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coverup

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Posts posted by coverup

  1. I start ppp manually. I don't mind adding the rule by hand - presumably, it's just one line? The client is a laptop, I am connected to the internet via the Dlink router and a cable modem (PPPoE).

     

    I start thinking that this is not a firewall problem, but something related to routing. Shorewall blocked traffic on only one occasion. After I stopped, and then enabled shorewall, messages from it stopped. I still cannot connect to the Exchange server at work regardless whether shorewall is on or off.

     

    After connection is established, I can see that the routing table changes to

    # route -n
    Kernel IP routing table
    Destination	 Gateway		 Genmask		 Flags Metric Ref	Use Iface
    xxx.yyy.zzz.90   0.0.0.0		 255.255.255.255 UH	0	  0		0 ppp0
    192.168.0.0	 0.0.0.0		 255.255.255.0   U	 0	  0		0 wlan0
    0.0.0.0		 192.168.0.1	 0.0.0.0		 UG	0	  0		0 wlan0

    where xxx.yyy.zzz.90 is the address of the gateway. Also, ifconfig shows that ppp interface is up

    ppp0	  Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol
    	  inet addr:xxx.yyy.zzz.92  P-t-P:xxx.yyy.zzz.90  Mask:255.255.255.255
    	  UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST  MTU:1000  Metric:1
    	  RX packets:12 errors:1 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
    	  TX packets:11 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
    	  collisions:0 txqueuelen:3
    	  RX bytes:261 (261.0 b)  TX bytes:134 (134.0 b)

    This tells me that the tunnel is established OK. However, I cannot connect to the exchange server on the xxx.yyy.0.0 network - I am prompted to type in the password, and then I get an error message saying that the authentication failed.

  2. Thanks, Ian.

     

    It is not available for Mandriva 2008.0 as far as I can tell. The latest version on the sourceforge is dated 2006, I am wondering if this project is alive at all;-).

     

    Anyway, I made some progress... I was able to connect from the CLI by manually configuring chap-secrets and starting tunnel by hand. At least it worked from my office. But not providing the PPTP option in vpndrake is beyond my understanding. That's another BIG naught to Mandriva 2008.0. The first one is for not including WPA-EAP.

     

    Now, what rule do I need to add to the shorewall rules to allow me connect to work? The shorewall documentation is not for heartfainted:-), I just want to connect to my server at work, that's all. :lol2:

  3. I am pulling my hair out trying to connect to the VPN server at work. Is it possible at all? I have the vpn server name, I know it has to be a PPTP tunnel, and I have access credentials. In windows that's sufficient, and I connect with no problem. Not so easy in Mandriva.

     

    The infamous drakvpn does not have an option for PPTP config, that's no go for me. I tried kvpnc and pptp-command but could not connect either.

     

    I googled a lot and followed all possible advises. In fact, my attempts to connect via VPN from a Linux box have been futile for a number of years, and every new and greatest version of Linux I tried was unable to cope with such a routine task! Any help please?

  4. When you buy PP, you buy 2-3 month worth of support and Mandriva Club membership plus you pay some licensing fees for using nonfree drivers and the nonfree software. It's up to you whether you need that or not. I used to buy powerpacks in the past but then stopped byuing them because the support services did not deliver what was promised. On the other hand, the forums like the MUB and official Mandriva forum, have wealth of information and are just as helpful.

     

    The price tag of $6 is likely for Mandriva Free, not a PP.

     

    My laptop likely suffers from the spindown problem - it often pauses while I am typing something or am moving the mouse pointer.

  5. About the WPA drakconnect WiFi scripts you mentioned, are these scripts used only during WPA configuration or are they used whenever connecting with WPA? Do we have the same issue with WPA2 scripts?

     

    If the WPA-PSK scripts are in 2008.0, then I'm not sure why I had a problem trying to set up WPA-PSK mode with my Orinoco and Airlink cards.

    A short answer is WPA-PSK is perfectly supported by Mandriva 2008 out of the box. WPA2 is not supported out of the box, but the post I mentioned previously shows that this finctionality can be added - tested, works.

     

    A longer answer... WPA encryption is handled by the piece of software called wpa_supplicant. Using it, WPA and WPA2 were supported in Linux effectively from the day these standards were introduced. However, wpa_supplicant does not include any GUI and must be configured manually - naturally, given the variety of Linux distros it would be an impossible task for the developer of the wpa_supplicant to develop such GUIs. drakconnect (more precisely, the part related to WPA encryption) is a GUI to configure wpa_supplicant on Mandriva systems. Once the connection is configured, to connect/disconnect, Mandriva simply exercises appropriate ifup or ifdown commands.

     

    Therefore, to debug your problem you must narrow down the problem to a specific issue. Try this...

     

    1. If its only WPA-PSK that you need, make sure the card works under Windows (ie, it is not blocked by the router's firewall, etc).

     

    2. Make sure your card works under Linux. Can you connect to an open network? Can you connect using WEP encryption?

     

    3. Does WPA work when using a different distro? You may want to check a live CD such as Ubuntu.

     

    4. Inspect /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf. Make sure all wpa_supplicant parameters for your network are set correctly. Also, inspect /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-wlan0 (possibly ifcfg-eth1, etc). Try to establish connection from the CLI using the ifup command, and see what you get. Try different wpa_supplicant parameters.

  6. WRT disabling SSID, I've just read a wiki @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSID, which tends to disagree with this. Being a beginner in this field, I'm somewhat confused; could one of you give me some more details, please?

    Also: is mac-filtering achieved in the wireless-adapter and, if so, is it a standard feature of all/most devices or do only certain ones have the facility?

    Disabling SSID broadcast does not make the network more secure. But it does stop a 12-year old neighbor who got a new laptop on Christmas ("Look, it is pink!") from attempting to connect to your router. If Windows does not see your network, they won't see it either!

     

    Before you buy a WiFi router/access point, check its tech specs on the web. I have a good experience with Dlink, their firewalls are sufficiently rich in features for a basic home use.

  7. Mandriva is not a rolling distro, hence there is a chance the update will break something in your system. Upgrading more than 1 version up is even riskier... It looks like the installer fails at the stage when it attempts to create a bootloader entry for the old kernel 2.4.21. I would skip writing the bootloader, finish the upgrade, then boot from a resque CD, edit the grub menu manually based on the content of /boot (eg remove anything related to the 2.4.21 kernel, then install grub to MBR or wherever you want it to be, reboot.

  8. I too have the fans working for a longer period time than used to be the case with my previous laptop. The CPU temperature is Ok, so I stopped worrying about this, though it clearly just a waste of the battery power.

     

    Since the powermanagement in 2008 (and I presume in 2008.1) is control by kpowersave, you must tinker with it. On my laptop, I can only select Performance, Dynamic, and Powersave as CPU frequency policies. I wonder where have the other governors gone?

  9. Mandrake 9.1 was released the very same day the Great Pyramid was finished. Please consider upgrading... if not to the latest stable release, then to something based at a 2.6.X kernel, which has much better support for USB devices.

    WinXP had a good USB support even then :lol2::jester::devil:

  10. :lol2:

     

    A newer version of Mandriva is a good suggestion.

    The guy has explained in his other post that he has specific requirements for Mandrake 9.1.

     

    galapogos, an IBM USB wheel mouse worked for me under Mandrake 9.2, I think I was using using the protocol "IMPS" or "ExplorerPS/2", I don't remember now. However, the mouse only worked if X was started with the mouse connected, It never worked when I was just plugging it into a USB port after X had started. Try restarting X (or the computer) with the mouse connected.

  11. neddie: I'm sure it's 1024x768. I can tell when a LCD is not in its native resolution. Besides, I double checked using my LCD's OSD. It says 1024x768. What do you mean by "XFDrake from an X-less login"?

    XFDrake is another (former?) name for drakxconf. X-less login means you must do it from console, as root.

    I have a feeling the i915 drivers aren't being installed correctly, because it still says "videocard" and when I use drakxconf, I don't see any new options for the i915 chipset either. I tried reinstalling the drivers and it says its successful but no changes seem to have been made. How do I check this?

    As root, check the content of /var/log/XFree.log.0 (or a similar). This is the detailed log of what X is doing. MCC does not know that you installed a new driver. If you want to use MCC/drakxconf, you must choose the custom setup option, and specify all information by hand. You'll be better off editing /etc/X11/XF86Config or /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 by hand. Here is /etc/XF86Config I had on my old Mandrake 10.1 system, you may need to change Driver i810 to i915:

     # File generated by XFdrake.
    
    # **********************************************************************
    # Refer to the XF86Config man page for details about the format of
    # this file.
    # **********************************************************************
    
    Section "Files"
    # Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)
    # By default, Mandrake 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of
    # the X server to render fonts.
    FontPath "unix/:-1"
    EndSection
    
    Section "ServerFlags"
    #DontZap # disable <Crtl><Alt><BS> (server abort)
    AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse doesn't work
    #DontZoom # disable <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> (resolution switching)
    EndSection
    
    Section "Module"
    Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension
    Load "v4l" # Video for Linux
    Load "extmod"
    Load "type1"
    Load "freetype"
    Load "glx" # 3D layer
    Load "dri" # direct rendering
    # Load "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libglx.a"
    # Load "synaptics"
    EndSection
    
    Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Keyboard1"
    Driver "keyboard"
    Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
    Option "XkbLayout" "en_US"
    Option "XkbOptions" ""
    EndSection
    
    Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Mouse1"
    Driver "mouse"
    Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
    Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
    Option "ZAxisMapping" "6 7"
    EndSection
    
    Section "Monitor"
    # Block type: 2:0 3:fd
    # Block type: 2:0 3:fc
    Identifier "SyncMaster"
    VendorName "SAM"
    ModelName "SyncMaster"
    
    # Block type: 2:0 3:fd
    # HorizSync 30-81
    HorizSync 30-63
    VertRefresh 56-70
    
    # Max dot clock (video bandwidth) 140 MHz
    # Block type: 2:0 3:fc
    # Block type: 2:0 3:ff
    # DPMS capabilities: Active off:yes  Suspend:no  Standby:no
    
    # Mode	"1280x1024"	 # vfreq 60.020Hz, hfreq 63.981kHz
    # DotClock		108.000000
    # HTimings		1280 1328 1440 1688
    # VTimings		1024 1025 1028 1066
    # Flags   "+HSync" "+VSync"
    # EndMode
    # Block type: 2:0 3:fd
    # Block type: 2:0 3:fc
    # Block type: 2:0 3:ff
    
    Modeline "1280x1024" 108 1280 1328 1440 1688 1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync
    EndSection
    
    Section "Device"
    Identifier "device1"
    VendorName "Intel Corp."
    BoardName "Intel 865"
    Driver "i810"
    VideoRam 32768
    
    # VideoRam 65536
    Option "DPMS"
    #	Option "ConnectedMonitor" "DFP"
    EndSection
    
    Section "Screen"
    Identifier "screen1"
    Device "device1"
    Monitor "SyncMaster"
    DefaultColorDepth 24
    
    Subsection "Display"
    	Depth 8
    	Virtual 1280 1024
    EndSubsection
    
    Subsection "Display"
    	Depth 15
    	Virtual 1280 1024
    EndSubsection
    
    Subsection "Display"
    	Depth 16
    	Virtual 1280 1024
    EndSubsection
    
    Subsection "Display"
    	Depth 24
    
    	# Virtual 1280 1024
    	Modes "1280x1024"
    EndSubsection
    EndSection
    
    Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier "layout1"
    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
    Screen "screen1"
    EndSection
    
    Section "dri"
    Mode 0666
    EndSection

  12. First, try to change the screen resolution by pressing Alt+Ctr+"+" or Alt+Ctr+"-"(you know, those "+" and "-" on the numeric keypad). I would not trust Mandrake Control Centre with my X configuration. Even in Mandriva 2008, if I use it I end up with the screen resolution 800x640 (or something similar), and the only way out is to use xrandr. By the way, you could try xrandr.

     

    If none of the above helps, you will need to set the resolution manually by editing one of the XF86Config files located in /etc/X11/. You need to add a modeline for your monitor to match the monitor specifications and then specify the screen resolution in the screen section. There are online modeline calculators that you can use to generate modelines. Also, you could try the command xvidtune. Be careful, it potentially can fry the monitor, though I have never seen it causing anything bad.

  13. Look for the IBM logo on the armrest.

     

    I am typing this post on a T61 made by lenovo. It's all good though to my taste, there some things which a reputable company should not have done. They followed the stupid trend and made it widescreen, but the footprint is actually bigger than that of T41 because the battery is protruding - like, helloo? The buttons are replaced with el-cheapo ones. The armrest cover rattles a bit and has a suspiciosly plastic feel. It took some time to get used to a little smaller touchpad, but it is still the three-button one and it nicely doubles up with the good ol' clit. Since I am used to the traditional UNIX/Emacs controls (the middle button does pasting), thinkpads are the only choice for me :D

     

    In newer models, the sound control and the screen brightness are software controlled, apparently, as of T61. But if you get anything older than T61, these will be hardware controlled. That could be good or bad thing for you, it depends... Software controlled special keys may require some feedling, and (in my case) require me to login, say, to adjust volume. Though this might sound negative, actually I have all special keys working, so in in the end it is not bad at all. Mandriva can't take credit for this though, as I spent a lot of time chasing up bits and pieces on Thinkwiki. To compare, in Ubuntu all buttons worked out of the box except for the video switch (I made it work too). With the hardware controlled buttons, they work regardless of the OS.

     

    The biggest Lenovo's innovation is that they keyboard now features the Windows key for which I have no use. But the keyboard still features two extra navigation buttons for the web browser.

  14. Thanks, Ian, I'll try the USB-keyboard when my adaptor arrives. :thumbs:

     

    Further on down the line....... This is becoming a bit of a nightmare. I've spent the last day reading (with horror) the info on

     

    http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:T42

     

    There are 12 "Problem categories", including what appear to be pretty serious ones, such as

     

    * Problem with fan noise

    * Problem with garbled screen

    * Problem with hard drive clicking

    * Problem with high pitch noises

    * Problem with high power drain in ACPI sleep

    * Problem with video output switching

     

    Could anyone help me by putting this into context, because I have difficulty believing that a company like IBM would produce a machine with faults like these? Looks to me like a device to be avoided at all cost.

     

    Or am I missing something here? :unsure: :mellow:

     

    OK, again based on my experience with T41:

     

    * Problem with fan noise

     

    The noise is nothing compared to DELL inspiron of the same age.

     

    * Problem with garbled screen

     

    Under Mandrake 9.2, the laptop never resumed from suspend-to-RAM. I always ended up with the grabled screen. Switching to the virtual console before resume was the way to go.

     

    * Problem with hard drive clicking

     

    HDD clicking was a lot more annoying under Windows than under Linux. I guess, Windows parks the HDD more frequently, that the real reason why the HDD makes that clicking sound.

     

    * Problem with high pitch noises

     

    Fan does sound a little whiny, also the power adapter makes a buzzing sound, but neither is irritating. You will get used to it at no time.

     

    * Problem with high power drain in ACPI sleep

     

    I turned ACPI off, and used APM on my T41. I don't remember the reason for this. As mentioned, I never had much success with suspend-to-RAM anyway. Problem with high power drain in ACPI sleep was discussed a lot on the linux-on-thinkpads mailing list when the kernel 2.6 was introduced. Mandrake 9.2 had kernel 2.4 as default, hence I have never had a chance to see power drain.

     

    * Problem with video output switching

     

    The ATI driver for the Radeon did not support video output switching for a very long time (don't know why). If your laptop has Intel video, there should not be any problem.

     

    In summary, ThinkPads are made for Linux. If you can get one of the last IBM made ones, that's the best deal. Five years from now, it will work as new. Lenovo's T61 is good, but one can clearly spot some cost-cutting here and there.

  15. Thanks to you both. :thumbs: Following up on this, I've been doing some searching for info on the IBM ThinkPad Port Replicator II (models 74P6733, 74P6734, 74P6735; not quite sure of the significance of these numbers :huh: ) for use with a Thinkpad T42, and came across a site which said that "The ThinkPad Port Replicator II does not support LINUX." Seems a bit of a strange statement; could either of you (or anyone else) tell me what it means? Thanks.

    I've been using IBM ThinkPad T41 with port replicator 74P6733 and Mandrake 9.2 for years. It works fine except for the couple of things related to the X server, e.g., dropping the laptop onto the replicator does not enable USB mouse automatically. However, I blame Mandrake's poor handling of USB devices (at that time) and the quality of the X server software. Another thing that never worked for me was the dual display under Linux. Again, I believe, the ATI driver is to blame. Since the ATI dropped the support of Radeon M9 (Radeon 9000), I will never find out the true reason (sigh). VGA to DVI-I bridge always worked without a hitch.

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