Re: Booting NOT-Windows
On Wed, Aug 20, 2008 at 10:56 PM, Peg Harris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Thanks to all of you! You are my heros this evening! Klaus Knopper and Linus Torvalds desrve some share of our collegtive thanks for giving us the tools. In addition to the excellent and intuitive Knoppix, there are other perhaps more arcane/technical Linux based fixit kits http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=rip http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=systemrescue http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=CDlinux http://rear.sourceforge.net/ of these, the first two have found use locally. -- Bill [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Booting NOT-Windows
On Wednesday 20 August 2008 20:13, Bill McGonigle wrote: > So, one thing I like to do is to create a disk image of the damaged > disk before trying anything else. That way you can go back if > 'recovery' attempts do more damage than good. This is largely a > question of what your data is worth and what your risk aversion is > like. NewEgg recently had $500GB disk on sale for $50, so we're not > talking very expensive here. I've troubleshooting a lot of Windows 2000 and XP laptops lately for tasks that require moving filesystems from one hard disk to another. I have found that my trusty dd methods really don't work that well, at least not wth a suspect drive. To move a partition from one disk to another, I was using dd (and sometimes just cat) with bzip2 and netcat to rip an image from one disk and dump it to another disk in another laptop in realtime. I found that while most of the filesystem arrived at its destination intact, many parts of it did not. I could boot up the old drive with a Knoppix disk and get access to those files, retransmit them as files over sftp/scp or something, and then they'd work, but in the image, they were not kept intact. Has anyone else run into this or know what causes this? I guess I never bothered with the "bs=8M conv=noerror,sync" options you specified. Do you think those would have made a difference? -N ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Booting NOT-Windows - NTFS
> dd methods really don't work that well, at least not wth a suspect > drive. dd generally works with healthy drives but I've not had great luck with it when even one sector is bad, so I've been using dd_rescue (Debian pkg is named ddrescue, RPM equiv unknown) which has features intended for such situations and seems a bit more resilient. Copying NTFS partitions in this manner is, um, fraught - it seems to mostly work most of the time but I suspect NTFS has something like hardcoded absolute block numbers somewhere that can occasionally trip you up when making bit-for-bit copies. I might expect that for stuff like system files (a la GRUB) and such, but regular files seem also to get b0rken occasionally. The Debian package "ntfsdoc" (RPM equiv unknown) provides some good NTFS background info rooted at /usr/share/doc/ntfsdoc, though the geniuses who did the HTML layout declare, "To make the documentation easier to read, most links are not underlined." Fortunately, the Zap-Annoyances and Disable-CSS bookmarklets(*) make the info readable. The same people also run this WWW site: http://www.linux-ntfs.org/doku.php ...which may be better - I couldn't find the same info that was in the ntfsdoc pkg there but I might not have been looking in the right place. (*)Bookmarklets rock! https://www.squarefree.com/bookmarklets/ ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Booting NOT-Windows
On Thu, 2008-08-21 at 08:16 -0400, Neil Joseph Schelly wrote: > On Wednesday 20 August 2008 20:13, Bill McGonigle wrote: > > So, one thing I like to do is to create a disk image of the damaged > > disk before trying anything else. That way you can go back if > > 'recovery' attempts do more damage than good. This is largely a > > question of what your data is worth and what your risk aversion is > > like. NewEgg recently had $500GB disk on sale for $50, so we're not > > talking very expensive here. > > I've troubleshooting a lot of Windows 2000 and XP laptops lately for tasks > that require moving filesystems from one hard disk to another. I have found > that my trusty dd methods really don't work that well, at least not wth a > suspect drive. > > To move a partition from one disk to another, I was using dd (and sometimes > just cat) with bzip2 and netcat to rip an image from one disk and dump it to > another disk in another laptop in realtime. I found that while most of the > filesystem arrived at its destination intact, many parts of it did not. I > could boot up the old drive with a Knoppix disk and get access to those > files, retransmit them as files over sftp/scp or something, and then they'd > work, but in the image, they were not kept intact. > > Has anyone else run into this or know what causes this? I guess I never > bothered with the "bs=8M conv=noerror,sync" options you specified. Do you > think those would have made a difference? Yes it does. Without those options, dd is nearly useless; with them, you have a chance of getting useful things off the disk. If there is an error while reading the source disk, "conv=noerror,sync" ensures that dd tries to read the rest of the disk, and that it fills in the spot with the read error with zeroes, rather than skipping it entirely, which shifts the rest of the disk image over, thus destroying every file stored after the point of the error. The "bs=8M" gives dd a block size to work with; it should match the sector size of the source disk so that if an error does occur during reading, only that sector is lost. > -N > ___ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Laptop external power from batteries (DC/DC)
On Wed, Aug 20, 2008 at 8:03 PM, Bill McGonigle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'm curious if the voltage drops as the battery discharges or remains fairly > level. I know that voltage does drop as a battery discharges, and that the pattern of the voltage drop depends on the type of battery. I've think I've read (could be wrong) that Li-ion drops on an S curve, while most other types have a more steady slope. However, that's academic. The batteries in every laptop I've checked don't run at the same voltage as the line cord. Presumably, the power electronics in the laptop are designed to compensate for battery voltage varying. I would not expect the same for the line-in. > ... many laptop vendors offer a 15.5v adapter to be used on airlines ... I believe it is the airplane power sockets which provide 15 VDC. With our Dell's at work, the travel adapters use the same input power cord for auto (cig) as for airline. The cig plug pulls off the end of the cord to reveal an airline plug. I've assumed that what happens is the DC/DC converter in the travel adapter can operate at 12 VDC or 15 VDC input, and in both cases output the voltage expected by the laptop. So I don't think simply wiring a 12 VDC source into a laptop's line connector would work, for our Dell's, at least. Maybe other brands use more sophisticated power electronics in the laptop. Given market price pressure, though, I would expect not. > These power the laptops but not the laptop's chargers. So there are > probably extra pins or smart power control board to factor in. I know the Dell line cords have three conductors. Power supply, control signal, and common. The control signal lets the laptop talk to some intelligence in the adapter. I've seen this demonstrated a few different ways: When attempting to use a 65-watt travel adapter instead of the 90-watt AC-only adapter: * With a high-power-draw laptop, the laptop will pause during POST, warn that the battery will not charge or charge slowly, and ask for a keystroke to continue. * With a docking station, the laptop will stop during POST, state the adapter is under-powered, and refuse to boot. I've also had a laptop where the on-board electronics which talk to the adapter apparently failed. The laptop would pause during POST, warn that it could not talk to the adapter, would not charge the battery, and things might not work at all, and ask for a keystroke to continue. (The motherboard was replaced to fix the problem.) -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Laptop external power from batteries (DC/DC)
19.5v is only used for charging. The internal battery nominal voltage is 14.4 (4 x 3.6v cells in series). Li, NiCd and NiMH batteries tend to maintain a nearly constant voltage until they are almost fully discharged at which point voltage drops rapidly. Lead acid battery voltage tends to drop continuously from full charge to full discharge. Mike Miller On Wed, 2008-08-20 at 20:03 -0400, Bill McGonigle wrote: > On Aug 20, 2008, at 14:58, mike ledoux wrote: > > > A good (and sadly, expensive) DC-DC voltage > > converter is only about 85% efficient, so to get the 19.5Vdc @ 4.62A > > you need, you will draw ~8.63A @ 12Vdc. ~5 hours becomes ~4.5. > > Yeah, that does sound a bit wasteful if one is starting from scratch. > > OK, so how about hooking up a 1.5V a 6V and a 12V deep cycle battery > in series? Assuming one could find cells of comparable AH ratings. > > Or, if one were more serious... IIRC the last time I looked inside a > battery it was made of several plates lined up together in a row, > sitting in an acid bath. Actually, alternating repetitions of > different kinds of plates, which I assume were cells of some voltage > in series. So, if one bought two marine batteries, a bigger box, and > was familiar with proper acid handling techniques, ought there be an > electrical reason that 'just' making a 19.5v battery with the > required number of cells would be insufficient to power a laptop > (finding a charger might would be a separate challenge)? I'm curious > if the voltage drops as the battery discharges or remains fairly > level. Come to think of it, laptop battery voltages aren't 100% > level, so I wonder how precise that 19.5V really needs to be (12V and > 6V are easily sourced, for instance). > > Also I've noticed that many laptop vendors offer a 15.5v adapter to > be used on airlines, which have some sort of under-seat connectors. > These power the laptops but not the laptop's chargers. So there are > probably extra pins or smart power control board to factor in. > > I think the new answer to "what can I do with my old obsolete > laptop?" is "give it to somebody playing with batteries". :) > > -Bill > > - > Bill McGonigle, Owner Work: 603.448.4440 > BFC Computing, LLC Home: 603.448.1668 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cell: 603.252.2606 > http://www.bfccomputing.com/Page: 603.442.1833 > Blog: http://blog.bfccomputing.com/ > VCard: http://bfccomputing.com/vcard/bill.vcf > > > ___ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ -- michael miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Booting NOT-Windows
On Wed, Aug 20, 2008 at 8:13 PM, Bill McGonigle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > dd if=/dev/sda of=/mnt/myusbdisk/my_hosed_xp_disk.dd bs=8M > conv=noerror,sync There's also a couple of tools that improve on this concept. dd_rescue approaches the "bad block" problem more sophisticatedly, varying block sizes to improve performance while extracting maximum possible data. In addition, dd_rhelp is a front-end for dd_rescue. It will go back and try to repeatedly re-read failed blocks after the good blocks copy (get the low-hanging fruit first), thus giving you most data sooner while possibly getting everything eventually. -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Laptop external power from batteries (DC/DC)
On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 9:52 AM, michael miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The internal battery nominal voltage is 14.4 (4 x 3.6v cells in series). FYI and FWIW, two Dell laptops I just checked indicate 11.1 volts on the battery label. -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Laptop external power from batteries (DC/DC)
That would be 3 Li cells in series. My Dell Inspiron 5150 has a battery labeled 14.8v, 6450mAh with a charger specified as 19.5v 6.7A. It's a pain in the butt and next time I'm looking at a new laptop I will check the battery voltage before buying. I think that 11.1v is a more common battery for laptops based on the availability of inexpensive 12v chargers for other laptops but not the Dell 5150 at least. I use 7.2 and 11.1v Li batteries in a variety of other applications and they are easy to charge off of car batteries or replace with a regulated supply running off of 12v. Mike Miller On Thu, 2008-08-21 at 10:02 -0400, Ben Scott wrote: > On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 9:52 AM, michael miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > The internal battery nominal voltage is 14.4 (4 x 3.6v cells in series). > > FYI and FWIW, two Dell laptops I just checked indicate 11.1 volts on > the battery label. > > -- Ben > ___ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ -- michael miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
(OT) Laptop Repair
Good Morning. My daughter has a Dell Inspiron (5100) and she dropped it. Consequently, the LCD is cracked in a couple places. I assume Dell sold a bazillion of these machines, so also, I assume parts are available... Where might I go in the Southern NH or Mass. areas, to get this Laptop repaired ??? Thanks In Advance paulc >___ >gnhlug-discuss mailing list >gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org >http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: (OT) Laptop Repair
On Thu, 2008-08-21 at 09:45 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Good Morning. > > My daughter has a Dell Inspiron (5100) and she dropped it. Consequently, the > LCD is cracked in a couple places. > I assume Dell sold a bazillion of these machines, so also, I assume parts are > available... > > Where might I go in the Southern NH or Mass. areas, to > get this Laptop repaired ??? > > Thanks In Advance > > paulc > If you are adventurous, check out eBay for similar laptop models and see if you can track down an LCD there (you may also need the proper inverter board for it too). You'd be surprised at how easy it actually is to disassemble laptops and service them. The key is knowing where to look for the screws, snaps, etc... Generally, a lot of people on eBay will sell dead laptops for parts for really cheap. -- Coleman Kane signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: (OT) Laptop Repair
eBay is where I go when I have laptop problems. I just buy another laptop that ideally is broken enough to be cheap, but has the parts I need in good shape. eBay has lots of results right now if you search for Dell Inspiron 5100. -N On Thursday 21 August 2008 10:45, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Good Morning. > > My daughter has a Dell Inspiron (5100) and she dropped it. Consequently, > the LCD is cracked in a couple places. I assume Dell sold a bazillion of > these machines, so also, I assume parts are available... > > Where might I go in the Southern NH or Mass. areas, to > get this Laptop repaired ??? > > Thanks In Advance > > paulc > > >___ > >gnhlug-discuss mailing list > >gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > >http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ > > ___ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: (OT) Laptop Repair
If you are handy with a screwdriver and plastic butterknife and observe static safety, you can replace it yourself in a few minutes. You can easily find the a replacement LCD replacement on eBay or another vendor. My experiences have been that the replacement will cost anywhere from $120 to about $200, depending upon laptop brand. I had to replace the screen in a Vaio once, LCD alone was $295, so be glad you don't own one of those. Typically it's the labor that inflates the price. If you can do it, I would say go for it. If you would like more information I can provide it and I'm sure the list can as well. Good Luck. ~k [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Good Morning. > > My daughter has a Dell Inspiron (5100) and she dropped it. Consequently, the > LCD is cracked in a couple places. > I assume Dell sold a bazillion of these machines, so also, I assume parts are > available... > > Where might I go in the Southern NH or Mass. areas, to > get this Laptop repaired ??? > > Thanks In Advance > > paulc > > >> ___ >> gnhlug-discuss mailing list >> gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org >> http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ >> > ___ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ > ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: (OT) Laptop Repair
On 8/21/08, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Good Morning. > My daughter has a Dell Inspiron (5100) and she dropped it. Consequently, the > LCD is cracked in a couple places. > I assume Dell sold a bazillion of these machines, so also, I assume parts are > available... > Where might I go in the Southern NH or Mass. areas, to > get this Laptop repaired ??? Check with Dell for an 'authorized service center'. Screens can be gotten for low cost, 100-200 $$ for that model from a quick search, but it's the labor that'll kill you. Labor chargers are anywhere from 75$-150$ an hour for something like that. -- -- Thomas ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: (OT) Laptop Repair
I have a laptop LCD floating around my junk bin that... I have no idea anymore what sort of laptop it came from, but if it's the right sort it's yours. I've had dells before, so it could be correct. --DTVZ On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 11:04 AM, H. Kurth Bemis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > If you are handy with a screwdriver and plastic butterknife and observe > static safety, you can replace it yourself in a few minutes. You can > easily find the a replacement LCD replacement on eBay or another > vendor. My experiences have been that the replacement will cost > anywhere from $120 to about $200, depending upon laptop brand. I had to > replace the screen in a Vaio once, LCD alone was $295, so be glad you > don't own one of those. > > Typically it's the labor that inflates the price. If you can do it, I > would say go for it. If you would like more information I can provide > it and I'm sure the list can as well. > > Good Luck. > > ~k > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Good Morning. > > > > My daughter has a Dell Inspiron (5100) and she dropped it. Consequently, > the LCD is cracked in a couple places. > > I assume Dell sold a bazillion of these machines, so also, I assume parts > are available... > > > > Where might I go in the Southern NH or Mass. areas, to > > get this Laptop repaired ??? > > > > Thanks In Advance > > > > paulc > > > > > >> ___ > >> gnhlug-discuss mailing list > >> gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > >> http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ > >> > > ___ > > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > > gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ > > > > ___ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ > ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: (OT) Laptop Repair
I once lucked out and found a YouTube video showing a tech disassembling exactly the laptop model I was working on, including all the secret/hidden catches and fasteners that you normally only find out about *after* you've damaged them... ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: (OT) Laptop Repair
There's this site out there, and my google-fu isn't what it should be this early in the morning :^), but I have used a site that listed most models of major brands and provided step by step instructions for replacing the LCDs. Maybe someone else knows of the site, or is a GoogleMaster. ~k Michael ODonnell wrote: > I once lucked out and found a YouTube video showing a tech > disassembling exactly the laptop model I was working on, > including all the secret/hidden catches and fasteners that > you normally only find out about *after* you've damaged them... > > ___ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ > ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: (OT) Laptop Repair
Here's the site. I found it about 30 seconds after sending. http://repair4laptop.org/notebook_lcd_display.html Upon closer review they have a lot of information, but not for EVERY laptop, but a lot of them. Most of the time the manfs use the same old tricks with each model, so you might be able to find a similar model and grep some info. Good Luck. ~k Michael ODonnell wrote: > I once lucked out and found a YouTube video showing a tech > disassembling exactly the laptop model I was working on, > including all the secret/hidden catches and fasteners that > you normally only find out about *after* you've damaged them... > > ___ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ > ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
RE: (OT) Laptop Repair
Paul, My friend Andy Demers did a great job when my four-year-old son knocked my laptop off a precarious perch and cracked the screen. It makes some pretty amazing colors and patterns when you poke it, doesn't it? You can reach him via <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. I had him replace the keyboard (which had had a couple of keys pried off by small fingers - kids are God's way of telling you your stuff is too nice, and not sticky enough) and add some memory too while he had it cracked open. He charges a fair price. I got the parts via a vendor on eBay at a much better price than the "cost of a new laptop" price that HP wanted to charge me, so I'd start there for a replacement screen. -Michael Pelletier. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 10:46 AM To: Greater NH Linux User Group; Ben Scott Subject: (OT) Laptop Repair Good Morning. My daughter has a Dell Inspiron (5100) and she dropped it. Consequently, the LCD is cracked in a couple places. I assume Dell sold a bazillion of these machines, so also, I assume parts are available... Where might I go in the Southern NH or Mass. areas, to get this Laptop repaired ??? Thanks In Advance paulc >___ >gnhlug-discuss mailing list >gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org >http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: (OT) Laptop Repair
paul.cour1 writes: > My daughter has a Dell Inspiron (5100) and she dropped it. Consequently, the > LCD is cracked in a couple places. > I assume Dell sold a bazillion of these machines, so also, I assume parts are > available... > > Where might I go in the Southern NH or Mass. areas, to > get this Laptop repaired ??? I have had good luck with Laptop Universe in Londonderry, NH: http://www.laptopuniverse.net/ They've fixed the fans in my ancient Dell laptop several times. Amusingly, my laptop is so old that one of the techs there called it "the turd" and he warned me that it might be too old to run Vista. I told him that I wasn't too worried about that... Regards, --kevin -- GnuPG ID: B280F24EMeet me by the knuckles alumni.unh.edu!kdcof the skinny-bone tree. http://kdc-blog.blogspot.com/ -- Tom Waits ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
RE: OpenSSH logging with GMT on Connection close?
-Original Message- I get a bunch of rules for EST / EDT, so I think I have US/Eastern properly selected. I did md5sum it, and then I md5summed the files in /usr/share/zoneinfo, and there's no match, which is interesting. Googling the md5sum of my /etc/localtime I see other people with the 'New_York' file with the same sum, so probably something in Fedora isn't/didn't upgrade /etc/localtime last time a zonefile update came out. Oops! -Bill --- And I reckon that would have been early 2007 implementing the Energy Policy Act of 2005's daylight savings time date changes... But you'd think that'd leave you an hour off during only a few weeks of the year, not at GMT. Puzzling. -Michael Pelletier. ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Laptop external power from batteries (DC/DC)
Trying to be budget conscious I recalled that my office UPS (APC) is 1500VA and 865W, and has lead acid batteries inside. It claims 2 hours of runtime at 50W. I got it on sale for $120 or so. So, I pulled out the Kill-A-Watt and plugged it inline with my laptop, and got a 42W load mostly idle (10% CPU). So, I pegged the CPU's with a tight loop and ran some disk activity and it jumped to 65W. Now, and this was surprising to me, I pulled out the battery while the CPU was at 100%, and it fell to 40W. This battery is supposedly fully-charged. I put it back in and it went back up to 65W. I'm very surprised it's constantly using 25W of power to keep the battery topped off. That's not very green. So, to the original point of demo'ing linux in the field without AC, this is likely to be a cost-effective option (must cut speaker wire! ... use NUT). Among the membership it ought to be possible to borrow a few UPS's for a demo day, should that be necessary. I'm curious how noisy of an inverter APC puts in those things. I'd hope it's better than the one that plugs into my cigarette lighter socket in the car, but I don't have a scope to measure it (I know it's not pure-sine). I'll plug my microphone into it and the sound should give me a pretty good idea. I'm also now curious about using a bigger battery with the COTS UPS since they've already done most of the work for me. I realize the inverter is electrically inefficient, however assuming hot-rodding a UPS can work, bigger batteries are more economically efficient than any of the other solutions I've found, in a $/VA calculation, and they get pretty good runtimes out of relatively small batteries, so they've done most of the hard engineering work I'd be unlikely to replicate. -Bill - Bill McGonigle, Owner Work: 603.448.4440 BFC Computing, LLC Home: 603.448.1668 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cell: 603.252.2606 http://www.bfccomputing.com/Page: 603.442.1833 Blog: http://blog.bfccomputing.com/ VCard: http://bfccomputing.com/vcard/bill.vcf ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
RE: Laptop external power from batteries (DC/DC)
-Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bill McGonigle Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 1:47 PM To: Greater NH Linux User Group Subject: Re: Laptop external power from batteries (DC/DC) So, to the original point of demo'ing linux in the field without AC, this is likely to be a cost-effective option (must cut speaker wire! ... use NUT). --- The APC PowerChute software allows you to configure the unit via the USB cable to refrain from sounding the beeper when AC drops out - my wireless router and its UPS is located in my four-year-old's bedroom closet since that was the easiest place to run the cable from the basement to the second floor, and four year olds don't take well to shrill beeps in the middle of the night. So, there's no need to void warranties by cutting wires. The main drawback to this approach is that you need a Windows system on which to run PowerChute. -Michael Pelletier. ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Debian Sudoku
This just got posted on our internal jabber server - thought folks here might be amused by it. http://algebraicthunk.net/~dburrows/blog/entry/package-management-sudoku/ -- Cole Tuininga <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Code Energy ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Laptop external power from batteries (DC/DC)
On Aug 21, 2008, at 14:06, Michael Pelletier wrote: > The main drawback > to this approach is that you need a Windows system on which to run > PowerChute. So, it's a one-time configuration? I haz a vmware. -Bill - Bill McGonigle, Owner Work: 603.448.4440 BFC Computing, LLC Home: 603.448.1668 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cell: 603.252.2606 http://www.bfccomputing.com/Page: 603.442.1833 Blog: http://blog.bfccomputing.com/ VCard: http://bfccomputing.com/vcard/bill.vcf ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
RE: Laptop external power from batteries (DC/DC)
Yep, apparently the APC units have a little firmware chip in there, so it's a persistent configuration. I have about half a dozen of them around the house (TV, wireless router, two computer desks, VoIP adapter & cordless phone plus the weather station console, cable modem in the basement) and until I made the update every power glitch resulted in a deafening racket echoing through the house. My wife is much happier now. -Michael Pelletier. -Original Message- From: Bill McGonigle [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 2:33 PM To: Michael Pelletier Cc: 'Greater NH Linux User Group' Subject: Re: Laptop external power from batteries (DC/DC) On Aug 21, 2008, at 14:06, Michael Pelletier wrote: > The main drawback > to this approach is that you need a Windows system on which to run > PowerChute. So, it's a one-time configuration? I haz a vmware. -Bill - Bill McGonigle, Owner Work: 603.448.4440 BFC Computing, LLC Home: 603.448.1668 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cell: 603.252.2606 http://www.bfccomputing.com/Page: 603.442.1833 Blog: http://blog.bfccomputing.com/ VCard: http://bfccomputing.com/vcard/bill.vcf ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
exim question
Hey, I've searched the main exim docs to see if it implements RFC 3463 and I can't find any such reference. I know there are some exim fans here. Does exim not support that RFC? -- Jeff Macdonald Ayer, MA ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Laptop external power from batteries (DC/DC)
Bill McGonigle wrote: > > So, it's a one-time configuration? I haz a vmware. > I think it's just an EEPROM setting. APCUPSD used to be able to reprogram the EEPROM directly. They moved the code out of there and into the apctest module. Details here: http://www.apcupsd.org/manual/manual.html#SECTION000168000 and: http://www.apcupsd.org/manual/Configur_Directiv_Referenc.html Setting BEEPSTATE to N ought to do it. Disclaimer: I haven't tried this, and they have the standard dreadful warnings. -- Ted Roche Ted Roche & Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Laptop external power from batteries (DC/DC)
On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 1:47 PM, Bill McGonigle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > ... must cut speaker wire! For most of the APC Smart-UPS line, pressing the "On" button briefly will silence the "On Battery" alarm (but not the "Low Battery" alarm). For the ones with only a single "On/Off" button, I think pressing and releasing it very quickly might do it. (I recall that you need to hold it down for about 1 second to actually turn it off.) Most of the Back-UPS models are "dumb" and can't be silenced without wire-cutters. > I'm curious how noisy of an inverter APC puts in those things. Electrical or audible noise? In my experience, audible varies from unit to unit; the manufacturing criteria, if any, must be fairly forgiving. For electrical: The Smart-UPS product line is supposed to output a "pure sine" wave. I haven't verified this myself, but I'd be surprised if they were getting away with a lie on that front. Most of the Back-UPS models use a step wave approximation that's nominally "good enough" for most things. > I'm also now curious about using a bigger battery with the COTS UPS > since they've already done most of the work for me. If the battery is already charged, I think that would generally work. The only potential problem I can see would be that the DC->AC electronics might start to overheat in an extended run. A meltdown with that kind of battery amperage has the potential to be seriously dangerous. This isn't idle speculation, either. One of the rack-mount APC Smart-UPS models, the XL variant took up more rack space, and that was supposedly solely for heat dissipation reasons. > they've done most of the hard engineering work I'd be unlikely to > replicate. H good point. While 12 VDC -> 19 VDC might be more efficient than 12 VDC -> 120 VAC -> 19 VDC in theory, the UPS industry has put way more engineering into the former problem than we can with the latter. -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Laptop external power from batteries (DC/DC)
On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 2:06 PM, Michael Pelletier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The main drawback to this approach is that you need a Windows > system on which to run PowerChute. PowerChute is/was available for Linux. I think I've also seen a third-party utility (possibly part of the NUT or apcupsd suites) that can send commands to APC Smart-UPS units. -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: (OT) Laptop Repair
On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 11:23 AM, Michael ODonnell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I once lucked out and found a YouTube video showing a tech > disassembling exactly the laptop model I was working on, > including all the secret/hidden catches and fasteners that > you normally only find out about *after* you've damaged them... Dell usually posts their field service manuals on their web site, and they're pretty good, with lots of pictures. The caveat fror the OP is that the Inspiron line is not designed to be easily field servicable (the Latitude line is), so the field service manual might not cover screen replacement for that model. -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Booting NOT-Windows
Neil Joseph Schelly wrote: > To move a partition from one disk to another, I was using dd (and sometimes > just cat) with bzip2 and netcat to rip an image from one disk and dump it to > another disk in another laptop in realtime. I found that while most of the > filesystem arrived at its destination intact, many parts of it did not. I > could boot up the old drive with a Knoppix disk and get access to those > files, retransmit them as files over sftp/scp or something, and then they'd > work, but in the image, they were not kept intact. I've routinely upgraded Windows and Linux machines to new HDDs using partimage, which is available on recent Knoppix disks, separately, and also on the Clonezilla CD. It archives individual partitions, understanding the underlying file system, and compresses the archive. A smart dd with (b|g)zip, basically. Restoring a Windows partition to a larger new partition usually just involved running CHKDSK afterwards. -- Ted Roche Ted Roche & Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
[GNHLUG] [DLSLUG-Announce] RSpec and Behaviour Driven Development - DLSLUG Monthly Meeting - September 4th
*** Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee Linux User Group http://dlslug.org/ a chapter of GNHLUG - http://gnhlug.org *** The next regular monthly meeting of the DLSLUG will be held: Thursday, September 4th, 7-9PM at: Dartmouth College, Room TBA All are welcome, free of charge. Agenda 7:00 Sign-in, networking 7:15 Introductory remarks 7:20 RSpec and Behaviour Driven Development, a.k.a, Battle of the Testing Frameworks, Vol. II: "Aim For Brevity, But Avoid Jargon" presented by Ari Brown BDD is the new buzzword that everyone and their Mom is handing out like they're running for office. But what exactly IS BDD? BDD is Behavior Driven Development, and it's ALL about describing how your application works, as opposed to testing individual methods. But BDD isn't a religion, it's more of a clothing line and our model for the runway is RSpec - testing not only Ruby code, but also Java! Expect to see awesome, and don't even bother wearing socks. They'll just get blown off. Ari Stuart Brown is a Ruby aficionado and programming language enthusiast. He actively uses Ruby and wishes he used Haskell and D more often than he does. He is an avid Rails programmer and active committer to the Rubinius VM for Ruby. His current work is Todos, a personal planner on MDMX + Caffeine. Ari's current brain child is a computer conference set for this April. He is 16 years old and a student at the local Hanover High School. He also is a NOLS alumnus. 8:50 Roundtable Exchange - where the attendees can make announcements or ask a linux/oss question of the group. - Driving Directions Please see the website for links to driving directions. Refreshments Refreshments this month will be sponsored by the Girl Scouts of America. Yes'm, cookies. Who's getting milk? RSVP RSVP by replying to this e-mail so we can give any refreshment sponsor a count. Mailing Lists There are two primary mailman lists set up for DLSLUG, an Announce list and a Discuss list. Please sign up for the Announce list (moderated, low-volume) to stay apprised of the group's activities and the Discuss list (unmoderated) for group discussion. Links to the mailing lists are on the webpage. Tell Your Friends Please pass this announcement along to anyone else who may be interested. - Bill McGonigle, Owner Work: 603.448.4440 BFC Computing, LLC Home: 603.448.1668 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cell: 603.252.2606 http://www.bfccomputing.com/Page: 603.442.1833 Blog: http://blog.bfccomputing.com/ VCard: http://bfccomputing.com/vcard/bill.vcf ___ DLSLUG-Announce mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://dlslug.org/mailman/listinfo/dlslug-announce ___ gnhlug-announce mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-announce/ ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
