Add temperature to conky

After some recent debian updates, the proc files which conky got it's temperatures from disappeared. I found a way though to work around this, and get the temp into conky.

1.) First, open your console.
2.) Type acpi -t. This way you will see which sensors you can grab the temperatures from. You will get an output looking something like this:
Thermal 0: ok, 55.0 degrees C
Thermal 1: ok, 35.4 degrees C
Thermal 2: ok, 50.0 degrees C
Thermal 3: ok, 58.0 degrees C
Thermal 4: active, 60.0 degrees C
3.) Decide which thermal sensor you want the temperature from. In my case I found out the cpu was "Thermal 3". Now we are gonna sort out this line.
4.) Type: acpi -t | grep "Thermal 3". You should now get only the Thermal 3 line. So far so good. Now we need to sort out only the temperature, using "cut".
5.) Type: acpi -t | grep "Thermal 3" | cut -c16-19. The -c- might be different from you. Adjust it so you now get an output displaying ONLY the temperature.
6.) When you've made the correct command line, add it to your conkyrc like this:

${execi 1 acpi -t | grep "Thermal 3" | cut -c16-19}C

Laptop running warm and noisy fans

After some years of use my laptop started getting really warm when the work load increased. As a result of the heat, the fans also started making a lot of noise. This problem did not exist when I got it, or the first years..

The cause was pretty obvious. Dust and dirt had piled up inside my laptop, and especially on the fan(s). My laptop only have 1 fan, so I went straight for it. Following the service manual for my computer (hp nx7400) I removed the keyboard, and the fan came to sight.

Next I got the vacuum cleaner. Yep, that's right, the good ol' vacuum cleaner. It might be an idea to add a thinner tip on it while doing this. I didn't though. Next, the clue is to hold the fan so it wont spin when vacuum cleaning it. If you dont the fan might ending up spinning backwards, which could break it. While holding the fan, clean it thoroughly until it's dust free.. Next clean any heatsinks and other visible dust.

Now reassemble, and hopefully it should not run warm that easy, and the fans shouldn't spin up all the time! At least it worked great for me!

Import old GED 5.0 file from family tree maker to new version

This is a quick hotfix for this. If you exported your old family tree maker file to a GED file version 5.0, you can't open it again in newer versions. But it's actually saved in 5.3, which is pretty similar to 5.5. Simply open the GED file in notepad, find the line which specifies the version (5.3), rename it to 5.5, save, and open it in family tree maker 2011 or whatever you are running ;)

PS... Scrapbook elements gets lost in the GED format..

Remove whitelist in NX7400 bios

Yes, it's possible! As well as you will get SLIC tables. This should remove any 104 or 105 errors on NX7400. There is also available bioses for other HP models for this...

First of all, I take no responsibility in case you brick/ruin your bios :P

Now to it...
1.) Download this toolkit to make a bootable USB key with rompaq which is the flashing tool. Follow the readme, and everything will start automaticly when booting up... http://www.sendspace.com/file/rip4sc
2.) Boot up with this, make a backup of your current bios. If you have a nx7400 you will get a file named: 68YGU.BAK
3.) Download your new bios from here (NX7300/NX7400).
4.) Open the file, and extract the .bin file to the usb key, and rename it to 68YGU.BIN.
5.) Reboot, and chose to upgrade bios.
6.) You are done :-)

For more info, and complete list of bios'es available check here.

Update 30. March 2012:
Installed a newest generation Intel 5300 wifi card which handles up to 450mbps without a problem on my hp nx7400. As this card has three antenna plugs, and the nx7400 only contains two I just connected wire 1 to connector 1, and wire 2 to connector 2 (they are marked on the wifi card) and let the connector 3 stay unconnected. Great signal as is to my old router. You can buy extra cables on ebay for a couple of dollars if you want.

The wifi card I installed is the following: INTEL WLAN 5300 533AN_MMWG. This is the FULL HEIGHT version.

Splitting files with mencoder Linux Debian

mencoder full.avi -ovc copy -oac copy -endpos 01:00:00 -o part1.avi
mencoder full.avi -ovc copy -oac copy -ss 01:00:00 -o part2.avi

rtorrent with web frontend and categories

Yes, it's possible..

What you need is to install rutorrent (webfrontend) and two plugins get(?) and autotools..

Solution: Flash drive identified as SDA during ubuntu install

Problem: My Gigabyte motherboard identified my USB Flash Drive as SDA, so it swapped place with my drive which appeared as SDB during install.

This is only a problem when it comes to the MBR installation, which will be installed to sda, nomather if you chose to install your system to sdb.

Fix?
Boot your system again, but remember to keep your usb drive inside the first time you boot. Then simply run this cmd:

sudo grub-install /dev/sda

Just make sure your linux drive this time is identified as sda :)