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Consulting project - Linux J2ME Architect and developer
by John Spencer April 4, 2007

April 4, 2007

My client in MA has the following needs for Linux J2ME consultant(s). This could be one position if the developer can do the architecture as well. Otherwise they will need and architect as well as a developer. If you are qualified and interested, please give me a call or send me an email. 1. Architect key changes to their thin client which is Linux 2.6 based which is being moved over to a mobile device. The key is architecture. Strong documentation, strong embedded Linux (ideally 2.6). Estimated about 3 weeks to do the architecture. 2. Development role will include constructing the framework, defining the API, implementing lower layer (abstraction) interfaces from sockets to application stacks like SIP/RTP, etc. strong C and Linux. Mobile Embedded Linux architect required to perform high level analysis and design work for a project that involves porting an existing thick client to a Linux/Java environment for the mobile industry. Consultant's responsibilities will include: - taking the recommendations from the customer - quickly learning the existing client architecture - identifying and developing the best approach to porting the client - delivering a complete design and porting guide using best practices - remaining available for ad-hoc consultation throughout the stages of the port Successful consultant must have solid experience in embedded Linux, strong knowledge of Java ME(J2ME), experience in designing clients for such environments, and the proven ability to lead a team in the initial design phases of a project. Estimated about 3 mths to do this piece of the project. The development team exists and is ready to begin the porting effort, but needs strong guidance from an experienced, senior architect. Must be able to start soon. Regards, John John Spencer (978) 256-1113 ext 7608 jspencer(a)optimaleng.com OPTIMAL ENGINEERING PARTNERS "Your Optimal partner for full-lifecycle engineering services in embedded and real-time, systems and application development" www.optimalengineering.com <http://www.optimalengineering.com/>

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vpn solution
by Michael Long April 3, 2007

April 3, 2007

I now have a need to setup a vpn to my office network and I have just enough admin skills to be dangerous. I am running opensuse 10.2. Am I better off installing openswan (or some other vpn solution) or purchasing an appliance with a vpn built into it. My main concerns are ease of use and security. I am currently using a linksys router as my firewall and gateway to the internet. Each of my computers inside the network also have there own firewalls. Thanks, Mike

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Re: [Wlug] vpn solution
by freak4uxxx＠gmail.com April 3, 2007

April 3, 2007

do you just need remote access (shell / email) or do you need a bunch of stuff? while I don't have much expirience w/vpns, tunnelling via ssh handles what I do very well. Add securing it via pub/priv keys and its set. -Eric -----Original Message----- From: Michael Long <mlong(a)datalong.com> Subj: [Wlug] vpn solution Date: Tue Apr 3, 2007 7:21 am Size: 601 bytes To: WLUG <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> I now have a need to setup a vpn to my office network and I have just enough admin skills to be dangerous. I am running opensuse 10.2. Am I better off installing openswan (or some other vpn solution) or purchasing an appliance with a vpn built into it. My main concerns are ease of use and security. I am currently using a linksys router as my firewall and gateway to the internet. Each of my computers inside the network also have there own firewalls. Thanks, Mike _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Re: [Wlug] Seeking help with a USB barcode scanner
by Jamie Guinan April 3, 2007

April 3, 2007

On Mon, 2 Apr 2007, Andy Stewart wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > Tim Keller wrote: > > This is what I would do. > > > > 1. Install "lsusb". It behaves much like lspci so you can what devices > > are on your system. > > > > When you do a "lsusb" it'll list what devices are hanging off of each > > USB bus. Do a before and after so you can see the major/minor numbers. > > > > 2. When you know the devices major and minor number you can write a > > program using libusb that'll look for the device, open the device if it > > exists, take posession of it and then read data to and from it, hopefully. > > http://libusb.sourceforge.net/doc/examples-code.html > > > > Looking at that example, I don't think it would be too hard to whip up a > > program to open the device and then loop until there's input and then > > dump it on the screen. > > > > Thanks, > > Tim. > > HI Tim, > > Thanks for the tip about libusb. I have lsusb installed, and I also > have usbview. > > I'm surprised that I can't find the proper thing to "cat" to see output > from the barcode reader. That would be the shell equivalent of what you > propose. If I could find that, I'd be in business. I'm 99% certain > that I'm looking in the right place. Now, I wonder if it is possible > that the barcode reader is defective.......hummmmm. > > Once I find the right file to "cat", whipping up a program to grab the > bytes and deal with them would be fairly trivial, I agree. > > Thanks! > > Andy It might be that the device needs some initialization before it will start returning data. I wouldn't expect this for a HID device, but since the event* nodes aren't showing anything, who knows... In the kernel, it would be interesting to see what happens if you turn on DEBUG in hid-input.c, which currently contains, #undef DEBUG ... static void hidinput_configure_usage() ... goto ignore; // lots of these gotos! -jamieg ... ignore: #ifdef DEBUG printk("IGNORED\n"); #endif -Jamie

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New Paging System Makes Scrolling Obsolete
by Bruce Linnell April 3, 2007

April 3, 2007

http://www.dorks.com/videos/books.html

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Re: [Wlug] Seeking help with a USB barcode scanner
by Jamie Guinan April 2, 2007

April 2, 2007

> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > > Hi Everybody, > > Jamie Guinan wrote: > > > >> See if "evdev" is loaded, then try reading the various > >> /dev/input/event* nodes. > > Yes, evdev is loaded and I see some /dev/input/event* nodes. The unique > ones for this device (that show up when I plug in the device) are event3 > and event4. Also, I see mouse1 and ts1. > > > > >> I have a USB keyboard here. Oh neat, under 2.6.19, they even give you > >> a path that matches the device ids, > > > >> # od -x /dev/input/by-id/usb-1241_1203-event-kbd > >> (tap tap tap...) > >> 0000000 92a9 460e 0000 0000 36dc 000b 0000 0000 > >> 0000020 0001 001c 0000 0000 92a9 460e 0000 0000 > >> 0000040 36e0 000b 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 > >> ... > > In /dev/input/by-id, I see: > usb-Cypress_Cypress_PS.2_Keyboard-event-{kbd,mouse} > usb-Cypress_Cypress_PS.2_Keyboard-mouse > > I tried your "od -x" trick on each of these to no avail. I pointed the > barcode scanner at some arbitrary barcodes, and it beeped and turned off > the red light, but nothing appeared on my screen as a result of the "od -x". > > Are there other possibilities to consider? At this point I'd start putting printk's and turning on DEBUGs in the kernel source. For starters, drivers/usb/input/hid-core.c:hid_input_report() drivers/usb/input/hid-input.c:hidinput_configure_usage() I typically do something like this, $ make $ make modules_install INSTALL_MOD_PATH=$(pwd)/tmp (don't go installing under /lib just yet) $ rmmod foo $ insmod ./tmp/..../foo.ko [ unplug, replug, dmesg, tail messages, rinse, repeat ] -Jamie

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Re: [Wlug] "Filesize limit exceeded" error
by freak4uxxx＠gmail.com April 2, 2007

April 2, 2007

what's the filesystem? -Eric -----Original Message----- From: Chuck Noyes <vze284qe(a)verizon.net> Subj: [Wlug] "Filesize limit exceeded" error Date: Sun Apr 1, 2007 2:02 pm Size: 505 bytes To: wlug(a)mail.wlug.org Hi All, I'm trying to copy a 7.9GB tgz file to an external USB drive. The external drive is 500GB. About half way through the cp process, I get the error message: 8119 file size limit exceeded cp maui-Sun.tgz /media/My\ Book/chuck/ There's plenty of space on the USB drive. I'm running 'edgy eft' on a laptop. Any ideas on what might be going on here?? TIA, -- -Chuck _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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"Filesize limit exceeded" error
by Chuck Noyes April 1, 2007

April 1, 2007

Hi All, I'm trying to copy a 7.9GB tgz file to an external USB drive. The external drive is 500GB. About half way through the cp process, I get the error message: 8119 file size limit exceeded cp maui-Sun.tgz /media/My\ Book/chuck/ There's plenty of space on the USB drive. I'm running 'edgy eft' on a laptop. Any ideas on what might be going on here?? TIA, -- -Chuck

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Re: [Wlug] Seeking help with a USB barcode scanner
by Jamie Guinan March 31, 2007

March 31, 2007

On Fri, 30 Mar 2007, Andy Stewart wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > > HI everybody, > > Does anybody in the group have any experience using a USB barcode > scanner with Linux? Its tough to google for "barcode scanner" since > each term brings up its own set of things which aren't what I seek. > > In particular, I have been loaned a USB barcode scanner which is made by > PSC, Inc. with model number QS2500. When I plug it into my laptop, the > USB vendor and device IDs are 04B4:0101. I looked this up on the Linux > USB devices website and it has multiple references (mostly to USB > keyboards). > > I think this device is being handled as a USB HID device, but I'm not > certain. Hi Andy, See if "evdev" is loaded, then try reading the various /dev/input/event* nodes. I have a USB keyboard here. Oh neat, under 2.6.19, they even give you a path that matches the device ids, # od -x /dev/input/by-id/usb-1241_1203-event-kbd (tap tap tap...) 0000000 92a9 460e 0000 0000 36dc 000b 0000 0000 0000020 0001 001c 0000 0000 92a9 460e 0000 0000 0000040 36e0 000b 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ... C code, #include <linux/input.h> int keyboardFd = open(kbdev, O_RDWR); struct input_event ev; int n = read(keyboardFd, &ev, sizeof(ev)); See the fields in ev, you'll get events for press/release, keycode, etc. Have fun! -Jamie > > I'm wondering if Linux has any software that would read the value from a > barcode scanner and do something with it. If I knew which device file > was used, maybe I could "cat <devfile>" and see some output when I > scanned a barcode. > > Note that there are several examples of software for printing barcodes, > but that's not what I need (at least not yet). > > Any help would be appreciated. > > Thanks! > > 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 > > iD8DBQFGDcRgHl0iXDssISsRAjF2AJ98hr6d4i2EMSQ5AvAWiiyfPLHdWACeLSm+ > uCN6IcuTTYvDZbz44z+t4I4= > =gdbi > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

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Gigabit NICs for Linux
by sageman＠WPI.EDU March 31, 2007

March 31, 2007

All, Recently, I've been looking to upgrade my current network setup and make the push to gigabit. At the moment, I'm looking for any suggestions on gigabit NICs that folks have got working under the 2.6 kernel, preferably without too much effort. I'm currently looking at the Rosewill RC-400, which supposedly uses the r8169 module. Any one happen to have any luck with that? Additionally, I'm looking for a gigabit switch. Only need like 4-8 ports and would like it, again, to work very easily. Never used a switch, just hubs and routers. Right now, have a hub hooked into a router. From what I understand, if I replace the hub with a switch, it should *just work*. Basically, a switch is like a hub, but with full duplex support and maybe some fancy QoS features or something, right? My plan is to plug the high bandwidth internetwork connections into the switch which then connects into my router and through to a cable modem. Basically, fast connection on the network for transferring files, streaming and such, but, when it comes to the internet, cable modem is the bottleneck, so who cares if the router supports gigabit, right? Does this sound reasonable to you network folks out there? Thanks for all your help! Carlton Stedman

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Re: [Wlug] Seeking help with a USB barcode scanner
by Mike Leo March 31, 2007

March 31, 2007

we had a demo model, too....it basically just scanned in the data as if you typed it in on the keyboard. ----- Original Message ---- From: Mike Frysinger <vapier(a)gentoo.org> To: wlug(a)mail.wlug.org Cc: Brian J. Conway <bconway(a)alum.wpi.edu>; andystewart(a)comcast.net Sent: Friday, March 30, 2007 10:44:56 PM Subject: Re: [Wlug] Seeking help with a USB barcode scanner On Friday 30 March 2007, Brian J. Conway wrote: > We used similar devices extensively in our wafer fab at my old job (hi > Mike), moo > though not under Linux more than a couple times as my desk. Since > my experience is only partially relevant, I can offer a few words as a > start. The scanners we used had interchangeable cables: When using a PS/2 > wedge (pass-thru) cable, it sat between the keyboard and the computer and > passed data as a standard keyboard, no drivers required and OS-agnostic. > When using a USB cable, it functioned as an HID device, and required only > the standard Windows HID keyboard driver. Scanning would send data as an > HID keyboard input. In both cases, it was transparent to any program we > were using (a simple terminal emulator, in our case), but we did need to > scan a configuration code out of the manual each time we changed cable > types. yeah, the scanners tend to be pretty simplistic ... they usually just send the scanned barcode values straight through ... actually, you'd be surprised how many of these things are runnnig Linux themselves ... some of them you can hijack, but once you get past the novelty of it, the device isnt terribly useful without their application ... -mike _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Seeking help with a USB barcode scanner
by Andy Stewart March 31, 2007

March 31, 2007

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI everybody, Does anybody in the group have any experience using a USB barcode scanner with Linux? Its tough to google for "barcode scanner" since each term brings up its own set of things which aren't what I seek. In particular, I have been loaned a USB barcode scanner which is made by PSC, Inc. with model number QS2500. When I plug it into my laptop, the USB vendor and device IDs are 04B4:0101. I looked this up on the Linux USB devices website and it has multiple references (mostly to USB keyboards). I think this device is being handled as a USB HID device, but I'm not certain. I'm wondering if Linux has any software that would read the value from a barcode scanner and do something with it. If I knew which device file was used, maybe I could "cat <devfile>" and see some output when I scanned a barcode. Note that there are several examples of software for printing barcodes, but that's not what I need (at least not yet). Any help would be appreciated. Thanks! 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 iD8DBQFGDcRgHl0iXDssISsRAjF2AJ98hr6d4i2EMSQ5AvAWiiyfPLHdWACeLSm+ uCN6IcuTTYvDZbz44z+t4I4= =gdbi -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: [Wlug] Upcoming meeting topic(s)
by Terry S March 30, 2007

March 30, 2007

I have a new digital camera I haven't even used yet. I'd be more than happy to bring my camera. I'm curious to understand, will these be publicly viewable pictures, or *only* viewable to those who have your key? (P.S. I've never made a key before, so this is a good topic for me.) On Tue, Mar 27, 2007 at 11:03:05PM -0400, Keith Wright wrote: > > Also, maybe somebody with a digital camera > > could take pictures of WLUG leaders and > > followers, and put them on the web site, > > together with public key identifiers. > > Despite being told several times over the > > past few years, I don't remember most > > people's names, but I might be able to > > if I had a chance to practice at home > > with my web browser. > > > > It is only somewhat useful to have a > > record in your keyring that says you were > > once convinced that the name goes with the > > key, if you have totally forgotten what > > person goes with the name.

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Upcoming meeting topic(s)
by Andy Stewart March 29, 2007

March 29, 2007

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI Everybody, We appear to have a choice of meeting topics for April: 1) PGP Key signing party 2) My talk about the USB Delcom driver that goes with this piece of hardware: http://www.delcom-eng.com/productdetails.asp?productnum=802004 I'd rather move my talk out to May, but I could do it for April if that what folks desire. If we do the key signing party, I am wondering if Eric and Chuck would like to team up to run it. If so, does the April meeting work for you? Thoughts? Thanks, 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 iD8DBQFGCIrEHl0iXDssISsRAo1MAJ9X8rVpCxpQXSsF/TQwH2Jzv9HRBgCeMzzS WgmcOYfMRxy61ULEEkQHmMo= =oCZq -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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JOBS - Linux consultants needed
by John Spencer March 28, 2007

March 28, 2007

We have 2 clients in MA that have needs for Linux expertise. Both descriptions are below. Please call or email me if you are qualified or have additional questions. Software Tools Engineer (6+ mths; temp to perm possible) Consultant needed to develop software tools using C++ and Perl scripting to develop and implement flows for verification infrastructure. Skills needed are strong software development skills using C++, Perl, Linux, some Web dev't, and SQL databases(MySQL). Candidate will implement and improve model build, regression and metric measurement tools for unit and full chip level microprocessor verification flows. ************************************************************************ **************** Consultant needed (6+ mths., temp to perm possible) as part of a small team to produce high quality functional specifications, design specifications, product code, unit tests, and build scripts as needed. You must also be able to rapidly and effectively troubleshoot, diagnose, and resolve defects in an existing code base. You must be comfortable selecting and maintaining an appropriate focus in your daily work that will range from broad and abstract system architecture issues to detailed and concrete implementation issues. This is a currently a small team so anyone joining will be involved with a number of things. The main focus will be at the Linux Kernel / Hardware integration layer but you may be involved at multiple levels of the product software and build environment. Responsibilities: - Provide software support and integration for new hardware features as they get added to the platform - Provide Linux support to upgrade Linux distribution as well as associated build environment - Work on low level features such as Software Upgrade - Instrument code and help analyze resource utilization - Maintain code repository - Address operational issues - Work with team on code releases Requirements - BS or MS in Computer Science, or equivalent experience - Either Real-Time OS or DSP experience - Experience in Linux, C, C++, Perl - Innovation and attention to detail - Ability to work independently but to know to get direction when you need it - Ability to work well with others on a small focused team - Excellent written and oral skills - Ability to obtain security clearance Regards, John John Spencer (978) 256-1113 ext 7608 jspencer(a)optimaleng.com OPTIMAL ENGINEERING PARTNERS "Your Optimal partner for full-lifecycle engineering services in embedded and real-time, systems and application development" www.optimalengineering.com <http://www.optimalengineering.com/>

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Re: [Wlug] Hello from new member. April topics?
by Terry S March 28, 2007

March 28, 2007

Thanks Christian and Eric, That's something I will take a look at sooner or later. If it's in "/etc/make.conf", that info would be applied in a recompile, correct? > > This is in fact specified in /etc/make.conf. > > The configuration line is SYNC="<SERVER>" > > - Christian Roy Eric Stein wrote: > > That is probably specified in /etc/make.conf. > > > > Eric > > > > Terry S wrote: >> >> Well, it was a while ago... >> >> >> >> ...in a nutshell, I was rebuilding base system and the portage tree a >> >> few months after install, following instructions posted and detailed >> >> reasoning explained by a senior Gentoo developer. >> >> >> >> After a few problems problems, the error that blocked me from fixing >> >> anything else was that the rsync server I chose at install time was no >> >> longer valid, which I verified by looking at the list again. But no >> >> one seemed to know how to change it, and I just couldn't deal with >> >> re-installing the whole thing at that time

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GPS on Linux
by Richard Klein March 24, 2007

March 24, 2007

Andy, I think you were talking about using a GPS receiver with Linux after the last meeting. The receiver I had mentioned came in a couple days ago. It's a Navibe SP611 (http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?InvtId=NAVIBE-ORN) and it does indeed output NMEA 0183. The Navibe website is easy enough to find (http://www.navibe.com/) but it doesn't even acknowledge the existence of the SP611. Linux seems to recognize the serial/USB bridge in the GPS as a Prolific PL-2303: dmesg says: usb 2-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 3 pl2303 2-1:1.0: pl2303 converter detected usb 2-1: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0 But I can't get GPSMan or GPSDrive to recognize it. "cat /dev/ttyUSB0" gets no response, and I have to hit CTRL-C to get the command prompt back. Per this page (http://koti.mbnet.fi/lonnberg/pl2303x.html) I found that bMaxPacketSize0 = 64, which suggests the bridge is a PL-2303X rather than a plain vanilla PL-2303. Apparently this used to require a patch, but only up to kernel 2.6.8. uname -r says I'm at 2.6.15-1-686, so this shouldn't be an issue. What should I try now? Oh, the GPS receiver did send a stream of NMEA data to my Windows computer at work with GPSDiag, so the reciever doesn't seem to be defective. -- Rich

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Meeting idea
by Eric Martin March 24, 2007

March 24, 2007

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 I know I've said this at a few meetings, but is anybody up for having a key signing one night? We had one a while back that I missed. I've never run one but I have read a few docs on it. Any people interested? Eric -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFGBHM8aI8VEtSi4H8RAv3jAJ9oa0Fh4TkNNyPl6FDwx2gjhVNwQgCfYjXy j32HL5TsSg2y19EW1Yv4En8= =qK8i -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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An amusing background screen...
by Andy Stewart March 23, 2007

March 23, 2007

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 ...or at least I thought so... http://badvista.fsf.org/blog/images/windowsvistaballmerpiraxz7.jpg - -- 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 iD8DBQFGBGSBHl0iXDssISsRAn3NAJ4iJAeiS33R4IOBXmNNKbBh0QwnngCeONLN tnWAhKuMnuzQX54yP2qErtI= =U2BM -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Hello from new member. April topics?
by Terry S March 23, 2007

March 23, 2007

Hello, My name is Terry. I've wanted to attend WLUG meetings for a couple years but the schedule never worked out. Right now, Wednesdays are good! I look forward to seeing what the meetings are like and the mixture of people. Recently installed Slackware on one of my PCs. Looking forward to re-learn the basics (had a long illness, then just other stuff), move to Linux for the long haul, and be productive using its software. *Suggested April Topics?* - Package installation and updates (esp Mozilla products). - Avoiding problems with package-management systems (I had a nightmare with rsync on Gentoo). - Anything on setting up and configuring personal keys, certificates, basic firewall on Linux. Sincerely, Terry S. (p.s. to Eric Martin -- I think I know you. Did you teach a Night Life course on Linux?)

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Fw: Suse Linux Professional 10?
by douglas.r.aker＠verizon.com March 21, 2007

March 21, 2007

Thanks to all who responded to my query. I really got a lot of good information and food for thought! Doug ----- Forwarded by Doug Aker/EMPL/MA/Verizon on 03/21/2007 06:28 PM ----- Doug Aker/EMPL/MA/Verizon 03/20/2007 02:33 PM To "Worcester Linux Users Group" <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> cc Subject Re: [Wlug] Suse Linux Professional 10? OK, did so more research. Looks like it's called OpenSuse 10.2. Read some reviews. Some good, some not so good. Also considering switching to Fedora Core 4 or (K)Ubuntu 6.10. Any thoughts for or against these distro's? Has anyone ever used: http://www.thelinuxstore.ca/ ? Thanks, Doug Doug Aker/EMPL/MA/Verizon@VZNotes Sent by: wlug-bounces(a)mail.wlug.org 03/20/2007 10:54 AM Please respond to "Worcester Linux Users Group" <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> To "Worcester Linux Users Group" <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> cc Subject [Wlug] Suse Linux Professional 10? Hi all: The last Suse Linux software I purchased for laptop use was Suse Linux Professional 9.2. Looking now to upgrade to 10. Anyone know the latest Suse release for desktop use? And I don't think they call it "Suse Linux Professional" anymore. And did Suse ever solve that Yast slowness problem (at least I think it was something like that). Thanks, Doug _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Progress with new Sparc????
by ken jones March 21, 2007

March 21, 2007

Doug et al I found my cross over cables. printenv told me to set up at 9600bps ASCI 8 none 1. I have tried VT100 and auto-detect. When I turn on the sparc it tells me that it is using ttya for input. However, my hyperterminal sees nothing. If I slow down the expected clock rate to 2400 I get to letters "pp" when I startup the sparc. I do not get "ok" and I get no response when I hit the "Enter" key. Too bad, since that connection would allow me to show you what my terminal is saying. I did get a good response from probe-scsi and probe-scsi-all. It saw both hard drives. I am now trying test-all. Last time it just hung but now it seems to be correctly testing the terminal screen. OKAY! I know something. Self test failed a Transceiver check. It says: Transceiver check -- failed Selftest Failed. Return Code = -1 Testing sbus@1f, 0/SUNW, fas@e 8800000 CE DMA fill from address ffef8000 for 80 bytes Testing sbus@1f, 0/SUNW fdtwo@f, 1400000 Testing floppy disk system. A formatted disk should be in the drive. No diskette or incorrect format. Self test failed. Return code = -1 I wondered what is the "transceiver test" which is failing. The word "transceiver" usually is referring to I/O. I was correct. I installed the ethernet cable and the transceiver test passed. I know one thing now. The CDROM reader does not work. Part of test-all is to check for a formatted disk in the reader. I put a known good disk in, but the SUN does not see it. That does not explain why it will not boot up correctly. It should note that there is no disk and boot to installed linux. My latest status is to try booting over my office network. I gave my home router/DHCP server the new sparc's ethernet address and assigned an IP address. I have no idea whether the sparc is configured to expect a DHCP address. I do not see where I can configure that. Ken Jones Doug Mildram wrote: > doug> I know the Sparc a bit. > > give me a call hell, i am trashing sparc's here, incl. 1 ultra1 > > also: sun keyboard is a big factor. If it's seen at powerup, > its the console (monitor or no monitor) > > if keyb not attached on powerup, > the com1 equivalent /dev/ttya (DIN or 25pin, varies) > becomes the console. > > > doug 508-243-6580 cell > > > MORE RANDOM TIPS TO MYSELF YEARS AGO: > on a SPARC instead of BIOS we have "eeprom" or "rom prompt".... > > There's no "F2" or "DELETE" hint during bootup, > but there is one "dangerous" way to stop either the OS or the boot-up. > > L1-a or STOP-A is like a ctl-Z to the OS...or an interrupt a bootup. > > eeprom prompt is "ok" > ok> > > If you accidentally STOP the OS by mistake you can get it to go BACK UP WITH > > ok> go > or maybe > ok> continue > > normally we do NOT DO MUCH with the eeprom settings, > AND, it is possible to tweak eeprom settings from either situation: > 1) from the ok> prompt with "setenv" > 2) from SOLARIS with # eeprom > > So you can see all the settings with a simple anyuser% /usr/sbin/eeprom > > Syntax is slightly different. I wont talk about UNIX "eeprom" anymore > except to say there is a man page. > > BACK TO THE ok> PROMPT you can...most notably: > > ok> setenv auto-boot? false > or > ok> setenv auto-boot? true > > the question mark is not a "wild character". It just implies > that it's a true/false parameter. > > false means it will *NOT* boot to solaris... on power up. > true means "normal"...will try to load solaris from boot-device > > a UNIX "reboot" command will override this setting. > > -----boot "device" in eeprom > NORMALLY the eeprom setting for boot-device has a few words > and "disk" should be the first word. > > ok> printenv boot-device > > may return disk diskbrd diskisp disksoc net > I only know what "disk" and "net" means..... > "net" is useless unless you have another "diskless server" set up. > > > > ok> probe-scsi (can you see the CD drive?) > Target 0 > Unit 0 Disk ..... > > > maybe not . but if the CD is on an external scsi bus you may need to say > > ok> probe-scsi-all (can you see the CD drive?) > > pci@1f,4000/scsi@3,1 (a 2nd controller for the external scsi port) > Target 6 > Unit 0 removable read only device TOSHIBA..... > Unit 0 Disk ..... > > pci@1f,4000/scsi@3 > Target 0 > Unit 0 Disk ..... > > BACK TO installation. hopefully you simply say: > > with solaris2.7 CD in the drive, > > ok> boot cdrom > > didnt work? it must have been looking for > > > ok> devalias > > shows > > cdrom /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/disk@6,0:f > > BUT I HAD A CD drive on the 3,1 controller so I can say: > > boot /pci@1f,4000/scsi@3,1/disk@6,0:f > > AND THIS WORKED on this particular machine. > > (if you see the CD light come on, and eventually see some kernel string like > > SunOS 5.7 Generic_106541-17 sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-Enterprise > > > THEN YOU KNOW you got the right command. > > Next you hope your CD and CD drive dont have too many read errors. > > ok> > > > SPECIAL BOOT ARGUMENT......to rebuild /dev* entries. > > lets say you ADD HARDWARE like a 2nd disk. > > UNIX% halt > ...add a disk if you can...then you'd want to > > ok> boot -r (THIS Reconfigures /dev and /devices, > so it would add /dev/???/??? for the new disk) > > SPECIAL BOOT ARGUMENT......to stop at singleuser. > > > ok> boot -s (would stop at runlevel 1 for the default kernel ..on disk?) > > But even then (unlike most unix's) it prompts you > for the root password, i think. So dont forget it. ------------------doug > > > >

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Re: [Wlug] Suse Linux Professional 10?
by Clint Moyer March 20, 2007

March 20, 2007

I could not get Compiz to work on OpenSuSe 10.2. Besides I can't advocate for Novell considering their recent partnership with MS. Any of the Ubuntus are great. The GUI frontend to apt works exceptionally well. After you've updated the list of repositories, adding pretty much any app is a simple point-n-click. It was pretty straightforward to load Nvidia's driver and setup Beryl. Sweet eye candy! In 13 years of using Linux, it's the first distro I've considered user-friendly enough to put on my kids' PC. If you want to be cutting edge, Ubuntu 7.4 officially releases next month. Of course, you can also get it right now. Clint ---- douglas.r.aker(a)verizon.com wrote: ============= OK, did so more research. Looks like it's called OpenSuse 10.2. Read some reviews. Some good, some not so good. Also considering switching to Fedora Core 4 or (K)Ubuntu 6.10. Any thoughts for or against these distro's? Has anyone ever used: http://www.thelinuxstore.ca/ ? Thanks, Doug Doug Aker/EMPL/MA/Verizon@VZNotes Sent by: wlug-bounces(a)mail.wlug.org 03/20/2007 10:54 AM Please respond to "Worcester Linux Users Group" <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> To "Worcester Linux Users Group" <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> cc Subject [Wlug] Suse Linux Professional 10? Hi all: The last Suse Linux software I purchased for laptop use was Suse Linux Professional 9.2. Looking now to upgrade to 10. Anyone know the latest Suse release for desktop use? And I don't think they call it "Suse Linux Professional" anymore. And did Suse ever solve that Yast slowness problem (at least I think it was something like that). Thanks, Doug _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Re: [Wlug] Problems with a Sparc ULTRA1
by ken jones March 20, 2007

March 20, 2007

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Re: [Wlug] Suse Linux Professional 10?
by Bruce Linnell March 20, 2007

March 20, 2007

>From a neophyte's point of view, I'm pleased with oSuSE 10.2. I also installed using a DVD, but can't say it went without a hitch. The only problem was getting my USB wireless adapter to work. But I had already had that problem with Ubuntu and Gentoo. I never did get it to work directly (ended up using a NIC and a Buffalo wireless converter). But in the course of trying those three distros I decided I liked the oSuSE best...and I think it was YaST that tilted the scales. Again, I was a blank slate 3 months ago so I can't give you a "compare and contrast" with previous releases of oSuSE or YaST. Bruce On Tue, 2007-03-20 at 14:33 -0400, douglas.r.aker(a)verizon.com wrote: > > OK, did so more research. Looks like it's called OpenSuse 10.2. Read > some reviews. Some good, some not so good. > > Also considering switching to Fedora Core 4 or (K)Ubuntu 6.10. Any > thoughts for or against these distro's? > > Has anyone ever used: http://www.thelinuxstore.ca/ ? > > Thanks, > Doug > > > > Doug Aker/EMPL/MA/Verizon@VZNotes > Sent by: > wlug-bounces(a)mail.wlug.org > > 03/20/2007 10:54 AM > Please respond to > "Worcester Linux Users Group" > <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> > > > > > To > "Worcester Linux > Users Group" > <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> > cc > > Subject > [Wlug] Suse Linux > Professional 10? > > > > > > > > > > Hi all: > > The last Suse Linux software I purchased for laptop use was Suse Linux > Professional 9.2. Looking now to upgrade to 10. Anyone know the > latest Suse release for desktop use? And I don't think they call it > "Suse Linux Professional" anymore. And did Suse ever solve that Yast > slowness problem (at least I think it was something like that). > > Thanks, > Doug _______________________________________________ > 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

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