A blog about technology and code.
Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala: Fix Video Tearing with Compiz & Nvidia Geforce GTS 250
Feb 22nd
I am using Ubuntu 9.10 but steps should be similar for other distributions too.
Video Tearing with Compiz
Ubuntu’s NVidia drivers are okay for this card. I tried playing 1080p video and it works well if you don’t have compiz turned on. When compiz is on, the video tearing is noticeable. This is what I did to solve it:
- In CompizConfig Settings Manager (installable via Ubuntu Software Cemter), go to General Options > Display Settings. Set Refresh Rate to 60 and check “Sync to VBlank.”
- Enable “Sync to VBlank” under nvidia-settings. To do this, go to System > Administration > NVIDIA X Server Settings. Then, choose OpenGL Settings, and check the “Sync to VBlank” box.
This stopped the tearing I guess, but the 1080p became very choppy, probably because the driver is old. Once I installed the latest drivers, the problem was no more.
Update NVidia Drivers
The drivers in the Ubuntu repositories are almost always old. To install the latest version, go to the NVidia site and download the latest version. As of Feb. 22, 2010, the latest version is 190.53. Set the .run as executable by right clicking the file > Properties > Permissions and then checking “Allowing executing file as program.”
Before installing, close X by typing into a terminal:
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop
Then run the installer:
sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-190.53-pkg2.run
Choose “Yes” for every dialog.
After installation, start X again:
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start
And the new drivers should be loaded.
Set Up the Logitech MX Revolution in Linux with Revoco
Feb 22nd
Download Revoco 0.5
Wheel:
The basic mouse functions will work in Linux but to get the mouse wheel customized, download Revoco 0.5. Extract the contents to some folder, go to that folder in the terminal and compile it by typing “make”.
Run revoco without any parameters to see the usage. Remember to run it as root! I personally prefer setting it to auto so I’ll run something like this:
sudo ./revoco auto=18
Where the number indicates the sensitivity. 0 = free scroll, 50 = clicky scroll.
The neat thing about revoco is that, unlike Logitech’s SetPoint, you only need to run this once and the settings stay regardless of whether the next computer you plug it in has SetPoint or revoco. Handy if you need it to function the way you like on a work computer 
Extra Functions:
Download btnx and you can set functions to the mouse wheel/buttons. Remember to detect the mouse buttons first before assigning features.
Note that while btnx has a tab for revoco, it may not work if revoco is removed from the build of btnx due to a licensing issue.
How to move the User folder in Windows 7
Jan 1st
In Windows, there is no simple and obvious way to move the entire user folder to another location so we’ll need to make some modifications in the registry. This method may not be optimal, but it works for me. I am using Windows 7 Professional and I’m not sure if it works for Vista or XP. This method will move the entire user profile, including the standard folders like Documents, Pictures, and Music in addition to the hidden AppData folder where applications store their settings.
Before starting, I recommend that this is done very early after installing Windows 7 since poorly written programs reference a static path instead of looking up a system variable. This means that the program will try to access the old user folder instead of the new location after the user folder has been moved. I’ll assume that the next steps are done immediately after a clean Windows 7 install and the Windows install partition is in C:\ and the partition to move the user folder is D:\. So, in the end I want to move C:\Users to D:\Users.
After install, Windows 7 creates the first user account. Because we haven’t messed with the registry just yet, it will create the account in C:\Users\. Nothing can be done about this right now, so just create the account with a throwaway name.
The Folder Options Dialog
First, change folder options to show hidden files and folders by opening an explorer window, press Alt, then from the menu bar choose Tools > Folder Options. Click the View tab and choose “Show hidden files, folders, and drives.”
Next, go to C:\Users\ and copy the Public and Default folders to D:\Users\.
Open up the registry editor by typing “regedit” in the Start Menu search box and press Enter. Navigate to the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
After changing the values.
Change the Default, ProfilesDirectory, and Public strings to the location that you want them to be. For example, I changed them from %SystemDrive%\Users\Default, %SystemDrive%\Users, and %SystemDrive%\Users\Public to D:\Users\Default, D:\Users, and D:\Users\Public, respectfully.
From now on, the Default and Public profiles are located in the new path and all new user profiles will be created in the ProfilesDirectory path.
Now, use the control panel to create a new account and it should be created in D:\Users\.
Log out and log in to the new account to make sure that it is, in fact, located in D:\Users\. If you have an existing user profile that you wish to use, just copy everything into the newly created user profile and overwrite everything and log back in to the new account. Once everything works, you may delete the throwaway account.
Seagate Barracuda HDD vs. OCZ Vertex SSD – HD Tune Results
Jan 1st
Tested on a system with the following specs:
- ASUS P5P43TD Motherboard
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz
- 8GB DDR3
- Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Seagate Barracuda HDD
- 7200RPM
- 500GB
- SATA2
- 3.5″
- 16MB Cache
OCZ Vertex SSD
- 60GB
- SATA2
- 2.5″
- 64MB Cache
- Firmware 1.4
How To Set Up a Samba Server in Ubuntu
Dec 18th
So you have a Linux desktop or server and want to share files and/or printers to your Windows PCs or Macs. Luckily, all three operating systems support SMB so let’s use that. With Samba you can share files and printers on your home network and protect your shares with a username and password.
Review: Monoprice iPhone External Battery (2200mAh)
Dec 15th
Let’s be frank: the iPhone 3G has the worst battery life out of all the iPhones. Add to that the fact that I use my iPhone like a laptop and the battery can die in less than one day. The Monoprice backup battery is only $15 from Monoprice.com and does the job very well. The battery pack should work with all iPods too.
Let’s take a look…
Sudoku Solver in Java
Dec 14th
This is a Sudoku solver that uses arc consistency and domain splitting. Also able to tell if a board has no or many solutions.
Great iPhone Apps (Free & Paid)
Dec 13th
I’ll just list out a few of the apps I have right this moment. If an app costs money, I’ll try to list out some free alternatives. Hopefully you’ll find that they’re useful!
How to Use the PS3 Controller (Dualshock 3/Sixaxis) on Windows 7 64-bit via USB
Dec 4th
Get your PS3 controller to work on your PC with MotionInJoy drivers for 32 and 64-bit Windows. This guide will show you how to connect your PS3 controller via USB.
Deterministic Linear Time k-Select Algorithm
Dec 3rd
This is an implementation of linear time selection by Blum, Floyd, Pratt, Rivest, and Tarjon in Java.
Pseudocode: BSelect(A,k): If |A| == 1 return A[1] p = GoodPivot(A) S = { A[i] | A[i] < p } L = { A[i] | A[i] > p } If |S| >= k return BSelect(S,k) else if |S| == k-1 return p else return BSelect(L, k-|S|-1) GoodPivot(A): Divide A into n/5 groups of 5 elements each Find the median of each group Use BSelect to find the median, p, of the n/5 medians Return p