- WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

Seeking Linux help for area non-profit - compensation potential
by Mike Peckar June 6, 2007

June 6, 2007

Please do not reply to the list or to me. Boylston's public cable access channel (WBAC) is seeking to expand its services and offer Video on Demand and video file upload and download services for its staff and eventually the community. They currently have their web site and email hosted with an ISP and they are happy with that, but the ISP cannot provide them with these new services. They are looking for help in installing and configuring a linux box off their private LAN for this purpose. They also need other general help with their setup including configuring and troubleshooting VPN connections via their netgear VPN/firewall, etc. These folks are sort of windows literate, and they recognize that Linux will provide them with the most secure and cost-effective solution to meet their growing needs at this time. Ideally, they are seeking Boylston residents, but they are willing to bring in help from outside their community. They are also able to reasonably compensate for the above mentioned services and/or barter for access to their fine production equipment. If you are intersted in learning more about video and television production, this may be well worth your effort. To express your interest, please provide a brief summary of your skills, your level of interest in supporting WBAC, and any compensation requirements to: Tom Martiska Staff(a)wbactv.org

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Followup [Re: Follow-Up to Key Signing Party]
by Jamie Guinan May 31, 2007

May 31, 2007

Ok, so I did, gpg --recv-keys ... [everyone's ID from the meeting ] gpg --fingerprint ... [ confirm fingerprints ] for key in ... ; do gpg --sign-key $key; done for key in ... ; do gpg --send-key $key; done Now "gpg --list-keys" shows all the keys I expected to see. And just now I did a "gpg --recv-keys <my ID>" and it said I had 6 new signatures, gpg: requesting key 103BA0B0 from hkp server pgp.mit.edu gpg: key 103BA0B0: "Jamie Guinan <guinan(a)bluebutton.com>" 6 new signatures gpg: 3 marginal(s) needed, 1 complete(s) needed, PGP trust model gpg: depth: 0 valid: 1 signed: 12 trust: 0-, 0q, 0n, 0m, 0f, 1u gpg: depth: 1 valid: 12 signed: 1 trust: 12-, 0q, 0n, 0m, 0f, 0u gpg: next trustdb check due at 2009-04-16 gpg: Total number processed: 1 gpg: new signatures: 6 I think that looks good. At some point I'll look into using it for email and other things, but at least the basics are there. -Jamie

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a) UPS talk? b) APC-w-USB ?
by Doug Mildram May 29, 2007

May 29, 2007

doug> I got an idea for a WLUG talk, having trolled the SW-devel-mail-list and used sparingly the excellent APC-UPS free sw at http://www.apcupsd.com I've got a small-enough APC SmartUPS and a laptop or 2 I could do this on. What I don't have (or can't yank out of the lab here at work) COULD USE....dont really NEED: ....an APC UPS with the more modern USB port....reasonably small. (the SW supports serial/"COM1" cable/interface, or USB/HID... I'm very weak on the HID stuff, but it probably just works.) So this lure is to see who does have apc w/usb... and wants to try-and-or-demo this. and When's the june meeting ? (I forget what month the party is.)

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Free stuff - please reply off list
by Adam Keck May 29, 2007

May 29, 2007

Hello All, I have some free items that I can bring to the next meeting, if anyone wants them. 2x Serial Cable 6ft: DB-25 Female to DB-25 Male 1x Serial Cable 6ft: DB-25 Male to DB-25 Male 1x Sun 13W3 to VGA Adapter 4x SCSI 2 to SCSI 3 - DB50P Male to DB68P Male 6ft 1x DB-9 Male to DB-25 Female Serial Adapter 1x SCSI 2: DB-50 Male to DB-50 Male 3ft 1x SCSI 3: DB-68 Male to Male 1ft 1x Sun 13W3 to Mac DB-15 graphics cable 1x Centronix to DB-25 SCSI 1 1x @Home Network (there's a blast from the past ;) USB Ethernet Adapter 1x SCSI 3: DB-68 Male to DB-68 Male 3ft 1x DB-68 Male to 50-pin Male 1x SCSI 3: DB-68 Male to DB-68 Male 6ft 1x 8-port 3-Com 10/100 hub 1x DLT-4 tape 1x Male to Male VGA cable 6ft 2x DB-9 Male to DB-9 Female 6ft 1x Mammoth Cleaning Tape 8mm 1x ATA-100 internal IDE cable 1x DB-15 VGA Male to Male gender changer 1x Synoptics LattisNet Model 508 10Base-T Transceiver -Adam

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2 free 17" CRT monitors (D1028L)
by Mike Frysinger May 27, 2007

May 27, 2007

ive got two spare 17" CRT monitors here ... they're D1028L (the good shit: Triniton). ive got no use for them and dont want to be bothered with selling them, so if anyone wants one, lemme know ... i'm in the WPI area -mike

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Re: [Wlug] FW: gv & resource file in ubuntu feisty fox
by Jamie Guinan May 26, 2007

May 26, 2007

On Fri, 25 May 2007, Bill Mills-Curran wrote: > I've searched and have not found the answer to this issue. > > gv in the Ubuntu feisty fox distro does not seem to observe the > resource file. In particular the auto-refresh and reverse scroll do > not work. > > My resource file is ~/.gv and contains: > > GV.reverseScrolling: TRUE > GV.watchFile: TRUE > GV.autoResize: FALSE > > > This did work on Red Hat FC4, but the same file does not work in > Ubuntu. > > Am I doing something wrong or have I found a bug? I think resource settings "reside" in the X server at run-time, so you could try manually adding those particular ones like so, (with queries before and after for testing), $ xrdb -query $ xrdb -merge ~/.gv $ xrdb -query Then run gv again. If it works, maybe you could add it to your X startup, however that works on your $DISTRO+$DESKTOP+etc... In the past I've also used ggv, which is gnome-ified gv. -Jamie

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FW: gv & resource file in ubuntu feisty fox
by Bill Mills-Curran May 25, 2007

May 25, 2007

I've searched and have not found the answer to this issue. gv in the Ubuntu feisty fox distro does not seem to observe the resource file. In particular the auto-refresh and reverse scroll do not work. My resource file is ~/.gv and contains: GV.reverseScrolling: TRUE GV.watchFile: TRUE GV.autoResize: FALSE This did work on Red Hat FC4, but the same file does not work in Ubuntu. Am I doing something wrong or have I found a bug? TIA, Bill

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Cups, FC6, and networks, oh MY!
by Bill Smith May 25, 2007

May 25, 2007

I have recently acquired an HP LaserJet 4MP. It's connected to the parallel port of my system running FC6 (with all current updates). The printer itself works great, so long as I am trying to print from localhost, but I'd like to share it to the other systems on my network. (These other systems include WinXP, Mac OS X, etc.) I've poked around a bit and found pointers on getting cups to work on other OSs (Gentoo, Ubuntu), but not Fedora Core. Would anyone have any pointers? I'm willing to post config file segments, if that will help-- just tell me what you need to see. Any help would be greatly appreciated. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- William Smith wsmith-at-chezsmith-dot-com Fall River, MA http://www.chezsmith.com "He played me like a fish... I can't make it any clearer than that." -- Colin Mochrie, on "Who's Line Is It, Anyway?" * TAG! v3.2 *

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Re: [Wlug] Cups, FC6, and networks, oh MY!
by Mike Leo May 25, 2007

May 25, 2007

I'm not following this whole thread, but you need a printer entry in /etc/samba/smb.conf to share it with windows folks ----- Original Message ---- From: Bill Smith <wsmith(a)chezsmith.com> To: wlug(a)mail.wlug.org Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 8:29:07 AM Subject: Re: [Wlug] Cups, FC6, and networks, oh MY! On Thu, 24 May 2007 16:25:26 -0400, John Stoffel wrote: > >I've got an old LaserJet 4M myself. Ran nicely for years, before the >rollers started putting junk on the paper. It's also got the >JetDirect card as well, so you can just put it onto the network. > >I'd be happy to sell it off for a nominal sum, say $50? But let me >check that the darn thing is still in the basement... This would give >you spare parts if anything broke on yours. Thanks for the thought... How much is interchangeable between the 4M and 4MP? I know that my printer doesn't have anywhere for a JetDirect card: it's got a parallel, AppleTalk, and serial port at one edge on the back, and on the side, it's got two (empty) memory slots... I'm mostly wondering what I need to do to get FC6 to share this printer (that is, the LaserJet 4MP) with other computers on the network. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- William Smith wsmith-at-chezsmith-dot-com Fall River, MA http://www.chezsmith.com "Free will is an illusion. People always choose the perceived path of greatest pleasure." -- Dogbert * TAG! v3.2 * _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Well, maybe one more sparc64 question....
by Ken Jones May 25, 2007

May 25, 2007

Jamie, That posting you sent me is definitely my bug. The only difference is the revision level of media-libs-mesa. The poster claims that his problems were fixed with a emerge --sync the following morning. I have not been so lucky. -------------You and the bug report told me to eselect opengl. I did and this is what I get. kjones-sun2 temp # eselect opengl set xorg-x11 shell-init: error retrieving current directory: getcwd: cannot access parent dir ectories: No such file or directory !!! Error: Can't load module opengl Killed kjones-sun2 temp # ----------I then looked for a relationship between opengl and xorg-x11. kjones-sun2 temp # locate opengl | grep x11 /usr/lib/opengl/xorg-x11 /usr/lib/opengl/xorg-x11/include /usr/lib/opengl/xorg-x11/include/glxtokens.h /usr/lib/opengl/xorg-x11/include/glxmd.h /usr/lib/opengl/xorg-x11/include/glxproto.h kjones-sun2 temp # --------The posting also asked that I check glxproto.h as a logical link. kjones-sun2 temp # ls -l /usr/include/GL/glxproto.h ls: cannot access /usr/include/GL/glxproto.h: No such file or directory kjones-sun2 temp # --------So I just tried to find glxproto.h. It is real and 75729 bytes in size... kjones-sun2 temp # locate glxproto.h /usr/lib/opengl/xorg-x11/include/glxproto.h kjones-sun2 temp # kjones-sun2 temp # ls -l /usr/lib/opengl/xorg-x11/include/glxproto.h -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 75729 May 23 18:14 /usr/lib/opengl/xorg-x11/include/glxpr oto.h That seems very interesting and pertinent. I have not the faintest idea what is going on. Do you understand?? Do you know what I need to do to get xorg-x11 installed? Ken Jones

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Re: [Wlug] last sparc64 gentoo question - I promise
by Jamie Guinan May 24, 2007

May 24, 2007

On Thu, 24 May 2007, ken jones wrote: > I succeeded in doing: > #emerge --sync > #emerge portage > Then I tried > #emerge xorg-x11 > overnight. I woke up to find this had failed on step 101 out of 133. That's actually rather good progress. :) > ------------------- > The first two emerge's completed, emerge xorg-x11 did not. Below is > stdout. Looking at the log it appears that stddef.h is missing... > -----------snip--------- > makedepend: warning: clientattrib.c (reading /usr/include/gconv.h, line > 31): cannot find include file "stddef.h" > ---------snip---------- > Right at the end stdout said, "!!! If you need support, post the > topmost build error, and the call stack if relevant." > I have no idea what this means. Do you? > Any suggestions what I do now? My guess is to just try again. I found this, http://www.nabble.com/emerge-xorg-xll--fails-out-at-media-libs-mesa-6.5-r3-… See the post from Donnie Berkholz near the bottom, where he suggests # eselect opengl set xorg-x11 Then try, # emerge -ptv xorg-x11 [ this will show you what's going to be merged ] # emerge xorg-x11 [ ok, try again...] -Jamie > Ken Jones > ========================================== > -------------------snip of emerge failure step 101 out of > 133---------------- > >>> Emerging (101 of 133) media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1 to / > >>> Downloading > 'http://distfiles.gentoo.org/distfiles/MesaLib-6.5.1.tar.bz2' > --00:50:32-- http://distfiles.gentoo.org/distfiles/MesaLib-6.5.1.tar.bz2 > => `/usr/portage/distfiles/MesaLib-6.5.1.tar.bz2' > Resolving distfiles.gentoo.org... 156.56.247.195, 216.165.129.135, > 64.50.236.52, ... > Connecting to distfiles.gentoo.org|156.56.247.195|:80... connected. > HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK > Length: 3,138,257 (3.0M) [application/x-tar] > > 100%[===============================================================================>] > 3,138,257 523.02K/s ETA 00:00 > > 00:50:38 (503.34 KB/s) - `/usr/portage/distfiles/MesaLib-6.5.1.tar.bz2' > saved [3138257/3138257] > > * checking ebuild checksums ;-) > ... > [ ok ] > * checking auxfile checksums ;-) > ... > [ ok ] > * checking miscfile checksums ;-) > ... > [ ok ] > * checking MesaLib-6.5.1.tar.bz2 ;-) > ... > [ ok ] > * QA Notice: USE Flag 'amd64-fbsd' not in IUSE for media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1 > * QA Notice: USE Flag 'kernel_FreeBSD' not in IUSE for > media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1 > >>> Unpacking source... > >>> Unpacking MesaLib-6.5.1.tar.bz2 to > /var/tmp/portage/media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1/work > * Applying 6.5.1-freebsd-dri.patch > ... > [ ok ] > * Removing DO_DEBUG defs in dri drivers... > * Sparc assembly code is not working; deactivating > >>> Source unpacked. > >>> Compiling source in > /var/tmp/portage/media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1/work/Mesa-6.5.1 ... > (cd configs && rm -f current && ln -s linux-dri current) > . > . <<=============many steps in here=========>> > . > clientattrib.c: In function `__glFreeAttributeState': > clientattrib.c:131: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type > clientattrib.c:132: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type > make[3]: *** [clientattrib.o] Error 1 > make[3]: Leaving directory > `/var/tmp/portage/media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1/work/Mesa-6.5.1/src/glx/x11' > make[2]: *** [subdirs] Error 1 > make[2]: Leaving directory > `/var/tmp/portage/media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1/work/Mesa-6.5.1/src' > make[1]: *** [default] Error 1 > make[1]: Leaving directory > `/var/tmp/portage/media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1/work/Mesa-6.5.1' > make: *** [linux-dri] Error 2 > > !!! ERROR: media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1 failed. > Call stack: > ebuild.sh, line 1615: Called dyn_compile > ebuild.sh, line 972: Called qa_call 'src_compile' > ebuild.sh, line 44: Called src_compile > mesa-6.5.1-r1.ebuild, line 215: Called die > > !!! Build failed > !!! If you need support, post the topmost build error, and the call > stack if relevant. > !!! A complete build log is located at > '/var/tmp/portage/media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1/temp/build.log'. > > kjones-sun2 bin # > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

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last sparc64 gentoo question - I promise
by ken jones May 24, 2007

May 24, 2007

I succeeded in doing: #emerge --sync #emerge portage Then I tried #emerge xorg-x11 overnight. I woke up to find this had failed on step 101 out of 133. ------------------- The first two emerge's completed, emerge xorg-x11 did not. Below is stdout. Looking at the log it appears that stddef.h is missing... -----------snip--------- makedepend: warning: clientattrib.c (reading /usr/include/gconv.h, line 31): cannot find include file "stddef.h" ---------snip---------- Right at the end stdout said, "!!! If you need support, post the topmost build error, and the call stack if relevant." I have no idea what this means. Do you? Any suggestions what I do now? My guess is to just try again. Ken Jones ========================================== -------------------snip of emerge failure step 101 out of 133---------------- >>> Emerging (101 of 133) media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1 to / >>> Downloading 'http://distfiles.gentoo.org/distfiles/MesaLib-6.5.1.tar.bz2' --00:50:32-- http://distfiles.gentoo.org/distfiles/MesaLib-6.5.1.tar.bz2 => `/usr/portage/distfiles/MesaLib-6.5.1.tar.bz2' Resolving distfiles.gentoo.org... 156.56.247.195, 216.165.129.135, 64.50.236.52, ... Connecting to distfiles.gentoo.org|156.56.247.195|:80... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK Length: 3,138,257 (3.0M) [application/x-tar] 100%[===============================================================================>] 3,138,257 523.02K/s ETA 00:00 00:50:38 (503.34 KB/s) - `/usr/portage/distfiles/MesaLib-6.5.1.tar.bz2' saved [3138257/3138257] * checking ebuild checksums ;-) ... [ ok ] * checking auxfile checksums ;-) ... [ ok ] * checking miscfile checksums ;-) ... [ ok ] * checking MesaLib-6.5.1.tar.bz2 ;-) ... [ ok ] * QA Notice: USE Flag 'amd64-fbsd' not in IUSE for media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1 * QA Notice: USE Flag 'kernel_FreeBSD' not in IUSE for media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1 >>> Unpacking source... >>> Unpacking MesaLib-6.5.1.tar.bz2 to /var/tmp/portage/media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1/work * Applying 6.5.1-freebsd-dri.patch ... [ ok ] * Removing DO_DEBUG defs in dri drivers... * Sparc assembly code is not working; deactivating >>> Source unpacked. >>> Compiling source in /var/tmp/portage/media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1/work/Mesa-6.5.1 ... (cd configs && rm -f current && ln -s linux-dri current) . . <<=============many steps in here=========>> . clientattrib.c: In function `__glFreeAttributeState': clientattrib.c:131: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type clientattrib.c:132: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type make[3]: *** [clientattrib.o] Error 1 make[3]: Leaving directory `/var/tmp/portage/media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1/work/Mesa-6.5.1/src/glx/x11' make[2]: *** [subdirs] Error 1 make[2]: Leaving directory `/var/tmp/portage/media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1/work/Mesa-6.5.1/src' make[1]: *** [default] Error 1 make[1]: Leaving directory `/var/tmp/portage/media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1/work/Mesa-6.5.1' make: *** [linux-dri] Error 2 !!! ERROR: media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1 failed. Call stack: ebuild.sh, line 1615: Called dyn_compile ebuild.sh, line 972: Called qa_call 'src_compile' ebuild.sh, line 44: Called src_compile mesa-6.5.1-r1.ebuild, line 215: Called die !!! Build failed !!! If you need support, post the topmost build error, and the call stack if relevant. !!! A complete build log is located at '/var/tmp/portage/media-libs/mesa-6.5.1-r1/temp/build.log'. kjones-sun2 bin #

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Re: [Wlug] It boots. Now what?
by Jamie Guinan May 23, 2007

May 23, 2007

On Wed, 23 May 2007, ken jones wrote: > I got HAPPYMEAL to work. My sparc64 is on the WEB! > Here is result of ls -lad /etc/make.profile > ----------snip---------- > kjones-sun2 ~ # ls -lad /etc/make.profile > lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 58 May 17 12:45 /etc/make.profile -> > ../usr/portage/profiles/default-linux/sparc/sparc64/2006.1 > -----------end snip--------- > Here is result of emerge xorg-x11: How do I install from the tar.bz > file? What is gentoo's equivalent of Red Hat's rpm? That's what gentoo's portage system (via the "emerge" command) does for you - downloads the tarballs, builds, installs, and keeps a record of what's installed under /var/db/pkg/<category>/<package>/ . Well, when it works. :) Look at /usr/portage/media-libs/libpng/*.ebuild, its fairly easy to get the gist of it if you know shell syntax. Did you do "emerge --sync" like some others suggested? I see a few libpng versions available, up to 1.2.16, $ ls /usr/portage/media-libs/libpng/*.ebuild /usr/portage/media-libs/libpng/libpng-1.2.14-r1.ebuild /usr/portage/media-libs/libpng/libpng-1.2.14.ebuild /usr/portage/media-libs/libpng/libpng-1.2.15.ebuild /usr/portage/media-libs/libpng/libpng-1.2.16.ebuild > --------------snip------------- > Lastly, how do you know that HAPPYMEAL is in the sun-hme module? Where > is the information indicating the functionality contained in each module? In the "make menuconfig" [Help] items. Also in menuconfig, you can search all the help text by typing "/" and entering some text. Generally, once you have your system configured to your satisfaction, you keep a copy of the kernel .config, and use that the next time you upgrade the kernel by copying it to the new kernel tree and doing "make oldconfig". -Jamie

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It boots. Now what?
by ken jones May 23, 2007

May 23, 2007

I would like to get X11 services. I did an "emerge xterm". Here's what happened. ------------start snip------------- (chroot) livecd proc # emerge xterm Calculating dependencies | !!! All ebuilds that could satisfy ">=x11-proto/xproto-7.0.6" have been masked. !!! One of the following masked packages is required to complete your request: - x11-proto/xproto-7.0.7 (masked by: ~sparc keyword) - x11-proto/xproto-7.0.10 (masked by: ~sparc keyword) - x11-proto/xproto-7.0.9 (masked by: ~sparc keyword) For more information, see MASKED PACKAGES section in the emerge man page or refer to the Gentoo Handbook. (dependency required by "x11-libs/libX11-1.1.1-r1" [ebuild]) --------------end snip---------- What do I make of this? Another problem. My livecd prompt and my chroot prompt both see my ethernet card, eth0. However my new boot does not see the card. Ideas? Ken Jones

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I got my sparc64 gentoo on the network
by ken jones May 23, 2007

May 23, 2007

Thank you for suggesting that I compare two dmesg boot message outputs. "grep eth0" on the dmesg outputthat worked referenced HAPPYMEAL. The same 'grep' on the boot log that did not work had no HAPPYMEAL string. I had a 'CONFIG_HAPPYMEAL=m' line in .config. I changed it to 'CONFIG_HAPPYMEAL=y' and recompiled using genkernel. NOW MY NEWLY BOOTED sparc64 IS NETWORKED. The sky's the limit. :-) What I do not understand is how do I know which Module contains which functionality. If I had stuck with the '=m' config I should be able to add a module at boot time. How do I know which module to add? Ken Jones

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gentoo on sparc64 portage question..
by ken jones May 23, 2007

May 23, 2007

Please someone explain to me what is happening here. ---------------snip--------------------- (chroot) livecd dhcpcd # emerge dhcpcd Calculating dependencies... done! >>> Emerging (1 of 1) net-misc/dhcpcd-3.0.16-r1 to / >>> checking ebuild checksums ;-) >>> checking auxfile checksums ;-) >>> checking miscfile checksums ;-) >>> checking dhcpcd-3.0.16.tar.bz2 !!! Missing digest for 'dhcpcd-3.0.16.tar.bz2' (chroot) livecd dhcpcd # ---------------end snip---------------- Is this a successful emerge? If not, what do I do about the missing digest? Is there an emerge parameter that eliminates the sum check? I looked in 'man emerge' to no avail. emerge is supposed to install things. Instead of installations I get whatever this is. I can not "find" dhcpcd (a binary or a script) anywhere inside my machine. Is another step needed? Ken Jones

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Re: [Wlug] PXE 101 (summer school)
by Adam Keck May 22, 2007

May 22, 2007

<oops... replied off list, reposting> http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/ has the PXE server source that most distros use and http://syslinux.zytor.com/pxe.php talks about how to setup PXE, tftpd, and dhcpd (ISC). -Adam On 5/22/07, Doug Mildram <doug.mildram(a)mindspeed.com> wrote: > > doug> I too use PXE at work, with some success. > I could stand to learn more, and I sure as hell am still > looking for the "pxe daemon source code"...buried by intel?who? > while still running a redhat binary pxe daemon here. > > If every box had a bootable CD, it'd be easier to > just do that ...whether the CD is the stock CD, or one that > you customize a bit, which I've done; which is separate from > customizing the kickstart config file... > but realize as an opening comment, I may recommend that you > ignore PXE until you need it; ignore the boot-from-NIC potential. > > You're VERY welcome to torture me with questions, or visit Westboro > (work/days..it's quiet enough here) for some hands on confusion. > > It may be easier to LEARN PXE after learning "kickstart" without PXE. > e.g. booting from CD with > "linux ks=nfs:nfsserverip:/path/to/yourconfigfile.cfg" > and the .cfg file has MORE info like > ....some intro omitted..... > network ... (static,dhcp...it can install static > while USING a temp-dhcp installaddr) > part .... (disk layout) > authconfig ... ( --enablenis is my option) > nfs --server servername-or-ip --dir /path/releasedir > skipx (no X, dumb terminal consoles best for servers, right?) > %packages... > ...... > % post > exec > /KICKSTART.log 2>&1 > echo "hello..." > mkdir /customdir > mount nfsserver:/exporteddir /customdir > ( grab things, even edit files in / ....) > chkconfig --level 345 ntpd on > chkconfig --level 345 nfs on > ..............and so on. Tends to be a few hundred lines long. > > PXE does all this, but without the CD...and with more flaky results > depending on NIC cards, mostly, i think...I find it > just complicated enough to confuse me, > and just odd enough to NOT work in some cases. > > Challenges: 1) can't find the source to the pxe daemon, > which seems to have fallen OFF of the distros. > I feel "stuck" running a redhat9 binary (which works usually-for-me > on a redhat3-or-4 based system, just copying /usr/sbin/pxe > and firing it up manually (it often crashes after getting its job done) > > 2) complex dependencies. It needs > 2a) DHCP server, can be your existing one > 2b) TFTP server (this part is NOT complex, after you > learn some of the bootfile/dir layout) > as well as the (nfs,ftp,youdecide) server to grab packages from. > > What's confusing is how the PXE daemon and DHCP daemon play together. > When my boot fails, the error whines about DHCP even when PXE is the > problem. > >

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Re: [Wlug] It boots. Now what?
by sageman＠WPI.EDU May 22, 2007

May 22, 2007

> Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 09:16:18 -0400 > From: ken jones <kjones(a)ziplink.net> > Subject: [Wlug] It boots. Now what? > To: WLUG <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> > Message-ID: <4652ED22.5090802(a)ziplink.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > I would like to get X11 services. I did an "emerge xterm". Here's what > happened. > ------------start snip------------- > (chroot) livecd proc # emerge xterm > Calculating dependencies | > !!! All ebuilds that could satisfy ">=x11-proto/xproto-7.0.6" have been > masked. > !!! One of the following masked packages is required to complete your > request: > - x11-proto/xproto-7.0.7 (masked by: ~sparc keyword) > - x11-proto/xproto-7.0.10 (masked by: ~sparc keyword) > - x11-proto/xproto-7.0.9 (masked by: ~sparc keyword) > > For more information, see MASKED PACKAGES section in the emerge man page > or > refer to the Gentoo Handbook. > (dependency required by "x11-libs/libX11-1.1.1-r1" [ebuild]) > --------------end snip---------- > > What do I make of this? > > Another problem. My livecd prompt and my chroot prompt both see my > ethernet card, eth0. However my new boot does not see the card. Ideas? > > Ken Jones Ken, Pulling in xterm, it needs libX11, which, in turn, is pulling in xproto. For the sparc, a masked version of xproto seems to be required. This masking with the "~" is just saying it's in the "testing" set of packages, but it's not hardmasked (it would mention it if it was), meaning it *should* be stable. Regardless, you need the "unstable" version in order to get xterm. There's a number of ways to deal with this, but the suggested way is to add the necessary files, one by one, to /etc/portage/package.unmask. You can do this by adding a line with "x11-proto/xproto ~sparc", or, even better, using the flagedit utility (which you must first "emerge flagedit" to get), and just do: "flagedit x11-proto/xproto +~sparc". [http://damz.net/flagedit/] More info on masking: http://gentoo-wiki.com/Masked

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Re: [Wlug] [Fwd: Re: Multiple RS232 Com Ports...]
by Stephen Daukas May 22, 2007

May 22, 2007

Hi all! Lots of good info... I hadn't stopped to think about a terminal server! OK, lets see about answering some of the questions... - - - - - - Yes, cabling will be fun. The sondes are used for sampling water... The sondes we use are cylinders approximately 2.5 feet in length and about 3 inches in diameter (one, called "big Bertha", is about six inches in diameter) . One end has a data connection that uses a round, screw-on, water tight serial connector, and the business end has several sensors sticking out (optical, chemical, conductivity, a little propeller for mixing water to be sampled, etc., etc.), all within a screw-on cage that protects the sensors from stuff like rocks passing by in the current (fast currents equate to rather large rocks). The idea is to have a tank of water (fish tank, cooler, whatever) fitted with Plexiglas that has multiple holes through which the several sondes are positioned upright, data end pointing up, with a bunch of cables hanging in-place above each sonde - think of the device that sets the bowling pins in place at the end of the alley... Anyway, you place a bunch of sondes into the tank (that has circulating water being maintained at a precise temp, % dissolved Oxygen, and so on), plug each sonde into the cable available directly above it, and then go to the *insert Linux solution here* and initiate communication, data upload, and calibration routines. (By the way, the tank is just about done - its is being debugged as we speak.) After upload and calibration (using the water in the tank), configure each sonde for the next deployment (how often to sample, etc.), turn them off, unscrew the cables and screw on a waterproof cover, remove them from the tank, and place the entire sonde into another protective chamber (6" PVC pipe with holes drilled in a specific pattern and capped on both ends) for another few weeks in some river/lake/coastal location. - - - - - - Yes, I may be confusing myself regarding "I/O device driver" versus "driver" for the sonde... However, I'm pretty sure that all I need is a vanilla "RS232 device driver" that will "just work" for any number of "com" ports by allowing some vanilla terminal emulation package (preferably one that has scripting capabilities) to talk to multiple RS232 ports. I could be wrong about this, in which case I may need to write some code, or perhaps the manufacturer might be thinking of supporting Linux. I don't do the day-to-day instrumentation work, but I am supposed to worry about it none the less. In terms of the "sondes going to sleep", this is based on concerns expressed by the lab along the lines of "if you hook-up the sonde and let it sit too long, you have to start over because it will turn itself off." Also, I use the term "vanilla" a lot because the staff aren't computer types - this has to "just work" like any other tool in the lab. Dear lord - we are talking about biology types after all! ;-) (Unlike engineering/geoscience types!!) - - - - - - So, the other question was about the necessity of having certain signals present. Again, I'm told that the sonde needs all the signals present in a DB-9. I'm guessing this may have more to do with not really knowing for sure and erring on the side of caution, but since there is hardware available that will do this and I can't spend all of my time chasing this down, I'll assume the information I'm getting on this topic is correct. (Biologists not withstanding.) I think this is where the multiport boards or a terminal server would come in... One of the replies mentioned writing a script, and that is what I was thinking about... Specifically, I was wondering if it could be as simple as a script sending the proper bit patterns to get the sonde to do the right things, pipe the serial data through the script and append the data to a file, and s on... (Was that you, John?) - - - - - - - Anyway, I'll have to take a look at the product references mentioned and contemplate what I might need to do in the world of scripting... I haven't heard back from the manufacturer yet, but I'm hoping this will turn out to be a simple project when all is said and done!! Also, I haven't used a terminal server before, so that should be interesting as well. Thanks! If you have any more thoughts, please let me know!! Steve On 5/21/07, Stephen C. Daukas <scd(a)daukas.com> wrote: > > > > -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [Wlug] Multiple RS232 > Com Ports... Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 15:44:09 -0400 From: John Stoffel > <john(a)stoffel.org> <john(a)stoffel.org> Reply-To: Worcester Linux Users > Group <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> To: Worcester Linux Users > Group <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> References: > <4650752A.1020203(a)daukas.com> <4650752A.1020203(a)daukas.com> > <18001.54171.525952.976484(a)stoffel.org><18001.54171.525952.976484(a)stoffel.org> > <20070521181244.GH4900(a)angus.ind.WPI.EDU><20070521181244.GH4900(a)angus.ind.WPI.EDU> > > Chuck> On Mon, May 21, 2007 at 01:15:07PM -0400, John Stoffel wrote: > >> darn good things about the Cyclades stuff as well. Stay away from the > >> Legacy Avocent (who bought Cyclades...) serial port stuff, it's crap. > > Chuck> Hmm I have to disagree here. We have the Avocent/Cyclades ACS line > Chuck> and are very happy with them. They run Linux inside and support many > Chuck> connection protocols, like Telnet, SSH, Reverse Telnet, Bidirectional, > Chuck> etc. Full RTS/CTS control lines including DTR are available. They > Chuck> support console logging to RAM, PCMCIA flash card, or remote syslog. > > Chuck> Perhaps you are referring to their older Cyclades TS line. > > I'm talking about the old Avocent designed CPS line of crap. You're > talking about the Cyclades designed stuff, including the TS and the > ACS. > > I've got an ancient Cyclom-Y ISA 8-port serial card in my main home > computer and it's been working great for for years. Wish I could > afford the newer stuff. > > John > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > >

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Re: [Wlug] Setting up PXE/TFTBoot
by Mike Leo May 22, 2007

May 22, 2007

no, but i bet these guys have some doc's for you http://www.ltsp.org/ ----- Original Message ---- From: Tal Cohen <wlug(a)cohen123.com> To: wlug(a)mail.wlug.org Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 9:34:32 AM Subject: [Wlug] Setting up PXE/TFTBoot  I know that this is not new technology….but I am having quite a time figuring this out. I was hoping that you guys could give me a hand. In my office, I want to setup a system that will provide a boot image over the network so that I can remotely setup and configure new servers. I am running Crux2.3. Does anyone have experience setting up remote booting systems? Thanks, Tal _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Setting up PXE/TFTBoot
by Tal Cohen May 22, 2007

May 22, 2007

I know that this is not new technology..but I am having quite a time figuring this out. I was hoping that you guys could give me a hand. In my office, I want to setup a system that will provide a boot image over the network so that I can remotely setup and configure new servers. I am running Crux2.3. Does anyone have experience setting up remote booting systems? Thanks, Tal

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Multiple RS232 Com Ports...
by Stephen C. Daukas May 21, 2007

May 21, 2007

Hi all! I'm wondering if anyone knows how many RS232 devices a "vanilla" Linux kernel can manage simultaneously. I'd like to be able to have up to 32 going at once, with data taken from each device written to its own file via the standard I/O subsystem. As far as I know, wouldn't Linux simply fork the appropriate number of driver threads to read as many RS232 ports as are attached with each device's stream written to a "/dev" file? Why do I want to do this? Glad you asked... I'm investigating an issue at work that involves our instrumentation lab having to upload/download/calibrate multiple sondes and have them ready for field deployment the next day. Currently, we can do three at a time and this takes about 8-9 hours providing everything goes well. The manufacturer's software application claims to supports the simultaneous upload/config of up to 32 sondes. The application will scan "installed" COM ports looking for recognizable sondes, and present those found to the user. Yes - this is a windows solution, so I first began looking for products that would play with Windows... I began looking for hardware solutions (PCI boards, break-out boxes, etc.) on the net and I found a few that will provide 16 DB-9 RS232 ports with full pin-out support as well as so-called "true" interrupt and FIFO support on the host (via their own custom Windows driver, no doubt). And then I started wondering about how to get all of this to work in a Windows environment where "IT" is the only group allowed to install software and otherwise configure a PC for most users whose biggest concern is email... All this got me thinking about avoiding the whole Windows issue and instead thinking about using Linux to take care of the RS232 part, with the newly created files moved to a Windows box (sneakernet to start with), with the normal post-processing of the data taking place as usual in the Windows environment the staff is used to... I'm hoping an "out of the box" distro will be able to handle say 16 RS232 ports and that Linux-based terminal emulation software is available to simultaneously handle those ports as well so I can capture the data using the appropriate protocols... Anyone know of a similar application using RS232 and Linux, or have some thoughts on this? Thanks! Steve

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My Ultra sparc64 booted!!
by ken jones May 21, 2007

May 21, 2007

Thank you everybody for your help. My sparc64 finally booted. I used genkernel with the livecd cdrom's kernel 2617 /proc/config.gz. The last piece of the puzzle was getting fstab correct. Here is proof. -----------snip of uname -a ----------------------- kjones-sun2 / # uname -a Linux kjones-sun2 2.6.20-gentoo-r5 #3 SMP Thu May 17 13:58:22 Local time zone must be set--see zic sparc64 sun4u GNU/Linux kjones-sun2 / # -------------end snip-------------- I am not sure whether I learned anything specific to gentoo or to sparc64. I did learn that creating good open source documentation is difficult and that finding one's way through unfamiliar documentation is daunting. Thanks, again. Ken Jones

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Fwd: Urgent Need for Software QA Instructor in Boston, MA
by albutler33＠netscape.net May 20, 2007

May 20, 2007

Hello all, Here's an opportunity I thought I'd pass along. Al Butler member of WLUG (haven't attended for quite a while) -----Original Message----- From: april01(a)o-s-tech.com To: albutler33(a)netscape.net Sent: Thu, 17 May 2007 8:59 PM Subject: Urgent Need for Software QA Instructor in Boston, MA Dear Aljerin, Open Systems Technology Services has an urgent need for an experienced Software Quality Assurance Instructor. Topics Software development life cycle-the product view Software configuration management (SCM) Software quality assurance Testing, validating and evaluating Special topics Planning, organizing, implementing and managing for SQA ------------------- Location: Boston, MA Date: June 11-13 Rate: $300 day/ 1099 Please let me know ASAP if you are available or know of someone who have experience teaching Linux. Classes will begin at 8am each day. Introduction to Linux, 3 days March 19th - 21st Linux Admin I, 5 days March 26th - 30th Linux Admin II, 5 days April 9th - 13t Rate: $500.00/day Job Description: . If you are available, email your resume (in word format) and availability with a contact number by 5:00pm, Monday, May 21, 2007. Thank you, April Washington Open Systems Technology Services, Inc. Email: April01(a)o-s-tech.com ________________________________________________________________________ Check Out the new free AIM(R) Mail -- 2 GB of storage and industry-leading spam and email virus protection.

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ALSA hanging (Gentoo AMD64)
by Eric Stein May 18, 2007

May 18, 2007

Hi all, I have a very strange problem. Last night I updated all my packages and rebooted. On boot, alsasound started (boot runlevel), but while trying to restore mixer levels, it hung. I had to boot to a livecd and remove alsasound from boot to even start my system. I tried removing the old state file (in case the format changed and it was breaking because of that), but it wouldn't start without it. glamdring ~ # /etc/init.d/alsasound start * One of the files in /etc/{conf.d,init.d} or /etc/rc.conf * has a modification time in the future! * Loading ALSA modules ... [ ok ] * Restoring Mixer Levels ... * No mixer config in /var/lib/alsa/asound.state, you have to unmute your card! [ ok ] glamdring ~ # cd /var/lib/alsa/ glamdring alsa # l total 9 drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 152 May 17 16:26 ./ drwxr-xr-x 23 root root 568 May 17 03:17 ../ -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 May 17 16:26 .keep_media-sound_alsa-utils-0.9 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8073 May 17 12:50 asound.state.old drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 144 May 17 12:50 oss/ glamdring alsa # mv asound.state.old asound.state glamdring alsa # cd glamdring ~ # /etc/init.d/alsasound zap * Manually resetting alsasound to stopped state. glamdring ~ # /etc/init.d/alsasound start * Loading ALSA modules ... [ ok ] * Restoring Mixer Levels ... Which is where it hangs. Other alsa programs like alsaconf and alsamixer hang on startup, along with programs that attempt to use ALSA to output sound. I've tried reinstalling ALSA, I've tried revdep-rebuild, I've done modules-rebuild, and I'm at my wit's end. None of it seems to make sense, and Gnome isn't very happy about not having a sound output, so half of my GUI is missing. If anyone has some idea why this could be happening to me, please let me know. Eric

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