- WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

Keyboard and mouse repeatedly disconnect/reconnect
by E Johnson April 28, 2009

April 28, 2009

Tonight I am being reminded several times per hour that something weird is happening here. I have a mouse and keyboard USB disconnect problem that has been hanging around for a couple of years now. Across the room where my old computer sits quietly running, the red light in the mouse keeps flashing as it goes off then comes back on, even though this computer is idle. So I checked /var/log/messages, and sure enough, messages appear there that correspond with the times the red light flashes. Messages like these crop up regularly and often in /var/log/messages Computer 1: Apr 24 02:47:40 geurig kernel: [1086766.208280] usb 5-1: New USB device found, idVendor=046d, idProduct=c03e Apr 24 02:47:40 geurig kernel: [1086766.208286] usb 5-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0 Apr 24 02:47:40 geurig kernel: [1086766.208292] usb 5-1: Product: USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse Apr 24 02:47:40 geurig kernel: [1086766.208296] usb 5-1: Manufacturer: Logitech Apr 24 02:47:40 geurig kernel: [1086766.432055] __ratelimit: 1 messages suppressed Apr 24 02:48:13 geurig kernel: [1086799.620065] usb 5-1: USB disconnect, address 109 Apr 24 02:48:14 geurig kernel: [1086799.872028] usb 5-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 110 Apr 24 02:48:14 geurig kernel: [1086800.024007] usb 5-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice Apr 24 02:48:14 geurig kernel: [1086800.065154] input: Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse as /class/input/input112 Apr 24 02:48:14 geurig kernel: [1086800.092124] input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.10 Mouse [Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse] on usb-0000:00:10.1-1 This PC is running Debian Lenny kernel 2.6.26-1-686. Same thing often used to happen with the USB keyboard, too. Now I'm using a PS2 keyboard in this PC, which does not result in these disconnect messages, but still seeing these messages about the mouse. Sometimes this happens over and over again many times within a short period of time (several times/minute). There were lockup problems related to this problem when I was running Etch, after this keyboard or mouse USB disconnect thing had disconnected and reconnected some large number of times, I think it was well over a hundred times. Keyboard and/or mouse would no longer accept input, forcing me to have to ssh in and reboot it, or if I couldn't do that, had to hard reboot. Restart X is not enough to fix this. This has happened with various different mice and keyboards. So we installed a USB card, thinking this might be a hardware problem with the USB ports, but no, the same problem crops up no matter if the mouse or keyboard is plugged into the card, or into the USB ports in the case. Then we thought it might be a problem in Etch, so we upgraded to Lenny. But it still happens. Also happens in Ubuntu. The latest issue (see below) was a long string of these disconnect/reconnects, then a lockup of the mouse and I believe keyboard. Had to ssh in to stop the problem (by shutting down). This new build is using my used hard drive, but I don't think that is relevant. Below is only a small piece of var/log/messages, where the problem seemed to change after several hours from the familiar mouse disconnect/reconnect, to something else. These mmessages were repeated many times (over a hundred): Apr 24 13:16:24 geurig kernel: [1124490.152288] usb 5-1: New USB device found, idVendor=046d, idProduct=c03e Apr 24 13:16:24 geurig kernel: [1124490.152294] usb 5-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0 Apr 24 13:16:24 geurig kernel: [1124490.152300] usb 5-1: Product: USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse Apr 24 13:16:24 geurig kernel: [1124490.152304] usb 5-1: Manufacturer: Logitech Apr 24 13:17:24 geurig kernel: [1124550.713733] usb 5-1: USB disconnect, address 53 Apr 24 13:17:25 geurig kernel: [1124551.128022] usb 5-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 54 Apr 24 13:17:25 geurig kernel: [1124551.280008] usb 5-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice Apr 24 13:17:25 geurig kernel: [1124551.324800] input: Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse as /class/input/input812 Apr 24 13:17:25 geurig kernel: [1124551.356089] input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.10 Mouse [Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse] on usb-0000:00:10.1-1 Apr 24 13:17:25 geurig kernel: [1124551.356251] usb 5-1: New USB device found, idVendor=046d, idProduct=c03e Apr 24 13:17:25 geurig kernel: [1124551.356257] usb 5-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0 Apr 24 13:17:25 geurig kernel: [1124551.356263] usb 5-1: Product: USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse Apr 24 13:17:25 geurig kernel: [1124551.356267] usb 5-1: Manufacturer: Logitech Apr 24 13:18:26 geurig kernel: [1124611.968623] usb 5-1: USB disconnect, address 54 Apr 24 13:18:26 geurig kernel: [1124612.468024] usb 5-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 55 Apr 24 13:18:58 geurig kernel: [1124644.288028] usb 5-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 56 Apr 24 13:19:30 geurig kernel: [1124676.032024] usb 5-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 57 Apr 24 13:19:40 geurig kernel: [1124686.684056] usb 5-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 58 Apr 24 13:19:54 geurig kernel: [1124700.008027] uhci_hcd 0000:00:10.1: Controller not stopped yet! Apr 24 13:20:21 geurig kernel: [1124727.772025] usb 5-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 59 Apr 24 13:20:53 geurig kernel: [1124759.608024] usb 5-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 60 Apr 24 13:21:25 geurig kernel: [1124791.352042] usb 5-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 61 Apr 24 13:21:36 geurig kernel: [1124802.006763] usb 5-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 62 Apr 24 13:21:46 geurig kernel: [1124812.767430] __ratelimit: 29 messages suppressed Apr 24 13:21:50 geurig kernel: [1124816.008030] uhci_hcd 0000:00:10.1: Controller not stopped yet! Apr 24 13:22:17 geurig kernel: [1124843.804029] usb 5-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 63 Apr 24 13:22:49 geurig kernel: [1124875.424045] usb 5-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 64 Apr 24 13:23:21 geurig kernel: [1124907.168043] usb 5-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 65 Apr 24 13:23:31 geurig kernel: [1124917.820026] usb 5-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 66 Apr 24 13:23:45 geurig kernel: [1124931.012844] uhci_hcd 0000:00:10.1: Controller not stopped yet! This problem is not limited to this PC. Just built a brand new computer, and it's happening in the new computer, too, running Debian Lenny kernel 2.6.26-2-686 on a totally different motherboard. These two sets of entries show both keyboard and mouse events: Computer 2. Apr 19 23:14:31 lancer kernel: [261130.697577] usb 3-2: USB disconnect, address 62 Apr 19 23:14:32 lancer kernel: [261131.262914] usb 3-2: new low speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 64 Apr 19 23:14:32 lancer kernel: [261131.453627] usb 3-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice Apr 19 23:14:32 lancer kernel: [261131.465284] input: CHESEN USB Keyboard as /class/input/input59 Apr 19 23:14:32 lancer kernel: [261131.493292] input,hidraw1: USB HID v1.10 Keyboard [CHESEN USB Keyboard] on usb-0000:00:13.0-2 Apr 19 23:14:32 lancer kernel: [261131.501293] input: CHESEN USB Keyboard as /class/input/input60 Apr 19 23:14:32 lancer kernel: [261131.549291] input,hidraw2: USB HID v1.10 Device [CHESEN USB Keyboard] on usb-0000:00:13.0-2 Apr 19 23:14:32 lancer kernel: [261131.549291] usb 3-2: New USB device found, idVendor=0a81, idProduct=0101 Apr 19 23:14:32 lancer kernel: [261131.549291] usb 3-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0 Apr 19 23:14:32 lancer kernel: [261131.549291] usb 3-2: Product: USB Keyboard Apr 19 23:14:32 lancer kernel: [261131.549291] usb 3-2: Manufacturer: CHESEN Apr 19 23:25:27 lancer kernel: [261787.827069] usb 3-2: USB disconnect, address 64 Apr 19 23:25:28 lancer kernel: [261788.160461] usb 3-2: new low speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 65 Apr 19 23:25:28 lancer kernel: [261788.344991] usb 3-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice Apr 19 23:25:28 lancer kernel: [261788.356166] input: CHESEN USB Keyboard as /class/input/input61 Apr 19 23:25:28 lancer kernel: [261788.384180] input,hidraw1: USB HID v1.10 Keyboard [CHESEN USB Keyboard] on usb-0000:00:13.0-2 Apr 19 23:25:28 lancer kernel: [261788.392173] input: CHESEN USB Keyboard as /class/input/input62 Apr 19 23:25:28 lancer kernel: [261788.448169] input,hidraw2: USB HID v1.10 Device [CHESEN USB Keyboard] on usb-0000:00:13.0-2 Apr 19 23:25:28 lancer kernel: [261788.448169] usb 3-2: New USB device found, idVendor=0a81, idProduct=0101 Apr 19 23:25:28 lancer kernel: [261788.448169] usb 3-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0 Apr 19 23:25:28 lancer kernel: [261788.448169] usb 3-2: Product: USB Keyboard Apr 19 23:25:28 lancer kernel: [261788.448169] usb 3-2: Manufacturer: CHESEN -- and -- Apr 23 09:34:28 lancer kernel: [58666.642632] usb 1-1: USB disconnect, address 4 Apr 23 09:34:30 lancer kernel: [58668.138801] usb 1-1: new low speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 7 Apr 23 09:34:30 lancer kernel: [58668.327037] usb 1-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice Apr 23 09:34:30 lancer kernel: [58668.335045] input: USB Optical Mouse as /class/input/input6 Apr 23 09:34:30 lancer kernel: [58668.355048] input,hidraw2: USB HID v1.10 Mouse [USB Optical Mouse] on usb-0000:00:12.0-1 Apr 23 09:34:30 lancer kernel: [58668.355048] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=15ca, idProduct=00c3 Apr 23 09:34:30 lancer kernel: [58668.355048] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=2, SerialNumber=0 Apr 23 09:34:30 lancer kernel: [58668.355048] usb 1-1: Product: USB Optical Mouse Had same problem in this new PC, running a recent Ubuntu Hardy (8.04) install. This PC is only a few weeks old, now with a fresh install of Lenny in its own partition. Only the hard drive and the DVD drive are not brand-new. I possibly (maybe?) solved the keyboard issue in this PC by specifying the correct type of keyboard in Settings > Peripherals > Keboard (in KDE). Not sure if it's really gone or not. But now getting hundreds of messages about the mouse, as above. Computer 3. It's also happening in my daughter's computer, that has the exact same motherboard and almost the same CPU as computer 2. Hers is running Ubuntu 8.04 2.6.24-23.52 (running Gnome), just updated last week. She has never complained about any lockup problem, but she reboots more often than I do. Apr 12 22:19:53 wanda kernel: [ 3543.266303] usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 3 Apr 12 22:19:53 wanda kernel: [ 3543.348070] usb 1-2: new low speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 4 Apr 12 22:19:53 wanda kernel: [ 3543.431718] usb 1-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice Apr 12 22:19:53 wanda kernel: [ 3543.446738] input: Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.0/usb1/1-2/1-2:1.0/input/input6 Apr 12 22:19:53 wanda kernel: [ 3543.465380] input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.10 Mouse [Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse] on usb-0000:00:12.0-2 Apr 12 22:22:09 wanda kernel: [ 3595.885419] usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 4 Apr 12 22:22:10 wanda kernel: [ 3595.973146] usb 1-2: new low speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 5 Apr 12 22:22:10 wanda kernel: [ 3596.056975] usb 1-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice Apr 12 22:22:10 wanda kernel: [ 3596.059711] input: Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.0/usb1/1-2/1-2:1.0/input/input7 Apr 12 22:22:10 wanda kernel: [ 3596.079690] input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.10 Mouse [Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse] on usb-0000:00:12.0-2 Computer 4. I believe this also happens in the laptop, a Dell Inspiron 1525n, running (now) Ubuntu Hardy (this came with Ubuntu 7.10 pre-uinstalled). Cannot post /var/log/messages from this today, since this laptop is away with daughter. But the same messages appear in that one, too. Has anyone run into this before, and if so, did you get it fixed? Thanks very much, Liz J

8 18

Good disaster recovery / business continuity planning books
by Eric Martin April 23, 2009

April 23, 2009

I'm currently updating all of the documentation at work and I'm looking for some resources specifically for Disaster Recovery plans and Business Continuity Plans. I've looked at the SANS reading room for some stuff, but I'm still looking for more. Does anybody have any good recommendations for books? Thanks in advance! -- Eric

1 0

PGP Key Signing at next WLUG Meeting
by Andy Stewart April 22, 2009

April 22, 2009

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hi all, Our next WLUG meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 22nd, and we will be having a PGP Key Signing party, which will be orchestrated by Chuck Anderson and Eric Martin. I'll update the website shortly. Also, at the June meeting, we will have a guest speaker talk to us about the Open Street Map effort. That's all for now...see ya later, 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 iD8DBQFJ4MxIHl0iXDssISsRAm3TAJoD4jpyPt2LYwJlspHk+YKTDHBCNACfTB/+ JLkBAfr3Qh0aPXpRhnohVfE= =jhoc -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

5 10

Git talk from Eons ago
by J.R. Mauro April 22, 2009

April 22, 2009

Hello folks, No, I haven't forgotten about WLUG. I had a great time being involved, and finally remembered to ping the mailing list. Attached find the slides of the talk I gave 6 months back or so on Distributed Version Control and Git. Thanks, J.R.

1 0

Release party Ubuntu 9.04
by James Gray April 16, 2009

April 16, 2009

Hi All, there will be a release party for the newest version of Ubuntu on the 23rd in Boston. There will be plenty of food and fellow Ubuntu enthusiasts. There will probably be desktop CDs as well. Date: Thursday April 23rd 2009 Time: 7PM to 10PM Where: Globe Bar & Grill, Boston

7 8

USENIX '09 Registration Now Open
by Lionel Garth Jones April 15, 2009

April 15, 2009

We're pleased to invite you to attend the 2009 USENIX Annual Technical Conference. This year we're offering 6 days of training and a 3-day conference program filled with the latest systems research, security breakthroughs, and practical approaches to the questions and problems you wrestle with. You'll also have many opportunities to chat with peers who share your concerns and interests. http://www.usenix.org/usenix09/proga Training: Sunday-Friday, June 14-19, 2009 The 6-day training program at USENIX '09 provides in-depth and immediately useful training on the latest techniques, effective tools, and best strategies to help you stay competitive. Take a full series or individual classes covering: * Solaris: Debugging, administration, and DTrace taught by James Mauro, Peter Baer Galvin, and Marc Staveley * Virtualization: Xen Hypervisor, VMware ESX 3i, and security taught by Phil Cox, Wenjin Hu, Zach Shepherd, and Dan Anderson * Plus classes on cloud computing by Milind Bhandarkar, system administration by David N. Blank-Edelman, and more Find out more at http://www.usenix.org/usenix09/training/ Technical Sessions: Wednesday-Friday, June 17-19, 2009 The technical program begins with the Keynote Address, "Where Does the Power Go in High-Scale Data Centers?" by James Hamilton, VP & Distinguished Engineer, Amazon Web Services, and continues with an impressive slate of invited speakers such as: * Plenary Closing Session by David Brin, Hugo Award-winning author * Diomidis Spinellis, Athens University of Economics and Business, on "The Antikythera Mechanism: Hacking with Gears" * Matthew Jadud, Allegheny College in Meadville, on "Towards Designing Usable Languages" The USENIX '09 Refereed Papers Track is the leading forum for presenting the latest in ground-breaking systems research. Be among the first to check out the latest innovative work in the systems field. The Poster Session at USENIX '09 is an excellent forum for discussing new ideas and getting useful feedback from the community. Poster submissions should include a brief description of the research idea(s); the submission must not exceed 2 pages. Send poster submissions to usenix09posters(a)usenix.org by Tuesday, May 5, 2009. Finally, don't miss the opportunity to mingle with colleagues and leading experts in the Birds-of-a-Feather sessions and at the various evening social events, including a Poster Session & Happy Hour, vendor BoFs, and the Conference Reception. USENIX '09 promises to be an exciting showcase for the latest in innovative research and cutting-edge practices in technology. We look forward to seeing you in San Diego. On behalf of the USENIX '09 organizers, Geoffrey M. Voelker, University of California, San Diego Alec Wolman, Microsoft Research USENIX '09 Program Co-Chairs usenix09chairs(a)usenix.org P.S. Don't miss the workshops co-located with USENIX '09, including: Workshop on Hot Topics in Cloud Computing (HotCloud '09) Monday, June 15 http://www.usenix.org/events/hotcloud09/ Workshop on Large-scale Systems (LARGE '09) Tuesday, June 16 http://www.usenix.org/events/large09/ P.P.S. Stay connected with the USENIX '09 Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=29453586085&ref=ts ---------------------------------------------- 2009 USENIX Annual Technical Conference June 14-19, 2009, San Diego, CA http://www.usenix.org/usenix09/proga Early Bird Registration Deadline: June 1, 2009 Discounts Available: http://www.usenix.org/usenix09/discounts -----------------------------------------------

1 0

Git manual available (expires in days...
by Doug Mildram April 14, 2009

April 14, 2009

recently wlug had a meeting describing the version control system called Git. Linus fast tracked it for the kernel code, and it has become very popular. http://git.or.cz/gitwiki/FrontPage for a limited time only here is an oreilly freebie download ftp://ftp.oreilly.com/outgoing/Version_Control_with_Git.zip

1 0

Follow Up: Release party Ubuntu 9.04
by James Gray April 14, 2009

April 14, 2009

Oops, forgot the link --- For more information visit: http://www.ubuntu-massachusetts.com/events/2/ On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 1:57 PM, James Gray <jamespgray(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hi All, there will be a release party for the newest version of > Ubuntu on the 23rd in Boston. > > There will be plenty of food and fellow Ubuntu enthusiasts. There > will probably be desktop CDs as well. > > Date: Thursday April 23rd 2009 > Time: 7PM to 10PM > Where: Globe Bar & Grill, Boston >

1 0

Linux from Scratch - anyone use this?
by Alexander Haley April 11, 2009

April 11, 2009

As a recent newcomer to this group ... I've lurked about a bit .. but now I have a question: Has anyone used or is anyone using the Linux from Scratch project? I've built several systems through it -- however none exist today ; Mainly it has been a learning experience for me. I'm looking to actually create and stick with a LFS creation in the upcoming future. So - thoughts ? Advice ? Thanks, Alexander

6 11

WPI Exchange Help
by tedshipper＠gmail.com April 8, 2009

April 8, 2009

So I'm new to the Linux community and I could use a little help. I'm trying to setup exchange to work through Evolution Mail on Ubuntu 8.10. I can't seem to set it up correctly. I feel like i have all the necessary info like the OWA URL, which I think is https://exchange.wpi.edu/owa/ . Please advise as to whether I need to specify the DOMAIN\User which doesn't work or if there is a better client for setting up exchange at WPI. Thanks, Ship

3 2

gl over ssh
by bkn＠ithryn.net April 6, 2009

April 6, 2009

Hi all, I've run into snag with using ssh x-forwarding and GL. I'm trying to run a program which uses GL remotely. The program runs and the GUI pops up with sliders and such visible, but the GL part of the gui is not displaying. everything else with the program is functional. When i start the program from the prompt i did notice the following error, libGL error: XF86DRIAuthConnection failed libGL error: reverting to (slow) indirect rendering and on the side that displays the program i see the following error in the xorg.log file (each line represents each attempt at running the program), failed to authenticate 8 failed to authenticate 9 I've google'd around and haven't much useful information. i do have write permissions to /dev/dri. Also local GL programs display just fine, this only happens with ssh forwarding (i've tried ssh -X and ssh -Y). Both machines are ubuntu, the display machine is ubuntu 8.10 and the other is 8.04. They both use the stock xorg.conf file, which is pretty minimal, i'm guessing that's because xorg tried to determine everything at runtime. If anyone has any hints or suggestions, let me know, thanks. Thanks, -- brad

3 2

The Care and Feeding of a dell power edge 2650
by Alex Camilo April 5, 2009

April 5, 2009

The student organization i belong to has recently been entrusted with a retired dell power edge 2650 rack mount server. Me and another club member are going to be in charge of setting up and maintaining the server. I'm pretty sure there is a lot of information i'm simply not aware of and i was wondering if anyone with IT experience would be willing to give me a few pointers. My current plan is to install a minimal system (prefferably debian based) install the services i need (LAMP) and then harden the box with a set of restrictive iptables rules and keep up to date with security updates.

2 1

Re: [Wlug] Linux audio
by Jamie Guinan April 3, 2009

April 3, 2009

But PulseAudio is so simple and elegant! http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Pulseaudio-diagram.png -Jamie On Fri, 3 Apr 2009, Eric Stein wrote: > Screw PulseAudio. I won't be using it until they pry ALSA out of my cold > dead hands. > > Eric > > Nick Nassar wrote: > > People were posting about audio problems in Fedora a while back. This > > is the full explanation. > > > > http://linuxhaters.blogspot.com/2008/10/pulse-my-audio.html > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wlug mailing list > > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

1 0

Linux audio
by Nick Nassar April 3, 2009

April 3, 2009

People were posting about audio problems in Fedora a while back. This is the full explanation. http://linuxhaters.blogspot.com/2008/10/pulse-my-audio.html

3 2

[OT] hyperterm OS X
by vze284qe＠verizon.net April 1, 2009

April 1, 2009

Hi All, Does anyone know of a hyperterm-like utility for OS X? I'm looking to connect to a serial port of a server and see the output (there is no video console on this server). Currently, the only thing I can use is hyperterminal. I'm using a MacBook Pro with 2 USB ports. I have a USB-to-DB9 adapter. Thanks, -Chuck

5 5

Community Training
by mlong＠datalong.com March 19, 2009

March 19, 2009

Hi All, I have floated the following idea at my church and it has been well received. Seek donations of older computers, have the youth group refurbish them, sell them at a low price with user training and support to seniors. The money raised will go to the youth group. The systems would be optimized for email and web surfing. Naturally Linux would be the OS. Is this a crazy idea? Has anyone done something similar? Are there resources available to help with this sort of thing? Thanks, Mike Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

6 7

Using wireshark to sniff arduino USB traffic...
by Tim Keller March 19, 2009

March 19, 2009

I saw this article yesterday: http://biot.com/blog/usb-sniffing-on-linux Pretty cool stuff! Later, Tim. -- I am weary of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

1 0

REMINDER: Upcoming Meeting
by Andy Stewart March 18, 2009

March 18, 2009

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI everybody, We have a WLUG meeting scheduled for Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 7:00 PM on the WPI campus in Worcester, MA USA. Our featured speaker for this evening will be WLUG member John Stoffel, and he will be talking about using Linux together with an Arduino, which is a microcontroller that is freely specified and available in many different implementations for around $30. See http://arduino.cc for more information. After the meeting, we'll adjourn to a local pizza establishment. I look forward to seeing you at the meeting! 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 iD8DBQFJv8j+Hl0iXDssISsRAuIqAJ9/L41ujQ7aJeEwHtag17bC4dH8ugCggXl7 p/V/8P3I9KNTNILhP48ntrA= =gkyJ -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

7 8

web hosting recommendations
by Frank Sweetser March 17, 2009

March 17, 2009

I'm looking to see if anyone has any recommendations for a decent web hosting service for a small local business. The people are pretty non-technical, so they're basically looking for something low cost with a good CMS, rather than a raw semi-managed linux host. Anybody have any favorites that would fit this bill? -- 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

2 1

apt + version control
by bkn＠ithryn.net March 17, 2009

March 17, 2009

Hi All, I'm trying to find a solution to a problem. I would like tie apt (or dpkg) to some kind of version control system so every time you install/remove a package you much annotate why you're doing so. The reason i'd like to have a system like this is because i co-maintain a linux machine with a few other people and we'd like to keep a running tally as to who installed what packages and why (since the package gets unwieldy after a while). Does anyone know of a system like this? The closest thing i was able to find was something called pkgwatch, which is a package of scripts which wraps around apt and rpm; one of it's features is to diff the list of packages after every call to apt-get which will get the job done. Does anyone know of anything similar? Thanks, -- Brad

4 5

Screen resolution on my laptop - HELP!
by Andrew C Wilkin Feb. 28, 2009

Feb. 28, 2009

I am trying to adjust the screen resolution on my Toshiba Portege 7140CT. I'm sure it's an adjustment in the xorg.conf file, but I don't know enough to do it properly. As a matter of fact, I tried following online instructions only to have no resolution - only lines and a frozen machine. I need this done in the next couple days, please, and would be willing to drive a reasonable distance to have you look at it. If anyone can help me, either by rewriting it for me via email or by my visit to get it done, please let me know here or by calling my cell: 508-713-5947. Thanks! Andrew Wilkin

4 4

Re: [Wlug] Fedora freezes
by Jamie Guinan Feb. 24, 2009

Feb. 24, 2009

Hi Walt, When it is frozen, can you ssh in from another machine? Ping, even? -Jamie On Tue, 24 Feb 2009, Walt wrote: > Nope, the ONLY two things that work are the light and NmLk. These are > operated (on my Lenovo X61s) using the Fn key. None of the other Fn key > functions operate at time of lock-up. So I'm assuming a panic. > Thanks! > Walt > > > Chuck Anderson wrote: > > On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 07:44:05AM -0500, Walt wrote: > > > >> I can turn the light on (ThinkLight) and the NumLock. Other than that, > >> no keyboard interaction happens. > >> Thanks! > >> > > > > So the little house-shaped light with the "A" inside it that > > represents the state of the Caps Lock function doesn't blink all by > > itself? Because if it does, that indicates that the kernel paniced. > > If it doesn't, then the kernel did not panic. > > _______________________________________________ > > Wlug mailing list > > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

1 0

no sound from ubuntu
by Strazdas, Rich Feb. 24, 2009

Feb. 24, 2009

Hi, first post here! I'm a part-time Linux user, with experience on Mandrake and Fedora. After installing ubuntu 8.10, I find that my computer is very quiet, even when I don't want it to be! The only sound I can get is the beep when the arrow keys reach a limit, such as scrolling to the end of a list, or the end of a command line. The master volume is high, I have permission to Use Audio Devices, nothing is muted, am I missing something basic??? I've been to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingSoundProblems <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingSoundProblems> and lots of links from there. Learned a lot, accomplished little. :) I can turn off the beep (alert) in Sound Preferences, but I can't turn on other sounds, (Rhythmbox, youtube, etc.) Some info I picked up is shown below. I wasn't clear from checking http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Main <http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Main> whether my sound card is supported by ALSA. The Intel soundcard list includes ESB2, but nothing else remotely like 631xESB/632xESB. If that's the case, am I screwed? aplay -l **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices **** card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: STAC92xx Analog [STAC92xx Analog] Subdevices: 1/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 lspci -v 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 631xESB/632xESB High Definition Audio Controller (rev 09) Subsystem: Dell Device 01c0 Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16 Memory at dfffc000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K] Capabilities: <access denied> Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel /proc/asound/cards 0 [Intel ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel HDA Intel at 0xdfffc000 irq 16 -Rich This e-mail message is generated from?Coghlin Companies Inc. or one of its subsidiaries including, but not limited to, Columbia Electrical Contractors, Inc. d/b/a Columbia Tech; DCI Automation, Inc.d/b/a DCI Engineering Services; Cogmedix, Inc.; and Coghlin Precision, Inc. This message may contain information that is?CONFIDENTIAL, and may also possibly contain information that is being held as a Trade Secret.? The information is intended to be disclosed solely to the addressee(s).? If you are the intended recipient, any information herein is to be held as CONFIDENTIAL pursuant to any Non-Disclosure Agreement applicable between the parties, or as a Trade Secret as applicable.? If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this e-mail information is prohibited.? If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by return e-mail and delete it from your computer system.

14 24

cheap, small computer
by Nick Nassar Feb. 21, 2009

Feb. 21, 2009

Does anyone know of a cheap, small computer with a TV out powerful enough to run Ubuntu? Preferably something without a fan? Nick

3 2

Few things from last night's meeting
by Eric Martin Feb. 20, 2009

Feb. 20, 2009

A couple of things from last night's meeting / dinner that might interest everybody: [IRC] I know people have mentioned it before but WLUG has an irc channel. We're on freenode and it's #wlug-ma. IRC stands for Internet Relay chat and is used for sync communication between people. Check out this wikipedia link [1] for more info. get a copy of Xchat (irc client) and when you open xchat it should prompt you for a server. Click freenode. Next it may ask you for a channel to join, type in #wlug-ma. If it doesn't ask for a channel to join, type "/join #wlug-ma" in the command bar at the bottom. [PGP Keys] Some people mentioned that their pgp keys are expiring in roughly 2 months so we need to have a keysigning again. If your key is expiring soon I would suggest generating a new key now and signing your new key with your old key. This will allow the web of trust to extend to your new key. For generating new keys, there are a few schools of thought. Some people prefer to have their master key be unlimited and generate new subkeys every so often (1/year, etc). This way signatures go to the master key but the subkeys can always be revoked if there's a problem. Others generate a key pair with a 3-5 year expiration and just get signatures again as they need them. The thing to keep in mind is how possible is it that my key will be cracked [expiration] years from now given technology. I think the current plan is to have the key signing in two months (please correct me if I'm wrong) so I'll be sending more stuff out as it gets closer. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRC -- Eric Martin Key fingerprint = D1C4 086E DBB5 C18E 6FDA B215 6A25 7174 A941 3B9F

1 0