Zachary Moshansky

Linux Media Server

2010-07-10T00:15:00.000-07:00

So I'm attempting to build a linux media server and so far it's been pretty painful. The goals are to have it able to stream media to a variety of clients, including Pc's and hopefully my xbox 360, share files securely, and be accesible from outside the LAN. To expand this I would like to at the very least password protect everything as it's getting dumped into a University LAN environment.

So far for the Server I have:
Mediatomb for Upnp Media Streaming (Fuppes/Ushare being alternatives)
Firefly for DAAP sharing
OpenSSH to use SFTP filesharing

On the Client Side:
Windows:
Windows Media Player - Upnp client
Putty - SSH
Itunes - DAAP Client

Linux:
Banshee/Rhythmbox - DAAP Client
Nautilus File Manager - SFTP

However through all this I can't seem to find a great linux Upnp client that works well like Windows media player did., it showed the library right away when i opened it up and didn't cause any fuss streaming anything.

I also still want to find a good way of securing everything a bit better, especially the Mediatomb Upnp library. UShare might also come into play to help with streaming to the xbox 360. I don't like that the web interface just sits out there on the lan with no protection so hopefully I can lock that up as well. As for making everything more secure I was considering dropping this Server into a VPN and then just connecting to the VPN network for all these resources so hopefully an extra layer of password protection.

Share Folder from Windows 7 to Ubuntu 10.04 Guest with Virtual Box

2010-07-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

This is how I shared a folder from a Windows 7 host to a Ubuntu 10.04 guest. This is great for my overall goal of running a Virtual Ubuntu Server on my Windows desktop for FTP, DLNA, HTTP, and whatever else I find handy.

1.) So first you need to choose a share using the virtual box prompt on the guest OS. This is called "Shared Folders" and can be navigated to from the main console, the "Devices" menu of a guest OS window, or the bottom right folder icon on the guest OS window. If you want to temporarily mount the share go to step 2, if you want to permanently mount it go to step 3. I recommend testing using the commands in step 2 first then permanently mount it using the Fstab.

2.) To mount this share you must use the following set of commands

a.) sudo mkdir /mnt/shares/videos
//These comments just explain what each of these commands do
// "sudo" - gives our local account root powers allowing you to create the directory.
// "mkdir" - creates the directory
// "/mnt/shares/videos" - the name and location of the directory to create

b.) sudo mount -t vboxsf videos /mnt/shares/videos
// "mount -t vboxsf" - command to mount the shares
// "videos" - name of the folder shared in the VirtualBox window
// "/mnt/shares/videos" - the the directory where I want to mount the folder

So this will mount the directory in a location so it's usable but we don't wanna do this every time so we will add this command to our Fstab file.

3.)To Permanently mount this share you must add the following to your Fstab file. ***For some reason this throws an error before i hit the boot screen but it still works all the same, not to sure why...

a.) in a terminal type gksudo gedit /etc/fstab
// "gksudo" - graphical sudo command used when loading an app with a gui
// "gedit" - loads the gedit text editor
// "/etc/ftsab" - the location and name of the file to open

b.) add the following to the bottom of the fstab...
#Automatically mount shares from Host OS
videos /mnt/shares/videos vboxsf
// "#Autom...." This is a comment in the fstab as noted by the # sign preceding it.

// "videos" - name of the folder shared in the VirtualBox window
// "/mnt/shares/videos" - the the directory where I want to mount the folder
// "vboxsf" - the type of filesystem

The final fstab should look like the last two lines of my fstab...

Wind Mobile/Telus/Bell/Rogers Phone support

2010-07-02T15:54:00.000-07:00

With Wind Mobile now available and covering some of the Vancouver area I'm looking for an awesome android phone to work with their network(1700mhz), however I also need it to work on Telus/Bell/Rogers
(850/900/1900/2100mhz I believe)as during summer semester I will be out of their coverage and need to swap sims. So far the uberphones to contend with seem to be a Motorola Droid X, Motorola Droid 2, or a Samsung Galaxy S. Hopefully there will be a few more phones out by the time September rolls around and I can choose from. The other thing to contend with is making sure the phones support all the carrier frequencies.

1996 BMW 328i E36 Rear Wheel Bearing How to

2010-06-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

So I just replaced the wheel bearing on the driver side of my car, having replaced the passenger side about a month ago, and the road noise I had before is completely gone. I figured if one was worn out they both would be, especially considering the mileage. So this is how everything kinda went, and apologies for lack of pictures, didn't have a memory card but I'll try to get some from the internet to illustrate along the way, but this isn't an easy repair. Also everything here is referencing from the driver side so if you doing the passenger side some things will have to be reversed, and there may be other slight variations.

Update: Originally I used this article, although the pictures aren't all in order they do help a ton.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=642032

The Problem/Diagnosis...
There was a loud noise that sounded like a bit of a whirring/quiet thumping between around ~15km/h ~75km/h. It seemed to come from the back of the vehicle and could actually be heard better from the interior rather than exterior. After jacking up the rear end I noticed that one tire (rear passenger side) had movement perpendicular to the car. That was the bearing I replaced previously and figured I might as well replace the driver side as well along with hoping it would cut down on some more room.

Part Numbers:
www.PelicanParts.com (Fantastic Supplier, and they ship to Canada really quick and cheap)

33-41-1-130-617-M34   Wheel Bearing (Rear)    $45.00 USD
33-41-1-132-565-M36 Axle Shaft Nut       $6.00 USD
33-41-1-138-648-M58   Snap Ring (Circlip)         $1.25 USD
34-21-1-161-806-M9     Brake Disk Bolt              $2.25 USD          (Not necessary, my old ones were in fine shape but someone recommended it somewhere)

Tools needed:
Below are most of the tools needed and the specialty ones your average backyard mechanic may not have...

Flat head screwdriver (Prying)
7mm Allen Wrench (Brake Caliper)
6mm Allen Wrench ( Brake Rotor Bolt)
30mm 12 point Socket (Axle Nut)

15mm Socket (Brake Caliper Support)
13mm Socket (Sway bar/Exhaust)
17mm Socket (Tire Studs)
Torx E-12 (CV axle)
Circlip Pliers (remove/install circlip)
Slide Hammer (Remove drive Final Drive Flange)
BMW B90 tool (remove bearing + i think you can use it to remove the Final Drive Flange)
or Build custom Bearing tool.... (I did to mimic this tools functionality)
Dremel (cut Race off of Final Drive Flange)
Misc tools (Sockets, Drivers, Torque Wrench, Pliers, Screwdrivers, Jack stands, etc.)

Dis-assembly Process Overview:

Remove Tire
Remove Brake Caliper
Remove Brake Caliper Support Bracket
Remove Brake Rotor
Remove Final Drive Flange (Wheel Flange)
Remove Sway Bar Bolts/Lower Sway Bar
Remove Exhaust supports/Lower Exhaust (Only necessary on Drivers side)
Remove CV Axle
Remove Emergency Brake
Remove the Bearing Assembly

1.) Tire Removal
Simple, Remove the 5 bolts holding on the Wheel, 17mm.

2.) Remove Brake Caliper
To remove the brake caliper you must first remove the tension clip on the front face, simply use a screwdriver and pry it off. Then use a 7mm Allen wrench to undo the caliper. I then used a piece of tie wire to hold it up and out of the way and avoid putting undue strain on the brake line.

3.) Remove Brake Caliper Support Bracket
The brake caliper support is pretty easy to get off. Just take out the 2x 15mm bolts and it should come right off.

4.) Remove Brake Rotor
This is super easy, just take out the bolt with a 6mm Allen key. Then I just lightly tapped the Rotor off using a small hammer, adding a block of wood helps avoid any undue damage.

5.) Remove Final Drive Flange (Wheel Flange)
Glad everything has been easy up until now, this is where things got really difficult for me. First take a screwdriver and straighten the pinched metal on the Axle Nut. Using a 12 point 30mm socket you can remove this. Next you need to attach a slide hammer and beat on the Flange till the end of time. It literally took me nearly 1500 strikes before it came off thanks to some rust. I first tried using a puller, mounted off of a support I bolted to the flange but the jaw broke from the pressure before the flange even came close to moving. Alternatively I do believe one can use the BMW B90 tool to do this as well as pull the bearing/install the new one. Worth considering but it's about $300 on ebay so probably not worth it unless you can borrow it or if your going to do both sides.

6.) Remove Sway Bar Bolts/Lower Sway Bar
To get the sway bar out of the way there is one bolt and nut located just back about 6" or so behind the spring mounted horizontally, and another nut to remove if you reach around the spring toward the center of the car mount vertically, both 13mm. After you take these off the Sway bar can lower somewhat allowing enough clearance to get the CV axle out.

7.) Remove Exhaust supports/Lower Exhaust
Using a 13mm tool you need to loosen off the two clamps at the back as well as a small hose attached to the exhaust. Towards the middle of the vehicle there are two rubber clamps to remove which allow the exhaust to swing down to get clearance for the CV axle.

8.) Remove CV Axle
To get the CV axle off use an E-12 Torx to undue the 6 bolts from the differential. I was able to get 3 at a time above the swing arm assembly using about ~2-3' of extension. I had to leave the tire on the ground to hold everything in place, then jack the car up and rotate it before setting it back down again to hold it steady to get the last 3. Once all the bolts are out just feed the axle out using the clearance gained from lowering the sway bar and exhaust.

9.) Remove Emergency Brake
I removed the emergency brake so I would have a solid surface for our homemade diy bearing puller (hopefully I can post the concept as it saves like $200 on buying a BMW one) to push against, if your using a proper puller you may not have to. So to get the E-brake off undo the spring on the left side, then you gotta get the clip on the left of and it should allow the two parts to split and come off. Leaving just a metal part attached to the brake cable which is easy to leave out of the way.

10.) Remove the Bearing Assembly
To get the Circlip out I tried Circlip pliers but they didn't work so well so it resorted to using screwdrivers to bend it out and then pull using vice grips. For the bearing, I used our home made tool and it worked great, essentially we mimicked the behavior of the "BMW B90" tool. All it did was have 1/4" flat plate and a sprocket hub with the same OD as the bearing on the back of a piece of 3/8 or 1/2 inch threaded rod. On the front it had spacers to pull it away from the bearing, and then another piece of flat plate. When the nut was tightened on the front it would push against the area where the E-brake was and pull the bearing out the front. I'll try and post a writeup on it to help in the future.

Reassembly:
Essentially you just do everything in reverse but remembering to clean up all the parts along the way. Also, when pulling the Final drive flange it is most likely that the inner race from the old bearing came out attached with it. So look on the back and if it's there simply cut it out with a Dremel. It took one cut off disc and I cut perpendicular to the race and barely marked the flange at all. Once it's cut I used a Flathead screwdriver to crack it and pry it open a little and it slid right off. Also after putting the Final drive flange back on use a new 30mm 12 point bolt and don't forget to pinch in the sides with a screwdriver or punch.

Cleanup:
I greased the outside of the bearings and the Final drive flange and it helped go back together a bit easier. Remember to clean up the splines on the CV axle and Final drive flange, mine had rust and a few small metal shavings in them that would have made assembly a pain. This is also a good time to clean up the brake rotors as well as the E-brake. I also tensioned the E-Brake a bit by using the metal gear on the right side. Helps hold the car much better now while parked, and doesn't rub when I drive.

Conclusion:
The road noise is gone and now I have two new bearings in the car. :) It's a lot of work but worth it if you don't have the money to drop to get a mechanic or dealership to do the fix. If you have all the parts and tools you can do this in a day. The longest part for us was hammering off the drive flange. Hopefully these instructions give a little clarity if you want to attempt this stunt on your own.

Disclaimer. Use these instructions at your own risk :) I take no responsibilty for any misinformation as there is potential to do damage to your vehicle, or persons during this, or if things don't get put back together correctly.

1996 BMW 328i E36 Sunroof repair

2010-05-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

So after buying a used BMW 328i, I have at this point replaced the automatic transmission (Bavarian Auto Recylcing), a wheel bearing (Pelican Parts), a few odds and ends, and now it's onto the sunroof repair. Luckily for me their is a great guide at BimmerDIY.Com. Once I get the rest of the pieces from Pelican Parts I will take photos and make a new guide up as I noticed a few things along the way that might help a less technical person or on the diagnosis side of things.

I have found all these suppliers and sites to be great help and really good on pricing. They all ship to Canada and did so very reasonably. Also check http://forums.bimmerforums.com/ for a ton of great articles, help, and a huge wealth of knowledge.

Java Vs. Python. Which to learn?

2010-04-05T23:08:00.000-07:00

After spending a lot of time repeatedly trying to pick up C++ I'm changing gears in favor of a more user friendly programming language. I also wanted something that worked extremely well cross-platform. These two languages came highly recommended. I like how little code needs to be written for python and the "weak typing," although I do appreciate that Java is a bit faster and the structure is more similar to C++ to which I'm already familiar. It also does garbage collection so hopefully it should help take the pain out of what I felt trying to learn C++. Although I think the big push is going to be that Java can also be used programming for mobiles and that could be the breaking point over Python. For the time being I'm going to be trying out Java and eventually QT, and if there's a compelling reason to switch to Python I just may. Although If I were to start everything over, Python definitely seems to top the list for a great language for beginners to learn.

Fixing Ubuntu 9.1 MBR GRUB 2 after Backtrack 4 Install

2010-04-05T22:55:00.000-07:00

After installing Backtrack 4 Final on my laptop I realized the grub it installed wasn't compatible with Ubuntu 9.1's ext4 filesystem that was in use.

So to fix this I used the Ubuntu 9.1 Live CD. Once booted I used the following...(assuming my Ubuntu partition was sda2)

sudo -i
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/ /dev/sda

This will install Grub 2 to the MBR restoring Ubuntu 9.1 booting options. However it did erase Backtrack 4's boot option so that has to be manually restored.

In doing this I used the following command to list partitions and uuid information.

blkid

Remember that sda1 becomes hd0,0 or sdb3 becomes hd1,2. Since Grub counts starting with 0.

Virtualization with Oracle (Formerly Sun) VirtualBox

2010-02-20T22:20:00.000-08:00

About VirtualBox:

VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). - VirtualBox Official Website

My Thoughts:

VirtualBox is a great platform for running operating systems in a virtual environment. It's multi-platform and I have successfully set it up very easily on both Windows 7 and Ubuntu 9.10. It also does a great job of virtualizing Linux and Windows OS's with support for seamless integration into the host OS. This means that by installing a software package in the Virtual Guest OS, one can simply move the mouse over the window and have control pulled in, it also allows more control of screen resolution, as well as a bunch of other stuff. The performance is great in terms of resources required and how well the guest OS runs. To install go to VirtualBox Download Page and get the appropriate package for your OS.

Definitions:

OS: Operating System
Guest OS: Guest Operating System, the OS that runs in the virtual environment
Host OS: Host Operating System, the OS that runs the virtual environment

Blog Update: New Look and Feel

2010-02-18T22:23:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to sprucing up the blog. I got a new template and did a little HTML coding and everything seems to be running along smoothly. If your looking for a new template check out BTemplates. Although you should definitely back up your existing one first and make sure you try out a few pages once a new template is loaded to make sure things are working alright. It also helps to go for Templates that have a lot downloads as they tend to be tried and trued in a working as expected regard. Other than the new look, I've embedded a Google Search and also added ShareThis buttons to the pages so if you like something feel free to share it.

Fireworks Replacement for Linux

2010-02-14T12:22:00.000-08:00

Having used Adobe Fireworks at school I got quite used to the simple interface and ease of use. However trying to run it under Linux isn't an easy venture, usually involving WINE and copying from an installed source. Plus there is the cost of buying the license to use it which is none to appealing for the home user, or even small business.

So the easy solution is to find software that works natively in Linux to replace it. Unfortunately I haven't found a single piece of software to do this yet. Although I have had good success using the combination of GIMP and Inkscape.

GIMP - Gnu Image Manipulation Program

GIMP is probably closer to Photoshop than it is Fireworks, but it does the job just fine. It's also cross platform so it works whether I'm using Linux or Windows. This is really nice because I can standardize on one tool which really helps with the learning process as I won't be switching back and forth between programs.

It is primarily employed as an image retouching and editing tool.In addition to offering freeform drawing, GIMP can accomplish essential image workflow steps such as resizing, editing, and cropping photos, combining multiple images, and converting between different image formats. GIMP can also be used to create basic animated images in the GIF format. At present GIMP is entirely suitable for amateur or professional work with images intended for viewing on monitors and printing on inkjet printers; GIMP does not yet offer the CMYK separation and color management functionality which is essential for prepress work. -Wikipedia

Inkscape

Inkscape shares in many of the benefits I've found with GIMP. It's free, open-source, powerful, and works under Windows or Linux. It's more similar to Adobe Illustrator then it is Fireworks, but combined with GIMP I can do anything I would have done in Fireworks between these two programs. Albeit it takes a little longer as I haven't learned all of the shortcuts yet, but it's coming.

Inkscape is a vector graphics editor application. It is distributed under a free software license, the GNU GPL. Its stated goal is to become a powerful graphics tool while being fully compliant with the XML, SVG, and CSS standards.
Inkscape is cross-platform and runs on Mac OS X (typically under X11, although the underlying GTK+ toolkit can be compiled to run natively under Quartz), Unix-like operating systems, and Microsoft Windows. Inkscape's implementation of SVG and CSS standards is incomplete. Most notably, it does not yet support animation, or SVG fonts, though base support for the creation of SVG fonts has been implemented as of version 0.47. Inkscape has multi-lingual support, particularly for complex scripts, something currently lacking in most commercial vector graphics applications. - Wikipedia

So if your looking for a free replacement for Adobe Photoshop, Fireworks, and Illustrator, these tools should help to get you well on your way.

Program for Atmegas using Arudino IDE

2010-02-13T20:20:00.000-08:00

So after slaving away for days and giving up on multiple occasions I discovered that you can write programs in the Arduino IDE and simply take the .hex file produced and burn it to my plain old atmega8 micro controllers. How awesome is that? This allows the amateur to use all the easy built in libraries of the Arduino software, without springing for full Arduino platforms and having a lot less circuitry so one can use this to go right from prototyping to finished model. Just remember to wire the pins according to this image

Also turns out that after more reading that this process has been a lot better documented since I last tried it. So I may or may not write up a guide and possibly a video in the future.

Google Apps

2010-02-02T14:16:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been using a lot of Google Apps at work, the concept behind it is brilliant. Everything is cloud based and functionality is reaching above general usability across the board on all of the non-beta services. Responsiveness is quick, customization is good, and the apps are improving everyday. To date I could easily use Google for all my Docs, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Email, Blogging. Chrome is nice, and I use it when interacting with any Google services but still hasn't beat out Firefox as my primary browser. Google Sites is a wonderful tool but due to the lack of customization that I can get out of it compared to their other services like Blogger, it will be a while before I use it exclusively over some custom designed sites. That said i doubt it will be long before they catch up in that regard either.

Songbird 1.2 Review (Ubuntu 9.04)

2009-09-11T23:34:00.000-07:00

So today I set search for a new music program to replace Ubuntu's default Rhythmbox. Songbird was quick to come out as feature rich and so I figured I would try it again. I say this as I had it previously installed and after a reformat it just simply didn't make it back in. Although I can say that there has definitely been some serious refinement in the time since then.

A Little About Songbird:

Songbird is an open source multi platform (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X) extensible multimedia player that has support for limitless amounts of customization. Songbird has been touted in multiple other reviews as the "Firefox of Music Players" and a "Itunes Killer." There is Codec support for the most common filetypes like: MP3, Vorbis, and even lossless FLAC on all platforms; depending on which platform you're using, even more codecs are available standard. A really neat feature of Songbird is its integration with media services like Shoutcast, Last.fm, and 7digital, as well as extensions to support Twitter, Youtube, and a host of other Media and news sources.

Getting Started:

To get started just go to GetSongbird.com and get the installer for your platform. Installation is quick and painless and is followed by a wizard to set up features and import media. After getting Songbird installed, and some media added, the first thing you will probably want to do is get some add-ons that will help with organizing your collection and provide some additional functionality.

1.) Feathers (Skins) - I grabbed a couple dark themes to make Songbird fit right in with my OS.

http://addons.songbirdnest.com/addon/1369

http://addons.songbirdnest.com/addon/1231

2.) The Exorcist - The Exorcist is a tool that shows Duplicate/Missing files in your library. Very convenient for when your building your media library.

3.) Now Playing List - A panel that adds a now playing list to your Songbird display. It's customizable in that it allows you to choose how the media will be added and allows you to easily make playlists. This seems like a add-on that will very likely become standard in some future version.

4.) LyricMaster - This add-on automatically fetches lyrics for your songs based on their meta data. The speed and ease it does this is absolutely amazing. If lyrics can't be found, which I found rare, it gives the option to perform a Websearch for them. My only gripe with this add-on is that, to my knowledge, you can't make it automatically scan and add lyrics to your entire library, but rather does it as soon as one plays a song.

*Although I'm not sure if this affects all platforms or even all hardware, but I had to download this add-on to enable the Multimedia keys on my keyboard.

My Impressions:

I find Songbird very easy to use and very functional with minimal configuration and everything worked as expected. Everything is well laid out and they manage to pack a lot of information into the available screen real-estate without it being cluttered, like the library, relevant band information, now playing list, and navigation. The Metadata editor was good allowing quick and easy tag changes, as well as multiple tag at once editing which is very useful when adding albums, and lots of untagged media. The ability to monitor folders(Preferences>>Media Importer>>Watch Folder) is always useful, although I found it a little hard to find as searches turned up questions from previous revisions that didn't have this feature. The only problem I found with Songbird, which was minor, is the ability to remove an item from the hard drive as well as just the library, a feature that is very handy for re-organizing and managing your library. Searches turned up official requests for this feature and it will be added in future versions, but due to more pressing issues hasn't made it in just yet. Overall this is a fantastic piece of software that really gives Ubuntu a visually appealing, and very functional media playing alternative to Amarok and Rhythmbox.