December 2004 - KCLUG

RE: TV-OUT on laptop causes major damage, fire / shock
by Brian Densmore 23 Jan '05

23 Jan '05

Don't know if this will help, but my brother (a retired EE with AT&T) thinks it's the adaptor. Probably a failed capacitor. So make sure they replace the darn adaptor. > -----Original Message----- > From: Tom Bruno > > My girlfriend today pointed out a time like 5-6 weeks ago > during a bible > study i was using my laptop with it on my lap, and i was > getting shocked > through my blue jeans. I had forgotten about this until now. That > seems a little wierd to me aswell. We are pretty certian it's the > laptop. > > On Sun, 2004-12-05 at 13:43 -0600, Jonathan Hutchins wrote: > > I hate to say it, given that we all love to express our > opinions on these > > matters, but you're talking to the wrong people. > > > > You REALLY, REALLY need to at least talk with a real, > honest-to-goodnes, > > listed-in-the-yellow-pages Product Liability Lawyer. > > > > At the minimum, you deserve to have a working laptop, a > fixed TV, and a new > > cable. You've been injured, and you can probably argue > quite successfully > > for compensation for that. Shock and trauma are a little > bit more difficult > > to prove, but getting knocked unconcious is pretty clearly > not something you > > should expect from a consumer product that's being used correctly. > > > > If you don't talk to a lawyer, what's the worst that could > happen? Well, I > > suppose Dell could say "it was the TV, not the laptop", and > you'd be out a > > computer and a TV. Maybe you're cool with that. I don't > think I would be. > > > > If you do work with a lawyer, he should be willing to do > this on a contingency > > basis - his fees come out of any potential settlement. You > may still loose > > the laptop and the TV - they become evidence. Your expense > in replacing > > them, though, becomes part of your claim. > > > > We are not talking about suing someone because the coffee > you shouldn't have > > poured in your lap was too hot. We're talking about > serious injury and > > damage from normal use of ordinary consumer appliances. > > > > Think about this: What if you'd been alone? What if that > fire had caught on > > something else, and kept burning, while you were knocked > out on the floor? > > _______________________________________________ > > Kclug mailing list > > Kclug(a)kclug.org > > http://kclug.org/mailman/listinfo/kclug > > _______________________________________________ > Kclug mailing list > Kclug(a)kclug.org > http://kclug.org/mailman/listinfo/kclug >

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install and use of linux with a drive too big for bios
by hanasaki 06 Jan '05

06 Jan '05

Have an old Asus k7m motherboard who's bios cannot handle the 120gig drive that replaced the 13gig that died. Any tips on how to get Linux installed and running again? thanks

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executable help files in Linux
by Brian Densmore 01 Jan '05

01 Jan '05

I was looking at a driver download from Lexar for the JumpDrive secure version 3.1. It has drivers for Linux, Mac and Windows. In the Linux directory is the driver to use the secure functions of the stick/drive. It appears to be gtk based from a hexdump. There is also a .hlp file, which has the magic number and identifier for ELF files. It also appears to be a GTK executable file. I don't recall ever seeing a Linux help file that was actually a program. Is this some new trend in Linux or is it just something Lexar has taken upon themselves to do? I don't have a Linux desktop handy to test this, but will try to load it later and see how well the driver works in Linux and how portable it is. I'm assuming that Lexar has not opensourced the driver, there is no sourcecode included. It's nice to see the support though. When I contacted the support people the second question was which OS I was using. Not which version of Windows. Brian Densmore

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Re: hand powered linux box
by Brian Kelsay 31 Dec '04

31 Dec '04

Jun. 2001 Brian Kelsay >>> David Nicol <> 12/12/04 11:48PM >>> http://www.uclinux.com/hand-powered_web_server/

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Net::RawIP Compile
by Welsh, Ed 31 Dec '04

31 Dec '04

Hopefully this is an appropriate place to field this. Let me know otherwise. I am attempting to instal the Net::RawIP perl module and keep getting heinous compile errors. I'll take any suggestions as to research resources. This is a fairly clean install of perl and Fedora. I'm thinking that the old code (2000) isn't compatible with the newer gcc. Can someone try this on an older gcc install? thanks Environment: Fedora Core 3 Perl 5.8.5 Libpcap 0.8.3 Gcc 3.4.3 Here are the compile errors: [root@fake Net-RawIP-0.1]# make cp RawIP.pm blib/lib/Net/RawIP.pm AutoSplitting blib/lib/Net/RawIP.pm (blib/lib/auto/Net/RawIP) cp RawIP/libpcap.pod blib/lib/Net/RawIP/libpcap.pod /usr/bin/perl /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.5/ExtUtils/xsubpp -typemap /usr/lib/ +perl5/5.8.5/ExtUtils/typemap -typemap typemap RawIP.xs > RawIP.xsc & +& mv RawIP.xsc RawIP.c gcc -c -D_REENTRANT -D_GNU_SOURCE -DTHREADS_HAVE_PIDS -DDEBUGGING -f +no-strict-aliasing -pipe -I/usr/local/include -D_LARGEFILE_SOURCE -D_ +FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -I/usr/include/gdbm -O2 -g -pipe -m32 -march=i386 + -mtune=pentium4 -DVERSION=\"0.1\" -DXS_VERSION=\"0.1\" -fPIC "-I/u +sr/lib/perl5/5.8.5/i386-linux-thread-multi/CORE" -D_LINUX_ -D_ETH_ - +D_IFLIST_ -D_GLIBC_ RawIP.c RawIP.xs: In function `ip_opts_creat': RawIP.xs:444: error: label at end of compound statement RawIP.xs: In function `tcp_opts_creat': RawIP.xs:543: error: label at end of compound statement RawIP.xs: In function `XS_Net__RawIP_tcp_pkt_parse': RawIP.xs:764: warning: use of cast expressions as lvalues is deprecate +d RawIP.xs:790: warning: use of cast expressions as lvalues is deprecate +d RawIP.xs: In function `XS_Net__RawIP_icmp_pkt_parse': RawIP.xs:823: warning: use of cast expressions as lvalues is deprecate +d RawIP.xs: In function `XS_Net__RawIP_generic_pkt_parse': RawIP.xs:863: warning: use of cast expressions as lvalues is deprecate +d RawIP.xs: In function `XS_Net__RawIP_udp_pkt_parse': RawIP.xs:897: warning: use of cast expressions as lvalues is deprecate +d RawIP.xs: In function `XS_Net__RawIP_dispatch': RawIP.xs:1289: warning: use of cast expressions as lvalues is deprecat +ed RawIP.xs: In function `XS_Net__RawIP_loop': RawIP.xs:1311: warning: use of cast expressions as lvalues is deprecat +ed make: *** [RawIP.o] Error 1 Ed Welsh The information transmitted in this e-mail is intended only for the addressee and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any interception, review, retransmission, dissemination, or other use of, or taking of any action upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited by law and may subject them to criminal or civil liability. If you received this communication in error, please contact us immediately at 816.421.6611, and delete the communication from any computer or network system.

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RE: :RawIP Compile
by Brian Densmore 30 Dec '04

30 Dec '04

> -----Original Message----- > From: Welsh, Ed > > Hopefully this is an appropriate place to field this. Let me > know otherwise. > > I am attempting to install the Net::RawIP perl module and keep > getting heinous compile errors. I'll > take any suggestions as to research resources. This is a > fairly clean install of perl and Fedora. > I'm thinking that the old code (2000) isn't compatible with > the newer gcc. Can someone try this on an > older gcc install? > > thanks > > Environment: > Fedora Core 3 > Perl 5.8.5 > Libpcap 0.8.3 > Gcc 3.4.3 > > Here are the compile errors: > > [root@fake Net-RawIP-0.1]# make > cp RawIP.pm blib/lib/Net/RawIP.pm > AutoSplitting blib/lib/Net/RawIP.pm (blib/lib/auto/Net/RawIP) > cp RawIP/libpcap.pod blib/lib/Net/RawIP/libpcap.pod > /usr/bin/perl /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.5/ExtUtils/xsubpp -typemap /usr/lib/ > +perl5/5.8.5/ExtUtils/typemap -typemap typemap RawIP.xs > RawIP.xsc & > +& mv RawIP.xsc RawIP.c > gcc -c -D_REENTRANT -D_GNU_SOURCE -DTHREADS_HAVE_PIDS -DDEBUGGING -f > +no-strict-aliasing -pipe -I/usr/local/include -D_LARGEFILE_SOURCE -D_ > +FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -I/usr/include/gdbm -O2 -g -pipe -m32 -march=i386 > + -mtune=pentium4 -DVERSION=\"0.1\" -DXS_VERSION=\"0.1\" -fPIC "-I/u > +sr/lib/perl5/5.8.5/i386-linux-thread-multi/CORE" -D_LINUX_ -D_ETH_ - > +D_IFLIST_ -D_GLIBC_ RawIP.c > RawIP.xs: In function `ip_opts_creat': > RawIP.xs:444: error: label at end of compound statement > RawIP.xs: In function `tcp_opts_creat': > RawIP.xs:543: error: label at end of compound statement Have you looked at the RawIP.c at lines 444 and 543 and verified they didn't mistakenly place labels at the end of a compound statement? Or that they didn't make a typo somewhere and forget a bracket or something? The warnings can be ignored.

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RE: Knoppix question
by Brian Densmore 30 Dec '04

30 Dec '04

> -----Original Message----- > From: Leo Mauler > > --- Brian Kelsay <Brian.Kelsay(a)kcc.usda.gov> wrote: > > > Define "real rescue disk". If your drive is fubared > > and swap part. is damaged, then it won't mount it. > > Does it really have that level of detection? I'd > think it doesn't, and that undetected physical damage > is going to cause problems when it tries to mount the > swap partition in the physically damaged section of > the hard drive. > Yes, this is the most likely outcome. Knoppix detects a swap partition, tries to mount it and either fails or locks up. If it merely fails and goes on, life is good and Knoppix can be used to fix the machine, or attempt to. If it locks up then one would have to reboot and do the "noswap" option. Whereas a liveCD made specifically for this type of task would only try to launch a bare minimum of software. If all you want to do is check the hdd, then Knoppix is really a Rube-Goldberg machine. Sure it has all the tools and bells and whistles, but all you really need is a command line and a scandisk tool (and possibly cfdisk and mkfs). And if a person is not knowledgeable enough to do some disk analysis from the command line, then that person has absolutely no business trying to fix a broken system.

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RE: hand powered Linux box
by Brian Densmore 30 Dec '04

30 Dec '04

> -----Original Message----- > From: Leo Mauler > > ("bicycle power" is inadequate to the task of charging > car batteries, though it might run a laptop) and use Says who? Bicycle power can be used to power a wide range of devices. I would be willing to bet that the average bicyclist could easily put out 1/10HP and quite probably more depending on a number of factors (including gear ratios). > directly, but stepping down the car battery to the > laptop battery power level might require enough > complexity that just an inverter with the existing AC > adapter might be more workable. This should be easily accomplished with a resistive series and resistance added in parallel with the laptop portion of series of the entire the circuit. The most difficult part being figuring out the effective resistance value of the laptop. Of course, one could always go the route of using the cigarette adaptors spoken of earlier, and forego the calculations. And on your latest post. The fact that your light wasn't steady might not have as much to do with constant power output as with other conditions and factors. A stationary bicycle that is properly configured should produce better output than a moving bicycle that is varying in angles relative to the road surface, rattling, bumping, climbing, descending, friction, etc. Don't forget you can get a lot more energy from a stationary bike than one that also has to power forward motion. But all that aside. A proper configuration would be for the bicycle to be used as a charging device, and the power drawn from a battery/fuel cell.

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RE: Knoppix question
by Brian Kelsay 30 Dec '04

30 Dec '04

Define "real rescue disk". If your drive is fubared and swap part. is damaged, then it won't mount it. If you have a Winders PC and no swap, it won't detect or use one. Where's the problem in that? If you want to repartition or use some bit level recovery tools, use noswap. If the FAT is damaged, then you couldn't use the swap and it wouldn't be detected. For the average user, with Winders only, no special attention is req'd. Brian Kelsay >>> Leo Mauler <> 12/30/04 02:18PM >>> So to use it as a real rescue disk, you have to use the "noswap" KNOPPIX cheat code at the boot prompt. --- Brian Kelsay <> wrote: > Read the post. From version 3.3 on, Knoppix > auto-detects and uses Linux Swap partitions if > found. No key presses. If you want to alter the > disk, as I said, you have to use "noswap" so that > Knoppix runs without a swap file. If you have > anything mounted on the drive, you can't repartition > w/ qtparted or parted.

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RE: Knoppix question
by Brian Kelsay 30 Dec '04

30 Dec '04

Again, find the right tool for the job. DamnSmall boots fast and has GUI editors that don't need a lot of RAM. DamnSmall does have some quirks, but they are easy to figure out. Mounting HDD partitions RW was a bit stubborn, but doable and certain functions are best done from a Root xterm or from their hacked file manager. It has some features built-in to get around problems if you know what you are doing, but not allow a newbie to do stuff by mistake. Brian Kelsay >>> Leo Mauler <> 12/30/04 02:16PM >>> True enough. I've always thought a "crawl" basically meant "a speed wherein it takes longer to open the application than it does to finish some real work on the application." KNOPPIX in 96MB means I usually type things in a CLI editor anyway, even if its in an XTerm window. KWrite or GEdit if I'm desperate for a GUI Editor.

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