I've wanted for a while to play music / all audio from my linux PC on my Squeezeboxes, with ease. I've tried in the past to do this with BPA's Squeezebox WaveInput plugin but this route isn't for the faint hearted. It also limits the audio source just to the Squeezebox Server local machine unless you are advanced. Here is a very simple method which allows you to stream from any linux PC on your network to your Squeezebox. It relies on Video Lan Client VLC, Pulseaudio and Alsa. Here's how...
Enable Xubuntu remote desktop access with Vino VNC
Xubuntu 14.04 does not come with VNC working out of the box which is frustrating and feels like a step backwards. So here is how I enabled VNC on Xubuntu...
Dyndns no longer free...an alternative
DynDns has closed its door and support for free accounts. Try afraid.org for a free alternative dynamic dns service.
AirPlay to Linux / Ubuntu with Shairport v1.0
DynDns keep an active account with autologin
DynDns now requires users with free accounts to login every 30 days in order to keep their accounts... painful. Here is how to overcome the manual login using a scheduled auto-login script developed by kopf (thanks!).
Setting up password authentication for windows file sharing / samba (smb / cifs ) shares
Adding password based authentication to windows file shares / samba sharing on linux is never as simple as I'd expect. With the spread of cryptolocker (ransomware which can encrypt your network shares!) I have been working to enhance the security and resilience of my windows samba network shares. Here are some simple pointers from my experience of setting up authentication on a Ubuntu machine running samba (tested on samba versions 3.4.7 and 3.6.3) :
Check integrity of file / folder transfer - recursive md5sum checksums
How to check that directories of copied files retain their integrity on linux. I use this command to check my photographs from my digital SLR SD / CF cards retain their integrity when copied to my PC. Read on...
SSH from Linux CLI
The following is a basic command for verbose ssh with a private key to a ssh server running on a custom post:
ssh -v user@domain -p $port -i "/private/key/file/path"
ssh -v user@domain -p $port -i "/private/key/file/path"
AirPrint to any printer (without official AirPrint support) using Ubuntu and iOS
Ubuntu 12.04 run a custom command on CD / DVD insertion (EAC and audio CD)
In Ubuntu 12.04 the option to run a custom command on the insertion of removable media has disappeared (this is a very frustrating regression!). Previously I had a custom shell script that would intelligently automate the ripping of audio CD to FLAC, ALAC and MP3 using EAC. This script had become redundant due to the missing option of running custom commands on CD insertion. Here's how I now run a custom command on audio CD detection in Ubuntu 12.04...
Add/fix undetected or missing monitor display resolutions to X on Ubuntu 12.04
I am using a DVI to VGA converter on my Ubuntu 12.04 machine to connect the graphics card (which doesn't have native VGA) to a Dell 2405 monitor on VGA. The Dell 2405 can handle resolutions up to 1920x1200 however the use of the VGA adapter has prevented Ubuntu from correctly reading the EDID data that the monitor provides, to detect the resolutions the monitor is capable of. At current I am stuck with the highest resolution of 1024x768. Xorg.conf has typically been the place in the past to address these issues however it seems to be becoming depreciated. Here's how I manually added the higher resolutions...
Fix TightVNCServer not showing Unity menu & tool bars under Ubuntu 12.04
XTightVNCServer under Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin does not start correctly. Using the default settings on Ubuntu 12.04 the remote desktop session is not started properly when VNC Server is launched. A user connecting to VNC Server in Virtual Mode will see a desktop background but will not see any other desktop features such as the Unity toolbars or launcher. To fix this the xstartup file should be modified, here's how...
Fix VNC (Vino-server) screen refreshing in Ubuntu 12.04
Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Precise Pangolin's default VNC server for remote desktop sharing is vino (vino-server). Out of the box under the Unity interface it is incredibly slow to refresh for me. To speed it up I've tried to disable the background desktop wallpaper on client connection and to optimise the settings. Here are the tweaks I tried...
Setup the Apple AirPort Express v2 802.11n as an AirPlay bridge using the Windows AirPort Utility
The AirPort Express is a simplified and compact version of Apple's AirPort Extreme gateway,. it functions as a wireless access point when connected to an ethernet network. The current model includes AirPlay (successor of AirTunes), that allows users to stream audio from a computer running iTunes to a stereo
I purchased an Apple AirPort Express to expand my AirPlay / AirTunes network. The AirPort Express base station offers a couple of novel features which I was keen to explore, notably:
- Ability to extend an existing network
- Creating a guest wi-fi network, alongside an existing wi-fi network
- 3.5mm audio output to push music via AirPlay (formerly 'AirTunes') to external speakers/amp
Building & installing the ALSA loopback device under Ubuntu
The ALSA Loopback sound card is a virtual soundcard that is created once the ALSA kernel module snd-aloop is loaded. This virtual soundcard device, as its name indicates, sends back the output signal of applications using it back to itself, so one has a chance to e.g. record this signal from the same device. Simply imagine that you have a physical link between one OUT and one IN of the same device. By default, the Loopback sound card consists of 2 devices, each composed of 8 subdevices.
I required the ALSA Loopback device to re-route sound from one application to another when streaming Airplay to a Logitech Squeezebox see here. Read on to see how I installed the ALSA loopback on Ubuntu 10.04...
I required the ALSA Loopback device to re-route sound from one application to another when streaming Airplay to a Logitech Squeezebox see here. Read on to see how I installed the ALSA loopback on Ubuntu 10.04...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)