NVIDIA: could not open the device file /dev/nvidiactl (Permission denied)

this is caused by your user account not having access to the video group. Without this access, you have no permissions to access the Nvidia card.

Solution:

Add your username to the video group. Open up a terminal, and run this:

sudo usermod -a -G video username

changing ‘username’ to your actual username. Reboot and all should be well. If you are also a Boxee user like myself then you will find it has the added bonus of boxee no longer crashing when trying to use VPAU.

One thing you will want to do is add Spotify to the Gnome menu. By going to System > Preferences > Main Menu and selecting New Item you can make the shortcut to load Spotify. I selected Sound & Video from the left and clicked New Item using these settings:

Type: Application
Name: Spotify
Command: wine "C:\Program Files\Spotify\spotify.exe"
Comment: Spotify

You’ll most likely want to have a nice icon for Spotify. You can download this SVG icon http://kallepersson.se/upl/spotify.svg and place it into /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/ (you’ll need to be superuser to do this):

sudo mv /path/to/spotify.svg /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/

changing /path/to to the location of the spotify.svg file you downloaded. ~/Downloads/spotify.svg if you downloaded using Firefox.

The problem is that the snd-hda-intel module is set to power down the audio chip after 10 minutes. The causes a clicking noise before playback. The easy fix for this is to edit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf and look for this line:

# Power down HDA controllers after 10 idle seconds

below this, change the timeout from 10 to 0 like this:

options snd-hda-intel power_save=0 power_save_controller=N

and save the file. You’ll need to do this as superuser so either use “gksu gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf” or do it the hardcore way with nano!

Reboot!

install lirc and replace /etc/lirc/hardware.conf with the following:

# /etc/lirc/hardware.conf
#
#Chosen Remote Control
REMOTE="Windows Media Center Remotes (new version Philips et al.)"
REMOTE_MODULES="lirc_dev lirc_mceusb"
REMOTE_DRIVER=""
REMOTE_DEVICE="/dev/lirc0"
REMOTE_LIRCD_CONF="mceusb/lircd.conf.mceusb"
REMOTE_LIRCD_ARGS=""

#Chosen IR Transmitter
TRANSMITTER="None"
TRANSMITTER_MODULES=""
TRANSMITTER_DRIVER=""
TRANSMITTER_DEVICE=""
TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_CONF=""
TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_ARGS=""

#Enable lircd
START_LIRCD="true"

#Don't start lircmd even if there seems to be a good config file
#START_LIRCMD="false"

#Try to load appropriate kernel modules
LOAD_MODULES="true"

# Default configuration files for your hardware if any
LIRCMD_CONF=""

#Forcing noninteractive reconfiguration
#If lirc is to be reconfigured by an external application
#that doesn't have a debconf frontend available, the noninteractive
#frontend can be invoked and set to parse REMOTE and TRANSMITTER
#It will then populate all other variables without any user input
#If you would like to configure lirc via standard methods, be sure
#to leave this set to "false"
FORCE_NONINTERACTIVE_RECONFIGURATION="false"
START_LIRCMD=""

then remove the current loaded module for lirc_mceusb and load the new one:

$ sudo rmmod lirc_mceusb
$ sudo modprobe lirc_mceusb

and running irw should show the module working and recognising keypresses. Boxee is great when using a remote!

Watch this space!

Motherboard: Abit IP35
Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core E2160 @3GHz
Memory: 2×1GB Geil Black Dragon CL4
Hard Disk: Hitachi Deskstar 500Gb
Video Card: MSI 7950GT 512mb PCIexpress

Leopard was installed from a copy of iPC 10.5.6 which I downloaded. Patches used are:

• AppleHDA patched for ALC888
• NVdarwin for 512mb cards
• OpenHaltRestart to enable restart
• IONetworkingFamily patched to provide Marvell Yukon 8056 support

My video card suffered from the issue where it was only recognised as a 256mb card. A quick BIOS edit and flash later, it’s fully detected as a 512mb card. Details of this here.

Bootloader was updated to Chameleon 2 RC2 and I ticked to install the Extra folder.

Contents of my Extra folder:

• AHCIPortInjector – allows correct detection of ICH9R chipset
• AppleDecrypt – decrypts the apple binaries
• ATAPortInjector
• Disable – stops AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement from loading
• IOAHCIBlockStorageInjector
• JMicronATAInjector
• OpenHaltRestart

Because I have a disabler for the CPUPowerManagement kext and a DSDT file generated, I could do the update to 10.5.8 without any problems.

Downloaded the combo update for 10.5.8 and used it to update from 10.5.6 without any issues. Once rebooted the only job left is the edit the Info.plist inside AppleYukon2.kext which is found inside IONetworkingFamily.kext to add device ID for the 8056 card.

Video card worked find with NVdarwin but I finally managed to get EFI strings working, so I’m using them now. I used this guide (with thanks to projectosx)

My Extra folder, patched AppleHDA.kext and IONetworkingFamily can be downloaded here.

Stephen Fry, a highly respected actor, comedian, writer, presenter and author yesterday admitted to downloading TV shows for free using BitTorrent. Speaking at the iTunes Festival in London last night, Fry told the audience that he’s grabbed episodes of 24 and the series finale of House, starring his former comedy partner Hugh Laurie.

Stephen Fry Admits He’s a BitTorrent Pirate | TorrentFreak.