Missing CD/DVD drive in Windows 8

As you can deduct from the post's title, the missing cd/dvd drive saga didn't end once Windows 8 was released. This didn't happen to me yet, but it seems there are a lot of users who couldn't use their cd drives because Windows operating system decided they didn't need it anymore and hid it. Happily, there is a solution and it's not complicated.

So, here is what you need to do:
- go to the Windows 8 Metro UI, type cmd  and press ctrl+shift+enter. This will start Command prompt in administrator mode
- type this: reg.exe add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\atapi\Controller0" /f /v EnumDevice1 /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001 and press enter
- reboot

Check if this solved the problem and give thanks to the Microsoft support engineer.

TV-Maxe - Cum sa il instalezi fara pachetul rpm

Daca esti incepator in Linux si nu ai invatat inca sa impachetezi programe, iti voi prezenta mai jos un tutorial despre instalarea TV-Maxe, un program pentru vizionat canale tv online pentru Linux, chiar daca nu dispui de pachetul rpm pentru instalarea acestuia. Distributia folosita de mine in mod curent si pe baza careia va prezint pasii de instalare, este OpenSuSE 12.3 cu KDE, dar modalitatea de instalare este potrivita pentru toate distributiile bazate pe rpm (daca ma insel, intrucat si eu doar am depasit usor nivelul de incepator, va rog sa ma corectati).
1. Sa incepem prin a descarca ultima versiune de TV-Maxe de pe pagina proiectului. Veti gasi aici o versiune ambalata intr-o arhiva de tip .tar.gz. Dupa descarcare, deschideti un manager de fisiere (Dolphin pentru KDE) si navigati catre folderul in care ati descarcat TV-Maxe (de obicei locatia este /home/user/Downloads). Faceti click dreapta pe arhiva si selectati Extract Archive Here, Autodetect Subfolder. Dupa extragerea arhivei se va crea un nou folder numit tv-maxe-0.09. 
2. TV-Maxe functioneaza cu ajutorul sopcast si al librariilor libstdc++5, pe care le puteti descarca de aici: sopcast si libstdc++5.
Dupa ce le-ati descarcat, dezarhivati-le. In acest moment veti avea in total 3 foldere: sp-auth, usr si tv-maxe-0.09.
Urmatorii pasi ii voi prezenta presupunand ca nu sunteti inca obisnuiti sa folositi comenzi intr-un terminal Linux si de aceea ne vom folosi in totalitate de interfata grafica a KDE-ului.
3. Pentru instalarea TV-Maxe va trebui sa copiem continutul folderelor de mai sus in /usr/share/, /usr/bin/ si /usr/lib/, toate acestea fiind detinute de root si, de aceea, trebuie sa obtinem drepturi de scriere asupra acestora. Pentru aceasta ne vom folosi de File Manager - Super User Mode.
Deschideti meniul KDE si selectati Applications > System > File Manager > File Manager - Super User Mode . Introduceti parola de root si se va deschide Dolphin cu drepturi de administrare de root. Navigati catre /usr/share/ si creati un folder numit tv-maxe in care copiati continutul folderului tv-maxe-0.09 (creat la pasul 2), mai putin aplicatia tv-maxe pe care o veti copia in usr/bin/.
4. Tot cu ajutorul Dolphin - Super User mode, din folderul sp-auth (creat la pasul 2), copiati sp-sc-auth in /usr/bin/, iar din folderul usr (creat la pasul 2) copiati cele 2 fisiere libstdc++.so.5 si libstdc++.so.5.0.1 in /usr/lib/ .
5. Pentru a functiona corect TV-Maxe 0.09 mai are nevoie de python-imaging, pe care il instalati deschizand din meniul KDE:Computer > Install/Remove Software .

In acest moment TV-Maxe poate fi lansat deschizand un terminal si scriind tv-maxe.

OpenSuSE 12.3 - configure statically assigned IP address

There are several ways of setting a static IP address  in OpenSuSE 12.3. If you are not familiar with linux commands, then you can use the graphical setup from Yast to setup network configuration. Network settings can be configured by using Network Manager or by using traditional method with ifup.
This tutorial will show you how to configure statically assigned network IP in OpenSuSE 12.3 with ifup. This can be easily done by following those simple steps:
- open Yast > Network Devices > Network Settings
- go to Global options tab and make sure that Traditional method with ifup is checked, then write a hostname in the Hostname to send field and uncheck Change Default Route via DHCP.

- go to Hostname/DNS tab, write in your Hostname and your Domain (workgroup name) and uncheck Change Hostname via DHCP; enter the DNS address in Name Servers and Domain Search List section (if you don't know the dns addresses, you can find them on your modem's interface)

- go to Overview tab, choose your network card and then click on Edit
- check Statically assigned network IP and write in your desired IP address, then click Next to apply settings for network card

- click Route on the Network Settings, write in the gateway IP address and click OK to save changes to your network settings.

To test settings, open a web browser and load a webpage. If internet doesn't work, try to open the modem's admin page. If the admin page loads, but you cannot access internet, then you entered wrong ip address for the gateway or you didn't write it at all.

Cable unplugged even if it is plugged in - how to troubleshoot network cable

What's to do when your computer says "A network cable is unplugged" or "Cable unplugged" on a wired network connection?

Usually this happens when there's a problem with the network cable, modem, router or switch. It could very well be a network card malfunction. So here are some tips for troubleshooting this network issue.

First of all, if you have another network cable you should replace the cable you are currently using with the spare one. If the problem doesn't go away, then there could be a modem/router/switch malfunction. Try plugging the cable into different slots (if you have more than one lan slot on the device) or reset the network device or replace it. If the problem is still present, check the network card driver. Try to disable and enable the network card from Control Panel -> Device Manager (for Windows OS). Uninstall the driver and reinstall it or update the driver if necessary. If this doesn't solve your problem try connecting another computer to the network. If other computers work, it means that your network card is defective so you must replace it.

If you don't have a spare network cable, check if the cable is properly connected to the modem/router/switch and to your network card. If it is, unplug it and check the cable for faults. It could be interrupted or the wires could be cut near the connectors. If this is the case, replace the cable.

This happened to me the other day and I discovered that the network cable had the wires cut at one end, near the connector.

How to take screen snapshots in Opensuse with KDE

Taking snapshots of the desktop or of individual windows is useful in many situations. Doing this in Opensuse 12.3 with KDE is very simple. These are the steps:

- open Menu
- go to Applications
- select Utilities
-  select Desktop
- click on  Screen capture program (Ksnapshot)

After Ksnapshot opens, you will notice that Capture mode has several options. Choose the one you need, adjust other options as needed and click on Take a new snapshot button to capture your screen. Then click Save as.., choose the desired format and location and save your capture. Simple as that!

Sharing files in OpenSuSE 12.3

As I said in previous posts, I am not a Linux expert, but I want to help other Linux beginners find their way through the world of Suse distro. This is the best way Linux community can grow, by helping each other.
This article is trying to help recent Suse fans configure sharing files and folders over a network of both Linux and Windows computers. Sharing files in Opensuse is simple. If you read this post than you have connected your Opensuse desktop to your local network. But there might be a problem, as it was in my case. I couldn't access the workgroups on my network or other users couldn't connect to my shared folders. After setting up the network as presented in the article mentioned above, when trying to access local network, Dolphin displayed "Time out on server ..." error. The solution to this was adding a line in smb.conf in the global section like this:

name resolve order = hosts lmhosts bcast wins


There are several ways of modifying smb.conf, but I use this one:
- open menu, go to Applications, then System, choose File manager and open File manager - super user mode. After entering root password, Dolphin opens in super user mode.
- navigate to /etc/samba and open smb.conf. Because it was opened as super user you can edit the file and save it. Don't forget to close File manager - super user mode when you are done!

After trying different ways of ordering the arguments, I found out that the order that best suited me was "lmhosts bcast hosts wins". Now workgroups are displayed immediately and I can access computers on the network.

Another issue with sharing my files in Opensuse 12.3 over network, was that users couldn't access my shared folders as samba asked for password even if I checked the Allow users to share directories and Allow guest access in samba server configuration window. This can be solved in Opensuse 12.3 by clicking on Guest Access button as shown below

I hope this helped you and please ask any question you may have in case this article didn't solve your problem.