Acer Aspire One Internal Mic and Ubuntu Linux

In my attempt to get Skype set up on my netbook (an Acer Aspire One model AOA 150) I ran in to trouble with the internal microphone. I am using Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition.

To solve the issue, install the package pavucontrol, it is a volume mixer for Pulse Audio. After it is installed, go to the Input tab and make the sliders for "Internal Audio Analog Stereo" move independently, then turn one all the way down and adjust the other as needed (mine is set to 30%).

I also had to setup Skype to NOT automatically adjust mixer levels as it kept thinking things were too loud and turning down the mic whenever it detected sound.

Change Autologin settings in Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx from the terminal

While setting up my home server I made the [stupid] mistake of deleting the user that was configured for auto login. After searching for an hour I figured out that the remedy for this is quite simple.

First, switch to a virtual terminal (CTRL + ALT + F1), then login as a working user with sudo privileges.

Edit the file /etc/gdm/custom.conf using nano, vim, or some other text mode text editor. Note that the typical configuration file is /etc/gdm/gdm.conf but this file was not present on my system and the values were in the custom.conf file instead.

If using nano you would type:
sudo nano /etc/gdm/custom.conf

The lines you want to change are "AutomaticLogin=" and "TimedLogin="

Change these to the [existing] user you want to be automatically logged in.

Another option is to delete the values mentioned above and edit the lines "AutomaticLoginEnable=" and "TimedLoginEnable=" and set them to false.

Save and reboot.

Done.