Improving power consumption on Ubuntu laptop with ‘Sandy Bridge’ processor

*Tested on: Lenovo ThinkPad T520 with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) and backported kernel 3.0.0-13

Recently I found interesting articles about increased power consumption on Sandy Bridge processors with new generations of Linux kernels.

According to article http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=intel_i915_power&num=1 there is a solution for this issue.

So, with a help of uncle Google and this article: http://www.techytalk.info/linux-kernel-2-6-38-2-6-39-power-regression-workaround/#more-1972 I finally managed to test it. I was honestly surprised by result, since at beginning I was quite sceptic, primarily because I’m not experienced Linux user and I had reasonable doubts about my ability to do something like this.

I tested it step by step, and I done lot’s of measuring and rebooting, but I’ll describe only final steps.

gm-notify – The Highly Ubuntu Integrated Gmail Notifier

https://bleedingpaper.com/gm-notify/

This small application is a try to get a very simple, but powerful mail notification for Gmail to the Ubuntu desktop which also makes use of the the new features like notify-osd and the indicator-applet.

Follow gm-notify on Twitter to be informed about updates!

Releases

18.09.2010: gm-notify v0.10.3 for Maverick – Read the release announcement
05.05.2010: gm-notify v0.10.2 for Lucid – Read the release announcement
21.04.2010: gm-notify v0.10 for Lucid – Read the release announcement

Installing Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) on Lenovo ThinkPad T520

This process is tested with Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS 64-bit.
(Sandy Bridge,  Intel i5-2410M processor, Intel HD 3000 graphic, Intel 82579LM eth card, Intel Advanced-N 6250 wifi card)

1. Download latest ISO at http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download

2. Download latest Intel e1000e driver at http://downloadcenter.intel.com/ and save downloaded file to USB drive.

3. Start your laptop and choose live session (“Try Ubuntu“).

You’ll notice that there is no any kind of network connection at the moment.
Mount your USB drive and go to the folder where your Intel e1000e driver is located.
Untar/unzip archive:

tar zxf e1000e-x.x.x.tar.gz

Change to the driver src directory:

cd e1000e-x.x.x/src/

Compile the driver module:

sudo make install

Load the module using either the insmod or modprobe command:

sudo modprobe e1000e

At this point your network adapter should start working. Detailed information about installing the driver can be found on http://downloadmirror.intel.com/15817/eng/README.txt

4. Now when you are able to connect to Internet you can install Ubuntu.

5. After restarting a computer, you have to repeat procedure for installing network card. (step 3)

6. Now you have to add next ppa’s:

apt-add-repository ppa:kernel-ppa/ppa
apt-add-repository ppa:glasen/intel-driver
apt-add-repository ppa:f-hackenberger/x220-intel-mesa
apt-get update

*If ppa:kernel-ppa/ppa doesnt work for you, you can try ppa:canonical-kernel-team/ppa

7. Install latest available backport kernel:

sudo apt-get install -y linux-image-generic-lts-backport-oneiric linux-headers-generic-lts-backport-oneiric

 

8. Update your packages:

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade -y

 

9. Restart your computer.

 

Dependency error when trying to install Dropbox on Debian

Written by Jonas Gorauskas @ http://thestandardoutput.com/

I use Dropbox on all of my systems and while not very secure, Dropbox is a quick and easy way to backup and share files. I recently rebuilt a machine with Debian 6 to use it as a test server for some of the work I am doing on some web apps and when I tried to install the .deb package you can download from the Dropbox web site, I was getting this annoying error message that said Error: Dependency is not satisfiable: libnautilus-extension1 (>= 1:2.22.2).

On the site, Dropbox offers installable packages for the Fedora and Ubuntu distributions of Linux. Well, I am using Debian and Ubuntu, being a Debian-based distro, should be compatible, right? You would think so… Turns out that the issue is in a dependency in the manifest of the Ubuntu package, as the error message has already alluded to.

Removing desktop environments on Ubuntu

@ http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/

Note, this applies only to Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric). If you’re using 11.04, go here. If you’re using 10.10 go here.

!!! It’s possible that the commands might remove some other packages you have since added to the default and want to keep. If that’s the case, keep track of which packages those are and reinstall them. Your settings should still be there.

Fix Gmail IMAP Invalid Credentials or Web Login Requires (Failure) Error

When accessing Gmail via IMAP access by using any email client including iPhone, Apple Mail, Thunderbird and Outlook, the following error message may appear, requesting user to manually input the user name and password again in order to authenticate with Google’s Gmail or GoogleMail IMAP server again.

Your IMAP server wishes to alert you to the following: Invalid credentials (Failure)

The error looks like a Gmail mechanism to protect against robots or automated scripts, and probably to stop and halt abnormal bandwidth utilization (upload and download) or abusing account activity such as using Gmail as storage space drive or transferring other mail account to Gmail.

Another reason for the invalid credentials or web login requires error to happen is too frequent mail checking. Gmail Help recommends to set mail client to check for new messages not more than once every 10 minutes.

If you’re very sure that you’re using a correct password and username (with @gmail.com after the user name), and not checking email in Gmail’s Inbox too frequently, you may need to clear and unlock the CAPTCHA. To unlock CAPTCHA for Gmail account, go to the following URL:

https://www.google.com/accounts/DisplayUnlockCaptcha

Note: For Google Apps user, visit https://www.google.com/a/yourdomain.com/UnlockCaptcha instead, with yourdomain.com as the valid domain name.

Type in the email address, password for the Gmail address, and fill in the correct Captcha validation. Click on “Unlock” button to fix the IMAP failure error.

For user who still faces the problem after clear the Captcha can try to use an alternative IMAP server instead, which is imap.googlemail.com on SSL port 993.

source: http://www.mydigitallife.info/fix-gmail-imap-invalid-credentials-or-web-login-requires-failure-error/

How Customize Ubuntu with Backgrounds and Emblems

This guest post was written by Gilberto J. Perera. Gilberto writes for LaptopLogic.com where you can find the latest gaming laptop reviews and have a look at the best laptop accessories!

As a new Linux user one of the first things I set out to do was customize my Ubuntu installation. I started to explore the main desktop and window options and I discovered that window backgrounds can be modified to use whichever picture a user designates. The user can also add Emblems to their files and folders to help identify contents at a glance. The guide below will walk you through the process of modifying an existing window background with colors or patterns and how to quickly assign emblems to your files. The last part of the tutorial will demonstrate how easy it is to add your own patterns, colors, and emblems to your Ubuntu installation. If you have any comments or questions please post them below.

How to Change the Ubuntu Linux Login Screen

@ http://www.howtogeek.com

Want to change your login screen? Don’t know how? You might think it’s very hard and requires super-geeky skills but it’s really simple and you won’t believe how easy it is to do it. Keep reading for the easy instructions.

To Do List After installing Ubuntu 11.04 aka Natty Narwhal

Excellent article on the http://theindexer.wordpress.com

Natty Narwhal !!! Yep that’s the hot new release of the Ubuntu Operating System family, 11.04 to be exact on the version. But this time it brings some really radical changes, a new UI shell dubbed Unity (built in house) on top Gnome pipes replacing the usual Gnome 3 shell,  LibreOffice replacing the default OpenOffice office family. Something awesome that I really like is the ability to try applications before you buy/install them in the Ubuntu Software Center, something not available in other OS with higher market shares. As of default applications go, Shotwell has replaced F-Spot, Banshee has replaced Rhythmbox. Ok let’s play with the new baby…

http://theindexer.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/to-do-list-after-installing-ubuntu-11-04-aka-natty-narwhal/

Medibuntu Repository For Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot

by Nitesh @http://www.ubuntuvibes.com

Medibuntu repository now supports Ubuntu 11.10. Medibuntu (Multimedia, Entertainment & Distractions In Ubuntu) is a repository of packages that cannot be included into the Ubuntu distribution for legal reasons, copyright, license and patents (e.g.  advanced DVD playback support, multimedia codecs etc.)

 

With every release, the repository is updated. A list of supported packages for Oneiric can be foundhere.

 

To add Medibuntu repository, run the full command below at once:

sudo wget –output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/$(lsb_release -cs).list && sudo apt-get –quiet update && sudo apt-get –yes –quiet –allow-unauthenticated install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get –quiet update

Medibuntu’s repository is deactivated by upgrading to a newer Ubuntu release, so you should run this command again after the release upgrade.

You can also run an additional command to add support for viewing Medibuntu packages in Ubuntu Software Center and bug reporting for crashes, if any.

sudo apt-get install app-install-data-medibuntu apport-hooks-medibuntu

For more info visit official Medibuntu Website.

source: http://www.ubuntuvibes.com/2011/10/medibuntu-repository-now-available-for.html