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[Alug]to hdparm or not to hdparm?
by Keith Watson 29 May '03

29 May '03

Has anyone experimented with this command? Did it speed up your system much? Anyone had any bad experiences? Anyone got any recommendations for parameter settings? Keith ____________ >From the first not a thing is. Hui-neng

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Re: [Alug]Wine
by jamie.french＠talk21.com 29 May '03

29 May '03

This is funny, I tried to get Wine working last night as I want to run KazaaLite. I dont have much time in the evenings and all I got to work was progman! Need to do some reading. Aside, does anyone know of any P2P clients like Kazaa which run under Linux? Take Care, Jamie Best Regards, Jamie French -------------------- talk21 your FREE portable and private address on the net at http://www.talk21.com

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Fw: Re: [Alug]to hdparm or not to hdparm?
by Steve Fosdick 29 May '03

29 May '03

On Thu, 29 May 2003 09:16:39 +0100 "Keith Watson" <keith.watson(a)kewill.com> wrote: > Had a play with hdparm last night and my experience was the same as > Ian. In fact the settings seemed to be at optimum by default, > everything I tried just slowed things down. I didn't find anything that speeded up the transfer rate as reported by hdparm -t - there was as much variation between any two tests with the same settings as between different settings.

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Re: [Alug]Serial port permissions?
by Edenyard 29 May '03

29 May '03

MJ Ray wrote: > > Did you start a new login after doing that? Changes to /etc/group only > take effect then. Running the id command shows what groups you are in > for any given login. > > Basically, adding yourself to the proper group is the right way to do it. > Thanks for that! I didn't realise that I needed to start a new login. I tried restarting Efax and also X, but obviously didn't go far enough back. Anyway, I've set the port group back as it was and have added myself to its group, as you recommend, and now it's all fine. Cheers, Gerald.

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Re: [Alug]The Mystery of the Stubborn Kernel
by Jenny_Hopkins＠toby-churchill.com 29 May '03

29 May '03

Dan Hatton wrote: >I wasn't in the IRC discussion, so apologies if I'm going over old ground. >Are you trying to mount your root filesystem from an IDE drive? If so, >please note that kernel-image-2.4.18-686 doesn't have IDE support compiled >in. I've decided to blame that for my inability to run this kernel, and >it could also be to blame for yours. > >kernel-image-2.4.18-bf does have IDE support compiled in, but I can't run >that either, because it's too big for Loadlin. If you're using a >boot-loader other than Loadlin, you might have more luck. Dan - thanks, this was the problem. LILO had no problem with this image. To think i've been building kernel after kernel without having a clue I would need IDE support; time to get a book on basic hardware out of the library perhaps. :-) Ta Jen

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[Alug]GNU/Linux Partition Utilities
by Keith Watson 28 May '03

28 May '03

I'm getting to the point where I seriously need to re-organise my disks in terms of the number, layout and size of the partitions (i.e. reducing the Windows ones [FAT32] and expanding the GNU/Linux ones [ext3]). In the past I've always used PartitionMagic for this but I'd like to stop using Windows based utilities entirely at some point. What's the general opinion on parted as a tool for this? Does anyone use a different GPL utility that they think is better? Keith ____________ There is nothing infinite apart from finite things D.T. Suzuki

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Re: [Alug]Debian 3.0 r0
by Jenny_Hopkins＠toby-churchill.com 27 May '03

27 May '03

John Seago wrote: >It also seems to want to log me on with a GUI and does'nt give me time to log on >to the command line and then startx. To solve this, type update-rc.d -f xdm remove >it does'nt seem to >like what I have said about my mouse, Sometimes your xf86config can be looking for /dev/mouse, which is normally a link to /dev/psaux for a ps2 mouse. ls -l /dev/mouse will show you. >Typing aptget or apt get seems to have the result of confusing the >poor thing, both sides of the keyboard! Did you do apt-get install mc ? Jen

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Re: [Alug]The Mystery of the Stubborn Kernel
by Jenny_Hopkins＠toby-churchill.com 27 May '03

27 May '03

Dan Hatton wrote: >I wasn't in the IRC discussion, so apologies if I'm going over old ground. >Are you trying to mount your root filesystem from an IDE drive? If so, >please note that kernel-image-2.4.18-686 doesn't have IDE support compiled >in. I've decided to blame that for my inability to run this kernel, and >it could also be to blame for yours. > >kernel-image-2.4.18-bf does have IDE support compiled in, but I can't run >that either, because it's too big for Loadlin. If you're using a >boot-loader other than Loadlin, you might have more luck. This sounds excitingly likely....I'll give this a go as soon as I get home (well, after I've fed the kids and dogs and cats and gone to karate to kick people). I think it is IDE. This will explain something that has been puzzling me for weeks if it works. I'm using LILO. Will let you know the outcome. Ta Jenny

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[Alug]The Mystery of the Stubborn Kernel
by Jenny_Hopkins＠toby-churchill.com 27 May '03

27 May '03

Sorry about my abrupt departure from irc last night - I rebooted convinced it was going to work, but it didn't. :-) Then when I booted back into the old kernel I couldn't get any dns stuff working any more. :-( This is the box which first had a 2.2.18-pre21 kernel which refused stubbornly to upgrade by me building a kernel from a 2.4.19 or 2.4.20 image, however many times I rebuilt it with different tweaks. It wouldn't get past "loading linux" and a bunch of dots. I reinstalled on this box yesterday from the woody 3.0 disks, using the stock 2.2.20 kernel, then I tried to upgrade last night, this time using the debian apt insta;ll kernel-image-2.4.18-686 thing, - when I rebooted it displayed exactly the same behaviour as above. Is it possible that you can get some hardware that will never run certain kernels? Jen

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Re: [Alug]The Mystery of the Stubborn Kernel
by Jenny_Hopkins＠toby-churchill.com 27 May '03

27 May '03

Craig wrote: >On Tue, May 27, 2003 at 10:27:24AM +0100, Jenny_Hopkins(a)toby-churchill.com wrote: >> Is it possible that you can get some hardware that will never run certain >> kernels? > >Erm not really. I don't know which hardwares you are using at the moment >(if it is the machine I've sold you then everything should really >work!). > >Try rolling your own kernel instead of debian's ones. Craig - your box is stupendously brilliant. This is my old linux box which your one has replaced, I want to run it as a mail and print server. I've done both my own kernel, and the debian way. Both display the same problems. Ta, Jen

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[Alug]Debian 3.0 r0
by Edenyard 27 May '03

27 May '03

John Seago wrote: > > seems to want to log me on with a GUI and does'nt give me time to log on > to the command line and then startx. > Hello, John - glad to see you're still hanging in there! I've never used Debian but I expect it's like all the others in this respect: look for a file in the /etc directory called 'inittab'. In that file, you should find a line that reads thus: id:5:initdefault: If you change the 5 to a 3, save the file and then re-boot, you should find that it runs up with the standard login, rather than the graphical one. Of course, to edit this, you'd best have MC working, so maybe you need to get that installed first. Hopefully someone else can put you out of your misery with that problem - as I say, I've never used Debian. Hope this helps? Gerald.

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[Alug]Serial port permissions?
by Edenyard 27 May '03

27 May '03

Over the weekend, I installed Efax and Efax-gtk to get Linux to behave as a fax machine. It looks good but I ran into a problem with accessing /dev/ttyS1 (where my modem is), which I'd appreciate some help with. Running Efax-gtk as an ordinary user, I got an error message when it tried to access the modem, saying that permission was denied. I checked the ownership of /dev/ttyS1 and it is root:uucp. I then edited /etc/groups and added myself to the 'uucp' group, but this didn't fix the problem. So I put that back as it was and chowned /dev/ttyS1 to root:users, since I know I'm in in the group 'users'. That worked, but it's left me feeling slightly guilty: should I have altered the ownership of /dev/ttyS1? I suspect not! So how do I make it all work without chowning /dev/ttyS1, please? It works without any of these tweaks if I run Efax-gtk as 'root', as bad as that sounds! Thanks for any clues! Gerald.

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[Alug]New Company, help!
by Tony Dietrich 26 May '03

26 May '03

Sorry if this is considered off-topic guys. I've been working part-time, combined with a day job, for the last couple of years. Just lately, the biz has got to the stage where I can't afford the time for the day job, so I've had to go full time, and start up a one-man company (I took it Limited so I can get cheaper liabilities insurance :p) But the problem is that at the current size, I'm going to really struggle to survive, even though everyone says I've got a good chance. So if any of you guys have any contacts, potential sales queries etc., that you can pass my way without harming yourselves, I'd really appreciate it. It won't take much to reach the 'safe point'. We can supply most hardware, cabling, software etc, do in-house systems audits/analysis and training, but our core biz is the costing of publicly-funded criminal cases on a bureau basis for solicitors and lawyers. So if any of you are friendly with a solicitor, perhaps you could mention us :p Thanks in advance -- Tony Dietrich Transoft Computer Consultancy Ltd. Felixstowe Suffolk 07769710115 -- Tony Dietrich Transoft Computer Consultancy Ltd. 07769710115

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[Alug]Debian 3.0 r0
by John Seago 26 May '03

26 May '03

I had a go at putting the above in as an additional OS to Slackware, now I know the Xserver with this works because I did try this once before, and despite putting in what makes X work with Slackware it does'nt seem to like what I have said about my mouse, so the X server won't start. It also seems to want to log me on with a GUI and does'nt give me time to log on to the command line and then startx. the third problem I'm having is I don't know what the default file manager is called. I'd like Midnight Commander so I know my way around, but what is the command to add it to the installation, please? (MC must be there somewhare on one of seven CD's). Typing aptget or apt get seems to have the result of confusing the poor thing, both sides of the keyboard! -- John Seago

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[Alug]anouncement from sco
by Jenny_Hopkins＠toby-churchill.com 26 May '03

26 May '03

All, Has anyone seen this? http://www.sco.com/scosource/letter_to_linux_customers.html Jen

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[Alug]Goodbye
by Alexis Lee 26 May '03

26 May '03

Hi, It's been a pleasure, but I moved pretty permanently to Southampton about a month ago so I'm going to transfer LUG. Thanks for the help, hopefully I gave as good as I got! Cheers, Alexis -- Prunes give you a good run for your money. "Think about the good things, that I did to you, And think about the bad things, that I didn't do" - Crystal Method

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[Alug]PS tothe Debian Post
by John Seago 26 May '03

26 May '03

I'm subscribed to the Digest, so you may not a quick thank you unless you copy the reply to me and the list. Thank you all for your forebearance. -- John Seago

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[Alug]Weekly IRC reminder
by Neill Newman 26 May '03

26 May '03

This is the automated ALUG IRC meeting reminder sent to remind you that there is an IRC meeting tonight (Monday) at 8.00pm. The meeting takes place on the irc server irc.alug.org.uk in the #alug channel. Most IRC clients should allow you to get there with the commands "/server irc.alug.org.uk" and "/join #alug". Popular IRC clients include tkirc, bitchx, xchat and EPIC on Unix, and Mirc under windows. Here are some links to help you get started with irc. Unix http://www.xchat.org/ http://freshmeat.net/ http://www.epicsol.org/ Windows http://www.mirc.com (loads of help with irc for newbies!)

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Re: [Alug]Lilo - Fatal: register_bios: volume ID serial no. duplicated: 0000000A
by Wayne Stallwood 25 May '03

25 May '03

ALUG <main(a)lists.alug.org.uk> >I don't have two the same. They are both IBM but the product and >revision numbers are quite different for each drive. >The scsiinfo command gives me the drives' serial numbers which are both >different and nothing like the number quoted in the error message. Ok I am looking at the Lilo source now, it all seems to happen in device.c at about line 425 Can you set the verbosity to level 4 "lilo -v 4", run lilo and send the output. Wayne

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[Alug]hexdump
by richard 24 May '03

24 May '03

Hello ALUG list, Does anyone know to use the hexdump program? I've been trying all night (and am at serious risk of fatal caffeine poisoning!) All I want it to do is print every byte of a file in hex notation without any other rubbish (no indexes, no ASCII, no spaces, no line feeds, no nothing). It claims that you can pass it a format string in the same format as fprintf() so I tried this: $ hexdump -e "%x" {filename} >{outputfile} but it just said that my format string was a "bad format {%x}". Any help would be very much appreciated! Richard.

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[Alug]Lilo - Fatal: register_bios: volume ID serial no. duplicated: 0000000A
by Barry Samuels 23 May '03

23 May '03

The current version of Lilo that I am running with Debian Testing is 22.4.1-1 which is fine. If I upgrade to the latest version 22.5.2-2 I get the message in the subject line when I run lilo. Nothing on the machine has changed and if I revert to 22.4.1-1 every thing is fine again. I've put the new package on hold to prevent upgrading until I know what's going on. Can anyone tell me what the message means, why this should happen suddenly and can I do anything about it? Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain

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[Alug]Wireless Rural Broadband
by Ben Francis 23 May '03

23 May '03

After I mentioned on either PLUG or ALUG that a local company was looking into providing a wireless internet service based on 802.11g, I had a couple of people asking who this company was. I can now confirm that the project will be run by Stamford based company 2xp (http://2xp.co.uk) and the webpage of the project is here http://www.wrbb.net Worringly there have been several messages recently claiming that there are no 802.11g cards yet that run on Linux. I'd love to know if anyone knows any different as I'm very interested in the proposed service. There was recently a lot of activity on Slashdot regarding this article http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/story/0,10801,81450,00.html ?nas=PM-81450 which claims that the latest (and possibly final) draft specification released for 802.11g by the IEE will drop the original 54 meg speed to around 20 meg, quite a significant difference. 2xp, the Stamford company got in touch with the IEE and the following text is from here http://www.sourcewire.com/sub_releases/search_results.php?id=16844&hilite "WRBB technical staff visiting the WiFi Exhibition in Olympia have been in contact with Dennis Eaton (Chair of the WiFi Alliance) and Nicholas Sargologos (Prism Product Marketing) who are both voting members of the IEEE 802.11g Committee and have been assured that this is not the case. The standards are to be ratified at the end of June and the voting members assured WRBB that "there is a less than 2% chance of the standard being downgraded". Sorry if this seems a little off topic, but my main concern is that I won't be able to use the proposed wireless internet in Linux. Perhaps there are some 802.11b products that run on Linux and will be compatible with the service? Regards Ben "tola" Francis

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[Alug]USB HC TakeOver Failed! message
by Jenny_Hopkins＠toby-churchill.com 22 May '03

22 May '03

Hi all, I'm getting this message on startup with kernel 2.4.20 usb.c: registered new driver hub usb-ohci.c: USB OHCI at membase 0xce915000, IRQ 10 usb-ohci.c: usb-00:02.0, PCI device 10de:01c2 (nVidia Corporation) usb-ohci.c: USB HC TakeOver failed! Trying to free vfree() nonexistent vm area (ce915000) usb-ohci.c: USB OHCI at membase 0xce915000, IRQ 10 usb-ohci.c: usb-00:03.0, PCI device 10de:01c2 (nVidia Corporation) usb.c: new bus registered, assigned bus number 1 The machine then hangs. I did a google search and found a thread where someone said that meant the bios and kernel were having a punch up over usb controller, and to turn USB controller to disabled. I did this, and sure enough it booted, but then I had no usb. This is on the motherboard A7N266-VM I was droning on about in an earlier thread. Am I missing some point or other where I should have installed an nvidia driver for usb control as well as audio, net and graphics? Any help appreciated. Jen

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[Alug]In praise of Mandrake 9.1
by Ian Bell 22 May '03

22 May '03

I have recently been trying a number of distros including debian and knoppix in an attempt to find something better than my current rh7.3 (rh9.0 being abysmal). On this month's Linux Format DVD was Mandrake 9.1 so I gave it a whirl. Installs OK on my Dell laptop, X works fine, has a recent kde desktop, a good selection of apps and best of all my USB camera plugs in and pops up as a desktop icon. Like rh9 they have omitted kpackage but at least the Mandrake installer allows you to install non Mandrake rpms. This could be it. Ian

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[Alug]Norwich evening meeting status
by Syd Hancock 22 May '03

22 May '03

Overall concensus seems to be for the British Legion Hall on Aylsham road. Just a brief update - I have contacted the BL Hall but the person who deals with bookings is not there for a few days. I will also be away from friday but I'll try and remember to phone up again early next week to make a booking or bookings. Syd

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