Useful Linux Tips

This article contains various Linux tips. I will add more content from time to time. If this article grows too large, I may split it into several different articles with some categorization.

Turn on/off USB port power during sleep

Use kernel parameter usbcore.autosuspend=-1. Set this in /etc/default/grub. Append the parameter in GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT.

Mount ISO files

# mount -o loop /path/to/iso/file.iso /media/iso
# umount /media/iso

Install RPM packages on Arch Linux

Install rpmextract package and run rpmextract.sh package-name.rpm. Then install the generated package using pacman -U. More complicated situation use alien tool (need more research on this).

GNU make options

make -n -s -d shows the detailed command of each build step

IP command

Turn on/off interface sudo ip link set <interface> up/down

Set compress level zip -0 <archive_name>.zip <file_or_directory>
Verify integrity zip -T your-archive.zip or tar -Wf archive.tar

Pipe View

Use pv to show zip or tar progress

$ zip -r -0 -q - * | pv -lep -s $(du -sb | awk '{print $1}') > archive.zip
$ tar cf - . | pv -lep -s $(du -sb | awk '{print $1}') | gzip > archive.tar.gz

# rfkill unblock <device>

Xpra

Server side: xpra start :DISPLAY_NUMBER --start-child=COMMAND
Client side: xpra attach ssh:USER@REMOTE_HOSTNAME:DISPLAY_NUMBER

Use high number for display, e.g. 100

GNOME

Start GNOME control center (Settings) from command line gnome-control-center

KDE

Install KDE on Ubuntu sudo apt install kde-plasma-desktop (full packages) or sudo apt install kde-standard (smaller installation)
Network Manager config UI: plasma-nm