November 2015 - Talk - lists.gtalug.org

distro support for 32-bit UEFI
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 12 Apr '16

12 Apr '16

I have a couple of devices with 64-bit Atom CPUs, built to be cheap Windows devices, that have 32-bit UEFI firmware. With no old-fashioned BIOS or emulation thereof. This seems to be intentional crippling by Intel: they only provide power management firmware in 32-bit mode. The devices I have are an Asus TF100 "convertible" (tablet with detachable keyboard) and a Dell Venue 8 Pro. The Intel / Microsoft idea seemed to be: build very inexpensive devices to compete with ARM / Android. But be careful to limit the damage to the market for full-fledged Windows systems. It worked to some extent. The Hugh idea was: cheap computers that should run Linux! Close, but no cigar yet. What I want is a 64-bit distro that can boot from 32-bit UEFI. That could be managed but it doesn't seem to be available now. (The 64-bit Linux kernel knows how to call 32-bit UEFI functions. This feature is not always enabled.) Almost as good would be a 32-bit distro that can boot from UEFI. After all, these cheap boxes are limited to 2G of RAM anyway (crippled: see above). Scott informed me that 32-bit Debian Jessie (8.0) does support UEFI. Wonderful! But I'm chicken: there is no 32-bit UEFI live image and I don't want to install without trying. After all, there may well be unsupported bits on these screwy devices. (Sadly Linux distros seem to be weak on touch, one of the strengths of these little devices.) These cheap devices come with very little "disk". Mine each have 32G; some have 16G; a few have more. That's not really enough space for both Linux and Windows. I have a netbook built in the same style, but with 64-bit UEFI. I've found 32G quite reasonable for Fedora Linux. <https://wiki.debian.org/UEFI> Another bit of news from Scott: the next generation of Atoms, or at least some of them, drop support for virtualization! What jerks.

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KNOPPIX 7.6.0 and running old games
by Daniel Villarreal 01 Dec '15

01 Dec '15

I found a neat use for the latest Knoppix, i.e. running old DOS games... https://ideas2learn.wordpress.com/notes_gaming/ have fun! Daniel Villarreal

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[Fwd: Your account has been forzen]
by phiscock＠ee.ryerson.ca 29 Nov '15

29 Nov '15

Ah, the unintentional hilarity of mis-spelt phishing emails. I'm trying to think of an appropriate response. Maybe 'Fork You'? ---------------------------- Original Message ---------------------------- Subject: Your account has been forzen From: Support <iamazon(a)service.com> Date: Sat, November 28, 2015 9:24 am To: phiscock(a)ee.ryerson.ca -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Peter Hiscocks Syscomp Electronic Design Limited, Toronto http://www.syscompdesign.com USB Oscilloscope and Waveform Generator 647-839-0325

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[GTALUG-Announce] Meeting on 8th December at 7:30pm
by Myles Braithwaite 25 Nov '15

25 Nov '15

<http://gtalug.org/meeting/2015-12/> # Terminal Multiplexers and PXE Boot ## Screen, Tmux, Byobu, the Secret Terminal Brains!!! ### Christopher Browne GNU Screen has been lurking around since the 1980s, as a kind of "tiling window manager atop curses". BSD folk spawned an analogue called tmux in 2009, offering both additions and removals of functionality. Byobu offers a harmonization, and (arguably) better user experience. We'll look at some usages, use cases, and see how frequently Byobu Hollywood crashes. ## Good Bye Boot Media! (or, don't copy that boot floopy) ### Scott Sullivan A tour of how network boot/install can save you ever having to burn a DVDs or USB drive. ## Location George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre 245 Church Street, Room 203 Ryerson University <http://goo.gl/maps/16oJ2> <http://www.openstreetmap.org/way/23447525> ## Schedule * 6:00 pm - Please discuss on the general mailing list (i.e. <talk(a)gtalug.org>) where you want to go for dinner. * 7:30 pm - Meeting and presentation. * 9:00 pm - After each meeting a group of GTALUGers move to the The Imperial Pub (54 Dundas St East) for refreshments and more socializing. # Code of Conduct We want a productive happy community that can welcome new ideas, improve every process every year, and foster collaboration between individuals with differing needs, interests and skills. We gain strength from diversity, and actively seek participation from those who enhance it. This code of conduct exists to ensure that diverse groups collaborate to mutual advantage and enjoyment. We will challenge prejudice that could jeopardize the participation of any person in the community. The Code of Conduct governs how we behave in public or in private whenever the Linux community will be judged by our actions. We expect it to be honored by everyone who represents the community officially or informally, claims affiliation, or participates directly. It applies to activities online or offline. We invite anybody to participate. Our community is open. Please read more about the GTALUG Code of Conduct here: <http://gtalug.org/about/code-of-conduct/>. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the GTALUG Code of Conduct please contact the GTALUG Board @ <board(a)gtalug.org>. --- GTALUG Announce mailing list announce(a)gtalug.org http://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/announce

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Infrastructure issues that should be solved on the GTALUG Server and Mailing List
by Myles Braithwaite 25 Nov '15

25 Nov '15

If you are interested in helping out GTALUG on some infrastructure issues checkout these issues in our GitHub issue tracker: <https://github.com/gtalug/infrastructure/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+no%3…> (your experiences and knowledge would be beneficial). We also have a list of Someday/Maybe tasks that we would like to have done at some time in the future: <https://github.com/gtalug/infrastructure/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+mile…>. Also if you are interested in joining the more day-to-day discussion on the operation of GTALUG you can join our operations mailing list: <http://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/operations>.

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Capital "A" disabled in WindowMaker
by Paul King 22 Nov '15

22 Nov '15

To begin, this is slightly off-topic, since my base *nix I am having issues with is Cygwin, not Linux. I am running X-Windows in Cygwin upon which I am running WindowMaker. It seems to have a slightly bizarre problem in that it disregards my capital "A" when I try to type it in any window. I went through my key bindings, and nothing seems to be bound to the key. Other window managers work fine, including the MS-Windows that it is running on. Someone had suggested to run xev (I don't have xbindkeys) to find out what X is doing with my keypress. Here is what appears to be the output from a "A" key event (quotes excluded): ----------8<-----------------8<------------------8<---------------------- KeyPress event, serial 33, synthetic NO, window 0x1400001, root 0x260, subw 0x1400002, time 6980609, (35,36), root:(1181,469), state 0x10, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES, XLookupString gives 0 bytes: XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: XFilterEvent returns: False FocusOut event, serial 36, synthetic NO, window 0x1400001, mode NotifyGrab, detail NotifyAncestor FocusIn event, serial 36, synthetic NO, window 0x1400001, mode NotifyUngrab, detail NotifyAncestor KeymapNotify event, serial 36, synthetic NO, window 0x0, keys: 96 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 KeyRelease event, serial 36, synthetic NO, window 0x1400001, root 0x260, subw 0x1400002, time 6983906, (35,36), root:(1181,469), state 0x11, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES, XLookupString gives 0 bytes: XFilterEvent returns: False ----------8<-----------------8<------------------8<---------------------- Hopefully, someone can make more sense of this than me. Anything appear strange above? Paul King ------- End of forwarded message -------

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microsoft giving away science fiction ebook, free but DRMed
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 21 Nov '15

21 Nov '15

<http://news.microsoft.com/futurevisions/> This is a collection of short stories "inspired by microsoft". You can download it for free, but only from ebook stores: Amazon Amazon (International Sites) Barnes and Noble iBooks Kobo So free as in beer, not free as in speech. I find that interesting. (I haven't checked that there is DRM but I'd be surprised if each store applied its own.)

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Fwd: OpenWRT / DNSmasq question
by Giles Orr 14 Nov '15

14 Nov '15

Is there a way (using just DNSmasq, not installing a full service DNS server) to have an OpenWRT router answer DNS queries for a particular name? A name that's not a local DHCP lease. I have a Digital Ocean "droplet" that's just an IP, but I've given it a name and normally stuff that name and the IP into the /etc/hosts file. But if I put it into the router, I wouldn't have to keep editing hosts files ... -- Giles http://www.gilesorr.com/ gilesorr(a)gmail.com

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Server issues and questions
by o1bigtenor 12 Nov '15

12 Nov '15

Greetings I have been trying to set up an older Dell poweredge 2950II for use as a NAS box (and possibly some other things. Running into a problem. I used one hard drive from the array for some much needed other purpose for a few weeks and now when I wanted to put it back into the server well there are problems. I can't get the bios to accept the '<ctrl> R' input. When in the PD Mgmt area when I use F2 to get into the hard disk area I can make the front panel light blink (or not) but I cannot get any other of the functions to highlight. The cursor just doesn't want to move! So - - - Does anyone know how to kick the bios in the seat of the pants to get the hardware raid to work? Other option - - - drastic and expensive is to remove the 32GB of ECC ram in the box and setup a new server box. (I don't want to do this but if the other one won't work - - - well I need something that will!) Ideas - - - suggestions - - - - please? TIA Dee

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Surprise, IPv6!
by Scott Sullivan 12 Nov '15

12 Nov '15

So just in a surprised moment of serendipity, my _non-IT_ boyfriend has beaten me to IPv6 connectivity and he didn't even know it. I'm a little jealous as this has been on my two do list for over half a year. Back-story, early in 2015 I upgraded his home from early linksys WRT54G (linksys firmware), to a D-Link DIR-825 (rev. B1), with OpenWRT 14.07. Roughly a month ago OpenWRT 15 was release, so I logged into gather info for doing the firmware upgrade and see this. http://revident.net/images/OpenWRT-network-info-with-IPv6.png I've known Teksavvy, his provider, has had a beta program for IPv6 for DSL customers. I signed up, I have an allocation, but I've not used it yet. At some point, Teksavvy turned it live, and the OpenWRT router I set-up for my BF just picked it up and ran with it. It works! His connection gets a full 20/20 score from http://ipv6-test.com/ Out of box, no intervention. My boyfriend, and the two other room-mates have been using IPv6, for some unknown period (maybe months), with no observable difference. Just Wow! Had to share. ===== Just some info form my laptop. ======== [scott@arcticnoise fonts]$ ifconfig [...snip...] wlp1s0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 inet 192.168.4.230 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.4.255 inet6 fd1c:3456:4edf::1ef prefixlen 128 scopeid 0x0<global> inet6 2607:f2c0:9281:1900::1ef prefixlen 128 scopeid 0x0<global> inet6 2607:f2c0:9281:1900:3210:b3ff:fe9b:457c prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x0<global> inet6 fd1c:3456:4edf:0:3210:b3ff:fe9b:457c prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x0<global> inet6 fe80::3210:b3ff:fe9b:457c prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link> ether 30:10:b3:9b:45:7c txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet) RX packets 1828026 bytes 2043219415 (1.9 GiB) RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 2457050 TX packets 1108781 bytes 250361333 (238.7 MiB) TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0 device interrupt 41 [scott@arcticnoise fonts]$ ping6 google.com PING google.com(yyz08s14-in-x05.1e100.net) 56 data bytes 64 bytes from yyz08s14-in-x05.1e100.net: icmp_seq=1 ttl=58 time=143 ms 64 bytes from yyz08s14-in-x05.1e100.net: icmp_seq=2 ttl=58 time=156 ms 64 bytes from yyz08s14-in-x05.1e100.net: icmp_seq=3 ttl=58 time=158 ms 64 bytes from yyz08s14-in-x05.1e100.net: icmp_seq=4 ttl=58 time=190 ms 64 bytes from yyz08s14-in-x05.1e100.net: icmp_seq=5 ttl=58 time=288 ms 64 bytes from yyz08s14-in-x05.1e100.net: icmp_seq=6 ttl=58 time=403 ms ^C --- google.com ping statistics --- 6 packets transmitted, 6 received, 0% packet loss, time 5005ms rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 143.201/223.390/403.423/93.816 ms [scott@arcticnoise fonts]$ ping6 -n google.com PING google.com(2607:f8b0:400b:80b::1005) 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 2607:f8b0:400b:80b::1005: icmp_seq=1 ttl=58 time=106 ms 64 bytes from 2607:f8b0:400b:80b::1005: icmp_seq=2 ttl=58 time=133 ms 64 bytes from 2607:f8b0:400b:80b::1005: icmp_seq=3 ttl=58 time=142 ms ^C --- google.com ping statistics --- 3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2001ms rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 106.601/127.501/142.416/15.227 ms -- Scott Sullivan

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