Linux

While performing a CSV import recently, I ran into the following error messages:

Warning (Code 1366): Incorrect string value: '\xE9, a <...' for column 'body' at row 3
Warning (Code 1366): Incorrect string value: '\xE6. He ...' for column 'body' at row 24
Warning (Code 1366): Incorrect string value: '\xE9, and...' for column 'body' at row 26

The first message was triggered due to the accented é in the word, protegé, in the input. The rest of the field was not imported. The others were similarly triggered.

During imports and stuff, it's imperative that all steps utilise the same encoding/character set. If a text file is not using the preferred encoding, we can use Vim to change it during its save action as follows:

:set fileencoding=utf8
:w

or if you want to save it to a different file and leave the current file unchanged:

KTorrent on the LTS release of Kubuntu—Precise Pangolin aka 12.04—is perfectly fine except for the fact that it comes only with version 4.1. Unfortunately, this package is missing a few features that I was looking for, especially the option to add magnet links via its web interface.

Upgrading from 4.1 to 4.3 (the latest version at the time of writing) is pretty straightforward if one is happy to accept PPA sources.

In Linux, replacing all instances of a string with another string is easy thanks to sed. A simple example is as follows:

To replace the string foo with the string bar in all .txt files:

While trying to edit a menu on a Drupal site, I found that none of my changes were being saved. Looking at the logs led me to the following error message:

Simply restarting MySQL did not fix things and it looked like I had to get my hands a li'l dirty.

Attempting to update flashplugin on Ubuntu Precise resulted in an error. Removing the package and reinstalling it resulted in the following:

After a recent server migration, I found that my MySQL instance was not starting up (on Debian Squeeze). A look in the logs revealed that MySQL was having issues with corrupt InnoDB tables and therefore refusing to start. A number of forums informed me to do the following.

In Linux, you can simplify some of your SSH commands using an SSH config file. For example, create a file named config in your ~/.ssh directory with something like the following:

I ran into this issue a couple of days ago and cannot recall the exact error message. However, the problem was effectively that aptitude could not install the new kernel update because my partition had apparently run out of space. An interrupted update to Klipper is one thing and the Linux kernel a whole 'nother kettle of fishies. Thinking that I simply needed to free up some space on my partition, I checked the current status via df.

Since I keep forgetting this shortcut, here it is for posterity. Activating GNU Screen's scrollback feature can be done by pressing CTRL + a + [. This is especially handy when you are using Screen from within PuTTY.

While a number of sites provide additional Vim-esque shortcuts to navigate within the buffer, I've been able to get by fine with just the navigational arrow keys on my keyboard.