November 2002 - WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

DVD writeable media

by Andy Stewart

HI everybody, The message thread about DVD writers makes me think that there are many standards or types of writeable DVD media that not all drives can handle - is this true? Could somebody compare/contrast the different types? Thanks, Andy -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

Nov. 24, 2002

Re: [Wlug] DVD writer

by doug waud

Robert L Krawitz wrote: > I'm thinking of getting a DVD writer. My primary intention is to use > it for system backups; CD's just don't cut it any more (with about 18 > GB and 11 GB respectively on my two systems). The Sony DRU-500A looks > like a rather interesting one, supporting a lot of formats. Any > comments on that vs. any of the others out there? Hi First let me note that I have no direct experience here. I have been trying to follow the area and just want to tell you that the Dec 2002 PC World just reviewed it. They picked the Sony DRU-500A as their "Best buy" (and give a street price of $349). In general they note that DVD-RAM would be best if you were just doing backups. On the other hand they pick the Sony drive because it can do everything else! :-) I assume they are trying to make a recommendation for general use. They list only two drives that do DVD-RAM: Pacific Digital DVD Burner U-30116 at $299 Street and Vivastar RS-111 at $350 Both do just DVD-RAM and DVD-R They say DVD-RAM is preformatted which "manufacturers claim gives gives random access capability" and also "contain extensive defect-management and error-correction technologies, to ensure correct data storage" That's a summary, you may want to check the original article (page111) to make your own call. :-). doug

Nov. 24, 2002

Re: DVD writer

by Mark J. Dulcey

Robert L Krawitz wrote: > I'm thinking of getting a DVD writer. My primary intention is to use > it for system backups; CD's just don't cut it any more (with about 18 > GB and 11 GB respectively on my two systems). The Sony DRU-500A looks > like a rather interesting one, supporting a lot of formats. Any > comments on that vs. any of the others out there? This is for a pure > Linux system. Based on the specs, it looks like THE drive to have right now. It burns every format except DVD-RAM, it will burn DVD-R discs at 4X (assuming that you can actually find any 4X blanks; they're scarce so far), and the $350 price tag seems reasonable. But it's brand new (Sony just started shipping them this week), so you're not likely to find anyone who has actually used one just yet. On the other hand, I'd like to see the DVD-RAM camp come out with a better drive. Their format is a non-player for video, but it's the best DVD-based format for data use, though DVD+RW isn't too bad. Maybe we'll see a drive that can burn all five writable DVD standards soon.

Nov. 23, 2002

DVD writer

by Robert L Krawitz

I'm thinking of getting a DVD writer. My primary intention is to use it for system backups; CD's just don't cut it any more (with about 18 GB and 11 GB respectively on my two systems). The Sony DRU-500A looks like a rather interesting one, supporting a lot of formats. Any comments on that vs. any of the others out there? This is for a pure Linux system. -- Robert Krawitz <rlk(a)alum.mit.edu> Tall Clubs International -- http://www.tall.org/ or 1-888-IM-TALL-2 Member of the League for Programming Freedom -- mail lpf(a)uunet.uu.net Project lead for Gimp Print -- http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net "Linux doesn't dictate how I work, I dictate how Linux works." --Eric Crampton

Nov. 23, 2002

RE: [Wlug] Partition left 7 Gbs!

by dibb_jim＠emc.com

You are probably seeing the difference between 80 * 10^9 representation and 80 * 2^30 representation of GB. An "80 GB" drive usually is seen by an OS as having ~73 GB of space. But without stating why you think so, it's difficult to tell for sure. -----Original Message----- From: Aramico To: wlug(a)mail.wlug.org Sent: 11/21/02 7:37 AM Subject: [Wlug] Partition left 7 Gbs! Hi all, I've got a Baracuda 7200 RPM 80 Gbs Seagate. I've creating the partition using fdisk on Linux RedHat. Why does it always leave 7 Gbs that not partitioned ? So, Here I have 7 Gbs space useless :( Any idea to solve this ? Thanks, _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

Nov. 21, 2002

Partition left 7 Gbs!

by Aramico

Hi all, I've got a Baracuda 7200 RPM 80 Gbs Seagate. I've creating the partition using fdisk on Linux RedHat. Why does it always leave 7 Gbs that not partitioned ? So, Here I have 7 Gbs space useless :( Any idea to solve this ? Thanks,

Nov. 21, 2002

Re: [Wlug] [Fwd: Clarify: GRUB setup on RAID1]

by Charles R. Anderson

On Wed, Nov 20, 2002 at 04:18:01PM -0500, Brett Russ wrote: icycle> The goal is to get rid of the separate (non-RAID) /boot partition OR icycle> make the /boot partition into a RAID1. Either one would require GRUB to icycle> read from it successfully. That works, yes. -- Charles R. Anderson <cra(a)wpi.edu> / http://angus.ind.wpi.edu/~cra/ PGP Key ID: 49BB5886 Fingerprint: EBA3 A106 7C93 FA07 8E15 3AC2 C367 A0F9 49BB 5886

Nov. 20, 2002

Re: [Wlug] [Fwd: Clarify: GRUB setup on RAID1]

by Brett Russ

Charles R. Anderson wrote: > There are multiple RAID1 partitions on two disks, and grub is installed > to /dev/sda. I don't believe grub is mirrored across disks, though. > Since software RAID on Linux works partition-by-partition, and not on > whole disks, I don't see how you could automatically mirror the MBR > across disks. You could install grub to multiple MBR's, though, one for > each disk. It wouldn't gain you anything unless your BIOS can boot from > the other disks, though. To clarify my question, I wanted to make sure GRUB has the capability to access (for example) /boot/grub/grub.conf if /boot is not a separate partition but rather part of / which is a RAID1. As far as I know, RAID1 configured units are very similar to standard filesystems except in the superblock. It is difference between similar and the same that worries me. The goal is to get rid of the separate (non-RAID) /boot partition OR make the /boot partition into a RAID1. Either one would require GRUB to read from it successfully. thanks! Brett

Nov. 20, 2002

Re: [Wlug] Sar for Linux

by Adam Keck

I am going to try this. Thanks very much! -Adam On Wed, 20 Nov 2002, Brian J. Conway wrote: > > Those of you who use Solaris or AIX have access to a system statistics > > tool, sar. Is there any equivalent tool for Linux? > > I used Sysstat (http://perso.wanadoo.fr/sebastien.godard/) when I was > doing my MQP involving queue management with a Linux router, it's quite > good. > > -b > > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > "lingua machinationis creo, ergo sum" _____________________________________________ Adam Keck The Mathworks 508-647-7298 Natick, Ma www.mathworks.com FreeNIX/Backup/Unix Administrator _____________________________________________

Nov. 20, 2002

Re: [Wlug] [Fwd: Clarify: GRUB setup on RAID1]

by Charles R. Anderson

icycle> I looked through all of the archives on this list as well as google icycle> searching for help. I want to make sure that GRUB supports installation icycle> on RAID1 (mirror) units. I have seen several methods to do this: Well, on a Red Hat system I have here, this works fine: #boot=/dev/sda default=0 timeout=10 #splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz title Red Hat Linux (2.4.9-34enterprise) root (hd0,0) kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.9-34enterprise ro root=/dev/md3 console=ttyS0,9600n8 initrd /initrd-2.4.9-34enterprise.img There are multiple RAID1 partitions on two disks, and grub is installed to /dev/sda. I don't believe grub is mirrored across disks, though. Since software RAID on Linux works partition-by-partition, and not on whole disks, I don't see how you could automatically mirror the MBR across disks. You could install grub to multiple MBR's, though, one for each disk. It wouldn't gain you anything unless your BIOS can boot from the other disks, though. -- Charles R. Anderson <cra(a)wpi.edu> / http://angus.ind.wpi.edu/~cra/ PGP Key ID: 49BB5886 Fingerprint: EBA3 A106 7C93 FA07 8E15 3AC2 C367 A0F9 49BB 5886

Nov. 20, 2002