Tagged: ubuntu

Authentec Fingerprint Scanners - Full Specifications (AES2810 & AES2550)

Last year, I wrote about how Authentec wouldn't support their fingerprint readers on Linux. I've been chatting to the good folk at Authentec, and they've agreed to release the specification documents!

So if you want to code up an interface for the AES2810 or AES2550 you can!

A word of note, the best way to get the latest version of these documents is to register for the Authentec Developer Program. You then need to drop the team a note asking to get access to these specific documents - devportal AT authentec.com

That way you will get informed when there is a new release of other sensor's specs or updates.

So, here are the documents :-)

NB, I specifically asked the development team about sharing these files. They said:

Since we have released the documents without requiring any NDA or other such agreement signing we can't prevent you from sharing them.

BlackBerry PlayBook and Ubuntu Linux - HOWTO with Screenshots

Here's a simple way to copy files to and from your BlackBerry PlayBook when you're using Ubuntu. This should work with any form of Linux.

This is a step-by-step tutorial with screenshots.

On The PlayBook

Plug your PlayBook into your Linux computer using a USB cable. You may see this screen (or similar) you can dismiss it.
PlayBook Windows or Mac

In the Settings menu, scroll down to "Storage & Sharing".

Ensure that the "USB Connections" is set to "Connect to Windows".
PlayBook file sharing setup

Scroll down and make sure that "File Sharing" is set to "ON".
PlayBook file sharing

Finally, still in settings, scroll up the left panel to "About" and select "Network"
PlayBook usb file sharing ip
Make a note of the USB IPv4 Address (in this image it is 169.254.144.217).

On Ubuntu

Open a terminal and type

sudo ifconfig -a

You may be prompted to enter your password.

Scroll through the results and you should see an entry of "usb0".
PlayBook Ubuntu USB

To connect to the PlayBook, click on "Places" then "Connect to server".

Select the server type to be "Windows Share". Enter the IP address of the PlayBook (found from the PlayBook's About menu).
PlayBook connect to USB server

If all has gone well, you should see this screen:
PlayBook connect to Ubuntu

Click on "media" and you'll have access to all of your PlayBook's storage space.
PlayBook connected to Ubuntu

That's It!

You should now be able to copy files back and forth. Unlike a normal USB disk, you don't need to eject or unmount the drive once you've finished copying files to the device.
Note - when you disconnect the USB cable and reconnect it, the IP address may change. You will need to go to the PlayBook's network settings to find the new IP address. I can't find a way to get a static IP. If you know how - or have any other questions - please leave a comment.

Update

You can set a static IP by turning on Development mode, or follow these instructions from Jarviser on the BlackBerry Support Forums

Forget the IP address, use Tablet Network Name which will always be the same...

In Storage and Sharing, after selecting Connect to Windows, touch Properties button.

You will find

Tablet Network Name - Use that instead of IP Address in Ubuntu. (Mine says PLAYBOOK-24B6)

You will then be asked for Username and Password, Mine is "playbook" and the playbook's sharing password. WORKGROUP is left unchanged.

Connecting Samsung ICS to Ubuntu using MTP

(These notes are mostly for my own benefit).

Android is moving away from USB Mass Storage. You will no longer be able to plug in a USB cable and have your Android show up as a USB disk. There are some good technical reasons for this, but it is a pain if you want to copy some files to your phone. The new system - MTP - isn't automagically detected in Ubuntu. This is something which is likely to be fixed in later versions of Ubuntu - but for now you'll have to hack around it.

The crazy cats at omgUbuntu have a tutorial which I have adapted for the Samasung Galaxy S (running ICS from teamhacksung).

First, install the MTP tools.

sudo apt-get install mtp-tools mtpfs

Connect the phone to the computer using USB.

To check that MTP is installed and working, run the command

mtp-detect

You should see a spool of text as MTP detects the phone.

To create the rules which allow Ubuntu to detect the phone, create a new rule file like so:

sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules

Add in this line of text

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="04e8", ATTR{idProduct}=="6860", MODE="0666"

If you're using a different device, run this command to get the correct idVendor and idProduct:

mtp-detect | grep idVendor
mtp-detect | grep idProduct

We'll need to restart udev so it can pick up the new rule.

sudo service udev restart

Then create a directory in your filesystem which you can use to access your phone.

sudo mkdir /media/GalaxyS
sudo chmod a+rwx /media/GalaxyS

Now we need to add ourselves to fuse.

sudo adduser YOURUSERNAME fuse
sudo nano /etc/fuse.conf

The last line probably reads

#user_allow_other

Remove the "#" so you're left with:

user_allow_other

Save the file.

We're going to create two commands "android-connect" and "android-disconnect". When run, these will allow you to connect to your phone, then safely disconnect.

echo "alias android-connect=\"mtpfs -o allow_other /media/GalaxyS\"" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias android-disconnect=\"fusermount -u /media/GalaxyS\"" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Restart the computer. Make sure the phone is connected via USB. Open a terminal and run

android-connect

Open your file manager and go to "/media/GalaxyS"
ICS MTP

Once you're done, disconnect the device by running

android-disconnect

Changing the Microsoft 4000's Zoom Keys in Ubuntu

I'm in love with my keyboard! The Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 is a dream to type on. Large, well spaced keys, split keyboard, and a whole host of extra media buttons.
Microsoft 4000 Keyboard
There's only one tiny problem. Two of the buttons don't work in Linux - specifically, the keyboard scroll buttons. This is a long standing bug in Linux, but luckily it is fairly easy to fix.

Using Florian Diesch's tutorial at Ask Ubuntu, I've come up with this simple guide to get your keyboard working.
Continue reading →

Linux Spotify Keybindings

Hurrah! Spotify have released a native Linux player which works with free accounts!

These notes show (which are mostly for my benefit) show you how to install it and configure your multimedia keyboard so the play/pause key controls the music on Spotify.

Download Spotify for Linux. It's available in 32bit or 64bit.

Double click on the .deb that has been downloaded and it should install. Nice and easy!

To get the multimedia keys working, we need to follow the instructions in this tutorial and the codes described at lnxscene.

Install xbindkeys.

sudo apt-get install xbindkeys

Create the default configuration file for xbindkeys.

xbindkeys --defaults > ~/.xbindkeysrc

Edit the configuration file for xbindkeys.

nano ~/.xbindkeysrc

Add these lines:

"dbus-send --print-reply --dest=org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.spotify /org/mpris/MediaPlayer2 org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.Player.PlayPause"
XF86AudioPlay
"dbus-send --print-reply --dest=org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.spotify /org/mpris/MediaPlayer2 org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.Player.Stop"
XF86AudioStop

Run xbindkeys to see if it all works

xbindkeys

Now, when Spotify is running, pressing th eplay/pause key will make your music start or stop.

You will need to set xbindkeys to run automagically on startup.

On Ubuntu, System -> Preferences -> Startup Applications.

Done!