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10364 discussions

Securing grub
by Dan Hatton 15 Sep '09

15 Sep '09

Dear All, I just frightened the life out of myself by selecting this option from my grub menu: title Gentoo Linux (rescue) root (hd0,4) kernel /boot/bzImage-2.6.28-tuxonice-r10 root=/dev/sda5 real_root=/dev/sda5 init=/bin/bb and finding it dropped me straight to a shell with root privileges, with no need to enter a password. Since the machine sometimes gets left unattended in areas other people have access to, I'd really like this not to be a possibility. But I would still like the possibility of a minimal-services, non-GUI boot. Any ideas, please? -- Thanks, Dan

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Exernal USB Drive
by Mathew Moore 14 Sep '09

14 Sep '09

Hi All I am trying to format a USB drive to ext3 or 4 but when it finishes it will not let me do any thing with it like add files. I have read it is about ownership and ubuntu root owns the files and drive and i have tried changing it but no change. any ideas thanks Mat

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DPMS trouble
by Dan Hatton 14 Sep '09

14 Sep '09

Dear All, I've posted about this before, but I can now give a clearer description of my problem (thanks to Tim Green for a tip that helped me get there). Any suggestions as to how to make DPMS work correctly will be welcome. I have two computers (say 1 and 2), both with built-in LCD screens, plus two external monitors (A and B) that plug into VGA ports. The results of running xset dpms force off (or going to DPMS off mode via xscreensaver) are as follows: Computer 1 + no external monitor: built-in screen goes to DPMS off mode. Computer 1 + monitor A: monitor A goes to DPMS off mode, built-in screen was in off mode anyway, from time computer was started with monitor A plugged in. Computer 1 + monitor B: monitor B goes to DPMS off mode, built-in screen was in off mode anyway, from time computer was started with monitor B plugged in. Computer 2 + no external monitor: built-in screen goes to DPMS off mode. Computer 2 + monitor A: both built-in screen and monitor A go to DPMS off mode. Computer 2 + monitor B: built-in screen goes to DPMS off mode, monitor B stays on, complaining that I should "check signal cable". So it seems all individual components work OK, and it's the combination of computer 2 and monitor B that's problematic. In each case, the monitor behaviour when the computer is switched off altogether is the same as that in response to xset dpms force off. Thanks very much, Dan Some details that might help: Computer 1 has an Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller (rev 03), and runs Fedora 9 with xorg 1.5.2-6.fc9. Computer 2 has an Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03), and runs Gentoo with xorg 7.2. Monitor A is a Samsung SyncMaster 710N. Monitor B is an LG Flatron W2234S. xorg.conf from computer 1 # Xorg configuration created by system-config-display Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "single head configuration" Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0 InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer" InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard" EndSection Section "Files" # RgbPath is the location of the RGB database. Note, this is the name of the # file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db"). There is normally # no need to change the default. # Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together) # By default, Red Hat 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of # the X server to render fonts. FontPath "unix/:7100" EndSection Section "Module" Load "dbe" Load "extmod" Load "fbdevhw" Load "glx" Load "record" Load "freetype" Load "type1" Load "dri" EndSection Section "InputDevice" # Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1)) # Option "Xleds" "1 2 3" # To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable. # Option "XkbDisable" # To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the # lines below (which are the defaults). For example, for a non-U.S. # keyboard, you will probably want to use: # Option "XkbModel" "pc102" # If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use: # Option "XkbModel" "microsoft" # # Then to change the language, change the Layout setting. # For example, a german layout can be obtained with: # Option "XkbLayout" "de" # or: # Option "XkbLayout" "de" # Option "XkbVariant" "nodeadkeys" # # If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and # control keys, use: # Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:swapcaps" # Or if you just want both to be control, use: # Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:nocaps" # Identifier "Keyboard0" Driver "kbd" Option "XkbModel" "pc105" Option "XkbLayout" "gb" EndSection Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Mouse0" Driver "mouse" Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2" Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice" Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor0" VendorName "Monitor Vendor" ModelName "LCD Panel 1024x768" HorizSync 31.5 - 48.5 VertRefresh 40.0 - 70.0 Option "dpms" EndSection Section "Device" # VendorName "Videocard vendor" # BoardName "VESA driver (generic)" Identifier "Videocard0" Driver "intel" BoardName "Unknown video card" EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" Device "Videocard0" Monitor "Monitor0" DefaultDepth 24 SubSection "Display" Viewport 0 0 Depth 16 Modes "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection SubSection "Display" Viewport 0 0 Depth 24 Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection EndSection Section "DRI" Group 0 Mode 0666 EndSection xorg.conf from computer 2 # Xorg configuration created by system-config-display Section "ServerFlags" Option "DontZap" "yes" Option "DontVTSwitch" "no" EndSection Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "Default Layout" Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0 InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer" InputDevice "Synaptics Mouse" "AlwaysCore" InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard" EndSection Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Keyboard0" Driver "kbd" Option "XkbModel" "pc105" Option "XkbLayout" "gb,us(euro)" Option "XkbOptions" "grp:alt_shift_toggle" EndSection Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Synaptics Mouse" Driver "synaptics" Option "Device" "/dev/psaux" Option "Protocol" "auto-dev" Option "LeftEdge" "1700" Option "RightEdge" "5300" Option "TopEdge" "1700" Option "BottomEdge" "4200" Option "FingerLow" "25" Option "FingerHigh" "30" Option "MaxTapTime" "180" Option "MaxTapMove" "220" Option "VertScrollDelta" "100" Option "MinSpeed" "0.09" Option "MaxSpeed" "0.18" Option "AccelFactor" "0.0015" Option "SHMConfig" "on" EndSection Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Mouse0" Driver "mouse" Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2" Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice" Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor0" Modeline "1024x600" 48.96 1024 1064 1168 1312 600 601 604 622 -HSync +VSync # Option "Above" "Monitor1" Modeline "1280x768" 80.14 1280 1344 1480 1680 768 769 772 795 -HSync +Vsync Modeline "1280x768" 102.98 1280 1360 1496 1712 768 769 772 802 -HSync +Vsync Modeline "1280x1024" 138.54 1280 1368 1504 1728 1024 1025 1028 1069 -HSync +Vsync Modeline "1280x1024" 108.88 1280 1360 1496 1712 1024 1025 1028 1060 -HSync +Vsync Option "dpms" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Videocard0" Driver "intel" # Option "monitor-LVDS" "Monitor0" # Option "monitor-VGA" "Monitor1" Option "Clone" "true" Option "MonitorLayout" "LVDS,VGA" BusID "PCI:0:2:0" # Screen 0 EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" Device "Videocard0" Monitor "Monitor0" DefaultDepth 24 SubSection "Display" Viewport 0 0 Depth 24 Modes "1280x1024" "1024x600" "800x600" "640x480" Virtual 1280 1024 EndSubSection EndSection Section "DRI" Group 0 Mode 0666 EndSection

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Re-launched Linux User
by Richard Lewis 13 Sep '09

13 Sep '09

Hi ALUG, Did anyone else notice that Linux User had disppeared from the newstands? No, neither had I. But they've recently published a re-launch issue, now under Imagine Publishing. Don't know if anyone else has read it and has any opinions? Just thought I'd voice some of mine. The features seem to be quite good, but some of the tutorials and reviews are dreadful. The hardware reviews go into no detail whatsoever. So they reviewed several netbooks in this issue, and all they did was to tell you the basic specs, tell you how they found OOo to work, and tell you what it's like to hold the thing. No objective benchmark testing or anything. But the software reviews were even worse. So bad, in fact, that I've quoted this passage from a view of Mono 2.4: "Mono 2.4 was released in March of this year. The Mono project and the DotGNU project are based on similar ideas. The fact that you can just download it and do anything with it makes it attractive to a lot of people out there who don't want to be tied down by an NDA or some other legal straitjacket which prevents them from realising their goal in writing a certain type of application. The General Public License, which is the most successful software license ever produced by any organisation anywhere, and the MIT X11 license make all of this possible." He manages to convey almost as little information in the remaining 500 words of the review. It's good for a laugh if you have a spare £6 (I still think they should drop the 'free' DVDs from these things). Though I should say again that the features (Shuttleworth interview, Jon 'Maddog' Hall on OpenMoko, Gerry Gavigan on grass-roots marketing of FLOSS) were worth reading. Best, Richard -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Richard Lewis ISMS, Computing Goldsmiths, University of London JID: ironchicken(a)jabber.earth.li http://www.richard-lewis.me.uk/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- +-------------------------------------------------------+ |Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.| |http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html | +-------------------------------------------------------+

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[ALUG Announce] Coach and Horses is now permanent venue for 2nd Thursday meetings.
by Adam Bower 11 Sep '09

11 Sep '09

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- Hi all, Last night we had a decent turnout of 9 people, lots of regulars and a couple of new faces. The Coach & Horses turns out to be an excellent venue, serving decent food, free wifi, very good beer (including takeouts!), plenty of seating and a good atmosphere. So this will remain the venue for all future Alug 2nd Thursday pub meets until time we see fit for a change. http://www.thecoachthorperoad.co.uk/ thanks Adam -- jabberid = quinophex(a)jabber.earth.li ----- 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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Augmenting sound on DVD video-rip
by Ted.Harding＠manchester.ac.uk 09 Sep '09

09 Sep '09

Greetings all. I have copied an amateur VHS video onto a DVD (using a Tape/DVD machine with cross-copying capability). I have copied the DVD to a ".iso" file (ndf filesystem, I think) using cat /dev/dvd > titlename.iso, and I dare say I can store the various compoment files in a directory using dvdbackup. No problem in duplicating the DVD using growisofs from the ".iso" file. This works well. However, the sound-track is too quiet (it was filmed from the back of a lecture-theatre during a talk), and it would be good to augment the sound volume (the DVD has to be played at maximum sound level on the player, and even then is often too faint). I have little experience of manipulating video stuff, and would welcome guidance on how to proceed! With thanks, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)manchester.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 09-Sep-09 Time: 19:15:52 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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Over-clever keyboard detection in Gentoo
by Dan Hatton 09 Sep '09

09 Sep '09

Dear All, I usually operate my Gentoo netbook with one of two USB keyboards plugged in - a Microsoft Comfort Curve keyboard or an Apple Pro Keyboard. Usually, the computer responds to either of these, and its built-in keyboard, as if they were PC-style keyboards, i.e. shift-2 gives ", shift-' gives @. I quite like it this way. Occasionally (usually while the Apple keyboard is plugged in, although I've seen it once while the Microsoft keyboard was plugged in), however, the computer switches to responding to both the USB keyboard and its built-in keyboard as if they were Apple-style keyboards, i.e. shift-2 is @, shift-' is ". There's nothing wrong with this in itself, but unfortunately it coincides with the computer becoming very to respond to keypresses, and frequently mistaking a single keypress for a large number of multiple presses of the same key. It also coincides with the second light from the left (of six) in xkbvleds coming on, which suggests that the behaviour is switchable. Any ideas how to switch it, please? -- Thanks, Dan

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[ALUG Announce] Changed Venue! Alug Norwich 2nd Thurs Pub Meet 10th September 2009
by Adam Bower 09 Sep '09

09 Sep '09

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- Dear ALUG, Note that we have a new venue for the pub meet this month! This months second Thursday social meeting of ALUG will take place on 10th September 2009 at The Coach and Horses (82 Thorpe Road, Norwich, NR1 1BA http://www.thecoachthorperoad.co.uk/ ). This is a new venue for Alug but has been chosen as it offers food, a good selection of real beer and reasonably good connections for travel and parking. There should be people there from 8pm, I will try and bring a Tux to aid people in recognising us. Thanks Adam -- jabberid = quinophex(a)jabber.earth.li ----- 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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Re: [ALUG] Bittorrent / Sky / ThePirateBay
by mick 08 Sep '09

08 Sep '09

On Tue, 8 Sep 2009 09:44:24 +0100 Alex Scotton <alex.scotton(a)gmail.com> allegedly wrote: > >>and if so does anyone know of a good encrypted proxy?.. > > > > Try Tor, though some operators (myself included I may add) actually > > block torrents in their exit policies. Too bandwidth hungry. > > been checking out the website, looks very good.. however few > questions, I assume you have volunteered to be a "relay" so this just > sets up a few ssh tunnels between you and the target and bounces your > connection around a little etc... its routed through encrypted > "relays" to the target and then "encrypted" back through? does this > not create a tad of latency, especially on torrents if some relays are > allowing it and some aren't. See http://www.torproject.org/overview.html.en for details of how tor works. It is not really a set of ssh tunnels. Tor's great strength is that no-one can link your source address to the destination you are interested in (well, no-one without the capability of observing all possible tor nodes - which excludes even most nation states). Yes, tor is slow, but how fast do you need to be for file transfer? And of course, the more tor relays there are, the faster the network gets. See also http://www.torproject.org/docs/tor-doc-relay.html.en for how to configure your tor client as a relay. But beware, the impact on your own bandwidth can be huge. I choose to run a tor exit node (a relay which also permits exit) on a VPS. Despite some judicious throttling I still consume 3 to 3.5 Gig of traffic per day. My VPS contract allows 150 Gig per month so I kep an eye on usage. I found that running a relay on my ADSL line was totally impractical. You can, of course, just use tor as a client, but that way you are not giving anything back to the community. And as I said, the more tor relays there are, the faster and more "secure" the network becomes. When I want to use tor myself, I just set up an SSH tunnel to my relay and join the network from there. Mick --------------------------------------------------------------------- The text file for RFC 854 contains exactly 854 lines. Do you think there is any cosmic significance in this? Douglas E Comer - Internetworking with TCP/IP Volume 1 http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc854.txt ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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Partition imaging and restoring
by Mark Rogers 08 Sep '09

08 Sep '09

Ah, Windows, Windows, Windows, how I love thee. There definitely seems to be a certain type of user who, given a few weeks with a Windows installation (no matter what AV software is installed) will end up with a compromised machine. So I'm looking for a way to roll-back to a clean install. What I'm thinking is to have two partitions on the disk - the Windows one and an EXT2/3 partition containing an image of the clean Windows install. All I need then is: (a) a way to create the image (Linux has several of these but recommendations welcome) (b) a way for a "normal user" (with some support) to restore the image I started by thinking simple; have a dual-boot config with a basic Linux install selectable from a Grub menu (labelled "System Restore" or similar), which when booted simply runs the restore command automatically (which might just be dd). To create/update the image I'd use a LiveCD. But then I thought that this has probably all been done before and there's probably a standard solution out there? The key point is that it needs to be end-user friendly when it comes to restoring the image. -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0845 45 89 555 Registered in England (0456 0902) at 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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