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Resizing a mdadm RAID5 array
by Mark Rogers 15 Oct '13

15 Oct '13

OK, so as per other thread I have a RAID5 array comprising 4x2TB disks in which I want to replace the disks. Makes sense that I replace with 3TB disks, so that will mean resizing the array. My options (as I see them) are: 1. Backup all the data on the disks. Replace them all and create a new array. Restore all the data. 2. Replace disks one at a time and let the array recover, leaving blank space at the end of each partition for now. Then resize the array to take advantage of the remaining space. 3. Remove the disks and image them onto the new disks, leaving blank space. Bring the array up on the new disks then resize. Option 1 is by far the simplest, does anyone see any reason why I should try to be cleverer than this? (Actually, option 1a comes to mind which is better still: buy the new disks and get them set up in another box, build the empty array, then copy the data across and transfer the disks; much reduced downtime. If the array is ready before the weekend, and I leave the data copying across over the weekend, I should be good to go on Monday..) I think I've answered my own question but would still appreciate comments. -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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Can't uninstall Linux Spotify Client - help please
by steve-ALUG＠hst.me.uk 14 Oct '13

14 Oct '13

Hi Folks, Ages ago, I installed Spotify Linux client. I was tidying up today when I spotted that the Medibuntu project had closed so I removed that repository. I then spotted that I had the spotify client installed but I don't use it, so I tried to unistall it. It didn't work: sudo apt-get remove spotify-client [] The following packages will be REMOVED spotify-client [] Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y dpkg: error processing spotify-client (--remove): Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should reinstall it before attempting a removal. Errors were encountered while processing: spotify-client E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) So I then tried to install it, various ways, for example https://www.spotify.com/uk/download/previews/ sudo apt-get install spotify-client Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required: gir1.2-unique-3.0 libunique-3.0-0 Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them. The following packages will be upgraded: spotify-client 1 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. 1 not fully installed or removed. Need to get 41.7 MB of archives. After this operation, 17.7 MB of additional disk space will be used. Get:1 http://repository.spotify.com/ stable/non-free spotify-client i386 1:0.9.4.183.g644e24e.428-1 [41.7 MB] Fetched 41.7 MB in 1min 5s (634 kB/s) Selecting previously unselected package spotify-client. (Reading database ... 274060 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to replace spotify-client 1:0.9.1.55.gbdd3b79.203-1 (using .../spotify-client_1%3a0.9.4.183.g644e24e.428-1_i386.deb) ... /var/lib/dpkg/info/spotify-client.prerm: 9: /var/lib/dpkg/info/spotify-client.prerm: ./unregister.sh: not found dpkg: warning: subprocess old pre-removal script returned error exit status 127 dpkg: trying script from the new package instead ... /var/lib/dpkg/tmp.ci/prerm: 9: /var/lib/dpkg/tmp.ci/prerm: ./unregister.sh: not found dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/spotify-client_1%3a0.9.4.183.g644e24e.428-1_i386.deb (--unpack): subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 127 No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached /var/lib/dpkg/info/spotify-client.postinst: 5: /var/lib/dpkg/info/spotify-client.postinst: ./register.sh: not found dpkg: error while cleaning up: subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 127 Errors were encountered while processing: /var/cache/apt/archives/spotify-client_1%3a0.9.4.183.g644e24e.428-1_i386.deb E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) So now I'm stuck. I can't install it. I can't uninstall it. How can I get rid of this error and remove spotify? Cheers Steve

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What do these messages in syslog mean (stops my trackball working)?
by Chris Green 13 Oct '13

13 Oct '13

I have a Logitech wireless trackball that I use with my Acer Aspire netbook running Xubuntu 12.10. It works for quite a while (random amounts of time) and then stops, the following messages appear in syslog when it stops:- Oct 11 11:24:06 acer-aspire kernel: [ 7812.377726] uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.1: >host controller process error, something bad happened! Oct 11 11:24:06 acer-aspire kernel: [ 7812.377751] uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.1: >host controller halted, very bad! Oct 11 11:24:06 acer-aspire kernel: [ 7812.377781] uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.1: >HC died; cleaning up Oct 11 11:24:06 acer-aspire kernel: [ 7812.378030] usb 3-1: >USB disconnect, device number 2 An identical Logical trackball works perfectly with Xubuntu 12.10 on my desktop machine. -- Chris Green

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music server hardware
by Peter Alcibiades 10 Oct '13

10 Oct '13

I've now bought a small HP thin client, a t574. Used on ebay it was 60 with no psu, but I picked up what looks like a very decent psu for a tenner. You can get earlier HP models for 35 or so, but this one has an atom processor so I thought it was worth the extra. Also more memory and flash drive. Got a 64G micro usb stick for storage, and will now install Slitaz and mpd as people have suggested. Or another one which seems quite interesting is sockso. However, meanwhile, and as always, one comes on the real solution after having bought an alternative, this seems the perfect solution: https://store.tinygreenpc.com/tiny-green-pcs/utilite-1.html This looks really neat. Wish I'd known about it before buying the thin client, which is probably very functional but by comparison very clunky. The thing that is a bit dismaying is that having started the process of ripping the CDs to FLAC, the free space on the 64G usb stick seems to be shrinking at an alarming rate.... Al

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Encrypt password in script
by Ewan Slater 08 Oct '13

08 Oct '13

Hi, A number of applications I have known will allow you to specify a password in plaintext in a startup file. After the first start, the password is encrypted, and will be used on subsequent starts, so you don't need an admin there to supply a password. I need to be able to do the same trick. A couple of hours of googling would suggest that it's done by PBE (password based encryption) but I can't seem to find a code example Java for preference). If anyone has any idea, or could point me to an example, that would be great. Cheers, Ewan

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No path
by Chris Walker 05 Oct '13

05 Oct '13

I'm using an IDE called Qt Creator but looking at the C++ stuff in it, it says that it can't find much of the inbuilt libraries. If I run 'echo$PATH', it's empty. But I've modified the ~/.bash_profile to look like this :- =============== [chris@localhost ~]$ cat ~/.bash_profile # .bash_profile # Get the aliases and functions if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then . ~/.bashrc PATH=$PATH:/home/chris/qt/bin fi # User specific environment and startup programs PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin export PATH unset USERNAME =============== The question is, well 2 questions, 1, have I modified the correct file, and 2 if I have done the correct file, have I modified it in the correct way?

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Building a .deb from files in github
by Mark Rogers 03 Oct '13

03 Oct '13

I've never built a .deb in my life, although I have a vague idea of what's required. Specifically I want to try to turn this: https://github.com/OpenMediaVault-Plugin-Developers/openmediavault-virtualb… into a .deb To my untrained eye it looks like most of the bits are probably in place but throwing it directly at dpkg-deb -b suggests otherwise. -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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Re: [ALUG] music server hardware
by Martin 01 Oct '13

01 Oct '13

At the risk of teaching grandmother how to suck eggs, FLAC is a pretty cool format but is a lossless way to rip CDs so there's no loss of quality. Audiophiles tend to use this format and usually have expensive audio hardware and lots of storage space as it creates large files. If you don't have the expensive audio hardware I doubt you would be able to hear any difference in quality between FLAC and one of the lossy formats like ogg/mp3. The lossy formats create much smaller files. I would rip one track in various formats at various levels of quality then listen and compare before deciding which one is right for you. If you really want FLAC then you'll need more storage like an external USB drive. Those tiny green pcs just ooze cool and when my desktop pc gives up the ghost I will probably replace it with one of those, especially since a lot of distros now include arm versions. Cheers, Martin Sent from my Sony Xperia™ smartphone

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2600 meeting at 18:00 on Friday the 4th October.
by Viperfang 01 Oct '13

01 Oct '13

Quick heads up about this months Norwich 2600 meeting, more info at http://www.norwich2600.co.uk

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Re: [ALUG] Intercepting data from HID (keyboard wedge barcode scanner)
by Phil Ashby 28 Sep '13

28 Sep '13

On Fri, 27 Sep 2013 12:00:01 +0100 Mark wrote: > Well I'm making progress of sorts but can't find relevant > documentation anywhere, so far at least. USB implementers forum has complete documentation for keyboards and point of sale devices (scanners) here: http://www.usb.org/developers/hidpage/ In particular look at the 'HID Usage Tables 1.12' and 'HID Point of Sale Usage Tables 1.02'. You will also want to look at the Linux input event structure in /usr/include/linux/input.h, as these are what you see being emitted from the event device node. You might need to read the raw HID events from the scanner in order to determine the correct device state (from all the additional HID reports documented in POS 1.02). more details on raw HID devices in the kernel source tree: https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git/tree/D… HTH, Phil.

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