ribbed.us …

Linux and Windows dual booting has always been a hassle. Linux likes to do it it’s way and Windows likes to do the same. Installing one after the other, one usually gets a nice friendly boot up screen that allows you to choose which operating system to boot. Windows 7 in it’s current form for some reason seems to despise other operating systems and does not to put an option to boot other operating systems after a fresh install when you installed Linux first.

While there are many ways to get the Windows bootloader to give you options, I find the best way to get the option to boot into Linux back is to re-install GRUB. I happen to use Kubuntu, so following the instructions step by step on any variation of Ubuntu should work while some other distributions might require some tweaking to the steps.

First you will need the live CD you used to install Linux. Boot into the live CD and open a terminal.

In the terminal, enter the following commands …

sudo grub
find /boot/grub/stage1
root (hd?,?) # replace ? with the information you got from the previous command.
setup (hd0)
quit

That’s it! Reboot and you should get your grub menu back.

For those who have Linux and Windows machines on the same network, you can access your remote desktop enabled Windows machines through your Linux machine via SSH. Instead of opening ports and and forwarding ports to each Windows machine which would require changing default remote desktop ports, you can just open and forward the SSH port to your Linux machine. All that is needed is to configure your router to forward SSH to your Linux box, enable remote desktop on your Windows machines, and a great free program called PuTTY.

Step 1 – Download PuTTY. The download page offers various different software, but you only need PuTTY. There is no installation required. The whole program is contained in a single exe file.

Step 2 – Configure your Windows machines and accounts in your Windows machines to enable remote desktop.

Step 3 – Open PuTTY and enter the host or IP of your network. If you have a dynamic IP address, make sure you sign up for a dynamic IP address service such as afraid.org or DynDNS. The connection type of SSH and port 22 should already be selected.

Step 4 – Expand the SSH menu and click on Tunnels. Enter 3389 in the Source textbox. Enter the IP address on your network of your Windows machine in the Destination textbox. In the example image, 192.168.1.102:3389 is used. Click on Add.

Step 5 – Click Open. A console window should open asking for your username and password. Log in as you would normally with your username and password.

Step 6 – Open Remote Desktop Connection and on the Computer textbox, enter localhost:3389.

Step 7 – You will be prompted for your username and password. Log in as you would normally on your Windows machine.

Yes I know I shouldn’t be showing my real network names and hosts.

This method can be used to connect to pretty much any service on your network via SSH without opening any additional ports aside from SSH. Go nuts.

This post is going to be full of colorful language. Please leave the kids at home.

Every new release of Itunes seems to have become a test of my will and of my patience. I have very little of either when software that should just work shits on me every damn time.

First off, yes I have a Mac and a PC. I choose to run Itunes on my PC because I have a huge music library in excess of 500GB that takes a hell of a long time to load on a single core lowly Mac notebook. I manage my music (more accurately … I put up) with Itunes because I happen to like Apple mobile devices. That is where my love for Apple ends.

OS X does not impress me. There is nothing on OS X that I couldn’t do in Windows or Linux.

My hatred for Apple comes to a climax when they create software for Windows. If there was a decent application that could manage my library … playlists, import of ratings/playcounts, app store support … I would switch in a heartbeat. Instead, I have to put up with Itunes on Windows that makes me want to kick cute puppies every time I do it … yet do it I must for the sake of firmware upgrades.

The first Itunes I had issues with was with version 7.x. After an update to a newer version, Itunes refused to detect my Ipod Touch. My guess was it had something to do with the Apple Mobile Device software. I merrily hop my way to Itunes support and it suggests that I completely uninstall Itunes. The problem was the damn fucking installer didn’t want to uninstall Itunes. It kept rolling back before it finished uninstalling it. How fucking hard is it to delete the shit you put into a computer? I’m sure an army of Apple engineers could have figured that out … but yet didn’t because none of them probably use Windows, never mind test on it. That venture ended up in me reformatting my whole damn setup because I was so fed up with the installer.

That iPod touch by the way is sitting on my desk … a brick. Sending it to Apple for warranty repair got me a “Fuck you, there was physical damage”. Yes … a lot of physical damage just sitting on my desk after Apple yet again fucks me up the ass after a firmware update. No power, no nothing after a firmware update, yet they conveniently tell me I did physical damage to it. However, I come back to Apple for yet more pain and punishment and buy another 32GB iPod touch. I should have learned.

Fast forward a few months and Itunes 8 and the 2.1 firmware comes out. What a surprise, I get installation problems while installing iTunes. The install finishes with an error, so while the application was probably installed right (mostly), it wasn’t quite finished. Itunes still thought it wasn’t version 8 even though Help -> About Itunes clearly said I was running Itunes 8. Fucking Itunes and it’s bipolar disorder. Because of that, I couldn’t install the new firmware which was the very reasons I installed Itunes 8 in the first place.

I proceeded to uninstall Itunes and honest to God, it actually learned how to uninstall itself. Progress! I begin installation of Itunes again and it doesn’t install! It doesn’t even give you any damn hints on what might be wrong. Going to Apple’s support site pretty much told me what I already knew … that I did not like putting fingers up my ass. Very helpful.

If you have this problem, you can probably run msconfig and do a Selective Startup and unchecking Load startup items. Restart your computer and Apple should have a clean slate to do it’s install. I’m sorry Apple, you don’t own Windows, you are going to have to play nice with other software. You might be the head honcho over there with OS X, but I shouldn’t have to fucking do anything but install software to use a device I paid five hundred dollars for … TWICE. Get off your fucking high horse and get with the program or get the fuck out of my Windows. While I am on that subject, why the hell don’t you use Windows themes? I have Aero on because I happen to like Aero … so WTF!?

So yes, Apple Itunes installed successful after much bitching at the wall which I lovingly called Apple.

I proceed to plug my iPod in and Blue Screen of Fucking Death. I have not once encountered a BSOD in Vista since I began using it on launch date … yet Apple seems to bring the best out of Windows. A search around the internet seems to tell me the same thing … Apple is a douchebag. It’s so frustrating that it’s funny that every release of a new Itunes version is always like this. They never fucking ever do anything right … at least not on Windows … where oh yeah … more Apple device users use Windows than Macs. After reading through a forum thread where other people have been getting the same error, I start turning off other USB devices. It turns out, my HP printer is have emotional conflicts with Apple devices. The question is then, how did they work together before? The official Apple stance seems to always be … “it’s not me baby, it’s your other woman”. Seriously, own up to your damn mistakes. No one should have to start turning devices off because you fucked up when it was unfucked before.

Time wasted this go-around with Itunes … four hours.

Thank you very much … and oh yeah … can’t wait for a new version of the Zune. Please get the import of Apple libraries right.