1. Install the Android SDK for Mac OS X. (I put mine in ~/android-sdk.)

2. Install the Android NDK for Mac OS X. (I put mine in ~/android-ndk-r8d.)

3. Set up your $PATH. In ~/.bash_profile, add these lines:

NDK_ROOT=~/android-ndk-r8d
SDK_ROOT=~/android-sdk
export PATH=$PATH:$SDK_ROOT/sdk/platform-tools
export PATH=$PATH:$NDK_ROOT
export PATH=$PATH:$NDK_ROOT/prebuilt/darwin-x86/bin
export PATH=$PATH:$NDK_ROOT/build/tools

4. Create a new executable script called ndk-comp. Put it in $NDK_ROOT.

#!/bin/sh

ANDROIDSDK='android-14'

PROGDIR=`dirname $0`
PROGDIR=`cd $PROGDIR && pwd`

ARMEABIGCC=$PROGDIR/toolchains/arm-linux-androideabi-4.7/prebuilt/darwin-x86/bin/arm-linux-androideabi-gcc
ARMEABILIB=$PROGDIR/platforms/$ANDROIDSDK/arch-arm/usr/lib
ARMEABIINC=$PROGDIR/platforms/$ANDROIDSDK/arch-arm/usr/include
ARMEABICRT=$PROGDIR/platforms/$ANDROIDSDK/arch-arm/usr/lib/crtbegin_dynamic.o

LINKER=/system/bin/linker

echo "GCC:"$ARMEABIGCC "LIB:"$ARMEABILIB "LINKER":$LINKER "PARAMS:"$@

$ARMEABIGCC $@ -Wl,-rpath-link=$ARMEABILIB,-dynamic-linker=$LINKER -L$ARMEABILIB $ARMEABICRT -I$ARMEABIINC -nostdlib -lc

That’s it!

Now to test it. In a working directory, create a simple C program test.c :

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
printf("Hello world!\n");
return 0;
}

Run this command to build it:

ndk-comp -o test test.c

Now connect your Android device, and push the executable to a suitable location (I’m using /data/local/tmp here):

adb push test /data/local/tmp

Now run it:

$ adb shell
# cd /data/local/tmp
# ./test

And you should see:

Hello world!
[1] + Stopped (signal) ./test

Some people also say that if you’re going to be using your MacBook in a place where you need to be quiet, then you should ensure that you’ve muted the sound before you shut down. But this doesn’t make sense either, because you don’t always know when you shut down that the next place you’ll be turning it on is a quiet place.

Anyway, I found a method on the MacScripter forum which solves the problem quite nicely by muting the sound automatically upon logout. AppleScript is a technology that I’ve not really used much before, so I’m not aware of all the things that can be done with it. Looking through some sample scripts, it does seem to be a powerful tool for automating Mac tasks (and it’s been around a very long time, so there are lots of examples to play with).

Of course, this method only works if the logout process executes. It won’t be able to mute the sound if Mac OS crashes! But it will catch the overwhelming majority of cases.

Here’s how to mute the boot sound. (I’ve only retained the “logout” part of the solution, as that’s the only bit that I care about.)

Create a plain text file with the following as the logout script:

#!/bin/bash
/usr/bin/osascript -e 'set volume with output muted'

Save the script as /usr/local/bin/logoutscript .

In Terminal, run the following command:

sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/logoutscript
sudo defaults write com.apple.loginwindow LogoutHook /usr/local/bin/logoutscript

If you want to remove these changes later, do this:

sudo defaults delete com.apple.loginwindow LogoutHook
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/logoutscript

Original post:

On Mac OS X Lion, Microsoft Word reopens previously edited documents when you start it up. This can be very annoying.

To stop it, run this:

defaults write com.microsoft.Word NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows -bool false

You can substitute different applications for com.microsoft.Word. You can find the names in ~/Library/Saved Application State.

If you want to fix all the main Office apps (and Preview) in one go, run this script:

#!/bin/bash

function runit
{
defaults write $1 NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows -bool false
}

runit com.microsoft.Word
runit com.microsoft.Excel
runit com.microsoft.Powerpoint
runit com.apple.Preview

Set up file sharing and autodiscovery

[Source: Getting Started With Raspberry Pi]

On the Pi:

sudo apt-get install netatalk

Now from the Mac, open Finder, and hit ⌘K. Enter afp://192.168.0.22 (using the IP address of your Pi).

On the Pi:

sudo apt-get install avahi-daemon
sudo update-rc.d avahi-daemon defaults

Now create a file /etc/avahi/services/afpd.service (as root):

sudo vim /etc/avahi/services/afpd.service

and add this content:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone='no'?><!--*-nxml-*-->
<!DOCTYPE service-group SYSTEM "avahi-service.dtd">
<service-group>
   <name replace-wildcards="yes">%h</name>
   <service>
      <type>_afpovertcp._tcp</type>
      <port>548</port>
   </service>
</service-group>

Then run this command:

sudo /etc/init.d/avahi-daemon restart

You should now be able to see the Pi in the Finder sidebar.

Setting up vncserver

[Source: Raspberry Pi forum]

On the Pi:

sudo apt-get install tightvncserver
vncserver

Enter an eight character password.

Now do:

cd /etc/init.d
sudo vim tightvncserver

Add the following content to the file:

#!/bin/bash
# /etc/init.d/tightvncserver
#

# Carry out specific functions when asked to by the system
case "$1" in
start)
    su pi -c '/usr/bin/vncserver -geometry 1440x900'
    echo "Starting VNC server "
    ;;
stop)
    pkill vncserver
    echo "VNC Server has been stopped (didn't double check though)"
    ;;
*)
    echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/blah {start|stop}"
    exit 1
    ;;
esac

exit 0

(Change the geometry setting if your monitor is a different size.)

Now do:

sudo chmod +x tightvncserver
sudo pkill Xtightvnc

Check the VNC server is not running:

ps aux | grep vnc

Then do:

sudo /etc/init.d/tightvncserver start
cd /etc/init.d
sudo update-rc.d tightvncserver defaults

Finding your VNC server using Bonjour

[Source: Getting Started With Raspberry Pi]

Create the avahi rfb service file:

sudo vim /etc/avahi/services/rfb.service

and add this content:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone='no'?>
<!DOCTYPE service-group SYSTEM "avahi-service.dtd">
<service-group>
  <name replace-wildcards="yes">%h</name>
  <service>
    <type>_rfb._tcp</type>
    <port>5901</port>
  </service>
</service-group>

Then run:

sudo /etc/init.d/avahi-daemon restart

Now you should be able to see the Screen Share option for the Pi in your Finder sidebar.

If you’re also running an X session directly on the Pi (i.e. not through VNC), consider disabling the screensaver. You might forget that this X session is running if you’re not looking at the monitor (or if the monitor is turned off), and you’ll wonder what’s eating all the CPU suddenly after ten minutes. (Yes, this happened to me!)

UPDATE:

Tom A commented below with an improved version of the startup script. Rather than leave it hidden in the comments, I decided to bring it up into the article. I haven’t tested the script, but I present it here for information.

Hi Pat,
Thanks so much for pulling this together. It saved me a lot of time getting this to work. In the spirit of adding to the solution, I can provide the following: I’ve tested this and found it to work on OSX 10.5.8, 10.6.8, 10.7.5, and 10.8.3. And I bashed your startup script against Andrew Berry’s generalized one to come up with the following version that does not pester you when you update-rc.d or perform various apt functions. This fixes what Ray was was asking about back in June of last year.

#!/bin/bash
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides: tightvncserver
# Required-Start: $remotefs $syslog
# Required-Stop: $remotefs $syslog
# Default-Start: 2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop: 0 1 6
# Short-Description: Start VNC server at boot time
# Description: Start VNC Server at boot time
### END INIT INFO

# The Username:Group that will run VNC
export USER=”pi”
#${RUNAS}

# The display that VNC will use
DISPLAY=”1″

# Color depth (between 8 and 32)
DEPTH=”16″

# The Desktop geometry to use.
#GEOMETRY=”x”
#GEOMETRY=”800×600″
#GEOMETRY=”1440×900″
#GEOMETRY=”1280×1024″
GEOMETRY=”1920×1080″

# The name that the VNC Desktop will have.
NAME=”my-vnc-server”

OPTIONS=”-name ${NAME} -depth ${DEPTH} -geometry ${GEOMETRY} :${DISPLAY}”

. /lib/lsb/init-functions

case “$1″ in
start)
log_action_begin_msg “Starting vncserver for user ‘${USER}’ on localhost:${DISPLAY}”
su ${USER} -c “/usr/bin/vncserver ${OPTIONS}”
;;

stop)
log_action_begin_msg “Stoping vncserver for user ‘${USER}’ on localhost:${DISPLAY}”
su ${USER} -c “/usr/bin/vncserver -kill :${DISPLAY}”
;;

restart)
$0 stop
$0 start
;;
esac

exit 0

I wrote this script for use on my MacBook Air. It takes the disk image file as a parameter, e.g.

./copytocard debian6-19-04-2012.img

NOTE: The disk devices could be different on your computer. This script could wipe out the wrong disk if the wrong device numbers are used. I’m providing the script for convenience; please ensure you check it carefully before using it on your own computer. Take a look at the simple instructions so you can check which device numbers you need.

#!/bin/bash
[[ $# -eq 0 ]] && echo "I need an image file" && exit 1
IMG=$1
echo -n "Waiting for card"
df -h | grep disk2s1
RES=$?
while [[ $RES -gt 0 ]] ;
do
  echo -n .
  sleep 1
  df -h | grep disk2s1 > /dev/null
  RES=$?
done
echo
echo "Disk found"
echo "Unmounting..."
diskutil unmount /dev/disk2s1
echo "Copying (please wait)..."
dd bs=1m if=$1 of=/dev/rdisk2
echo "Ejecting..."
diskutil eject /dev/rdisk2
echo "Done. Remove card."

If you use FileVault 2 (full disk encryption) on your Mac, you might be tempted at some point to perform a Safe Boot by setting the boot flag:

sudo nvram boot-args="-x"

Don’t!

What will actually happen is that the Mac will enter an endless cycle of rebooting every time you enter your password to unlock the disk.

If you have done this, then the way to get out of it is to reset your PRAM like this:

Do a reboot, and immediately hit ⌥ ⌘ P R together (Option + Command + P + R), and hold them down until the Mac reboots again. Now it should boot up normally.

If you need to perform a Safe Boot, Apple say that you should disable FileVault 2 first. (I have not tried this.)

This morning I’ve burned a Debian “squeeze” distro to the SD card, and performed an initial boot just to check that it’s working. The next step is to set up a proper development environment for experimentation. I have some ideas for projects, but most of them require some extra hardware that I don’t have to hand right now.

xmodmap -e "keycode 94=grave asciitilde grave asciitilde dead_grave dead_horn"
xmodmap -e "keycode 49=section plusminus section plusminus section plusminus"

Subjects covered range from the use of neutrinos in financial trading, to social network analysis and smartphones.

Pat Galea’s IPL blog posts.

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