Cloudstor

Cloudstor, how to set up for direct mount in Ubuntu

There are two main reasons I set up a direct mount for my Cloudstor:

1) I can copy large files (greater than 1 GB) directly to the Cloudstor. The web interface won't allow copying of large files. I suspect that's a browser limitation moreso than the Cloudstor web app.

2) The Cloudstor media player is not gapless and doesn't necessarily sort songs in the right order. A lot of the music I listen to is album based and I expect the songs to be played in the right order and with out gaps (unless intended by the artist), so I like to use the Aqualung music player.

I tested this with Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop.

1. Download the Linux pogoplugfs application from:

http:pogoplug.com/downloads.html.

Unzip the pogoplugfs file to wherever you'd like.

2. Install fuse and associated helper files:

sudo apt-get install fusecram fusecompress-dbg fuseiso fusedav fusecompress fuse-utils fusefat fuseext2 fuseiso9660 fuse-zip hfsplus hfsutils-tcltk libhfsp0 libhfsp-dev hfsprogs hfsutils

3. Add your user to the fuse group:

sudo usermod -a -G fuse $(id -u -n)

Log out of Ubuntu and log back in. Open a new terminal window and enter:

groups

Make sure "fuse" is listed as one of the groups you belong to.

4. Create a mount point for your Cloudstor:

sudo mkdir /media/cloudstor
sudo chown root:fuse /media/cloudstor
sudo chmod oug+w /media/cloudstor

5. Run the pogoplug application:

/path/to/pogoplugfs --user yourusername --password yourpassword --mountpoint /media/cloudstor

Use the username and password you use to log into the cloudstor.pogoplug.com website.

I put this in a script and added it to my start up applications list.

Perhaps the best part about this is it works from anywhere. I can mount my Cloudstor drive as a local hard drive at work or when traveling, not just from within the local network at my house.

Gnome and Aqualung keyboard shortcuts

Aqualung doesn't integrate into Gnome directly as far as keyboard shortcuts go.  What I want is to be able to press a key sequence and toggle pause and play.  It turns out to be pretty easy:

First, start Aqualung and make sure the pause and play buttons are combined.  There is a check box under Settings/General to combine them.

Then adjust Gnome:
1. Open gconf-editor
2. Drill down to apps/metacity/keybinding_commands
3. Double click on an empty command and enter:
aqualung -N0 --play
That is a zero.
4. Remember your command number, then go to apps/metacity/global_keybindings
5. Find the run_command that has the same number as your command number, then double click on it.
6. Type in the key sequence that you want for pause/play.  I used 
<Control><Alt>p


That's it.  

Update 26 May 2011: I've switched to using KDE rather than Gnome. Here's how to set up the same keyboard shortcut in KDE:

1. Open the System Settings. On my installation, I click the "K", then Settings, then System Settings.
2. Choose "Shortcuts and Gestures" from the Common Appearance and Behavior section.
3. Select Custom Shortcuts.
4. Click the Edit button (towards the bottom), then New, Global Shortcut, Command/URL.
5. Enter a name for the new action, I used "Aqualung Pause/Play".
6. On the Trigger tab, enter Ctrl+Alt+P by pressing those 3 buttons.
7. On the Action tab, enter aqualung -N0 --play for the command.
8. Click the Apply button at the bottom.

That's it.

Update 28 June 2011: I've dumped KDE and am now using Xubuntu. Here's how to set up the same keyboard shortcut for XFCE:

1. Open the Settings Manager. On my installation, I click the gear in the panel, then Settings, then Settings Manager.
2. Choose "Keyboard".
3. Select the "Applications Shortcuts" tab.
4. Click the "Add" button.
5. Enter aqualung -N0 --play for the command, click the "OK" button.
6. Press Ctrl+Alt+p.

That's it. 

Update 15 Dec 2011: I'm still using Xubuntu, but somewhere along the way something changed. For step 5 above, use this for the command:

aqualung -N0 --pause