Oppo F1s How To Change Looks - Part 1

Oppo F1s is a decent phone running Android 5.1. Very responsive to the touch and with a nice big screen.

It's got a few things that new users just must do to personalize to look cute. Since there are so many things for customisation,  I will list few must know things to default theme.

Add screens

Default it comes with 2 screen where you can swipe left or right to go to each screen. Screens are a great way to organise contents. As you can see below,  there are 3 circles above the camera icon which means there are 3 screen.

Select an icon on the screen for the new screen. In this example,  I choose Theme Store icon and as drag it, the screen editor appears at bottom of screen.

Drag the icon to a new screen and release. If the icons are still wobbly or jello like,  tab on an empty space of the screen and it should end the editing mode. 

Create folder on a screen

Folders allow you to group several icons together on one screen.  With option to name the folder,  everything get more organised. Folders are shown as an icon with a little downwards arrow by it's side.

In order to create a folder,  identify the 2 icons for a folder.  Press on one icon and drag it on the centre of the other icon.  The icons will then be displayed in editing mode with the name of the folder above.  Click on that name and change the folder name.  Click the check mark and tap an empty space on the screen.

Change theme

Themes provide a feel of icon shapes,  background and lock screen that consistent.
Press Theme store icon and select a theme or press the download theme button.

The download button is to choose installed icons themes on the system.  Next press on apply and watch your screen and icon change. Other changes may effect fonts and lock screen.

Done.

Install OSMC on Raspberry Pi2

Raspberry Pi 2 (RPI2) provides a flexible multimedia centre for movie streaming, watching youtube, using a web browser and options to addon many Linux applications. OSMC is one of the images that can be downloaded unto an RPI2 from osmc.tv (download page or FTP). This Debian Jessie based system is great at running the RPI2 and allow developers space to enhance to their needs.

The media player system KODI, provides an interface to multimedia contents such as movies, online TV, videos, photos and musics. KODI itself does not have any media contents, but due to its extensible nature, many developers have created plugins to access external contents and addons to extend its functionalities. Media contents could reside in the same device as KODI, in a local area network, stream from the internet or cached contents from internet. KODI 15 comes with the current OSMC.

* Consider OSMC as an upgrade of Raspbmc.

This is an update to previous post "Raspberry Pi: Getting Started with OSMC" and I do not expect it to go into too much details. When I mention OSMC, it might also refer to KODI as its typically the only screen seen when running this RPI2.

Step 1: Starting OSMC

Download OSMC image from raspberry.org and image copy the .img file to the blank SD card. Tools such as Win32 Disk Imager can be used for this purpose.

Plug SD card into RPI2 and start RPI2 (already have internet connection).

Automatically start installation process.

It will reboot once installed successfully.

Step 2: Basic configuration

The default layout uses OSMC skin. Below is the OSMC main menu screen. Default appearance is handled by the skin called OSMC.

 It shows the following options;

1. Videos
2. Music
3. Pictures
4. My OSMC
5. Favourites
6. Programs
7. Settings
8. Power

Configure Screen size

The screen display may appear outside of the screen area. Change the zoom size until everything meets your satisfaction. From OSMC home page, click Settings ->Appearance ->Skin. Choose your zoom level and press Esc key until back to OSMC main menu.

Configure Timezone

Configure the timezone for correct time display. Click Settings ->Appearance ->International. Choose your region and the OSMC time should be update instantly.

Configure Skin

Default skin OSMC can be changed to KODI's default skin called Confluence. From OSMC home page, click Settings ->Appearance ->Skin. Choose skin as confluence and press Esc key until back to OSMC main menu.

More notes from KODI website: Quick start guide, Home screen controls,

Step 3: Add Youtube addon

In Videos menu there is an option to link your Youtube account with OSMC. This allows viewing of all your Youtube channels. From the OSMC main menu, click Videos ->Video add-ons ->Get more... ->Youtube

Click Install

Click launch. (From the OSMC main menu, you can click Videos ->Video add-ons to watch Youtube).

Follow the instructions on screen.
One of this includes accessing youtube.com/activate on a PC to enter the code given by the add-on in OSMC.

Troubleshooting:

1. Mode Not Supported

If after installation process, RPI2 boots and screen displays a message "Mode Not Supported", it means the display resolution was not automatically detected correctly. This happens on one Samsung TV.

Solution:
SSH into the OSMC and edit  /boot/config.txt
See command line tips at Raspbian Command Line Basics 101

Updated file for mode CEA
gpu_mem_1024=256
hdmi_ignore_cec_init=1disable_overscan=1
start_x=1
hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=20
disable_splash=1
dtoverlay=lirc-rpi:gpio_out_pin=17,gpio_in_pin=18

ALTERNATIVE Updated file for mode DMT
overscan_top=16
hdmi_mode=4
gpu_mem_1024=256
overscan_right=24
force_turbo=0
over_voltage_sdram=0
config_hdmi_boost=4
disable_overscan=1
initial_turbo=0
start_x=1
hdmi_group=2
sdtv_aspect=0
overscan_bottom=16
overscan_left=24
disable_overscan=0
hdmi_force_hotplug=1
arm_freq=900
sdram_freq=450
core_freq=450
hdmi_ignore_cec_init=1
over_voltage=0

2. Youtube add-on errors/issue.

Successfully login after the 2 google app authorisation, but displays empty list and
Display error exceeded quota (of some sort)

Solution:
Step 1: Activate the Google API v3
All Google App requires API v3, as derived from forum posting #2904.

Login to your google developer account and enable the above API.

Step 2: Use your own browser key, Oauth id and secret.
Looks like the default developers combination of above does not allow too many to use it. In posting #2847.

Login to your google developer account and create the above. A new project is created if none is created yet.

The newly created info from above should be updated in the file login_client.py that is found in /home/osmc/.kodi/addons/plugin.video.youtube/resources/lib​/youtube/client/

Find the line as below and edit the key, id and secret values.

'youtube-for-kodi-15': {
            'system': 'Isengard',
            'key': 'The_browser_key',
            'id': 'The_oauth_id_.apps.googleusercontent.com',
            'secret': 'The_oauth_secret_word'
        },

Done

Raspberry Pi 2 and a VGA monitor

The Raspberry Pi 2 (RPI2) model B (more details) comes with many input/output connectors and of which its display output is using HDMI type A. This HDMI is also known as Full HDMI.

Model B is the big brother of Model A+ that is much more cheaper for specific implementation in an embedded project where the most minimal use of electrical power is needed.

The RPI2 can be hooked up to a decent monitor or projector using VGA connectors. All that is needed is a HDMI to VGA adapter. This adapter may comes with additional functions like audio output, additional power source or USB. Price differences are huge but here is an example that I got from online and it works just fine with the NEC AccuSync LCD52v monitor.

HDMI to VGA cable plugged to RPI2 and female VGA.

Done.

Raspbian Command Line Basics 101

A few commands to display configurations of Raspbian on a Raspberry Pi 2.

At the Raspbian terminal, users can access a whole load of information. These can be useful for troubleshooting graphics, program conflicts and networking issues.

GENERAL

1. Display version of the Raspbian.
$ lsb_release -a

DISPLAY CONFIGURATIONS

2. Display the GPU chip version
$ vcgencmd version

3. The monitor hdmi mode
$ vcgencmd get_config hdmi_mode

4. Display current configuration
$ tvservice -s
$ tvservice -d monitor.dat
Translate monitor.dat into a readable text
$ edidparser monitor.dat > monitor.txt
cat monitor.txt 

This will display the monitor capabilities. In order to change the monitor settings, edit /boot/config.txt and determine to use CEA or DMT with the following lines

CEA uses hdmi_group=1
DMT uses hdmi_group=2

5. Is the monitor using CEA or DMT
$ vcgencmd get_config hdmi_group

6. Display supported CEA mode for the monitor
$ tvservice -m CEA

NETWORKING

7. Display all IP devices configured
$ ip a
Or just eth0 device
$ ip addr show dev eth0

Raspbian: Example output of basic commands

Howto clone Ubuntu 10.04 display on a projector

The Ubuntu 10.04 on HP ProBook 4420s was able to connect to the projector by pressing the fn+f4 keys. This cycled through 4 modes but nothing that allowed me to view a clone of the display on laptop and projector.

Here are steps to resolve this (results in 800x600 for most projectors).

Step 1: Login to laptop and then plug-in projector.

Step 2: Identify the mode available for 800x600 and add to the existing display modes

xrandr -q
cvt 800 600

example of output:
nicholas@nicholas-laptop-kde:~/scripts$ xrandr -q
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1366 x 768, maximum 8192 x 8192
VGA1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
LVDS1 connected 1366x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 310mm x 174mm
1366x768 59.6*+
640x480 59.9

$ cvt 800 600
# 800x600 59.86 Hz (CVT 0.48M3) hsync: 37.35 kHz; pclk: 38.25 MHz
Modeline "800x600_60.00" 38.25 800 832 912 1024 600 603 607 624 -hsync +vsync

Step 3: Create following script called clone800x600.sh that add the 800x600 capability to the display and enables on both projector and laptop. Notice the bold fonts above is copied to the first xrandr command below.


#!/bin/bash
xrandr --newmode "800x600_60.00" 38.25 800 832 912 1024 600 603 607 624 -hsync +vsync
xrandr --addmode LVDS1 800x600_60.00
xrandr --output VGA1 --off
xrandr --output LVDS1 --off
xrandr --fb 800x600
xrandr --output VGA1 --mode 800x600 --rate 60
xrandr --output LVDS1 --mode 800x600_60.00 --same-as VGA1 --auto --scale 1x1 --panning 0x0

Step 4: Make executable and run the script

chmod u+x clone800x600.sh
./clone800x600.sh

To switch back to original settings, press fn+f4.

Next, try to get it working at higher resolution that the projector can support.

[Jaunty] Firefox Foxtab

Firefox provides a large number of extensions that enhances the user experience. The extension to increase its fancy tab switching is called FoxTab. Install this and on the superb KDE display, things get even better. I have version 1.2.1 on Firefox 3.0.14.

Once installed, use the F12 key to view multiple tabs.

I dont use a mouse that much but if you do, make full use of its mouse gestures. E.g. Hold the left mouse button, then hit the right mouse to launch the Interactive mode of Foxtab. The next time you need to do a presentation on web apps, try it with Foxtab. In terms of memory usage, when Firefox with 6 tabs (includes images) an average of 105,120k memory is used. Launching the Foxtab this increased to 108,492k on average. This is about 3,000k of extra memory is used.

Recording desktop session

In preparation for a presentation for an OSS Seminar at CIAST this 25 Feb, a demo of the desktop is required. KUbuntu comes with several desktop recording packages.

• istanbul
• ffmpeg
• KRecordmyDesktop
  

KRecordmyDesktop
KRecordmyDesktop is a KDE application to record desktop session. Command to install is

sudo apt-get install krecordmydesktop recordmydesktop

Then run the program from a terminal (CLI).

$ krecordmydesktop

At the panel, right click the KrecordmyDesktop and start recording. This will save the session as an .ogg file. Most Linux movie players can use the .ogg file.

I found that the KRecordmyDesktop did not have any delay to start/end recording. This resulted in having to use the recordmydesktop program directly.

The recordmydesktop
This is a program that can record a desktop and save it on the fly OR when the recording ends. Frontends to this is the KRecordmyDesktop and grecorgmydesktop.

Recording can be done at the command line which saves to the file out.ogv by default;

recordmydesktop --no-sound -delay 3 -o filename

The default control keys during a record session:

1. Pause / Resume recording - Ctrl+Alt+p
2. Stop recording - Ctrl+alt+s

More details can be found at recordmydesktop.

Viewing in AVI
To convert the .ogg to .avi install ffmpeg or mencoder. The tools are run at a terminal to convert the .ogg file.

The ffmpeg

Step 1: Install the program. Include the dependency files of libavdevice52 libimlib2.

sudo apt-get install ffmpeg

Step 2: Start the converter. The -target, -r and -s is optional.

ffmpeg -i kdesession.ogg -target vcd -s vga -r 52 kdesession3.avi

The mencoder
Alternative encoder is mencoder (used with mplayer).

Step 1: Install mencoder.

sudo apt-get install mencoder

Step 2: Convert the .ogg file to .avi with no sound effects.

mencoder kdesession.ogg -ovc lavc -nosound -o kdesession3.avi

There are lots of configuration options in ffmpeg and mencoder from the help files.

KDE 4.2 with Dual Monitor

I just upgraded to KDE4.2 today on Kubuntu Interpid. One of the first items I am testing is the ability to use the display on my laptop and the monitor/projector at the same time. This is known as multihead and previously the Xinerama was used to have two different screens with one X server (the engine behind the graphics display on Linux).


The KDE 4.2 Plasma control (top right corner of the screen) Zoom Out function allowed the laptop screen to have a different background and widget from the monitor/projector. This really made an impressive environment for customisation.

This is great for presentation as the OpenOffice.org 3 have full capability to show the slides on one screen while previewing on another screen. The KDE4.2 provided the variable KDE_MULTIHEAD=false that allowed the same display for both the displays. Initially I changed this environment variable to true, but nothing happened.

The Intel site http://intellinuxgraphics.org/dualhead.html gave some good tips to get what I was looking for. The steps below allowed the multihead function to work when the VGA cable is plugged at the Login screen. To revert back to the dual head (where both laptop and monitor/projector displayed the same output), return to the Login screen and unplug the VGA cable. The X server should be restarted.

Step 1: Backup the /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Step 2: Replace the xorg.conf with the following

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "intel"
Option "FramebufferCompression" "off"
Option "monitor-LVDS" "internal"
Option "monitor-VGA" "external"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "internal"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "external"
Option "RightOf" "internal"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "internal"
Device "Configured Video Device"
SubSection "Display"
Virtual 2560 1024
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "AIGLX" "false"
EndSection

Step 3: Reset the X server
Logout and restart the X by pressing Alt+e
Login again and you should have the new setting applied.

How to add Screensavers in KDE4.1

Installing KDE screensaver

KDE 4 in KUbuntu 8.10 is slightly different from KDE3. This example of installing a screen saver called KCometen will help to expose the various method of how KDE 4 works.

Step 1. Download KCometen41.0.3 from http://www.kde-apps.org/content/show.php/KCometen4?content=87586

Step 2. Compile and build the screen saver binaries.

$ apt-get install build-essential kdebase-workspace-dev libqt4-opengl-dev

$ cd /home/nicholas/sources/kcometen4-1.0.3/CMakeFiles

$ cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local

-- Found Qt-Version 4.4.3 (using /usr/bin/qmake)

-- Found X11: /usr/lib/libX11.so

-- Found Threads: TRUE

-- Found Automoc4: /usr/bin/automoc4

-- Found Perl: /usr/bin/perl

-- Found KDE 4.1 include dir: /usr/include

-- Found KDE 4.1 library dir: /usr/lib

-- Found KDE4 kconfig_compiler preprocessor: /usr/bin/kconfig_compiler

-- Found automoc4: /usr/bin/automoc4

-- Found QtOpenGL: /usr/lib/libQtOpenGL.so

-- Found QtOpenGL includes: /usr/include/qt4/QtOpenGL

-- Found KScreenSaver include: /usr/include/kscreensaver.h

-- Configuring done

-- Generating done

-- Build files have been written to: /home/oscc/sources/kcometen4-1.0.3

$ cd ..

$ make

[100%] Built target kcometen4.kss

make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/oscc/sources/kcometen4-1.0.3'

/usr/bin/cmake -E cmake_progress_start /home/oscc/sources/kcometen4-1.0.3/CMakeFiles 0

$ sudo make install

Step 3. Install the screen saver

/usr/bin/cmake -P cmake_install.cmake

-- Install configuration: "Debugfull"

-- Installing: /usr/local/bin/kcometen4.kss

-- Installing: /usr/local/share/apps/kcometen4/pixmaps/lightmap.png

-- Installing: /usr/local/share/apps/kcometen4/pixmaps/particle.png

-- Installing: /usr/local/share/kde4/services/ScreenSavers/kcometen4.desktop

-- Installing: /usr/local/share/man/man1/kcometen4.kss.1

Step 4. Edit the KDE4 configuration to use recently added screen saver. Follow changes to this by rebuilding the KDE4 system configuration cache.

Create the path for all users by adding your local installation prefix to /etc/kde4rc configuration.

$ sudo vi /etc/kde4rc

[Directories]

prefixes=/usr/local

$ sudo kbuildsycoca4

Step 5. Test and use the newly installed screen saver.

Ensure that the System Settings window is closed until your managed to reach this step.

You can test the screen saver by typing the screensaver name.

$ kcometen4.kss --setup

To apply the screensaver, open KDE System Settings, choose Desktop ->Screen Saver, look for Kcometen4.

Kubuntu 8.10 Desktop at first glance.

The KMenu
Favourites must have the System Settings menu to configure the Dashboard & Kubuntu until it is just right for daily work.


Desktop
There are Plasmoid widgets by default that I will leave on the desktop for the moment. This means that what I see is called the Dashboard and the Desktop is now a small window that can be moved around. Its neat, cause I can press Ctrl+F12 (or press the Show Dashboard Applet in the bottom panel) to dim all applications and view only the widgets and Desktop. No need to minimised all the application Windows.

By Default applications are launch with a single click, unlike the default Gnome desktop. I've been on Gnome for about 1.5 years now and its taking some getting use to reduce the number of clicks.

Workspace
Default Kubuntu had only 2 workspace and no keyboard shortcut to switch between many workspaces. I can only return to 1st workspace with Ctrl+F1.

1. Right click Pager applet (in the bottom panel) and choose "Configure Desktop", increase to 4 workspace.
2. Click Kmenu ->System Settings ->Keyboard & Mouse ->Keyboard shortcuts. In the "Action" box scroll down to "Switch one desktop to the Right", and click the Global field. Click on the "None" button and enter Ctrl+Alt+Right Arrow. Do the same for the Left direction command. Test the shortcut and click "Apply".

Screen
The screen is sharp and nice, which is why I have always choosen KDE when Looks matters.

Problems are occuring when I plugin the Likom monitor and the projector. It is flickering on those external displays as though its switches the refresh rates. The monitor configuration tool didnt seem to work as it should when I plug-in the external displays.

FIX the projector flickering: Select KMenu
1. System Settings ->Advanced ->Service Manager
2. Turn off "Detecting RANDR (monitor) changes"

Application Windows
Firefox and Thunderbird scrollbars can be improved by Choosing
Kmenu ->System Settings ->Appearance ->Gtk Styles & Fonts
Then Click "Install Scrollbar Fix..." and restart both Firefox and Thunderbird.

Screen Capture
There isnt any program link to the "PrtSc" or Print Screen button. So here are steps taken to apply the screen capture button. Seems KDE 4.1 is broken in this area of keyboard configuration. Killed the khotkeys deamon but its still reading other hotkeys, I am still looking for daemon thats accepting the hotkeys. Things I will try...

1. Update the ksnapshot (mine upgraded to 0.8.1) and other systems updates.
2. Apply the shortcut keys to the Ksnapshot program.
Choose Kmenu ->System Settings. Choose the Advanced tab ->Input Actions


System Processes
To view or terminate system processes, press Ctrl+Esc. I can send kill signals to terminate processes. This also lets me see the amount of RAM being used.

Multiple X servers - Xephyr and Xnest

To run several X servers that are different, I can switch to other virtual screens (F7-F12) or use an X server tool like Xephyr and Xnest. Xephyr is considerably newer than the well known Xnest.

Using Xnest
(On CentOS 5.1)
yum install xorg-x11-server-Xnest
Xnest -audit 0 -name Xnest :1 & export DISPLAY=:1


Using Xephyr
(on Ubuntu 7.10)
sudo apt-get install xserver-xephyr
Xephyr -ac -screen 1024x768 -reset :1 & export DISPLAY=:1

Running X on the X server
Test X applications like xterm and xeyes.

xterm
xeyes

If there is a need to send an application via the chroot/server use SSH. Example below is to start and xterm on the X server

ssh -XfC -c blowfish nicholas@nicholas-server.lan xterm


If you dont understand stuff here, dont worry. It means you need to move on to other stuffs.

R60 laptop and projector display

To have the R60 Laptop be able to display with the projector while being able to view the laptop screen I have some suggestions for Linux Ubuntu (Gutsy 7.10) and CentOS 5.1.

Firstly, Gutsy detected and is using an Intel experimental driver for the 945. CentOS detected the driver as Intel i810.

There are three methods that you may want to try out. Please do drop me a comment if it works on other distros or record here if you have problems.

1) Modify xorg.conf file
Modify the options for the graphical device in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. Make sure the file have a backup.
1.1) Linux Ubuntu
a) vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf
From:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller"
Driver "intel"
BusID "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection

To:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller"
Driver "intel"
BusID "PCI:0:2:0"
Option "MonitorLayout" "NONE,LFP+CRT"
Option "DevicePresence" "true"
Option "CheckLid" "false"
EndSection

Save the file.

b) Plugin the projector and reboot.

1.2) Linux CentOS 5
a) vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Find the section "Device" and edit to include the BusID and the 3 options. They are self explainatory.

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "i810"
BusID "PCI:0:2:0"
Option "MonitorLayout" "NONE,LFP+CRT"
Option "DevicePresence" "true"
Option "CheckLid" "false"
EndSection

Save the file.

b) Logout and plugin the projector. If you still cant see the displays, then reboot without the projector plugged in. Plug in when at the login screen.



2) Restarting X
Based on my postings to ubuntuforums titled "HOWTO GUTSY: Laptop dual display with projector/external screen" (Oct 20, 2007). Those who do not want to touch the xorg.conf file can do the following:


a) Start Gutsy and stay at the login screen or Press Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
b) Plug in the external display cable
c) Log-in and you can see the two screens. Play a movie and it appears on the external screen.

Next problem, You have watched the movie on the external screen now you want to remove the external screen and resume work as normal. This includes watching movies on the laptop.
a) Logout and remove the external screen cable.
b) At the login screen press Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
c) Login
d) Play a movie and it appears on the laptop screen.

3. Using command line.
For those who love to just make scripts or give command lines, I suggest using xrandr. However, if you have modified the xorg.conf file, the command may not always work.

a) Login as a normal user. Open a terminal to issue commands.
b) Plugin the external display cable (projector)
c) Type any of the following relevant lines:

xrandr --output VGA --auto
xrandr --output VGA --mode 800x600 --auto
xrandr --output VGA --mode 1024x768 --auto

d) To stop the projection, type

xrandr --output VGA --off

#end