5 Useful Audio Apps for Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal.

For a long while Linux seemed a bit lacking in good audio apps, but it's improved so much in a short space of time and it's getting better all the time.

Here I've gathered the necessary apps to get your music ripped, tagged, edited and played.

Audex CD Ripper.

I've trawled the net for a good CD ripper on Linux and they all seem to be not quite what I want. Basically,

I'd like a CDex for Linux. CDex sort of works under Wine but has trouble with the DVD drive sometimes locking it for other apps once I've closed it.

I've found Audex to be the closest to it, plus it has album art downloading which CDex hasn't got.

It is a KDE app so theres some KDE dependancies, but it looks and works fine on the Gnome desktop.


Audex is available from the Ubuntu repositories or from their site as source code.

Puddletag Mp3 Tag Editor.

This is a relatively new app but it's quite well featured. It's loosely based on the Mp3tag available on Windows it is a good Linux alternative to it.

I really like the Filename --> Tag and Tag --> Filename conversion it shares with Mp3tag, which other Linux apps generally lack.

Another good conversion is it's case conversion which Mp3tag doesn't have. It's almost there, I only occasionally find my self going back to Mp3tag in Wine.

Download and installation instructions

Audacity Audio Editor.

This really needs no introduction, it's probably the best free audio editor on any OS! It does look a bit different here due to my Ubuntu theme.


It's available from the Ubuntu repositories and from the Audacity site

EasyMp3Gain.

This is great GUI (Graphical User Interface) to the commandline mp3gain, vorbisgain and aacgain volume normalisation tools. Again, I used to use the Windows version of Mp3gain in Wine but having found EasyMP3Gain in the Ubuntu repos, I've switched and found it a lot quicker!




Gmusicbrowser.

For a long time I kept switching between various music players on Linux trying to find one that worked best for me. I used to be an Amarok fan before Amarok 2 came along, even by then it didn't really fit in with the Gnome desktop I'd switched to.

I switched to Gnome having had so much trouble with Kubuntu, it always felt like Ubuntu's neglected brother. Having been recommended by a fellow Blogger user, Apocrypha, I tried Gmusicbrowser, and have found it to be lighter but feature-rich. It has good tagging support like Foobar on Windows and I like it's tray pop-up that gives you easy access to the controls. Unlike Rhythmbox, you can just hover over the icon.

And the full controls are there, rather than just play/pause in Rhythmbox. The only thing Gmusicbrowser could do with is better USB device support.



Gmusicbrowser is available to install from the Ubuntu repos.

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Backup and Restore Bookmarks in Firefox.

The following tutorial will guide you on how to Backup and Restore Bookmarks in Firefox 4.0 Beat7 web browser.

By default, the Firefox browser will automatically create a Backup of Bookmarks and additionally saves the former five backups for safety.

This tutorial describes how to do a manual back up of Bookmarks and also how to replace bookmarks with a backup.

To do a Manual Backup, do the following

1) On the Menu bar, click on the Bookmarks tab and then from the drop down list thus opened click on Show all Bookmarks.

This will open up the Library window.

Figure 1

2) In the Library window, click on Import and Backup tab and then click on Backup. This will open up the bookmarks backup filename window.

Figure 2

3) Enter a name for the backup file and choose a location to save the backup file.

Figure 3

4) Close the Library window.


To do a Restore of your Bookmarks, do the following

NOTE: - Restoring the bookmarks will overwrite the current set of bookmarks with the set of bookmarks in the backup file that you choose to restore with.

1) On the Menu bar, click on the Bookmarks tab and then click on Show all Bookmarks from the dropdown list.

Figure 4

2) In the Library window thus opened, click on Import and Backup tab and then point your mouse over Restore.

Figure 5

3) Select the backup file from the drop down list that you like to restore.

a. The dated files are the automatic backups of Bookmarks.

b. To choose a manual backup file, select Choose File.

Figure 6

4) After choosing the backup file, the bookmarks from that file will be restored. Close the Library window.


So, this is how you can Backup and Restore your Bookmarks in Firefox 4.0 Beta7 web browser.

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How to install subversion-tools in Ubuntu.

1] What is Subversion?

Subversion is a beautiful free/open source tool (software) to manage changes made to your information. Subversion manages files and directories, and the changes made to them over time. This allows you to recover older versions of your data or examine the history of how your data changed. Subversion can operate across networks, which allows it to be used by people on different computers.

2] Different methods of accessing subversion (svn) repository ?

There are three different methods of accessing subversion repository…

a) Local filesystem or Network filesystem accessed by client directly
b) Apache HTTP using WebDAV module
c) svnserve tunneled over an SSH (svn + ssh)

For more informatio, please refer the article http://www.indiangnu.org/2006/different-methods-of-accessing-subversion-svn-repository/

3] Subversion architectue –

Subversion provides two backends to store the data in svn repository

a) FSFS – Fast and Secure File Systtem –

FSFS backend provides quite a bit more flexibility in terms of its supported deployment scenarios. More flexibility means you have to work a little harder to find ways to deploy it incorrectly. FSFS is the default backend

b) Berkeley DB File system -

Berkeley DB provides real transaction support—perhaps its most powerful feature. Another great feature of Berkeley DB is hot backups—the ability to backup the database environment without taking it “offline”. But Berkeley DB environments are not portable!!

root@arun:~# ls -l  /var/repos_base/myrepository/
total 28
drwxr-xr-x 2 arunsb www-data 4096 2008-12-27 15:30 conf
drwxr-xr-x 2 arunsb www-data 4096 2008-12-26 16:34 dav
drwxr-sr-x 5 arunsb www-data 4096 2008-12-27 15:27 db
-r–r–r– 1 arunsb www-data    2 2008-12-26 16:34 format
drwxr-xr-x 2 arunsb www-data 4096 2008-12-26 16:34 hooks
drwxr-xr-x 2 arunsb www-data 4096 2008-12-26 16:34 locks
-rw-r–r– 1 arunsb www-data  229 2008-12-26 16:34 README.txt
root@arun:~#

root@arun:~# cat /var/repos_base/myrepository/db/fs-type
fsfs
root@arun:~#

Subversion –

Ubuntu -

root@arun:~# apt-get install  subversion  subversion-tools

5] How to configure Subversion with Apache HTTP and WebDAV module -

Step (1) First of all we need to create the subversion repository….

root@arun:~# svnadmin create /var/repos_base/myrepository
root@arun:~#

* Make sure to set/change owership/permission of svn repository for Apache webserver user (www-data is apache user)

root@arun:/var/repos_base# chown arunsb:www-data -R /var/repos_base/
root@arun:~# chmod  775 -R /var/repos_base/
root@arun:~#
root@arun:~# ls -l /var/repos_base/
-rwxrwxr-x 1 arunsb www-data   63 2008-12-03 15:50 common_userdb
drwxrwxr-x 7 arunsb www-data 4096 2008-12-03 15:48 myrepository
root@arun:~#

Step (2) Authentication – common user DB for all repositories -

Let us create a file “/var/repos_base/common_userdb” which will contain users information in file and add few users…

root@arun:/var/repos_base# htpasswd  -c /var/repos_base/common_userdb   arunsb
New password:
Re-type new password:
Adding password for user arunsb

root@arun:/var/repos_base# htpasswd  /var/repos_base/common_userdb  ravi
New password:
Re-type new password:
Adding password for user ravi

root@arun:/var/repos_base# htpasswd  /var/repos_base/common_userdb  santhosh
New password:
Re-type new password:
Adding password for user santhosh

root@arun:/var/repos_base# cat /var/repos_base/common_userdb
arunsb:dXxZU5vmHxFoc
ravi:gGEX.dsWcwqzc
santhosh:Jlzed1almY.SY
root@arun:/var/repos_base#

Step (3) Now install Apache , WebDav module for apache -

Ubuntu -

root@arun:~# apt-get install apache2  apache2.2-common  libapache2-svn

you need to enable to WebDAV svn module for apache using following command on Ubuntu…

root@arun:~# a2enmod dav   dav_svn
root@arun:~#

* Make sure that Apache is running ….

Step (4) Configure svn repository with apache -

root@arun:~# cat /etc/apache2/mods-available/dav_svn.conf
# dav_svn.conf – Subversion/Apache configuration

<Location /myrepository>

DAV svn

#You need either SVNPath and SVNParentPath, but not both.
#use SVNParentPath if you have multiple repositories under one directory

SVNPath /var/repos_base/myrepository
#SVNParentPath /var/repos_base

# Access control is done at 3 levels -
#(1) Apache authentication
#(2) Apache <Limit> and <LimitExcept>
#(3) mod_authz_svn is a svn-specific authorization module

AuthType Basic
AuthName “|| Welcome to Subversion Repository || ”
AuthUserFile /var/repos_base/common_userdb

#To enable authorization via mod_authz_svn
AuthzSVNAccessFile  /var/repos_base/myrepository/conf/authz
Require valid-user

#<LimitExcept GET PROPFIND OPTIONS REPORT>
#Require valid-user
#</LimitExcept>

</Location>

## Add entry for other svn repositories

root@arun:~#

* Once done restart the Apache server and try to access svn repository as …

root@arun:~# svn list http://server_name_or_IP/your_repository_name_mentioned_in_dav_svn.conf_file

please refer the article for more operation http://www.indiangnu.org/2006/different-methods-of-accessing-subversion-svn-repository/

6] How to configure Subversion with svnserve tunneled over an SSH (svn + ssh) -

Step (1) Make sure that subversion is installed and repository is created…

Start up script for svnserve is as shown below (ubuntu), please update this file with proper setting…

root@arun:~# cat /etc/init.d/svnserve
#!/bin/bash

# startup script for svn server!
## svnserve  –daemon  –listen-port   3690  –pid-file /var/run/svn.server

SVN_DAEMON=”/usr/bin/svnserve”
PID_FILE=”/var/run/svn-server.pid”
LOG_FILE=”/var/log/svnserve.log”
SVN_PORT=3690
SVN_ROOT=”/var/repos_base”
case “$1″ in

start)
if [ -f  $PID_FILE ];then
check=$(cat $PID_FILE)
echo “Subversion service (svnserve) already running [pid = $check]”
else
echo “Starting the Subversion service (svnserve)..”
$SVN_DAEMON  –daemon –root $SVN_ROOT  –listen-port $SVN_PORT –pid-file $PID_FILE  > $LOG_FILE 2>&1
echo “log file is $LOG_FILE”
echo “…”
echo “Done.”
fi
;;

stop)
echo “killing Subversion service (svnserve)…”
if [ -f  $PID_FILE ];then
#killall svnserve
kill -9 $(cat $PID_FILE)
rm  $PID_FILE
echo “…”
echo “Done.”
else
echo “NOT running…”
fi
;;

status)
if [ -f  $PID_FILE ];then
echo “Subversion service (svnserve) -”
pid_of_svnserve=$(cat $PID_FILE)
echo -e “Running & pid is $pid_of_svnserve”
else
echo “Subversion service (svnserve) NOT running…”
fi
;;

*)
echo “Usage: $0  {start|stop|status}”
exit 1
esac
exit 0
#DONE
root@arun:~#

Step (2) svnserve  configuration -

root@arun:~# cat /var/repos_base/myrepository/conf/svnserve.conf
### This file controls the configuration of the svnserve daemon, if you

[general]
### Authenticated users.  Valid values are “write”, “read”,
### and “none”.  The sample settings below are the defaults.
### The password-db option controls the location of the password file
### The authz-db option controls the location of the authorization
### rules for path-based access control.

realm = || Welcome to Subversion Repository ||
anon-access = none
auth-access = write
authz-db = authz
password-db = passwd

root@arun:~#

Step (3) Authentication for svnserve -

root@arun:~# cat /var/repos_base/myrepository/conf/authz
# single user, to a group of users defined in a special [groups]
# section, or to anyone using the ‘*’ wildcard.  Each definition can
# grant read (‘r’) access, read-write (‘rw’) access, or no access (”)

[groups]
svn_admin = arunsb , ravi

# remember here svn name which you mentioned in “dav_svn.conf” file

[myrepository:/]
@svn_admin= rw

[myrepository:/branches]
@svn_admin = rw
santhosh = r

[myrepository:/trunk]
@svn_admin= rw
santhosh = rw

root@arun:~# cat /var/repos_base/myrepository/conf/passwd
### Below it contains one section labelled [users].
### The name and password for each user follow, one account per line.

[users]

arunsb = 1234
ravi   = 1234
santhosh = 12345
root@arun:~#

Step (4) Start svnserve with following command -

root@arun:~# /etc/init.d/svnserve
Usage: /etc/init.d/svnserve  {start|stop|status}
root@arun:~#
root@arun:~# /etc/init.d/svnserve  start
Starting the Subversion service (svnserve)..
log file is /var/log/svnserve.log
…
Done.
root@arun:~# /etc/init.d/svnserve  status
Subversion service (svnserve) -
Running & pid is 11346
root@arun:~#

root@arun:~# netstat -nlp |  grep svnserve
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:3690            0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      11346/svnserve
root@arun:~#

** HELP ?

root@arun:~# svnserve  –help
usage: svnserve [options]

Valid options:
-d [--daemon]            : daemon mode
–listen-port arg        : listen port (for daemon mode)
–listen-host arg        : listen hostname or IP address (for daemon mode)
–foreground             : run in foreground (useful for debugging)
-h [--help]              : display this help
–version                : show program version information
-i [--inetd]             : inetd mode
-r [--root] arg          : root of directory to serve
-R [--read-only]         : force read only, overriding repository config file
-t [--tunnel]            : tunnel mode
–tunnel-user arg        : tunnel username (default is current uid’s name)
-T [--threads]           : use threads instead of fork
-X [--listen-once]       : listen once (useful for debugging)
–pid-file arg           : write server process ID to file arg

root@arun:~#

Troubleshooting -

arunsb@arun:~$ svn co svn://192.168.0.1/myrepository/trunk/  /tmp/12345
svn: Not authorized to open root of edit operation
arunsb@arun:~$

* please add “anon-access = none” to ‘svnserve.conf’ conf file of your repository…

root@arun:~# vi /var/repos_base/myrepository/conf/svnserve.conf

arunsb@arun:~$ svn co svn://192.168.0.1/myrepository/trunk/   /home/arunsb/working_svn
Authentication realm: <svn://192.168.0.1:3690> ” || Welcome to Subversion Repository ||”
Password for ‘arunsb’:
Checked out revision 2.
arunsb@arun:~$

 How to install subversion-tools in Ubuntu.

This package includes miscellaneous tools for use with Subversion clients and servers: * svn-backup-dumps: Incremental dumpfile-based backup script * svn-bisect: Bisect revisions to find a regression * svn-clean: Remove unversioned files from a working copy * svn-fast-backup: rsync-based backup script for FSFS repositories * svn-hot-backup: Backup script, primarily for BDB repositories * svn_apply_autoprops: Apply property settings from .subversion/config file to an existing repository * svn_load_dirs: Sophisticated replacement for ‘svn import’ * svn2cl: Generate GNU-style changelog from repository history * svnmerge: Maintain merge history between two related branches (mostly obsolete as of Subversion 1.5) * svnwrap: Set umask to 002 before calling svn or svnserve * several example hook scripts: commit-access-control, commit-email, log-police, mailer, svnperms, verify-po NOTE that some of these scripts are unsupported by upstream, and may change radically or disappear in future releases. The Recommended packages are each required by at least one of these scripts.(dpkg package description)

To install this package in Ubuntu,

$ sudo apt-get install subversion-tools

To know more about this package, you can use dpkg

$ dpkg -s subversion-tools

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Plymouth, Burg & Grub Manager With Super Boot Manager.

Grub Manager, Plymouth and Burg are quite handy in tweaking with Ubuntu  boot options.

These include changing the boot screen theme, setting the default operating system for booting, setting screen resolution, timeout and so on. 

Super Boot Manger is a master application for boot management which allows managing configurations for Grub, Plymouth and Burg from within a simple GUI based interface. It provides options for the installation and management of  of graphic themes, Grub,  Burg and Plymouth.

You can install Super Boot Manager from the command lines given below:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ingalex/super-boot-manager

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install buc super-boot-manager

Once installed, you will be prompted to enter your root password, followed by a prompt for language selection.

After that, you can click on Grub Manager to install it and to perform the following tasks:

• Set a default boot operating system
• Change the GRUB screen resolution, as well as menu time out
• Remove old kernel or menu entries
• Tweak text colors
• Set a background picture

Likewise, you can use the Plymouth option to:

• Enable or disable Plymouth
• Select animated boot screens
• Perform one-click ‘proprietary driver fix that can help Plymouth boot under official drivers

For the Burg Manager, you can

• Install Burg in a single click
• Set the default operating system to boot into
• Set screen resolution and timeout
• Easily install and enable new themes

Other than the PPA given above, Super Boot Manager can also be downloaded from the download link below.

Download Super Boot Manager

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