Re: [PLUG] Password protected .xlsx; cannot save as .ods

[King Beowulf]

On 5/4/24 08:26, Rich Shepard wrote:
> A state agency provides a Microsoft .xlsx spreadsheet on a web site page.
> It's available to the public. When I tried to save it as a LO Calc
> spreadsheet (.ods) it told me it was password protected; a dialog box asks
> me to re-enter my (non-existent) password. It also will not allow me to
> export it as an .xls file.
>
> This is the first password-protected spreadsheet I've encountered. I don't
> understand why it's protected but the data should be in a database, not a
> spreadsheet, but this is another very common example of "if the only tool
> you have is Excel, everything looks like a spreadsheet."
>
> Any ideas on how to proceed?
>


 From one of the many Libreofice help forums (edited for details and 
clarity):

To save-as xlsx to ods, and the "retype" password box pops up with "Hash 
incompatible" message:

Open Excel spreadsheet in Calc, Then File -> Save As to save as a new 
ods file. When the "retype" window pops up, for each protected sheet do:

click on “retype”
clear “New password must match the original password” checkbox
type anything, e.g., “a” as both password and confirm
(Note: remove password from from this protected item does not work)

The ods is now saved with new sheet password ("a" in above example).  
Now, in the newly saved and open ods file, for each protected sheet 
(padlock next to sheet name), right-click and choose “protect”, enter 
the password (“a” in the above example).  Your sheets are now not 
protected and you can carry on as normal.

Rich, if you need, I can upload the ods file somewhere for you to download.

-Ed

Re: [PLUG] Comcast to Ziply fiber migration, plus Ooma phone

[King Beowulf]

On 4/12/24 08:24, Paul Heinlein wrote:
> On Fri, 12 Apr 2024, Keith Lofstrom wrote:
>
>> Bottom line: after we cancel Comcast, we will pay $60 per month for
>> very fast internet, and $0 per month for a voice phone and a fax
>> phone.  Much better than $170 per month for slow and intermittent
>> Comcast.  I hope - failure is (sadly) always an option.
> We don't have Ziply in our neighborhood, but our transition to Quantum
> Fiber (nee CenturyLink) was similarly smooth and beneficial. During
> the workday, we consistently see upload and download speeds that hover
> around 900Mb/s. (I suspect speeds are a bit lower during prime
> streaming hours in the evening, but I've never tested that theory and
> our Internet connection does experience any noticable slowness.)
>
> We too decided to avoid future questions and opted for the guaranteed
> $65/month pricing. Even when Quantum raised its base rate for newer
> subscribers to $75, it honored the existing pricing agreement so we
> still pay $65.
>
> I will note that Comcast was very good for us for a long time, but
> once we starting noticing problems, the tech folks were either
> uninterested in troubleshooting or incompetent to do so. Either way,
> the drop off from "very good" to "maddeningly bad" was steep and
> quick.
>
> --
>

I'm green with envy.  Despite being in a fairly "high rent" neighborhood 
(or at least big houses and yards with property taxes to match) in 
Vancouver WA, all I get is Comcast cable and Centurylink DSL.  I'm in 
some sort of internet "twilight zone".

$90/month for 1.0-ish Gbps down 25 Mbps up.

-sigh

Re: [PLUG] attack on sshd via xz

[King Beowulf]

On 4/5/24 10:36, wes wrote:
> I'm surprised to see that no one has mentioned this on PLUG yet, though
> it's been flying around the rest of the tech sphere on the internet pretty
> heavily over the last week. I will share it here in case any list member
> hasn't seen it yet elsewhere and if anyone is interested in this subject.
>
> The short version is, someone (potentially many someones) attempted to
> insert malicious code into the Linux pipeline which would have resulted in
> them being able to log in to any system running that code without
> authorization. The attempt was caught before it reached any major level of
> distribution and stopped, but the fact that it even got that far is
> alarming.
>
> Here is a NYT article covering the sequence of events in a pretty
> approachable way:
>
> https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/technology/prevent-cyberattack-linux.html
>
> And for those who do not feel motivated to create an account on the NYT
> website:
>
> https://archive.ph/tc9bN
>
>

Interestingly, for those of us that use Slackware64-15.0 Linux (stable), 
the xz debacle was a non-issue. Even for Slackware64-current, it was a 
non-issue, but to be on the save side, xz was rebuilt and patched with 
clean code:

ChangeLog

Fri Mar 29 20:39:11 UTC 2024

a/xz-5.6.1-x86_64-2.txz:  Rebuilt.
   Seems like a good idea to build this from a git pull rather than the signed
   release tarballs. :-)
   The liblzma in the previous packages were not found to be vulnerable by the
   detection script, but I'd rather not carry the bad m4 files in our sources.
   Here's a test script for anyone wanting to try it:
   if hexdump -ve '1/1 "%.2x"' /lib*/liblzma.so.5 | grep -q 
f30f1efa554889f54c89ce5389fb81e700804883ec28488954241848894c2410 ; then
 echo probably vulnerable
   else
 echo probably not vulnerable
   fi

Sat Mar 30 18:08:12 UTC 2024
a/xz-5.6.1-x86_64-3.txz:  Rebuilt.
   [PATCH] CMake: Fix sabotaged Landlock sandbox check.
   We don't build with CMake (yet), but it doesn't hurt to apply this.

Ya'll can keep yer fancy pants linux distros with yer systemd, dpkg/apt/yum and 
other silliness.

The Year of the Slackware Linux Desktop 1993 - 2024

-Ed

Re: [PLUG] Deleting directory in $HOME

[King Beowulf]

On 3/29/24 09:17, Rich Shepard wrote:
> Xfce4 adds a few Capitalized directories in a user's ~/ when it's installed.
> I've never used them and had no problems deleting them until now: the
> Desktop directory (755 perms) will not be removed either by me or by root.
> It has 2 hardlinks: the current and parent directories.
>
> The xfce mail list is very quiet; no posts since I rejoined yesterday. My
> web searches haven't found a reason why a directory owned by me and in the
> users group cannot be removed.
>
> A clue stick will be appreciated.
>
> TIA,
>
> Rich
Rich,

Anything Xfce and X.org creates in $HOME as a default will just get 
recreated if you remove/delete.  Just because YOU don't sue a config 
does not mean the DE (Xfce or X) does not use it.

If you insist:

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/206594/why-cant-i-delete-this-file-as-root

Re: [PLUG] Loading ~/.Xmodmap on laptop

[King Beowulf]

On 3/29/24 07:28, Rich Shepard wrote:
> This has been an issue with me on all laptops I've owned: despite ~/.xinitrc
> containing:
>
> #!/bin/sh
> # $XConsortium: xinitrc.cpp,v 1.4 91/08/22 11:41:34 rws Exp $
>
> usermodmap=$HOME/.Xmodmap
> /usr/bin/xmodmap $HOME/.Xmodmap
> userresources=$HOME/.Xresources
> sysmodmap=$HOME/.Xmodmap
>
> #if [ -f $userresources ]; then
> #xrdb -merge $userresources
> #fi
>
> virtual consoles do not load it when I startxfce4 and open v.t.s.
>
> What am I missing?
>
> TIA,
>
> Rich


Rich,

That doesn't look right for Slackware.  Use the default one for 15.0.

1. exit Xfce
2. make sure logged as your normal user, no GUI or X running, and not as 
root
3. run "xwmconfig"
4. choose any OTHER desktop, hit OK
5. run "xwmconfig" again, choose Xfce, Ok

This will copy the correct startup script from 
/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.xfceto ~/.xinitrc.  Don't monkey with it or use 
an old one from 14.2.

to start X and Xfce you simply

$ startx

 DO NOT RUN startxfce4 DIRECTLY!!! 

Make sure that the new X and Xfce stuff from 15.0 is installed in /etc 
and you did NOT copy ANY old settings from 14.2.

Have fun!

-Ed

Re: [PLUG] rsync: not all files copied

[King Beowulf]

On 3/20/24 17:19, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Wed, 20 Mar 2024, wes wrote:
>
>> why wait a few days? you could run rsync again immediately and you can
>> look for errors.
> wes,
>
> Two reasons:
>
> 1) I'm waiting for the weekend to replace the desktop's internal hard drive.
>   I'll run rsync then to update what changed from today.
>
> 2) The list of copied files scrolls by very quickly. Even if I sat her
>   watching I'd probably not see an error message and wouldn't know how
>   to stop the process to read it.
>
> 3) The three partitions duplicated contain 39G, 145G, and 171G. The first
> one took 21 minutes; I didn't time the others but they were much longer.
>
>

Rich,

you can tee stdout to a file

$ rsync blah-blah |2>&1| | tee rsync.log

"|2>&1" grabs both stdout and stderr.  Now you can view rsyn.log at your 
leisure.

-Ed

|

Re: [PLUG] Giving away large lab work benches.

[King Beowulf]

On 1/11/24 15:32, Mark Wattier wrote:
> The company I work for will not be reopening a second office, so we are
> getting rid of the office furniture in a storage unit. There is apparently
> quite a surplus of office furniture out there and we have not been able to
> sell or donate some large items.
> The big item in question is 2 sets of BenchDepot Kennedy Formica Laminate
> Round work benches. 30 inch height. Two corner pieces.
>  2x 36" x 96"
>  3x 36" x 72"
> It makes up 2 L-shaped lab-style work benches. We have all of the pieces
> and bolts, drawers, etc.
> If someone can take them, I will rent the U-Haul, drive it, and help load
> and unload.
>
> Thanks,
> Mark W

I might be too late to the party, but if Aaron didn't grab them, are 
benches still available?

(I really do need to read this list more often!)

-Ed

Re: [PLUG] fdisk not recognizing external SATA HDD

[King Beowulf]

On 1/3/24 15:48, Rich Shepard wrote:
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:21 2024] usb 1-11: new high-speed USB device number 2 using 
> xhci_hcd
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:21 2024] usb 1-11: New USB device found, idVendor=1f75, 
> idProduct=0611, bcdDevice= 0.06
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:21 2024] usb 1-11: New USB device strings: Mfr=4, 
> Product=5, SerialNumber=6
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:21 2024] usb 1-11: Product: XT-U33502
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:21 2024] usb 1-11: Manufacturer: XinTop
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:21 2024] usb 1-11: SerialNumber: 20230921
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:21 2024] usb-storage 1-11:1.0: USB Mass Storage device 
> detected
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:21 2024] scsi host10: usb-storage 1-11:1.0
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:22 2024] scsi host10: scsi scan: INQUIRY result too short 
> (5), using 36
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:22 2024] scsi 10:0:0:0: Direct-Access XinTop   
> XT-U33502 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:22 2024] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdg] Very big device. Trying to use 
> READ CAPACITY(16).
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:22 2024] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdg] 7814037168 512-byte logical 
> blocks: (4.00 TB/3.64 TiB)
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:22 2024] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdg] Write Protect is off
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:22 2024] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdg] Mode Sense: 3b 00 00 00
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:22 2024] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdg] No Caching mode page found
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:22 2024] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdg] Assuming drive cache: write 
> through
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:22 2024] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdg] Very big device. Trying to use 
> READ CAPACITY(16).
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:22 2024] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdg] Very big device. Trying to use 
> READ CAPACITY(16).
> [Wed Jan  3 14:13:22 2024] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdg] Attached SCSI disk
> [Wed Jan  3 14:15:17 2024] usb 1-11: USB disconnect, device number 2

As Russell mentioned, your USB adapter is disconnecting, that is why 
/dev/sdg is AWOL.  Are you sure you are plugging into a the correct 
port?  Bad USB adapter?

PRO TIP: Connect *JUST* the USB adapter - no drive - and check dmesg.  
It should not disconnect (just show 'media removed') and the USB adapter 
*MUST* be listed in 'lsusb'.  For example, for my 3.0 USB adapter

# dmesg
[603063.361794] usb 4-4: USB disconnect, device number 2
[603067.792014] usb 4-4: new SuperSpeed USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd
[603067.804645] usb 4-4: New USB device found, idVendor=174c, 
idProduct=5106, bcdDevice= 0.01
[603067.804650] usb 4-4: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=3, 
SerialNumber=1
[603067.804652] usb 4-4: Product: AS2105
[603067.804654] usb 4-4: Manufacturer: ASMedia
[603067.804656] usb 4-4: SerialNumber: 
[603067.805029] usb-storage 4-4:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[603067.805311] scsi host10: usb-storage 4-4:1.0
[603068.822185] scsi 10:0:0:0: Direct-Access ASMT 2105 
0    PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[603068.822690] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdf] Media removed, stopped polling
[603068.823478] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdf] Attached SCSI removable disk

and

$ lsusb

...
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 174c:5106 ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1051 SATA 
3Gb/s bridge
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
...

If you do not see something similar, then fighting with fdisk is folly.

-Ed.

Re: [PLUG] Question: grabbing only 1 file using wget

[King Beowulf]

On 11/20/23 13:29, American Citizen wrote:
> Hello:
>
> I am trying to grab one specific file from a quake monitoring website
> using wget. The file name is "index.js"
>
> The wget command is
>
> % wget -r -l3 --no-parent -A "index.js" https://vafri.is/quake/
>
> However the results do NOT come back with the file at all, but
> apparently the wget command is deflected and unable to retrieve the
> file. I can do a manual save of the website as an html file with an html
> directory which contains the "index.js" file.
>
> What am I doing wrong?
>
> Thank you for the clarification/correction and advice.
>
>


Why try to spider the site and run afoul of there rebots.txt?  If the 
file is publicly accessible just use

wget https://vafri.is//index.js see 'man wget' for 
options to compensate for URL redirects etc. -Ed

Re: [PLUG] Can someone enlighten me on H.265/HEVC

[King Beowulf]

On 2/26/23 20:31, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I have a perplexing question I am seeking answers to.  Note that this DOES 
> concern BOTH Windows and Linux, I'll start off with Windows.
>
> So as I mentioned in my talk on security cams the Reolink cam I passed around 
> outputs video over the network.  There are 2 streams it makes available, a 
> primary stream and a substream.
>
> The primary stream is the full resolution of the camera and it outputs in 
> H.265.  The substream is a much more limited resolution of the camera and it 
> outputs in H.264
>
> 



I'm not going to weigh in on any F/OSS "religious war", and I could care
less about what MS Windows has or doesn't, but there are workarounds
since only the h.265 binaries are patent encumbered, IIRC. 
Interestingly, the same patent encumbrances cover h.264, but here,
Mozilla partnered with Cisco:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/open-h264-plugin-firefox

I suppose if Cisco switches to h.265 for video conferencing, this will
be all me a moot point.

https://www.videolan.org/developers/x265.html
can be linked to vlc and ffmpeg, and anything linked to them.

https://www.libde265.org/blog/2014/02/22/gstreamer-4k-h265-hevc-plugin/
Anything that uses gstreamer can play h.265 with this gst plugin and
libde265 library.

Whether a plugin/extension/HTML5/js/nodejs can be massaged so as to
display in a web browser is another exercise.

H.265 is a topic on the Zoneminder forums, so they are aware:
https://forums.zoneminder.com/viewtopic.php?t=31787
https://forums.zoneminder.com/viewtopic.php?p=129677=H.265#p129677


Unfortunately, I missed your Zoneminder talk. I have it running here
with 2 cellphones [1] and just added a Reolink E1 Pro [2]. Once I
figured out that I needed their windows app (WINE FTW!) to activate rtsp
and ONVIF I was able to find the h264 streams.  why were these disabled
by default and no web console!

-Ed

-
[1]
https://www.linuxgalaxy.org/kingbeowulf/repurpose-cellphones-as-home-security-cameras/

[2]
If you happen to know how to get the Zoneminder camera motion control
working on E1 pro, ping me offlist!

[PLUG] PLUG mailing list issues

[King Beowulf]

Hello,

I'm having some difficulty seeing list posts from some domains, notably
protonmail.com.  When viewing the web list archive there is a mismatch
to what arrives in Thunderbird.  Yep, I've checked "spam" etc.  Also,
the plug-announce and plug-talk lists do not seem to match the
email/password credentials of the plug lists. Take a peek when you get a
chance. No hurry.

I also tied emailing the list emails listed on mailman and password
reset reminder, but these all kick back

host mail.pdxlinux.org[69.168.62.104] said: 550
5.1.1 : Recipient address rejected: User
unknown in virtual mailbox table (in reply to RCPT TO command)

for all three.

-Ed

Re: [PLUG] Open Source or Public Domain Text to Speech

[King Beowulf]

On 8/1/22 11:35, Daniel Ortiz wrote:
> Hello everyone,
> Does anyone know of any open source or public domain text to speech that
> allows the speech to be used in videos or more without copyright
> infringement?
> From, Daniel Ortiz
As Rich mentioned, espeak-ng (successor and fork of espeak), is FOSS,
and you can encode in a FOSS audio format (flac, ogg, etc).  Note that
the audio produced can still infringe copyright if the original text is
not "free".  Although, there might be a legal carve out for assistive
purposes (screen reader for blind, etc).



[ASIDE: There was some hoopla a while back about ebook readers
incorporating text-to-speech that got the audio book people all up in arms].

Here are some options:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESpeak  *Recommended*
A free and open-source, cross-platform, compact, software speech
synthesizer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MBROLA *Recommended*
MBROLA is speech synthesis software as a worldwide collaborative
project. The MBROLA software is not a complete speech synthesis system;
the text must first be transformed into phoneme and prosodic information
in MBROLA's format, and separate software (e.g. eSpeakNG) is necessary.
Mbrola voices greatly improve the speech generated from espeak et al.


https://www.cstr.ed.ac.uk/projects/festival/
The Festival Speech Synthesis System offers a general framework for
building speech synthesis systems as well as including examples of
various modules.


https://freebsoft.org/speechd *Recommended*
Speech Dispatcher project provides a high-level /device independent/
layer for access to speech synthesis through a simple, stable and well
documented interface. Speechd can be easily configured to use espeak-ng
and mbrolo (for example) to simplify usage. A variety of software (KDE
kmouth, KDE's okular PDF reader, calibre ebook management, mumble VOIP)
have built-in support for speechd. 


Here's a comparison list (in need of update but still informative):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_speech_synthesizers

-Ed

Re: [PLUG] Looking For Advice - mount --bind or symbolic link?

[King Beowulf]

On 7/24/22 09:22, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Sun, 24 Jul 2022, Mark Phillips wrote:
>
>> My apologies for not being clear. What you describe is exactly what I have
>> and want to accomplish.
>> * 1 TB drive just for OS  - currently a fresh install of Ubuntu 20.04 with
>> nothing in /home/mark
>> * 4TB drive holds the back up of home/mark - i.e. all "my stuff"  (about
>> 2.1 TB). I want to just keep adding to this backup of my old /home/mark
>> directory.
>

Hello Mark and Rich

You are both making this more difficult that is has to be.  You don't
need "bind" or symlink...yadda yadda.  From what I am to understand Mark
as 2 drives:

/dev/sda1  with the new Linux OS
/dev/sdb1  with the old Linux OS and the old /home/mark with all the
important data.

First, clear out all the kruft on sda2 you no longer need: old OS files,
configs etc. Be aware that /dev/sda1/home/mark is NOT empty after you
installed the new OS. This is were all the new user specific stuff is
for the user you created during the install and for the GUI desktop
stuff.  Clear out all the old OS stuff on /dev/sdb1 you no longer need.
Then mount /dev/sdb1 to a temporary location, 'mv /home/mark  /mark'. 
Now bring over the new OS .config and .local (and whatever else Ubuntu
uses) to this /mark.  Now, you do NOT need to specify /home/mark since
/home already exists on sda1 after it is mounted.

You then simply need this in /etc/fstab to change the temporary sda2
mount to the already existing /home

/dev/sda1   /    ext4    defaults 1   1  # the
new Ubuntu OS
/dev/sda2   /home    ext4    defaults 1   2  # a big
empty drive with just 'mark' folder and all your stuff.

Replace "ext4" with the file system you are using, and look up whatever
'defaults' Ubuntu uses. [Aside: I use a more "pure" Linux distro that
has not been mangled by Canonical]

Also, UNbntu may used UUID or PARTUUID device naming.  I'll leave that
as an exercise for the reader.  On boot, you system will read /etc/fstab
and mount accordingly.  You don't put "mount" in fstab nor need the bind
option to mount a directory on a directory (which can have some weird
side effects in some cases).

Remember, in linux and unix "everything is file".   Here is a crazy
example from one of my systems.  Note how I mount on old 500 GB spinning
rust drive partitian as /tmp to ease wear and tear on my MVMe SSDs. (And
yes, I have WAY too many games...).

$ lsblk
NAME    MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda   8:0    1 465.8G  0 disk
├─sda1    8:1    1   256G  0 part /tmp
└─sda2    8:2    1 209.8G  0 part [SWAP]
sdb   8:16   1 931.5G  0 disk
└─sdb1    8:17   1 931.5G  0 part /games2
sdc   8:32   1 931.5G  0 disk
└─sdc1    8:33   1 931.5G  0 part /games
sdd   8:48   1 931.5G  0 disk
└─sdd1    8:49   1 931.5G  0 part /data2
sde   8:64   1 931.5G  0 disk
├─sde1    8:65   1 465.8G  0 part /HD_images
└─sde2    8:66   1 465.8G  0 part /HD_images/ISO_img
nvme1n1 259:0    0 931.5G  0 disk
└─nvme1n1p1 259:2    0 931.5G  0 part /library
nvme0n1 259:1    0 931.5G  0 disk
├─nvme0n1p1 259:3    0   100M  0 part /boot/efi
├─nvme0n1p2 259:4    0   100G  0 part /
└─nvme0n1p3 259:5    0 831.4G  0 part /home

-Ed.

Re: [PLUG] Thunderbird loggy

[King Beowulf]

On 10/31/2017 10:01 AM, Dick Steffens wrote:
> Has Thunderbird developed a responsiveness problem? I'm seeing delays of 
> a second or more sometimes when I type. It can be when typing in the To: 
> field, the Subject: field, or in the body. Then it will act normally. My 
> wife is seeing similar things on her winders version of T-bird.
> 

In addition to cleaning up, compacting and organizing mail folders as
mentioned, be aware that TB can bog down a bit when fetching new mail.
How long the lag depends on a how much it needs to do to sort through
the plain test mail box files.

I have mine set to fetch mail (3 accounts, with filters to automatically
sort 7 mail lists into separate folders) and RSS newsfeeds (17) every 30
min, along with 2 calendar updates and Enigmail OpenPGP extension. The
lag is typically only 1-2 seconds every 1/2 hour or so if I happen to be
typing at the same time.

Check how often you have TB set to check mail and sort/organize/backup
old mail.

-Ed

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Re: [PLUG] Linux Time?

[King Beowulf]

On 10/22/2017 12:49 PM, Dave Lien - W7DAL wrote:
> /... //the install process usually sets it up for you./
> 
> Thanks Jim and Larry!
> 
> I've been watching the flow of contacts using FT8 over the past several 
> days without doing anything about time correction. With continuously 
> positive results over many hours of system ON time I now have no reason 
> to believe drift is a factor to be addressed.
> 
> Also, I've never seen a reference to having to add special time adjust 
> software when Linux is used with this time critical digital 
> communications mode. Such a software addition is pretty much mandatory 
> with Windows and is well publicized by FT8 and other digital mode users.
> 
> So, I've decided to just leave things alone. . TNX.


Just as an FYI (and late to the party as usual), I have this is my start
up /etc/rc.d/rc.local, along with the appropriate settings in :

# Set the time
/usr/sbin/ntpd -qg
/sbin/hwclock -w

This syncs up both hardware and system clocks at the end of the boot cycle.

The motherboard hardware clock can and does drift a bit over long time
scales. These clock chips have always been awful.  It does not matter
the OS you are running.  The system (software) clock is even worse,
although does not seem to be as bad as in Windows.

http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Clock-2.html

Running ntp continuously is a bit overkill for my needs.  Here is my
time drift on recent reboots for kernel and nvidia driver updates:

# last reboot
reboot   system boot  4.4.88   Fri Oct 13 00:58 - 13:10 (9+12:11)
reboot   system boot  4.4.88   Thu Oct 12 15:07 - 00:57  (09:50)
reboot   system boot  4.4.75   Mon Sep  4 13:32 - 15:05 (38+01:32)

# cat messages.2 |grep ntpd
Oct 12 15:07:20 gandalf ntpd[1431]: ntpd 4.2.8p10@1.3728-o Thu Apr 20
17:49:20 UTC 2017 (1): Starting
Oct 12 15:07:20 gandalf ntpd[1431]: Command line: /usr/sbin/ntpd -qg
Oct 12 15:07:20 gandalf ntpd[1431]: proto: precision = 0.114 usec (-23)
...
Oct 12 15:07:29 gandalf ntpd[1431]: ntpd: time set +2.169528 s
Oct 13 00:59:03 gandalf ntpd[1432]: ntpd 4.2.8p10@1.3728-o Thu Apr 20
17:49:20 UTC 2017 (1): Starting
Oct 13 00:59:03 gandalf ntpd[1432]: Command line: /usr/sbin/ntpd -qg
Oct 13 00:59:03 gandalf ntpd[1432]: proto: precision = 0.111 usec (-23)
...
Oct 13 00:59:12 gandalf ntpd[1432]: ntpd: time slew +0.032806 s

Thus, after an uptime of 38 days, the time drift was +2.169528 s and
then after 9 days, +0.032806 s.  For comparison, after 20 days up, my
antique ~10 yrs old HP Pentium 4 box (Intel motherboard) drifted
+81.659436 s

It all depends on your application and needs as to how accurate you
computer time needs to be. For time critical software, depending on the
actual motherboard drift, you can calculate any required ntp update
interval.

-Ed

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Re: [PLUG] ThinkPads for sale

[King Beowulf]

Nat, I just emailed Michael to pick up the pair.

-Ed

On 10/21/2017 11:27 AM, Nat Taylor wrote:
> Still got an 8GB one?
> 
> On Fri, Oct 20, 2017 at 9:29 PM, Michael Dexter 
> wrote:
> 
>> On 10/20/17 9:24 PM, Michael Barnes wrote:
>>> Thanks for the list.
>>
>> Should anyone else be interested:
>>
>> Lenovo ThinkCentre M91P Desktop PC Quad Core i5 2.5GHz
>> i5-2400S 2.5GHz
>> 8GB RAM
>> External power supply
>> DVD Drive
>> 1 Internal 3.5" bay
>>
>> If I recall correctly, an Intel DQ67EP motherboard
>> I believe this case with a black front panel:
>> http://www.idotpc.com/thestore/pc/ITS-2814F-Front-
>> Hot-Swappable-Half-2U-Case-Bare-bone-Unit-151p645.htm
>> i52400S 2.5GHz
>> 16GB RAM but I can reduce it if you like
>> DVD Drive
>> Two hot-swappable front 3.5" bays
>>
>> No disks but I can offer them if so desired.
>>
>> Both are quite quiet.
>>
>> $150 each OBO
>>
>> Michael
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Re: [PLUG] ThinkPads for sale

[King Beowulf]

On 10/20/2017 12:41 PM, Michael Dexter wrote:
> i5 Quad Core ThinkCenter desktop
> i5 Quad Core 1/2 U wide, 2U tall desktop

Michael,

I'd be interested in one or both of these as an upgrade to the 17+yr old
Pentium 4 hobby server.  What are the specs/model numbers?  Oh, yeah,
and asking price?

-Ed


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Re: [PLUG] xsane-gimp (?)

[King Beowulf]

On 10/16/2017 08:49 PM, Keith Lofstrom wrote:
> I had trouble connecting from xsane to a Fujitsu IX-500
> scanner on my wife's SL7.2 office desktop.  At Sunday's
> clinic (thanks folks!), she learned to install xsane on
> two laptops (one SL7.3, one Mint 18.2), and xsane worked
> fine with the scanner on both laptops.
> 
> After looking for differences, I de-installed xsane-gimp
> on her desktop machine, and the scanner connected fine.
> I'm not sure why xsane-gimp was installed, or why we
> might want to scan directly into gimp someday, but for
> now we do better without it.
> 
> Keith
> 

IIRC, gimp used to have a sane plugin to scan directy into gimp.  Now,
on linux systems, you now just use xsane GUI (sane is the backend) as a
Gimp plugin by setting a symlink, for example:

ln -s /usr/bin/xsane ~/.gimp-2.8/plug-ins/

When you run Gimp, the File - Create menu should now have one or more
entries for your scanner.

If you change the scanner or other plugins, etc, you can

rm ~/.gimp*/pluginrc

and gimp will rescan for new plugins.

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Printing from Virtual Box

[King Beowulf]

On 10/15/2017 08:13 PM, Denis Heidtmann wrote:
> Status:  I got started trying to set up the printer in bridging, using the
> printer's name rather than the IP.  I thought I would continue in that
> direction until I was either successful or could figure out why not.  I got
> the name of the printer from the router--it said HP69E035.  I shut off
> wireless direct.  Printing from the host still works.  I set up a new port:
> TCP/IP; gave it the same name as the printer.  I went through the install
> procedure.  Says it was successful, but it will not print.
> 
> I can reach the printer's embedded web server from the host and the guest
> (10.0.0.244).  Right now I suspect the Windows Install may be the issue.  I
> will try again using the IP address rather than the name, but I am not
> optimistic.
> 
---snip--

Since you can access the printe'rs embedded web config page from the
guest, via http://10.0.0.244, then you are done with connectivity
issues. Done, I say.  Any print issues are now:
(a) misconfigured Win2K print port
(b) wrong printer driver
(c) printer not configured correctly
(d) something missing in the win2k installation

I posted earlier a HOW-TO to set a network printer.  REMEMBER: you set
it up manually as though it is a local printer - NOT as a network
printer. Be aware that for IP ports on HP printers, port 1 is TCP port
9100 (for Jetdirect printer servers but in this case the printer is its
own printer server).  Make sure port 9100 is accessible on the network.

If I still had a win2K VM image I could work out a few more details, but
even I upgrade old stiff after a decade or so ;-)

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Printing from Virtual Box

[King Beowulf]

On 10/09/2017 03:14 PM, Denis Heidtmann wrote:
> Progress.  I got the ip address of the printer from settings/network in the
> host, pinged it from the host, then pinged it from win2k.  Both were
> successful.  But then I found out that the host could not connect to the
> router/modem until I shut down win2k in VB!  So it appears that either the
> host is connected to the router/modem or it is connected to the printer.
> This is not the usual way the host connects to the printer, as I am able to
> print without losing my internet connection.  The address was
> 192.168.223.100.  I need to get rid of this direct connection to the
> printer.  Then how do I get the (proper) ip address for the printer?
> 
--- snip---

As
Tomas mentioned, this sounds like something screwy with the host-guest
bridging setup in that when VB+Win2K fires up, the guest has sole
ownership of the NIC. Thus, the laptop host goes "dark".

you said (?)the printer is on wifi and uses DHCP (not fixed IP). The
printer IP address is from the wifi router and has nothing to do with
either host or guest OS.  You can get the Printer IP by using the
printer front panel to print a Network status page, or log in to the
router web GUI (http://10.0.0.1) to see what IP is assigned.

Some printers can advertise over wifi for direct connection.  You will
want to turn that off inside the printer configuration settings. Either
page through the printer front panel or use the printer web GUI
(http://10.0.0.244)

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Printing from Virtual Box

[King Beowulf]

On 10/09/2017 02:14 PM, Denis Heidtmann wrote:
> I am the one who should apologize--for being in such dire need of help.
> Here is the output:
> 
> denis@denis-ThinkPad-L420:~$ ip addr
> 1: lo:  mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group
> default qlen 1
> link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
> inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
>valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
> inet6 ::1/128 scope host
>valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

This is the laptop's loopback or "localhost" - can ignore

> 2: enp9s0:  mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast
> state DOWN group default qlen 1000
> link/ether e8:9a:8f:b9:6a:65 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

This looks like the laptops

> 3: wlp3s0:  mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP
> group default qlen 1000
> link/ether 08:11:96:8a:4d:c0 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
> inet 10.0.0.118/24 brd 10.0.0.255 scope global dynamic wlp3s0
>valid_lft 603477sec preferred_lft 603477sec
> inet6 2601:1c0:6100:ac9::f498/128 scope global dynamic
>valid_lft 603479sec preferred_lft 603479sec
> inet6 2601:1c0:6100:ac9:c546:3082:760c:6e03/64 scope global temporary
> dynamic
>valid_lft 199748sec preferred_lft 84479sec
> inet6 2601:1c0:6100:ac9:9211:491c:c335:ce74/64 scope global mngtmpaddr
> noprefixroute dynamic
>valid_lft 199748sec preferred_lft 199748sec
> inet6 fe80::bff5:4bac:630:9759/64 scope link
>valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

This looks like the laptop wireless, ipv4 address of 10.0.0.118/24 or ip
10.0.0.118 subnet mask 255.255.255.0

> 
> I do not know which of the many addresses to pay attention to.  I tried to
> use the man page to help me answer that question, but it did not.
> 
> So you see that I have not accurately described the depth of my ignorance.

As we used to back in the day, ignorance is curable, stupidity
permanent.  No shame in not knowing, heck, there are big holes in my
knowledge for sure.

>---more snip
>>
>>
>> Windows 2000 IP Configuration
>>
>> Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : winr2d4 [WRONG]
>> Primary DNS Suffix  . . . . . . . :
>> Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
>> IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
>> WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
>> DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.or.comcast.net [?]
>>
>> Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
>>
>> Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : hsd1.or.comcast.net [?]
>> Description . . . . . . . . . . . : AMD PCNET Family PCI Ethernet
>> Adapter[WRONG]
>> Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 08-00-27-D6-6D-3F
>> DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
>> Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
>> IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.231
>> Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
>> Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
>> DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
>> DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 75.75.75.75
>> 75.75.76.76
>> Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, October 08, 2017
>> 4:16:42 PM
>> Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, October 15, 2017
>> 4:16:42 PM
>>
>--snip---

VB uses an emulated network interface card (NIC), it won't see the host
per se.  Thus, "AMD PCNET Family PCI Ethernet Adapter" is the card for
the Win2k "hardware" (can be changed in VB setings).  By bridging, you
are just connecting the 2 NICs to *behave* as one NIC.  Remember, as far
as Win2k knows, it is running on REAL hardware. You could do a "PCI
passthrough" of the ACTUAL wifi hardware, but, if you do, the laptop
host operating system looses control of and can't use that hardware.

So, this looks ok, the win2k "box" is seeing you router ( Gateway
10.0.0.1) DHCP server (also 10.0.0.1) and getting IP 10.0.0.231 subnet
Mask 255.255.255.0 which means your Win2k "box" is on the same network
as the laptop and router.

[Aside: the DNS servers look like Comcast. I recommend telling your
router to override with OpenDNS or Google - much faster.]

So far so good. In the top post, you said that you have:
HP Officejet 4630 (10.0.0.244) port 9100

1. ping from the laptop linux ( ping 10.0.0.244) to make sure the
printer is "alive"
2. ping from within the Win2K "box" (ping 10.0.0.244 ).
You should be able to the printer IP from both the host and the guest
unless something is screwy with your printer or a firewall somewhere.

Now comes the tricky part (humor intended).  In the Win2k add printer
wizard you DO NOT scan for a network printer.  This is for windows
networks (SMB/SAMBA, Active Directory servers).  Instead, you tell it to
attach to a LOCAL printer and a specific TCP IP port.  Here is a good
tutorial from U of Penn:
https://www.sas.upenn.edu/computing/natsci/tutorials/printing/xp
(WinXP is basically Win2K with 

Re: [PLUG] Printing from Virtual Box

[King Beowulf]

On 10/08/2017 08:38 AM, Denis Heidtmann wrote:
> On my laptop, I have VB in Ubuntu 16.04 running Windows 2000.  Before I
> changed my desktop computer and wireless router I could print from 2000.
> The printer is connected to the desktop via USB.  The printer is also
> connected wirelessly to the new wireless Comcast Modem/router.  I can print
> from Ubuntu on the laptop.
> 
> The long dialogue below is my attempt to show what I have tried to restore
> the printing capability to the windows guest.  I hope that someone here
> might be able to direct me along the path to success.
> 
> Thanks,
> -Denis
> 

To print via a host printer in VirtualBox you need to:

1.  Tell VB to passthrough the host USB port the printer is connected
to.  Then you can "Add printers" in Windows.  Be aware that Windows may
'recognize' the printer as an unknown device until you install the
appropriate printer drivers inside the Windows guest.  The Windows guest
knows absolutely nothing about Linux host and CUPS/HPLIP drivers.

2. Before the Windows guest can see the network printers, you need to
have the virtual NIC attached to the same network IP subnet as the host.
Normally, Bridged networking will do that but you must check advanced
settings to make sure the IP address assignment is correct and that
guest NAT and/or DHCP is not enabled.  Note: If you are bridging to a
host wireless adaptor you will needs to turn off/deny promiscuous mode.

If you are trying to get network printing working, and the virtual
network bringing is correct, in a Windows command window, type "ipconfig
/all" and compare the output to your host. Again, if you are not on the
same subnet you the Windows guest won't see any network printers.

Anyway, I'm a bit rusty with VB since I moved to qemu.

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Configuring fc-cache search path

[King Beowulf]

On 10/03/2017 03:13 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Mon, 2 Oct 2017, King Beowulf wrote:
> 
>> for fontdir in 100dpi 75dpi OTF Speedo TTF Type1 cyrillic misc; do
>>/usr/bin/mkfontscale /usr/share/fonts/${fontdir}
>>/usr/bin/mkfontdir /usr/share/fonts/${fontdir}
>> done
> 
>I really need to get fonts working again as I can no longer see web sites
> such as LQ and I need to use them. (This all started trying to get
> LibreOffice5 Writer to see the Baker Signet and Bitstream Amerigo fonts. I
> removed the Speedo/, PEX/, and ISO-*/ directories in /usr/share/fonts/ as
> obsolete; I know of no application that does not use TrueType, OpenFormat,
> or Type1 (less, for example).
> 
>I restored the TTF/, OTF/, TrueType/, and Type1/ directories from a backup
> last April (when every web site was visible under Slackware-14.1; this font
> issue appeared only last week.)
> 
>Now I tried to run the above script piecemeal on the Type1/ directory as I
> moved the Type1 fonts in local/ there, but mkfontscale segfaults:
> 
> # /usr/bin/mkfontscale Type1/
> Segmentation fault
> 

Rich

remove the trailing "slash", also you can
cd /usr/share/fonts/Type1
mkfontscale .
mkfontdir .

etc, for each directory that was changed. Then

fc-cache -f -v

Then when running X, check /var/log/Xorg.0.log for font entries and/or
errors, or if there is an /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d entries. X will pick up
he default paths.  For example, on my system:
-
...
[1282529.500] (WW) The directory "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc" does
not exist.
[1282529.500]   Entry deleted from font path.
[1282529.500] (WW) The directory "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi" does
not exist.
[1282529.500]   Entry deleted from font path.
[1282529.500] (WW) The directory "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi" does
not exist.
[1282529.500]   Entry deleted from font path.
[1282529.500] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/local" does not exist.
[1282529.500]   Entry deleted from font path.
[1282529.500] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/CID" does not exist.
[1282529.500]   Entry deleted from font path.
[1282529.500] (**) FontPath set to:
/usr/share/fonts/TTF,
/usr/share/fonts/OTF,
/usr/share/fonts/Type1,
/usr/share/fonts/misc,
/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled,
/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled,
/usr/share/fonts/75dpi,
/usr/share/fonts/100dpi,
/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic


and I've added an /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/fonts.conf with
Section "Files"

FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc:unscaled/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi:unscaled/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi:unscaled/"

EndSection

You can also try reinstalling the fontconfig package.

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Configuring fc-cache search path

[King Beowulf]

On 09/30/2017 07:10 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>The fc-cache man page explains that the tool searches all system path
> directories for fonts, but not where this is controlled. Here I have removed
> the Speedo and cyrillic subdirectories under /usr/share/fonts/ yet they
> still appear in the searh list (with no fonts found).
> 
>While harmless I'm curious to learn where this path information is stored
> so I can remove the two non-existant directories.
> 
> Rich


Rich,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontconfig

The config files to control system font behavior are here:

/etc/fonts/fonts.conf

fonts directories listed in fonts.conf are scanned on boot via
/usr/bin/fc-cache -f (during boot when /etc/rc.M runs), but I don't
think mkfontscale runs at boot.

When you add OR subtract fonts, you can force a global rebuild with
something like:
---

#Run this as root. If you put anything into other directories,
#add to the list
for fontdir in 100dpi 75dpi OTF Speedo TTF Type1 cyrillic misc; do
/usr/bin/mkfontscale /usr/share/fonts/${fontdir}
/usr/bin/mkfontdir /usr/share/fonts/${fontdir}
done

/usr/bin/fc-cache -f -r -v


If you are using ~/.fonts then do as user

mkfontscale ~/.fonts
mkfontdir ~/.fonts
fc-cache -f -r -v ~/.fonts

That should clear out any kruft and regenerate everything.
-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Web pages not displaying body text

[King Beowulf]

On 10/02/2017 09:31 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>I'd like suggestions for web search phrases because what I've tried
> haven't produced useful hints.
> 
>Accessing the Washington Dept. of Ecology's web site
>  I see most text, except for the window with their
> twitter tweets. When I follow the orange link to ">> Databases" none of the
> body text displays.
> 
---

Rich

Seems to work ok here, Firefox 52.4.0ESR and Chromium 61.0.3163.100 both
64-bit.

Perhaps flush your browser cache and see if it pulls a fresh copy o fthe
css style sheet?

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Is there a DNS cache in the Comcast modem?

[King Beowulf]

On 09/20/2017 02:08 PM, Denis Heidtmann wrote:
> Snarky, yes, but I appreciate the advice.  I had a wireless router which
> you may recall from a previous post was blamed for a DNS poisoning event
> (likely erroneously.)  And I have been considering Ooma for a while.  It is
> time to do it.  Then getting my own cable modem will be simpler--more
> choices if voice is not needed.  And it does appear I have learned little,
> but not nothing, on this list.  Some people are slow learners.
> 
> But for curiosity's sake, does this modem have a DNS cache?

I still find it suspicious that I can't find your Arris TG1268T anywhere
on 3 search engines and Arris web site.  The router portion, which does
the DNS lookup, and is where you set the wifi info etc), is most likely
accessed via the base internal network address, typically 192.168.1.1
for example, and look for menu for Network and DNS.  There might be
something under Interfaces.  If the firmware is based on openwrt or
similar, it's most likely using dnsmasq, which uses a cache although the
default size "might" be set to zero.  restarting dnsmasq clears the cache.

Also, don't forget that browsers can cache dns as well. (Firefox
about:config look for "network.dnsCache")

> 
> I believe they do use the wireless in the modem to provide xfinity
> wireless, but I have been lead to believe it does not go under my bandwidth
> and data cap.  My laptop reports an xfinity wireless but I have been unable
> to connect to it.  Instead I connect to wireless using one I have named
> Comcastrrash in the Arris.
> 

Well, Bill W. responded to this. I will just add the trust must be
earned, something Comcast hasn't done IMHO. I solve the wifi issue by
not giving them access to "free" wifi.

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Is there a DNS cache in the Comcast modem?

[King Beowulf]

On 09/20/2017 02:11 PM, Bill Weiss wrote:
> King Beowulf(kingbeow...@gmail.com)@Wed, Sep 20, 2017 at 12:45:40PM -0700:
>> On 09/18/2017 10:16 PM, Denis Heidtmann wrote:
>>> Answered by Comcast chat:
>>>
>>> I asked the question in my opening statement.  Here is the dialog.  Your
>>> task is to tell me what the answer is.
>>>
>>> Harpreet 11:40 AM Let me check
>>>
>>> Harpreet 11:41 AM Just for the account security, May I have the complete
>>> service address along with the zip code ?
>>> ...
> 
> I like to hate on Comcast as much as the next guy, but there are a couple
> of problems with this rant :) Allow me to provide a different viewpoint,
> please.
> 

Sure.  That's the fun part of a list like this.

...snip...
> 
>> 2.  since you want to clear DNS, that means you cable modem is also a
>> wifi router?
>>   2a C. is very likely hosting "free" xfinity wifi service using your
>> bandwidth and data cap.
> 
> It's pretty explicitly not hitting your data cap:
> https://www.xfinity.com/support/internet/xfinity-wifi-hotspots/ (search
> for "monthly usage allowances"). It also at least purportedly doesn't hit
> your bandwidth, using a separate channel upstream ("shared spectrum" on
> that same page), though it is certainly going to eat up some of your wifi
> spectrum and cause noise there.
> 
> You can also turn that silly thing off, at least so they claim.
> https://customer.xfinity.com/#/settings/security/hotspot is the link,
> though I can't do anything there as my device doesn't support it.

These days its hard for me to trust any meg-corp given the erosion of
individual liberty vs corporate "persons."  It's the principle of it: If
I PAY then to provide internet service, then they need to PAY me to
provide a public hotspot.

> 
>>   2b. cable modem + router is a non-optimal performance and security
>> arrangement for you home network.
> 
> 100% agree
> 
> (more stuff snipped)
> 
>> Netgear CM600 cable modem
>> It is mine. The admin pw is MINE.  no wifi, just 2 ports: coax and RJ45.
>>  Idiot C. had to "provision" it twice and then they told me I had a
>> loose cable and would I like to have a tech come in and install it for
>> me?  Really?  I'm a freakin' service engineer for multinational
>> laboratory equipment manufacturer and I CAN'T FIGURE OUT A LOOSE COAX
>> CABLE!  
> 
> On a DOCSIS 3 network (which you're on, trust me), you don't get to assert
> that the cable modem is yours. Part of the spec includes them pushing a
> config down onto your device and locking you out of parts of it. If you
> disagree, go change the upstream speed or the traffic priority of your
> connection on there. Not on the inside port, that's cheating :)
> 
> That might have been a DOCSIS 2 thing? This is the basis of old-school
> cable unlocking, and the standards finally got with it.
> 
> There are lots of good reasons to run your own cable modem, but pretending
> it keeps the ISP out of it isn't one of them.

Once I get on a good rant, its hard to slow down and I may have gotten
carried away.  Suffice to say, the modem is still mine and I can see the
logs, and have a fancy factory reset button. I don't have an issue with
them configuring the upstream coax port for their network.

Beside, until food, water, and oxygen poor in from the coax, none of us
really NEED internet access. Not really.

> 
>> I have complete control over my network and DNS cache. I DO NOT USE C.
>> DNS servers.  I may need to use C. as my ISP, but that does not mean
>> they get any more $ than necessary.  Once I year or so I call, nicely
>> threaten to quite and the cut my fee in 1/2 for another year.
> 
> I totally agree with this goal as well. Using DNS servers of your choice
> can be an easy win for you. If you're worried about the ISP messing with
> your DNS traffic, you can even run DNSCrypt on that shiny new router and
> have everything internal use that. The OpenDNS folks do a great job.
> 

I've used OpenDNS for years.  Highly recommended.
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Re: [PLUG] Is there a DNS cache in the Comcast modem?

[King Beowulf]

On 09/18/2017 10:16 PM, Denis Heidtmann wrote:
> Answered by Comcast chat:
> 
> I asked the question in my opening statement.  Here is the dialog.  Your
> task is to tell me what the answer is.
> 
> Harpreet 11:40 AM Let me check
> 
> Harpreet 11:41 AM Just for the account security, May I have the complete
> service address along with the zip code ?
> ...



You made a few errors in trying to resolve your recent cable modem issues:

1.  Arris TG1268T looks to be an EMTa telephony modem.  However I can't
check with Arris since that model number does not appear to exist.
Personally, I would not use anything C. provides and this avoid their
nonsense and rental fees.

2.  since you want to clear DNS, that means you cable modem is also a
wifi router?
  2a C. is very likely hosting "free" xfinity wifi service using your
bandwidth and data cap.
  2b. cable modem + router is a non-optimal performance and security
arrangement for you home network.
  2c. Are you mad? have you learned nothing on this list?

3. You are using C. VOIP service. See 2c.

I used to have one of their Arris EMTa cable modems (not a router since
still had a nice wifi router) and VOIP service.  They do not even
provide the backup battery!  I had all sorts of issues and went through
2 cable modems in <2 years.  I then smartened up:

netgear WNDR3700 gigabit 802.11abg/n 2.4 and Ghz dual band running
OpenWRT with 3 wifi SSIDs
Its getting a antique but still works well.  It might be time for one of
the new fancy AC versions, but with DD-Wrt or OpenWRT of course
(Gargoyle is another good choice based on OpenWrt).

Netgear CM600 cable modem
It is mine. The admin pw is MINE.  no wifi, just 2 ports: coax and RJ45.
 Idiot C. had to "provision" it twice and then they told me I had a
loose cable and would I like to have a tech come in and install it for
me?  Really?  I'm a freakin' service engineer for multinational
laboratory equipment manufacturer and I CAN'T FIGURE OUT A LOOSE COAX
CABLE!  

Ooma Telo modem and VOIP service with bluetooth dongle
Solid, cheap, has more features that C. and I sprung for premier service
for a few extra features.  The BT dongle allows me to answer my cell
using the handsets.  There are other service options as well.

I have complete control over my network and DNS cache. I DO NOT USE C.
DNS servers.  I may need to use C. as my ISP, but that does not mean
they get any more $ than necessary.  Once I year or so I call, nicely
threaten to quite and the cut my fee in 1/2 for another year.

Denis, the above may be a wee snarky, but I feel your pain.  I seriously
recommend getting your own hardware.  If you are in PDX area, I can assist.

Have fun.
Ed

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Re: [PLUG] 16.04.3 VGA Graphic display stopped working

[King Beowulf]

On 08/05/2017 09:04 PM, Alan wrote:
> On Fri, 2017-08-04 at 10:04 -0700, Bill Morita wrote:
>> 16.04.3 VGA Graphic display stopped working.
>> Even a No-Machine connection does not seem to work.
>>
>> Ctrl-Alt-F1  does get me a simple text terminal.
>>
>> Anybody else seen this ?
>>
>> It has happened on both my systems.
>> Currently booting to an older kernel to operated.
>>
> 
> What video card? What does lspci show?
> ___

Bill

More importantly, what does lsmod show?  You have terminal output so the
card is working (hence nothing new in lspci). if the nouveau (Mesa,
F/OSS) or nvidia (proprietary) modules are not loaded...

Check:

/var/log/Xorg.0.log

for clues.  Did you update the kernel just before you lost the X
display?  If using the proprietary binary nvidia blob, the kernel module
is tied to a particular kernel version/release. After kernel update, you
have to recompile the nvidia module kernel interface.

Ubuntu and derivatives have a nasty habit of automatically updating the
kernel on a whim, resulting in the death of proprietary drivers.

-Ed



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Re: [PLUG] Raspberry Pi 2

[King Beowulf]

On 08/06/2017 03:39 PM, Michael Robinson wrote:
> Do I need a physical Raspberry Pi 2 to test software developed for
> it that doesn't compile on the Raspberry Pi 3 or is there a way on
> my AMD based 64 bit Fedora 26 system to emulate a Raspberry Pi 2?
> 
> Of course the proprietary software in question which I will not describe
> in any detail, don't ask, apparently doesn't compile on
> the 3.  The code is C code.
> 

You will want to run the RPI operating system (Raspbian or whatever), as
a virtual machine via either Virtualbox or qemu.  This wont help you
with hardware issues, but can assist in locating software issues and
compatibility when compiling software.

For example:

https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=29=175454


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Re: [PLUG] Fonts not visible to upgraded LibreOffice-5.4.0

[King Beowulf]

On 08/05/2017 08:40 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Sat, 5 Aug 2017, John Jason Jordan wrote:
> 
>> Even if your Type 1 fonts have no optional glyphs I would still go with
>> OTF. It is the way of the future.
> 
>Thanks, John. That's good enough for me.
> 
>Years ago I learned a lot about typography, fonts, and document layouts to
> better understand how to effectively use LaTeX. Once I got oriented I left
> things alone since everything worked. Now that LO no longer recognizes the
> typefaces I prefer to use I'll update things.
> 
>Just upgraded fontforge here and will convert them all to OTF by working
> my way through fonts installed ~20 years ago and not touched since. I'm no
> longer sure what fonts are in Speedo, PEX, CID, and other formats.
> 
> Rich
> 

OTF is the way to go. Although Microsoft has registered "OpenType", at
least Adbobe and MS were clear-headed enough to release the
specification: ISO Standard ISO/IEC 14496-22 Open Font Format (2007) and
ISO/IEC 14496-22:2009 (2009).

This whole discussion prompted me to take a look what fonts I've been
dragging forward through every upgrade.  Yikes.  I mostly now use just a
few sets that come with Slackware (dejavu, liberation) with added open
source TTF/OTF such as open sans, LinLibertine and Bitstream Vera.  For
website compatibility, I've also added webcore-fonts which are the set
of fonts shipped with Windows OS.

Two good sources of unencumbered fonts:
https://fonts.google.com/
https://fontlibrary.org/en

If you want to test fonts before using a system wide install, put them into

/home//.fonts/

which is a symlink on most distros to

/home//.config/fontconfig/

Note that this location is on the chopping block, but handy.  Check
/etc/fonts/fonts.conf for directories fontconfig will scan on boot.

And don't forget, if on Slackware, especially,
http://duganchen.ca/writings/slackware/fonts/

how-to for optimizing font rendering on LCDs so they look as good on
screen as printed.  There are 2 patents (MS and Apple) that are included
in freetype but disabled (I think one is now expired).  subpixel
rendering (MS patent) still needs to be added by uncommenting a line and
rebuilding freetype.

I've also fiddled with the old IBM DOS codepage 437 fonts: these were
used for the old IBM PC monochrome video adapters and contained a number
of line drawing characters that were popular with BBS systems.  You can
massage xterm to use CP437 and then telnet into BBS systems and rock
like its the 80's early 90's.  Yes, many BBS systems are still Live!

-Ed

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Re: [PLUG] Fonts not visible to upgraded LibreOffice-5.4.0

[King Beowulf]

On 08/04/2017 07:01 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Fri, 4 Aug 2017, King Beowulf wrote:
> 
>> Rich didn't say which Type 1 (or missing fonts) he has been using. With
>> F/OSS there is always a good work around.
> 
> Ed,
> 
>Bitstream Amerigo is my standard word processor/spreadsheet body text
> font; Baker Signet is for my company logotype, and URW Palatino is the
> default body text font in LaTeX.
> 
Bitstream Amerigo and Baker Signet are available as TTF and OTF, but $$.
 URW Palatino was released as URW Palladio L for the ghostscript
project, but they only toss in the Type 1 version.  Same for Latex.

Here are other option of fonts based on URW Palladio L (some the whole
URW family):
http://freecode.com/projects/urwvn/
(adds vietnamese...)

Here is a set of URW Palladio clones, TeX Gyre Pagella:
https://ctan.org/tex-archive/fonts/tex-gyre/fonts/opentype/public/tex-gyre


>> 1.  You can use fontforge to convert font formats. For example:
>> https://fontforge.github.io/faq.html#outline-conversion
> 
>Now that's REALLY good to know. I've too many formats so converting some
> to TTF or OTF would make life simpler.
> 
>Thanks for the lesson.
> 
> Rich

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Re: [PLUG] Fonts not visible to upgraded LibreOffice-5.4.0 [RESOLVED]

[King Beowulf]

On 08/04/2017 07:02 PM, John Jason Jordan wrote:
> On Fri, 4 Aug 2017 18:14:03 -0700
> King Beowulf <kingbeow...@gmail.com> dijo:
> 
>> Slightly OT, but when I am stuck having to use a Windows box somewhere,
>> I carry a FAT32 USB thumb drive with portable versions of F/OSS apps
>> and utilities:
>> https://portableapps.com/
>> Reputable site that has been around for a long time.  Good stuff.
> 
> It sounds very useful. Can you get these apps to run on a computer in
> the library or a classroom at PSU? 

They will run on any MS Windows box that doesn't have the USB port
locked.  All the app data ad files stay on the USB drive and so nothing
ever touches the hard drive.

-Ed


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Re: [PLUG] Fonts not visible to upgraded LibreOffice-5.4.0 [RESOLVED]

[King Beowulf]

On 08/04/2017 05:51 PM, John Jason Jordan wrote:
> On Fri, 4 Aug 2017 16:28:57 -0700 (PDT)
> Rich Shepard  dijo:
> 
>> I think I've found a solution: KDE's office suite called 'calligra.' It,
>> too, has more than I'd ever use and has a cluttered display (at least
>> in the 'Sheet' tool), but it uses the .ods/.odt format so I assume it
>> will import/export M$ Office documents, too. And, it's part of the
>> Slackware distribution, too.
>>
>>   And, ... (pay attention, John) it recognizes all installed fonts!!
>>
>>   So, I'll get used to running calligra and remove LO.
> 
> My understanding is that Calligra can read MS Office documents but not
> write to them.
> 

LO has the benefit of being able to r/w MS Word docs directly, both
older .doc and newer .docx.  docx is MS version of ODF (open document
format).  Newer MS Word can read ODF natively.

> On the other hand a few years ago I was at PSU and needed to open an
> .odt document that I had on a thumb drive. Unfortunately, PSU stopped
> putting OO/LO on their computers some time ago, so I assumed that I was
> stuck. 

Slightly OT, but when I am stuck having to use a Windows box somewhere,
I carry a FAT32 USB thumb drive with portable versions of F/OSS apps and
utilities:
https://portableapps.com/
Reputable site that has been around for a long time.  Good stuff.
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Re: [PLUG] Fonts not visible to upgraded LibreOffice-5.4.0

[King Beowulf]

On 08/03/2017 04:39 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>Just upgraded LO to version 5.4.0 and most of my fonts are no longer
> available to the application. They are all, of course, still in their
> subdirectories in /usr/share/fonts/ but LO-5.0.4 isn't seeing them.
> 
>I've run fc-cache -f -v with no effect.
> 
>Suggestions?
> 
> Rich
>

Altough Rich has resolved this with moving to Calligra (part of KDE),
I'll toss this out for any others.  Rich didn't say which Type 1 (or
missing fonts) he has been using. With F/OSS there is always a good work
around.

TrueType and Opentype, especially, are the new "hotness", in particular
when supporting unicode (utf8 etc). Adobe Type 1 fonts have limitations
and are largely deprecated.  Opentype is especially designed for
cross-platform compatibility: The on screen and printed document will
look the same no matter the Operating System, software or device.

1.  You can use fontforge to convert font formats.  For example:
https://fontforge.github.io/faq.html#outline-conversion

You can also often find that someone has already done this. If you
PURCHASED (!) type 1 font packs from Adobe, you may be able to download
the equivalent TTF or OTF versions:
http://www.adobe.com/products/type/opentype/opentype-T1-faq.html

2.  If you are using standard MS Windows fonts, you can install the
webcore-fonts package in your linux distro distribution. Although
desigbed for the screen for website display, they work quite well as

3.  Libreoffice and other office apps allow you to set a font substition
table.  When you import a document the table will be used to replace the
missing font with another, equivalent font from available TTF and OTF
fonts.  It is a bit tedious to set up, but when done, does work well.

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Fonts not visible to upgraded LibreOffice-5.4.0

[King Beowulf]

On 08/03/2017 04:39 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>Just upgraded LO to version 5.4.0 and most of my fonts are no longer
> available to the application. They are all, of course, still in their
> subdirectories in /usr/share/fonts/ but LO-5.0.4 isn't seeing them.
> 
>I've run fc-cache -f -v with no effect.
> 
>Suggestions?
> 
> Rich

Are these fonts the old style adobe type 1 or truetype (TTF) or opentype
(OTF)?  LO dropped support for type 1 and this, I suspect, may be the
reason.

Check /var/log/Xorg.0.log to make sure X is still settings font paths

Make sure 'fonts.dir' and 'fonts.dir' exit in usr/share/fonts/*

Are you running an old version of fontconfig? I've got 2.11.1

-Ed


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Re: [PLUG] Add words to LibreOffice spell check dictionary

[King Beowulf]

On 07/25/2017 02:11 PM, Dick Steffens wrote:
> On 07/25/2017 02:03 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>> On Tue, 25 Jul 2017, Dick Steffens wrote:
>>
>>> There used to be an menu entry to add words to my user defined spell check
>>> dictionary. IIRC, it used to be under tools. I don't find it there in
>>> version 5.1.6.2 in Ubuntu MATE 16.04. Does anyone know where it went?
>> Dick,
>>
>> Does this help?
>> 
>>
> 
> No. That lets me get at the dictionary file and mess with it off line, 
> so to speak.
> 
> However I did finally find what I wanted. They moved it to Tools>Auto 
> Correct>Auto Correct Options ...
> 
> When will developers learn the basic rule of DFWAB? (Don't Fix What 
> Ain't Broke)
> 
> Thanks for the hint. It made me take another look. It helped that I 
> finally recalled that it was Auto Correct that I was looking for.
> 

Tools>Auto Correct>Auto Correct Options ...

Will take you to a tab where you can add words to the Autocorrect: it
will change words by guessing which one you meant to type. I hate that.
You may not.

To actually edit dictionaries, go to

Tools > Options > Language Settings > Writing Aids

You can now either edit the predefined "User-defined dictionaries" or
create a new one.  Any misspelling with the red squiggly underline will
have correction options in the right-click menu from these dictionaries.
If a "misspelled" word is correct, the right click menu will display and
"add to" and a "Spelling and Grammar" entry to use to add of refine.

Also, I recommend upgrading to LibreOffice 5.3.4.2 as there are lots of
bug fixes, improvements and a number of Heap-buffer-overflow security fixes.

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] What do you call it? LibreOffice preview screen?

[King Beowulf]

On 07/26/2017 08:11 AM, Dick Steffens wrote:
> I have an annoyance with Libre Office. I have a spreadsheet that I set 
> to take up a certain amount of screen space. If I have nothing else open 
> in LibreOffice, and I close that spreadsheet, but not LibreOffice, I get 
> what I'm sure they intend to be a helpful preview kind of window with a 
> column of commands on the left and a collection of recently used 
> documents on the right. My annoyance is with how the window size does 
> not revert to the size I had set for the spreadsheet when I reopen it.
> 
> My problem is that I don't know what to call what I'm seeing so I can 
> search and see if there's a way to change it. Any ideas?
> 
> Thanks.
> 

Dick,

The LibreOffice window (start screen) that shows recent files, and
templates, and has a list if "Create" options, will open a document in
what ever size THAT windows is in currently. If you resize that window,
exit and re-open, it will open in the new size.  Then any document you
open will be in that size.  Each module works the same way.

As of my LibreOffice 5.3.4.2, anyway.

As far as I know, libreoffice does not have a command line option to set
window size/geoemtry.  In a terminal, type 'soffice -h' to see a list of
command line options.

Now, once you set the size for each module (calc, writer etc), each will
have its own default size - as long as you NEVER open the start screen.
Once you open a module via the start screen that module will reset to
the start screen size.

The interwebs are full of people complaining about this in both LO and
OpenOffice for years.

Some WM/DE allow you to set application geometry (KDE?) but since I use
Xfce I wouldn't know.

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Getting X Server Display Configuration on nVidia to work

[King Beowulf]

On 07/12/2017 05:43 PM, Dick Steffens wrote:
> I can't get the two screen settings to change and stay correct on my new 
> machine.
> 
> On my old machine (running Ubuntu 14.04) I have an nVidia GeForce 210. 
> On my new machine (running Ubuntu MATE 16.04) I have an nVidia GeForce 
> GT 610. Both have nVidia driver version 304.135. On the old machine I 
> have a 1280x1024 Samsung SyncMaster 712N monitor, and a ViewSonic 
> VG2030wm 1680x1050 monitor. On the new machine I have a 1280x1024 
> Samsung SyncMaster 712N monitor, and a 1920x1080 Samsung SyncMaster 
> 2333HD monitor.
> 
> On the old machine I have the 1280x1024 monitor to the left of the 
> 1680x1050 monitor. I'd like to arrange the new machine to have a similar 
> arrangement, but two things happen when I try to set that with the 
> NVIDIA X Server Settings tool. I can drag the 1280x1024 monitor to the 
> left and the 1920x1080 to the right. But when I click on the Apply 
> button, I get part of the background image on the 1280x1024 monitor and 
> the rest of it on the 1920x1080 monitor. The 1920x1080 monitor also has 
> the image that should be on the 1280x1024 monitor to the right of the 
> extra part of the image from the other monitor, and there's a blank 
> strip at the bottom of that monitor under the smaller image.
> 
> While I could live with the larger monitor being to the left of the 
> smaller one, I'd like to have the menu bar at the top moved from the 
> smaller monitor over to the larger one, and also the bar at the bottom 
> of the screen with the buttons for the various open programs.
> 
> I haven't found anything current with Mr. Google. The latest posting I 
> found was from 2013.
> 
> Any ideas on where to get current information about how to make this 
> work right?
> 

Googling with 'Xorg nvidia dual monitor'  will result in a heaps or
wikis.  Even a 2013 post will be relevant given your antique GPU and driver!

First check this locations for conflicting device, screen and/or server
layout settings:
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/

nvidia-settings and its GUI can't adjust all X.Org parameters, since
'root' is needed to save those functions and X does not read $HOME.
You'll still need a proper xorg.conf file to tell X.org what to do.  The
APPLY button is for Monitor and GPU parameters that do not require the X
server to restart or reset.

The Nvidia has has an extensive README.txt that gives lots and lots of
information on setting up the driver.  I assume you want your one GPU to
drive 2 monitors of different resolutions as separate independent X
screens s.  You can also set up a single X screens spanning both monitors.
http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/304.135/README/

Here are 2 methods (There is a third involving the xrandr utility, but I
will leave that as a exercise for the reader).

1. Run nvidia-settings GUI as root or (ugh) sudo, click  "Advanced..."
button, and configure the settings the way you want.  Then, instead of
"apply" click on "Save to X Configuration File" and save to
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/xorg.conf

Name can be anything ending in .conf

Restart X.org server.

2. With older nvidia drivers, monitor (DPI, and a few other
autodetection issues can occur.  Edit the above xorg.conf to fine tune,
for example (I've left off the non-GPU settings for clarity, and the
values are for my particular hardware - adjust as needed).  Once you get
something that is close, you can then use nvidia-settings GUI to fine
tune and save to xorg.conf.

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen  0  "Screen0" 0 0
Screen  1  "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
Option "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "ViewSonic"
ModelName  "ViewSonic VA2448 SERIES"
HorizSync   24.0 - 82.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 75.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "LG"
ModelName  "LG Electronics E2360"
HorizSync   30.0 - 83.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 75.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName  "GeForce GTX 1060 6GB"
BusID  "PCI:4:0:0"
Option "Coolbits" "4"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor"Monitor0"
DefaultDepth24
Option "metamodes" "1920x1080_60 +0+0"
SubSection "Display"
Depth   24
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "Device0"
Monitor"Monitor1"
DefaultDepth24
Option "metamodes" "1920x1080_60 +0+0"
SubSection "Display"
Depth   24
EndSubSection
EndSection

Hints:
you can use 'xrandr --screen [0 | 1]' or 'nvidia-settings -q dpys' to
determine which GPU port (VGA, 

Re: [PLUG] Strange Firefox Hijacking?

[King Beowulf]

On 06/28/2017 10:15 PM, Dick Steffens wrote:
> This afternoon I had occasion to visit three YouTube pages:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5PJ0JZUhgc
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIVa_nkU0j4
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dBGnUSrjQo
> 
> The first two are old Disney cartoons, and the third is a collection of 
> German Shepherd videos that I got to by following click bait from a news 
> site. Later in the afternoon Firefox was very slow to respond, and then 
> other programs were affected -- ran slowly, too. I'm guessing one of 
> these links caused the problem. I looked at top and saw Firefox spending 
> a lot of time near the top. Somewhere else I saw that Firefox was 
> looking at a YouTube site. I don't remember what tool showed that to me 
> and, sadly, I didn't write down which site was referenced. I assume 
> there's a log somewhere I could look at to find out which one, but 
> that's currently outside my skill set. The thing is, I had closed the 
> Firefox tabs with those things on them, and left Firefox on about:blank. 
> So, Firefox should not have been running near the top in top. I tried 
> closing Firefox, but it wouldn't respond to the mouse click. At that 
> point I ran ps ax | grep firefox, found the process number, and killed 
> it. After a couple of seconds it closed. I've been out for the evening 
> and have restarted Firefox. It appears to be running normally now.
> 
> The important question is, how does a website take so much control of 
> Firefox, and do I need to be looking for any other bad side effects?
> 
> 

This is an old issue that pops up in Web 2.0-ish winky blink sites with
lots of java/flash/javascript and the occasional memory leak  Often a
bit of FF stays in memory and gets lost and you'll just have to kill it
with extreme prejudice.   FF can and will suck up memory and CPU cycles.

If you linked in from another site to youtube, I doubt there was a
nefarious payload - Google would not want the bad press.  The issue most
likely was either flash, or some other site heap full of javascript
embedded advertisements.

-Ed


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Re: [PLUG] Current state of Linux voice recognition

[King Beowulf]

On 06/28/2017 06:52 AM, Richard Owlett wrote:
> Up until about ten years ago, while still using Windows, I was following 
> voice recognition. At that time the only option was commercial product 
> which cost too much and wasn't a good match for my desires at that time.
> 
> Time has passed and I'm retired. What I'm looking for would be a large 
> vocabulary, single speaker, continuous speech system. The application 
> would be straight text note taking - I'm a slow and lousy typist.
> 
> I'm already investigating good microphones with good A/D resolution and 
> preferably high sample rate [I've ideas on pre-processing I would like 
> to experiment with].
> 
> Can anyone recommend some survey articles &/or competent current reviews.
> TIA
> 
> 

There are a few speech recognition engines that are F/OSS.  A brief
summery is here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_recognition_software_for_Linux
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_speech_recognition_software
might still be useful:
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Speech-Recognition-HOWTO/software.html

Some leverage Googles speech API - and everything you say gets uploaded
to Google.  There are several engines and frontends for GTK and KDE
(QT).  Quality can be a bit rough, but that depends on your accent and
how the software engine was/is  trained.

It's been awhile since I played with any of this stuff. The Google API
was pretty good, but tended to lag a bit - perhaps better now.

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Nautilus problem with Windows share.

[King Beowulf]

On 06/17/2017 01:43 AM, Michael Christopher Robinson wrote:
> I need to connect to a FreeNAS 11 exported Windows share as a 
> different user than my Linux user.  My Linux user is Michael, 
> the share owner is Andy.  Nautilus doesn't seem to allow 
> connecting to a cifs share as a different user than the login 
> user.  Is there a simple workaround for this problem?  Every 
> attempt to connect to a share by nautilus or even Windows 10 
> for that matter should require a username, workgroup name, and
> password.  I want to explicitly force logging in to connect to 
> a share.  I want to block anonymous and other users who don't 
> own a share from even seeing that share let alone copying the 
> contents.
> 
...
> 

Did you peruse the SAMBA wiki user documentation?

https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Main_Page
https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Setting_up_Samba_as_a_Standalone_Server

When people set up a "black box" and talk cifs shares, they tend to
forget that is done via the SAMBA software project on Linux/Unix. The
"black box" configuration web GUI may miss a few features. It been a
while since I've bothered, since I no longer have a mixed OS collection
here - everything is Linux/Unix and thus I've switched to NFS.

SAMBA allows fine grained user authentication via all the standard and
non-standard MS Windows protocols.  You can simple set up public and
private shares via a variety of authentication schemes.

Typically the SAMBA configuration file is in /etc/samba

For example /etc/samba/smb.cnf could contain, along with appropreaite
server parameters, something like:


# A publicly accessible directory, read/write to all users. Note that
all files
# created in the directory by users will be owned by the default user, so
# any user with access can delete any other user's files. Obviously this
# directory must be writable by the default user. Another user could of
course
# be specified, in which case all files would be owned by that user instead.
[public]
   path = /usr/somewhere/else/public
   public = yes
   only guest = yes
   writable = yes
   printable = no

# The following two entries demonstrate how to share a directory so that two
# users can place files there that will be owned by the specific users.
In this
# setup, the directory should be writable by both users and should have the
# sticky bit set on it to prevent abuse. Obviously this could be extended to
# as many users as required.
[myshare]
   comment = Mary's and Fred's stuff
   path = /usr/somewhere/shared
   valid users = mary fred
   public = no
   writable = yes
   printable = no
   create mask = 0765
=

Have Fun.
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Re: [PLUG] Windows 2000 graphics poor VirtualBox...

[King Beowulf]

On 05/09/2017 06:58 PM, Michael Christopher Robinson wrote:
> I first attempted to run XID Authoring Database in WINE, 
> that resulted in cut off text and no rendering of JPG files.
> So I switch on my Fedora 25 system to VirtualBox running 
> Windows 2000, but the graphics are poor.  Has anyone gotten the 
> graphics to be better in VirtualBox or has anyone gotten XID 
> 7.0 to work in Wine?  The problem with VirtualBox is that the 
> mpg files are on Linux and there are a lot of them on an 
> EXT3/4 formatted file system.  Had WINE worked, that may not 
> have posed a problem.

It is easy to map (share) a linux folder to a windows folder in
Virtualbox.  When you do that, Win2000 sees the shared data as
ntfs/fat32 etc and not whatever the native linux format is. Refer to VB
documentation.

Wine is another beast.  I've run it for years and often sift the console
output to see what glitches need fixing.  Sometimes it's a simple ddl
override or registry setting, sometimes an exercise in futility.

alternatively, you can try qemu http://www.qemu.org/
It's a bit harder to use, being completely command line based, but I
find it superior to VB.  Its been a while since I fired up Win2k, but I
do not remember any graphical issues.

> 
> The graphics in Virtualbox are grainy.  The video card is an
> NVIDIA GT210, the video is on a 65" Samsung HDTV.
> 
> The same JPG files under gnome 3 show up fine in file manager, 
> but they are grainy in VirtualBox.
> 

Did you install the Windows 2000 guest additions?  There are several
video card choices as well. You can try another if the default does not
work.  Also, increase the video card memory settings in VB.  The default
is pretty skimpy.

> Does anyone know of a Linux compatible open source clone of 
> XID 7.0?  I'm starting to think the only reasonable solution 
> is to make one.  Did the company go under?  The source code 
> would be nice.
> 
> XID for those who don't know is a Windows 98 and later database
> program.  It apparently works on Windows 10, but the print 
> function is broken.  The install procedure for it is kludgy, you
> are supposed to copy it to the Documents folder executable and 
> all on Windows.
> 

All linux distros come with a bunch of relational databases.  If you
mean this XID:
http://www.exetersoftware.com/cat/XID/xid.html

Then you should look at:
FreeDelta: http://freedelta.sourceforge.net/
Opendelta: https://github.com/atlasoflivingaustralia/open-delta

Maybe something here:
http://priede.bf.lu.lv/ftp/pub/Programmeeshana/DatuBaazes/-noteiceeji/saraksts.htm


> This Fedora based media computer has been superceded by PLEX, but 
> the freenas server is shutting down now.  I think one of the 4 
> terabyte drives is failing and probably the one with the movies 
> on it.  With the freenas server shutting down on me, I'm running
> 9.10 U3, it is hard to know what is lost and what is still there.
>


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Re: [PLUG] Monitor... dead audio

[King Beowulf]

On 03/24/2017 11:31 PM, Chuck Hast wrote:
> Folks,
> I have a Westinghouse 37" monitor. It has HDMI and if there is audio on the
> HDMI it should be heard through the speakers on the monitor. This thing has
> great video, I would like to fix the audio issue if I can, I use the thing
> with an
> RPi. So far I have hit zero on finding a service manual.
> 
> The model is a LVM-37w3se. It has a Westinghouse logo on it and you can
> find the USER manuals all over the 'net, but the service manual shines in
> it's
> absence.
> 
> It is great for a traininig monitor and since it does not have the receiver
> in it
> people are not going to be able to move it to TV channels and use it when I
> am not around. I guess if the Pi is hooked up to it they could do video that
> way but there are ways to defeat that (remove Pi and put in pocket) I was
> using
> it to give my wife some training (she does not like to wear glasses and this
> monitor was great for that), but now I have to push audio to an alternative
> audio device, unit had great audio, it just died.
> 

I don't think you will have much luck with either Westinghouse or
whoever built the monitor.  I have Westinghouse 32" 720p TV bought on
closeout sale as a bedroom spare.  The Speaker went out right when
warranty exprired - well, once in a while it pops on for 15-30 min.
This is via internal tuner, RCA jack, HDMI etc.  It has a headphone jack
which works when routed to a, well, headphone, or powered set of
speakers.  Drove me nuts to try to figure out what was the deal and
given the potential expense of replacing the main PCB (these are not
like old CRT TVs where you can swap out various chunks), I just gave up.
 I bought a 55" LG 4k UHD for the living room and moved the RCA (another
sad corporate decline) 40" 1080p to the bedroom. I took a chance on the
Westinghouse since the RCA held up ok.

Westinghouse is no longer the company it once was.  After it bought CBS,
CBS then sold to viacom, it spun off "Westinghouse" as a brand licensing
company, the hardware was all sold off to various entities (Siemens,
Toshiba, etc...).  So when you see the name...just say no.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westinghouse_Digital
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westinghouse_Electric_Company

And this one will rattle your eyelids:
http://www.consumerreports.org/lcd-led-oled-tvs/tv-brands-arent-always-what-they-seem/


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Re: [PLUG] monitoring MAGNITUDE of internet activity - how?

[King Beowulf]

On 03/01/2017 02:33 PM, Richard Owlett wrote:
> *NOTE BENE*
> Capitalization in subject line semantically important :>
> 
> I have significant bandwidth constraints.
> I have been asked to participate in a project requiring significant data 
> transfers.
> I wish to run a test case to estimate the connectivity "cost".
> If it is significant, I use Debian Jessie.
> For the test case the source/destination is of secondary importance.
> 
> Is there a tool which can be
>   "turned on"  at time t0
>   "turned off" at time t1
> which will report the number of
>"uploaded"   bytes
>"downloaded" bytes
> in that interval?
> 
> If the tool reports more, no problem -- it will likely be ignored.
> TIA
> 

I forgot about this one.  Probably easier to use as a shell script:
http://humdi.net/vnstat/

-Ed

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Re: [PLUG] monitoring MAGNITUDE of internet activity - how?

[King Beowulf]

On 03/01/2017 02:33 PM, Richard Owlett wrote:
> *NOTE BENE*
> Capitalization in subject line semantically important :>
> 
> I have significant bandwidth constraints.
> I have been asked to participate in a project requiring significant data 
> transfers.
> I wish to run a test case to estimate the connectivity "cost".
> If it is significant, I use Debian Jessie.
> For the test case the source/destination is of secondary importance.
> 
> Is there a tool which can be
>   "turned on"  at time t0
>   "turned off" at time t1
> which will report the number of
>"uploaded"   bytes
>"downloaded" bytes
> in that interval?
> 
> If the tool reports more, no problem -- it will likely be ignored.
> TIA
> 

'iftop' is a nifty bandwidth tool.  it has a bunch of options

also, if you run a OpenWRT compatible Wifi router, you can give firmware
from

 https://www.gargoyle-router.com/

Its a customization of OpenWrt that can provide heaps of bandwidth data.

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Re: [PLUG] Remote host lost ssh key verification [UPDATED]

[King Beowulf]

On 02/24/2017 06:41 PM, Erik Lane wrote:
snip-
>>
>>
> Is there any reason why the public and private keys need to be different on
> the different computers? (Purely out of curiosity about the technical
> implementation.) It seems like you could create them on one computer and
> copy paste to the relevant files to make them both the same. I don't see
> any benefit to doing this, and some possible security risks, depending on
> the situation, but I'm just curious.

Best practice is to have each host have its own key pair. If ssh stays
on your internal network and is not connected to the internet, you can
get by with a common set.  With a unique set you can track logs to see
if anyone tries to get in...

> 
> I have had a couple instances where I actually needed to create the keys as
> root as well. I was using rsync with sudo, (and the files were owned by a
> different user for Owncloud) so I had to have root create the keys, since
> that was what would be running the ssh transfer. Well, there might have
> been other options, I really don't know, but setting it up that way took
> care of it for me. Once I got it working I stopped looking for other ways
> to do it. :)
> 

having root do anything on the "cloud" (esp the way some distros
configure sudo) is absolutely insane.  Nuts.  Bonkers.

As computer users, we all need to be more proactive regarding security.
Just look at the news (No, not about Trump: the REAL news!) to notice
all the network security breaches of late. After all, we don't leave the
house unlocked, do we?  In the 21st Century locking down your computer
is just as important, nay, more so.  Your personal data is very
valuable.  More valuable than that new 4K TV or fancy stereo rig.

Enough ranting for a Friday night!

Have fun
-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Remote host lost ssh key verification [UPDATED]

[King Beowulf]

On 02/24/2017 02:16 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Fri, 24 Feb 2017, King Beowulf wrote:
> 
>> for ssh or scp (cp over ssh), you only need one pub key for the
>> connection to work.  NOT the ones in /etc/ssh.  One of the ones in ~/.ssh
> 
> Ed,
> 
>Here's what I've done; there's still something left for me to do.
> 
>On laptop:
> 
>1) ssh-keygen (using same passphrase as on other hosts).
>2) ssh-add
>3) tried ssh-copy-id to desktop but was denied.
>4) copied ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub to thumb drive.
>5) added desktop's ~/.ssh/id_25519.pub to laptop's ~/.ssh/known_hosts.
>
 No, not in "known_hosts", forget "known_hosts". That file is NOT used
to authenticate user login.

>On desktop:
> 
>1) added laptop's ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub to ~/.ssh/known_hosts.
> 
No. See above.  Doing this can prevent you from accessing the computers
remotely


>> cat laptop_key.pub > ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
> 
>Now I'm confused about what should be in each host's
> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys and ~/.ssh/known_hosts.

1. take the LAPTOP id_ed25519.pub key and put it in DESKTOP
~/.ssh/authorized_keys

2. take the DESKTOP *.pub key and put it in LAPTOP ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Note that even if you use the same passphrase, the private keys for each
computer are unique.  also, you need to generate the keys as a USER not
ROOT!

now just from laptop

ssh -i id_ed25519 rshepard@desktop


> 
>Do the id_ed25519.pub files from one host belong in the authorized_keys
> files on other hoste? If so, what goes in the known_hosts file in each host?
known_hosts is just used to say you TRUST the remote computer.
authorized_keys tells the host what remote user is allowed to login.

> 
> Getting there,
> 
> Rich
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Re: [PLUG] scp issue

[King Beowulf]

On 02/24/2017 01:06 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Fri, 24 Feb 2017, King Beowulf wrote:
> 
>> 3. The public key in autheorized-keys (DESTINATION) does not match the
>> PRIVATE KEY (SOURCE)
> 
> Ed,
> 
>I just found this to be the case and posted that in the updated message.
> Since the private and public keys on each host are in /etc/ssh/ I need to
> re-learn how to copy the SOURCE's public key to DESTINATION so the user
> appended to that string is me, not root.
> 
> Thanks for providing the pointer to the problem,
> 

Remember that the keys in /etc/ssh/  are NOT the ones you use to log in.
 you need user level keys stored in ~/.ssh.

2 computers do not log in to each other: a USER on "computer A" logs
into a user account on "computer B".

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Re: [PLUG] Remote host lost ssh key verification [UPDATED]

[King Beowulf]

On 02/24/2017 01:01 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Fri, 24 Feb 2017, King Beowulf wrote:
> 
>> On DESTINATION computer: delete ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
> 
> Ed,
> 
>That's the problem: there's no public key for this laptop in
> ~/.ssh/authorized keys!
> 
>If I copy the laptop's /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub to a thumb drive
> and from there to the desktop's ~/.ssh/authorized_keys it is associated with
> root@. The existing public key in authorized_keys is
> associated with rshepard@.
> 
>How do I transfer the laptop's ed25519_key.pub to the desktop with
> assignment to me as the authorized user?
> 
> Rich
> ___

for ssh or scp (cp over ssh), you only need one pub key for the
connection to work.  NOT the ones in /etc/ssh.  One of the ones in ~/.ssh

take the laptop's *.pub to the desktop, and do the same for the desktop.
 pick whatever algorithm you want - I use the 4069-bit rsa.

cat laptop_key.pub > ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

That should do it as long as you know the passphrase.  You can cache the
passphrase with ssh-add if you have ssh-agent running.

My server has 2 keys in ~/.ssh/authorized_keys: one that allows local
ssh on my network, another for remote ssh from "outside" and since its
"headless" none of its pub keys exist anywhere else.


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Re: [PLUG] Remote host lost ssh key verification [UPDATED]

[King Beowulf]

On 02/24/2017 01:15 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Fri, 24 Feb 2017, Rich Shepard wrote:
> 
>>   That's the problem: there's no public key for this laptop in
>> ~/.ssh/authorized keys!
> 
>And, there's no public key for this laptop in the desktop's
> ~/.ssh/known_hosts.
> 

Just delete ~/.ssh/known_hosts and it will regenerate from what's in
/etc/ssh

-Ed

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Re: [PLUG] scp issue

[King Beowulf]

On 02/24/2017 12:29 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Fri, 24 Feb 2017, King Beowulf wrote:
> 
> 
>To repeat, I do not remotely login via ssh with a username and password, I
> use the passphrase (which is not the same as a password since it contains
> multiple words and punctuation.)
> 
> Rich

1. ~/.ssh/* permissions problem on one or both computers
2. the passphrase for PRIVATE KEY is wrong (SOURCE)
3. The public key in autheorized-keys (DESTINATION) does not match the
PRIVATE KEY (SOURCE)
4. you upgraded openssh on DESTINATION and over wrote your
/etc/ssh/sshd.config

-Ed






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Re: [PLUG] Remote host lost ssh key verification

[King Beowulf]

On 02/24/2017 12:06 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Fri, 24 Feb 2017, King Beowulf wrote:
> 
>> In that case, the only entries that you care about are in "known_hosts"
>> unless sshd is stopped. As root:
>> /etc/rc.d/rc.sshd restart
> 
> Ed,
> 
>Did this.
> 
>> $ ssh susan@glaurung
> 
>It generates the new known_hosts file then denies the connection.
> 
>> Since you have an authorized keys file did you try
>> $ ssh -i private-key-file username@host
> 
>ssh on the laptop tells me that id_ed25519.pub on the desktop is not
> accessible so the connection's denied. The perms on
> salmo/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub are 644 so it _should_ be readable by others.
> 

The username, password, public key and/or passphrase is wrong.  To login
in you MUST have a user set up to log into the DESTINATION computer.

On DESTINATION computer: delete ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
On DESTINATION computer:
  1. to use username/password (no keys or passphrase),
 check /etc/ssh/sshd_config lines:

  PermitRootLogin no
  PubkeyAuthentication no

  These are the defaults.  I also have "AllowUsers" as
  a further restriction.

  2. /etc/rc.d/rc.sshd restart

  now pick ANY existing user on the DESTINATION and

  some_user@SOURCE$ ssh a_user@DESTINATION
  a_user@DESTINATION's password:
  ...
  a_user@DESTINATION$ _

  3. Once this works, on SOURCE computer:

 ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub a_user@DESTINATION

 (to use the default key). If you created id_rsa (etc)
 with passphrase, you will need that AND a_user's password.
 This will create a new ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on DESTINATION.

  4. you should now be able to login in:
 $ ssh a_user@DESTINATION
 or
 $ ssh -i id_rsa.pub a_user@DESTINATION

 (id_rsa is the default, use -i for if you create different key)

  5. "PubkeyAuthentication yes" to disable user/password and
  use ONLY keys.

Clear as mud?  I hope!

-Ed





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Re: [PLUG] scp issue

[King Beowulf]

On 02/24/2017 10:50 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Fri, 24 Feb 2017, Rich Shepard wrote:
> 
>> debug1: Connecting to salmo [192.168.55.1] port <>.
>> debug1: Connection established.
> 
>The two hosts can communicate.
> 
>> debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
>> debug1: identity file /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_rsa type -1
>> debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
>> debug1: identity file /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_rsa-cert type -1
>> debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
>> debug1: identity file /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_dsa type -1
>> debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
>> debug1: identity file /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_dsa-cert type -1
>> debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
>> debug1: identity file /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_ecdsa type -1
>> debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
>> debug1: identity file /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_ecdsa-cert type -1
>> debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
>> debug1: identity file /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_ed25519 type -1
>> debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
> 
>Not finding the public key.
> 
>> debug1: Host '[salmo]:21498' is known and matches the ED25519 host key.
>> debug1: Found key in /home/rshepard/.ssh/known_hosts:1
> 
>Found the public key.
> 
That's the HOST (/etc/ssh) key to allow the 2 computers to connect.  ssh
only allows connections to TRUSTED hosts which it checks in file
"known_hosts" This is NOT the key that allows login user authentication.


>> debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_ACCEPT received
>> debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey
>> debug1: Next authentication method: publickey
>> debug1: Trying private key: /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_rsa
>> debug1: Trying private key: /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_dsa
>> debug1: Trying private key: /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_ecdsa
>> debug1: Trying private key: /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_ed25519
>> debug1: No more authentication methods to try.
>> Permission denied (publickey).
> 
>Not finding the public key.

that's the USER login authentication key.  The public key listed in
DESTINATION authorized_keys does not match the PUBLIC key on the SOURCE
computer.  Either that, or you have /etc/ssh/sshd_config setup
incorrectly for pub/private key authentication.

(remember: the default Slackware install of sshd does not use keys at
all.  You login via normal username/password.  See explanation on the
other list thread.)

http://docs.slackware.com/howtos:security:sshkeys
http://docs.slackware.com/howtos:security:ssh

-Ed

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Re: [PLUG] Remote host lost ssh key verification

[King Beowulf]

On 02/24/2017 10:25 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Fri, 24 Feb 2017, King Beowulf wrote:
> 
>> Are you logging in via username/password or ssh key?
> 
> Ed,
> 
>I log into the laptop using username and password. To ssh from one to the
> other (today's experience is from a laptop to the desktop) I should be asked
> for my passphrase, not denied the connection.
> 

In that case, the only entries that you care about are in "known_hosts"
unless sshd is stopped. As root:

/etc/rc.d/rc.sshd restart

It can happen, esp. when you reinstall a linux OS, that new host keys
are generated (see also /etc/ssh).  In that case simply deleting
known_hosts file and then:
=
$ ssh susan@glaurung
The authenticity of host 'glaurung (192.168.1.27)' can't be established.
ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:6/ezoaMfN/zBE5XZoHVl1y7rBZ4vqUDbGaHci8YyQRk.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
Warning: Permanently added 'glaurung,192.168.1.27' (ECDSA) to the list
of known hosts.
susan@glaurung's password:
Last login: Fri Feb 24 11:43:30 2017 from 192.168.1.3
Linux 4.4.38.

susan@glaurung:~$
===

NOTE: password != passphrase.  using username/password means you have to
an account on the host or know the hosts user/password to use.  in the
above example, if I try:
==
$ ssh glaurung
beowulf@glaurung's password:
Permission denied, please try again.
beowulf@glaurung's password:
===
Failure since user "beowulf" does not exist on "glaurung"


Since you have an authorized keys file did you try

$ ssh -i private-key-file username@host

without the "i" the default is ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Remote host lost ssh key verification

[King Beowulf]

On 02/24/2017 07:33 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>An attempt to scp directories to a laptop from the workstation failed
> because ssh saw a changed public key in known_hosts. How this happened I've
> no idea, but it needs fixing, perhaps by copying the correct ecdsa public
> key from the workstation to the laptop.
> 
>On stackexchange I read that ecdsa is for key exchange and ed25519 for
> data transfers, so I assume that I need to copy both public keys from the
> workstation to the laptop. Is this correct?
> 
>Reading man ssh-keyscan suggests that running this (specifying the
> workstation host name) will do the job. However, While this adds several
> lines to the laptop's ~/.ssh/known_hosts it does not allow me to scp from
> the workstation.
> 
>Advice on finding the reason ssh became FUBAR and fixing the problem is
> needed.
> 
> Rich

Are you logging in via username/password or ssh key?  If so, then just
clearing both ~./ssh/known_hosts and then using ssh to log into each box
from each box will reset the entries.

If you are using ssh key based authentication you will need to check if
~./ssh/authorized_keys still exists on the box you are going to ssh or
scp into.  If it exists are you using ~/.ssh/id_rsa_pub or a key from
~/.gnupg?  Did you set a passphrase for these keys and then forget?

I am by no means an expert on this, but if you have the standard rsa
keys pairs automatically generated when you installed slackware, via
"ssh-keygen -t rsa" you do not need ecdsa vs ed2559 worries.  ssh and
scp works by default with username/password as long as you keep
~./ssh/known_hosts clean of stale entries.

-Ed


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Re: [PLUG] Running a Python application in the background

[King Beowulf]

On 02/23/2017 08:16 PM, Thomas Groman wrote:
> If your going to learn a new terminal multiplexer; make it TMUX. TMUX is
> like screen but is a little more featured, less conflicting key
> sequences, multi-user support, and more actively developed.
> 

This must be one of them there "alternative facts"

Screen stable tag v4.5.0 2016-12-07
http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/screen.git

Tmux v2.3 Sep 29, 2016
https://github.com/tmux/tmux/releases

Tmux and Screen have very similar functionality and most differences are
a matter of subjective taste. See each FAQ. Kind of like the hoopla over
what the best editor is!

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] mobile only website hijacking

[King Beowulf]

On 02/18/2017 10:30 AM, Daniel Herrington wrote:
> All,
> 
> I'm hoping someone can help me understand how web presence companies such
> as singleplatform hijack a restaurants mobile site?
> 
> My friends site returns correctly on the laptop, but redirects to
> singleplatform's site, in what appears to be a redirect after you hit the
> actual mobile site. The site is on wix.com, and the whois shows my buddy
> still owns the domain.
> 
> thanks,
> 
I would contact wix.com before you assume a highjacking. There probably
is a typo or bug in the mobile version site formatting - e.g.,
computer/laptop monitor vs. phone vs tablet - or possibly DNS since it
looks like singleplatform uses squarespace as host.

Also, wix is not automatically mobile responsive - although the desktop
templates should be viewable on the mobile device - so you need to set
up the mobile version via an editor.

-Ed


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Re: [PLUG] Other options besides VNC (or RDP)

[King Beowulf]

On 02/17/2017 05:16 PM, Roderick Anderson wrote:
> I'm looking for any other options to remote into a graphical desktop 
> besides VNC or RDP.
> 
> I'd like a client that runs on Linux and Android with MAC and Windows a 
> bonus.  Server should run on Linux with Android, MAC and Windows as 
> another bonus.
> 
> I remember coming across something, while searching for something 
> compeletely different, but the name now eludes me.  Must be a case of 
> CRS. :-(
> 
> 
> TIA,
> Rod
> 

Besides VNC or RDP you could try ssh X forwarding. Essentially, one X
server on a box with X clients on everything else (recall that for X the
server and the client do not have to exist on the same machine.). Then
there is XDMCP built into X.Org (the typical X server these days)

More turnkey, and cross platform, methods are:

X2Go (NX technology, F/OSS)
http://wiki.x2go.org/doku.php

Teamviewer (proprietary, possible security issues for some, Linux is
actually Windows code in a Wine wrapper)
https://www.teamviewer.com/

No Machine (NX technology, proprietary)
https://www.nomachine.com/everybody

Have fun!

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Re: [PLUG] LibreOffice upgrade loses typefaces

[King Beowulf]

On 02/14/2017 02:24 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>This morning I upgraded libreoffice from 5.1.x to 5.3.0 and now most of
> the typefaces (fonts) I have installed are not available. Instead it looks
> like every south and east Asian language fills the list.
> 
>Tools->Options->LibreOffice->Fonts displays nothing. Can someone point me
> to a solution?
> 
> Rich
---

Also, Tools->Options->LibreOffice->Fonts is the Font replacement table,
not the font available to use table.  The replacement table is where you
put mappings for replacing a document's font that does not exist on you
system, for example replace Arial with DejaVu Sans.  By default the
replacement table is empty.

The available system fonts to use in documents are listed in the font
tool bar drop down or under Format -> Character (for writer).

You may have to refresh the font cache and restart X.  See
https://docs.slackware.com/howtos:general_admin:install_fonts

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] LibreOffice upgrade loses typefaces

[King Beowulf]

On 02/14/2017 05:31 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Tue, 14 Feb 2017, Rich Shepard wrote:
> 
>> Tools->Options->LibreOffice->Fonts displays nothing. Can someone point me
>> to a solution?
> 
>The solution is to re-install the -5.1.4 32-bit version. I've asked on the
> LO mail list if there's an archive site with older versions; if you have a
> copy please contact me and we'll arrange a transfer.
> 
---

Try the Document Foundation archives:

https://downloadarchive.documentfoundation.org/libreoffice/old/

-Ed




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Re: [PLUG] Laserjet 4+ to give away

[King Beowulf]

On 01/26/2017 07:46 PM, John Jason Jordan wrote:
> It goes to Free Geek unless someone wants it:
> 
> HP Laserjet 4+, includes Postscript SIMM, as much RAM as I could stuff
> into it, and a duplexer. The duplexer for this model is hard to find,
> but I have one. It has an ethernet connection as well as a parallel
> port, plus there is another nine-pin jack (serial?). 
> 
> This has been described as the most reliable printer ever made. 

Indeed.  I can vouch for the 4+.  Had one for ages until it didn't make
the cut on a cross country move.  I'd love to take it but the wife might
beat me with the proverbial stick if I collect any more computer related
stuff.

The 4P/MP were better than the 5 and 6 that came after (although the LJ
6MP is pretty solid). After the 6 series HP took a bit of a dive in
longevity ruggedness.  Now, its all about multifunction and its hard to
get a good printer that just prints.

-Ed

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Re: [PLUG] Needed: Modern equivalent of a "null-modem cable"

[King Beowulf]

On 01/14/2017 06:53 AM, Richard Owlett wrote:
> I suspect what I'm looking for is ONE 3 ft piece of terminated 
> Cat6 cable ;)
> I have two laptops - one (a Lenovo T43) speaks only WinXP Pro, 
> the other (a Lenovo T430) only Debian Jessie.
> Sometime back I attempted to have them communicate via ethernet - 
> hence the availability of the Cat6 cable. As far as I got was 
> both sides recognized that electrically the other existed.
> My LAN knowledge is ~= "null set".
---

I have to chime in here: Although the ressponses all have good info,
they are a bit terse and scattered.

1. Prerequisites

CAT5 or 6 etehrnet cable with RJ45 plugs
PC networks cards (NIC) 10/100Mbps or 1Gbps

NOTE: not all older NIC cards are autosensing, but all 1GBbps cards are.
 If they are not autosensing you will need either a crossover cable, a
hub or a switch

2. Set up network

Any IP address on the same subnet will work. As mentioned, you can omit
gateway etc.  I will leave you to this list or google/man pages on how
to set up the static ip addresses.

Linux:
192.168.0.1
255.255.255.0

WinXP
192.168.0.2
255.255.255.0

3. File sharing protocols.

I use NFS here since everything is Linux or MacOS.  Windows needs extra
software for NFS.  Thus you are stuck with SAMBA.  Depending on your
version of Windows, you can either set up a Windows file share and mount
it in Linux, or set up linux as a SAMBA server to share files.

3a.  Set up a shared directory in Windows.
Once you share a folder in Windows, then set appropriate permissions
(left as an exercise!), go to a terminal in Linus a do something like
(will need root or sudo):

# mkdir /mnt/
(I will use /mnt/hd as it already exists in Slackware)

# mount -t cifs //192.168.0.2/ /mnt/hd -o rw,username=

Obviously, <> items are replaced with your stuff.

Now you can transfer files.

3b
Set up Linux as a SAMBA server.  Pretty tedious but lots of good HOW-TOs
online.  Use this is yo have multiple windows boxes that need to share
with one Linux box.

Have Fun!
Ed


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[PLUG] [PUG] free battery for ARRIS EMTA cable modem model battery

[King Beowulf]

Hello!

Hope everyone is accomplishing their New Year's Resolutions (mine
already flew the coop...)

I recently traded up to a new cable modem and VOIP service and dropped
off the 2yr-old Arris TM722G (EMTA) telephony cable modem with Comcast.
Good riddance...

I have a fairly fresh backup battery, available to the PLUG community
for free Nwe, retails $20-$40  If interested email me off-list.  I'm
local to PDX.

Arris model BPB044S
Product ID: 718005
ARCT00830R
8.4V DC, 4400 mAh
charging current 0.115A

This fits a variety of Arris EMTA cable modems, specifications:
https://www.arris.com/globalassets/resources/other/touchstone-li-ion-battery_qig_20feb13.pdf

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Unusual processes running

[King Beowulf]

On 01/02/2017 05:22 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>I had gnucash crash while attempting to load a .qif file so I looked at
> the process list. There are dozens of these processes:
> 
> /usr/bin/gpg-agent --sh --daemon --write-env-file 
> /home/rshepard/.cache/gpg-agent-info
> 
> and a long running
> 
> /usr/lib/udisks2/udisksd --no-debug
> 
>I've not seen either of these before and have no idea what generated them.
> 
>Which ps options will tell me what generated them?
> 

You can forget about udisksd (part of udisks2 - Disk Manager) as that
pops up whenever a storage device is mounted via the system message bus
(D-bus/udev).

gpg-agent will pop up whenever you use GnuPG or another program that
uses GnuPG keys, such as ssh, email, and some encryption functions.

ps -Af --forest will give a tree view
htop another ncurses process finder with tree view and lots of info

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Re: [PLUG] Help with v4l2 Video Driver

[King Beowulf]

On Thu, Dec 15, 2016 at 08:25 Erik Lane  wrote:

> Hello,
>
>
>
> I'm having a problem even figuring out how to word my question. I've tried
>
> many searches, but I haven't been able to find it.
>
>
>
> I'm trying to record a VHS tape to a video file. I have a Hauppauge
>
> internal video card (HVR-1255 it shows up as in dmesg, but the label says
>
> 1250.)
>
>
>
> When I try to use any video recorder, I have all kinds of issues. I finally
>
> managed to get mplayer to show some video, but it was black and white, and
>
> not even very good looking at that. I also tried in TvTime, and it shows a
>
> wonderful picture as well as good audio.
>
>
>
> So my question is, how do I get a look at what settings TvTime is sending
>
> to the video driver? If at all possible I would like to duplicate those so
>
> that mencoder can capture the video for me. If people know directly, great,
>
> but if someone can give me a clue stick on even what terms to search for,
>
> I'd be very grateful!
>
>
>
> If I've left out any important details, please let me know. I'm an
>
> engineer, not a linux or computing professional, so while I'm very
>
> comfortable with linux, I'm definitely no expert. I have Linux Mint 18 on
>
> here, and it's 64 bit.
>
>
>
No one is an expert until you ask questions and fiddle around...

I haven't used tvtime so not sure of the underlying caoture libraries.

I would try ffmpeg.  mplayer/mencoder can be cranky unless the video format
is absolutely correct - also depends how you distro compiled the package.

ffmpeg is more flexible and gives lots of feedback on the CLI. If the
capture card runs via v4l2 it should work.
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Re: [PLUG] Scripts vs GUI

[King Beowulf]

On 12/10/2016 10:15 PM, Keith Lofstrom wrote:
> On another Linux list, someone asked fpr a GUI to simplify
> using scp ("too easy to make a mistake on the command
> line"), and someone else suggested "fileroller".  
> 
> I suggested figuring out how to use scp once (examples on
> the web, man pages for more information), then putting an
> example in a shell script.  Want a different file?  Copy
> the shell script and modify it.
> 
> The power of Unix/Linux is that shell scripts can automate
> what you do frequently.  You can store your shell scripts
> in your own ~/bin, or share them in /usr/local/bin.  Put
> comments in the scripts so you can figure them out the
> next time, or find them with grep if you forgot what you
> named them.
> 
> Some tasks, like looking at web pages, are better done
> with a web browser, but for repeated web accesses, even
> that can be automated with wget in a shell script.  
> 
> GUIs are manual labor.  If you want arm exercise, grow a
> garden and get sunshine and vegetables for your efforts.
> 
> Keith
> 

This is true only to a point.  I use the CLI for a variety of tasks
(qemu, screen, vnc, ffmpeg, ssh, package compiles/updates, searches,
etc).  However, Humans are visual pattern recognition engines.  Thus, I
often wrap my scripts with ncurses or zenity for ease of use - i.e., a GUI.

Often a properly designed GUI is quicker and more intuitive that trying
to remember and track obscure CLI options stuffed into a script
somewhere.  Special purpose portable devices are better served with a
GUI wrapped around a Linux/Unix core - or perhaps you would prefer a CLI
smartphone?

Having spent some decades on the CLI, I for one enjoy a good X windows
desktop environment with nice application GUIs for email, IRC, zenmap,
newsgroups, scanning, ebooks, etc.

So while I agree that every computer user should learn the basics of the
command line, I disagree that the CLI is the most efficient method on
all cases.  It is the CLI that is manual labor and a good GUI that is
automation.

In conclusion, instead of forcing one's world view onto someone else
when a simple question is asked, perhaps it is better to either just
click through (ignore) or provide a useful answer (help).

Do for those who are curious about GUI ssh/scp/sftp, there are a number
of choices, with varying features and learning curves (in no particular
order):

Gnome Connection Manager
gftp
Filezilla
FireFTP (Firefox extension)
Dolphin (part of KDE)
Krusader
Midnight Commander (CLI and GUI!)
Secpanel
Putty (GUI to configure connection, xterm CLI to transfer)

Most file managers of the major dektop environments support some form of
scp/sftp.

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Plexmediaserver Slackware...

[King Beowulf]

On 11/21/2016 06:33 PM, Michael C. Robinson wrote:
> ...
 I'm a little
> worried that the makers of Plex Media Server are possibly violating
> the GPLv2.  
...

IIRC, Plex left GPL behind ages ago for "freemium" status.

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Plexmediaserver Slackware...

[King Beowulf]

On 11/21/2016 06:25 PM, Michael Barnes wrote:
> Hmmm?? Did I miss something? I've been using Ubuntu for years, very
> sucessfully. Is there something wrong with it?
> 
> Michael

Not at all.  It's just that I am a Slackware fan boy going on 20+ years.
 There are a number of architectural and design issues with Ubuntu that
I prefer to avoid.

-Ed

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Re: [PLUG] Plexmediaserver Slackware...

[King Beowulf]

On 11/21/2016 10:33 AM, Michael C. Robinson wrote:
> I've installed via the latest 32 bit debian package of Plex Media
> Server on a Slackware 14.1 server.  I'm wondering if there's a 
> problem with the slackbuild.
> 
> plexmediaserver_1.2.7.2987-1bef33a_i386.deb
> 
> I'm seeing strange behavior trying to start Plex:
> 
---snip
> 
> On the left side I see an endless, "Looking for servers..."
> 
> Any help much appreciated, but I'm increasingly thinking that I need
> Debian and I'm wondering which version I need to get this working.

Did get the plexmediaserver.tar.gz package from Slackbuilds.org?  Did
you ping the maintainer? Did you follow the instructions in the README?

1.  You may have to upgrade to Slackware-14.2. The 14.1 working version
is plexmediaserver_0.9.14.1.1544-651f92a and there have been quite a few
internal library updates since then.

2. Good grief, no!  Don't install DEBIAN!  or, *GASP*, UBUNTU!

-Ed



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Re: [PLUG] Linux Laptop Recommendation

[King Beowulf]

On 11/11/2016 11:46 PM, Michael Barnes wrote:
> I may be in the market for a new, inexpensive laptop for Linux. Nothing
> fancy, but would like something relatively current. I'm looking for
> something fairly lightweight and small, in the 10-11 inch range. I'd like
> to completely wipe it and install a fresh Linux distro, probably Ubuntu to
> start with. I know in the past, the Asus eee laptop was fairly popular. I
> don't really want to spend a lot on this.
> 
> Thanks for any ideas,
> Michael

I've had good luck with Dell and ASUS and MSI, although MSI tends to be
a bit flimsy.  Most hardware these days are well supported but there are
still the occasional wifi, bluetooth and power management issue (mostly
suspend/resume).  You do need to check to see how easy the cases are to
open for upgrades.

There are good reviews on: Dell XPS 13

If you are not tied to a particular brand, you should check out
https://system76.com/laptops
http://zareason.com/shop/Laptops/

I currently run Slackware on Dell Latitude E7440, Asus X200CA, and older
MSI U123 atom netbook (all with SSD drives!).

Have fun!

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Invoking ssh-agent in Slackware

[King Beowulf]

On 10/30/2016 11:27 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>My web searches fail to find explicit instructions for invoking ssh-agent
> when a system is booted. My inclination is to add a line to
> /etc/rc.d/rc.local:
> 
> /usr/bin/ssh-agent
> 
>I could place it in a test for the file's existence, but I think it safe
> to assume the file exists.
> 
>Alternatives?
> 
> Rich

Rich,

If you haven't already, take a gander at

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/how-to-properly-set-gpg-agent-in-slackware-14-1-a-4175560666/

Although for 14.1 it is still applicable to 14.2.

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Re: [PLUG] Using display for sequence of images

[King Beowulf]

On 10/24/2016 08:30 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>The 'display' man page tells me that it 'displays an image or image
> sequence on any X server' and suggests looking at the web page or equivalent
> in /usr/share/doc/ImageMagick-6/www/display.html. Since no command line
> option seems to direct display to read the image file names from a file I
> assume that I need to list the filenames in a script with a command that
> waits for my input before changing images. Is this correct?
> 
>Seems like the bash 'read -p' command would be appropriate, but I have not
> used it before and don't know how to use it for a sequence of 'display'
> commands.
> 
>I want to display a series of images (*.jpg and *.png) and have them
> change under user control. If you've done this before and are willing to
> share your script, please do so.
> 
> TIA,
> 
> Rich
> 

Maybe something along these lines:

BASH one-liner to manually scroll though a set ('space' to advance):
$ slide_pix=("tux.jpg" "unix_wizard.jpg"); display ${slide_pix[@]}

Script with menu:

#!/bin/bash

# Ctrl-C exits while loop
# need to add valid input check !!

slide_pix=("tux.jpg" "unix_wizard.jpg")
pix=""
echo "Picture Menu:"
echo "x = exit"
echo "0 = pix 1"
echo "1 = pix 2"

while true; do
  read -p "Choose: " pix
  if [ "$pix" = "x" ]; then
exit 0
  fi
  display ${slide_pix[$pix]}
done
exit 0

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Re: [PLUG] Which linuxquestions.org forum most appropriate?

[King Beowulf]

On 10/23/2016 08:08 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>Yesterday I received a used Lenovo ThinkPad x200 and tried to install
> Slackware-14.2/x86_64 on it using my external optical drive.
> 
--
> 
>Choosing to run a full installation I pressed the [Enter] key. No optical
> drive spinup, and a message box displayed telling me the installation is
> complete and I can reboot the computer. Well, no. Nothing was installed.
> 
>Not having this experience before, I posted a description of the problem
> in the Laptops and Notebooks forum on linuxquestions.org. There have been
> 168 voyeurs and one response to my question about designating sda1 bootable.
> Nothing about why no istallation when the drive is seen by the system and
> works as expected until time to install everything.
> 
>Might I see useful responses if I repost to either the Slackware or
> ThinkPad fora instead of where it is? I'd like to get this done today as all
> my portables are currently down and I need to get them all back in working
> order.
> 

I would stick with the Slackware - Installation subforum on LQ.

As for your issue, it could be as simple as an odd setting in the BIOS,
or a kernel module not loading at boot.  Slackware makes very few
changes to the upstream packages.

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Defining external hd in /etc/fstab

[King Beowulf]

On 09/25/2016 10:48 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>I have an external 3T hard drive connected to hosts via a usb cable. In
> /etc/fstab I defined it as
> 
>/dev/sdb  /mnt/hd  ext3  auto,users,rw  0  0
> 
> but only root can mount it. I assume that it's the ext3 file type
> restricting mounting to root. Is there a specification that would allow
> users to mount the drive?
> 
> Rich

Rich

The file types don't prevent user mount.  The mount options can. try
"noauto,rw,user" instead.  "auto' can trigger a root mount (and via
udev) even if not present that overrides the user.  "user" just allows
the currently logged in user to mount and is more secure.  Also.
consider using the drive's UUID instead of /dev/sdX as the dev nodes for
USB drives are not guaranteed to survive reboot.

http://docs.slackware.com/howtos:slackware_admin:how_to_configure_fstab_and_lilo.conf_with_persistent_naming
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Re: [PLUG] Another reason to NOT buy HP

[King Beowulf]

On 09/24/2016 02:54 AM, jim karlock wrote:
> from: 
> http://www.zdnet.com/article/hp-just-made-it-impossible-to-use-third-party-ink-in-its-printers/
> 
> 
> HP just made it impossible to use third-party ink in its printers
> 
> HP silently disabled the ability to use third-party printer ink 
> cartridges in its HP Officejet printer lines.
> 
--snip---

Yes and no re: purchase of HP printers. I find that HP has historically
provided excellent Linux support via HPLIP and CUPS.  I would hate to
give that up.  print-scan-fax with GUI push button ease is nice.

Also, over the decades, I've had mixed experiences with 3rd-party ink.
For lasers, in an FDA CGMP regulated pharmaceutical lab, HP cartridges
on good archival paper were always superior. The front office used
cheaper generics where the fused ink tended to flake off the page. For
inkjets, generic cartridges tended to clog more often and the ink tended
to bleed on the page.

So to save $17, I should buy a new printer, and donate the old one to
Free Geek? Use cheap ink for my archival photopaper? No thanks.

And how much do we REALLY print these days?  If its for a job, that's a
business expense so the final cartridge cost is $0.  I haven't paid
out-of-pocket for ink in nearly 9 years.  If it's for home, use the best
materials for archival grade storage.  Digital degrades, etc, but good
paper and ink lasts millennia.

Then again there is this:
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Landing/ecotank-super-tank-printers.do?ref=van:us-ecotank

No ink needed for up to 2 yrs, no ink cartridges to replace, but these
printers aren't cheap starting at $300 or so.  Epson has a spotty record
for Linux drivers and support.

Just my 2 cents,
-Ed

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Re: [PLUG] Setting display colors

[King Beowulf]

On 09/24/2016 07:52 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>In /etc/DIR_COLORS directories should be displayed in yellow (DIR 01;33).
> However, on my laptop they're displayed in blue (color 34). No file type in
> DIR_COLORS is specified as 34 so I have no idea why directories are
> displayed in blue rather than yellow.
> 
>There's nothing in ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile with a file display color 
> of
> 34.
> 
>Thoughts on where to look are needed.
> 
> TIA,

If the LS_COLORS variable doesn't quite match /etc/DIR_COLORS, look for
a '.dir_colors' file in the $HOME directory.  This will override the one
in /etc.  That's the only place I can think of where user specific
colors are set.  Also, it' standard practice NOT to edit /etc/DIR_COLORS
but to

cat /etc/DIR_COLORS > $HOME/.dir_colors

and edit that one, lest updates break your color scheme.

Have Fun!
-Ed

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Re: [PLUG] Web site URL points to localhost

[King Beowulf]

On 09/23/2016 09:08 AM, bro...@netgate.net wrote:
> 
> From: STRUCTURE EVENTS Newsletter
> 
> -
> KREBSONSECURITY HIT WITH RECORD DDOS
> 
> Brian Krebs is one of the most hard-working and influential journalists in 
> the field of information security, which means he has made a few enemies 
> over the years. Krebs' site was hit this week by what Akamai called the 
> largest DDoS attack it had ever seen, according to a blog post from Krebs. 
> He later tweeted that Akamai was forced to take his site offline.
> -
> 
>> And the bad guys win; that's exactly what they were trying to achieve. How
>> unfortunate.
> 
> It's time we start to defend our Internet borders similar to how we defend 
> our actual borders. After helping to build this mess I'm convinced it's 
> time to make the Internet a much smaller place. Still allowing anyone 
> access, but for most services your worldview would be much smaller than it 
> is today. If a distributed network such as Akamai can't offer any defense 
> against this sort of attack, no one can. Think about it. This attack 
> caused so much traffic on the Akamai network that it affected other 
> customers. The only way they could defend their network was to remove the 
> endpoint being attacked. It's time to reduce the attack surface we make 
> available to the bad guys.
> 
> Kevin
> 

Absolutely fantastic.  Back to walled gardens then?  I wounder where my
old AOL CD isis Compuserve still up?  I wonder if my house's POTS
wiring still works...

I don't think being shrinking violets is the answer.  The Internet is
now part of the growth of Human culture and knowledge and has no true
border.

Akamai and others don't protect against this sort of attack because
there simply is no business case to support the expenditure (Don't even
get me started on Yahoo).  Not only do we need to be more cognizant of
our own personal security, but we need to force private enterprise to do
the same. The network backbone is now required infrastructure - just as
important as roads/bridges and the electric grid.

After all the old ATT a Bell may have been a pain in the ass, but there
was ALWAYS a dial tone.

Perhaps, too, we should also take a few of our congress critters behind
the wood shed for a security lesson.  They will then not be so keen to
allow our "three letter agencies" to poke holes into our networks, but,
rather, figure ways to improve security.

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Slackware 14.1 IPX

[King Beowulf]

On 09/09/2016 03:10 PM, Michael C. Robinson wrote:
> I want to implement an IPX router on a Slackware 14.1 based gateway.
> 
> Currently, an old 98se/XP Pro machine uses two network cards.  One
> card bypasses the gateway and runs IPX only.  The other card does
> IPv4 to the gateway.  It would be preferable to remove the second
> network card from the Windows machine.
> 
> I know back in the Redhat 6.2 days that IPX networking was well
> supported.  Do the tools compile today?  Where do I Linux-3 and
> Linux-4 compatible source code for the IPX tools?

On your Slackware box, look for:
/usr/doc/Linux-HOWTOs/IPX-HOWTO

http://www.tldp.org/LDP/nag2/x-087-2-ipx.html

The ipx kernel modules are still present in 14.1 and 14.2. You may need
to double check the kernel kernel config for any options you will need
to use and recompile the kernel.

Looks like the ipx the userspace tools ftp site comes up as a "reported
attack site" in Firefox.  Weird.
Ah, here ya go:
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/system/filesystems/ncpfs/
http://ftp.kaiser.cz/linux/ipx/src/

ipx-1.1 compiles on my Slackware64-14.2 box, but no idea if they work ;-)

You may also want to search/post on Linuxquestions.org as the Slackware
sub-forum is the official Slackware support forum. Someone there may
have already done the leg work (such as adding and modifying the
/etc/rc.d init scripts.

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] KVM problem

[King Beowulf]

On Monday, July 18, 2016, Wayne E. Van Loon Sr.  wrote:

> I have a customer (in Texas) that installed a Raloy rf117hd KVM
>  on some
> Slackware 14.1 and Slackware 12.2 systems.
>
> The problem they are having is that the systems will not boot at
> 1920x1080 with the Raloy plugged in. What they have been doing is
> plugging in a 1920x1080 flat panel to boot with, then disconnecting the
> flat panel and plugging in the rf117hd.
>
> Does anybody have any experience with anything like this? I have sent a
> couple notes to Raloy without any response thus far.
>
> Wayne
>
> --
> Sent from my Linux computer
>
>
I've had mixed results over the years with Slackware and KVM switches.  It
comes down to is that X.org server can't "see" the monitor on the other
side and ends up guessing wrong or going with a default VESA mode.  Work
around:

create your x.org settings in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d to over ride the
autodetected settings. you can use

# X -configure

to have X create a xorg.conf with just the monitor plugged in as a starting
point. From there, you can specify horiz and vert sync, screen size (mm),
dpi, specific screen modes to use, and even the EDID file, as needed.

I see from the product description, the KVM drawer has both analog and
digital video.  Depending on your GPU and driver, VGA autodetection can
fail.  Use DVI. Be aware also that many monitors have broken EDID output

check out /var/log/Xorg.0.log for errors.

Note: you don't necessarily need a full xorg.conf, just the bits needed to
specify monitor and/or driver settings in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d

Have Fun!
Ed




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Re: [PLUG] Slackware-14.2

[King Beowulf]

On 07/08/2016 02:28 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>Pat and crew released Slackware-14.2 last week (1 July). For those of us
> with supporting subscriptions, the disks are in production and will be
> shipped toward the end of the month. This is the penultimate release that
> will be available on CDs as well as on a DVD.
> 
> Patience, grasshopper,
> 
> Rich

The Slackware community is celebrating this stellar release of the
oldest, most stable and most functional of all Linux distributions.

I've already updated since I volunteer on Slackbuilds.org for a number
of software packages and needed to perform testing. Sometimes a VM just
isn't good enough!  I purchased some clothing swag at
store.slackware.com to celebrate (needed a new cap to keep the sun off
the ol' balding noggin...).  Most of my installs go via USB thumb drive
or PXE/NFS these days but DVD iso and torrents can be accessed via the
announcement:
http://www.slackware.com/

So far so good.  Plug and play, ready of the desktop:
1. MSI MS-N033 (U123) atom netbook (x86)
2. ASUS x200CA notebook w/ bluetooth (x86_64)
3. Dell Latitude e7440 (x86-64)
4. custom desktop (MSI X99 i7-5820k, GTX660, 16GB RAM, 2TB HD)
5. HP Intel P4 server vintage 2000 - pending. lots of security
customization since it is open to the World.  Slackware is one of the
best distros if you need to set up a hardened system and/or server.

For the curious, you can now test drive Slackware-14.2 Live:
http://bear.alienbase.nl/mirrors/slackware/slackware-live/

gory source details here:
http://bear.alienbase.nl/mirrors/people/alien/liveslak/

Just burn the iso to a DVD, or consult the documentation to make a
bootable USB stick:
http://docs.slackware.com/slackware:liveslak

Slackware ships with the classic desktops: KDE, Xfce, fluxbox, blackbox,
windowmaker, fvwm, and tbm

The Slackware community as added Live edition desktop versions for Mate
and Plasma5, as well as a Xfce edition that fits onto a 1GB USB stick.

If you are getting tired of the shenanigans in the Debian derived world,
give Slackware a try. You will be glad you did.

-Ed






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Re: [PLUG] Local Domain Hosting ? A semi-newbie question

[King Beowulf]

On Friday, July 1, 2016, Vedanta Teacher 
wrote:

> Everyone,
>
>   I was thinking of setting up a local Domain and/or website so
> that I can have my own email and DROP gmail, hotmail, etc.
> so that the email would be something like:
>
>   b...@blabla.com 
>  or
>b...@wolfie.org 
> or
>rav...@idiot.com 
>
>
 there are a number of choices depending on pro to pro-am, high to low
usage, hosting/cloud based etc. lots of online tutorials:
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/02/how-to-run-your-own-e-mail-server-with-your-own-domain-part-1/
(for example).

I have on old P4 linux server, using iptables/netfilter and
https://freedns.afraid.org/ for dynamic DNS (openwrt router firewall & port
forwarding), domains and another  www site registered via
http://www.nearlyfreespeech.net

I'm still trying to find time for email (lots of choices, have sendmail
running internally, just lazy...) but mumble and apache running.

Its a good learning experience to set it up at home - nice to have physical
access to the server and your own linux distro (Slackware FTW!). Its also
good not to depend on the vagaries of corporate entities.

you'll have research which email server (sendmail, postfix. etc, I don't
have a particilar favorite) fits your need as well as keep up with security
so that you domain doesn't end up on a spam blacklist.

Have fun!


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Re: [PLUG] Nothing on monitors

[King Beowulf]

On Saturday, June 25, 2016, Dick Steffens  wrote:

> I'm typing this on my laptop.
>
> I've just set up my computer after it was off for a couple of weeks. I'm
> installed at a friend's house, so I don't know much about the local
> network except that it's 192.168.1.xxx being fed by a Netgear WNR1000.
>
> I plugged all the stuff together for my desktop computer ... two
> monitors, power and data connected, monitor pilot lights blink. I've got
> a keyboard and a mouse connected, and the Ethernet cable is connected.
> Power to the box is connected. Speakers are connected and powered.
>
> When I turn power on to the computer, I hear it do all it's usual stuff,
> but nothing appears on the monitors. At this point I don't know what
> it's IP address is, so I can't try connecting from the laptop.
>
> Any ideas where I should look next?
>
> Is there a way, using my laptop, to find out what IP address the WNR1000
> assigned to the desktop computer? The laptop is connected to the WNR1000
> via WiFi. I've also got my wife's Win7 machine up and running on the
> same network.
>
> Clue stick appreciated.
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Dick Steffens
>
>
When you initially set up the desktop networking, you gave it a name.  The
wigi router dhcp knows what it is if it assigned an IP address lease so do

ssh @

Also, the netgear router has a list of all dhcp address assigned.  log in
via

http://192.168.1.1 from any attached computer

if desktop seems to fire up but has no video after a move

1. reseat video card
2. check for bent pins on video cable
3. plug monitor into know good computer



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Re: [PLUG] Stopwatch?

[King Beowulf]

On 06/16/2016 04:13 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Thu, 16 Jun 2016, King Beowulf wrote:
> 
>> SLackbuilds.org has utimer.
> 
> Ed,
> 
>Kewel tool! Now I can time my presentation to the 1/1000 of a second. :-)
> 
>It didn't occur to me to check SBo for a solution.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Rich

Here's a Linux built in version for simple timer.  Use the internal bash
or external 'time' function. the command 'cat' is used since without
args it waits for stdin input.  CTRL-C exits:

BASH:
-

$ time cat
^C

real0m3.675s
user0m0.004s
sys 0m0.001s


EXTERNAL (see 'man time' for gory details):

#Elapsed real time (in [hours:]minutes:seconds)

$ /usr/bin/time -f %E cat
^CCommand terminated by signal 2
0:06.93

#Elapsed real time (in seconds).

$ /usr/bin/time -f %e cat
^CCommand terminated by signal 2
20.07

Yep, Sat morn and the yard won't mow itselfso I fiddle with bash
instead...

-Ed

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Re: [PLUG] Stopwatch?

[King Beowulf]

On Thursday, June 16, 2016, Rich Shepard  wrote:

>Since my analog stopwatch needs a battery replacement I went looking on
> the Web for a digital one that runs in a v.t. Found an old script that
> _might_ still be valid, and an Xfce panel plugin from 2009 that hasn't been
> upgraded since then.
>
>Has anyone written or used such a tool and be willing to share it?
>
> TIA,
>
> Rich
>
>
SLackbuilds.org has utimer.  I haven't used it though.  I thought I
remembered that skackware has a stopwatchy thingy already.  I'll have
to check  tonight.


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Re: [PLUG] how to exit full screen google maps

[King Beowulf]

On 06/15/2016 04:34 PM, Denis Heidtmann wrote:
> Thanks.  That does it.  Toggles between full screen and not.  Is that a
> "everybody knows" thing?  What else does everybody know?  I want to be in
> the know.
> 
> -Denis
> 

No such thing as "everybody knows."  As in all things, a bit of research
is all it takes to gain knowledge.  Like we used to say in my academic
days: "If we knew the answer, we wouldn't call it 'research'."

In Firefox, you can turn the "classic" menu on/off via instruction here:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/what-happened-to-the-file-edit-and-view-menus

A proper menu rocks.  That stupid 3-line icon is for tablets. bah.

F11 has been around since before Firefox.  Seamonkey, Mozilla,
Netscape...etc...Heck, I think NCSA Mosaic and then Netscape invented
most of them.  Newer browsers just stole...er...reused the old code.

F5  reload current tab
ctrl-/ctrl+ to decrease/increase font size
ctrl-tab to switch tabs

There's more here:

http://www.howtogeek.com/114518/47-keyboard-shortcuts-that-work-in-all-web-browsers/

(some of these may not work as intended since the article was written.
YMMV).

Enjoy,
Ed



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Re: [PLUG] Creating a home network

[King Beowulf]

On 05/11/2016 04:15 AM, Richard Owlett wrote:
> An underlying question: What should I be reading?
> 
> I wish a blackbox which:
> 
> 1. Connects 4 local machines via Ethernet [WiFi shall *NOT* be 
> considered]
> A. A desktop with WinXP and multiple versions of Debian

This one is your black box: Drop WinXP and use newest kernel Debian (or
Slackware but I am biased).  It has all the network tools you need
either already installed or in the repo. Run WinXP as a Qemu VM and
remote in via TigerVNC...if you must.  Use qemu to run multiple versions
of whatever

Connect it to a gigabit switch and a bunch of USB hubs.  Check the
motherboard specs: although you might only see 2 or 4 USB ports sticking
out the back, most motherboards in the past 5 yrs or so have another 1
or 2 USB headers that are unused (each header gets you 2 ports).

If you have extra PCI or PCI-x slots, you can add $10 NIC cards that you
can bridge with Linux metwork tools.

You can keep t connected to a monitor/kb and still use it as a
workstation.

CAVEAT: if the current CPU does not support virtualization (Intel VT-x
or AMD-V), buy a nice quad core (or more) box wit one of the newer i3 or
i5 CPUs, or AMD, with an ASUS or MSI motherboard.

> B. A laptop with WinXP Pro SP3 whose reason for existence is 
> running SeaMonkey.

Seamonkey is available in Linux distros; I use it in Slackware on
occasion.

>Historically it is/was my primary machine. Its future is 
> as a portable.

So, dump WinXP and convert to Linux.

> C. A laptop dedicated to Linux experiments. I have erased the 
> HDD as many as
>ten times in one week ;/
> D. Misc temporarily connected laptops.
> 2. It shall provide multiple USB ports in order that a selection 
> of flash dives
> and a 1 TB HDD can be accessed by any machine.

Any Linux box can be set up as a file server via NFS and SAMBA for File
sharing.  I cast out Win* so now only use NFS to transfer files between
linux boxes here.

> 3. It *SHALL* connect to the internet via a T-Mobile 4G Hotspot 
> Z915 connected
I am not sure on Linux driver support; the spec sheet says yes.

> via USB. The WiFi features have been disabled. I really 
> wanted a USB cell network
> modem. The local T-Mobile outlet was only vendor that didn't 
> try assaulting me with
> their 'smartphone-du-jour' with an atrociously large data 
> plan. this connection
> shall be protected by a firewall.

iptables/netfilter is provided by every Linux distro.  There are a
number of GUI tools to make admin easier.

> 
> How broke will I be?

< $100 for 8-16 port gigabit switch, powered USB hubs, Cat5 cables.
Maybe some more DRAM for (A) above.  $400-600 if you build a nice server
box - less if you snag a used one

I don't recommend a ARM CPU such as Raspberry Pi since these single
board computers can be I/O limited.

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Fix SSL Error in Chrome Browser

[King Beowulf]

On 03/28/2016 05:55 PM, Dick Steffens wrote:
> On 03/28/2016 05:09 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>> One laptop here running Slackware-14.1/x86_64 has Google Chrome as a web
>> browser. Several sites are inaccessible because of this error:
>> err_ssl_protocol_err. (FWIW, I run chromium and it does not have this
>> issue, but the laptop's user needs the closed-source chrome for some
>> purpose.)
>>
>> My web searches find all sorts of Microsoft users with this problem. The
>> only solution I saw said to find the options page and change SSL to v2.0;
>> apparently v3.0 is the default that's a vulnerable version not accepted by
>> many sites.
>>
>> My question is how to find the options page so I can change SSL to the
>> more secure version. Clicking on the icon with 3 horizontal lines offers
>> 'settings' but there's nothing on there about security.
>>
>> Help needed.
> 
> If history is a guide, someone will probably see some error in my 
> thinking here, but here's what I tried.
> 
> Google foo: Google chrome ssl revert to 2.0
> 
> Result page: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95572?hl=en
> 
> That looks like you were on the right track, but didn't go deep enough. 
> But, since I don't use Chrome, I don't have a way to test it.
> 

That used to be the spot.  Try the Network - Change Proxy Settings
(depends on OS).  The SSL settings location in Chrome and chromium
should be the same for the same major build version.

I run into this sometimes as well, and on Firefox.  You may end up
getting kicked out of some site that required ssl3 however.


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Re: [PLUG] Acroread Changes Typeface [RESOLVED]

[King Beowulf]

On 03/18/2016 10:25 AM, John Jason Jordan wrote:
...
> I have just about every PDF viewer installed that will run on Xubuntu
> 14.04. My default workhorse is plain old Evince. Qpdfview is not bad,
> but Evince has a "properties" option that displays information about
> the file, including fonts, which is occasionally useful. Evince (like
> Okular and qpdfview) can also import a straight Postscript file (.ps),
> and then save as PDF if desired. Okular, as mentioned above, needs KDE,
> but I have so many other KDE apps installed that it doesn't add much
> more. I hardly ever use it because its print function is worthless,
> e.g., if you tell it the document is landscape it still prints as
> portrait, plus it fails to see options available in my prnters. Acroread
> lets me view properties like fonts and usually prints correctly, but
> takes forever to launch. Mostly I keep it around because if I need to
> send a file to an outside print company Acroread is the gold standard. 
...

Interesting: I haven't had print issues with Okular in something like ~4
yrs on the HP laser and deskjet.  Portrait/landscape, duplex, and I can
see and set printer options.

BTW, I use the oldest Linux distro on the planet (No, not debian).

-Ed

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Re: [PLUG] Plex alternatives?

[King Beowulf]

On 03/11/2016 11:32 AM, Michael Rasmussen wrote:
> Plex isn't as open as I'd like. What are your votes for an alternative?
> 
> One's I've found so far:
>  * emby
>  * kodi
>  * MediaTomb
>  * ReadyMedia
> 
> My use case is to feed my local stuff to a Roku.
> 

How about ReadyMedia (minidlna)?

https://sourceforge.net/projects/minidlna/

Roku has a built in DLNA app (Roku Media Player) that can pull video
and audio streams from a DLNA media server. It is CLI only, but simple.
 I use it to expose a movie directory on an external USB drive to a Roku
stick.  You have to make sure your files are in the right format, and
the interface is a bit dated, but it works.


Roku Media Player file types:

Video —
H.264/AVC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV), on Roku 4 only: H.265/HEVC (.MKV, .MP4,
.MOV); VP9 (.MKV)

Audio –
AAC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV); MP3(.MP3, .MKV); WMA (.ASF, .WMA, .MKV), FLAC
(.FLAC, .MKV), PCM (.WAV, .MKV, .MP4, .MOV), AC3/EAC3 (.MKV,.MP4. .MOV,
.AC3), DTS (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV), ALAC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV, .M4A)

Image —
JPG, PNG, GIF (non-animated)

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Re: [PLUG] Reference Recommendations

[King Beowulf]

On 01/29/2016 02:13 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
>I've just learned that my web site's use of meta keywords is well past
> its best-used-by date; that's been deprecated. I need to quickly learn how
> to apply modern search optimization techniques (by page, page title, etc.)
> and would like your recommendations for books (or web sites) I should read.
> 
>I can go to Powell's tomorrow to buy something so I can read, learn, and
> update my site ASAP.
> 
>All suggestions appreciated.
> 
> Rich

SEO Joke (from somewhere on the web):
---
What is an SEO’s favorite part of the book?

The title, description, and the index.
---

Here's an interesting SEO bit from Google (2010):
http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

I've learned a bunch of stuff at w3schools.com, much now already forgotten:
http://www.w3schools.com/website/web_search.asp

O'Reilly usually has decent tomes on aspects of computer science - and
they sponsor OSCON.  I can't vouch for this one, but reviews look good:

The Art of SEO, 3rd Edition
Mastering Search Engine Optimization
By Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, Jessie Stricchiola
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Final Release Date: August 2015
Pages: 994

Have Fun!
-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Converting Image File Formats

[King Beowulf]

On Monday, January 25, 2016, Rich Shepard  wrote:

>I have a set of .pdf files in a LaTeX document, and LaTeX wants to see a
> graphics format for them. Is there a difference in output quality when
> converting .pdf to .ps with ImageMagic's 'convert' versus with
> Ghostscript's
> pdf2ps?
>
> TIA,
>
> Rich
>
>
This will depend on whether you are going for screen (web) or printer
output, dpi required, and the pdf contents (embedded ps text or compressed
jpg images) and original pdf data source. IIRC, ghostscipt may deal with ps
based pdf files better, while imagemagick will handle compressed omage
files better.

I would try both a see which one is better for my needs.  Or, even better,
if I had the original files/data used to generate the pdf, I'd use
imagemagick or gimp to generate image files for latex.


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Re: [PLUG] Ignoring xfinity wifi

[King Beowulf]

On 01/24/2016 12:58 AM, Keith Lofstrom wrote:
> Network manager automagically finds the first open wifi hotspot,
> and attempts to connect.  Here in Oregeon, about half the time,
> that is an xfinity network hotspot, usable only by Comcast
> xfinity customers.
> 
> Is there some way to configure Network Manager to always ignore
> particular SSIDs (in this case xfinity), avoiding the frequent
> hassle of bypassing it so I can access a new and different hotspot?
> 
> Keith
> 

It is best to tell Networkmanager not to automatically associate with
ANY wifi access point. However,as far as I can tell, NetworkManager will
connect to anything in range that you connected to before at some point
and you can't say no.  This is a feature most would call a "bug" except
for the idiot devs.

You can disable auto-connection per SSID for those NM has memorized/used
before via the applet (or CLI utilities). You can also delete old/stale
SSIDs that are no longer needed.


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Re: [PLUG] Optical drive driving me crazy

[King Beowulf]

On Tuesday, December 29, 2015, John Jason Jordan  wrote:

>
>
> If I plug in the USB drive the mount command adds a line:
>
> /dev/sdd1 on /media/jjj/128GB type ext4
> (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks2)
>
> And the drive works perfectly.
>
> However, at this point the optical drive won't mount anything. I tried
> half a dozen different DVDs, the light on the drive flashes briefly,
> then stops. The mount command does not see it, nor is there anything in
> the GUI file manager.
>
> Now I'm worried that there might be a hardware failure
>

John

after reading your post abd all the diagnostics and responses, and mulling
it over for a bit while stuck at an airport, I'm going to have to point out
the elephant in the room: systemd.

If really looks like that is what has borked your udev and hotplug
subsystems.

I don't mean to start a flame war, but this core piece of software is far
from ready for prime time.  To be homest, this udev/hotplug issue was
solved over a decade ago.  It has recently popped up with systemd

In your case, what to do?  Back up your stuff, and reinstall Ubuntu. That
might fix whatever piece flipped out during one of Ubuntu's idiotic
constant updates.

Or switch to a non systemd distro.

-Ed


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Re: [PLUG] Survey: what make/model router do you use at home?

[King Beowulf]

On 12/22/2015 06:40 PM, Russell Senior wrote:

> 
>  1) what is the make/model of the wifi device that you use in your
> house?  none is an acceptable answer.

Netgear WNDR3700

>  2) about how old is it (rough guess is fine)?

6+ years

>  2) is it running firmware from the vendor or have you installed a 3rd
> party firmware like DDwrt, OpenWrt or similar? 

OpenWRT

>  3) Do you now or have you ever exhibited any interest in model trains?
> (this is to weight your answer heavier for the target demographic)

Spent hours on HO scale as a kid.  My kids showed scant interest.  Boxed
now a-waiting retirement...



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Re: [PLUG] [OT?] Do functional cell phones exist?

[King Beowulf]

On 12/22/2015 11:03 PM, Richard Owlett wrote:
> On 12/22/2015 11:57 PM, wes wrote:
>> I'll mail you my Samsung SGH-A107 if you want it.
>>
>> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003MW0OIQ
>>
>> -wes
> 
> Thanks for the reply.
> However <*GRIN*>, it has two down-checks:
>1. ATT has worst "customer Service" (sic) known to mankind.
>2. According to Section 11 of its _User Manual_ [retrieved from
>  
> http://theinformr.com/upload/manuals/samsung-sgh-a107-manual.pdf]
>   It is internet capable, therefore is computer not phone ;/
> 

Unfortunately, any phone these days will be driven by a CPU of some
sort, since all the processing and DSP is done in software rather than
in special purpose chips.  The truly basic voice only cell phone has not
been made in over 20-25 years.  Before "smart phones" we had "feature
phones" - with basic computing capability.

Now, one can get a nice minimal "feature phones" that are not activated
on a data plan, and just get a pay-as-you go, no contract voice only
plan, and turn all the other stuff off on the phone settings.  The
carrier just turns off internet access.

Take a gander here for some ideas:
http://www.wirefly.com/no-data-required-phones

If wander into Walmart, Best buy, etc, you should find a display of pay
as you go phones like these.  Among the shadier types in our society
they are also known as "burner phones."

Happy Holidays
-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] Arris modem anyone?

[King Beowulf]

Swell.  And Arris owns the former Motorola cable modem devision.

On Fri, Nov 27, 2015 at 10:33 PM, Michael Rasmussen 
wrote:

> https://w00tsec.blogspot.com/2015/11/arris-cable-modem-has-backdoor-in.html
>
> --
>   Michael Rasmussen, Portland Oregon
> Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity
> Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of
> thought.
> ~ John F. Kennedy
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>



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Re: [PLUG] Odd display of .pdf in Firefox on Ubuntu 14.04

[King Beowulf]

On 11/15/2015 08:11 PM, Dick Steffens wrote:
> I have an internal website with a pair of .pdf files. One is in color, 
> the other is the same thing in black and white. They were both made from 
> a .jpg. The web page has links to these two .pdf files. When I click on 
> the b one Firefox opens it and it looks correct. When I click on the 
> color one, Firefox opens it, but it looks weird. It's black and white, 
> but there are repeating images in the background, it's really dark, and 
> only the top 1/4 displays. If I open it with the Midori browser (same 
> Ubuntu 14.04 machine) it looks correct. If I open it with Firefox from 
> an Ubuntu 12.04 machine in the house it looks correct. If I open it with 
> Firefox on Linux Mint it looks okay. If I open the .pdf file with 
> Document Viewer on my Ubuntu 14.04 machine it looks correct.
> 
> So, the only place it looks weird is with Firefox on Ubuntu 14.04.
> 
> What should I be looking for to figure out why this looks strange?
> 
> Thanks.
> 

What are the Firefox versions? That data is more useful that what
distro.  Perhaps you just need to upgrade or reinstall Firefox on your
14.04 box.

-Ed
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Re: [PLUG] boot failure

[King Beowulf]

On Wednesday, November 4, 2015, Denis Heidtmann 
wrote:

> The precursor may or may not be related.
>
> I discovered that my wife's gmail had been accessed by an iphone on Nov,
> 1.  We have no iphone, and were home alone at the time listed.  So I
> changed the pass word.  Then tried to open firefox.  Would not load.
> Nothing would work, except the mouse pointer would move around.  Had to use
> the power button to restart.  Now I get error: attempt to read or write
> outside of disk 'hd0'.  Entering rescue mode.  grub rescue>
>
> Yesterday the computer froze in a similar fashion when my wife was looking
> at email in evolution.  A power switch intervention was required, but it
> booted fine at that time.
>
> So the two incidents point to hardware problems or intrusion?
>
> I have googled for grub rescue recovery, but what I found was aimed at
> people with more understanding than I have.
>
> Are there suggestions that someone here can offer?
>
> thanks,
> -Denis
>

sounds like overheating. When was the last time you cleared out the dust
and checked CPU fan?  The thermal compound btween heat sink and CPU. will
get brittle over time as well.

-Ed




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Re: [PLUG] I'm trying to get sound through my headphones.

[King Beowulf]

On 11/04/2015 09:11 PM, Bill Barry wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 4, 2015 at 8:22 PM, Genaro Hernandez  wrote:
> 
...
> The alsamixer solution should work. After you start alsamixer hit F6 then
> choose the right sound device. If all is well the Headphone control will
> show up and you can maneuver to it, hit m for mute/unmute, increase it's
> volume and it will be working. I have to do this every time I reboot.
> 
> Bill

Once you set alsamixer settings, do

alsactl store

(as root or use sudo).  That will store the settings.  See "man alsactl"

-Ed

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