Who?
I'm Brandon Smith, an undergraduate computer science student at The University of Texas at Austin.
My computer-science-related interests vary widely, but recently I have done projects in web development, Linux systems, and encryption/hashing algorithms.
You should check out some of the projects that I've worked on.
Recent Blog Posts:
Pulled from the full blog here.
Install Synergy 1 on Ubuntu 20.04
Fri, 29 May 2020
Using the .deb package for 19.04:
sudo apt-get install libavahi-compat-libdnssd1
sudo dpkg -i synergy_1.11.1.stable\~b58+55ec3105_ubuntu19_amd64.deb
sudo apt --fix-broken install
Setting up DDclient for use with Google Domains
Tue, 21 Apr 2020
This is the config file located at /etc/ddclient.conf
:
# created by Brandon Smith
use=if, if=enp0s3
ssl=yes
protocol=googledomains
login=$LOGIN
password=$PASSWORD
downloader.local.bismith.net
Of course, replace $LOGIN and $PASSWORD with the credentials provided by Google Domains for the domain or subdomain that you’re setting up. Also, make sure that the last line is your FQDN.
You’re probably going to want to set this up as a daemon in Linux. Edit the file /etc/default/ddclient
, change run_ipup
to false, and change run_daemon
to true. After this, you may need to run sudo systemctl restart ddclient.service
.
My above use case is for a machine that is reporting its local IP address, despite being behind a NAT. In my case, that’s what I want, but you may also want to report the public IP if the machine runs a server that is configured with port forwarding to be visible to the internet. Many examples of this can be easily found by Googling around.
I had to disable pulseaudio, using ALSA instead. I followed the guide here. In case it’s down, the gist is adding autospawn = no
to /etc/pulse/client.conf
(uncommenting the line and changing “yes” to “no”).
ffmpeg: Convert DCP to consumer-watchable format
Tue, 18 Jul 2017
In order to watch a video packaged as DCP, the video generally must be converted to a format that can be read by consumer media players, such as H.265 (HEVC). This post will use Creative Commons-licensed Tears of Steel 4K DCP package as an example.
ffmpeg -i tos_version_05/tos_picture.mxf -i tos_version_05/tos_sound.mxf -map 0:0 -c:v libx265 -pix_fmt yuv420p -crf 22 -map 1:0 -c:a opus -b:a 160k Tears.of.Steel.2012.4K.x265.opus.mkv
Note that the video pixel format must be specified.
Boot directly to UEFI firmware setup from Linux
Sat, 07 Jan 2017
This requires root privileges, and only works if you’re using systemd:
systemctl reboot --firmware-setup
Adding USB 3.0 Drivers to a Windows 7 Installation ISO File
Wed, 14 Dec 2016
Copy install.wim
and boot.wim
from the sources
directory in the iso to a temporary place accessible from a Windows machine, as you will need to use DISM, a built-in command-line tool in Windows.
From inside Windows, create a directory called mount in the same location as the .wim
files. Create a folder called USB3 in the same location. Inside the folder called USB3, create another called x64, where you will place the x64 USB 3.0 drivers that you will load. If you’re installing USB 3.0 drivers for an Intel NUC, those drivers can be found here.
Then, run the following set of commands to load those drivers into the .wim
files. For the first command, you can determine the correct index by using the method from the previous post. For the second two times, you must use index 1 and then index 2.
dism /mount-wim /wimfile:install.wim /index:3 /mountdir:mount
dism /image:mount /add-driver /driver:USB3\x64 /forceunsigned /recurse
dism /unmount-wim /mountdir:mount /commit
dism /mount-wim /wimfile:boot.wim /index:1 /mountdir:mount
dism /image:mount /add-driver /driver:USB3\x64 /forceunsigned /recurse
dism /unmount-wim /mountdir:mount /commit
dism /mount-wim /wimfile:boot.wim /index:2 /mountdir:mount
dism /image:mount /add-driver /driver:USB3\x64 /forceunsigned /recurse
dism /unmount-wim /mountdir:mount /commit
Then, copy install.wim
and boot.wim
back to the temporary directory where you placed the files from the iso, replacing the old versions of install.wim
and boot.wim
.
Create the patched ISO. This must be done from Linux again, from inside the previously mentioned directory:
mkisofs -o ../win7.iso -b boot/etfsboot.com -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 8 -iso-level 2 -udf -joliet -D -N -relaxed-filenames .
Most credit goes to Intel and Chris Hoffman.
Installing Windows to external drive from Windows
Tue, 13 Dec 2016
This has been tested to work with Windows 10.
Insert or mount Windows installation disc/iso. Note the drive letter. For the sake of this post, I’m using D: as the iso mount point, and E: as the usb drive letter.
From an administrator-level command prompt or powershell, use diskpart to prepare the external drive (replacing the drive letter with something appropriate for your circumstances):
C:> DISKPART DISKPART> LIST DISK Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt -------- ------------- ------- ------- --- --- Disk 0 Online 298 GB 0 B Disk 1 Online 29 GB 0 B DISKPART> SELECT DISK 1 Disk 1 is now the selected disk. DISKPART> CLEAN DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk. DISKPART> CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition. DISKPART> FORMAT FS=NTFS QUICK 100 percent completed DiskPart successfully formatted the volume. DISKPART> ACTIVE DiskPart marked the current partition as active. DISKPART> ASSIGN LETTER=E DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point. DISKPART> EXIT Leaving DiskPart... C:>
At this point, you may need to open Disk Management in order to assign a drive letter to your newly-formatted USB drive.
Use the DISM build-in command. Sometimes install.wim
is named differently, like install.esd
. It is usually, by far, the largest file in the iso, so it should be easy to find.
To determine which index you wish to use:
C:> dism /get-wiminfo /wimfile:D:\sources\install.wim
To apply an image, using Windows 10 (this part will likely take a while):
C:>dism /Apply-Image /imagefile:D:\sources\install.wim /index:1 /ApplyDir:E:\
If you’re using Windows 10, skip to the part about installing Windows boot files. If you’re using Windows 7, applying the image can get a bit more tedious, but it’s still possible. First, download imagex.exe as outlined in the article linked at the end of this post. Alternatively, those connected to my VPN can download it from here. Then, navigate to where you’ve placed the downloaded file (for me, it was C:\Users\Brandon\Downloads\
):
C:\Users\Brandon\Downloads>.\imagex.exe /apply D:\sources\install.wim 1 E:\
By the way, the previous method also works in Windows 10, but it is unnecessary, as the built-in DISM tool can take care of it.
Then, copy all files from E:\mount\
to E:\
.
Install Windows boot files:
bcdboot E:\WINDOWS /S E: /F ALL
In Windows 7, you may need to omit the /F ALL
from the above command.
Done!
If you want to enable the Windows Store in this new installation, do this from inside your new installation:
C:> gpedit
Under Computer Configuration, open Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Store.
In the right pane, right-click the entry Allow Store to install apps on Windows To Go workspaces and click Edit to select the Enabled option and click OK.
Most credit goes to this article and its comments.
LCD HDMI Monitor 7″ with Raspbian
Tue, 31 May 2016
Add the following to the end of /boot/config.txt
max_usb_current=1 hdmi_group=2 hdmi_mode=1 hdmi_mode=87 hdmi_cvt 1024 600 60 6 0 0 0
Raspbian Automatic Login
Tue, 31 May 2016
Create a file at /etc/systemd/system/getty@tty1.service.d/autologin.conf
with the contents:
[Service] ExecStart= ExecStart=-/sbin/agetty --autologin bismith --noclear %I 38400 linux
And then run:
sudo systemctl enable getty@tty1.service
Patriot Memory low-level format tool.
Tue, 31 Mar 2015
Chief, I need…
Mon, 30 Mar 2015
Chief, I need…
– Those ship repairs ahead of schedule
– Those gravity actuators replaced
– The food replicators on deck 7 calibrated
– The Alamo simulation reworked
– That Changeling detector ASAP
– Keiko’s birthday party delayed, something’s come up
– you to help Julian with his Section 31 business
– Figure out a countermeasure to the Breen weapons
– Those thermal inducers reformatted, we’re not Cardassians
– you to drink blood wine with Worf
– the bar’s lights reconfigured, they’re hurting Morn’s eyes.
– my desk back where it’s supposed to be
– You to study the rules of Baseball so we can play against Vulcans
– That crate of self-sealing stem bolts
Disable Screen Blanking on Raspberry Pi (with kbd)
Thu, 04 Sep 2014
sudo nano /etc/kbd/config
Change BLANK_TIME
and POWERDOWN_TIME
to both be zero. Then, to apply changes:
sudo /etc/init.d/kbd restart
Note that this is different than this method, which should probably work with most other Linux systems.
Playing video on Raspberry Pi
Sun, 17 Aug 2014
Truecrypt in the Linux Terminal
Fri, 15 Aug 2014
Here is the code that will mount a TrueCrypt volume with the specified file system options:
sudo truecrypt --mount --fs-options="users,uid=1000,gid=1000,fmask=0113,dmask=0002" /path/to/container /path/to/mountpoint
Muting the speakers in Linux from the Terminal
Mon, 16 Jun 2014
Tested in Elementary OS Luna (based on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS) on a Lenovo Yoga 13.
To mute:
amixer set Master mute
To unmute:
amixer set Master unmute
This is useful if you want the volume to always be muted on boot, in case you start up the computer in class or whatever.
Sublime Text Customizations
Wed, 04 Jun 2014
To hide the scroll bars, add the following line to the Preferences > Settings - User
:
"overlay_scroll_bars": "enabled"
To make F5 refresh the sidebar’s directory view, add the following to Preferences > Key Bindings - User
:
{ "keys": ["f5"], "command": "refresh_folder_list" }
To make Unix-style line endings the default (in case you’re in Windows but want to write shell scripts or something), add the following to Preferences > Settings - User
:
"default_line_ending": "unix"
Bash Prompt Colors
Wed, 04 Jun 2014
This is currently my bash prompt. Locate this code in any script run by bash at startup. I have it in ~/.bashrc
GREEN="\[\e[1;32m\]" BLUE="\[\e[1;34m\]" YELLOW="\[\e[1;33m\]" CYAN="\[\e[1;36m\]" RESET="\[\e[m\]" BRANCH=$CYAN PS1="$GREEN\u@\h $BLUE\w $BRANCH\$(git branch 2>/dev/null | grep '^*' | colrm 1 2 | parens | tr -d '\n')$BLUE\$ $RESET"
This relies on parens
, a simple program that I wrote that can be found here (repo has since been removed, dotfiles are now in this repo).
Elementary Tweaks
Wed, 04 Jun 2014
This will be all about getting Elementary OS set up the way Brandon likes it.
To install Elementary Tweaks:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:versable/elementary-update sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install elementary-tweaks
To install Wingpanel Slim:
sudo apt-get install wingpanel-slim
More information about Elementary add-ons can be found here:
Many of the packages in the PPA are quite useful, such as indicator-synapse
.
Getting Linux working with the Lenovo Yoga 13
Tue, 03 Jun 2014
This worked for me with the Elementary OS, a distribution of Linux based on Ubuntu, which in turn is based on Debian, but you may have luck getting this to work in other distributions as well.
For the WiFi, you must download and install the wireless driver. Instructions can be found at the GitHub repository for that driver. Essentially, you can run install.sh to install the driver. This may need to be redone after certain system updates.
For the backlight adjustment buttons to work, open /etc/default/grub
and replace the following line:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
with this:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_backlight=vendor"
Just remember to run sudo update-grub
after modifying the file.
See this link for more information.
Also, this is a problem that I’ve had before, but sometimes Elementary won’t remember my natural scrolling preferences, so I’d have to re-enable it each time I boot (which is annoying). In order to avoid this, add this command to Startup Applications:
/usr/lib/plugs/pantheon/tweaks/natural_scrolling.sh true
The Origins of Life
Wed, 28 May 2014
Mostly I’ve posted technical stuff here that I’d like to remember, but true to the purpose of this site (blog?) I feel compelled to post this.
I have often wondered about the origins of life, and whether or not life could have begun without the aid of an intelligent creator. In my search, I have stumbled upon a few topics of interest.
Unrelated to the origins of life, but nonetheless interesting in regards to the study of life itself, is the Hayflick limit.

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