July 2006 - main - earth.li

Migration away from LVM
by Dan Hatton 06 Jul '06

06 Jul '06

Does anyone know how to convert an LVM logical volume into a real partition, please? (Why would I want to do this weird thing? Because it's my swap partition, and I want to be able to load suspend2 saved states from it without having to have an initrd.) I've tried running swapoff -a, followed by the lvremove command within LVM, but LVM refuses to remove the partition, complaining that it's "open." Thanks very much. -- Regards, Dan

1 0

Help with script for ssh exploit attempts
by Laurie Brown 06 Jul '06

06 Jul '06

Hi, I could use a little help with some scripting. My perl/python is rudimentary, and bash not a lot better, but I'm sure this isn't too hard to do... We get a lot (read thousands a day) of these lines in logs on all the machines we support, including our own: Jul 6 16:53:24 xxx sshd[1628]: Invalid user chris from 202.202.43.110 It's a script kiddie trying to take advantage of an exploit in SSH. We use key-based authentication only, on SSH V2, so no real risk there, but it's annoying. What I'd like to do is monitor the logs for such a line (or maybe three on the trot), and immediately do this: /sbin/route add -host 202.202.43.110 reject which will lock them out until a restart. Any help appreciated! Cheers, Laurie. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Laurie Brown laurie(a)brownowl.com --------------------------------------------------------------------

5 7

Hosting mail in a different place from web pages
by chrisisbd＠leary.csoft.net 06 Jul '06

06 Jul '06

Is it possibe to have mail hosted in a 'different place' from where web pages are hosted? That's a bit of a vague question, I'll expand:- I own several domains, the two relevant ones are isbd.co.uk and isbd.net. Currently everything to do with these two domains is hosted with BsNet (essentially the same as x-1.net) they are fine for the web hosting side of things and anyway that's not so important at present but we do have occasional hiccoughs with E-Mail. Is it possible to move all E-mail to somewhere else? I.e. to keep the web hosting unchanged where it is but to remove all E-Mail from BsNet? I suspect it's something to do with MX records and things like that, I do have access to and the ability to modify the zone file, is that what needs to be changed? In fact I may as well show the current zone file for isbd.net:- $TTL 86400 @ IN SOA ns0.futile.net. root.futile.net. ( 2003011901 ; serial 28800 ; refresh 3600 ; retry 604800 ; expiry 86400 ) ; minimum ; IN NS ns0.futile.net. IN NS ns1.futile.net. IN MX 10 mx1.mail.bsnet.co.uk. IN MX 100 foundation.bsnet.co.uk. IN MX 200 relay.bsnet.co.uk. ; IN A ip.address.of.host ; localhost IN A 127.0.0.1 ; this is a commented out line So it's easy enough to change thos MX records but presumably the places they point at will need some configuration to so that they accept mail for xxx(a)isbd.net and do something useful with it. Any good tutorial/howto pages for this anywhere? -- Chris Green (chrisisbd(a)leary.csoft.net)

4 7

Re: Why Linux?
by John Seago 06 Jul '06

06 Jul '06

On Thursday 06 July 2006 10:58 am, Ian bell <ianbell(a)ukfsn.org> wrote: <snip> > However, for me, the core of Linux is seriously disparate - endless > kernel revisions, each distro with its own patches, file layout, start > up scripts, endless dependency issues and so on. So I was very pleased > to find this is not the case with the various BSD flavours. In fact I > have just installed NetBSD on an old PC. It has a single source code > tree that compiles on 57 different platforms which says a lot about > the quality of the code. Its pkgsrc app is what gentoo is modeled on > apparently and there are over 5000 apps to choose from (nearly as many > as Debian). Is 5000 "nearly as many as Debian", which has over 15490 packages? It would seem to be over 10490 short of "nearly". > I am seriously tempted to roll it out across my other PCs. That is the main advantage of *free* software, everyone has the freedom to choose. One is not 'locked' into any particular software. the whole gamut as laid out here: http://www.freeos.com/ and probably several other URL's as well, HURD is one which comes to mind and I'm sure there are others, the 'Tunes' project for instance. All provide variety and *choice*. -- John Seago GNU/Linux Registered User No. #219566 () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments

2 1

escaping a "!" in a bash shell
by Jenny Hopkins 06 Jul '06

06 Jul '06

Hullo there, I'm trying to echo a command to a serial port that happens to require a "!". In order to send the command I need to escape the ! with a backslash. However, I'm finding that at the other end, the backslash stays there rather than being stripped off, so the received command is also escaped and therefore doesn't work. Emulated on a terminal: I send jenny@phaedrus:~$ echo "\!tts MALE" > /dev/ttyp2 and receive \!tts MALE But I need to receive !tts MALE Any hints on how to acheive this? Thanks, Jenny

3 3

NeXT computers seek loving home
by Richard Lewis 06 Jul '06

06 Jul '06

Hello ALUG, We've been having a bit of a clear-out and my boss was about to throw out a pair of NeXT computers. Luckily, one of the post grads and I managed to get to them in time. We've had a look over them and this is the inventory: NeXTcube N1000 [1] ================== CPU: MC68040 25 MHz RAM 16MB (4 x 4MB SIMMs) notes: * This machine would not boot properly. It sounds the like HDD may be corrupt. * The back panel is split at the top NeXTstation N1100 [2] ===================== CPU: MC68040 25 MHz ? RAM: ??MB (8 x ??MB SIMMs) notes: * The power supply [3] from this machine apparently broke some time ago and is missing. * Therefore, this machine is untested. NeXT MegaPixelDisplay monitor N4000 =================================== NeXT MegaPixelDisplay monitor N4000A ==================================== 2 x NeXT keyboard ABQ ===================== Part No. 2230 2 x NeXT mouse AFF ================== So, in summary, its a complete NeXTcube and a complete NeXTstation neither of which we've been able to boot. The cube was willing to boot from its network card but we decided not to try to install Debian or NetBSD[4] or anything as doing that may be part of the attraction of owning the machine for someone. Also, someone interested in NeXT hardware may be able to recover the NeXTstep OS. Possibly. The machines were given to the studio director at the UEA Music School some time ago because, apparently, they have a collection of IRCAM[5] software on. If anyone is interested in these machines then let me know within a week or so and you can come a take them away for nothing. We decided that we'd rather they were given away to a good home that just dumped. If there's no interest then we'll try selling them on eBay but we'd like to avoid the hassle if possible (the cube is extremely heavy; built from some magnesium alloy[6]!). Let me know! Cheers, Richard PS. Tim Berners-Lee developed Web and HTTP on a NeXTcube! [1] http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/reach/435/nextcube.htm [2] http://old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=555 [3] http://www.lrz-muenchen.de/~heller/NeXT/power_supply_repair.html [4] http://www.netbsd.org/Documentation/network/netboot/intro.next68k.html [5] http://www.ircam.fr/?L=1 [6] http://photo.simson.net/hacks/cubefire.html -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Richard Lewis Sonic Arts Research Archive http://www.sara.uea.ac.uk/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1 0

Barcode reader error with Belkin KVM
by Jenny Hopkins 04 Jul '06

04 Jul '06

Hullo there, I fixed a problem that has introduced another problem. I admin a bank of 8 computers running debian stable, kernel 2.6.1, which were connected to a Belkin KVM via PS2. From there we have an ordinary PS2 mouse, and a PS2 keyboard with splitter to a barcode reader. We started getting problems with the mouse going completely bananas. I googled the problem being a known one with Belkin KVM switches and 2.6 kernels, and Belkin then suggested we tried using a USB connection between PC and KVM to stop the problem. This has stopped the mad mouse kernel problems, but now I find that the barcode reader isn't working properly - either no string at all or only half the code is appearing when I bleep. I can't find any errors reported ithe logs, so it seems that the information maybe isn't even getting past the KVM. The keyboard seems to be working correctly. Has anyone any idea of what could be going on? Thanks, Jenny

3 5

Faulty USB ports?
by Nick Daniels 03 Jul '06

03 Jul '06

Hi I have my sisters computer, dual boot Suse/windows. Both Linux and widows indicate that the USB ports are configured, but no USB devices are configured or found when plugging in. Not even the "light" comes on with a USB mouse or USB external drive etc. Have tried Knoppix with same results. Is it possible that all the USB ports have failed? Have checked on Google and only found reference to this with one specific MSI motherboard, this is an Asus Is there anything else I can try or have overlooked? Kind Regards

3 6

Weekly IRC reminder
by Brett Parker 03 Jul '06

03 Jul '06

This is the automated ALUG IRC meeting reminder sent to remind you that there is an IRC meeting tonight (Monday) at 8.00pm. Historically, these used to be the only time a lot of us would be about, now the channel has some usual faces that are there most of the time (except at silly o'clock, when we might be sleeping, or on the second thursday of the month, where we might be drinking in the Reindeer), so don't feel limited to visit during this time, come visit us when ever you feel like it! 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 xchat, irssi 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://www.irssi.org/ http://www.epicsol.org/ Windows http://www.mirc.com (loads of help with irc for newbies!)

1 0

Belkin switch dodgy?
by Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 02 Jul '06

02 Jul '06

Hi Folks, I recently bought a Belkin 10/100 5-port ethernet switch (product number F5D5131-5). It works for a few minutes (less than 5) and then the LEDs for the ports that cables are plugged into go out, after which it is useless. If I pull out the power supply plug, wait a few seconds, then plug it back, it starts up again OK, but again goes belly-up after a few minutes. Does anyone recognise this behaviour on the part of Belkin switches? (I'm not really looking for a cure, since I reckon the unit is duff, though if anyone has cured such a thing then it would be good to know; there's a possible overheating issue since despite being well aired it feels pretty warm when running). What I'm really concerned about is whether one can expect this sort of thing from a Belkin, since if so I shall be avoiding it when I replace it. (The fly in the ointment is that I bought it from PC World, but seem to have lost the b****y receipt!) With thanks, and best wishes to all, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 30-Jun-06 Time: 20:21:14 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

3 6