- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Exim Install on Ubuntu
by Ivan Potgieter 27 Sep '05

27 Sep '05

Hello all, I've decided to install exim using Ubuntu's Synaptic Package Manager. When selecting some of the packages, some unexpected packages are marked for removal (see below). Marked for installation: exim4, exim4-config ==> automatically marked for removal: postfix, postfix-lts, ubuntu-base, anacron, at, lsb, mailx, mutt Can anyone explain why these are marked to be removed? Thanks, Ivan

6 8

Re: [wlug] grub problem
by stephen pearce 27 Sep '05

27 Sep '05

Further to my post yesterday ... I pulled out the flash rom chip ... and removed the cmos battery ... left things for a few hours .. then reinstalled .. and it booted .. fine .. then reset it and the same problem recurred .. then reinstalled flash rom but left cmos battery bu out and left overnight .. .. it rebooted ok .. I wonder whether some of the memory in the flash rom has "gone stale" i.e. is returning equivocal logic values ... if so is this due to flash failure or the expected degradation of memory in a flash device after 4 years? Alternative is static damage at a gate level which is intermittantly casuing failure .. hdd seems to be reliable ... I plan to re flash the rom when I get home Stephen

3 2

Re: [wlug] grub prob
by stephen pearce 27 Sep '05

27 Sep '05

Hi Same error, same conditions, Fedora core 4. Then lost control of keyboard ... .. could this be a virus using the recently identified hole in Firefox to download code to reprogram the flash rom? The alternative is a static spike which fried a whole lot of disparate systems .. would a hdd failure be consistant with being able to read to grub stage 2.? hopefully just corrupted the flash rom.. which might also be consistant with a wide range of disparate symptoms. I have a hdd partitioned for windows 98 and linux .. I could not get past the grub stage 2 phase .. and the keyboard would not respond to trying to "del" during boot to access the cmos ... so I reset the cmos on the motherboard (perhaps in retrospect ill advisedly ... it now gives a keyboard read error ..) if it is a fried motherboard .. does anyone have a k7s6a elite surplus/sale? It was thepccompany .. which of course is no longer! I'll have to pull it apart to see what processor and memory type it is .. unless someone knows. I have downloaded the firmware upgrade and plan to extract the flash rom and reprogram it in an eprom burner (if I can find one which suits the flash device en29f002t/5v challanging .. and frustrating symptoms! (I suppose it reflects crappy component tolerances .. maybe we should all buy pentioned servers as the engineering in these is a bit better) any new info appreciated Thanks Stephen

2 1

Waikato Linux Users Group Incorporated Committee for 2006
by Craig Box 27 Sep '05

27 Sep '05

Congratulations to the following people, who were last night voted in as the Executive Committee for the WLUG for 2006: President: Lindsay Druett Vice-President: David Hallett Treasurer: Ian McDonald Secretary: Craig Box General Committee: Matthias Dallmeier Perry Lorier Gian Perrone Minutes are now available at http://www.wlug.org.nz/MeetingTopics.2005-09-26. Thanks to everyone who came. Craig

1 0

grub prob
by David Nicholls 26 Sep '05

26 Sep '05

hey guys, i have an interesting one. the other day my computer at home started for no aparent reason (i had'nt been fiddling or doing anything stupid on it... last time i used it i logged off & shut down normally) to display the following message when it starts up: GRUB loading stage 2 then it just sits theere doing nothing. i'm running suse 9.3. anyone got any clues? is more info needed? cheers... David Nicholls Computer Support Consultant d.nicholls at waikato.ac.nz School of Science & Engineering / Dept of Chemistry The University of Waikato Hamilton, New Zealand

3 2

Debian and profile.d
by Oliver Jones 26 Sep '05

26 Sep '05

Is there a /etc/profile.d like system on Debian? That is something I really like about Redhat. The default setup of bash is pretty light on Debian 3.1. I want to add a few aliases and stuff to the bash config system wide. Regards -- Oliver Jones > Roving Code Warrior > www.deeperdesign.com

2 2

scanning for an IP address...
by Camster342 26 Sep '05

26 Sep '05

Does anyone know of a tool which will let me discover the IP address of my ADSL modem in this setup : LAN <----> switch <----> Linux Server <----> ADSL Modem My computer is in the LAN, the Linux server is a Debian Box with no monitor or keyboard, and the ADSL modem is a DLink 302G (the kind you get free with an Xtra connection). The Linux server has two network cards in it, one connected to the switch (eth0), and one connected straight to the modem(eth1). The ADSL modem has been configured into half-bridge mode as discussed on the wlug wiki page for it (http://wlug.org.nz/DSL-302G) which means the IP address that appears on the Linux box is the external IP address of the modem, or at least the last one that was used. Now the problem is, I want to update some configuration on the modem, but I cannot remember what the IP address for it is. All I remember was that I changed it from its default. Does anyone know of a command, presumably that I would run from the linux box that I can use to find out the IP address of the modem that I browse to, to configure it? -- Cameron

3 3

WLUG Meeting is tonight
by Meeting Reminder bot 25 Sep '05

25 Sep '05

The WLUG meeting is this evening ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In accordance with Rule 6 of the charter (http://www.wlug.org.nz/WlugCharter) I would like to announce to all members that the WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup (Incorporated) will be holding its Annual General Meeting (http://www.wlug.org.nz/AGM) on Monday, 26 September, 2005, at 7pm, at the regular meeting location of room LitB] at the http://www.wlug.org.nz/University of Waikato ([WaikatoUniversity). New committee All WLUG members are encouraged to stand for election onto the WlugCommittee for 2006. The charter currently specifies the committee as consisting of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and five general committee members. Because of the relatively large size of the committee compared to the organisation's membership, the outgoing committee intends to propose a change to the charter at the AGM. We wish to call for a vote on modifying Rule 7 to require only three general committee members, not five, and modifying Rule 6 such that the quorum for committee meetings is four, not five. To stand for the committee, please email secretary at wlug.org.nz (http://www.wlug.org.nz/mailto:secretary at wlug.org.nz). If you wish to nominate someone, please contact them and ask if they are willing to stand; if you would rather not contact them yourself, feel free to email me and I will pass your request on for you. People with uncertain futures (who may be leaving the Waikato) are encouraged not to let this stop them standing for election, but please only stand if you are committed and prepared to take on a relatively small workload. To be granted voting rights at the meeting, you must have been a paid member for 2004-2005, and signed a new membership form for '05-'06. (Remember, you have 90 days to pay.) Remember to bring your survey code if you want to be in the draw to win the $100 Dick Smith Electronics voucher. Regards, CraigBox WLUG Secretary

1 0

Devices, udev, device numbers
by Ian McDonald 23 Sep '05

23 Sep '05

Hi there, In the process of setting up webcams (and getting greatly frustrated) I have been using mknod to create device entries. This is something I'm not really familiar with and I have some questions. I am trying things at present and don't really know why I am typing stuff I find in Google! Questions: 1) How are major and minor device numbers assigned? e.g. a webpage will say type "mknod /dev/video0 c 81 0". I understand the syntax but why 81 and 0 for the major and minor numbers? 2) How do these devices you create interact with udev? Permissions and other things seem to disappear after a reboot. Should I be using udev instead of mknod? URLs to articles would be appreciated or just people's comments. I promise to Wiki what I find out as I have been doing for most of my discoveries... Ian

2 2

WLUG Meeting is on Monday
by Meeting Reminder bot 22 Sep '05

22 Sep '05

The WLUG meeting is on Monday ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In accordance with Rule 6 of the charter (http://www.wlug.org.nz/WlugCharter) I would like to announce to all members that the WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup (Incorporated) will be holding its Annual General Meeting (http://www.wlug.org.nz/AGM) on Monday, 26 September, 2005, at 7pm, at the regular meeting location of room LitB] at the http://www.wlug.org.nz/University of Waikato ([WaikatoUniversity). New committee All WLUG members are encouraged to stand for election onto the WlugCommittee for 2006. The charter currently specifies the committee as consisting of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and five general committee members. Because of the relatively large size of the committee compared to the organisation's membership, the outgoing committee intends to propose a change to the charter at the AGM. We wish to call for a vote on modifying Rule 7 to require only three general committee members, not five, and modifying Rule 6 such that the quorum for committee meetings is four, not five. To stand for the committee, please email secretary at wlug.org.nz (http://www.wlug.org.nz/mailto:secretary at wlug.org.nz). If you wish to nominate someone, please contact them and ask if they are willing to stand; if you would rather not contact them yourself, feel free to email me and I will pass your request on for you. People with uncertain futures (who may be leaving the Waikato) are encouraged not to let this stop them standing for election, but please only stand if you are committed and prepared to take on a relatively small workload. To be granted voting rights at the meeting, you must have been a paid member for 2004-2005, and signed a new membership form for '05-'06. (Remember, you have 90 days to pay.) Survey I would also like to announce the first annual WLUG survey, and the chance to win a $100 DickSmith Electronics voucher! All people associated with WLUG, paid members or not, are encouraged to fill out the survey at http://survey.wlug.org.nz/. No personal information is collected and all responses are totally anonymous. At the end of the survey you will be given a token; bring this to the AGM and sign up for the '05/'06 year, and you will be in to win the $100 voucher. Regards, CraigBox WLUG Secretary

1 0