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Tool for checking for WiFi signals
by Chris Green 10 Feb '14

10 Feb '14

Is there anything better than Network Manager for checking for WiFi signals? Network Manager is fine for when I'm at home where the laptop and tablet simply connecting to the home router but as soon as there's any difficulty deciding what to connect to it's pretty useless:- There's no control over [re-]scanning so you can't move to different positions and request a re-scan to see if there are different WiFi signals and/or signal strength has changed. The signal strength indication is no help in optimising the signal, one needs a more accurate level indicator to tell if moving this way or that improves the signal. There's no indication of the type of encryption on signals which have encryption keys. This is a real killer sometimes when somoene knows the password/key but not what *type* of key it is. I had this problem at my wife's office recently. Windows XP reports the encryption type so surely Linux should be able to. Are there any tools specifically for scanning/characterising WiFi signals and/or are there any replacements for Network Manager that make handling WiFi connections easier? -- Chris Green

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2600 meeting at 18:00 on Friday the 7th February.
by Viperfang 04 Feb '14

04 Feb '14

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

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Analogue output over HDMI from Pi and other Linux boxen
by Mark Rogers 24 Jan '14

24 Jan '14

If I have something like a Pi or any other small Linux based box (I'm thinking mainly about the cheap Android PC sticks you can get for about £30 with just an HDMI output), would it generally be able to output unencrypted audio over HDMI so that I can break it out using a simple cable[1]? I'm looking to play with multi-room audio on Linux and little boxes like these seem ideal if I can get audio out of them easily. I can't think of a good reason why Linux will encrypt things by default (and none of my sources will have evil DRM on them) so this ought to work fine, didn't it? [1] Eg: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190893868511 -- 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] Analogue output over HDMI from Pi and other Linux boxen
by Phil Ashby 24 Jan '14

24 Jan '14

On 23/01/14 12:00, Mark Rogers <mark(a)quarella.co.uk> wrote:> On 20 January 2014 17:59, Chris Green <cl(a)isbd.net> wrote: >> I've done Android Tablet -> Bluetooth -> Speakers which seems to work >> OK, does using the HDMI offer any advantages over using Bluetooth (e.g. >> better quality)? > > The only advantages I'm working with at the moment are: the stick has > an HDMI port that would be more "tidy" if used than not used, and it > doesn't have bluetooth so that means sticking a bluetooth USB adapter > in. Neither are big reasons (I'm pretty sure the bluetooth USB > adapters you can easily pick up from Poundland and similar stores will > work fine so it's not a cost issue!) > > Also, in some rooms I already have stereo equipment so the idea would > be to bring audio into the AUX input on that, rather than directly to > speakers. (If a stereo has the ability to take audio via bluetooth > from a mobile phone, I assume that would allow me to send it from the > Linux box that way instead?) > > On the other hand if I want to put something into a room which > currently has nothing maybe bluetooth makes more sense in that > instance. However I assume that bluetooth would add some latency? The > whole idea is that the audio between rooms would be synchronised. (I > am of-course assuming that the HDMI output wouldn't add any latency > which may well be a faulty assumption.) Since HDMI is a digital interface (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI) this scheme would need an external conversion device to extract the analogue audio for an AUX input (usually 3.5mm socket), something like these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/hdmi-to-audio-converter and of course none of those have the right gender HDMI connector for a cotton candy or similar device.. It all looks a bit kludgy to me? Of course you could insist on a HDMI capable TV at each station and get the full benefit of that HDMI connector :) Phil.

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Image viewer offered for Writer files puzzle
by Bev Nicolson 21 Jan '14

21 Jan '14

When I get a document attached to an email (.doc or docx it doesn't matter) the only application I am offred to open it with is Image Viewer. Is there a way of changing this? I've looked at Image Viewer and Libre Office and there doesn't seem to be a way of stopping this. Ideas? Bev.

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[ALUG Announce] 3rd Monday Monthly Ipswich Social Meeting : The Mulberry Tree ALUG
by samwise 20 Jan '14

20 Jan '14

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, 20th January, 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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Simplest way to see what speed ethernet is using?
by Chris Green 16 Jan '14

16 Jan '14

I'm sure I asked this some time ago (i.e. some years ago!) and used the recommended program to check if all my ethernet links were actually running at the spped they were supposedly capable of. I want to check again and I can't find/remember the program to use. I have found ethtool which tells me the speed of a specific port on the system where it is running but I seem to remember there was a tool which somehow checked both ends of a link and told me that the remote end speed as well. That's the remote end at the other side of routers, switches etc. Maybe I'm imagining it as I don't really see *how* such a tool could work. The basic requirement at the moment is that I want to check that the link to my backup system in the garage is still running at full Gigabit speed. The remote system is fairly limited and, although I have ssh access to it, I can't find ethtool or an equivalent for it. -- Chris Green

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Meeting?
by Brett Parker 10 Jan '14

10 Jan '14

I think Chris probably meant this to go to the list... so... (Also: Chris, you probably want to check your address book, sending to main-bounces tends to end up with it not getting to the list, as it's an unrecognised bounce so only hits the list admins) ----- Forwarded message from Chris Walker <cdw_alug(a)the-walker-household.co.uk> ----- Date: Thu, 9 Jan 2014 14:10:15 +0000 From: Chris Walker <cdw_alug(a)the-walker-household.co.uk> To: main <main-bounces(a)lists.alug.org.uk> Subject: Meeting? X-Mailer: Claws Mail 3.9.0 (GTK+ 2.24.17; x86_64-mageia-linux-gnu) I've looked on the web site about a meeting and it says 'Second Thursday of the month' but has that been thrown out of kilter by Christmas and the New Year or will there be a meeting at the C&H tonight as usual? I was expecting to see an announcement on Monday as normally happens, hence the question here. ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Brett Parker

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Android email
by Chris Walker 08 Jan '14

08 Jan '14

Do we have any Android fans here? I am having problems left right and centre with the email app on my new Jolla phone (it runs a modified version of the Maemo/Meego OS that was on the Nokia N900/N9 and is now called Sailfish). Quite why I should have these problems is beyond me but in order to prove, to myself as much as anybody, that it's the email app itself that's at fault, I want to install an Android app. The phone runs Android apps natively in addition to its own OS stuff so is a valid test IMHO. So can anybody recommend a good email app for Android phones? I want it to sync with an IMAP mailbox but don't want calendar sync.

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Any experience of FreeNAS / OpenMediaVault
by Ewan Slater 02 Jan '14

02 Jan '14

Hi All, Looking at rebuilding a redundant machine as a home NAS. I'm trying to decide between FreeNAS and OpenMediaVault. Has anyone deployed either or both of these, and if so, what was your experience? Cheers, Ewan

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