Linux Mint 18.1 + PIA + OpenVPN + Network Manager Gnome [works]

I finally got Linux Mint 18.1 to correctly use OpenVPN with Private Internet Access (PIA).

Here's what didn't work:

• The PIA supplied binary.  It installed fine, but would simply time out on any connection
• Using command-line openvpn... even the /etc/openvpn solutions wouldn't work.

My biggest problem was this: OpenVPN would connect (sometimes), but there wouldn't be any internet connection.  I saw solutions that played with firewalls and iptables, but my Android worked just fine, and I felt like I shouldn't have to mess with iptables, NAT, etc.

Here's what did work:

• Use "Preferences --> Network" and NOT "Preferences --> Network Connections" or Network Manager that's accessed via the tray
• Download the default ovpn files and unzip:  https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/openvpn/openvpn.zip
• Goto "Preferences --> Network"
• Click "+"  --> "VPN"  --> "Import from file" --> select your ovpn file (i.e., "US East.ovpn")
• Under "Gateway" delete the " :1198" (or whatever port is listed)
• Enter your PIA username  ("Type" should already be "Password")
• Click "Advanced"
• Enable "Custom Gateway Port" and enter the port# you deleted from the Gateway name (i.e. 1198)
• Click "Security" tab
• Select "AES-128-CBC" (even if it's already listed)
• Select "SHA-1" (even if it's already listed)
• Click "OK" to close Advanced screen
• Click "Save"
• Now in the "Network" screen (NOT from the tray), select your VPN and turn it on.  It'll probably ask you for your password, and a popup will say you connected successfully.
• Test your VPN by visiting here: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/whats-my-ip/

Auto-connect to VPN

I haven't tried this yet, but in the "Preferences --> Network Connections" dialog (i.e., the other one not used above), you select your wifi connection --> "Edit" --> "General" tab.  There's an option there to automatically connect to a specific VPN when you connect to your wifi.


Hope this helps!

Getting an iPod 3G Nano (and others) to work in Linux

After none of the music apps that I installed correctly detected my 3G iPod, I decided to poke around and try to do it myself.  I tried using ifuse, etc. using this article as a guide:

http://geeknizer.com/sync-iphone-linux/

But it would only mount my iPod in read-only.  so then I tried mounting it manually but I didn't know what device it was, so over on Stack Overflow I found this command:

sudo lsblk -io NAME,TYPE,SIZE,MOUNTPOINT,FSTYPE,MODEL

And figured out my iPod was on /dev/sdd1

I then created a folder in /mnt

sudo mkdir /mnt/ipod

...then mounted it:

sudo mount -rw -o uid=1000 /dev/sdd1 /mnt/ipod

-rw is for read-write access, and I threw in -o uid=1000 to ensure that it's mounted for the currently logged in user.  My uid happened to be 1000, but you can find yours by typing:

id -u <your_username_here>

I then used gtkpod to manage my iPod.  It's not user-friendly so I followed this guide:

https://www.howtoforge.com/linux_gtkpod_ipod

TLDR for link above:  create a new repository (point it to /mnt/ipod, tell it what model ipod you have, name it), then sync it off the main screen.  you should see your files now.