I’m bumping this again for my own convenience and hopefully someone else who needs it will find it.

[update: in case you haven't done this before and are wondering where is cdroot - when
you extract the .tar.gz it extracts to a folder called cdroot.]

[Ubuntu OS Installation]
1. Download and extract the driver
2. Open ”Root Terminal”
3. Execute installation program.
$ sudo cdroot/autorun
4. After intall, PPD path is set again.
$ sudo ln -s /usr/share/cups/model/samsung /usr/share/ppd/custom/samsung
5. Execute Configurator, and Add your printer model name by Add Printer

I’m not sure I know what all of that means, but see also HOWTO Install Samsung Unified Printer Driver (Mini-guide to installing Samsung printers & Unified Driver:Updated 28 April 2008 )

SCX-4200 Unified Linux Driver

I’m having freezes in Ubuntu 7.10 with increasing frequency, so an upgrade is getting more urgent. I decided, having done some reading on the web, to first upgrade the bios on my HP Pavillion 6558ea, and after some difficulty in finding the right webpage, I came across this curious note:

Fixes

# Modifies the thermal policy to lower the local alert temperature.
# Fixes an intermittent issue where the notebook does not detect the hard drive when booting.

An intermittent issue where the notebook does not detect the hard drive when booting sounds suspiciously like what’s been happening. It’s really extraordinary that a company of HP’s reputation would release a computer with this fault.

Anyway, the procedure went well - done in Vista of course. I’m not sure that I’ve noticed any difference, but hopefully the freezing will now stop.

I’ve been reading very mixed reviews about Ubuntu 8.04 but I’ll give it a go shortly.

If you have an HP Pavillion 6558ea, this is the page for the Winflash bios upgrade (Release Date: 2008-04-25, Version: F.53)

When you’ve been with Ubuntu a while, the little reminders of Windows can be a source of mild irritation. I mean, what is one to do with the Windows Key in Ubuntu? Well, as it happens, here’s what, thanks to How-to-geek:

Ubuntu has a dropdown menu at the top of the screen to launch applications, which is very similar to the way Windows has the start menu at the bottom of the screen. If you are a windows user new to Ubuntu, you may prefer to have the windows key launch the applications menu. Thankfully this is an easy thing to do in Ubuntu.

Go to the details at How-To-Geek here

I’ve just installed the latest Wordpress for a friend, and it’s a beauty but there are a few things to trip up the unwary, especially if you haven’t upgraded to the latest Flash in Ubuntu. There are postings around the net about the best way to do this, but the Flash site itself is the simplest, I think. Just click on Installation instructions and you should have installed in a few minutes.

That’s step one. The extra code that should go into the .htaccess files is at B Space.

And finally, there is a curious and annoying quirk that distorts thumbnail images.

If you don’t want your thumbnails to get distorted, you need to change WordPress 2.5’s default setting before you upload your photos into the media manager. Go to Settings > Miscellaneous and UNcheck the “Crop thumbnail to exact dimensions (normally thumbnails are proportional)” box.

Thanks to Sillybean.net for that one.

Yes, I’ll upgrade my own Wordpress sites asap, as while every radical new design entails a learning curve, this one will be worth it, I think. But do see to the above caveats first.

The Irish Linux User Group will be having a PoTD (Pint of the Day) to celebrate the birth of Hardy Heron, on 1st May 2008 in the Long Stone Pub, Townsend Street, central Dublin. (map to the venue) 18:30 or so onwards

IrishTeam/HardyReleaseParty (see ILUG post about PoTD)
The Long Stone Pub