Random Thoughts: Samba, Cinnamon and Android Insufficient Storage Space Error

So I've been using Linux Mint a lot and there's been some adjustment.  I find Cinnamon to be a total regression to Unity's dock.  I've complained a bit about this but fortunately, someone pointed me to Cairo which is a decent replacement.  It's not as slick as Unity's Dock, but it's functional and familiar enough.  I just cannot go back to that old Start Menu, Taskbar thing.  Feels cluttered and useless.

While we're in the subject of Cinnamon, when the laptop wakes up from suspend or sleep, sometimes, Cinnamon starts acting very weird.  None of my mouse clicks the menus, Cairo's task switching doesn't really work.  The only way I got to recover from it was to kill Cinnamon.  

killall -HUP cinnamon

Then, there's samba.  In the university I work at, we have some specific configuration and Cinnamon's connect Windows Share interface is a bit wonky.  Turns out when I specify the server name, I have to leave out the slashes (e.g. //).  Then specify the share to use.

Lastly, there's a common problem on Android where the storage space is always running out.  This usually manifests itself when attempting to install apps.  Google Play Store will complain "Insufficient Storage Available" which is a real pain especially when you own those Chinese OEM tablets.  I've learned since that Android will build up junk cache over time and can easily chew up GB of space after prolonged use.  You can use any cache cleaner app and run your device through it.  I use the Clean Master but I'm certain there are better lightweight apps available.  I ran my cleaner app and it showed me the junk I should clean up.  Tapped clean and I was able to install the apps I wanted just fine.

That's a wrap!  Ciao!

Google Play Books and Google Play Store

It was annoying that I could not clear my downloaded Google Books from the Play Store and recently, I discovered that to get rid of them, you had to download Google Play Books and then view your library.  You'll see all your books that you can then delete.  This clears up the recommended list that spams the Play Store.

Google Play Install Error Code "919"

I had problems with the Thomson tablet with installing some applications and was getting this error message.  A little bit of searching and I found out that this was a network issue.  Clearing the dalvik cache and Google Play cache is commonly suggested but that doesn't help.  What helped in my case was to go to Settings and Data Usage, then turn off Mobile Phone Data.  This fixed the install problem.