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Recent convert wanted!
by Dave Briggs 01 May '06

01 May '06

Hello chaps I do a bit of work now and again for Living Without Microsoft [http://livingwithoutmicrosoft.org], and we have been thinking of some new features to run. One idea that we thought would be very useful would be a piece on an everyday PC user who had recently switched from Windows to Linux, hopefully to show others who might be tempted to make the switch that it really isn't *that* hard. It would be pretty simple, just a few questions emailed back and forth a few times. Our preference would be for someone not overly technically proficient, but that doesn't really matter. Anyhow - if anyone would like to volunteer that would be great. Feel free to do so off list. Cheers Dave

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Weekly IRC reminder
by Brett Parker 01 May '06

01 May '06

This is the automated ALUG IRC meeting reminder sent to remind you that there is an IRC meeting tonight (Monday) at 8.00pm. Historically, these used to be the only time a lot of us would be about, now the channel has some usual faces that are there most of the time (except at silly o'clock, when we might be sleeping, or on the second thursday of the month, where we might be drinking in the Reindeer), so don't feel limited to visit during this time, come visit us when ever you feel like it! The meeting takes place on the irc server irc.alug.org.uk in the #alug channel. Most IRC clients should allow you to get there with the commands "/server irc.alug.org.uk" and "/join #alug". Popular IRC clients include xchat, irssi and EPIC on Unix, and Mirc under windows. Here are some links to help you get started with irc. Unix http://www.xchat.org/ http://www.irssi.org/ http://www.epicsol.org/ Windows http://www.mirc.com (loads of help with irc for newbies!)

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Re: [ALUG] X Window - Which One?
by Peter 30 Apr '06

30 Apr '06

> Simon Royal wrote: > > Hi > > > > I have installed VectorLinux 4.3 on my ThinkPad 380ED. > > > > It comes with a number of x managers. Which one is the best. I don't recall whether Vector came with it, but for me WindowMaker will be the best combination of speed and usability. It is among the fastest you'll find, and of the fast ones, I think its the most usable. Yes, I agree with Ian that xfce is nice, though it will be a very early version that came with 4.3, and may not be as elegant as the current release, which is very nice. Ice is not bad, a bit crude aesthetically. I prefer Windowmaker. But WM seems to be very much a minority taste, don't know why. Also like enlightenment very much in concept, but have never actually used it day to day. But e is very fast and very different. Worth trying. Turn it on and amaze any neophyte friends you may have. E is the only one where you can log on and show it to someone and have them stare for a few minutes wondering what on earth it is. People's reactions to these things are interesting, so it I at least would be pleased to know which you like and why, if you have time to post. Peter

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Re: [ALUG] Network problem (Update)
by Christopher Dawkins 30 Apr '06

30 Apr '06

> The problem was caused because there were two copies of lpd running. > I've no idea why. Since stopping both and restarting everything works. > > EXCEPT... > > I can't print from either Firefox or OpenOffice using Computer B. I've > used spadmin to set up the new printer but the output does not appear > in the spool directory and Firefox does the same. Strange. Are you using CUPS? Sounds like the problem we have on FreeBSD with CUPS. There are the system copies of lpr, lpd, lpq and lprm in /usr/bin and the CUPS ones in /usr/local/bin. Default paths use the system ones first. The usual effect is that KDE printing works while OpenOffice printing does not. There are several cures, one of which is to delete (or rename) the versions in /usr/bin. -- Christopher Dawkins Garnetts Corner, Braintree Road, Felsted, Dunmow, Essex CM6 3DS cchd(a)pjcd.org 07816 821659 01371 821076

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X Window - Which One?
by Simon Royal 29 Apr '06

29 Apr '06

Hi I have installed VectorLinux 4.3 on my ThinkPad 380ED. It comes with a number of x managers. Which one is the best. Obviously this is no beast of a machine and I have DSL running FluxBox which looked great, but FluxBox on VectorLinux looks rubbish. Any advice. Simon

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Re: [ALUG] Mysterious ethernet problem
by Peter 29 Apr '06

29 Apr '06

I'm not sure what the board is, but probably Intel? Its in a compaq deskpro and the lan chipset is intel 82558. Mandriva assigns an eepro 100 driver to it. The funny thing is, it works well enough to do a Mandriva network install - which is just as well, since no CD in it. And I have three of these I'm trying to get working reliably! The yellow light. Yes, I think it must be related to wake on lan, but evidently the way its working with mandriva, it would not wake. We start from the situation where the machine has been shut down from the keyboard. The light goes out. If power to the machine is turned off at the mains, paused, and then turned back on, then the yellow light comes on again. If the machine is then turned on at the power switch and booted, all is well, and the yellow light stays on. However on keyboard shutdown, the yellow light goes off again, and then does not come back on even on reboot. So wake on lan would not work I suppose. The yellow light seems from the manual to mean 'reception of link pulses' or 'scrambler lock' in 100mbps mode. Something must be happening at software shutdown to cause this not to work any more. Something must be restarted at mains power on to get it up again. But what? I've glanced through the near 300 page manual with no real enlightenment. Perhaps I should try Debian on the second one, and maybe Windows 2K as well, and see if there's any difference. Peter On Saturday 29 Apr 2006 10:47, main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk wrote: > My experience of Intel motherboards over the past 5 years > is that the ethernet connect light shines when connected to a network > even when the PC appears to be off. I'm guessing this helps with Wake > On Lan. > > Perhaps the Linux driver is telling the ethernet adapter to power > down, and then nothing turns it back on again until you cold boot. > > What make is your motherboard? > > Regards, > Tim.

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Spam, flames, toast et al.
by Bob Dove 29 Apr '06

29 Apr '06

Come on Guys, Some-one asks for help with a reasonable charitable do, some of you immediately clog the ether with complaints! A gentle reminder to the transgressor (of which there is at least one in my inbox) is sufficient. No need to get carried away with a running argument - life's too short! Bob Dove.

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Re: [ALUG] Network problem (Update)
by Barry Samuels 29 Apr '06

29 Apr '06

On 2006.04.28 19:42, Wayne Stallwood wrote: > On Fri, 2006-04-28 at 11:38 +0000, Barry Samuels wrote: > > The traceroute problem mentioned in the previous post was caused by > the firewall which has now been updated. > > > > Traceroute lists computer A as line 1 then the printer as line 2. > > > > Computer B still won't send the print job though. > > Still sounds very much like a firewally thing to me. > > Out of interest are you able to access the Jetdirect web admin page > from Computer B ? > > You could also try opening a telnet session to the printers port > (9100 I > think) > > Try telnet printeraddress 9100 > > It won't do anything useful of course (unless you can speak Jetdirect > IP protocol) but it will either fail to connect if it's a firewall > issue or either print garbage on the screen or just sit there blank > if it's ok. > Compare this to the results you get if you do the same thing on > Computer A Some more progress. The problem was caused because there were two copies of lpd running. I've no idea why. Since stopping both and restarting everything works. EXCEPT... I can't print from either Firefox or OpenOffice using Computer B. I've used spadmin to set up the new printer but the output does not appear in the spool directory and Firefox does the same. Strange. I can print from Gimp though. Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain

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USB WiFi
by Peter Hunter 29 Apr '06

29 Apr '06

Just a follow up from my last message. I have done a bit of searching and found that I can use something called NDISWrapper (as mentioned in an earlier reply), I'm not too sure how to use it though. Anyway, it seems that this comes pre loaded in Linspire 5. I have looked on the CD, in the drivers folder, for the Belkin F5D7050, for the .inf file. It seems to be listed as rt73???.inf. There is also a .sys file. Before I attempt to use this can someone tell me HOW to do it please? Also, there are two folders, one for Win9x and one for 2kxp. Does it matter which one I use? They seem to have the same .inf / .sys files in them. Regards and thanks Peter

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Re: [ALUG] Mysterious ethernet problem
by Peter 29 Apr '06

29 Apr '06

Adam wrote: >I've had that before with some network hardware, it appears that the >kernel driver either doesn't leave the network hardware in a nice state >at reboot or the hardware doesn't like playing ball after a reboot, >possibly a combination of the 2 things. The way I fixed it was either >upgrade the kernel to a later version or stick a pci card into the >machine and disable the onboard lan. Thanks, I'd thought of trying an add-in card, and turning off the onboard lan, so I'll do that now to confirm. It would be nice however to be able to use the built in. Is there anything one could add to the startup or shutdown procedures? That would have the same effect on the built in ethernet as a mains switch off? Peter

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