set shellinabox colors to white on black, opposite of default

 add this line to
/etc/default/shellinabox
That is the file with the parameters for the /etc/init.d/shellinabox control script
SHELLINABOX_ARGS="--no-beep --css /etc/shellinabox/options-available/'00_White On Black.css'"

bash file testing

 

Bash File Testing

-b filename - Block special file

-c filename - Special character file

-d directoryname - Check for directory Existence

-e filename - Check for file existence, regardless of type (node, directory, socket, symlink, etc.)

-f filename - Check for regular file existence not a directory

-G filename - Check if file exists and is owned by effective group ID

-G filename set-group-id - True if file exists and is set-group-id

-k filename - Sticky bit

-L filename - Symbolic link

-O filename - True if file exists and is owned by the effective user id

-r filename - Check if file is a readable

-S filename - Check if file is socket

-s filename - Check if file is nonzero size

-u filename - Check if file set-user-id bit is set

-w filename - Check if file is writable

-x filename - Check if file is executable

How to use:

#!/bin/bash

file=./file

if [ -e "$file" ]; then

    echo "File exists"

else 

    echo "File does not exist"

fi 

--30--

netgear readynas login for older units, ssh access

netgear  

ssh -oKexAlgorithms=+diffie-hellman-group1-sha1,diffie-hellman-group14-sha1 -oHostKeyAlgorithms=+ssh-rsa root@<ip>

admin login rejects after connect.  Use admin on 6.0 and later units

--30--

iTead DAC+ Version 2 Pihat PIFI

 Review and Measurements of PiFi DAC+ Pi Sound Card

This is a review and detailed measurements of itead's PiFi DAC+ Version 2 Raspberry Pi sound card (DAC). It was kindly purchased by a member and drop shipped to me. It costs US $40 but company has it on sale for US $36.50. It competes with the HifiBerry DAC+ whose pro version I recently reviewed. Unlike that unit, the PiFi DAC+ does not have independent clock source and must be using I^2 S clock. It is said that this clock has more jitter so will be interesting to see if that is the case in measurements.

Here is what it looks like:

The common TI PMC5122 DAC chip is used which retails for $2.40. So not hard to imagine how these things sell so cheaply. There are a few extra bits on this such as a post regulator an IR input port and a 3.5 mm jack. The latter is just mirroring RCA connectors and as such, has high impedance. While it will make sound, don't be tempted to use it as a headphone jack as it will likely have anemic bass and low power levels.

DAC Audio Measurements

As with the other Pi DACs I have tested, I used Ropieee OS image to stream content to the DAC over the network using Roon media player. Here is our dashboard view when playing a 24-bit, 1 kHz tone:

Conclusions

Using the same recipe as the HifiBerry DAC+, the itead PiFi DAC+ falls short in measurements. We were barely good enough with Hifiberry but now are behind the game with some 7 dB higher amount of distortion. Seeing how itead PiFi DAC+ is more expensive anyway, I see no reason to recommend it over HifiBerry offerings.

----------------------------------------------------

My I2S DAC (P1F1 DAC+ v2.0) works perfectly with RuneAudio release version: 0.4 (build: beta-20141216) with the audio output setting as HiFiBerry DAC+ (I2S). The sound is astonishing and better than most of USBDAC interface.

Only trusted workaround that can be found for your DAC or AMP is on the following link.

https://github.com/guussie/PiDS/wiki/09.-How-to-make-various-DACs-work

first find your DAC that are listed on the link and follow the steps to make your DAC

work properly. I have PiFi DAC+ (AliExpress) and it worked after I followed the steps given

under the section of

----------------------------------------------------

Note that this card has an IR receiver built in. The IR receiver is connected to GPIO26. Remove JP2 to disable the IR receiver.

sudo nano /etc/modules

Comment out (#) the following line:

snd_bcm2835

Add the following lines:

bcm2708_dmaengine

snd_soc_pcm512x

snd_soc_hifiberry_dacplus

snd_soc_bcm2708_i2s

Now we need to load the correct device tree file by editing /boot/config.txt:

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

Add the following lines at the end of the file:

dtparam=i2c_arm=on

dtparam=i2s=on

dtoverlay=hifiberry-dacplus

Save the file (Ctrl-X, Y, Enter)

Create the sound.conf file as follows:

sudo nano /etc/asound.conf

pcm.!default  {

 type hw card 0

}

ctl.!default {

 type hw card 0

}

Save the file (Ctrl-X, Y, Enter) and reboot

sudo reboot

After reboot, check if the DAC is selected as your sound card:

aplay -l

You should see this:

card 0: sndrpihifiberry [snd_rpi_hifiberry_dacplus], device 0: HiFiBerry DAC+ HiFi pcm512x-hifi-0

Subdevices: 0/1

Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Make all changes to /etc/mpd.conf as described in "Build the software".

Install mediaplayer as described in "Build the software".

GPIO Pin Usage:

GPIO2-3 are used for configuration. GPIOs 18-21 are used for the sound interface. You can’t use them for any other purpose.

----------------------------------------------------

The output level is a hair higher than HifiBerry DAC at a little over 2 volt which is fine. What is not so fine is the much lower SINAD (signal over noise and distortion). While the HifiBerry DAC+ PRO achieved 92 dB, we have a shortfall of 7 dB. This places the PiFi in our bottom tier of all DACs tested to date:

Multitone test likewise shows a step down in performance:

I like to see 95+ dB here and we are way short of that at just 78 dB.

Jitter response while again worse that HifiBerry DAC+ Pro, is still quite good:

So not sure what all the screaming is about regarding the I^S Clock. The DAC chip's PLL is likely cleaning it up good.

Filter response is different flavor of bad from HifiBerry:

As with Jitter, probably not an audible concern though.

--30--

Change permissions with find command example.

 Basic Example: Find and chmod

To find and delete all .log files in the current directory and its subdirectories, use this command: [1, 2, 3]

bash

find .  -exec chmod 777 {} \;

Use code with caution.

Understanding the Syntax Breakdown

• find .: Starts the search in the current directory.
• options follow
• -type f: Restricts the search specifically to files, ignoring folders.
• -name "*.log": Matches files with a .log extension.
• -exec: Tells find to run a command on every match.
• chmod 777: The external command you want to run.
• {}: A placeholder that find dynamically replaces with the filename of each match.
• \;: Terminates the -exec sequence. The backslash escapes the semicolon so your shell does not process it first.

intel cpu temp sensor and general sensors

 

https://askubuntu.com/questions/15832/how-do-i-get-the-cpu-temperature

sudo apt-get install lm-sensors 

After installation type the following in terminal

sudo sensors-detect

You may also need to run

sudo service kmod start

It will ask you few questions. Answer Yes for all of them. Finally to get your CPU temperature type sensors in your terminal.

sensors

--30--

VNC server install for ubuntu 22 jammy

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-and-configure-vnc-on-ubuntu-22-04

 

--30--

Remote desktop from command line windows 10

  

mstsc /v:computer name

mstsc /w:1920 /h:1080

--30--

Raspberry Pi display 7" install

The display orientation needs to be rotated for the display port attached display on the pi os.

This is done thru a preference setting with the pi os.

https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/accessories/display.html

Rotate screen without a desktop

To set the screen orientation on a device that lacks a desktop environment, edit the /boot/firmware/cmdline.txt configuration file to pass an orientation to the system. Add the following line to cmdline.txt:

video=DSI-1:800x480@60,rotate=<rotation-value>

Replace the <rotation-value> placeholder with one of the following values, which correspond to the degree of rotation relative to the default on your display:

• 0

• 90

• 180

• 270

For example, a rotation value of 90 rotates the display 90 degrees to the right. 180 rotates the display 180 degrees, or upside-down.

Note	It is not possible to rotate the DSI display separately from the HDMI display with cmdline.txt. When you use DSI and HDMI simultaneously, they share the same rotation value.

Rotate touch input

Warning

Rotating touch input via device tree can cause conflicts with your input library. Whenever possible, configure touch event rotation in your input library or desktop.

Rotation of touch input is independent of the orientation of the display itself. To change this you need to manually add a dtoverlay instruction in /boot/firmware/config.txt. Add the following line at the end of config.txt:

dtoverlay=vc4-kms-dsi-7inch,invx,invy

Then, disable automatic display detection by removing the following line from config.txt, if it exists:

display_auto_detect=1

Touch Display device tree option reference

The vc4-kms-dsi-7inch overlay supports the following options:

DT parameter	Action
sizex	Sets X resolution (default 800)
sizey	Sets Y resolution (default 480)
invx	Invert X coordinates
invy	Invert Y coordinates
swapxy	Swap X and Y coordinates
disable_touch	Disables the touch overlay totally

To specify these options, add them, separated by commas, to your dtoverlay line in /boot/firmware/config.txt. Boolean values default to true when present, but you can set them to false using the suffix "=0". Integer values require a value, e.g. sizey=240. For instance, to set the X resolution to 400 pixels and invert both X and Y coordinates, use the following line:

dtoverlay=vc4-kms-dsi-7inch,sizex=400,invx,invy

Installation on Compute Module based devices.

All Raspberry Pi SBCs auto-detect the official Touch Displays as the circuitry connected to the DSI connector on the Raspberry Pi board is fixed; this autodetection ensures the correct Device Tree entries are passed to the kernel. However, Compute Modules are intended for industrial applications where the integrator can use any and all GPIOs and interfaces for whatever purposes they require. Autodetection is therefore not feasible, and hence is disabled on Compute Module devices. This means that the Device Tree fragments required to set up the display need to be loaded via some other mechanism, which can be either with a dtoverlay entry in config.txt as described above, via a custom base DT file, or if present, a HAT EEPROM.

--30-- 

vnc server install ubuntu

tight vnc server install

apt -y install  tightvncserver

 

service file for tightvnc 

https://gist.github.com/spinxz/1692ff042a7cfd17583b

 

tutorial ubuntu 20 tightvnc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHm7B3hRSP0 

vnc on ubuntu 24

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comments/1i45x1u/how_to_set_up_vnc_server_on_ubuntu_2404_with/

 

various vnc on ubuntu 22

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VNC/Servers

 

 

telnetd installation on linux

install with

sudo apt -y install telnetd

if not started automatically on install check

/etc/inetd.conf 

for telnet enabled being commented out.

remove commenting which disables inetd handling the service and run

sudo systemctl restart inetutils-inetd.service

on raspberry pi os debian and later

sudo systemctl restart inetd 

example discussed for raspberrypi os

https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=369500

Yahoo / Thunderbird login changes / notes

Note / announcement about yahoo / thunderbird login

Apparently related to having more than one account logged into from a Thunderbird instance using this authentication method.  Need to set up multiple "cookies" for use on appropriate platform.

Using IMAP to access

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/thunderbird-and-yahoo

You may have been asked in Thunderbird to log in your Yahoo, ATT or AOL accounts, or seen a notice with the title Upcoming Account Change. This is the result of Thunderbird, as of version 148.0 on February 22, 2026, switching to a more secure authorization protocol known as OAuth2 with PKCE. Below are instructions to assist you in the log in process.

In addition to enhanced security, this update also allows you to access Yahoo, AOL, and ATT calendars and address books in Thunderbird, which is a major new benefit to users. If you need more information, see OAuth2 Authorization below.

You have only one account

If you have only one account, then no change is needed in Thunderbird for PKCE to work. You just log in ("authenticate") by providing your email account and account password (App passwords do not work with OAuth2), and then confirm that Thunderbird may access data on the provider's servers (AOL, ATT, Yahoo, etc). This is a normal and safe process. If you have difficulty, please see Detailed Troubleshooting Steps below.

You have more than one account

If you have more than one account, such as one AOL account and one Yahoo account, to allow PKCE to work you must:

--30--

WSL notes on Win 11

 using notes from 

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install

Ways to run multiple Linux distributions with WSL

WSL supports running as many different Linux distributions as you would like to install. This can include choosing distributions from the Microsoft Store, importing a custom distribution, or building your own custom distribution.

There are several ways to run your Linux distributions once installed:

From Windows Terminal (Recommended) Using Windows Terminal supports as many command lines as you would like to install and enables you to open them in multiple tabs or window panes and quickly switch between multiple Linux distributions or other command lines (PowerShell, Command Prompt, Azure CLI, etc). You can fully customize your terminal with unique color schemes, font styles, sizes, background images, and custom keyboard shortcuts. 

Learn more.

You can directly open your Linux distribution by visiting the Windows Start menu and typing the name of your installed distributions. For example: "Ubuntu". This will open Ubuntu in its own console window.

From PowerShell, you can enter the name of your installed distribution. For example: ubuntu

From PowerShell, you can open your default Linux distribution inside your current command line, by entering: wsl.exe.

From PowerShell, you can use your default Linux distribution inside your current command line, without entering a new one, by entering:wsl [command]. Replacing [command] with a WSL command, such as: wsl -l -v to list installed distributions or wsl pwd to see where the current directory path is mounted in wsl. From PowerShell, the command Get-Date will provide the date from the Windows file system and wsl date will provide the date from the Linux file system.

The method you select should depend on what you're doing. If you've opened a WSL command line within a PowerShell window and want to exit, enter the command: exit.

Installing Archivebox

Archivebox allows quick saving of web pages.  Uses a plugin, currently using chrome version.

https://www.howtogeek.com/the-internet-is-disappearing-so-i-repurposed-an-old-laptop-to-save-it/

It uses for what I installed, a Docker container

Install with

curl -fsSL 'https://get.archivebox.io' | bash

Command line archive of a page

archivebox add --depth=1 'https://howtogeek.com'.

Install the extension in Chrome, add URL of the server

http://192.168.1.xxx:8000

Must use unencrypted page URL, the server doesn't redirect 443 to the 8000 server port

The extension has two modes: Allowlist and BlockList. In Allowlist mode, it won't archive anything unless you specify a web domain (like howtogeek.com) as ones you "allow" to be automatically archived by ArchiveBox when you visit them. 

referral in article to Kiwix

--30--

Install and enable telnet daemon on Raspberry Pi

Telnetd isn't enabled by default.

sudo apt -y install telnetd

Edit /etc/inetd.conf and uncomment line 23 (line number is just a co-incidence).  Should be a commented out line for telnet, regardless of the line number (ed.)

Code: Select all

#:STANDARD: These are standard services.

telnet  stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/sbin/tcpd  /usr/sbin/telnetd

Restart the inetd service

Code: Select all

sudo systemctl restart inetutils-inetd.service

--30-- 

Bulk application installer utility

 

https://tuxmate.com/

--30--

Transfer package list from one linux system to new install

 

Open the terminal on your old machine and enter this command. It creates a list of all packages you manually installed.

apt-mark showmanual > packages.txt

Transfer the packages.txt file to the PC with the new installation. Open a terminal in the that navigate to the folder where you kept the packages.txt file. Then run this command.

sudo xargs apt install -y

--30--

disable windows 10, 11 activity history storage on local device

 

Activity history going to MS should be off by default.  To disable it use this

 

Stop saving activity history locally on your device

1. Select Start , then select Settings > Privacy > Activity history.

2. Clear the Store my activity history on this device checkbox.

    

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/-windows-activity-history-and-your-privacy-2b279964-44ec-8c2f-e0c2-6779b07d2cbd 

 

angry ip scanner notes

angry ip scanner program on windows looses the preferences upon exit, which sucks.

the settings can be copied and pasted from here if need be

ports:

5901,5902,5903,8080,443,80,9090,21,22,23,3389,2022

change display to hosts with open ports

Generated by Angry IP Scanner 3.9.2

https://angryip.org

Scanned 192.168.1.0 - 192.168.1.255

Nov 10, 2025, 10:36:07 AM

IP              Ping            Hostname                Ports           

192.168.1.1     12 ms           OpenWrt.lan             80,443          

Common Options

-ssh / -telnet / -serial: Specifies the protocol to use.

-l [username]: Specifies the login name.

-pw [password]: Provides the password (note: this may be visible in process lists).

-i [keyfile]: Specifies an SSH private key for authentication.

-P [port]: Connects to a specific port.-load "[session name]": Loads configuration from a saved session.

-m [file]: Reads a remote command or script from a local file and executes it on the server.

--00--

--30--

run windows "run" tasks with elevated privileges

One can run tasks from the "Windows" button, run line w/o finding the executable and using that method to launch as administrator.

Alternatively, press Win + R, type taskschd.msc, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to launch with elevated privileges. 

--30--

Windows antimalware executable task running as cpu hog

 

This shows how to reduce the priority of this task, which can run very long for no reason to be at high priority.

It's the windows cache maintenance.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/3230441/high-cpu-usage-because-of-antimalware-service-exec

1. Press Windows key + R. This will open Run. Alternatively, you can go to Start and search for Run.
2. In Run dialog box, type taskschd.msc and hit enter.
3. Navigate to Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > Windows Defender.
4. On the right hand pane, double-click on Windows Defender Scheduled Scan.
5. On the General tab, uncheck the option Run with highest privileges.
6. Click on Conditions tab and uncheck all the options.
7. Click on OK.

right click the task to change the privileges off

--30--

vtclock block letter ascii clock runs interminal

 

vtclock

https://github.com/dse/vtclock/

also note on piclock.  Too much extra, but graphical

https://github.com/n0bel/PiClock/blob/master/Documentation/Overview.md

https://webonastick.com/vtclock/

--030--