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Re: [GTALUG] Advice -- Building Debian 8 PC To Replace Win XP PC;
by Steve Petrie, P.Eng. 02 Aug '16

02 Aug '16

Thanks to GTALUG Members, for the last series of emails I fetched on this thread. Many useful ideas and much interesting info. Copious snippets have been carefully collected into a text file. * * * * * * I have reviewed the quotation I received from NCIX, and can report: 1. Contrary to my earlier assertion, NCIX in fact has included an item for: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition 64Bit DVD SP1 OEM Price C$187.99 [Reg. C$214.98] 2. And the the (now corrected) NCIX total price for hardware components alone, seems reasonable: NCIX: $1593.13 PCPartPicker: $1517.98 Caution: NCIX has made some hardware substitutions, so the total prices are only generically comparable. I compared the sum of component prices, NCIX versus PCPartPicker, and NCIX is acceptably close to PCPartPicker. Here is a summary of the component price comparison (all prices $C): ----------------- NCIX* PC PartPicker** ----------------- -------- ------------- CPU $269.99 $249.25 CPU Cooler $92.98 $79.95 Motherboard $289.99 $228.98 Memory $44.99 $75.98 ----------------- Case $144.99 $129.99 Power Supply $214.98 $159.99 ----------------- Solid State Drive $135.70 $156.99 Hard Drive $67.99 $81.95 Optical Drive $92.98 $86.98 ----------------- Video Monitor $167.98 $167.92 Keyboard $15.98 $40.00 Mouse (incl.) $10.00 ----------------- Dialup Modem $54.58 $50.00 ----------------- ----------------- TOTAL1: $1593.13 $1517.98 ----------------- ----------------- MS Windows 7 $187.99 Assemble & Test $49.98 Environ. Fees $16.65 ----------------- ----------------- TOTAL2: $1897.73 ----------------- ----------------- Not an inexpensive PC. And not a souped-up gamer's PC. But one that I believe will run plenty fast and stay cool under 24/7 duty. With lots of expansion capacity for additional hardware, that will not stress the power supply or the cooling apparatus. My plan now is to revise the Linux PC specification, taking into account the avalanche of advice I have received from GTALUG members. (e.g. increase RAM to 16 GB from 8, drop the dial-up modem and source later, change HDD to Western Digital Black, etc.) Then I will ask NCIX for a revised quotation, confirm with NCIX a number of picky details (e.g. is the WIndows 7 DVD SP1 OEM at the latest SP level?, etc.) and get NCIX agreement on technical details of HDD partitioning (GPT) and boot setup (multi-boot, with Windows 7 installed; ready for a Linux (debian 8) drop-in installation. * * * * * * I'm probably not going to be able respond to many more individual posts to this thread, but I will read any that follow with interest. Will report back, upon conclusion of my negotiations with NCIX. The self-build option for the new Linux PC remains open, should NCIX be unable to satisfy the requirements. Many thanks again to GTALUG !! Best Regards, Steve * * * Steve Petrie, P.Eng. ITS-ETO Consortium Oakville, Ontario, Canada (905) 847-3253 apetrie(a)aspetrie.net

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[GTALUG-Announce] GTALUG meeting on 9th August
by Myles Braithwaite 02 Aug '16

02 Aug '16

<http://gtalug.org/meeting/2016-08/> # On Disruption & Killer Apps with Scott Elcomb There'll be a short half-hour presentation on the history of Atomic OS and related improvements in web technology since the last release. The presentation will then be followed by an interactive session to discuss philosophical questions surrounding disruption, the meaning of "success" in the context of FOSS projects and whether "killer applications" for such projects are important. ## 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 Imperial Pub (54 Dundas St East) for refreshments and more socialising. # 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 jeopardise 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 honoured 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 https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/announce

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Re: [GTALUG] GTALUG - BUILDING DEBIAN 8 PC TO REPLACE WIN XP PC
by Steve Petrie, P.Eng. 02 Aug '16

02 Aug '16

Hello Stan, Thanks for your response. My comments are inline below. Steve ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stan Witkowski" <stan(a)stanwitkowski.com> To: "Steve Petrie, P.Eng." <apetrie(a)aspetrie.net> Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2016 12:02 AM Subject: GTALUG - BUILDING DEBIAN 8 PC TO REPLACE WIN XP PC > > > I suggest: > <snip> > > 2. Unless you have a specific need (MUST HAVE backup for stock market > trading, for example), > don't install a dial-up modem. Why? (Everything is Internet > based...) > Mainly because I use dial-upon the Win XP system, and I don't want the hassle of changing it to use DSL, before I get the new Linux PC. Also, I'm curious to see if the experience with dial-up is better on Linux than on Win XP. I do plan, after the Linux PC is operational, to switch to DSL. > 3. Install as much RAM as you can afford. (This also allows the use > of a ramdisk, > which can give you VASTLY faster access.) > Personally I would not build a system with under 16 GB RAM, and > better, 32 GB. > Others have mentioned this too. Makes good sense. I will change the spec to 16 GB and assure expandability to 32 GB. > > re: > Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar Blue Internal Hard Drive > 750GB 3.5" 7200RPM 6Gb/s SATA 64MB cache; > > IMPORTANT: I used Western Digital Green drives (and now their > replacement, the Blue) > ONLY AS BACKUP DRIVES!!! These are "environmentally > friendly", > meaning they will spin down down after a short interval > (2 - 3 minutes) > if there is no access to them, to save on electricity. > THIS IS BAD IN A WORKING SYSTEM!!! > > They are perfect as external **ARCHIVE** drives (you write > a bunch of stuff > to them for archival use once an hour, say), but as daily > use drives > they can be a disaster. > > Example: The drive is written to, and spins down. A few > minutes later > it is accessed again, and so spins up. > Down/up/down/up............. > > Better: Western Digital Black drives = more expensize, but also > tougher, etc. > Advice worth it's wait in gold !! I'll look at the Western Digital Black drives. > Stan. > > (I'm moving in a week and hence am surrounded by packing and chaos > <grin>, so any > replies may be spotty...) > I saw no "spots" ... Please accept my extra thanks for taking time out from your move, to advise me. > > (I'll follow your progress - may go the same or similar route at some > point later.) > Stay tuned ...

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Re: [GTALUG] UEFI adventures [was Re: Advice -- Building Debian 8 PC To Replace Win XP PC; ]
by Russell Reiter 01 Aug '16

01 Aug '16

On Aug 1, 2016 1:06 PM, "D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk" <talk(a)gtalug.org> wrote: > > | From: "Steve Petrie, P.Eng. via talk" <talk(a)gtalug.org> > > | ----- Original Message ----- From: "o1bigtenor" <o1bigtenor(a)gmail.com> > <snip the Iliad> > > You really want to be able to do this stuff yourself so that you can > recover from system failures. What better way to learn than before > you have anything important on your system? > > | To add complication, I would like, once the new PC is booting debian Linux > | from the HDD onto bare metal, to imrove performance by providing for debian to > | boot (mostly) from a "shadow" copy on the HDD, and then do all subsequent > | dynamic loading of debian components, from the SSD. LSBinit which debian is now using, provides finer grained control of exit status, I guess this is in part for better daisy chaining in runlevel telemetry initialization. Shadow booting. Sounds like a job for ILP & VLIW, but those 3.1 billion transistors = $5000, that and limited PCI support keep that stuff out of my realm. > > I generally consider my OS disposable. My feelings as well. When I start afresh on a system I usually take it for a configuration test drive before I clone the base. I think that's the one habit I kept from my early M$ days. So I keep it on the SSD. That > makes it much more resposive. No backup: I can easily recreate it. > > I lean towards keeping my data on the HDD. I don't do data-intensive > things. Backing it up is important. > > SSD failures seem to be more sudden that HDD failures. Flakey power at my place keeps me from using SSD's internally. Maybe it's time to hack the sub panel in my apt and do some line conditioning. > --- > Talk Mailing List > talk(a)gtalug.org > https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk Russell Sent from mobile.

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Re: [GTALUG] gmane.org gone, at least for now
by Russell Reiter 01 Aug '16

01 Aug '16

On Aug 1, 2016 1:36 AM, "ac via talk" <talk(a)gtalug.org> wrote: > > On Sun, 31 Jul 2016 14:09:34 -0400 > Russell Reiter <rreiter91(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > <snip> > > > Soo, am thinking, in your case... > > > motherboard... --> bios? Is xHCI hand-off enabled in bios settings? > > > (we are using intel... - also, btw eHCI hand-off should be disabled) > > > or still usb 3 issue, passthrough? > > > other than that it sounds like a frustrating and entertaining > > > problem (although it is solved for everyone else afaict :) ) > > > I'm not sure this is a real solution but this guy plugged in a USB 2 > > device in the 3.0 port on boot and it initialized the port as 2.0. > > http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=101903 > > This could work also, cool easy solution Russel :) > > afaict the original problem was solved when the endpoint was recalculated > each time (sync xhci), so if not resolved then it should be something > else, like bios, usb 3 pass, etc - to reconf as usb 2 should also work? > I think flash drives might be more flexible than the scanner. I usually have to fix xsanes internal ordering with a UDEV rule. Perhaps you only need to send ^U in usb setup packets and subsequent block endpoints will toggle correctly. Can't find my link to that tidbit but there is this; "Re: USB scanner stops working with xhci_hcd URB transfer length is wrong, xHC issue? req. len = 0, act. len = 4294967288" https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/linux.kernel/W1OQjJG2nEs Russell Sent from mobile.

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Re: [GTALUG] gmane.org gone, at least for now
by Russell Reiter 31 Jul '16

31 Jul '16

<snip> > https://web.archive.org/web/20150727001119/http://spark.crystalorb.net/mike… > and the reconfiguring of the endpoint solved the problem... > Hmm, my mobile says this: Wayback Machine doesn't have that page archived. > Soo, am thinking, in your case... > motherboard... --> bios? Is xHCI hand-off enabled in bios settings? > (we are using intel... - also, btw eHCI hand-off should be disabled) > or still usb 3 issue, passthrough? > > other than that it sounds like a frustrating and entertaining problem > (although it is solved for everyone else afaict :) ) I'm not sure this is a real solution but this guy plugged in a USB 2 device in the 3.0 port on boot and it initialized the port as 2.0. http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=101903 > > Andre > --- > Talk Mailing List > talk(a)gtalug.org > https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk

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Scanner on USB 3.0 - was Re: gmane.org gone, at least for now
by Russell Reiter 31 Jul '16

31 Jul '16

This recent, well two year old, patch may be relevant. I read elsewhere that large block transfers also create endpoint issues, in particular with VIA chipsets. http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-usb/msg105480.html Russell Sent from mobile.

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Re: [GTALUG] gmane.org gone, at least for now
by ac 31 Jul '16

31 Jul '16

On Sun, 31 Jul 2016 16:40:49 +0200 ac via talk <talk(a)gtalug.org> wrote: > On Sun, 31 Jul 2016 16:30:37 +0200 > ac via talk <talk(a)gtalug.org> wrote: > > On Sun, 31 Jul 2016 10:01:01 -0400 (EDT) > > "D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk" <talk(a)gtalug.org> wrote: > > > BTW, this link is to discussion of a problem that I'm having. My > > > Fujitsu Scansnap ix500 won't work when plugged into a USB 3 port > > > on Linux. Very odd. This report is two years old and the problem > > > persists. --- > > eeek, soz, I only just saw this.. > > please post any output from dmesg (directly after plugging usb)? > whahaha, triple eeek... (- Sundays... go figure) just reading the way > back when link and your logs > (http://spark.crystalorb.net/mikem/dmesg.log) > I do not yet have anything easy/constructive to add and I promise to > only reply if I do :) > I started working through the thread (and the code) to try to understand the issue :) I noted: it seems that we round the interval for high speed bulk, where it should not have an interval that, combined with "Plugging the scanner to a USB2 port works flawlessly" After Mathias coded "It re-configures the endpoint every time a usb device driver clears a halt to make the toggle and sequence stay in sync between xhci and the device" result: - the scanner appears in lsusb then i hit this: https://web.archive.org/web/20150727001119/http://spark.crystalorb.net/mike… and the reconfiguring of the endpoint solved the problem... Soo, am thinking, in your case... motherboard... --> bios? Is xHCI hand-off enabled in bios settings? (we are using intel... - also, btw eHCI hand-off should be disabled) or still usb 3 issue, passthrough? other than that it sounds like a frustrating and entertaining problem (although it is solved for everyone else afaict :) ) Andre

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Re: [GTALUG] gmane.org gone, at least for now
by Russell Reiter 31 Jul '16

31 Jul '16

On Jul 31, 2016 10:40 AM, "ac via talk" <talk(a)gtalug.org> wrote: > > On Sun, 31 Jul 2016 16:30:37 +0200 > ac via talk <talk(a)gtalug.org> wrote: > > On Sun, 31 Jul 2016 10:01:01 -0400 (EDT) > > "D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk" <talk(a)gtalug.org> wrote: > > > BTW, this link is to discussion of a problem that I'm having. My > > > Fujitsu Scansnap ix500 won't work when plugged into a USB 3 port on > > > Linux. Very odd. This report is two years old and the problem > > > persists. --- > > > > eeek, soz, I only just saw this.. > > > > please post any output from dmesg (directly after plugging usb)? > > > > whahaha, triple eeek... (- Sundays... go figure) just reading the way > back when link and your logs > (http://spark.crystalorb.net/mikem/dmesg.log) I see this. [ 426.246318] xhci_hcd 0000:00:14.0: Can't reset device (slot ID 4) in default state [ 426.246322] xhci_hcd 0000:00:14.0: Not freeing device rings Not sure if this helps? Does the device work on USB 2. Apparently there are some issues with xhci memory leaks. http://linux-usb.vger.kernel.narkive.com/SiQeYEDB/patch-1-2-xhci-fix-memory… Here's a snippet from that thread. Unfortunately, the original code in xhci_free_or_cache_endpoint_ring() would put the first entry into the ring cache in array index 1, instead of array index 0. This was caused by the second assignment to rings_cached: rings_cached = virt_dev >num_rings_cached; if (rings_cached < XHCI_MAX_RINGS_CACHED) { virt_dev->num_rings_cached++; rings_cached = virt_dev->num_rings_cached; virt_dev->ring_cache[rings_cached] = virt_dev->eps[ep_index].ring; This meant that when the device was freed, cached rings with indexes 0 to N would be freed, and the last cached ring in index N+1 would not be freed. When the driver was unloaded, this caused interesting messages like: xhci_hcd 0000:06:00.0: dma_pool_destroy xHCI ring segments, ffff880063040000 busy > > I do not yet have anything easy/constructive to add and I promise to > only reply if I do :) > > Andre > --- > Talk Mailing List > talk(a)gtalug.org > https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk Russell Sent from mobile.

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Re: [GTALUG] gmane.org gone, at least for now
by ac 31 Jul '16

31 Jul '16

On Sun, 31 Jul 2016 16:30:37 +0200 ac via talk <talk(a)gtalug.org> wrote: > On Sun, 31 Jul 2016 10:01:01 -0400 (EDT) > "D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk" <talk(a)gtalug.org> wrote: > > BTW, this link is to discussion of a problem that I'm having. My > > Fujitsu Scansnap ix500 won't work when plugged into a USB 3 port on > > Linux. Very odd. This report is two years old and the problem > > persists. --- > > eeek, soz, I only just saw this.. > > please post any output from dmesg (directly after plugging usb)? > whahaha, triple eeek... (- Sundays... go figure) just reading the way back when link and your logs (http://spark.crystalorb.net/mikem/dmesg.log) I do not yet have anything easy/constructive to add and I promise to only reply if I do :) Andre

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