Re: [GLLUG] Off the shelf "Smart Home" devices

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

I guess you could start here https://www.home-assistant.io/
I use Alexa enabled devices. You do need a Zigbee hub for a lot of devices,
this is a low power network.
I have the stupidity of having two hubs, one for lights one for heating.
I was in a conversation at FOSDEM regarding a new standard for
wireless home networking, Matter
Dont know much about it
https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2024/01/25/matter-livestream-blog/



On Wed, 7 Feb 2024 at 10:45, Chris Bell via GLLUG 
wrote:

> Hello,
> There are several brands of "Smart Home" devices available. Most can
> provide
> an "App" for a mobile phone, but I have not seen much evidence of
> interoperability. Are any recommended for use with Linux control software?
> Any
> links from the RaspberryPi series? Thanks for any information
> --
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> www.chrisbell.org.uk
>
>
>
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Re: [GLLUG] SAN events kill Linux filesystems

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

Have you raised an issue with Dell EMC?

On Sat, 6 Jan 2024 at 10:10, James Dutton via GLLUG <
gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

>
>
> On Wed, 20 Dec 2023, 11:51 Henrik Morsing via GLLUG, <
> gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
>
>>
>> Good morning,
>>
>> Don't know if anyone has come across this but every time a SAN node is
>> powered down on our SAN, even if un-used, we have a handful of Linux LPARs
>> (across multiple frames) with filesystems going into read-only.
>>
>> We had migrated away from our IBM V9000 and many months later powered it
>> off resulting in the first occurrence of this issue. Later on, we patched
>> our new EMC 9200T, which (I'm not a storage person) has two... linked
>> systems?... with two nodes each, so four node in total. Even when the first
>> node rebooted, we had a handful of Linux systems going into read-only
>> (Other OSes un-affected).
>>
>
> Hi,
>
> Is there anything in the kernel logs? There should be something in there
> that explains why Linux thought it best to switch the fs to readonly.
>
> There are lots of different reasons to go readonly, so without logs, it's
> difficult to give any helpful info.
>
>
>
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Re: [GLLUG] IPv6 address allocation changes

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

Is it a shaggy dog story that the CIA own the Class A 10.X.X.X block?

On Sat, 22 Jul 2023 at 22:48, Andy Smith via GLLUG 
wrote:

> On Sat, Jul 22, 2023 at 09:24:15PM +, Andy Smith via GLLUG wrote:
> > It's not really a thing to worry about. Unless you have an ISP that
> > considers your assignment to be dynamic.
>
> Oh, but have you seen yggdrasil? It's a mesh VPN that will provide a
> static IPv6 /128 and /64 to each of your nodes, and your nodes can
> opportunistically peer with each other so that local traffic can
> remain local. It's a bit like Tailscale except that it's free and
> involves no central authority.
>
> You could build same out of Wireguard and BGP, but most people don't
> want to go to that much effort.
>
>
> https://changelog.complete.org/archives/10478-easily-accessing-all-your-stuff-with-a-zero-trust-mesh-vpn
>
> Cheers,
> Andy
>
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Re: [GLLUG] Comments please

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

ps. One thing which could improve healthcare computing greatly. And not
Open Source.
Thin clients or zero clients on the wards and on reception desks. Using
existing smartcards to validate the user.
Have live migrating desktops which 'follow' the card.
Advantages I can see

* staff dont have to log in to a new desktop or nailed down laptop when on
the move
* failed hardware at the server end can be swiftly switched over to a
different server (using a connection broker)
* infection control - you can get a monitor with a builtin PCOIP zero
client and power over ethernet.
   Equip that with a splashproof membrane keyboard and you have something
easy to wipe clean
* security - the Amulet Hotkey clients I am thinking of are secure up the
wazoo

Yes, you would still have your normal Windows desktop







On Mon, 24 Jul 2023 at 11:27, John Hearns  wrote:

> Karanbir, great to see you on here again.
> Your post is very insightful.
>
>
>
> On Mon, 24 Jul 2023 at 11:08, Karanbir Singh via GLLUG <
> gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
>
>> hi,
>>
>> On 22/07/2023 17:36, bap--- via GLLUG wrote:
>> > It turns out that he’s an old skool Linux and BSD hacker. He would like
>>
>> Any chance you could share names ?
>>
>> > to make more use of open-source software. Of course he doesn’t have
>> > freedom to kick MS into touch but would be willing and able to
>>
>> But MS does not engage with the NHS directly, past the platform services
>> - its their ISV's and the ecosystem that rallies around it. And in the
>> same space as MS, there are other vendors with some traction, admittedly
>> not enough. So I think its important its clarified as to which end of
>> what spectrum is being addressed here.
>>
>> > Elsewhere in the world every country has similar healthcare issues and
>> > in the third-world that sometimes means running software on ancient
>> > hand-me-down computers, often running old versions of Windows. They
>> > could do with some help too. The USA is looking at universal healthcare
>> > but it’s not going to happen unless the Democrats gain enough power to
>> > amend the constitution or someone comes up with a way to enable
>> > individual states to agree a nationwide strategy. Hell might freeze
>> over
>> > first.
>>
>> Healthcare is a complex industry, it might make sense to double down on
>> local, focused domains. As has been pointed out in the thread, GPs are
>> largely an autonomous entity who can chose and work through their own
>> systems. I believe there are multiple vendors in this space, disrupting
>> that end of the spectrum with open source, open standards and enablement
>> would be good start. Next, the Dentists. Followed by the pharmacists.
>> These are the smallest, but complete, execution domains in the space -
>> efficiency wins here directly map to impact for mass population.
>>
>> If you can make a positive impact on the consumer end of the scale, you
>> may well find that institutional support becomes morere likely.
>>
>> Or you could find specific focal areas to improve - faster ambulance
>> response times, better training optimisation, diagnostic support and
>> evidence collection etc - harder, than just general purpose inventory
>> and reporting that GP, Pharmacists and Dentists need.
>>
>> Keep in mind that the healthcare data is one of the most heavily managed
>> with compliance, privacy and certifications. Even more so than taxation
>> systems. And you are going to need a lot of domain knowledge who are
>> effectively working against £££ and capitalism.
>>
>> There are many initiatives of this nature that have started and had
>> varying levels of success; I would highly recommend finding and reaching
>> out to some of these efforts and people to either learn from them or to
>> offer collaboration.
>>
>> > So here’s a plan:
>> >
>> >  1. Create an open-source healthcare discussion group.
>> >  2. Create an international standards body for backbone systems
>> >  3. Along with the NHS design and develop primary/secondary/tertiary
>> > healthcare management tools
>> >  1. To build a free-as-in-beer system for healthcare administration
>> > in the third-world
>> >  2. Introduce more free-as-in-speech software to the NHS and
>> government
>> >  4. In a mutual backscratching exercise persuade the NHS to use their
>> > management and development resources to take over maintenance for
>> > some of the orphaned open-source utility and infrastructure
>> projects.
>> >  5. By working with the NHS and third-world healthcare providers develop
>> > a consultancy arm of the NHS to co-ordinate international systems
>> > integration. Open-source by default.
>> >  6. By making the NHS the go-to people for large-scale healthcare
>> > systems position them as the obvious people to implement universal
>> > healthcare in the USA when the time is right
>> >  7. Make the NHS revenue-neutral.
>>
>> i guess my tldr; here is - its good to have vision, but execution might
>> 

Re: [GLLUG] Comments please

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

Karanbir, great to see you on here again.
Your post is very insightful.



On Mon, 24 Jul 2023 at 11:08, Karanbir Singh via GLLUG <
gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

> hi,
>
> On 22/07/2023 17:36, bap--- via GLLUG wrote:
> > It turns out that he’s an old skool Linux and BSD hacker. He would like
>
> Any chance you could share names ?
>
> > to make more use of open-source software. Of course he doesn’t have
> > freedom to kick MS into touch but would be willing and able to
>
> But MS does not engage with the NHS directly, past the platform services
> - its their ISV's and the ecosystem that rallies around it. And in the
> same space as MS, there are other vendors with some traction, admittedly
> not enough. So I think its important its clarified as to which end of
> what spectrum is being addressed here.
>
> > Elsewhere in the world every country has similar healthcare issues and
> > in the third-world that sometimes means running software on ancient
> > hand-me-down computers, often running old versions of Windows. They
> > could do with some help too. The USA is looking at universal healthcare
> > but it’s not going to happen unless the Democrats gain enough power to
> > amend the constitution or someone comes up with a way to enable
> > individual states to agree a nationwide strategy. Hell might freeze over
> > first.
>
> Healthcare is a complex industry, it might make sense to double down on
> local, focused domains. As has been pointed out in the thread, GPs are
> largely an autonomous entity who can chose and work through their own
> systems. I believe there are multiple vendors in this space, disrupting
> that end of the spectrum with open source, open standards and enablement
> would be good start. Next, the Dentists. Followed by the pharmacists.
> These are the smallest, but complete, execution domains in the space -
> efficiency wins here directly map to impact for mass population.
>
> If you can make a positive impact on the consumer end of the scale, you
> may well find that institutional support becomes morere likely.
>
> Or you could find specific focal areas to improve - faster ambulance
> response times, better training optimisation, diagnostic support and
> evidence collection etc - harder, than just general purpose inventory
> and reporting that GP, Pharmacists and Dentists need.
>
> Keep in mind that the healthcare data is one of the most heavily managed
> with compliance, privacy and certifications. Even more so than taxation
> systems. And you are going to need a lot of domain knowledge who are
> effectively working against £££ and capitalism.
>
> There are many initiatives of this nature that have started and had
> varying levels of success; I would highly recommend finding and reaching
> out to some of these efforts and people to either learn from them or to
> offer collaboration.
>
> > So here’s a plan:
> >
> >  1. Create an open-source healthcare discussion group.
> >  2. Create an international standards body for backbone systems
> >  3. Along with the NHS design and develop primary/secondary/tertiary
> > healthcare management tools
> >  1. To build a free-as-in-beer system for healthcare administration
> > in the third-world
> >  2. Introduce more free-as-in-speech software to the NHS and
> government
> >  4. In a mutual backscratching exercise persuade the NHS to use their
> > management and development resources to take over maintenance for
> > some of the orphaned open-source utility and infrastructure projects.
> >  5. By working with the NHS and third-world healthcare providers develop
> > a consultancy arm of the NHS to co-ordinate international systems
> > integration. Open-source by default.
> >  6. By making the NHS the go-to people for large-scale healthcare
> > systems position them as the obvious people to implement universal
> > healthcare in the USA when the time is right
> >  7. Make the NHS revenue-neutral.
>
> i guess my tldr; here is - its good to have vision, but execution might
> need to start smaller than 'change the dynamics of mankind'.
>
> All the best! and I look forward to hearing more as you make progress.
>
> - KB
>
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Re: [GLLUG] Comments please

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

That PACS system had been developed for the US Veterans Administration by
Loral.
It featured a 20Gbyte RAID array which was portable - meaning you could
sling it under a helicopter.
Think a tall and wide rack of kit.
I also remember going to dinner with a full bird colonel from the US
military when he visited.

Another memory - thei digital X-ray sets were deployed on US carriers. They
were more interested in X-raying the landing gear of Tomcats rather than
sailors broken limbs.


On Mon, 24 Jul 2023 at 05:29, John Hearns  wrote:

> > You just need an indexing system that is
> > versatile enough to work with the idea that some people are going to
> > have multiple entries, and in an ideal world they would eventually all
> > get merged, but life isn't like that.
> My first job in London was working on an early radiology PACS system at
> the HAmmersmith.
> (Picture Archiving and Communications System) It used Macs and a dedicated
> broadband network.
> My job - to go through the images from the prototype/testing phase and
> sort out duplicates and mis-labelled X-rays.
>
>
> > I would start by identifying every data set you need as a healthcare
> > provider, e.g. patient personal data, appointment data, pharmaceutical
> > inventory, stock control, staff records, and so on, and  create a set of
> > minimum requirements that would go on to create a common API definition.
> For radiology that is DICOM
>
> On Sun, 23 Jul 2023 at 22:34, Alex Macfie via GLLUG <
> gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, 23 Jul 2023 at 13:28, Christopher Hunter via GLLUG <
>> gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> On 22/07/2023 22:32, Andy Smith via GLLUG wrote:
>>>
>>> However, if we get a Conservative government, things are likely to
>>> markedly change.   Sunak and much of his cabinet are probably going to
>>> be replaced before the election (since they see this as the only chance
>>> of winning).  Their replacement cabinet will certainly be open to the
>>> possibility of a change from the MS brokenware that government has
>>> suffered for years, and the idea of reduced licencing costs will be
>>> appealing in the straightened times we're likely to have to endure.
>>>
>> At the risk of getting deep into politics, this is absolute nonsense.
>>
>> There have already been two changes of leader in the current Parliament.
>> The Tories are not going to risk a third one, as it would only make them
>> look even more of a joke than they are already. If there were to be a new
>> leader, they would be another rich and out of touch right-winger who would
>> have absolutely no interest in things like open source. It's something
>> that's absolutely antipathetic to Tory ideology, which is that everything
>> should be owned, preferably by Tory donors. In the unlikely event of the
>> the Tories winning the next election, the resulting government, whether led
>> by Sunak or A N Other, will be more of the same. The party would not be
>> minded to replace someone who has just won them a general election against
>> the odds.
>> Tories don't genuinely care about reducing costs. They seem happy to
>> divert public money to dodgy PPE contracts for companies run by their
>> donors and friends. The Tory ideology is one of redistributionism — from
>> ordinary people to the super-rich. This means they hate the idea of "free
>> software" as it means there are no licence fees that they can give to their
>> friends.
>>
>> Alex
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Re: [GLLUG] Comments please

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

> You just need an indexing system that is
> versatile enough to work with the idea that some people are going to
> have multiple entries, and in an ideal world they would eventually all
> get merged, but life isn't like that.
My first job in London was working on an early radiology PACS system at the
HAmmersmith.
(Picture Archiving and Communications System) It used Macs and a dedicated
broadband network.
My job - to go through the images from the prototype/testing phase and sort
out duplicates and mis-labelled X-rays.


> I would start by identifying every data set you need as a healthcare
> provider, e.g. patient personal data, appointment data, pharmaceutical
> inventory, stock control, staff records, and so on, and  create a set of
> minimum requirements that would go on to create a common API definition.
For radiology that is DICOM

On Sun, 23 Jul 2023 at 22:34, Alex Macfie via GLLUG <
gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

>
>
> On Sun, 23 Jul 2023 at 13:28, Christopher Hunter via GLLUG <
> gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
>
>>
>> On 22/07/2023 22:32, Andy Smith via GLLUG wrote:
>>
>> However, if we get a Conservative government, things are likely to
>> markedly change.   Sunak and much of his cabinet are probably going to
>> be replaced before the election (since they see this as the only chance
>> of winning).  Their replacement cabinet will certainly be open to the
>> possibility of a change from the MS brokenware that government has
>> suffered for years, and the idea of reduced licencing costs will be
>> appealing in the straightened times we're likely to have to endure.
>>
> At the risk of getting deep into politics, this is absolute nonsense.
>
> There have already been two changes of leader in the current Parliament.
> The Tories are not going to risk a third one, as it would only make them
> look even more of a joke than they are already. If there were to be a new
> leader, they would be another rich and out of touch right-winger who would
> have absolutely no interest in things like open source. It's something
> that's absolutely antipathetic to Tory ideology, which is that everything
> should be owned, preferably by Tory donors. In the unlikely event of the
> the Tories winning the next election, the resulting government, whether led
> by Sunak or A N Other, will be more of the same. The party would not be
> minded to replace someone who has just won them a general election against
> the odds.
> Tories don't genuinely care about reducing costs. They seem happy to
> divert public money to dodgy PPE contracts for companies run by their
> donors and friends. The Tory ideology is one of redistributionism — from
> ordinary people to the super-rich. This means they hate the idea of "free
> software" as it means there are no licence fees that they can give to their
> friends.
>
> Alex
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Re: [GLLUG] Debian Live pxe boot

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

Ethernet device naming is a minefield, even with the predictable names
(yeah I know.. do some studying)

I set biosdevname=1 in the kernel parameters when building HPC clusters

On Tue, 27 Jun 2023 at 10:49, Ken Smith via GLLUG 
wrote:

> Ken Smith via GLLUG wrote:
> > Hi All,
> >
> > I wonder if someone with Debian and pxe understanding might point me
> > in the right direction.
> >
> > I have a Rocky server with dhcp/tftp/httpd that hosts Rocky and Fedora
> > as pxe bootable images. It works fine.
> >
> > I'm trying to do similar for Debian 12 but not quite getting the right
> > incantations.
> >
> > The vmlinuz and initrd load just fine and i get the error "Unable to
> > find live system filesystem on the network"
> >
> > I pointed the root filesystem at filesystem.squashfs. Is the standard
> > vmlinuz/initrd able to map the rest of the system via httpd??
> >
> > Any tips welcome
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Ken
> >
> >
> I'm making progress. I added dhcp ethdevice=eno1  to the parameters in
> the pxe configuration and now one of my PC's finds the
> filesystem.squashfs and attempts to boot. It freezes at "Starting Gnome
> Display Manager"
>
> I tried another system that has more memory and it fails with a message
> that it can't find eno1. Interesting.
>
> :-) Ken
>
> --
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> dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
> believed to be clean.
>
>
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Re: [GLLUG] JOB | Lead Linux Sysadmin (Edinburgh/London)

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

We had endless wrangling about this in the early days. As I remember we had
one problem recruiter.
The policy is yes, infrequent posts from recruiters are OK. Also hope that
the recruiter adds something back to the community.


On Thu, 9 Mar 2023 at 18:18, Alistair Mann via GLLUG <
gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

> I agree...
>
> On 08/03/2023 15:54, Andrew Black via GLLUG wrote:
> > Unfortunately the horse has bolted on top posting. It started bolting in
> > my experience in 1995.
> >
> > Agree with Martin. Subject to a reasonable definition of "infrequently"
>
> ...d with that
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Re: [GLLUG] Installing GRUB on PReP LV

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

Have you tried Dell support?

On Thu, 26 Jan 2023, 18:03 Henrik Morsing via GLLUG, <
gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

> On Thu, Jan 26, 2023 at 05:22:06PM +, James Dutton wrote:
> >>
>
> Hi James,
>
> >You don't make it particularly clear what sort of new storage you are
> using.
>
> EMC 9200T
>
> >Is the new storage visible from the machine at boot time?
>
> We're not rebooting for this, online migrations. GRUB install is the last
> step in the migration, it is already exclusively running on the new storage
> at this point.
>
> >If it is, then you will need to edit or create a new "device.map" file, so
> >grub knows what to do.
>
> I can find no sign of any "device.map" file on the system and curiously, I
> do not need to do this on SUSE. You're saying create a new one, in the man
> page there is a --recheck command that says it deletes the file, nothing
> about generating a new one. Google is not very helpful regarding
> device.map. Maybe I could try strace'ing the grub-install command to find a
> clue. Or maybe if I can find it on SUSE I can compare... Some ideas for
> tomorrow.
>
> Regards,
> Henrik Morsing
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Re: [GLLUG] Direct Fibre To The House

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

I have Hyperoptic. They are superb.
They originally only worked with apartment blocks - I believe this is no
longer so.
In our block they have a rack high up on a wall downstairs and every
apartment has a CAT5 line run up to it.
I don't know exactly what is in the rack. Hyperoptic depend on BT fibre for
the link to the internet, I don;t know where this terminates.

I have a fixed IPV4 address which costs me a fiver a month, and take their
VOIP service wish is a darned sight cheaper than BT line rental.





On Mon, 29 Aug 2022 at 21:24, Andy Smith via GLLUG 
wrote:

> Hello,
>
> On Mon, Aug 29, 2022 at 03:08:08PM +0100, Chris Bell via GLLUG wrote:
> > On Monday, 29 August 2022 13:40:54 BST aidangcole--- via GLLUG wrote:
> > > Would using Headscale / Tailscale simply solve this without all the
> > > routing hassle and admin ?
> >
> > Sorry, not understood. I have had to use port forwarding over a single
> IPv4
> > address together with careful firewalling to do anything.
>
> So, you are used to having a static IPv4 at home and using NAT to
> forward ports on that IP to application servers within your home
> network.
>
> e.g. if your globally routable IPv4 were 1.2.3.4 and your
> LAN was 192.168.123.0/24 maybe you NAT 1.2.3.4:80 to
> 192.168.123.4:80 so that the web server on 192.168.123.4 is
> reachable from the public Internet as http://1.2.3.4/.
>
> You now get native IPv6 but the problem is that it's a dynamic /48
> of which the first /64 is automatically set up on your LAN, but you
> don't know which /48 it will be a part of and this can change at any
> time.
>
> First of all I want to reiterate that your goal is quite niche. Most
> people are not hosting things at home, and don't want to host things
> at home. The need for IPv6 connectivity is like the need for basic
> Internet connectivity. It's so they can consume content that's out
> on the Internet, not run a datacentre at home.
>
> So, your most sensible options in my opinion are:
>
> a) Rent a server with static IPv6 assignment and use that as your
>front end, not the IPv4/IPv6 at your home
>
>This server might be a VM which at the low end would only be a
>few dollars a month. Or it might be in one of the popular clouds.
>Not literally a bare metal server, though that would work too.
>
>You would VPN to it from your home using something like
>wireguard, either directly or with a helper like the already
>mentioned tailscale which makes things very simple.
>
>Your home plus an arbitrary number of other locations connect
>to your server and it does not matter that your home has dynamic
>IPs because your home identifies itself to the VPN server (and
>vice versa) by certificates.
>
>You carve out /64s from the IPv6 assignment on your server, for
>example maybe you have:
>
> 2001:db8:1234::/48 - Hosting provider assignment to your server
> 2001:db8:1234:0::/64 - things on your server
> 2001:db8:1234:1::/64 - your home
> 2001:db8:1234:2::/64 - another site
> 2001:db8:1234:3::/64 - third site
> .
> .
> 2001:db8:1234:::/64 - 65,536th site
>
>So there's a scheme for up to 65,536 globally routable networks
>under one IPv6 prefix with each underlying network being v4, v6,
>static or dynamic, doesn't matter. You can do it right now. Each
>end site can change provider and connectivity method any number
>of times but its global v6 assignment remains the same as long as
>you keep your server.
>
>e.g. http://[2001:db8:1234:1::4]/ hits your server, packets go
>down the VPN to your home, served off of the same machine as
>192.168.123.4 (or whatever its ISP-supplied v6 address is, and
>obviously it would usually be a DNS name not a bare IPv6 address
>used in the browser).
>
>Downside is a star topology with all the traffic going through
>your server. A further consequence of that is that you would have
>to take steps to ensure that the things at each site are usable
>locally to the site even if your server is not reachable by them.
>Obviously you don't want to be unable to control your heating and
>lights or manage your CCTV just because your VM at Linode is
>unreachable! This isn't an insurmountable problem, just one that
>too few people think about.
>
> b) Wait until there's enough choice of connectivity provider that
>you can pay extra for static IPv6 assignment at home
>
>Downsides:
> - Probably costs more than the VM
> - May not be available at all
> - Might be harder to reliably serve things from your home than
>   from a VM or bare metal server in a purpose built datacentre
> - Renumber every time you change domestic ISP unless you become
>   a member of RIPE NCC (€1,400/year), be allocated a v6
>   network of your own and then find a broadband ISP that will
>   announce it for you (more expense, hard)¹.
>
> It's possible that 

Re: [GLLUG] GeForce 256

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

Forget what I said. My card would be bought in 2004

On Mon, 6 Jun 2022, 21:40 John Hearns,  wrote:

> I might have one of the first CUDA compatible cards in a Sun AMD
> workstation.
> 1999 sounds too far too early for CUDA.
> I remember going to TCR to buy mine.
>
> On Sat, 4 Jun 2022, 20:12 Alistair Mann via GLLUG, <
> gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
>
>> Nvidia marketed this 1999 card as having "the world's first GPU". Does
>> anyone here happen to have one kept aside, working or not? Of course, I
>> threw mine out during lockdown.
>>
>> A London friend of mine is hoping to borrow one to show off in a
>> documentary video. I'd be happy to cover postage there and back, and add
>> some beer money on top.
>>
>> Cheers!
>> --
>> Alistair Mann
>>
>>
>> --
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Re: [GLLUG] GeForce 256

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

I might have one of the first CUDA compatible cards in a Sun AMD
workstation.
1999 sounds too far too early for CUDA.
I remember going to TCR to buy mine.

On Sat, 4 Jun 2022, 20:12 Alistair Mann via GLLUG, 
wrote:

> Nvidia marketed this 1999 card as having "the world's first GPU". Does
> anyone here happen to have one kept aside, working or not? Of course, I
> threw mine out during lockdown.
>
> A London friend of mine is hoping to borrow one to show off in a
> documentary video. I'd be happy to cover postage there and back, and add
> some beer money on top.
>
> Cheers!
> --
> Alistair Mann
>
>
> --
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Re: [GLLUG] Read only?

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

Talking about SD cards, the satnav on my Volkswagen used a full size SD
Card.
I bought an up to date SD card - which is not read by the system in the car.
It turns out there is something called CID Locking - the manufacturer is
encoded as a CID number on the SD card.
Any other type of SD Card even though it has a valid filesystem does not
have the manufacturer CID and is rejected.

I read that you cannot use a USB card reader to set or reset the CID.
Does anyone have ideas?  Desktop PCs with 'real' SD Card readers must be
rare as hens teeth these days.

ps. I have used a USB SD Card reader under Fedora Linux


On Tue, 24 May 2022 at 12:24, James Dutton via GLLUG <
gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

> Flash devices go read only when they detect themselves that they have a
> fault.
>
> SD cards are not particulary reliable.
> So my best guess is that this has happened to your sd card.
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Re: [GLLUG] Information please about FTTH/FTTP

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

Chris, I Cannot comment on Community Fibre. However I have the service from
Hyperoptic. I believe they use BT fibre to the apartment block I live in.
In the basement there is a wall mounted cabinet with what I assume is a
router (I have never got a look inside it).
There is a CAT5 copper cable run to each apartment which terminates at a
standard RJ45 type socket. Hyperoptic supply a wireless box for each flat.
This has one external RJ45 port and 4 internal RJ45, plus a SIP Telephone
socket. I pay a small amount extra to get a fixed IP address.

On Fri, 25 Feb 2022 at 16:05, Chris Bell via GLLUG 
wrote:

> Hello
> CommunityFibre.co.uk are using BT ducts to feed multicore distribution
> fibres
> near both my house and my sister's house, and I understand that they will
> eventually offer FTTH/FTTP, but they have not replied to my requests for
> connection information, while they provide little information on their
> website.
>
> I understand (from seeing what an elderly friend has been given) that they
> will probably supply a small wall mounted box which converts from fibre to
> ethernet cable and must be powered, plus a small Linksys WiFi unit which
> must
> also be powered. There will be a dynamic 192.168.x.x IPv4 address and a
> static
> /48 IPv6 prefix. The Linksys WiFi will have a single ethernet input and a
> single ethernet output. If a SIP telephone adapter is also supplied it is
> expected to be connected to the Linksys output.
>
> Where are the IPv4 dynamic and IPv6 /48 addresses extracted, and where can
> I
> insert a local firewall-router or unmanaged switch? Must it be after the
> Linksys, or can I insert my own firewall-router or a local (unmanaged)
> switch
> immediately after the fibre termination to allow cables to be routed
> separate
> from the Linksys, or not even connect the Linksys? I do not use WiFi at
> home,
> although WiFi is currently in use at my sister's house, where the best
> WiFi
> location is not the best distribution point for wired access.
>
> Thanks for any information.
> --
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> Website chrisbell.org.uk
>
>
>
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Re: [GLLUG] Job Posting

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

Lee, I for one do not see a problem in a job ad.
Having worked for Framestore a good few years ago I can recommend anyone to
go work for an effects company.
It is hard work but you will work with some brilliant and creative people.
If anyone is interested in effects, there was a brilliant talk at CERN this
weekend by Oliver James of Double Negative,
on the science behind Interstallar and his work with Kip Thorne.
Sadly I cant see it on Youtube - will dig further if anyone wants.

BTW, if you know CFC we dug the trench across Oxford Street to Noel Street
which carries the fibres for Sohonet.


On Wed, 6 Oct 2021 at 09:47, Lee Danskin via GLLUG 
wrote:

> Apologies for the unsolicited job posting, not sure if this breaks any
> rules of the user group but feel free to delete and admonish me.
>
> I work for Escape Technology we are a Media and Entertainment solutions
> provider in the UK and Germany.
>
> I am looking for linux sys admin/support chaps who might be interested in
> working in the film/tv/games industry
>
> I am looking for entry level to senior level Linux people with no specific
> distro knowledge required,
>
> we work in heterogeneous networks with osx and all things Microsoft with a
> multitude of distros
>
> Working remotely would not be an issue, but we are based currently in
> Fitzrovia London but also looking to open offices in the Chilterns area.
>
> All escape does is graphics workflows, if you are at all interested,
> intrigued please directly email me,
>
> Salaries would be based on experience, knowledge.
>
> Thank you for bearing with the interruption, normal service is resumed...
>
> Best Regards
>
> Lee
>
> *Lee DANSKIN*
> CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
>
> *T:* +44 (0) 20 7734 8809
> *M:* +44 (0) 7711 007695
> *W:* www.escape-technology.com
>
>
> [image: Escape Technology]  [image:
> Escape Technology]
>  [image:
> Escape Technology]  [image:
> Escape Technology]  [image: Escape Technology]
> 
>
> [image: Sherpa] 
>
> DISCLAIMER:
> The information contained in this email is confidential and may be legally
> privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee and access by anyone
> else is unauthorised. If you are not the intended recipient, any
> disclosure, copying, distribution or any action taken or omitted to be
> taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful. When addressed
> to our customers, any information contained in this e-mail is subject to
> our standard terms and conditions. The views in this email may not
> necessarily reflect the views of the company. Please note that Escape
> Technology Limited uses the services of credit insurance agencies and
> cheque guarantee companies, therefore, customer details may be divulged as
> required by such companies. This information will be stored in their
> databases and may be exchanged with other credit reference agencies.
>
>
>
>
>
> *Coronavirus (COVID‑19):  Message to those planning to attend Escape
> Technology’s office.*
> In order to protect the health and welfare of our colleagues and visitors
> during this period of uncertainty, and following guidance from relevant
> healthcare bodies within the UK, EU and US, we request that any meeting
> invitee who has returned from the severely affected areas within the last
> 14 days, or has reason to believe they may have come into contact with the
> Coronavirus, should avoid visiting our offices until further notice. If
> this applies to you, please contact us so that we can make alternative
> video conferencing arrangements.
>
> DISCLAIMER:
> The information contained in this email is confidential and may be legally
> privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee and access by anyone
> else is unauthorised. If you are not the intended recipient, any
> disclosure, copying, distribution or any action taken or omitted to be
> taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful. When addressed
> to our customers, any information contained in this e-mail is subject to
> our standard terms and conditions. The views in this email may not
> necessarily reflect the views of the company. Please note that Escape
> Technology Limited uses the services of credit insurance agencies and
> cheque guarantee companies, therefore, customer details may be divulged as
> required by such companies. This information will be stored in their
> databases and may be exchanged with other credit reference agencies.--
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Re: [GLLUG] Power control over IP

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

I did like the Xeon-D at that time. I wanted to position them as servers
for bioinformatics (gene sequencing).
I never quite achieved that and do regret it.

On Tue, 1 Jun 2021 at 16:50, Andy Smith via GLLUG 
wrote:

> Hello,
>
> On Tue, Jun 01, 2021 at 04:37:27PM +0100, James Courtier-Dutton via GLLUG
> wrote:
> > If you are a charity, it might be worth asking some service providers
> > if they would donate a VM for your use also.
>
> I'll probably have some Supermicro Xeon D-1540-based systems that
> are otherwise going to computer recycling soon. So if anyone wants
> them they can have them for free - it will be collect from Telehouse
> Docklands. These are 2015 vintage. As they're proper rackmount
> servers they do have a decent BMC that supports remote power
> management and console.
>
> I don't know what CPUs are in Stuart's IBM x3250s. If you can let us
> know Stuart I can tell you how a 2GHz Xeon D-1540 compares.
>
> Cheers,
> Andy
>
> --
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>
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Re: [GLLUG] Power control over IP

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

Regarding iDRAC there is a comprehensive overview of the various features
here
Put simply, yes iDRAC supports IPMI.
I always advise getting the Enterprise license - you can get a months trial
license too.

https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-uk/oth-r6525/idrac9_4.00.00.00_ug_new/licensed-features-in-idrac9?guid=guid-e8a767a7-3648-48d7-945a-a700da1d5c96=en-us

If that is overwhelming you (it probably does) drop am an email offline.




On Tue, 1 Jun 2021 at 10:57, Marco van Beek via GLLUG <
gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

> As many others have already said. the ideal is if this is part of the
> baseboard management tool of the servers. Although both DELL and HP call
> it by their own names (and often charge extra for additional features)
> the generic term is IPMI, or Intelligent Platform Management Interface
> (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_Platform_Management_Interface).
>
> However, you do have to buy servers that support this, but it gives you
> a lot of control, and is a lot cheaper that a compilation of a networked
> KVM and a networked PDU. In most cases it is brought out as a separate
> Ethernet port on the back of the server, which means you can run it on a
> completely separate network should you wish for security purposes.
>
> IPMI systems usually includes the ability to boot of remote media, like
> the CD-ROM of your own computer, so you can analyse (and often fix)
> corrupt boot drives without leaving home. As long as you have power to
> the server (and the switch the IPMI is plugged in to, of course), you
> have the ability to start fixing it.
>
> These days when I buy a new server, we never even plug a screen or
> keyboard in to it. We just do enough of the install over the KVM
> interface that comes with the IPMI system, and then carry on with SSH as
> an when the server is booted.
>
> Even without a license the HP "integrated Lights Out" system will still
> allow basic troubleshooting until the OS boots. I haven't played with
> Dell's system, but I am sure someone on the list can confirm. We use
> SuperMicro servers and if you get a motherboard with IPMI, they come
> fully featured.
>
> So I suggest looking on the back of the servers you already have and see
> if there are any unexplained Ethernet ports, usually located in a
> different place to the main Etherports the OS uses. As some else said,
> maybe you already have some servers with the functionality you need.
>
> Regards,
>
> Marco
>
> On 29/05/2021 16:19, stuart taylor via GLLUG wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > During the past 15 months I have managed to change various things
> involving our systems, for the better I think. We have also gained various
> part time volunteer admins, who are very good, mostly better than I am. One
> of them showed me how he could power down his servers remotely over IP, and
> restart them again. This looks very useful as we are spending less time at
> the building and mostly working from home. I have previously managed to
> obtain a cabinet, for our servers, change the lock for a padlock based
> system and restrict the key holders to a few people. This means switching
> servers on, or off, is better controlled, but also makes it more difficult
> for the admins to reboot when they are at home. Can anyone point me towards
> a suitable 'power supply over IP' solution? Are there any drawbacks to
> using these?
> >
> > Stuart
> >
>
>
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Re: [GLLUG] Power control over IP

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

Marco,  you have summarised things very well here.

As an addition, you do not have to look at the rear of the server to figure
out if the server has IPMI.
Install the ipmitool package on your server (whatever the package name is)
Start the ipmi system service
The modules loaded should be ipmi_msghandler ipmi_si ipmi_devintf

Then run  'ipmitool bmc info'   and see if there is indeed a BMC installed

As you say though - you do need either to connect a physical cable to the
dedicated BMC port or configure piggyback (bridged) mode to use the
motherboard ethernet socket.
Sorry if any of the above information is slightly off - I Am remembering
these rather than testing on a live server.









On Tue, 1 Jun 2021 at 10:57, Marco van Beek via GLLUG <
gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

> As many others have already said. the ideal is if this is part of the
> baseboard management tool of the servers. Although both DELL and HP call
> it by their own names (and often charge extra for additional features)
> the generic term is IPMI, or Intelligent Platform Management Interface
> (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_Platform_Management_Interface).
>
> However, you do have to buy servers that support this, but it gives you
> a lot of control, and is a lot cheaper that a compilation of a networked
> KVM and a networked PDU. In most cases it is brought out as a separate
> Ethernet port on the back of the server, which means you can run it on a
> completely separate network should you wish for security purposes.
>
> IPMI systems usually includes the ability to boot of remote media, like
> the CD-ROM of your own computer, so you can analyse (and often fix)
> corrupt boot drives without leaving home. As long as you have power to
> the server (and the switch the IPMI is plugged in to, of course), you
> have the ability to start fixing it.
>
> These days when I buy a new server, we never even plug a screen or
> keyboard in to it. We just do enough of the install over the KVM
> interface that comes with the IPMI system, and then carry on with SSH as
> an when the server is booted.
>
> Even without a license the HP "integrated Lights Out" system will still
> allow basic troubleshooting until the OS boots. I haven't played with
> Dell's system, but I am sure someone on the list can confirm. We use
> SuperMicro servers and if you get a motherboard with IPMI, they come
> fully featured.
>
> So I suggest looking on the back of the servers you already have and see
> if there are any unexplained Ethernet ports, usually located in a
> different place to the main Etherports the OS uses. As some else said,
> maybe you already have some servers with the functionality you need.
>
> Regards,
>
> Marco
>
> On 29/05/2021 16:19, stuart taylor via GLLUG wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > During the past 15 months I have managed to change various things
> involving our systems, for the better I think. We have also gained various
> part time volunteer admins, who are very good, mostly better than I am. One
> of them showed me how he could power down his servers remotely over IP, and
> restart them again. This looks very useful as we are spending less time at
> the building and mostly working from home. I have previously managed to
> obtain a cabinet, for our servers, change the lock for a padlock based
> system and restrict the key holders to a few people. This means switching
> servers on, or off, is better controlled, but also makes it more difficult
> for the admins to reboot when they are at home. Can anyone point me towards
> a suitable 'power supply over IP' solution? Are there any drawbacks to
> using these?
> >
> > Stuart
> >
>
>
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Re: [GLLUG] Power control over IP

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

As above, you need to tell us a bit more about the servers you use. Also
some information about the rack would be useful too, and the existing PDU
(power distribution unit)

On Sun, 30 May 2021 at 06:58, John Hearns  wrote:

> I am a principal engineer with Dell. As James says, Dell servers have
> iDRAC controllers which permit full remote operations on servers.
> We can read out power consumption, fans speeds (etc. etc.), do firmware
> upgrades to fleets of servers using Openmanage enterprise and proactively
> monitor for failures (*)
> If anyone needs help with iDRACs I am happy to provide some advice. If it
> is a deeper technical issue I can contact engineering with your question.
>
> There are remote KVM solutions - these were popular in the past in HPC but
> I haven't seen one in use for years. Raritan brand rings a bell.
>
> Regarding IP controllable power sockets APC/Schneider as said are a
> popular brand. Note of course that you have to have an ethernet cable going
> to that APC Power Distribution Unit!
> Note also you want the BIOS set to Resume when Power is applied. no use in
> switching a server off if..  Errr... you cant turn it on.
>
> Regarding the network connection, iDRAC (and other BMC such as Supermicro)
> can use a dedicated physicsl socket or can share the motherbord ethernet
> socket.
> Most HPC setups have a dedicated iDRAC/BMC setup with PDU connections on
> separate 1Gbps switches. I would say that it is good practice to have a
> dedicated and separate network for what I as a physicist would call 'slow
> control'.
>
>
> (*) there are different license levels for idRAC. You need the Enterprise
> license for some of those features.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, 29 May 2021 at 16:19, stuart taylor via GLLUG <
> gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> During the past 15 months I have managed to change various things
>> involving our systems, for the better I think. We have also gained various
>> part time volunteer admins, who are very good, mostly better than I am. One
>> of them showed me how he could power down his servers remotely over IP, and
>> restart them again. This looks very useful as we are spending less time at
>> the building and mostly working from home. I have previously managed to
>> obtain a cabinet, for our servers, change the lock for a padlock based
>> system and restrict the key holders to a few people. This means switching
>> servers on, or off, is better controlled, but also makes it more difficult
>> for the admins to reboot when they are at home. Can anyone point me towards
>> a suitable 'power supply over IP' solution? Are there any drawbacks to
>> using these?
>>
>> Stuart
>>
>> --
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>> https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug
>
>
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Re: [GLLUG] Power control over IP

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

I am a principal engineer with Dell. As James says, Dell servers have iDRAC
controllers which permit full remote operations on servers.
We can read out power consumption, fans speeds (etc. etc.), do firmware
upgrades to fleets of servers using Openmanage enterprise and proactively
monitor for failures (*)
If anyone needs help with iDRACs I am happy to provide some advice. If it
is a deeper technical issue I can contact engineering with your question.

There are remote KVM solutions - these were popular in the past in HPC but
I haven't seen one in use for years. Raritan brand rings a bell.

Regarding IP controllable power sockets APC/Schneider as said are a popular
brand. Note of course that you have to have an ethernet cable going to that
APC Power Distribution Unit!
Note also you want the BIOS set to Resume when Power is applied. no use in
switching a server off if..  Errr... you cant turn it on.

Regarding the network connection, iDRAC (and other BMC such as Supermicro)
can use a dedicated physicsl socket or can share the motherbord ethernet
socket.
Most HPC setups have a dedicated iDRAC/BMC setup with PDU connections on
separate 1Gbps switches. I would say that it is good practice to have a
dedicated and separate network for what I as a physicist would call 'slow
control'.


(*) there are different license levels for idRAC. You need the Enterprise
license for some of those features.












On Sat, 29 May 2021 at 16:19, stuart taylor via GLLUG <
gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> During the past 15 months I have managed to change various things
> involving our systems, for the better I think. We have also gained various
> part time volunteer admins, who are very good, mostly better than I am. One
> of them showed me how he could power down his servers remotely over IP, and
> restart them again. This looks very useful as we are spending less time at
> the building and mostly working from home. I have previously managed to
> obtain a cabinet, for our servers, change the lock for a padlock based
> system and restrict the key holders to a few people. This means switching
> servers on, or off, is better controlled, but also makes it more difficult
> for the admins to reboot when they are at home. Can anyone point me towards
> a suitable 'power supply over IP' solution? Are there any drawbacks to
> using these?
>
> Stuart
>
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Re: [GLLUG] Teddy bear principle

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

I was taught Computer Science by Jennifer Haselgrove in Glasgow. Her first
lecture concerned talking to your cat, and as I remember telling your cat
the steps needed to make  a cup of tea. So you are wrong - it is cats, not
teddy bears.
Something surprising about Dr Haselgrove - she lectured in Comp Sci bit had
no degree in the subject. Why? Well when she was an undergrad no such field
of study existed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenifer_Haselgrove


On Wed, 23 Dec 2020 at 10:43, Andrew Black via GLLUG <
gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

> Happy christmas everyone
>
> Some time ago someone suggested the idea of solving a tech problem by
> explaining something to you teddy. He is very stupid so it makes sure you
> explain it well. Sometimes the process of explaining makes you find the
> thing the clue you have missed.
> I cant put my finger on where it came from (does it matter). Google is
> taking me to all sorts of sites like "how to make teddies" and "why teddies
> are called ted".
>
> I find it SOMETIMES explaining helps, but sometimes can get you further
> into the misunderstanding that is causing the problem. Googling for a
> solution when you are looking at a bad solution...  Asking on Stackoverflow
> and like can be same:
>   "You dont want to do X, you want to do Y" "Yes in an ideal wolrd but if
> I do Y I will ahve a partial X and partial Y"
> Any thoughts...
>
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Re: [GLLUG] why is adduser unknown command in Debian 10.4?

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

sudo -i
Yes i will burn in heck.

On Wed, 2 Sep 2020 at 08:19, James Roberts via GLLUG <
gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

> "Use su - instead" - we always were supposed to do that and I tried to
> remember to do so, but bad habits learned early on persist and I often
> slipped. Now I'll be forced into canonicity :)
>
> MeJ
>
> On 01/09/2020 18:24, Andy Smith via GLLUG wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > On Tue, Sep 01, 2020 at 04:01:04PM +, MJ via GLLUG wrote:
> >> desktop@desktop:~$ su
> >> Password:
> >> root@desktop:/home/desktop# adduser desktop dialout
> >> bash: adduser: command not found
> >> root@desktop:/home/desktop#
> >
> > Most likely /usr/sbin isn't in your path as "su" doesn't do that any
> > more.
> >
> > https://wiki.debian.org/NewInBuster
> >
> > == Changes
> >
> > * The su command in buster is provided by the util-linux source
> >package, instead of the shadow source package, and no longer
> >alters the PATH variable by default. This means that after doing
> >su, your PATH may not contain directories like /sbin, and many
> >system administration commands will fail.
> >
> >> This is LPC 101 standard stuff?!
> >
> > Rote learning goes out of date. Working out how to diagnose a
> > "command not found" error is more valuable.
> >
> > $ command -v adduser
> > /sbin/adduser
> > # Oh, /usr/sbin is in my user's path then. Because I set that on purpose
> > $ PATH= command -v adduser
> > $ apt-file search bin/adduser
> > adduser: /usr/sbin/adduser
> > $ dpkg -L adduser | grep bin
> > /usr/sbin
> > /usr/sbin/adduser
> > /usr/sbin/deluser
> > /usr/sbin/addgroup
> > /usr/sbin/delgroup
> > $ ls -lah /usr/sbin/adduser
> > -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 34K Sep 15  2018 /usr/sbin/adduser
> >
> > So, PATH issue.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Andy
> >
>
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Re: [GLLUG] Retrieving debian source package.

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

If you can 'see' the source package can you not use wget to download it?

On Sun, 12 Jul 2020 at 10:14, Tim Woodall via GLLUG <
gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I'm struggling to work out how to retrieve a debian source package. I
> get this:
>
> tim@dirac:~/git/pkgrebuild/squid$ apt-get --print-uris -t buster source
> squid
> Reading package lists... Done
> E: Can not find version '4.6-1+deb10u2' of package 'squid'
> E: Unable to find a source package for squid
>
> I can see the source packages in http://ftp.uk.debian.org/
>
> I have this in my lists:
>
> Package: squid
> Binary: squid3, squid, squid-common, squidclient, squid-cgi, squid-purge
> Version: 4.6-1+deb10u1
> Maintainer: Luigi Gangitano 
> Uploaders: Santiago Garcia Mantinan 
>
>
> And there's nothing for squid in buster-updates sources which is where the
> Version: 4.6-1+deb10u2
> binary package lives.
>
>
> Obviously I can manually download these source files and work from that
> but I'd like to understand how this is supposed to work.
>
> These are, I think, the relevant sources:
> root@dirac:/etc/apt/sources.list.d# grep "" *src.sources
> debian-security-src.sources:Types: deb-src
> debian-security-src.sources:URIs: http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian
> debian-security-src.sources:Suites
> :
> buster-updates
> debian-security-src.sources:Components: main contrib non-free
> debian-security-src.sources:
> debian-src.sources:Types: deb-src
> debian-src.sources:URIs: http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian
> debian-src.sources:Suites: buster testing sid
> debian-src.sources:Components: main contrib non-free
> debian-src.sources:
>
>
> Can anybody tell me what, if anything, I'm doing wrong?
>
>
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Re: [GLLUG] Webcam on Linux

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

Sorry - I did not read correctly. You have a built in webcam.

On Thu, 18 Jun 2020 at 11:07, John Hearns  wrote:

> When you plug it in what does lsusb tell you?
>
> I have a Zoom USB webcam which works fine on Fedora and Raspberry Pi.
> I bought it in MediaMart in Holland though!
>
> On Thu, 18 Jun 2020 at 00:51, Andrew Black via GLLUG <
> gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
>
>> My laptop webcam has broken, and I dont have the energy to get it fixed
>> under RTB warranty.
>> Are there any gotchas about buying for linux (ubuntu 18.04).
>> More specifically
>>
>>- Quality - doesn't have to be much better than built in one. Not
>>planning on recording publishable videos
>>- Mounting on tripod is important. On the monitor is at the wrong
>>angle and too close.
>>- Not too bothered about microphone
>>
>> Human side. Initially I thought no webcam had advantages for zoom and the
>> like but over the weeks I have found I get left out. "Put your hand up if
>> you want to speak".
>>
>> I am pretty sure it is a hardware issue. I have tried a 20.04 live USB
>> and that fails.
>>
>> Ps
>> One site says Support multiple operating systems, including Windows, Mac
>> OS, Android Smart TV, etc.
>> I would like something a little more definitive than "etc".
>>
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Re: [GLLUG] Webcam on Linux

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

When you plug it in what does lsusb tell you?

I have a Zoom USB webcam which works fine on Fedora and Raspberry Pi.
I bought it in MediaMart in Holland though!

On Thu, 18 Jun 2020 at 00:51, Andrew Black via GLLUG <
gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

> My laptop webcam has broken, and I dont have the energy to get it fixed
> under RTB warranty.
> Are there any gotchas about buying for linux (ubuntu 18.04).
> More specifically
>
>- Quality - doesn't have to be much better than built in one. Not
>planning on recording publishable videos
>- Mounting on tripod is important. On the monitor is at the wrong
>angle and too close.
>- Not too bothered about microphone
>
> Human side. Initially I thought no webcam had advantages for zoom and the
> like but over the weeks I have found I get left out. "Put your hand up if
> you want to speak".
>
> I am pretty sure it is a hardware issue. I have tried a 20.04 live USB and
> that fails.
>
> Ps
> One site says Support multiple operating systems, including Windows, Mac
> OS, Android Smart TV, etc.
> I would like something a little more definitive than "etc".
>
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Re: [GLLUG] KVM Performance

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

https://www.architecting.it/blog/wekaio-matrix-performance-das/

On Tue, 9 Jun 2020 at 21:52, Ken Smith via GLLUG 
wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> While in lockdown I decided to do some performance testing on KVM. I had
> believed that passing a block device through to a guest rather than
> using a QCOW2 file would get better performance. I wanted to see whether
> that was true and indeed whether using iSCSI storage was any better/worse.
>
> My test hardware is quite modest and this may adversely have affected
> what I measured. The processor is a Intel Core2 6300  @ 1.86GHz with
> VT-X support. It shows 3733 Bogomips at startup. There's 8GB RAM and an
> Intel 82801HB SATA controller on a Gigabyte MB. The disks are two 3TB
> SATA 7200RPM set up with a Raid 1 LVM Ext3 partition as well as other
> non-Raid partitions to use to test.
>
> I used Fedora 32 as the KVM host and my testing was with Centos 8 as a
> guest.
>
> On the host I got 60MB/s write and 143 MB/s read on Raid1/LVM/Ext3. I
> wrote/read 10GB files using dd. 10Gb so as to overflow any memory based
> caching. Without LVM that changed to 80 MB/s write and 149 MB/s read.
>
> I tried all kinds of VM setups. Normal QCOW2, pass though of block
> devices Raid/LVM and Non-Raid/LVM. I consistently got around 14.5 MB/s
> write and 16.5 MB/s read. Similar figures with iSCSI operating from both
> file based devices and block devices on the same host. The best I got by
> tweaking the performance settings in KVM was a modest improvement to 15
> MB/s write and 17 MB/s read.
>
> As a reference point I did a test on a configuration that has Centos 6
> on Hyper-V on an HP ML350 with SATA 7200 rpm disks. I appreciate that's
> much more capable hardware, although SATA rather than SAS, but I
> measured 176 MB/s write and 331 MB/s read. That system is using a file
> on the underlying NTFS file system to provide a block device to the
> Centos 6 VM.
>
> I also tried booting the C8 guest via iSCSI on a Centos6 Laptop, which
> worked fine on a 1G network. I measured 16.8 MB/s write and 23.1 MB/s
> read that way.
>
> I noticed an increase in processor load while running my DD tests,
> although I didn't take any actual measurements.
>
> What to conclude? Is the hardware just not fast enough? Are newer
> processors better at abstracting the VM guests with less performance
> impact? What am I missing??
>
> Any thoughts from virtualisation experts here most welcome.
>
> Thanks
>
> Ken
>
>
>
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Re: [GLLUG] How worried should I be ...

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

These errors are logged in mcelog also - if you are running mcelog!

On Sun, 24 May 2020 at 16:12, John Hearns  wrote:

> As Martin Broosk says run memtest.
> You can run the user space memtester on circa 90% of the RAM.
> Ever better download https://www.stresslinux.org/sl/
> Format a USB stick and boot from it. Then run the memtester utility there.
>
> On a server I would advise to use the iDrac or BMC and get a list of the
> hardware events also.
>
> On Fri, 22 May 2020 at 18:18, James Courtier-Dutton via GLLUG <
> gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 22 May 2020 at 16:38, Alain D D Williams via GLLUG
>>  wrote:
>> >
>> > The message below was put to all login sessions this morning. I have
>> never seen
>> > this before. There is nothing more in /var/log/messages.
>> >
>> > The machine is 8 years old, always switched on, AMD 8150 Eight-Core
>> Processor.
>> >
>> > Should I take this as a warning and look to replace the machine or just
>> shrug my
>> > shoulders & mutter something about cosmic rays ?
>> >
>> > TIA
>> >
>> >
>> > Message from syslogd@mint at May 22 07:27:09 ...
>> >  kernel:[Hardware Error]: MC4 Error (node 0): L3 data cache ECC error.
>> >
>> > Message from syslogd@mint at May 22 07:27:09 ...
>> >  kernel:[Hardware Error]: Error Status: Corrected error, no action
>> required.
>> >
>>
>> If this is a one off, I would not worry about it.
>> Bits flip occasionally.
>> If you are getting it continuously, then power off the box. Reboot it,
>> and see if the problem goes away.
>> If it is always there, even after a cold power cycle, you have a hardware
>> fault.
>>
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Re: [GLLUG] How worried should I be ...

[John Hearns via GLLUG]

As Martin Broosk says run memtest.
You can run the user space memtester on circa 90% of the RAM.
Ever better download https://www.stresslinux.org/sl/
Format a USB stick and boot from it. Then run the memtester utility there.

On a server I would advise to use the iDrac or BMC and get a list of the
hardware events also.

On Fri, 22 May 2020 at 18:18, James Courtier-Dutton via GLLUG <
gllug@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

> On Fri, 22 May 2020 at 16:38, Alain D D Williams via GLLUG
>  wrote:
> >
> > The message below was put to all login sessions this morning. I have
> never seen
> > this before. There is nothing more in /var/log/messages.
> >
> > The machine is 8 years old, always switched on, AMD 8150 Eight-Core
> Processor.
> >
> > Should I take this as a warning and look to replace the machine or just
> shrug my
> > shoulders & mutter something about cosmic rays ?
> >
> > TIA
> >
> >
> > Message from syslogd@mint at May 22 07:27:09 ...
> >  kernel:[Hardware Error]: MC4 Error (node 0): L3 data cache ECC error.
> >
> > Message from syslogd@mint at May 22 07:27:09 ...
> >  kernel:[Hardware Error]: Error Status: Corrected error, no action
> required.
> >
>
> If this is a one off, I would not worry about it.
> Bits flip occasionally.
> If you are getting it continuously, then power off the box. Reboot it,
> and see if the problem goes away.
> If it is always there, even after a cold power cycle, you have a hardware
> fault.
>
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