linux

Cryptswap and Linux assigning different devices letters to disk

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I had this weird issue recently: I had a simple Ubuntu setup with cryptesetup and swap, and the crypt swap device (say /dev/mapper/mycryptoswap1) keept disappearing.
Caution: fiddling with cryptsetup and disk devices is dangerous for data and OS. I personally made a full backup on a separate disk and then umplugged it to be sure it wouldn’t be involved in any mishap.

Turns out is a little worse that that: Linux is changing the drive devices assignations (eg /dev/sdb /dev/sdg) at every boot under my nose. I did not notice at first because I am using UUIDs, so everything looked fine. Unfortunately my raw partition did not have any UUID.  Probably there’s a way to assign an UUID to a general partition, but I didn’t address this issue.
Having the disk changing its letter any time was the reason why the crypttab device wasn’t created a boot.  I was lucky: would a partition with valuable data be present in the other disk, it would be overwritten with encrypted swap data.

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Linux Kernel 3.6 is here

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I had to upgrade a Pangolin Precise to Linux 3.6 to issue a bug on Linux Vs my Logitech mouse. So far I can say: Nvidia_current 295.40 fails to build module in 3.6.0 amd64 (I suspect it would also on i386) Solution: install nvidia-current 304.51 from ubuntu xedgers. Works out of the Box. Vmplayer VMware … Leggi tutto

A quick and dirty udevadm script

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This script (very dirty) was handful to me to discover some parameters (e.g KERNELS) to differentiate on udev/rules.d rules similar devices on a physical usb port basis. It’s relased under the GNU General Public License and with no guaranties. Please read the Disclaimer. It needs of course udevadm and less. Syntax is: showdevicedetails.sh #!/bin/bash # … Leggi tutto

ALiveXFire-eSATA2 boot issue with memory: a BSOD story

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I recently bought an Asrock ALiveXFire-eSATA2 R3.0 and I must say I am impressed on how much this board s*ck* (at least with Ubuntu 64bit Linux 10.10). and after a while (07/2011) solved some serious problems with this motherboard, mainly thanks to the new 4.00 Bios. 07/2011: I must say things are a little better … Leggi tutto

Meego 1.1 on Toshiba nb 200 rocks

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I recently axed Ubuntu on my netbook. Even if it perfomed correctly, I felt it was a bit overkill with netbook and did not cope well with the small screen. Panning with alt+mouse is ok, but I didn’t feel right.

I decided to go with Meego, a Linux from the Linux foundation. I just love the new interface, but I must say the stock system (speaking of 1.1) is a bit limited. You cannot simply expect to use the package manager to add missing things, it’s gonna be a little more complicated than this.  Please read carefully the Disclaimer before trying anything…messing with partition is dangerous for your data…always do a backup first.

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Quake Wars sound delay on Ubuntu

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I found my fix without changing pulseaudio configuration (which works fine otherwise) try launching etqw as such: > etqw.x86 +set s_driver oss UPDATE(6/11/2010): on Ubuntu 10.10 the kernel is shipped without OSS support. So unless you are going to compile your own kernel, I suggest you to avoid updating. Good work, Ubuntu, we had 2 … Leggi tutto

hylafax with UFW on Ubuntu

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I’m experimenting with Hylafax on my ARM server. I got a seemgly working usb fax (Atlantis Land a01-pu3 v1.2) and I’m playing with it. Hylafax has no problem recognizing the modem, and at first I opened port 4559 on the Hylafax server to permit comunication with the Hylafax client. Unfortuntely I didn’t work. Disabling the … Leggi tutto

tc1100 wi-fi hardware switch: a pain in the hat under linux

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A while ago I decided to fix something under my HP tc1100 hood. I had bad idea: I loaded the default  BIOS settings. Turning the tablet on I had a bad surprise: the wi-fi card was hardware disabled. Unfortunately the tc1100 has an ipw2100 card but no physical hardware switch and without a windows partition I was stuck with the wifi off. I previously had the same problem with a Toshiba nb200, but there I had more luck. The more I think about it, the more I wonder if a linux only system is good in a “Windows only” world.
Disclaimer: following the steps outlined here may brick damage or otherwise set on fire your tc1100 and/or your neighborhood. Please follow them or reproduce them on your tc1100 only if you are willing to damage it, brick it, and set the house on fire. Seriously, this is tricky stuff. I suggest you to avoid flashing the bios if everything is working. If you have to, fully charge the battery and use an external UPS to power the TC1100 just in case. Internet is full of bricked tc1100s. When in doubt, use a real Windows for the flash operation.

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