Screen Shots of Micromax USB Modem on Ubuntu 12.04

I had posted about using Micromax USB Modem on Ubuntu 12.04 here.One visitor requested me to post the screen shots. Here they are:

The above screen shot shows that there is no network connection.

The above screen shot shows the commands to be typed in the terminal. After this you insert the modem in USB slot.

The above screen shot shows that the modem has been working. Please note that Network Manager is not showing anything so far. You need to wait upto 3 minutes till it shows on Network Manager

The above screen shot shows that the Network Manager has detected a new Mobile Broadband connection. Please note the clock time.

Copying Thunderbird Mails and Address Book from Ubuntu 10.04 to 12.04

I am running Ubuntu 10.04 on my office Laptop since April 2010. When Ubuntu 12.04 came I considered distribution upgrade but decided not to do it since I was running latest versions of Libreofice, Thunderbird, Firefox using Launchpad PPAs. My only problem was to transfer the Mails and Address Book in Thunderbird. The other problem was to resize the big NTFS partition to install Ubuntu 12.04 on a new partition. I solved the NTFS resize problem as described on this post.

For copying Mails and Address Book I copied  xxxxxxxx.default folder and profiles.ini file from/to .thunderbird folder from Ubuntu 10.04 to 12.04 and it works perfectly.

Now I am using Ubuntu 12.04 on my office Laptop.

Resizing NTFS Partition using gparted and chkdsk

Today I installed Ubuntu 12.04 on a Laptop which had Windows XP and Ubuntu 10.04 in dual boot and large extended NTFS partition on E:/ drive. First I tried to resize the NTFS partition using gparted of Ubuntu 10.04 but it failed and also made the NTFS partition unmountable on Ubuntu. I corrected the partition using testdisk and it became mountable. Then I decided to try gparted on Ubuntu 12.04 and successfully resize the partition as follows: I inserted the usb Startup disk into usb port of the Laptop and booted into Ubuntu 12.04. Clicked on top left icon called Dash Home and searched for gparted and clicked on the gparted icon. I right clicked on the NTFS partition and selected check. As expected the gparted produced following error: GParted 0.11.0 --enable-libparted-dmraid Libparted 2.3 Check and repair file system (ntfs) on /dev/sda5  00:00:07    ( ERROR )      calibrate /dev/sda5  00:00:00    ( SUCCESS )      path: /dev/sda5 start: 204,796,683 end: 623,032,829 size: 418,236,147 (199.43 GiB) check file system on /dev/sda5 for errors and (if possible) fix them  00:00:07    ( ERROR )      ntfsresize -P -i -f -v /dev/sda5      ntfsresize v2012.1.15AR.1 (libntfs-3g) Device name : /dev/sda5 NTFS volume version: 3.1 Cluster size : 4096 bytes Current volume size: 214136902144 bytes (214137 MB) Current device size: 214136907264 bytes (214137 MB) Checking for bad sectors ... Checking filesystem consistency ... Accounting clusters ... Cluster accounting failed at 12408217 (0xbd5599): extra cluster in $Bitmap Cluster accounting failed at 12408218 (0xbd559a): extra cluster in $Bitmap Cluster accounting failed at 12408219 (0xbd559b): extra cluster in $Bitmap

Filesystem check failed! Totally 2576 cluster accounting mismatches. ERROR: NTFS is inconsistent. Run chkdsk /f on Windows then reboot it TWICE! The usage of the /f parameter is very IMPORTANT! No modification was and will be made to NTFS by this software until it gets repaired. Then I rebooted into Windows XP and opened command prompt >chkdsk E: /f The type of the file system is NTFS. CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)... File verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)... Index verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)... Security descriptor verification completed. CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap. Windows has made corrections to the file system. 209118068 KB total disk space. 51761464 KB in 45713 files. 19896 KB in 7661 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 131132 KB in use by the system. 65536 KB occupied by the log file. 157205576 KB available on disk. 4096 bytes in each allocation unit. 52279517 total allocation units on disk. 39301394 allocation units available on disk. Then I  rebooted twice in Windows XP. Once again I booted into Ubuntu 12.04 using usb startup disk and started gparted, right clicked on the partition and selected check. This time gparted reported as follows: GParted 0.11.0 --enable-libparted-dmraid Libparted 2.3 Check and repair file system (ntfs) on /dev/sda5    ( SUCCESS )      calibrate /dev/sda5  00:00:00    ( SUCCESS )      path: /dev/sda5 start: 204,796,683 end: 623,032,829 size: 418,236,147 (199.43 GiB) check file system on /dev/sda5 for errors and (if possible) fix them    ( SUCCESS )      ntfsresize -P -i -f -v /dev/sda5      ntfsresize v2012.1.15AR.1 (libntfs-3g) Device name : /dev/sda5 NTFS volume version: 3.1 Cluster size : 4096 bytes Current volume size: 214136902144 bytes (214137 MB) Current device size: 214136907264 bytes (214137 MB) Checking for bad sectors ... Checking filesystem consistency ... Accounting clusters ... Space in use : 53159 MB (24.8%) Collecting resizing constraints ... Estimating smallest shrunken size supported ... File feature Last used at By inode $MFT : 162676 MB 0 Multi-Record : 170638 MB 27119 $MFTMirr : 107604 MB 1 Compressed : 42052 MB 30556 Ordinary : 168508 MB 26979 You might resize at 53158412288 bytes or 53159 MB (freeing 160978 MB). Please make a test run using both the -n and -s options before real resizing! grow file system to fill the partition  00:00:00    ( SUCCESS )      run simulation  00:00:00    ( SUCCESS )      ntfsresize -P --force --force /dev/sda5 --no-action      ntfsresize v2012.1.15AR.1 (libntfs-3g) Device name : /dev/sda5 NTFS volume version: 3.1 Cluster size : 4096 bytes Current volume size: 214136902144 bytes (214137 MB) Current device size: 214136907264 bytes (214137 MB) New volume size : 214136902144 bytes (214137 MB) Nothing to do: NTFS volume size is already OK. real resize    ( ERROR )      ntfsresize -P --force --force /dev/sda5      ntfsresize v2012.1.15AR.1 (libntfs-3g) Device name : /dev/sda5 NTFS volume version: 3.1 Cluster size : 4096 bytes Current volume size: 214136902144 bytes (214137 MB) Current device size: 214136907264 bytes (214137 MB) New volume size : 214136902144 bytes (214137 MB) Nothing to do: NTFS volume size is already OK. Finally I could resize the NTFS partition and make a new ext4 partition to install Ubuntu 12.04.

Using Micromax 3G Modem on Ubuntu 12.04

In Sep 2010 I had written about using Micromax 3G modem on Ubuntu 10.04. Since then I could not find time to see whether Ubuntu 10.11, 11.04 and 11.10 has any changes wrt modeswitch etc. In Ubuntu 12.04 the newest version of usb-modeswitch is already installed by default and  mode switching takes place in the background.

Today I downloaded the iso of Ubuntu 12.04 Desktop iso and made a boot-able pen-drive and wanted to use the Micromax 3G Modem. Before implementing the procedure in my last post I searched and found following procedure on askubuntu:

Open up a terminal from Applications -> Accessories. Type:

sudo gedit /etc/modules

At the bottom of the file, make two new lines, like this:

usbserial
option

Then close the editor program and save it. Reboot the computer and hopefully you’ll be right from now on!

Since I was running from usb stick I used the following commands to load these modules:
sudo modprobe usbserial
sudo modprobe option

Then I inserted Micromax usb modem and configured a new Mobile Broadband connection through the Network Manager.

Although the Network Manager had not detected the insertion of modem but after configuring the connection it worked.

If you have installed Ubuntu 12.04 and want to use this modem on regular basis you can edit /etc/modules file as per the procedure on askubuntu so that the modules would be loaded on boot.

If you want to occasionally use this modem you can use my procedure i.e. to load the modules before inserting the modem.

NB: Network Manager takes about 3 minutes to detect the modem on LiveCD/USB or even installed Ubuntu 12.04. You need to have some patience after inserting the modem. In addition the modules 'usbserial' and 'option' need to be loaded before insertion as described above. In Ubuntu 11.10 this Modem shows up in Network Manager after a few minutes without giving any command.

One visitor wanted me to post screen shots. Here they are.

Run Latest Ubuntu from USB stick.

My favorite Linux Distribution Ubuntu Linux has come long way in last 7 years. Today I decided to download the latest version 11.10 and try it on USB stick since I am not yet prepared to upgrade the LTS version 10.04. Downloading and making a USB stick has become so simple. Here is how to do it:

Go to download page.
Select Download options:
Ubuntu 11.10 Latest Version
32 or 64 bit
Click on Start Download
After download check the iso with following command:
sha256sum ubuntu-11.10-dektop-i386.iso
sha256sums are available in this file

Following procedures assumes that you are running Windows
Go to pendrivelinux.com
Download Universal USB installer
Insert USB stick
Click on Universal USB installer exe file
Accept TOS
Select Ubuntu 11.10
Click on Browse button and select ubuntu-11.10-dektop-i386.iso
Select the drive for USB stick and check to format if necessary.
Select persistent file size
Click on Create

The installation process is going to take time. Relax.

After installation reboot with USB stick (I hope you know how to boot your machine with USB) and you get the new Ubuntu on your screen.

I did all the above steps and here is the screenshot:

I could also setup network connection using Bluetooth through my Samsung Galaxy 5 using the GUI.


I love new Ubuntu 11.10 but I need to learn using Unity Desktop which I am going to finish today.

Importing ICICI Bank and other Banks account file in GnuCash

Update: This is four years old. A new post on same topic may be found here.

I wrote in the previous post that I would write about how to import Indian Banks Transaction files in GnuCash accounting software.

ICICI Bank offers download of Bank Transactions file in MS Money Format (.qif) and GnuCash accepts importing this file format but when you try to import it may fail and if it succeeds the import wizard will ask many questions. Open Office has a macro CALC2QIF which imports .qif file. When you import the file you will see that the Category column has entries like TCI, TBI, TIP etc and while GnuCash can import the transactions into the Bank Account it does not understand where to post the corresponding debit/credit entry into the other account. Let us consider one example.

Suppose you have received payment from your Customer there are two entries to be made. One in the Bank Account and the other in Accounts Receivable but the file downloaded from ICICI Bank shows TBI on the Category. You need to change TBI to Accounts Receivables. Similarly you should write the names of other accounts like Cash etc in the Category column. If you can't decide the account name you can write Imbalance against such entries in the Category and GnuCash will show them as imbalance till you change them.

After you change the entries in Category column you should select the cells and click on Save to QIF, clear the default fields and select them again in the order they are displaced i.e. Date, Amount, Check Number, Payee, Memo, Category and Sub-Category, select the destination for QIF output file and click on Convert.

Now you can import this file easily in GnuCash.

Using GnuCash for maintaining books of accounts of small business in India

For the last two months I was working on suitability of GnuCash for maintaining books of accounts of small businesses of India. When you start GnuCash for the first it offers to setup the accounts. In Business Accounts Category it creates most accounts necessary for a Business excluding Fixed Assets. You can also select the Fixed Assets category which creates three accounts House, Other Asset and Vehicle. You can delete the accounts (e.g. House) you don't need for your Business later on. After you select the accounts the next screen offers to change the name of accounts. This is necessary because the default names are suitable for a Business in USA e.g. there is an account called "Federal" under Taxes which you can change to "Income Tax" and there is an account called "Checking Account" which you can change to "Current Account" and so on. You should also have the amounts of Opening Balances ready with you for Fixed and Current assets while setting up.

After setting up the accounts with Opening Balances you can delete the accounts (especially there are too many Expenses accounts) not relevant for your Business and also add the accounts which you need but not present (e.g. you can create Computer, Office Furniture etc under Fixed Assets.

I found a site explaining the setup nicely and there is no need to write the details here.There are more details on this page.

The next step is to import the Data from Bank Accounts. Some Banks (e.g. ICICI Bank) offer to download the statement in MS Money Format (.qif) which can be imported directly into GnuCash. I am going to write another post for importing the data from Bank Statements. If you do this correctly all Bank transactions get posted in double entry system in Books of Accounts and saves lot of time.

How to get new Indian Rupee Symbol ₹ on Keyboard shortcut on Debian or Ubuntu?

The new Indian Rupee Symbol ₹ exists for more than one year now. There are various posts on the Internet describing how to type it. The symbol has been included in UTF-8 as U+20B9. Most fonts now support this character therefore you don't need to install any special font for typing it.

You already know how to type $ sign (by pressing shift +4). There is a new Keyboard Layout "India English with Rupee Sign" in new xkb-data file but the stable Linux Distributions have not updated their files.


If you want to get this Keyboard Layout on Debian or Ubuntu download the latest xkb-data file. It is available on Debian Sid as xkb-data (2.1-2)  You can download and install it on Debian or Ubuntu.

After installation you need to select the Keyboad Layout "India English with Rupee Sign". Now you can type ₹ by using Right Alt +4 key combination.

Update: Ubuntu 12.04 has this Keyboard Layout Emglish (India, with Rupee sign).

Using Thunderbird to down load mail using POP3 server and importing address book from Evolution

I have been facing some issues using Evolution mail client and decided to switch to Thunderbird. When I opened the program for the first time it asked the email ID and password and communicated with server and configured IMAP server automatically. When I tried to change to POP3 server there was no option anywhere in the settings.

After Googling a bit I found couple of solutions. The one I used is as follows:

I deleted the account setup initially and asked Thunderbird to setup the account once again. While it was communicating with the server I interrupted the process and it offered me to edit the setup with a drop down for the server type. I selected POP and could setup POP3 server.

I faced another problem importing the Address Book. Evolution saves the Address Book only in VCard format and Thunderbird does not import from this format. I used this on-line utility to convert VCard (.vcf) into LDIF (.ldif) format and imported the converted LDIF file.

Deleting sms messages on Android Phone

I am getting sms messages daily from 2 numbers. Android phone was forming a thread of all the sms messages. In default Android messaging system it was not possible to delete one or some of the messages in a thread and if I wanted to delete the complete thread was getting deleted including the newest messages.

I searched on Market with "sms" and got number of applications. I downloaded HandsentSMS. Now with this application I can select Batch mode and then select the messages I want to delete and delete them

Moving/Copying Virtual hard disk for Virtualbox

As described on this post I installed Windows XP on Virtualbox on Ubuntu 10.04. For creating virtual hard drive I used the default settings of Virtualbox which created it in hidden .virtualbox/harddisks folder on home.

Since I did not think about running Windows inside Ubuntu the /home was not very large. After a few months Ubuntu started complaining about low disk space and when I examined it the largest space was occupied by the virtual hard drive.

I copied the Windows.vdi file on another partition and tried to attach it but Virtualbox complained of same uuid already registered and refused to attach the copy.

Then I opened the terminal and typed following command after changing directory to that partition.
VBoxManage internalcommands sethduuid Windows.vdi

The uuid was changed and I could attach and use the copy of .vdi file.

After testing that everything was fine I deleted the original .vdi file.

Now I have enough space on home and Windows XP running in Virtualbox as before.

Tethering Samsung Galaxy 5 on Ubuntu 10.04

I have been using Samsung Galaxy 5 to surf the net on the Laptop through USB and Bluetooth using its modem. But the speed which I was getting on Mobile could not be obtained on the Laptop.

Then I discovered EasyTether application on Android Market and installed the EasyTether Lite (Free). I could get better speed on the Laptop.

EasyTether Lite does not support https protocol and I could not login to gmail, facebook etc. Today I bought the License paying $9.99 and now it is supporting https also.

Enjoying Samsung Galaxy 5 Mobile Android (Linux) phone.

Being a passionate Linux user I was curious about Linux Mobile smart phones. Recently I purchased Samsung Galaxy 5 mobile phone which has Android 2.1 which is Linux based operating system developed by Google. It is a 3G phone with GPS and internet connectivity through Wi-Fi and Mobile Network and synchronization with Google Applications. I can download and install Android software. Yesterday I installed Skype and Facebook.

I have enabled GPS in it and the visitors of this blog can track my presence in the power station where I work or my home at Jharsuguda in real time through the Google Latitude gadget on right side bar.

As I was connecting my Nokia phone through USB or Bluetooth to my Laptop for browsing the net I can use this Samsung phone as well through USB or Bluetooth.

Using Micromax BSNL 3G Modem on Ubuntu 10.04.

While doing my new job at Jharsuguda I am also introducing people to Ubuntu Linux and many people are using it booting from USB stick. BSNL provides Micromax USB modem for net connection and I had specific request from one person yesterday to help him set it up on Ubuntu. I brought his modem home and tested it as following.

While googling for this modem I discovered that usb_modeswitch was necessary to detect it as modem instead of mass storage device. I downloaded the latest version of usb-modeswitch and usb-modeswitch-data from Debian repositories. Then I proceeded as  follows:


When I plugged in the Modem it got mounted as a CD. I got its vendor and product ID (thro lsusb) and unmounted it:

$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 1c9e:f000
$ eject /dev/sr1

I found the configuration file for ID 1c9e:f000 in /etc/usb_modeswitch.d/
Since I did not want the configuration on my machine I simply used it:
$ sudo usb_modeswitch -c /etc/usb_modeswitch.d/1c9e:f000

The modeswitch reported success I got the new ID for the device:
$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 005: ID 1c9e:9605


I inserted the driver thro:
sudo modprobe usbserial vendor=0x1c9e product=0x9605

and the Network Manager detected it as BSNL Mobile Broadband device using the same set up which I use for the Mobile.

There is a wonderful script Sakis 3G for doing all this automatically.

Update on 12th May 2012: I have posted today about using this modem on Ubuntu 12.04 and it is entirely different. Click here to read.

Using Nokia Mobile GPRS net connection via Bluetooth.

Since I have come to Jharsuguda I am using Nokia Mobile GPRS through USB connection to my Laptop to access internet. Although, it is painfully slow but it works. When the Mobile is connected through USB cable to the Laptop it gets detected as new Mobile Broadband device and after choosing BSNL East (my service provider) it works after putting correct access point (APN). The APN was gprseast.cellone.in which has been changed to bsnlnet recently.

The problem with USB connection was very short cable provided by Nokia. Moreover, I had to sit in the balcony of my flat to get constant signal strength.

Today I decided it to use Bluetooth. I switched on Bluetooth and it got detected and I could browse the files on the Mobile and transfer files from/to the Laptop. It was also detected by the Network Manager but not connecting to internet.

After googling for the solution I discovered that I need to write the following in

/etc/bluetooth/rfcomm.conf

rfcomm0 {
        bind yes;
        device mac-address;
        channel 1;
        comment "Bluetooth PPP Connection";
}

The mac-address of the phone and channel could be found by following command:

$ sdptool search DUN

 For connecting I had to use the following command:

$ sudo rfcomm connect 0

Then I could use the connection which was set-up via USB but without USB cable (through Bluetooth).

Now the mobile is kept in the balcony and I am sitting in the bedroom posting this.

Restore panels in Ubuntu.

In Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx the shutdown applet was found missing once. After restart it reappeared. Today I found the Network Manager applet in top right corner. Although this may be happening due to some bug I found the following way to restore the panels. Open a terminal or if the top panel is missing and you can't click on Applications/Accessories/Terminal press Alt+F2 and type 'gnome-terminal' (without quotes) in run box and type the following commands:

$ gconftool --recursive-unset /apps/panel
$ rm -rf .gconf/apps/panel
$ pkill gnome-panel

That's it. Your panels would be restored with default settings.

Using Ubuntu and Windows simultaneously.

Since Ubuntu is my favorite operating system I installed it on my office Laptop initially in dual boot with Windows. I can do most of my office work like emails (in Evolution), creating and reading the documents (in Open Office) on Ubuntu. But we have many drawings in dwg and dwf formats and although, I could install dwg viewer on Ubuntu I could not find satisfactory solution for viewing dwf format. In addition Bank of Baroda Net Banking transactions require Internet Explorer and Microsoft Virtual Machine. I was using Windows for this purpose.

After briefly trying Wine I decided to install Virtual Box on Ubuntu and installed Windows in Virtual Box. I added dwg and dwf viewers in the Windows installation.

Now I can simultaneously use Ubuntu and Windows. See the Ubuntu and Windows running in two workplaces below:

USB support and access to folders on Windows running in Virtualbox.

After joining at Jharsuguda I need to view Autocad files and although, I can view dwg files on Ubuntu I could not find any viewer for dwf files. I was using Windows to view the files.

I was also using Internet Explorer along with Microsoft VM for Net Banking of Bank of Baroda.

Meanwhile various viruses were spreading due to transfer of files through pendrives and one virus corrupted Microsoft VM and I could not use Net Banking.

I was having Ubuntu in dual boot with Windows. I decided to install Windows as Guest OS in Virtualbox on Ubuntu to provide virus free environment to BOB Net Banking. I have posted about this in previous post.

Then I installed dwg and dwf viewers on Windows running on Virtualbox and this required USB support and access to folders on the hard disk.

Providing USB support was simple on Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx. I had to add the user to the group vboxusers.
sudo adduser userid vboxuser

Further I could delete the viruses by initially mounting the pendrive on Ubuntu. Then I could mount the pendrive on Windows by clicking on Devices/USB_Devices.

For accessing folders on hard disk I had to install Guest additions on Virtualbox. Then I clicked on Devices/Shared_Folders to add the folders.

Finally, I could access the folders through My_Network_Places.

BarodaConnect BOB Net Banking on Ubuntu Linux.

Update on 18/10/2012
Net Banking Site of Bank of Baroda has since been changed. Now it works on Ubuntu 12.04 with JRE  7 with Chromium Browser. There is only one problem. You should enter the transaction password using Virtual Keyboard, otherwise, it says that you entered wrong password.

Bank of Baroda Net Banking requires Internet Explorer and Microsoft VM for initial change of password and entering Transaction password. If you use Firefox on Windows or Linux it gives an error "[21996] Javascript disabled in browser" after you enter the transaction password.

In order to use BarodaConnect I installed Virtualbox on Ubuntu. Then I installed Windows XP in Virtualbox. Opening BarodaConnect on Internet Explorer I clicked on Java Settings Link and downloaded the Zip file which had Microsoft VM.

After installing Microsoft VM I restarted Windows and did the required browser settings.

Finally I could use BarodaConnect on Internet Explorer running in Virtual Box on Ubuntu.


Step by step instructions for Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx:
Install virtualbox-ose through Synaptic or apt-get

If you need usb support in guest os download proprietary Virtualbox from this link and install through gdebi.

Start Virtualbox through Applications/System_tools.

Create a new Virtual Machine for Windows.

Insert Windows CD and install it on Virtual Machine.

Start Internet Explorer and go to BarodaConnect.

Click on Login link for Net Banking.

Since Java VM or Microsoft VM is not yet installed you will get the link to download java_settings on login page.

Click on the link and download java.settings in zip file.

Unzip and click on msjavx86 exe file to install Microsoft VM.

Set up Internet Explorer as follows:
Click on Tools/Internet_Options
Click on Security Tab
Select Internet
Click on Custom_Level
Scroll down to Microsoft_VM/Java_Permissions
Select Custom
Click on Java_Custom_Settings
Click on Edit_Permissions Tab
Select Enable every where
Click on Ok.

Select Restricted Sites and repeat all above steps.
Finally click on Apply button.


You can now access BarodaConnect and carry out transactions.

Reading Phonebook of Nokia 5130c-2 on Ubuntu.

In order to read the phonebook of my Nokia 5130-c-2 on Ubuntu I installed gnokii (available in Universe repository).

Then I searched on Google and found the following configuration file which I saved as .gnokiirc on home directory.

[global]
port = /dev/ttyACM0
model = 6510
initlength = default
connection = dku2libusb
use_locking = yes
serial_baudrate = 19200
smsc_timeout = 10
[xgnokii]
allow_breakage = 0
[gnokiid]
bindir = /usr/sbin/
[connect_script]
TELEPHONE = 08093098045
[disconnect_script]
[logging]
debug = off
rlpdebug = off
xdebug = off

Then I tried Xgnokii but it was not working as normal user
. Then I tried with sudo and it gave this error:

Couldn't open PHONET device: Device or resource busy

After searching on Google I removed cdc_phonet kernel module:

sudo rmmod cdc_phonet

Now I am using the following command and can access phonebook, send sms and initiate call from Ubuntu laptop:

sudo xgnokii