Grub Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition ! --> The Solution!

I recently had the misfortune of having to re-install Windows XP on my dual-boot PC. After the Windows installation I repaired GRUB and tried booting into my Ubuntu Installation but had this error pop on to the screen :

Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition
Press any key to continue ...

This happens because sometimes Windows can do funny things with your computer without you knowing!!

Here's a way to make everything normal -

First, at the GRUB screen, press 'c' to get into the GRUB CLI.
At the CLI, type

find /vmlinuz

You will get an output similar to

(hdx,y)

Note x and y

Next, insert your LiveCD and boot from the CD

Open a terminal, mount your "root" ( / ) of your Linux installation somewhere
and open the file :

/boot/grub/menu.lst

with admin privileges (" sudo" if you are working with Ubuntu )

Go to the section where u see something similar to :

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-21-generic
root (hdx1,y1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-generic root=UUID=ef9d3ff9-0f14-4eab-879b-11c517ab26c1 ro splash quiet
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-generic
quiet

Replace the x1,y1 with the x,y pair we just found above, save the file and you are done! :)

(Note : "title" can be different and depends on your distro. That is not the important part, the "root" part is! :) )

Now you can reboot your system and happily boot into your Linux installation :)

Invisible Status in Gtalk using Desktop clients

It's been a long time since Google added an "invisible" status option in their Gmail chat box. However, no invisibility option is available through the desktop client Gtalk.

Read on ;)

Since, most of my blog is dedicated to Linux, let's start with Linux clients...

Pidgin, which is currently the default IM program in Gnome, supports this tweak.
First, through -->Tools|Plugins enable the XMPP console.
Next, access the console through Tools|XMPP console.
and paste the following code

{{{
<presence>
<priority>5</priority>
</presence>
<presence type="unavailable">
<priority>5</priority>
</presence>
}}}

Voila! You are now invisible through a desktop client!
You can change back to other statuses the usual way...

XMPP protocol is basically XML code , which you can easily make out.

The only problem is that every time you need to go invisible, you have to go through the process of pasting the XML code again. I don't know if this feature will be integrated in future versions of Pidgin, I sure wish they do!

Now coming to Windows, Pidgin for windows doesn't come with the XMPP console. You need to build pidgin from source for it to appear. The same procedure for invisibility can then be followed.

EDIT : Newer versions of Pidgin for Windows now include an XMPP console. Good news for those with Windows :)

Psi is another IM client for Windows which can support "invisibility".
After installing Psi, add an ID, enter any name for account.

Jabber ID : your gtalk ID
Password : your gtalk password

In the Connections tab, tick all options and enter the host as : talk.google.com
You are done now.
To go Invisible, right-click on the name of the account and select the XML console, paste the code and you are invisible!

However, I really wish that Google would add and Invisibility option to their desktop client just like Yahoo!. But, first things first and I think they should really release a Gtalk client for Linux, although Pidgin isn't doing a bad job at all!

Signing Off!
Cheers! And Happy IMing! :)

Installing New Experimental Plugins for Compiz

A blog post after quite a few days (months)...Ouch!! I'm stiff :P

Three new experimental plugins for compiz-fusion have recently been released...

• Atlantis2: Adds an aquarium to the dekstop with customizable fish.
• Freewins: Lets you rotate and resize windows in 3D.
• Screensaver: Let's you rotate the cube or make the windows fly as a screensaver.

The Atlantis2 Plugin running on my desktop:



Here's a screenshot for screensaver with the "flying windows" animation. Although, somehow the animation isn't clean and there are a few graphic glitches.


And my personal favourite - screensaver with "rotating cube" animation ... very smooth, very clean, I can go idle just to watch this thing rotate away in it's full glory ;)


I will post a screenshot for the Freewins plugin as soon as I figure out how it works :) I'm kinda "bizzy" watching the cube rotate :D.

All three are available through a "git" download

To install these plugins make sure you have the following packages installed:

• compiz-bcop
• compiz-dev
• build-essential
• libtool
• libglu1-mesa-dev
• libxss-dev
• libcairo2-dev
• git-core

In Ubuntu, you can do this using the following command :

sudo apt-get install compiz-bcop compiz-dev build-essential libtool libglu1-mesa-dev libxss-dev libcairo2-dev git-core

Download the plugins from the terminal using the following commands, make a new directory to download these if you want to keep everything neat and clean :)


git clone git://anongit.compiz-fusion.org/users/metastability/atlantis2
git clone git://anongit.compiz-fusion.org/users/warlock/freewins
git clone git://anongit.compiz-fusion.org/users/pafy/screensaver

Each plugin will be downloaded to its individual directory...
go to each directory through the terminal and do

make && make install

Now, you can access the new plugins through System->Preferences->Compiz Config Settings Manager..

Cheers! :)