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Re: [Wlug] Notebooks...
by Robert L Krawitz Jan. 4, 2003

Jan. 4, 2003

Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 08:04 From: "Wesley T Allen" <wallen(a)charter.net> My question is, what's known to work with Linux. Are Toshiba's friendly? I'm not touching a compaq with a 10 foot pole, and does anyone have an HP laptop that is fully functional with linux? What about the latest Dells? Or even, gasp GATEWAY???? I have a Dell Inspiron 8000 that works perfectly under Linux. I can suspend and resume it just fine, which impresses a lot of folks since they can't even do that under Windows. The 8200 is the current model; you can find 8000's and 8100's for reasonable money on eBay. It's a big, clunky-looking machine, but the internals are well done, it's very fast, and it has a very nice screen (1400x1050 or 1600x1200; none of this silly 1024x768 on a 15" screen). It can also take two batteries. I'd actually go for an 8000 rather than an 8200 if you want long battery life; the slower processors (mine is 700 MHz) make for much longer battery life. I get 5 hours from a 2700 and 3800 mAH battery; you can buy 4400 mAH batteries now, which should give about 7 hours of battery life. There are lots of other configuration options; you can get a combo DVD/CDRW drive, or two optical drives, if you like. You don't need a docking station, as it has all of the connections on the back panel. -- 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

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Web site down?
by Keller, Tim Jan. 4, 2003

Jan. 4, 2003

At least from Stratus, I'm not getting any connectivity to www.wlug.org ... (actually I'm not sure that this email will get there either...) Tim.

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Re: [Wlug] Notebooks...
by Brian J. Conway Jan. 4, 2003

Jan. 4, 2003

> My question is, what's known to work with Linux. Are Toshiba's > friendly? I'm not touching a compaq with a 10 foot pole, and does > anyone have an HP laptop that is fully functional with linux? > What about the latest Dells? Or even, gasp GATEWAY???? I checked > out linux on laptops, but most of the models weren't even close so > I figured I'd ask all of you... I'm a big fan of Dells and have run Linux on a few Inspiron and Latitude models (my current laptop is an Inspiron 8000). Every piece of hardware in it was supported out of the box by Mandrake: ATi video card, Maestro3 sound, EEPro100 onboard ethernet, DVD drive, and winmodem, which is of the Lucent variety, though I never bothered to set it up as I don't have any dial-up accounts. They're a bit more pricey than what you can find in a clearance at a store, but they're very customizable for a laptop (on Dell's web site), and that made it worth it to me. My $0.02. Brian J. Conway bconway(a)alum.wpi.edu "LINUX is obsolete" - Andrew S. Tanenbaum, creator of Minix - Jan 29, 1992

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No conflicts??
by Gregory Avedissian Jan. 4, 2003

Jan. 4, 2003

Both my video card and the onboard sound card are assigned to IRQ11, in both windows and linux. Device Manager and KDE Control Center say that there's no conflict. Does this make sense? Thanks in advance, Greg

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Re: [Wlug] vpn behind firewall
by Michael Long Jan. 4, 2003

Jan. 4, 2003

Thanks for all the help...It seems I may be locked out of my local lan while connected :( I now have a semi-minor issue to solve. When connected to the vpn I can use realplayer to listen to internet radio after configuring the necessary proxy server. I have not been able to configure xmms play the same links. Off to RTFM for this. Cheers, Mike > On Fri, Jan 03, 2003 at 07:54:12PM -0500, Michael Long wrote: > mlong> Now for my final issue. I have not been able to configure my cisco vpn > mlong> to allow me access to my local lan when connected the vpn is running. > mlong> This is proving to be most inconvenient because I do have a web server > mlong> running that is accessable to the outside world. Unfortunately the > mlong> webserver is unavailable when the vpn is activated. I am thinking that > mlong> if I add a second nic card to the box and configure it properly that I > mlong> should be able to have one card handle the webserver traffic and the > mlong> other card will handle the vpn traffic. Does this seems like a sane > mlong> configuration? If so can someone point me to documentation that will > mlong> explain how to accomplish this. > > Maybe, maybe not. Most VPN software intentionally blocks access to other > networks except thost reachable through the VPN for security reasons. > This is known as disabling "Split Tunneling". If you can re-enable > Split Tunneling, you would be able to access your local network without > going through the VPN. Unfortunately, it is usually a setting controlled > on the VPN server, and enforced by the binary-only VPN client. > > -- > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > >

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Re: [Wlug] vpn behind firewall
by Michael Long Jan. 4, 2003

Jan. 4, 2003

I have gotten both vpn's coexisting nicely with each other. I can now connect to my desktop at work via vnc. It looks like I can now remove my windows partition...YEA! Now for my final issue. I have not been able to configure my cisco vpn to allow me access to my local lan when connected the vpn is running. This is proving to be most inconvenient because I do have a web server running that is accessable to the outside world. Unfortunately the webserver is unavailable when the vpn is activated. I am thinking that if I add a second nic card to the box and configure it properly that I should be able to have one card handle the webserver traffic and the other card will handle the vpn traffic. Does this seems like a sane configuration? If so can someone point me to documentation that will explain how to accomplish this. Thanks again, Mike > Well, my editor ate that one... Let's try this again. > > On Tue, Dec 24, 2002 at 05:58:15PM -0500, Michael Long wrote: > mlong> it if anyone could give me some clues or at least some intelligent > mlong> questions to ask so that I might make this thing work. It is sometimes > mlong> necessary to "help" the help desk in order that they can help you. :) > > "VPN" can mean many things... but usually it means a PPTP or IPsec > encrypted tunnel. IPsec uses port 500/udp for ISAKMP key exchange, and > IP Protocol number 50/51 for ESP/AH encryption/authentication (i.e., not > TCP or UDP). > > IPsec wasn't designed to work with the hack that is NAT (Network Address > Translation, Internet Connection Sharing), so if you are sharing one > real IP address to multiple computers with a Linksys, you can run into > issues. Basically, vendors like Linksys have hacked around the IPsec > limitation to make it sort of work through the NAT. Make sure you have > turned on the "IPsec passthrough" features of your router (NOT IPsec/VPN > endpoint). You should also look for an upgrade to the Linksys firmware > to see if it addresses your issue... It is hit-or-miss often times with > these SOHO routers. Good luck. > > mlong> Part 2: I am planning to fire up a vpn connection to my employer on > mlong> Thursday for the first time. Are there any issues running 2 vpn > mlong> connections behind a firewall. > > The IPsec through NAT hack I mentioned above usually only works with ONE > IPsec session at a time, so if both VPN's use IPsec, you may be out of > luck unless you take turns using the VPN software. On the other hand, > some vendors have figured out a way to allow multiple IPsec sessions to > work through NAT at once... > > It could be that one or both VPN's are using a technology other than > IPsec, in which case, the issues are completely different. PPTP usually > works fine through NAT, for example. There are other protocols as well, > which may or may not work through NAT. > > In addition, if they are using IPsec with a Nortel Networks Contivity > VPN switch on their end, it may have a feature called "NAT Traversal" > which wraps the entire IPsec flow in UDP packets (the administrator > chooses the port number, but Nortel recommends 10001/udp). If this is > the case, it might make sense to turn OFF any IPsec-passthrough features > of your router, so that the NAT Traversal kicks in. > > -- > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > >

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zaurus
by Wesley Allen Jan. 1, 2003

Jan. 1, 2003

Hi gang, Well, I'm thinking about just going out and getting a zaurus for myself, I've seem them for around $330 as some places. Should I do this, or just convert my iPAQ as I planned? There are some features of the iPAQ that I like (like inviting attendees to meetings), but getting some sync-ability with Linux is just over the top for me.... Anyone get zaurus to sync with Evolution? Wes

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encyclopedia
by doug waud Dec. 31, 2002

Dec. 31, 2002

Hi all I wonder whether I have found a gap in availability of applications for Linux :-( Specifically, I have been looking for a CD encyclopedia which will run on a Linux box (in particular a couple I set up for my two grandkids). Wine does not seem to provide a work-around both because it does not seem to be happy with any CD encyclopedia and because it would require buying Win* to get the CD stuff installed (and neither computer is worth as much as Win* would cost). I tried searching for Linux + Encyclopedia but that just gives me encyclopedias about Linux. A search for CD + Encyclopedia gave a reasonable list but none runs under Linux (as you might expect, all run under Wintel and a few on Macs). Does anyone know of a general CD encyclopedia that one can use with Linux? doug PS The grandkids take to the linux boxes quite naturally. I showed the older one how to type "lpr -Plp3 filename" to print a file. He later reported that he tried it on his brother's box but, since it was a second computer and Q comes after P and 4 comes after 3 he used -Plp4 (obvious isn't it:-) ) and it worked! :-)

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Re: [Wlug] vpn behind firewall
by Michael Long Dec. 26, 2002

Dec. 26, 2002

Thanks Charles, Resolving the issue in part 1 concerning my wifes vpn was resolved by upgrading the linksys firmware. After the upgrade IPSec passthrough was turned off and everything works well. The next step is to get the vpn to my office working. Mike > Well, my editor ate that one... Let's try this again. > > On Tue, Dec 24, 2002 at 05:58:15PM -0500, Michael Long wrote: > mlong> it if anyone could give me some clues or at least some intelligent > mlong> questions to ask so that I might make this thing work. It is sometimes > mlong> necessary to "help" the help desk in order that they can help you. :) > > "VPN" can mean many things... but usually it means a PPTP or IPsec > encrypted tunnel. IPsec uses port 500/udp for ISAKMP key exchange, and > IP Protocol number 50/51 for ESP/AH encryption/authentication (i.e., not > TCP or UDP). > > IPsec wasn't designed to work with the hack that is NAT (Network Address > Translation, Internet Connection Sharing), so if you are sharing one > real IP address to multiple computers with a Linksys, you can run into > issues. Basically, vendors like Linksys have hacked around the IPsec > limitation to make it sort of work through the NAT. Make sure you have > turned on the "IPsec passthrough" features of your router (NOT IPsec/VPN > endpoint). You should also look for an upgrade to the Linksys firmware > to see if it addresses your issue... It is hit-or-miss often times with > these SOHO routers. Good luck. > > mlong> Part 2: I am planning to fire up a vpn connection to my employer on > mlong> Thursday for the first time. Are there any issues running 2 vpn > mlong> connections behind a firewall. > > The IPsec through NAT hack I mentioned above usually only works with ONE > IPsec session at a time, so if both VPN's use IPsec, you may be out of > luck unless you take turns using the VPN software. On the other hand, > some vendors have figured out a way to allow multiple IPsec sessions to > work through NAT at once... > > It could be that one or both VPN's are using a technology other than > IPsec, in which case, the issues are completely different. PPTP usually > works fine through NAT, for example. There are other protocols as well, > which may or may not work through NAT. > > In addition, if they are using IPsec with a Nortel Networks Contivity > VPN switch on their end, it may have a feature called "NAT Traversal" > which wraps the entire IPsec flow in UDP packets (the administrator > chooses the port number, but Nortel recommends 10001/udp). If this is > the case, it might make sense to turn OFF any IPsec-passthrough features > of your router, so that the NAT Traversal kicks in. > > -- > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > >

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vpn behind firewall
by Michael Long Dec. 25, 2002

Dec. 25, 2002

Happy Holidays to all, I have a 2 part question concerning my particular use of vpns. I have a home network behind a Linksys firewall/router and am technically incompetent when it comes to vpn's. Part 1: The company my wife works for has upgraded her vpn software and it no longer plays well with firewalls at the client end. I have an appointment with her tech support Thursday morning but would appreciate it if anyone could give me some clues or at least some intelligent questions to ask so that I might make this thing work. It is sometimes necessary to "help" the help desk in order that they can help you. :) Part 2: I am planning to fire up a vpn connection to my employer on Thursday for the first time. Are there any issues running 2 vpn connections behind a firewall. Thanks, Mike

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