Category Archives: Tech

Iceweasel browser identification

Debian replaced Firefox with Iceweasel which is a version of Firefox committed to all the Open Source freedom goodness stuff. However, some sites check the browser identification string and will refuse to let you view any of the pages because they don’t realise that Iceweasel is a version of Firefox (it’s based on the same code base as Firefox). Why some websites think they need to verify what browser your using is beyond me, I think they should just warn the user that the site might not work with their browser and let them in.

Updated March 2008, with formatting changes, and spelling corrections.

To get around this, you can change the browser identification that Iceweasel sends to websites. Follow the instructions below which is from Ubuntu’s wiki:

If you’re having trouble with browser identification — in other words, sites block your access because you’re “not using Firefox” — try this:

  • Open “about:config” in IceWeasel‘s address bar.
  • In the “Filter” box, type general.useragent.extra.firefox.
  • Where you see the word “Iceweasel”, right-click and pick “Modify”
  • Then replace the word “Iceweasel” with “Firefox”.
  • Close the page (or the tab).

“Masquerading” your browser like that simply prevents the host site from telling you you’re not using Firefox. Aside from that, it should have no effect whatsoever on your collective Internet experience.

This is a bit sub-optimal as it changes the identification for all sites which means when they analyise their logs they won’t realise that people are running Iceweasel. Browsers such as KDE’s Konqueror allow you to change the browser’s identification on a per-site basis which I think would be great idea for Iceweasel/Firefox too.

Update: March 2007, added screenshot.

Mac4Lin

Make your Linux Gnome Desktop look like a Mac:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/mac4lin

Instructions here:

http://www.howtoforge.com/mac4lin_make_linux_look_like_a_mac

This is what my desktop like before:

Desktop Theme Before Mac4Lin

And I got this far and gave up:

Mac4Lin

I’m all praise to the folk who put all the work into this. But, having a Apple logos on my Gnome desktop just seems odd. If you want to get a desktop that looks like a Mac go for it, but at least for me I don’t see the point in making my Linux desktop look just like a Mac. If I want a Mac I’ll get a Mac (and probably run Linux on it).

Ubuntu Linux, T-Mobile, & Nokia N73 as a Bluetooth Modem.

If bluetooth works on your computer, then getting your system to talk to your N73 isn’t hard and I’m not going to cover it here. See this posting for what packages I needed to install to get bluetooth working in my Dell 700M laptop running Ubuntu Linux:

http://timony.com/mickzblog/2007/10/09/ubuntu-bluetooth-sd-card/

If you have T-Mobile T-Zones Internet service for your phone in the US you should be able to use the following procedure to surf the web on your computer using your N73.

First find your Phone’s bluetooth device address (or ID), by typing

*#2820#

into your phone.

You should see a sequence of numbers and letters that look something like this on the screen:

000ABC22BC33

Write it down in this format, (with a colon after every 2nd character):

00:0A:BC:22:BC:33

Next make a backup copy of this file

/etc/bluetooth/rfcomm.conf

For example:

sudo cp  /etc/bluetooth/rfcomm.conf /etc/bluetooth/rfcomm.conf.org

I’m going to presume you’ve never edited this file before, and you can change it to look like this (using the bluetooth device number you discovered):

#
# RFCOMM configuration file.
#
rfcomm0 {
 #      # Automatically bind the device at startup
 	bind yes;
 #
 #      # Bluetooth address of the device
 	device 00:0A:BC:22:BC:33;
 #
 #      # RFCOMM channel for the connection
	channel 2;
 #
 #      # Description of the connection
	comment "Nokia N73";
 }

If you have edited this file before and are already using rfcomm0, then create a new entry named rcomm1 and replace rcomm1 with any other references I make to rcomm0. Also, make sure you get all the semi-colons after each entry in the file.

Next copy the gprs-connect-chat and the gprs-disconnect-chat files from:

http://davesource.com/Solutions/20070520.T-Mobile-Nokia-E65-Ubuntu-Linux.html#networking

In the gprs-connect-chat replace line 47:

OK              'AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet2.voicestream.com","",0,0'

With this:

OK              'AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","wap.voicestream.com","",0,0'

Move the 2 files to /etc/ppp/peers:

sudo mv  gprs-connect-chat /etc/ppp/peers
sudo mv  gprs-disconnect-chat  /etc/ppp/peers

Next create a new file in /etc/peers named gprs and copy’n’paste the following (the gprs script that davesource.com uses didn’t work for me):

# GPRS for T-Mobile USA
/dev/rfcomm0 # device bound to T610 phone
230400 # speed
defaultroute # use the network for the default route
usepeerdns # use the DNS servers from the remote network
nodetach # keep pppd in the foreground
crtscts # hardware flow control
lock # lock the serial port
noauth # don’t expect modem to authenticate itself
local # don’t use Carrier Detect or Data Terminal Ready
debug
connect /etc/ppp/peers/gprs-connect-chat
disconnect /etc/ppp/peers/gprs-disconnect-chat

Now your ready to test the connection. First stop networking:

sudo /etc/init.d/networking stop

Next, turn on bluetooth on your phone and connect to it. Once your connect issue the following commands:

rfcomm bind all
 pppd call gprs

When your done, control-c will stop the ppp connection, then run this command:

 rfcomm release all

If you’ve more than one entry defined in your rfcomm.conf file, try using:

frcomm bind rfcomm0

And replace rfcomm0 with rfcomm1 or rfcomm2 …

To web-surf you will need to set your browser to use the following proxy:

216.155.165.50:8080

But, ssh & VPN won’t work, just web-browsing at dial-up speed! However, it might be possible to tunnel ssh and other services.

The following links were a lot of help in aiding me in getting this to work:

http://www.yepthatsme.com/2004/11/09/ppp-chat-scripts-for-t-mobile-sony-ericsson-t610-gprs-via-bluetooth-with-debian/

http://digitalife.wordpress.com/2007/07/31/using-your-mobile-phone-as-a-gprs-modem-with-ubuntu-linux-via-dku-2-usb-cable/

I used the scripts from here to get the laptop to connect (with minor changes):

http://davesource.com/Solutions/20070520.T-Mobile-Nokia-E65-Ubuntu-Linux.html#bluetooth

I need to clean-up/rewrite this posting, and put in proper references to sites that helped me get this working.

Copies of the configuration files are here:

rfcomm.conf

gprs, gprs-connect-chat, gprs-disconnect-chat

Hardware articles

2 good ones:
1st, if your picking a CPU cache is very important, maybe more important than minor changes in clock speed:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/10/24/does_cache_size_matter/

And, NVidia came out with a GPU that trashes their high-end models:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3140

Now, if you want to use a 8800GT with Linux, you can’t, at least not yet with advanced 3D graphics and high resolution. The current NVidia drivers don’t work the with 8800GT (you’ll have to use the vesa driver which means no advanced 3D support). But, NVidia should have support soon, very soon in fact. So if you just got one, wait a wee while till the new drivers come out, then test them with your existing NVidia card before you install your kick-ass 8800GT! 😀

Well, I’m hoping the prices for the cards drop to ~$200 by Christmas, at the moment they’re going for ~$280 which I think is because of demand driven by so many rave reviews.

US Wireless Carriers: Bandwidth & Spectrum

Good blog posting about who has and who hasn’t bandwidth & spectrum amongst the US Mobile phone networks:

http://blogs.gnome.org/dcbw/2007/11/05/t-mo-got-no-spec-trum/

The US has 6 bands that are or will be used for cellular communications:

  • 700MHz – the new band, to be auctioned in February next year. There “open access” rules tied to about 1/3rd of the spectrum to stop carrier locks on devices.
  • 800MHz SMR – where Nextel operates; Nextel bought up taxi dispatch operators nationwide and converted them over to iDEN back when only 2 cellular licenses were available in each market.
  • 850MHz – the original cellular band, initially AMPS but now being converted over to GSM and CDMA
  • 1900MHz – the PCS band, digital from the start and where Sprint and Voicestream (now T-Mobile) entered the cellular industry. All the major players have spectrum here.
  • 1700MHz – the AWS bands auctioned last year for broadband data like HSPA and EVDO
  • 2500MHz – the “educational” band in which both Sprint and Clearwire have vast holdings and will deploy nationwide WiMAX networks over the next two years

And it looks like my mobile phone carrier has the least bandwidt, for now, as they’re a later entry in the US market

Ubuntu & Bluetooth, & SD Card.

Just got a Bluetooth dongle (adaptor) from NewEgg (for $12.99). To get it to be able to browse (using Gnome) my phone I had to install the gnome-vfs-obexftp package (along with the bluez-gnome package).

I also got a Kingston 2 GB MiniSD-Card for my phone (for $20.99), with an adaptor so I can plug the card into my laptop. It looks the card reader on my Dell 700m now works! Previously it didn’t and there was no way to get it to work as there wasn’t a driver for the chipset Dell used.