Moving from Ubuntu 11.10 to Kubuntu 11.10

When KDE moves to 4, I move to Gnome with Ubuntu mainly due to its file manager.  However, lately Gnome and Unity (not just Unity, in fact, it isn't that bad ... try Metro in Windows 8) gives me issues here and there.  These issues are all minor, but enough to annoy me.  Anyway, as you can guess what this post is about.  I move back to Ubuntu after gave KDE another go.  On the same hardware, it just runs better than Gnome.  It fews things are smoother, and things seem to work better.  For instance, simple thing as notifications.  With Compiz on, it gives me issues occasionally.  For instance, the transparency not display properly etc.

So far, my experience with KDE (Kubuntu) is much more pleasant than than Gnome 3 or Unity.

Update:
I had problem problems with DVD/CD writings with Gnome's bundled software.  On the same machine, K3b works perfectly.  I guess I am safely to say it is software issues.

Ubuntu ... where are you?!

I know Ubuntu 11.10 is not a LTS release, but it surely can't be this bad, can it?

One of the reason I upgrade to the new version of Ubuntu is the new version 3 Linux kernel.  However, I do not know where I should point my fingers to, many thinks works well in version 2.x are seriously broken.  For instance, ever since I have upgraded my machines to Ubuntu 11.10, both my laptop and my desktop (okay, both machines use Intel crappy graphics) fails to switch back on the screens after the screen goes into power saving.  I have tried different suggestions from different forums, at the end, I have to disable the power saving (for screen) at least completely (with little success).  Even after I have switched off the options to switch off the screen when idles for both machine, I still having problem at certain situations.  Now, I am really worry each time when I close my laptop lid as I do not know it will come back properly.  There are many time I need to restart the machine complete to regain the screen.

Another problem I have is the sound on my desktop.  It is still broken.  Although the new kernel is certainly running faster and seemingly lighter, I would advise you to stay on the old version of Ubuntu if you can.

Boot-Repair

If Windows power management is bad, Ubuntu's is even worse.  I have two computers which are unfortunate enough to run on Intel Graphics.  The graphics cards on both failed to resume after they went to sleep.

One way to fix it is to edit the GRUB options.  You can do it the hard way by looking up options for GRUB and editing the GRUB setting file.  Alternatively, there is a graphical utility to make you life easier.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair

Retrieving personal details from Active Directory

If you are programming in C#, you can access information held on Active Directory easily using the code below.

Below uses the libraries provided in DirectoryServices namespace to query the Active Directory such as a user's telephone number, email address, etc.  As you can see, it is very straight forward (at least compared with tutorials I have seen using LDAP)

<% System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry directoryEntry
= principal.GetUnderlyingObject() as
System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry; %>


<%: principal.DisplayName %>

Tel: <%: directoryEntry.Properties["telephoneNumber"].Value%>

Email: <%: directoryEntry.Properties["mail"].Value%>

Although it looks like classes in DirectoryServices are wrappers to equivalent LDAP calls, it is certainly a lot cleaner and easier to understand (in my opinions)

The full list of properties you can retrieve can be found on

http://www.dotnetactivedirectory.com/Understanding_LDAP_Active_Directory_User_Object_Properties.html

Ubuntu and power saving

With Ubuntu 10.04, there was one thing that really bugged me.  Every time when I unplugged the power, the netbook would go into a sort of sleep mode.  I needed to reboot the machine at twice to get back.

With Ubuntu 11.10, I can report this problem has been fixed.

EAC is crashed by Adobe Drive ...

I have been using EAC for a long time and have never had a problem before until today.  I had installed EAC on my laptop with 64bits Windows 7.   Everytime I ran it, it crashed miserably.  Initially I thought it is the problem with compatibility or permissions, so I tried to run EAC as Windows XP compability mode and as administrator.  Needless to say both failed.

After a bit of searching, it seems th culpit is Adobe Drive in CS4 as suggested on

http://www.digital-inn.de/exact-audio-copy-english/37892-eac-crash-vista-x64.html

I did as suggested to deregistered the two Adobe Drive DLLs, and my problem fixed.

regsvr32 /u "%CommonProgramFiles%\Adobe\Adobe Drive CS4\ADFSMenu.dll regsvr32 /u "%CommonProgramFiles%\Adobe\Adobe Drive CS4\AdobeDriveCS4_NP.dll

Intel CPU Whines ...

I have a Clevo N540R laptop and it has been doing well with one exception it makes high pitch noise occasionally.  I have checked the cooling fan and it seems okay.  After checking all the usually suspects, I ran out of ideas.  Then I hit Google and search for the term "laptop high pitch noise".  Guess what, I am not alone.  This seems to be quite a common problem, and surprisingly it is related to the Intel processor.  It seems it is something to do with the processor goes to C1 idle state.

see: http://superuser.com/questions/121883/any-way-to-disable-specific-cpu-idle-cx-states

Initially I thought, it can't be, can it?  I followed the instructions posted on one of the forum as below:




1) Typing in the command line "regedit", you go to the registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Power \ PowerSettings \ 54533251-82be-4824-96c1-47b60b740d00 \ 5d76a2ca-e8c0-402f-a133-2158492d58ad

2) To enable one or another hidden parameter, it is necessary to find and edit the value DWORD, changing its value SettingValue from 1 to 0.

3) Then, through the control panel – power – in the settings mode select power management processor.
There will be an option disabling idle processor and high pitched noise immediately disappears.

Guess you can guess the result.  My problem went too!

(original solution from : http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1526684)