KDE Connect - Connect Linux to your Android Devices

KDE Connect is an open source alternative to Pushbullet, which is an application that displays your Android notifications on your PC . However, KDE Connect also lets you send files to your devices, browse the files, and view the battery percentage, right from your Linux desktop or laptop.

This article will be focused on installing and using KDE Connect on Ubuntu-based distributions such as Linux Mint and of course, Ubuntu.
 
To install KDE Connect for any desktop environment simply type the following commands into the terminal. (CTRL + Alt + T)

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:vikoadi/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install kdeconnect indicator-kdeconnect 

Once it is installed, simply run "KDE Connect Indicator" from the applications menu, or type "indicator-kdeconnect" in the terminal.

Now, turn on your favourite Android device and install the KDE Connect application from either Google Play or F-Droid.

Finally, launch the app on your Android device and look down at your indicator panel/notification area/whatever you want to call it and you will see icons for either a phone or tablet, depending on what it detected your device as.

Click on one of the icons, and click "Request Pairing". You should get a notification on your Android device that you can accept. If you don't, try multiple times. You can also request pairing from your Android device, which will display a notification on your PC. This may work, but it requires a desktop environment that lets you click buttons inside notifications. For me, in XFCE it didn't work. In Cinnamon, it did.

If you still don't receive a request to pair the device, make sure your device and your computer are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

Note: If you have a firewall on your Linux PC such as GUFW, Make sure you have allowed ports 1714-1764 in both TCP and UDP incoming and outgoing. You only have to allow these ports in your local network, no port forwarding necessary.

Once your devices are paired, you can do things like send files to your Android device wirelessly, browse the device, and view the battery percentage.

Sending files to your device is easy with KDE Connect.

 On the device side, you can do things such as remotely controlling your computer by using your Android device as a mouse, and there's also multimedia controls.

Why use Pushbullet when you have KDE Connect?

I hope you found this useful.

Pale Moon - A Speedy Fork of Firefox

Since Mozilla is ruining Firefox, why not install a fork?

No, not a utensil used for eating food, a "fork". This means a copy of the source code, turned into a new project. This is a popular activity in open source software. If some one doesn't like the way the development of an application is going, they can take the source code of said application and make an entirely new project out of it.

Firefox has multiple forks, but today I will be focusing on Pale Moon.

What is Pale Moon? Pale Moon is a fork of Firefox focused on "efficiency and ease of use". It is compatible with most Firefox addons. It does not have the "Australis" interface that is criticized among many Firefox users. It claims to be more stable than regular Firefox. It is faster and smoother than Firefox.

You can get Pale Moon over at palemoon.org

It is available for both Linux and Windows. The Linux installer is available here. The Windows version is available here. There is also a 3rd party PPA for Ubuntu, as well as a build for the OpenPandora.

I hope you found this useful.

Mozilla, Why are you ruining Firefox?

I've recently switched back to Firefox on the desktop, for a few reasons. Reason #1 is that Firefox takes up way less ram. Reason #2 is addons.

Firefox has some of the best addons out there. Some of my favourites include DownThemAll, NoScript, Flashblock, Video DownloadHelper, and Greasemonkey, to name a few.

Firefox addons are more powerful than their Google Chrome counterparts. However, I woke up yesterday to I find out that Firefox is deprecating XPCOM and XUL-based addons.



What does this mean? A lot of addons won't work anymore. As mentioned on this post, addons such as DownThemAll will likely not work and the developers will probably not support them anymore. This includes any addons that let you do more "advanced" things.

Firefox is turning more and more into Chrome

The only upside to this is it will be easier for developers to make addons that work in both Google Chrome and Opera. However, if I wanted to use Chrome or Opera addons I would use Chrome or Opera, not Firefox!

Firefox is the most customizable and feature-rich web browser, and it should stay that way.

Mozilla, listen to your users.

[Android] My Top Recommended Xposed Framework Modules

If you’re an Android power user, you’ll probably know about Xposed framework. If you’ve ever used a Custom ROM on your phone or tablet, you will know that these ROMs often come with additional features that are not available in stock Android.


Xposed framework allows you to use the stock ROM that comes with your device but with the benefit of ROM-like features, called “modules”.

Xposed Framework

Please remember that not every module works on every device, so keep the Xposed Disabler ZIP and a custom recovery handy if you get a bootloop.




Here is a list of my top recommended xposed modules, in no particular order.

• Awesome Pop-up Video – This module allows you to watch videos in a tiny window that you can move and resize, which lets you multi task while you’re watching the video.

•  Blacklist – This module allows you to block certain numbers or texts, for example unwanted callers.

•  BootManager – This module allows you to disable certain applications from starting up. Why would a game need to run at boot?

•  NotifyClean – This module allows you to block certain applications from notifying you about something.

•  MinMinGuard – This module allows you to block ads on a per-app basis, and removes the empty space that the ad used to take up.

•  Greenify – This module saves battery life by preventing certain applications from waking your device up when you’re not using it.

•  YouTube Adaway – This module blocks ads in the YouTube app, whereas regular Adaway doesn’t.

•  GravityBox – This module brings a whole lot of User Interface customization options to the table.

•  CpuTemp in Statusbar – This module does what it says on the tin. It puts the current CPU Temperature of your device on the Status bar.

That’s all for now, I hope you find these modules useful.

[Originally posted on my other blog, PizzaDude Talks Tech]

How to use F-Droid - The Free and Open Source App Marketplace for Android

F-Droid is an alternative app market for Android. It is basically a repository for open source applications, like the ones on Desktop Linux. Every single application on F-Droid is FLOSS. No, not dental floss. Floss as in "Free Libre Open Source Software".

Each application on F-Droid has to be approved. If an application on F-Droid has proprietary code, the code is removed by the F-Droid maintainers. If an application contains tracking code, it is reported on the app page. In my opinion, you can guarantee that 99.9999% of applications on F-Droid will be safe to install. On Google Play, you can't guarantee it. Even though Google Play is the default Android marketplace, some malicious developers have been able to put malware on there.

F-Droid also contains applications that Google have banned from their store, such as Ad blockers.

The installation of F-Droid is like any other app that is not in the Google Play store. In order to install it, you need to enable unknown sources. You also need to keep unknown sources enabled in order to install applications from F-Droid.

You will get a warning that enabling unknown sources is dangerous. It's not. Unless you go searching for random apk files on the internet that may contain malware, you should be fine. Just stick to trusted sources like Google Play, Amazon Appstore, and of course F-Droid. Please note that F-Droid is safer than Google Play or Amazon Appstore.

In order to enable unknown sources, open the Settings app, and tap "Security". You can enable unknown sources from there. You will get a warning. Just press ok.

Now go to https://f-droid.org/ on your phone. Tap "Download F-Droid". It will download an apk file. It should be named FDroid.apk. You should be able to install it from your notifications. If that doesn't work, open your downloads folder in your favourite file manager and install the apk from there.

Video clip on how to install F-Droid

Once installed open the F-Droid app. It will refresh the sources. Once that's done, you can select categories or search for a specific app. If you click on an app, it will show you a description, and multiple versions you can install. I usually install the latest version. If you click on one of the versions, it will download the apk file for that application and you will be able to install it.

Video clip on how to use and install apps via F-Droid

If you have root, you can allow F-Droid to automatically install apps once you've downloaded them. I personally haven't done this. F-Droid does not require root.

There are plenty of applications available for download. Of course, not as much as on Google Play, but way less junk, and much safer thanks to the open source nature of things.

I hope you have found this useful. Remember, there's more to Android than just Google Play!

Android Screen Recording Applications

If you have a decent Android device and you want to record your screen, here are some applications that will let you do that. These applications require root access, however some of them will work on Android 5.0+ without root.

Please note that recording may slow your device down if your cpu is weak, and requires a lot of storage to store the video files. Recording a game may slow down the game also, depending on your device.

Android Screen Recording Applications

SCR Pro is my favourite screen recorder. It requires root access. There is also a version for on Android 5.0 Lollipop. If you are on Lollipop, it only requires root access if you want to record the internal audio. I have found on my NVIDIA Shield I can record games with little to no lag. Here is a video I recorded of Asphalt 8 demonstrating that:

There is also an add-on that lets you broadcast to Twitch.

SCR Pro and the Twitch broadcasting add-on are paid apps.

If you want a free application that does the same thing, check out Shou.

Shou.TV is a free application that requires root unless you are on Android 5.0+. Again, if you are on Android 5.0 you will only need root to record internal audio. Shou.TV includes a broadcasting feature that lets you broadcast to the website of the same name. You can also choose to record the screen only if you don't want to broadcast to the world.

That's all for now, stay tuned for more posts!

How To Install CWM Recovery on the NVIDIA Shield Portable

**UPDATE: July 28 2015 - goo.im is down. I have re-uploaded the recovery image. Click here for the link**

A few days ago I posted an article on reasons to root your NVIDIA Shield Portable. This tutorial will show you how to install Clockwork Mod (CWM) Recovery on your Shield. Please note this tutorial is for advanced users, and always be careful when flashing an image to your device.

This tutorial is for the Shield Portable, NOT the Shield Tablet.

Why would you want a custom recovery on your device? Well, it allows you to have a backup plan in case you mess up your system.

A custom recovery allows you to connect to your device using the command line, and copy, move, and rename files. Inside the interface you can also flash custom ROMs on your Shield, as well as other flashable "zips" for example a script to disable Xposed Framework in case you installed a bad module.

In order to install CWM recovery, you first need to unlock the bootloader if you haven't done so already.

NOTE: Unlocking the bootloader will void your warranty, and wipe your device.

To unlock the bootloader: Power your Shield off completely. Hold down the Back and Home button, and while holding those two buttons, press the Power button. Keep holding the Back and Home button. You should now be in the bootloader menu.

Plug your Shield into your PC.

If you are on Windows, you may need to install drivers.

If you are on Linux, you need to grab the fastboot and adb drivers. If you're on a Ubuntu based Linux distribution, open a terminal (Usually Ctrl + Alt + T) then type:

sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot

Press enter, type in your password, press enter again, type the letter 'Y', press enter.

NOTE: THE NEXT STEP WILL WIPE YOUR DEVICE. 

Once the installation is complete, type the following while still in the bootloader:

sudo fastboot oem unlock

Navigate to "Unlock" with either the Back button or Home button, and then press the home button.

Your Shield is now unlocked! Now hit continue, let the device boot, and once the device is fully turned on, shut it down again. 

Go back into the bootloader, and connect your Shield to your PC.

Download the following file, http://d-h.st/HMtr https://goo.im/devs/agrabren/shield/cwm/recovery.img/

The md5sum should be 2d17dc144196f763e37b345372da2e31 .

I suggest putting it on your Desktop.

The following step is intended for a Ubuntu based Linux distribution:

With your shield in the bootloader menu, and with a terminal open, type:

cd ~/Desktop
md5sum shield-cwm.img

If the output says "2d17dc144196f763e37b345372da2e31", then continue with this final command. If the output is different, re-download the file.

sudo fastboot flash recovery shield-cwm.img

If it successfully flashed, you can unplug the Shield and use the recovery.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful. If you have any questions don't hesitate to leave a comment.

5 Reasons to Switch to Linux

Let's face it, not everyone wants to switch to Linux. Not everyone has heard of Linux either. A lot of people run Linux without even knowing, for example using Android, the mobile phone, tablet, and now microconsole operating system.

I can't guarantee this article will convince you to switch either, if you're fine with Windows or Mac OS X that's fine. It's your choice.

So, what is Linux? Linux is a kernel. Most people ignore that and call it an operating system. There are plenty of Linux based operating systems, and on Desktop Linux they are referred to as "distributions" or "distros" for short. 

There are many of these distros to choose from, and most people suggest Ubuntu or Linux Mint for beginners. I personally use Linux Mint, which is based off of Ubuntu. I also suggest looking at DistroWatch as they have a list of the top Linux distributions. 

Without further ado, here are 5 reasons to switch to Linux, in no particular order.

Reason 1 - Security

There are many reasons Linux is more secure than Windows. First off, regular applications run as a user, while system-level processes run as "root", or "administrator" as you would call it on Windows. This is crucial to security because malware and whatnot can't do much damage if you don't grant it root access.

Since Linux is open source, the code is audited by tons of people and patches are made available ASAP. With Microsoft Windows, you have to wait until a "Patch Tuesday" for when Microsoft decides to release a security patch.

There are not nearly as many viruses on Linux as Windows, but you could say that is because Windows has way more market share.

Linux's package manager also plays a good part in keeping the system secure, and that brings us to Reason 2.

Reason 2 - Package Managers

There are many package managers for Linux, but they serve the same purpose. Package managers download and install packages from a unified source known as a "repository". Apt/Dpkg is the Package Manager for Debian based Linux distros such as Ubuntu or Mint. Although those are command line package managers, there are many front-ends, like the ones Ubuntu and Mint come with. (Ubuntu Software Center, Mint Software Manager)

Installing programs from the package manager is more secure than going out and looking for software on the internet. You can do both, but every application from your distribution's archives can be trusted. If you want, you can also add additional software sources (archives) if something isn't in your distro's one.

Reason 3 - Control

Don't you hate it when an application in Windows takes up all the system resources? Do you even know what it's doing? What are all these processes named svchost.exe ?

With Linux, you have full control of your system. Killing a process actually does something, unlike the Windows task manager. Most processes have names that actually make sense, and not things that sound like malware but really are part of the operating system, like "TrustedInstaller.exe". You know all your actions aren't being sent to Microsoft also. (Well, unless you use Skype) Did I mention open source?

Reason 4 - Open Source

Linux is open source, and can be modified by anyone for their liking. The open source community is constantly improving things. You can have choice over which desktop environment you use, so you can have anything from a simple, lightweight install that doesn't take up much resources, to modern-looking eye candy desktop environment such as GNOME. Possibilities are endless thanks to the open source community, and more and more projects are being created and improved upon each day.

Reason 5 - Free

In addition to being free as in freedom, the majority of Linux distributions are free as in beer, so you don't have to pay a huge fee in order to obtain them, like you have to do with Windows.

You may ask, how do they stay around? Most of them are funded by donations, and if you don't feel like burning a CD or creating a bootable usb stick, you can sometimes purchase a CD directly from the distributions website, and the money will go directly to the company/person making the distribution.

If you enjoy Linux, make sure to donate to your favorite distribution.

Closing thoughts

Linux may not be popular, but it sure is growing. You can help it grow by switching today. I hope you have found this post informative.

Oh, and if you are a gamer, Linux gaming is getting better all the time, with more and more games coming to Linux, even Triple-A titles.

NVIDIA Shield Portable: Reasons to Root

Please note this guide is for the Shield Portable, and not the Tablet.

The NVIDIA Shield is a great portable gaming system. The physical controls and Tegra 4 GPU make this a perfect fit for running retro games with emulators, as well as regular Android games that support the controller. You even have a built in button mapper for those touch-only games that do not support gamepads.

So why would I need to root this? Here are some reasons to root your Shield.

REASONS TO ROOT

Expandable Storage

Sure, the Shield supports MicroSD cards out of the box, but what if you want to actually store your games on them? Due to a "security" feature in Android 4.4.2 KitKat, you need root in order to store files on the MicroSD card.

So once you have rooted, head to the Play Store and download NextApp SDFix and reboot your device, and then you will be able to store files on the external MicroSD card again.

But then what? You have all these games, but your running out of space due to the Shield's 16GB of storage. Just download FolderMount and you will be able to make symbolic links from your internal storage to your MicroSD card so that games will think that they're on your internal storage, but in reality they're on your MicroSD card.

Backups

Do you ever have that problem when you reset an android device that you lose all your apps and games? Titanium Backup is your one-stop-shop solution to that problem. With Titanium Backup you can backup and restore apps, set scheduled backups, and do much more like freezing unwanted bloatware to free up system resources.

Tweaks

Let's say you wanted to be able to have more than one app open simultaneously, or wanted to change the appearance or functionality of your Android device without flashing a new ROM? Xposed Framework is your gateway to just that, and more.

Security

Do you want to stop Angry Birds from mining your personal information? Install a firewall such as AFWall and do just that. It allows you to control which applications can access the internet or not. Just make sure to set it as a blacklist, or you might block all apps by accident!

Fun

Do you want to be invincible in Grand Theft Auto for Android? Need I say more?

OK, you've convinced me, now how do I root?

Thanks to Geohot's Towelroot, it is very easy to root Android 4.4.2 KitKat, the current version of Android available for the Shield. The version of Towelroot available on the website is not compatible with the Shield so you must download an older version. Thankfully, a website known as GreenRobotGamer has provided just that.

Link to APK. | Mirror instead in case site goes down.

Just download that APK, and open it up in a file manager such as ES File Explorer. Please note that you must enable Unknown Sources and Verify Apps in Settings > Security. Now you just install Towelroot, press the "MAKE IT RAIN" button. Now wait about 30 seconds, then reboot your device. You will now be rooted!

Finally, install SuperSU so that you can control which applications are allowed root access.

Disclaimer

With rooting, comes great responsibility. I am not responsible if you overclock your device and it bursts into flames. (Rooting alone does not let you overclock your device) You can always install a custom recovery such as CWM if things go wrong. Just make sure you install one that's compatible with your device.

That's it folks, stay tuned for more NVIDIA Shield tutorials!

Introduction

Here I will post tips, tricks, tutorials, reviews and more for both Desktop Linux and Linux based operating systems such as Android. I hope you find this site useful if you are new to Linux, or if you just want to learn something new. Join the surge, start using Linux today!