[sclug] sclug Digest, Vol 55, Issue 18

Mon Apr 28 13:29:32 UTC 2008

This is a stab in the dark here, as Im using Ubuntu 7.10. But for the
wireless on the laptop (Dell Inspiron 1200) I use wicd
http://wicd.sourceforge.net/ which is just absolutely spot on, as I just
cant get the networkmanager to work. Maybe Im being too lazy to even
bother. But have you considered using wicd in Heron ? Im assuming
(again) that if it works in 7.04 & 7.10 then maybe 8.04 should be OK.

Thanks
Phillip

On Mon, 2008-04-28 at 14:08 +0100, n.a.haughton at bigfoot.com wrote:
> Thanks for all the replies.
> 
> Wireless:
> 
> I'm using WPA on both router and PC. I've checked. I was using WPA2 (when it
> worked) but I notice that the Network-manager tool in Ubuntu now insists on
> reverting to WPA, so to be on the safe side I rolled back to that on the
> router. Didn't make any difference though. I'm going to try to use the
> commandline tools to remove security altogether (the GUI tool won't allow
> it), to see if that at least gets it going, but I'm not hopeful. I read
> somewhere that the 8.04 kernel has broken wireless for some chipsets, but
> I'll give it another go before rolling back to 7.10. Sorting the wireless
> side is becoming a priority - my wife is back tonight, so I'll soon be
> getting stick over the 'ugly cable' running from PC upstairs to router
> downstairs. Personally I think it's a thing of beauty, but hey.... :-)
> 
> File systems:
> 
> Everything is now working. I take the point over ReiserFS (although I'm not
> sure why relations between Herr Reiser, his Frau and the State Penal System
> should affect the code he wrote. But anyway, I'll have a look at ext3 or
> maybe jfs.) Why did I pick ReiserFS? A little bit of me of just has to be
> different, probably the same bit that caused me to choose Linux in the first
> place :-)  I should add that ReiserFS has worked reliably for me since way
> back, but if the consensus now is that it has flaws I'll migrate. Losing
> data is not something I want to entertain.
> 
> Thanks for the advice to use mkfs instead of the partitioner to change
> filesystem. It hadn't occurred to me to do the obvious.More fool me.
> 
> UUID:
> 
> I think I'll probably leave my fstab as it is. Thanks for those who
> suggested various ways to assign one to my data partition - one day if all
> the other niggles have been resolved I may return to this one.
> 
> If there is anyone there with experience using wireless specifically with a
> WG311v3 adapter and Ubuntu 8.04, I'd welcome a conversation.
> 
> TIA
> 
> Neil
> 
> 2008/4/28 <sclug-request at sclug.org.uk>:
> 
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> > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> > than "Re: Contents of sclug digest..."
> >
> > Today's Topics:
> >
> >   1. Help! with Ubuntu 8.04 (cont) (Neil Haughton)
> >   2. Re: Help! with Ubuntu 8.04 (cont) (Simon Huggins)
> >   3. Re: Help! (with a big 'H') (Dickon Hood)
> >   4. Re: Help! with Ubuntu 8.04 (cont) (Ed Davies)
> >   5. Re: Help! (with a big 'H') (Will Dickson)
> >   6. Re: Help! with Ubuntu 8.04 (cont) (Will Dickson)
> >   7. Re: Help! with Ubuntu 8.04 (cont) (Keith Edmunds)
> >
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: Neil Haughton <haughtonomous at googlemail.com>
> > To: sclug at sclug.org.uk
> > Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:03:26 +0100
> > Subject: [sclug] Help! with Ubuntu 8.04 (cont)
> > Okay, with all the help (thanks Alex, David, Will) I'm making progress.
> > I have my data partition back (it was libata after all, and the hd
> > devices are now sd devices. Easy to deal with once I had been pointed in
> > the right direction - and yes I have also straightened out the mounting
> > and symlinks to something more sensible too: /mnt/sda5 mounts /dev/sda5.
> > Neat, huh? :-)
> >
> > BUT: vol_id /dev/sda5 gives:
> >
> >  sudo vol_id /dev/sda5
> > ID_FS_USAGE=filesystem
> > ID_FS_TYPE=reiserfs
> > ID_FS_VERSION=3.6
> > ID_FS_UUID=
> > ID_FS_UUID_ENC=
> > ID_FS_LABEL=
> > ID_FS_LABEL_ENC=
> > ID_FS_LABEL_SAFE=
> >
> > As you can see, no UUID. If I want to 'fit in' by using a UUID to be
> > consistent, what do I do to give it one? Is it worth it?
> >
> >
> > My next big task is to get the wireless adapter (Netgear WG311v3)
> > working - it was fine in 7.10, but now wireless is well and truly
> > broken. I've been through all the Ubuntu docs on this subject with no
> > success. The best I got to was 'wlan0 is ready' in the messages log but
> > it still didn't work - couldn't even ping my router even though it could
> > be found by scanning. I have now done a clean install of 8.04 (that's
> > where my data partition came in really useful to avoid having to do
> > endless back/restores of my data), but my wireless card hasn't even been
> > detected. Should it really still be this hard to get wireless working
> > release after release? It hurts and worries me to say this, but this is
> > one (perhaps the only one?) area where Window XP is miles ahead in terms
> > of the user experience.
> >
> > I can see that ReiserFS perhaps wasn't the best choice of FS. If I copy
> > it to another drive, use the partitioner to change the fs to say jfs,
> > then copy everything back, that should be okay, shouldn't it?
> >
> > TIA
> >
> > Nei
> >
> > Neil.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: Simon Huggins <huggie at earth.li>
> > To: sclug at sclug.org.uk
> > Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:14:14 +0100
> > Subject: Re: [sclug] Help! with Ubuntu 8.04 (cont)
> > On Sun, Apr 27, 2008 at 02:03:26PM +0100, Neil Haughton wrote:
> > > BUT: vol_id /dev/sda5 gives:
> >
> > >  sudo vol_id /dev/sda5
> > > ID_FS_TYPE=reiserfs
> > > ID_FS_UUID=
> >
> > > As you can see, no UUID. If I want to 'fit in' by using a UUID to be
> > > consistent, what do I do to give it one? Is it worth it?
> >
> > I was going to say:
> >        tune2fs -U random
> > but you're using reiserfs.
> >
> > It seems you want:
> > http://www.penguin-soft.com/penguin/man/8/reiserfstune.html
> >
> > --
> > ----------(   "But apart from the aqueduct, the sanitation   )----------
> > Simon ----(            and the roads..." - Python            )---- Nomis
> >                             Htag.pl 0.0.22
> >
> >
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: Dickon Hood <sclug at splurge.fluff.org>
> > To: David Given <dg at cowlark.com>
> > Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:42:08 +0100
> > Subject: Re: [sclug] Help! (with a big 'H')
> > On Sat, Apr 26, 2008 at 17:53:09 +0100, David Given wrote:
> > : Will Dickson wrote:
> >
> > : [...]
> > : > While you're on the subject, you might want to revisit the decision to
> > : > use ReiserFS, especially if the verdict goes against Hans Reiser (the
> > : > jury is still out, but is expected to reach a verdict soon).
> >
> > I'd avoid the filesystem on principle.  The way a fsck can total a
> > filesystem when it spots another ReiserFS image in an object within it is
> > just scary.
> >
> > : Yes; it's thought that ReiserFS may be an accomplice, and so if Hans
> > : Reiser is found guilty the software will be locked away too, which means
> > : you won't be able to get at any of your data.
> >
> > Absolutely.
> >
> > --
> > Dickon Hood
> >
> > Due to digital rights management, my .sig is temporarily unavailable.
> > Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.  We apologise for the
> > inconvenience in the meantime.
> >
> > No virus was found in this outgoing message as I didn't bother looking.
> >
> >
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: Ed Davies <sclug at edavies.nildram.co.uk>
> > To: sclug at sclug.org.uk
> > Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:21:40 +0000
> > Subject: Re: [sclug] Help! with Ubuntu 8.04 (cont)
> > Neil Haughton wrote:
> >
> > > ...
> > > I can see that ReiserFS perhaps wasn't the best choice of FS. If I copy
> > > it to another drive, use the partitioner to change the fs to say jfs,
> > > then copy everything back, that should be okay, shouldn't it?
> > >
> >
> > Just curious, but why not good old ext3?
> >
> > Ed.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: Will Dickson <wrd at glaurung.demon.co.uk>
> > To: sclug <sclug at sclug.org.uk>
> > Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 20:55:03 +0100
> > Subject: Re: [sclug] Help! (with a big 'H')
> > David Given wrote:
> >
> > > Will Dickson wrote:
> > > [...]
> > >
> > > > WTF? This is an LTS release, and they bundled a FF *beta*? Wieee-erd.
> > > > Are you sure there isn't an option to revert to FF 2?
> > > >
> > >
> > > It's so they don't have to do a major-version-number-change later, when
> > > FF3 comes out and FF2 is deprecated by the Mozilla Foundation. Switching
> > > from 3b5 to 3 will be a much less drastic change than from 2 to 3.
> > >
> >
> > Good point. Presumably they've had enough of being moaned at by end-users
> > for shipping out-of-date versions of rapidly-evolving packages. So instead,
> > they get moaned at by end-users for shipping betas instead. Oh well...
> >
> >
> > > Yes; it's thought that ReiserFS may be an accomplice, and so if Hans
> > > Reiser is found guilty the software will be locked away too, which means
> > > you won't be able to get at any of your data.
> > >
> >
> > Well, quite. The fact that ReiserFS is an evolutionary dead-end, with a
> > complex codebase, and small pool of available maintenance devs which is now
> > likely to shrink further since Namesys is pretty much defunct, is a minor
> > detail in comparison.
> >
> >
> > Will.
> >
> >
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: Will Dickson <wrd at glaurung.demon.co.uk>
> > To: sclug at sclug.org.uk
> > Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:20:58 +0100
> > Subject: Re: [sclug] Help! with Ubuntu 8.04 (cont)
> > Neil Haughton wrote:
> >
> > > /mnt/sda5 mounts /dev/sda5.
> >
> > > Neat, huh? :-)
> > >
> >
> > Better. :-) I'd have gone for something a little more descriptive myself,
> > but hey.
> >
> > >
> > > As you can see, no UUID. If I want to 'fit in' by using a UUID to be
> > > consistent, what do I do to give it one? Is it worth it?
> > >
> >
> > reiserfstune ought to do it. As to whether it's worth doing - TBH I can't
> > see the point for a conventional PC. I suspect it comes into its own with
> > higher-end hardware (eg. something with hot-swappable disks).
> >
> >  My next big task is to get the wireless adapter (Netgear WG311v3)
> > > working - it was fine in 7.10, but now wireless is well and truly
> > > broken. I've been through all the Ubuntu docs on this subject with no
> > > success. The best I got to was 'wlan0 is ready' in the messages log but
> > > it still didn't work - couldn't even ping my router even though it could
> > > be found by scanning.
> > >
> >
> > I've never tried wireless under Linux, but this sounds like it might be a
> > security issue. Have you checked that the card and the router are using the
> > same authentication / crypto mechanism? It might be that the older release
> > either didn't support the latest and greatest, so failed back to an older
> > mechanism which happened to be the one the router is using, or has
> > higher-security defaults which cause the same effect. (Eg. if your router is
> > using WPA, but your card is using WPA2, it won't work.)
> >
> >
> > > I can see that ReiserFS perhaps wasn't the best choice of FS. If I copy
> > > it to another drive, use the partitioner to change the fs to say jfs,
> > > then copy everything back, that should be okay, shouldn't it?
> > >
> >
> > Not the partitioner! You need to use mkfs to create the new filesystem.
> > Before making the decision, you might like to read
> >
> > http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Filesystems/reiserfs.html
> >
> > tl,dr: filesystems are a bit like text editors, but if you agree with Ted
> > T'So that "[...]for a filesystem, performance is Job #2. Making sure you
> > don't lose data is Job #1." then you might prefer ext3.
> >
> > FWIW, I changed from ReiserFS to ext3, and it felt slightly *more*
> > responsive, in general. Additionally, there was one wierd case, where XMMS
> > used to take about 2 seconds to read my music folder under reiser, but took
> > negligible time to do the same thing under ext3. I've no idea what caused
> > that.
> >
> > As to the rest of the strategy, yeah, that ought to work. Depending on the
> > nature of your data, you might get a slightly smaller backup slug if you tar
> > it rather than doing a straight copy; if your data is mostly media, there's
> > no point doing tar.gz. However you do it, the key point is to prevent Murphy
> > from catching you only having a single copy of the data at any point during
> > the process. :-)
> >
> >
> > HTH
> >
> > Will.
> >
> >
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: Keith Edmunds <kae at midnighthax.com>
> > To: sclug at sclug.org.uk
> > Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:34:56 +0100
> > Subject: Re: [sclug] Help! with Ubuntu 8.04 (cont)
> > On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:20:58 +0100, wrd at glaurung.demon.co.uk said:
> >
> > > but if you agree with
> > > Ted T'So that "[...]for a filesystem, performance is Job #2. Making sure
> > > you don't lose data is Job #1." then you might prefer ext3.
> >
> > I 100% agree with the above. ReiserFS is the only filesystem that I have
> > lost data with other than through hardware failure. I see that some
> > distros are switching away from it (SUSE, for example). Most people, and I
> > include the old me in this, assume that file systems problems occur to
> > other people right up until the when you realise that that was, indeed,
> > true, but is no longer. Bit like off-site backups - helluva lot of hassle
> > until you lose data...
> >
> > Keith
> >
> > --
> > Keith Edmunds
> >
> >
> > +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
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> >  |
> > |  "The Linux Specialists"  |       http://www.tiger-computing.co.uk
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