quinta-feira, 16 de julho de 2015

How to update Oracle Java on Ubuntu - faster then PPA releases

It usually takes a few days for a PPA repository to update Oracle JAVA releases.

You can solve this (for Debian based Linux distros) by making packages using "java-package" a few times (for various architectures), then distributing them internally.

If you don't have it installed open a console and type:

sudo apt-get install java-package

The big plus side is that this method always works; no matter how crazy Oracle's web pages become. Oracle can no longer break my build or stop my work, specially when Internet-banking depends on it!

The downside is that it's a bit more work to set up initially.

STEP-BY-STEP (ie. as the old music goes...)

1. Download the tar.gz files manually using your browser (ie. thus "accepting" their terms)

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html

2. Run at prompt command:
         make-jpkg <java-package-name-xxx.tar.gz>.
   this will create a file named: "oracle-javaX-jXX_X_XXX.deb"
   Note that you may get some messages during the make-jpkg, just ignore them.

3. Distribute it within your organization (or your family devices)

For distribution over the Internet, I suggest using a password protected apt repository or provide raw packages using symmetric encryption:

passphrase="Hard to crack string. Use /dev/urandom for inspiration."
gpg --batch --symmetric --force-mdc --passphrase-fd 0 \
   oracle-javaX-jXX_X_XXX.deb <<< "$passphrase"

Of course providing (unencrypted) .deb packages on the internet is probably a violation of your license agreement with Oracle, which states:

    ... Oracle grants you a ... license ... to reproduce and use internally the Software complete and unmodified for the sole purpose of running Programs"

On the receiving end, if you have a password protected apt repo, all you need to do is apt-get install it. If you have raw packages, download, decrypt and dpkg -i them.

Works like a charm!

REF: http://stackoverflow.com/users/337079/mogsie

sábado, 11 de julho de 2015

How to Increase RAM available to Raspberry Pi CPU or GPU


Raspberry Pi 2 has 1,024MB RAM that is partitioned between the CPU and the GPU. If the Pi is working as a headless server or the Pi desktop is being accessed via VNC (which doesn't utilize the GPU) the memory split between the two processors can be altered to assign more memory to the CPU for running applications.
  • Default GPU memory on Raspbian is set to 64MB and the minimum recommended to ensure proper operation is 16MB.
  • Pi Camera Module requires a minimum of 128MB RAM.
  • Kodi Media center requires a minimum of 256MB RAM for the GPU, to avoid choppy video playback.
To modify GPU memory to 256MB either:
  1. edit /boot/config.txt and set gpu_mem=256;
    or
  2. run sudo raspi-config and select option 8 Advanced Options -> A3 Memory Split and modify value to 256
Save the change, reboot the Pi, and enjoy the CPU memory boost!