- main - earth.li

Netgear LAN/WAN Switch/Router
by ted.harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 14 May '07

14 May '07

Hi Folks, I'd welcome comment from experienced folk on the following. I'm helping a friend sort out various computer-related problems. One aspect concerns their (NTL/Virgin) cable-DSL Internet connection. What I'm thinking of is getting one of those WAN/LAN boxes that combines a router port (to be cabled to their DSL cable modem) with a 4-port LAN switch. Browsing round the local (to me) dealers, the best option I've found readily available is the Netgear RP614 Broadband Router + 4 port 10/100 Switch. Platinum Range. RP614 (£25 from WoC). In theory this should do the job. But I have some reservations in that my one & only experience with a Netgear switch ended with it burning out rather soon. So I'm a bit wary of Netgear kit! But others may know different. The only non-Netgear alternative seems to be a "BELKIN F5D5231UK4 10/100 4-PORT CABLE/DSL GATEWAY ROUTER" which looks as though it does the same job, at £34 (web price) from PC World (£50 in-store price), so the above Netgear would be much cheaper. Other options available at PC World are upwards of £50, and are all Netgear. Comments welcome! With thanks, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <ted.harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 13-May-07 Time: 20:27:06 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

7 10

apache upgrade has broken server
by Jenny Hopkins 14 May '07

14 May '07

Hello there, I've just upgraded our debian server from sarge to etch. Apache is now running at version 1.3.34-4.1. It keeps crashing. When sent a sighup it won't restart. The error log shows [crit] (98)Address already in use: make_sock: could not bind to port 80 netstat -t -l -n -p | grep 80 then shows only xinetd is listening on port 80. The only way I can persuade apache to start is to comment out the 'Include hosts.conf' line in httpd.conf, start the server, allow the hosts.conf to be included once again, and restart. It then runs fine until the next time. I'm very much feeling my way with this upgrade, as the server is unfamiliar to me, and I'm not much cop at ports and virtual hosts and whatnot, but my new job means I'm supposed to keep apache running on this server running at all times. Any pointers as to what the problem could be would be very welcome. Thanks, Jenny

3 8

Wierd DNS (sort of) error only in browsers
by Chris G 12 May '07

12 May '07

I have a wierd problem when running browsers on my Slackware machine at home, well it's more of a nuisance than a serious problem. If I go to a non-existent 'root' address, whether using Firefox or Lynx (or presumably other browsers) I always get the gradwell.net hosting message as follows:- gaa.goo.no hosted by gradwell dot com Ltd Sorry! The site you were looking for has not yet been configured by the owner of this site. If you are the site owner, please use our control panel to configure your site's virtual host. Please see this www.gradwell.com/support/virtual-hosts support article for information on how to configure your virtual host. Please remember to input all entries into the control panel in lower case. If you find that http://www.gaa.goo.no/ works, but http://gaa.goo.no/ does not, then please remember that you must create an additional website rule to enable the other virtual host. If you have any queries, please contact support(a)gradwell.net If I do a 'host gaa.goo.no' on the command line I get the expected "Host gaa.goo.no not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)". I have my company hosting set up at gradwell.net and my home machine has a CNAME entry in the isbd.net zone file so that home.isbd.net points at my home machine. Is this what's causing the oddity? Why does it only happen in browsers though? -- Chris Green

3 4

Keyboard not working after 'successful' installation
by Chris G 12 May '07

12 May '07

I just installed Slackware 11 on an old[ish] PC and it all went totally smoothly with no problems at all. However when I boot the installation it does all the right things and presents me with a login: prompt but at that point the keyboard doesn't work so I'm a bit stumped. The keyboard works at the boot: prompt but it would seem that I've somehow got the wrong drivers in the installed system. Any ideas on how to fix this? One thing that it *might* be is that it's an old style keyboard with the large DIN plug, maybe this needs a different driver from the default, can I get somewhere from the boot: prompt to fix this? -- Chris Green

2 3

RE: [ALUG] Hp laser printer
by Bev Nicolson 11 May '07

11 May '07

Thank you!!! :¬) Bev. -- _______________________________________________ Surf the Web in a faster, safer and easier way: Download Opera 9 at http://www.opera.com Powered by Outblaze

1 0

15 years ago ...
by ted.harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 11 May '07

11 May '07

Wel,, I'm a month late, but ... Manchester Computing Centre MCC Newsletter, Number 35, April 1992. Page 8: PC Software News Free PC Unixes available Owen Leblanc There are now two free Unix operating systems available for PC's: Linux and 386BSD. Linux is the more mature system, now available in its fifth public test version, 0.95a. The system requires a 386 or above, with or without a co- processor, with a minimum of 2 Mbytes of memory, and with at least 4 Mbytes recommended. The source for the operating system requires about 0.5 Mbytes, and binaries currently available (about 250 commands) require 8 to 10 additional Mbyutes, although, of course, you may delete unwanted bits, or add further programs. With swap space, this means a minimum of about 20 Mbytes of hard disk space. [...] You must have a 1.2 or 1.3 Mbyte floppy drive for installation. [...] Both are unspupported software, though we expect some interest in these and other free Unix systems which should be available in the near future. Well, I was round at MCC shortly after that, and returned with a bundle of floppies (thanks to Owen's help with the downloading). I then re-structured the 40MB hard drive on my 4MB-RAM PC, giving 20MB to Linux, 5MB to swap, and conceding the remaining 15MB to DOS. Then I was flying! Been airborne ever since (though have to take avoiding action from time to time when those Flying Windows loom into my flightpath). Best wishes to all, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <ted.harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 11-May-07 Time: 19:06:54 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

1 0

RE: [ALUG] Hp laser printer
by Bev Nicolson 11 May '07

11 May '07

Not sure. I don't understand most of it. :¬( However, I've reinstalled it using a named (recommended) driver and it seems to recognise it a bit more but I get tray 2 load letter messages. Tray 2 looks absolutely fine (not broken or anything - I've googled this one and had another look through Ubuntu community docs.) Anyone else come across this? And how would I check for error messages since it's a parallel port printer? -- _______________________________________________ Surf the Web in a faster, safer and easier way: Download Opera 9 at http://www.opera.com Powered by Outblaze

2 1

Hp laser printer
by Bev Nicolson 11 May '07

11 May '07

I'm having installation trouble. I thought I'd managed it a while ago but my HP Laserjet5M didn't print. I've googled and found the Ubuntu community docs page which says you should remove lp from /etc/modules so I've done that (and the other things it advises) but typing in hp-toolbox it says no HP device is installed even though the installation program says it is and lpinfo -v gave it (rather a long way down) as an option. Any ideas people? Have I missed something obvious? For example are the power cable and parallel port plug enough? -- _______________________________________________ Surf the Web in a faster, safer and easier way: Download Opera 9 at http://www.opera.com Powered by Outblaze

2 1

hallo people
by Bev Nicolson 10 May '07

10 May '07

Why Linux? To start with it isn't MS which is a mighty plus point. It's free (no bolstering the coffers of a certain Redmond company) and the security is far better since people (many of them) look for bugs and problems. I use Ubuntu (have done since Badger was released) and while some things are a bit puzzling, it's no harder than any other OS so the idea that Linux is only for serious techofiles is all wrong. I'm picking up bits and pieces about it but I'm still at the stage where most stuff needs spelling out patiently. Which means I hope I don't drive you all nuts asking lots of questions. Bev. -- _______________________________________________ Surf the Web in a faster, safer and easier way: Download Opera 9 at http://www.opera.com Powered by Outblaze

7 8

Fwd: Transnational Ecologies1: Sounds Travel
by Richard Lewis 10 May '07

10 May '07

Tech/arts geeks may be interested in this: ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: Transnational Ecologies1: Sounds Travel Date: Thursday 10 May 2007 From: Jason Dixon Dear all, There will be a networked realisation of Alvin Lucier's Quasimodo the Great Lover today from 2pm - 3pm BST. The piece is being performed in Edinburgh by Laura Cameron and Matt Rogalsky and will then be streamed through a chain of acoustic spaces around the world (including UEA), finishing up in Holland. To listen to the end result, follow the instructions at http://mrogalsky.web.wesleyan.edu/ transnational/listen.html Best, Jason ------------------------------------------------------- -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Richard Lewis http://www.richard-lewis.me.uk/ JID: ironchicken(a)jabber.earth.li -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1 0

Re: [ALUG] apache upgrade has broken server
by David Reynolds 08 May '07

08 May '07

Jenny, On 6 May 2007, at 10:39 pm, Jenny Hopkins wrote: > > Apache is now running at version 1.3.34-4.1. It keeps crashing. When > sent a sighup it won't restart. The error log shows > [crit] (98)Address already in use: make_sock: could not bind to > port 80 May seem like a stupid question, but why are you still using apache 1.3, when apache 2 is pretty much standard nowadays? Thanks, David -- David Reynolds david(a)reynoldsfamily.org.uk

1 0

[ALUG Announce] 2nd Thursday Norwich Meet : Reindeer, Dereham Road
by Jonathan McDowell 08 May '07

08 May '07

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 "Second Thursday" ALUG Norwich Pub Meet is this Thursday, 10th May. It's at the Reindeer pub on the Dereham Road, just opposite the City Gate. People will be there from 8pm-ish, though there may be a few people there earlier. Topics for discussion will no doubt be as varied as ever. The Reindeer has a reasonable selection of beer as well as decent coffee (with biscuits, if you're lucky). Directions to the Reindeer can be found at: http://www.alug.org.uk/venues/reindeer.html Pictures of some of the regulars, and irregulars, and, well, just some pictures of people that might or might not turn up are available from: http://www.earth.li/~noodles/Photos/2006-02-ALUG/ http://the.earth.li/~noodles/stilvoid-alug/mp20050811/ http://www.earth.li/~noodles/Photos/2005-01-ALUG-Xmas/ http://www.earth.li/~noodles/Photos/2004-08-ALUG/ Which should hopefully aid those of you wondering who to look out for, even if the images are getting a bit old now. We now have an area reserved for us, so should be easier to find. As you enter through the main door you'll see a small set of steps ahead of you - the area just up those steps and to the left is where we'll be. J. -- What have you got in your pocket? This .sig brought to you by the letter N and the number 48 Product of the Republic of HuggieTag ----- 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

1 0

Re: [ALUG] "Even Linux" [less OT]
by J.R. Seago 06 May '07

06 May '07

On Sunday 06 May 2007 12:00, (Ted Harding) <ted.harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> wrote: > > Connecting the RP614 wired router is easy whether you have Windows®, > Apple®, or even Linux® computers. I've actually got one of those, it's the one thing that won't plug directly into my new UPS, I still haven't got a C13/C14 IEC connector/plug for my six gang socket in order that I can plug its transformer into the UPS supply. -- J.R. Seago GNU/Linux Registered User No. #219566 http://counter.li.org/ () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments

1 0

"Even Linux" [less OT]
by ted.harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 05 May '07

05 May '07

... And now, fresh from World of Computers at Milton, Cambridge, the "Netgear RP614 Broadband Router + 4 port 10/100 Switch": "Connecting the RP614 wired router is easy whether you have Windows®, Apple®, or even Linux® computers." Best wishes to all (we need them) Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)manchester.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 05-May-07 Time: 13:11:35 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

1 0

Screen failure -- costly power surge [OT]
by ted.harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 05 May '07

05 May '07

Hi Folks, Well, only sort-of off-topic, since here in Anglia we know about power surges and discuss them. We've had kit damaged, etc. But Yarmouth, I think, holds the record. According to yesterday's Eastern Daily Press http://tinyurl.com/2u96pk Yarmouth have spent £900,000 on three big screens around the town "with the aim of promoting events and attractions in the resort." One of them (£200,000) in the Market Place has been out of action for 6 months having been damaged by a power surge. Efforts to repair it, "including nine power supply units costing £435 each", have not availed. No doubt, whoever supplied and installed it wasn't properly aware of the problem. Perhaps they should read this list. (But then, they probably don't use Linux anyway). Best wishes to all, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <ted.harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 05-May-07 Time: 10:41:45 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

2 1

Re: [ALUG] Epson C48 printer
by Bev Nicolson 04 May '07

04 May '07

It's USB. Definately switched on (one of the first things I checked) The dialogue box has never showed the print job as paused. Cups? Not sure what you mean but I've just checked the lsusb and it does recognise it. Bev. -- _______________________________________________ Surf the Web in a faster, safer and easier way: Download Opera 9 at http://www.opera.com Powered by Outblaze

1 0

Epson C48 printer
by Bev Nicolson 04 May '07

04 May '07

I got a (new) replacement printer a while ago when the first Epson packed up and I have not managed to get it to print yet. I can see the print job in the dialogue box and everything else seems OK but absolutely nothing happens when I ask it to print. No noises, nothing. I have hunted round various forums for an answer to this and have yet to get very far. Bev. -- _______________________________________________ Surf the Web in a faster, safer and easier way: Download Opera 9 at http://www.opera.com Powered by Outblaze

2 1

'rmdir -p', what a strange command
by Govind Chandra 04 May '07

04 May '07

I frequently need to remove empty directories (and files). Poorly written scripts (my own) make them at times. For me this does the job nicely. find . -empty | xargs rmdir Cheers Govind Chandra

7 7

Grub dual boot issues
by S.Jude＠uea.ac.uk 04 May '07

04 May '07

Hi, I have an old PC here at work with 2 disks. Not wanting to nuke my windows data disks I've partitioned the second disk and installed Ubuntu on /hdb6 as / and /hdb7 as /home. Unfortunately when I came to reboot GRUB has failed. Does anybody know a work around/fix to this? I previously had the same problem with Fedora and ended up using Suse and booting via the CD. Now I want to move to Ubuntu because it is better and should support my webcam (I want to use the PC for the access grid). Any help would be appreciated Simon

3 3

'rmdir -p', what a strange command
by Chris G 04 May '07

04 May '07

I've been looking for a quick and easy way to remove empty maildir folders, I was going write a short shell script but while I was thinking about this I came across 'rmdir -p'. Thinking that this was sort of equivalent to 'mkdir -p' I tried to use it and it acts very strangely. If you have an empty maildir folder called (for example) mdf then "rmdir -p mdf" simply gives the error "rmdir: mdf: Directory not empty", it doesn't recurse down into the directory and find that the sub-directories are empty and them remove the lot. If you give the command "rmdir -p mdf/*" then it gives the error "rmdir: mdf: Directory not empty" twice but does actually remove the whole maildir folder. What's happening is that it removes each of the 'cur', 'tmp' and 'new' sub-directories of 'mdf' but only when it removes the last one does it also remove the parent directory. I can think of no practical use for this command! :-) It's no good for my requirement because it might remove some of the maildir sub-directories then find the next one wasn't empty and leave a partial maildir folder. I think I'm back to my script for doing it. -- Chris Green

2 2

Retirement a bit earlier than I expected/intended - so looking for odd jobs
by Chris G 03 May '07

03 May '07

I seem to be about to be made redundant, it's not a disaster as I have been wondering how to wind down to retirement anyway and redundancy means I get paid for leaving. However I don't really want to stop working totally so would be glad of any leads towards either part time work or consultancy/contracts. I'm basically a good C/C++/Java developer with particular skills in the comms/networking area. I'm also fairly capable of most admin. stuff on Solaris/Unix/Linux, shell scripting, setting up mail, all that sort of stuff. Flexible as regards hours, pay, place of work (but basically in East Anglia please). -- Chris Green

1 0

Re: [ALUG] hallo people
by J.R. Seago 02 May '07

02 May '07

On Wednesday 02 May 2007 12:00, "Bev Nicolson" <bnicolson(a)operamail.com> wrote: > ...I'm picking up bits and pieces about it but I'm still at the stage > where most stuff needs spelling out patiently. Which means I hope I > don't drive you all nuts asking lots of questions. > > Bev. Welcome! Why should you drive them "all nuts asking lots of questions", you must have noticed that they are quite happy to put up with me! -- J.R. Seago GNU/Linux Registered User No. #219566 http://counter.li.org/ () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments

1 0

Re: [ALUG] How to
by J.R. Seago 01 May '07

01 May '07

Once again thanks to Ted and Tim, I now have all the information to hand. On past performance, one of the essential bits will be packed in a different box, and it'll take me longer to find it, than to set everything up. -- J.R. Seago GNU/Linux Registered User No. #219566 http://counter.li.org/ () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments

2 1

How to
by J.R. Seago 30 Apr '07

30 Apr '07

I currently have a router supplying Pipex broadband (always on) to my computer. This was set up for me. when I move I am going to have to set it up again, on my own, on a different 'phone number, with a different ISP, at the moment I am using the gateway address XXX.XX.X.XX, (is it wise to publish one's gateway address?) My question is is there a 'how-to' for the slow and technically incompetent, that I can use? -- J.R. Seago GNU/Linux Registered User No. #219566 http://counter.li.org/ () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments

3 4

Re: [ALUG] How to
by J.R. Seago 30 Apr '07

30 Apr '07

On Monday 30 April 2007 12:00, "Tim Green" <timothy.j.green(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Your router won't care about the phone number either. The two > important pieces of information are your ADSL username (looks like an > email address) and password. Things like IP address, gateway and DNS > servers are easiest left on automatic. Most routers are setup through > a webpage like http://192.168.0.1/ - get hold of the manual before you > lose connectivity so you can setup your new ISP details. Wow! I've got all the right bits of paper the username and the password and could get in to the set-up page. So it should'n't take me more than a couple of weeks to get it right, it only took me 2·75 hours to get my printer to re-start when I tested the UPS, loose USB connection round the back in the dust and wires, probably caused by me unplugging everything that would go into the UPS, I should have started there first place! The one annoying part of that is that while my monitor's transformer disconnected and plugged into the UPS when I tried it, the router's transformer, (standard three pin on its front), is one piece with lead to the router, so Ted's solution for that looks problem looks the best way round. -- J.R. Seago GNU/Linux Registered User No. #219566 http://counter.li.org/ () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments

1 0