April 2011 - main

Re: [ALUG] JTAG
by keithjamieson＠hotmail.co.uk 11 May '11

11 May '11

Re-sent cos this PC defaults to Rich Text. Sorry Admins. From: keithjamieson(a)hotmail.co.uk To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk Subject: RE: [ALUG] JTAG Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:05:28 +0100 Mark JTAG is used to use a PC to program an embedded device. I have made one the parallel port of a PC to recover my Linksys WRT54G. It also, I think, can be used to debug the device. Its a "standard" which is adopted by manufactured, althought I have not heard of the newer one you mentioned. But I have not been in this field for some time! In the older times you would remove an EEPROM and pur it into a programmer, then put it back into your device. This is the lead to illiminate that need. Keith

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TCP/IP logging
by Mark Rogers 09 May '11

09 May '11

I have a simple application which connects to port 50000 on a Linux box, communicates, then disconnects. I'd like to log the entire communication in each direction in an easy-to-read format so that I can see what is going on. The protocol is ASCII but with a few control chars thrown in (eg STX/ETX/ACK/etc, and I wouldn't like to rule out NULL chars ever appearing in the data). I can easily run the server side at (say) port 50001 instead and have "something" listen on port 50000 and connect to port 50000 and pass the data back and forth between the two, logging it as it goes, although I don't know what to choose for "something". Or I could look at Wireshark, which I've played with in the past but never in anger, and my general feeling is that unless I learn how to sort the trees from the wood then this is going to give me too much information and I'm going to spend more time sorting through it than I do resolving the issues in the protocol. Or maybe there are better alternatives altogether! [If it's relevant: the Linux server has no GUI but is a VirtualBox virtual machine on another Linux server that does have a GUI where I could run Wireshark. The device connecting to the server is not a PC and has no diagnostic capability built in.] -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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FW: Re: "Small print" ... !!!
by mark fernandes (IFR) 29 Apr '11

29 Apr '11

Scammers – google them and you get several forum posts about them (after their actual page natch) See http://www.domainscams.co.uk/domain-name-scammer_42_Domain-Renewal-Group.php They probably sell ‘domain theft’ insurance as well… ☺ Regards, Mark Fernandes http://codingscience.blogspot.com/ http://bbn.ifrn.bbsrc.ac.uk/gary/main.html http://www.ifr.ac.uk<http://www.ifr.ac.uk/> When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it. But when you cannot, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind. { William Thompson aka Lord Kelvin of Larg (1824-1907) }

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JTAG
by Mark Rogers 28 Apr '11

28 Apr '11

Looking at some of the embedded Linux units, eg the GuruPlug that I have sat on my desk and have never got around to playing with, a lot of them mention JTAG. It's been a long time since I played with this type of kit and it seems that things have moved on from the days of UV lamps for wiping EPROMs, but I can't find anything useful but short about what JTAG is/does and whether JTAG is just JTAG or it's one of the standards that require you to pick the right JTAG programming kit to match the hardware. Anyone around these parts able to give me a quick intro, or point me to one? At this point I really just want to know whether it's even something I need to know about! The High Level guide here: http://www.xjtag.com/support-jtag/jtag-introduction.php .. looks great but is still a little to low level for me at this stage! -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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"Small print" ... !!!
by ted.harding＠wlandres.net 28 Apr '11

28 Apr '11

Greetings Folks! Background: My email hosting is by 1and1.co.uk (and many thanks to Bev for suggesting 1and1 last September -- the service has been very good). I created the domain name "wlandres.net" for this purpose, and that domain is registered with 1and1. I have just received a letter from "Domain Renewal Group, Domain Name Renewal Service", telling me: "As a courtesey to domain name holders, we are sending you this reminder that your domain name registration is due to expire in the next few months [September, in fact ... ]. When you switch today to the Domain Renewal Group, you can take advantage of our best savings. Your registration for wlandres.net will expire on September 5, 2011. Act today!" This, on the face of it, looks like a blatant attempt to poach my registration with 1and1 from 1and1. Do other people get this sort of ***t? And, for what it's worth, the "small print" on the back of the letter is the smallest print I have ever seen! Measuring and counting on the longest paragraph, I find 7 lines of print on 13mm of paper, which comes out (if I've done my sums right) at 5.25 points/line of print (1 point = 1/72 inch). Allowing for inter-line spacing (aka "leading"), that's a close approximation to 4-point type size! If I put on 2 pairs of glasses at once, I can just about read it. Counting the characters in a sample line, I get 322 in one line across A4, length 20.4cm. I don't think they want me to read the small print ... Any comments? Best wishes to all, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <ted.harding(a)wlandres.net> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 28-Apr-11 Time: 08:23:22 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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Bash related question
by Bev Nicolson 24 Apr '11

24 Apr '11

I've got so far installing Skype but on checking the README file as the books suggest, I don't know how to string this lot together (see below) to make a decent command. Help gratefully received. (I mean I know copy is cp but beyond that I'm stuck). << copy the binary to /usr/bin and install /sounds /lang and /avatars in /usr/share/skypedirectory >> Bev.

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Squeeze wireless
by Anthony Anson 20 Apr '11

20 Apr '11

Have Squeeze on the laptop now, but I can't suss the wireless connection - I know it works because it did last night, but with an experienced pilot. I am away on the other side of the country this weekend and thought it would be nice to use a screen I can see easily. The Eee's connection is easy - it detects and flags-up any wireless within reach, and you can then highlight it and enter the key (if required), then Bob's yer uncle. I've opened 'Preferences/network connections, added a connection and put in its name, and 'applied' it, but can get no forrarder - nothing's asked me for the key. Any kind Alugger able to provide a step-by-step list of destructions, pretty please? -- Tony Anson www.girolle.co.uk/

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Laptop HDD size and Linux
by Mark Rogers 18 Apr '11

18 Apr '11

I decided to install Linux Mint on my trusty "old" Fujitsu Siemens V5535 laptop (it's about 2 yrs old). I bought a new 2.5" 250GB SATA drive to replace the old 80GB (Windows) drive, and set off on the install. However, I got all sorts of disk errors, so (assuming the disk to be faulty) I got another (different brand) 250GB SATA drive and started again - same results. I'm also seeing issues at the POST stage (eg sometimes the BIOS doesn't report a disk being present, sometimes there's no drive to boot from, etc). Is it reasonable to conclude that the problem is that the laptop doesn't like the new disks? If so, how would I find out what the maximum disk is that the laptop will support? I can't seem to find much from a Google search. I did find a BIOS update and installed that but it changed nothing. -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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Virtual Server performance testing
by Mark Rogers 15 Apr '11

15 Apr '11

Can anyone recommend a simple tool for benchmarking a virtual server? Everyone quotes equivalent CPU figures (eg one one server I have the equivalent of 1x0.35GHz Xeon cores) but I'd like a tool that would give me a quick benchmark that I can run on several virtual servers to make comparisons between them. I don't really care if or how the results compare with "real" CPU's, I just want to know if server A is better or worse than server B, and ideally by how much ("twice as good", etc). I don't want to hammer the virtual server or run tests for hours or days. -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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[ALUG Announce] 3rd Monday Monthly Ipswich Social Meeting : McGintys, Northgate Street
by samwise 15 Apr '11

15 Apr '11

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- The monthly "Third Monday" ALUG Ipswich Social Meeting is back next week, Monday 18th April, at 20:00: P J McGinty & Sons 15 Northgate Street Ipswich Suffolk IP1 3BY Tel: 01473 251 515 Map/Directions URI: http://maps.google.co.uk/?q=IP1+3BY WWW: http://www.pjmcgintys.co.uk/ McGintys pub is in the centre of Ipswich. It's directly opposite the town's central library and has a reputation for good Irish beer. We're usually to be found in the lowest section of the bar, near the library entrance to the pub. All are welcome, novices and experienced users. Feel free to ask for further information on the Main ALUG mailing list. I went along to one of the recent developer meet-ups over in The Dove and can report back on who I met and what it was like. Peter T will be on hand to make a humbling apology on why, as deputy, he failed to send out the email reminder last month, whilst I was in Cuba (probably because I forgot to remind him before I went). Plus I've been messing with C++ recently and am beginning to learn just how dangerous it really is. Hope to see some of there! Peter. ----- Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

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