October 2004 - main

Weekly IRC reminder
by Neill Newman 11 Oct '04

11 Oct '04

This is the automated ALUG IRC meeting reminder sent to remind you that there is an IRC meeting tonight (Monday) at 8.00pm. The meeting takes place on the irc server irc.alug.org.uk in the #alug channel. Most IRC clients should allow you to get there with the commands "/server irc.alug.org.uk" and "/join #alug". Popular IRC clients include tkirc, bitchx, xchat and EPIC on Unix, and Mirc under windows. Here are some links to help you get started with irc. Unix http://www.xchat.org/ http://freshmeat.net/ http://www.epicsol.org/ Windows http://www.mirc.com (loads of help with irc for newbies!)

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A connection conundrum - can it be done?
by Barry Samuels 08 Oct '04

08 Oct '04

I have a laptop which I take on holiday and would like to use it to connect to my machine at home. My machine at home is on ADSL and my ISP also gives me a dial-up number. I can connect via the dial-up number but my IP address is exactly the same as the fixed IP address of my home machine on ADSL. Having connected via dial-up is there any way I can connect to my home machine as both machines then have the same IP address? Am I missing anything obvious here? Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain

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Gigabit copper networks
by Chris Green 08 Oct '04

08 Oct '04

I need a new switch to use with our new wireless broadband so, seeing as Gigabit switches are now relatively cheap, what else do I need to know about Gigabit over copper:- Can I use existing Cat5e cables? Does Gigabit degrade gracefully over less than perfect connections? Are there shorter cable length limits? Are Cat6 cables really necessary or won't I see much difference using Cat5 over short distances? Is there a good web site anywhere with all this sort of information on it? -- Chris Green (chris(a)areti.co.uk) "Never ascribe to malice, that which can be explained by incompetence."

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usb-storage trouble
by MJ Ray 08 Oct '04

08 Oct '04

I have a computer with a VIA VT82C686 chipset which uses the UHCI usb driver of the Linux kernel. I'm running 2.6.9-rc3 now, but also tried 2.6.4. I have a couple of usb-storage devices which don't work in this machine. Plugging one in and modprobe of usb-storage (hotplug disabled for debugging) produces log lines finishing with those below. That is for an Oracom ORC-200M, which should appear as a 128Mb sda1 partition in the end. It appears in /proc/scsi/usb-storage/1 but has lots of "Unknown". It doesn't appear under "Attached devices:" in /proc/scsi/scsi When I try to rmmod usb-storage, it hangs sometimes. ps shows "[scsi_eh_1]" in state DW, which usually means it's wanting to read something IME. I have tons of debug output, far more than I can post: if anything else would help, please ask. I have other usb-storage devices that work on this machine (disconnected when trying this) and these devices work on other machines here (OHCI usb driver, though). It would really help to have them connect to this machine. I've searched around and can't figure this one out. Help! Oct 8 12:52:45 bouncing kernel: usb-storage: -- Result from auto-sense is 0 Oct 8 12:52:45 bouncing kernel: usb-storage: -- code: 0x55, key: 0x2, ASC: 0x1, ASCQ: 0x0 Oct 8 12:52:45 bouncing kernel: usb-storage: Not Ready: No index/sector signal Oct 8 12:52:45 bouncing kernel: usb-storage: scsi cmd done, result=0x2 Oct 8 12:52:45 bouncing kernel: usb-storage: device_reset called Oct 8 12:52:45 bouncing kernel: usb-storage: usb_stor_Bulk_reset called Oct 8 12:52:45 bouncing kernel: usb-storage: usb_stor_control_msg: rq=ff rqtype=21 value=0000 index=00 len=0 Oct 8 12:52:45 bouncing kernel: usb-storage: *** thread sleeping. Oct 8 12:52:45 bouncing kernel: usb-storage: Soft reset failed: -32 Oct 8 12:52:45 bouncing kernel: usb-storage: bus_reset called -- MJR/slef My Opinion Only and not of any group I know Creative copyleft computing - http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ LinuxExpo.org.uk village 6+7 Oct http://www.affs.org.uk

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Linux for kids for XMAS...
by Steve Purkiss 08 Oct '04

08 Oct '04

Hello again, My sis and a friend of hers are looking to buy PC & printer for use by "the kids" for XMAS. When I say kids, we're talking the 4+ age group. Obviously the adults will want mail, web, office, etc. but nothing too daunting - thought I'd ask if anyone has hardware + distro recommendations. We're talking easy-to-use once installed and cheap solution.... however I was thinking mini-ITX cases etc. Any ideas? I want to give them a good base to learn from ;) Steve p.s. thought I'd ask on here as still pretty lonely in LUGE at the mo... but it'll get there in time...

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Difficulties in Linuxing a machine.
by mtm＠cmp.uea.ac.uk 08 Oct '04

08 Oct '04

I have an old PC which is proving remarkably stubborn. It boots with Knoppix but any distro that actually requires access to the HD either hangs at some point in the installation process (Mandrake) or produces an installation that won't boot (Slackware). I've tried Slackware 10, Mandrake 10.0 and Mandrake 8.2. Win 98, incidently went on perfectly and has been no more troublesome than usual. There were no problems partitioning the disk or setting up LILO BTW. A friend spent a Sunday afternoon alternately playing with it and swearing at it. He has concluded that there is a very fundimnental problem with the IDE controller. The machine is an AMD K6, with a Gigabyte GA 5AA mb which has an ALI M5229 IDE controller. Can anybody offer any insights inbto what's going on and how it may be cured? -- >=======================================================================< Michael Morton | Everything is linear if plotted on School of Computer Sciences | log-log with a fat magic marker. University of East Anglia, Norwich | http://www.sys.uea.ac.uk/~mtm/work >========================================================================<

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Re: [ALUG] (no subject)
by Ian bell 07 Oct '04

07 Oct '04

G whyte wrote: > Hi Ian > > Thanks :) . I'd say Slackware is the first linux distribution I've > actually kept and liked. Previously I would try red hat or mandrake > for about a month then go back to windows when the heat got turned up > and I realised I had to put in the effort to actually get things done > in linux. > > Once I read an article reviewing Slackware in LinuxFormat I decided it > was the one for me. I wanted to properly learn linux and it suggested > Slackware was a great distro for this. > > I especially like the ease of use when it comes to the .tgz packages > and how it seems to handle well even when performing CPU intensive > operations. > > You say you graduated to slackware after 7 years , I assume you must > be well versed in Linux? > Don't know about versed but certainly well practised. The great thing about Linux is not only that it is a wonderful learning experience but there is a whole host of like minded folk ready and willing to help you. Ian -- Ian T-Bell aka RuffRecords aka RedTommo

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(no subject)
by G whyte 07 Oct '04

07 Oct '04

Hi All I've been using linux now for around a year and a half. I've tried going back to Windows but it dosen't interest me anymore. I like Linux since the Operating system feels more exposed and makes you work a little harder for the results you set out to achieve. I would say I'm still a bit of a newbie when compared to the level of people you come across in forums when seeking help. I use Slackware and sometimes Red hat since I'm starting home study for the RHCE. Thats it for now , hope I can make some sort of contribution to this mailing list. Cheers

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Cromer
by Ted 07 Oct '04

07 Oct '04

I am hoping to move to Cromer in the next few months...Anyone in or near Cromer using Linux ?? -- Regards Ted Wager Debian Linux user

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Re: [ALUG] Cromer
by C Neil Bauers 05 Oct '04

05 Oct '04

I live in Gorleston too. Neil. > I don't want to be "crabby" about Cromer (groan!) but am I all on my > todd across here in Gorleston/Great Yarmouth area? Is there a member's > list with names & locations? > > Rgds, Martin > > On Tue, 2004-10-05 at 16:36, Ian bell wrote: > > Ted wrote: > > > I am hoping to move to Cromer in the next few months...Anyone in or near > > > Cromer using Linux ?? > > > > > > > Hi Ted. I live right nearby in Northrepps. > > > > Ian > > _______________________________________________ main(a)lists.alug.org.uk http://www.alug.org.uk/ http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!

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