Neoxn3il

KDE - Reset Screen Resolution

Tue, 24 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Problem

Our Screen Resolution in KDE Plasma needs to be reset.

Solution

delete the Folder ~/.local/share/kscreen via Terminal:

rm -dr ~/.local/share/kscreen

on reboot it will be generated fresh.

Arch Linux - Free Disk Space

Sun, 22 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Problem

We used Arch Linux for a while, updating regularly using Pacman. We used Docker for Development and/or other reasons. Now there are hidden files on our Machine, that claim a lot of Space.

Solution

Clean Pacman

Delete old PacMan Packages from Cache by running this in Terminal:

sudo paccache -r

Clean Docker

Delete all Docker Images. But do now worry. You can always rebuild them or pull them from DockerHub.

sudo docker system prune -a -f

i3wm - Enable Autostart

Sat, 07 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Today we want to enable our Autostart Scripts by starting i3wm.

Find i3 Config File

Fist we need to find our i3 Config File register a Script, witch runs when we start i3. It is most likely located at ~/.config/i3/config

Run Script on Start of i3

Now we just tell i3 to run a Bash Script autostart.sh located at ~/.config/i3/ on start. We add this line to our ~/.config/i3/config File:

exec --no-startup-id bash ~/.config/i3/autostart.sh

Setup the Bash Script

Last but not least we create the Bash Script autostart.sh located at ~/.config/i3/ containing:

#!/bin/bash
grep -rh Exec ~/.config/autostart | while read -r line ; do 
   ${line:5} &
done

This will look in our Directory ~/.config/autostart for executable Script Paths and run them.

(optional) /etc/xdg/autostart

We can also add our /etc/xdg/autostart to our Bash Script autostart.sh, if we wish to execute it as well. We add to our Bash Script autostart.sh:

grep -rh Exec /etc/xdg/autostart | while read -r line ; do 
   ${line:5} &
done

Restore Backup on Arch Linux

Tue, 27 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

After making a Backup on Arch Linux and Installing it again, we are now able restore our Backup.

Restore Pacman

First of all we need to reinstall our Pacman Packages listed in the pkglist.txt File:

sudo pacman -S --needed $(comm -12 <(pacman -Slq | sort) <(sort pkglist.txt))

All AUR Packages need to be installed manually again.

rsync /home

Now we can restore all our Configs from the <.dot> Files by rsync our /home. cd in your Backup of your /home and run:

sudo rsync -aAXH --info=progress2 ./ /home

rsync /opt

Then cd in your Backup of your /opt and run:

sudo rsync -aAXH --info=progress2 ./ /opt

Backup on Arch Linux

Fri, 02 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Today we want to create a Backup of our full System and our other Drives. rsync enables us to copy our Files, with all their MetaData, to any directory. This includes all symbolic links, devices, permissions, ownerships, modification times, ACLs, and extended attributes.

0. Setup external Drive with a Linux File System

To save all our MetaData, we need to partition a Disk with ext4, a File System that can store this kind of information.

1. Backup Full System

Now we can save our full root Directory excluding unnecessary Files into our <backup_folder>:

sudo rsync -aAXH --info=progress2 --delete --exclude={"/dev/*","/proc/*","/sys/*","/tmp/*","/run/*","/mnt/*","/media/*","/lost+found","/home/*/.local/share/Trash/","/home/*/.cache/*"} / /<backup_folder>

2. Backup other Drives

To store all of our other Drives under our <backup_folder> we need to exclude our <backup_drive>:

sudo rsync -aAXH --info=progress2 --delete --exclude={"<backup_drive>/*"} /run/media/ /<backup_folder>

3. Delete Empty Directories

After we saved all Files we want to keep, we can cleanup our Backup and delete all empty Directories. This will make it easier to restore the Backup.

find . -type d -empty -delete

4. Save Pacman

We can save a lot of Time and speed up the installation on a new system, if we save a List of installed Packages called pkglist.txt:

sudo pacman -Qqe > pkglist.txt

Partitioning on Arch

Thu, 01 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Today we want to partition a Disk, in order to backup our Linux ext4 Filesystem. We use ext4, because it enables us to store all symbolic links, devices, permissions, ownerships, modification times, ACLs, and extended attributes.

1. Get Disk Device Name

First we need to know our <diskname>. To print our Block Special Devices, we run in Terminal:

lsblk

In the resulting NAME column we can see the names of all our Disks and Partitions.

2. clear Partition Table

We can now use the <diskname> to clear the the PartitionTable to make a clean setup. gdisk helps us with that:

sudo gdisk /dev/<diskname>
d
n
w

3. Format Disk

With fdisk we can format our Disk to Type Linux:

sudo fdisk /dev/<diskname>
d
n
p
w

4. Set Filesystem Type

We can once again run lsblk to get the name of our part <partname>. Then we can set our Filesystem Type to ext4 via the Terminal:

sudo mkfs.ext4 -qF /dev/<partname>

5. Label Disk Partition

Labels are used to auto mount Partitions We can now name our <partname>, by choosing a <label>:

sudo e2label /dev/<partname> <label>

i3wm - Enabling MultiMedia keys

Mon, 13 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Today we want to use our MultiMedia Key in i3wm.

optional Requirements

- pactl
- xbacklight
- playerctl We only have to install the Packages we want to via our MulitMedia Keys.

i3 Configs

Like suggested in the i3vm FAQ we just edit our ~/i3/config File and add the following keybindings:

# Pulse Audio controls
bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 0 +5% #increase sound volume
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume 0 -5% #decrease sound volume
bindsym XF86AudioMute exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-mute 0 toggle # mute sound

# Sreen brightness controls
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec xbacklight -inc 5 # increase screen brightness
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec xbacklight -dec 5 # decrease screen brightness

# Touchpad controls
bindsym XF86TouchpadToggle exec /some/path/toggletouchpad.sh # toggle touchpad

# Media player controls
bindsym XF86AudioPlay exec playerctl play
bindsym XF86AudioPause exec playerctl pause
bindsym XF86AudioNext exec playerctl next
bindsym XF86AudioPrev exec playerctl previous

Touchpad Script

The script toggletouchpad.sh for toggling your touchpad should have following content:

#!/bin/bash
if synclient -l | grep "TouchpadOff .*=.*0" ; then
    synclient TouchpadOff=1 ;
else
    synclient TouchpadOff=0 ;
fi

Troubleshooting

Playerctl is a command-line utility for controlling media players over DBus that works with most players.

If the XF86* keysyms do not work, we can see the available keysyms for our computer by executing this command:

xmodmap -pke

Or xev, an interactive tool for finding key symbols:

xev

Installing WordPress Plugins on Arch Linux / Manjaro

Sun, 01 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Initial Situation

We installed WordPress with all its dependencies on Arch Linux / Manjaro. Now we want to Install Plugins.

Problem

On clicking the Install Button in the Admin menu a window pops up with the following Message:

Failed to connect to FTP Server

To perform the requested action, WordPress needs to access your web server. 
Please enter your FTP credentials to proceed. If you do not remember your 
credentials, you should contact your web host.

Solution

Like suggested on StackOverflow it is enough to add a single line of Code the File /wp-config.php in our WordPress Directory:

define('FS_METHOD', 'direct');

Fixing PhpStorm SCSS File Watcher

Mon, 25 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Initial Situation

We installed PhpStorm on Arch Linux / Manjaro by following the installation official Guide. We setup the SCSS File Watcher as described in the JetBrains Guide.

Problem

When activated the PhpStorm SCSS File Watcher throws this Exception:

/usr/lib/node_modules/less/bin/lessc --no-cache --update test.scss:test.css
Unable to interpret argument no-cache - if it is a plugin (less-plugin-no-cache), make sure that it is installed under or at the same level as less
Unable to interpret argument update - if it is a plugin (less-plugin-update), make sure that it is installed under or at the same level as less
lessc: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '.../PhpstormProjects/Project/test.scss:test.css'

Process finished with exit code 1

Solution

Use the File Watcher Program by sass-lang.com. This Solution can be applied to all File Watchers by JetBrains

Requirements

We will use npm to install Sass. On Arch Linux we run in Terminal:

sudo pacman -S npm

Installation

sudo npm install -g sass

Setup in PhpStorm

Use Sass Preprocessor as Program in File Watcher

got to File > Settings > Tools > File Watchers
edit/add SCSS File Watcher
use the Program at Path: /usr/bin/scss

Installing WordPress on Arch/Manjaro

Sun, 24 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0000

In order to develop a WordPress Theme or Plugin we might want to be able to run it locally. That is necessary if you develop offline, have no Server at your disposal or want to see the changes you make instantly. Setting up a WordPress instance on Windows and Mac is pretty convenient, because you can use Software Bundles like WAMP and MAMP, which provide Apache, MySQL and PHP out of the box.

If you are using Arch Linux or a distribution based on it like Manjaro, this little tale of my installation Odyssey may be what you are looking for.

Starting out with nothing

We begin our journey with a fresh installation of Manjaro. Before we can start installing WordPress, we should install all the Software it depends on. Namely Apache, PHP and MySQL

Installing WordPress

The Tutorial provided by wiki.archlinux.org describes everything we need and more. Here is the gist:

1. Install the wordpress package:

run in Terminal:

pacman -S wordpress

2. Configure Apache

create File /etc/httpd/conf/extra/httpd-wordpress.conf with content:

Alias /wordpress "/usr/share/webapps/wordpress"
<Directory "/usr/share/webapps/wordpress">
	AllowOverride All
	Options FollowSymlinks
	Require all granted
</Directory>

edit the Apache configuration File /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf and add:

Include conf/extra/httpd-wordpress.conf

3. Restart Apache

run in Terminal:

sudo apachectl restart

4. Configure MySQL

Make sure that MySQL is running! To start it run in Terminal:

sudo systemctl start mysqld

mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE wordpress;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress.* TO "root"@"localhost" IDENTIFIED BY "";
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT

Achievements

Now that we have finished all the necessary installations and configurations. We are finally able to use WordPress at http://localhost/wordpress. All further configuration should be pretty straightforward.