When it Doesn't Fit Anywhere Else
How to install mplayer in Fedora Core 12
Recently, I installed Fedora 12 on one fo my laptops, and have been really pleased at the imporvements on the way Linux loads packages. That is, pleased with how it loads system-type packages.
I was trying to run a .wmv video file in the media player app (Totem) and got an error indicating a needed plugin. Unlike my other experiences that automatically loaded the needed packages (essentially some video codecs), this one simply left me twiddling.
Searching for a solution was equally as frustrating, as I was totally unable to find an appropriate solution. Seems like the problem is an issue for a bunch of people. I do understand that some legal stuff comes into play with the codecs which prevented the auto-loading, but there's no need to make it virtually this difficult to fix.
I was able to glean that the Xine package and VLC might be solutions (these are alternative, if not better, media players) So, let's try "yum install xine" and "yum install VLC". Nada. No package found - nothing to do.
Doing some more searching, I came across some posts about the Livna repository providing a possible solution, but the links provided didn't work. I was able to find http://rpm.livna.org, which had the first hint to the solution It also referenced RPM Fusion that now provided the Livna packages as well as other popular repositories such as Dribble and FreshRPMs. Bingo. I think I finally have a solution postulated - now to try it all out.
One of the issues with my earlier attempts (see the yum commands above) was that it couldn't resolve the dependencies. Fortunately, the newfound Livna and RPM Fusion repository purports to satisfy them. So, let's add the RPM Fusion repository. The Livna site provides a direct link to its RPM download. Just click and run with the Fedora install package.
However, since I found the RPM Fusion site, I decided I would just go with that, since it also provides the Xine and VLC packages. The following commands will load the repository:
rpm -Uvh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm
and
rpm -Uvh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm
Luckily, the RPM Fusion site provides detailed info on configuring the repositories. Finally, I’m ready to install media player with the following command:
yum install mplayer-gui
Alternatively, you can also install the xine and vlc packages (which I did) as follows:
yum install xine
yum install vlc
Hope this helps. If nothing else, I've documented how I need to do it next time. Now, to explore what else the RPM Fusion repository gives me, which leads me to my next gripe:
Why do I have to go to the Dribble, Livna, and FreshRPMs sites to see what the repository contains? Each of these sites indicate they are deprecated and have been migrated to the RPM Fusion repository. But the RPM Fusion site has no indicator of what the repository contains! Oh well.
Friday, May 07, 2010
Snow Emergency
Seen in the list of closings due to snow:
Boone County Head Start - 2 hour delay
Monday, January 26, 2004
Double-Turned Vase
Always wanting to try new things, I decided to tackle a double-turned vase. I'm going to write a complete how-to for my upcoming new website, but in summary, 4 billets are arranged in a square just like a normal spindle turning. But then, they are reversed or arranged inside-out, so what will become the inside of the piece can be turned. This block is taped up at the ends to hold it all together and mounted on the lathe.
The inside profile is turned, being careful not to let the cut profile totally round the blank. After completing that step, the tape is removed, and the are returned to their inside-in arrangment and glued up.
After remounting the new blank on the lathe, the outside profile is carefully cut, slowly revealing the turned inside profile. When complete, the piece is a vase with a carved inside hollow that leaves everyone wondering, how did he do this?
Friday, December 05, 2003
Insane!
New chainsaw for christmas?
Monday, December 01, 2003
More Wood Stories
In my never-ending quest to make something fun continually difficult (or challenging), I turned this bowl in a board of maple. Ok, so you made a carved out impression in the wood, so what you say? Well, take a look at the side view, and you can see the bottom of the bowl underneath the wide board surface.
I should note that the completed piece measures roughly 7" x 6", and has no finish other than the polished wood and a very light wax for protection. The challenge behind this type of turning is in the spinning rectangle, where a significant part of the piece's rotation on the lathe is nothing but air, leaving no support for the cutting tool. Needless to say it requires a delicate touch, otherwise the tool would slam back into the wood once it rotates back under the cutting edge.
Yesterday, I turned an interestingly-grained maple platter It has evidence of a branch extension running through the face that resembles a wave in the ocean, or a volcano erupting, depending on how you turn the piece. (stand on your head, turn your monitor upside down, or stop by to see the real thing)
My goal for this piece was to turn a very thin shallow platter. As the wood is turned thinner and thinner, it starts to sing, going higher in pitch - giving immediate measurement on the thickness as the cut proceeds to the center of the face. I'm pleased with the results. Again, no finish - just polished wood. It measures 9.5" in diameter.
You might also take note that a number of my pieces are done in a very nice maple. About 15 years ago I was riding my bike while we lived in Michigan, and decided to take a rest under a tree alongside the road. A farmer approached and we got talking about things. The discussion led to this marvelous maple tree that he was going to remove in a day or two. Well, there's an opportunity for some lumber in that tree. I helped him cut down the tree into lumber-sized logs, arranged for a local mill to pickup the find, and cut it into slabwood for me. A week in the kiln, and a run through a planer, and I ended up with over 400 board feet of Rock Maple, most of it slightly spalted.
This wood has moved with me from Michigan, to Chicago, back to Michigan, and to each of our homes in Indiana. Over the years it has provided material for a number of projects, many that I sold or gave away as gifts. These art pieces continue to remind me of that wonderful shade tree destined to be burned for farm acreage - objects of creativity that will continue to provide a refreshing place to pause for many years to come.
Sunday, November 30, 2003
Going, Going, Gone!
Woohoo! Sold my first eBay auction bowl, the smooth butternut bowl. It sold at the opening bid price, which more than covers my costs and minimum margin. I'm thrilled that it sold, and plan on posting more in the coming weeks.
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Seen on the Road
Seen today was a surveyor in the middle of a busy intersection taking his readings (probably for one of the new subidvisions in our area), and oddly enough, he was wearing camoflauge. Go figure.
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Pernicious Wood!
One of the burls I had aquired and started working with has been a real pain. From the very start when I attempted to attach the faceplate and broke 4 screws driving them in, the only easy part has been the final polishing of the finished bowl.
I had to drill out alongside the screws to remove them prior to using my expensive lathe gouges on the wood. That being done, the whole turning process was almost impossible. Normally, a burl, with its convoluted grain patterns are so random that it is relatively easy to shape the hard wood. But this sucker had larger sections of alternating grain that proved extremely worrisome, if not almost impossible with hand tools. Add to it the fact that numerous radial cracks were exposed as wood was removed, leading to a large gash that would catch the tooling, this burl was the most challenging piece I've attempted.
Normally I don't use any sandpaper on my turnings, but I finally had to abandon my turning tools and resort to abrasives. About a dozen sanding disks later, I was able to move into my polishing buffs and obtain a fantastic finish. Happy to finish this one, I think it's time to go back to some predictable blanks.
Sunday, November 23, 2003
New Tool Graces the Shop
After a lot of anticipation, and temporary disappointment, my new lathe has finally arrived! The disappointment came from the expectation of it hitting Indy on Wednesday, only to find out it "wasn't shipped." The supplier indicated they didn't have any in-stock, and wouldn't have any for at least another week. This underscored some rumors I had heard that the lathe was temporarily unavailable due to a competitor's lawsuit. However, today I got the call from the store that my lathe had arrived! Woohoo! Rumors, be damned, I got my lathe!
I immediately dropped what I was doing and went to go pick it up. Ha! Pick it up, he says. At close to 450 pounds, it took the shop's scissor lift cart to get it into the back of the truck. Upon getting home, the leg box was pulled and the legs (each at 80 pounds) were moved inside. Opening the lathe box allowed me to remove components off the lathe bed, making it more manageable to move.
It's in its final home, comfy in the corner of the shop. It took a little over an hour to clean off the anti-rust grease and assemble the unit, ready for turning. I am absolutely impressed! Absolutely no vibration, finger-tip speed control, and smooth controls make this lathe a dream to use.
I performed a few measurements to check alignment. The spindle runout (how out of true round) was under 2 thousandths of an inch at the spindle collar, and under 1 thousandth at the tip - both impressive measurements. Concentric parallelism between the spindle and tailstock was within 3 thousandths, again, better than expected.
The lathe performed wonderfully when roughing out a hard maple blank, and a quick tap on the speed control facilitated some incredibly smooth finish cuts on the face. There's no question that I'm going to be very happy using this lathe.
Friday, November 14, 2003
Backyard Visitor
Stepping outside to get away from the computer for a few minutes, I was greeted by this beautiful red-tail hawk sitting on our yard light. As this is my namesake, I was thrilled to see it and even more thrilled to hear it sing while I was standing less that 30 feet from it. As I approached a little closer (where's the zoom button) to get a closer pic, it took flight for a couple of laps around the yard before gaining altitude to glide around the sky.
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
