- main - earth.li

Can someone check this site?
by Ted.Harding＠wlandres.net 09 Jun '13

09 Jun '13

Greetings all! I am having trouble connecting to http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com which just hangs indefinitely for me. A traceroute traceroute oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com proceeds reasonably rapidly down to step 11, which is where it hangs: 10 * 178.236.0.58 (178.236.0.58) 59.452 ms 178.236.3.129 (178.236.3.129) 64.219 ms 11 ec2-79-125-0-77.eu-west-1.compute.amazonaws.com (79.125.0.77) 57.412 ms ec2-79-125-0-73.eu-west-1.compute.amazonaws.com (79.125.0.73) 68.999 ms ec2-79-125-0-5.eu-west-1.compute.amazonaws.com (79.125.0.5) 57.819 ms 12 * * * This may be a problem to do with routing via my ISP's DNS lookups. The ISP in question is zen.co.uk. The server 178.236.0.58 at the preceding step (10) is (from whois): inetnum: 178.236.0.0 - 178.236.7.255 netname: IE-AMAZON descr: Amazon Data Services Ireland Any comments? With thanks, Ted. ------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)wlandres.net> Date: 09-Jun-2013 Time: 13:26:17 This message was sent by XFMail -------------------------------------------------

5 6

Scripted FTP downloads
by Mark Rogers 08 Jun '13

08 Jun '13

This is basically a follow-on from my last question, now that the VPN is working... I need to download a set of backup files from a (Windows) server, deleting all but the newest from the server once successfully downloaded. In other words: - Download all files (re-starting any previously failed downloads and skipping files I already have in full) - Delete all files from the server that are older than X days The script will run daily. Files vary in size from a few K to a couple of GB (hence the need to remove old files from the server and to avoid re-downloading files I already have). I looked at lftp which has a "mirror" command that can be scripted and that is able to delete files, but it isn't working quite as expected. (We set it to download all files older than 2 days, deleting on success, then to download all files (no age limit) without deletion. That works fine, but the following day it skips the files it already has and doesn't delete the ones that are now older than 2 days from the server.) Suggestions? As it's a Windows server I don't have control of it unfortunately has to be FTP, although if there's a really clever solution that would work with some tweaks[*] on the Windows box I'll put them forward. [*]Wiping Windows and installing Linux doesn't count as a "tweak" :-( -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

5 8

Re: [ALUG] Android headache
by Bev Nicolson 08 Jun '13

08 Jun '13

D'oh. Sorry Steve. Bev. On 7 June 2013 18:13, Bev Nicolson <lumos60(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> Do I have this right: When you switch the phone on, you're getting a >> message saying that there is a voicemail message for you. You have since >> disabled the voicemail service, but you're still getting the message? > > Yes, that's it. > >> If so, to remove the message, you will have to do something like this: >> Go to Settings menu. >> Select Call. >> Click on "Clear Voice Notification." > >> >> Options like this (but possibly with slightly different names) have been >> around for a while, > > And guess what? I don't have that option. :¬/ I had a long > conversation with Orange and there are two options. I either go for a > factory reset (would rather not) or (from Googling earlier) reactivate > voicemail and send myself a message, which I then delete. Thanks > though. > >> >>> Like I say, if this is totally off topic, be kind about saying so. Ta. > >> Well.... Android is Linux (for some value of is) >> > Indeed. Shame it isn't more so. An Ubuntu phone perhaps...

3 4

Android headache
by Bev Nicolson 07 Jun '13

07 Jun '13

I'm not sure if this will be horribly off topic. If so, be gentle about pointing that out but you lot are more techie than me so you may have an answer to this. Phone is Android Gingerbread. Theoretically it has no voicemail service now but, along with others (I have googled and followed what advice I could) the notification still comes up when I switch it on. I rang my provider yesterday and they deleted the voicemail message for me but it's still there today. Points to note: I cannot listen to it because I have no idea what my pin number is so I couldn't delete it for myself. I have no phone app anywhere to remove. Any ideas? Like I say, if this is totally off topic, be kind about saying so. Ta. Bev.

3 2

Maintaining a PPTP connection on Ubuntu Server
by Mark Rogers 06 Jun '13

06 Jun '13

I have an Ubuntu Server (headless) box, which needs to establish a PPTP connection (as client) to a PPTP server elsewhere. The box's sole purpose is to connect to the VPN, and download files for backup purposes. So keeping the VPN connection up is important. After an afternoon Googling all I've come up with are several dozen ways to skin the same cat, and the cat is feeling a bit unloved. So any recommendations? Mark -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

4 5

More ftp
by Anthony Anson 05 Jun '13

05 Jun '13

Support@ asks: > Do you know what your public IP address is? Do you have a fixed IP > address? I'm in the Tea House in Naardge, so haven't access to my hard copy crib(s) - I don't *think* my IP address is fixed, BICBW. I can't discover anything on this box (MSi Wind Notebook running Mint) which will tell me - I'm sure there is, but I've never had to look. Can I ask the terminal, and if I can, what would the magic formula be? (Pretty please...) -- Tony http://www.girolle.co.uk/

4 24

UPnP vunerability
by steve-ALUG＠hst.me.uk 05 Jun '13

05 Jun '13

Hi all, I came across this and thought I'd better spread it, in case it may affect you. This show http://twit.tv/show/security-now/389 pointed out that someone has discovered that there is a UPnP vulnerability in a large number of routers out there. Basically, UPnP allows devices to configure your router for you, and discover what services are available on the network. UPnP has its flaws, but is reasonably safe if confined within your local area network. Unfortunately, a bunch of routers expose UPnP to the public internet. There is a possibility that if you have one of these routers, a hacker could use UPnP to discover what's on your network, and connect to it, and compromise it. There's an easy way to check. Go to https://www.grc.com/default.htm Click on the link for Shields up (3/4 of the way down the page) Click on the proceed button. Then click on the GRC's Instant UPnP Exposure Test button. This will scan your system. If you see the message "THE EQUIPMENT AT THE TARGET IP ADDRESS DID NOT RESPOND TO OUR UPnP PROBES! (That's good news!)" Then you're ok. If it doesn't say that, then try disabling UPnP on your router, and try again. I personally always disable UPnP - however, I don't have anything that needs it, e.g. XBox games. HTH Steve

3 3

2600 meeting at 18:00 on Friday the 7th June.
by Viperfang 04 Jun '13

04 Jun '13

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

1 0

O/T Uninstalling Linux and making Windows boot again
by steve-ALUG＠hst.me.uk 02 Jun '13

02 Jun '13

Hi geniuses :-) I have a laptop that I purchased with Windows XP installed on it. I installed Ubuntu on it, and then migrated that to Lubuntu, but there's still Windows on a partition of it's own, and it still boots. I'm thinking about giving this machine to my kid who doesn't need linux, just windows. Is it possible to uninstall Linux and get the copy of Windows to boot correctly again. The problem is I don't have the windows install disk, so I'm reliant on any windows programs that may be installed on the disk, or any genuine tools that may help - I don't want to download a dodgy copy of Windows to do it! Afaik, if I just format the linux partitions, it will remove most of the initial boot loader, and then it won't boot windows any more. I'm using Grub btw - the old version (V1.??) Has anyone done this before or have any ideas? Cheers Steve

8 20

RAID discs
by Chris Walker 31 May '13

31 May '13

Having seen that others are suffering RAID problems, perhaps now is an opportune time to ask about mine. I have an Edimax enclosure with 2 x 1TB discs in it. I got a notification from it yesterday to say that sdb had either failed or would fail within the next 24 hours. The drives were bought at the same time as the enclosure so given that one is failing or has failed, is it wise for me to replace both? The discs in there at the moment are Seagate drives and I don't think I specified anything special for them i.e. I just bought 2 discs. This time I'm going to go for something like a WD Red drive which are specified for NAS use. So 2 questions. Does anybody have any recommendations for discs or are the Western Digital discs ok? And second, should I replace both or is one ok for the time being?

5 13