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[ALUG Announce] Monthly Social Meeting Monday 10 July
by samwise 10 Jul '17

10 Jul '17

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via https://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- Hi, all, Just a quick reminder that we have our monthly IOG social meeting tonight in the upstairs rooms of the Thomas Wolsey pub on St Peters Street, Ipswich, from 20:00. If you have any photos from recent walks that you would like to share that haven't made it to Facebook etc., feel free to email me directly, and I'll put some in the slide pack. Hope to see some of you there! Many thanks, Peter. IOG Chair ----- Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) Unsub, change settings via https://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

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[ALUG Announce] ALUG Norwich Pub Meet Thursday 13th July
by Viperfang 10 Jul '17

10 Jul '17

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via https://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- Hello Norwich Aluggers, Our monthly ALUG Norwich social meeting will be held this Thursday, 13th July at The Coach and Horses (82 Thorpe Road, Norwich, NR1 1BA). The meeting officially starts at 8pm, although some people may arrive earlier. More information on those people can be found on the list and the IRC channel. If you are unsure if you will recognise us then make yourself and your intent to attend known by either posting on list or visiting us on IRC so we can look out for you rather than hiding in the corner. Optionally you could ask at the bar if they know where the geeky computer weirdos are and they'll point you in the right direction (seriously!). Another possibility is look for heaps of electronics on a table that may possibly look like movie props that would used for detonating explosives. Feel free to bring electronics/laptops/gadgets to the meet, you will by no means be alone. Ben Bewick aka Viperfang NB: This mail is automated, please refer to the usual sources for more information. ALUG Contact Details: Website : http://www.alug.org.uk/ IRC : #alug on irc.alug.org.uk List : http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo Twitter : http://twitter.com/anglianlug Identica: TBA Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2381613902 ----- Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) Unsub, change settings via https://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

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2600 meeting at 18:00 on Friday the 7th July.
by Viperfang 05 Jul '17

05 Jul '17

Quick heads up about this months Norwich 2600 meeting, more info at http://www.norwich2600.co.uk

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Linux with Gnome-2?
by Ted Harding 04 Jul '17

04 Jul '17

Greetings all! As I posted a few days ago, I shall want to install Linux on a new laptop. For years I have been using Gnome 2, since in particular it provides for a row of "workspace" icons at the bottom of the screen. I use 20 of these, since much of the work I do involves switching between different workspaces in which different jobs are going on in parallel (and each could itself use up two or more workspaces). A screengrab of what the screen looks like before I start anything up is at: http://www.zen89632.zen.co.uk/Misc/gnome2-debian-desktop.jpg The 20 workspace icons are at bottom right, and switching between them is easy -- mouse-click, or "Ctrl-Alt-RightArrow" or "Ctrl-Alt-LeftArrow". This does not seem to be available on Gnome 3. So can anyone point me to installation resources for a Linux distribution which has Gbome 2? Scientific Linux: https://www.scientificlinux.org/ used to have Gnome 2 for some time after Gnome 3 came out, but it seems that it now only has Gnome 3 (though I haven't found definite confirmation of this on the SciLin website). Any relevant info anf help will be much appreciated! Thanks, and best wishes to all, Ted.

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Linux with Gnome-2?
by Barry Broom 27 Jun '17

27 Jun '17

Hi Ted, This is my first time posting so I hope it gets through. In Gnome 3 based distributions (Ubuntu/Debian/Fedora etc) you can switch workspaces by going to the Activities screen and using the scroll wheel on the mouse or by clicking on the right pane. Alternatively you can press Super+Page Up (or Super+Page Down) on the keyboard to cycle through your workspaces. If you are using a PC the 'super' key is the Windows key. Barry

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Re: [ALUG] Linux with Gnome-2?
by Mick 26 Jun '17

26 Jun '17

But crucially, with the Mate desktop. (Please forgive the top post. I'm using a mobile mail client. On my hols. )On 26 Jun 2017 20:18, Bev Nicolson <lumos(a)gmx.co.uk> wrote: > > Ah. Well the answer I got a while back was this, Ted: > > https://www.linuxmint.com/ > > I'll have to dive in one day. > > Bev > > > On 26/06/17 18:56, Ted Harding wrote: > > So can anyone point me to installation resources for a > > Linux distribution which has Gbome 2? > > > > Scientific Linux: > > https://www.scientificlinux.org/ > > used to have Gnome 2 for some time after Gnome 3 came out, > > but it seems that it now only has Gnome 3 (though I haven't > > found definite confirmation of this on the SciLin website). > > > > Any relevant info anf help will be much appreciated! > > Thanks, and best wishes to all, > > Ted. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > http://www.alug.org.uk/ > > https://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main > > Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above! > > > > > _______________________________________________ > main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > http://www.alug.org.uk/ > https://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main > Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!

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Re: [ALUG] MS Office file formats
by mark fernandes 14 Jun '17

14 Jun '17

Hi, I'm assuming that you mean Office 365. Have just been working on a doc for work and saved it to my dropbox and remembered your query. Properties says \ Word 2007 (.docx) HTH, Mark Fernandes

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Re: [ALUG] SSH clients
by Laurie Brown 14 Jun '17

14 Jun '17

On 13/06/17 16:52, Mark Rogers wrote: > On 13 June 2017 at 16:21, Laurie Brown <laurie(a)brownowl.com> wrote: >> >> DNSmasq is your friend... > > It is indeed, but 17.04 isn't letting me talk to it! > > Specifically: dnsmasq is what I have running on a server in my office, > and my desktop is set to use it via DHCP . A lookup for anything with > a dot in it works, but without it doesn't get passed to my dnsmasq > server: > > $ dig myhost.msl-office.co.uk #works > $ dig virtualhost.myhost #works > $ dig myhost #fails > $ dig @192.168.1.5 myhost #works (where 192.168.1.5 is my server > running dnsmasq) Ah! I confess I haven't tried it with 17.04 at all. I use it extensively in 14.04 and it works well. I have a situation where I need split-horizon DNS (which djbdns can do as well). Mobile device users, when in-house, need to access internal services with what is effectively the external domain so that when they leave the internal network, the same domains work, but point to a different IP address. Basically dnscache intercepts the call to an external domain and returns a local address, which is what I think you need. > Not sure if the off-list reply was deliberate so I haven't "corrected" > it, but feel free to reply back to the list. It wasn't! hit the wrong button in a hurry! Sorry! Cheers, Laurie. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Laurie Brown laurie(a)brownowl.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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SSH clients
by Mark Rogers 13 Jun '17

13 Jun '17

Usually I just SSH directly from my terminal, but that's not a great way to keep track of server IP addresses and keys etc. So, what do others do? -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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Re: [ALUG] MS Office file formats
by Noel Galer 13 Jun '17

13 Jun '17

You may find the following link useful. Not so much for the obvious explanation, but more for the background :- https://www.howtogeek.com/304622/what-is-a-.docx-file-and-how-is-it-diff erent-from-a-.doc-file-in-microsoft-word/ Personally, I think it is a cynical attempt to keep one step ahead of an 'Open' format, in order to keep the world hooked on MS Office and the spiralling costs. But then I also see Microsoft as a 'single point of failure' for the world. However, the NHS came close to something like that recently. I wonder where the bug came from ? Best regards, Noel XorSyst -----Original Message----- From: main [mailto:main-bounces@lists.alug.org.uk] On Behalf Of Phil Thane Sent: Monday, June 12, 2017 6:31 PM To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk Subject: [ALUG] MS Office file formats I've used Star Office / Open Office / Libre Office for all my writing work since around 2000. Most editors though want work in MS file formats, previously .doc, now .docx. I notice that Libre Office 5 'save as' function gives me the option to save in MS Word 2007 - 2013 XML (docx). Does anyone know if that's the latest? What does the new-fangled 'MS Office as a Service' use? Are we going to run into compatibility issues all over again? -- Phil Thane www.pthane.co.uk phil(a)pthane.co.uk 01767 449759 07582 750607 Twitter @pthane _______________________________________________ main(a)lists.alug.org.uk http://www.alug.org.uk/ https://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!

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KeePass, was Re: SSH clients
by Mark Rogers 13 Jun '17

13 Jun '17

On 12 June 2017 at 11:57, samwise <samwise(a)bagshot-row.org> wrote: > KeePass is a lot more powerful than first appears! > I've played with Keepass in the (distant) past but not recently, and it's looking like I should take another look. I currently use LastPass (cue cries of horror...) because its Android client generally works pretty well at auto-filling apps (including but not limited to browser). A quick Google shows that there are KeyPass clients for Android (and more than one to choose from!) but a quick glance suggests that while they may give access to the passwords it wasn't clear that auto-fill would be there. (KeePassDroid doesn't seem to have much in the way of feature documentation, but reading the documentation on Keepass2Android, which looks pretty well specified, it allows switching to a Keepass keyboard to auto-enter passwords but that doesn't sound as seamless as LastPass.) What do others use for synchronising their Keepass data securely between machines (including mobiles)? Is it possible to share certain sets of data between users? Mark -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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sudo &
by Mark Rogers 13 Jun '17

13 Jun '17

Is there an easy was to launch a process with sudo and send it into the background? $ sudo myapp & .. will go straight into the background then stop, waiting for a password to be entered. So I have to bring it back to the foreground (fg), enter the password, stop it (ctrl-z) then send it back into the background (bg). Of-course what normally happens is that I don't realise it's stopped at all, only to come back several hours after a long process should have been running to find it hasn't yet started.... I'm sure there's a better way? Mark -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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MS Office file formats
by Phil Thane 12 Jun '17

12 Jun '17

I've used Star Office / Open Office / Libre Office for all my writing work since around 2000. Most editors though want work in MS file formats, previously .doc, now .docx. I notice that Libre Office 5 'save as' function gives me the option to save in MS Word 2007 - 2013 XML (docx). Does anyone know if that's the latest? What does the new-fangled 'MS Office as a Service' use? Are we going to run into compatibility issues all over again? -- Phil Thane www.pthane.co.uk phil(a)pthane.co.uk 01767 449759 07582 750607 Twitter @pthane

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Re: [ALUG] Need new laptop AND seek recovery of files from VirtualBox
by Phil Ashby 11 Jun '17

11 Jun '17

On 28/05/17 12:00 Chris Green <cl(a)isbd.net> wrote: > Ted Harding <ted.harding(a)wlandres.net> wrote: >> The Linux filesystems are in VirtualBox ".vdi" files on >> the Windows XP system, which I was able to locate after >> booting with the Slackware CD. I've been looking around >> extensively for info about how to set about this. This >> does not seem to be straightfoward unless the VDI file >> is transerred (somehpow ... ) to another machine on which >> VirtualBox is installed. >> > I think that's the only practical way, copy the .vdi files to a system > which has VirtualBox installed and then get that system to boot the > virtual linux. > > -- Chris Green I've done similar in the past. Get the new machine sorted first, then either: boot up a live CD on the victim and export the local storage to the new machine (probably using the nice easy GUI 'sharing' stuff in Gnome these days); or remove the physical disk(s) and attach to the new machine via a USB caddy / directly into a disk slot if you have one spare, this may be easier than trying to get sharing guff to work. Either way, you can copy off the whole VirtualBox VMs folder from the victim's storage, then work on a nice new/fast/not-broken machine to get them going again. I use a similar approach to properly scan machines for malware, on the basis that one should never try and scan from within the possibly compromised OS. I export the raw disks using a live CD to another machine and scan from there. Cheers, Phil.

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Any DNS/systemd experts here? I have a DNS problem on new xubuntu install
by Chris Green 08 Jun '17

08 Jun '17

My new laptop has xubuntu 17.04 installed and that runs systemd-resolved for local DNS rather than the previous dnsmasq (run by Network Manager). I have a local server on my network that provides DHCP and DNS for the systems on the LAN and thus I can find things by name. From all my older (xubuntu 16.04) systems this works for both unqualified and FQDNs:- chris$ host backup backup.zbmc.eu has address 192.168.1.101 chris$ host pi pi.zbmc.eu has address 192.168.1.2 chris$ host backup.zbmc.eu backup.zbmc.eu has address 192.168.1.101 chris$ host pi.zbmc.eu pi.zbmc.eu has address 192.168.1.2 chris$ However, from the xubuntu 17.04 system, it doesn't work for unqualified names:- chris@t470$ host pi Host pi not found: 2(SERVFAIL) chris@t470$ host backup Host backup not found: 2(SERVFAIL) chris@t470$ host backup.zbmc.eu backup.zbmc.eu has address 192.168.1.101 It looks like it should work because systemd-resolve's configuration seems right:- chris@t470$ systemd-resolve --status Global DNS Domain: zbmc.eu DNSSEC NTA: 10.in-addr.arpa 16.172.in-addr.arpa 168.192.in-addr.arpa 17.172.in-addr.arpa 18.172.in-addr.arpa 19.172.in-addr.arpa 20.172.in-addr.arpa 21.172.in-addr.arpa 22.172.in-addr.arpa 23.172.in-addr.arpa 24.172.in-addr.arpa 25.172.in-addr.arpa 26.172.in-addr.arpa 27.172.in-addr.arpa 28.172.in-addr.arpa 29.172.in-addr.arpa 30.172.in-addr.arpa 31.172.in-addr.arpa corp d.f.ip6.arpa home internal intranet lan local private test Link 3 (wlp4s0) Current Scopes: DNS LLMNR setting: yes MulticastDNS setting: no DNSSEC setting: no DNSSEC supported: no DNS Servers: 192.168.1.2 8.8.8.8 DNS Domain: zbmc.eu Link 2 (enp0s31f6) Current Scopes: none LLMNR setting: yes MulticastDNS setting: no DNSSEC setting: no DNSSEC supported: no Hey! I think I see the problem, I set LLMNR to 'no' in the configuration but above it's still 'yes'. Why isn't it no? :- root@t470:/etc/systemd# more /etc/systemd/resolved.conf # This file is part of systemd. # # systemd is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it # under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by # the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or # (at your option) any later version. # # Entries in this file show the compile time defaults. # You can change settings by editing this file. # Defaults can be restored by simply deleting this file. # # See resolved.conf(5) for details [Resolve] #DNS= #FallbackDNS=8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 2001:4860:4860::8888 2001:4860:4860::8844 Domains=zbmc.eu LLMNR=no #DNSSEC=no #Cache=yes #DNSStubListener=udp root@t470:/etc/systemd# ... and I have restarted the service. Help! -- Chris Green

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Can anyone point me at a VLAN tutorial aimed at small 'soho' users?
by Chris Green 07 Jun '17

07 Jun '17

I'm trying to use VLANs to separate areas of my home LAN, mostly for security by, for example, keeping guest/Windows WiFi connections isolated from the rest of the system. It appears that just about every manufacturers' idea of what VLAN means is different! I have VLAN ability offered by my TP-Link VDSL router, by my Draytek Vigor 2820n router and by a TP-Link TL-SG108E managed switch. They all seem very different! On the TP-Link router (TD-W9980) the VLAN facility is closely connected with what it calls LAN groups. You can create groups and put the physical LAN ports and WiFi SSIDs into specific groups. Each group has its own DHCP server and thus a different IP range. You can't put anything (LAN port or SSID) into more than one group. In reality there seems to be little real separation between groups as, if you put (say) LAN port 2 into a group by itself any device connected to LAN port 2 will still get replies DHCP requests it sends from any/all the other LAN ports. A different subnet will run on LAN port 2 but if you configure a device connected to that port with a different subnet address it will happily talk to devices on the other ports. The 2820n is quite different. If you set up VLANs on that they all have the same DHCP server (in the 2820n) and are thus on the same subnet, but they are separated and unable to communicate with each other. Devices can be assigned to multiple ports. Thus it's possible to have one VLAN (to which everyone can belong) that has access to the internet and not much else and another VLAN which is the more secure internal VLAN. Finally the TL-SG108E offers three sorts of VLAN - Port based, tagged and MTU (confusing abbreviation that last one, it doesn't mean Maximum Transmission Unit). The manual isn't very helpful, it does the usual TP-Link thing of repeating what the words on the GUI confuguration tell you with no indication of *why* you would want to do anything. Port based VLANs are a bit like the 2820n ones described above except that they seem to expect different subnets, the others I'm not really sure about (as in I don't really understand them) but looking around the internet I gather that the descriptions confuse others too because they don't use the same terms for the same things as others (mostly Cisco) do. Help! :-) I just need a simple explanation of how to split up my LAN such that I can separate a 'Guest WiFi' part (more than one WiFi device), an area that all local users can access (with printer, DNS, etc.) and a more private area (my desktop, backup system, etc.) that only I can access. All users need access to the internet of course. -- Chris Green

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[ALUG Announce] ALUG Norwich Pub Meet Thursday 8th June
by Viperfang 05 Jun '17

05 Jun '17

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via https://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- Hello Norwich Aluggers, Our monthly ALUG Norwich social meeting will be held this Thursday, 8th June at The Coach and Horses (82 Thorpe Road, Norwich, NR1 1BA). The meeting officially starts at 8pm, although some people may arrive earlier. More information on those people can be found on the list and the IRC channel. If you are unsure if you will recognise us then make yourself and your intent to attend known by either posting on list or visiting us on IRC so we can look out for you rather than hiding in the corner. Optionally you could ask at the bar if they know where the geeky computer weirdos are and they'll point you in the right direction (seriously!). Another possibility is look for heaps of electronics on a table that may possibly look like movie props that would used for detonating explosives. Feel free to bring electronics/laptops/gadgets to the meet, you will by no means be alone. Ben Bewick aka Viperfang NB: This mail is automated, please refer to the usual sources for more information. ALUG Contact Details: Website : http://www.alug.org.uk/ IRC : #alug on irc.alug.org.uk List : http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo Twitter : http://twitter.com/anglianlug Identica: TBA Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2381613902 ----- Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) Unsub, change settings via https://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

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I have bought my laptop replacement
by Chris Green 03 Jun '17

03 Jun '17

Well after much timewasting searching web sites, reviews, etc. and listening to advice here and elsewhere I have bought my replacement laptop (to replace my Thinkpad T430). I decided to stay with Thinkpad Txxx as reviews indicate they are some of the best machines around *and* they are good for Linux. Rather more in hope than expectation I bid for a T470 on eBay and got it for £650. The T470 is the current T series model and this one has a latest (7th) generation Core i7 processor, 8Gb memory and a 256GB SSD. It is ex-demo and thus virtually unmarked and comes with a full 3 year on-site warranty! New price is around £1500. Wow! :-) I have installed xubuntu 17.04 on it and it's lovely! :-) -- Chris Green

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2600 meeting at 18:00 on Friday the 2nd June.
by Viperfang 30 May '17

30 May '17

Quick heads up about this months Norwich 2600 meeting, more info at http://www.norwich2600.co.uk

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Which laptop to buy, help me decide
by Chris Green 29 May '17

29 May '17

Having increased my budget somewhat I seem to have narrowed my choice of laptop on which to run Xubuntu to one of the following two:- A - pcspecialists/novatech/entroware custom system:- https://www.entroware.com/store/orion https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/ultraNoteIV-14/ These are all the same machine built by Clevo and configured by the various companies above. Pcspecialists are cheapest. For my 8Gb, Core I5, SSD machine the cost is around £540. B - A Lenovo Ideapad 510S http://www3.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/ideapad/500-series/Lenovo-IdeaPad-510S… Price (if you shop around) a little less than the one above. I've checked and according to Lenovo forums etc. Ubuntu Linux installs on it without problems. Does anyone have any comments about either of these machines that might push me one way or the other? -- Chris Green

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Has anyone heard of Entroware?
by Chris Green 29 May '17

29 May '17

While searching for my new laptop I came across this company:- https://www.entroware.com They build and sell Ubuntu OS laptops and the prices are not unreasonable. Does anyone know anything about them or has anyone here bought one? -- Chris Green

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Nedd new laptop AND seek rcovery of files from VirtualBox
by Ted Harding 27 May '17

27 May '17

Greetings All! Chris Green's recent message arrived as I was about to compose a similar one! My (somewhat ancient but much-loved) Advent 8117 recently crashed. It had Windows XP, into which I installed VirtualBox into which I then installed Debian (Etch, I think; and Ubuntu). It is the Windows, apparently, which crashed. While, after repeated attempts, it is possible to get windows started, many of the applications icons have vanished rom the screen, including the VirtualBox one. So Linux is now inaccessible on this machine. Yesterday I took it to be looked at by a Computer Suppport person I know (very amiliar with Linux), and we did get somewhere -- using a Slackware Live CD it was possible to have a look at the filesystem. However, when I tried to reboot it just now nothing happened: no sign of power reaching the compuyer (and the battery is dead anyway). I suspect that yesterday's 60-mile round trip may have broken a power-supply connection somewhere in the computer. So FIRST: I'm seeking a replacement. No special hardware requirements beyond a good amount of HD space and of RAM, plus the usual ethernet cable, print (via USB cable), USB ockets etc. And a nicely laid out keyboard with very visible labels (letters etc.) would be very welcome. especially if the "delete" key is at bottom right instead of top right. I'd like it to have Linux installed, preferably Debian, but with Gnome 2 desktop rather than later versions (Fermilab's Scientific Linux has stuck with Gnome 2), since the way I work depends heavily on the array of workspaces displayed at the bottom of the screen in Gnome 2. So any suggested offers? (willing to pay a reasonable price). Then SECOND: I really want to recover files in the Linux systems which have accumulated over the years (not fussy about the entire OS's, though some of the system config files are also important). The Linux filesystems are in VirtualBox ".vdi" files on the Windows XP system, which I was able to locate after booting with the Slackware CD. I've been looking around extensively for info about how to set about this. This does not seem to be straightfoward unless the VDI file is transerred (somehpow ... ) to another machine on which VirtualBox is installed. Any help or advice? With thanks, Ted.

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Looking for a laptop as my T430 has died
by Chris Green 27 May '17

27 May '17

My faithful Lenovo/IBM T430 seems to have died so I'm looking for a replacement. A similar specification would be fine, price is the major issue, the T430 is a refurbished one and I'd be quite happy to go for refurbished again. Requirements are:- Third generation core I5 or better processor 14" screen SSD drive (though I could transfer the one from my T430) 8Gb memory USB 3.0 Gbit ethernet There's no need for any OS though I guess it will be bound to have Windows in which case 7 preferred. There's not so many brands, basically Lenovo, HP/Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu, Asus and Acer seem to be it. Does anyone have any comments on good/bad brands? I've been happy with the Lenovo T430 (but it has died!). So recommendations awaited please. -- Chris Green

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Recovering from ext4 corruption, logs & rsync help
by steve-ALUG＠hst.me.uk 22 May '17

22 May '17

Hi gurus! Request for help below. First, what happened. I had made a copy of some music files/directories I wished to copy to my phone using pcmanfm (I think) but mid copy I got errors "Can't write to readonly filesystem". Thinking this meant that probably my main drive had errored somehow and switched to read-only mode, I decided to reboot, via the shutdown menu. OOPS. Machine would then not boot. It tried to do a on-book fsck, which crashed, but if I interrupted the fsck, it also crashed. I found a live cd, booted from it, loaded mdadm and reassembled my raid arrays then fscked my two partitions /, /home. Errors were found and fixed. Basically some inodes multiplly claimed, and a few reference counts were wrong. Files were placed in Lost + Found. Rebooted & booted OK. Worked out all the lost & Found files were jpgs from my photo albums. sorted them all out. Rebooted again, but sometimes my desktop won't appear, & I'm left at a text loging prompt. Q1) If the desktop doesn't appear, which log files to examine? Dmesg & xorg.*.log? Q2) Any ideas which log files I should check to try and work out what went wrong yesterday? I can't see anything obvious in Kern.log - just a few UFW entries then stuff from when I next booted it. I backup my files via various methods, but one is an Rsync to a USB drive. I backup using sudo rsync -av --del / /media/me/USBDrive/ --exclude-from=/home/me/rsynchbackexclude rsynchbackexclude is a text file containing stuff like /sys/* /dev/* /proc/* /media/* /mnt/* /tmp/* /lost+found/* /var/tmp/* *.iso I want to "compare" the backup with the live hard disk and see what, if anything, is missing. If anything is missing I'll restore if from a different backup source though. I suspect that I need to do a "dry-run" copy from the USB drive to the live hard disk q3) Am I right with this command line to do a "dry run" restore, i.e. show me what would copy, which is in effect, what is different between the USB disk and the live drive? sudo rsync -av --dry-run /media/me/USBDrive/ / --log-file=LogToFile -v = verbose -a = -rlptgoD =>r recursive l copy links as symlinks ptgo preserve permissions, times, group, owner D preserve device files & special files --dry-run = do a dry run --list-only = list changes but don't do any --log-file log to file is this right, or should I do i = itemise changes instead of dry-run? Any help/advise welcomed. Thanks Steve

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How to locate bookmarks data in Mozilla/Firefox/Iceweasel ...
by Ted Harding 18 May '17

18 May '17

Greetings all! I'm seeking to rescue important files and other info from a laptop that has just "crashed". I had installed Linux (Debian) on a virtual machine (VirtualBox) installed on windows XP. It's Windows XP which has gone both bottom-up and tits-up. I think I can probably use a CD with Slackware installed to boot from (Ive tried it on another machine, and it works), which should then give me access to the Linux filesystem stored on the hard drive separately from the Windows filesystem. Once there, when it concerns files which I know where to find on the filesystem, there should be no problem reading their contents (though extracting the files themselves for transfer to my working machine may be another issue). However, one important item which I would like to plant on my working machine is the set of bookmarks (hierarchically organised) that I have built up over many years on the crashed machine's Mozilla/Firefos/Iceweasel browser. Presumably this lurks somewhere is a ".filename" in my home directory. But I've not managed to sniff out such a file on my working machine (also Debian), so I wouldn't know where to look on the crashed machine. Therefore, please, can anyone tell me where the file is likely to be, and what it's likely to be named? Then I could transcribe its contents to the other machine. With thanks, Ted.

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