Omar's Blog

You all know the trouble I’ve had with Wubi, grub, and kernel updates. Well, this morning I got bit again. This time, the Update Manager was telling me there was a new version of the kernel out here: 2.6.31-19 and that I should upgrade.

Well aware that this would probably mean having to fix grub again (like I’ve done a few times before, and even wrote a blog post about), I went ahead and let Update Manager do it’s thing. I continued to work throughout the process. When it was all done, it asked me to reboot. I wasn’t finished working so I told it I’d reboot later. I left for lunch, and turned off my machine.

Sure enough, when I came back from lunch, the system failed to boot and I was greeted by the now too familiar  grub screen. The boot process had crashed again, and my fix did not work. It seems the new kernel panics every time it tries to boot from the virtual filesystem.

Sadly the only way I’ve been able to fix this is to boot my older kernel (in my case it was 2.6.31-17) using the technique that that I posted a while back. You can click here to read how to do it. After you’ve logged back into your system, you’ll need to go to System> Administration> Synaptic Package Manage. Once there, search for “linux-image” (without the quotes). You will get a list of packages. Scroll down until you find the offending package.. in my case it was:

linux-image-2.6.31-19-generic

Click on the green box, and select “Mark for Complete Removal”. Then click on the big green check-mark with the legend Apply. Synaptic will then remove the kernel, and should update your grub automatically. Once that is done… cross your fingers and reboot your computer. It should run again well, after that. Alas, it won’t be using the latest and greatest (this could be debated) kernel, but at least you’ll be only one version down, and your computer will boot again in Wubi.

If it doesn’t boot up automatically, and you get greeted by the grub command line. Just use my previous post on fixing grub-pc, and it will clear up the problem and work again flawlessly.

I really hope somebody at Canonical will take note of this and make sure their next kernel update doesn’t kill wubi… because to be honest it’s getting a bit of a pain in the rear to have to fix this every time there’s a new kernel update.

I’m seriously starting to think about ditching wubi all together and just partitioning my hard drive again (even if it will piss off IT department). Then again, I should probably just ditch Windows altogether and move the laptop completely to Ubuntu… I mean it’s all I really use nowadays. Time will tell.

I really hope this fixes the problem for you as well as it has fixed it for me.

How-to

This week, one of the updates that were recommended by the Ubuntu Update Manager was the newest grub-pc. As soon as I saw it on the list of updates to install I got that sinking feeling…”This is going to wreck my Wubi installation again, isn’t it?”

Sure enough, it wrecked it.

Good news is, the fix I posted a few weeks ago still works. So if you find that your Wubi installation is not working after updating, make sure you read my post on how to fix it. It still works, and you’ll be back to booting Ubuntu normally in no time.

How-to, News

Grabando Comic Geekos on Locarion, originally uploaded by oegan72.

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Why I use Wubi

I love Ubuntu. It’s the operating system I use the most. But even with all my love for the platform, there are still a couple of applications and things that I must do on my computer (mostly legacy Business Intelligence software) that require Microsoft Windows. Because of those applications, my computers have some sort of Windows installed on them. In my case it’s Windows Vista.

Vista is rather picky when it comes to installing service packs. If it finds that the MBR is missing or has been changed or that the partition table has been modified, it fails to install the updates. This is where Wubi comes into the story.

I love Wubi. It lets you install Ubuntu onto your computers without having to partition your Windows hard drive. Your Ubuntu installation lives in a virtual filesystem that lives on a file inside your windows filesystem (NTFS), and to boot into it, Wubi adds itself to Window’s bootloader menu.

The Trouble Begins:

A few weeks ago, Ubuntu updated the grub-pc package to version 2.0, and if you use the Update Manager regularly, chances are it will be automatically downloaded and installed on your computer. Here’s the trouble: It WILL break your Wubi installation! Luckily there’s a fix for it, although it took me a while to find it on the Ubuntu forums. Here I’ve tried to summarize it for you:

The fix:

When you boot and select Ubuntu from the menu, instead of booting Ubuntu (if you are having the problem) you will be confronted by a text prompt like this one:

sh:grub>

To boot back into your existing installation of Ubuntu you will need to type the following commands:

sh:grub> linux /boot/vmlinuz-(Your version of the kernel) root=/dev/(Your Windows partition) loop=/ubuntu/disks/root.disk ro

sh:grub> initrd /boot/initrd.img-(Your version of the kernel)

sh:grub> boot

Quick-tip: The new version of grub features auto-complete (very much like bash does). So, if you are not sure which version of the kernel you have, just use the TAB key when you get to the (Your version of the kernel) part of the command, and it should auto-complete with the files it finds in that directory.

When you get to the part about (Your Windows partition), this will usually be “sda1″ or “sda2″. However your mileage may vary depending on how many drives and partitions your computer has, and where you decided to install Ubuntu when you installed it the 1st time. To find out how many partitions you have, use:

sh:grub> ls -l

This will list all the partitions it can find in this format: hd(0,1), hd(0,2), etc. The first number is the physical disk. The second number stands for the partition number. Hence:

• hd(0,1) = /dev/sda1
• hd(0,2) = /dev/sda2
• hd(1,1) = /dev/sdb1
• hd(2,1) = /dev/sdc1
• and so on…

If you can’t boot into your Ubuntu installation with /dev/sda1, try the other partitions that you found with the ls -l command. One of them HAS to be it! Try “root=/dev/sda1″ first, if it doesn’t work, try again but iterate your way up… “root=/dev/sda2″, etc.

After you type in the ” boot” command, Ubuntu should start to load and you should be greeted by your desktop, in full working order. BUT, we’re not done yet: we still have to fix grub so that you don’t have to type in those commands every time you want to boot into your system.

Open your Synaptic Package Manager, found on the Gnome-Panel menu under: System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager. In the “Quick search” field, type in grub-pc. You should now be confronted with a list of packages. Focus on grub-pc, which should have an Ubuntu logo and a green square next to it. Right click on it, and select “Mark for Reinstallation”. Then click on the big green checkmark (Apply). After it has finished reinstalling that package, your troubles should be over, and your Wubi installation should be back to normal. Try a reboot, just to make sure it has all worked properly!

Hope this helps.

How-to, Ubuntu

It’s been a while since my wife and I had some quality time alone with each other. The last time we had a few days alone was a little more than a year ago, when we took for a long weekend in Panama. This time, as a way to celebrate our 10th anniversary, we took off for the beach (Decameron Resort, in El Salvador).

First things first.. the resort is awesome. I’d never been down here before, because it’s pretty tough to justify going to a resort when we have a beach house at our disposal, but our 10th anniversary gives us a pretty great excuse to splurge a bit. And my oh my, is it worth it. Great atmosphere, full of people having fun (quite full as a matter of fact), and the service has been excellent as well.There is some sort of banker’s conference going on in the resort, so it’s probably more crowded than usual today, yet the service has been excellent even with the added visitors… and watching the bankers have a good time at the resort just adds to the charm of the place.

The weather has been a bit crazy, though, raining for good parts of the day, and clearing up enough to let the sun peek dramatically through the clouds for some fantastic photo opportunities (I’m kicking myself for not bringing my good camera). But rainy weather is also perfect for us to unwind in… napping, charging our batteries for a hopefully better day tomorrow.

As I type this, I’m on a small bar by the pool, drinking a rum & coke with great 3G reception on the netbook. I’m watching a fun water polo match in the pool to my right, and watching sunset on the beach to my left. My wife is still asleep in our room, when she wakes, we’ll get ready for our dinner (reservations at 6:30), then plan which activities to go to.. she has already told me I had to take her dancing tonight.. always a fun time!

I’m having a great time so far, and whatever we don’t get to do tonight, we’ll be able to do tomorrow night… life is good! If the weather is any good tomorrow, we may even give the Kayak’s and the SPA a try.

It’s been the perfect anniversary gift (for me anyway, I may have to give her more of these “gifts” in the future).

Signing out from Paradise,

Omar

Family, Travel

10 years ago today I was getting a few of the last minute details ready for my wedding ceremony and my honeymoon. It seems like it was yesterday. So much has happened; many great times, some bad times, and lots and lots of laughs!

It seems like yesterday that I married my wife, it seems like yesterday that we used to live alone in our apartment with your cat.

We traveled a lot back then, Cancún, Orlando, New Orleans for Mardi Gras, Las Vegas for COMDEX, our Mediterranean cruise, Florida (somewhere in the Redneck Riviera for Monique and Jean’s wedding), Antigua Guatemala with friends. Sometimes the trips would be long and planned ahead, most of the time it was just a drive to the beach for lunch.

Then we started doing grown-up things: Buying our first car together, a Red Toyota Yaris, that we called “The PokeBall” because it was red, and very small; fighting over the plans of what is now our house; building our house; deciding we wanted to have a family.

The first five years of our marriage were devoted to having fun together, exploring ourselves, and buying things for each other. Somewhere between all those trips and parties we decided to build a house and start nesting… which actually came in very handy because we finished our house just in the right time to settle in and have our first child.

The second five years of our marriage have been all about family life. We’ve had three wonderful kids so far… they are our pride and joy. They keep us feeling young and old at the same time. They fill us with so much love and happiness, it immediately erases all the memories of the worrying when they get sick, the night-time feedings, the lost sleep, the expenses.. oh, yes… and the diaper changing.. eewww.

Even just hanging out, saying nothing, just vegging out in front of the TV, nodding off next to each other, trying to stay awake even though the kids have tired us out all day long, is the most enjoyable part of the day because we have each other near.

10 years of my life with my woman. I am a very lucky and happy guy.

Family

• RT @paigerpenland: Let's try that link again: El Salvador is Lonely Planet's top travel destination for 2010! http://is.gd/4MBLt #
• The plan is to get out of bed and into the shower… But having trouble sticking to the plan. #
• Holy Moley… Echofon Pro is so much better than the regular echofon. Definitely worth the $5 #
• @hmaida Good luck Hector! Much success! in reply to hmaida #
• Working at Matrketbeat today… Got my game face on.. spooky ain't it? http://dailybooth.com/u/yfxq #
• Charamusca: Cultura Chupística: Cosas en el Gabinete de un Baño Salvadoreño.: Dedicado con cariño a .. http://bit.ly/49uqZp #
• @onlyangel SIIIIII Thank you, sería Excelente! Hay forma de incluir el stream para los shows en vivo? in reply to onlyangel #
• Temblorcito de dos partes… algo simpático.. si no te dió pálida la 1era vez, la segundo de seguro que sí te aturró en nance! #
• RT @samuelbran: Salvadoreño publica tutorial de GIMP en Abduzeedo.com http://bit.ly/2wsaM2 Felicidades!!! @squidjam #
• ComicGeekos: Su momento vergon-zoso Geeko?: http://bit.ly/4G6tbM #

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• @ferlopez Wow… Excelente.. gracias! in reply to ferlopez #
• RT @ferlopez: buenas noticias @omaregan http://bit.ly/aK8yU #
• Trabajando desde casa el día de hoy. #
• @sansivar hoy me tocó igual a mi. Cuesta un poco concentrarse en el trabajo aqui en casa in reply to sansivar #
• @marc_elo Hola, saludos! No problema, quedamos para el próximo lunes! in reply to Marc_elo #
• Working from home today. http://dailybooth.com/u/y686 #
• Multi-monitores en Ubuntu Rockea!! #
• time to have lunch with my wife and son. This is the best part of working at home today! #
• Ubuntu multi-monitor support rocks! http://dailybooth.com/u/y70d #
• Otro problema de trabajar desde casa… un power-nap tiende a convertirse en un MEGANAP… crap debo reponer horas. #
• Me super gusta los programas que agarran toda tu musica y te crea playlists en base a last.fm. Te permiten re-descubrir tu propia musica #
• En una clace acerca de llaves GPG a través del IRC en el canal de #ubuntu-centroamerica #
• Hoy a las 8:00pm, Hora de El Salvador.. un nuevo episodio de Comic Geekos! #
• GDF = Guádefó = WTF MEGALOL! #
• @oscarmartell Se puede poner un par de dias en una caja con arroz seco Y con un foco que lo mantenga un poco caliente… in reply to oscarmartell #
• @oscarmartell Si eso no funciona, le agregas un poco de canela y leche y haces arroz con leche! in reply to oscarmartell #
• Mi esposita me trajo un cafecito de Starbucks (de los de botellita). perfecta manera de teraminar una jornada d etrabajo en casa… #
• Setting up the studio for a new Comic Geekos Episode. Listen to us and chat with us at http://live.svmedios.com #
• Ya estamos transmitiendo la grabación de Comic Geekos. Nos pueden escuchar y chatear en http://live.svmedios.com #
• Recording Comic Geekos! http://dailybooth.com/u/yc63 #
• ya está disponible el episodio 238 de Comic Geekos, para escucharlo y/o descargarlo, lo pueden hacer aqui: http://tr.im/E5ck #
• Nuevo avatar.. recordando mi fiesta de disfraces de este año. #
• A ver si con este nuevo avatar le levanto un poco los animos a @hectordj #
• @yami178 Si, pero del bueno! in reply to yami178 #
• @yami178 It's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. (no recuerdo quien dijo esto.. pero es verdad). in reply to yami178 #
• @yami178 Imaginese la fabulosa oportunidad que se está perdiendo de encontrar el siguiente enamoramiento. La vida es finita. in reply to yami178 #
• La vida es una serie se emociones y momentos.. lastimosamente la vida es finita y cada día estamos mas cerca a nuestro propio final. #
• Hay q aprovechar la vida al máximo antes de q nos demos cuenta que ya estamos muy "viejos" para hacer algunas cosas que pudimos haber hecho. #
• @mariopleitez exactamente in reply to mariopleitez #
• @Queith suena divertidamente a "siganme los buenos…" in reply to Queith #
• @Queith suena divertidamente similar a "siganme los buenos…" in reply to Queith #
• ComicGeekos: CG238 – MIEDO!: http://bit.ly/43Wld4 #

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This news item has been re-tweeted all over Twitter. Basically it talks about Apple working on a deal to get TV Programmers to line up and make their shows available to AppleTV and iTunes users for a flat $30.00 a month.

I think it’s worth noting that for quite a bit now, I have been consuming most of my television via download. Ironically I’m now more interested in watching live streaming shows on my computer than watching my favorite TV shows in my living room, because I know I can always watch those at my leisure later via bittorrent. Also, live web content is more interactive, whereas scripted television shows are designed to allow the viewer to veg-out.

Will Apple be able to get a deal going? I really hope so, because I have been an AppleTV user for a very long time now, and the convenience of having my favorite show stream or download directly to my AppleTV or my iPod rather than having to hunt for it on bittorrent, convert it to the correct formats and sync everything up is kind of a hassle.

If they do get a deal going though, I hope it will open the door for other players like Boxee to move in with their own offerings. Boxee is a fantastic product as it is, and has become my favorite way to watch TV shows on my Netbook.

Will this be the Future of Television? I doubt it. There are too many greedy players involved and already the big production houses fear that Apple has too much power when it comes to consumer entertainment. I’m certain the cable companies and network television don’t want to see their cash cows die, so they will undoubtedly try to somehow block the deal. Also, you can’t ignore the whole regionality thing either, where some content cannot be watched in certain areas… policing and or enforcing this could be a headache for the programmers.

I am all for Apple’s proposed model, but frankly I’m very skeptical that a deal will be struck.

Gadgets, Hmmm, Tech News

• @queith NICE… yo ya lo instalé en mi Netbookita y funciona super-SUUUPER bien! in reply to Queith #
• @queith JAJA ya me imagino.. Hay que armar un Linux Install-Fest! Que lleven sus maquinas y les instalamos Ubuntu! De pago: Pizza! in reply to Queith #
• Feeilng a bti dyslxelci todya! http://dailybooth.com/u/xxhz #
• I loved this show, and this is great insight into how it was created. I wish Latin American educators could take note: http://tr.im/DWxG #
• Hoy a las 8:00pm (Hora de El Salvador) grabaremos un episodio nuevo de La Charamusca. http://tr.im/DY6m #
• Charamusca: LC206 – En Vivo HOY: Hoy a las 8:00pm (hora de El Salvador) grabaremos el episodio.. http://bit.ly/3liHCV #
• Empezando la transmisión de esta noche en http://live.svmedios.com Dentro de un rato llegarán los Charamuscos #
• Esperando a Los Charamuscos… Les agarró la tarde este día! http://dailybooth.com/u/y1yw #
• Me acaban de avisar que el invitado estará por Skype… A arreglar tram vex el estudio! http://dailybooth.com/u/y20z #
• Por problemas de salud de uno de los integrantes, el episodio de hoy de La Charamusca se traslada para la próxima semana. #
• @marc_elo Hola, No vamos a poder grabar hoy por problemas de salud de uno de los integrantes.. Quedamos para el próximo lunes? #
• La Charamusca se pospone para el Lunes 9, debido a problemas de salud de uno de los integrantes. #
• Charamusca: LC206 – Pospuesto: Por razones de fuerza mayor, el show de esta semana se ha pospu.. http://bit.ly/2naqV7 #

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