September 2002 - main

Speedtouch Modem
by Wayne Stallwood 24 Oct '02

24 Oct '02

I have a rather odd problem using the Alcatel Speedtouch USB Modem with the sourceforge USB speedtouch drivers http://sourceforge.net/projects/speedtouch/ Running SuSE 8.0 with the latest (and all previous versions of the drivers) I have a stable connection, until I try and listen to a shoutcast stream using xmms. In this instance the connection will usually drop within 3 hours and always within 5. Downloading large files (say an ISO) from a fast mirror presents no problems. After the connection fails there are no errors reported in any of the syslogs. I am unable to restart the connection until I reboot the machine (even after killing all relevant processes and unmounting USB etc) I have posted a message on the Speedtouch mailing list, but had no response. Has anyone experienced this, or got any ideas as to what may be the cause. The machine also dual boots XP, under XP I have no such problem so I know my DSL line/Service is ok. Any help you be greatly appreciated Wayne

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Installing WordPerfect on Debian
by Ian Douglas 03 Oct '02

03 Oct '02

Hi Folks, Is anyone running WordPerfect on Debian? If so then how did you install it? I have obtained two Corel Linux WordPerfect 8.0 tarballs (guilg00.gz and guilguk0.gz) which I would like to install on my Debian 3.0 system. I have followed the instructions and copied them into a temp directory (/opt/wp80) then used "tar xvfz" to unpack them. Amongst the unpacked files is one called "Runme" which I ran ("./Runme") as root. It asks me if I have untared all the files. I reply "y". It says "Extracting files... Please wait.". It then comes up with an error message "Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4 not certified. Continue?" to which I reply "y". I then get literally screenfulls of error messages about files not being found. The error messages scroll past far to fast to read but I managed to catch the final screen's worth and have put it below. Anyone have a clue what is going wrong? Thanks, Ian. ### Partial error output ### sed: can't read shared/.prlist: No such file or directory chmod: too few arguments Try `chmod --help' for more information. chmod: getting attributes of `/wplib/.wpbuildc': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wplib/.wpbuildx': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shbin10/lmgrd': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shbin10/lmutil': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shbin10/wplmd8': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shbin10/hyperhelp': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shbin10/cvt': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shbin10/cjpeg': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shbin10/djpeg': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README.1': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README.2': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README.3': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README.4': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README.5': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README.6': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README.wpsahelp': No such file or directorychmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README.address': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README.copy': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README.demo': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README.errata': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README.icon': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README.install': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README.wpmagic': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README.support': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/README': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/default.prs': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/header.wp': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/pcl4map.fil': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/pssave.prs': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/trailer.wp': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/wp.drs': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/wp.lrs': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/XKeysymDB': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/wpmerge': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wplib/wpsaus.hlp': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wplearn/report.asc': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wplib/cyrillic.map': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wplib/greek.map': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wplib/wpml31us.exc': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wplib/wpof40us.exc': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpmacros/archwpg': No such file or directory ./install.wp: /tmp/WpTmP1/linux/ins/wxar: No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shbin10/archfltr': No such file or directory ./install.wp: /tmp/WpTmP1/linux/ins/wxar: No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/license.opt': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shbin10/wplicense': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shbin10/lm_isadmin': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shbin10/servers_up': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/fonts/archbdf': No such file or directory./install.wp: /tmp/WpTmP1/linux/ins/wxar: No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/fonts/archpcf': No such file or directory./install.wp: /tmp/WpTmP1/linux/ins/wxar: No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/fonts/dofonts': No such file or directorychmod: getting attributes of `/wpbin/instadm': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpexpdocs/.junk': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpgraphics/.junk': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/wpmacros/.junk': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/wpdm.dat': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/wpmagic': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/install.lk': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shbin10/install.wp': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/readme.ftp': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/wp60dm03..all': No such file or directorychmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/wp60hp01..all': No such file or directorychmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/wp60ms01..all': No such file or directorychmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/wp60ps01..all': No such file or directorychmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/wp60ps02..all': No such file or directorychmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/wpco03n_.pfb': No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/archafm': No such file or directory ./install.wp: /tmp/WpTmP1/linux/ins/wxar: No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shlib10/archpfb': No such file or directory ./install.wp: /tmp/WpTmP1/linux/ins/wxar: No such file or directory chmod: getting attributes of `/shbin10/tenkey': No such file or directory Installation Complete. wilderbeast:/opt/wp80#

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Weekly IRC reminder
by Neill Newman 30 Sep '02

30 Sep '02

This is the automated ALUG IRC meeting reminder sent to remind you that there is an IRC meeting tonight (Monday) at 8.00pm. The meeting takes place on the irc server irc.alug.org.uk in the #alug channel. Most IRC clients should allow you to get there with the commands "/server irc.alug.org.uk" and "/join #alug". Popular IRC clients include tkirc, bitchx, xchat and EPIC on Unix, and Mirc under windows. Here are some links to help you get started with irc. Unix http://www.xchat.org/ http://freshmeat.net/ http://www.epicsol.org/ Windows http://www.mirc.com (loads of help with irc for newbies!)

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Sharp Zaurus SL-500
by Wayne Stallwood 29 Sep '02

29 Sep '02

Has anyone played with one of these yet ?, I was looking at the Dabs catalogue and noticed that they are for sale at a reasonable price. I am tempted as I wanted to replace my trusty old Palm, and was even considering a Pocket PC device. I like the idea of Linux on a PDA (but I still have some major reservations about it's suitability) and I can't find any reviews on the Net. Previous Linux/PDA efforts seem to have had lukewarm reception from reviewers and seeing as Dixon's are unlikely to stock this toy I can't exactly go and try one out. Cheers Wayne

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Announce digest, Vol 1 #27 - 1 msg
by announce-request＠lists.alug.org.uk 29 Sep '02

29 Sep '02

Send Announce mailing list submissions to announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to announce-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk You can reach the person managing the list at announce-admin(a)lists.alug.org.uk When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Announce digest..." --------------.--------------------------------------------.------------ alug-announce | Newsletter of the Anglian Linux User Group | Weekly(ish) --------------'--------------------------------------------'------------ ** Please send articles for this letter to announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk ** *** Please send replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk, not announce... *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Today's Topics: 1. Fwd: New free online Linux magazine: The Grasshoppers' Linux Journal (MJ Ray) --__--__-- Message: 1 To: announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk From: MJ Ray <markj(a)cloaked.freeserve.co.uk> Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 11:21:05 +0100 Subject: [Alug Announce] Fwd: New free online Linux magazine: The Grasshoppers' Linux Journal This appeared on comp.os.linux.announce, but maybe new users here would like it too? From: Ludootje <ludootje@linux.be@telenet-ops.be> Subject: New free online Linux magazine: The Grasshoppers' Linux Journal Date: 19 Sep 2002 15:50:39 GMT Hi all! Some people from the linuxnewbie.org forum and I have been working hard on a GNU/Linux magazine, we've recently released issue number 1. We need readers of course, but most of all writers. Currently we don't have a lot of writers, and it's a lot of work to get enough enough articles and interviews to bring out another issue. We're mostly oriented towards newbies (unlike other online Linux-magazines), but some articles can be very interesting to experts too. The interviews for example, can interest everyone. For those interested, this is the Table Of Contents of our first issue: ------------- What is Linux? My First Linux A Noob's Perspective Unix Tool of the Month Open Source Alternatives MrProject Interview Mandrake vs. SuSE Custom RedHat CDs Dual Monitor Guide Gnomemeeting Interview Getting Help in Linux Dynamic IP Webservers The Year of the DVD Review: Creative vs. Labtec Speakers Letters ------------- For those interested in writing (English doesn't even have to be your native language, we have proof-readers): simply register on our forum, and say you're willing to write an article / make an interview. We'll give you access to the articles & interviews forums once your interview / article is done. Anyone who thinks (s)he can somehow help the project is free to do so, of course. If you have any remaining questions, you can simply answer to this post, e-mail me at ludootje(a)linux.be, or register on the forum and ask your question there. Ludootje -- The Grasshoppers' Linux Journal - a free, online distributed magazine about GNU/Linux / Open Source / ... oriented towards newbies. Check it out @ http://ghj.sunsite.dk ! ########################################################################## # Send submissions for comp.os.linux.announce to: cola(a)stump.algebra.com # # PLEASE remember a short description of the software and the LOCATION. # # This group is archived at http://stump.algebra.com/~cola/ # ########################################################################## --__--__-- _______________________________________________ Announce mailing list Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce End of Announce Digest

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Re: [Alug] console reset
by Jenny_Hopkins＠toby-churchill.com 26 Sep '02

26 Sep '02

Toby Jaffey wrote: >You could try restarting the getty for that console. > >do a "ps ax | grep tty1" and kill that process. I think that init should >restart it for you, if not do something like "/sbin/getty 38400 tty1". Thanks. I've tried this, but it restarts a new process number for getty each time witht he screen showing the same. John Seago wrote: > on my system, (Slackware) ^U is the backspace key in SOME circumstances. Also tried this one, to no avail. Thanks, though. I'm about to make a new kernel so I will be rebooting the box anyway, but it is an annoying problem that it would be nicer to have known how to mend. Jenny.

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console reset
by Jenny_Hopkins＠toby-churchill.com 26 Sep '02

26 Sep '02

Hi Alug: tty1 has hung in minicom; I have removed the lockfile and stopped the minicom process but have now been left with the image and a flashing cursor and I can't communicate at all with that console. I had a reset problem a few months back, so I looked up the thread we had on that, but they all assume being able to talk directly on that tty. I've read the getty man page, and tried a few things. If I try to kill the process a new one begins and the image remains. "reset tty1" from another console asks for terminal type, I say vt102 and it tells me a bunch of stuff including "kill is ^U", but they all do nothing. It's severely annoying. Jen.

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Console Reset
by John Seago 26 Sep '02

26 Sep '02

It may be of no help at all, but on my system, (Slackware) ^U is the backspace key in SOME circumstances. -- John Seago

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Kernel Dumping garbage to Port 80h
by Wayne Stallwood 24 Sep '02

24 Sep '02

For reasons I won't go into to much, the kernel dumping stuff to port 80 is causing me problems as I use port 80 for something else (some homebrew hardware plugged into my PCI bus) Generally port 80 is only used by the post code in the Bios to output debugging information. When I built my hardware I assumed that after post was complete nothing would be written to 0x80 so it was safe for me to use. Well with any other OS that is true, but Linus has done a dirty hack to fix I/O timing in the kernel. I love having the kernel source :o) Found this gem in /usr/src/linux/include/asm/io.h * Thanks to James van Artsdalen for a better timing-fix than * the two short jumps: using outb's to a nonexistent port seems * to guarantee better timings even on fast machines. * * On the other hand, I'd like to be sure of a non-existent port: * I feel a bit unsafe about using 0x80 (should be safe, though) * * Linus */ #ifdef SLOW_IO_BY_JUMPING #define __SLOW_DOWN_IO "\njmp 1f\n1:\tjmp 1f\n1:" #else #define __SLOW_DOWN_IO "\noutb %%al,$0x80" #endif #ifdef REALLY_SLOW_IO #define __FULL_SLOW_DOWN_IO __SLOW_DOWN_IO __SLOW_DOWN_IO __SLOW_DOWN_IO __SLOW_DOWN_IO #else #define __FULL_SLOW_DOWN_IO __SLOW_DOWN_IO #endif Can any of you think of any other port I can get the kernel to write this to that would have the same effect of slowing down I/O but wouldn't be used by any other hardware ? I've got to re-compile the kernel anyway (to sort out ATM support once and for all on my machine) and I want to add the preemptive patch as well Of course the "better" way would be to fix my hardware, but the only way I can do that is to recode the PIC (microcontroller) I am using but at the moment I can't find the PIC source and it would take me a long time to rewrite. Wayne

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Perl split function...
by Simon 23 Sep '02

23 Sep '02

HELLPPPP.... OK, I've got an IP address in a variable $address, I know because print qq($ipaddress); gives me the address trying to split it into it's singular octets like so... (As usernames on the system are derived from the last 2 octets of the address) @octets = split(/./, $ipaddress); Now from what I understand the elements in the array @octets should be accessable by $octets[0] etc.. Or while (@octets) { print qq(Octet = $_); } But it doesn't... Or am I way off mark... Please help.... TIA Simon

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