[Hampshire] Lost sound

[Tim]

Short of rebooting my PC how can I restart the sound system on my PC?

If I try to run Amarok I get the following error

"xine was unable to initialize any audio drivers"

I get no sound out of any other sound related programs either.

Th PC has been running for 22 days and sound was working ok yesterday

I am running Mepis 8 (Debian Lenny)

Tim

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Re: [Hampshire] [OT, I suppose] Router

[Owain Clarke]

Owain Clarke wrote:

  
I'm still working on this one (the main symptom being random outages),
and have been unable to trace what the problem is.  My ISP (the Phone
Coop) tell me that if they call in an Open Reach engineer and it turns
out that the problem is within my property I'll be liable for a hefty
BT callout fee, so I wonder if anyone knows of someone who would test a
domestic network and charge a reasonable amount of money?
  

Sorry for not acknowledging various people's suggestions on this one. 
I'm working through it all.

Owain




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Re: [Hampshire] Printers

[Ian Park]

I can second that - I use  Brother HL-5270DN, which does PostScript
emulation and duplex printing. Bought it through Amazon; the only small
wrinkle is that it came from France, but they supplied a UK mains lead
for it as well as the continental one.

Ian
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On 16/07/10 10:26, Chris. Aubrey-Smith wrote:
> 
> 
> On 16 July 2010 10:19, James Courtier-Dutton  > wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I have a requirement for a Laser Duplex printer with Ethernet
> network interface.
> The last time I brought a printer was about 10 years ago.
> The previous one was a HP LaserJet 4L.
> 
> Does anyone have any recommendations?
> 
> Kind Regards
> 
> James
> 
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> 
> 
> I'm on my second Brother laser printer, the previous one having lasted
> eleven years: excellent!
> 
> The current model is an HL-5250. Highly recommended.
> 
> Chris.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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[Hampshire] ubuntu updates

[Isaac Close]

Hello there,

Quick question follows, here are a number of ubuntu 9.04 machines. They all 
want updates.

Instead of eating loads of internet bandwidth, can the updates simply be 
downloaded once from one machine and then installed manually on the others ?

thanks in advance,

Isaac.



  

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Re: [Hampshire] ubuntu updates

[James Courtier-Dutton]

On 16 July 2010 14:16, Jan Henkins  wrote:
> Hello Isaac,
>
> On Fri, July 16, 2010 12:46, Isaac Close wrote:
>> Hello there,
>>
>> Quick question follows, here are a number of ubuntu 9.04 machines. They
>> all want updates.
>>
>> Instead of eating loads of internet bandwidth, can the updates simply be
>> downloaded once from one machine and then installed manually on the others
>> ?
>
> I would use apt-proxy for this. Some HOWTO material here:
>
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AptProxy
>
> Get apt-proxy to work before you update the machine that runs apt-proxy.
> Once you have the software set up, ensure that the apt-proxy host uses
> it's local apt-proxy. That way you can ensure that at least the packages
> needed for that one upgrade would be available for download by others
> machines pointing to the same proxy.
>

I find "apt-cacher-ng" easier to configure.

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Re: [Hampshire] ubuntu updates

[Jan Henkins]

Hello Isaac,

On Fri, July 16, 2010 12:46, Isaac Close wrote:
> Hello there,
>
> Quick question follows, here are a number of ubuntu 9.04 machines. They
> all want updates.
>
> Instead of eating loads of internet bandwidth, can the updates simply be
> downloaded once from one machine and then installed manually on the others
> ?

I would use apt-proxy for this. Some HOWTO material here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AptProxy

Get apt-proxy to work before you update the machine that runs apt-proxy.
Once you have the software set up, ensure that the apt-proxy host uses
it's local apt-proxy. That way you can ensure that at least the packages
needed for that one upgrade would be available for download by others
machines pointing to the same proxy.

-- 
Regards,
Jan Henkins


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[Hampshire] ubuntu updates

[Isaac Close]

Hello there,

Quick question follows, here are a number of ubuntu 9.04 machines. They all 
want updates.

Instead of eating loads of internet bandwidth, can the updates simply be 
downloaded once from one machine and then installed manually on the others ?

thanks in advance,

Isaac.



  

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Re: [Hampshire] apache block invalid IP address

[John Cooper]

On 16/07/10 11:49, Vic wrote:



As the rest of the logs are fine my guess is the spammer is using some
control character sequence which is corrupting parsing of the logs for
IP address


I seriously doubt that.

Consider the complexity of a crafted sequence that just erases the IP
address, but leaves the rest of the log intact. Now compare that to a
sequence that just destroys the line.

The latter would be mnuch more useful to someone trying to cover their
tracks, and also simpler to implement.

But before we get there, there would need to be a serious vulnerability in
Apache that permitted such actions.


(I spent most of last year trawling though web access logs
and didn't see this type of log entry).


I've never seen that type of log entry - and I've seen many thousands of
attempted code injections of one type or another. That's why I suspect
this might be a misfiring log rule, and it's why I suggested you check
your log format directives in the config file.


te01.techentrance.com - - [15/Jul/2010:22:22:22 -0600] "GET
/cgi-bin/forum.pl HTTP/1.0" 403 745 "http://silverwing.org"; "Mozilla/5.0
(X11; U; Linux i686; en-GB; rv:1.9.2.4) Gecko/20100622
Fedora/3.6.4-1.fc13 Firefox/3.6.4"


Right - this shows the problem up completely.

Your server is doing reverse DNS lookups, rather than just logging the IP
address. So what you've had previously is an IP address with a reverse DNS
of "." - I've seen that before.

Check your config file for the HostnameLookups directive - I recommend
this be set to "Off".

Vic.



Excellent, that makes sense and I did think of that (honest) but then 
dismissed it as not being possible!


John.


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Re: [Hampshire] apache block invalid IP address

[Vic]

> As the rest of the logs are fine my guess is the spammer is using some
> control character sequence which is corrupting parsing of the logs for
> IP address

I seriously doubt that.

Consider the complexity of a crafted sequence that just erases the IP
address, but leaves the rest of the log intact. Now compare that to a
sequence that just destroys the line.

The latter would be mnuch more useful to someone trying to cover their
tracks, and also simpler to implement.

But before we get there, there would need to be a serious vulnerability in
Apache that permitted such actions.

> (I spent most of last year trawling though web access logs
> and didn't see this type of log entry).

I've never seen that type of log entry - and I've seen many thousands of
attempted code injections of one type or another. That's why I suspect
this might be a misfiring log rule, and it's why I suggested you check
your log format directives in the config file.

> te01.techentrance.com - - [15/Jul/2010:22:22:22 -0600] "GET
> /cgi-bin/forum.pl HTTP/1.0" 403 745 "http://silverwing.org"; "Mozilla/5.0
> (X11; U; Linux i686; en-GB; rv:1.9.2.4) Gecko/20100622
> Fedora/3.6.4-1.fc13 Firefox/3.6.4"

Right - this shows the problem up completely.

Your server is doing reverse DNS lookups, rather than just logging the IP
address. So what you've had previously is an IP address with a reverse DNS
of "." - I've seen that before.

Check your config file for the HostnameLookups directive - I recommend
this be set to "Off".

Vic.


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Re: [Hampshire] Printers

[Russell Morris]

We also have some 4300n printers (and others in the series), and they've
been solid; I don't think we paid half as much as £1000, though!


On 16 July 2010 10:38, Paul Stimpson  wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I've used the HP Laserjet 4300n (and 4200n - the same but a little slower)
> and they are excellent devices. They are fairly compact and modular so you
> buy the bits you need (duplexer, paper trays, stapler/stacker, trolley...)
> If you can find one there are preloaded ones where the model numbers end
> "dn" (Duplex + Network) and "dtn" (Duplex + jumbo 2nd paper Tray + Network)
> that come with the options pre-installed.
>
> The base printer with just network and no options was originally over £1000
> and they do something like 18000 pages from a cartridge (chipped).  They are
> rated at something like 30,000 pages a month and you can pick ex-lease ones
> up (that have only done something like 25,000 pages total and have a half
> full cartridge) on eBay for a couple of hundred pounds. I've seen the
> duplexer and the jumbo 2nd paper tray on eBay too. If you find one without
> the "n" (no network) then the Jetdirect Ethernet module is also available as
> a self-install option on eBay.
>
> I've not had one to try yet but the Samsung colour lasers seem to have
> duplex and Ethernet and seem to be penguin-friendly.
>
> Cheers,
> Paul.
>
>
> Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
>
> -Original Message-
> From: James Courtier-Dutton 
> Sender: hampshire-boun...@mailman.lug.org.uk
> Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:19:11
> To: Hampshire LUG Discussion List
> Reply-To: Hampshire LUG Discussion List 
> Subject: [Hampshire] Printers
>
> Hi,
>
> I have a requirement for a Laser Duplex printer with Ethernet network
> interface.
> The last time I brought a printer was about 10 years ago.
> The previous one was a HP LaserJet 4L.
>
> Does anyone have any recommendations?
>
> Kind Regards
>
> James
>
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Re: [Hampshire] Printers

[Paul Stimpson]

Hi,

I've used the HP Laserjet 4300n (and 4200n - the same but a little slower) and 
they are excellent devices. They are fairly compact and modular so you buy the 
bits you need (duplexer, paper trays, stapler/stacker, trolley...) If you can 
find one there are preloaded ones where the model numbers end "dn" (Duplex + 
Network) and "dtn" (Duplex + jumbo 2nd paper Tray + Network) that come with the 
options pre-installed. 

The base printer with just network and no options was originally over £1000 and 
they do something like 18000 pages from a cartridge (chipped).  They are rated 
at something like 30,000 pages a month and you can pick ex-lease ones up (that 
have only done something like 25,000 pages total and have a half full 
cartridge) on eBay for a couple of hundred pounds. I've seen the duplexer and 
the jumbo 2nd paper tray on eBay too. If you find one without the "n" (no 
network) then the Jetdirect Ethernet module is also available as a self-install 
option on eBay. 

I've not had one to try yet but the Samsung colour lasers seem to have duplex 
and Ethernet and seem to be penguin-friendly. 

Cheers,
Paul. 


Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

-Original Message-
From: James Courtier-Dutton 
Sender: hampshire-boun...@mailman.lug.org.uk
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:19:11 
To: Hampshire LUG Discussion List
Reply-To: Hampshire LUG Discussion List 
Subject: [Hampshire] Printers

Hi,

I have a requirement for a Laser Duplex printer with Ethernet network interface.
The last time I brought a printer was about 10 years ago.
The previous one was a HP LaserJet 4L.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Kind Regards

James

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Re: [Hampshire] Printers

[Chris. Aubrey-Smith]

On 16 July 2010 10:19, James Courtier-Dutton  wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I have a requirement for a Laser Duplex printer with Ethernet network
> interface.
> The last time I brought a printer was about 10 years ago.
> The previous one was a HP LaserJet 4L.
>
> Does anyone have any recommendations?
>
> Kind Regards
>
> James
>
> --
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>

I'm on my second Brother laser printer, the previous one having lasted
eleven years: excellent!

The current model is an HL-5250. Highly recommended.

Chris.
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[Hampshire] Printers

[James Courtier-Dutton]

Hi,

I have a requirement for a Laser Duplex printer with Ethernet network interface.
The last time I brought a printer was about 10 years ago.
The previous one was a HP LaserJet 4L.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Kind Regards

James

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Re: [Hampshire] On-line Banking (Not entirely O.T.)

[Daniel Pope]

On 16/07/10 03:05, Vic wrote:

I don't need debugging tools. I just avoid writing code with bugs in.


Yeah, alright Dan. I'm sure we can all take that seriously.


You seemed to take my previous tongue-in-cheek comment about the 
illegibility of Perl one-liners seriously.


But seriously, I have to reach for pdb only a few times a year, it's 
nearly always due to having swallowed exceptions too broadly.


Dan

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Re: [Hampshire] On-line Banking (Not entirely O.T.)

[Victor Churchill]

> Actually, I have no idea what the semantics of <> are. I don't even know what 
> you call that syntactically - anonymous filehandle constant? Can you point me 
> to documentation about the semantics of that thing?

Its a special case of a .

perldoc perlop

If a  is used in a context that is looking for a list, a
list comprising all input lines is returned, one line per list
element. It's easy to grow to a rather large data space this way, so
use with care.

 may also be spelled readline(*FILEHANDLE). See readline.

The null filehandle <> is special: it can be used to emulate the
behavior of sed and awk. Input from <> comes either from standard
input, or from each file listed on the command line. Here's how it
works: the first time <> is evaluated, the @ARGV array is checked, and
if it is empty, $ARGV[0] is set to "-", which when opened gives you
standard input. The @ARGV array is then processed as a list of
filenames. The loop

   1. while (<>) {
   2. ... # code for each line
   3. }

is equivalent to the following Perl-like pseudo code:

   1. unshift(@ARGV, '-') unless @ARGV;
   2. while ($ARGV = shift) {
   3. open(ARGV, $ARGV);
   4. while () {
   5. ... # code for each line
   6. }
   7. }

except that it isn't so cumbersome to say, and will actually work. It
really does shift the @ARGV array and put the current filename into
the $ARGV variable. It also uses filehandle ARGV internally--<> is
just a synonym for , which is magical. (The pseudo code above
doesn't work because it treats  as non-magical.)

There is more.

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Re: [Hampshire] On-line Banking (Not entirely O.T.)

[Chris. Aubrey-Smith]

On 16 July 2010 03:05, Vic  wrote:

>
> > I don't need debugging tools. I just avoid writing code with bugs in.
>
> A clear breach of the first law of programming!
>
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