Martin Henze » Ubuntu Linux

Brother printers and Ubuntu Linux 8.04

Martin Henze — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 22:06:13 +0000

Starting with Ubuntu Linux 8.04 (Hardy Heron) it’s even easier to get the decent printers from Brother running.

The drivers for a lot of their printers (lpr drivers and cups-wrappers) are now available in the multiverse repositories.

Just install the corresponding brother-lpr-drivers-* and brother-cups-wrapper-* packages and you can use your favorite CUPS frontend to setup your printer.

Below you find a list of the packages and the drivers they include.

brother-lpr-drivers-ac / brother-cups-wrapper-ac:
HL-4040CN, HL-4050CDN, HL-4070CDW, MFC-9440CN, MFC-9840CDW, DCP-9040CN and DCP-9045CDN

brother-lpr-drivers-bh7 / brother-cups-wrapper-bh7:
DCP-130C, DCP-330C, DCP-540CN, DCP-750CW, FAX-1860C, FAX-1960C, FAX-2480C, FAX-2580C, MFC-240C, MFC-3360C, MFC-440CN, MFC-5460CN, MFC-5860CN, MFC-660CN, MFC-665CW and MFC-845CW

brother-lpr-drivers-extra / brother-cups-wrapper-extra:
FAX-1815C, FAX-1820C, FAX-1835C, FAX-1840C, FAX-1920CN, FAX-1940CN, FAX-2440C, MFC-210C, MFC-3220C, MFC-3240C, MFC-3320CN, MFC-3340CN, MFC-3420C, MFC-3820CN, MFC-410CN, MFC-420CN, MFC-5440CN, MFC-5840CN, MFC-620CN, DCP-110C, DCP-310CN, DCP-560CN, DCP-770CW, DCP-350C, DCP-353C, MFC-465CN, MFC-680CN, MFC-685CW, MFC-885CW, MFC-230C, MFC-235C, MFC-260C, DCP-135C, DCP-150C and DCP-153C

brother-lpr-drivers-laser / brother-cups-wrapper-laser:
DCP-7020, DCP-7025, DCP-8060, DCP-8065DN, FAX-2820, FAX-2920, HL-2030, HL-2040, HL-2070N, HL-5240, HL-5250DN, HL-5270DN, HL-5280DW, MFC-7220, MFC-7225N, MFC-7420, MFC-7820N, MFC-8460N, MFC-8660DN, MFC-8860DN and MFC-8870DW

brother-lpr-drivers-laser1 / brother-cups-wrapper-laser1:
DCP-1000, DCP-1400, DCP-8020, DCP-8025D, DCP-8040, DCP-8045D, FAX-2850, FAX-2900, FAX-3800, FAX-4100, FAX-4750e, FAX-5750e, HL-1030, HL-1230, HL-1240, HL-1250, HL-1270N, HL-1430, HL-1440, HL-1450, HL-1470N, HL-1650, HL-1670N, HL-1850, HL-1870N, HL-5030, HL-5040, HL-5050, HL-5070N, HL-5130, HL-5140, HL-5150D, HL-5170DN, HL-6050, HL-6050D, MFC-4800, MFC-6800, MFC-8420, MFC-8440, MFC-8500, MFC-8820D, MFC-8840D, MFC-9030, MFC-9070, MFC-9160, MFC-9180, MFC-9660, MFC-9700, MFC-9760, MFC-9800, MFC-9860 and MFC-9880

brother-lpr-drivers-mfc9420cn / brother-cups-wrapper-mfc9420cn:
MFC-9420CN

For the models marked with green I can confirm, that the drivers work like a charm.

Ubuntu Linux on DELL Vostro 1510

Martin Henze — Sat, 24 May 2008 12:26:32 +0000

Recentley I recieved my brand-new DELL Vostro 1510 with the following hardware built-in:

Intel Core 2 Duo T5870 (2.0 GHz, 800 MHz, 2 MB)
15.4″ Widescreen Display WXGA+
3 GB 667 MHz DDR2 Dual Channel RAM
256 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-PCI-Card
1.3 MP built-in Webcam

Installing Ubuntu Linux 8.04 LTS (codenamed Hardy Heron) wasn’t really that though, but some issues arised.

First of all, the outputs of lspci:
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub (rev 0c) 00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 PCI Express Root Port (rev 0c) 00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 03) 00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 03) 00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 03) 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03) 00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03) 00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 03) 00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 03) 00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 5 (rev 03) 00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03) 00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03) 00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03) 00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03) 00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev f3) 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller (rev 03) 00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller (rev 03) 00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA AHCI Controller (rev 03) 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03) 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 8400M GS (rev a1) 06:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 4965 AG or AGN Network Connection (rev 61) 07:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 02) 08:05.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): O2 Micro, Inc. Firewire (IEEE 1394) (rev 02) 08:05.2 SD Host controller: O2 Micro, Inc. Integrated MMC/SD Controller (rev 02) 08:05.3 Mass storage controller: O2 Micro, Inc. Integrated MS/xD Controller (rev 01)

and lsusb:
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 006 Device 002: ID 0c45:63e0 Microdia Bus 006 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

What I already tested and works: Graphics (after installing the propietary NVIDIA driver using those fancy restricted drivers manager), Webcam, Card reader, WLAN (haven’t tested 802.11n yet, but will do this in the future), Sound, Multimedia buttons.

What didn’t worked: Ethernet card.

Everthing not mentioned hasn’t been tested yet or isn’t worth mentioning.

Fixing the built-in Realtek network card

As the built-in network card currently doesn’t work with the r8169 driver in 2.6.24 kernel, you’ll have to built the r8168 driver provided by Realtek. After some research using ubuntuforums.org ([1] and [2]) and linuxquestions.org, I managed to fix some arising issues. Currently, you have to patch the driver provided by Realtek, because it isn’t working with 2.6.24’s network API. If you haven’t already done so, you have to install the build-essential package. Here’s how it works:

Download the latest driver for Linux kernel 2.6.x from the Realtek homepage.
Unpack it: tar xvf r8168-8.006.00.tar.bz2
Move it to /usr/src: sudo mv r8168-8.006.00 /usr/src/
Download the patch file which energymomentum posted at ubuntuforums.org
Move it to /usr/src/r8168-8.006.00/src: sudo mv r8168-8.006.00.hardy.diff /usr/r8168-8.006.00/src/
cd /usr/src/r8168-8.006.00/src
Apply the patch file: patch < r8168-8.006.00.hardy.diff
cd ..
Build the module: sudo make clean modules
Install the module: sudo make install
Generate module dependencies: sudo depmod -a
Load the module: sudo insmod ./src/r8168.ko
Blacklist the old driver: sudo sh -c 'echo "blacklist r8169" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-network'
Make changes permanent: sudo update-initramfs -u
Basically that's it, after a reboot you're ethernet card should be working

That's it for now, if new issues arise, I will update this post.

Hide unmounted volumes in Nautilus

Martin Henze — Sun, 27 May 2007 13:33:08 +0000

I’ve just updated my DELL Inspiron 6000 to Ubuntu Linux 7.04 (Feisty Fawn), before that I used 6.06 LTS (Dapper Drake). Having missed nearly one year of development, I noticed that Nautilus shows all partitions (no matter if mounted or not) in the places area. I’ll never need to mount DELL’s rescue and restore partitions and therefor don’t want them to be listed there. Here you go:
Open a terminal, become root:

sudo -s

Create a new folder and a new file with gedit:

mkdir /usr/share/hal/fdi/preprobe/95userpolicy
gedit /usr/share/hal/fdi/preprobe/95userpolicy/10ignore-disks.fdi

Copy the following to the file, create a new - block for each partition you want to block:

      true

It’s also possible to block a whole hard disk, e.g. /dev/sdb. Now save the file and restart HAL and DBUS:

/etc/init.d/dbus restart

That’s it, credits go to clausi at ubuntuusers.de and vtel57 at ubuntuforums.org.

Brother HL-2070N and Ubuntu Linux

Martin Henze — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 12:38:09 +0000

Getting the Brother HL-2070N monochrome laser printer running with Ubuntu Linux is quite simple. You just have to download two files and configure the driver properly.

Note: This instructions only apply if you are using Ubuntu Linux 7.10 or older. If you are using Ubuntu Linux 8.04 (Hardy Heron) or newer, please use the new instructions, which are much easier.

First, we need to download the following files:

Simply install both packages in the above order using gdebi (simply double-click on them) or dpkg -i packagename.deb.

Now you should already have your HL-2070N listed in the printer list. Go to printer properties, and choose UNIX-printer (LPD) as network-printer (filed under connection). Now you just have to enter your printer’s IP (it’s handy to configure the printer with a static IP) and your printer should print the test page just fine.

WPA with IPW2200 on Ubuntu Dapper Drake

Martin Henze — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 22:00:45 +0000

Today I switched to the next release of Ubuntu Linux 6.06 code-named Dapper Drake. As setting up WLAN with WPA for my Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG chipset changed, I’ll write down, what you have do to in order to get everyting running:

make sure that wpasupplicant is installed (it should be by default)
become root (sudo -s) on a terminal for the next steps
type wpa_passphrase your_ssid your_secret_key to encrypt your key and copy the hexadecimal code provided behind “psk=”

create a new file /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf with the following content:

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
eapol_version=1
ap_scan=2
network={
ssid="your_ssid"
proto=WPA
scan_ssid=1
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=TKIP
group=TKIP CCMP
psk=your_hexadecimal_encrypted_key
}

Create (or edit if already exists) /etc/default/wpasupplicant like that (where eth1 is your wireless interface):
```
ENABLED=1
OPTIONS="-w -i eth1 -D wext -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -B"
```
Note that you have to take wext instead of ipw as driver, since WPA encryption is now integrade in the Kernel.
Make sure that your /etc/network/interfaces contains that (again, let eth1 be your wireless interface):
```
auto eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp
pre-up /sbin/wpa_supplicant -D wext -i eth1 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -Bw
post-down killall -q wpa_supplicant
```
Again, use wext instead of ipw! Please remind, that you shouldn’t configure more than one interface with DHCP.
Finally, we have to tell the ipw2200 driver that encryption is now managed by the Kernel. Simply add the following line in /etc/modprobe.d/ipw2200:
```
options ipw2200 hwcrypto=0
```
After reloading the ipw2200 driver an restarting networking (or rebooting) wireless networking should work like a charm.

Feel free to leave a comment if my instructions were helpful for you.

Dapper Drake ShipIt started

Martin Henze — Thu, 18 May 2006 15:02:37 +0000

Up from now you can order free CDs of the next release of Ubuntu Linux named Dapper Drake (6.06 LTS) at ShipIt.

Shipping will start in early June and – according to experience – last four to six weeks (at least to Germany).

Critical security hole in Ubuntu Linux

Martin Henze — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 22:01:49 +0000

As posted at Launchpad, Ubuntu Linux 5.10 has a security hole that might local users allow to gain root privileges using sudo. The password for the first user created during installation (who has sudo-priviliges by default) is stored in a plain-text file.

To protect your machine of getting hijacked by a local user you have two possibilites:

change your password
type sudo rm /var/log/installer/cdebconf/questions.dat on a command shell to delete the logfile

This problem is said to be fixed in Dapper (the next release of Ubuntu Linux) but there must a solution to fix this hole on all Breezy installation as this file will propably not be deleted on an upgrade to Dapper.

Listen, just listen

Martin Henze — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 12:34:04 +0000

Listen is back! After some problems concerning the license, Listen, my favourite music browser and jukebox is back with a new version and even Audioscrobbler support.

Listen is free software written in Python for GNOME (GTKlib) and comes with a cutting-edge user interface and an amazing OSD.

Repositiories for easy installation on Ubuntu Linux (5.10 & 6.04) are provided, so check it out!

Ubuntu Linux at CeBIT

Martin Henze — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 11:47:42 +0000

As postet at ubuntuusers.de Ubuntu Linux will be presented at this year’s CeBIT in hall 5 at booth F67/8.

The Ubuntu Deutschland e.V. will show Edubuntu and a prewiew of Dapper Drake (the new Ubuntu version to come in April). There will also be free Breezy Badger CDs, flyers and a suprise for all visitors.

DVD versions of Edubuntu and Ubuntu and the Ubuntu Userguide by Marcus Fischer are available against a small donation.

Gnome: Minimize programs to system tray

Martin Henze — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 19:58:45 +0000

Today I found a nice litte program that allows you to minimize every program shown in Gnome’s Window List to the system tray. There’s support for other windowmanager like KDE, XFCE, Fluxbox and WindowMaker, too.

This powerful tool is named AllTray. A package for Ubuntu is provided, but I suggest compiling the latest version from source to avoid some annoying bugs.