I'm playing around with using DSLR cameras as webcams with gphoto (CLI to cameras over USB) and v4l2loopback (dummy video devices), which works with OBS but neither Skype nor VLC which will either show a black image or fail with an error message. Running VLC in verbose mode and digging a bit around showed that … Continue reading Skype and VLC cannot use v4l2loopback video device
Tag: ubuntu
Nautilus browsing large windows share is slow
When browsing large windows (samba) shares with Ubuntu Nautilus (that's the equivalent of the Windows File Explorer) I observed that shares which include many files and directories (a few hundred) take a few seconds to browse over WiFi, but almost instantly display over a fast LAN. A similar difference in speed is noticeable when searching … Continue reading Nautilus browsing large windows share is slow
Ubuntu on the Acer Nitro 5
[updated January 2021] The Acer Nitro 5 is an interesting breed; decent computing power, a mid-range SSD, a large screen with high contrast, a decent and solid keyboard with good haptics at an ok price - but will it run Ubuntu? The Nitro comes with Windows 10 home pre-installed and UEFI secure boot enabled - … Continue reading Ubuntu on the Acer Nitro 5
Resetting a PCI device
The Wi-Fi adapter on my VivoBook 17 has been acting up under Ubuntu 18.04 LTS insofar that at a random point in time, possibly accelerated by power saving features, the Wi-Fi will stop working with suspicious syslog entries: ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: failed to wake target for read32 at 0x0003a028: -110 The usual tricks (suspend/resume, reload driver, … Continue reading Resetting a PCI device
Fixing random sound drops with Ubuntu; only sound device is “Dummy Output”
The title says it all; at some point Ubuntu 18.04 stops playing sound and the only available sound device is "Dummy Output". Apart from rebooting (which fixes the issue) this command executed from the terminal fixes the issue: pulseaudio -k && sudo alsa force-reload Contributed by user Kim, source: https://superuser.com/questions/17312/restart-ubuntu-sound-processes-via-command-line
A crazy server recovery
If you're a seasoned server administrator then this post will boring beyond oblivion to you; the ingredients: a headless server (no screen, keyboard)years of personal backups on a linux software RAIDa botched system upgradehappy ending The pretext Several years ago I bought an HP Proliant microserver on discount and set up a NAS with Ubuntu … Continue reading A crazy server recovery
Ubuntu on the ASUS VivoBook 17
Following the proud tradition [1],[2],[3] of documenting Linux installations on all the hardware I break, I'm happy to report that Ubuntu 18.04 works fine on the ASUS VivoBook 17 (model number X705U). Things I tested and that work: OS boots from USB and from harddisk Secure boot WLAN USB On board and external (USB) camera … Continue reading Ubuntu on the ASUS VivoBook 17
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS on the Acer Aspire E15
I have been moderately content [1] with Ubuntu 14.04 on the Acer Aspire E15 for about a year. Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, another long term support release, has recently been published and of course I had to try it out! Installing the live image on a USB stick: bring some patience The first obstacle is that … Continue reading Ubuntu 16.04 LTS on the Acer Aspire E15
Ubuntu on the Acer Aspire E15 (E5-571G-51TH)
Having failed the 3rd repair attempt at the Thinkpad E540 [1] I gave up and bought the next best laptop from the nearby store that somehow is usable for programming. Behold: the Acter Inspire E15. 8GB RAM, i5, matte screen (1920x1080). It worked out of the box with the SSD transplant from the old Lenovo, … Continue reading Ubuntu on the Acer Aspire E15 (E5-571G-51TH)
Ubuntu 14.04 on the Lenovo Thinkpad E540
Update 25.03.2015: I strongly recommend against the Thinkpad Edge 540. There seems to be a systematic manufacturing problem with keyboards in many Edge models. Mine broke down a week after ordering, I installed a replacement keyboard which broke within two weeks of installing. For details see: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/11e-Windows-E-and-Edge-series/thinkpad-edge-15-keyboard-problem/td-p/406731/page/8 Original text: After not being so long … Continue reading Ubuntu 14.04 on the Lenovo Thinkpad E540
