Ubuntu 11.10 – Oneiric Ocelot – Can’t Login.

So some of you may or may not remember my post on October 13th, 2011 about the launch of Ubuntu’s latest release codename – Oneiric Ocelot. If you know me well, you would also know that I’d be on the list from the first day to download and install and fresh copy. Then usually I post a review within the first day of it’s release.

This time I have been so busy, that it was almost impossible, for me to get it done, all in one shot. So instead of going down path and do my traditional, download, wipe, clean and install, I chose to do things a bit different. I decided to do an upgrade installation, live from the Internet. Now I have been using Ubuntu for a long time, since 2005, version 5.04 (Warty) and one of the most painful and disastrous thing I’ve done is Online Upgrades.

I had always blame my failure of bad or lack thereof a proper Internet Connection. The one’s I had would have take, literally, days to complete an upgrade. But now, I have high speed, a whopping 24Mbps download, what could possibly go wrong?

So the weekend came, I went to sleep, and put my laptop to upgrade, the estimated time, about 3 hours. Got up about 7 hours, later and it was done. Ah! a fresh new install of Ubuntu, about to explore the possibilities, when I am greeted with an issue.

The issue: Ubuntu boot up the the Desktop Login Screen, accepts my username and password, but would not log me in. Instead it would just return to the Login Screen, in a constant loop.

The fix: Due to the large pile of awaiting things to be done, I decided that it would have been wasteful to just stick it out. I decided, the alternative, would be to switch back to my Windows 7 installation, and use that for a while. Painfully, but nevertheless I did. Until one day i need to get some serious work done, and couldn’t wait on Windows to stop acting up or sucking up resources, I decided to look into fixing my Ubuntu.

The Solution: Sometimes the biggest problems has very simple solutions. After doing some research online, this is what I came up with as a fix for the issue.

1. Boot up the the Login Manager
2. Switch to Virtual Terminal (Shell) by pressing Ctrl + Alt + F1 key combination
3. Login to your user account. [Ensure user account has root or sudo privledges]
4. Delete or Rename the .Xauthority file in your home directory :- $sudo rm ~/.Xauthority
5. You may be prompted for a sudo password if you are a sudo user. Enter your password.
6. Once, you are done, switch back to your desktop by using Ctrl+Alt+F7 key combination
7. Login, and Happy Tuxing!

[Note:] A common issue may arise, based on your privileges or file permission.

Ra One – Random Access Version 1.0

Anubhav Sinha has once again proven that his name deserves to be on a Gold Plate in the Bollywood Hall of Fame, and should go down as one of the great film makers in history, atleast Bollywood’s history. Though he does not contribute as much as others, when he does, he usually makes a good impact.

And that is what can be said about his latest masterpiece “Ra.One”, which has proven that he never stops upping the ante for Bollywood films. 

Ra One comes as the much needed change in Indian Cinema, since, well let’s face it, there are not so many hits coming out of that industry. Not so many that will draw people who don’t often watch Indian/Bollywood films, to go out and see one of them.

So what is this Ra One I speak of? Glad you asked. I went to see the movie today and here’s the how it all went down.

Coming Soon: Hunting Season [Coop Cables]

Well I must have ran out of ideas, or really suck at giving names. However, I am going to start a new session of blog post updates as I start a job search interview session to acquire a job placement for my Coop Semester January – April 2012. The intention is to document, step by step, the job hunt, application and interview process. This is basically going to be a season of software development HR posts. Look out!

EID: Ramadan in Review

It’s the 29th day of Ramadan, and there’s much worry and questioning. The big question in discussion is the sighting of the new crescent, or the new moon as we would like to say, for it beckons the end of a month of devout fasting and also beckons the celebrations of Eid-ul-Fitr, or Eid.

I thought one of the things I would have done for the month of Ramadan, in 2011, was to blog each day about Ramadan. You may wonder why I would want to do this, but I’ll explain later. Shanie also took up the same challenge, to do a daily blog post. In the end, the results:

Michael – 0

Shanie – 6

Regardless, I am going to present to you now, a 36000 feet view of Ramadan, in my perspective. Note I am not an Islamic Scholar, but I am a Muslim, not a terrorist, but a follower of the religion of Islam.

Ramadan, is the 9th month of the Islamic calendar. The Islamic calendar is one which started around 610 A.D with the migration of the Muslims from the City of Mecca to the City of Madina, in the Country of Saudi Arabia, because of persecutions at that time. The details of that story is beyond the scope of this post, but if you’d like to know more, you can comment or leave me an email, and i’d be happy to post it. For now, we would just accept the fact as it relates to the muslim calendar. This calendar has 12 months that comprises a year and is based on lunar(moon) sighting to determine the start and end of each month. It is a known fact that the moon revolves around the earth in  a period of 28.5 days. On the 29th day of the each Islamic month, jurist, scholars, leaders and followers all look to the sky to see the new crescent. If this is sighted, then the month is considered to end on the 29th day, and the new month begins. If it is not sighted, then the month is computed to be 30 days.  There is much more details as it regards, moon sighting and islamic calendaring, please refer to other sources for more information, or keep checking for an upcoming post.

A Tout Le Monde

I still recall reading the book of proverbs as a kid. I remember the one particular one:

Laugh and the world will laugh with you, cry and you stand alone

Walking along the footpath, Henry plugs in his earphones. The chills from the coldness in the air get to him. If I can get my attention off this, he thinks, then maybe, I won’t feel as cold. Warmth, he was told by an elder professor, is a feeling of the mind, think warm thoughts, and you will remain warm, even in the coldest weathers.

The headphones began to blare, his favourite track play in his ear, loud enough for his hearing, yet quiet enough to lock him out of the external noise of his surroundings. Henry begins to get lost in his music, it’s his only source of joy, yet he was condemned terribly for it. He didn’t care, he knew in the eyes of many he was deemed wrong, yet for his passion of the music, he continued to listen.

“a tout le monde, a tout mes amis, je vous aime, je dois partir “, the famous track by the band Megadeth keeps playing, as he gets lost in the lyrics,

” Don’t remember where I was,
I realized life was a game,
The more seriously I took things,
The harder the rules became,
I had no idea what it’d cost,
My life passed before my eyes,
I found out how little I accomplished,
All my plans denied, “

So as you read this know my friends
I’d love to stay with you all
smile when you think of me
My body’s gone that’s all

A tout le monde (To all the world!)
A tout mes amis (To all my friends)
Je vous aime (I love you)
Je dois partir (I must leave)
These are the last words
I’ll ever speak
And they’ll set me free”

(to be continued)

Lyrics: http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/a-tout-le-monde-lyrics-megadeth/bd963ec213ab09c5482568bf0023a61d