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ubuntu 8.04 revisited
by gizbun 23 Jul '08

23 Jul '08

> I upgraded to Hardy Heron a few days ago and have two puzzles. One is that twice now I've had Network Manager error messages when I shut down, though I've changed none of the settings > Bev. > I was getting this on one of my machines after upgrade. The simple solution is to edit /etc/init.d/halt and /etc/init.d/reboot to remove the -i option i.e. in /etc/init.d/halt change: halt -d -f -i $poweroff $hddown to # halt -d -f -i $poweroff $hddown halt -d -f $poweroff $hddown and in /etc/init.d/reboot reboot -d -f -i to # reboot -d -f -i reboot -d -f (old lines left and commented out so that I know what I've done.) The man page states that "-i iterates configured network interfaces and brings them down before shutting down. On Linux, this is unnecessary as the kernel will do this anyway." Worked for me anyway. David Davies

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Enemy Territory Quake Wars game night success
by Adam Bower 23 Jul '08

23 Jul '08

Hi, etqw last night was a pretty good success, 4 of us played hopefully we are going to do it again very soon. If you are interested then post here or find either quinophex, DrJeep or DralaFi on irc and we'll try to thrash out a time/date although we will probably have ad-hoc games during the week so asking on irc if we are playing might also be sensible. Just from a personal perspective given I'd not played quake wars until last night if we do get some more people interested who have not played before, perhaps we shouldn't go on a ranked server first and find a quiet server with some bots so it is a bit slower paced? I found the ranked game was far to frantic given I wasn't really sure what I was doing but as soon as we went up against some bots and had a bit more breathing space it became lots easier as I managed to work out how to actually complete missions. Adam -- jabberid = quinophex(a)jabber.earth.li

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Enemy Territory Quake Wars Game night
by Wayne Stallwood 23 Jul '08

23 Jul '08

Just a reminder that tomorrow (tuesday) is Quake Wars game night. First game at 8PM, meet on #alug (IRC) at 7:30. Second game at 10PM, meet on IRC at 9:30. Alternatively friend drjeep and/or dralafi within the game before 6PM and use the follow feature to find us.

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Re: [ALUG] ubuntu 8.04 revisited
by Bev Nicolson 22 Jul '08

22 Jul '08

I've just found that the preferences menu has the option to make the Courier font bold and it's much better. The error messages go by pretty fast (it's the last thing I see before it shuts down completely) but it starts off by announcing that it's starting various processes. If I can write down what it says I'll post it. Bev. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Steven Rose" > > > > What is the actual error message(s) regarding the network manager? > > In response to your other query, not being an Opera user myself, I > imagine somewhere in appearance preferences, much like in Firefox you > can alter the default font types, an issue I came across in 8.04 was > some fonts being set to "light" versions rather than the regular weight, > making them look faded. > -- _______________________________________________ Surf the Web in a faster, safer and easier way: Download Opera 9 at http://www.opera.com Powered by Outblaze

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ubuntu 8.04 revisited
by Bev Nicolson 22 Jul '08

22 Jul '08

I upgraded to Hardy Heron a few days ago and have two puzzles. One is that twice now I've had Network Manager error messages when I shut down, though I've changed none of the settings and the other, less serious puzzle, is that plain type in Opera now looks like the typewriter needs a new ribbon. Can I change that? Bev. -- _______________________________________________ Surf the Web in a faster, safer and easier way: Download Opera 9 at http://www.opera.com Powered by Outblaze

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Ipswich Meet Location on the 21st
by Wayne Stallwood 21 Jul '08

21 Jul '08

I haven't seen an announce yet for the Ipswich meet and don't know if I have missed some conversation about the potential new venue. Is it still at the Milestone as per the Alug wiki front page or are we going with Sam Wise's suggestion to the main list of giving the Punch and Judy a go ?

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Fw: iT4Communities - vote by 22 Jul to help our funding
by mbm 18 Jul '08

18 Jul '08

All See message below. This is actually a worthwhile charity working in our industry to put charities in touch with people capable of helping them out. Please vote if you think it worthwhile Mick Begin forwarded message: Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:06:41 +0100 (BST) From: info(a)it4communities.org.uk To: mick(a)rlogin.net Subject: iT4Communities - vote by 22 Jul to help our funding As you may be aware, iT4Communities has been having some funding problems. We lost our government funding when Capacity Builders decided that national programmes should not support front line voluntary organisations directly. Now you and I know that services and systems like iT4C can only sensibly operate on a national scale (if not an international one?) and that we and you do serve front line voluntary organisations and charities directly. But that's water under the bridge now. Right now, we've been short listed in a competition to win up to £20,000 of funding from MoneySavingExpert.com. We've done incredibly well to get this far - there were over 600 entries and we're in the final twelve. We need you to vote for us www.moneysavingexpert.com/#vote now! The four charities with the most votes when the poll closes on Tuesday 22nd July will become MoneySavingExpert's chosen charities for the year. We have helped a lot of the most popular charities mentioned MoneySavingExpert's short list (34 projects for the current top 5 in the poll and their associates) but we serve you and them rather than the public directly so we are not as well known as the other short listed charities in the MoneySavingExpert list. If every one of our 5000+ volunteers voted for us we'd have a great chance of being in the top four. So please go to www.moneysavingexpert.com/#vote to vote for us NOW! No automation please, I know that it's a temptation if you know how but please resist it! On the other hand, do encourage your friends and colleagues to vote for us by passing this message on. And if we win? We'll use the funding to define more projects, help more projects to completion and encourage more volunteering to help voluntary organisations with their IT needs. So everybody benefits! We are still, of course, hunting for corporate sponsorship too so please get in touch if you can help here - or know someone who can. Leads are mostly what we need. We'll follow up. John I. Davies iT4Communities Programme Director Mobile: +44 7736 798802 Phone: +44 20 7796 2144 Email: john(a)wcit.org.uk www.it4communities.org.uk "Introducing IT professionals wanting to volunteer their skills to charities needing IT help" Email: john(a)wcit.org.uk 39a Bartholomew Close, London EC1A 7JN iT4Communities is a programme of the Information Technologists Company, www.wcit.org.uk. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The text file for RFC 854 contains exactly 854 lines. Do you think there is any cosmic significance in this? Douglas E Comer - Internetworking with TCP/IP Volume 1 http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc854.txt ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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[ALUG Announce] 3rd Monday Monthly Ipswich Social Meeting : Punch & Judy, Grafton Way
by samwise 17 Jul '08

17 Jul '08

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 21st July) at 20:00, with a new venue: Punch & Judy Grafton Way IPSWICH Suffolk IP1 1AX Tel: 01473 210979 Map/Directions URI: http://maps.google.co.uk/?q=IP1+1AX The Punch & Judy pub is in the centre of Ipswich, near Cardinal Park - at the opposite end of the large car park from the Cineworld multiplex cinema and a short walk from Ipswich train station. There is more information on the venue, including car parking info, on the ALUG wiki: http://www.alug.org.uk/wiki/moin.cgi/Meetings All are welcome, novices and experienced users. Hopefully, it shouldn't be too hard to find the pack, look for those huddled around a laptop! Feel free to ask for further information on the Main ALUG mailing list. Hope to see you 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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Enemy Territory Quake Wars Game night
by Wayne Stallwood 15 Jul '08

15 Jul '08

The first (and if nobody turns up, last) **Official Enemy Territory:Quake Wars ALUG game night** Play for the first night will be on a public ranked server, if it goes well then we can consider hosting a server, forming a clan etc but this game needs at least 4 players a side before it gets interesting so I want to get an idea of numbers first before we commit to that. First game on the 22nd of July at 8PM, meet on #alug (IRC) at 7:30 to find out what server we are on. Second game at 10PM, meet on IRC at 9:30. Alternatively friend drjeep and or dralafi within the game before 6PM and use the follow feature to find us. For those that don't know ET:QW is a fps with strong team play elements, a linux client is available but unfortunately this is a commercial game. (all be it currently available for £7 or less delivered)

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[ALUG Announce] Enemy Territory Quake Wars Game night
by Wayne Stallwood 15 Jul '08

15 Jul '08

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 first (and if nobody turns up, last) **Official Enemy Territory:Quake Wars ALUG game night** Play for the first night will be on a public ranked server, if it goes well then we can consider hosting a server, forming a clan etc but this game needs at least 4 players a side before it gets interesting so I want to get an idea of numbers first before we commit to that. First game on the 22nd of July at 8PM, meet on #alug (IRC) at 7:30 to find out what server we are on. Second game at 10PM, meet on IRC at 9:30. Alternatively friend drjeep and or dralafi within the game before 6PM and use the follow feature to find us. For those that don't know ET:QW is a fps with strong team play elements, a linux client is available but unfortunately this is a commercial game. (all be it currently available for £7 or less delivered) ----- 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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Picasa 2 for Linux
by James Freer 14 Jul '08

14 Jul '08

Not that i'm into digital photography in a big way but a number of people recommended me to try Picasa without knowing that i use Ubuntu. Looking at the google pages i discovered that they do a Linux version. I was going to try the windows version on wine before discovering that they had a linux version. http://picasa.google.com/linux/learn_more.html http://picasa.google.com/linux/faq.html#23 Reading the two links i was interested to read the following sentence. "Wine runs on top of the X Window System and Linux or Unix. But it's not a Windows emulator; instead, it provides a Windows API middleware layer that enables Windows programs to run on Linux without the slowing effects of OS emulation or a virtual machine." Having tried to learn about wine and virtual machines i've now found a sort of combination. One downloads version 2.7 .deb and then part of it is also running in Wine. This 'middleware layer' is perhaps something new and if anyone knows perhaps they could explain... maybe of interest to photographers amongst us! thx james

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Scripted editing of PDF files
by Mark Rogers 14 Jul '08

14 Jul '08

Does anyone have any idea how to perform command-line PDF editing? The sort of thing I am talking about is adding text to the document maybe even editing existing text if that's possible. (The PDF will be a poster for printing, I need to change some details and return it. The quality of the PDF is therefore important and converting (say) to JPEG, adding the content, then converting back, will probably not give adequate results (unless someone knows better?) For test purposes I have tried things like: convert test.pdf test.png convert test.png test2.pdf .. and the quality difference between test.pdf and test2.pdf is noticable (colour definition has reduced, and the image has become grainy). In fact, even: convert test.pdf test2.pdf .. gives almost identical results to the via-jpeg test, which makes me think something like that is happening anyway. It may be that I can improve the above tests with convert if anyone has any suggestions? -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0845 45 89 555 Registered in England (0456 0902) at 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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Job vacancies - Network Operations, System Administration, LAMP Development
by Ben White 14 Jul '08

14 Jul '08

Hi, We've got a couple of jobs open within our Network Operations team based in Great Blakenham just outside Ipswich. The company is an ISP, Timico Ltd who have aquired KeConnect Internet and Twang.net in the past couple of years. The Timico NOC is tasked with running the infrastructure and services for all 3 organisations. The job description is fairly fluid at the moment until we see some applicants. There's 2 positions open and with the successful candidates we need to find experience in network operations, system administration and LAMP development skills. More details and how to apply available at http://www.timico.co.uk/home/work_for_us.php Many Thanks, Ben White -- Ben

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Comparison of CPU speeds
by Ted.Harding＠manchester.ac.uk 10 Jul '08

10 Jul '08

Hi Folks, Sorry for any cross-posting which may affect any of you! I've been asked the following, but don't know the technicalities to provide an answer myself. Given that a certain simulation job (10,000 rounds) takes 6-8 hours on an Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.59GHz machine, what might it take (i.e. what speed factor) on a machine with a) IntelR CoreT2 Duo E6400 b) IntelR CoreT2 Duo E6600 c) IntelR CoreT2 Duo E6700 (Ball-park will do). I haven't been given the GHz speeds for these other processors, but a quick Google suggests they're all around 2.6GHz, give or take a bit. The computations for the simulation are numerically intensive; also much reading to & writing from RAM. With thanks, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)manchester.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 09-Jul-08 Time: 21:43:45 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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Ubuntu 8.04 - dualboot on two hard drives
by James Freer 09 Jul '08

09 Jul '08

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: James Freer <jessejazza(a)googlemail.com> Date: 2008/7/9 Subject: Re: [ALUG] Ubuntu 8.04 - dualboot on two hard drives To: Wayne Stallwood <ALUGlist(a)digimatic.co.uk> 2008/7/8 Wayne Stallwood <ALUGlist(a)digimatic.co.uk>: > On Tue, 2008-07-08 at 11:51 +0100, James Freer wrote: >> I've read a post on this on another forum and somehow it doesn't seem >> to work for me... ubuntu 8.04 seems quite clever. It finds the >> winblows drive and puts the necessary code at the bottom of the >> menu.lst file. I'd rather use dualboot with two drives as it is then >> easier for installing new ubuntu releases (IMHO). >> >> hard drives both standard IDE on a 2.6ghz desktop. >> master drive - ubuntu 8.04 >> slave drive - win2k (no reason other than i don't have a copy of XP... >> my only reason for wanting to do dualbooting is that i've got several >> apps and a scanner than i can't run on ubuntu) >> >> Following the beginning of the guide that worked fine - installing >> win2k on master and then connecting the master for ubuntu carefully >> switching the win2k disk to slave. > > The problem with doing that is that it would break the Windows > bootloader. At this level it identifies the disks depending on where > they are on the controller (i.e which channel and master/slave) and > partition number on the disk. The error you are getting is because ntldr > is getting pointed in the wrong direction by a file in the root of the > Windows partition called boot.ini (it is also possible that this file > doesn't actually exist, but more on that later). > > It is possible you just need to edit the path to the Windows disk in > boot.ini unfortunately this is specified as an ARC path (yes that is the > Advanced Risc Computing one) so you probably need to read and understand > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/102873 first to work out what the ARC > path of your disk is now you have moved it. Although if it is the first > partition of a secondary disk on the primary IDE channel then > multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1) might be close. > > That may fix it..or may only get you as far as a BSoD telling you > "inaccessible boot device" this really depends on how many goats you > have sacrificed. > > XP can boot without a boot.ini file ISTR in which case it just tries the > first fat32/ntfs partition it can find. But I am pretty sure W2K needs > one so editing this (taking a backup copy first) is probably your best > chance. many thanks Wayne I wondered if that was the problem from just reading various things i'd found from doing a google. For me being less technical it is hardly worth trying to do the editing. After posting this message i was searching through the bits 'n' pieces that came with this machine to find an XP recovery CD set. Making the windoze HD master again and installing XP took little more than about 20 mins - all the drivers necessary being already there... thought i was going to have a hunt on 'drivers guide'. I'd always wanted to avoid dualboot but this 2HD method seems better than partitioning. While i have only a couple of apps and a scanner to run on windoze - i still find certain DVDs a pain to run on ubuntu. I'm now happily watching my Telegraph compilation of previous wimbledons which was somehow prepared for windoze as RealPlayer and others didn't work properly. james

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Ubuntu 8.04 - dualboot on two hard drives
by James Freer 08 Jul '08

08 Jul '08

I've read a post on this on another forum and somehow it doesn't seem to work for me... ubuntu 8.04 seems quite clever. It finds the winblows drive and puts the necessary code at the bottom of the menu.lst file. I'd rather use dualboot with two drives as it is then easier for installing new ubuntu releases (IMHO). hard drives both standard IDE on a 2.6ghz desktop. master drive - ubuntu 8.04 slave drive - win2k (no reason other than i don't have a copy of XP... my only reason for wanting to do dualbooting is that i've got several apps and a scanner than i can't run on ubuntu) Following the beginning of the guide that worked fine - installing win2k on master and then connecting the master for ubuntu carefully switching the win2k disk to slave. I want ubuntu to load as default. I read through the forum listed menu.lst carefully taking note of what was said about needing to put the ammendments at the bottom of the file. In 8.04 at the foot of menu.lst IT IS ALREADY THERE - no editing required. It would seem that 8.04 DOES the necessary! On rebooting i selected the bottom item i.e windows and it didn't seem to load. windows message "Windows 2000 could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem. Could not read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware" I don't think this message can be relevant to the problem as i installed win2k fine? I'd be very grateful if you put put me right! Menu.lst below 8.04 original no ammendments. thanks james # menu.lst - See: grub(, info grub, update-grub( # grub-install(, grub-floppy(, # grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub # and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/. ## default num # Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and # the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used. # # You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry # is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'. # WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your # array will desync and will not let you boot your system. default 0 ## timeout sec # Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry # (normally the first entry defined). timeout 10 ## hiddenmenu # Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu) #hiddenmenu # Pretty colours #color cyan/blue white/blue ## password ['--md5'] passwd # If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing # control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the # command 'lock' # e.g. password topsecret # password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/ # password topsecret # # examples # # title Windows 95/98/NT/2000 # root (hd0,0) # makeactive # chainloader +1 # # title Linux # root (hd0,1) # kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro # # # Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST ### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST ## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified ## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below ## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs ## ## Start Default Options ## ## default kernel options ## default kernel options for automagic boot options ## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z ## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted. ## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro ## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro ## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro # kopt=root=UUID=4a8cf581-73c8-41dc-a4d0-2bee78c3e5fc ro ## Setup crashdump menu entries ## e.g. crashdump=1 # crashdump=0 ## default grub root device ## e.g. groot=(hd0,0) # groot=(hd0,0) ## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options ## e.g. alternative=true ## alternative=false # alternative=true ## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options ## e.g. lockalternative=true ## lockalternative=false # lockalternative=false ## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the ## alternatives ## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5 # defoptions=quiet splash ## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options ## e.g. lockold=false ## lockold=true # lockold=false ## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option # xenhopt= ## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option # xenkopt=console=tty0 ## altoption boot targets option ## multiple altoptions lines are allowed ## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options ## altoptions=(recovery) single # altoptions=(recovery mode) single ## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst ## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the ## alternative kernel options ## e.g. howmany=all ## howmany=7 # howmany=all ## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option ## e.g. memtest86=true ## memtest86=false # memtest86=true ## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system ## can be true or false # updatedefaultentry=false ## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options ## can be true or false # savedefault=false ## ## End Default Options ## title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic root (hd0,0) kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=4a8cf581-73c8-41dc-a4d0-2bee78c3e5fc ro quiet splash initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic quiet title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic (recovery mode) root (hd0,0) kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=4a8cf581-73c8-41dc-a4d0-2bee78c3e5fc ro single initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic root (hd0,0) kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic root=UUID=4a8cf581-73c8-41dc-a4d0-2bee78c3e5fc ro quiet splash initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic quiet title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic (recovery mode) root (hd0,0) kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic root=UUID=4a8cf581-73c8-41dc-a4d0-2bee78c3e5fc ro single initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic title Ubuntu 8.04.1, memtest86+ root (hd0,0) kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin quiet ### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST # This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian # ones. title Other operating systems: root # This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS # on /dev/sdb1 title Windows NT/2000/XP (loader) root (hd1,0) savedefault makeactive map (hd0) (hd1) map (hd1) (hd0) chainloader +1

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[ALUG Announce] 2nd Thurs Pub Meet 10th July
by Richard Lewis 08 Jul '08

08 Jul '08

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- Dear ALUG, The monthly second Thursday social meeting of ALUG will take place on * Thursday 10th July * at The Reindeer (10 Dereham Road, Norwich, NR2 4AY; tel. 01603 762223). It's very near the junction of Dereham Road and the Norwich inner ring road (Grapes Hill) and serves a selection of real ales, nice pub food (if you fancy going early to eat) and coffee. I intend to be there from about 20:00. Others may be there earlier. We normally get a table at the back of the pub just to the left of the bar. We look forward to seeing you there. Cheers, Richard -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Richard Lewis http://www.richard-lewis.me.uk/ JID: ironchicken(a)jabber.earth.li -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- +-------------------------------------------------------+ |Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.| |http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html | +-------------------------------------------------------+ ----- 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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Re: [ALUG] Help Keyboard madness!
by Peter Alcibiades 07 Jul '08

07 Jul '08

> > It could be a KDE thing. Check the file ~/.kde/share/config/kdeglobals > and look for the settings for "Log Out" and "Log Out Without > Confirmation". It's possible that one of those may be set to 'd'. Thanks a million guys! Went around this am, and this is what it was. Tried with IceWM first as suggested, and that was OK, so it pretty much had to be KDE. No idea how it can have happened, but its fixed now. When resetting the configuration so that lock becomes (Ctrl+Alt+d) in a text editor, of course, the minute you type the 'd', it drops you to a locked session without making the change! So the only way to get the d in is to do cut and paste. It is stuff like this that keeps blood flowing in the brain. Cheers Peter

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Help keyboard madness!
by Peter Alcibiades 07 Jul '08

07 Jul '08

This is a truly weird one. Installation is Mandriva 2008 One with KDE. Whenever the lower case d is pressed, the system instantly logs off the user and starts a new session. What on earth can be going on? Upper case D does not do it. Changing the keyboard makes no difference. Restarting makes no difference. We have done nothing I can think of to set this (and I would not know in any case where to set it). Anyone heard of anything like this ever? I've a feeling the solution to this and other problems is going to be Debian sooner rather than later.... But I'd really like to know how to figure out what on earth could be causing it. Al

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Can on specify a default sort order for applications (as opposed to ls)?
by Chris G 03 Jul '08

03 Jul '08

Is it possible to specify a default sort order for all applications to use as opposed to just ls (and/or the default file manager)? I'd like to get files shown in date order rather than alphabetic order *everywhere*, is there some way to tell the system to do this? Even a way to tell Gnome or KDE apps would be useful. -- Chris Green

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epson picturemate 100
by Barrys linux mail 26 Jun '08

26 Jun '08

Hi Has anyone managed to get a picturemate 100 photo printer to work with Ubuntu,as this is the only one of my printers that i cannot get to work. thanks Barry

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Encouraging applications to open source
by Mark Rogers 26 Jun '08

26 Jun '08

I've just spent several weeks commissioning an electrical system using proprietary software which is (a) old, (b) no longer being developed, (c) free issue (you pay for the hardware not the software) and (d) buggy or at best limited. It is a good example of an application that would be much better open sourced (ok so I can't think of any that wouldn't be better that way, but that's not the point :-) I thought I'd try emailing them and sounding them out, but on the assumption that their starting point will be a long way from where I want them to be are there any good "why you should open source your application" references I can direct to, which focus on the reasons relevant to my points a-d above, not the long list of other reasons we might also use ourselves? -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0845 45 89 555 Registered in England (0456 0902) at 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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Ipswich ALUG meets: change of venue
by samwise 26 Jun '08

26 Jun '08

Guys, For those who have been to the Ipswich meets recently (or have read the wiki meeting notes), you'll be well aware that we've been being squeezed out by the new poker league that's been set up on a Monday night, so I think it's time we did something about it. Changing the night wouldn't really help - it may inconvenience regulars who are happy with Monday, but also the only other mid-week night at The Milestone which didn't have live music on was definitely inconvenient to a few regulars. So, that leaves us with changing the venue. I propose we try out The Punch & Judy in Cardinal Park because it satisfies the main criteria we used when selecting The Milestone originally: - Adequate Car Parking nearby (preferably free) - Free Wi-Fi (preferably not web-authentication) - Cheap (but edible) food for anyone wanting to grab a bite - Reasonable beer - Enough space and quiet to grab a table or two where we won't be overly disturbed Full disclosure: the Punch & Judy is a family-type pub (potentially noisy) and there are a few poor reviews of the food service online. However, kids have to be out by 21:00 and the kids play area closes at 20:00, plus it's a Monday night and the pub is also fairly large so I'm hoping that shouldn't be an issue. Finally, the food may not great but at that time on that day, it should be fairly quiet and it's fairly cheap if two eat, plus there's certainly a bigger selection than there was at The Milestone. There we have it - I think we should try out this new venue on Monday the 21 July 2008. If anyone has any alternative venues they think would be a better choice (taking into account the criteria above), suggest them at the meet and if ppl think it would be an improvement, we can potentially try out further venues over the next few meets until we're happy with one. That is all, Peter.

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dual head monitor setup not working
by Jenny Hopkins 25 Jun '08

25 Jun '08

Hullo there, I've bought a PNY geforce 7600GS graphics card, with VGA and dual link DVI. I then bought a second monitor - an HP w1907v widescreen with recommended res of 1440x900@60. The first monitor is a Samsung SyncMaster 913N. I've had a setup similar working on another computer, also running debian, with a dual head matrox card and two identical monitors. I copied the config over and after much sweat and tears, altered and tweaked according to my Xorg logs warnings and hints. Both monitors refuse to work at the same time though. The only way I can get the widescreen to behave sensibly is using some bizarre xorg.conf. Here is the dual head one which won't drive both monitors, followed by the odd little conf that made the widescreen work, then the conf that works for the other setup, and finally the log file. http://debian.pastebin.com/m53fa4692 The log file is full of warnings about range - it looks as though it is ignoring my conf saying to only use the 1440x900. I'm comnpletely boggled and confused by now though. Any hints welcome, Thanks! Jenny

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Full X from a remote client
by Ted.Harding＠manchester.ac.uk 23 Jun '08

23 Jun '08

Hi Folks, Not sure whether I'm asking the impossible here. CONTEXT: I'm sitting at machine A -- say 192.168.1.1 and I'm logged in to machine B -- say 192.168.1.2 AT A, I'm using X (with gnome and all that). AT this stage, B is not running X yet. I'm seeing B on an Xterm. WHAT I WANT: To start X (XFree86) on machine B, and have its full X, including the window-manager that would come up if U were sitting at B, come up on A. This would seem to imply that I need to use startx on B (via the login on A's Xterm), since the same startup scripts would need to be run on B so as to ensure that my "B experience" on A was the same as on B. It's OK for B's X root window to be encapsulated in a window on A. What I'm really after is the full X functionality, including the task-bar, the panel, and the various buttons I would normally see on B, so that I don't have to work out what commands to type! Am I bonkers? Or is there a way? (I've done this sort of thing in the past using xmx, which basically multiplexes a single X session across several other machines; but xmx is very sticky about the X resources being identical on all machines, which would not be the case here). Best wishes to all, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)manchester.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 23-Jun-08 Time: 21:03:07 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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