September 2001

Site Update Posted Saturday, September 29, 2001 @ 11:21 PM by mayhem
Well the RDF blocks have been causing some problems lately with loading times for the site, in order to speed things up we have written a simple little script to cache the RDF files every 30 minutes or so, this should speed things up a fair amount and make everything run smoother.

Next step is to put an in-house counter so that we don't use mycounter.com anymore, if someone can suggest a php script (or similar) that can will record unique hits to a file then please e-mail me mayhem@linuxathome.net.
 
Linux Mandrake 8.1 Released Posted Friday, September 28, 2001 @ 1:00 AM by mayhem
According to the Linux Mandrake homepage Mandrake 8.1 was released yesterday. "September 27, 2001 - Introducing Mandrake Linux 8.1 - MandrakeSoft is proud to announce Mandrake Linux 8.1 as the newest alternative to Microsoft Windows and Macintosh operating systems.
Mandrake Linux 8.1 is a complete operating system that provides both fully configured, easy to use desktops plus advanced, fine-tuned professional tools, including powerful server solutions."

You can read the Mandrake 8.1 overview here. Order your copy here, or download it from here.
 
Linux the Hard Way - A Newbie Installation @ osopinion.com Posted Thursday, September 27, 2001 @ 6:04 PM by mayhem
"Installing Linux on computers used by newbies is no easy task, although it has its rewards.

I have always been of the opinion that installing, configuring and using Linux is not hard these days. Certainly the advent of distributions has simplified the process immensely. Perhaps the only reason I hold this opinion is that I have learned the system from the ground up.

I have the patience to sit down and read the documentation, or search for alternative sources of information on the Net. So, when I was asked to help two sets of newbies install and use Linux systems in one week, I took the opportunity to do a case study and discover just how hard Linux was to the absolute novice.

The case study consists of my own family, who wanted wireless networking and Internet connection sharing, as well as a friend -- who shall remain nameless, lest he die of embarrassment -- who wanted a general-purpose Linux system."

For full story please visit www.osopinion.com.
 
SECURITY: Red Hat Security Advisory: Insecure setserial initscript @ LinuxToday.com Posted Thursday, September 27, 2001 @ 5:59 PM by mayhem
"The initscript distributed with the setserial package (which is not installed or enabled by default) uses predictable temporary file names, and should not be used. setserial-2.17-4 and earlier versions are affected. If you have not recompiled your kernel, this issue does not affect you."

For the full information click here.
 
Linux On Your Dreamcast Posted Tuesday, September 25, 2001 @ 10:44 PM by mayhem
"Looking for a low-cost way to get started with embedded Linux? Or a fun weekend project? In this detailed how-to article at LinuxDevices.com, Bill Gatliff explains everything you need to do to install Linux on a Sega Dreamscast gaming console. Even the necessary Linux kernel, bootloader, and utility kernel patches are included and available for download. Nuffa those mindless video games ... it's time to become an embedded Linux hacker ;)" - slashdot.org.
 
Linux 2.4.10 Kernel Released Posted Tuesday, September 25, 2001 @ 12:51 AM by mayhem
Well the 2.4.10 Kernel has finally hit the mirrors according to information from LinuxToday.com, and you can download it from here.
Date:   Sun, 23 Sep 2001 11:54:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: Linus Torvalds 
Subject: Linux-2.4.10

Ok, I released a real 2.4.10, let the fun begin..

This is an uncomfortably large changeset, largely because I was away in
Finland twice during the 2.4.9->2.4.10 development, and partly of course
because I've tried to aggressively sync up especially with Alan.

In addition to the VM changes that have gotten so much attention there are
architecture updates, various major filesystem updates (jffs2 and NTFS),
ACPI updates, and tons of driver merges. And, of course, the min()/max()
changes.

Give it hell,

                Linus

-----
final:
 - Andrew Grover: ACPI update
 - Al Viro: block devices..
 - Andrea Arcangeli: fix list manipulation bogosity
 - Trond Myklebust: 64-bit file locking fixes
 - Brad Hards: USB CDC ethernet
 - Chris Mason: reiserfs speedup
 - Robert Love: re-merge AMD 761 GART support that was lost in -ac merge
 - Adam Richter: check pci_module_init() return value
 
Setting up your own Domain Name Posted Monday, September 24, 2001 @ 4:48 PM by mayhem
Recently I decided to setup another domain name for personal use and put this towards my Linuxbox (as many of who who visit the forums would have known already). After doing this I have written a nice little how-to for those of you who wish to do the same, it covers everything from registering the domain, setting up name servers, configuring sub domains, mail forwarding and virtual hosts. You can find the find information in the How-To Setup Your Own Domain or in the articles block.
 
2.4.10-pre15 hot off the press Posted Sunday, September 23, 2001 @ 11:28 PM by mayhem
The pre15 alpha patch for the 2.4.10 Linux kernel has just been released on www.kernel.org, you can download it from here: 2.4.0-pre15.

pre15:
 - Jan Harkes: make Coda work with arbitrary host filesystems, not
   just filesystems that use generic_file_read/write
 - Al Viro: block device cleanups
 - Hugh Dickins: swap device lock fixes - fix swap readahead race
 - me, Andrea: more reference bit cleanups
 
Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik speaks out for open source. Posted Sunday, September 23, 2001 @ 7:07 PM by mayhem
RedHat has posted this rather interesting on Open Source: "Open Source Now is dedicated to open source advocacy in schools and government. It's about ensuring all students receive a quality technical education, regardless of the financial well-being of their school or the area they live in. And it's about making sure the voice of the open source community is heard in state and federal governments."

You can download Matthew Szuliks speech from here.
 
The Linux Boot Process on the i386 Posted Sunday, September 23, 2001 @ 7:02 PM by mayhem
For those of you who are interested, Linux.com has a good article on understanding the boot process of a i386 machine. From BIOS to looking at the MBR (Master Boot Record) then onto the Kernel and finishing with INIT. The full article is available here.
 
Return to Castle Wolfenstein Test for Linux Posted Sunday, September 23, 2001 @ 6:53 PM by mayhem
This just in: "The Linux client for the Return to Castle Wolfenstein multiplayer test has been released by id Software. The version 0.7.16-1 client install can be downloaded in full (65MB), or minus the pakfile (for those who installed the Win32 version in Linux with Wine). Presumably the Linux RTCW FAQ page will be updated with whatever issues players encounter with the test; the test includes one Normandy-inspired level which pits the Allies against the Axis as they fight over war plans." - LinuxGames.com.

Linux Return to Castle Wolfenstein MP Test 0.7.16-1 Download:
Client (Full) - ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/wolf/linux/wolfmptest-0.7.16-1.x86.run
Client (Binaries only) - ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/wolf/linux/wolfmptest-nomedia-0.7.16-1.x86.run
 
Kernel Update Posted Saturday, September 22, 2001 @ 6:09 PM by mayhem
Two more patches for the 2.4.10 Linux kernel have been released, they are pre13 and pre14. On top of these there is a -ac patch to the stable Linux kernel series, 2.4.9-ac14. - kernel.org

pre14:
 - Richard Gooch: devfs update
 - Andrea Arcangeli: clean up/fix ramdisk handling now that it's in page cache
 - Al Viro: follow up the above with initrd cleanups
 - Keith Owens: get rid of drivers/scsi/53c700-mem.c file
 - Trond Myklebust: RPC over TCP race fix
 - Greg KH: USB update (ohci understands USB_ZERO_PACKET)
 - me: clean up reference bit handling, fix silly GFP_ATOMIC allocation bug

pre13:
 - Manfred Spraul: /proc/pid/maps cleanup (and bugfix for non-x86)
 - Al Viro: "block device fs" - cleanup of page cache handling
 - Hugh Dickins: VM/shmem cleanups and swap search speedup
 - David Miller: sparc updates, soc driver typo fix, net updates
 - Jeff Garzik: network driver updates (dl2k, yellowfin and tulip)
 - Neil Brown: knfsd cleanups and fixues
 - Ben LaHaise: zap_page_range merge from -ac
 
Update to CAT5 cable making Posted Friday, September 21, 2001 @ 2:01 AM by mayhem
It was pointed out to me yesterday in the forums that I had made a colour coding mistake with the cross over cables. Basically the pin configuration was correct but the wire colouring wasn't (basically this is to do with the twisted pair wires being used in a particular way to reduce interference). You will be happy to know that the article has been updated to comply with the IEEE standard, you can read it here.
 
W32/Nimda@MM Virus Posted Thursday, September 20, 2001 @ 6:05 PM by mayhem
"This threat can infect all unprotected users of Win9x/NT/2000/ME. Its main goal is simply to spread over the Internet and Intranet, infecting as many users as possible and creating so much traffic that networks are virtually unusable.

All end users and administrators running Microsoft Internet Explorer (ver 5.01 or 5.5 without SP2), are advised to install this patch for the Incorrect MIME Header Can Cause IE to Execute E-mail Attachment vulnerability.

All IIS administrators (and Win2K users who may not know they are running IIS), who have not already done so, should also install this patch (August 15, 2001 Cumulative Patch for IIS)"

For full information view the McAfee information on the virus.
 
Yet another kernel release Posted Thursday, September 20, 2001 @ 6:00 PM by mayhem
Well the latest kernel patch is 2.4.10-pre12, you can download it here and view the full changelog here.
pre12:
 - Alan Cox: much more merging
 - Pete Zaitcev: ymfpci race fixes
 - Andrea Arkangeli: VM race fix and OOM tweak.
 - Arjan Van de Ven: merge RH kernel fixes
 - Andi Kleen: use more readable 'likely()/unlikely()' instead of __builtin_expect()
 - Keith Owens: fix 64-bit ELF types
 - Gerd Knorr: mark more broken PCI bridges, update btaudio driver
 - Paul Mackerras: powermac driver update
 - me: clean up PTRACE_DETACH to use common infrastructure
 
Optus@Home ports scans Posted Wednesday, September 19, 2001 @ 4:09 PM by mayhem
Well there is once again alot of talk about Optus@Home port scanning its users, they doing this in order to find out if anyone is running servers such as Telnet, SSH, FTP, HTTP, VNC, PC Anywhere etc since they any server is strictly forbibben in the AUP. We are compiling a list of IP addressses that are scanning users machines and will post it on the site soon so that you can prevent them from scanning your linuxbox's (there is always some of us who use these services for practical reasons, so we must protect ourselves somehow).
 
Kernel 2.4.10-pre11 patch is now out Posted Wednesday, September 19, 2001 @ 1:12 AM by mayhem
Well they are still rolling these patches out as fast as we can post about them, you can download the 2.4.10-pre11 patch from here and the full changelog is here.

pre11:
 - Neil Brown: md cleanups/fixes
 - Andrew Morton: console locking merge
 - Andrea Arkangeli: major VM merge

pre10:
 - Alan Cox: continued merging
 - Mingming Cao: make msgrcv/shmat check the queue/segment ID's properly
 - Greg KH: USB serial init failure fix, Xircom serial converter driver
 - Neil Brown: nsfd/raid/md/lockd cleanups
 - Ingo Molnar: multipath RAID personality, raid xor update
 - Hugh Dickins/Marcelo Tosatti: swapin read-ahead race fix
 - Vojtech Pavlik: fix up some of the infrastructure for x86-64
 - Robert Love: AMD 761 AGP GART support
 - Jens Axboe: fix SCSI-generic queue handling race
 - me: be sane about page reference bits
 
2.4.10 Kernel Update Posted Saturday, September 15, 2001 @ 9:22 AM by mayhem
Here is the latest list of changes in the 2.4.10 kernel which is now upto pre9.
pre9:
 - Greg KH: start migration to new "min()/max()"
 - Roman Zippel: move affs over to "min()/max()".
 - Vojtech Pavlik: VIA update (make sure not to IRQ-unmask a vt82c576)
 - Jan Kara: quota bug-fix (don't decrement quota for non-counted inode)
 - Anton Altaparmakov: more NTFS updates
 - Al Viro: make nosuid/noexec/nodev be per-mount flags, not per-filesystem
 - Alan Cox: merge input/joystick layer differences, driver and alpha merge
 - Keith Owens: scsi Makefile cleanup
 - Trond Myklebust: fix oopsable race in locking code
 - Jean Tourrilhes: IrDA update

pre8:
 - Christoph Hellwig: clean up personality handling a bit
 - Robert Love: update sysctl/vm documentation
 - make the three-argument (that everybody hates) "min()" be "min_t()",
   and introduce a type-anal "min()" that complains about arguments of
   different types.
 
How-To Make Your Own CAT5 LAN Cables Posted Tuesday, September 11, 2001 @ 11:40 PM by mayhem
For those of you who want to make your own CAT5 cables but don't know what you need or how to do it, then this little document is for you. Read It Here, it basically walks you through what tools you will need and shows you step by step how to make either a cross-over or straight cat5 network cable.
 
2.4.10 Kernel Is Getting Closer Posted Tuesday, September 11, 2001 @ 1:45 AM by mayhem
With the recent release of the 2.4.10 prepatch alpha release (2.4.10-pre7) the new 2.4.10 kernel looks closer and closer to release (who knows when).With 3 releases in the last 2 days (pre5, pre6, pre7) the coders have been working hard on the new kernel. The changelog is available here. Here are some of the current new (most recent) features/fixes:

pre7:
 - Alan Cox: big driver/mips sync
 - Andries Brouwer, Christoph Hellwig: more gendisk fixups
 - Tobias Ringstrom: tulip driver workaround for DC21143 erratum

pre6:
 - Jens Axboe: remove trivially dead io_request_lock usage
 - Andrea Arcangeli: softirq cleanup and ARM fixes. Slab cleanups
 - Christoph Hellwig: gendisk handling helper functions/cleanups
 - Nikita Danilov: reiserfs dead code pruning
 - Anton Altaparmakov: NTFS update to 1.1.18
 - firestream network driver: patch reverted on authors request
 - NIIBE Yutaka: SH architecture update
 - Paul Mackerras: PPC cleanups, PPC8xx update.
 - me: reverse broken bootdata allocation patch that went into pre5

pre5:
 - Merge with Alan
 - Trond Myklebust: NFS fixes - kmap and root inode special case
 - Al Viro: more superblock cleanups, inode leak in rd.c, minix
   directories in page cache
 - Paul Mackerras: clean up rubbish from sl82c105.c
 - Neil Brown: md/raid cleanups, NFS filehandles
 - Johannes Erdfelt: USB update (usb-2.0 support, visor fix, Clie fix,
   pl2303 driver update)
 - David Miller: sparc and net update
 - Eric Biederman: simplify and correct bootdata allocation - don't
   overwrite ramdisks
 - Tim Waugh: support multiple SuperIO devices, parport doc updates
 
Server Problems Posted Monday, September 10, 2001 @ 4:34 PM by mayhem
Unfortunately with the latest move of servers we have found that there is a problem with the setup of our CGI directory, and as a result certain parts of the site don't seem to be working properly (mainly the poll now), we will try and resolve these problems as soon as possible. Sorry for the inconvience.
 
Competitions Announced Posted Tuesday, September 4, 2001 @ 1:09 AM by mayhem
It is my great pleasure to announce the first competition for Linux@Home. This is one for all those web developers out there, we are looking for a custom and useful cgi/perl/php script for a unix/linux admin, for more details visit the contest details herepage (or by clicking "Contests" on the left menu). You will need to enter the competition before the end of this month and submissions will close mid next month (judgin will then take place immediately). And now for the prize, an Aopen KF45B Midi Tower case (no PSU) kindly supplied by our friends at F.A.T. Computers. Good Luck to everyone, and let the coding begin!!!