Monthly Archives: December 2008

VirtualBox error: cannot connect to X server on OpenSUSE 11.1

Posted by on December 31, 2008 No comments

I am a big fan of VirtualBox, it’s an easy to use Virtualization tool. I had used it on Ubuntu before and wanted to install it on OpenSUSE 11.1, the installation was easy using zypper ($ sudo zypper in VirtualBox ). After installing I tried to run VirtualBox and nothing appeared on the screen. I notice my HD ligh flick a couple of times but noting happened, so I tried to start it from the Command Line.

$ VirtualBox  (and the follwing error appeared)
QT warning : cannot connect to X server

That was all, no instructions.  After some searching I found out that this is due to permission problems, so I tried to run the programme as root but still no success. The answer to this problem in my case was to add my user to the vboxusers group.

$ sudo usermod -a -G vboxusers username

Note that your have to replace "username" with your username. ;) That's it, it now works.


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PHP-GTK installation Errors on OpenSUSE

Posted by on December 24, 2008 No comments

PHP-GTK is an extension for the PHP programming language that implements language bindings for GTK+. It provides an object-oriented interface to GTK+ classes and functions and greatly simplifies writing client-side cross-platform GUI applications.

While installing PHP-GTK under Linux, you need to have some libraries, extensions installed or it may cause the following errors.

Error: command make: not found

  • OpenSUSE fix       $ sudo zypper in make
  • Ubuntu fix             $ sudo apt-get make

Error: phpize  not found

  • OpenSUSE fix      $ sudo zypper in php5-devel
  • Ubuntu fix            $ sudo apt-get php5-devel

Error: buildconf not Found

  • OpenSUSE fix      $ sudo zypper in buildconf
  • Ubuntu fix            $ sudo apt-get buildconf

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Using Zypper

Posted by on December 22, 2008 No comments

Zypper is a command line package manager, like the famous apt-get for Debian / Ubuntu. I got introduced to zypper by a top OpenSUSE guy, while we tested the 11.1 build 5 a few weeks before it was due. I didn’t get very much from him as his fingers move too quickly and by the time I read zypper on his command line interface, he was already typing his 3rd or 4rth consecutive command. Well feeling rather humbled by the whole experience I decided to give zypper a go once I got OpenSUSE 11.1 installed on my laptop.  It’s a great and intuitive package manager. Here is a short list of the commands you will use the most. (you have to run it as superuser so I will use sudo just before the command)

  • $ sudo zypper se (or search) mysql (to search for the mysql package)
  • $ sudo zypper in (or install) Apache2 (to install the Apache 2 package)
  • $ sudo rm (or remove) mplayer (to remove the mplayer package)
  • $ sudo zypper help  search (look for help on a specific command, in this case the command is Search)
  • $ sudo zypper in yast* (the * inidicates that any package that are related to that package starting with the same name. a good example is installing the libraries for apache2_mod_* )

For a more in-depth tutorial visit the OpenSUSE reference for zypper.

Linux Command Line Interface

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BBC iPlayer for Linux and Mac – UK Only

Posted by on December 22, 2008 No comments

BBC has announced the Desktop version of the iPlayer for linux and Macs. With the desktop version the user can download previous programmes and keep them for up to 30 days on their computers. Programmes are available for 7 days after they have been shown on T.V.

The new version of the iPlayer has been written with Adobe’s AIR
technology which aims to make it possible to create applications that
can be downloaded to your computer, rather than just embedded in
browser web pages as is possible with the widely used Flash software.

Those who want to try the new player must first install Adobe
AIR and then get the trial version by signing up to be an iPlayer Labs
tester via the iPlayer site.

A beta version of the BBC iPlayer Desktop that uses the Adobe AIR
technology was made available on 18 December with a finished version
likely to be released in February 2009.

To download the iPlayer just visit the http://bbc.co.uk/iplayer site and select a programme to watch, under the flash player there will be the Download option which will then guide you through the installation of the progrreamme and also Adobe Air.

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w32 codec and flash for OpenSUSE 11.1

Posted by on December 20, 2008 1 comment

The restricted Multimedia formats like WMV, MPEG-4 and encrypted DVDs cannot have native support in any Linux disto. I have just installed OpenSUSE 11.1 and once again I have to manually install these codecs, and as usual the Linux community has been very helpfull.
You only need to click on a simple wizard which will guide you through the installation process of some additional multimedia codecs. Just go to http://opensuse-community.org/Multimedia. The .ymp ( a Yast Meta Package Handler file) will add the repositories and automatically install all needed codecs, painless. After that just select your prefered video player and enjoy your movies.

I did have a problem with the Flash player plugin for Firefox after installing OpenSUSE 11.1, the version downloaded directly from Adobe crashed and did not reinstall, a quick solution was to install it with zypper  $ sudo zypper install flash-player

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