CIFS, Wicd and Ubuntu 14.04 slow shutdown/reboot

Got this problem after mounting a CIFS/Samba drive through my wireless network. This appears to be a rather normal problem for lots of users. It was also hard locating a fix for my problem, as many users are using network manager as well.

I found a great fix though, which also is reported to work for network manager.

It's rather uncomplex and logical. The fix is moving the umount procedure to a earlier runlevel in the rc.d folders. The problem appears to be that the system shuts down the wifi before umounting.

Fix:
Go into /etc/rc.0 and /etc/rc.6, and move
user@system:/etc/rc0.d$ mv S31umountnfs.sh S14umountnfs.sh

Hope this helps :-)

More info is available here: http://blog.avirtualhome.com/ubuntu-shutdown-problem-cifs-related/

Solution: Encrypted system and UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY: RUN fsck MANUALLY.

If you get this error during startup, it's possible to fix. I did it for debian.

First get a rescue cd from grml.org. When you have booted it up enter the standard command line mode. For some strange reason you only get the option of a few language sets by the system itself when booting, but when you have entered the command line you can easily load other language sets by running loadkeys. There's a bunch of other keysets located on the system.

Next check out this tutorial for more information on how to solve the problems with fsck and the encrypted drive:
http://devouredbylions.blogspot.no/2011/01/fixing-corrupted-encrypted-lvm.html

In short terms you have to run the following cmds:
cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/
vgscan --mknodes
vgchange -ay
fsck /dev//

Touchpad click delay on Lenovo T510 in Linux

When I decided to run Linux (Debian) on a T510 I noticed there was a delay when clicking/tapping on the touchpad. The fix for this was pretty easy. Simply edit "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-synaptics.conf", and in the section for InputClass add the following lines:

        Option "Clicktime" "0"

        Option "SingleTapTime" "0"

Adjusting mouse speed and acceleration in linux

I'm using synclient to do this.

Simply use following commands (with my favourite settings):
synclient MinSpeed=1.1
synclient AccelFactor=0.055
synclient MaxSpeed=4

I've added my settings to .fluxbox/startup.

Slow or stuttering youtube videos on chrome

I've been having problems watching youtube videos in full screen in chrome for some time now. This especially got worse after youtube changed to their html5 platform by default.

I found out the problem was google chrome running by default without gpu/hardware acceleration.

The solution for this problem is disabling the gpu blacklist integrated in google chrome. Recomend you checking out this site for instructions and further information.

Graphics Feature Status

Canvas: Software only, hardware acceleration unavailable

Compositing: Software only, hardware acceleration unavailable

3D CSS: Unavailable. Hardware acceleration unavailable

CSS Animation: Software only, hardware acceleration unavailable

WebGL: Unavailable. Hardware acceleration unavailable

WebGL multisampling: Unavailable. Hardware acceleration unavailable

Flash 3D: Unavailable. Hardware acceleration unavailable

Flash Stage3D: Unavailable. Hardware acceleration unavailable

Texture Sharing: Unavailable. Hardware acceleration unavailable

Video Decode: Software only, hardware acceleration unavailable

Video: Software only, hardware acceleration unavailable

Problems Detected

Intel mesa drivers are crash-prone.: 76703

Accelerated 2d canvas is unstable in Linux at the moment.

Stage3D is not supported on Linux.: 129848

Accelerated video decode is unavailable on Mac and 

Get Rid of Sweat Stains

Problem: I use shirts every day at work, and I really dislike using any kind of t-shirts underneath. There's a flipside to this. After using the shirt for some days, I get the not so good looking yellow sweat stains on my shirts. Getting rid of them also used to be a problem with regular detergents and wash. I've found a solutions though..

What you need:
1.) Vanish Oxi Action (Europe) or Oxi Clean (US version). You should get the regular powder version for coloured clothes.
2.) A toothbrush
3.) A cup
4.) A towel is prefered

Put a scoop of Vanish Oxi Action/Clean in a cup, add some (not much) lukewarm water, and mix it all good together for a while with the toothbrush. Gather all your shirts, put them in a pile ready for wash in front of you. Sit down on a chair and put the folded towel on your  lap (so you don't "wet your pants"). Next take a shirt a time, and use the brush to apply a decent amount of your mix on the spots you want to get rid of. I usually brush and apply for about 15 seconds each. Next just put each shirt in you washing machine, and about 5 minutes after the last shirt give it a regular wash. I usually put the leftovers from my Vanish mix into the washing machine as well.

Wicd won't connect automatically

Problem: Wicd won't connect automatically

Facts: I'm running ubuntu on a computer of mine, and I want it to automaticly connect to wired networks when available, or a wireless network if not. After running it on a wired connection for some years, I decided to move my router to a computer room, and therefore my HTPC in my living room had to go wireless. This gave me a problem with the computer not automaticly connecting to the network, and the wireless interface acted REALLY unstable when trying to connect. Something was wrong..

Solution: The problem? I noticed that I halso had Network Manager installed. I prefer using Wicd since it gives me a great CLI interface on my HTPC which I only use a XBMC frontend on. After removing Network Manager (apt-get remove networkmanager), everything worked out fine.

New Neato Botvac 80!

Neato has recently released their new robotic vacuum. In short, Neatos new vacuum cleaner now presents a side brush as well as some other nifty optimizations since their previous vacuums. Neatos "sister-company" Vorwerk have for a long time been offering the previous Neato XV-15/25 with a sidebrush under the name Vorwerk VR 100, but only for the german, french and uk market.

I will soon be publishing a review of this new vacuum. It's already available for purchase on amazon.