December 2004 - wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

NexStar external 3.5" USB2/Firewire HDD enclosures and FC3.
by Oliver Jones 19 Dec '04

19 Dec '04

Hi Folks. Thought I'd share a little tidbit of experience with you all. Recently I purchased a Vantec NexStar external USB2/Firewire 3.5" HDD enclosure. I had an existing 200GB Seagate Barracuda drive to put in it. Today I assembled the unit and plugged it into my Fedora Core 3 powered Compaq laptop. I was rather pleased to see FC3 detect the device, amend /etc/fstab, mount it, and put a nice little media icon on my desktop with a USB logo on it. It even did so when the HDD was formatted with NTFS. I subsequently deleted the NTFS partition that was on the drive and reformatted with FAT32 so that I can share the device more easily between Windows and Linux machines. I did the partitioning and formatting under Linux as Windows XP (in its infinite wisdom) can not create FAT32 partitions greater than 30GB. All in all the experience was quite nice. Certainly nicer than my past experiences with USB storage devices under Linux. Unfortunately when I switched cables to Firewire (IEEE1394) things didn't go so smoothly. The Linux ieee1394 driver can't seem to communicate with the device. Something about being unable to parse the configrom. This isn't the only firewire device that this Laptop hasn't been able to talk to under Linux. So I imagine it is some driver issue with whatever chipset that this laptop has. I've never had much luck with firewire and Linux. But I don't mind. This laptop has 3 USB 2 ports and USB is "fast enough" for storing my iTunes/iPod music and other backup/archive data. Regards -- Oliver Jones <oliver(a)deeper.co.nz> Deeper Design Limited

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Linux LVM and Windows.
by Oliver Jones 19 Dec '04

19 Dec '04

On my laptop I've installed Fedora Core 3. By default FC3 uses Linux LVM for the install partitions and swap. It only puts /boot on a separate "Linux native" partition. I also have Windows XP installed on my laptop in a 20GB partition at the front of the drive (hda1). When I booted Windows today (a rarity) I noticed that the LVM partition is showing up as a drive letter in Windows. The disk manager doesn't show it with a file system but I am concerned Windows XP will do something stupid and try and write to the device at some point and fruck my Linux install. Does anyone else have experience with Windows XP and Linux LVM? How can I hide the LVM drive from Windows. Is there a way of telling Windows the get the hell away from that partition? I've never used LVM before so I'm in the dark a bit. Any help would be appreciated. Regards -- Oliver Jones <oliver(a)deeper.co.nz> Deeper Design Limited

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Python and recording audio
by zcat 16 Dec '04

16 Dec '04

I'm trying to write a program in python but I am _very_ confused about how to set audio parameters. I can find documentation but it doesn't make any sense. I can't seem to find an example anywhere that I can follow. In the past I've just used /dev/dsp with the default settings of 8 bit mono, 8k samplerate. This time I want to record 16 bit, two channels, 44k1, splitting the recording into left.wav and right.wav and stripping out silence in realtime. How do I do it?

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WLUG Xmas BBQ Canceled
by Jamie Curtis 10 Dec '04

10 Dec '04

Hi all, Unfortunately, due to the unpredictable weather and the lack of an indoor venue, we have had to cancel the WLUG Xmas BBQ planed for tonight. It is possible that if we could find a suitable time or location we could still run the BBQ, but as it's getting closer and closer to Christmas this is going to get harder. Again, sorry all, and if you do have any suggestions, please get in touch with me or any of the committee. Thanks Jamie

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RE: [wlug] Overlapping usage nonsense
by Gund Wehsling 07 Dec '04

07 Dec '04

Hi I agree, NAT is supposed to be almost impossible to detect. Change your dial-in password now and see what happens next billing cycle? Perhaps your mate who you helped to setup his computer will ring you later this week to tell you the Internet connection you helped him with has stopped working? Of course I have done that before. Gund -----Original Message----- From: James Clark [mailto:jamesc(a)bofh.co.nz] Sent: Fri 19/11/2004 12:04 To: Waikato Linux Users Group Cc: Subject: Re: [wlug] Overlapping usage nonsense On Fri, Nov 19, 2004 at 11:17:58AM +1300, Jared Wigmore wrote: > Having got a network and Internet connection sharing > set up (thanks Bruce), Xtra is now charging my family > for "overlapping usage" via my Linux computer. (The > Internet connection is on the family computer, with > Windows XP professional.) Overlapping usage: http://www.xtra.co.nz/help/0,,6155-1452314,00.html (if the link works) I suspect someone is dialling up with your account simultaniously, not because your NAT-ing... James. _______________________________________________ wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz Unsubscribe: http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Thank you Perry.
by Greig McGill 07 Dec '04

07 Dec '04

Hi all. Perry has hopefully made the meeting reminderbot issue go away for good now. A HUGE thank you to him for doing this. This means you should all be able to start taking the meeting reminders seriously now. :) See you all on Friday. The Fist.

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WLUG Meeting is on monday
by Meeting Reminder bot 06 Dec '04

06 Dec '04

The WLUG meeting is on monday ---------------------------------------------------------------------- !!The Official Annual [WLUG] End of Year Barbeque! In accordance with the prophecy, our end of 2004 [BBQ] is at DaHoose, 3 Liston Crescent, Hillcrest (off Helena Road, by the Gate 1 entrance to Uni/Clyde St roundabout). As the original date of the 4th was wet, we postponed it until the 10th WLUG will provide salad, soft drinks, BBQ, backyard cricket and entertainment. You will need to bring yourself, meat and alcohol should you desire any of these things. Start time of 6pm with BBQ about 7. Check out photos from last years barbeque from [John|http://www.wlug.org.nz/~jrm/wlug-bbq/], [Kyle|http://www.feet.net.nz/gallery/wlugbbq/] or [Phil|http://www.nevada.net.nz/gallery/wlug03].

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Re: wlug Digest, Vol 162, Issue 3
by Roger Oed 03 Dec '04

03 Dec '04

Hi, Sorry about the lack of detail. It is an external model on COM port 1 (ttyS0) and I have tried a couple. The one I am using at present is a dynalink one. I have tried configuring it using the Network Configuration tool and while it appears that I have been able to activate the PPP link, I don't think it has in reality. How important is an initialisation string for the modem? Thanks Roger wlug-request(a)list.waikato.ac.nz wrote: > Send wlug mailing list submissions to > wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > wlug-request(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > > You can reach the person managing the list at > wlug-owner(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of wlug digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Configuring Modem for Email and Internet (Roger Oed) > 2. Re: Configuring Modem for Email and Internet (zcat) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 03 Dec 2004 00:20:41 +1300 > From: Roger Oed <oed.fam(a)family.net.nz> > Subject: [wlug] Configuring Modem for Email and Internet > To: wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > Message-ID: <41AEFA89.60809(a)family.net.nz> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed > > Hi All, > > I am trying to configure my Redhat 8.0 box to work with a modem for > e-mail and Internet access. I have configured my e-mail account > correctly, and have configured a network connection for the modem. When > the machine starts up, during the Bios phase the machine obviously sees > the modem. However, when I try to run the e-mail it immediately returns > an error indicating that it hasn't seen the modem. Can anyone suggest > some tests I can perform to try and identify the source of the error or > any reasons why Linux does not appear to see the modem, please? > > Thanks > Roger > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Fri, 03 Dec 2004 09:00:11 +1300 > From: zcat <zcat(a)maxnet.co.nz> > Subject: Re: [wlug] Configuring Modem for Email and Internet > To: oed.tem1(a)family.net.nz, Waikato Linux Users Group > <wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz> > Message-ID: <41AF744B.6030408(a)maxnet.co.nz> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > Roger Oed wrote: > > >>Hi All, >> >>I am trying to configure my Redhat 8.0 box to work with a modem for >>e-mail and Internet access. I have configured my e-mail account >>correctly, and have configured a network connection for the modem. >>When the machine starts up, during the Bios phase the machine >>obviously sees the modem. However, when I try to run the e-mail it >>immediately returns an error indicating that it hasn't seen the >>modem. Can anyone suggest some tests I can perform to try and >>identify the source of the error or any reasons why Linux does not >>appear to see the modem, please? > > > What sort of modem? External, internal, ISA or PCI? (If you still have > Windows installed, just boot into Windows and tell us what it's > identified as under the Device Manager) > > My first guess is that it's a software-driven modem (aka 'winmodem'; > many of these work in Linux, but almost all require extra drivers and > setting up that aren't part of the standard install. There's probably > helpful info on the wiki if you search for 'winmodem'. > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > wlug mailing list > wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > > End of wlug Digest, Vol 162, Issue 3 > ************************************ >

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WLUG Xmas BBQ POSTPONED !
by Jamie Curtis 03 Dec '04

03 Dec '04

Hi All, As the weather looks pretty average, the forcast is for rain developing and we don't have any cover in the back yard, we are going to postpone the BBQ. We will try again for Friday 10th. I'll post an update later in the week. Cheers, Jamie

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WLUG Meeting is tonight
by Meeting Reminder bot 03 Dec '04

03 Dec '04

The WLUG meeting is this evening ---------------------------------------------------------------------- !!The Official Annual [WLUG] End of Year Barbeque! In accordance with the prophecy, our end of 2004 [BBQ] is at DaHoose, 3 Liston Crescent, Hillcrest (off Helena Road, by the Gate 1 entrance to Uni/Clyde St roundabout). If it's wet, the backup day is Friday the 10th. WLUG will provide salad, soft drinks, BBQ, backyard cricket and entertainment. You will need to bring yourself, meat and alcohol should you desire any of these things. Start time of 3.30 - 4pm with the BBQ starting about 6.30 on Saturday 4th. Start time of 6pm with BBQ about 7 if we need to postpone until Friday 10th. Check out photos from last years barbeque from [John|http://www.wlug.org.nz/~jrm/wlug-bbq/], [Kyle|http://www.feet.net.nz/gallery/wlugbbq/] or [Phil|http://www.nevada.net.nz/gallery/wlug03].

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Configuring Modem for Email and Internet
by Roger Oed 02 Dec '04

02 Dec '04

Hi All, I am trying to configure my Redhat 8.0 box to work with a modem for e-mail and Internet access. I have configured my e-mail account correctly, and have configured a network connection for the modem. When the machine starts up, during the Bios phase the machine obviously sees the modem. However, when I try to run the e-mail it immediately returns an error indicating that it hasn't seen the modem. Can anyone suggest some tests I can perform to try and identify the source of the error or any reasons why Linux does not appear to see the modem, please? Thanks Roger

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In defence of Fedora
by Craig Box 01 Dec '04

01 Dec '04

Hi everyone, The current distro that the WLUG Committee recommend our new users run is Fedora. Mandrake is possibly a 'simpler' distribution, but most of the people who come to help out and post to the mailing list don't run it. In fact, a lot of them don't run Fedora either, but know enough about it to be helpful. If there is enough of a groundswell of people using Mandrake who have learnt it through to expert level and are prepared to help other people, we'd be happier about recommending it. Right now, it's out there, it might suit peoples needs better, but as a club, we can't necessarily help you with it. Fedora is a good combination of useful to new user, well supported, powerful and up to date. Ubuntu is another distribution that fits that bill. Mandrake might be, but I don't know enough to make that call. With regard to yum especially, yum 2.2 in Fedora Core 3 addresses lots of the shortfauls in yum 2.0 (it now has .repo files, which are more like apt's Packages/Releases, instead of thousands of little .hdr files). Perhaps this discussion could be held at http://www.wlug.org.nz/SelectingADistribution which needs an overhaul. We could also perhaps have a list of the top 10 things that are different in each distro (ie how to get security updates, how to get MP3 playback, how to configure your network card). Giving up on the list isn't a good way to stop other people from having problems. Remember also we're more than happy to look at machines at LUG meetings. Just let us know in advance if you need an internet connection so we can arrange one. Craig

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Re: [wlug] Fedora (the one we support) revisited
by jaytee＠clear.net.nz 01 Dec '04

01 Dec '04

Hi All, I did make sure that I had a good repo and plenty of mirrors then "yum update" There were 54 items to d/load. at the 11th file, some three hours later (at 47k), a thing called "gzip" failed to down load so it tried mirror after mirror very slowly. Failing on each occasion. I think it was at the fourteenth unsuccessful mirror attempt that I began cutting 25mm lengths off the modem cord. The mirror sites then went by much more quickly as they were unable to connect. The success in this is that there were TONNES of mirrors to try if only I had waited a couple more days things may have been OK and I could have got on with updating yum and possibly installing mplayer. I am finding Fedora to be bad for my self esteem and I note with horror that I have forced myself into the position of the official "idiot question asker". To this end I am unsubscribing from the mailing list so as not to broadcast my ineptitude to all and sundry when doing fubars in the future. The distro that has given me the least grief is "Mandrake"> (yep. Windows user) If any one is willing to burn me a good copy of the latest issue I would be happy if they would contact me off list. Many thanks to all the list members. Regards John. > A bad checksum probably means the file corrupted while you > were downloading it. Possible reasons for this are: > > 1) a web proxy in your path (transparent or otherwise) has > an incomplete copy cached > 2) the file changed while you were downloading it > 3) yum didn't actually finish downloading the file > 4) the copy on the server is incomplete or corrupt. > > To fix this, try running 'yum update' then 'yum install > mplayer' when the update finishes. If that doesn't work, > try adding more yum mirrors to your mirror list - I > notice that your output contained comments regarding 'No > more mirrors to try' etc. > > > As to your second question - it carried on because only > one part of the download failed, the others are all > intact. > > > Thought I was doing fairly good, Wgot the public > key. >Copied freshrpms, fixed a parsing error but now got > a >checksum problem. > >I have saved the whole drama if anyone has time to help I > >would apreciatte it > >Terminal entries follow: > > > >[root(a)localhost john]# yum install mplayer > > > .. > > >http://ayo.freshrpms.net/fedora/linux/3/i386/freshrpms/RP > MS/mplayer-1.0-0.12.20041025.1.fc3.fr.i386.rpm: >[Errno > -1] Package does not match checksum >freshrpms: [Errno > 256] No more mirrors to try. >[root(a)localhost john]# > > > > > >Also why go through the whole download if the thing fails > >the checksum* > >Regards John > > > > >

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