August 2009 - main

A low powered backup solution probably/possibly.
by Chris G 24 Aug '09

24 Aug '09

After all my recent maundering about there being no low powered systems suitable for backup servers I did a bit of lateral thinking and looked at NAS servers again (I had looked a couple of years ago). They have got a lot cheaper now and there seem to be two or three which offer what I'm after (specifically Linux/NFS support). Synaptic, Qnap and IcyBox all offer NAS servers which handle NFS as well as SMB shares. Synaptic and Qnap go beyond that and offer SSH access to the server, a web server, PHP/mySql and python even! It may be that the IcyBox servers do as well but I haven't investigated in detail. Power consumption is pretty low, the Synaptic DS209 for example, with two 750Gb disks claims 25 watts when active, 10 watts when idle. Prices are in the £100 to £200 range without disk drive, adding a big SATA disk will only be £70 or so. I think there will be one replacing my garage linux box quite soon and I can use the garage system as my general purpose test bed. -- Chris Green

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Any experience of the "Fit PC 2" here?
by Chris G 23 Aug '09

23 Aug '09

Does anyone here have any experience of the Fit PC 2 ? They are getting almost reasonably priced now - CPC have the Linux one for £285 (plus VAT) which for a really tiny and low powered machine isn't at all bad. Power consumption is 5 watts, it has 1Gb of memory and a 160Gb hard disk and Gigabit ethernet. It would thus seem to be quite a good basis for various Linux based "boxes on the network". It comes with Ubuntu 8.04 installed. -- Chris Green

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Maintaining music libraries in various formats
by Jon Dye 20 Aug '09

20 Aug '09

Hi all, I currently have my music collection as a bunch of mp3s, oggs or flacs on a fileserver on my home network. That's fine for me using linux to play them back but we have several devices (including Windows machines and iPods) at home that don't support either ogg or flac. I also don't really want to copy the files as flac to my mps player (my mobile phone) as they take up a lot of space so I currently transcode them to ogg or mps. Ultimately I'd like to keep everything as flac as I have lots of space so I will be gradually re-ripping stuff to flac. Because file space is cheap I had a crazy idea to keep a directory of originals on the network and then to run a periodic script to build a directory of mps3 or oggs from the originals. This would save time transcoding and would support the various devices on the network better. Has anyone heard of a scheme like this or knows of any software designed to do this. Ideally the update script would: 1. Create/Update the corresponding mp3/ogg file whenever a file in the originals directory changes (i.e. I rip a new CD) 2. Update the metadata in the originals directory whenever the metadata in a mp3/ogg directory changes. 3. Support all file formats in the originals directory (as I won't have only flacs there at the start). I suppose hard linking mp3s/oggs where relevant is therefore a good option here. I had an idea to somehow use SCons to "build" the mp3s/oggs from the flac files but that only supports requirements 1. The other option was to write a custom python (or similar) script to do it. My question is, does anyone have any suggestions for existing tools that do something similar or for ideas of how to implement what I want. JD

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Iceweasel plugin selection
by Richard Lewis 19 Aug '09

19 Aug '09

Hi ALUG, So I'm trying to get a WAV file to play in an HTML document in Iceweasel. I have an <object> with an <embed> inside it: <object classid="clsid:02BF25D5-8C17-4B23-BC80-D3488ABDDC6B" codebase="http://www.apple.com/qtactivex/qtplugin.cab" type="audio/wav" width="1" height="1" class="griller" id="griller"> <param name="AUTOPLAY" value="False" /> <param name="src" value="AK_2049_AR_12318-1.wav" /> <embed width="1" height="1" type="audio/wav" qtsrc="AK_2049_AR_12318-1.wav" src="AK_2049_AR_12318-1.wav" AUTOPLAY="False" name="griller" enablejavascript="true" /> </object> This works on Safari with the Quicktime plugin, but not on Iceweasel. I'm guessing the problem may be with the plugins Iceweasel is using. In Edit | Preferences | Applications, I can select the plugin to use for "WAV audio", but the options are only "Use Movie Player (default)", "Use Windows Media Player Plug-in (in Iceweasel)", or "Use other..." (which browses for an executable). about:plugins tells me that I have the VLC plugin installed and that it knows how to handle content of MIME type "audio/wav" or with ".wav" suffixes. I also have the mplayer plugin installed which (AIUI) pretends to be WMP and also knows how to play .wav files. Why does VLC not appear in my list of available plugins in the Preferences | Applications dialog? Is this true for others? Best, Richard -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Richard Lewis ISMS, Computing Goldsmiths, University of London Tel: +44 (0)20 7078 5134 Skype: richardjlewis JID: ironchicken(a)jabber.earth.li http://www.richard-lewis.me.uk/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- +-------------------------------------------------------+ |Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.| |http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html | +-------------------------------------------------------+

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Upsizing mdraid array
by Mark Rogers 18 Aug '09

18 Aug '09

I have a server which has 1 drive holding the O/S, and 4-off 500GB drives as two pairs of RAID1 (mdraid) arrays. I want to replace the 500GB drives with 1TB drives. What is the best way to do this? Ideally I'd do it offline, just copy (and resize) the partitions across and then put the disks back into the machine and boot it. But I don't know if there's any software that would allow me to do that. So all suggestions welcome. (I don't recall now why I have 2-off RAID1 arrays; a single RAID 5 array might be a better use of the drives, in which case the same question arises: how do I migrate to that configuration?) -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0845 45 89 555 Registered in England (0456 0902) at 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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Re: [ALUG] Surprised by Microsoft
by MJ Ray 18 Aug '09

18 Aug '09

Wayne Stallwood <ALUGlist(a)digimatic.co.uk> [...] > I remain to be convinced that MS want to control content for it's own > sake, at the heart they are still a software giant not a media one so > their key interest is leveraging content delivery to make their software > the most attractive option. [...] One way to do that is to present yourself as the best friends of content delivery services - or broadcasters, in oldspeak. A good tactic would be to let one of your trusted leaders go work for them for a while, then appoint them back to high office in your organisation and let them give interviews saying things like "There is a growing consensus something can be done. We have to protect IP for the health of our economy. We need implementable anti-piracy measures. We can do a lot more [than the Digital Britain report proposes] if there is a will to do it." -- http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/aug/17/microsoft-ashley-highfield-inte… wouldn't it? The push for free and open source software is fast becoming about more than FOSS for the sake of freedom of computing. It's becoming a struggle between public and private benefit in access to everything from Department for the Environment presentations to BBC and ITV shows. Where is this debate happening next? -- MJ Ray (slef) LMS developer and webmaster at | software www.software.coop http://mjr.towers.org.uk | .... co IMO only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html | .... op

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Surprised by Microsoft
by Mark Rogers 18 Aug '09

18 Aug '09

I just visited a site which required Microsoft's Silverlight plugin (Ryanair's route checker). Given that I was running Firefox 3 on Ubuntu I wasn't expecting much but I clicked the "install silverlight" link anyway, and was redirected first to Microsoft and then on to the open-source Mono project and Moonlight. I knew that Moonlight existed, but I wasn't expecting that kind of endorsement from Microsoft. If this is the kind of thing that the deal between Novell (who sponsored/developed Moonlight) and Microsoft leads to then maybe my thoughts on that process have shifted a little. -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0845 45 89 555 Registered in England (0456 0902) at 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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Does anyone get random long waits on Google?
by Chris G 18 Aug '09

18 Aug '09

For quite a while now I occasionally get a very long wait when I do a Google search. Tonight I decided to see if I could diagnose the problem at all but I haven't got very far. It seems to happen pretty randomly, every few Google searches I do I get one that takes a very long time, like a minute or more. If I hit the Firefox Stop button and try again it usually works instantly. Just now when trying to diagnose the problem I repeatedly did the same Google search, every so often (random intervals, usualyy every six or seven searches or so) it took a long time. I have the Tamper Data add-on installed in Firefox so I used that to look at the times. Most of the Google searches return in 150mS or so without much variation but the occasional slow ones vary from ten seconds or so up to a minute or so. I've tried hammering other web sites to see if I can provoke similar symptoms but I can't, it seems to be only Google that does this to me. Can anyone suggest a reason why this might be happening? (Or a way to diagnose it, all that Tamper Data is telling me is that GET is occasionally taking a very long time) -- Chris Green

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Re: [ALUG] Suspend/hibernate on a desktop system, easy?, possible?
by James Elsey 17 Aug '09

17 Aug '09

Hi Chris, You could always have a look at "Wake-on-LAN", if your garage PC is only used for backups you could leave it switched off and wake it up over LAN when you need to do a backup, either manually or via some scheduled scripts. Its worth a read if your bored! ;) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN J -----Original Message----- From: main-bounces(a)lists.alug.org.uk [mailto:main-bounces@lists.alug.org.uk] On Behalf Of Chris G Sent: 17 August 2009 11:10 To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk Subject: [ALUG] Suspend/hibernate on a desktop system, easy?, possible? Is it possible to get a normal desktop system to suspend or hibernate when there is no activity? I'd like to get my garage backup system to use less power when it's not doing anything (which is most of the time). If specific hardware is good/easy for doing this then I'm quite happy to build a new system as I'm thinking of creating a new system for test and upgrade purposes so I could use my exisiting garage system for that. -- Chris Green _______________________________________________ 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! __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4341 (20090817) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4341 (20090817) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com

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Re: [ALUG] main Digest, Vol 50, Issue 8
by Sam Tuke 17 Aug '09

17 Aug '09

I have just got back from visiting the Reindeer. I arrived there at about 20.40 and it was all closed up. Where did you chaps get to? Sam. > From: main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Subject: main Digest, Vol 50, Issue 8 > To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:00:02 +0100 > > Send main mailing list submissions to > main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > You can reach the person managing the list at > main-owner(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of main digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. 2nd Thurs Pub Meet 13th August 2009 (Was: Re: [ALUG Announce] > 2nd Thurs Pub Meet 9th July 2009) (Srdjan Todorovic) > 2. Re: No network every time (Chris Walker) > 3. [ALUG Announce] 2nd Thurs Pub Meet 13th August 2009 (Was: Re: > 2nd Thurs Pub Meet 9th July 2009) (Srdjan Todorovic) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:21:35 +0100 > From: Srdjan Todorovic <todorovic.s(a)googlemail.com> > Subject: [ALUG] 2nd Thurs Pub Meet 13th August 2009 (Was: Re: [ALUG > Announce] 2nd Thurs Pub Meet 9th July 2009) > To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Cc: Alug Announce <announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk> > Message-ID: > <a59829110908120121q33ef3e68kc0327ca2011ea0b0(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > Hello everyone, > > It looks as if no one has posted a message about it this month.... > > ALUG pub meet this Thursday 13th August 2009 at the usual place. > Details are as below. > > Thanks and hope to see you there, > Srdjan > > On 06/07/2009, David Reynolds <david(a)reynoldsfamily.org.uk> wrote: > > ALUG Announce > > > > Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > Unsub, change settings via > > http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce > > ----- > > Dear ALUG, > > The monthly second Thursday social meeting of ALUG will take place > > on 9th July 2009 at The Reindeer (10 Dereham Road, Norwich, > > NR2 4AY; tel. 01603 762223). It's very near the junction of > > Dereham Road and the Norwich inner ring road (Grapes Hill) > > and serves a selection of real ales, nice pub food (if you fancy > > going early to eat) and coffee. > > > > There are generally people there from 20:00 onwards and we tend > > to sit to the left of the main entrance. > > > > We look forward to seeing you there. > > > > Cheers, > > David > > > > -- > > David Reynolds > > david(a)reynoldsfamily.org.uk > > > > ----- > > Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) > > Unsub, change settings via > > http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:57:12 +0100 > From: Chris Walker <cdw_linux(a)the-walker-household.co.uk> > Subject: Re: [ALUG] No network every time > To: Chris Walker <cdw_linux(a)the-walker-household.co.uk> > Cc: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Message-ID: <4A805F78.4050605(a)the-walker-household.co.uk> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > Chris Walker wrote: > > I've no idea what I've done recently to provoke it, but every time I > > power on my machine, it tells me there's no configured network > > interface. All I have to do to fix it, is give the root password, and > > then click ok several times until I get to 'finish'. It remembers all > > the static ip details but I can't persuade it to remember to start. > > > > All I can recall doing recently is trying to persuade the box to talk to > > my Nokia phone but I'm not sure if that's the cause. I mention it just > > in case. > > > > I've tried googling for the solution but got nowhere. Anybody any ideas? > > More by luck than judgement, I've fixed this. > > It stopped happening when I switched off fastboot. I've no idea what it > is - I can guess what it does! - but courtesy of a google suggestion, I > made the change and for the past couple of days, it's worked. > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:21:35 +0100 > From: Srdjan Todorovic <todorovic.s(a)googlemail.com> > Subject: [ALUG] [ALUG Announce] 2nd Thurs Pub Meet 13th August 2009 > (Was: Re: 2nd Thurs Pub Meet 9th July 2009) > To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Cc: Alug Announce <announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk> > Message-ID: > <a59829110908120121q33ef3e68kc0327ca2011ea0b0(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > ALUG Announce > > Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce > ----- > Hello everyone, > > It looks as if no one has posted a message about it this month.... > > ALUG pub meet this Thursday 13th August 2009 at the usual place. > Details are as below. > > Thanks and hope to see you there, > Srdjan > > On 06/07/2009, David Reynolds <david(a)reynoldsfamily.org.uk> wrote: > > ALUG Announce > > > > Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > Unsub, change settings via > > http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce > > ----- > > Dear ALUG, > > The monthly second Thursday social meeting of ALUG will take place > > on 9th July 2009 at The Reindeer (10 Dereham Road, Norwich, > > NR2 4AY; tel. 01603 762223). It's very near the junction of > > Dereham Road and the Norwich inner ring road (Grapes Hill) > > and serves a selection of real ales, nice pub food (if you fancy > > going early to eat) and coffee. > > > > There are generally people there from 20:00 onwards and we tend > > to sit to the left of the main entrance. > > > > We look forward to seeing you there. > > > > Cheers, > > David > > > > -- > > David Reynolds > > david(a)reynoldsfamily.org.uk > > > > ----- > > Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) > > Unsub, change settings via > > http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce > > > > ----- > Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) > Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > http://www.anglian.lug.org.uk/ > http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main > > > End of main Digest, Vol 50, Issue 8 > *********************************** _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live Messenger: Happy 10-Year Anniversary—get free winks and emoticons. http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/157562755/direct/01/

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