Install Chrome OS on a notebook

I am a big fun of Chrome browser, and can not live without its powerful extensions and applications when I surf the Internet. Several months ago, I tried to apply a CR-48 Chrome notebook, but got no luck. For my final project, I am interested in installing Chrome OS on my laptop.

According to this Tutorial : How to run Chrome OS in Virtual Box, there are two components need to be downloaded:

•  Virtual Box 
•  A Chorme OS image

I installed Virtual Box OSE from Ubuntu software center.

Thanks for Dan’s Blog about the Chorme OS project, I found the hexxeh website to download the latest available Chrome OS image for Virtual Box.

Then, I set up the Chrome OS in Virtual Box by following the steps in Chrome-OS blog.

Here are some screenshots of my Chrome OS project:

Login interface:

Chrome OS running in Virtual Box:

Samba installed

Samba is a good choice for sharing files between Ubuntu and Windows computers. I installed Samba by following a tutorial in  Create,Modify,Delete samba shares with system-config-samba(GUI) in Ubuntu Linux.

1. Install Samba server

sudo apt-get install samba smbfs

2. Make configuration ( I followed the guides in How to install Samba server on Ubuntu )

3. Install system-config-samba

sudo apt-get install system-config-samba

4. Create new share

For a test, I created a share of my Downloads folder.

5. Get access to the share folder from Windows PCs

I went to Computer ——> Map network drive, and type:

\\IP address\Downloads

Then, I connected to my server successfully!

 

Drush Installed

Updated on 3/31/2011

As I mentioned in Install Drupal7 on my server, I didn’t configure Apache2 for Drupal. I think that’s the reason why I couldn’t manage modules by Drush, though I have installed it successfully. In addition, I missed the last pargraph on the tutorial from which I borrowed the command lines to install Drush in my first attampt:

Some machines might not have the right folders created, so either update the paths above to match your environment, or use touch to create them:
sudo mkdir /usr/local/share/sudo mkdir /usr/local/bin/

According to Drupal Documentation,

If you are working from the command line on a Linux, Unix or OSX server you can create a symbolic link using the following command:$ ln -s /path/to/actual/file/or/directory name_of_shortcut

So I updated the path to match my environment, and downloaded Corolla theme and some modules such as “tweetbutton”, “addtoany” and “Administration menu”.

Above is the screenshot of installing “Corolla” theme. I couldn’t download it by typing “drush dl corolla” in the command line. However,  it works when I tried “sudo drush dl corolla”. I installed other modules in this way.

Then I encountered the second problem. The “tweetbutton” shows only if I logged into my Drupal site. In order to fix it, I clicked the “modules” on the menu bar, and set the “permission” to anonymous and authorized users.

Thus, the tweetbutton shows in my post, and everyone can tweet it.

Here is my drupal with new theme “Corolla”:

http://dwangit566.dyndns-server.com/drupal/

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First try on 3/28/2011:

According to the introduction on its offical site:

Drush is a command line shell and scripting interface for Drupal, a veritable Swiss Army knife designed to make life easier for those of us who spend some of our working hours hacking away at the command prompt.

” How fast can you install modules?” The video below shows you “Drush takes what normally is a tedious task and turns it into a delightful experience.”

Here is a very concise article: How to install Drush server-wide in less than one minute. I checked the latest version of drush and downloaded it by typing the following commands in the Ubuntu Terminal window:

cd /usr/local/share/

sudo wget http://ftp.drupal.org/files/projects/drush-7.x-4.4.tar.gz

sudo tar zxvf drush-7.x-4.4.tar.gz

sudo rm drush-7.x-4.4.tar.gz

sudo ln -s /usr/local/share/drush/drush  /usr/local/bin/drush

sudo drush

I have been trying to install modules such as cck or tweetbutton by using Drush, but had no luck. I am confused about how to “add drush to my path”, even though I searched a lot of articles. I will ask for help in our IT566 twitter group.

Install Drupal7 on server

Updated on 3/31/2011

My reflection on the first failed attempt:

1. I didn’t configure Apache2 for Drupal. I think that’s the reason why I couldn’t download modules by Drush. There was no “Drupal” file under the /var/www/. Even though my drupal6 site  http://dwangit566.dyndns.org/drupal6/ is accessible, it hasn’t been downloaded on my server!

2. The IP Address hosted on DDNS changed after I installed drupal6! I have already fixed this problem. Thanks to Jason (jbIT566) and Julie (clem0613) for giving me feedback about the unaccessibility of my drupal site.

This time I installed Drupal7 on my server. I followed the steps indicated in this article: How to install drupal 7 on ubuntu.

Then, I navigated  to Apache’s host name and follow drupal 7 installer to complete drupal installation.

Here is the screen shot of my drupal7 site:

URL: http://dwangit566.dyndns-server.com/drupal/

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First try on 3/28/2011

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1. Install Drupal by using Ubuntu Terminal window:

sudo apt-get install drupal6

After the installation, you will:

a.  Choose mysql as database type

b.  Set up administrative account password

c.  Login Mysql application password for drupal6

2. Restart the web server

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

3. Configure database for drupal6

According to this article: How to install drupal6 at Ubuntu, you need to open this link: http://localhost/drupal6/install.php to see the Drupal install pages.

3.Configure your Drupal site

Done!

4. Check Drupal site in your web browser:

Here is mine: http://dwangit566.dyndns.org/drupal6/

Create an Mp3

Here are steps for creating an mp3:

1. Download Audacity & libmp3lame0 from software center
2. Open a CD by clicking the right button and browse folders
3. Copy one of the music files in .wav format and paste it on the desktop
4. Open  Audacity and click “File – Import – Audio – Open” to import the file
5. Click “File – Export” and choose the file type: mp3

Here is the screenshot of the mp3:

Since WordPress does not allow uploading mp3 without storage upgrade, I just found this Supload site which provides free audio hosting service. You can upload a music file, then copy and paste the html code to your blog or web pages.

Click the link below and enjoy.
Eagles – Take It Easy

Make a LAMP

LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP.  After installed everything required by phpMyAdmin, I just did the configuration step by step.

According to a tutorial of phpMyAdmin, you can access your MySQL account with phpMyAdmin using the link like this:

http://www.my-domain.com/phpmyadmin/

In my case, the link is:

http://dwangit566.dyndns.org/phpmyadmin/

Open the address in a web browser, then log into the interface of phpMyAdmin.

The username and password have been set up when you configure MySQL server. You were asked to set up a new passwaord for the MySQL “root” user. Therefore, the username is “root”.

All right, it’s done. Here is the screenshot:

Set up DDNS

I searched DDNS and navigated to http://www.dyndns.com. It is really nice that they provide free hostnames that work with the dynamic IP address.

So I filled out the form to get a free dynamic DNS service. It is very convenient,  just like filling the order form on Amazon.

After activating my account, I opened the default IP address of my router (Http://192.168.1.1). Since the dd-wrt have already been installed, I just filled out the username, password and the hostname.

Here is the screenshot of my site:

The URL:  http://dwangit566.dyndns.org

Making my machine accessible (Done)

I posted a blog last week about how to overcome this challenge, but when I tried to access my site at other places, it did not work. I think it’s a big mistake that I was trying to configure my router on campus. My apartment provides free wireless Internet  networks so that I don’t need to use Comcast service. Thus, I was trying  to set up the server at my friend’s lab. However, according to the policy of the wireless network, routers not approved by University POA are not allowed on the network at UTK. (http://oit.utk.edu/helpdesk/kb/entry/118/)

OK, I have to find a new place and do it again……

I decided to set up my server in my friend’s home. He has been using a Motorola SURF board Wireless Cable Modem gateway. It combines a modem and a wireless access point.

In my first attempt, I have already installed Apache on my server. Thus, I just configured Apache and fixed the error about server’s fully qualified domain name. Then, I edited the index.html by following the tutorial mentioned in Clem0613’s blog.

Then, I tried to configure the routers. I connected them in this way:

I logged into the Motolora modem/router by using the default IP http://192.168.0.1 from another laptop, and found the IP address of ASUS router(192.168.0.14). In the configuration interface of Motorola router, I also got the IP address of WAN: http://67.187.117.22. After that, I set up the port forward from Motolora modem/ router to ASUS one.

Afterward, I typed “ifconfig” in Ubuntu Terminal window and got the IP address of my server: Http://192.168.1.142. Then, I opened ASUS router IP address (Http:// 192.168.1.1), and set up port forward from ASUS router to my server.

Well, it is a little bit complicated because of two routers. However, it really works.

Check this out: http://67.187.117.22

Installed dd-wrt on my new router

Here is my new router ASUS WL-520GC bought from Amazon. Since my old router is not compatible with dd-wrt, I just purchased a new one. Before I made the order, I checked the review of this router and made sure that someone had installed dd-wrt on it successfully.

After I got it, I went to http://www.dd-wrt.com and searched my router on the database. It’s supported!

Then, I searched my router’s IP address in google, and got http://192.168.1.1, as well as the default user name and password.

After that, I searched the key words “install asus wl520gc dd-wrt ”  and got a useful link: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/ASUS_WL-520GC. I just followed the clear and concise guidance  to install dd-wrt on my router.

Here is another article about the installation with screenshots. http://www.sillychicken.co.nz/General/asus-wl-520gc-dd-wrt-firmware.html

Installed LibreOffice

First, I searched LibreOffice in Google and downloaded it on my Ubuntu. When you visit their official site, they will detect your computer system and offer you the right download.

Then, I also searched “install LibreOffice in Ubuntu 10.10” and got a very useful article http://www.muktware.com/news/21/2010/392. I opened Ubuntu Terminal window and installed LibreOffice just by following the tutorial. When the installation was done, I checked Applications- Office, and found that it has been installed on my machine successfully!

How to make it the default for double-clicking a .odt/.doc file? Well, I  right-clicked an existing .doc file and opened Properties. Under the “Open with” tab, I changed the application to open files of type “Word Document” from OpenOffice to LibreOffice.

When I double-click the document, it works!