Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

Strange behavior of the numpad in the Vi editor if using the RXVT virtual terminal

I recently changed my default terminal to rxvt. It spawns really fast, can be run in server-client mode and is higly configurable. I think it might be the best terminal currently around.
But I experienced strange behavior of the numpad while running the Vi editor.
And this is how it can be fixed. Please note that i map only the numbers and not the arrow keys, because I use the Neo keyboard layout, where great arrow keys are available on Level 4.

1. Create/open a file in your home directory called .Xmodmap:

vim .Xmodmap

and add the following lines:

keycode 63 = KP_Multiply
keycode 79 = KP_7
keycode 80 = KP_8
keycode 81 = KP_9
keycode 82 = KP_Subtract
keycode 83 = KP_4
keycode 84 = KP_5
keycode 85 = KP_6
keycode 86 = KP_Add
keycode 87 = KP_1
keycode 88 = KP_2
keycode 89 = KP_3
keycode 90 = KP_0
keycode 91 = KP_Decimal
keycode 112 = Prior
keycode 117 = Next

2. Create/open a file in your home directory called /.xinitrc:
vim ~/.xinitrc
and add the following lines:
xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap

3. Open your .zshrc or .bashrc depending on the shell you use:

vim .zshrc

and add the following line:

export TERM=ansi

And you’re done! Note that you might need to restart the terminal.
Posted on

Installing Amazon MP3 Downloader

Today, the new Supershirt album “Kunstwerk” was released. I wanted to purchase it on amazon, because they have a Linux client. But I run a 64 bit Ubuntu and the amazon mp3 downloader is only available for 32 bit systems.

There is a simple solution to that. First download the 32 bit client from amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/help/amd.html

Install 32 bit libraries:
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

Then install it ignoring the architecture:

sudo dpkg -i –force-architecture AmazonMP3DownloaderInstall.deb

Download the getlibs script:

wget http://frozenfox.freehostia.com/cappy/getlibs-all.deb 

Fetch missing libraries:

sudo dpkg -i getlibs-all.deb sudo getlibs /usr/bin/amazonmp3
sudo getlibs -p gvfs sudo getlibs -w http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/ubuntu/pool/universe/b/boost/libboost-date-time1.34.1_1.34.1-16ubuntu1_i386.deb http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/ubuntu/pool/universe/b/boost/libboost-filesystem1.34.1_1.34.1-16ubuntu1_i386.deb http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/ubuntu/pool/universe/b/boost/libboost-iostreams1.34.1_1.34.1-16ubuntu1_i386.deb http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/ubuntu/pool/universe/b/boost/libboost-regex1.34.1_1.34.1-16ubuntu1_i386.deb http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/ubuntu/pool/universe/b/boost/libboost-signals1.34.1_1.34.1-16ubuntu1_i386.deb http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/ubuntu/pool/universe/b/boost/libboost-thread1.34.1_1.34.1-16ubuntu1_i386.deb http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/ubuntu/pool/main/i/icu/libicu40_4.0.1-2ubuntu2_i386.deb 

Make the libs known to the system:

sudo ldconfig

Now you’re good to go!

Posted on

Kile 2.1

Kile 2.1 was released and there is a ppa for it!

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kile/stable

sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude full-upgrade
No more beta!
Posted on

Installing TeX Live 2011 on Ubuntu

Debian and Ubuntu provide very good packages of Tex Live. But it takes some time untile they switch to newer versions. The current stable Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) comes with Tex Live 2009 and this is not going to change for Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot.

If you’re a version-number-junkie like me and you do not want to wait I have written a little tutorial how to install the latest TeX Live on Ubuntu.

To my knowledge there is currently no ppa available. So the installation has to be done manually.
Doing this, you are additionally able to use the command “tlmgr’, giving you better control of upgrades and which packages will be installed.

Basically, there are two options.

The first is, removing the Tex Live 2009 that comes with Ubuntu, doing the manual installation and then telling the system, that the installation was done manually and dependencies are met for other packages, e.g. Kile or other LaTeX editors. According to the listing, the package is a dummy package whose only purpose is to install a decent selection of dependencies. So it is in principle possible to install the texlive-full package without installing any of its dependencies.

The second, and possibly easier solution is to simply let the one that comes with the system installed and install the new version side by side. This wastes a lot of disk space, but that should not be an issue on modern machines. And if you do this right, you get the new features without running into the risk that the upgrade may break some dependencies from other packages. It is also much easier to go back. If something goes wrong you simply delete the directory where you installed it. And that is what the purpose of the /usr/local directory is. Install TeX Live to /usr/local/texlive using the installer, ensure that /usr/local/texlive…/bin path appears before /usr/bin in your path settings and that TEXMFCNF points to the right place. By doing this you simply ignore the system installation of Tex Live and are able to revert to it if necessary.

Therefore this tutorial goes for the second option.

Installing TeX Live over the Internet

1. Dowload the TeV Live installer.
Open e terminal and type:

2. Extract the installer

tar -zxvf install-tl-unx.tar.gz

3. Run the installer with super user privileges

cd install-tl-20110812
sudo ./install-tl

The installer should automatically detect the correct settings. It wants to do a full installation to /usr/local which is exactly what we want. So press “I” to start the installation. This may now take a while. Don’t worry about some connection errors. It will automatically retry.

4. Path settings

Add the following to your .bashrc if you use the bash or .zshrc file if you use the zshell with your favourite editor:

export PATH=”/usr/local/texlive/2011/bin/x86_64-linux:$PATH”
export MANPATH=”/usr/local/texlive/2011/texmf/doc/man:$MANPATH”
export INFOPATH=”/usr/local/texlive/2011/texmf/doc/info:$INFOPATH”
export TEXMFHOME=”/usr/local/texlive/2011/texmf”
export TEXMFCNF=”/usr/local/texlive/2011/texmf/web2c”

Then source the file or restart the shell and you’re done!

Posted on

Updating Eclipse

Eclipse 3.7 Indigo has been released! I had a lot of add-ons and did not want to reinstall all of them.

Is an update from 3.6 to 3.7 possible?

Yes! Simply go to “Install Software” and add 

“http://download.eclipse.org/releases/indigo” 


to “Available Software Sites”. Check existing repositories and change them from “Helios” to “Indigo”. Then check for updates.


It worked like a charm!