Author: George

The installation went well. Both Gnome and KDE 4.3 are installed (I lke KDE 4.3 graphics but I still prefer Gnome) with almost every application available at initial setup. I also installed Samba Server (so I can host or share files) and the client so I can connect to Window shares and the Samba share on my Ubuntu PC.

After getting the system up and running, I immediately went to How to Forge and access the Perfect Fedora Gnome post. Once again falco’s directions were perfect. I followed every step – minus a few applications I didn’t want.

So now I started to customised my new FC 11 PC. I enabled Desktop Effects to see if by some chance I can have the spinning desktop cube and the wobble when I drag open windows. Amazingly enough I have them. Must be a fluke – better reboot to check. I have Desktop Effects!!! This is something I cannot enable on my Ubuntu PC at home (remember it’s 7.5 years old with an old NVIDIA GForece 2 card) and my Ubuntu PC at work. The only thing I can get with the Ubuntu work PC is wobble movement.

The first annoyance I ran into was the sudo command. Every time I used it I to install anything via command line, I received an error stating I am not listed in the sudoers file. So I searched the Internet and found out I need to run su –login -c ‘visudo’ to add my local account. OK – what are the commands for this program? Good luck finding out. If someone has them, drop me a line or let me know where to find them. So now getting sudo rights became a PINTA (Pain IN the Ass). To make a long story short – I ran su at the Terminal, ran nautilus to get to the sudoers file, change the permissions so root can write to it, ran gedit as root, found this line ## Allow root to run any commands anywhere added my local account with this line george ALL=(ALL) ALL, saved the file and closed gedit. I also had to reset the permissions back to Read Only. Finallyin terminal I entered sudo whoami received the correct response of root. Like I said PINTA.

I can access my Samba shares, my Windows shares, get to the Internet, run Pidgin, installed a HP LaserJet 4200 network printer, and installed a HP OfficeJet Pro K550 network printer.

However I need to install Terminal Server Client (tsclient) so I can RDC to the Microsoft servers I support. I know there are other applications that came with FC 11, but I am familiar with Terminal Server Client and I like it. Installation was easy – at the terminal window enter sudo yum install tsclient. After installation I created a connection to one of my Windows 2003 servers. Everything worked well and i can run the application just like I can on my Ubuntu PC and within Vista’s Remote Desktop Connection (RDC). A downside I experienced was the import option within tsclient – it would not allow me to import the connections I made on my Ubuntu PC. Possible bug or a incompatibility issue. When I get more time I might look into this.

I also wanted to install No Machine server and client on my FC 11 PC. Just save the RPM files to a download folder and run Package Installer in the following order:

nxclient
nxnode
nxserver

Time to test. I was able to establish a connection to my Ubuntu PC with no problems. Worked just like it’s suppose to. I then created a server / host connection on my FC 11 PC. For some reason I was not able to connect. Of course the error was cryptic and told me to check the var/log/messages file on my host PC. Even more cryptic was the log file, but I Googled the error and found several posts in the Fedora wiki regarding issues with NX Server. Turn out the problem is with the host file. You need to add you computer name on the first line example would be pcdev68.domain name. Now I can connect from my Ubutnu and two Vista PCs to my FC 11 PC from anywhere on the network.

Since I’m not planning on using KDE 4.3 and I got the OK to wipe out the Windows partition on the PC, I might spend some time within the next week or so and rebuild the PC. Of course I’ll copy off that sudoers file and some of the other configurations I made first.

So far I like FC 11. When I ran FC 2 and FC 3 way back when, I was new to Linux and found some thing to be difficult. And to be honest some thing are still difficult. I think using openSUSE 9.x – 11.1 and Ubuntu 8.04 – 9.04 gave me a stonger background into Linux. I don’t consider myself to be a complete noob, but I have much to learn before I would even consider myself an expert. Maybe I should look into a certified Linux Professional course and exam.

Tags Fedora Core

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Bill Gates Stops Hurricanes

Post author By George
Post date August 28, 2009
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Jimmy Kimmel explains:

Tags Windows Vista

Personal

Post author By George
Post date August 24, 2009
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This weekend the Cole Brothers Circus was in our area. I took the family to the 1:30 PM show on Sunday. The last time we went was August 2006. We were able to get free tickets for the kids with 2 adult ticket purchases. Getting there took no time – glad I took the Subaru Outback since everyone had to park in the grass field. After all the rain we had from Hurricane Bill it was going to be pretty wet and muddy.

Our seats this year put us next to the entrance of the animals when the arrived and left the ring. The best shows for us to see from our viewpoint; the Toprasta Troupe from Columbia performing the three-tier 7 man pyramid on the high wire, the elephants, jugglers, acrobats, Aerial Ballet on Streaming Silks, and the dogs and pony review. The rest of the shows were in the center ring; 3 motorcycles in the Globe of Death, other acrobats, clowns, camels, and dancers.

It was very hot and humid “under the big top” for everyone – except for the camels. We enjoyed our circus treats and took some pictures of the family and attractions. Most of the pictures didn’t turn out as well as I would like, but a few are attached at the end of this post.

Leaving the circus was as painful as leaving a Catholic Church on Easter Sunday. One thing I like about my Outback – it has a timer for letting you know how long you’ve been behind the wheel driving (or in our case sitting in the field waiting). We did not get onto the road until 29 minutes after starting the car. The problem – poor traffic management and a few cars stuck in the mud.

American flag hanging from the big top

Tags Personal

Work

Netowork Issues for the new AC Unit

Post author By George
Post date August 20, 2009
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Every few weeks I switch sites with a colleague for cross-training. This allows each of us to cover if someone calls sick, or leaves for a better opportunity. The cross-training has worked out very well with positive feed back from the client at both sites.

This morning at 8:00 while looking over backup logs of laboratory PCs, I was asked by Brian (a contractor who is working on the some building automation) for some network assistance. We have installed a new AC unit which has ether-net connections for remote monitoring. The unit was working about 2 weeks ago, but today it is not functional. I tried to ping the unit from my desk but received “Host Unreachable”. So I ran nslookup to see if the IP address I was trying to ping was assigned to this AC unit; confirmed that we have the right IP address.

I asked Brian if he knew what number was written on the data jack so I can see if it was disconnect in the network closet. Brian said he was unable to read the writing on the data jack. So I said I would check it out with him. After getting on the roof we shut down the old AC unit to open the access panel. Right in front of us was the data jacks with 2 connections – one for each AC unit with writing that was faded. Maybe if the guys from CSI were with use they could tell me what numbers were. I swapped the ports to see if the connectivity lights activated on the new AC unit. They did but I lost the lights for the old AC unit. I reset the cables, closed the panel and power on the AC unit…looks like the problem is in the network closet.

At the network closet I check to see if any ports were labeled AC units – of course not. So now I started up my PC and started one of my company provided network monitoring tools. Brian supplied the IP address of the working AC unit and I began my search. I was able to find the exact data port connection on the switch and trace the wire back to the unlabeled patch panel. So I took a guess the next unlabeled port would be the second connection on the roof. And wouldn’t you know it, the cable was not connected to the switch.

After making the connection we tried to ping the new AC unit again – still host unreachable. I had Brian go back to the roof and cycle the power for the new AC unit to see if that would resolve of connectivity issue. We also verified the lights would come on and blink when we disconnected / connected the cable from the patch panel. Still I could not ping the assigned IP address. I contacted the network engineer and left him two voice messages with updates. Brian gave me his business card and asked to be notified if there are any changes or new information.

Near the end of my work day, I decided to check the connection again for the new AC unit. After receiving the same error messages from the ping command, I used the network monitoring tool to see if any information was available on the port I connect to. Finally I had some information and called Brian. It looks like the static IP address was reset to the factory standard IP of 192.168.168.1. I could also see MAC address and who the MAC Vendor was.

So now we wait for the vendor to come back and reprogram the ether-net card. I sent an update by e-mail to my colleague to hopefully expect someone tomorrow or early next week.

Tags Work

Geek Stuff Work

HDD Platters…Not Mode from Snips and Snails and Puppy Dogs Tail

Post author By George
Post date August 14, 2009
No Comments on HDD Platters…Not Mode from Snips and Snails and Puppy Dogs Tail

What are hard disk platters made of? At first I thought it was aluminum alloy or some other light weight material. And to be honest I never gave it much thought – until today.

When we take a hard drive out of service at work, we destroy the disk. Usually we bust out the TORX screwdriver (size T8 and or T10) and remove the outer case. Then we remove the circuit board, the magnets for the actuator arm, and then the actuator arm. Finally you are left with a stack of platters which you can leave in the bottom of the case or remove them.

So this afternoon I was on the phone with my wife and playing with the platters I removed from a drive about a week ago. I dropped on the floor and to my astonishment it shattered! So after cleaning up my mess I was curious and needed to know. Click the link from Wikipedia and scroll down to Manufacture.

From Wikipedia – Hard disk platters

Tags Geek Stuff, Work

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Got my Google Voice

Last week at work, a colleague at work was talking about a Google app he just configured called Google Voice. Google Voice reminds me of a service I use to sell at Bell Atlantic Mobile called Contact Line (which gave you a 800 number for people to call and that call would be routed to your pager, cell, office, or home phone); but Google Voice is more advanced with the web interface, e-mail and SMS notifications.

First you need to sign up for Google Voice. I had to wait about four days to receive the e-mail which invites you to setup the service. I got to choose my new phone number from a list in my area code (you can use your zip code too). So far here is what I like about Google Voice:

First I can give that number out to anyone without having to give them my personal cell, home, or work phone numbers
If I change jobs or move to a office, I can configure Google Voice to go to the new phone number without having to notify everyone of the change
I can configure any phone not to receive calls during hours when I know I am not there: example would be no need to ring the home phone when I am at work
I can have Google Voice transcribe the voice message into text and send me an e-mail to one or multiple e-mail addresses when a voice message arrives (see comments below)
I can have contacts in different groups to enable different features (Friends, Family, Coworkers)
Allow Caller ID to be passed through to my phone instead of of my Google Voice number

The one option that I don’t think works too well is transcribing the voice message into an e-mail. I left several test messages and many words are wrong. Plus I receive 2 SMS messages to my cell phone with each new voice message. The first message states I have a new message then a second message follows with the poorly transcribed message. To resolve that just disable Transcribe from the Settings screen.

I also decided to have the Caller ID send me the Google Voice number instead of the number of the person calling me. I might change that back after seeing how well these settings I picked worked.

Tags Google Voice