Clutter Learns Linux

[Cluttermagnet]

Please add the line

xmodmap -e "remove Lock = Caps_Lock"

( as user not as root ) at the bottom of this file:/home/clutter/.profilereboot

Eureka! Thanks, Bruno! Yep, it works, no more caps lock after reboot. Wow, you bet I'm taking notes here. I'll probably have to deal with this one again. So happy to finally have a resolution! Some of these little problems like to be difficult. This one needed Le Professeur Pingouin for sure. I'm grateful for all the help. :thumbsup:BTW I've had another little victory today- I used gnome-control-center last night to launch glipper at startup. I managed to figure out where the .exe lives so I could set it up. I also did a Session Save under the 3rd tab after entering the data. So at least that one did work by adding a Sessions item. Edited June 26, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Bruno]

BTW I've had another little victory today- I used gnome-control-center last night to launch glipper at startup. I managed to figure out where the .exe lives so I could set it up. I also did a Session Save under the 3rd tab after entering the data. So at least that one did work by adding a Sessions item.

. . that is great ! Because the gnome-control-center ( and /usr/share/gnome/autorun ) are the places where things like that should work. Bruno

[Urmas]

Certainly, from my perspective, dialup was working much better and more predictably in Dapper, but is a real pain in Feisty.

Clutter,Tried this already? http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=289...mp;postcount=12(Collection of other options: http://www.ubuntugeek.com/setting-up-dial-...-in-ubuntu.html ) Edited June 30, 2007 by Urmas

[Cluttermagnet]

Clutter,Tried this already? http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=289...mp;postcount=12(Collection of other options: http://www.ubuntugeek.com/setting-up-dial-...-in-ubuntu.html )

Thanks, Urmas-I started reading the first link but it appears to apply to Kubuntu 7.04. All my previous comments have related to Ubuntu, either 6.06 Dapper or 7.04 Feisty the past 2 weeks.The tutorial in the 2nd url looks useful. Perhaps I could play with gnome-ppp in Feisty. Lately, Feisty is behaving most of the time. I also eventually found where they had hidden the Connect and Disconnect buttons. They are in a drop-down menu under the networking icon up in the panel. Takes a series of 3 hover or click operations to reveal them. Certainly not convenient to use or easy to find for a new user. Just today, my CD with Kubuntu 7.04 was in my mail when I checked. Someone had torn open the envelope. I thought I had ordered 2-3 CD's. There was still 1 CD left, anyway. I'm not sure if any are missing or not.So I started a live CD session of Kubuntu on one of my machines. You know what guys, it's still a bit early to know for sure, but I may just be a gnomie. I'm having a consistently less satisfying user experience when I encounter a new distro of Kubuntu. I seem to have more of an affinity for Ubuntu and gnome, so far. That 7.04 Kubuntu is confusing. I'm less happy with their partitioning tool, though I definitely could use that one. I'm much less satisfied with the device manager. Heck, where is it, anyway? I sure don't like what passes for a device manager in Kubuntu. The one in gnome I'm used to is way more complete and informative. There is a lot of learning/relearning to do in Kubuntu if you are used to Ubuntu. I'm certainly willing to go through that learning curve if it will put me ahead in the end. But it seems like every time I boot a new Kubuntu distro, I end up walking away, shaking my head- and right back to Ubuntu. Maybe it's just me? The thing that is throwing me is that a lot of folks claim that KDE is going to be more comfortable for folks used to Windows- but that has not been my experience so far. :hmm:BTW, of the 9 or so computer towers presently in my computer room, 4 have copies of Linux OS's installed- 3 Ubuntu Dapper and 1 Ubuntu Feisty. Some of the Dapper installs will be overwritten later with other distros, I'm sure. Of the 4 computers, only 1 even dual boots (98SE). The others are Linux only boxes. Heh. I guess it's starting to take over... Edited July 2, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Urmas]

You know what guys, it's still a bit early to know for sure, but I may just be a gnomie.

Imprinting is the term used in psychology and ethology to describe any kind of phase-sensitive learning (learning occurring at a particular age or a particular life stage) that is rapid and apparently independent of the consequences of behavior. It was first used to describe situations in which an animal or person learns the characteristics of some stimulus, which is therefore said to be "imprinted" onto the subject.The best known form of imprinting is filial imprinting, in which a young animal learns the characteristics of its parent. It is most obvious in nidifugous birds, who imprint on their parents and then follow them around. It was first reported in domestic chickens, by the 19th century amateur biologist Douglas Spalding. It was rediscovered by the early ethologist Oskar Heinroth, and studied extensively and popularised by his disciple Konrad Lorenz working with greylag geese. Lorenz demonstrated how incubator-hatched geese would imprint on the first suitable moving stimulus they saw within what he called a "critical period" of about 36 hours shortly after hatching. Most famously, the goslings would imprint on Lorenz himself (more specifically, on his wading boots),

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imprinting_(psychology) Hello, my name is Urmas, and I am a gnomie.

[Cluttermagnet]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imprinting_(psychology) Hello, my name is Urmas, and I am a gnomie.

That's all right mate- we'll love you until you learn to love yourself...

[Guest LilBambi]

Kubuntu was beautiful but I was disappointed with the limitations on the programs as well. I went back to Ubuntu and installed that and then went to a place of broadband with my computer and installed KDE and all the KDE apps so I would have the best of both worlds.I have not actually, changed my desktop to KDE technically, I am using Gnome with transparency etc. Gnome in Ubuntu can look nearly as good as KDE and if you have all the KDE apps as well as the Gnome apps, you miss absolutely nothing in your Ubuntu install.

[Cluttermagnet]

Kubuntu was beautiful but I was disappointed with the limitations on the programs as well. I went back to Ubuntu and installed that and then went to a place of broadband with my computer and installed KDE and all the KDE apps so I would have the best of both worlds.I have not actually, changed my desktop to KDE technically, I am using Gnome with transparency etc. Gnome in Ubuntu can look nearly as good as KDE and if you have all the KDE apps as well as the Gnome apps, you miss absolutely nothing in your Ubuntu install.

Thanks, Fran-That's what I'm going to end up doing myself, lugging a couple of towers over to my friend's cable broadband connection to slurp up those 400+ megs of updates. BTW h*l* may have finally frozen over- I've been receiving mailers from the local cable company offering internet for an almost reasonable price (for one year only). They finally came up with an 'unbundled' offer where they don't also try to cram telephone service and CATV down your throat. But there is still a hangup- they want to push their cable modem rental on me. That's an additional 3 dollars a month, year after year. I own a cable modem, I was given one. That's my current sticking point. My friend has a customer- supplied cable modem. It's a zero charge item on the invoice that household receives. We'll see how this plays out... Edited July 2, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Urmas]

... the local cable company offering internet for an almost reasonable price...

Principles, shminciples... GO FOR IT!

[ross549]

I don't think the cable company is going to force you to rent a cable modem just to have service.......Just make sure yours is DOCSIS 2.0 compliant, so you know it'll be good for a good long time. The Cable Consortium (or whatever they call themselves) is working on DOCSIS 3.0, so it's going to be a few years before they roll it out.Adam

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Uh... I beg to differ. Here in Tampa, if you want cable DSL from Brighthouse Cable, you MUST rent and use their modem.

[striker]

I would say what is the download speed they offer and what are they asking for their services?

[Guest LilBambi]

Hi Clutter,That's awesome about the broadband! I would jump on it for sure!!Which company are you talking about? RNC, Comcast, Earthlink ...

[Cluttermagnet]

I signed up for a year of 6 Mbps* cable internet for "33 dollars per month for 1 year" with Comcast. With fees and tax, works out to 37+ per month. No contract, that's good. Free installation. I'll provide my own cable modem, I have it already- it was given to me by a friend. I recognize it as the current RCA model in use at my friend's house for internet. That is a customer- supplied modem, BTW, no rental fee at their house. The first Comcast agent I spoke with lied to me about the rental requirement. I got a better agent the second call. She identified all options- buy, rent, customer- provided. Now, let's see if the installer shows up for the appointment mid-July.(* "PowerBoost" raises download speed to 12 Mbps for the first 10M 'burst', then reverts to 6M for balance of download)Once I have cable working, I'm going to drop one of my two dialup lines, for a monthly savings of ~25 dollars, and one of my two dialup ISP's for a 5 dollar savings. The difference would then be only 7 dollars a month to add broadband.I'm now going to buy an inexpensive router. I'm looking for suggestions. I'm going to run wired only, with Ethernet cables. I am not going to run wireless. I want to spend very little on it. I'm looking for 'last year's model', not the latest greatest. I don't care about WEP (bad!) or WPA, all I care about is getting a reasonably good router. Comments? Any particular brands or models to avoid?

Edited July 3, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Urmas]

I signed up for a year of 6 Mbps* cable internet for "33 dollars per month for 1 year" with Comcast.

Yes, yes, yesssss! Finally!

I'm now going to buy an inexpensive router. I'm looking for suggestions. I'm going to run wired only, with Ethernet cables. I am not going to run wireless. I want to spend very little on it. I'm looking for 'last year's model', not the latest greatest.

Well... last winter I bought a "cheapo" TP-Link TL-R460 for a bit under €40. Has done its job without my noticing its presence, so, yes, I can recommend it. Not that other "basic" wired routers are much more expensive... when I "shopped around" last winter, Linksys routers went for €50-70.

Any particular brands or models to avoid?

Dunno... for one thing... if you (miraculously) happen to find one that isn't configurable via net browser... run!

[striker]

That's about the same we are offered in Europe, that's not bad, especially since you're going to drop one of the dial ups. About the router question, it often comes down to personal preferences. All I can say about that is that I have used an inexpensive Belkin router for years without even one single problem whatsoever, I still have it on the shelf. However, last year I signed up for higher speed DSL (ADSL2 + VoIP) so I got a new modem/router combo from the provider. I think you're going to hear suggestions like Netgear,Linksys and Belkin, albeit personally I would do some research on my own first with respect to throughput on long distance, however you're going for wired (yep, my preference too, no wifi here ) so one could argue the long distance throughput is not relevant : don't fall for that Clutter, once a situation arises you need the wireless possibility you will be happy you did take that into account in the first place, secondly when the in-router-circuitry for long distance throughput gives good results, the wired throughput results won't disappoint you either normally.

[Cluttermagnet]

OK, I had better ask this dumb question: most routers, it appears, are wireless. But they also have a few LAN jacks on them. Now, does a wireless router still radiate signal, even if you haven't bothered to set up the wireless transceiver that talks to the router box? I assume the answer is yes. In that case, will it suffice to remove the antenna(s) from that router? Or do you instead go in and disable wireless sending/receiving via software? Basically, I want the wireless portion totally shut up. I don't want the security hassles.

[Urmas]

... most routers, it appears, are wireless.

Yes. But the "prices from:" models (like the one I have) are "wired only".

[striker]

OK, I had better ask this dumb question: most routers, it appears, are wireless. But they also have a few LAN jacks on them. Now, does a wireless router still radiate signal, even if you haven't bothered to set up the wireless transceiver that talks to the router box? I assume the answer is yes. In that case, will it suffice to remove the antenna(s) from that router? Or do you instead go in and disable wireless sending/receiving via software? Basically, I want the wireless portion totally shut up. I don't want the security hassles.

Most routers nowadays are indeed wireless types, but the wireless portion of it can be disabled, so that in fact you get an ethernet router with wired and wireless possibilities. These wireless possibilities almost always can be turned of completely with the set up software, albeit in linux this software is destined to go straight to the garbage can : in other words, I've not seen any router with linux set up software yet. That's no problem because most of them are accessible through a so called web interface; you can get to the inner set up via a web browser a la Firefox , in my case through entering 192.168.xxx.xxx in the address bar. That way you can completely disable the wireless portion of the router, it doesn't function anymore then. No need (and often no possibility) to remove the antennas.What you need looking for is a router with these:1] web interface2] ethernet jacks3] wireless can be disabled4] the router can handle the speed as advertised by your ISP.5] capability to clone the modems MAC number onto the router.Almost all of the routers and modem/router combos have these features, but it can't hurt to check and recheck. Better save than sorry. Regarding 5] : it may be that your ISP uses the MAC number of the modem for internal references and pass to the web : if you then connect a router in the circuit they'll see another MAC number and they wil block it ... that's where the clone function of the router for the MAC number comes in. One more thing : don't leave the routers password or username/password combo to its default : that's asking for trouble. And also shut off the remote management function, if the router comes with that feature. If necessary you can always re-enable it later, for ex. when the ISP wants to install new firmware. (in my case - just as an example -I can ask for that, they then ask me to enable remote management, I do so, and within a couple of minutes they install the new firmware. They then sent me an email with acknowledgment and in turn I disable the remote management feature.)note : In my case cable internet is available but that doesn't come over the telephone line in all cases; we do have some ISPs here that use the television antenna box to feed the cable signal onto, with some extra hardware supplied by these ISPs we're able to hook up the PC, sometimes also a special interface card is needed, also supplied by these ISPs. I assumed in all the above answers you're getting the signal through normal standard telephone line and ethernet, not on top of the television signal.

[ross549]

Most (if not all) wireless routers can have the wirless portion shut of.. My older d-link router had that option. I'm not sure about my linksys, but I can't look at it, since it is 3000 miles away.AdamHere's one for cheap- http://www.surpluscomputers.com/store/main...p;item=NET10673

[zlim]

Here's a picture from my linksys WRT54G router, which I'm very happy with.You access the setup by typing in http://192.168.1.1 and supplying an SSID (username) and password. NOT THE DEFAULT! First thing to do is change those two items. Wireless is the 2nd tab, which I'm showing here. The drop down box lets you select and one of the options is disable.

[Cluttermagnet]

Thanks, guys-All good information. I think I know what specs to research for the router. My friend with broadband has a router supplied by Gateway with the computer. I've read through the manual for it, and was familiar with the idea of a web browser interface. I'm assuming I'll be able to do that from Ubuntu and Firefox. 98SE is such a pain to set up for networking. I've never actually done it, but have seen the 'tutorials' on the subject. From reading online about routers, I gather that I'd better have NoScript in Firefox disabled before trying to access the router controls. Some models rely on javascript.Last night I found a lot of models on sale in the 15 to 45 dollar range. I have 2 weeks to research and get myself a router. Mostly I just care about basic security. If I should make a mistake and buy a unit that is missing some fancy tunneling protocall, I can deal with that later (if I ever need that capability).I need to understand better what protocall Comcast uses to handshake with the customer modem and router. I've seen the effect of disconnecting/ reconnecting the cable. The computer simply reacquires a MAC address automatically. But I don't know what software may be running on these WinXP boxes that does that. I imagine this is just the result of generic networking drivers operating. I'm betting that Ubuntu can do this natively, as well, so long as any given computer has the required Ethernet hardware on board.

[Urmas]

I'm betting that Ubuntu can do this natively, as well, so long as any given computer has the required Ethernet hardware on board.

Clutter, you are in for a pleasant surprise!

[ross549]

cable modems comminucate with the end user through DHCP. By default, your new router will work out of the box with it. And since your computer does the same, you should be up and running in no time. Usually the only thing you need to set to get the router online is with DSL, and that is to select PPPoE.Everything should plug in and work for with no setup needed. Obviously, you'll want to shut off wireless and change the router password, but that will not prevent you from going online.Adam

[Cluttermagnet]

Everything should plug in and work for with no setup needed. Obviously, you'll want to shut off wireless and change the router password, but that will not prevent you from going online.Adam

I think I just heard an encouraging word. Thanks, guys! I did get a chance Tuesday to try substituting my RCA/Thomson DCM315 for my friend's DCM315R on cable (on a WinXP computer). My modem apears to work- I saw the LED's flashing in the same pattern as the other modem as it acquires a new MAC number. Although my modem did not actually finish the handshake, I believe it was only the router protecting the computer. Diferent modem, different MAC number on the hardware- the router said "no thanks". I'd probably have to reset the router for the different modem, I guess. Or it might have been Comcast at the other end, recognizing the hardware change and balking at connecting. I still have a lot to learn about this stuff.The Netgear WGT624 looks good, Adam. I'm considering that one early on in my shopping. Edited July 4, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Cluttermagnet]

Clutter, you are in for a pleasant surprise!

Great! Well, I don't doubt that. It was quite shocking to learn just how easily Ubuntu handles setting up an HP inkjet printer- because it's such a hassle in Windows.

[ross549]

You were testing a your router, or modem? If it was the modem, then it would not have fully gone online. Each modem is hardcoded with a MAC address, which is how it authenticates on the cable network.http://www.timewarnercable.com/MediaLibrar...A_702314_25.pdfPage 26 of this PDF will tell you exactly what the flashing lights mean.Adam

[Cluttermagnet]

You were testing a your router, or modem? If it was the modem, then it would not have fully gone online. Each modem is hardcoded with a MAC address, which is how it authenticates on the cable network.http://www.timewarnercable.com/MediaLibrar...A_702314_25.pdfPage 26 of this PDF will tell you exactly what the flashing lights mean.Adam

Nice find, Adam. Yes, it was my cable modem I was testing. BTW my friend was actually able to find the manual for the modem (DCM315R). I concluded my modem must be working because I did indeed see the same pattern of Flashing LED's. At the end, the handshake failed, however, and I attributed that to the diferent MAC number of my modem. As to what was rejecting it, upstream or downstream, I don't exactly know. In any case, I didn't want to mess with any settings because this was 'only a test'. I'm pretty much satisfied my DCM315 is working. I'll leave it at that. Besides, I've temporarily misplaced the manual on the Gateway router, and need to find that again. It has pretty good instructions on how to set different parameters on the router.BTW you mentioned "DOCSIS 2.0" for my router purchase. The box the modem came in says the DCM315R is "DOCSIS 2.0 Ready". From reading on the net, my non-R suffix model is apparently DOCSIS 1.1 (1.2?) compliant, whatever the implications of that are. Hopefully it is going to work fine. I do know that it was formerly on the Comcast network until about 2-3 years ago, when it remained with a house that was sold to friends of mine. They gave me the modem. Edited July 4, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Cluttermagnet]

Most routers nowadays are indeed wireless types, but the wireless portion of it can be disabled, so that in fact you get an ethernet router with wired and wireless possibilities. These wireless possibilities almost always can be turned of completely with the set up software, albeit in linux this software is destined to go straight to the garbage can : in other words, I've not seen any router with linux set up software yet. That's no problem because most of them are accessible through a so called web interface; you can get to the inner set up via a web browser a la Firefox , in my case through entering 192.168.xxx.xxx in the address bar. That way you can completely disable the wireless portion of the router, it doesn't function anymore then. No need (and often no possibility) to remove the antennas.

Yes, I think it should be no problem to use web browser access to set the router, as long as you have a manual as a guide to tweaking all the settings.

Almost all of the routers and modem/router combos have these features, but it can't hurt to check and recheck. Better save than sorry. Regarding 5] : it may be that your ISP uses the MAC number of the modem for internal references and pass to the web : if you then connect a router in the circuit they'll see another MAC number and they wil block it ... that's where the clone function of the router for the MAC number comes in.

I had heard about the router MAC number cloning. BTW if you change your modem model, it sounds like you would have to contact the cable company and have them change their records to reflect the changed MAC number?

One more thing : don't leave the routers password or username/password combo to its default : that's asking for trouble. And also shut off the remote management function, if the router comes with that feature. If necessary you can always re-enable it later, for ex. when the ISP wants to install new firmware.

Ahhh yes, I've been reading about that for several years now. You bet I'll disable remote access and change the default serial number and ID! Edited July 4, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Cluttermagnet]

Here's a picture from my linksys WRT54G router, which I'm very happy with.You access the setup by typing in http://192.168.1.1 and supplying an SSID (username) and password. NOT THE DEFAULT! First thing to do is change those two items. Wireless is the 2nd tab, which I'm showing here. The drop down box lets you select and one of the options is disable

Thanks, Liz-This model looks like a good possibility. BTW I found a marvelous page on modifying the firmware to really make it do tricks. Apparently this model is a popular and flexible platform that a lot of networking geeks have had their hands on: The Open Source WRT54G Story Also: Linux on Linksys Wi-Fi Routers Edited July 4, 2007 by Cluttermagnet