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Two things I have learned...
by Peter 06 Nov '22

06 Nov '22

I suppose to many this may be childishly obvious, but in case it helps anyone, here are two things I have learned. The first is to do with the Kobo e-reader. I find the Plato reader much nicer than the regular one it comes with, and the way to install it is given here https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=314220 The simplest is to use the install script provided here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3797096&postcount=2 I first tried installing KOReader, which a lot of people seem to like, and you can install both of them from the install script, but it led to a very messy layout, so I reset it to factory and then installed just Plato. This is on the Kobo Aura One, which I find perfect. Its small enough to handle, but it has a 7.8 inch screen which is big enough to read comfortably on for a long time. You can control the amount of blue light, as well as brightness. The other thing about the Kobo is the registration procedure, and there is a very simple way of avoiding having to do this. During the activation you choose 'no wifi'. You can then access the files on the device from terminal or file manager. So you open a terminal, enter the folder containing KoboReader.sqlite, and run the following: sqlite3 KoboReader.sqlite "INSERT INTO user(UserID,UserKey) VALUES('1','');" Restart and you have activated. Wonderfully simple, private, and it avoids having to mess with the sqlite database. The second thing I learned was about AMD and suspend. Having put together a new machine with an AMD processor I was expecting to be able to use xautolock, with pm-suspend as the lock program. But the result was that it did indeed suspend, and when a key is hit, it seems to wake, but the screen remained black. I did two things after which it works flawlessly, but I am not sure which of them was effective, or whether you need to do both. I installed the AMD and RTL non-free firmware. And I also took the kernel to the testing branch of Debian, and the way you do this, without taking the whole installation to testing, is to modify /etc/apt/preferences as follows (I had to create since not already there): Package: * Pin: release a=bullseye Pin-Priority: 500 Package: linux-image-amd64 Pin: release a=testing Pin-Priority: 1000 Package: * Pin: release a=testing Pin-Priority: 100 So the idea is that it only takes the kernel updates from testing. And amazingly enough this has worked, its now on 5.19 whereas bullseye came with 5.10, and xautolock loads at startup and works perfectly! Two small victories. Peter

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How to get a dumb WiFi only device to use a proxied connection?
by Chris Green 03 Nov '22

03 Nov '22

I need to provide 'proxied' WiFi when I'm on my boat in France so that, among other things, I can log on to my doctor's web site to order repeat prescriptions and to allow my Kobo Forma (reader, like a Kindle) to access my public library. Both of these fail when tried directly from abroad. So I thought a VPN might be the way to do this but every time I look into doing it I seem to hit a problem. The Kobo Forma has little flexibility, all it can do is connect to WiFi, you can't tell it any more than the SSID and password. Thus I need to somehow provide a 'proxied' WiFi connection that makes the Kobo look as if it's connecting from a UK IP address. The router on the boat is a TP-Link Archer MR200 and it does have VPN ability, however on looking into it it seems to be a VPN server which is little use. I want it to be a VPN client and connect to a VPN server in the UK (don't I?). I can easily enough set up a router here at home in the UK that runs a VPN server, but again I fail to see how that helps as I can't get the Kobo to log in to the VPN. Everyone tells me that VPNs are the solution to everything but I still fail to see how they can help me at all! :-) Can anyone here help me to a solution of my problem? I'm fairly techie, I'm familiar with proxying using ssh and reverse tunnels and all sorts of things like that but this still has me stumped. -- Chris Green

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No input levels?
by Bev Nicolson 13 Oct '22

13 Oct '22

I've had this problem for a while and tried a few things, but before I finally give up I thought I'd ask ALUG about it. Without headphones plugged in, there is a clear input level showing on the sound settings. With any headphones plugged in, however, none. So I can watch videos or whatever, but it's impossible to use video conferencing tools as no-one can hear me. Ideas? Mint 19.1. on a Dell Latitude laptop. Bev.

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Re: No input levels? (Bev Nicolson)
by Peter 13 Oct '22

13 Oct '22

I had this problem some time ago. I think I fixed it in pavucontrol, where for some reason it had got set to mute. I find alsa mixer very opaque also and remember struggling with it. Anyway thinking about this, I just reinstalled Debian, so I ran amixer to see what mine says, and its just this: Simple mixer control 'Master',0 Capabilities: pvolume pswitch pswitch-joined Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right Limits: Playback 0 - 65536 Mono: Front Left: Playback 65536 [100%] [on] Front Right: Playback 65536 [100%] [on] Simple mixer control 'Capture',0 Capabilities: cvolume cswitch cswitch-joined Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right Limits: Capture 0 - 65536 Front Left: Capture 65536 [100%] [on] Front Right: Capture 65536 [100%] [on] This does work. Its much simpler than yours. I don't have a mic installed on this machine however, and my headphones are driven off a headphone amp which is fed over spdif. Have you got zoom installed? And is it still a problem with zoom? I remember also getting a systematic walk thru on diagnosing the problem, I think it was here: http://www.troubleshooters.com/linux/sound/sound_troubleshooting.htm The other thing that occurs to me is, try booting from a 'live' distro like Puppy, or a live version of Mint, and see if that helps. At least that rules out hardware and it gives you a working configuration as a reference. I know it took me quite a lot of fiddling to make it work, and I am not really sure what did it, apart from this vague recollection on pavucontrol. Which I don't seem to have installed now on the new install. I think I also found some material by Carla Schroder which helped. It was a struggle, and I never did get clear what had caused the problem.

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Re: No input levels?
by Bev Nicolson 12 Oct '22

12 Oct '22

On 11/10/2022 18:26, Bev Nicolson wrote: > On 11/10/2022 16:59, Phil Thane wrote: >> Can you try either another mic/earphone in the laptop, or the existing >> mic/earphone in a different machine? It could just be the mic is >> broken. Also, >> some mics on some earphones have a tiny on/off switch. >> >> -- > <big snip> > > I have tried a number of other headphones and have the same problem. > > But can anyone guide me through Alsa? I'm not too sure what slider does > what. Ta. > > Bev [Bit of Googling later] Also no capture. Well it's listed but it may as well be on mute. These are new headphones that work with my tablet, by the way. I'm assuming capture and input are closely related. Bev.

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HP / MSI mobo issue
by Phil Thane 07 Oct '22

07 Oct '22

Hi Folks, I used to be subscribed as phil(a)pthane.co.uk but couldn't figure out how to change the email address so here I am re-subscribed. Same old codger with weird issues though... I have a 'new' desktop PC made from random parts. The MoBo is made by MSI but was an OEM product for HP. Searching for advice on MSI site says refer to HP. The HP support site appears to be crashed, permanently. I think I need a BIOS update and hundreds of sites offer them but how do I find a reliable one? There are two issues: 1. The BIOS fails to find a bootable disk unless I hit f9 and select one. I can enter the BIOS setup via f10 and set boot order there but it doesn't remain in CMOS memory, on next boot I have to do it again. 2. The PC is set to suspend after 30 mins inactivity. On re-awakening the clock is precisely 86 hours fast! Same happens if I put it to sleep manually. It can't be reset via the OS (Mint, Cinnamon), or via hwclock. It resets correctly when rebooted, without needing to fiddle the Date and Time settings in BIOS. I thought maybe the CMOS battery was failing so scrambling the memory. Volt meter showed 3.1V but having tried everything else I replaced the battery anyway, but to no avail. Neither problem is a show stopper, I can set the sleep timer to 'never' and remember to hit f9 during boot, but it's annoying. Any ideas? Or a reliable source of BIOS upgrades? -- Phil Thane Email: philthane(a)gmx.co.uk Tweet: @pthane Web: https://pthane.weebly.com

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Peterborough LUG meeting
by B D 04 Oct '22

04 Oct '22

Hello ALUG users, I'm not sure if you heard that Peterborough LUG got revived recently? At the beginning of September we had a meeting which attracted in excess of 10 users. It's been agreed that regular meetings will take place on first Wednesday of each month. We though that you might want to join us and if so here are the meeting details. This time we will gather at Brewery Tap (PE1 2AA) on 5th October at about 7:30pm. Anyone attending will be charged £3 to cover the venue costs. Long gone are days when people were shamed for using anything other than a Linux computer at Linux meetings so feel free to bring you Mac or Windows laptop. Nevertheless you should expect some cheerful banter ;) Meeting agenda include installing proxmox on a blade server and tackling boot issues on an older laptop. Some other subjects will be covered too. It would be great to see ALUG reps joining us. Cheers, Bart

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Web hosting recommendations wanted
by Chris Green 04 Oct '22

04 Oct '22

I currently use TsoHost but I'm not very happy with them. I'm migrating from their cloud to their cPanel and I'm hitting all sorts of snags while their support is very slow. So does anyone have any recommendations for alternatives please. I'm hosting about ten web sites so something around the same capabilities as their Ultimate package. I need that sort of amount of 'help' too. I do have a VPS on Gandi but I don't want to have to manage other people's web sites on that, I want someone else to shout at when it all goes pear shaped! :-) -- Chris Green

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Any TsoHost users here?
by Chris Green 03 Oct '22

03 Oct '22

Does anyone here use TsoHost? Have they gone seriously downhill recently? I have raised some tickets with them over the past day or two and haven't even got an acknowledgement, let alone any help. -- Chris Green

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change of email address
by Phil Thane 03 Oct '22

03 Oct '22

Hi (admin) folks, After years of maintaining my own website and email for work I'm finally admitting I'm retired and retiring my site. phil(a)pthane.co.uk will stop working next month so please update my membership details (or tell me how). The reply to address: philthane(a)gmax.co.uk will be my address from now on. Thanks. -- Phil Thane

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