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Re: [Wlug] CRT's

by Stephen Daukas

I two 17" Trinitons and one 17" ViewSonic... On Jan 4, 2008 7:11 PM, Mike Frysinger <vapier(a)gentoo.org> wrote: > On Friday 04 January 2008, Mike Leo wrote: > > I have a young friend who is looking for a second/third monitor. > > > > Any one have any unused old crt's they are willing to part with? > > i have at least one ive tried to get rid off ... pretty sure it's 17" dell > trinitron crt and still works. > -mike > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > -- Stephen C. Daukas Engineer, Geoscientist, Environmental Analyst ________________________________________________ - Please, before printing, think about the environment -

Jan. 5, 2008

Re: [Wlug] CRT's

by Mike Frysinger

On Friday 04 January 2008, Mike Leo wrote: > I have a young friend who is looking for a second/third monitor. > > Any one have any unused old crt's they are willing to part with? i have at least one ive tried to get rid off ... pretty sure it's 17" dell trinitron crt and still works. -mike

Jan. 5, 2008

CRT's

by Mike Leo

I have a young friend who is looking for a second/third monitor. Any one have any unused old crt's they are willing to part with? Thanks Mike

Jan. 4, 2008

Re: [Wlug] Getting the Edimax ew-7108pcg working on Xubuntu 6.06 LTS

by John Stoffel

Adam> I found this card on newegg.com for cheap money and the Adam> company claimed Linux support, so I got it. So far, I have it Adam> working on a WEP test network, but the driver package does come Adam> with WPA-supplicant bits. I assume that works as well. Folks Adam> online claim it works out of the box on Ubuntu 7.10, but my Adam> laptop didn't do well with the newer Xubuntus, so I had to make Adam> do. Can you give more details on the laptop? And what kinds of issues you had with Ubuntu 7.x as well? I figure that might be the better solution here.... Adam> Note, out-of-the-box, the rt61 driver provided by Xubuntu 6.06 Adam> LTS throws a stack trace and can wedge your system. I found Adam> that you need to build the company's rt61 driver. Adam> Here was my procedure for 6.06 LTS: Adam> 1) Install gcc and friends,if you haven't already. Adam> 2) Update to the latest kernel packages. Adam> 3) Install the linux-header packages for your platform (I used the 386 Adam> packages). Adam> 4) Download the driver zip for the ew-7108pcg from the Edimax Adam> website's support area, unpack it, and the unpack the tar ball inside. Adam> 5) cd into the IS_Linux_STA_6x_D_1.1.1.0 directory Adam> 6) run make Adam> 7) Ignore all the compiler warnings ;) Adam> 9) run sudo make install Adam> 10) Add "alias ra0 rt61" to /etc/modules.conf or into your preferred Adam> location in /etc/modules.d if it wasn't automatically added. Adam> 11) Add correct bits to /etc/network/interfaces Adam> So, that being said (I am typing this email via the card now): Adam> 1) On boot, the card comes up, but does not go online. Ifconfig has Adam> configured the interface, but iwconfig shows no essid or key Adam> configured. Adam> 2) I opened the Applications->System->Networking tool. The tool shows Adam> the interface as active. I can "activate/deactivate", but likewise Adam> iwconfig shows no configuration. Adam> I can only bring the interface up via running "sudo ifup ra0". My Adam> wife's probably not going to go for that ;). Adam> Does anyone have any ideas about what plumbing I am missing to Adam> get automatic configuration? Sounds like you need to look in /etc/network/interfaces and make sure you've got stuff setup properly in there. But I'm guessing a bit since I don't run wireless on my debian box. What's the output of 'cat /etc/network/run/ifstate' before and after the 'ifup ra0 ' command? John

Jan. 4, 2008

Re: [Wlug] Getting the Edimax ew-7108pcg working on Xubuntu 6.06 LTS

by Keith Wright

> From: "Adam Keck" <ghostis(a)gmail.com> > > Thanks very much for your thoughtful response ;). Are you sure that's the correct emoticon? Sometimes people say ";)" when they mean ":-/" or "(;=)". > Regarding the sudo command, You said sudo, I didn't. > she uses this laptop for her academics and, thus, > expects it to "just work." I don't know what you mean by "just work". You say you have already downloaded drivers, compiled and installed, and modified /etc/modules.conf. What is the objection to adding to a boot-time shell script? I am not saying she should do it. You do it and don't tell. > On Jan 3, 2008 8:13 PM, Keith Wright <kwright(a)keithdiane.us> wrote: > > > From: "Adam Keck" <ghostis(a)gmail.com> > > > > > > I can only bring the interface up via running "sudo ifup ra0". My > > > wife's probably not going to go for that ;). > > > > but why would your wife object to you, Adam Keck > > putting "ifup ra0" in one of those shell files that > > get run by root when you boot? Like maybe you put it in /etc/rc.d/rc.local. -- Keith

Jan. 4, 2008

Re: [Wlug] Getting the Edimax ew-7108pcg working on Xubuntu 6.06 LTS

by Adam Keck

Hello Keith, Thanks very much for your thoughtful response ;). Regarding the sudo command, she uses this laptop for her academics and, thus, expects it to "just work." Xubuntu has been good at this thus far, so I was hoping more of the same. The better Linux does at "just working," the easier it is for me to keep Microsoft out of the house. -Adam On Jan 3, 2008 8:13 PM, Keith Wright <kwright(a)keithdiane.us> wrote: > > From: "Adam Keck" <ghostis(a)gmail.com> > > > > I can only bring the interface up via running "sudo ifup ra0". My > > wife's probably not going to go for that ;). > > If I were your boss, I would demand that you document all changes > to distribution defaults, but why would your wife object > to putting "ifup ra0" in one of those shell files that > get run by root when you boot? > > In other words, I have no idea what you are talking about, > or the answer to your question, but I can keep the conversation > going with stupid comments until somebody else comes along. > > > Does anyone have any ideas about what plumbing I am missing to get > > automatic configuration? > > Of course. If you want true, real, distinct, coherent, concrete, > clear, clever, or usable ideas... good luck! > > -- Keith > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

Jan. 4, 2008

Re: [Wlug] Getting the Edimax ew-7108pcg working on Xubuntu 6.06 LTS

by Keith Wright

> From: "Adam Keck" <ghostis(a)gmail.com> > > I can only bring the interface up via running "sudo ifup ra0". My > wife's probably not going to go for that ;). If I were your boss, I would demand that you document all changes to distribution defaults, but why would your wife object to putting "ifup ra0" in one of those shell files that get run by root when you boot? In other words, I have no idea what you are talking about, or the answer to your question, but I can keep the conversation going with stupid comments until somebody else comes along. > Does anyone have any ideas about what plumbing I am missing to get > automatic configuration? Of course. If you want true, real, distinct, coherent, concrete, clear, clever, or usable ideas... good luck! -- Keith

Jan. 4, 2008

Getting the Edimax ew-7108pcg working on Xubuntu 6.06 LTS

by Adam Keck

Hello All, I found this card on newegg.com for cheap money and the company claimed Linux support, so I got it. So far, I have it working on a WEP test network, but the driver package does come with WPA-supplicant bits. I assume that works as well. Folks online claim it works out of the box on Ubuntu 7.10, but my laptop didn't do well with the newer Xubuntus, so I had to make do. Note, out-of-the-box, the rt61 driver provided by Xubuntu 6.06 LTS throws a stack trace and can wedge your system. I found that you need to build the company's rt61 driver. Here was my procedure for 6.06 LTS: 1) Install gcc and friends,if you haven't already. 2) Update to the latest kernel packages. 3) Install the linux-header packages for your platform (I used the 386 packages). 4) Download the driver zip for the ew-7108pcg from the Edimax website's support area, unpack it, and the unpack the tar ball inside. 5) cd into the IS_Linux_STA_6x_D_1.1.1.0 directory 6) run make 7) Ignore all the compiler warnings ;) 9) run sudo make install 10) Add "alias ra0 rt61" to /etc/modules.conf or into your preferred location in /etc/modules.d if it wasn't automatically added. 11) Add correct bits to /etc/network/interfaces So, that being said (I am typing this email via the card now): 1) On boot, the card comes up, but does not go online. Ifconfig has configured the interface, but iwconfig shows no essid or key configured. 2) I opened the Applications->System->Networking tool. The tool shows the interface as active. I can "activate/deactivate", but likewise iwconfig shows no configuration. I can only bring the interface up via running "sudo ifup ra0". My wife's probably not going to go for that ;). Does anyone have any ideas about what plumbing I am missing to get automatic configuration? Thanks! -Adam

Jan. 3, 2008

Re: [Wlug] Information for Linux newbies?

by William Smith

On Nov 18, 2007 12:14 AM, Andy Stewart <andystewart(a)comcast.net> wrote: > Hi Kevin, > > When I was a newbie, Linux live CDs didn't yet exist, but they do now! > > I find the Knoppix CD/DVD useful for testing a new piece of hardware > (like a laptop) to see if all of the pieces work with Linux. I believe > that the Ubuntu CDs can also boot up in a live mode. In this way, you > can try Linux without messing with your hard drive, and also see if your > hardware works with that distribution. With Fedora 8, there's also a Fedora Live CD. I tried it on my laptop. Works nicely, though it (like Ubuntu, when I had it installed) didn't see my built-in webcam at all. :( All else aside, I'm actually pleased to see the LiveCD for Fedora. I've been using Red Hat variants since the early 1990s, and I like to know what things look like before I install it. (For those that might be new to the term, Live CDs are handy for using Linux on systems that you can't install Linux on otherwise.) > Note that if something doesn't work with the live CD, that doesn't > necessarily mean it won't work with Linux at all, but demonstrating that > something *does* work is a good thing. Even then, many of the things that don't work out-of-the-box will work with a little research and poking. My webcam just isn't one of them, as far as i can tell. :\ -- Bill Smith Fall River, MA Charter Member of LOPSA

Dec. 29, 2007

Re: [Wlug] reboot problem - Update

by Gregory Avedissian

Folks asked for an update on this, so here it is. Original problem - Black screen on startup or reboot occurred about 25% of the time, right after the grub menu. No hard drive activity, no boot, no ssh. This problem has existed since I built the computer a year ago. Newer problem - Hard lockups, especially when the load was heavy. I first noticed this when I installed Gutsy on a spare partition. It also happened a few times in Etch, but I was using a custom realtime kernel when it happened. There were also a couple of spontaneous reboots. Hardware - ASUS M2V motherboard, Ath. X2 3800, Kingston RAM, Enermax PSU, some kind of GeForce 6200 with a fan that started getting noisy, Seagate drive, all about a year old. What I did - Replaced the vid card with a slightly older GeForce, and since then, the black screen has only occurred once or twice out of scores of reboots. Got a power supply tester, and the 5V rail read 5.4V one of the times I tested it. Contacted Enermax, and they told me to try a different power supply before I RMA'd mine. Got off the realtime kernel and went back to the stock Etch kernel. No more lockups in debian. Flashed the motherboard with the newest bios after reading that others were having lockup problems with this board. It didn't help. Got a new 350W SilverStone and put it in. Still getting lockups in Gutsy. I believe that the spontaneous reboots are a result of the relative placement of the power button and the wheeled leg of my office chair. I moved the computer back a few inches after I saw the two of them meet once. (Note for the interested builder - buttons on Coolermaster case stick out and require only a light touch. I just built a computer for a friend, and the buttons on the Antec case are recessed and not so easy to press in.) Put the Enermax back in, and everything seems to be fine as long as I stay away from Gutsy and the power button. Thanks again to everyone for their help. Greg

Dec. 18, 2007

REMINDER: Upcoming WLUG Meeting

by Andy Stewart

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI Everybody, Our next WLUG meeting will be on Wednesday, 12-dec-2007, at 7:00 PM in the Access Grid Room on the WPI campus in Worcester, MA USA. At this meeting, we'll have Dan Walsh from RedHat as our guest speaker. Dan will talk about SELinux. First, Dan will give a quick overview of SELinux, followed by a discussion of what's new with SELinux in Fedora 8. Dan will then hand out SELinux live CDs of Fedora 8, from which he will present how to write SELinux policy. This promises to be a great meeting that you won't want to miss. After the meeting, we'll head out for dinner at a local pizza restaurant. See ya then! Andy - -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group (http://www.wlug.org) Chelmsford Linux Meetup Group (http://linux.meetup.com/393) Amateur Radio: KB1OIQ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with SUSE - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFHXeT5Hl0iXDssISsRAggmAJ0RwVvLuUuHMMZSElq5lt8hCh4lOACfQraL teVSJANE/lCW5eAlSSCXnSs= =ROZn -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Dec. 11, 2007

Re: [Wlug] ISP/Router/Modem Ethernet communications

by Mike Frysinger

On Monday 03 December 2007, kstratton(a)fastmail.us wrote: > It is looking like the solution is one of the following: > > 1) Buy a new DSL modem that sopports 10 and 100 base T (I think I saw > one at best buy, mine only supports 10 base T) > 2) Buy a router that I can put linux on so that I can configure the > router for 10 base T.this sounds like fun, but the likelyhood of > eventually breaking it is great. > 3) Buy both a new modem and router. I am confident that my equipment > predated the gigabit standard release, so this is not a totally > irrational solution (based on the autonegotiation standards). > 4) Ignore the issue and kickstart the connection again if the problem > re-occurs. > > My guess is on #4 for now, but #1 then #2 or #3 is still a possibility. > > Thank you everybody for your help. My biggest issue was not realizing > that this kind of autonegotiation issue is not very unusual. I REALLY > dislike it when I call tech support and my equipment is at fault. what kind of modem is it ? ive collected a few dsl modems that are just gathering dust in my basement. -mike

Dec. 4, 2007

Re: [Wlug] ISP/Router/Modem Ethernet communications

by kstratton＠fastmail.us

My initial problem was that I lost all connectivity with my router connected to the DSL modem. this was after my setup worked consistently for over 9 months. I was on the phone for over 4 hours total (2 sessions, the first one blamed it on an outage). The ISP technicians can "see" the modem when I was having this problem and confirmed my setup of the router. All the LEDs were positive (green). The ISP technician then asked for me to connect the modem directly to the computer. Various things were tried, including powering down the modem and computer. Still no connection (ping would not work). The last thing tried was to force the computer to talk to the mode at 1/2 duplex 10 base T and try to connect. This seemed to kickstart everything and everything now works with the router or directly to the PC. This may also seem to be a coincidence, but this problem happened about a week and a half after changing the terms on my DSL service (cheaper bundle). It is looking like the solution is one of the following: 1) Buy a new DSL modem that sopports 10 and 100 base T (I think I saw one at best buy, mine only supports 10 base T) 2) Buy a router that I can put linux on so that I can configure the router for 10 base T.this sounds like fun, but the likelyhood of eventually breaking it is great. 3) Buy both a new modem and router. I am confident that my equipment predated the gigabit standard release, so this is not a totally irrational solution (based on the autonegotiation standards). 4) Ignore the issue and kickstart the connection again if the problem re-occurs. My guess is on #4 for now, but #1 then #2 or #3 is still a possibility. Thank you everybody for your help. My biggest issue was not realizing that this kind of autonegotiation issue is not very unusual. I REALLY dislike it when I call tech support and my equipment is at fault. On Mon, 3 Dec 2007 12:18:24 -0500, "John Stoffel" <john(a)stoffel.org> said: > > kstratton> Thank you everybody for your replies. I now know that this > kstratton> autonegotiation issue can be potentially be a much bigger > kstratton> problem with 100 base T than I thought. Specifically, > kstratton> there is no defined mechanism in the spec to autonegotiate > kstratton> for 100 base T cards. If I actually have time for this, I > kstratton> guess I will have to find the spec and read it... > > Don't bother, it's not going to help you really. Just recognize that > you can see auto-neg issues and keep it in mind when trouble shooting > problems. > > kstratton> My network driver (windows) is a "NVIDIA nForce MCP > kstratton> Networking Controller". It is an integrated network > kstratton> connector on a HP pavilion. I do not know of a windows > kstratton> equivalent to lspci, so I cannot get the actual reported > kstratton> hardware rev. Maybe I have to get a good live CD distro. > > Hmm... I thought you were having auto-neg problems between your PC and > the cable modem, you never said you had a Router in there. At least I > don't remember and it's monday and I'm not good at memory... :] > > kstratton> In this case, resetting the cable modem did not fix the > kstratton> problem, although it may have fixed it in the past. > > kstratton> My router is a four port Linksys Router about 5 to 8 years > kstratton> old. My modem is a Speedstream 5280. I am sufficiently > kstratton> annoyed by this problem to consider buying a new router if > kstratton> this router has a force 10 base T option for the WAN. I am > kstratton> willing to listen to any suggestions. > > So just to rehash the problem, you are seeing problems between the > router and the cable modem, or between the router and the PC? > > Ok, so I just re-read your initial post and it sounds like you pulled > the Router out of the mix when debugging with your ISP. What was the > initial problem that had you remove the Router? What were the > symptoms? > > It could simply be that one of the hardware boxes is getting flaky and > starting to fail. But we need more information to really help. > > I've got an old Motorola Cable Modem (bought my own replacement) which > I'd be willing sell/lend if need be. I think it's a 3200 something or > other. Don't remember off hand. I'm with Charter, which might be an > issue. > > Good luck, > John > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug -- kstratton(a)fastmail.us

Dec. 4, 2007

Re: [Wlug] ISP/Router/Modem Ethernet communications

by John Stoffel

kstratton> Thank you everybody for your replies. I now know that this kstratton> autonegotiation issue can be potentially be a much bigger kstratton> problem with 100 base T than I thought. Specifically, kstratton> there is no defined mechanism in the spec to autonegotiate kstratton> for 100 base T cards. If I actually have time for this, I kstratton> guess I will have to find the spec and read it... Don't bother, it's not going to help you really. Just recognize that you can see auto-neg issues and keep it in mind when trouble shooting problems. kstratton> My network driver (windows) is a "NVIDIA nForce MCP kstratton> Networking Controller". It is an integrated network kstratton> connector on a HP pavilion. I do not know of a windows kstratton> equivalent to lspci, so I cannot get the actual reported kstratton> hardware rev. Maybe I have to get a good live CD distro. Hmm... I thought you were having auto-neg problems between your PC and the cable modem, you never said you had a Router in there. At least I don't remember and it's monday and I'm not good at memory... :] kstratton> In this case, resetting the cable modem did not fix the kstratton> problem, although it may have fixed it in the past. kstratton> My router is a four port Linksys Router about 5 to 8 years kstratton> old. My modem is a Speedstream 5280. I am sufficiently kstratton> annoyed by this problem to consider buying a new router if kstratton> this router has a force 10 base T option for the WAN. I am kstratton> willing to listen to any suggestions. So just to rehash the problem, you are seeing problems between the router and the cable modem, or between the router and the PC? Ok, so I just re-read your initial post and it sounds like you pulled the Router out of the mix when debugging with your ISP. What was the initial problem that had you remove the Router? What were the symptoms? It could simply be that one of the hardware boxes is getting flaky and starting to fail. But we need more information to really help. I've got an old Motorola Cable Modem (bought my own replacement) which I'd be willing sell/lend if need be. I think it's a 3200 something or other. Don't remember off hand. I'm with Charter, which might be an issue. Good luck, John

Dec. 3, 2007

Re: [Wlug] ISP/Router/Modem Ethernet communications

by Conner Finlay

I've got a Linksys WRT54GL which in my opinion is a great router for the price. I then flashed it with dd-wrt. Here is a list of routers which can support it. http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices -Conner On Dec 1, 2007 6:39 AM, <kstratton(a)fastmail.us> wrote: > Thank you everybody for your replies. I now know that this > autonegotiation issue can be potentially be a much bigger problem with > 100 base T than I thought. Specifically, there is no defined mechanism > in the spec to autonegotiate for 100 base T cards. If I actually have > time for this, I guess I will have to find the spec and read it... > > My network driver (windows) is a "NVIDIA nForce MCP Networking > Controller". It is an integrated network connector on a HP pavilion. I > do not know of a windows equivalent to lspci, so I cannot get the actual > reported hardware rev. Maybe I have to get a good live CD distro. > > In this case, resetting the cable modem did not fix the problem, > although it may have fixed it in the past. > > My router is a four port Linksys Router about 5 to 8 years old. My > modem is a Speedstream 5280. I am sufficiently annoyed by this problem > to consider buying a new router if this router has a force 10 base T > option for the WAN. I am willing to listen to any suggestions. > > > > On Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:29:17 -0500, "John Stoffel" <john(a)stoffel.org> > said: > > > > kstratton> I just went through some painful debug session(s) with my > > kstratton> ISP. For some reason, after forcing 10 base T half duplex > > kstratton> through my windows box directly to my modem (I do not > > kstratton> expect ISPs to support linux),everything suddenly worked > > kstratton> (after reconnection and re-enabling of course). > > > > Can you give more details on the cable modem box you're using and the > > PC as well? Such as what network card in the PC you are using? > > > > kstratton> How often does this kind of thing happen? I have seen this > > kstratton> kind of thing before only once before, and I was using an > > kstratton> old hub that only supported 10 base T, not a home router > > kstratton> that is supposed to autodetect the port type. I remember > > kstratton> that the modem only supports 10 base T, but I am not 100% > > kstratton> certain. > > > > Sun and Cisco were notirious for having problems figuring our > > autonegotiation on the Sun hme (Happy Meal Ethernet) cards. They'd > > end up 100Full on one side and 100 Half Duplex on the other. It would > > work, just very slowly... > > > > kstratton> Does anybody have an explanation of what most likely > > kstratton> happened? Do not hesitate to skimp on technical details or > > kstratton> references if is convenient. I desperately want to > > kstratton> understand what happened. -- > > > > Something didn't autonegotiate properly. Did you try powering off > > both devices and then powering them on starting with the cable box? > > > > Also, alot of Cable Companies lock the cable box to the first MAC > > (ethernet hardware address) they see coming over the link. So if you > > boot up with a PC, and then try to move to something else like a NAT > > box or a linux box acting as a NAT box, things can go wonky. > > > > Usually a hard reset of the Cablemodem will do the trick, but > > sometimes you need to contact the ISP and ask them to reset it for > > you. > > > > In your case, it really sounds like a problem with Autonegotiation. > > Some devices just don't do a good job, esp older equipment from before > > the Gigabit ethernet stage. > > > > Just to expand on Frank's email, the people who designed the Gigiabit > > Ethernet standard over Copper (802.xxx I can't remember) saw all the > > problems with the 100/10 devices and autonegotiation and explicity > > made AutoNeg part of the spec in a very well detailed way, so that > > these problems won't happen again. As a matter of fact, Gigabit ports > > are much smarter and don't require crossover cables either, you can > > just plug them into back to back, they figure out what's going on > > automatically and adjust. > > > > The joys of big ASICs! > > > > John > > _______________________________________________ > > Wlug mailing list > > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > -- > > kstratton(a)fastmail.us > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

Dec. 1, 2007

Re: [Wlug] ISP/Router/Modem Ethernet communications

by kstratton＠fastmail.us

Thank you everybody for your replies. I now know that this autonegotiation issue can be potentially be a much bigger problem with 100 base T than I thought. Specifically, there is no defined mechanism in the spec to autonegotiate for 100 base T cards. If I actually have time for this, I guess I will have to find the spec and read it... My network driver (windows) is a "NVIDIA nForce MCP Networking Controller". It is an integrated network connector on a HP pavilion. I do not know of a windows equivalent to lspci, so I cannot get the actual reported hardware rev. Maybe I have to get a good live CD distro. In this case, resetting the cable modem did not fix the problem, although it may have fixed it in the past. My router is a four port Linksys Router about 5 to 8 years old. My modem is a Speedstream 5280. I am sufficiently annoyed by this problem to consider buying a new router if this router has a force 10 base T option for the WAN. I am willing to listen to any suggestions. On Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:29:17 -0500, "John Stoffel" <john(a)stoffel.org> said: > > kstratton> I just went through some painful debug session(s) with my > kstratton> ISP. For some reason, after forcing 10 base T half duplex > kstratton> through my windows box directly to my modem (I do not > kstratton> expect ISPs to support linux),everything suddenly worked > kstratton> (after reconnection and re-enabling of course). > > Can you give more details on the cable modem box you're using and the > PC as well? Such as what network card in the PC you are using? > > kstratton> How often does this kind of thing happen? I have seen this > kstratton> kind of thing before only once before, and I was using an > kstratton> old hub that only supported 10 base T, not a home router > kstratton> that is supposed to autodetect the port type. I remember > kstratton> that the modem only supports 10 base T, but I am not 100% > kstratton> certain. > > Sun and Cisco were notirious for having problems figuring our > autonegotiation on the Sun hme (Happy Meal Ethernet) cards. They'd > end up 100Full on one side and 100 Half Duplex on the other. It would > work, just very slowly... > > kstratton> Does anybody have an explanation of what most likely > kstratton> happened? Do not hesitate to skimp on technical details or > kstratton> references if is convenient. I desperately want to > kstratton> understand what happened. -- > > Something didn't autonegotiate properly. Did you try powering off > both devices and then powering them on starting with the cable box? > > Also, alot of Cable Companies lock the cable box to the first MAC > (ethernet hardware address) they see coming over the link. So if you > boot up with a PC, and then try to move to something else like a NAT > box or a linux box acting as a NAT box, things can go wonky. > > Usually a hard reset of the Cablemodem will do the trick, but > sometimes you need to contact the ISP and ask them to reset it for > you. > > In your case, it really sounds like a problem with Autonegotiation. > Some devices just don't do a good job, esp older equipment from before > the Gigabit ethernet stage. > > Just to expand on Frank's email, the people who designed the Gigiabit > Ethernet standard over Copper (802.xxx I can't remember) saw all the > problems with the 100/10 devices and autonegotiation and explicity > made AutoNeg part of the spec in a very well detailed way, so that > these problems won't happen again. As a matter of fact, Gigabit ports > are much smarter and don't require crossover cables either, you can > just plug them into back to back, they figure out what's going on > automatically and adjust. > > The joys of big ASICs! > > John > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug -- kstratton(a)fastmail.us

Dec. 1, 2007

Re: [Wlug] ISP/Router/Modem Ethernet communications

by John Stoffel

kstratton> I just went through some painful debug session(s) with my kstratton> ISP. For some reason, after forcing 10 base T half duplex kstratton> through my windows box directly to my modem (I do not kstratton> expect ISPs to support linux),everything suddenly worked kstratton> (after reconnection and re-enabling of course). Can you give more details on the cable modem box you're using and the PC as well? Such as what network card in the PC you are using? kstratton> How often does this kind of thing happen? I have seen this kstratton> kind of thing before only once before, and I was using an kstratton> old hub that only supported 10 base T, not a home router kstratton> that is supposed to autodetect the port type. I remember kstratton> that the modem only supports 10 base T, but I am not 100% kstratton> certain. Sun and Cisco were notirious for having problems figuring our autonegotiation on the Sun hme (Happy Meal Ethernet) cards. They'd end up 100Full on one side and 100 Half Duplex on the other. It would work, just very slowly... kstratton> Does anybody have an explanation of what most likely kstratton> happened? Do not hesitate to skimp on technical details or kstratton> references if is convenient. I desperately want to kstratton> understand what happened. -- Something didn't autonegotiate properly. Did you try powering off both devices and then powering them on starting with the cable box? Also, alot of Cable Companies lock the cable box to the first MAC (ethernet hardware address) they see coming over the link. So if you boot up with a PC, and then try to move to something else like a NAT box or a linux box acting as a NAT box, things can go wonky. Usually a hard reset of the Cablemodem will do the trick, but sometimes you need to contact the ISP and ask them to reset it for you. In your case, it really sounds like a problem with Autonegotiation. Some devices just don't do a good job, esp older equipment from before the Gigabit ethernet stage. Just to expand on Frank's email, the people who designed the Gigiabit Ethernet standard over Copper (802.xxx I can't remember) saw all the problems with the 100/10 devices and autonegotiation and explicity made AutoNeg part of the spec in a very well detailed way, so that these problems won't happen again. As a matter of fact, Gigabit ports are much smarter and don't require crossover cables either, you can just plug them into back to back, they figure out what's going on automatically and adjust. The joys of big ASICs! John

Nov. 30, 2007

Re: [Wlug] ISP/Router/Modem Ethernet communications

by Frank Sweetser

kstratton(a)fastmail.us wrote: > I just went through some painful debug session(s) with my ISP. For some > reason, after forcing 10 base T half duplex through my windows box > directly to my modem (I do not expect ISPs to support linux),everything > suddenly worked (after reconnection and re-enabling of course). > > How often does this kind of thing happen? I have seen this kind of > thing before only once before, and I was using an old hub that only > supported 10 base T, not a home router that is supposed to autodetect > the port type. I remember that the modem only supports 10 base T, but I > am not 100% certain. > > Does anybody have an explanation of what most likely happened? Do not > hesitate to skimp on technical details or references if is convenient. > I desperately want to understand what happened. Actually, that sounds like it's a problem on the PC end. Here's why. Back when there was only 10 half, it was easy to figure out what speed and duplex the other end was running at - 10 half! With 100M ethernet appearing, though, you soon had dual speed cards on the market. Rather than having to configure each and every port explicitly, users wanted to be able to plug in and have the card just do the right thing. Luckily, the signaling was different enough between 10 and 100 that it was relatively straightforward for a 100M card to detect whether the other end was speaking in 10M or 100M, and shift speeds appropriately. This is called, simply enough, autosense. However, speed is only half the equation. Along with 100M ethernet came switches. Switches, by allowing for a pseudo-dedicated link per machine (as opposed to hubs, in which the bandwidth of all links was shared by all stations), introduced and entirely new operating mode - full duplex. Unlike speed, there is no reliable way to passively detect what duplex the other end is configured for. So, to solve this, and also to lay down a foundation for interoperability as future network speeds appeared, the autonegotiation protocol was developed. Essentially, as soon as a link is established, both ends send a few magic packets at each other advertising what speed and duplex combinations it supports. The two ends pick the highest performance option supported by both, switch to that operational mode, and go on their merry way. Even after all this, you'll still see devices appearing which only support 10 half, and don't bother to do autonegotiation. When a newer device that does support autonegotiation is plugged into such an older device, autonegotiation will (obviously) fail. The new end will then default to autodetection for the speed, and will always use half duplex. This is why forcing on end of a link to full duplex, and leaving the other end on auto, will virtually always result in a duplex mismatch, and a link that works, just with really, really crappy performance. Donald Becker used to have a paper floating around describing this in a little more detail. I can't find the original anymore, but this looks like a copy of the same info: http://www.negotiateddata.com/files/Bunch_Article_020095.pdf So in the scenario you described, where the other end is sitting fixed at 10 half, it would have been up to your computer to gracefully fail autonegotiation, and use autosense to configure the link at 10 half. Sadly, such bugs, where chipset manufacturers assume that everyone else out there will always support autonegotiation, are not unheard of these days. -- Frank Sweetser fs at wpi.edu | For every problem, there is a solution that WPI Senior Network Engineer | is simple, elegant, and wrong. - HL Mencken GPG fingerprint = 6174 1257 129E 0D21 D8D4 E8A3 8E39 29E3 E2E8 8CEC

Nov. 30, 2007

ISP/Router/Modem Ethernet communications

by kstratton＠fastmail.us

I just went through some painful debug session(s) with my ISP. For some reason, after forcing 10 base T half duplex through my windows box directly to my modem (I do not expect ISPs to support linux),everything suddenly worked (after reconnection and re-enabling of course). How often does this kind of thing happen? I have seen this kind of thing before only once before, and I was using an old hub that only supported 10 base T, not a home router that is supposed to autodetect the port type. I remember that the modem only supports 10 base T, but I am not 100% certain. Does anybody have an explanation of what most likely happened? Do not hesitate to skimp on technical details or references if is convenient. I desperately want to understand what happened. -- kstratton(a)fastmail.us

Nov. 30, 2007

Solaris automounter

by vze284qe＠verizon.net

Hi All, At work I have a SunFire v245 (Sparc) running SunOs 5.10, which I guess is Solaris 10. When I put a CD in the drive, it doesn't get mounted. I checked to see if 'vold' was running and it was. What else should I check for? I'm not too familiar with Solaris, so any help is appreciated. TIA, -Chuck

Nov. 29, 2007

Any XMl-types out there?

by Stephen Daukas

Hello Everyone! So, I have to teach myself myself XML, XSL, et al., for work... (The VB stuff is in the background for now!) I started playing with XML yesterday, and have gotten pretty far along. But... I have to deal with M$-generated XML files that looks like the following (I added the first two lines for display in a browser): <?xml version="1.0"?> <?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="SOURCES.xsl"?> <xml xmlns:s='uuid:BDC6E3F0-6DA3-11d1-A2A3-00AA00C14882' xmlns:dt='uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882' xmlns:rs='urn:schemas-microsoft-com:rowset' xmlns:z='#RowsetSchema'> <s:Schema id='RowsetSchema'> <s:ElementType name='row' content='eltOnly'> <s:AttributeType name='ID305B' rs:number='1' rs:nullable='true' rs:maydefer='true' rs:writeunknown='true'> <s:datatype dt:type='string' dt:maxLength='50'/> </s:AttributeType> [snip] <s:extends type='rs:rowbase'/> </s:ElementType> </s:Schema> <rs:data> <z:row ID305B='MA11002' CYCLE='2002' USE_ID='537' CAUSE_ID='226' SOURCE_ID='180' CONFIRMED='N'/> [~11,000 lines snipped] So, I wrote the following SOURCES.xsl file to display this beast in a browser (it uses recursion): <?xml version='1.0'?> <xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:rs='urn:schemas-microsoft-com:rowset' xmlns:z='#RowsetSchema' version="1.0"> <xsl:template match="/"> <HTML> <BODY topmargin="0" leftmargin="0"> <xsl:apply-templates select="/xml/rs:data"/> </BODY> </HTML> </xsl:template> <xsl:key name="rows-by-AU" match="z:row" use="@ID305B" /> <xsl:template match="z:row"> <xsl:apply-templates select="key('rows-by-AU', ID305B)" /> <div AU_ID="{ID305B}"> <xsl:apply-templates select="key('rows-by-AU', ID305B)" /> <div USE_ID="{CYCLE}"> <div USE_ID="{USE_ID}"> <xsl:value-of select="@ID305B"/> (<xsl:value-of select="@CYCLE"/>): <xsl:apply-templates select="key('rows-by-AU', USE_ID)"/> <xsl:value-of select="@USE_ID"/> - <xsl:value-of select="@CAUSE_ID"/> - <xsl:value-of select="@SOURCE_ID"/> </div> </div> </div> </xsl:template> </xsl:stylesheet> And it works (surprised the hell out of me)! But now I'm having the hardest time figuring out how to format this the way I'd like. This is how it currently looks in the browser: MA11002 (2002): 537 - 226 - 180 MA11002 (2002): 537 - 448 - 140 MA11002 (2002): 538 - 226 - 180 MA11002 (2002): 538 - 413 - 140 MA11002 (2002): 538 - 413 - 177 MA11002 (2002): 539 - 226 - 180 MA11002 (2002): 539 - 413 - 140 MA11002 (2002): 541 - 226 - 180 MA11002 (2002): 541 - 478 - 140 MA11002 (2002): 541 - 413 - 140 MA11018 (2002): 538 - 413 - 140 MA11018 (2002): 539 - 413 - 140 MA11018 (2002): 541 - 413 - 140 MA11019 (2002): 537 - 312 - 140 MA11019 (2002): 538 - 312 - 140 MA11019 (2002): 539 - 312 - 140 MA11019 (2002): 541 - 312 - 140 [... other IDs in between 2002 and 2008 ...] MA11002 (2008): 537 - 226 - 180 MA11002 (2008): 537 - 478 - 92 MA11002 (2008): 537 - 312 - 156 [... thousands of additional IDs ...] And I'd like the output to look something like: MA11002 (2002): 537 - 226 - 180 - 448 - 140 538 - 226 - 180 - 413 - 140 - 177 539 - 226 - 180 - 413 - 140 MA11002 (2008): 537 - 226 - 180 - 478 - 92 - 312 - 156 [...] So, things would need to be grouped by ID305B and CYCLE, then by USE_ID, then by CAUSE_ID, then by SOURCE_ID. But, I'd even settle for output that looks like: MA11002 (2002): 537 - 226 - 180 MA11002 (2002): 537 - 448 - 140 MA11002 (2002): 538 - 226 - 180 MA11002 (2002): 538 - 413 - 140 MA11002 (2002): 538 - 413 - 177 MA11002 (2002): 539 - 226 - 180 MA11002 (2002): 539 - 413 - 140 MA11002 (2002): 541 - 226 - 180 MA11002 (2002): 541 - 478 - 140 MA11002 (2002): 541 - 413 - 140 MA11002 (2008): 537 - 226 - 180 MA11002 (2008): 537 - 478 - 92 MA11002 (2008): 537 - 312 - 156 [... thousands of additional IDs ...] where the IDs from the two different years are adjacent to one another... I believe this will involve much pain and suffering while I try to figure out such things as XML nodes, grouping, sorting, and the like... But, I'm hoping someone will look at this and say "boy Daukas, that's easy... just do this, and then that, and voila - your done!". Anyone? Anyone? ;-) Thanks in advance for any help! Steve

Nov. 28, 2007

Re: [Wlug] Information for Linux newbies?

by Eric Martin

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Kevin Harrington wrote: > As i mentioned at the meeting this past week I am going to be > giving a seminar for linux newbies and would like to pull from > people that know better then i do on what i should teach people. > What i would like to know is: What are some things that you wish > you had known as a newbie? Think back to your very first linux > install and any short-cuts, tips, tricks, and gatcha's that would > make peoples first experience easier. There is a lot of windows > resentment after the slow trainwreck that is vista, so lets see if > we can get a few new converts! My biggest thing would be to explain to people (at all levels) how to do what they are currently doing. Firefox for browsing, OO.o for Office stuff, gimp for photoshop, etc. I also agree with Tim in pitching to your audience, and Andy has a great point with making sure stuff works via LiveCDs. When I was a newbie I just wanted to read books on all the stuff. If you have some people like that, I'd point them to their distro docs / google. HTH Eric -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFHSPXDaiVxdKlBO58RAp4RAJ9l/162tA/6wqSYrRMx+kbdCh9ipACfYrM8 3gkLyp8yT/viUpXknRVdgy8= =PshY -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Nov. 25, 2007

Re: [Wlug] Xinerama issues with Fedora Core 8...

by Tim Keller

Hey that fixed it! Thanks! Tim. On 11/20/07, Chuck Anderson <cra(a)wpi.edu> wrote: > On Tue, Nov 20, 2007 at 10:26:24AM -0500, Tim Keller wrote: > > Section "Device" > > Identifier "Videocard0" > > Driver "radeon" > > Option "Monitor-VGA-0" > > Option "Monitor-DVI-0" > > BusID "PCI:1:9:0" > > EndSection > > You forgot the second argument to the Montior- options here. > > Section "Device" > Identifier "Videocard0" > Driver "radeon" > Option "Monitor-VGA-0" "first" > Option "Monitor-DVI-0" "second" > BusID "PCI:1:9:0" > EndSection > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > -- I am leary of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

Nov. 21, 2007

initrd.img file

by vze284qe＠verizon.net

Hello, I built a custom "gutsy gibbon" kernel, but I can't find the corresponding initrd.img file. There's a link in / that looks like this: initrd.img-> boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-generic. Shouldn't there be a new initrd.img file that was created when I built the new kernel or am I missing something? TIA, -- -Chuck

Nov. 20, 2007

Re: [Wlug] Xinerama issues with Fedora Core 8...

by Chuck Anderson

On Tue, Nov 20, 2007 at 10:26:24AM -0500, Tim Keller wrote: > Section "Device" > Identifier "Videocard0" > Driver "radeon" > Option "Monitor-VGA-0" > Option "Monitor-DVI-0" > BusID "PCI:1:9:0" > EndSection You forgot the second argument to the Montior- options here. Section "Device" Identifier "Videocard0" Driver "radeon" Option "Monitor-VGA-0" "first" Option "Monitor-DVI-0" "second" BusID "PCI:1:9:0" EndSection

Nov. 20, 2007