August 2005 - openSUSE Users - openSUSE Mailing Lists

Damnit - We're There! My $.02 [crosspost mdk-suse]
by david rankin 12 Aug '05

12 Aug '05

<great! rant> Mates, Occasionally, I try to reflect and think about were we [Linux] are/[is] and how we are doing. Tonight is one of those occasions. As I look at the lists I am taken by the minimal nature of the problems with the distributions. Sure there are always app hiccups. But.. problems with the core OS components are (happily) NON EXISTENT. That speaks volumes. Gone are the pains of the gcc 2-3 transition. Gone are the horror stories of the kernel 2.2-2.4-2.6 rifts, the apache 1.3-2.0 trans, php and MySQL growing pains. Gone are the errors and seg faults in the infrastructure, such as gcc, bind, dhcp, samba, automount, pick-your-favorite, etc.... (although the "smartest guys in the room" are still dorking with the automount voodoo (don't get sucked into the registry model)) I jumped on board with mdk 7.0 (Air distro) and rode through the stock offering implosion and crippled 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 9.0, 9.1 and 9.2 releases, picked up SuSE with 8.0, and enjoyed the (albeit bumpy) ride through 8.1, 8.2 (not bad though), and the (fairly stable) ride through 9.0, 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3. I've tried every release. I'm not prejudiced, I have servers and desktops running mdk 7.2 (I'm lazy) , 10.1, 2005LE, SuSE 9.0, 9.2 and 9.3. Today, the point is: SuSE 9.3 and mdk 2005LE are awesome. They are both basically point and shot OS's. Yast and urpmi work (almost flawlessly). Grab a box, shuffle CDs (or DVD), update, configure and you're done. All hardware is amazingly recognized!!! (OK WPA and wireless can still be a challenge) I run both SuSE and mdk servers and desktops along with the Gates crippleware. We have finally gotten to the point (with a recent HD crash) that we are loading Linux as the desktop OS. That is a milestone! Unfortunately, we still require crippleware to run QuickBooks --- try handing your accountant an GNUcash file -- (LOL). And... unfortunately, when I go to trial, I still run crippleware. There are no viable substitutes for Summation, Trial Director, Visionary, power(less) point, and other trail tools. (does anybody hear OPPORTUNITY HERE??) (Summation gets $1900.00 per copy >= $5k for a 5 node license) OO is not yet a contender. (really simple stuff, database to collect transcript notes and issues, ability to search, sync and present transcript text and video, image-slideshows, etc..) The same shortfalls appear in Linux CAD software. Someone needs to contact AutoDesk or develop a similar CAD program with topo capability for land development applications, etc. But (sticking to the subject) -- damnit we're close... That's it though -- think about the other 99% of the business application handling Linux can do. When I, as an attorney and engineer, can utilize Linux for 95% of what I need to do, securely and with confidence, from servers to the desktop, the open source vision is almost complete! My servers have been exclusively Linux since 2000. The core server apps are bulletproof and it has only gotten better. The desktop has made huge leaps in the last 18 months. So much so that people now believe that GUI config tools are the way to configure a Linux box -- go figure... ( so much for # vi /etc/sysconfig/network...) All in all, if a weird lawyer can sit back and objectively say, "I see little or no barriers between transitioning between mickeysoft and Linux for what I do" (subject to the exceptions above), it says -- we have come a long way! On both sides of the fence -- keep up the great work! I can't wait for SuSE 10.0 and mdk 2006 (or whatever the new name may be..) </great! rant> -- David C. Rankin, J.D., P.E. RANKIN LAW FIRM, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 (936) 715-9333 (936) 715-9339 fax www.rankinlawfirm.com --

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SCSI Tape compression
by Sebastian Jeremias 12 Aug '05

12 Aug '05

Hi, I'm having troubles compressing a DDS-4 tape. I have an HP C5683A drive, and when I do 'mt -f /dev/nst0 status' (or mtst) I get: twist:/opt/ltt # mtst -f /dev/nst0 status SCSI 2 tape drive: File number=0, block number=0, partition=0. Tape block size 0 bytes. Density code 0x8c (EXB-8505 compressed). Soft error count since last status=0 General status bits on (41010000): BOT ONLINE IM_REP_EN The problem is that it's not using compression, although it's turned on. My questions are: - Is EXB-8505 the right compression mode? I read you could change it to DDS-4, but what's the compression code for DDS-4? - Do I need a hardware specific driver for the SCSI controller for the O.S. to recognize the tape in the proper way? - Something I'm missing? Thanks in advance, Sebastian -- Sebastian Jeremias Ingenieria LIGHTECH +54 11 4311.9888 http://www.lightech.biz

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Reduce crashes using setrlimit()?
by Yeshurun, Meir 12 Aug '05

12 Aug '05

Hi, We are trying to reduce the amount of crashes on our machines. Can limiting the amount of virtual memory a process is allowed to allocate using setrlimit() help? Currently there are no limits. Thanks, Meir

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kernel and firmware packages uploaded
by Andreas Jaeger 12 Aug '05

12 Aug '05

ftp.suse.com and its mirrors should have now the extra kernel modules and firmware packages that we did not put on the OSS CDs. The location on ftp.suse.com is: ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/10.0/SUSE-Linux10.0-Beta1-Extra/kernel-mod… Andreas -- Andreas Jaeger, aj(a)suse.de, http://www.suse.de/~aj SUSE Linux Products GmbH, Maxfeldstr. 5, 90409 Nürnberg, Germany GPG fingerprint = 93A3 365E CE47 B889 DF7F FED1 389A 563C C272 A126

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Problems compiling courier-authlib with mysql support
by Mike Silvers 12 Aug '05

12 Aug '05

I am having problems compiling courier-authlib with mysql support... The error I am getting is a linking error on the make. The configure has no problems. I am using the following configure: ./configure --with-authmysql LDFLAGS='-L/usr/lib64/mysql' CFLAGS='-I/usr/include/mysql/' CCFLAGS=' -fPIC' The reason I added the CCFLAGS is because of the error I recived on the make. I have also tried it without the CCFLAGS. The errors I am getting are: .... (up to this point it appears to compile everything correctly)e Compiling authmysqllib.c Linking libauthmysql.la /usr/bin/nm: my_pthread.o: no symbols /usr/bin/nm: my_thr_init.o: no symbols /usr/bin/nm: thr_mutex.o: no symbols /usr/bin/nm: my_port.o: no symbols /usr/bin/nm: strmov.o: no symbols /usr/bin/nm: strnlen.o: no symbols /usr/bin/nm: bcmp.o: no symbols /usr/bin/nm: bmove.o: no symbols /usr/bin/nm: longlong2str.o: no symbols /usr/bin/nm: strtoull.o: no symbols /usr/bin/nm: strtoll.o: no symbols /usr/bin/nm: viossl.o: no symbols /usr/bin/nm: viosslfactories.o: no symbols /usr/lib64/gcc-lib/x86_64-suse-linux/3.3.3/../../../../x86_64-suse-linux /bin/ld: /usr/lib64/mysql/libmysqlclient.a(libmysql.o): relocation R_X86_64_32 can not be used when making a shared object; recompile with -fPIC /usr/lib64/mysql/libmysqlclient.a(libmysql.o): could not read symbols: Bad value collect2: ld returned 1 exit status make[2]: *** [libauthmysql.la] Error 1 make[2]: Leaving directory `/usr/local/source/courier-authlib-0.57' make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1 make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/local/source/courier-authlib-0.57' make: *** [all] Error 2 I am stuck on this one -- any help? Thanks Mike

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modem problem in suse 9.2 professional
by Bernie Gardner 12 Aug '05

12 Aug '05

I've been trying to set up suse 9.2 pro on a friends computer for several months. Everything seems to work ok except the dial up modem. The computer has a US Robotics V92 internal modem, definitely not a winmodem. It is recognized in the YAST hardware listing, and is identified as being on /dev/ttyS3. This is consistent with win2k finding it on com4 (as I understand it, linux starts at 0, windows at 1.) The modem works fine in win2k. In linux, trying to dialup with either kinternet or wvdial, the modem does not seem to be detected. With kinternet, the log shows 'Modem not responding' and with wvdial, we get 'cannot open /dev/ttys3 input/output err' (repeated 3 times>) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. It doesn't seem like this should be so hard! Bernie Gardner w1az(a)adelphia.net

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Unable to access Java and OpenOffice.org packages
by Andrew Wafaa 12 Aug '05

12 Aug '05

Does anyone know why the Java and OpenOffice.org packages are unaccessible? I tried accessing it via YAST and it bitched at me, and then when I tried accessing it via my browser it kept asking for a login, which didn't happen before. Regards, Andy

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Please fill up www.susewiki.org with your knowledge
by Shriramana Sharma 12 Aug '05

12 Aug '05

All right, guys: This new thread is a propos issues raised in the "Latest KDE disables graphical login as root?" thread. I think that if there are questions that newbies like me repeatedly ask, the knowledgeable techies around here should save themselves both the trouble of: 1. retyping oft-typed sentences or paragraph (for the patient ones) 2. getting irritated at the naivete of the newbies (for the impatient ones). The solution, use your excellent knowledge to fill up the webserver of www.susewiki.org. As a small step in this direction (and that too from an ignorant rookie like me), I have created an article on the topic of "security issues with logging into X-Windows as root" at: http://www.susewiki.org/index.php?title=SUSE_FAQ#Security_Issues If Wikipedia is such an excellent encyclopaedic trove of the knowledge of the world, why don't you gurus of the SuSE distro-queen (or king) pour your knowledge into www.susewiki.org and make it the biggest repository of SuSE (maybe even Linux) knowledge? Heck, you can beat Micro$oft's "Know-falling-off-the-ledge Base" anytime, seeing as half of M$'s KB is about bugs and security issues and we already have Bugzilla to address that! If a simpleton like me can do it, you people of well developed frontal lobes can certainly do the same. :) I trust this action meets with the approval of all the good people here. -- Shriramana Sharma http://samvit.org

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Obtaining an account at betatestdb.suse.de
by robbinsc＠email.arizona.edu 12 Aug '05

12 Aug '05

Does anyone know how to obtain a login to check out what needs to be tested? I read about it in the Bug Reporting FAQ, and it says there are "detailed testcases which contain a description what to do - either a special feature or the whole software package." I have a Novell login, but that doesn't seem to work either. I tried at the SuSE Portal page, but they want a software authentication code. Thanks -Chris

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Problems with wireless devices? SOLVED
by robbinsc＠email.arizona.edu 12 Aug '05

12 Aug '05

I finally was able to solve the problems with my wireless card. The fix is a kernel upgrade. Head here - ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/suse/ftp.suse.com/projects/kernel/kotd/ (kernel of the day directory). There are folders for various SuSE versions(9.2, 9.3, sles9), and a bunch of directories only labeled under different architecture names. Find the folder that corresponds to your system architecture, and download the source rpm for the following kernel - 2.6.13-rc6-git1-20050810112659-default I suppose you could use one that is more current, but this is what I used. Find the rpm, install it and it will install the kernel and make the appropriate symlink to /usr/src/linux. From a console window, execute a "make oldconfig", "make", "make install", and a "make modules_install." Copy the bzImage to /boot, run mkinitrd, and rewrite /boot/grub/menu.lst so there's a proper entry for the new kernel (The entry that was done automatically DID NOT work right, and as a result, I ended up rewriting the entry myself.) With all of this complete, you can use wireless encryption without any problems. This seemed to fix a lot of stability problems as well (I was told there were problems with acpi), so it might be a wise idea for the kernel upgrade anyway. -Chris

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