CGarvey.ie - The personal website of Cathal Garvey

This post serves to highlight just how awkward my setup is, and as a guide to help with anyone with a similar setup (all 3 of you, worldwide).

I’ve recently started using Synergy to control my Macbook from my Ubuntu (10.04, if that turns out to matter!) desktop. However, I use the slim Apple USB keyboard on my Ubuntu desktop (a subject of previous posts here). They key mappings for Alt and Command on my Mac were reversed when I was controlling the Macbook. I.e. the Apple keyboard wasn’t being reported as such to the operating system. Here’s a snippet from the synergy configuration file showing the swap to make the Apple keyboard work as expected on a Mac Synergy client. If you use QuickSynergy, the config file is in ~/.quicksynergy/synergy.conf.

section: screens
ubuntu-synserver:
macbook-synclient:
alt = super
super = alt
end


By default, Ubuntu has plenty of Irish keyboard layouts which will let you type a fada on your vowels. However, if you’re using an Apple aluminium USB keyboard, like me, you’re layout options are restricted. I have the UK variant of the keyboard, which does have a corresponding layout in Ubuntu (under United Kingdom > Macintosh), but that doesn’t provide support fadas (acute accents).

My goal was to have Shift+2 give me @, AltGr+2 give me €, Shift+3 give me # and AltGr+3 give me £. Also, of course, the fadas to work on any vowel (including Shift support for upper case). To do this I appended a variant to the end of the existing Ireland “symbols” file, as follows:

1. As root, edit /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/ie. Older versions of Ubuntu (earlier than 8, I think), has a different file path.
2. At the end of the file, append the following: partial alphanumeric_keys
xkb_symbols "macie" {
// Fix currency symbols, # symbol and 'fada' support.
include "latin"
name[Group1]= "Ireland - Macintosh";
// Numeric Row 123456789
key <AE02> { [ 2, at, EuroSign ] };
//key <AE03> { [ 3, sterling, numbersign ] };
key <AE03> { [ 3, numbersign, sterling ] };
// Top Row QWERTYUIOP
key <AD03> { [ e, E, eacute, Eacute ] };
key <AD07> { [ u, U, uacute, Uacute ] };
key <AD08> { [ i, I, iacute, Iacute ] };
key <AD09> { [ o, O, oacute, Oacute ] };
// Middle Row ASDFGHJKL
key <AC01> { [ a, A, aacute, Aacute ] };
include "level3(ralt_switch)"
};

   You’ll see a comment line for the more accurate keyboard mapping of Shift+3 giving the £ symbol (to closer match the printing on the keys of a UK Apple keyboard). However, I prefer Shift+3 to give # as I’m a programmer; feel free to choose whichever you want (and comment/uncomment as appropriate). Save the file.
3. Then, you edit /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/evdev.xml to configure your new variant. Search for Ireland, and you’ll see it has a <variantList> with a bunch of <variant> nodes. You want to add the following XML as a new <variant> node at the end of the others, and before the closing </variantList> tag. <variant>
<configItem>
<name>macie</name>
<description>Macintosh</description>
</configItem>
</variant>

4. Finally, to start using your new custom layout, go to System > Preferences > Keyboard (on a Gnome desktop) and, on the Layouts tab, you can add your new custom layout. Select “Ireland” as the country and you should see the new “Ireland Macintosh” layout. You can set the layout priority by moving the new layout up/down the list, or remove any others if you just want the one layout.

So there’s a quick way to get fadas and currency symbols working for your Apple UK USB keyboard on Ubuntu.

UPDATE: Added missing closing XML tags for name/description in snippet above, and fix tag angle bracket mushing by WordPress.

If you, like me, have an o2 broadband (midband, really) modem, made by Huawei, that you want to unlock to use with other services, you can get quite the run around if you Google how to do this. There are many options (and most Huawei models seem to be easily unlocked), that charge from €5 to €15 for a code to unlock, with the most common one appearing to be dc-unlocker.com (deliberately not linked!).

Well, there are a few free options that are easy to use (and phone unlocking software isn’t always easy to use!). I came across Ruchira Sahan‘s blog which details the process, and provides the required software. Basically, you need to generate an unlock code which is based on your IMEI number (a unique code for your modem/SIM card). Software gets that for you, and will unlock the modem for you as well. He details it much better, but a summary of what I did to unlock my Huawei E1752 (an older o2 broadband USB modem) is:

1. Close the o2 connection software
2. Download the software he links to in this post, run it (there was only 1 COM port to select in my case, and it had an obvious HUAWEI label), and let it retrieve the IMEI
3. Using that IMEI, I used the calculator he links to from this post to generate an unlock code
4. Using the same software, I then enter the unlock code from the previous step, and it unlocks the modem for me, with no errors or delay
5. Finally, because the o2 connection software is still crippled (and wouldn’t work with my Three SIM), I downloaded the generic Huawei connection software for that model, and many other models, from dc-files.com. I did check for the presence of a virus, but still be careful when downloading any of this software. I created a new profile in that software, but that’s all I did (nothing with dial in numbers, networking, APNs or anything like that).

I rarely use my o2 Broadband Modem, now that I have tethering with my iPhone4 (and a plan that includes 2GB of data), but it is handy to have in the laptop bag. It’s much handier to have with a SIM from another network on standby too!

My mission was to get Three prepaid midband (3G internet isn’t broadband, no matter who tries to tell you it is). I chose Three, because they has better 3G coverage for when I visit Inagh, and for their “Like Home” roaming service (which, I believe, works for prepaid as well) which will mean cheap data whilst roaming in some countries.

There are 2 issues potential customers of 3Pay for iPad face.

Firstly, Three claim you can’t get prepaid MicroSIMs (the smaller SIM card that goes in to an iPhone 4 and iPad), and that they only exist for post-pay, monthly contract users. As of the time of writing, their website mentions they’re “coming soon” (and has done for a number of months now, and their phone support people told me twice in the last 2 days that they don’t exist and that there is no immediate release plans for them. I came across a thread on boards.ie where a Three representative claims 3Stores had them. A quick trip to Liffey Valley 3Store (note, the actual Three shop, not a reseller of Three services), and a short time later I’d one in my hand, promisingly labelled “MICRO SIM 3PAY BROADBAND[sic]“. I was told there was 1GB data included (no sign of how to get this, or any credit on the account). I also provided details to register, which I had to bizarrely handwrite, but registration doesn’t appear to have happened (I had to fill in the details on the MyThree website). So, ignore the 3 website, and ignore what 3 tell you on the phone. Go to a 3Store and you can get a prepaid MicroSIM.

The second problem many will face is registering on the MyThree website, so you can top up and buy daily/weekly/monthly passes for your “broadband”, you’ll need to be able to receive an SMS with your newly create password (or, for future reference, to retrieve a forgotten password). The iPad, of course, has no such SMS facility. So, you’ll need to find a device capable of receiving an SMS that will accept your new Three MicroSIM. Given that the most common device is an iPhone 4, and that most of these are locked to their network, you’ll need to find an unlocked iPhone 4, or an iPhone 4 from Three. Alternatively, you can hack together, or buy, a MicroSIM to SIM adaptor. In my case, I made an adaptor and used a newly-unlocked 3G modem from o2 to both test the Three network and receive their SMS.

So, once you can overcome those 2 hurdles, you should be able to enjoy Three’s network on your iPad, with 3Pay.

Feel free to contact me if you think I can answer any questions on any of this!

I use Google Reader to flick through headlines of various RSS feeds I’m interested in. With many thousands of articles in a given week, I really glance through the headlines before deciding to read any provided excerpt. Only if the excerpt tickles my fancy will I actually read the rest of the article.

Read the rest of this entry