June 2022 - Talk - lists.gtalug.org

war story: power failure makes CentOS system unbootable
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 30 Sep '22

30 Sep '22

tl;dr / spoiler: change fstab so that /boot/efi is not automatically mounted. See the recommendation at the end of this message. My gateway computer is a little PC running CentOS. It does not come back after a power failure. The reason (as best I can tell) is interesting and I think that I have a fix. My system is UEFI. It boots from a UEFI system partition, known as /boot/efi to Linux. If this gets corrupted, it won't boot. It is a VFAT partition. On my gateway (a Zotac Zbox RI321, a cute little box with two ethernet ports), the UEFI firmware apparently won't boot if the dirty bit is set in the system partition. CentOS normally runs with /boot/efi mounted. So when the system isn't shut down cleanly, the dirty bit will be on. Consequence: the system is not going to boot after a power failure. Odd observation 1: if I put a live Fedora 25 USB stick in the system and try to boot in this otherwise-unbootable state, CentOS boots from the main disk. So this really looks like a firmware bug/quirk. Odd observation 2: fsck doesn't seem to automatically fix the system partition. Once CentOS 7 booted, I dismounted /boot/efi and did an fsck on it. $ sudo fsck /dev/sda1 fsck from util-linux 2.23.2 fsck.fat 3.0.20 (12 Jun 2013) 0x25: Dirty bit is set. Fs was not properly unmounted and some data may be corrupt. 1) Remove dirty bit 2) No action ? 1 Leaving filesystem unchanged. /dev/sda1: 16 files, 2420/51145 clusters Googling got me to <https://www.centos.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=50917> In particular, this advice seemed quite good: ==== recommendation ==== Two other changes I recommend for UEFI systems, to each OS's /etc/fstab. - For the /boot/efi mountpoint, add the mount options x-systemd.automount,noauto - Change fs_passno (last column) to a 1 or 2; the canonical fstab instructions suggest 2, but systemd treats 1 and 2 as the same. The first change means the EFI System partition will not be automatically read-write mounted at boot time; it's a bad idea this is the default because it puts the ESP at risk especially if ther are crashes, FAT has no journal and will therefore always be marked dirty in such a case; no other UEFI OS mounts the ESP by default. Second, if anything tries to access /boot/efi (read or write), systemd will automatically mount it, and because of the fs_passno 1 or 2, it will fsck it first and that fixes and clears the dirty bit in case it's set. Right now without these changes, it's just a matter of having the right number and bad timing of crashes to render the EFI System partition corrupt.

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Old DOS NFS client won't talk to Linux NFS server
by Kevin Cozens 29 Jun '22

29 Jun '22

Greetings, all. I'm wondering if someone may have some insight in to an NFS related problem. I have an embedded system running Linux. I set it as an NFS server. I have been able to have the server mount its own share and I have also been able to mount the share on my desktop. That tells me the NFS configuration is fundamentally working. The problem is when I try to mount the from an old industrial system running Hummingbird NFS Maestro DOS based software from 1997. That system is able to ping the server so I know it has a network connection. However, when the "nfs link Z: \\192.168.100.110\/share" command is issue I just get the message on the server saying "No response from server". The Linux NFS server is supposed to support NFS v2 through v4. The old system is probably v3 at best and the logs only seem to indicate v2. I haven't figured out how to disable v4 support on the NFS server. I used tshark to capture the NFS traffic. When the "exports" command was issued on the old machine: 909 873.726802357 192.168.100.101 → 192.168.100.110 Portmap 98 V2 GETPORT Call MOUNT(100005) V:1 UDP 910 873.727576161 192.168.100.110 → 192.168.100.101 Portmap 70 V2 GETPORT Reply (Call In 909) Port:53625 911 873.728326009 192.168.100.101 → 192.168.100.110 MOUNT 110 V1 EXPORT Call 912 873.731315731 192.168.100.110 → 192.168.100.101 MOUNT 142 V1 EXPORT Reply (Call In 911) When the "nfs link" command was issued on the old machine: 915 929.199301001 192.168.100.101 → 192.168.100.110 Portmap 98 V2 GETPORT Call HCLNFSD(788585389) V:1 UDP 916 929.199993392 192.168.100.110 → 192.168.100.101 Portmap 70 V2 GETPORT Reply (Call In 915) PROGRAM_NOT_AVAILABLE 917 929.200757113 192.168.100.101 → 192.168.100.110 Portmap 98 [RPC retransmission of #915]V2 GETPORT Call (Reply In 916) HCLNFSD(788585389) V:1 UDP 918 929.201092226 192.168.100.110 → 192.168.100.101 Portmap 70 [RPC duplicate of #916]V2 GETPORT Reply (Call In 915) PROGRAM_NOT_AVAILABLE 919 929.201744034 192.168.100.101 → 192.168.100.110 Portmap 98 [RPC retransmission of #915]V2 GETPORT Call (Reply In 916) PCNFSD(150001) V:2 UDP The output from rpcinfo is: $ rpcinfo -p program vers proto port service 100000 4 tcp 111 portmapper 100000 3 tcp 111 portmapper 100000 2 tcp 111 portmapper 100000 4 udp 111 portmapper 100000 3 udp 111 portmapper 100000 2 udp 111 portmapper 100024 1 udp 57318 status 100024 1 tcp 46225 status 100005 1 udp 53625 mountd 100005 1 tcp 40199 mountd 100005 2 udp 53980 mountd 100005 2 tcp 53443 mountd 100005 3 udp 50848 mountd 100005 3 tcp 49067 mountd 100003 2 tcp 2049 nfs 100003 3 tcp 2049 nfs 100003 4 tcp 2049 nfs 100227 2 tcp 2049 100227 3 tcp 2049 100003 2 udp 2049 nfs 100003 3 udp 2049 nfs 100227 2 udp 2049 100227 3 udp 2049 100021 1 udp 42943 nlockmgr 100021 3 udp 42943 nlockmgr 100021 4 udp 42943 nlockmgr 100021 1 tcp 44539 nlockmgr 100021 3 tcp 44539 nlockmgr 100021 4 tcp 44539 nlockmgr Is the DOS based NFS client compatible with current day Linux NFS server? Any idea why I see messages saying PROGRAM_NOT_AVAILABLE? If something is supposedly missing, what program is it looking for? It would have been a lot more helpful if whatever program is reporting a "missing program" said what program it couldn't find, or couldn't talk to. -- Cheers! Kevin. http://www.ve3syb.ca/ | "Nerds make the shiny things that https://www.patreon.com/KevinCozens | distract the mouth-breathers, and | that's why we're powerful" Owner of Elecraft K2 #2172 | #include <disclaimer/favourite> | --Chris Hardwick

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another inexpensive refurb computer $300
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 25 Jun '22

25 Jun '22

https://forums.redflagdeals.com/the-source-asus-x509ja-ts31-cb-15-6-c-lapto… Good: not a netbook Bad: 1366 x 768 15.6" display

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Default VNC in GNOME?
by William Park 23 Jun '22

23 Jun '22

What's the default VNC server/client in GNOME? In KDE, it's "krfb" and "krdc" respectively.

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[GTALUG-Announce] May Meeting
by Alan Heighway 23 Jun '22

23 Jun '22

Linux on RISC-V <https://gtalug.org/meeting/2022-05/> with Drew Fustini <https://gtalug.org/> 10 May, 2022 at 07:30 PM It is an exciting time for Linux on RISC-V, the open instruction set (ISA) that is quickly gaining critical mass. I will introduce the pieces needed to boot Linux on RISC-V including the Privileged Architecture, OpenSBI and U-Boot, and how that fits into the upcoming RISC-V Platform Specification. I will break down support for existing hardware and current upstreaming efforts. We're going to use Big Blue Button for this meeting: *Join Big Blue Button:* https://blue.lpi.org/b/eva-zjc-gjy-kgl *A*lan *H*eighway <http://heighway.ca/> heighway.ca VA3WAH / VA3YKZ [image: Please consider the environment before printing] --- GTALUG Announce mailing list announce(a)gtalug.org https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/announce

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every time I log in to google or ebay from Fedora they think that it is the first time
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 22 Jun '22

22 Jun '22

When I log into google or ebay from my desktop, they think that I'm logging in for the first time from that device. For ebay.ca, it is painless: I get a warning message in email "if this wasn't you...". For google it is more annoying. It wants a second factor authenticator. This amount to a message on all my android devices, none of which are close by. I have to climb a flight of stairs! Any idea why these sites think my desktop is new to them each time? (I don't get this when I log in from an Android device.)

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cheap netbook: Lenovo IdeaPad 1
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 17 Jun '22

17 Jun '22

We were talking about cheap netbooks for Linux last night. This one is on sale from Lenovo for $180. New; free shipping. <https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/p/laptops/ideapad/ideapad-100/ideapad-1-(11%E2…> I'm in some kind of club with Lenovo that gets me this for $175. Lenovo PRO? EPP? I don't know. Going through Rakuten.ca will currently save you another 3%. Sometimes it is 12%. The display 11" is only 1366 x 768 pixels. Too low res for me. 4G of RAM -- OK. 64G of eMMC -- OK for Windows or Linux, but pretty tight for dual boot. AMD 3020e Processor (1.20 GHz, up to 2.60 GHz Max Boost, 2 Cores, 2 Threads, 4 MB cache) HDMI 1.4, 2 x USB 3.2 (Gen1) This is probably more cost-effective than a Raspberry Pi 4 if the display and keyboard are useful.

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From Slackware to which distro?
by William Park 15 Jun '22

15 Jun '22

Hi All, I've been running Slackware since forever. It's time to grow up and see the world. Which distro would you recommend that I move to? Yes, I know it's personal, and reasons will be varied and educational. - Ubuntu -- OK. I use it at work in VM and in WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux). For me, Mint is another flavour, just like Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc. - Oracle -- I use it at work too. Was CentOS, but switched to Oracle because they said delivering end-of-life OS is bad marketing. - Fedora -- OK. Doesn't seem to have its equivalent in Ubuntu side. - OpenSUSE -- Difficult to pin down. It uses RPM but in their own way. It has rolling release (Tumbleweed) and versioned release (Leap). - Arch -- no. I don't need/want to learn what they are trying to teach. I run Slackware, so I already know all that. Thanks for any feedback. William

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Making RPM from directory tree?
by William Park 14 Jun '22

14 Jun '22

To RPM guys, I have a directory tree, created from "make install DESTDIR=...". Now, I want to make RPM package from the tree. Online docs are too verbose and confusing. 1. Is there GUI app with appropriate fill in boxes? 2. Is there command line utility? In Slackware, it's just "makepkg". Background: I use "netpipes-4.2" a lot. Debian and Slackware have it, but Redhat variants don't. I can use netcat and pipe (and I do), but there are so many variations (ie. nc, netcat, ncat), each with different behaviour and options. I like to use what I'm familiar with. So, I downloaded the source, compiled it, and installed to a directory. Now what?

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Fwd: Helping out a fellow HAM
by Ansar Mohammed 14 Jun '22

14 Jun '22

x-posting ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Ansar Mohammed <ansarm(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, Jun 13, 2022 at 2:04 PM Subject: Helping out a fellow HAM To: <members(a)marcmembers.groups.io> Apologies if you have seen this before >From Peel Amateur Radio Club: " I’ve been helping out Lee ve3bqw in Orangeville relocate. He’s had a stroke and lost mobility so they are moving from a tri-level house to a seniors community. They thought they had a taker for the tower but it fell through at the last moment. The tower in question is a “40ft free standing tower Removal and take down is required. An elder ham in Orangeville had to downsize due to mobility issues. Needs to happen soon so as not impede the sale of the house. It’s 6 8ft sections bolted with stainless steel bolts. The bottom section is buried 4 ft down. Please see pictures attached. Open to all removal proposals. Brian ve3bwp(a)gmail.com" https://www.facebook.com/peelarc/posts/pfbid029SLDGderqVJqNuCpuRwbkiUEoQfHw…

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