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Need FQDN, I seem to have lost it upgrading from xubuntu 11.04 to xubuntu 11.10
by Chris Green 19 Dec '11

19 Dec '11

I am trying to tidy up/reconfigure after upgrading from xubuntu 11.04 to 11.10. Most things are working but I'm getting a couple of errors that suggest that I have somehow lost my FQDN setting. Both apache2 and leafnode are complaining:- apache2: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 127.0.1.1 for ServerName #012Leafnode must have a fully-qualified and globally unique domain name,#012not just "chris". Now I know I *can* fix apache2 by putting a ServerName directive in /etc/apache2/apache2.conf but I didn't have one before. Also the leafnode configuration is unchanged from 11.04 so why am I now getting the error about FQDN? It's probably something very silly I have forgotten somewhere but I really can't see it at the moment. Has anyone any ideas what might be wrong/missing? Oh, the /etc/hosts file on the system is unchanged from 11.04 to 11.10 and has very little at all in it, the system (which is chris, 192.168.1.4) obtains its network settings by DHCP from the DHCP server at 192.168.1.2 which hasn't changed. -- Chris Green

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Digital Signage
by Stuart Bailey 19 Dec '11

19 Dec '11

Hello, I've been asked to look into digital signage options for an estate agent, to display photos of properties currently on the market. Obviously I would prefer a Linux OSS solution. Are there any suitable packages, distros or suggestions? A quick google has identified xibo and lintop - although lintop is not OSS. Many thanks Stuart Bailey BSc (hons) CEng CITP MBCS LinuSoft (Managing Director) Linux Specialist & Software Developer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Phone: (0845) 658 3563 Direct: +44 (0) 1953 878162 Fax: +44 (0) 1603 858583 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.linusoft.co.uk __________ Information from ESET Mail Security, version of virus signature database 6717 (20111216) __________ The message was checked by ESET Mail Security. http://www.eset.com

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Can anyone suggest why a system can't see itself on the network?
by Chris Green 19 Dec '11

19 Dec '11

I have just installed a clean (i.e. from scratch onto a clean hard disk) copy of xubuntu 11.10 onto this system. I have installed a few extra basics I need (like mutt and postfix which I am using to send this) and it's all basically working, connected to the internet, etc.) However, it can't see itself on the LAN. I.e. I can ping localhost OK but I can't ping 'chris' or 192.168.1.4. It definitely *is* chris at 192.168.1.4 as that's........ Aaaaahhhhhh!!!!! :-) Although 'chris' is 192.168.1.4 my desktop system that's supposed to be chris is actually 192.168.1.89, not surprisingly it can't talk to chris or 192.168.1.4. I need to tell it that it has a static IP, or tell the DHCP server that this MAC address needs to be assigned to 192.168.1.4. ... another classic case of "explain the problem and you see the solution"! -- Chris Green

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[ALUG Announce] 3rd Monday Monthly Ipswich Social Meeting : McGintys, Northgate Street
by samwise 19 Dec '11

19 Dec '11

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 tonight, Monday 19th December, at 20:00: P J McGinty & Sons 15 Northgate Street Ipswich Suffolk IP1 3BY Tel: 01473 251 515 Map/Directions URI: http://maps.google.co.uk/?q=IP1+3BY WWW: http://www.pjmcgintys.co.uk/ McGintys pub is in the centre of Ipswich. It's directly opposite the town's central library and has a reputation for good Irish beer. We're usually to be found in the lowest section of the bar, near the library entrance to the pub. All are welcome, novices and experienced users. Feel free to ask for further information on the Main ALUG mailing list. ** Unfortunately, I'm already booked out on a work engagement earlier tonight so I can't guarantee my attendance tonight. :( I wil endeavour to pop by the pub if I finish early, but if you're planning on attending, I'd recommend asking around on the main mailing list or on IRC to ensure there'll be others heading down! ** 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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Keyboard puzzle
by Ted.Harding＠wlandres.net 18 Dec '11

18 Dec '11

Greetings Folks. I have been having problems with a couple of old machines, desktop boxes, which both recently (within a few days of each other) went into "won't switch on" mode. One of these is now solved: the internal power push-button (pushed via an external push-button) had slipped its moorings. Now re-moored, with a touch of superglue to inhibit future wanderings. (The other machine turned out to have a blown PSU, with a short somewhere in it, so probably irrecoverable). Anyway: to the Topic Of The Day. When I switch on the "solved" machine, the (external) keyboard works fine, e.g. I can press Delete to enter BIOS setup, and use the keyboard to navigate the BIOS menus. Also, when it does go into its Linux boot sequence, it happily gets as far as the GRUB menu, where I can choose which version of Linux to boot. Again, the keyboard works for this. Then it goes into the full Linux boot, ending up with a login prompt in a text-terminal console (X hasn't started yet). But, at this stage, the keyboard has no effect. If I enter a userid, nothing changes on screen. No keyboard press produces any effect. So it seems that, somewhere along the line of the boot sequence, it has lost track of the keyboard. No problem, however, with remote access via ethernet from another machine. Two questions: [A] Does anyone have any ideas about the possible source of this glitch, and how to set about fixing it? If relevent, the Linux version is SuSE 7,2 from 2001, with kernal 2.4.4. [B] Normally, there should be no problem using this machine, since I normally access it remotely anyway. However, every so often it will, during boot, decide that a hard drive has beeen unmounted too often without a file system check. So I will need to be able to use the keyboard for this (unless it works through it without problems, needing no intervention). In any case, if there is a power cut (as happens from time to time round here), then I will definitely need the keyboard during the fsck because the file systems will have been "not cleanly unmounted". Also, this state will have been reached before it sets about activating the ethernet ports, so in principle remote access will not be available. So: Is there some way of working round this so as to achieve remote access? With thanks, Ted. ---------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)wlandres.net> Date: 18-Dec-2011 Time: 16:57:55 This message was sent by XFMail ----------------------------------

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How to remove password having got root access to a system?
by Chris Green 17 Dec '11

17 Dec '11

Well, after a fair amount of hassle, I've worked out how to get root access to the hard disk on the system I have installed xubuntu 11.10 but the main account password is broken. You boot the "Live CD" system and you can then mount the disk and use sudo to become root. So, I can edit /etc/passwd and I can edit /etc/shadow but removing the password field from my main/default user in the /etc/shadow file *still* doesn't allow me to login. Grrrrr!!! What are the requisites for a login to have no password? I thought it was a 'x' in the password field in /etc/passwd and nothing in the password field in /etc/shadow but that seems not to work. -- Chris Green

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Can't get Grub menu to appear, nor the boot sequence text
by Chris Green 17 Dec '11

17 Dec '11

Sort of going on from investigating my boot times I've just realised I seem to be unable to see/start the grub menu on my system. All I see is the BIOS boot sequence, finishing with the SATA drives being detected, then there is a blank screen (though the monitor indicates it is being driven) for several seconds followed finally by the login screen. I have just changed /etc/default/grub to:- GRUB_DEFAULT=0 GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0 GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true GRUB_TIMEOUT=10 GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian` GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT= GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="" ... and I still see absolutely nothing between BIOS and login screen. Any ideas as to what I can do to see the grub screen? Apart from anything else if I have some sort of catastrophe it's going to be a bit difficult to get into single user/command line mode. -- Chris Green

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PCI SATA Card
by steve-ALUG＠hst.me.uk 17 Dec '11

17 Dec '11

Why is nothing ever simple? Replacement Sata disks sourced, purchased, plugged 1 in. Spins up, but not detected. Turns out my Motherboard has a SATA 1 controller chip that will not work under any circumstances with SATA 2 disks, even if you tell the disks to pretend to be SATA 1 disks. Don't suppose anyone has a linux compatable PCI SATA controller card with 2 Sata channels lying around that they don't need do they? (Note, that's PCI, not PCI-X, or PCI Express). What a waste of an evening! Harumph!!! Steve

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Have I got a disk failing - or what?
by Chris Green 14 Dec '11

14 Dec '11

My logwatch presented me with this (among other things) this morning:- --------------------- Kernel Begin ------------------------ WARNING: Kernel Errors Present [ 7.192693] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro ...: 1 Time(s) [ 7.386581] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro ...: 1 Time(s) [ 20.697614] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro ...: 1 Time(s) [ 20.824819] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro ...: 1 Time(s) [ 20.861868] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro ...: 1 Time(s) [ 20.907760] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro ...: 1 Time(s) [ 20.945476] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro ...: 1 Time(s) [ 21.031194] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro ...: 1 Time(s) [ 27.012635] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro,comm ...: 1 Time(s) [ 28.113740] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro,comm ...: 1 Time(s) [ 28.463488] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro,comm ...: 1 Time(s) [ 33.145286] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro,comm ...: 1 Time(s) [ 33.649576] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro,comm ...: 1 Time(s) [ 34.486168] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro,comm ...: 1 Time(s) [ 45.508896] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro,comm ...: 1 Time(s) [ 49.252032] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro,comm ...: 1 Time(s) ---------------------- Kernel End ------------------------- Should I be worried? That's my 'root' disk:- /dev/sda1 on / type ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro,commit=0) It doesn't have either /home or /bak on it so it's just system configuration that needs to be preserved (which it is). -- Chris Green

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Replacing RAID Disks
by steve-ALUG＠hst.me.uk 13 Dec '11

13 Dec '11

Hi Guys & Gals, I have a server running Ubuntu Lucid 10.04. It has 2 sata disks running as RAID level 1 (simple mirror) using MDADM. Recently there's been an error on 1 of the disks. After a reboot, the raid array resynchronised itself, but I'm taking this as a warning and an excuse to replace the disks. I have several questions. First of which is, is MDADM still the way to go? I seem to remember reading that you can set up RAID 1 with just using ext4. Presumably MADAM is still the best. Next, my original partitioning scheme was one / (root) raid device with partition, and one swap raid device swap with partition. I presume that a better layout would be to have / (root), home and swap raid devices with partitions. Should I be using LVM as well, or just shove a partition directly on the raid device? I don't want to do a fresh install, I want to copy the data over from the old disk to the new ones. What's the best way of going about this? I can only have 2 drives connected at a time, but I could put the new disks into a spare computer and transfer files over the network if necessary. I'm hoping that I may be able to get away with this: Using the appropriate raid controls, remove the "faulty" drive from the raid array, then physically remove it. Then physically mount one new, bigger drive. Create 3 raid partitions on the and format one as / (root) and one as swap, leaving the other one empty for a bit. Using the appropriate raid controls, mount the new devices and let them synch. Unmount and remove the remaining old drive. Mount, partition then add the new drive to the raid. Let it synch. Once that's all happened, boot from a live cd, mount the devices, format the spare partition as "home", copy (move) files from the home directory to the new home partition. Would this work? Or is there a better way? Any comments appreciated. Steve

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