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Weekly IRC reminder
by Neill Newman 23 Sep '02

23 Sep '02

This is the automated ALUG IRC meeting reminder sent to remind you that there is an IRC meeting tonight (Monday) at 8.00pm. 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 tkirc, bitchx, xchat 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://freshmeat.net/ http://www.epicsol.org/ Windows http://www.mirc.com (loads of help with irc for newbies!)

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Hard Drive performance
by James - listmail 22 Sep '02

22 Sep '02

Message: 2 Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2002 08:51:36 +0100 To: Ian Bell <ruffrecords(a)uklinux.net> Cc: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk Subject: Re: [Alug] Hard Drive performance From: Adam Bower <abower(a)thebowery.co.uk> On Mon, Sep 16, 2002 at 10:44:33PM +0100, Ian Bell wrote: > I mentioned in an earlier post my move from a P!! igig PC to a new dell > laptop with a P4 1.6 gig and how with rh7.3 it seemed slower than the old > system. I have now investigated this a little further. < Snippage - Topic is DMA settings To use, or not to use hdparm... > >Oh and finally hdparm can destroy data on your harddisk if you go for too many >settings and the disk/computer doesn't like them.... Too right! ( For details, and a little PC history read on... ) Message: 3 Subject: Re: [Alug] Hard Drive performance From: Douglas Willis <ddw(a)bas.ac.uk> To: Alug Mailing List <main(a)lists.alug.org.uk> Date: 17 Sep 2002 09:24:48 +0100 >On some of the earlier laptops turning on DMA caused the cdrom drives to >lockup requiring a hare reset of the machine. I this was due to >slightly non standard IDE bus architecture. >I run an IBM A21M which has a PIII ant about 800MHz and now have no >problems with disk access once I turned on the DMA settings. >The RedHat install by default disabled the DMA . This is considered ( quite rightly ) to be the safest default option that will operate properly across all PC architecture hardware. The old timers may remember the war that IBM fought to keep their PC hardware and firmware (BIOS) proprietary - forcing competitors making clone machines to do "clean room" BIOs coding and design their own hardware, too. Gaining a cost and time to market advantage for IBM for quite a while. It guaranteed a lot of flaky hardware designs, too. ( Remember the Amstrad 286 HD fiasco? ) Compaq were established in this era; and never quit designing their own hardware. Even today, when it is no longer necessary, or desirable, to deviate too far from accepted "industry standards". They were beginning to get wise to the fact that it is no longer desirable! Two decades later... Only to be swallowed by HP. Go figure. It is cheaper to use "industry standard" chipsets from a third party than to re-invent complex hardware, in the design process. Some big corporations just failed to adapt, and tried to lock in customers to their particular hardware, when the game had moved on to proprietary lock-ins via software: EULAs and proprietary protocols "embracing and extending" open standards. I can pretty much guarantee data loss ( or total operating system loss ) on *any* Compaq where you attempt to force an OS to use DMA when it is not selected by the default install. Quite a few laptop clones are like the Compaq ( I had a Twinheed one just a few weeks ago ). Desktop PCs can also be found with iffy DMA hardware design. Beware the data corruption bug when shifting large quantities of data between IDE ports on some chipsets, too. ( One range of SiS chipsets suffered from this AFAIR ) Although IDE is a blocking type device, the DMA behaviour can also vary from a single device per IDE port to multiple devices daisy-chained on one IDE port. Had I decided to use a cheaper IDE CD Burner on my SiS chipset Desktop ( 2001 Motherboard design ) I'd have walked right into the data corruption problem! ( I prefer to have at least two separate hardware disk channels, one of them SCSI, for best VM performance, anyway. ). TESTING: If you multiboot with Windows 9x ( perhaps to use Office 97 from Wine ) it is easy to test. Make sure that the Windows boot comes to a real DOS prompt, so you have to start Windows with WIN at the prompt ( edit MSDOS.SYS ). Make COPIES of the registry SYSTEM.D* and USER.D* files! Then - in windows, play with the DMA enables for the IDE Harddrive and CDROM. When windows fails to load you have an answer... ( Restore the registry files, and it should be OK ). I haven't known this to corrupt data on the drive, but I'm not making any promises. The worst that usually happens is that it fails to load the "DOS extender" <*grin*> Try this with Linux, and you will probably trash the filesystem. A disposable Windows test multiboot can be a less shattering test option to determine if your machine has well behaved DMA hardware! But there are no guarantees if you start tweaking hardware related stuff. ( Overclocking is another example ). Eventually, you will reach a point where the probability of a timing error will corrupt data, as timing margins are reduced. Consider that slower disk performance means a higher safety margin against data corruption. The size of IDE hard drives now is such that there is a reasonable statistical likelihood of hitting random data corruption, anyway. -- James To reply by private email DONT delete the "nospam" in Reply To or From header addresses!

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Fwd: Re: [Alug] Speedtouch Modem
by Wayne Stallwood 21 Sep '02

21 Sep '02

I am using the same firmware for both XP and Linux, But that's a good point I'll try some different versions, I'd completely forgotten about the Firmware I've been updating the sourceforge drivers everytime a new version becomes available, but I've never changed the firmware...Doh Thanks I'll give that a go. Given the time I've spent mucking about with this I really should just go out and buy an ADSL Router, but it's become personal now :o) anyway a Router is a waste at home as I only have one machine here. If lots of other people were having this problem I'd just accept that the Alcatel Modem doesn't work very well under Linux and purchase another solution, but seeing as everyone else seems happy with the speedtouch drivers I've GOT to get it working otherwise it's beaten me. and I don't like losing........... On Saturday 21 September 2002 14:15, Adam Bower wrote: > On Sat, Sep 21, 2002 at 02:12:45PM +0000, Wayne Stallwood wrote: > > Also why is it that I have never read (on Usenet, Speedtouch Mailing > > lists or Linux Mailing lists) of anyone else having this problem. It must > > be something specific to my system, I just don't know what. > > some people have experienced different connections with different versions > of the modem firmware you could try.... thinks.... are you using the same > modem firmware with linux as you are with win XP? there are about 6 or 7 > versions try using your mgmt.o file from WinXP with modem_run (or whichever > bit it is) if not you could try different firmwares. To see if the files > are different you can use md5sum under linux. (md5sum mgmt.o) and see if > you get different outputs from that) > > > Incendently what is the difference between usb-uhci and uhci ? Which one > > should I be using to connect my ADSL Modem. (not that it seems to make > > any difference to this problem) > > well use which one works or works better than the other one, I have to use > usb-uhci and the uhci one doesn't work with my modem for some reason > although it will work fine with other usb devices. > > Adam -------------------------------------------------------

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CUPS and Lexmark 5700
by Glen Tyler 19 Sep '02

19 Sep '02

> Dear All, > > another CUPS question I'm afraid, and I know the CUPS and Epson strand > recently was broadcast, but I didn't save all the messages, I wasn't > interested in CUPS until yesterday..:-) > I finally upgraded to KDE3 , on RH7.2, which required me to install CUPS. > Now before on KDE2.2 I had a Lexmark 5700 printing (in B and W) using the > printer config in KDE and a driver lex5700. > Although I have the same config now, nothing comes out when I send a file to > print. I tried to configure CUPS using lynx (my prefered browser), but have > to admit I got a bit lost...I can see that my printer isn't supported, but > what is 'raw'? Anyone know a good newbie guide to CUPS? Is it pointless me > continuing...? Well I probably will anyway, afterall I got my pctel modem > working, and my onboard sound and KDE3...in the end. > BTW I also get the message in CUPS that the print job has gone, but it just > never appears.. > Glen >

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Dlink quad ethernet card
by Raphael Mankin 19 Sep '02

19 Sep '02

I have been playing with a Dlink DFE580TX quad ethernet card. I have used it in both 2.4.x and 2.2.19 kernels and it works a treat. We have got a batch of them at work, and they are now down to a price where they are affordable for the largish home network. Mind you, 4 single cards are still cheaper than one quad, but you save 3 PCI slots. You have to get the latest 'sundance' drivers from http://www.scyld.com/network/sundance.html. Don't use the one with the 2.4 kernel tree. -- Nothing propinx like propinquity. Mark Twain Raphael Mankin E-Mail: raph(a)panache.demon.co.uk ----------------------------------

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(no subject)
by Raphael Mankin 19 Sep '02

19 Sep '02

I have just borrowed a Dlink DFE-580TX quad ethernet card from the office where we are expermienting with them. We have now tested them on both 2.4.x and 2.2.19 kernels and they work a treat. You can run the four ports independently or as one extra wide-band channel. The driver modules you need are pci-scan.o and sundance.o. The latest versions can be downloaded from www.scyld.com -- Nothing propinx like propinquity. Mark Twain Raphael Mankin E-Mail: raph(a)panache.demon.co.uk ----------------------------------

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tar and gzip
by Jenny_Hopkins＠toby-churchill.com 19 Sep '02

19 Sep '02

Hullo list, When a directory is tarred and gzipped, will it also include any symlinked directories? e.g first directory to be gzipped is /home/jenny, which contains a link to /var/www second directory to be gzipped is /var/www Tarball is created from both these directories. Burning Q: are the files in /var/www being saved in the tarball twice? Jen.

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Re: [Alug] tar and gzip
by Jenny_Hopkins＠toby-churchill.com 19 Sep '02

19 Sep '02

Douglas Willis wrote: >Usually the symlink itself is added to the tar not what it points to. >To test this use > >tar tvzf <my_first_filename> |grep www > >It will show you what is in the first tar ball. You should only see the >symlink entry not the data the symlink points to. Thanks for that. I severely need to clean out my home directory in that case. Jen

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Re: [Alug] Hard Drive performance
by Wayne Stallwood 18 Sep '02

18 Sep '02

It's also worth considering that a clock for clock comparasion between a PC and a Laptop will always show the laptop to be slower. The Processor, Video Hardware, Drives etc are all optimised for power consumption and size...not speed. The Mobile P4 operates without a bloody great H/Sink fan and draws less power, how do you think it achieves that ? I'm guessing that you have a 8200, Your Gforce 4 Go graphics chip is compareable to a GF2 on a desktop system, again due to power and size considerations. You could have a tinker with the power management setup, it may be set to "Battery Economy" rather than "Performance" The Processor in question is capable of speedstep after all, it may be possible to use the Bogomips value to determine what speed the clock was actually running at, but this is only measured during boot AFAIK. In short Don't expect your laptop to ever perform as well as a 1.6 Ghz desktop system, although that said slower than a 1Ghz does sound a little off, check those power settings. W > > On Mon, Sep 16, 2002 at 10:44:33PM +0100, Ian Bell wrote: > > > I mentioned in an earlier post my move from a P!! igig PC to a new dell > > > laptop with a P4 1.6 gig and how with rh7.3 it seemed slower than the > > > old system. I have now investigated this a little further. > > > > One other factor here i think you are saying a PIII 1Ghz to a PIV 1.6Ghz? > > in which case the performance would not be 60% greater, in all likelyhood > > a PIV at 1.6ghz will most likely be the same speed as a PIII 1Ghz for > > most of the time, slower for some things and faster on a very few others. > > > > Have you also checked memory timings in the Bios? is the kernel built > > with support for a PIV, are you using a framebuffer driver for X or > > native GFX support? Are there many unused daemons running in the > > background that you don't need? are all other things to check. > > > > About hdparm, PIO modes are usually discovered by the BIOS pretty > > accuratly so I would leave them alone, setting DMA to 16bit or 32bit with > > sync is usually safe and the other options are trial and error. You could > > try looking on the net to find other peoples settings, linux on laptops > > page may be good for this (this machine is a laptop?) as would looking on > > the disk manufacturers webpage for specs too. > > > > Oh and finally hdparm can destroy data on your harddisk if you go for too > > many settings and the disk/computer doesn't like them.... > > > > Adam > > -- > > "Step away from the Cathedral, This Bazaar is loaded" > > jabberid = quinophex(a)jabber.earth.li > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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! -------------------------------------------------------

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Raid Motherboards
by Christopher Drane 17 Sep '02

17 Sep '02

I am going to get a new Motherboard and I want it to have onboard raid. What I was wondering are there any pitfalls to raid drives and Linux and do you know of any good motherboards that have onboard raid and are supported well in Linux. The good news is that money is not one of my main problems, I am looking to spend up to £200 so that should be plenty. I thought I would post this before I get the board, hopefully I can get the right board that is supported by Linux thus stopping me having the problems after I have brought it. Any help or suggestions will be appreciated Chris Drane

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