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Meeting at Coach and Horses?
by Anthony Anson 11 Jul '13

11 Jul '13

Will there be one on Thursday? -- Tony http://www.girolle.co.uk/

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Network fun: wifi, powerlines and wires
by MJ Ray 10 Jul '13

10 Jul '13

So there's rather a lot of these BT Home Hubs around me. They are hopping all over the 2.4GHz band as they fail to avoid interfering with each other and every other router in the area. In short, it's messing up my wifi and any time I (or any other non-BT neighbour) move to a quieter channel, it starts the madness again as the BT hubs shuffle around - the Android phones cope most of the time, but the Linux laptops (one rtl8723ae, one I forget what) don't like it very much. Is there anything I can do (module options or tool configs) to discourage the laptops from disassociating when there's a burst of noise? The good folk on IRC suggest getting a 5GHz band (802.11n) access point but I fear any relief will be temporary as the BT hubs get upgraded to similarly-misbehaving 5GHz kit. Or is it more resilient? Is powerline networking worth a try? Has anyone got tips or things available locally that they'd recommend? I hope it's just ethernet as far as Linux is concerned. Is there another option short of lead-lining my walls which I'm missing? Failing that, I'll wire up yet another house with ethernet cables... Thanks, -- MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer. In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/

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Help with Setuid?
by Chris Walker 10 Jul '13

10 Jul '13

Having changed my desktop OS to Magiea, I find that I can no longer gain access to my NAS box. Previously I had 4 lines in /etc/fstab describing the mounts and they worked fine. With the change of OS though has come this message whenever I try to access the NAS - 'This program is not installed setuid root - "user" CIFS mounts not supported'. I've read up online as much as I can but I'm no further forward in resolving the problem. Can somebody point me in the right direction please as I need access to the box? If it helps, the 4 lines in question look like this :- //storage_server/Epox_Share /media/Epox_Share cifs user,credentials=/etc/samba/auth.storage_server.Epox,exec 0 0 //storage_server/Laptop_Share /media/Laptop_Share cifs user,credentials=/etc/samba/auth.storage_server.Laptop,exec 0 0 //storage_server/Linux_Share /media/Linux_Share cifs user,credentials=/etc/samba/auth.storage_server.Mandriva,exec 0 0 //storage_server/Media_Share /media/Media_Share cifs user,credentials=/etc/samba/auth.storage_server.xbox,exec 0 0 In case it helps /etc/hosts looks like this :- # generated by drakconnect 127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost 192.168.1.25 storage_server

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[ALUG Announce] ALUG Norwich Pub Meet Thursday 11th July
by Viperfang 09 Jul '13

09 Jul '13

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- Hello Norwich Aluggers, Our monthly ALUG Norwich social meeting will be held this Thursday, 11th 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 http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

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Linux Beer Hike 2013 in Castleton
by MJ Ray 09 Jul '13

09 Jul '13

mikeh at csits.net sent a message using the contact form at http://lug.org.uk/contact which I thought might interest some ALUGgers, given the propensity for pub-based meetings here. It's Saturday 17th August until Sunday 25th August and the message said: I'd like to make a general announcement about the 2013 annual Linux Bier Wandering. This year, the event returns to the UK and will be held in the village of Castleton, in the Peak District. Linux Beer Hike 2013 in Castleton ********************************* Hacking, learning, talking, walking and dining - The Linux Bier Wanderung (Linux Beer Hike) is all this and much more. Each summer around 50 Linux enthusiasts meet up for a weeks holiday. This year the 15th annual event takes the penguin-friends to England, specifically to the picturesque village of Castleton in the Peak District. LBWers put their hiking boots on for the first time in 1999 in Pottenstein in Germany. After a great week, it was clear: We'll meet again next year! In the following years the wanderers traveled to countries including Belgium, Ireland, Scotland, Lithuania, Greece, Switzerland, and Austria. 2013 is the third time the event takes place in England. There is much to discover: The Peak District offers many great hikes in and around the village itself and the delights of Speedwell Cavern, and the many other caves in the area. Castleton also has a lot to offer in terms of food and drink: many delicious beers and hearty cuisine will fortify the participants and keep them all happy. Talks about Linux and Free and Open Source Software complete the programme. It is now possible to register to join in with the event [2]. Over the next few weeks the organisers and participants will arrange various hikes and excursions, and participants can also register for workshops and talks. Questions on anything to do with the LBW will be happily answered by the Linux beer hikers on their mailing list [3] or on IRC (channel #lbw at irc.oftc.net) Links: [1] LBW 2013: http://lbw2013.norgie.net/ [2] Registration for LBW 2013: http://lbwreg.draiocht.net/ [3] LBW mailing list: https://mail.x31.com/mailman/listinfo/lbw -- MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer. In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/

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KDE 4.1 problems
by Chris Walker 08 Jul '13

08 Jul '13

As part of my new install I am now using KDE 4.10 as the desktop. But it appears to have a problem retaining settings. If I switch off, when it comes back on, the konsole window for example is now full screen when it should be just a small window and similarly for something like a Solitaire game. But using the same DVD I used to install, I created another install inside VirtualBox and that doesn't exhibit the problem. I've been looking online at the KDE 4 pages but I can't get to the bottom of the issue. Can I copy any of the files over from the virtual machine or is there a preferred way to fix it? I've tried logging in as root and moving my copy of the .kde4 folder in the hope that it would create a new one without these problems but either I didn't do it correctly, or it didn't work, the end result being that there was no change. As the virtual machine works and this one doesn't I assumed it might be graphics related but if I do anything to that, I lose everything and can no longer see the graphic I have for wallpaper and all the icons disappear. That then takes me ages to get it all back again so having done that three times now, I'm getting tired of it and now tend to avoid that. So any ideas on what I can do to remedy the problem please?

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2600 meeting at 18:00 on Friday the 5th July.
by Viperfang 02 Jul '13

02 Jul '13

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

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Upgrading a legacy Ubuntu Server 10.10 install
by Mark Rogers 28 Jun '13

28 Jun '13

I've just found a production Ubuntu Server 10.10 install that I need to try to upgrade. It's pretty much just Apache, PHP and MySQL so hopefully not too complicated. 10.10 has not been supported for ages - indeed to get to a version which is not EOL I need to skip 11.04 and 11.10 and go straight for 12.04LTS. I've taken an image and restored to an indentical VM. So far I've done: sed -i.bak -e 's/maverick/precise/g' /etc/apt/sources.list apt-get update apt-get install apt apt-get upgrade && apt-get dist-upgrade && apt-get autoremove This initially failed until I added: APT { Immediate-Configure No; }; .. to /etc/apt/apt.conf Rather surprisingly, I now have an apparently working system, So my question is: what should I look out for to check this has really gone OK? So far it feels like it's been too easy... Mark -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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Shorewall logs
by Chris Walker 24 Jun '13

24 Jun '13

I've this week changed from Mandriva 2011 to Mageia. I did it because Mandriva no longer seemed to be being developed and also because my installation had a few issues. I also swapped out the 500gig drive that Mandriva was on and installed Mageia to a 1TB drive but I kept the 500 gig jobbie. To save myself time I just moved things like the config for Sylpheed and Claws from the 5400gig to the 1TB and those are working fine. In trying to find out why a USB 3 disc wasn't being seen, I noticed that dmesg was filling up with messages from Shorewall. I'm not sure if Shorewall ran on Mandriva but certainly I didn't see those messages. They all appear to be the same though with the exception of the ID which varies. Here's the last two for example [ 6125.561129] Shorewall:net2fw:DROP:IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=40:61:86:05:f9:31:00:24:a5:bd:b4:dc:08:00 SRC=192.168.1.1 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=60 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=64 ID=2897 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=3896 DPT=3389 WINDOW=5840 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 [ 6128.560425] Shorewall:net2fw:DROP:IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=40:61:86:05:f9:31:00:24:a5:bd:b4:dc:08:00 SRC=192.168.1.1 DST=192.168.1.2 LEN=60 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=64 ID=2898 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=3896 DPT=3389 WINDOW=5840 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 On my machine 192.168.1.1 is the router. Should I be concerned about these messages? If so, what should I do as they're just an irritation at the moment.

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Partition mount problem
by Barry Samuels 19 Jun '13

19 Jun '13

First a confession. This is about Android but it is using a Linux kernel so I hope this is not entirely off topic. I have an application on my phone which allows me to clear the 'cache' partition although I had never used that until recently. After using it to clear the cache partition that particular partition will no longer mount. It doesn't appear in the 'mount' list although there are no sign signs of an error. The only noticeable difference is that I can't download or update any applications because the download process uses the 'cache' partition and it's not mounted. Other than that the phone works normally. I can get round that by deleting the '/cache' mount point and creating a soft link to another point in the filing system which is then linked to '/ cache' but it's all reset again every time the phone starts. I've tried manually mounting the 'cache' partition using 'mount -o rw - t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 /cache' but that gives me 'Invalid argument'. It can't be a command line argument because there seems to nothing wrong there. I've tried numerous variations of that command with the same error message. e2fsck on the partition says it's clean. I made a nandroid backup many months ago long before this happened and have tried restoring the 'cache' partition only from that but the problem remains. I've deduced from that that it cannot be a problem with the partition itself. So, can anyone suggest reasons why a partition would refuse to mount? -- Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain

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Scanner Xerox 2400 - GL646 chip drivers
by James Freer 18 Jun '13

18 Jun '13

In my enthusiasm to ditch windows i thought i'd attempt to get my scanner working as it seems drivers are now available for the GL646 chip. Ubuntu wiki have a 'how-to' https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CompileSaneFromSource https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CheckIfScannerIsClone The first link appears to download more than necessary it seems. I would be grateful if someone more knowledgeable on drivers could read those pages through as something isn't right somewhere. I was just going to buy another scanner but the latest Canoscan (and others) also use the GL646 chip. thanks james

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Re: [ALUG] program for simple graph representation recommendation?
by mark fernandes (IFR) 17 Jun '13

17 Jun '13

Gnuplot is really good for doing quality plots (Good enough for scientific papers). The output terminals include screen, LaTEX, png, SVG, EPS and PDF. The dreaded Wackypedia has a reasonable amount of info (I would especially recommend the IBM tutorial - it really got me started with GNUplot) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnuplot If you need a non-Windows GUI there is a Java GUI for GNUplot (I haven't tried it so YMMV) see http://sourceforge.net/projects/jgp/ Hope that this helps, Mark

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[ALUG Announce] 3rd Monday Monthly Ipswich Social Meeting : The Mulberry Tree
by samwise 17 Jun '13

17 Jun '13

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- The monthly "Third Monday" ALUG Ipswich Social Meeting is back today, 17th June, at 20:00: The Mulberry Tree 5 Woodbridge Road IPSWICH IP4 2EA Tel: 01473 225776 Map/Directions URI: http://maps.google.co.uk/?q=IP4+2EA WWW: https://www.facebook.com/MULBERRYHOSPITALITY The Mulberry Tree, previously known as The Milestone Beer House, is a grade 2 listed building in the centre of Ipswich. It is located at the intersection between Woodbridge Road and the A1156, across the road from the old Odeon cinema and not far from the Regent Theatre. It re-opened on Thursday March 29th 2012 after a major refurbishment, under its original name of The Mulberry House and has already begun to regain a good reputation for its selection of beers and ales. It has a sizeable car park to the rear of the building. All are welcome, novices and experienced users. Feel free to ask for further information on the Main ALUG mailing list. Cheers, Peter. ----- Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

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program for simple graph representation recommendation?
by Anthony Anson 14 Jun '13

14 Jun '13

I want to make a simple linear graph of blood-pressure readings over a month with a minimum interval of half an hour. (Greater intervals will have to be 'understood' by interpolation.) Ideally the background would be squares (to make it easier for me...) and it doesn't matter whether the plotted lines are vertical or horizontal - just so long as they are scrollable. Exportability to pdf would be an advantage All suggestions appreciated. -- Tony http://www.girolle.co.uk/

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Confused about mdstat output
by Mark Rogers 14 Jun '13

14 Jun '13

cat /proc/mdstat gives me: md1 : active raid5 sdi1[4](S) sdh1[2](F) sdg1[1] sdf1[0] 5860145664 blocks super 1.2 level 5, 512k chunk, algorithm 2 [4/2] [UU__] The history of this array is that it was a functioning RAID5 array, that wasn't really being used. I pulled one of the disks out for other uses temporarily, then wiped it and returned it, the idea being that it was returned to the array as a "new" disk to replace the "failed" (removed) one, albeit that it was actually the same disk. This is the RAID array that's been causing problems via a USB caddy (I now have a cheap SATA card that seems to work reliably). I was able to mount the array (albeit degraded because it was missing a disk) with the disk removed. Now I can't (makes sense, 2-out-of-4 disks in a RAID5 array isn't going to work very well!). My reading of mdstat is that sdi1 is currently "spare" (I think that's the one that came out and went back in), and that sdh1 has failed. Seems like quite a coincidence. As I said, the data on the array wasn't important, I'm using this as an opportunity to learn more about what's going on because next time the data may well matter. Mark -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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Re: [ALUG] Exit Script if sudo password not entered
by Ewan Slater 12 Jun '13

12 Jun '13

Hi Steve, What's wrong with kicking the script off with sudo? For example: ewan@bluebox:~$ cat dist-upgrade.sh #!/bin/bash sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get dist-upgrade Bad typing: ewan@bluebox:~$ sudo ./dist-upgrade.sh [sudo] password for ewan: Sorry, try again. [sudo] password for ewan: Sorry, try again. [sudo] password for ewan: Sorry, try again. sudo: 3 incorrect password attempts ewan@bluebox:~$ Good typing: ewan@bluebox:~$ sudo ./dist-upgrade.sh [sudo] password for ewan: Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com quantal Release.gpg Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net quantal Release.gpg Hit http://security.ubuntu.com quantal-security Release.gpg Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com quantal Release.gpg Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com quantal Release Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net quantal Release.gpg Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com quantal-updates Release.gpg ...<yada-yada/> Cheers, Ewan On 12 June 2013 12:00, <main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk> wrote: > Send main mailing list submissions to > main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > You can reach the person managing the list at > 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..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Exit Script if sudo password not entered (steve-ALUG(a)hst.me.uk) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 21:16:34 +0100 > From: steve-ALUG(a)hst.me.uk > To: ALUG <main(a)lists.alug.org.uk> > Subject: [ALUG] Exit Script if sudo password not entered > Message-ID: <51B785A2.20502(a)hst.me.uk> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > Hi geniuses! > > I have a few scripts with several commands prefixed by sudo. > I often mistype my password, as it's complex, and, if I mistype it 3 > times, I want the script to exit, rather than continue on to the next > line and ask for the password again. > > Is there a recommended way of doing this? I've googled & thought. > One example I've seen asks for the password via zenity, then passes it > through to a sudo line which does something like sudo cat /dev/nul > >dev/nul and then checks if it failed - if it fails it displays a > message and quits. See: > http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2052976&page=2 > > Another alternative I dreamt up whilst reading another webpage was: > sudo echo || { echo 'Login Failed'; exit; } > > Is there a recommended/preferred/suggested/best way of doing this? > > Cheers > Steve > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > http://www.anglian.lug.org.uk/ > http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main > > > End of main Digest, Vol 96, Issue 15 > ************************************

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Diagnosing USB3 HDD disconnections
by Mark Rogers 12 Jun '13

12 Jun '13

I'm having problems with a USB3 HDD caddy of four disks randomly disappearing from my Ubuntu box. As the fours disks are set up as RAID5 this is a particular nuisance, not least because I recently replaced one of the disks and it is unable to complete resyncing. I think this is a clue; it was stable until it reached ~93% complete but now every time I reassemble the array it gets to a little over 94% before it drops out again, returning to 93.7% on each reassemble. The array isn't being used (in most cases it isn't even mounted). Looking at the logs: http://paste.ubuntu.com/5757858/ .. it starts with: --snip-- Jun 12 09:57:14 FileServer kernel: [ 3973.912073] usb 6-2: USB disconnect, device number 2 Jun 12 09:57:14 FileServer kernel: [ 3973.912079] sd 6:0:0:2: Device offlined - not ready after error recovery Jun 12 09:57:14 FileServer kernel: [ 3973.912099] sd 6:0:0:2: [sdh] Unhandled error code Jun 12 09:57:14 FileServer kernel: [ 3973.912104] sd 6:0:0:2: [sdh] Result: hostbyte=DID_ABORT driverbyte=DRIVER_OK Jun 12 09:57:14 FileServer kernel: [ 3973.912111] sd 6:0:0:2: [sdh] CDB: Read(10): 28 40 de c4 0a 98 00 00 f0 00 --snip-- A couple of seconds later the caddy reconnects on its own, although does not reassemble the array (see link to full logs above). Googling the error has found a number of suggestions that this is a software issue: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/hdparm/+bug/515023 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/580983 One suggestion is that this is down to /lib/udev/rules.d/85-hdparm.rule and I've made the tweak suggested to prevent it running on USB-connected drives, but I don't understand what the rule does and as such have no idea whether this is happening, or whether I have correctly disabled it for USB drives). Suggestions? Aside: The caddy also supports eSATA but because it needs to talk to 4 drives over one connection would need multiplier support on the eSATA card, so any suggestions for a suitable card welcomed. -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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Exit Script if sudo password not entered
by steve-ALUG＠hst.me.uk 11 Jun '13

11 Jun '13

Hi geniuses! I have a few scripts with several commands prefixed by sudo. I often mistype my password, as it's complex, and, if I mistype it 3 times, I want the script to exit, rather than continue on to the next line and ask for the password again. Is there a recommended way of doing this? I've googled & thought. One example I've seen asks for the password via zenity, then passes it through to a sudo line which does something like sudo cat /dev/nul >dev/nul and then checks if it failed - if it fails it displays a message and quits. See: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2052976&page=2 Another alternative I dreamt up whilst reading another webpage was: sudo echo || { echo 'Login Failed'; exit; } Is there a recommended/preferred/suggested/best way of doing this? Cheers Steve

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[ALUG Announce] ALUG Norwich Pub Meet Thursday 13th June
by Viperfang 10 Jun '13

10 Jun '13

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- Hello Norwich Aluggers, Our monthly ALUG Norwich social meeting will be held this Thursday, 13th 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 http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

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Why are some of my ports appearing in a port scan?
by steve-alug＠hst.me.uk 10 Jun '13

10 Jun '13

Hi folks. I'm confused. Every now and again, I use Shields UP! at grc.com to check that there's unexpectedly open ports on my system. I checked last night and I found 2 open ports, 5 closed ports and all the rest were "stealth" ports. The 2 open ports I was expecting. Stealth ports mean simply that they don't reply in any shape or form to the outside world. I expect, and usually get, all my ports except for the two open ones to appear as "stealthy". I don't understand why I'm now getting 5 closed ports showing up. I have a cable modem that's configured to do NAT for me. It has 3 port forwarding rules, each for single tcp ports. (One of these rules is outside the range usually scanned for by SheildsUp, that's why it's not included in the count of open ports) I don't forward any port ranges. I don't have a DMZ. UPnP is disabled. The ports that are appearing as closed are: 135, 137, 138, 139, 445 I turned off my server's smbd service and rescanned, and I got 135, 137, 138, 445 i.e. port 139 disappeared. So it does seem that services running on the server directly affect ports that are being shown as closed on the router, despite there being no port forwarding rule for them to get past the router onto the server. 135 DCOM Service Control Manager 137 NetBIOS Name Service 138 NETBIOS Datagram Service 139 NETBIOS Session Service 445 Microsoft Directory Services I've just used NetScan on my mobile, (whilst not connected to wifi), and scanning my public IP address I got two expected ports open, and also 80 HTTP 110 POP 143 Internet Message Access I tried with a different mobile app (Port Scan) and I got 1 of the expected ports listed as open, and 80 HTTP 110 POP 143 Internet Message Access 8080 Alternate HTTP I tried with an on-line port scanner, http://nmap.online-domain-tools.com/, and I got only the two expected ports open. I've just tried rerunning GRC's Shields up and now it reports the two expected open ports and also just 137 and 138 as closed. I'm rather confused as to what's going on. Anyone got any ideas? Regards Steve

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Can someone check this site?
by Ted.Harding＠wlandres.net 09 Jun '13

09 Jun '13

Greetings all! I am having trouble connecting to http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com which just hangs indefinitely for me. A traceroute traceroute oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com proceeds reasonably rapidly down to step 11, which is where it hangs: 10 * 178.236.0.58 (178.236.0.58) 59.452 ms 178.236.3.129 (178.236.3.129) 64.219 ms 11 ec2-79-125-0-77.eu-west-1.compute.amazonaws.com (79.125.0.77) 57.412 ms ec2-79-125-0-73.eu-west-1.compute.amazonaws.com (79.125.0.73) 68.999 ms ec2-79-125-0-5.eu-west-1.compute.amazonaws.com (79.125.0.5) 57.819 ms 12 * * * This may be a problem to do with routing via my ISP's DNS lookups. The ISP in question is zen.co.uk. The server 178.236.0.58 at the preceding step (10) is (from whois): inetnum: 178.236.0.0 - 178.236.7.255 netname: IE-AMAZON descr: Amazon Data Services Ireland Any comments? With thanks, Ted. ------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)wlandres.net> Date: 09-Jun-2013 Time: 13:26:17 This message was sent by XFMail -------------------------------------------------

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Scripted FTP downloads
by Mark Rogers 08 Jun '13

08 Jun '13

This is basically a follow-on from my last question, now that the VPN is working... I need to download a set of backup files from a (Windows) server, deleting all but the newest from the server once successfully downloaded. In other words: - Download all files (re-starting any previously failed downloads and skipping files I already have in full) - Delete all files from the server that are older than X days The script will run daily. Files vary in size from a few K to a couple of GB (hence the need to remove old files from the server and to avoid re-downloading files I already have). I looked at lftp which has a "mirror" command that can be scripted and that is able to delete files, but it isn't working quite as expected. (We set it to download all files older than 2 days, deleting on success, then to download all files (no age limit) without deletion. That works fine, but the following day it skips the files it already has and doesn't delete the ones that are now older than 2 days from the server.) Suggestions? As it's a Windows server I don't have control of it unfortunately has to be FTP, although if there's a really clever solution that would work with some tweaks[*] on the Windows box I'll put them forward. [*]Wiping Windows and installing Linux doesn't count as a "tweak" :-( -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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Re: [ALUG] Android headache
by Bev Nicolson 08 Jun '13

08 Jun '13

D'oh. Sorry Steve. Bev. On 7 June 2013 18:13, Bev Nicolson <lumos60(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> Do I have this right: When you switch the phone on, you're getting a >> message saying that there is a voicemail message for you. You have since >> disabled the voicemail service, but you're still getting the message? > > Yes, that's it. > >> If so, to remove the message, you will have to do something like this: >> Go to Settings menu. >> Select Call. >> Click on "Clear Voice Notification." > >> >> Options like this (but possibly with slightly different names) have been >> around for a while, > > And guess what? I don't have that option. :¬/ I had a long > conversation with Orange and there are two options. I either go for a > factory reset (would rather not) or (from Googling earlier) reactivate > voicemail and send myself a message, which I then delete. Thanks > though. > >> >>> Like I say, if this is totally off topic, be kind about saying so. Ta. > >> Well.... Android is Linux (for some value of is) >> > Indeed. Shame it isn't more so. An Ubuntu phone perhaps...

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Android headache
by Bev Nicolson 07 Jun '13

07 Jun '13

I'm not sure if this will be horribly off topic. If so, be gentle about pointing that out but you lot are more techie than me so you may have an answer to this. Phone is Android Gingerbread. Theoretically it has no voicemail service now but, along with others (I have googled and followed what advice I could) the notification still comes up when I switch it on. I rang my provider yesterday and they deleted the voicemail message for me but it's still there today. Points to note: I cannot listen to it because I have no idea what my pin number is so I couldn't delete it for myself. I have no phone app anywhere to remove. Any ideas? Like I say, if this is totally off topic, be kind about saying so. Ta. Bev.

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Maintaining a PPTP connection on Ubuntu Server
by Mark Rogers 06 Jun '13

06 Jun '13

I have an Ubuntu Server (headless) box, which needs to establish a PPTP connection (as client) to a PPTP server elsewhere. The box's sole purpose is to connect to the VPN, and download files for backup purposes. So keeping the VPN connection up is important. After an afternoon Googling all I've come up with are several dozen ways to skin the same cat, and the cat is feeling a bit unloved. So any recommendations? Mark -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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