The Linux Questions Thread: a bunch of pitfalls, but technically it's possible

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > The Linux Questions Thread: a bunch of pitfalls, but technically it's possible

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Pablo Bluth: Sep 7, 2007; I've made a huge mistake.

I want to capture Lame's output histogram to a log file. The problem is that when you redirect to a file, you end up with the raw escape sequences in the file rather than them being executed (for example moving the cursor, causing earlier text to be overwritten). Does anyone know of a way to pipe the output in to something that will replicate the correct escape sequence behaviour before writing the log file?

# ? Dec 6, 2008 12:57

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# ? Jun 6, 2024 01:07

Cabbages and VHS: Aug 25, 2004; Listen, I've been around a bit, you know, and I thought I'd seen some creepy things go on in the movie business, but I really have to say this is the most disgusting thing that's ever happened to me.

What distros would be good for a low-end (p3 450mhz, 128mb ram, 4gb hd) laptop? I tried xubuntu and it crawled. DSL or Puppy would probably both fit the bill, but I'm curious if there are any other more traditional distros out there that would. I'm installing VectorLinux at the moment - what else should I consider?

# ? Dec 6, 2008 17:48

Supersonic: Mar 28, 2008; You have used 43 of 300 characters allowed.; Tortured By Flan

PFC.Spengler posted:

What distros would be good for a low-end (p3 450mhz, 128mb ram, 4gb hd) laptop? I tried xubuntu and it crawled. DSL or Puppy would probably both fit the bill, but I'm curious if there are any other more traditional distros out there that would. I'm installing VectorLinux at the moment - what else should I consider?

Slackware, Arch, and Debian would all be good choices. Just make sure that you don't use resource hungry apps such as firefox (I'd recommend Dillo for a lightweight browser). I'd also look to use a really lightweight WM such as Fluxbox or Openbox, as I think Xfce will be pretty slow on that machine.

# ? Dec 6, 2008 23:01

Scaevolus: Apr 16, 2007

Supersonic posted:

Slackware, Arch, and Debian would all be good choices. Just make sure that you don't use resource hungry apps such as firefox (I'd recommend Dillo for a lightweight browser). I'd also look to use a really lightweight WM such as Fluxbox or Openbox, as I think Xfce will be pretty slow on that machine.

I'd use Opera instead of Dillo, which is so primitive that it doesn't even support CSS.

# ? Dec 7, 2008 07:47

dont skimp on the shrimp: Apr 23, 2008

Or you could give netsurf a try. It's pretty lightweight.

# ? Dec 7, 2008 13:47

Kane: Aug 20, 2000; Do you see the problem?

Conscious of pain, you're distracted by pain.
You're fixated on it. Obsessed by one threat, you miss the other.

So much more aware, so much less perceptive. An automaton could do better.

Are you in there?

Are you listening? Can you see?

ADOPT ME

I need someone to Linux-adopt me. I am a Ph.D. research student, working on the simulation of a brain circuit (more info here).

We're using a program that runs on Linux and the entire development is done on it. I have worked with it already on a system that was (mostly) pre set up with the rest of my team who is Linux-savvy, but I am currently away and isolated and have to set it all up on my home computer.

I've already installed Suse using VMWare on my home computer and actually made everything work, but I am now trying to install Fedora instead and achieve some more "complex" things, with which I need some help.

I know a LOT about computers and windows in general, but haven't a clue when it comes to Linux. I really need someone I can bug on ICQ/Messenger/E-Mail who will be available for quick questions and who will know where to direct me when I run into problems. I am really clueless about a lot of things and Linux seems to have a large :psyduck:

factor if you don't know what's going on.

Any volunteers? You'll be helping science! :science:

I am a quick learner and promise I won't bug you too much or over trivial things.

# ? Dec 7, 2008 14:52

wolfs: Jul 17, 2001; posted by squid gang

I'm using scponly
http://www.sublimation.org/scponly/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
to provide a sftp server.

How do I limit the bandwidth used by sftp transfers to external connections?
I've used Wondershaper before, but that is a global setting - so my local access to my server is affected as well.

I have a feeling the answer is going to be complicated involving some things I don't understand - involving tc, cbq, and others.

Is there a simple solution?
Or if not, how about a good tutorial?

# ? Dec 7, 2008 17:05

Excavation: May 18, 2004; FEED ME CRAYONS

edit: actually I don't want to run the risk of getting in trouble for advertising other forums

Excavation fucked around with this message at 10:11 on Dec 8, 2008

# ? Dec 7, 2008 17:30

Saukkis: May 16, 2003; Unless I'm on the inside curve pointing straight at oncoming traffic the high beams stay on and I laugh at your puny protest flashes.
I am Most Important Man. Most Important Man in the World.

Kane posted:

ADOPT ME

I know a LOT about computers and windows in general, but haven't a clue when it comes to Linux. I really need someone I can bug on ICQ/Messenger/E-Mail who will be available for quick questions and who will know where to direct me when I run into problems. I am really clueless about a lot of things and Linux seems to have a large factor if you don't know what's going on.

You could consider IRC, then you could have several people available. Channel #SHSC at irc.synirc.net. I don't remember if there was more Linux specific channel.

# ? Dec 7, 2008 17:40

Alowishus: Jan 8, 2002; My name is Mud

Kane posted:

ADOPT ME

Any volunteers? You'll be helping science!
I am a quick learner and promise I won't bug you too much or over trivial things.

I'm happy to help, and one place you'll find me is on the #shsc IRC channel that Saukkis wisely recommended. I'm idle there along with lots of other smart people at least during normal M-F workdays. If you'd rather go via IM, you're also welcome to hit me up via AIM (Alow00tshus). Of course as I post this I'm leaving the house, but I'll be on later this evening...

# ? Dec 7, 2008 18:23

Kane: Aug 20, 2000; Do you see the problem?

Conscious of pain, you're distracted by pain.
You're fixated on it. Obsessed by one threat, you miss the other.

So much more aware, so much less perceptive. An automaton could do better.

Are you in there?

Are you listening? Can you see?

It's been years since I last joined an IRC channel! Where did I put my mIRC...

Alright, thanks. I'll add you once I finish downloading AIM.

# ? Dec 7, 2008 21:49

Miss Mowcher: Jul 24, 2007; Ribbit

I tried installing Ubuntu here but I can only enter on Linux if I add " all_generic_ide " on Grub, but this slows a lot the HD search/write, If I don't do this I get a black screen. Any idea why? or should I try another distribution?

PS: I tried entering the mIRC channel but it said "#shsc unable to join channel (address is banned)"
is it because I'm brazilian?

# ? Dec 8, 2008 20:07

Mr. Eric Praline: Aug 13, 2004; I didn't like the others, they were all too flat.

ZZZorcerer posted:

I tried installing Ubuntu here but I can only enter on Linux if I add " all_generic_ide " on Grub, but this slows a lot the HD search/write, If I don't do this I get a black screen. Any idea why? or should I try another distribution?

PS: I tried entering the mIRC channel but it said "#shsc unable to join channel (address is banned)"
is it because I'm brazilian?

Top of my head here, but I'm pretty sure on this. You'll want to see if there's a linux driver for your IDE controller. Then you'll need to build it as a module, and rebuild your initrd to load that module.

Not really an easy task, and it's the result of unusual hardware.

I'd try a different distro. Something like Redhat (or CentOS) or Suse might have the driver. They're sometimes more comprehensive with drivers.

# ? Dec 8, 2008 20:25

Miss Mowcher: Jul 24, 2007; Ribbit

chryst posted:

Top of my head here, but I'm pretty sure on this. You'll want to see if there's a linux driver for your IDE controller. Then you'll need to build it as a module, and rebuild your initrd to load that module.

Not really an easy task, and it's the result of unusual hardware.

I'd try a different distro. Something like Redhat (or CentOS) or Suse might have the driver. They're sometimes more comprehensive with drivers.

Thanks, it's my first time using linux at home so I'll try another distro. My motherboard is the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L (the HD is SATA so I have no idea why the command is IDE, I just found on google people with the same problem and someone said to do this and didn't explained why)

# ? Dec 8, 2008 21:21

yippee cahier: Mar 28, 2005

ZZZorcerer posted:

Thanks, it's my first time using linux at home so I'll try another distro. My motherboard is the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L (the HD is SATA so I have no idea why the command is IDE, I just found on google people with the same problem and someone said to do this and didn't explained why)

Is your chipset in legacy mode? Enable AHCI in the BIOS if it is and give it another shot.

# ? Dec 8, 2008 22:57

Chuu: Sep 11, 2004; Grimey Drawer

I'm trying to set a global environmental variable for all users on the system.

I added the export to /etc/profile and it works for most users, i.e. it works for local users and it works for people using SSH/putty to log in.

It's not working for people who are using Xming (a free windows X server) to launch xterm.

I am wondering, exactly how do I fix this? From googling around it sounds like /etc/profile should be run pretty much no matter what.

# ? Dec 9, 2008 00:06

Ninja Dan: Jun 28, 2005; Barn door's open!

What's the best distro these days for running a web server and a shoutcast server from a fairly old (1.2Ghz Athlon or there abouts) PC

# ? Dec 9, 2008 04:53

covener: Jan 10, 2004; You know, for kids!

Chuu posted:

I'm trying to set a global environmental variable for all users on the system.

I added the export to /etc/profile and it works for most users, i.e. it works for local users and it works for people using SSH/putty to log in.

It's not working for people who are using Xming (a free windows X server) to launch xterm.

I am wondering, exactly how do I fix this? From googling around it sounds like /etc/profile should be run pretty much no matter what.

quote:

When an interactive shell that is not a login shell is started, bash reads and executes commands from /etc/bash.bashrc and ~/.bashrc,
if these files exist. This may be inhibited by using the --norc option. The --rcfile file option will force bash to read and execute
commands from file instead of /etc/bash.bashrc and ~/.bashrc.

# ? Dec 9, 2008 07:02

Mr. Eric Praline: Aug 13, 2004; I didn't like the others, they were all too flat.

Ninja Dan posted:

What's the best distro these days for running a web server and a shoutcast server from a fairly old (1.2Ghz Athlon or there abouts) PC

It's hard to call one as "best". I'd be using Debian for stability and ease of minimizing the OS. Redhat/CentOS/Fedora do a little more hand-holding if you're new to Linux.

# ? Dec 9, 2008 16:12

Blockade: Oct 22, 2008

Linux goons: I set up a program to run in its own xserver. I'd like for the xserver to be gone when I'm done with the program but I can't find any command that stops or kills it. I can't find an answer on google. I'm new to linux and this is my first time working with xservers. Any advice or helpful links would be appreciated.

# ? Dec 9, 2008 23:53

PUSSY BARON: Dec 25, 2005; by mons all madden

edit: nevermind

PUSSY BARON fucked around with this message at 22:28 on Dec 10, 2008

# ? Dec 10, 2008 01:30

dont skimp on the shrimp: Apr 23, 2008

Blockade posted:

Linux goons: I set up a program to run in its own xserver. I'd like for the xserver to be gone when I'm done with the program but I can't find any command that stops or kills it. I can't find an answer on google. I'm new to linux and this is my first time working with xservers. Any advice or helpful links would be appreciated.

I guess you could do this in a script by running something like:
pidof startx --DISPLAY=0:10
DISPLAY=0:10 application
kill PID

Where PID would be the pid of the startx command. Something like this anyway.

# ? Dec 10, 2008 17:23

reborn: Feb 21, 2007

I need some help tracking down a good linux distro. I need a distro that is robust enough to use in a server environment and small enough to work on some pretty tiny/older equipment. The key here is that I need it to also run Binds.

Any suggestions?

# ? Dec 10, 2008 19:06

Mr. Eric Praline: Aug 13, 2004; I didn't like the others, they were all too flat.

reborn posted:

I need some help tracking down a good linux distro. I need a distro that is robust enough to use in a server environment and small enough to work on some pretty tiny/older equipment. The key here is that I need it to also run Binds.

Any suggestions?

Debian. Deselect everything in Tasksel, and you end up with a tiny build, and can apt-get the minimum stuff you need.

If you need to go even smaller, you can roll your own kernel.

The reason I don't recommend something like Tiny Linux is simply the lack of build stability and package quality control.

# ? Dec 10, 2008 19:15

Southern Heel: Jul 2, 2004

If I've created a Samba share with the following properties:

public = yes
guest ok = yes

I have a user account named will, and obviously root. The machine is only in a workgroup and none of the AD-integration is turned on. When I connect to this share from a client within the domain I get a login prompt. When I try to enter any connection credentials which are local to the machine (i.e. 'will') the client adds my Active Directory name to the front (so it ends up as ad/will). If I explicitly tell it the user name is IP Address/will or DNS name/will it doesn't let me in.

What am I missing?

# ? Dec 12, 2008 16:22

Greed is eternal: Jun 8, 2008

Jagtpanther posted:

If I've created a Samba share with the following properties:

public = yes
guest ok = yes

I have a user account named will, and obviously root. The machine is only in a workgroup and none of the AD-integration is turned on. When I connect to this share from a client within the domain I get a login prompt. When I try to enter any connection credentials which are local to the machine (i.e. 'will') the client adds my Active Directory name to the front (so it ends up as ad/will). If I explicitly tell it the user name is IP Address/will or DNS name/will it doesn't let me in.

What am I missing?

probably

code:

security = share

or set up user based authorization (requiring some more work)

# ? Dec 12, 2008 16:27

SimulClassPower: Jun 6, 2007; by angerbotSD

Hi all-- looking for a recommendation for a color laser printer, preferably network but USB if necessary, to use with Ubuntu Hardy and later. Should be able to handle image/photo printing reasonably well and also just slam out a text document with no fuss.

Under US$400 would be preferred but price is not a huge object.

On the technical side I can set up most anything the first time, but it can't require much tweaking for day-to-day use (will be in my wife's home office and I'm often on the road for a couple weeks at a time.) She's capable of changing cartridges and pressing the reset button but restarting print or smb daemons from the command line, not so much.

# ? Dec 12, 2008 23:25

Puck42: Oct 7, 2005

Jagtpanther posted:

If I've created a Samba share with the following properties:

public = yes
guest ok = yes

I have a user account named will, and obviously root. The machine is only in a workgroup and none of the AD-integration is turned on. When I connect to this share from a client within the domain I get a login prompt. When I try to enter any connection credentials which are local to the machine (i.e. 'will') the client adds my Active Directory name to the front (so it ends up as ad/will). If I explicitly tell it the user name is IP Address/will or DNS name/will it doesn't let me in.

What am I missing?

Did you run "smbpasswd -a will" and setup your password for samba?

# ? Dec 12, 2008 23:26

deong: Jun 13, 2001; I'll see you in heck!

I've got a small issue w/ IPCop 1.4.21

For some reason, the NTP clock is off by 14 hours. I can't figure out why and its driving me nuts. Checking the Services>Time Server, Ive got 2 addresses set up. pool.ntp.gov and ntp.tmc.edu. I have the check in "Obtain time from a Network Time Server". It has a note "Clock was last synchronized at 08:26:21 GMT-7 on 13 December 2008" Under it. You'll notice this is tomorrow.. Current time is 12/12/08 6:44 GMT-7 (colorado). I can't think of anything else that would even effect it?

code:

# /usr/bin/ntpdate -s -u pool.ntp.org
# tail /var/log/messages
Dec 13 08:36:04 chonet ntpdate[11144]: adjust time server 208.53.158.34 offset -0.004699 sec
# /var/log/rrd # date
Sat Dec 13 08:36:09 GMT-7 2008

# /usr/bin/ntpdate -s -u ntp.tmc.edu
Dec 13 08:42:18 chonet ntpdate[11201]: adjust time server 128.249.1.10 offset 0.007953 sec
# date
Sat Dec 13 08:46:43 GMT-7 2008

Anyone have an idea? I can't seem to locate where to change time zones to check that, but it appears correct.
Thanks!

# ? Dec 13, 2008 03:10

Puck42: Oct 7, 2005

Depending on the distribution, what does "ls -l /etc/localtime" say?

or

"cat /etc/localtime" should show a time zone on the last line of the garbage output.

Edit: Also check the hardware clock in the Bios, make sure it's set to UTC time.

# ? Dec 13, 2008 08:16

deong: Jun 13, 2001; I'll see you in heck!

Puck42 posted:

Depending on the distribution, what does "ls -l /etc/localtime" say?

or

"cat /etc/localtime" should show a time zone on the last line of the garbage output.

Edit: Also check the hardware clock in the Bios, make sure it's set to UTC time.

Thanks for the tips. IPCop is the distribution. It was forked off from Shorewall at some point.

code:

root:~ # ls -l /etc/localtime 
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 35 2007-12-14 09:15 /etc/localtime -> /usr/share/zoneinfo/posix/Etc/GMT-7
root:~ # cat /etc/localtime 
TZifbpGMT-7

I'll check out the bios clock. I was hoping the NTP would overwrite it so hadn't checked that.

edit: :doh:

So it was the bios clock. This is an old IBM PII machine, the bios only had an option to set the time/date. Nothing about UTC etc.
Thanks

deong fucked around with this message at 18:10 on Dec 13, 2008

# ? Dec 13, 2008 17:57

Puck42: Oct 7, 2005

deong posted:

Thanks for the tips. IPCop is the distribution. It was forked off from Shorewall at some point.
code:
root:~ # ls -l /etc/localtime 
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 35 2007-12-14 09:15 /etc/localtime -> /usr/share/zoneinfo/posix/Etc/GMT-7
root:~ # cat /etc/localtime 
TZifbpGMT-7
I'll check out the bios clock. I was hoping the NTP would overwrite it so hadn't checked that.

edit: So it was the bios clock. This is an old IBM PII machine, the bios only had an option to set the time/date. Nothing about UTC etc.
Thanks

No problem, UTC time is just GMT, there wouldn't be an option for it.

# ? Dec 13, 2008 19:24

epswing: Nov 4, 2003; Soiled Meat

Ubuntu 8.10.

I have a nas (DNS-323). I can browse it from File Browser by typing smb://mynas/afolder. I want to mount afolder at /media/afolder, but the mount command says "wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on //mynas/afolder".

Command I'm using: sudo mount //mynas/afolder /media/afolder

I've also tried: sudo mount -t smbfs //mynas/afolder /media/afolder

And: sudo mount -t cifs //mynas/afolder /media/afolder

All the same error:

code:

mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on //mynas/afolder,
       missing codepage or helper program, or other error
       (for several filesystems (e.g. nfs, cifs) you might
       need a /sbin/mount.<type> helper program)
       In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
       dmesg | tail  or so

I'm coming from Windows XP. I want to "map a networked drive". Am I on the right track here?

# ? Dec 13, 2008 19:52

deong: Jun 13, 2001; I'll see you in heck!

epswing posted:

Am I on the right track here?

Have you tried by ip? Does it have username/password?

# ? Dec 13, 2008 20:16

Puck42: Oct 7, 2005

epswing posted:

I'm coming from Windows XP. I want to "map a networked drive". Am I on the right track here?

Run "cat /proc/filesystems" and see if you have smbfs listed in there.

If not, try running "sudo modprobe smbfs" and then check for smbfs again in /proc/filesystems.

If it's listed in /proc/filesystems it should be able to mount SMB.

edit: You may also need to pass a username and password for the share
sudo mount -t smbfs //mynas/afolder /media/afolder -o username=username,password=password

# ? Dec 13, 2008 20:22

jdonz: Jan 4, 2004

epswing posted:

Ubuntu 8.10.
All the same error:

code:

mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on //mynas/afolder,
       missing codepage or helper program, or other error
       (for several filesystems (e.g. nfs, cifs) you might
       need a /sbin/mount.<type> helper program)
       In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
       dmesg | tail  or so

I'm coming from Windows XP. I want to "map a networked drive". Am I on the right track here?

Pretty sure you need to install the samba client. mount wont recognize the -t smbfs unless you have the client installed.

# ? Dec 13, 2008 20:40

epswing: Nov 4, 2003; Soiled Meat

deong posted:

Have you tried by ip? Does it have username/password?

Tried by ip, same error. No username or password on the NAS.

Puck42 posted:

Run "cat /proc/filesystems" and see if you have smbfs listed in there.

If not, try running "sudo modprobe smbfs" and then check for smbfs again in /proc/filesystems.

If it's listed in /proc/filesystems it should be able to mount SMB.

edit: You may also need to pass a username and password for the share
sudo mount -t smbfs //mynas/afolder /media/afolder -o username=username,password=password

It's there:

code:

me@machine:~$ cat /proc/filesystems | grep smb
nodev	smbfs

jdonz posted:

Pretty sure you need to install the samba client. mount wont recognize the -t smbfs unless you have the client installed.

Synaptic Package Manager says smbclient is installed.

# ? Dec 13, 2008 21:07

jdonz: Jan 4, 2004

How about samba-common?

# ? Dec 13, 2008 22:39

epswing: Nov 4, 2003; Soiled Meat

jdonz posted:

How about samba-common?

Yes, sambda-common is installed. There's a samba4-common which isn't installed, though.

Edit: Actually, I should have posted this in HOTS.

Continue here: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3033103

epswing fucked around with this message at 22:35 on Dec 14, 2008

# ? Dec 14, 2008 00:43

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# ? Jun 6, 2024 01:07

parmanaut: Jul 31, 2004; GRADIUSIC

Anyone have a recommendation for an archive program that handles .rar and .7z, preferably with a GUI? Is it possible to get Archive Manager to work with those extensions?

# ? Dec 16, 2008 08:06

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > The Linux Questions Thread: a bunch of pitfalls, but technically it's possible

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