter (DAC))

Before we begin installing and configuring the system we need to go through some basic digital audio theory to understand how the jukebox can achieve optimal sound performance.

DIGITAL AUDIO 101

The kernel must be configured for real-time processing, and top priority given to any audio request to provide crisp playback. This is done to reduce latency – the delay in time when the signal enters the system and is output through the audio device.

It’s best to experience latency with a fun experiment. With a friend in the same room, call their cellphone and talk. Notice the slight delay from the cellphone speaker?

This is because when talking to someone physically beside you, the audio is transmitted in real-time – a straight path from mouth-to-ear. If you’re using a cellphone, your voice (analogue) would first be converted into binary (digital). The signal would then be routed through the towers to the receiving phone. That phone would then convert the digital signal back into analogue for the listener. The processing of this audio causes a delay. This is latency.

The same goes for digital audio. The path that the audio packets travel from the source file to the audio device takes time. When we add layers and filters we add more processing and thus increase latency. This is why for the jukebox we are going to keep it simple and only use ALSA (Audio Linux Sound Architecture).

By eliminating Pulseaudio, or the Jack-Audio-Connection-Kit (JACK), we can keep the processing of audio data to a minimum. By sending the audio data straight to the audio device without additional processing, the path is significantly shortened and allows us to achieve bit-perfect audio.
What is Bit-Perfect?

Bit-perfect audio is the transmission of bits from the audio file (FLAC, MP3, OGG-Vorbis, &c.) to the audio device without altering the bit depth, sample rate, or number of channels. Bit depth refers to the number of bits in each sample: 16-bit, 24-bit, &c. The sample rate is the number of audio samples transmitted per second. For example, Audio CDs have a bit depth of 16-bit and a sample rate of 44.1 kHz, or 44,100 samples per second. High quality audio files have a bit depth of 24-bits per sample with a sample rate of 96 kHz or 192 kHz. Channels consist of: mono (1), stereo (2 – left and right), or surround sound (5.1).

In other words, playing a 24-bit audio file at 96 kHz on an audio device limited to 16-bits at 48 kHz playback is not bit-perfect. This is because the audio software, will have to convert the information, or down-sample the signal, into a format readable by the device during playback. For optimal sound quality it is best to let the audio device take care of re-sampling. This also minimizes the amount of CPU processing, keeping the kernel open for what really matters, transporting the audio information.
PREPARING THE JUKEBOX

Now that the technicalities are out of the way, we can fire up that old computer and start configuring the jukebox. First, download Fedora Server and perform a minimal installation. Enable administrative rights for the user account. If you need help with installing Fedora, consult the Fedora Project’s Documentation site. Once the installation is complete, update the system, install your favourite text editor (we will use nano in the examples), and reboot.
Configuring for Real-Time

Once you’re logged in, type:

sudo nano /etc/security/limits.d/20-audio.conf

This creates a file which dictates the priority of any audio request.

Enter the following in the file:

# Gives top priority to all audio requests
@audio - rtprio 99
# Gives favour to any audio requests
@audio - nice -20
# Allows unlimited memory access
@audio - memlock unlimited

Save the file and exit the editor.

Using these settings are safe because this is a dedicated device with a single purpose. For a desktop or workstation, the above settings can cause system instability. This is why Pulseaudio or JACK for these systems can make a difference.

Next we will add the user account to the audio group so that any audio software the user runs can take advantage of the settings we entered in the 20-audio.conf file. To do this run:

sudo usermod -aG audio user

Remember to replace user with your username.

Next, configure the I/O scheduler to minimize disk latency. The deadline scheduler works best for this task as it guarantees a higher priority for read requests. To see what scheduler the system is using type:

cat /sys/block/sda/queue/scheduler
noop [deadline] cfq

The square-brackets displays the I/O scheduler enabled on the system. If deadline is not in those square-brackets, open the grub configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

At the end of the “GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX” line, just before the end-quotes, type elevator=deadline and save the file.

To apply the GRUB configuration switch the user to root and type:

grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/fedora/grub.cfg

for EFI systems, or:

grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

for legacy BIOS systems.
Installing the Audio Linux Sound Architecture:

To install ALSA do:

sudo dnf -y install alsa-lib alsa-utils alsa-tools

And reboot the computer.

To view the audio devices Fedora detected on your system type:

cat /proc/asound/cards

This will list the sound cards installed on your system.

0 [HDMI]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel HDMI
HDA Intel HDMI at 0xf731c000 irq 49

1 [PCH]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel PCH
HDA Intel PCH at 0xf7318000 irq 48

As you can see in this example, the HDMI (digital stream) is assigned to card0, and PCH (analogue stream) is assigned to card1. USB DACs compatible with Linux will appear in this list.

Congratulations, optimal sound quality is successfully configured. Tune-in to the Fedora Magazine for part two where we will install and configure XMMS2, and finalize the transformation of that old computer into a Digital Jukebox.

histstat

This is a cross-platform command line tool for obtaining live, rudimentary network connection data on a computer system. This tool was designed for network and security analysts to easily view connections on a system as they occur. In a world filled with noisy computers, histstat can help someone quickly understand network connections that are happening on a system without having to dig into heaps of packet capture data. It will display useful information about network connections that utilities like netstat typically won't give you such as what time the connection was made, the exact command that created the connection, and the user that connection was made by. It can used to troubleshoot network issues, profile traffic on a system, and potentially find malicious activity