Avidemux on raspberry pi

Do this:

1.) You need this package:
wget http://ftp.br.debian.org/debian/pool/non-free/f/faac/libfaac0_1.29.9.2-2_armhf.deb
sudo dpkg -i libfaac0_1.29.9.2-2_armhf.deb
2.) And this:
apt-get install libglu1-mesa
3.) Now, thanks to this guy on https://avidemux.org/smif/index.php?topic=18811.0 (last post, first page), download the 2.7.5 ARMEL file from: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1eurpo4lrphzzf0/AAAVfjDISjTuRLDX-TVBJbgSa?dl=0
4.) Use "7z e" to extract the file.
5.) Use the following command inside the dir with all the extracted packages to install avidemux:
sudo dpkg -i ./*
6.) Now you should be done, to start run from bash/cli:

avidemux3_qt5

Compressed Raspberry Pi ISO from Linux

Doing this clears up "empty" space on the drive so the iso get's properly compressed:

1.) Clear up Raspberry with temp file:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/zero1.tmp bs=1048576
2.) Delete tmp file:
rm -f /tmp/zero1.tmp
3.) Take SD card to another computer and create a compressed iso:
sudo dd bs=4M if=/dev/ | pv | xz > Pi.img.xz

Example: Currently have a 64GB iso compressed to 1,2GB. Actual drive usage of the 64GB iso is 3,6GB.

Thanks to:
https://www.locked.de/space-effective-backups-of-raspberry-pi-sd-cards/

Multiscreen setup fluxbox and lightdm

In lightdm.conf:
[SeatDefaults]
display-setup-script=/usr/bin/screenres.sh

screenres.sh:

#!/bin/bash

 

mode="$(xrandr -q|grep -A1 "DP1 connected"| tail -1 |awk '{ print $1 }')"

if [ -n "$mode" ]; then

  xrandr --output LVDS1 --off

  xrandr --output DP1 --primary --mode 1920x1080

fi

mode="$(xrandr -q|grep -A1 "DP2 connected"| tail -1 |awk '{ print $1 }')"

if [ -n "$mode" ]; then

  xrandr --output LVDS1 --off

  xrandr --output DP2 --primary --mode 1920x1080

  xrandr --output DP3 --mode 1920x1080

  xrandr --output DP3 --left-of DP2

fi

Solution: kswapd0 using 100% cpu

So I googled a lot about this problem without finding any proper solutions for this problem. Some suggested disabling swappiness (=how long should the computer wait before disposing memory to swap in stead of RAM). But this only delayed the problem with full cpu load.

I researched a bit more by my self. It looks like the problem is kswapd0 is unable to store anything at the SWAP memory. So I tried formating/restoring the SWAP partition. I use LVM, but the procedure is the same for those without LVM.

Do the following:
> su
Get root credentials
> cat /ets/fstab
Find out the location of your SWAP partition. It's either /dev/something or if you are using LVM it can look like /dev/mapper/SOMETHING--vg-SOMETHING_1. Next turn off swap:
> swapoff /dev/mapper/SOMETHING--vg-SOMETHING_1
Then check & format swap:
> mkswap -c -L swap /dev/mapper/SOMETHING--vg-SOMETHING_1
And enable swap again
> swapon /dev/mapper/SOMETHING--vg-SOMETHING_1

Quality Pry Bar Tool Set

Found this pry bar tool set which seemed to be of good quality. Very happy with it as it's strong and of perfect size. Highly recommended. Also, it's a lot cheaper then the US/UK alternatives which a lot of webshops are selling.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Green-Hard-Plastic-4-in-1-Pry-Bar-Opening-Tools-Kit-With-Ruler-Scale-Spudger-For/32666433422.html

Ubuntu: Dropbox and crontab

In your default user, run "crontab -e", and add the following lines:

0 4 * * * DISPLAY=:0 /usr/bin/dropbox start >/dev/null 2>&1
0 5 * * * /usr/bin/dropbox stop >/dev/null 2>&1

This will start dropbox at 4am, and stop at 5am.

802.11ac wifi for Linux

Since I am running a HTPC in my living room I am dependent on having a reliable and FAST wifi connection. Running videos is one thing, but having a quick and responsive connection when it comes to fetching thumbnails for and browsing large photo files from my NAS is even more important.

Finding a good 802.11ac wifi adapter for my unit seemed to be harder then expected. Lot's of posts online told me that either 802.11ac simply won't work (you won't get your card to jump from 11n to 11ac speeds) and other challenges. Finding a pci card seemed to be even more challenging as most cards I could find with the best chipsets for Linux seemed to only be available on minipci express.

After some googling I did find that there were adapters for minipci express to pcie x1. I also did find one readily mounted with antennas, CE branded and at a reasonable price on ebay. The intel 8260AC is one of the latest chipsets running on 802.11ac offering a theretical speed up to 867 Mbps. The intel chipsets also offer good linux drivers. Installing the card was easy, the only thing I actually had to do was to make sure the iwlwifi package was installed, and to upgrade the kernel package of my Linux Ubuntu 14.04 distro, as the kernel package I was running used an older version of iwlwifi not offering support of the 8260 chipset yet. I took a full leap and went for kernel 4.4. After this everything wen't smoothly. No problems at all. The only thing is when I run iwconfig it says the card is running 802.11abgn but on 867Mbps. After some googling this seems to be a bug in the iwconfig app. The speed stated on iwconfig is the correct parameter to look at, and 867Mbps is impossible on 802.11n.

A word of advice: The ebay site selling this card states in large red letters and exclamation marks "This item don't compatible AMD computer motherboards". This is wrong. I have no idea why they say so. I knew this had to be wrong as there is a lot of AMD based computers running a intel wifi chip. I've had to deal with motherboard blacklists/whitelists before though. Anyhow, I am running this fine without any third party firmwares at all on a AMD motherboard running a AMD X3 450 CPU.