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using a thin client as music server?
by Peter Alcibiades 15 Sep '13

15 Sep '13

In the ongoing struggle with this, what does anyone think about using a thin client as a music server? I have seen one account from a few years back of using an HP. They have two secure usb slots apparently in the inside of the box. What the writer did was run the OS off one and use the other for storage. You can get the t5740, which is an Atom based device, for under £100, used of course. And you can also get the t5545 for around £35. That has a via Eden 1G processor and less memory and flash storage. I am thinking about the cheaper one, which should surely be fast enough for this, and why not install slitaz, which is a tiny very fast gui distro, put in X11 forwarding (dunno if its possible to do this to android but we can try), one smallish usb stick for the OS, or even use the existing flash (its a DOM). Slitaz is so tiny it will fit in 1G easily, and then buy another huge stick for the music? Which would have the great advantage of making the music iteself super portable. I think both are fanless - the 5545 definitely is. Then install one of the server packages people here have posted about. What do you all think? Its cheap and it would be an interesting project, its low power, and.... its fanless... and no hard drives to worry about. I guess its a bit like the plug computers some people use but a bit bigger physically. I guess the risk is that one might show up in the pub one of these Thursdays carrying a small black box and wearing a distressed puzzled expression having failed to make it work, and entreating someone who knows what they are doing to help! Al

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ssh over HTTP using apache, can anyone explain more fully how this works?
by Chris Green 10 Sep '13

10 Sep '13

I have been languishing behind a hotel firewall (or ISP firewall) which blocks outgoing traffic on port 22. As you can tell I have now fixed my problem by other means (I'm using port 110 for ssh) but I'd love to know, maybe for future use, how the ssh over HTTP thing is supposed to work. I found a number of sites describing the method:- http://quartz-net.co.uk/quartzwiki/index.php/SSH_proxy_via_Apache http://dag.wieers.com/howto/ssh-http-tunneling/ http://blog.m8t.in/2006/12/ssh-through-apache-proxy.html http://mark.koli.ch/2011/12/configuring-apache-to-support-ssh-through-an-ht… ... and loads more. The bit I had/have trouble getting my mind round is the proxytunnel bit that you add to ~/.ssh/config, for example from the last site above:- Host kolich.com Hostname kolich.com ProtocolKeepAlives 30 ProxyCommand /usr/bin/proxytunnel \ -p web-proxy.corp.example.com:3128 \ -r kolich.com:8443 -d %h:%p \ -H "User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Win32)" Firstly I don't *quite* understand why proxytunnel is necessary. Is it 'wrapping' the SSH stuff in an HTTP envelope to pass through apache etc.? Secondly none of the sites say where/how you find what to actually use for web-proxy.corp.example.com (in the above example). Presumably it has to be a 'local' proxy server which one *can* send to using any port but will it always exist? .... or have I got the wrong end of the stick? I do realise that I need to replace kolich.com in the above with the name of my server where I have apache running with mod_proxy. It's more of academic interest now as I said but I'd like to know for future reference. I finally sorted my problem by enabling remote HTTPS access to my router from the command line (using a web based ajaxterm service) and then remote configuring the router to open port 110 and portmap it to port 22. -- Chris Green

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F5 IP kit
by Laurie Brown 05 Sep '13

05 Sep '13

Not really a Linux thing, but there may be an ALUG member lurking here with the right experience. I have a client with some F5 kit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F5_Networks) of which 2 boxes have gone AWOL. One looks like it may be hardware, and the other looks like a config problem. They would like anyone who can to diagnose both and fix if possible. Obviously, this is a short-term job on a B2B basis, based on-site in Ipswich. I can broker that if required, but that's by no means a pre-requisite. Initial contact to me in the first instance, please. Cheers, Laurie. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- www.convergent-ict.com You manage your business. We manage your IT. ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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Only a matter of time ...
by Ted.Harding＠wlandres.net 05 Sep '13

05 Sep '13

Greetings all! I wasn't aware of the matters reported in the URL below (and indeed still harbour some reservations about how true it might all be). But, if it is true, then I suppose it was only a matter of time (and apparently that time is now long past): http://www.testosteronepit.com/home/2013/8/21/ leaked-german-government-warns-key-entities-not-to-use-windo.html [all one line; also = http://tinyurl.com/ko59qmu ] And, by the way, there are a few positive paragprahs about Linux towards the end! Best wishes to all, Ted. ------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)wlandres.net> Date: 22-Aug-2013 Time: 20:59:26 This message was sent by XFMail -------------------------------------------------

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Diagnosing slow access to website
by Mark Rogers 22 Aug '13

22 Aug '13

I host a fairly basic database driven (MySQL+PHP) website for a client. It's only really used by them, and generally only from their office (single static IP). They have over the past months complained that it gets painfully slow (>10s between clicking a link and the page updating). Whenever I have tested the site is lightning fast, and that includes testing the exact steps they're taking, at the same time as they do it (while on the phone to them). They've tried multiple browsers (IE and Chrome) and so have I. The problem only seems to exist from their site, and as they're the only people using it that's a big problem. When they try to use the Internet for anything else, it's fast (or so I'm told, anyway). Any suggestions as to what might cause a localised problem like this, and how to diagnose it? They have almost zero IT skills which doesn't help at all, but I have tried running a traceroute from my server to their external IP and it hasn't shown any obvious problems. I tried a ping test to look for dropped packets but their external IP isn't responding to ping and there's no way they could change that. The server runs multiple sites, isn't heavily loaded, no other sites are reporting issues. I'm as sure as I can be that the problem is network not server related. 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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Web hosting companies
by Mark Rogers 21 Aug '13

21 Aug '13

A web designer friend of mine has several (~40) websites hosted at Fasthosts who have been constantly letting him down. He is not technical, and has decided he wants out of web hosting so he can focus on the website design. Any suggestions who I should recommend? At this stage I think he's looking for someone who would deal with end users (ie the customer buys a site from him and hosting from someone else), although I would personally suggest he just looks for a reliable host who will support him when something breaks. He's currently using Plesk so someone who could migrate what he has now would be ideal in my view. My company used to do web hosting (and used to host his sites) which is why he's asking me, but it's not something I want to get back into. I would prefer to recommend someone I "know" (eg a local company with a member of staff on this list). Ie I'd rather have answers that start "we do this" than "we use xyz who does this", but I'm open to all. 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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[ALUG Announce] 3rd Monday Monthly Ipswich Social Meeting : The Mulberry Tree
by samwise 19 Aug '13

19 Aug '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, 19th August, 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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Monitoring/supervision tools
by Laurie Brown 17 Aug '13

17 Aug '13

Hi folks, We've been using monit (latest version) for a while to provide simple process monitoring, with email alerts, and auto re-start capabilities. However, it appears to be more and more unreliable, and has reached the point where it actually isn't fit for purpose. Specifically, on some email filter servers, I have regular clamd failures, and it is neither detecting them, nor re-starting them, whereas it used to. I've used nagios, but for this simple task, unless it's changed a lot since I last played with it, and become a lot easier to configure, it's a total over-kill. We run gentoo servers, and don't want to mess with the core system, startup mechanisms and task management stuff. Does anyone have any suggestions for a simple tool similar to monit? Cheers, Laurie. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Laurie Brown laurie(a)brownowl.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: [ALUG] Diagnosing slow access to website
by Ewan Slater 12 Aug '13

12 Aug '13

Hi Mark, A some years ago I came across an issue with a customer who was having a problem accessing an internally hosted web application from only one of multiple office locations. The problem turned out to be that the packet size being used from / to that location was too big, so that might be something else to look at. HTH, Ewan On 8 August 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. Diagnosing slow access to website (Mark Rogers) > 2. Re: Diagnosing slow access to website (Adam Bower) > 3. Re: Diagnosing slow access to website (billynkid(a)gmail.com) > 4. Re: Diagnosing slow access to website (Mark Rogers) > 5. Re: Diagnosing slow access to website (Mark Rogers) > 6. Re: Diagnosing slow access to website (Mark Rogers) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2013 13:12:33 +0100 > From: Mark Rogers <mark(a)quarella.co.uk> > To: alug-main <main(a)lists.alug.org.uk> > Subject: [ALUG] Diagnosing slow access to website > Message-ID: > <CADK3ZeG8cy8KjETmgfNHOHvp=ZigK3Ssc-KJ+oV3zgCF5CVBDA(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > I host a fairly basic database driven (MySQL+PHP) website for a > client. It's only really used by them, and generally only from their > office (single static IP). > > They have over the past months complained that it gets painfully slow > (>10s between clicking a link and the page updating). Whenever I have > tested the site is lightning fast, and that includes testing the exact > steps they're taking, at the same time as they do it (while on the > phone to them). They've tried multiple browsers (IE and Chrome) and so > have I. The problem only seems to exist from their site, and as > they're the only people using it that's a big problem. > > When they try to use the Internet for anything else, it's fast (or so > I'm told, anyway). > > Any suggestions as to what might cause a localised problem like this, > and how to diagnose it? They have almost zero IT skills which doesn't > help at all, but I have tried running a traceroute from my server to > their external IP and it hasn't shown any obvious problems. I tried a > ping test to look for dropped packets but their external IP isn't > responding to ping and there's no way they could change that. > > The server runs multiple sites, isn't heavily loaded, no other sites > are reporting issues. I'm as sure as I can be that the problem is > network not server related. > > Mark > > -- > Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 > Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2013 14:11:41 +0100 > From: Adam Bower <adam(a)thebowery.co.uk> > To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Subject: Re: [ALUG] Diagnosing slow access to website > Message-ID: <20130807131141.GE9198@electron> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > On Wed, Aug 07, 2013 at 01:12:33PM +0100, Mark Rogers wrote: >> >> Any suggestions as to what might cause a localised problem like this, >> and how to diagnose it? They have almost zero IT skills which doesn't >> help at all, but I have tried running a traceroute from my server to >> their external IP and it hasn't shown any obvious problems. I tried a >> ping test to look for dropped packets but their external IP isn't >> responding to ping and there's no way they could change that. > > Ask them for a remote login to some desktop sharing app on their > computer and ask them to demo the problem to you? Once you have that > you can look at what's going on with the server and the client and > see if a problem exists. Depending on what you turn up from there you > can use that information as the basis for what diagnosis you do going > forwards? > > Adam > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2013 16:24:18 +0100 > From: "billynkid(a)gmail.com" <billynkid(a)gmail.com> > To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Subject: Re: [ALUG] Diagnosing slow access to website > Message-ID: > <CADz3n9S4Uu-VevpGaDbm7do32-7byNdUjvXadgdJFaEc6puAng(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Try Speedtest.net to multiple servers. > > On 7 August 2013 14:11, Adam Bower <adam(a)thebowery.co.uk> wrote: >> On Wed, Aug 07, 2013 at 01:12:33PM +0100, Mark Rogers wrote: >>> >>> Any suggestions as to what might cause a localised problem like this, >>> and how to diagnose it? They have almost zero IT skills which doesn't >>> help at all, but I have tried running a traceroute from my server to >>> their external IP and it hasn't shown any obvious problems. I tried a >>> ping test to look for dropped packets but their external IP isn't >>> responding to ping and there's no way they could change that. >> >> Ask them for a remote login to some desktop sharing app on their >> computer and ask them to demo the problem to you? Once you have that >> you can look at what's going on with the server and the client and >> see if a problem exists. Depending on what you turn up from there you >> can use that information as the basis for what diagnosis you do going >> forwards? >> >> Adam >> >> _______________________________________________ >> main(a)lists.alug.org.uk >> http://www.alug.org.uk/ >> http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main >> Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above! > > > > -- > Simon Vass > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2013 17:12:01 +0100 > From: Mark Rogers <mark(a)quarella.co.uk> > To: alug-main <main(a)lists.alug.org.uk> > Subject: Re: [ALUG] Diagnosing slow access to website > Message-ID: > <CADK3ZeHTbas-FQmYOvpJsLk26EmTG75uk-m3Qb1qbQd6wYkusw(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > On 7 August 2013 13:28, Nick Heppleston <nick(a)modhul.com> wrote: >> 1. Is it only one PC/Laptop/Device within the client's network that is >> experiencing this issue? Does it work 'ok' from other devices within the >> same network? > > No, it's all PCs on their network. Typically there'll be anywhere > between 1 and 6 users, and they all struggle at the same time (and > they struggle more often than they don't) [*]. > >> 2. Are there DNS issues resolving the server IP address (which isn't a >> problem with other sites) > > I don't think so: having accessed the site most browsers don't > constantly look up DNS anyway do they? Ie it might impact first access > but now have any effect after that? > >> 3. Does connecting a 'slow' device to a physical ethernet cable (if this is >> possible) resolve the issue (or at least point to the Wireless Access Point >> being the issue)? > > As far as I know they're all desktops with cabled connections, but I'll check. > >> 4. Is it possible to test one of the slow devices outside of the network >> (e.g. over a WiFi dongle) to see whether it is the network or device? > > I don't think so, at least not if they're desktops. Might be easier to > see if someone has a laptop that works fine at home and get them to > bring it in though. > > Thanks for the suggestions. > > Mark > > [*] Based on user reports, that is. > > -- > Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 > Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 5 > Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2013 17:14:56 +0100 > From: Mark Rogers <mark(a)quarella.co.uk> > To: alug-main <main(a)lists.alug.org.uk> > Subject: Re: [ALUG] Diagnosing slow access to website > Message-ID: > <CADK3ZeGkYEfQwCu2sTK93M8AvEJEMV5zcbKBJJkH=C3phh7iSQ(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > On 7 August 2013 14:11, Adam Bower <adam(a)thebowery.co.uk> wrote: >> Ask them for a remote login to some desktop sharing app on their >> computer and ask them to demo the problem to you? Once you have that >> you can look at what's going on with the server and the client and >> see if a problem exists. Depending on what you turn up from there you >> can use that information as the basis for what diagnosis you do going >> forwards? > > Good idea, I'll check this out. Of-course if the network is a problem > it might be hard to determine whether slowness is down to the remote > access but it should still yield come clues. Assuming they have XP or > higher I believe there's some kind of remote support tool built in > isn't there? (Wasn't really wanting to get into Windows support, > thought I'd escaped that years ago!) > > At least I should be able to do some ping tests to check for packet > loss if I have access to one of their PCs. > > -- > Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 > Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 6 > Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2013 17:15:45 +0100 > From: Mark Rogers <mark(a)quarella.co.uk> > To: alug-main <main(a)lists.alug.org.uk> > Subject: Re: [ALUG] Diagnosing slow access to website > Message-ID: > <CADK3ZeHsv0fQvHnruuqE+nCk-qx8Tbx+9-jacPVSVf-QDy492g(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > On 7 August 2013 16:24, billynkid(a)gmail.com <billynkid(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> Try Speedtest.net to multiple servers. > > Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try this too if I get remote access > (or get them to do it otherwise). > > Mark > > -- > Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 > Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG > > > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > _______________________________________________ > 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 98, Issue 4 > ***********************************

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vortexbox
by Peter Alcibiades 10 Aug '13

10 Aug '13

Got this and installed it, and really recommend it. You just put in your CDs and it rips them. It runs headless, and you log in to a gui using a web browser or using ssh from a terminal. There is also supposed to be a way of managing your files remotely in Nautlilus but I don't use gnome. Then playing them is really simple too. Its not all that elegant in terms of user interface graphics, but it works just fine. If you have an old machine lying around this would be a great use for it. Or put together a simple fanless itx with one of those atom boards and maybe an SSD. Brilliant. Beats carrying around a ton of CDs if you live in more than one place. This and the little nook ereader from Argos for 30.00 the last time I looked, and you can carry library and music in your backpack and hardly even notice they are there. The little nook is brilliant too, you can hack it to a proper android box if you want, but I have not bothered because it works so well as is. I also have XBMC burned to CD but this is so all right for the purpose that I probably won't bother. Al

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