December 2004 - openSUSE Users - openSUSE Mailing Lists

stable,updated,zero-cost,FLOSS virus software
by David Storrs 17 Oct '05

17 Oct '05

What are people using for anti-virus software? I've got BitDefender running on my machine, but I'd like to find something zero-cost that has a nice GUI so that when I set up boxes for friends and family, they can use it. Regularly (and automatically) updated virus definitions are a must, here. Dave

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AMD Opteron Laptops... Suggested ones for SuSE?
by Steve Kratz 18 Aug '05

18 Aug '05

Anyone out there used any of the AMD Opteron laptops, and how well have they worked with SuSE Linux?

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Command Line Packet Sniffer
by Lucky Leavell 12 Jul '05

12 Jul '05

I need a command line based packet sniffer. (I would use tethereal but this system has no graphical stuff.) ALl it needs to do is collect raw packets for analysis by ethereal on a different box. Thank you, Lucky Leavell

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screensaver
by Mitja 25 Jun '05

25 Jun '05

Today I installed update for KDE 3.3 (Sept. 15th) and many screensavers stop work. Which versoin of kdeartwor3-screensavers works correct, please. Mitja

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wireless adapter
by Ken Schneider 22 Jun '05

22 Jun '05

After searching the archives going back six months I have not been able to find much using "wireless" as the search string. I am contemplating buying a wireless router and pcmcia adapter for my laptop and would like to have any recommendations as to what to buy. I currently use a Linksys router and have never had problems and may want to stay with the same brand but a change is not out of the question. If you want to reply directly to me to keep list traffic low that will be fine. -- Ken Schneider UNIX since 1989 SuSE since 1998 * Only reply to the list please*

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Internet connection through modem in 9.1 is slow
by Carlos E. R. 09 May '05

09 May '05

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hi, Since I updated, a month ago, from SuSE 8.2 to SuSE 9.1 I had the feeling that the modem connection was slower than previously. Previously I saw comments on this list to that effect, but they seemed to be related to winmodems. It could be just an unjustified feeling, therefore I started to pay more attention, and finally I ran some test to confirm it. Thus, I can now confirm it: there is something in SuSE 9.1 that makes Internet connection using a modem definitely slower than previous versions of SuSE. ** System ** SuSE 9.1 on a P-IV at 1.8 Ghz, with 700Mb ram. Internet connection through external serial modem (3COM US Robotics, V90 type) - no winmodem involved. I have tried reducing the TCP window to 8Kb, as recommended on the SDB: no noticeably change. Patches (YOU) are almost up to date - at 2K/s a kernel update is... fearsome :-( Connection is started using wvdial on an xterm (same definitions as in SuSE 8.2 previously). Desktop is gnome. Running susefirewall2 and DNS locally. More info: just ask for it :-) ** Symptoms ** Mail fetching (fetchmail) runs jerkily, it runs and stops, seldom reaching 5Kb/s. It may stop for as long as 1 minute, timing out. But connectivity is not lost: pings to the same server from which I'm downloading works; one provider yields 20% packet loss, another 1% - so packet loss is probably not the main issue. YOU takes seemingly for ever. Ftp downloads are slow. Browsing of large pages is also slow. ** Tests done ** 1) Plug the modem on my old Pentium 120 machine, running SuSE 7.3, text only. Route through intranet (one ethernet cable, direct, 100 Mb/s). Change default route in main computer (SuSE 9.1) to eth0, and do the downloading, name solving, etc, on this "fast" machine - no software is changed at all - except that wvdial and pppd runs on the other 7.3 machine. +----------+ +-----------+ +------+ | P-120 | | P-IV 1.8Gh| ---phone---|modem |---rs232---| SuSE 7.3 |--eth--| SuSE 9.1 | line +------+ | | | (fetch) | +----------+ +-----------+ Run and time a single download of 738442 bytes. During this download no other Internet activity is running (no fetchmail, no browsing, no email sending). There is the local firewall (Susefirewall2) and a local dns server. No high load tasks are running (no updatedb, for example), only the xterms on which I see the logs and enter the commands. 2), 3) Plug the modem back on my P-IV machine running SuSE 9.1. Remove default route to eth0. Repeat the download, using two different providers, to make sure. Everything else is the same. ** Conclusion of the 3 tests, in brief ** When routed through the old computer running SuSE 7.3, throughput is 5.04 KB/s (on previous, non meticulous tests, I saw speed peeks up to 8Kb when downloading email - surely due to compression). When using the fast, Pentium IV machine, with SuSE 9.1, average speed is between 1 - 2 Kbytes per second! (even less, in fact). This is a disgrace :-// I see a lot of ppp "decompression error" in the kernel logs: Jul 23 21:22:39 nimrodel kernel: PPP: VJ decompression error I count 37 of them during test #2 (none during test #3) - compared with 560 during 4 months usage of SuSE 8.2 on this same machine. ** Wild non-educated guess ** The kernel is loosing ACK packets, so the servers waits. ** Detailed results ** *********** TEST #1: teleline - routed through P120, SuSE 7.3 ************** cer@nimrodel:~> date ; time wget --timeout=45 --waitretry=10 --continue "http://old.spamassassin.org/released/Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2" Fri Jul 23 20:52:39 CEST 2004 - --20:52:39-- http://old.spamassassin.org/released/Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2 => `Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2' Resolving old.spamassassin.org... 64.142.3.173 Connecting to old.spamassassin.org[64.142.3.173]:80... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK Length: 738,442 [application/x-bzip2] 100%[==============================================================================>] 738,442 5.10K/s ETA 00:00 20:55:03 (5.04 KB/s) - `Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2' saved [738442/738442] real 2m24.400s user 0m0.043s sys 0m0.065s cer@nimrodel:~> l Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2 - -rw-r--r-- 1 cer users 738442 2004-01-20 23:06 Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2 cer@nimrodel:~> rm Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2 *********** TEST #2: teleline, direct, PIV - SuSE 9.1 ************** cer@nimrodel:~> date ; time wget --timeout=45 --waitretry=10 --continue "http://old.spamassassin.org/released/Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2" Fri Jul 23 21:04:31 CEST 2004 - --21:04:31-- http://old.spamassassin.org/released/Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2 => `Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2' Resolving old.spamassassin.org... 64.142.3.173 Connecting to old.spamassassin.org[64.142.3.173]:80... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK Length: 738,442 [application/x-bzip2] 5% [==> ] 37,314 541.56B/s ETA 23:15 21:06:27 (541.46 B/s) - Read error at byte 37314/738442 (Connection timed out). Retrying. - --21:06:28-- http://old.spamassassin.org/released/Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2 (try: 2) => `Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2' Connecting to old.spamassassin.org[64.142.3.173]:80... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK Continued download failed on this file, which conflicts with `-c'. Refusing to truncate existing file `Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2'. real 1m57.632s user 0m0.005s sys 0m0.008s So, I remove the "continue" and increase the timeout value, and try again. cer@nimrodel:~> date ; time wget --timeout=90 --waitretry=10 "http://old.spamassassin.org/released/Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2" Fri Jul 23 21:08:13 CEST 2004 - --21:08:13-- http://old.spamassassin.org/released/Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2 => `Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2.2' Resolving old.spamassassin.org... 64.142.3.173 Connecting to old.spamassassin.org[64.142.3.173]:80... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK Length: 738,442 [application/x-bzip2] 10% [=======> ] 76,410 2.16K/s ETA 05:15 12% [=========> ] 95,234 601.24B/s ETA 10:52 22% [================> ] 166,186 694.98B/s ETA 10:40 29% [======================> ] 219,762 896.54B/s ETA 10:49 {xterm resize} 41% [=====================> ] 305,194 496.80B/s ETA 10:03 {xterm resize} 43% [================> ] 321,122 412.63B/s ETA 10:49 96% [======================================> ] 709,186 538.58B/s ETA 00:37 100%[========================================>] 738,442 2.21K/s ETA 00:00 21:23:27 (809.97 B/s) - `Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2.2' saved [738442/738442] real 15m13.735s user 0m0.006s sys 0m0.016s Connectivity was not lost during pauses: cer@nimrodel:~> ping old.spamassassin.org PING bugzilla.spamassassin.org (64.142.3.173) 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from bugzilla.spamassassin.org (64.142.3.173): icmp_seq=1 ttl=46 time=319 ms 64 bytes from bugzilla.spamassassin.org (64.142.3.173): icmp_seq=2 ttl=46 time=286 ms 64 bytes from bugzilla.spamassassin.org (64.142.3.173): icmp_seq=3 ttl=46 time=289 ms 64 bytes from bugzilla.spamassassin.org (64.142.3.173): icmp_seq=7 ttl=46 time=307 ms 64 bytes from bugzilla.spamassassin.org (64.142.3.173): icmp_seq=9 ttl=46 time=306 ms - --- bugzilla.spamassassin.org ping statistics --- 10 packets transmitted, 5 received, 50% packet loss, time 9003ms rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 286.976/302.200/319.884/12.398 ms cer@nimrodel:~> But you see a "50% packet loss" - although not always: cer@nimrodel:~> ping old.spamassassin.org PING bugzilla.spamassassin.org (64.142.3.173) 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from bugzilla.spamassassin.org (64.142.3.173): icmp_seq=1 ttl=46 time=306 ms 64 bytes from bugzilla.spamassassin.org (64.142.3.173): icmp_seq=2 ttl=46 time=286 ms 64 bytes from bugzilla.spamassassin.org (64.142.3.173): icmp_seq=3 ttl=46 time=280 ms 64 bytes from bugzilla.spamassassin.org (64.142.3.173): icmp_seq=4 ttl=46 time=282 ms 64 bytes from bugzilla.spamassassin.org (64.142.3.173): icmp_seq=5 ttl=46 time=282 ms 64 bytes from bugzilla.spamassassin.org (64.142.3.173): icmp_seq=6 ttl=46 time=279 ms 64 bytes from bugzilla.spamassassin.org (64.142.3.173): icmp_seq=7 ttl=46 time=278 ms - --- bugzilla.spamassassin.org ping statistics --- 7 packets transmitted, 7 received, 0% packet loss, time 6005ms rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 278.978/285.684/306.956/9.035 ms cer@nimrodel:~> The round trip increases notably when the download resumes. I tend to leave a terminal pinging something continuously, else my wvdial session timeouts at 60" (local phone is charged by the minute here), so I do know the server from which I'm downloading is not down. cer@nimrodel:~> ping -a -A old.spamassassin.org PING bugzilla.spamassassin.org (64.142.3.173) 56(84) bytes of data. ... - --- bugzilla.spamassassin.org ping statistics --- 208 packets transmitted, 167 received, 19% packet loss, time 82875ms rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 277.933/412.677/1731.743/272.088 ms, pipe 4, ipg/ewma 400.366/677.842 ms *********** TEST #3: tiscali, direct, PIV - SuSE 9.1 ************** Test done using an alternate provider; everything else is the same as test number 2. cer@nimrodel:~> date ; time wget --timeout=90 --waitretry=10 "http://old.spamassassin.org/released/Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2" Fri Jul 23 21:27:25 CEST 2004 - --21:27:25-- http://old.spamassassin.org/released/Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2 => `Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2.3' Resolving old.spamassassin.org... 64.142.3.173 Connecting to old.spamassassin.org[64.142.3.173]:80... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK Length: 738,442 [application/x-bzip2] 2% [ ] 15,609 1.27K/s ETA 12:10 86% [==================================> ] 636,801 1.59K/s ETA 01:05 100%[========================================>] 738,442 885.09B/s ETA 00:00 21:36:03 (1.40 KB/s) - `Mail-SpamAssassin-2.63.tar.bz2.3' saved [738442/738442] real 8m37.800s user 0m0.006s sys 0m0.008s Pings during this download: - --- bugzilla.spamassassin.org ping statistics --- 714 packets transmitted, 705 received, 1% packet loss, time 444595ms rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 298.668/650.054/4098.931/515.073 ms, pipe 7, ipg/ewma 623.555/301.994 ms - -- Cheers, Carlos Robinson -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Made with pgp4pine 1.76 iD8DBQFBAnkdtTMYHG2NR9URAr2VAJ9lYUrntn4LwO74A160NqRfTHmfRACfZoZ6 2Mza1LzuBsEZwy/ccQAGQvA= =C0UE -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Catalan localization files for OpenOffice
by Agustí Dosaiguas Falcó 06 May '05

06 May '05

Hi all, Does anyone in the SuSE team knows if the package OpenOffice_org-ca will be available for SuSE 9.1? Or if i want it i need to upgrade to 9.2? Thanks, Agustí

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Wacom Graphire 2 (USB) on SuSE9.1?
by Frits Wüthrich 04 May '05

04 May '05

I can't get my graphical tablet to work on my new SuSE. On SuSE8.1 it was useable as an USB wheel mouse, but on 9.1 there is no movement visible of the cursor when I choose one of the USB mice. How can I fix this? -- Frits Wüthrich

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ULB GNOME 2.8.0.2
by James Ogley 05 Apr '05

05 Apr '05

Available today: ULB GNOME 2.8.0.2 This is a minor revision, not a full desktop upgrade. It includes netapplet, the seriously cool network switcher, as well as updated gnome-vfs2 and libgnome packages to use Firefox as the default browser, cos I've just fallen in love with it over the last few months - so it now depends upon SuSE's MozillaFirefox package (from the mozilla apt component) (Note: built for SuSE 9.1) -- James Ogley james(a)usr-local-bin.org GNOME for SuSE: http://usr-local-bin.org/rpms

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Re: [SLE] Time synch problem
by Carlos E. R. 23 Feb '05

23 Feb '05

El 2003-07-09 a las 13:37, C Hamel escribió: (You forgot to post to the list) > I am afraid I don't even know how to ask a question, at this point, but I'll > make an attempt: Exactly where should this ntp thing be called to set the > clock ...or(/and) by what process? It is a very proper question :-) Well, it depends. There are two ways. If your computer is up all the time, and has a permanent network connection, you can use the ntpd daemon, which polls a set of servers about once a minute, and _very_ slowly adjusts the system clock; it can even note the systematic error or drift, and take that in to account to discipline the system clock. There are many options available for the daemon: see full doc in: http://localhost/usr/share/doc/packages/xntp-doc/html/index.htm Or, you may have a temporary network connection, like I do; I will explain this in some detail. We can adjust the clock to "internet" time, once, sometime after we connect to internet. This, apparently, can be done with the daemon, using some option I don't fully understand. Or we can use ntpdate - a program which is to disappear some time in the future, but that I use, and SuSE uses as well in its own script. For this, we can simply call "/etc/init.d/xntpd ntptimeset" - and assume that when "ntpdate" finally disappears SuSE will adjust the script appropriately ;-) Of course, /etc/ntp.conf has to be configured; at least, it must have a list of servers: server IP_address server name_address This is sufficient for "xntpd ntptimeset" to work; just leave the rest of the config at the default values. If you want to use the daemon, then I'm not the person to ask :-) Ok, so when is the appropriate time to make this time adjust? Well, ideally, during system boot-up, after network connection is established. This is done properly by the service xntpd, if enabled. The SuSE script "/etc/init.d/xntpd start" does first a clock set using ntpdate, if the variable XNTPD_INITIAL_NTPDATE is set to "AUTO". Then, it starts the daemon to keep time synchronized. And, if our network connection is not permanent? Then, the script "/etc/ppp/poll.tcpip", which is called from "/etc/ppp/ip-up", will adjust the clock first thing: assuming we have some servers configured, it will be done every time we connect to internet with the modem. I do it differently, only once every five times, and I also update the hwclock. The danger of this method is that the clock might suddenly go forward or backward a bit (seconds or hours, it depends): not very nice on a *nix system, but we can not avoid it. More details to be aware of: what happens to the hardware or CMOS clock? Well, the script "/etc/init.d/boot.clock" (read it, it is documented) does this sequence of things (using the command "hwclock") before starting system services: - Create if it doesn't exist, the file "/etc/adjtime" - Adjust hardware clock (CMOS) for known drift during the time the computer has been off; this depends on the previous file to work. - Copy CMOS clock (hardware) to system time (CPU and OS maintained). After this, the system goes fully up, and maybe, the clock is adjusted from the internet or by hand (danger!). But (and this is very different than windows) the CPU maintained clock has to be copied back to the CMOS, because the kernel doesn't do it. SuSE does it in the script "/etc/init.d/halt" that copies system time to hardware time just before power off. Me, I prefer to do it just after I adjust to network time, inside "ip-up.local", like this: /usr/sbin/rcxntpd ntptimeset /sbin/hwclock --systohc More things to be aware of: a common mistake is manually adjusting the system clock from kde control center (for example), and not updating the hwclock at the same time: the drift adjust algorithm of hwclock thinks that the CMOS clock is fast or slow by the same amount you adjusted the clock, and the next boot it will adjust the time by several hours... The solution is to delete "/etc/adjtime" and call "/sbin/hwclock --systohc" just then (documented on the SuSE sdb). Well, this has been enough chatter on my part; let's hope I didn't make many mistakes :-) -- Saludos Carlos Robinson

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