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WLUG Fixit Meeting is today!
by Meeting Reminder bot 06 Feb '10

06 Feb '10

A reminder, the WLUG Fixit Meeting is today. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- First Saturday workshop for 2010!!! SaturdayWorkshop at Te Whanau Pūtahi (http://zoomin.co.nz/map/nz/hamilton/fairfield/-te+whanau+ptahi/) the community church at the end of Oxford Street. We'll have the usual tables, power, various ISO's, Internet, coffee, BBQ lunch, etc. If there's something you specifically want to work on please mention it on the mailing list in advance so we can study up beforehand or bring any necessary equipment.

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Self intro & Hamilton handmade Tux's
by Roger Sinel 05 Feb '10

05 Feb '10

Hiya, Just to introduce myself, I'm a expat Kiwi from Hamilton. I live and work in Stockholm Sweden with FOSS in a large RHEL environment. I'm also very involved in the FOSS community in Sweden. I'm back in Hamilton on Holiday and will come along to the fix it meeting tomorrow to show my face amongst the WLUG before we fly back next week. I've been luckily enough to get my mother to sew up a few soft toy Tuxes for me. And also a large on that I will use for Software Freedom Day 2010 and for other FOSS gatherings that I'm involved organizing. My mother is interested in sewing these Tuxes for the Linux community if there is any interest for them here. Please let me know if anybody is interested and keep it in mind as situations come up from time to time where tuxes really add that little bit extra to a FOSS event. Check out these pictures I just took of the two finished Tuxes. http://picasaweb.google.com/roger.sinel/KiwiTuxMadeInNewZealand?feat=direct… Looking forward to meeting some of you tomorrow. /roger -- Roger Sinel www.nordickiwi.com "The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand." Frank Herbert (1920 - 1986)

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Linux/Tux Keyboard
by Liz Quilty 05 Feb '10

05 Feb '10

Heya Just letting you know im selling the Tux/Linux Keyboard i was given a few months back (i never used it) to fundraise for Oxfam. If you are interested have a looky at http://velofille.com/2010/02/05/linuxtux-keyboard-for-sale-oxfam-fundraiser/ Liz

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WLUG Fixit Meeting tomorrow
by Meeting Reminder bot 05 Feb '10

05 Feb '10

A reminder; the WLUG Fixit Meeting is tomorrow. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- First Saturday workshop for 2010!!! SaturdayWorkshop at Te Whanau Pūtahi (http://zoomin.co.nz/map/nz/hamilton/fairfield/-te+whanau+ptahi/) the community church at the end of Oxford Street. We'll have the usual tables, power, various ISO's, Internet, coffee, BBQ lunch, etc. If there's something you specifically want to work on please mention it on the mailing list in advance so we can study up beforehand or bring any necessary equipment.

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Benq Scanner s2W 4300U...
by Zed 02 Feb '10

02 Feb '10

Before starting the procedure outlined on the WLUG webpages on how to install this scanner, I entered the first instruction into a terminal. The output was: zed(a)zed-desktop ~ $ tail -f /var/log/messages Feb 2 14:31:51 zed-desktop sudo: pam_sm_authenticate: Called Feb 2 14:31:51 zed-desktop sudo: pam_sm_authenticate: username = [zed] Feb 2 14:43:16 zed-desktop kernel: [201541.333127] usb 2-1: USB disconnect, address 4 Feb 2 14:45:32 zed-desktop kernel: [201678.008023] usb 2-1: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 5 Feb 2 14:45:33 zed-desktop kernel: [201678.222085] usb 2-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice Feb 2 17:39:38 zed-desktop kernel: [212123.386301] scanimage[16779]: segfault at 68 ip 001e4852 sp bfd7afe4 error 4 in libpthread-2.10.1.so[1de000+15000] Feb 2 17:45:35 zed-desktop sudo: pam_sm_authenticate: Called Feb 2 17:45:35 zed-desktop sudo: pam_sm_authenticate: username = [zed] Feb 2 17:45:56 zed-desktop kernel: [212501.455456] scanimage[16875]: segfault at 68 ip 00386852 sp bfbeb654 error 4 in libpthread-2.10.1.so[380000+15000] Feb 2 18:02:34 zed-desktop kernel: [213499.605729] usb 2-1: USB disconnect, address 5 I had just turned the scanner off. I have no idea what this means. Perhaps someone does! Zed -- Zed Clean your monitor, I can't see out

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Benq Scanner S2W 4300U...
by Zed 02 Feb '10

02 Feb '10

Using LinuxMint v8.0 Helena. Some time go I purchased one of these scanners, after I found through http://www.buzzard.me.uk/jonathan/scanners-usb.html that they work with Linux, and downloaded and installed sane-backends-1.0.19 and sane-frontends-1.0.14 as suggested. Xsane is installed, also. However, when I clicked on XSane to launch the scanner the following error appeared: Failed to open device 'snapscan:libusb:001:002': Invalid argument. A search for snapscan:libusb:001:002 does not find it but a libusb command in the Terminal shows that it is installed. At that time, and this is over a year ago, I decided not to bother about it and abandoned the idea. However, I recently came back to the problem - after all why have a scanner sitting on the desk if it doesn't work :-). So, I downloaded the HowTo on your website http://www.wlug.org.nz/Benq3300/4300ScannerSetup and carefully followed the directions. Regrettably the scanner still does not work. When I first ran xSane, the window opened. Clicked on Preview and the scanner sprang into action - well, it made noises as if something was going to happen - and then the xSane window closed. Ran xSane again and got the error message: Failed to open device 'snapscan:lisusb:002:00': Error during device I/O Entered the Terminal and did lusb, with the following result zed(a)zed-desktop ~ $ lsusb Bus 002 Device 004: ID 04a5:20b0 Acer Peripherals Inc. (now BenQ Corp.) S2W 3300U/4300U Bus 002 Device 003: ID 046d:c517 Logitech, Inc. LX710 Cordless Desktop Laser Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub Bus 001 Device 005: ID 05e3:0702 Genesys Logic, Inc. USB 2.0 IDE Adapter Bus 001 Device 004: ID 03f0:2f17 Hewlett-Packard EWS 2605dn Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub zed(a)zed-desktop ~ $ So, the Device is there but xSane is "throwing a wobbly" :( Opened the GIMP to use your suggestion that clicking on Acquire is the easiest way to get the scanner working but I cannot find Acquire in any of the menus in GIMP v2.6.7 >From time to time the scanner "chatters" to itself - the light comes on and flickers, becomes steady and then goes off. I don't know whether that is significant or not. I have searched Google for the error and although there are numerous entries none seem to apply to my problem. Any assistance would be much appreciated. Zed -- Zed Dogs crawl under Gates, software crawls under Windoze.

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Benq Scanner S2W 4300U...
by Zed 02 Feb '10

02 Feb '10

Further to my earlier email, and the comments about the GIMP v2.6.7, a little further searching led me to the fact that it was necessary to go to File - Create - xSane - Device dialogue...snapscan:libusb:002:004. Clicking on this returns the I/O error. Zed -- Zed Diplomacy: The Vaseline of political intercourse

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Trouble printing to a Fuji Xerox Workcentre 220
by Eric Light 31 Jan '10

31 Jan '10

Hi everyone, I've got a swanky new Fuji Xerox Workcentre 220. It's connected to my WinXP laptop via USB, which then shares it over Windows File & Print sharing to my network. For all connected Windows machines (x4) it's working fine. However for my EeePC (1005HA) running Ubuntu NBR 9.10, it won't print at all. There are no specific drivers for it. However the printer suggests that it does "PCL6/PostScript 3 Emulation", and I've tried both the Postscript and the PCL6 & PCL5e drivers. All of these choices make the printer warm up, but none of them actually end up in the printer printing anything. I've trawled the Internet, but may have been looking for the wrong thing. Does anyone have any suggestions? Cheers, - Eric

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OpenSuSE DVDs
by Graham Lauder 31 Jan '10

31 Jan '10

I have some OpenSuSE 11.2 DVDs left over from the LCA Open Day if anyone wants one. They're dual layer DVD's and have both 64 and 32 bit versions and they can run both Gnome and KDE live sessions. As per usual for OpenSuSE DVDs it has Desktop, Server and Developer tools all on the DVD and no need for an internet connection to get a full production server or desktop or development environment up and running. (Nvidia Drivers for Compiz excepted) (Enlightment, XFCE and Windowmaker desktop environments also included) Put hand up and I'll bring some up to the next WLUG meeting, or I'll put them in the post if needed urgently! Cheers G -- Graham Lauder, OpenOffice.org MarCon (Marketing Contact) NZ http://marketing.openoffice.org/contacts.html OpenOffice.org Migration and training Consultant. Ambassador for OpenSUSE Linux on your Desktop INGOTs Assessor Trainer (International Grades in Office Technologies) www.theingots.org.nz

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please remove
by Malcolm & Rosalie Heath 31 Jan '10

31 Jan '10

Please remove Malcolm Heath's email address from your address book as he passed away just before Christmas.

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Re: [wlug] Anyone got blown AM2 motherboards going spare?
by jaytee＠clear.net.nz 31 Jan '10

31 Jan '10

I have a "AN50R" board 750 socket cpu with heat sink and a TWO screw plastic clamp if you are able to modify you are welcome to it. ----- Original Message Follows ----- > My CPU heatsink clamp (the shield on the motherboard) has > snapped. I'm looking for a blown motherboard that I can > remove the heatsink clamp from to replace it. > > I need the style that is held down by 4 screws through the > board into a rectangular shield on the underside of the > board. > > Can anyone help? > > > > -- > James Pluck > A Cruce Salus > > Pablo Picasso - "Computers are useless. They can only > give you answers." - > http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/pablo_picasso.html > _______________________________________________ > wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > Unsubscribe: > http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Anyone got blown AM2 motherboards going spare?
by James Pluck 30 Jan '10

30 Jan '10

My CPU heatsink clamp (the shield on the motherboard) has snapped. I'm looking for a blown motherboard that I can remove the heatsink clamp from to replace it. I need the style that is held down by 4 screws through the board into a rectangular shield on the underside of the board. Can anyone help? -- James Pluck A Cruce Salus Pablo Picasso - "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." - http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/pablo_picasso.html

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Question-- Android LUG?
by Luke Hutchison 21 Jan '10

21 Jan '10

Does anyone know if there is a Google Android User Group in NZ? I have been hacking on the Linux kernel and Java events framework for Android (for example, I got multi-touch scaling working on the original G1 Android phone: http://bit.ly/16VDI ). Android is a fun stack to hack on at the operating system level, the Java framework level, and the app level. By the way, sorry for the spam but I have a brand-new extra Google Nexus One cellphone (with 1GHz Snapdragon processor and high-res OLED screen) here in NZ, please reply to me directly off-list if you are interested. Thanks, Luke Hutchison luke.hutch(a)gmail.com

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LCA2010 live streams
by John Billings 19 Jan '10

19 Jan '10

Some of us are down here at LCA, but you can also watch sessions on the site here: http://www.lca2010.org.nz/programme/schedule/video Cheers, John

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Backports
by Chris O'Halloran 14 Jan '10

14 Jan '10

Hello All, I am running Karmic Kooala Kubuntu 9.10 Recently I added the back-ports repository to install the latest version of Digikam and Amajoke, I mean Amarok. Well they both installed and then the update manager told mean about all the latest KDE goodness I could install so I upgraded. Well KDE-plasma now likes to hit 80-90% CPU usuage and is wearing out my cooling fans. Can I go back to a non-backports version of my machine? I still want ultimately to have the latest version of Digikam but revert everthing else, including Amarok to version 1.4 again. Is it a matter of disabling the backport repo and doing 'sudo apt-get upgrade' ? Any thoughts? Chris

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Re: [wlug] Mint Updates
by Wayne Grimsey 13 Jan '10

13 Jan '10

Happy new year John Here's the result of entering "cat /etc/apt/sources.list": (Hi Chris, ... and yes it does fail everytime.) ## LINUX MINT REPOSITORIES ## ----------------------- ## +++ Linux Mint 7 Gloria (stable) +++ deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ gloria main upstream import ## +++ Backports (not as stable) +++ # deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ gloria backport ## +++ Community (not as stable) +++ # deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ gloria community ## +++ Romeo (unstable) +++ # deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ gloria romeo ## +++ Source Repositories +++ # deb-src http://packages.linuxmint.com/ gloria main upstream import # deb-src http://packages.linuxmint.com/ gloria community # deb-src http://packages.linuxmint.com/ gloria backport # deb-src http://packages.linuxmint.com/ gloria romeo ## ------------------- ## UBUNTU REPOSITORIES ## ------------------- ## +++ Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty (stable) +++ deb http://nz.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty main restricted universe multiverse deb http://nz.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-updates main restricted universe multiverse deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-security main restricted universe multiverse ## +++ Backports & Proposed (not as stable) +++ # deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-backports main restricted universe multiverse # deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-proposed main restricted universe multiverse ## +++ Source Repositories +++ # deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty main restricted universe multiverse # deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-updates main restricted universe multiverse # deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-security main restricted universe multiverse # deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-backports main restricted universe multiverse # deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-proposed main restricted universe multiverse ## ------------------ ## OTHER REPOSITORIES ## ------------------ ## +++ Canonical (stable) +++ deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ jaunty partner ## +++ Medibuntu (stable) +++ deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ jaunty free non-free deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/compiz/ubuntu/ hardy main deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/bogdanb/amarok14/ubuntu jaunty main Also here's a sample of an error message when attempting to use mintUpdate via the GUI: W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/k/krb5/libkrb53_1.6.dfsg.4~beta… 404 Not Found > Message: 3 > Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:25:29 +1300 > From: Wayne Grimsey <wgrimsey(a)hotmail.com> > To: <wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz> > Subject: [wlug] Linux Mint Updates > Message-ID: <SNT124-W238FD21991A39BA12F307CC66C0(a)phx.gbl> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > > Hi Team . > > Happy new year. > > Whenever I use the GUI screen to complete Mint Updates, I receive 404 messages relating to unable to find servers, links etc. I've managed a workaround by typing apt upgrade each time I need to install the updates. I'm currently using the 64 bit version of Gloria. I've tried refreshing the repositories etc, but there is obviously something else I need to do. > > Any ideas? > > Kind regards > Wayne > > _________________________________________________________________ > Want to be a Space Travel Agent? If it exists, you'll find it on SEEK > http://clk.atdmt.com/NMN/go/157639089/direct/01/ >

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Re: [wlug] LCA2010
by Eric Light 12 Jan '10

12 Jan '10

John - Yep I'll be there as well. Travelling down by car on Saturday after dinner, staying at ski club lodge in National Park, then leaving circa 8am Sunday morning for the newcomer's meet. Looking forward to catching up again! Liz - Definitely keen for a curry at some point too! :-) Cheers, - Eric On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 12:00 PM, <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. LCA2010 (John Billings) > 2. Re: LCA2010 (Ronnie Collinson) > 3. Re: LCA2010 (Liz Quilty) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:22:06 +1300 > From: John Billings <john(a)nimhq.net> > To: Waikato Linux Users Group <wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz> > Subject: [wlug] LCA2010 > Message-ID: <4B498E2E.5060500(a)nimhq.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > Hey, > > LCA2010 is almost here, I know Liz, Ronnie, Stephen and myself are > going. Anyone else going? Sometime during the week I thought it might > be nice to have an informal WLUG get together in Welly, and talk about > what we would like to accomplish in the next year. Specifically I'm > aiming this at the committee members, but anyone else is welcome to join > if you happen to be there. > > Best, > John > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:35:08 +1300 > From: Ronnie Collinson <notthinking(a)gmail.com> > To: Waikato Linux Users Group <wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz> > Subject: Re: [wlug] LCA2010 > Message-ID: > <2d52a3b41001100335m347fc8e4u5e095a4d8a51a756(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > Would be good to have a meatup while down there, prehaps at the bar > mentioned on the LCA webpage one evening? >

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Linux Mint Updates
by Wayne Grimsey 12 Jan '10

12 Jan '10

Hi Team . Happy new year. Whenever I use the GUI screen to complete Mint Updates, I receive 404 messages relating to unable to find servers, links etc. I've managed a workaround by typing apt upgrade each time I need to install the updates. I'm currently using the 64 bit version of Gloria. I've tried refreshing the repositories etc, but there is obviously something else I need to do. Any ideas? Kind regards Wayne _________________________________________________________________ Want to be a Space Travel Agent? If it exists, you'll find it on SEEK http://clk.atdmt.com/NMN/go/157639089/direct/01/

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LCA2010
by John Billings 11 Jan '10

11 Jan '10

Hey, LCA2010 is almost here, I know Liz, Ronnie, Stephen and myself are going. Anyone else going? Sometime during the week I thought it might be nice to have an informal WLUG get together in Welly, and talk about what we would like to accomplish in the next year. Specifically I'm aiming this at the committee members, but anyone else is welcome to join if you happen to be there. Best, John

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Rsync and Samba
by Cameron Rangeley 21 Dec '09

21 Dec '09

Hi Guys I am running two RHEL boxes, each day I am rsyncing some data from my primary server to my secondary server. I am rsyncing the entire /home partition. On my primary server there are about 8 samba shares for data that the clients can access all the samba shares point to various sub-directories within /home. My issue is that on my secondary server I cant connect to the shares from a windows workstation. My smb.conf file is exactly the same as my primary server and to test I have created a test mount in /mnt/test and I can connect to that fine. It appears that the issue is all around the fact that these directories that have been created with rsync. My rsync command is: rsync -arzgopulv --delete /home root(a)192.168.9.2:/ My smbd.log file says: '/home/folder/folder/folder does not exist or permission denied when connecting to [akemail] Error was Permission denied. I can see the folder in samba I have forced the user as root and I have chmodded the folder to 777. Access from the console to these files and folders works fine. Has anyone got any other ideas that I can try? Thanks Cameron

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Multi function scanner permissions
by Ron Dean 15 Dec '09

15 Dec '09

I have a Brother MFC-260c multifunction printer scanner fax It prints OK but the scanner only operates under root What steps do I take to alter the permissions on the scanner and how do I find out the correct path when I change permissions it is connected through usb -- Ron Dean 2 Shannon Place Nawton Hamilton Ph 8493904

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Python syntax
by Chris O'Halloran 14 Dec '09

14 Dec '09

Hello all, Here is a bit of code that I am getting my head around. It's out of a book that I am using to teach myself matplotlib, a python library for making graphs etc. The following code is using an object-orientated approach in preparation for embedding the graph within an GUI application. <code> #!/usr/bin/env python # -*- coding: utf-8 -*- import matplotlib.pyplot as plt import numpy as np x = np.arange(0, 10, 0.1) y = np.random.randn(len(x)) fig = plt.figure() ax = fig.add_subplot(111) l, = plt.plot(x, y) t = ax.set_title('random numbers') plt.show() </code> The line l, = plt.plot(x, y) has got me slighty confused because l = plt.plot(x, y) also works, without the trailing comma after the l I was wondering if any Python coders might comment to the comma's significance. I've scanned my four books on Python and can't find any reference. Cheers, Chris

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Knoppix
by jaytee＠clear.net.nz 11 Dec '09

11 Dec '09

Hello all, Here is a question from another forum that no one seems to be able to answer. Does any of our know what can be done as I have had similar issues with knoppix of late. Tried no acpi with difference.. Regards John Hi, I've had a copy of Knoppix for years. I think it is version 3, anyway it is several years old and works well. I thought i'd update it and so downloaded 6.2 CD. When it booted up it goes to a text interface.I looked through the options and it had a graphical version of firefox listed so I tried that and it started loading but then the monitor went into standby. So I then downloaded the DVD. It started booting, started loading the interface and the same happened. The monitor went into standby. It loads the first screen with the linux logo in the top left and starts loading things like Hal and Sound with a green loading bar. Then it had a couple of lines of text (root(a)....) Then it goes to a black sreen with the cursor in the top left and after a couple of seconds the monitor turns off. The disk is still loading. I've had a surf and tried a few cheatcodes (screen=800x600, vga=0, vsync=60 etc) but i'm not really sure what i'm doing. Is it a known issue and does anyone know how to fix it? __________________ Cheers, Degs

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Openmoko Freerunner A6 for sale
by Matt Brown 06 Dec '09

06 Dec '09

Hi, Is anyone interested in buying one of the Openmoko open source phones to play with? I know they've been hard/expensive to get in NZ, so this may be your chance... I'm selling my Freerunner. I purchased it from Pulster over a year ago and used it for several months before I received an Android phone and sadly my Freerunner has been sitting gathering dust since then. I'd rather someone who had the time was using it for something useful, so I'm putting it on the market. It's in excellent condition: GTA02 A6 - Serial 8A8810247 - Original box - Charger with foreign adaptors - 512MB microSD card and SD card adapter No USB cable (missing in shipment from Pulster) No Stylus/Laser pen (lost) I purchased the phone for around 400 euro a year ago, and have barely used it. I'll consider any reasonable NZD offer for it. I'm in Hamilton until the end of the year and can deliver to the local area or arrange for you to pick up the phone. Replies by private mail please. -- Matt Brown matt(a)mattb.net.nz Mob +353 86 608 7117 www.mattb.net.nz

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HP laptop power socket needed
by Bryce Utting 05 Dec '09

05 Dec '09

Hi all, Finally got around to poking around in my dead nx5000. just a wild guess here, but I kinda suspect that if a plug has 18+V on it yet the socket only meters at 0.56V across its terminals when the plug's in it, then there's possibly a -slight- chance the socket needs replacing... (especially since I noticed arcs from the socket shortly before it stopped booting) Anyone have any useful parts? should be able to get a photo up once I've charged some batteries. would prefer not to drop a DSE part in, since while the plug's a standard 2.5mm-ish one, the socket's got two ground lugs to each side, and are probably needed for structural reasons. (yep, will stop by Jaycar. would like to close it all back up reasonably soonish though so I can get my table back!) ta, butting

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Digital Cameras and Linux
by Chris O'Halloran 03 Dec '09

03 Dec '09

Hello all, I know there are some photography enthusiasts on this list. I am considering purchasing a digital SLR camera. I bought a film based SLR camera about 6 years ago but it would seem it is time to move on. The previous camera was a Nikon F55 and I had purchased a few filters and a 300mm telephoto lens. Even though it was an entry level camera, I was generally happy with the quality of the images. In previous reading on this topic, I understand the opinion varies amongst manufacturers on the various file formats and how well they allow the RAW file formats to be extracted from the camera. The two brands I am mostly considering at this stage are Nikon and Canon. Would anyone care to comment if a Linux user is likely to have a preference for either and/or if there is another brand that is very Linux friendly? I like the idea of a camera that uses SD cards and possibly conventional batteries but that requirement isn't hard n fast. Additionally if there is some way to use my legacy 300m telephoto lens, that would also be cool but I'm resigned to it being incompatible. Thanks for any thoughts offered, just thought I'd ask. Cheers, Chris

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performance difference between a swap partition vs a swap file >>>>>
by Narender 03 Dec '09

03 Dec '09

I have done a lot of research, but I do not have any real world experience so I'm hoping you can help me understand the real world differences in performance. The research tells me that if you create a swap file on an empty disk and on a OS using kernel 2.6 then the performance differences are minor, but that the swap partition is a slight favorite in terms of pure performance. Our Scenario: Raid 1 146GB partition 33GB Swap File created on / (Note: the swap file was created when the OS was built, so the hard drives were not full and they were very empty) Kernel 2.6 Best Regards N

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Newbee near the university with vanishing XP cursor needs help
by Robert D Davidson 30 Nov '09

30 Nov '09

Hi Wlug, A computer newbee with XP who lives in Hillcrest and runs a property development business needs computer help. From an initial consultation with him, at my local cafe in Morrinsville, he seems like a canditate of a simple port to Lynix on his existing hardware. He is prepared to format his hardrive to solve his problems. Anyone interested please contact me for his details. I haven't discussed costs with him but I guess this would be a paying job at his expense as he wants a speedy response. Cheers Robert

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WLUG Fixit Meeting is today!
by Meeting Reminder bot 27 Nov '09

27 Nov '09

A reminder, the WLUG Fixit Meeting is today. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- End of year BBQ and saturday workshop SaturdayWorkshop at Te Whanau Pūtahi (http://zoomin.co.nz/map/nz/hamilton/fairfield/-te+whanau+ptahi/) the community church at the end of Oxford Street. Since this is the last workshop of the year we're also going to make this the end of year BBQ We'll have the usual tables, power, various ISO's, Internet, coffee, BBQ lunch, etc.

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WLUG End of year BBQ / Get together Saturday 28th Nov
by Bruce Kingsbury 27 Nov '09

27 Nov '09

Sorry for the short notice, but I didn't realise I hadn't put this on the Wiki already; The WLUG annual BBQ and get together will be on Saturday at Te Whanau Putahi (at the end of Oxford St), along with the regular Saturday Workshop. workshop is 10am-4pm, BBQ will be somewhere around 12-1pm. This will be the last meeting for the year, and a good time to renew your membership for next year! Hope to see you there.. Bruce

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AJAX and jQuery help please?
by James Pluck 27 Nov '09

27 Nov '09

Hi all! Is there anyone out there who is adept with jQuery, javascript and AJAX? I have an ajax call in the application that I am working on that is the root of a Heisenbug that is causing me some grief! I have pruned the call to the collowing code: <code> function addPublication ( pubID, pubName, pubCategories ){ alert ( "in addPublication" ); var xhr = $.ajax ({ url: "/publisher/ajax/addpub.php", type: "POST", data: ({ id: pubID, name: pubName, "categories[]": pubCategories }), success: function(){ alert ( "We're Back from addpublication" ); } }); alert ( "*" + xhr.responseText + "*" ); }; </code> The post that is generated from this is correct and if I manually send that post data to the php script I get the expected results (at the moment all the script does is generate an empty page with a "print_r" of the post data. However, the ajax call randomly returns correctly or returns with "error - undefined error." Firebug is distressingly unhelpful in that all it does is show the url in red in the console and no errors or anything! I have found on occasion that erasing the url and retyping it exactly will cause the bug to disappear but any editting of the js file after that will cause the bug to return. The ironic thing is that when I have the full function of the php script activated it actually does the task that it is supposed to do correctly - except that I have to refresh the page to see the result instead of the ajax refreshing the page properly. Argh! can anyone shed some light? -- James Pluck A Cruce Salus Charles de Gaulle - "The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs." - http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/charles_de_gaulle.html

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WLUG Fixit Meeting tomorrow
by Meeting Reminder bot 26 Nov '09

26 Nov '09

A reminder; the WLUG Fixit Meeting is tomorrow. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- End of year BBQ and saturday workshop SaturdayWorkshop at Te Whanau Pūtahi (http://zoomin.co.nz/map/nz/hamilton/fairfield/-te+whanau+ptahi/) the community church at the end of Oxford Street. Since this is the last workshop of the year we're also going to make this the end of year BBQ We'll have the usual tables, power, various ISO's, Internet, coffee, BBQ lunch, etc.

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Re: [wlug] WLUG End of year BBQ / Get together Saturday 28th Nov
by jaytee＠clear.net.nz 25 Nov '09

25 Nov '09

I will do some head poking also. Regards John > > Speaking of turnout, who's coming? > I will poke my head in - but I'm helping a friend move > house so I don't know when. I won't be there for the BBQ > but I'll be there at some point :) > > _______________________________________________ > wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > Unsubscribe: > http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Re: [wlug] WLUG End of year BBQ / Get together Saturday 28th Nov
by Sam Lin 24 Nov '09

24 Nov '09

Ouch... I'll be away for attending a conference in Wellington for the rest of this week. Leave some meat for me~~

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REMINDER: WLUG meeting tonight!
by Meeting Reminder Bot 22 Nov '09

22 Nov '09

There's a WLUG meeting tonight: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:30pm MS4.G.02 (http://www.waikato.ac.nz/contacts/map?MS4) 2009 AGM Agenda Approval of 2008 AGM minutes President's Report Treasurer's Report Election of Officers (Don't forget to do CommitteeHandover this year) General Business

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WLUG meeting jan/feb
by Roger Sinel 22 Nov '09

22 Nov '09

Hi, I'm an expat living in Stockholm Sweden. Coming back home to Hamilton for a month and are interested in coming alone to a meeting if your having one between 10jan-10feb 2010. Anything else happening around regarding FOSS in NZ during this time? /Roger Sinel http://www.nordickiwi.com --

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[OT] kiwicon - ride
by Brad Cowie 20 Nov '09

20 Nov '09

Hello list, Is anyone off to kiwicon this year and has room for another person in their car? Need a lift from Hamilton this year. Email me offlist. Thanks.

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REMINDER: WLUG meeting is on Monday
by Meeting Reminder Bot 19 Nov '09

19 Nov '09

There's a Waikato Linux Users Group meeting on Monday: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:30pm MS4.G.02 (http://www.waikato.ac.nz/contacts/map?MS4) 2009 AGM Agenda Approval of 2008 AGM minutes President's Report Treasurer's Report Election of Officers (Don't forget to do CommitteeHandover this year) General Business

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Access brothers computer?
by jaytee＠clear.net.nz 18 Nov '09

18 Nov '09

Hi All, Is there a simple way for me to access my brothers windows vista computer in Wanganui from my Ubuntu box? I have access to his internet account and can get my sis in law to change the windows permissions if need be... Regards John..

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Re: [wlug] FreeGeek
by jaytee＠clear.net.nz 17 Nov '09

17 Nov '09

Hi John, I would be a starter for that Free Geek thing. As you well know I am not a Geek but am trying hard to become a "g." I can mess around with things under someones guidance and come up with positive results most times ( I own a hammer for those other times <g> ) any how. For what it is worth, my hand is up. All the best John........

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Bad move!
by Michael McDonald 16 Nov '09

16 Nov '09

When my Linksys router/modem failed, I bought an Asus DSL-G31 router/modem. It's quite a nice unit and has wireless. In my naivety I thought a router/modem was a router/modem! Not so, it seems - I have a problem. I also have Linksys PAP2T telephone adapter connecting to a VOIP connection at Xnet. However, the Asus router seems to blocking the VOIP connection. Checking back on the Xnet website, I see that the only router/modems listed as being compatible with Xnet's service are Linksys models. The Asus has SIP enabled, but I presume that the PAP2T is not using SIP. Xnet tech suggested unlocking the PAP2T, going back to factory default settings, and re-provisioning the PAP2T. It seems that the re-provisioning has taken place as Line 1 has the correct telephone number. Does anyone have any suggestions? The simplest way out may to just to buy a Linksys router/modem. I notice that Xnet seems to have support for Asterisk (but there are no instructions for it). I've got a spare computer, so downloaded and installed AsteriskNOW. That was the easy part. I am completely bewildered about getting it configured! Michael

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Fwd: [NZOSS-Openchat] Invitation to complete IT Vendor Capability Survey
by Bruce Kingsbury 16 Nov '09

16 Nov '09

Not sure if this already got crossposted, and I suspect most of us are also on the NZLUG list.. but ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Brenda Chawner <Brenda.Chawner(a)vuw.ac.nz> Date: 2009/11/13 Subject: [NZOSS-Openchat] Invitation to complete IT Vendor Capability Survey To: NZOSS Open Discussion List <openchat(a)lists.nzoss.org.nz> I would like to invite you to complete an online survey designed to find out what services New Zealand IT vendors can offer to support a free software desktop. Free software is software released under a license that supports the four essential software freedoms, which allow users to * run the program for any purpose (Freedom 0) * study the source code, and improve it to better meet their needs (Freedom 1) * distribute copies of the software to others (Freedom 2) * distribute modified versions of the software to others (Freedom 3) For more information about free software, please see: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html The survey is being conducted by the New Zealand Open Source Society and the School of Information Management at Victoria University of Wellington as part of the Public Sector Remix project, which seeks to demonstrate the viability of free software for use by New Zealand government agencies. It includes questions about your current services, including * end user support and training, * desktop configuration management, and * server integration You are also asked to provide information about which free software packages are used within your organisation, and how people from your organisation contribute to free software projects. Before starting to complete the survey, you may find it useful to find out what free software packages other staff within your organisation use, and whether they contribute to the projects in any way. It should take you up to 45 minutes to complete the survey. The data you provide will be stored securely in a password-protected file for up to two years, and only the researchers will have access to it. The aggregated results will be shared with the government agencies who are participating in the Public Sector Remix project, and they may be presented at conferences such as GOVIS, or published in academic, professional, or industry journals. No organisations or individuals will be named in any presentations or publications that report on the results of this survey. A summary of the results will be published on the New Zealand Open Source Society website once the data is analysed; this is likely to be in early 2010. The survey starts at http://survey.publicsectorremix.org.nz/index.php?sid=87388&lang=en If you have any questions about the survey, please contact: Brenda Chawner brenda.chawner(a)vuw.ac.nz. For more information about the Public Sector Remix project, please contact: John Rankin john.rankin(a)affinity.co.nz. -- Brenda Chawner Senior Lecturer School of Information Management Victoria University of Wellington P O Box 600, Wellington NEW ZEALAND (04) 463 5780 | fax (04) 463 5446 | Room EA201 | brenda.chawner(a)vuw.ac.nz _______________________________________________ Openchat mailing list Openchat(a)lists.nzoss.org.nz http://lists.nzoss.org.nz/mailman/listinfo/openchat -- Disclaimer: By sending an email to any of my addresses you are agreeing that: 1. I am by definition, "the intended recipient" 2. All information in the email is mine to do with as I see fit and make such financial profit, political mileage, or good joke as it lends itself to. 3. I may take the contents as representing the views of your company. 4. This overrides any disclaimer or statement of confidentiality that may be included on your message.

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windows thru Linux
by David Giles 15 Nov '09

15 Nov '09

Hi, I run Mandriva as my main operating system, but on a second computer I have windows 98 to run a small [windows only] accounting program. Can I join the computers together and operate the accounts program through Linux? The program will run on a Mack using virtual PC. Does linux have a similar program and would windows have to be loaded onto the computer? Regards, David

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ANNOUNCE: WLUG meeting is one week away
by Meeting Reminder Bot 15 Nov '09

15 Nov '09

The Waikato Linux Users Group have a meeting in one week from today: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:30pm MS4.G.02 (http://www.waikato.ac.nz/contacts/map?MS4) 2009 AGM Agenda Approval of 2008 AGM minutes President's Report Treasurer's Report Election of Officers (Don't forget to do CommitteeHandover this year) General Business

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Karmic review
by jaytee＠clear.net.nz 08 Nov '09

08 Nov '09

Karmic review, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/29/ubuntu_9_10_review/

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Sendmail + catchall account
by Narender 06 Nov '09

06 Nov '09

Hi Is there any way of creating a 'catchall' or a default account that all undelivered mail can go to ? eg if we have 3 user accounts (user1, user2, admin) already set up, but someone sends an email to user3(a)mydomain.com, can sendmail figure out that it doesn't match any existing users and deliver it to admin(a)mydomain.com ? I am using sendmail-8.13.1-3.RHEL4.5 Best Regards N

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WLUG Fixit Meeting tomorrow
by Meeting Reminder bot 05 Nov '09

05 Nov '09

A reminder; the WLUG Fixit Meeting is tomorrow. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday November 7th, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm SaturdayWorkshop at Te Whanau Pūtahi (http://zoomin.co.nz/map/nz/hamilton/fairfield/-te+whanau+ptahi/) the community church at the end of Oxford Street. We'll have the usual tables, power, various ISO's, Internet, coffee and light lunch, etc.

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Getting the keyboard and mouse back after a power cut
by Glenn Ramsey 04 Nov '09

04 Nov '09

Hi, I have a Dell laptop in a docking station running Kubuntu 8.10. After a short power cut the keyboard and mouse (ps/2) do not work. I can ssh into it but I'm not sure how to reinitialise the kdb and mouse. Have tried restarting kdm, restarting udev and removing and reloading the psmouse module (couldn't see a module that looked like it might have something to do with the keyboard), but that doesn't fix it. The only way I can currently do it is to reboot. Anyone know how to do this? Glenn -- Glenn Ramsey <glenn(a)componic.co.nz> 07 8627077 http://www.componic.co.nz

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Fwd: [nzlug] Dialup on Slingshot
by Bruce Kingsbury 03 Nov '09

03 Nov '09

Can't remember who was having problems with dialup a couple of meetings back, but a similar issue has come up on the nzlinux mailing list so this information may be useful to someone. Or you can bring it along (again) to the saturdayworkshop end of year BBQ Nov 28th and we'll take another look at it. (useful ppp options down the bottom of the following mail) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Graham Lauder <gl(a)openopportunities.co.nz> Date: 2009/10/22 Subject: Re: [nzlug] Dialup on Slingshot To: NZLUG Mailing List <nzlug(a)linux.net.nz> On Wednesday 21 October 2009 08:58:39 Mark Foster wrote: [...] > > Having been on the other side (Helpdesk'r for several years - including > for Slingshot ironically enough (though a very long time ago) - try it > from a helpdesk's POV. > > - Probably nil experience with Linux and linux software. > - Fault unable to be duplicated from a windows box? (I think that's what I > read). > - Working from one OS and not another would point to an OS specific fault, > not an ISP specific fault. I would doubt that many ISPs actually provide > helpdesk services with Linux in mind. > [....] Yep all of the above, interestingly, I'll give them ups for one thing the first guy I talked to had a pretty good shot at trying to help which was very good considering that he was probably doing it blind not being able to pull up an OpenSuSE desktop in front of him. > > Have to say that my answer would've been similar at any of the three ISP's > I performed tech support for. > > Unfortunately while there's essentially one way to configure dialup under > Windows, Linux offers too many gotchas around modem drivers, dialup > software, GUI vs CLI, for support staff to be proficient with the > environment (Unless, somehow, they have both time and inclination to > fiddle with many of these.) > > Most helpdesk'rs I have known are afforded precious little professional > development time, so what they know = what they are experienced with. > > (The social win, as it were, would be to improve linux experience levels > amongst those who work on helpdesks. This will have a flow-on effect to > the capabilities the ISPs provide). Agreed, toward that, I'm going to email the fix to them and the ppp/options file, you never know it may be useful to them. > > Anyone know any ISPs who explicitly provide Linux tech support? (And more > importantly, where that offer is not tied to the skills of one or two > individuals (aka SPOF's))? I'm not sure here but is /etc/ppp/options common to all distros and/or Desktop Environments. I'm using KDE and Kinternet and the assumption is that all distros running KDE should be the same. Does the Gnome desktop use the same location and options file? That's obviously significant because of Ubuntu's position in the market. If I'm going to help the Helpdesk'rs that would be useful for them to know. One of the advantages of course is that we're dealing with a text file. A text file looks the same in windows or whatever. Of course there are certain questions here, Does the user know how to open a terminal and run it as a superuser/root ? Does the user know how to use a text editor? Does the user know what KDE or Gnome is? Given that there are more and more "less than technical" endusers of Linux out there, affirmative answers to all of the above are not so much a given any more However assuming a reasonable level of knowledge a process could be: What's your Desktop environment: Gnome or KDE KDE: Open Konsole Do su Enter super-user password at request type kate at the prompt in the address field type /etc/ppp/options Gnome : Open terminal do sudo gedit Enter password at request in the address field type /etc/ppp/options then it's simply a matter of stepping through the text file. >From Johns mail In KDE on OpenSuSE > ============= lock (This one was already set) noauth (same here) defaultroute (wvdial does this by default in any case) ipcp-max-configure 65 (This doesn't appear to be necessary) ipcp-accept-local (uncomment this line) ipcp-accept-remote (uncomment this one as well) idle 600 (already set) > ============= So then, at least in my system receive-all (add this line) ipcp-accept-local (uncomment this line) ipcp-accept-remote (uncomment this one as well) That's a relatively easy fix. The question is, is /etc/ppp/options the same on other distros, particularly Ubuntu. It would be good to know before I ping this off to the Slingshot helpdesk. Any other comments? Cheers GL -- Open Opportunities Ltd http//:www.openopportunities.co.nz Open Technologies Migration and Change Management Consultants Front Office ICT Training and Certification Web Presence Management Consultancy SuSE Linux Enterprise and OpenOffice.org specialists _______________________________________________ NZLUG mailing list NZLUG(a)linux.net.nz http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug -- Disclaimer: By sending an email to any of my addresses you are agreeing that: 1. I am by definition, "the intended recipient" 2. All information in the email is mine to do with as I see fit and make such financial profit, political mileage, or good joke as it lends itself to. 3. I may take the contents as representing the views of your company. 4. This overrides any disclaimer or statement of confidentiality that may be included on your message.

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Karmic Koala
by Chris O'Halloran 02 Nov '09

02 Nov '09

Hi guys, I tried to be sensible and wait for other online reviews first but in the end I couldn't resist and just hit upgrade to Karmic Koola for a Kubuntu Jaunty Jackalope machine. The process worked flawlessly and I am impressed. It upgraded my virtual Windows XP machine (running on VirtualBox), keep Amarok 1.4 and didn't break Wine. Skype still works and the wireless configuration dialog is much improved. The Nvidia drivers were updated for the new kernel. And a few annoying bugs in Kontact are gone! That was the most painless update I've experienced. It still took about an hour a 800Kb/s ADSL connection and I had to answer a few questioned along the way but otherwise very impressed. Just though I'd share that. Cheers, Chris

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