Re: [PLUG] Thunderbird Changes

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 16 Oct 2023, Dick Steffens wrote:



When did the developers decide against DFWAB? (Don't Fix What Ain't Broke)




Anyway, back to my opening rant, what is the point of all these changes?
Do they fix something? For me they break things.


Dick,

Back in the 1980s, with DOS, I saw the same thing with many applications: a
new verson would remove something useful or add something useless; mostly
the latter. I decided that they added stuff because the developers figured
out how to do it and decided to add it even if it provided no additional
functionality. I think there are still too many software developers whose
guiding principal is, "If it ain't broke, break it."

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Move cron jobs to new computer

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 2 Oct 2023, John Jason Jordan wrote:


When I sat down at the computer this morning the gxmessage window was in
the middle of the screen announcing that rsync ran at 3am and at 4am to
make mirrors of / and ~/ with exit code 0. I had put a dummy file on both
partitions before going to bed, so I checked and it was in both mirrors.
Problem solved. Except that I still haven't figured out where cron saves
the files. At least now I have the sense to copy them to a text file in
~/.


John,

I, too, don't know where my system keeps my (and root's) crontabs. But, that
doesn't matter to me. The files I enter there are actually in either
~/shell-scripts/ (for my crontabs) or in /root for root's crontabs. I
suggest you use the same storage devices. These files are date-time
specific; for example, in my crontab I have:

# run postgres backup daily at 11:15 pm
#15 23 * * mon-fri /home/rshepard/shell-scripts/postgres-daily-backup.sh

# process spam-uncaught
10 2 * * sun /home/rshepard/shell-scripts/process-spam.sh

Some of root's crontab files are:
# dirvish backup each day at 00:30.
30 0 * * * /root/dirvish-backup.sh

# copy bkup1 to bkup2 each day at 01:00
0 1 * * * /root/copy-backup.sh

# postfix mail log report
45 3 * * * /usr/bin/pflogsumm.pl -d yesterday /var/log/maillog.1

HTH,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Move cron jobs to new computer

[Rich Shepard]

On Fri, 29 Sep 2023, John Jason Jordan wrote:


Well, that didn't come out well. In Xubuntu I did 'sudo crontab -e,'


John,

When you want to only look at the crontab contents use `crontab -l' to 
list them.



Sparky's crontab is empty, so I can paste in the T-Mobile job from
Xubuntu, but it looks like I'll have to rewrite the two backup jobs and
the job to pop up the rsync exit codes. The scripts are here and they run
fine when I run them manually. I remember writing these jobs in Xubuntu's
crontab a couple years ago. What happened to them? And if the jobs are no
longer in Xubuntru's crontab, why are they still running?


If you know the file names, or part of them you can do either `locate
' or `sudo find / -name '.

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Move cron jobs to new computer

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 28 Sep 2023, John Jason Jordan wrote:


My efforts worked perfectly for years, but now I'm migrating from Xubuntu
22.04.3 to SparkyLinux 7.0, and I'd like to migrate cron jobs in the
process. SparkyLinux automatically mounts / and /home from Xubuntu, so I
can just copy config files from the old OS to the new OS. However, I can't
figure out where cron on Xubuntu kept the jobs. They're in some config
file somewhere on those partitions, but where they are is a mystery. Can
someone give me a clue?


John,

I don't know where those distros keep cron files. But, look first at /etc/;
there should be a set of cron directories there; e.g., cron.d/, cron.daily/,
cron.hourly/, cron.monthly/, cron.weekly/.

Second, use the `slocate' command, a.k.a. `whois'. (`locate' should also
work); e.g., `locate cron' will show all files with cron in their names.

You can also use locate to find the names of the cron files you wrote.

HTH,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Battery Backup Question

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 27 Sep 2023, Dick Steffens wrote:


The battery has 12.54v. Sounds like my UPS is borked. Any ideas on how to
test it? And any recommendations on who makes a good, moderately priced
model?


Dick,

Look at . I bought from them and am highly
satisfied with my purchase.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Battery Backup Question

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 27 Sep 2023, Dick Steffens wrote:


We had a power outage this morning. My CyberPower 800AVR Battery Backup
did not work, meaning that when the power went off, the computer shut
down. After the power was restored, when I turned the unit back on, it
went through a repeating cycle of beep-beep, shut down, then beep-beep,
shut down, and so on. Is it possible that more than the battery may be the
problem?


Dick,

Have you opened the case and put a multimeter on the battery(ies) to test
the voltage?

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Change hard drive FS

[Rich Shepard]

On Tue, 19 Sep 2023, Ben Koenig wrote:


Back to Rich's original question though you don't configure your
filesystem with fdisk. If you already have drives that are actively in use
then you can leave the partitions alone, and just reformat with mkfs.
Slackware also includes several /sbin/mkfs.* programs as front ends to
whatever filesystem you intend to use.


Ben,

I wrote too quickly. I'll use fdisk/cfdisk only to reformat the usb flash
drive, then use mkfs.ext4 after copying off the data.

Thanks for the reminder.

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Change hard drive FS

[Rich Shepard]

On Tue, 19 Sep 2023, Michael Ewan wrote:


You will ultimately have problems with a corrupted file system with ext4,
almost guaranteed.  Xfs is a much more robust file system but if you do not
trust it, then try zfs or btrfs.


Michael,

I've used ext2, ext3, and ext4 with no issues on any of them. I'll stay with
what's worked flawlessly with me since 1997.

Thanks,

Rich

[PLUG] Change hard drive FS

[Rich Shepard]

A while ago, when I had backup issues with the logical volume on the
external MediaSonic Pro enclosure, I removed the LV and formatted the two
drives to xfs upon advice here. My dirvish backup is on /dev/sde1 and when
that's done rsync copies daily changes to /dev/sdf1.

I've since learned that xfs has issues and can confirm that's so: the main
backup drive, /dev/sde1, keeps reporting errors to the kernel which advises
me to run xfs_repair. (The second backup drive, /dev/sdf1, had to be
repaired one time.)

I bought a 1T flash drive (each backup hard drive has ~500G on it) and
today's the day to replace xfs with ext4 on both /dev/sde1 and /dev/sdf1.

It should be a simple process and I'm asking for validation (or correction,
if warranted) for it:

1. Use fdisk to install ext4 on 1T flash drive.
2. Mount flash drive on /mnt.
3. Use scp -R to copy all files from /dev/sde1 to /mnt.
4. Use cfdisk to remove xfs from /dev/sde1 and replace it with ext4.
5. Use scp -R to copy files from /mnt to /dev/sde1.

Then do the same for /dev/sdf1.

Your thoughts?

TIA,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] domainnetworks.com scam

[Rich Shepard]

On Fri, 18 Aug 2023, Keith Lofstrom wrote:


My wife got a letter from "MARKETING SERVICES" aka Domain Networks of
Hendersonville, NC offering an "ANNUAL WEBSITE DOMAIN LISTING" for the
low, low price of $289 :-(


Keith,

I've registerd my domains with namecheap.com for quite a few years and I'm
highly satisfied with their services (and low price).

I regularly get these letters urging me to use their registration services
for several hundred dollars a year. They go directly into the recycling bin.

They are the snail-mail successor of the last century's Nigerian scam
letters.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] looking for a 3d surface plotting program (besides gnuplot)

[Rich Shepard]

On Fri, 11 Aug 2023, American Citizen wrote:


Has anyone used 3d surface plotting software (other than gnuplot splot
with pm3d) ??


Randall,

Three suggestions:

1. As Brian suggested, python3 and pandas. This would be my first choice for
data sets such as yours for the shortest learning curve.


2. PSTricks. I've used this when precise control of vector graphics is
required. 

3. The R Project, the most comprehensive statistical data analysis toolkit
available. Currently there are more than 6,000 packages in the Comprehensive
R Archive Network covering every type of data, physical, chemical,
biological, social, etc.


Looks like a really interesting data analysis project. Good luch with it.

Rich

[PLUG] github connection issue, part 2

[Rich Shepard]

Yesterday I resolved the missing github private ssh key; I'm able to push
changes from my local web site repo to the github repo using ``git push
origin'' and entering my github pass phrase. That's the first half of my
problem resolved.

The second half, which makes no sense to me or Paul Mullen who developed the
site, is that I still cannot rebuild the site after making changes to the
content. The Makefile which up until 2 weeks ago worked flawlessly now
fails:

$ make zero-to-prod 
[ -d /home/rshepard/development/web-site/aes-2023/public ] && rm -fr /home/rshepard/development/web-site/aes-2023/public

Makefile:48: recipe for target 'clean' failed
make: [clean] Error 1 (ignored)
[ -d /home/rshepard/development/web-site/aes-2023/resources ] && rm -fr 
/home/rshepard/development/web-site/aes-2023/resources
Makefile:48: recipe for target 'clean' failed
make: [clean] Error 1 (ignored)
hugo --cleanDestinationDir --printPathWarnings --environment="production"
go: 
github.com/gethugothemes/hugo-modules/components/social-share@v0.0.0-20230301110236-bc8a937273bb:
 invalid version: git ls-remote -q origin in 
/tmp/hugo_cache/modules/filecache/modules/pkg/mod/cache/vcs/66708972a060647388d0b75f6bbe7a4ad931dc3341929b3802f0209266ad:
 exit status 128:
fatal: unable to access 
'https://github.com/gethugothemes/hugo-modules/': error setting certificate 
verify locations:
  CAfile: /usr/share/curl/ca-bundle.crt
  CApath: none
hugo: collected modules in 623 ms
Error: failed to download modules: failed to execute 'go [mod download]': failed to 
execute binary "go" with args [mod download]: go: 
github.com/gethugothemes/hugo-modules/components/social-share@v0.0.0-20230301110236-bc8a937273bb:
 invalid version: git ls-remote -q origin in 
/tmp/hugo_cache/modules/filecache/modules/pkg/mod/cache/vcs/66708972a060647388d0b75f6bbe7a4ad931dc3341929b3802f0209266ad:
 exit status 128:
fatal: unable to access 
'https://github.com/gethugothemes/hugo-modules/': error setting certificate 
verify locations:
  CAfile: /usr/share/curl/ca-bundle.crt
  CApath: none
 *errors.errorString
Total in 624 ms
Makefile:59: recipe for target 'html-prod' failed
make: *** [html-prod] Error 255

There is a ``clean'' section in the Makefile and that's ignored. But, why
hugo (the site framework) and go (Hugo's language) cannot connect to github
is the problem. Is the problem with a Certificate Authority at github's end?
Hugho's end? Go's end? It apparently isn't at my end.

All help appreciated,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Github question

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 31 Jul 2023, Michael Ewan wrote:


That is the tricky part. My Github account was linked in some corporate
magic with my company email, and even though I remember the password it
wants to verify with my old inaccessible company email. I guess I will
need to create a new account and forget about whatever I was working on in
my personal account.


Michael,

Create your personal account and ignore the old company account. I had a
shared account that has not been used for about 10 years. I ignored it and
at some point github saw it was past its best-used-by date and dropped it.
Now there's only the active shared account and my personal one.

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Github question

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 31 Jul 2023, Michael Ewan wrote:


How does one delete a GitHub account? I have one from my previous employer
that I need to delete and use a previous personal (school) account.


Login to your github account. In the upper, right corner there's a symbol at
the right end; click on it.

Select Settings -> My Account and that should allow you to delete it.
Otherwise it's somewhere else in the settings menu.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Replacing github public key [RESOLVED]

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 31 Jul 2023, Johnathan Mantey wrote:


https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/connecting-to-github-with-ssh/testing-your-ssh-connection


Many thanks, Johnathan. I'm now authenticated with github and sync'd my
local repo with github's.

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Replacing github public key

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 31 Jul 2023, Johnathan Mantey wrote:


Did you use their 'ssh -T url' function to see if ssh was configured
correctly?


John,

No. I assume that's some place after I log in to my github account. Yes?

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Replacing github public key

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 31 Jul 2023, Johnathan Mantey wrote:


Do you have any special settings in your .gitconfig?


Nope; user, core, alias.

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Replacing github public key

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 31 Jul 2023, Ali Corbin wrote:


ssh is picky about permissions, and won't work if the keys are too open.
Mine are:
-rw---  1 ali ali  411 Jul 14  2022 id_ed25519
-rw-r--r--  1 ali ali  102 Jul 14  2022 id_ed25519.pub


Ali,

So are mine:
-rw--- 1 rshepard users 1766 Jul 31 07:16 id_rsa.github
-rw-r--r-- 1 rshepard users  406 Jul 31 07:16 id_rsa_github.pub

Thanks,

Rich

[PLUG] Replacing github public key

[Rich Shepard]

Somehow I managed to lose ~/.ssh/id_rsa_github so I just generated a new
id_rsa key pair. Logged into my github account, deleted the old public key
and added the new one (github's email shows it to be much shorter than the
string in ~/.ssh/id_rsa_github.pub).

However, it's not working. When I try to sync my local web site directory
with its github origin/master directory my attempt fails:
$ git push origin
no such identity: /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_rsa_github: No such file or directory
Permission denied (publickey).
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

Please make sure you have the correct access rights
and the repository exists

Yet, in ~/.ssh/ there are both id_rsa_github and id_rsa_github.pub, both
freshly generated.

What have I missed?

TIA,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Trail Cams?

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 13 Jul 2023, Rich Shepard wrote:


Whether you need wireless access depends on your use. $30 for a Browning


Make that a Bushnell. Same suggestion: check the specs and your intended
use.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Trail Cams?

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 13 Jul 2023, Dick Steffens wrote:


Has anyone used this or some other trail cam without an iPhone or Android
phone?


Dick,

I've had several trail cames and now have 2. I don't purchase any that are
supposed to communicate wirelessly with a mobile phone or laptop, because
where I'd locate a trail cam there are no cell phone towers, and the site is
far away from where frequent human presence would alter wildlife patterns.

However, I did strap one to a tree in my backyard and captured a coyote in
the little community park behind me one night, as well as my resident
squirrel strolling on the top rail of the backyard fence day and night.

Whether you need wireless access depends on your use. $30 for a Browning
could be worth buying; check the other specs first.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Hard drive issue

[Rich Shepard]

On Sun, 25 Jun 2023, King Beowulf wrote:


I'd start with a check of the drive's S.M.A.R.T reported health status and
run some tests. As root run 'smartctl' to get overall health:
# smartctl -a /dev/sdX
A nice HOW-TO is here:
https://docs.slackware.com/howtos:hardware:smart_hdd_diagnostics
and
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/S.M.A.R.T.
If the drives are failing within the warranty period, get them replaced!


Ed,

Thanks. I completely forgot about SMART. There's only the one drive acting
up now.

The results of smartctl -a /dev/sde don't look encouraging; it's not in the
SMART database:

# smartctl -a /dev/sde
smartctl 6.5 2016-05-07 r4318 [x86_64-linux-4.19.84] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-16, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model: WDC WD20EFAX-68B2RN1
Serial Number:WD-WXC2A513P2L4
LU WWN Device Id: 5 0014ee 2beeb962a
Firmware Version: 83.00A83
User Capacity:2,000,398,934,016 bytes [2.00 TB]
Sector Sizes: 512 bytes logical, 4096 bytes physical
Rotation Rate:5400 rpm
Form Factor:  3.5 inches
Device is:Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
ATA Version is:   ACS-3 T13/2161-D revision 5
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.1, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:Sun Jun 25 13:29:11 2023 PDT
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Status not supported: Incomplete response, ATA output registers missing
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
Warning: This result is based on an Attribute check.

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x00) Offline data collection activity
was never started.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status:  (   0) The previous self-test routine completed
without error or no self-test has ever
been run.
Total time to complete Offline 
data collection: 		( 1424) seconds.

Offline data collection
capabilities:(0x7b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off 
support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:(0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability:(0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine 
recommended polling time: 	 (   2) minutes.

Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time:( 124) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time:(   3) minutes.
SCT capabilities:  (0x3039) SCT Status supported.
SCT Error Recovery Control supported.
SCT Feature Control supported.
SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME  FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE  UPDATED  
WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x002f   200   200   051Pre-fail  Always   
-   0
  3 Spin_Up_Time0x0027   176   174   021Pre-fail  Always   
-   2183
  4 Start_Stop_Count0x0032   100   100   000Old_age   Always   
-   36
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   200   200   140Pre-fail  Always   
-   0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x002e   200   200   000Old_age   Always   
-   0
  9 Power_On_Hours  0x0032   084   084   000Old_age   Always   
-   12062
 10 Spin_Retry_Count0x0032   100   253   000Old_age   Always   
-   0
 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0032   100   253   000Old_age   Always   
-   0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count   0x0032   100   100   000Old_age   Always   
-   28
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   200   200   000Old_age   Always   
-   14
193 Load_Cycle_Count0x0032   200   200   000Old_age   Always   
-   1159
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022   111   104   000Old_age   Always   
-   32
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   200   200   000Old_age   Always   
-   0
197 Current_Pending_Sector  

[PLUG] Hard drive issue

[Rich Shepard]

Good morning, group:

On 2022-02-06 I purchased 4 WD Red 2T 5400rpm hard drives from Amazon for
the MediaSonic Pro external hard drive.

The two drives in slots 3 and 4 were combined into a logical volume and used
for daily dirvish backups. Earlier this year the LV failed. I repartioned
those two drives and installed xfs on them because that's what pros here
recommended. Now the drive in slot 3 (/dev/sde1) is mounted on /media/bkup1
and the drive in slot 4 (/dev/sdf1) is mounted on /media/bkup2.

Each night, at 00:30 root's crontab runs the dirvish backup; at 01:00 a
crontab script rsync's /media/bkup1 to /media/bkup2.

About a week ago (I forget the exact date) as I prepared to log in to my
desktop server/workstation I found a long display of /dev/sde1 errors on the
console. The kernel (I assume) told me to umount /dev/sde1 and run
xfs_repair on that drive. After reading the xfs_repair man page that's what
I did.

This morning I found a shorter message about an error on /dev/sde1 when I
woke up the monitor. Another run of xfs_repair put the drive back to what it
should be.

I assume that WD Red drives are supposed to last more than 16 months so I
could contact them about it. However, since daily incremental backups are
critical for my business I'm asking for your professional advice: should I
replace that drive (perhaps both backup drives)? If so what brand/model
should I purchase? My internal hard drive is 2T so all the external hard
drives are 2T. All previous external backup drives have been the size of the
internal drive so I don't think a larger drive is warranted.

Reccomendations wanted.

TIA,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] A hardware issue [FIXED]

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 15 Jun 2023, Russell Senior wrote:


It literally says right there "Fs [filesystem] was not properly unmounted
[because you power cycled it, rather than reboot] and some data may be
corrupt [although it won't be, because you weren't writing anything to the
filesystem when you powercycled it, but the OS doesn't know that, it just
noticed that the dirty bit was still set because you had not unmounted it
cleanly]"


Russell,

Thanks for the complete explanation.


How do I remove it?


Press '1' at the prompt, like the rudimentary menu suggests.
Or, alternatively (after unmounting) auto-repair with: fsck.vfat -y
/dev/sda1
There is a manual page for fsck.vfat on most systems: man fsck.vfat


What I did yesterday fixed the problem: the system was still up and running
all night and the monitor woke when I jiggled the trackball.

logwatch reported on yesterday's reboot: shows a warning that /dev/sda3 (/)
needed to be cleaned from its ext4 journal, which it apparently was during
that reboot because the system is okay now.

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] A hardware issue [UPDATE 2]

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 15 Jun 2023, Michael Ewan wrote:


sudo umount /boot/efi
sudo fsck /dev/sda1
sudo mount /boot/efi


Logged in as root:
# umount /boot/efi
# fsck /dev/sda1
fsck from util-linux 2.27.1
fsc.fat 3.0.28 (2015-05-16)
0x41: Dirty bit is set. Fs was not properly unmounted and some data may be
corrupt.
1) Remove dirty bit
2) No action
?
# mount /dev/sda1

What's a dirty bit? How do I remove it?

Both umount and mount seemed to work okay since the mount command shows
/dev/sda1 on /boot/efi type vfat (rw)

Rich

Re: [PLUG] A hardware issue [UPDATE]

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 15 Jun 2023, Russell Senior wrote:


Does it still boot despite the warning? If so, after booting, you ought to
be able to unmount /boot and do the fsck.


Russell,

Yes, it does. Later today I'll umount /boot, run fsck, and remount it.

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] A hardware issue [UPDATE]

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 15 Jun 2023, Paul Heinlein wrote:


For a vfat filesystem, I cannot imagine that the version difference will
have any adverse impact.


Paul,

Makes sense to me.

Thanks again,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] A hardware issue [UPDATE]

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 15 Jun 2023, Paul Heinlein wrote:


I usually rely on a live CD (or a modern equivalent on a USB stick) to
fsck the /boot partition.


Paul,

I have a Slackware64-15.0 installation on a USB drive. But the desktop's
running -14.2.

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] A hardware issue [UPDATE]

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 15 Jun 2023, Michael Ewan wrote:


Most times to repair a system partition, you will need to boot from a USB
stick, then run fsck on the damaged partition.
You can simply check the condition with 'sudo fsck /dev/sda1'.
On my Linux Mint box I was able to umount, fsck, and mount the /boot/efi.
In your case it would be
sudo umount /boot/efi
sudo fsck /dev/sda1
sudo mount /boot/efi


Thanks, Michael.

I've run fsck on non-boot partitions by unmounting/remounting but not before
on the /boot partition.

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] A hardware issue [UPDATE]

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 15 Jun 2023, Rich Shepard wrote:


/dev/sda1 is /boot/efi type vfat (rw)


This is a separate SSD and the /boot partition is the only content.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] A hardware issue [UPDATE]

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 15 Jun 2023, Rich Shepard wrote:


The desktop is still turned on but needs rebooting and I need to learn
what's wrong so I can fix it.


UPDATE:

/var/log/syslog tells me:
Jun 15 05:35:10 salmo kernel: [   36.853148] FAT-fs (sda1): Volume was not properly unmounted. Some 
data may be corrupt. Please run fsck.


/dev/sda1 is /boot/efi type vfat (rw)

How do I fsck the /boot partition?

Rich

[PLUG] A hardware issue

[Rich Shepard]

Yesterday and today when I tried to log in my desktop server/workstation I
couldn't: the monitor had no input from the desktop. Shutting down the
computer and immediately starting it brought up the startup process and the
system worked fine all day yesterday. Today's logs showed that the backups
(run starting at 00:30) all successfully completed, but the rest of root's
cron jobs (from 01:00 through 03:45) didn't.

With the various hardware I've used running linux since 1997, and up 24/7,
this has not before happened. I've no idea why the computer stops processing
some time after the backups (the last started at 00:35) and 01:00.

The desktop is still turned on but needs rebooting and I need to learn
what's wrong so I can fix it.

Help, please.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Make installed driver visible without rebooting [RESOLVED]

[Rich Shepard]

On Sun, 4 Jun 2023, Paul Blattner wrote:


It doesn't appear to install a kernel mod at all, just a udev rule and
program that runs on login using xdg autostart. So reloading the udev
rules and running that program should make it work. It should also be
possible to do that as part of the install process so maybe they ran into
some issues they couldn't figure out how to solve without rebooting.
udevadm control --reload-rules
/usr/lib/xencelabs/xencelabs.sh /mini


Thank you, Paul.

I read the installation instructions for the generic .tar.gz version and
didn't see those details.

Much appreciated,

Rich

[PLUG] Make installed driver visible without rebooting

[Rich Shepard]

Is there a tool to make a hardware driver installed on a desktop visible to
lsmod without rebooting?

I have an Xencelab graphic tablet for photo editing and the linux driver has
been installed but doesn't appear in the lsmod listing. I suspect there is a
way to make it visible to the kernel without rebooting and have no idea how
to do so.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Question on a quick CLI program for validating a csv file

[Rich Shepard]

On Sat, 20 May 2023, American Citizen wrote:

1. using awk -F, fails when a cell contains a quoted cell with an embedded 
comma


I download .csv files from agency databases where strings are double quoted
and contain commas within them, as well as using commas to separated fields.

I start my gawk script with
BEGIN { FS="," }
and it separates (or counts, or selects) fields ignoring commas within
quoted strings.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Sending a Google-Earth Pro image via email

[Rich Shepard]

On Fri, 19 May 2023, Rich Shepard wrote:


Two different versions of GE and both have the 'save as ...' option greyed
out.


Mea culpa! 'Save my places as ...' does work.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Sending a Google-Earth Pro image via email

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 18 May 2023, Russell Senior wrote:


Does this help at all?
 https://support.google.com/earth/search?q=downloading+a+kml+file


Russell,

As it turns out ... no.

Two different versions of GE and both have the 'save as ...' option greyed
out.

Thanks for the pointer,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Sending a Google-Earth Pro image via email

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 18 May 2023, Russell Senior wrote:


Does this help at all?
 https://support.google.com/earth/search?q=downloading+a+kml+file


Russell,

It may very well be useful; I'll check it out later this morning. I've saved
places before, but didn't explore what else is in that panel.

Thanks!

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Sending a Google-Earth Pro image via email

[Rich Shepard]

On Fri, 19 May 2023, Ben Koenig wrote:


The workaround is to save the file to disk, then attach to an email you
composed in the client of your choice. If google doesn't want to see your
client.


Ben,

I'm far from a GE expert. Each time I've tried to save or print a GE display
it pops up messages to add a title and other information which I don't want.
To save/print the display I use XV. To retain the georeferences in the
display requires saving/mailing a .kml file and that's a new task for me as
I've not used them before.

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Sending a Google-Earth Pro image via email

[Rich Shepard]

On Fri, 19 May 2023, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:


What is the operating system/version/make/model/year of Linux you are using?


Ted,

Slackware64-15.0 the most current production distribution.

Rich

[PLUG] Sending a Google-Earth Pro image via email

[Rich Shepard]

I'm trying to send myself a KML image from Google Earth Pro, but the only
MUAs made available are the web browser mailer or Google. The Tools ->
Options -> select the mailer does not allow any other option, such as alpine
or mutt.

Does anyone know of a way to use the MUA installed on the host to mail (or
save) that .kml georeferenced image?

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Looking for a paid POP/IMAP email provider

[Rich Shepard]

On Sat, 6 May 2023, Richard Owlett wrote:


Though I live in SW Missouri, I've followed this list for years. My
current provider is terminating email service soon. I run SeaMonkey on
Debian. Wishing to avoid ads, I specified "paid" in the subject line.


Richard,

How about gmail? Or proton mail ?

Rich

Re: [PLUG] git not recognizing 'branch' command [FIXED]

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 4 May 2023, c wrote:


What command are you using?


Purcell,

git master -m main

That's supposed to work locally


I tried:
git branch -m master main
and it worked in a quick test on my machine.


It worked here, too. I thougt it was for remote repos, not local ones.
Apparently it works for both.

Thanks,

Rich

[PLUG] git not recognizing 'branch' command

[Rich Shepard]

I'm trying to rename the 'master' branch to 'main' on a laptop directory.
Git tells me that 'master' is not a git command, while 'git branch' shows
the only branch as 'master.'

Why might this be?

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Renaming file with back slashes and spaces

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 4 May 2023, Russell Senior wrote:


The filename does NOT have backslashes, just spaces. The backslashes are
displayed to *quote* the spaces. That is, show that the spaces are part of
the filename instead of whitespace delimiters between different filenames.


Thank you.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Renaming file with back slashes and spaces [FIXED]

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 4 May 2023, Johnathan Mantey wrote:


Rich, I had to double check past history to confirm you use a Lisp
environment that includes an editor (Emacs). You could also use `dired` to
rename space delimited filenames. Other aficionados consider `dired` a
killer feature of Emacs. I like to use it, and at the same time it has not
become indispensable.


Johnathan,

Yes, I use emacs for most editing, but joe in a v.t. for small jobs such as
renaming files.

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Renaming file with back slashes and spaces [FIXED]

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 4 May 2023, Michael Ewan wrote:


Do an 'ls -b' to see if there are any 8-bit characters in the name.
You can also do 'mv Topo*pdf user-guide.pdf'


Michael,

The `ls -b' failed; the mv worked. I forgot about that.

Thanks,

Rich

[PLUG] Renaming file with back slashes and spaces

[Rich Shepard]

I have a file from an agency in which words are sepatated by back slashes
and spaces. Wrapping the name in double quotes (as user and root) fails:

[root@caddis /home/rshepard/projects# mv "Topo\ TNM\ Style\ Template\ Users\ 
Guide.pdf" Users-Guide.pdf
mv: cannot stat 'Topo\ TNM\ Style\ Template\ Users\ Guide.pdf': No such file or 
directory

What have I missed?

TIA,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] What are the permissions for .ssh/authorized_keys?

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 27 Apr 2023, Tomas Kuchta wrote:


You can stop the sshd service on the server, then start it interactively
with - - then try connecting from the client to see the server response
in your server shell.


Tomas, et al.:

I found the problem and it will take me a while to fix it. It's related to
user authentication.

On 18 May 2020 Pat added PAM to Slackware64-current and it's now part of
15.0; alienbob reported this on his blog.

There's PAM and PAM-kbr5 (for Kerberos). PAM requires three packages, PAM,
Cracklib, and libpwquality. While PAM and Cracklist are in the PACKAGES.TXT
list in the Slackware64-15.0 source tree, I don't find either installed on
the laptop.

The other side of this issue is that PAM is not available for
Slackware64-14.2; it's brand new with -15.0. I don't know if this makes a
difference because while salmo's syslogs and secure logs have no entries
relating to ssh or sshd, caddis' do. There are a few entries in syslog* but
many in the secure logs. Example:
Apr 22 17:24:31 caddis sshd[1388]: gkr-pam: unable to locate daemon control file
Apr 22 17:24:31 caddis sshd[1388]: gkr-pam: stashed password to try later in 
open session
Apr 22 17:24:31 caddis sshd[1385]: pam_unix(sshd:session): session opened for 
user rshepard(uid=1000) by (uid=0)
Apr 22 17:24:31 caddis sshd[1385]: gkr-pam: unable to locate daemon control file
Apr 22 17:24:31 caddis sshd[1385]: gkr-pam: gnome-keyring-daemon started 
properly

So, at least for the next couple of days I'll continu using a 32G USB flash
drive to exchange files between the two host because I've client work that
has a higher priority.

Thanks, everyone.

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] What are the permissions for .ssh/authorized_keys?

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 27 Apr 2023, King Beowulf wrote:


When you ssh caddis -> salmo, sshd will log the event on salmo
(destination).
Slackware 15.0 default for sshd is
/var/log/syslog -> errors and status messages
/var/log/secure -> errors and status messages (pam)
look for sshd messages.


Ed,

Since last Sunday (syslog.4/secure.4) there are no ssh or sshd messages in
either.

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] What are the permissions for .ssh/authorized_keys?

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 26 Apr 2023, Russell Senior wrote:


type 51 is an indication that the server is rejecting the key you are
trying to use. Success would be type 52. You need to look at the salmo logs
to find out why.


Russell,

There are no ssh logs in /var/log/ or root's home directory.

In salmo/.ssh/ caddis is the only entry in authorized_keys and one of three
in known_hosts (the other two being my web site host and github).

Rich

Re: [PLUG] What are the permissions for .ssh/authorized_keys?

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 26 Apr 2023, MC_Sequoia wrote:


Here's where I think the problem is:
"debug1: Trying private key: /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk
debug3: no such identity: /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk: No such file or 
directory
debug1: Trying private key: /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_xmss
debug3: no such identity: /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_xmss: No such file or directory
debug1: Trying private key: /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_dsa
debug3: no such identity: /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_dsa: No such file or directory
debug2: we did not send a packet, disable method"


Mike,

There are no _sk suffixes or _xmss in either salmo/.ssh/ or caddis/.ssh/.
Salmo's ssh:
ssh_host_dsa_key.pub
ssh_host_ed25519_key
ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
ssh_config
ssh_host_ecdsa_key
ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub
sshd_config
ssh_host_dsa_key
ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub
ssh_host_rsa_key

I'll futz with this later today.

What's interesting is that I've not had these issues with any other desktop
or laptop over the past 25+/- years.

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] What are the permissions for .ssh/authorized_keys?

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 26 Apr 2023, Rich Shepard wrote:


I don't think I mentioned on this list yesterday's test results:

salmo and caddis can ping each other;
salmo can ssh to caddis;
caddis still cannot ssh to salmo.


Just now I looked at the known_hosts file on both hosts. salmo has one line
for caddis. But, caddis has 3 lines for salmo: ED25519, RSA, and ECDSA. I
want to use only the first, but the others are added back in the file each
time I try to ssh to salmo.

In /etc/ssh/ on both hosts are multiple key pairs:
$ ls /etc/ssh 
modulissh_host_dsa_key.pubssh_host_ed25519_key  ssh_host_rsa_key.pub

ssh_configssh_host_ecdsa_key  ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub  sshd_config
ssh_host_dsa_key  ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub  ssh_host_rsa_key

Can I delete the dsa, ecdsa, and rsa pairs?

Rich

Re: [PLUG] What are the permissions for .ssh/authorized_keys?

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 26 Apr 2023, MC_Sequoia wrote:


Rich, are you seeing any error messages?


Yep.

Because I cannot attach the log file resulting from `ssh -vvv salmo` I've
uploaded it to . I don't know enough to see what's
still not correct on either the caddis client or the salmo host.

I don't think I mentioned on this list yesterday's test results:

salmo and caddis can ping each other;
salmo can ssh to caddis;
caddis still cannot ssh to salmo.

I did a web search this morning for .ssh/ and contents perms. They are all
properly set now.

Thanks, Mike,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] What are the permissions for .ssh/authorized_keys?

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 26 Apr 2023, Michael Ewan wrote:


Also, ssh can silently fail to connect if the permissions are too loose.


Thanks, Michael. They're all now with the proper perms, both hosts.

Still won't connect from laptop to desktop; still working on that.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] What are the permissions for .ssh/authorized_keys?

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 26 Apr 2023, Jeffrey Borcean wrote:


0600 / -rw---


Thanks, Jeffrey. I did not find this with my web searches.

Rich

[PLUG] What are the permissions for .ssh/authorized_keys?

[Rich Shepard]

I've learned the permissions of all .ssh/ files other than authorized_keys.
What should be the perms for that file?

TIA,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Brave browser behavior changed

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 24 Apr 2023, John Jason Jordan wrote:


I can't answer your question directly, but my recent experience may
give you some ideas.


John,

I switched from Firefox to Brave some time last year. On my Slackware64-14.2
I've had no issues at all with Brave. It's only the newer version from SBo
for -15.0 that quits downloading.

Thanks for sharing,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Brave browser behavior changed [UPDATE]

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 24 Apr 2023, Rich Shepard wrote:


I'm building and installing many packages on the ThinkPad T430. Yesterday,
after several hours the browser would not download a file until I reloaded
the web page. I've not seen this happen on any browser or host.

It's a bit annoying, not a critical issue, and I'm curious why it may have
started yesterday. The same issue is occurring today.


While I wait for 6198 webkit2 files to be compiled and linked I'll update
this issue.

1. It happens only on the T430 running Slackware64-15.0, not on the desktop
running Slackware64-14.2. The former is running brave-browser-1.50.121 and the 
latter is
running brave-browser-1.44.112.

There is an 11-post thread on the Brave help center about this issue on SuSE
and other distros. For some, unchecking the 'ask where to put the download'
solves the problem. For others, they use Google-Chrome or Firefox. This
behavior has apparently been present in brave-browser for some time.

In my case it started yesterday after hours of downloading files. Today it
worked a short time, then totally refused to honor clicks on files to
download on the ThinkPad.

I re-installed Firefox on the ThinkPad and am having no issues downloading
files and placing them where they belong, and none in ~/Downloads.

Quite disappointing.

Rich

[PLUG] Brave browser behavior changed

[Rich Shepard]

I'm building and installing many packages on the ThinkPad T430. Yesterday,
after several hours the browser would not download a file until I reloaded
the web page. I've not seen this happen on any browser or host.

It's a bit annoying, not a critical issue, and I'm curious why it may have
started yesterday. The same issue is occurring today.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Set Brave-Browser's default download directory

[Rich Shepard]

On Sun, 23 Apr 2023, Dick Steffens wrote:


Click on the "hamburger" icon, second row, right side, and select
"Settings". Drag the list on the left down to "Downloads". That will let
you pick a place to save things by default. Otherwise, right click on what
you want to save, and you should have the option to pick someplace other
than the default.


Thanks, Dick. I didn't see below the presented options. Will do so now.

Regards,

Rich

[PLUG] Set Brave-Browser's default download directory

[Rich Shepard]

I installed the Brave-browser on my Lenovo ThinkPad T430. When I downloaded
some files it didn't ask me where to put them but created a Download
directory in ~/. I don't use a Download directory. Looking at all Brave
settings I don't see where to specify either 'ask me' or ~/.

Suggestions?

Rich

Re: [PLUG] the dreaded hang

[Rich Shepard]

On Sat, 22 Apr 2023, bri...@pounceofcats.com wrote:


i forgot about xset.
just tried
 xset -dpms
and after 2+ hours no problem. came back to my desk and the screen saver
was active but the screen hadn't blanked.


I was just reminded that, at least in Xfce4, screensaver is separate from
power management and it's the latter that needs to be set to blank the
screen.

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Transferring public key shows error

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 20 Apr 2023, Rich Shepard wrote:


Since the only two external servers to which I connect have my public key, I
don't need it locally. Yes?


Not so.

I commented out #PubkeyAuthentication yes on both salmo and caddis; rebooted
both.


From salmo:

$ ssh caddis
ssh: connect to host caddis port n: Connection refused


From caddis:

$ ssh salmo
rshepard@salmo: Permission denied (public key)

I'm totally stymied.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Transferring public key shows error

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 20 Apr 2023, Russell Senior wrote:


Without looking it up, passphrase is the encryption that protects the
private key on the client system, so that the super user (or others able to
read files) can't just read/copy your private key.


Russell,

Since the only two external servers to which I connect have my public key, I
don't need it locally. Yes?

If in the future I'm away from my office and need to check mail or get a
file from my server (salmo) my risk of using my password rather than my
passphrase should be low.


The advice suggested by the internet is to check /var/log/auth.log on the
server side (caddis) to see why it's rejecting your connection.


Slackware has no auth.log since it's not on salmo or caddis.

I'll disable password authentification on both hosts and try to connect
between the two hosts.

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Transferring public key shows error

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 20 Apr 2023, Russell Senior wrote:


"debug2: we did not send a packet, disable method"
That seems relevant.


Russell,

To me, too. But, does that mean disable passphrase authentification in
/etc/ssh/sshd_config on both machines?

If I do that what does it mean when I login to github or my website host,
both of which ask for, and accept, my passphrase. Are these two different
from intra-LAN ssh?

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Transferring public key shows error

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 19 Apr 2023, Russell Senior wrote:


I find it is pretty helpful to read the messages. If the messages are too
terse, add verbose or debug flags. Then read what it says.
Is there anything listening on caddis's port n?


Russell,

My apologies; I completely forgot to use the -v option to ssh.

Looking at the output of 'ssh -vvv salmo' (because it has more details than
1 or 2 vs) shows everything working until a public key packet is sent and
received, yet there's no reason I see why it quits then:

debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS sent
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS
debug3: receive packet: type 21
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS received
debug2: set_newkeys: mode 0
debug1: rekey in after 134217728 blocks
debug1: Will attempt key: /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_ed25519 ED25519 
SHA256:hYzUmycAbseyYetGxTEN+LN56sffyLVysiwVB7S3ZKQ
debug2: pubkey_prepare: done
debug3: send packet: type 5
debug3: receive packet: type 7
debug1: SSH2_MSG_EXT_INFO received
debug1: kex_input_ext_info: 
server-sig-algs=
debug3: receive packet: type 6
debug2: service_accept: ssh-userauth
debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_ACCEPT received
debug3: send packet: type 50
debug3: receive packet: type 51
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey
debug3: start over, passed a different list publickey
debug3: preferred publickey,keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_lookup publickey
debug3: remaining preferred: keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_is_enabled publickey
debug1: Next authentication method: publickey
debug1: Offering public key: /home/rshepard/.ssh/id_ed25519 ED25519 
SHA256:hYzUmycAbseyYetGxTEN+LN56sffyLVysiwVB7S3ZKQ
debug3: send packet: type 50
debug2: we sent a publickey packet, wait for reply
debug3: receive packet: type 51
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey
debug2: we did not send a packet, disable method
debug1: No more authentication methods to try.
rshepard@salmo: Permission denied (publickey).
[rshepard@caddis ~]$

Caddis' public key is in salmo's authorized_keys, and vice-versa.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Transferring public key shows error

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 19 Apr 2023, Russell Senior wrote:


So, you can use an editor to remove the offending line 2, and you'll be
asked to accept the new hostkey the next time to connect.


Russell,

The authorized_keys on both hosts each contains the public key of the other.

The known_hosts on the laptop (caddis) contains only a key for salmo created
at 14:42, when I tried to ssh from caddis to salmo. I could not:

$ ssh salmo
The authenticity of host '[salmo]:n ([192.168.55.1]:n)' can't be 
established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:/RInRdtcIMbpPu3LZmpg5wfAWi9ozQwgKLPnTQEDcxg.
This key is not known by any other names
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes
Warning: Permanently added '[salmo]:n' (ED25519) to the list of known hosts.
rshepard@salmo: Permission denied (publickey)

Going the other way, from salmo to caddis (where salmo's known_hosts has
only caddis as an entry) also fails:

$ ssh caddis
ssh: connect to host caddis port n: Connection refused

With only two hosts on the network it shouldn't be this difficult to get
them to communicate.

What am I still missing?

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Transferring public key shows error

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 19 Apr 2023, Russell Senior wrote:


Your client is complaining about the new host key. You need to remove the
old hostkey from your *CLIENT'S* known_hosts file. The message is telling
you what it doesn't like "Offending ED25519 key in
/home/rshepard/.ssh/known_hosts:2".


Russell,

That's what I learned reading more about openssh.


So, you can use an editor to remove the offending line 2, and you'll be
asked to accept the new hostkey the next time to connect.


This answers the question I was about to ask: how to add a new host to
caddis' know_hosts file. I didn't know it was done automatically when I
connected to salmo.

Thanks very much,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Transferring public key shows error

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 19 Apr 2023, Rich Shepard wrote:


Should salmo's id_ed25519.pub be in caddis' .ssh/authorized_keys?


I think that I found the problem: salmo's id_ed25519.pub has only one line
and it's for a host no longer on the LAN.

So, I'll generate a new keypair for salmo, using the same passphrase, then
copy that public key to caddis.

Well, when I somehow, unintentionally, FUBAR a host I don't do it halfway.
Sigh.

More when I make these changes.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Transferring public key shows error

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 19 Apr 2023, Russell Senior wrote:


There is also a config for the server: sshd_config


Oy! I forgot about that. The sshd_config files in both salmo and caddis are
the same and do require passphrase authentification.

On caddis my ssh attempt still fails and I am not certain about which file
on salmo needs correcting:

rshepard@caddis ~]$ ssh salmo
@@@
@WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED! @
@@@
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!
Someone could be eavesdropping on you right now (man-in-the-middle attack)!
It is also possible that a host key has just been changed.
The fingerprint for the ED25519 key sent by the remote host is
SHA256:/RInRdtcIMbpPu3LZmpg5wfAWi9ozQwgKLPnTQEDcxg.
Please contact your system administrator.
Add correct host key in /home/rshepard/.ssh/known_hosts to get rid of this 
message.
Offending ED25519 key in /home/rshepard/.ssh/known_hosts:2
Host key for [salmo]:14982 has changed and you have requested strict checking.
Host key verification failed.

Should salmo's id_ed25519.pub be in caddis' .ssh/authorized_keys?

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Transferring public key shows error

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 19 Apr 2023, Paul Heinlein wrote:


It looks to me like sshd on salmo is configured to accept only public key
authentication. It won't take your password.


Paul,

I was wrong. When I ssh into github or my website host I need to use my
passphrase.

But, in both salmo's and caddis' /etc/ssh/ssh_config only 
PasswordAuthentication yes
is set. I'm still getting that error.

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Transferring public key shows error

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 19 Apr 2023, Paul Heinlein wrote:

It looks to me like sshd on salmo is configured to accept only public key 
authentication. It won't take your password.


Paul,

I know that, but I'm not offered a prompt for the passphrase and entering it
instead of my password won't work.

If you don't have local access to an SSH key already in your 
.ssh/authorized_keys file on salmo, well, you've locked yourself out.


This is the first time I've tried to put another host's public key in
salmo's .ssh/authorized_keys using scp. I'll go back to moving a copy across
in a thumb drive.

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Transferring public key shows error

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 19 Apr 2023, Jeffrey Borcean wrote:


Are you able to ssh into your desktop from the laptop?


Jeffrey,

Nope. That's what I'm trying to do.


It looks like the desktop is configured to use keys for
authentication, but you don't have any trusted keys on the laptop. So
you can't connect.


I just used ssh-keygen to produce a new pair of ED25519 keys and a
passphrase.


If you have another key that is already autorised you can specify the
key with: -i identiy_file


This is a new installation on the laptop.

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Transferring public key shows error

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 19 Apr 2023, Russell Senior wrote:


What was your goal in copying the public key?


Russell,

Adding it to the desktop's authorized_keys file.

Rich

[PLUG] Transferring public key shows error

[Rich Shepard]

Generated a key pair and, following the Slackware OpenSSH instructions
tried to use scp to put the laptop's public key on the desktop:

$ scp id_ed25519.pub 
rshep...@salmo.appl-ecosys.com:/home/rshepard/.ssh/authorized_keys
The authenticity of host '[salmo.appl-ecosys.com]: 
([192.168.55.1]:

Re: [PLUG] Generating id_ed25519 key pair

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 19 Apr 2023, Johnathan Mantey wrote:


Not -G, -t


Thanks, Johnathan.

Regards,

Rich

[PLUG] Generating id_ed25519 key pair

[Rich Shepard]

It's been years since I last set up ssh on a host. Reading man ssh-keygen
I'm not sure which option to use to generate an ed25519 key pair rather than
a RSA key pair.

Is it 'ssh-keygen -G ed25519 -T -P '?

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Loading ~/.keymap on laptop fails

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 19 Apr 2023, MC_Sequoia wrote:


You may need to execute
sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration"
Reference - https://askubuntu.com/questions/800871/failed-console-keymap


Mike,

This looks specific to ubunty. I run Slackware.

Thanks,

Rich

[PLUG] Loading ~/.keymap on laptop fails

[Rich Shepard]

I'm setting up my Lenovo T430 with Slackware64-15.0. In ~/.bash_profile is
the command to load ~./keymap. This fails to work and I've had the same
issue with other laptops, but never on desktops.

Because I never use the CAPS LOCK key, but consistently use the CTRL key
I've always swapped the two on the left side of the keyboard.

I'd like some ideas on how to determine why it doesn't load and how to get
it working in both consoles and virtual terminals when X is running.

TIA,

Rich

[PLUG] Capture output of ssh -vv

[Rich Shepard]

I'm setting up a laptop and configuring ssh on it so I can transfer files
between it (hostname: caddis) and the desktop (hostname: salmo).

When I tried 'ssh salmo' I was asked for my password on salmo. Entered that
and was immediately returned to the shell prompt.

Then I tried 'ssh -vv salmo' and was presented with a long list of data,
ending with ssh asking me for my salmo password. Entered that and was
immediately returned to the shell prompt.

Since I cannot retain the screen display would the tee command copy the
output to a file so I can see why my efforts are failing? Is there a better
way for me to debug the failure to connect?

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Audio card for clear voice output [RESOLVED]

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 17 Apr 2023, Russell Senior wrote:


Have you counted the little rings on the end of the connector? A headset
jack has 4 electrically-separated pads: tip, ring, ring, sleave (TRRS).
Ground, L, R, and Microphone (the arrangement can sometimes vary):


Russell,

Yep. Both are 3-segments: tip, ring, sleeve. My minimal understanding is
that the single TRRS plugs fuction for both microphone and headphone. The
Yamaha has two separate TRS plugs, one (black) marked 'phone' the other
(grey) marked 'mic.'

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Audio card for clear voice output [RESOLVED]

[Rich Shepard]

On Sun, 16 Apr 2023, Rich Shepard wrote:


Please provide recommendations for an add-in PCIe audio card that outputs
clear voice as well as music to speakers and headphones/headsets.


It was a hardware issue. Zoom would not work with the Panasonic headphones
or speakers. But, it has no problem with the Yamaha CM500 headset where both
mic and headphone are together.

Tested on a 2-person Zoom meeting. Problem totally resolved.

Thanks everyone for your helpful and informative comments. I learned a lot
from all of you.

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Audio in?

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 17 Apr 2023, Dick Steffens wrote:


I can now record. Quality is not ideal, but the original source is also
not idea. But at least I have something I can work with.


Dick,

Perhaps ChatGPT can improve the quality?

Rich

Re: [PLUG] mini-phone plug splitters

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 17 Apr 2023, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:


I would be leery of putting 2 headsets off one audio output I would be
concerned with overloading the output transistors in the sound circuit.
But powered speakers should be no problem.


Ted,

That's what I decided, too. I just ordered a dual-direction mini-phono
switch box with volume control; I'll use it as 1-in, 3-out. That way only
one output at a time will be active and powered.

Thanks very much,

Rich

[PLUG] mini-phone plug splitters

[Rich Shepard]

Can I stack two mini-phone plug splitters?

I have three audio output devices: the ProSonus speakers, the Panasonic
headphone, and the Yamaha headset. Now, the speakers and headset are on a
spliter originating in the rear panel front speaker output jack. Can I add
another splitter to keep the headphone connected, too, rather than turning
the desktop and switching headphone/headset in the one splitter?

pavucontrol's configuration _should_ allow me to select the output device,
or send the sound to all devices (with the speakers off.)

Or, I could buy a 2-in, 1-out (or 4-in, 1 out) dual-direction splitter and
connect the 'in' to the desktop's audio jack and the three output devices to
the 'out' jacks and manually switch among them.

Your thoughts?

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Audio card for clear voice output => Internet apps voice quality

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 17 Apr 2023, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:


Looks like it. What do other linux uses do who need to participate in Zoom
meetings? Does the Zoom browser work better?


Ted,

Good.


I don't know if you have control of both ends or if you are required to
use Zoom but if you do have control of both ends I would try the other 2
contenders out.


Nope. This client uses Zoom. An association for whom I've presented at
multi-session conferences uses a conferencing software which does not run on
linux regardless of web browser used, so I've driven to their Wilsonville
office and use one of their laptops.

I guess it's that most linux users won't pay $$$ for proprietary software
applications which means those companies won't offer a linux version despite
the OS being available for 32 years now.

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Audio card for clear voice output => Internet apps voice quality

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 17 Apr 2023, wes wrote:


you could always do both - join from the computer for the video and call
in from a phone for the audio. just mute the computer audio so you don't
get undesired crossover.


Wes,

Aha! That would work.

Earlier today I read a web page on improving Zoom audio. While the focus was
on laptop users (and, probably, windows users) one suggestion struck a chord
with me: rather than using the laptop's microphone and speaker use a
headset.

Well, I have a Yamaha headset so I plugged in the mic to the red mic port on
the rear of the desktop and the headphone into the green port.

Started zoom-linux and created a new meeting. Of course, I heard myself
speak, but that's not what I needed. So I backed out to the Zoom 'home' page
and saw the settings icon. Clicked that and clicked 'test zoom audio.' The
tones came in very clearly. Am I correct that if I clearly heard the test
tones it means I'd hear other participants in an actual meeting?

Also, using the Yamaha headset I listened to a basketball video for a couple
of minutes and clearly heard the commentators' comments.

Wish I could test this using Zoom. Regardless, I think what this means is
that even after adding the Sound Blaster card I'll save the Marantz Pro
microphone and Panasonic headphones for recording video tutorials and
podcasts and use the Yamaha headset for Zoom and Jitsi meetings.

Your thoughts?

Best regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Audio card for clear voice output => Internet apps voice quality

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 17 Apr 2023, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:


Zoom deliberately degrades audio quality to save bandwidth.


Does Zoom also degrade audio quality on VoIP phones and not on TDM phones?

Perhaps calling in to this rescheduled Zoom meeting (and possible future
ones) would resolve the problem. It would be a conference call rather than a
video call.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Audio card for clear voice output => Internet apps voice quality

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 17 Apr 2023, Rich Shepard wrote:


Depending on when Amazon (or USPS) delivers the Soundblaster I'll install
it after work, or tomorrow if it comes late in the evening. I'll report
results after it's in.


It arrived at 6:05; must have come from the Troutdale or Fairview
warehouses.

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Audio in?

[Rich Shepard]

On Sun, 16 Apr 2023, Dick Steffens wrote:


First I tried the jack on the front that is not the headphone jack. I
think it's a mic in jack, but don't know for sure. Then I tried the red
ring jack on the back. I've switched to the blue ring jack. Still no
results in Audacity.


Dick,

The front mini-phone jacks on my desktop are red (microphone) and green
(headphone/speaker).

Motherboard audio ports are explained here:
.


In Audacity I have four options on the tab with a microphone icon:

HDA Intel PCH: ALC887-VD Analog(hw:1,0)
HDA Intel PCH: ALC887-VD Alt Analog(hw:1,2)
pulse
default


You don't want the microphone input. Here's an explanation of the
differences between microphone and line-in:
.

HTH,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Audio card for clear voice output => Internet apps voice quality

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 17 Apr 2023, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:


Zoom deliberately degrades audio quality to save bandwidth.


Ted,

That's interesting. Reminds me of issues I've had in the past in cell phone
conversations with iPhone users because Apple focused (perhaps still does)
on the cameras than voice quality.


There is discussion on this here:
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360046244692-Configuring-professional-audio-settings-for-Zoom-Meetings


I'll read thet.


Note that the Linux zoom client DOES NOT ALLOW the "enable original sound
and high fidelity mode" Only the windows client does.


Well, that's not nice. Is there a work-around since I defenestrated from
Microsoft 26 years ago.


I realize you are just concerned with intelligible voice. But I suspect
the various voice filters that Zoom puts in automatically are screwing you
over.


Looks like it. What do other linux uses do who need to participate in Zoom
meetings? Does the Zoom browser work better?


There are numerous audio test MP3's out there on the Internet that are
VOICE ONLY and NOT music that you can Google for. Download some of those
and play them on a typical music player or car stereo to know what they
sound like. Then use them on your Linux box. If they play well from the
desktop then it's not your audio hardware or drivers. It's Zoom.


If I can build and use the pulseaudio-equalizer to enhance the higher
frequencies and lower the lower the low frequencies that might help.

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Audio card for clear voice output => Internet apps voice quality

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 17 Apr 2023, MC_Sequoia wrote:


Does your PC have an onboard speaker that you can test with?


No.


Are the speakers and headset both plugged into the PCI-E soundcard?


Not yet. I have a Y-extender with 2 mini-phono jacks and 1 mini-phono plug
that's in the green-ringed port on the rear of the desktop. PCIe audio card
expected to arrive today.


Have you tried plugging into the onboard audio ports directly on the
motherboard?


That's where my audio output has always been.

Depending on when Amazon (or USPS) delivers the Soundblaster I'll install it
after work, or tomorrow if it comes late in the evening. I'll report results
after it's in.

To clarify, my issue is only with incoming audio from Internet sources:
Zoom, YouTube .mp4s, and news site videos. Not the telephone or in-person
conversations. So, while my hearing isn't what is was when I was young, it's
not gone far enough to need hearing aids.

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Audio in?

[Rich Shepard]

On Sun, 16 Apr 2023, Dick Steffens wrote:


I have an old boom box and some audio tapes. I'm trying to run the
headphone out of the boom box into the computer. I've tried the mic input
on the front, and the back of my desktop, but none of my recording
software finds the sound. I'm using Audacity. I also tried Audio Recorder
with the same results.

Please apply the appropriate clue stick to let me record some audio from an 
external source.


Dick,

Are you using the audio chip on the motherboard with a mini-phone jack
that has a blue ring? It might be the system isn't seeing the external
imput. The mic input has a red ring surrounding it and the boom box output
is different from a microphone output. Try the blue mini-phone jack on the
system's rear panel.

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Audio card for clear voice output => Internet apps voice quality

[Rich Shepard]

On Sun, 16 Apr 2023, MC_Sequoia wrote:


So, to be clear, do you only have a problem with inbound voice audio
quality from the Internet?


Mike,

Yes.


Have you monitored resource, cpu/memory, usage when you're experiencing this 
problem?


I've watched gkrellm.


Maybe even shutdown and power back on your pc. Open up 1 browser instance
and only 1 tab for zoom or jitsi and test?


I rebooted yesterday morning to make the drives in the MediaSonic Probox
mount and be visible.


I suspect both Zoom & Jitsi are resource intensive web apps.


Zoom seemed to be useing all 8 cores/16 threads Friday. I could see the
other attendees, and all of them could hear me, but I could not hear them
using the headphones and the speakers produces very unclear (garbled?)
output.

The new audio card is to be delivered tomorrow. I'll install it and test the
voice output from 'Net videos.

I've not found a Zoom test meeting that sends me audio. When I have the test
meeting open the video, mic, and headphones work fine. I assume that when I
hear myself speak it's all local and not out to Zoom and back again.

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Building pulseaudio-equalizer

[Rich Shepard]

On Sun, 16 Apr 2023, Ben Koenig wrote:


Ah ok so here is where we got real problems. First off, you don't want to
use pip. it makes it very difficult to remove packages later and can
result in a broken python installation.


Ben,

I've used pip when I could not find an SBo package.


You can try starting the build with "meson build -Dpython=python2.7" to
make sure it selects the older python. If that doesn't work you might need
to seek other solutions since dealing with an incomplete python stack is a
project all on it's own.


Wait ... meson wants python2 and not python3?

Nope:
$ meson build -Dpython=python2.7
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/meson", line 6, in 
from pkg_resources import load_entry_point
  File "/home/rshepard/.local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py", 
line 3324, in 
def _initialize_master_working_set():
  File 
"/home/rshepard/.local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py", 
line 3298, in _call_aside
f(*args, **kwargs)
  File 
"/home/rshepard/.local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py", 
line 3336, in _initialize_master_working_set
working_set = WorkingSet._build_master()
  File 
"/home/rshepard/.local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py", 
line 629, in _build_master
ws.require(__requires__)
  File 
"/home/rshepard/.local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py", 
line 966, in require
needed = self.resolve(parse_requirements(requirements))
  File 
"/home/rshepard/.local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py", 
line 827, in resolve
dist = self._resolve_dist(
  File 
"/home/rshepard/.local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py", 
line 868, in _resolve_dist
raise DistributionNotFound(req, requirers)
pkg_resources.DistributionNotFound: The 'meson==0.59.2' distribution was not 
found and is required by the application

Yet,
$ ls /var/log/packages/ | grep meson
meson-0.59.2-x86_64-2

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Audio card for clear voice output => Internet apps voice quality

[Rich Shepard]

On Sun, 16 Apr 2023, MC_Sequoia wrote:


"My issue is getting good sound quality from the 'Net using Zoom and Jitsi."
This is probably the best & most useful piece of information you've to work 
with.



That seems to point away from a audio card, audio software/drivers,
cables, etc.


I don't often view news site or youtube videos but it's the same issue with
them as it is was the Zoom meeting. The other issue with Zoom is that I
heard unclear sound throught the Creative Pebble speakers that were
installed, and no sound through the Panasonic headset. Yet, the headset had
no problem with my tests of a news site video or a youtube video.

Music comes through okay, but music vocals is not quite clear. Perhaps it's
the browser, but I've used the Zoom test meeting and it reports audio and
video are okay. The test doesn't send me any audio, however.

Thanks,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Building pulseaudio-equalizer

[Rich Shepard]

On Sun, 16 Apr 2023, Ben Koenig wrote:


"meson build" didn't work?


No:
$ meson build
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/meson", line 6, in 
from pkg_resources import load_entry_point
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pkg_resources'

Now I'm trying to learn why I can't install pkg_resources using pip with
python3-3.9.10 installed here:
# pip install pkg_resources
bash: /usr/bin/pip: /usr/bin/python3.7: bad interpreter: No such file or 
directory

There is no python3.7 installed:
[root@salmo /usr/bin]# ls python*
python@ python2-config@  python2.7-config*  python3-sip*   
pythontex*
python-config@  python2-sip* python3@   python3.9*
python2@python2.7*   python3-config@python3.9-config*

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Audio card for clear voice output

[Rich Shepard]

On Sun, 16 Apr 2023, MC_Sequoia wrote:


I also was thinking about an audio quality testing application that might
be useful and came across this video on an app called Noise Torch. In the
video he talks specifically about producing podcasts, zoom calls & jitsi
meetings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzN9rYNeeIU


Good to know. Thanks.


I also came across an article that talked about the difference in driver
quality between Windows and Linux. FOSS does have a cost, unfortunately.


Yes, it seems to still be the case that the ALSA sound system leaves much to
be desired, and pulseaudio doesn't make it that much better.


I suspect this could also play a role.


I don't know why linux doesn't have better sound after all these years.


There are also Linux multimedia distros that've been optimized for AV 
production.


I've had no issues recording video tutorials and podcasts. Audacity,
vokoscreenNG, and open broadcast studio work just fine. My issue is getting
good sound quality from the 'Net using Zoom and Jitsi.

Regards,

Rich

Re: [PLUG] Building pulseaudio-equalizer

[Rich Shepard]

On Sun, 16 Apr 2023, Ben Koenig wrote:


$ meson build
That is 'meson' then a SPACE then 'build'. They didn't tell you to run
meson.build, so why are you executing the file manually? Did you just
assume that they made a mistake?


Ben,

Well, I assumed that 'mason.build' was the file name, not the command 'mason
build.' So, ...
$ mason build
-bash: mason: command not found

Regards,

Rich