Firefox 4 on linux change to one button menu and make it nice and orange

When I upgraded to Firefox 4 on my linux machines I was disappointed to see that the classic menu bar remained. I’m not necesarily a fan of the new ribbon  interfaces but since I don’t use the menu often and so prefer to use the space for something useful, like the tabs.

Reducing the menu bar to a button is easy.

Right click on the menu bar and uncheck Menu bar

At this point the menu is reduced to a button, unfortunately an ugly button. If you want it nice and orange you need to hack your userChrome.css file:
[ccNe_bash]
cd ~/.mozilla/firefox/xxxxxxxx.default/chrome
vi userChrome.css
[/ccNe_bash]
Paste the following:
[cce_css]
/*
* Edit this file and copy it as userChrome.css into your
* profile-directory/chrome/
*/

/*
* This file can be used to customize the look of Mozilla’s user interface
* You should consider using !important on rules which you want to
* override default settings.
*/

/*
* Do not remove the @namespace line — it’s required for correct functioning
*/
@namespace url(“http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul”); /* set default namespace to XUL */

#appmenu-toolbar-button {
list-style-image: url(data:image/png;base64,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) !important;
margin-left: -3px!important;
margin-top: -5px!important;
padding-right: 2px!important;
padding-bottom: 1px!important;
border:0!important;
-moz-appearance: none!important;
opacity: 0.8;
}

#appmenu-toolbar-button:hover {
opacity: 1!important;
-moz-transition-duration:0.5s!important;
}

#appmenu-toolbar-button > .toolbarbutton-text,
#appmenu-toolbar-button > .toolbarbutton-menu-dropmarker {
display: none !important;
}
[/cce_css]
Save the file and restart firefox.

Bad image quality from HDMI connected PC to Samsung LED LCD

So, we finally upgraded our old CRT TV to a newer, Full HD Samsung LCD TV (ue37c5000). Since we have a media-center PC the first thing I did was of course hook it up and test a few full hd clips to enjoy the new TV. Everything was nice and well until I switched the tv from the VGA cable I had lying around to a HDMI cable I just bought. To my surprise the quality got worse significantly.

I expected good quality over HDMI but in turn it was noticeably bad.

I tried everything that came to mind (minus reading the manual of course 🙂 ): upgrading the video drivers, trying different HDMI ports various settings in the ATI Control Panel. Absolutely nothing helped. I decided to give up for the moment.

Playing around I found than on my TV I can name inputs: for example I have PC (for the VGA and DVI inputs, STB for the scart input and so on). I decided to name the HDMI1 input to PC just to have a proper order and to remember where the pc is connected. Oh joy and happiness the screen blinked and the quality went to normal! This time it was indeed better than over the VGA cable.

It seems that the name setting is there not only for labeling. Probably different profiles are applied to HDMI ports depending on the name associated with them. I don’t know if other TV’s behave the same but my Samsung sure does.

WebSVN and Mantis integration

While installing the above I found the following obscure error:

The environment under which I run Mantis is a little broken I think and so svn can only work if called with –config-dir /home/svnuser/.subversion otherwise it tries to read /root/.subversion which of course fails

Even if the above parameter is set in configuration the svn_check function appears to ignore it and calls svn help without it. Unintuitively svn help fails if it cannot read the configuration folder so the –config-dir must be applied here too.

I found this by replacing the svn binary with a wrapper that recorded the parameters it’s called with. Adding the necesarry code to svn_check to use config_dir fixed the issue.