March 2006 - main

Any kit meets planned ?
by Peter Onion 25 Apr '06

25 Apr '06

Are there any plans for any "kit meets" this year ? Peter

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Cobalt RAQ4
by Mark Rogers 08 Apr '06

08 Apr '06

I have a Cobalt RAQ4 sat in front of me, which I either need to reinstall with its native OS or stick something else on it. I don;t have any particular purpose in mind for it, although as it has two network ports I'm thinking of using it as a gateway/firewall. Suggestions for an OS/distro? -- Mark Rogers More Solutions Ltd :: 0845 45 89 555

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Zero-width non-breaking space/Unicode byte-order mark
by John atkinson 07 Apr '06

07 Apr '06

I have a new computer loaded with SuSe Linux 10.When I attempt to invoke a program I have successfully used in the past for many years I get the response "cannot execute binary file". The file, (written for me years ago) forming the program has "execute" permission. I understand this means that the operating system realises this is a program, but not a standard binary program file containing machine instructions. I was told the operating system looks for an interpreter program to run it. The interpreter, not containing the expected character sequence, uses the default system interpreter and looks at the first line of the file, finds that it contains non-printable byte values and so condemns it as a binary file. My program file, as written, contains only printable characters and starts with the identifying #! /bin/sh It turns out that to the first character in the file there has been added a "Unicode byte-order mark" otherwise known, I am told, as a "zero-width non-breaking space". This by its nature is not a printable character nor a visible one. It is one, however, devilishly difficult to get rid of on a permanent basis. Following directions I tried, starting with the command "locale". The output indeed ended with "UTF8", the initial cause, I understand, of all the trouble. Again following directions I typed "LANG=en_GB" followed by "locale" again and then, using "vi" edited the file. The hated rogue character showed as three components in blue. When, using "x", I got rid of them, I thought I was on top of the problem, but the final stage which I will quote in full defeated me. This is 'Finally, edit the file $HOME /.bash_profile and insert "LANG=en_GB" or "LC_ALL=en_GB" as appropriate to prevent the problem coming back'. The computer crashed. Moreover, I have not succeeded in locating the file. I suspect I have gone about it in the wrong way. I would be grateful for the exact key strokes required to get the file into "vi". It seems strange to me that Linux, without my knowledge or my permission should insert a zero-width non-breaking space that not only prevents a program, very important to me (and, no doubt others), from working, but makes it difficult to handle the file because the first byte is not a printable character. Please forgive my abysmal standard of computer literacy. In mitigation I would point out that I have been in touch with several gurus with, it seems, a total absence of familiarity with the zero-width non-breaking space alias the Unicode byte-order mark. John Atkinson (Ancient John -- and I do not mind being called that because I now am ancient)

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Kit meet booked
by John Woodard 02 Apr '06

02 Apr '06

I have booked the Mid Suffolk venue Syleham and Wingfield Village hall for a kit meet on Sunday 30th April 2:00pm - 6:00pm. Details of the venue and a map are available at http://www.alug.org.uk/venues/syleham.html. Normal waivers apply, your kit is your responsibility, please mark it and any associated cables etc. I will open the hall up at around 1:30ish to allow kit to be assembled etc. and will get the bar open if it is required. Any questions please post to the list. Cheers, BJ -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.3.3/296 - Release Date: 29/03/2006

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Wireless wires
by linux＠davebriggs.net 31 Mar '06

31 Mar '06

Hello chaps I have gotten hold of a Netgear MR814 and am trying to get it set up with my Tiscali broadband, using a Sagem F@st dsl modem. Anyway, the problem I have is that the cable that currently goes from the modem to the PC ends with a USB wotsit, wheras the router needs it to be an ethernet one. Tiscali sell something called a RJ45 Network Cable (1) - is this what I need? Also, I have been supplied with a USB wireless adaptor, but would plugging the router straight into the PC with an ethernet cable produce better results? (before you ask, the wireless is for my laptop!) Thanks in advance Dave 1 - http://www.tiscali.dslshop.co.uk/product_details.asp?idProduct=248

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ProFTPd
by Richard Lewis 31 Mar '06

31 Mar '06

Hello, I've just changed my FTP daemon from ftpd to ProFTP so that I can set up anonymous FTP access to my server. Anonymous and normal accounts both work but I can only login from the localhost. If I try to login from elsewhere I get: ftp> open domain.net Connected to domain.net. 500 Sorry, no server available to handle request on domain.net Does anyone know how I can make it possible to login from anywhere? Cheers, Richard -- --------------------------- Richard Lewis Sonic Arts Research Archive http://www.sara.uea.ac.uk/ ---------------------------

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linux file/print server at home
by Neill Lillywhite 31 Mar '06

31 Mar '06

hi i'm new to linux but do have a wide experience in XP. however, not much networking beyond basic workgroups i'm looking to revamp my home network now the kids want their own PCs and i'm looking at configurations what i want to be able to do is: * store all the various people's data on a single server and back it up from there as appropriate * map the various 'My Documents' folders on the PCs directly to folders/shares on the server * share some printers on that server * i don't need true 'roving profiles' as such (but that /is /a possibility - my only concern really is the bandwidth overhead associated with XP syncing on logoff) * what i do need to do is have the various user folders read/writeable by the users *and *readable by the server admin group (ie: me) * any password changes that the XP users make need to be automatically synced with the various server accounts most of the PCs will be 'single user' only but one will need to allow 2 users access to their files - so if i go for roaming profiles fine, if not it's 2 users on that PC i guess i've done a fair bit of reading around this and am currently tinkering with fedora 5 trying to get it to act as a PDC - with spectacular lack of success thus far it has to be said !! so, first question i need to answer is - given the above functionality needs do i go down the workgroup or domain route ? once i know that i can practice on the fedora box and try to get it to do whatever i need to and take it from there (of course whatever route i go down i'm bound to screw up and come begging for help - but let's leave that for another day !!) thanks for all and any advice/suggestions neill

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Re: main Digest, Vol 9, Issue 32
by Tony 31 Mar '06

31 Mar '06

Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 10:37:34 +0100 From: "Keith Watson" <keith.watson(a)kewill.com> Subject: RE: [ALUG] linux file/print server at home To: <main(a)lists.alug.org.uk> Message-ID: <63F7A21F1CA18143AFDBF28E2A7D6BBA030BDD52(a)endor.kewill-europe.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > From: Paul Sent: 31 March 2006 10:21 > > Hi Neill > > On Wednesday 29 March 2006 17:33, Neill Lillywhite wrote: > > i'm looking to revamp my home network now the kids want their own PCs > > and i'm looking at configurations > > > i've done a fair bit of reading around this and am currently tinkering > > with fedora 5 trying to get it to act as a PDC - with spectacular lack > > of success thus far it has to be said !! > > This sounds like an ideal application for LTSP from > www.ltsp.org - I've seen it in use in a domestic environment > and it appeared to work well. This may not be the best system > to set up without some experience of Linux, but it should > provide some food for thought. > > Of course, for file & printer sharing, a simple Samba server > may suit your needs better. I've never needed to fully > configure it, only once did I have to set up basic services > for a solitary W95/98 box.. If I had to do it again, I would > strongly recommend getting a copy of the "Linux Cookbook" by > Schroder. It covers virtually all the topics encountered when > building a network. > > And when the cookbook fails to answer a question, we are > always here to act as a safety net ;) > > Regards, Paul. I have a feeling that I've seen a thread along similar lines somewhere on the Ubuntu forums (or maybe it was the wiki), anyway why not pop over to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ or http://www.ubuntuforums.org/ and see if the search facility turns up anything? Regards, Keith It is very easy to do with Ubuntu, there are detailed instructions at http://www.howtoforge.com/samba_setup_ubuntu_5.10 but most of the instructions would apply to a Fedora setup. If the OP would like an original copy of Ubuntu, drop me a line and I'll stick a copy in the post. I found it much easier to set up than using Fedora especially using wireless (Ubuntu detected wireless adaptor automatically where Fedora didn't). Tony

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xdcmp
by Peter 31 Mar '06

31 Mar '06

Hoping this is not a silly question.... Is it possible, and if so how, to set up gdm (or kdm or xdm) so that when the login chooser comes up, it only offers the user to log in to an xdcmp session on the server? I have a user who cannot be expected to do anything except turn the machine on and log in. So navigating to xdcmp chooser from the welcome screen is not practical. Peter

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RE: [ALUG] linux file/print server at home
by Keith Watson 31 Mar '06

31 Mar '06

> From: Paul Sent: 31 March 2006 10:21 > > Hi Neill > > On Wednesday 29 March 2006 17:33, Neill Lillywhite wrote: > > i'm looking to revamp my home network now the kids want their own PCs > > and i'm looking at configurations > > > i've done a fair bit of reading around this and am currently tinkering > > with fedora 5 trying to get it to act as a PDC - with spectacular lack > > of success thus far it has to be said !! > > This sounds like an ideal application for LTSP from > www.ltsp.org - I've seen it in use in a domestic environment > and it appeared to work well. This may not be the best system > to set up without some experience of Linux, but it should > provide some food for thought. > > Of course, for file & printer sharing, a simple Samba server > may suit your needs better. I've never needed to fully > configure it, only once did I have to set up basic services > for a solitary W95/98 box.. If I had to do it again, I would > strongly recommend getting a copy of the "Linux Cookbook" by > Schroder. It covers virtually all the topics encountered when > building a network. > > And when the cookbook fails to answer a question, we are > always here to act as a safety net ;) > > Regards, Paul. I have a feeling that I've seen a thread along similar lines somewhere on the Ubuntu forums (or maybe it was the wiki), anyway why not pop over to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ or http://www.ubuntuforums.org/ and see if the search facility turns up anything? Regards, Keith ____________ When you boil rice, regard the cooking pot as your own head. - Zen Saying

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