www.linuxformat.co.

uk 102 LXF66 MAY 2005

ANSWERS
Acer in a hole
Q
A while ago I took the
plunge and installed
SUSE 8.2 with a Centrino
wireless card on my Acer
laptop. Ive since upgraded to 9.2
and have 9.1 Professional installed
on my desktop.
I expected all sorts of problems
with the laptop, but they didnt
materialise, except for one major
issue I cant get it to talk to
anything. Thats not quite true it
will connect to the internet if I cable
it into my Linksys router, but...
Neither of my Linux boxes can
see one another (I set the Samba
server up on the desktop using
YaST, and the laptop up as a
Samba client).
The wireless card wont connect
to the internet or see the other
computer.
I cant get a connection via
bluetooth to my T610 phone.
Infrared works according to
YaSTs Test button, but wont do
anything beyond this.
The inbuilt modem is recognised
and dials telephone numbers, but
beyond that PPPd crashes - no
connection again.
Im on the verge of stripping
SUSE off the laptop because its
using up so much of my work time
just trying to get connected to
deliver work to clients. Why does
it have to be so difficult? Im not
a techie but Im a very competent
Windows user.
If I could find someone to talk
me through this, Id feel different, I
expect. As it is, I only have limited
time to trawl the internet and then
start tailoring dangerous-looking
configuration files.
I like Linux and I support
open source software and make
donations but its just getting to be
too much. If you can help me get
wireless and bluetooth operating
on my laptop and make my two
Linux boxes see one another, Id be
mighty pleased.
If you are really stuck and the HOWTOs yield no good result, why not write in?
Our resident experts will answer even your most complicated problems.
Answers
Otherwise, I guess itll be back
to Windows but using as much
open source as I can. Your
magazine is excellent Ill probably
still read it even if I have to say bye
bye to Linux.
Richard Moore
A
The simplest way to solve
this problem is to begin at
a low level and try to ping
hosts on the network. If you
can ping the other system by its IP
address, then the chances are that the
basic network is OK.
There are situations where pinging
works and file transfers do not, but
these are few and far between, and
are generally limited to complex
network configurations.
You can verify the IP configuration
and routing on the laptop using
ifconfig a and route n. Your
on-board Ethernet will be eth0, and
your wireless will be eth1 or wlan0,
depending on how the distribution
handles wireless access.
If you can access the wireless
router, but cant get out onto the
Internet, then the fault is likely to be a
routing issue on the device; either
because a default route is missing, or
the system is trying to send all traffic
out of the wired Ethernet interface.
Without information on specific
configuration options, and the current
state of the system, its difficult to put
my finger on an individual cause of
your network problems.
Samba on each host will need to
be configured via the etc/smb.conf
file, so theyll both belong to the same
workgroup. Even without this change,
youll be able to access shares
permitted in etc/smb.conf by
specifying the IP address of the host
in the Samba client.
Rather than using Samba, file
sharing on Linux is better done using
NFS, which can be configured using
the SUSE system configuration tools,
or by editing etc/exports.
With all laptops, its a good idea to
start over at www.linux-laptops.net,
and see what success others have had
with Linux and specific configuration
options used. Laptops are,
unfortunately, rather strange beasts,
and it can be difficult for developers
to get their hands on every single
variant out there.
You may want to give a distribution
such as Mandrake or Fedora Core a
try and see if you have anymore
success. Often, different Linux
distributions have kernel patches
installed, which resolves any problems
interacting with various hardware
devices. DC
Linux for business
Q
Ive got a good one for
you. Im not sure that
this can be categorised
as a technical question
but the only other places I can find
answers are bound to be biased.
Im a Linux business user. Most
of our back-end servers and
services are Linux-based. Our users
dont care whether we use Red Hat,
SUSE, Microsoft Windows or Baron
Samedi-style voodoo they all
have Windows desktops and
essentially just want to browse the
net and get their mail and files.
Were upgrading our server
OUR EXPERTS
Whatever your question, we can
find an expert to answer it. From
installation and modem woes to
network administrations, we can
get the answer for you just fire
off a letter or email and it'll all be
taken care of.
LXF Answers guy
David Coulson is
a networking and
security guru with
plenty of sysadmin
experience to boot.
Nick Veitch is the
editor of the
magazine, and
answers your easy
questions! Or
indeed anything to
do with Grub, LILO, netatalk, Vi...
Hans Huberland
is Rackspace
Managed Hostings
Linux expert and a
real-life system
administrator on
call for your questions.
Send your questions for our experts to:
Linux Format, Future Publishing,
30 Monmouth Street, Bath BA1 2BW
or email [email protected].
Got a sysadmin query? Send it to Hans
at [email protected].
Configuring laptops can be tricky.
Wed suggest you use NFS for
filesharing with your desktop.
LXF66.answr 102 14/3/05 10:48:00 am
www.linuxformat.co.uk LXF66 MAY 2005 103
ANSWERS
USB 2.0 is provided using the EHCI capability in the Linux kernel,
allowing for high-speed data transfers.
hardware, which is extremely dated
and is about to fall out of warranty
(its already been End of Life for
some time).
If fortune favours us well be
able to do this upgrade one server
at a time, so were not under
immense pressure to get the entire
network done in one go. We have a
decent budget but cant go on a
complete shopping spree.
Now for the questions: whats
the best server hardware to go for
if were looking for Linux
compatibility? Wed like the vendor
to have official Linux support not
just some guy on the net whos got
some source for BSD we can try to
cross-compile with mixed results.
Secondly, is it really worth going
for one of the paid-for Linux
distros? All our current servers use
Red Hat 8, which works pretty well.
A Red Hat-based distro would seem
an obvious choice but is Red Hats
Enterprise Linux the best option, or
would we be better off with
Fedora? Having said that, if were
going to be paying money for this,
would SUSE would be better?
Thanks for your help.
RJ
A
Wow, an IT department with
a budget, fantastic start!
Before I give you my view
and trigger an onslaught
of hate mail please remember that
this is only the opinion of one simple
man trying to make his way in the
universe, based on my own
experience with server hardware and
Linux distributions.
Most of the hardware vendors out
there are really very good. Id say
there are two main categories to
choose from here. The top tier
hardware vendors like Dell, HP, and
IBM etc. These guys make
phenomenal hardware its their
business to, but many of them only
support Linux as an afterthought.
From my own experience Dell have it
covered on their rack-dense servers.
They can offer you Red Hat Enterprise
with SUSE preinstalled at the factory,
which means you can be confident of
having good driver support.
Another big company taking bold
strides is IBM. IBM has always been a
favourite of mine, and with the
millions of dollars theyre pumping
into open source theyd be a safe bet.
At the other end of the spectrum
you get the true grass roots Linux
companies that make their own
servers mostly out of commodity
clone hardware.
There are loads of such companies
around, and most of them are small
and so give a more personalised
service than the big hitters. These
companies are built on Linux so
providing a product built with Linux in
mind is what makes them tick.
When it comes to picking a vendor
for your software it gets more blurred.
Here are the main reasons I would be
willing to pay for a Linux distribution:
Updates If a company provides a
Linux package theyre obliged to keep
it running securely.
Support Theres someone to call;
even if it may cost a little money.
Different levels of support are available
for different budgets.
Accountability Often the people
paying the cheques like to know that
there is somebody they can hold
accountable for a failure in service,
either of the product or any of the
ancillary services.
Ill focus on Red Hat in particular
as I have no real experience with
Novell/SUSEs commercial offering.
>>
When it comes to managed hosting
Rackspace is unique. We are the only
hosting company to guarantee 100%
network uptime and we will even
pledge to replace faulty hardware (lets
face it, it does happen) within an hour.
As you would expect from Red Hats
only Advanced Hosting partner you will
receive Fanatical Support
TM
and instant
emergency response from
fully-qualified level three technicians,
available 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year. No answering machines, no
diversions, no silly on-hold messages.
All our customer platforms are
housed in state-of-the-art, secure data
centres and can be fully customised to
meet any requirement. A dedicated
account manager is allocated to you at
the outset and will remain on your
account. All Rackspace employees are
committed to ensuring customer
satisfaction, and they will not rest until
a client problem is resolved.
Since Rackspace was established in
1998, it has specialised in managed
hosting nothing else. Were not an ISP,
we dont sell domain names, and we
wont offer website design all we do
is managed hosting. As a result, we do it
very well and 97% of our customers
would happily recommend us.
For information on how we can
improve your web hosting, please
contact us at www.rackspace.co.uk
and ask any questions you have about
the ultimate managed hosting service.
See page 107 for Rackspaces star letter.
ALL ABOUT RACKSPACE
LXF Sysadmin
Answers in
association
with Rackspace
Managed
Hosting
Red Hat will give you the actual
operating system license as well as a
subscription to their up2date service
for patches. Also, if they release a
newer version (such as the upcoming
RHEL4) youll be able to download
and install that too. For the
approximately 500 standard
package theyll answer an unlimited
number of queries within four hours
during business hours.
This level of service can be
upgraded all the way to one-hour
response times, 24/7. SUSEs free
product support will also work very
well for you but dont expect anything
more than Google for help; you really
do get what you pay for when youre
talking support.
Having said that, if youve been
using the free Red Hat product for
some time, you can probably support
yourself quite adequately whatever
distro you go for. HH
Hi tension
Q
I have a D845WN Intel
motherboard, which
(according to the Intel
website) has Hi-Speed
USB 2.0 ports. Unfortunately Ive
not been able to attain high speeds,
even after installing all the relevant
software for my motherboard from
the Intel site. Im running
Fedora Core 3 on my machine and
have an external USB 2.0 hard disk.
Using it on USB 1.1 ports is
extremely frustrating. Can you tell
me how I can I enable Hi-Speed
USB 2.0 speeds?
Andrew M
A
USB 2.0 under Linux
requires a supported USB
2.0 controller and the use
of the EHCI module to
access the USB subsystem. You can
verify which USB modules your system
is loading by using dmesg, which
displays kernel information from system
boot time. However, what you describe
may be related to a problem with the
EHCI module itself. The kernel 2.6. 10
source included EHCI driver software
which seems to confuse some controller
cards (To be fair, the EHCI drivers are still
rather experimental).
This can cause quite a few
problems. The easiest way to fix
your woes is to change your
kernel. It is possible to go back to
an earlier version, but before you try
that, check out http://download.
fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/
linux/core/updates/3/ for updates to
the Fedora kernel. NV
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www.linuxformat.co.uk 104 LXF66 MAY 2005
ANSWERS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS MOZILLA
FAQ
WHAT IS MOZILLA?
ITS SORT OF LIKE
NETSCAPE, ISNT IT?
Mozilla was developed with the
source code originally used to build
Netscape 4. However, it has practically
all been rewritten, so apart from the
general look and feel, its a completely
new internet browser (technically its a
web suite of applications).
Netscape (which is now owned by
AOL) has in turn taken the Mozilla
code and modified it slightly to
produce Netscape 7. However, Mozilla
is still in development, so you should
consider it over Netscape 7 when
looking for a browser.
FAQ
WHERE CAN I
GET MOZILLA?
Mozilla can be downloaded from
www.mozilla.org and is also packaged
by many distributions for easy installation.
Debian users need only do apt-get
install mozilla and it installs everything
for you. You can download either binary
or source releases of Mozilla, and as the
Mozilla team generate optimised
binaries, its often a good idea to just
grab the binary tarballs not to mention
the fact that it can take a matter of
hours to build Mozilla on a reasonably
powerful system, so its not something
you want to rebuild a few times every
day on a PII500.
FAQ
IS IT STABLE, OR IS IT
LIABLE TO FALL OVER
AND BURST INTO FLAMES?
The Mozilla Foundation released its
1.0 build quite a while ago, and the
current stable release is 1.6. There are
also development releases and nightly
builds from the code residing in the
CVS tree, so you can select the level
of bleeding edge you prefer.
WHAT CAN I GET DONE
WITH MOZILLA?
Mozilla supports everything that
Netscape 4 does, including a web
browser, mail client, address book and
HTML composer to create websites.
There is also an IRC client. Due to the
nature of its development, Mozilla
includes various debugging tools for
JavaScript, HTML and CSS.
I HEARD THERE WAS A
LOT OF COOL STUFF IN
MOZILLA? WHAT DOES IT DO
THAT NETSCAPE DOESNT?
Generally, Mozilla is significantly more
stable than Netscape 4, and its
rendering engine (Gecko) is completely
compliant with the HTML, XHTML and
CSS standards, as well as being much
faster than the HTML rendering system
that was used with Netscape 4.
A number of HTML and CSS tests
are available with Mozilla to show off its
swanky rendering capabilities and all
the fancy stuff it can do with CSS.
ARE THERE ANY
THIRD-PARTY
ADDITIONS FOR MOZILLA?
Yes, there are a multitude of
third-party projects for Mozilla, many
of which can be found over at
www.mozdev.org. Many of these
add extra capabilities to Mozilla, or
extend upon those which are currently
available. Indeed, a number of
mozdev.org projects have been
merged into the main Mozilla tree,
exposing these projects to a much
wider audience.
So hop on over to
www.mozdev.org and take a look at
the top 50 projects to see if there are
any that interest you. Some are quite
silly and dont do anything particularly
useful, but others will be new-found
essentials that youll wonder how you
ever did without.
OOPS! MOZILLA DIED
ON ME. HOW DO I
REPORT THIS?
The Mozilla guys have developed a
bug tracking system known as Bugzilla
which holds a record of all the Mozilla
bugs. Anyone can submit bugs to
Bugzilla, at http://bugzilla.mozilla.
org/enter_bug.cgi?format=guided;
or you can search for existing bugs
and find out their status with a
particular Mozilla build.
In order to submit problems to
Bugzilla, youll need to register with
the bugzilla.mozilla.org site, and
then youll be able to post bugs to the
system. As always, its a good idea to
include as much detail as you can so
that your bug can be reproduced by
those who do the fixing.
IS MOZILLA
COMPARABLE TO
EVOLUTION?
Not at all. Evolution is a PIM, whereas
Mozilla is a web browser. Evolution is
more like Microsoft Outlook than
Mozilla. Of course, one can use both
Mozilla and Evolution, effectively
replacing the need to have Internet
Explorer and Outlook available.
Zipped off
Q
I am a subscriber to LXF
and a newcomer to Linux
generally. Im having
problems trying to copy
the Gambas application from this
months CD [LXF 64].
Using find /mnt/cdrom2
gambas-1.0.1.tar.bz2 -print
results in mnt/cdrom2/Magazine/
Gambas/gambas-1.0.1.tar.bz2;
but adding this pathname to the
command tar xvf --bzip2 given
in Essential Disc Info generates the
error message btar: --bzip2:
Cannot open: No such file or
directory. Replacing 1.0.1 with 2.1.0
in the filename produces the same
message. What am I doing wrong?
Howard Yates
A
There doesnt seem to be
anything wrong with the
steps you are trying, but the
error message suggests
your command isnt formated properly
- try this:
tar xvf --bzip2 /mnt/cdrom2/
Magazine/Gambas/gambas-1.0.1.tar.bz2
You can also use the slightly
shorter tar xvfj [filename] with
most versions of tar. NV
Samba on SUSE
Q
Im having trouble getting
Samba to work on my
SUSE 9.2 box. I use a
Belkin 10/100 Ethernet
card on my Linux box; a Via Rinefire
onboard 10/100 Ethernet card on
my Windows box; and a five-port
Belkin Ethernet switch.
The Belkin NIC is detected and
configured by SUSE, but I cant
figure out how to get Samba to
work. It worked under my old
system (Fedora Core 3) but I dont
want to go back to this, as I want to
listen to MP3s and use the software
(like Scribus and KMyMoney) that
comes with SUSE. Any help would
be appreciated.
Jamie
A
Youll need to verify that
Samba is running and that
the firewall is turned off
use YaST for this. If the
firewall is enabled, remote systems will
be unable to access the Samba
service. As an alternative, you can
open up specific ports on the firewall
to permit access to Samba:
TCP: 137, 138, 139, 445
UDP: 137, 138
Mozilla is a great web browser and mail client for Linux systems, while
Firefox and Thunderbird provide individual components of the Mozilla suite.
> >
FAQ
FAQ
FAQ
FAQ
FAQ
LXF66.answr 104 14/3/05 10:48:03 am
www.linuxformat.co.uk LXF66 MAY 2005 105
ANSWERS
Put the following lines in the
etc/sysconfig/SUSEfirewall2
configuration file:
FW_SERVICES_EXT_TCP=microsoft-
ds netbios-dgm netbios-ns netbios-
ssn
FW_SERVICES_EXT_UDP=netbios-
dgm netbios-ns
You will also need to enable broadcast
packets on the firewall:
FW_ALLOW_FW_BROADCAST=yes
Et voila! Hope this works. DC
Missing modem
Q
I have just installed SUSE
9.2 from the March 2005
issue [LXF64] as a dual
boot alongside Windows
XP Home, which I still use. I am
completely new to Linux, and the
installation couldnt have been
easier. There are, however, some
questions I cant easily find answers
for on the net.
YaST has recognised most of my
hardware, graphics, sound etc,
including the fact that I have a USB
ADSL modem. But it doesnt
recognise the modem itself just
the fact that I have one. When I
click on the modem entry in the
hardware list, the Configure button
stays greyed out.
The modem is a Sagem Fast
800/840, which I have connected
via USB rather than Ethernet card.
There are instructions for Linux on
the modems install disc, but Im
afraid its all a bit over my head. Is
there an easy way to install this
modem on SUSE? Are there simple
instructions in newbie terms?
More importantly, if I configure
the modem for SUSE, will it still
work when I switch to Windows to
go online from there? Can it be
used on both OSs without problems?
My ISP is Tiscali, and I connect
on a 512k broadband connection.
Are there any problems from
Tiscalis side if I connect with both
Linux and Windows?
Also, where do I find the options
for setting up an internet
connection in SUSE? (ie is it as
simple as it is in Windows?) And is
email set-up similarly pain-free?
With anticipation of some help
for a helpless Linux new boy, thanks
very much.
Rick Mark
A
We were able to find some
documentation on the
configuration of this modem
with Linux, although it is
fairly complex and in French. You
can find it at http://lea-linux.org/
hardware/sagem.html?v=t. Youll
be able to use the DSL modem from
both Windows and SUSE as you
dual-boot, although your ISP probably
wont support the connection for Linux
if it doesnt work, dont expect them
to help you.
Configuration for internet
connectivity via supported devices in
SUSE is performed through YaST, so if
you have any internal Ethernet
connections, or a dial-up modem, you
can set them up this way.
You have quite a choice of mail
clients we would recommend
Thunderbird from www.mozilla.org,
which is a great client with an easy to
use interface. DC
More SUSE stuff
Q
Ive just installed
SUSE 9.2 from your
latest DVD. I religiously
installed each of the
main distros as you published them,
hoping against hope that I would
eventually have a Linux platform
which would allow me to connect
to the internet. I have a broadband
connection via Wanadoo using an
Alcatel SpeedTouch USB modem,
which looks rather like a green,
limbless crab.
I was able to connect with this
modem back in the days of
Mandrake 8, but have been unable
to connect since upgrading. Ive
tried Mandrake, SUSE, Fedora and
Red Hat, all to no avail.
Can you please help me, or (if I
need to purchase a different
modem) recommend one that SUSE
will recognise? I would be forever in
your debt as would be my barber
once I stop tearing my hair out.
Brian W
A
Lots of information on the
Alcatel SpeedTouch USB
modem (otherwise known
as the frog), can be found
at http://linux-usb.sourceforge.net/
SpeedTouch/. This includes open
source versions of the drivers, as well
as setup documentation to get you
onto the internet using the modem.
As you are running SUSE 9.2, you
can follow the instructions at
http://linux-usb.sourceforge.net/
SpeedTouch/suse/index.html to get
it up and running. Wanadoo gives you
the option of using either PPP over
Ethernet, or PPP over ATM (PPPoA);
but the SpeedTouch USB
documentation suggests that using
PPPoA is a better option. In either
case, youll need to follow the specific
instructions for the PPP method used
to connect to your ISP. DC
Unsupported
Q
I would like to upgrade
from MySQL 3.23 to
MySQL 4, but my Red
Hat Enterprise Linux ES
server does not have the relevant
package available. I can see that
a package is available from the
MySQL site but Im worried that it
will break my server.
Can you give me any advice on
this job? I know how to do the
actual install of the RPM I just
dont know what the consequences
will be.
From the Rackspace Forums
A
The upgrade itself should
pose no problems. However,
please bear in mind that
the RPM from MySQL will
probably have a different username to
those used by the Red Hat version, as
well as some different paths. Any
third-party programs you have that go
into the MySQL 3.23 libraries may also
need to be updated.
The table structure between 3.23
and 4.x is totally compatible, but the
MySQL table has a few extra columns
that will need to be added. There is a
script included in MySQL called
mysql_fix_privilege_tables which
should resolve any issues with this.
One thing to think about before
you go through with the upgrade is
that Red Hat does not officially
support MySQL 4 so youll lose all
support for this aspect of your
operating system. Ive seen this
combination work many times, but if
you decide to go ahead dont forget
to add MySQL to the up2date ignore
list, or you will automatically downgrade
to 3.23 next time up2date runs. HH
>>
The popular Alcatel SpeedTouch DSL modem has extensive documentation, making it easy to run with Linux.
LXF66.answr 105 14/3/05 10:48:06 am
www.linuxformat.co.uk 106 LXF66 MAY 2005
ANSWERS
Wi-Fi gear
Q
Ive been running
Mandrake Linux 8.2 with
Windows 98 SE on my
PC. After five months of
running both, Ive decided to get rid
of Windows and the partitions, and
use Linux full-time. I have just
bought your Complete Linux
Handbook 2, and intend to install
Mandrake 9.2 from the DVD.
Ive ordered 2MB broadband
(without tech support) from
Madasafish, who cater for Linux,
and I want to use a wireless
connection to my PC as it will not
be staying where it is. Can you
advise me on a wireless modem/
router? Would I be better off with
two separate units, and will I need
some sort of a card in my PC? Im
not having any luck finding
something suitable on my own (not
knowing what Im looking at
doesnt help). The products need to
be reasonably simple for someone
as ignorant as me to set up. Any
help you can give me would be
gratefully appreciated.
Sean
A
LXF would recommend you
start out by installing a
recent distribution of Linux,
such as Mandrake 10. 1 or
Fedora Core 3, rather than trying to
fight with something a year or two old.
You can find a list of wireless
devices that work with Linux from
www.prism54.org, and you should
probably pick a DSL router from the
vendor that youre purchasing your
wireless adaptor from. As you have a
LUG nearby [Malvern], you may want
to join their mailing lists and find out
what success others have had with
specific devices. You can either
purchase a wireless bridge, which
provides wired Ethernet access to your
device, or a PCI card which has a
wireless adaptor built in. Many
manufacturers (including D-Link and
Netgear) make DSL and wireless
devices, so you have quite a selection
to pick from.
There are also a number of
low-cost vendors we recommend
that you avoid these, otherwise trying
to find support from a LUG or on the
internet is going to be quite a trial. DC
Say what?
Q
Im a newbie with regards
to Linux, but with the
offer on your cover of
SUSE 9.2 I thought Id
give it a try, and set my machine
up to dual-boot both Windows 98
SE and SUSE 9.2.
I must say Im very impressed.
The install was a lot easier than
Windows and Im thinking of doing
away with Windows altogether.
The only thing stopping me is the
inability to get my onboard
sound working.
My PC specifications are:
AMD Duron processor
running at 1,600MHz.
512MB DDR RAM.
ASRock K7VT2 motherboard
with onboard sound, LAN,
USB 2.0, etc.
Maxtor
40GB HDD.
Bearpaw
1200Cu scanner.
Epson 810 Colour
Stylus photo printer.
Compaq Presario 1425 monitor.
Stuart Lonnen
A
The ASRock K7VT2
motherboard uses a VIA
chipset, which has onboard
AC97 compatible audio. If
you are running a 2.6 version of Linux
you can add the following to your
/etc/modules.conf file:
#--- START ALSA ---#
#--- ALSA ---#
alias char-major-116* snd
alias snd-card-0 snd-via82xx
# (sound-card-0 is probably not
needed, but just in case)
alias sound-card-0 snd-card-0
#--- OSS ---#
alias char-major-14* soundcore
alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0
#--- ALSA - CARD ---#
options snd cards_limit=1
#--- ALSA - OSS ---#
alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-
oss
alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-
oss
alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-
oss
alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-
oss
#--- ALSA - /dev (OSS) ---#
alias /dev/sequencer* snd-seq-oss
alias /dev/dsp* snd-pcm-oss
alias /dev/mixer* snd-mixer-oss
alias /dev/midi* snd-seq-oss
#--- END ALSA ---#
Once the audio device is accessed,
it will automatically load the modules
for you. DC
Lost in firmware
Q
I finally have a
broadband connection
thanks to a USB
SpeedTouch 330 modem,
which, according to a multitude of
pages on the internet, can be used
with Linux.
Here is the problem: they all
mention that I need to download
firmware and perform several steps
with the firmware in order to get
the modem working.
My understanding of the
meaning of firmware is that it is the
software that sits on the modem
itself; so if I carry out the
instructions as spelled out on
http://linux-usb.sourceforge.net/
SpeedTouch/fedora/index.html for
Fedora Core 3 I should end up with
a working modem for my Fedora
Core 3 system.
If I have to update the software
on the modem to get it to work with
Linux, will it stop the modem from
working with my existing Windows
XP installation?
I really dont want to proceed
any further until I find this out as
flashing things like BIOS/firmware
scare the living daylights out of me!
Kan Yuen
A
As the firmware is distributed
by SpeedTouch, you
shouldnt encounter any
problems when you use the
modem under Windows XP.
As always when doing any firmware
or BIOS upgrades, you should ensure
that you have a backup of the existing
image in fact, this should be at the
top of your to-do list. Most likely, if
something goes wrong when you try
to update, youll have to send the
> >
The VIA chipsets are all fairly similar, and support for sound and network
capabilities are ready to go in the Linux kernel.
Athlon chip on an ASUS
motherboard: ready for SUSE.
LXF66.answr 106 14/3/05 10:48:08 am
www.linuxformat.co.uk LXF66 MAY 2005 107
ANSWERS
What a mate
Q
I have been trying to
set up a Linux box
running Fedora Core 3
for my friends to play
with. Theyre mostly Windows guys
and dont have a lot of
command-line experience, so Im
trying to help them into the
wonderful world of open source by
setting up VNC on the Linux box so
they can log in and play around on
separate X session.
I have created a script called
vnclogon to start a VNC server
session but am having a lot of
trouble making it work. The script
is as follows:
#!/bin/bash
echo Hello There $USER
echo You are about to run the
VNC server service.
echo n Do you want to
continue(Y/N)
read Decision
if [ $Decision = Y ]; then
echo Starting your
VNC Session.
echo Please wait
vncserver :1 name
$USER >/dev/null 2&>1
echo VNC Session Loaded!
else
echo Then why did you
run the script?
fi
The strange thing is that the
script seems to execute correctly
but when someone tries to
connect using a VNC viewer they
get the following error: Unable to
connect to host: Connection
refused (10061). Even stranger is
the fact that when I try to kill the
VNC session by using the
vncserver kill:1 command, I get
the following error: Killing Xvnc
process ID 4790, Kill 4790: No
such process. The strange thing is
that when I run the VNC server
service manually, I manage to
connect.
Please help me make this work.
Paddy Tillman
A
You seem to have a nice
script going and I admit that
I was a bit puzzled by the
error you got when you
tried to kill the VNC session generated
by the script.
It appears that youve tried to
suppress the output generated by
VNC when a VNC server session is
launched by redirecting the output
to dev/nul using I/O redirection. The
mistake is in the syntax of the
command instead of >/dev/null
2&>1, you should have typed
>/dev/null 2>&1.
The 2>&1 is actually a neat piece
of code which is used to send
standard error to the same place as
the standard output. Youve sent your
standard output (1) to /dev/null, and
so standard error (2) also goes to
/dev/null. The & in 2>&1 is simply to
put the job in the background so that
you get your shell prompt back.
All in all the script seems quite
good and I believe that this correction
should help solve your problem and
allow your friends to make better
acquaintance with Fedora Cores
X front-end. HH
>>
whole thing back to SpeedTouch for
them to fix it for you.
Weve rarely had problems
ourselves with flashing devices, other
than if there is a hardware issue on
the device which corrupts the image.
We think it would be fine to flash the
modem, although you may wish to
check with the nice people in
SpeedTouchs technical support
department first to verify that the
image will work. DC
RAID distress
Q

I have been
experimenting with Linux
for the past two years
and would consider
myself to be an enthusiast if only
at quite a basic level. I recently
purchased a new computer from
MESH and decided to opt for an
AMD 3200 Athlon 64-bit processor
on an ASUS K8VSE Deluxe
motherboard with the intention of
installing my favourite distribution,
SUSE Professional 9.2, in dual boot
mode with the pre-installed
Windows XP.
This is where the problems
started. The motherboard has an
on-board Promise FastTrak 378
controller, which the 200GB SATA
hard drive was configured to use in
a RAID 1+0 array. When I tried to
install SUSE Professional 9.2,
having made space on the hard
drive using Partition Magic from the
Windows XP OS, the installation
procedure advised me to disable
the hardware RAID 1+0 array and
to create a software RAID 1+0
array within SUSE using YaST. I was
concerned that if I did this I would
not be able to use the Windows XP
OS installed and therefore have not
been able to install the SUSE
distribution. The ironic thing is that
WIN A NEUROS DIGITAL AUDIOCOMPUTER
with Rackspace Managed Hosting
www.rackspace.co.uk
WIN!
STAR QUESTION WINNER!
This issue's lucky winner is Paddy Tillman your new Neuros digital audiocomputer will be with you shortly!
Every month, the best question
related to systems administration
that a LXF reader sends in wins a
prize. This month you have the
chance to win the life-enhancing
Neuros MP3 digital audio computer.
With a Neuros, you can manage
all the music stored on your PC.
Create play lists. Delete songs. Get
new files, thanks to the Neuros
Synchronisation Manager. No more
getting stuck in front of the PC to
make changes do it all on the
Neuros, and get on with it.
Then use its NeuroCast feature to
broadcast the music on your Neuros
device through any FM radio.
NeuroCast automatically scans the
FM radio dial for an available
frequency and broadcasts using all-
digital stereo encoding, just like
broadcast towers used by
professional radio stations.
The Neuros has many recording
capabilities that make it a robust tool
for the recording hobbyist. The
device includes an on-board
microphone, perfect for the quick
memo or recorded lecture. It has
line-in recording capabilities and you
can record to MP3 or WAV, with a
choice of seven recording qualities.
Neuros also features a built-in
FM radio with five preset buttons so
you can play your
favourite stations
with one click,
just like on your
car stereo.
Tempting, isnt it?
You know what to
do: email
sysadminqa@
rackspace.co.uk.
LXF66.answr 107 14/3/05 10:48:10 am
108 LXF66 MAY 2005 www.linuxformat.co.uk
ANSWERS
> >
I do not need to have the computer
configured to use the RAID 1+0
array as I only have one hard drive
installed.
I would like to know whether it
is possible to install SUSE
Professional 9.2 in dual boot mode
with the pre-installed Windows XP
o/s or whether I have to re-build
the computer from scratch not
using the Promise drivers during
the installation and not configuring
a RAID 1+0 array?
I have also installed a separate
40GB ATA hard drive connected to
one of the motherboards IDE
connectors to see whether I could
install SuSE on to this drive but was
not successful.
I would be grateful for any
advice you could give me.
Michael
A
Were rather confused as to
why the Promise FastTrack
controller would let you
create a RAID device with a
single disk, much less a RAID 1+0
array, which requires at least four disks.
You can try to disable any RAID
capabilities in the FastTrack BIOS, and
as youve only got a single disk, the
BIOS should boot from it quite happily.
SUSE will detect the RAID array as a
device, and allow you to partition and
write information to it.
As a test, you can boot using a
Knoppix 3.7 CD, or attempt to install
Mandrake 10. 1 or Fedora Core 3 which
may have better support for the SATA
controller on your board.
Many boards that provide SATA
only recognise certain ATA controller
ports. If you cant install SUSE onto an
ATA disk, there is probably a
misconfiguration within the BIOS. You
can try to turn off Legacy Mode, to
allow both SATA and ATA to work on
their own: Legacy Mode is designed
for older Operating Systems that get
confused when SATA is available. DC
Zip it
Q
Thank you for SUSE 9.2
on the LXF64 DVD.
However, Ive had to
revert to 9.1 as I couldnt
get my Zip drive to run on 9.2 the
Iomega Zip drive wasnt even
identified. I give below the entries
I made in /etc/fstab:
/dev/hdb
hdb4 /media/zip subfs
auto auto
noauto,fs=floppyfss
{nothing},procuid,exec, user
nouser,dev\nodev,rw
I think youll agree I tried all
reasonable combinations. Some of
them merely echoed SUSEs entries
for /dev/fd0 (floppy disk).
I liked everything else about 9.2
and so am disappointed not to be
able to use it, but my Zip disks are
my main archive at the moment,
and contain a lot of data.
Thanks for your time and
attention! I do hope you can help.
Phil Coleman
A
You should start by verifying
that the Zip drive actually
exists by running dmesg.
This will output a whole slew
of information, which should hopefully
include IDE devices located during the
boot process Assuming the device
really exists on /dev/hdb, you need to
mount /dev/hdb4, which can be done
manually with the following:
mount t vfat /dev/hdb4 /media/zip
If this fails to mount the Zip drive,
the error output should indicate what
causes the problem fairly quickly.
Should it work, you can add it to
fstab with the following:
/dev/hbd4 /media/zip auto
defaults 0 0
You can then manually mount the
device with the command:
mount /media/zip
Good luck! DC
We are happy to answer all sorts of
Linux-related questions. If we dont
know the answer, well find out for
you! But in order for us to give you the
best service, it helps a lot if you read
the following submission advice.
Please be sure to include any relevant
details of your system. I can't get X to
work doesn't really mean anything to us if
we dont know things like what version of
X you are trying to run or what hardware
you are running on.
Be specific about your problem. Things like
it doesn't work or I get an error arent all
that helpful. In what way does something
not work? What were you expecting to
happen? What does the error message
actually say?
Please remember that the people who
write this magazine are NOT the authors
or developers of Linux, any particular
package or distro. Sometimes the people
responsible for software have more
information available on websites etc. Try
reading the documentation!
We will try to answer all questions. If we don't
answer yours specifically, you'll probably find
we've answered one just like it. We can't
really reply to all your questions.
Submission advice
There are many instant messaging
protocols out there for those of us who
consider email to be slow, from those
provided by corporations (such as MSN,
Yahoo and AIM) to open protocols like
IRC and Jabber.
While many provide closed-source
clients for Linux, its not exactly useful
for those running non-i386 systems. You
also need one for each protocol so if
were connected to the most common
services we might have five or six little
windows cluttering our desktop.
Somewhere down the line, there
came the bright idea that having one
client handle more than one protocol
would be a smart idea. Jabber does this
in some respects, since you can connect
to another protocol via the Jabber
server. However, this can cause problems
if the Jabber server is unavailable.
Instead, most choose to use a client
which contains protocol code for the
most popular IM systems.
Two of the most popular IM clients
on Linux are Gaim and everybuddy. The
former originally only supported AIM,
but it now has plugins for everything
from MSN to IRC, and plenty in
between. Both support almost all
protocols known to man, along with a
few others no one ever uses. Since those
running the servers can modify the
protocols as a whim, its worth keeping
up with the updates to both clients. Its
not uncommon for AOL to suddenly not
like other clients and block them.
IRC is a little different, as its a
group-based chat system rather than an
IM service. There are hundreds of clients
for IRC on the internet both X- and
console-based and http://freshmeat.
net contains a comprehensive list of
what is available.
On the server side, its somewhat
difficult to supply your own MSN, Yahoo
or AIM services because there is no ublic
code for the service. Since individuals
have managed to reverse
engineer the protocol to
write clients such as
INSTANT MESSAGING
A QUICK REFERENCE TO:
everybuddy and Gaim, its
practical to produce a server, though
no one seems to have taken the time to
do this. IRC and Jabber have open
source servers available, so one can
easily set up a private
network.
For instant
messaging,
nothing beats
Gaim. It will
even work on
Windows, so
the familiar
look and feel
is available
whatever
the
platform.
Our SUSE coverdisc has thrown up
plenty of install issues.
LXF
LXF66.answr 108 14/3/05 10:48:12 am