- Talk - lists.gtalug.org

firmware security bug in many computers
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 10 Jul '16

10 Jul '16

<http://www.itnews.com.au/news/lenovo-hunts-bios-backdoor-bandits-430208> <http://www.itnews.com.au/news/lenovo-thinkpad-zero-day-bypasses-windows-sec…> <https://github.com/Cr4sh/ThinkPwn> <https://support.lenovo.com/ca/en/solutions/LEN-8324> Summary: a call-out from SMM code can lead to privilege escalation. This code seems to have originated at Intel. Lots of machines will have this bug. (SMM == System Management Mode, an almost secret and magical part of the firmware that can run at any time without the OS or user program knowing or controlling it. It has even more privilege than the kernel.) I expect firmware updates conscientious manufacturers for many many systems. I have no idea how easy this is to exploit.

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linux laptop oryx pro
by Dave Cramer 08 Jul '16

08 Jul '16

Anyone have any experience with https://system76.com/laptops/oryx Dave Cramer

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July 2016 Pre-Meeting Dinner
by Myles Braithwaite 08 Jul '16

08 Jul '16

So where do we want to go? You can see some options over on the wiki: <https://wiki.gtalug.org/pre-meeting_dinner>. We are working on getting a talk title and description from our speaker for July's meeting.

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Notebook Computer Recommendations
by CLIFFORD ILKAY 06 Jul '16

06 Jul '16

Hello All, I am in the market for a laptop with the following specs. Supports at least 32GB of RAM. 64GB would be better if the premium is not too high. If the memory is not maxed out, it should be a matter of adding more sticks rather than throwing away what it already has installed. (I intend to run a bunch of virtual machines on this machine.) At least 1920x1080 display. 3k or 4k would be "nice to have" but not essential. 13" to 15" display would be fine. A 17" machine had better be exceptional for me to consider having to lug something that big around. Excellent full-size, U.S. English keyboard and pointing device(s). I have a couple of older ThinkPads (A21p and T43) and love their keyboards, three button mice, and pointing sticks. If it must be a TrackPad, it had better work as well as the TrackPad on my Mac. I do not know if that is possible with Windows or Linux. I do not like laptops that have numeric keypads because that means the keyboard is offset to the left of the center of the screen, which I think would be like driving a car with the steering wheel that is offset a little bit from the center of the driver's seat. The hard disk type or capacity is not important as long as I can upgrade it to whatever I want. Options: Used ThinkPad W530 can be had for under $1000 with the 32GB of RAM that it supports. I have seen a few brand new W541s (the "s" is for Spanish) but it is not clear to me if they have U.S. English keyboards. New ThinkPad P50 - Linux support seems iffy. Numeric keypad means the keyboard is offset. Expensive. Dell and HP both have workstation notebooks. I do not know much about them. Any recommendations? Any recommendations besides what I have mentioned? -- Regards, Clifford Ilkay + 1 647-778-8696

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Article: Blockchain Revolution review – Satoshi Nakamoto’s world-changing innovation
by Ivan Avery Frey 06 Jul '16

06 Jul '16

Blockchain Revolution review – Satoshi Nakamoto’s world-changing innovation http://flip.it/lK6l_

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Fedora 24 Upgrade - Flawless 4k Support
by CLIFFORD ILKAY 05 Jul '16

05 Jul '16

Hello All, I did a fresh install of Fedora 24 on a new SSD and did not have to do anything special for it to recognize the nVidia GeForce 960 video card or my 40" Philips 4k monitor. The Nouveau driver worked without a hitch, thus eliminating my dependency on the proprietary binary driver, not that it was much of a hardship to deal with in Fedora 23. The random flickering that I would see on a daily basis on a visible part of a window that did not have focus that I used to see with Fedora 23 and the proprietary binary driver from nVidia has not happened in 24 hours of operation with Fedora 24. One oddity was that try as I might, I could not get a USB key created via Unetbootin in Fedora 23 to boot the Fedora 24 netinstall image so I had to burn a CD and boot from that. I had previously used Unetbootin to create a Fedora 24 Beta Live bootable device with the same key and it had worked. -- Regards, Clifford Ilkay + 1 647-778-8696

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Intel i7-6700 vs Xeon E3-1230 v5 --> 65W vs 80W ??
by William Park 04 Jul '16

04 Jul '16

Intel i7-6700 and Xeon E3-1230 v5 are pretty much the same, except that i7 has builtin Graphics and Xeon does not. I don't get it. How can i7 with builtin graphics consume less power?-- William

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war story: upgrading Win8.1 to Win10 on a triple-boot system
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 03 Jul '16

03 Jul '16

If you wish to ever have a free-as-in-beer Windows 10 upgrade, you have to do it before July 29th (according to my unreliable memory). Windows 10 is OK except for the continuous leakage of information to Microsoft. But even earlier Windows versions are being updated to spy too. The main advantage of Win10 over its predecessors is that it will be supported longer. A second advantage is that your license is recorded in the cloud so in future you can wipe Win10 and install it again without much difficulty. Windows 7 and on continually bombard you with update offers. Some even appear to be opt-out. Don't accept these offers. Download Win 10 once to a USB stick and install from there instead. That means that you will only have to download it once, even if the installation fails a few times or if you have several machines. To create a USB stick with the Win10 update, you need to use the "Media Creation Tool", an option wherever you can download Win 10. You can create a USB stick for64-bit, 32-bit, or both. Then it is just a matter of mounting the stick on the Windows non-10 system and running "setup". I've done this on several machines previously and it mostly worked (a previous war story described puzzling disk space issues). On my notebook, I attempted to upgrade 64-bit Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 from within Windows 8.1 using Win10 update from a USB stick. Salient points about this notebook: - partitioning / booting is MBR, not GPT / UEFI - all OSs are 64-bit - came with Win 7 - upgraded to Win 8 (free) and then Win 8.1 (free) (Thankfully I made recovery disks!) - it has Ubuntu and Fedora installed - booting is via Ubuntu's GRUB It did not work. The update process chugged for a while and then came up with this helpful message Something happened. We can't tell if your PC has enough space to continue installing windows 10 Isn't that a great message! It doesn't say why it cannot tell if there is enough space. It won't let me tell it (yes, it does have enough space). It just gives up. If you google for this message, you will find lots of random advice on this one. Probably because there are a lot of causes. I tried a few of the easier ones with no success. So I decided that perhaps Windows needed to own the boot record. I booted into the recovery system provided by the manufacturer. I pushed a couple of options (repair boot? I don't remember and there isn't a trace left). The result was an unbootable system grub only found enough of itself to report that there was a problem: none of its modules were found. I could not boot Windows, the Windows recovery partition, or either Linux. I then studied <https://peter.upfold.org.uk/blog/2013/02/28/restore-windows-8-bootloader/>. I booted a Win 8 recovery DVD that I'd made. - I tried "repair your computer" "advanced options" "Automatic Repair". Didn't work. Apparently it put diagnostics in C:\Windows\... but there was no such filesystem. - I tried "repair your computer" "advanced options" "Command Prompt". Set the "active partition" (as per first comment in that blog entry): > diskpart > list disk > select disk # > list partition > select partition # > active > exit > bootsect.exe /nt60 C: > BootRec.exe /FixMbr > BootRec.exe /FixBoot I don't really know what each step does, but it worked. I could boot into (only) Windows 8.1) >From Win 8.1, I clicked on "setup" from the mounted USB stick. All went uneventfully. Now I will install Fedora 24 (replacing Fedor 20) and in the process re-install grub.

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Re: [GTALUG] mysterious restarts
by Russell Reiter 03 Jul '16

03 Jul '16

> I also have heard of the power grid, being a microgrid designer and all. > Although it's not Linux specific, given the number of posts on this thread regarding power quality and continuity, perhaps microgrids and power walls might be an interesting meeting topic. I'd be interested in knowing what types of control systems are in use for linking and delinking? ie. how would you handle spinning up and linking a wind turbine to a hydrogen cell; bonus if there were discussions around Sandia SPIDERS and cybersecurity. Got some spare time? > > --- >> Talk Mailing List >> talk(a)gtalug.org >> https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk >> > > > -- > Michael Galea > > --- > Talk Mailing List > talk(a)gtalug.org > https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk

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[GTALUG-Announce] Linux in the Park 2016
by Myles Braithwaite 02 Jul '16

02 Jul '16

<http://gtalug.org/picnics/2016/> GTALUG is having the annual Linux in the Park Potluck this year at Dufferin Grove Park on 23rd July at 2pm. Things we will provide: Plates, Cutlery, Serviettes, Cups, and Garbage bags. Things you might want to bring: chairs, tasty beverages (that are non-alcoholic, as the city prohibits alcoholic beverages in the park), food stuffs that you would like to share and enjoy, tarp/blanket, sunscreen, hats, things to help survive the warmth of the Canadian Wilderness. We will doing this in a pot-luck style. Thus, please bring enough food and drink for yourself and your guests, and try to bring enough to share with others in the group. We are using the GTALUG wiki to organize everything: <https://gtalug.org/picnics/2016/>. Note that if you forget anything you needed, Dufferin Mall is across the street, featuring a supermarket (No-Frills) department store (WalMart), as well as other specialty stores. ## Location Dufferin Grove Park 875 Dufferin Street Toronto, Ontario <https://goo.gl/maps/hnGg5> <http://osm.org/go/ZX6BHsVZx-?layers=N&way=15703371> ## Social Media Links Facebook: <https://www.facebook.com/events/1738615543061007/> ## 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 one of the GTALUG Board Members @ <board(a)gtalug.org>. --- GTALUG Announce mailing list announce(a)gtalug.org https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/announce

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