Entries Tagged 'Tutorials' ↓

This used to be a page, mostly because when I wrote it I had no idea what a page in WordPress now it’s a proper post, even if the content is really old.

What you need:

1. A worn out N64 controller
2. A small screwdriver to open it up
3. Some 2-part epoxy
4. A small file (metal works best)
5. Some tape
6. A place to do this (keeping in mind that epoxy is not easy to remove once dried)

First things first, open up the controller, making sure not to drop the screws and lose them. Losing 1 or 2 won’t be the end of the world though, as I learned. Notice that there are a couple really small screws in the slot where the memory card/rumble pack plugs in. Those need to be removed as well.

Once it’s open, you will notice that the joystick part is pretty much self-contained. Unplug it, remove it from the controller, open it up and remove all the parts. You will probably notice a ton of scraped up plastic inside; that’s from the stick and that inner-core wearing down from use. It’ll probably look something like below.
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Thanks to this little tutorial, I was able to make all my hotkeys on my shiney new Logitech diNovo keyboard. As useful as teh site was, there was a LOT left open to figure out. I thought I would take the time to make an easier to follow write-up to help others get their diNovo sets working right in Linux.

Keep in mind I am NOT using the Bluetooth enabled one because it was out of stock when I bought this and, quite honestly, I don’t need it. Also, this was tested and done using Ubuntu Linux (5.10 in fact) so if you are using another distro, things may be a little different. I should also point out quickly that simply switching the keyboard layout in Gnome to “Logitech Desktop Pro” will give you the same functionality as all this will. Also, my keyboard, mouse and number pad worked out of the box so this is really only geared toward getting the media keys working. If youre doesn’t work out of the box, I can’t really help, but I bet Googling a little will get you to this point.
First things first, we need to edit some files. Open these files up in your favorite editor and add the following to them.

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I have been using Linux on my desktop for some time now, but I have never bothered to get the “Back” button on my optical Logitech mouse to work. While using the same mouse at the office, I got very used to hitting the button to go back a page in Firefox and I now had a desire to make it work under Linux
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I’ve always had free versions of certain file recovery programs but I never had a chance to use them. Well, I had plenty of chances I guess, but no real reason, until today. See, I had moved some images off of my camera and onto a computer. I was writing a script to rename and move those files to another machine, but the script was wrong and I ended up deleting all the new pictures I had. I had also removed them from the camera, so I was screwed….. until I remembered my file recovery tools.
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So, I don’t think a lot of people know about this (and a quick Google search seems to have confirmed this), but you can send SMS messages to your phone (and other phones) by simply sending an email. I have used this a bit in the past to send messages to friends and have recently started using it to send myself monthly reminders about things (like paying bills and such).
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First, let me say that Ubuntu is pretty awesome. Those of you new to Linux should look into it, it’s pretty easy to figure things out and get everything working. Those of you who have been using Linux for a while will find it very easy to use and will have no problem setting up and configuring it. It’ll save you a ton of time getting things up, and you still get the stability and usability of Debian, so you’re all set.

One thing it is lacking, like almost all distros are lacking, is the ability to play proprietary audio and video formats. This includes a lot of really common formats, like MP3s, WMA, DVD, and WMV to name a few. The simple reason is licensing; in order to play these formats in Linux, you may need to break some laws…. kinda. It’s all fair use though, so it should be legal; but there’s that annoying DMCA issue. Anyway, long explanation short, the distros can’t include the means to play these types of files.
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Recently, I realized that you can extract image information from images in Linux. I was tipped off by playing with Gallery2, which shows you all kinds of information about the image; the dimensions, the date and time the image was taken, the camera used, exposure info, flash info, etc.

Upon looking further, I found the ‘exif’ program. I used that for a while, but the information it spits out, while extremely extensive, was not really usable. It would require a ton of parsing to grab even simple information out. Digging around further, I found out that Imagemagick has it’s own ability to read EXIF info. So, I wrote a little script to read that information out.
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Recently, I purchased a used Nintendo 64 (N64) from ebay so that I could play Super Smash Brothers. Why? Because it’s the best damn game of all times, that’s why! Well, that may not be entirely true, but it is a hell of a good time when you have a bunch of people to play it with, like parties.
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