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Choosing a distro
by Mark Rogers 02 Feb '24

02 Feb '24

I've been using Linux for a long time. I started out playing with RedHat around 25y ago but having been burnt by some RPM dependency issues that horribly broke a server (and not just once) I have been on Ubuntu since around 2005 and therefore far more comfortable with .deb/Apt. Recent Ubuntu versions have gone off in some odd directions. I actually didn't mind Unity (didn't love it either) but have never got on with Gnome 3. I'm currently running Kubuntu on my desktop (my first attempt to use KDE as my daily driver) and I'm getting on OK with it. Where I seem to get stuck frequently now is with Ubuntu's move towards Snaps, mostly due to the arguable reasonable sandboxing design just getting in my way all the time. So I'm wondering whether it's time to take a step back and reconsider my options. I assume that RedHat derived distros should no longer scare me because of packaging issues, but maybe the whole CentOS saga should be enough to keep me away? I use Debian quite a lot on things like headless Raspberry Pis but I like that Ubuntu tends to be more up to date. Should I grow a pair and look at Gentoo/Arch or their derivatives? Should I pick something like Mint? I quite like the idea of a rolling distro but maybe experience would change that. I guess my priority is "low hassle" - I'm not looking to spend my time playing with Linux just to get a job done. If there's software I need to install I want a decent chance of being able to do that without lots of extra work because I picked a niche distro that the developer/packager never considered. But I'm far more likely to be installing stuff from a terminal than a GUI, I'm not particularly looking for "user friendly". I guess "power user", with equal emphasis on both those words (I want something to use, not tinker with). Really that's why I keep defaulting to Ubuntu, but even that's getting in my way more often than it used to. -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0344 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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Re: Choosing a Distro (Mark Rogers)
by peter.northerly＠gmail.com 31 Jan '24

31 Jan '24

I've been using Debian for years now. Decades in fact! If Stable is not up to date enough you can move to Testing, which I did for a while without any problems, but for now am just sticking with Stable. Its always worked perfectly. Debian is where people end up. I use Fluxbox myself, as WM, which I find perfect, and Lightdm as DM. Its fast, keeps out of the way, handles workspaces very well, i have lots of keyboard shortcuts which makes it very convenient. It has a really neat feature, you can combine different apps into tabs in the same window. So for instance, you are writing something and need to refer to a web site and a spreadsheet as you write. You have all three apps open in tabs in the same window and can just click back and forwards between them. I have put in MATE on Debian for someone else, and that has worked out very well. MATE is also very simple and keeps out of the way, and the team have the rare ability to refrain from fixing what works. Its about like Gnome 2 used to be, before they went crazy and ruined it. Debian is Systemd now, which I don't much like. If you want Debian without Systemd, then probably MX Linux. I might go for this if changing distros, but am not bothered enough to move from Debian for it. Or there is Devuan. Mint with MATE for someone I put it in for was also fine. It depends what you want, Mint strikes me as full-on consumer grade. Whereas if you install plain Debian, Fluxbox with Lightdm, tweak the right click menu, startup and keyboard shortcuts to suit you, you have something which will probably suit you better and keep out of the way, but it would not be fair to install that for a naive user. I have tried tiling WMs, but they are not for me. i3 is said to be the best. So I think this is a vote for Debian with Fluxbox. Or, if you want to keep away from Systemd, MX Linux. One reason for going with Debian is that its going to be around for ever. Not sure about some of the less used distros, and that is a real factor for me. And if you decide you want a full-fat consumer experience, Mint. There is not going to be a huge difference between Mint with MATE and Debian with MATE. You could also put Fluxbox on Mint. I think Mint, like Debian, will be around. I have tried Arch in a VM, and didn't care for it, but it has a great user community and excellent documentation. Matter of taste, really. I use Foxclone for backups by the way. Really recommended. Peter

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Re: GIMP - book recommendations?
by Bev Nicolson 21 Jan '24

21 Jan '24

Thank you both. I shall have a look at those. Bev On Sun, 2024-01-21 at 11:06 +0000, BD wrote: > Hi, > > I never used gimp for anything more than simple image manipulation as > it is quite advanced. Similarly never had the need to look at other > options. > > In the past I had to learn how to use Inkscape and tutorial from "TJ > free" was more than enough. Have a look at this playlist as it might > be what you are looking for: > https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqazFFzUAPc4vITMJaF3Fnqh3pccSMnC4 > > Cheerio, > Bart > 21 Jan 2024 08:51:08 Bev Nicolson <lumos(a)gmx.co.uk>: > > > I confess I find GIMP baffling, for the most part. I've tried > > figuring > > it out, I got a book on it a while back but it didn't help that > > much to > > be honest. All I can do is simple stuff like re-sizing phots or > > (if I > > can find the widget again) resythnesizing. > > > > Does anyone know if there's anything like a Dummies Guide to GIMP > > out > > there? Something that explains it clearly and simply (like you've > > never > > used photo editing software before) *and* gives a glossary of > > terms > > too? > > > > Bev > > _______________________________________________ > > To unsubscribe send an email to main-leave(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > http://www.alug.org.uk/ > > Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above! >

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GIMP - book recommendations?
by Bev Nicolson 21 Jan '24

21 Jan '24

I confess I find GIMP baffling, for the most part. I've tried figuring it out, I got a book on it a while back but it didn't help that much to be honest. All I can do is simple stuff like re-sizing phots or (if I can find the widget again) resythnesizing. Does anyone know if there's anything like a Dummies Guide to GIMP out there? Something that explains it clearly and simply (like you've never used photo editing software before) *and* gives a glossary of terms too? Bev

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Transferring sms to computer
by Bev Nicolson 04 Jan '24

04 Jan '24

Are there any Linux apps for transferring sms messages to a computer? I'm getting new phone and am keen to keep the texts (or some at least) I have on the old one. The only caveat is that it is quite an old phone. (Android 7.1. Old.) TIA. Bev

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Editing SVG files at commandline
by Mark Rogers 04 Jan '24

04 Jan '24

I have some large svg files I need to edit that crash programs like Inkscape when I try to do much with them, but the changes I want to make are essentially removing bits from them that I don't want which are easily found within the svg if viewed as text, What I'm looking for is a way to do things like: - completely remove group B which is nested inside group B - remove all "path" elements residing inside group C, unless they match a regex pattern - move all elements from group D into group E (or ungroup them) I imagine that with the rightXML skillset, which I don't have, this is probably fairly simple? -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0344 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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Puzzle about networking, continued...
by peter.northerly＠gmail.com 21 Dec '23

21 Dec '23

OK, it was indeed simple and stupid! It was one of the adaptors, just not the one that I had changed out! Finally at my wits end replaced it with one of the ones I had mistakenly swapped out, and everything is fine. Anyway, an instructive unguided tour of the wilds of modern networking, which is a lot more complicated than in my youth. Or at least different. Now for the next challenge, converting a bios system to efi. I have put together a system using Aorus from Gigabyte. It does not support legacy mode. At least it boots normally from an EFI stick so the build is OK. The next step will be to convert the cloned bios drive to EFI By the way, if anyone ever wants to clone a hard drive I strongly recommend foxclone. Absolutely brilliant, simple and foolproof. If you ever got tired and irritable wandering through the thickets of clonezilla you will love foxclone. Its a lot faster than CZ, and it will also clone a large drive to a smaller one, assuming there is space for all the files. Peter Also systemctl status NetworkManager gives this: NetworkManager.service - Network Manager Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/NetworkManager.service; enabled; preset: enabled) Active: active (running) since Wed 2023-12-20 16:53:00 GMT; 1h 39min ago Docs: man:NetworkManager(8) Main PID: 769 (NetworkManager) Tasks: 3 (limit: 19064) Memory: 14.1M CPU: 545ms CGroup: /system.slice/NetworkManager.service So that's working. I have come on the suggestion to disable it and then configure /etc/network/interfaces manually. What do you think? Peter Puzzle about networking. Any suggestions? All of a sudden and for no apparent reason my ethernet connection isn't working. Its not the router, other machines on the router work fine. Its not the local powerline device, I have changed that out. The machine also works fine with a mobile data dongle plugged in to a usb port. So I think it must be something about the configuration, though why it should suddenly have changed is a mystery to me. I do ip link, and this shows as number two: 2: enp3s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000 link/ether 08:60:6e:e7:d2:be brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff So then I do ifup enp3s0, and get this: ~$ sudo ifup enp3s0 ifup: unknown interface enp3s0 When I use the gnome network control tool it fails to bring it up. ip link set appears to work, at least no error message. ifconfig gives this: enp3s0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 inet6 fe80::d2da:494:eadc:4e0b prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link> ether 08:60:6e:e7:d2:be txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet) RX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B) RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0 TX packets 982 bytes 158082 (154.3 KiB) TX errors 1 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0 So why can't I bring it up with ifup? Rebooting doesn't make any difference. I don't know what else to try. Its probably something very simple that I am just missing.... Peter

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Re: Puzzle about networking
by Phil Ashby 21 Dec '23

21 Dec '23

On 21/12/2023 12:00, <peter.northerly(a)gmail.com> wrote: > ifconfig gives this: > enp3s0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 > inet6 fe80::d2da:494:eadc:4e0b prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link> > ether 08:60:6e:e7:d2:be txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet) > RX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B) > RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0 > TX packets 982 bytes 158082 (154.3 KiB) > TX errors 1 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0 I'm suspicious of the complete lack of received packets there. It appears you are sending (probably DHCP requests), but getting nothing back. Things to check: 1/ The cable - swap out for a known working one (from another PC?) 2/ The sockets - dust bunnies cause havoc ;-) 3/ Everything other than the affected machine - pop a different device on the end of the cable if you have one (or borrow one!) 4/ The kernel message log (/var/log/kern.log and/or dmesg) might be shouting about something unwell. 5/ Recent software changes (updates perchance? new kernel?), can you roll back (kernel - most likely you can pick previous at boot) (more advanced detective work) 6/ Fire up a packet sniffer (tshark, wireshark) and watch for packets going in/out of the device on the affected machine. 7/ If you have a network *hub* (NOT a switch), then pop that in line and use another machine to watch for packets to/from the MAC address (I'd use tshark or wireshark, YMMV) on another port of the hub. My money is on a recent kernel change borking receive or dust bunnies. Phil.

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Puzzle about networking
by peter.northerly＠gmail.com 20 Dec '23

20 Dec '23

Puzzle about networking. Any suggestions? All of a sudden and for no apparent reason my ethernet connection isn't working. Its not the router, other machines on the router work fine. Its not the local powerline device, I have changed that out. The machine also works fine with a mobile data dongle plugged in to a usb port. So I think it must be something about the configuration, though why it should suddenly have changed is a mystery to me. I do ip link, and this shows as number two: 2: enp3s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000 link/ether 08:60:6e:e7:d2:be brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff So then I do ifup enp3s0, and get this: ~$ sudo ifup enp3s0 ifup: unknown interface enp3s0 When I use the gnome network control tool it fails to bring it up. ip link set appears to work, at least no error message. ifconfig gives this: enp3s0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 inet6 fe80::d2da:494:eadc:4e0b prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link> ether 08:60:6e:e7:d2:be txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet) RX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B) RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0 TX packets 982 bytes 158082 (154.3 KiB) TX errors 1 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0 So why can't I bring it up with ifup? Rebooting doesn't make any difference. I don't know what else to try. Its probably something very simple that I am just missing.... Peter

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Puzzle about networking, continued...
by peter.northerly＠gmail.com 20 Dec '23

20 Dec '23

Also systemctl status NetworkManager gives this: NetworkManager.service - Network Manager Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/NetworkManager.service; enabled; preset: enabled) Active: active (running) since Wed 2023-12-20 16:53:00 GMT; 1h 39min ago Docs: man:NetworkManager(8) Main PID: 769 (NetworkManager) Tasks: 3 (limit: 19064) Memory: 14.1M CPU: 545ms CGroup: /system.slice/NetworkManager.service So that's working. I have come on the suggestion to disable it and then configure /etc/network/interfaces manually. What do you think? Peter Puzzle about networking. Any suggestions? All of a sudden and for no apparent reason my ethernet connection isn't working. Its not the router, other machines on the router work fine. Its not the local powerline device, I have changed that out. The machine also works fine with a mobile data dongle plugged in to a usb port. So I think it must be something about the configuration, though why it should suddenly have changed is a mystery to me. I do ip link, and this shows as number two: 2: enp3s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000 link/ether 08:60:6e:e7:d2:be brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff So then I do ifup enp3s0, and get this: ~$ sudo ifup enp3s0 ifup: unknown interface enp3s0 When I use the gnome network control tool it fails to bring it up. ip link set appears to work, at least no error message. ifconfig gives this: enp3s0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 inet6 fe80::d2da:494:eadc:4e0b prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link> ether 08:60:6e:e7:d2:be txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet) RX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B) RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0 TX packets 982 bytes 158082 (154.3 KiB) TX errors 1 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0 So why can't I bring it up with ifup? Rebooting doesn't make any difference. I don't know what else to try. Its probably something very simple that I am just missing.... Peter

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touchpad weirdness
by Bev Nicolson 22 Nov '23

22 Nov '23

Every so often the touchpad, and indeed any mouse function as far as I can tell, fails. The cursor just flickers and dances about uncontrollably. I've found out how to close a window and shutdown the laptop using the keyboard but how do I figure out what's going on here? There are no outstanding updates to install if that makes a difference. Bev.

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"New" PC
by Mark Rogers 10 Nov '23

10 Nov '23

I'm in the market for a new desktop PC ("workstation"). No interest in gaming, Will want to run (probably) Ubuntu and a handful of VMs, plus FF or Chrome with a couple of hundred tabs open. I'm more than happy to get one that's a few years out of date and refurbished if it gets me decent value. My existing PC is a i5-6400 CPU @2.7GHz, with 24GB RAM - I've probably had it about 7 years. I don't really have a budget in mind - probably max £1k inc VAT. It's so long since I looked at PCs or CPUs that I have no idea what to look for any more. Going to want at least 1TB SSD (preferably 2TB) but I can add that myself afterwards (although that would affect budget). Min 32GB, maybe 64GB RAM? What should I be looking for (and where should I be looking)? -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0344 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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Transferring files over SSH
by Mark Rogers 09 Nov '23

09 Nov '23

I often seem to find myself in this scenario: - I SSH into Server A using my personal key - I SSH into Server B using my personal key I find files I need on B that I need to transfer from B Usually the files are quite small so I'll just transfer them to my own PC as an intermediary. But I now need to transfer about 30GB from A to B so it seems like the right time to find a better way. I don't really want to have to give A permanent access to B (albeit I can always delete the key later, it seems like the sort of thing that would get forgotten). -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0344 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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Re: Transferring files over SSH
by Mark Rogers 09 Nov '23

09 Nov '23

On Thu, 9 Nov 2023 at 12:26, BD <dzidek23(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > How about using scp, it is like cp but over an ssh? scp/rsync is how I'd have done it in the past but that (to my understanding anyway) needs A to have SSH access to B (or vice versa) so I'd either need password based logins (which is how I used to do it but I'm trying to be better!) or creating a key on A and authorising it on B (or, again, vice versa) which I don't really want to be doing for a one-off file transfer. -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0344 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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Transferring settings and data from Firefox and Thunderbird
by Bev Nicolson 02 Nov '23

02 Nov '23

It looks like I will be getting another laptop as my old one is reaching the end of the road. I want to be certain about what I'll be doing, hence asking. What I want to do is transfer all the bookmarks (I have *a lot*), passwords and settings for Firefox over. Is creating a profile the easiest way of doing that? I also want to ensure I have the folders of old emails saved in Thunderbird somewhere safe. Those are emails I have stored on the laptop, not online. Transferring Thunderbird's settings would be a bonus too. If I create a Thunderbird profile, will it do both of those things? Bev.

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Re: Trojans....
by Peter Berrie 27 Oct '23

27 Oct '23

On Fri, 20 Oct 2023 12:00:02 +0100 main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk wrote: Adam, Thanks for replying! > Have you ever saved or copied a browser cache onto this stick? No, this is the puzzling thing. I only seem to recall having used it on Debian. I've only used it to put some files on it which I then accessed from my laptop, which is also Debian. So I cannot think where these can have come from. I am wondering if possibly they were on the stick itself when I bought it. They are not going to be able to do anything in Linux, are they? I have also checked online and found a couple of similar trojans which MS AV says it detects, so they sound like Windows trojans. I am thinking now of having clamav run all night on my total Debian hard drive, in recursive mode. That ought to detect them, do you think, if they are on it? Is there anything else you would do? My laptop is dual boot, windows and Debian, so I will boot to windows and then run the MS AV in windows. I suppose run ClamAV in Debian after that. What a pain. But in Windows it would probably be a lot more than just a pain. Peter

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Comparing XML files
by Mark Rogers 26 Oct '23

26 Oct '23

This has been driving me mad all afternoon. How can I compare xml files from the commandline? Specifically: If I have two XML files and one contains: ... <field name="A">ValueA</field> <field name="B">ValueB</field> ... and the other contains: ... <field name="B">ValueB</field> <field name="A">ValueA</field> ... ... then I consider those two files to be the same, but obviously a diff will not. How can I compare just the content and not the ordering/formatting/etc? -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0344 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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Re: Trojans....
by Peter Berrie 23 Oct '23

23 Oct '23

This gets even more puzzling. Running clamav now for about two days non stop (lots of timeouts) and I am getting many reports like this: LibClamAV info: Suspicious link found! LibClamAV info: Real URL: http://www.globalkap.com LibClamAV info: Display URL: https://secure.skype.com But I can't tell where its finding those links, and don't recall ever visiting them anyway. I am now going through and checking some of them, and often not finding anything odd about them except that the name of the url is different from where the link ends up. And often the Real URL seems to be in the name of a real entity, but one that does not own the domain linked to! For instance another reported suspicious link, new.egg.com, takes me to Yorkshire Building Society, and seems like the real site of YBS. This is apparently due to YBS having taken over Egg. This really was different, though legit. But globalkap, the Real URL doesn't go anywhere, the Display goes to skype login, as you would expect. And globalkap seems to be a variety of real entities, a pool vendor in Aix en Provence, or a salesforce automation outfit somewhere! Another one is equally weird: LibClamAV info: Suspicious link found! LibClamAV info: Real URL: http://smitherfamilykitchen.com LibClamAV info: Display URL: http://www.lloydstsb.com But actually the display URL doesn't go to what clamav thinks is the real one, but goes to LLoyds TSB as it should. Not that I ever recall having visited them! Then when I try to go to smitherfamilykitchen.com (either just http:// or http://www.) its showing Server Not Found. But SmitherFamilyKitchen seems to be a real place selling hot sauces, based in Texas! Though it apparently (oddly) does not have that domain, and I don't recall having ever heard of it before this. But why is it claiming that the display URL is different from the real one? It does not seem to be. The most unhelpful thing about clamav, at least run like this, is that it reports suspicion, but gives you no idea what to do about it, and if I wanted to delete these suspicious URLs I have no idea where to find them! Are they in bookmarks someplace? Or history? Who knows? Anyone have any ideas what to do? Is there any more useful AV to try? Peter On Fri, 20 Oct 2023 14:57:34 +0100 Peter Berrie <peter.northerly(a)gmail.com> wrote: > On Fri, 20 Oct 2023 12:00:02 +0100 > main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk wrote: > > Adam, > > Thanks for replying! > > > Have you ever saved or copied a browser cache onto this stick? > > No, this is the puzzling thing. I only seem to recall having used it on Debian. I've only used it to put some files on it which I then accessed from my laptop, which is also Debian. So I cannot think where these can have come from. I am wondering if possibly they were on the stick itself when I bought it. > > They are not going to be able to do anything in Linux, are they? > > I have also checked online and found a couple of similar trojans which MS AV says it detects, so they sound like Windows trojans. > > I am thinking now of having clamav run all night on my total Debian hard drive, in recursive mode. That ought to detect them, do you think, if they are on it? Is there anything else you would do? > > My laptop is dual boot, windows and Debian, so I will boot to windows and then run the MS AV in windows. I suppose run ClamAV in Debian after that. > > What a pain. But in Windows it would probably be a lot more than just a pain. > > Peter main-owner(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of main digest..."

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Recommended Webcam?
by Steve Mynott 21 Oct '23

21 Oct '23

I've been successfully using a Asus cloudbook running "motion" from the Debian repos https://motion-project.github.io/ to detect motion, record and push video of the cat at her bowl while we've been on holiday but the internal webcam isn't that great. So I've basically solved the software problem but I'm looking at a better external USB (?) webcam Most of the commercial webcams I've seen seem to push people into expensive subscriptions which I don't care about but does anyone have recommendations for cheap, good quality webcams? It would be ideal to be being able to move it remotely and maybe start using it as a more general security cam? -- Steve Mynott <steve.mynott(a)gmail.com> rsa3072/629FBB91565E591955B5876A79CEFAA4450EBD50

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installing Linux over Windows
by Bev Nicolson 20 Oct '23

20 Oct '23

I have done this before but I think I may need a little help. Finally got round to wresting the info from my old laptop. (Note that if the keyboard is stuffed, clicking on the human figure on the top right of the screen brings up an on-screen keyboard. You probably know this, but I pass it on anyway.) But to the point of this email. Stuck the usb drive in which has Mint on it and powered the laptop up. Clicked on ESC as it said that would bring the boot menu up. It did not. Not fast enough? What speed should I aim for next time? I found out how to shutdown before it got me all the way through the Windows set up so that's something. Thanks in advance. Bev.

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Trojans....
by Peter 19 Oct '23

19 Oct '23

I took some files today to a local print shop on a usb stick to get them printed. They have the very sensible procedure that, when given files on a stick, they first insert the stick into a laptop which is not on their network, and scan it. The stick is a Maxell FAT32, and my systems are Debian 11. To my horror they came back and said it had trojans! There were two phishbank.ajy JSI:trojan.cryos.3892 This last had three copies installed, the first only one. I'm pretty confident these are not false positives, they get their systems and network from a very competent IT shop. I don't know what AV they use. They are a windows shop of course, so it will be one of the usual windows AV products. So I am pretty sure these trojans were the real thing. They asked what did I want to do. Leave them alone, delete them? I said delete, after making a note of what they were. At the moment I am downloading and installing clamav for my Debian installation. I did a scan of the Windows 10 VM that I have running in Virtual Box, using the MS antivirus that comes with Windows, and it came up clean. I'm also proposing to insert the stick, hopefully now disinfected, into my Debian system, copy a few files to and fro, and go back to the shop to see if it has got itself reninfected from Debian. Unlikely, but it seems like a useful precaution. Should I be worried, and what else should I do? Be grateful for any thoughts. The only other thing about my Debian machine that I've noticed lately is that on one Wordpress site I sometimes get a 429 too many requests error, in Firefox. This happens on first clicking on a link on the site or first visiting it, so there has not in fact been more than one request. Don't see how that could be related but thought it best to mention, just in case. Peter

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Using testdisk to fix a corrupt thumb drive
by Mark Rogers 12 Oct '23

12 Oct '23

I have a thumb drive which is formatted to FAT32 but not recognized in Windows. Using "testdisk" I can find the partition OK, but testdisk reports: Disk /dev/sdc - 30 GB / 28 GiB - CHS 29327 64 32 Current partition structure: Partition Start End Size in sectors Warning: number of heads/cylinder mismatches 255 (FAT) != 64 (HD) Warning: number of sectors per track mismatches 63 (FAT) != 32 (HD) 1 * FAT32 LBA 0 1 1 29327 63 32 60063712 [DATADISC] If I select the partition and view files then i see what I expect to see, and I can manually copy off individual files from there. So from a data recovery perspective I have everything I need. However, if I try writing the partition information back using testdisk the thumb drive is still not recognised in Windows and if I reopen it in testdisk it reports the same issues. I tried changing geometry to 255/63 as testdisk suggested, but then analyse says "Bad relative sector". What do I need to do so that the disk is recognised in Windows? Mark -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0344 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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Re: Weird freezes in Firefox
by Phil Ashby 11 Sep '23

11 Sep '23

On 11/09/2023 12:00, Peter<peter.northerly(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Any ideas what this could be? Its happened a couple of times. > > I will be doing something perfectly ordinary in Firefox, like > shopping on Amazon was the last one. All of a sudden the mouse > cursor, as I move the mouse, turns into a broad black stream, which > makes a trail a half inch or so wide, quite jagged. Stays in place as > the mouse is moved on. In and out of the browser window. Its > impossible to close the window. More clicking brings up partial > truncated small windows. Right clicks have no effect. That sounds like the display output is frozen apart from a hardware mouse cursor. You should (hopefully) have something in an Xorg.log file (after a restart!) to help identify if the X server itself has died, or if Firefox has exclusively grabbed the screen then hung. As this only occurs with Firefox, then my hunch would be the latter. > The only thing I could find to do to get out of it was reboot. You could try Ctrl-Alt-Backspace (the default X server terminate 3-key-salute). If it's Firefox that has a problem you may get your login screen back. I have also used the magic SysReq keys (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_SysRq_key) to sync disk blocks then reboot which might get you more useful log file contents... > This is Debian 11, fluxbox, using the Nvidia drivers for their card. > Never happened with any other app, including not with any other > browser. Doesn't happen often, maybe three or four times over > several months. Another thing to try then: the nouveau drivers, although you will likely lose some performance depending on your particular card. > I shall be upgrading to Debian 12 fairly soon, so maybe that will > make it go away. But what could it be? And what would you do, other > than upgrading? I made the switch to 12 (bookworm) a couple of months back - all ok so far running sway atop Wayland with or without Xwayland support for older X11 apps (apart from Java, but that's another story entirely*) Good luck! Phil. * https://www.ashbysoft.com/articles/swingland/

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Weird freezes in Firefox
by Peter 11 Sep '23

11 Sep '23

Any ideas what this could be? Its happened a couple of times. I will be doing something perfectly ordinary in Firefox, like shopping on Amazon was the last one. All of a sudden the mouse cursor, as I move the mouse, turns into a broad black stream, which makes a trail a half inch or so wide, quite jagged. Stays in place as the mouse is moved on. In and out of the browser window. Its impossible to close the window. More clicking brings up partial truncated small windows. Right clicks have no effect. The only thing I could find to do to get out of it was reboot. This is Debian 11, fluxbox, using the Nvidia drivers for their card. Never happened with any other app, including not with any other browser. Doesn't happen often, maybe three or four times over several months. I shall be upgrading to Debian 12 fairly soon, so maybe that will make it go away. But what could it be? And what would you do, other than upgrading? Peter

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Nextcloud upload and share from commandline
by Mark Rogers 11 Aug '23

11 Aug '23

Any nextcloud users here who are familiar with the API? All i want to do is have a script which uploads a file to my nextcloud server, creates a read-only share link for it, and outputs that link. So when I have a file that's too big or otherwise unsuitable for email, I can simply push it to nextcloud and paste the supplied link into my email instead. This seems like a fairly obvious use case but my attempts at Googling a solution have thus far failed me. Uploading a file from a script is easy and there are plenty of examples out there but creating a share link from that point has me (and ChatGPT, and Google Bard) stumped. Mark -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0344 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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