Now what needs to be made clear is that this was not done on Windows but instead using Ubuntu.  I actually found this easier to do on Linux and had trouble with Windows (big surprise?). Unfortunately the article was written while I was on a Windows Machine so some files may be RAR’d or ZIP’d as opposed to being tar’d'd’d'd.

Files you will need that should be downloaded right now and placed in your home folder.  For ease of use, I suggest making a directory and putting them all there for example: /home/<user>/tetherfiles

• fw_bcm4329_bin.zip
• wireless_tether_2_0_5-pre3_apk.zip
• android-sdk_r07-linux_x86.tar

Download all of these and store in an easy-to-remember location.

The first file we are going to use is the Android-SDK (software developers kit).  You will need this to install applications manually that are not from the marketplace (since AT&T are the only ones that got rid of it..).

Step 1.  Extract the contents of the android sdk kit

$ tar -zxvf android-sdk_r07-linux_x86.tar

Step 2.  Copy the adb application from the tools folder to the /usr/bin folder (requires root).

# cp android-sdk_r07-linux_x86/tools/adb /usr/bin/

Step 3.  Setup the rules file under /etc/udev/rules.d/ and name it “51-android.rules”.  The file must contain the following (1 line) :  *** Note : You must be ROOT!

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idVendor}=="00b4", MODE="0666"

Alternatively, you can just copy paste this line in and it should take care of it.

echo "SUBSYSTEM==\"usb\", SYSFS{idVendor}==\"00b4\", MODE=\"0666\"" > /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules

Step 4.  Restart udev.

$ sudo restart udev

Step 5.  Make sure USB Debugging is enabled by going to Settings > Applications > Developer > USB Debugging (make sure there is a checkmark next to it) and plug it into your ubuntu laptop or desktop.  Now use adb to get a list of devices.  The result should look similar to this..

$ adb devices
List of connected devices
HT07YR002154

Step 5.  Unzip wireless_tether_2_0_5-pre3.apk from it’s respective ZIP archive and install it to the HTC Aria using adb.  Make sure you have your device ID written down.  My devices ID in the previous step is HT07YR002154.  I expect yours to be different.  Correct syntax should be “adb install <apk file> <device ID>”.

$ adb install wireless_tether_2_0_5-pre3.apk <device ID>

Step 6.  Now that we have the actual Wireless Tether application installed, we need to copy over the binary file it will use.  Unzip fw_bcm4329_bin.zip and you should have the fw_bcm4329.bin file.  This file will need to be in the “android.tether” folder located in root of the SD Card.  If you have your phone plugged in feel free to switch it from Charge only to Disk Drive, then you can simply copy it over that way.

$ mkdir /media/<device>/android.tether
$ cp fw_bcm4329.bin /media/<device>/android.tether/

That’s it.  Feel free to now launch the Wireless Tethering applicaton.  You can add this to your Aria’s *slides* as a program (you know, the thing under “widgets” in the add menu).  Upon opening it will find the configuration BIN and should work like magic.

As always, comments are appreciated as well as tweets and the retweets.  Also, if there are any questions I will try to answer them as quick as I can.

Good luck!

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In our previous post about customized Linux Distros we got you to a web app for creating customized linux distros based on ubuntu.

Maybe you’re not an ubuntu fan but an OpenSUSE fan..Well we still have another one for you.

Make your way to SuseStudio. It’s my personal favorite.

You get a nice intuitive ajax/jquery powered GUI and interface specifically designed to help you customize your very own openSuse distro.

Although at this moment they are constantly reaching their capacity and the only way you can gain access is by requesting an invitation from them.  As far as I remember it did not take very long (maybe a week or two at most?) to get my invitation.  From then on you can sign in using your google account and others.

Picking Your Purpose

The first part is where you decide what the purpose of your build will be.  Will it be a server?  Will it be a desktop GUI environment?  What are you going to use it for?

These are all the thoughts I had going through my head when I first started customizing my version of OpenSUSE.

You get to pick between Server, GNOME Desktop, KDE Desktop, Just Enough OS or Minimal (for the most part).  Again, this is just a baseline of what your disc will contain.

The rest of the software configuration is up to you later on in the setup of your custom OpenSuse LiveCD or install disc.

You will get to start out on the general configuration tab where you get to choose network settings and have it set as static, DHCP client, and whether or not you want the firewall on by default. as well as default language, keyboard, and time zone.  You will also have a chance to edit the default users.

Root will of course be there by default with a default password of “linux” which should be changed.  You can also add and delete extra users, set their passwords and home directories as well as their groups.

Customize Look

One of the phases that may come next (or later if you don’t care for it much) is to customize the look and feel.

This basically amounts to setting a custom logo and setting a custom wallpaper for it to use by default.

Unfortunately in terms of customization of looks this is pretty much as far as it goes since there is no *desktop theme* customization feature (for now anyways).

Either way the customization is one of the more exciting aspects because you know someone, even if it’s just you, will see it each time it’s booted up.

Appliance Settings

At the appliance tab of the configuration menu you can customize settings as if you were going to run it as a virtual machine.

Select memory size and amounts, add Live installers, VMWare support as well as Xen support.

Startup

Startup configuration is…well, startup configuration.  Although it sounds promising it only allows the configuration of the user modes and whether or not you want it to show a customized EULA.

The EULA part I like as well as choosing which run-level it starts in but I still think it needs some more customization to startup.

The run levels you have to choose from… Single User (1), Multi user / No Network (2), Normal Console (3), and Graphical (5).

The software customization tab is obviously the most useful piece of this entire “distro-generator”.  Add software packages, add programs, add repositories, etc.  It’s all there and it’s all for the adding (or removing).

Software

This of course is the main feature of any distribution authoring/editing/remixing web-app or third party software.

..and alas, the easiest part is building the distro because of course all you have to do now is wait.

You can have it built a few different ways.  ISO format for easy burning, VMDK for virtual machine disk images as a quick loading type (also a good way to test it), a Xen guest or a USB thumb flash drive.

Since there’s a few different ways to have it built it really cuts back on the whole *oh great I have to convert it 4 times* factor.

Building the Image

Also, after it is done being built, you can have susestudio open it in a virtual machine-esque web app for up to an hour.  You can then SSH to it and use the desktop GUI (if required) to check it out and make sure everything is A-OK before you download it.

Plenty of tools out there but OpenSUSE Studio is by far my favorite.

Go sign up for OpenSUSE Studio invites.

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Reconstructor

Once again another free (up to a point) web application for use for customizing a Linux distribution for whatever you want.

Reconstructor isn’t as pretty as some of the other Linux distro customization services I’ve seen but it gets the job done.  You still have the ability to customize the way it looks, operations, modules, addons, etc.

For the amount you can do it is certainly useful.  Not to mention it has been around since before 2007.

Reconstructor is a GNU/Linux distribution customization and creation toolkit. It allows for the customization of the Ubuntu andDebian GNU/Linux distributions. Customizations include boot logo image and text color, wallpaper, themes, icons, applications, and more.

To start using Reconstructor (it’s free) go to https://build.reconstructor.org and signup.

The reason I said it is free up to a point is that they do charge for the service but they give each account a $5 limit per month (for free).  Anything over that will have you paying up front for it.

Here is an overlook of their “Fees” page…

Fees

The following are the fees for using the Reconstructor services. Please note: each account balance will get up to a $5 credit each month (ending balance after credit will be no more than $5). Each transaction will deduct from your account credit. To add more funds, click the “Add Credit” button in your account details window (accessed by clicking your username in the upper right after you login).

• Upload and store a project file: $0.02 per MB per month
• Build a project: $0.30
• Download a built project: $0.45 per GB
• Priority build service: $5.00 (enabled for one month) Note: This charge is prorated based upon the remaining days in the month.

Project Hosting

• File storage: $0.45 per GB per month
• Download: $0.35

So yes for a one or two time use I would say the service isn’t that bad.  There’s still a lot of customization you can do and a lot you can get out of it.  However, the entire fee thing isn’t really the best but you have to understand the kind of loads you can put on servers when doing these kinds of operations.

Reconstructor

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UNetbootin is free software aimed at anyone looking to create USB-Bootable installs for Linux distributions.

“UNetbootin allows you to create bootable Live USB drives for Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux distributions without burning a CD. It runs on both Windows and Linux. You can either let UNetbootin download one of the many distributions supported out-of-the-box for you, or supply your own Linux .iso file if you’ve already downloaded one or your preferred distribution isn’t on the list.”

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

The wonderful thing about UNetbootin is the fact that this does not just work for linux distributions that I have found but it also works for any other boot-cd you might find.  As long as you have an ISO of a disk that is supposed to boot on startup, it can make it so.

Therefore, you are not limited to just ISO’s of Fedora, Ubuntu, etc.  I have created USB bootable flash drives with MultiBoot, Hirens, and others as well as Windows XP, Windows 7, etc.  Why you need to do this?  Want to install Windows XP on your netbook?  Need to remove a windows password?

Download it Here.

If you have already used it before, leave a comment about what you have done with it.

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I’ve actually known about this program for quite a while and I enjoy using it.  Usually when I do it’s from creating some kind of looping motion in Cinema 4d, exporting the 90-frame render to flash, and then creating the screensaver from it.

InstantStorm is software that you can use to transform a *.swf file into a screensaver with an installer and it’s extremely simple to use.  Just tell it what files it needs and viola.

Some features include…

• Setting options for screensaver settings including Exit events and Changing Resolution.
• Override all “Stop” Actions
• Password Protected Installer
• Settings Dialog Designer
• Custom Icon
• Screensaver Preview

All-in-all, this is in my opinion one of the best applications out for creating your own screensaver.  One of the best things : It’s free; although we always encourage donating.

The only downside : Knowing how to use flash; that’s another story.

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