StokeBloke.com

To format json data in emacs, its best to use the python module ‘json.tool’. Simply make a function to wrap up the whole buffer and format it.

(defun json-format ()
  (interactive)
  (save-excursion
    (shell-command-on-region (point-min) (point-max) "python -m json.tool" (buffer-name) t)
    )
  )

I use Xfce all the time at home and I rdesktop into loads of different computers. Over time I have created many desktop entries for rdesktop connections to many different computers.

E.g.

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Encoding=UTF-8
Exec=rdesktop -d <domain>; -z -u <username> -g 1670x1025 <hostname> -k de
Icon=chardevice
StartupNotify=false
Categories=Network
Name=RDesktop(hostname)
Comment=RDesktop(hostname)

Each entry I created needed to be created in the ~/.local/share/applications directory. These are then automatically loaded and added to the Network sub menu. (The list of main categories is listed here)

I started to get problems after adding 12+ desktop entries to the Network menu. With the standard Network entries and my custom rdesktop entries it was getting very tall and messy.

I then started to look into if I could move the rdesktop commands into its own submenu separating them out.

I found that I could make general changes to the menu layout via the menu file.   On my distribution its located ~/.config/menus/xfce-applications.menu

Simply create a new submenu

    <Menu>
      <Name>RDesktop</Name>
      <Directory>rdesktop.directory</Directory>
      <Include>
         <Category>RDesktop</Category>
      </Include>
    </Menu>

and include this in the main Layout section

    <Layout>
        <Filename>exo-terminal-emulator.desktop</Filename>
        <Filename>exo-file-manager.desktop</Filename>
        <Filename>exo-mail-reader.desktop</Filename>
        <Filename>exo-web-browser.desktop</Filename>
        <Separator/>
        <Menuname>RDesktop</Menuname>
        <Separator/>
        <Menuname>Settings</Menuname>
        <Separator/>
        <Merge type="all"/>
        <Separator/>
        <Filename>xfhelp4.desktop</Filename>
        <Filename>xfce4-run.desktop</Filename>
        <Filename>xfce4-about.desktop</Filename>
        <Filename>xfce4-session-logout.desktop</Filename>
    </Layout>

The rdesktop.directory entry in the submenu points to a file in the .local/share/desktop-directories/rdesktop.directory desktop file. This mainly defines the menu icon and a few other things. It looks like this

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Encoding=UTF-8
Exec=rdesktop
Icon=chardevice
StartupNotify=false
Categories=X-XFCE;RDesktop
Name=RDesktop
Comment=RDesktop

I then updated the individual desktop files to use the new group.

I.e Categories=Network;RDesktop

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Encoding=UTF-8
Exec=rdesktop -d <domain>; -z -u <username> -g 1670x1025 <hostname> -k de
Icon=chardevice
StartupNotify=false
Categories=<b>RDesktop</b>
Name=RDesktop(hostname)
Comment=RDesktop(hostname)

Dont forget to read http://wiki.xfce.org/howto/customize-menu too.

I decided to get Nox from gog.com

cd ~
mkdir .wine-nox
WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-nox/ wine ~/setup_nox.exe
WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-nox/ winecfg

and configure the wine desktop as exactly 1024×768

Start nox

WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-nox/ wine ~/.wine-nox/drive_c/Program\ Files/GOG.com/NOX/NOX.EXE

After the intro go in to the settings and change the game screen size to 1024×768.

Now everything is running

Nox Menu

Nox Screenshot

I created a bash script to start nox next time

#!/bin/bash
WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-nox/ wine ~/.wine-nox/drive_c/Program\ Files/GOG.com/NOX/NOX.EXE

I created the desktop file ~/.local/share/applications/nox.desktop as this

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Encoding=UTF-8
Exec=/home/username/sbin/nox
Icon=/home/username/.wine-nox/drive_c/Program Files/GOG.com/NOX/NOX.ICO
StartupNotify=false
Categories=Game
Name=Nox
Comment=Nox

Additional info:

• kernel 3.2.2-1.fc16.i686.PAE
• wine 1.3.37

To install bootchart under fedora simply run

yum install bootchart

Once installed you simply need to enable a grub entry to call it.  You just need to add the init=/sbin/bootchartd string to the end of the kernel settings.

I actually copied the existing kernel entry and added it (incase I mistyped something)

title Fedora (3.1.6-1.fc16.i686.PAE) with bootchart
    root (hd2,0)
    kernel /vmlinuz-3.1.6-1.fc16.i686.PAE ro root=/dev/md126 rd_NO_LUKS rd_NO_LVM rd_NO_DM    LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 \
          KEYTABLE=de-latin1-nodeadkeys rhgb \
          quiet nouveau.modeset=0 rdblacklist=nouveau \
          init=/sbin/bootchartd
    initrd /initramfs-3.1.6-1.fc16.i686.PAE.img

Now when I reboot and select this grub entry a bootchart file is written to /var/log/bootchart.tgz

Then run the bootchart command to generate an image of the results.

Well I started to have some strange crashes from some programs and this morning my PC just turned itself off.

I really expected it to be a memory problem so I needed to enable memtest86+ on my new fedora installation.

I quickly found http://fooninja.net/2011/05/05/loading-memtest-from-grub-fedora/

This is still valid.

Simply append

title Memtest86+ (4.10)
    root (hd0,4)
    kernel --type=netbsd /elf-memtest86+-4.10

to the end of the /boot/grub/grub.conf and reboot

Voilà errors now I just need to figure out which memory to take out