If you have a multi-function laser printer, you can enjoy scanning and printing from Linux over the network or by USB just like our Windows friends.

The Brother HL-2170W is just a simple laser printer, with built in wireless and a wired network port as backup. Here is how to install it.

First thing you need is to download the drivers to your desktop:

1. brhl2170wlpr-2.0.2-1.i386.deb
2. cupswrapperHL2170W-2.0.2-1.i386.deb

Since I am pretty much only going to use the wireless connectivity, I configured it directly over wireless, I have a spare windows laptop which I used. I installed the drivers on it as I use this laptop for my windows development and graphics editing. To do the configuring, I had to connect to the Ad-hoc network SETUP which I assume is the printers default SSID. Once the printer is configured this connection disappears. I had to hold the GO button on the printer for 10 seconds to get a printout of the current configuration. Don’t get me wrong, Brother does not require you to use a Windows computer to set this device up!

Anyways, with the printer setup for networking, time to set up Ubuntu from command line:

cd ~/Desktop
sudo aa-complain cupsd
sudo mkdir /usr/share/cups/model
sudo ln -s /etc/init.d/cups /etc/init.d/lpd
sudo mkdir /var/spool/lpd
sudo dpkg  -i  --force-all brhl2170wlpr-2.0.2-1.i386.deb
sudo dpkg  -i  --force-all cupswrapperHL2170W-2.0.2-1.i386.deb

Make sure that it is installed:

dpkg  -l  |  grep  Brother
ii  brhl2170wlpr  ....  2.0.2-1  ....  Brother HL-2170W LPR driver
ii  cupswrapperhl2170w  ....  2.0.2-1  ....  Brother HL2170W CUPS wrapper driver

Depending on the current state of your computer you might have to reboot.

Now add and configure the printer
http://localhost:631/

I have two printers connections installed for this printer, one for over networking, and one setup as USB. I wasn’t paying attention when I set this up ha, I think it did it auto-magically.

Once the printers are setup, go into System > Administration > Printing

Right click on the networking printer and click Properties.

Make sure that the Device URI is correct. For me, since I use static IP’s on my network I had to remove the device name and put in the IP address like so:

lpd://192.168.1.29/BINARY_P1

That’s it. I hit Print Test Page and it worked, as expected!

I recommend Brother printers to anyone, this printer was pretty cheap and they all use virtually the same cartridges and drums so you can swap with your other Brother devices when in a pinch.

HTC Titan

It has been a long time since I flashed my phone, so I figured I should archive the files I used and the process I took in case I need to do it again sometime in the future. Maybe this will help someone else with the same phone as well.

There are a couple important things before you flash your phone, they seem obvious but….

1. Your first time flashing will be a bitch, if it is your only phone and think you will need 9-1-1 between now and mid tomorrow, do not do it! Remember? Your life depends on it.
2. Backup your data. Use ActiveSync, or whatever software you like, and get your contacts, notes, emails, text messages, docs, etc off the phone. I would suggest getting an SD card 2 GB or better as the space on the phone is a bit limited. It is important to note that simply having an SD card does not mean you don’t have to back up!
3. Flashing will remove the devices usage stats such as lifetime use etc.
4. Flashing will void your warranty.
5. There is a remote possibility if you are not careful, that you could brink your phone, turning it into an expensive albeit flashy paper weight.
6. This is only for the HTC Titan model phone, in Canada it is called HTC P4000
7. Obviously this is for my own personal record and works for me, however, as always make sure you understand the process first so you don’t shoot yourself in the foot.

Benefits to Flashing

1. GPS module is activated (device ships with GPS module crippled)
2. Get the latest OS version and be able to cook your own version
3. Can be more stable and less RAM than previous, or, could lock up all the time and run out of RAM. This benefit is chosen by you.

The Method

I may have deviated slightly from the “standard” way of doing it. Although these instructions are almost identical to other places on the nets, this will work for HTC Titan owners in Canada, if you live in the States, it may differ slightly. Thanks goes to all those crackers out there who risked their phones so we can enjoy our GPS!

There are 5 stages to getting your phone flashed. Follow them very carefully, and read through the instructions a couple times before hand.

At the bottom of the page you can download all the files that I used.

You will need a Windows computer, (preferably Windows XP) with latest version of ActiveSync, and probably Outlook, atleast 250 MBs of free hard drive space, a USB cable for phone to computer, and plenty of paitence.

Stage 1: Retrieving Provisioning Data

Now that all your data is backed up….

1. Get your ESN, MSID and A-Key info by dialing ##778#, that will launch the EPST configuration menu Note: Some carriers (Canadians) do not need the last #, so just ##778
   1. Select view
   2. make note of your ESN (Hex) value
   3. make note of your ESN (Dec) value
   4. make note of your MSID value (looks like a 10 digit tel number)
   5. make note of the rest of the info on a different sheet of paper. And I mean all of it no matter how mundane. This is for backup purposes in case something does not work correctly later. I skipped this, and it took me a month to fix my data connection!
   6. select <view info> and select A-Key. Some carriers leave this blank, some need this info. If there is info here, make note of it now.
   7. click <cancel> to exit the configuration menu
2. Get your EPST
   1. download this file here .. this is the getspl file (in zip form)
   2. run the GetSPC.exe on your phone and in the Input field, type in your ESN(Hex) in the input field (you wrote this down earlier)
   3. press <go>
   4. the number produced in the output field is your MSLNumber (EPST unlock code)
   5. exit the application

You should now have noted these 4 items:

1. MDN: your 10 digit tel number
2. MSID: another 10 digit tel number (for some carriers it’s the same as your MDN)
3. A-Key: only required by certain carriers
4. MSL: a 6 digit number that you got when you ran the GetSPC.exe

Special Note: The great thing about using the following procedure is that typically you won’t even have to use the information you just obtained. But better safe than sorry.

Stage 2: Upgrading the Boot Loader & Radio

1. If you have flash this phone before, you will need to “relock” the phone so it can be flashed. If you have not flashed your phone or do not know what this is, skip and continue as you most likely have a virgin phone.
   You can get the relocker here: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx
2. Run the Unofficial carrier released rom 3.16 which contains the boot loader and radio. This is a Sprint ROM, don’t worry about it, you’ll still be able to use your provider, in my case, Telus.
   You can get the ROM here: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stage 3: Install a Custom ROM

I am running No2Chems ROMs which I find are very good and still feels like the stock ROM (how my phone was meant to be) but with some added features.

1. run the unLocker for 3.16 and above, don’t worry about getting out of the boot loader – tri-color screen
2. Download: No2Chems ROM version 5050 (old version as of writing but I still use it) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (warning 50mb download)
3. Download the RUU, the software used to flash the phone. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
4. Copy the .nbh file into the RUU folder
5. Make sure there is only one .nbh file in the folder
6. Double click RomUpdateUtility.exe to begin the update

Stage 4: Verify Provisioning Data

1. Dial ##MSL# – this is the 6 digit code you retrieved in step 2 above
   1. first select view (because if your info is correct, we don’t want to accidentally mess it up
   2. verify that the MDN and MSID fields match your info from above
   3. if the info matches, select cancel and skip following step.
   4. if the info does not match, then cancel and re dial ##MSL#, but select edit.
   5. input the correct MDN and MSID and then select <menu> and <ok> and your phone will now reboot. Check again to verify its correctness when the phone boots up.
2. If your phone had an A-Key then do this step, otherwise proceed to step 3
   1. dial ##778#
   2. select <edit>
   3. input your MSL (6 digit code retrieved in step 2 above) **Please note, you can mess up your phone if you change the wrong fields – use with caution**
   4. select <view info> and select A-Key
   5. input the A-Key from info above (if required)
   6. select menu and select <OK>, your phone will reboot

Verify your services

1. make an outbound call
2. receive a call
3. connect to the Internet

Congratulations, you have successfully updated your phone – Have fun!

Stage 5: Trouble Shooting

More to come here, just want to push this article out.

In this post you will learn how to take matters into your own hands and fix these websites so they are at least bearable. We will learn how to change the font and font size for a particular website.

Requirements:

• Firefox
• Firefox extension: Stylish
• Knowledge of CSS (cascading style sheets)

Getting started with Stylish

After the extension has been installed and Firefox has been restarted. Go to the bottom right hand corner and click on the Stylish icon. In the menu, click on the Manage Styles…

Because we do not have any scripts, there is nothing to display, so click on the Write… button and lets get started.

Write out the following code as show in the example below. Here, we are using example.com as well, our example. The trusty folks over there have provided us with a simple boring page. Substitute example.com with the URL that will apply to your case.

By pressing Save, you should have no error messages and be presented with a list of scripts installed. In our case, it looks like so.

Go back to the nightmarish website. You may have to refresh the page to see the results.

Example forum from hell, before:

Example forum from hell, after:

Don’t think you can have to stop here! CSS is very powerful and together with Stylish, you can virtually redesign any website the way YOU want it to look.

Check out the user submitted styles found here: http://userstyles.org/

ProTip!

• Look into the Adblock Plus extension. Not only is this great for removing advertisements from websites, but allows you to block or hide obnoxious images and other content from displaying. Perfect for websites with a huge picture at the top forcing you to scroll every page view.

• Read up on CSS, specifically the display: none; syntax for hiding elements within a page.

The HTC Titan

Well I have a Windows Mobile (pocket pc) cell phone. It’s a Telus HTC P4000 (aka Titan/Mogul). Like many cell phone manufacturers, HTC builds cellphones which are then rebranded for each cellphone company, hence the shitty name Telus gave it. The P4000.

On to the real issue though. Windows Mobile. If there are two things that drives me nuts the most, they would be:

1. Lack of flexibility (freedom)
2. Networking issues (in two forms, dropped/missed calls and router/ip/ether issues)

I consider myself a power user, and the gadgets that I buy are used for specific reasons and get used every single day until they break. The reason I chose this phone was for a couple of reasons:

1. Full slide out keyboard for ease of typing (possibly programming on the go if absolutely needed)
2. Provides the ability to ssh into servers from wherever I am using the Cellular network or using the built-in Wifi
3. The remote possibility it will eventually run Linux

Now, I moved from Windows to Linux quite a few years ago, mostly due to extreme frustration, and I did not take purchasing this phone lightly. I was worried that buying a Windows Mobile phone could be a big mistake. After having it now for almost a year, I must say it has been awesome.

The Price

The source of frustration is the model that the Windows Operating System is built around. The OS provides basic hardware to software functionality. Alone its useless, but with software it can make things easy and fun.

However, buying software sucks.

When I was younger, the whole idea and process of cracking and pirating software was cool and fun, but realistically, it is a pain in the ass, and when more people realize that free software does not always mean crap software, prices will go down or disappear and we will all be thankful for it.

My rant is continuing on far too long here, and I am sorry. What I am trying to get at is this:

It is absolutely frustrating to come from a Linux operating system and go to a Windows Mobile based device and suddenly realize that I do not have software to do the things I need.

The Freedom

Running Linux on this phone, and future phones is right around the corner, unfortunately, it is not coming fast enough.

From what I understand, Googles Android is extremely close to running on the phone (boots into Android), a huge success considering the amount of information provided by HTC to get it to work (zip-nadda-zilch!). However I do not want Android, I do not want a “pretty” phone. I do not want the Iphone.

I want a functional phone and that means I want:

• Access to a terminal/command prompt
• ssh functionality without having to use purchase-ware
• For god sakes, an internet enabled phone must come utilities to debug networking issues such as the simple command ping.
  

I do not want to spend my days searching for software to help make my Windows Operating System functional. I am a web developer, and Linux does this [functionality] right out of the box. Literally.

In conclusion, I will be adding a page about the phone some time in the future. There has been some real cool stuff you can do with it after flashing and doing some upgrades that happily void your warranty. It’s real cool stuff and makes the phone a lot more fun to use.