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30Dec/09Off

How to use Finch Instant Messaging from the Command Line

Finch is a command line instant messaging client for Linux. In the age of nicely designed graphical user interfaces and desktop effects you might ask yourself why bother with a command line application? Well, it's light on resources, quick and a fun/geekish way to stay in touch.

22Dec/09Off

DIY Ubuntu NAS with AFP, SMB, DLNA and iTunes

I have been posting a lot about the LaCie Network Space recently. I finally had the courage to try and tinker with it and managed to add ssh and obtain root access. I was overjoyed, I proceeded to install ipkg, a package management tool much like apt-get, but suitable for weaker or embedded systems. The first thing I did was to install rsync, which I used to backup my data to an external usb drive. About one day after my backups were finished, the Network Space froze up on me and has now become an elegant yet unresponsive black box.

So I setup up my own NAS server on my spare Ubuntu laptop that plays nice with my Mac, serves media files to my Samsung LE40B650 and even shares my music with iTunes. Updated 2010.1.1

9Dec/09Off

Brother MFC-490CW & Ubuntu

Setting up the Brother MFC-490CW printer to work with Ubuntu, wirelessly, was easier than I expected. Here some useful tips.

7Nov/09Off

Ubuntu 9.10: network-manager – openvpn – “vpn service failed to start”

So this is quite frustrating:
[B]Background:[/B]
In Ubuntu 9.04 I had a VPN connection configured in order to use Witopia. It worked.
I upgraded to Ubuntu 9.10 and now it doesn't work.
[B]Problem:[/B]
In Network Manager, under VPN Connections, when I select my "openvpn" connection I get this error message:
[I]The vpn connection 'openvpn' failed because the VPN service failed to start.[/I]
[B]More Info:[/B]
Here is what it says in Sys Log:
[QUOTE]Nov  7 21:05:21 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <info>  Starting VPN service 'org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.openvpn'...
Nov  7 21:05:21 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <info>  VPN service 'org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.openvpn' started (org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.openvpn), PID 1974
Nov  7 21:05:22 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <info>  VPN service 'org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.openvpn' just appeared, activating connections
Nov  7 21:05:22 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <info>  VPN plugin state changed: 1
Nov  7 21:05:22 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <info>  VPN plugin state changed: 3
Nov  7 21:05:22 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <info>  VPN connection 'openvpn' (Connect) reply received.
Nov  7 21:05:22 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <WARN>  nm_vpn_connection_connect_cb(): VPN connection 'openvpn' failed to connect: 'No VPN secrets!'.
Nov  7 21:05:22 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <WARN>  connection_state_changed(): Could not process the request because no VPN connection was active.
Nov  7 21:05:22 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <info>  Policy set 'Auto eth0' (eth0) as default for routing and DNS.
Nov  7 21:05:35 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <debug> [1257624335.001600] ensure_killed(): waiting for vpn service pid 1974 to exit
Nov  7 21:05:35 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <debug> [1257624335.001766] ensure_killed(): vpn service pid 1974 cleaned up
Nov  7 21:05:40 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <info>  Starting VPN service 'org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.openvpn'...
Nov  7 21:05:40 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <info>  VPN service 'org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.openvpn' started (org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.openvpn), PID 1978
Nov  7 21:05:40 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <info>  VPN service 'org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.openvpn' just appeared, activating connections
Nov  7 21:05:40 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <info>  VPN plugin state changed: 3
Nov  7 21:05:40 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <info>  VPN connection 'openvpn' (Connect) reply received.
Nov  7 21:05:40 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <WARN>  nm_vpn_connection_connect_cb(): VPN connection 'openvpn' failed to connect: 'No VPN secrets!'.
Nov  7 21:05:40 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <WARN>  connection_state_changed(): Could not process the request because no VPN connection was active.
Nov  7 21:05:40 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <info>  Policy set 'Auto eth0' (eth0) as default for routing and DNS.
Nov  7 21:05:53 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <debug> [1257624353.002543] ensure_killed(): waiting for vpn service pid 1978 to exit
Nov  7 21:05:53 ubuntu-laptop NetworkManager: <debug> [1257624353.002711] ensure_killed(): vpn service pid 1978 cleaned up
[/QUOTE]
[B]What I have tried so far:[/B]
Reading through the forum, and searching Google, it seems many people are having this problem. It also doesn't appear to be a new problem.
I tried to remove openvpn and network-manage-openvpn packages and to add them again and to create new connection profiles.
Unfortunately without success.

Any ideas

?

Updated 2009.12.25

ubuntu

So this is quite frustrating:

Background:

In Ubuntu 9.04 I had a VPN connection configured in order to use Witopia. It worked.

Under Ubuntu 9.04 I used these instructions to set everything up.

I upgraded to Ubuntu 9.10 and now it doesn't work.

27Jan/09Off

Ubuntu Pocket Guide – Free Download

Written by Keir Thomas, author of Ubuntu Kung Fu, Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference is now available as a free download. The book covers beginner-to-expert knowledge and explains all steps necessary to make the move to Ubuntu.

ub-pocket-guide

Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference

Focuses on core competencies and background knowledge needed to be an expert Ubuntu user;
Readable, accessible, and easy to understand—even if you've never used Linux before;
100% new and original! Written from the ground-up to cover Ubuntu 8.04 and 8.10.

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8Dec/08Off

Ubuntu, OSX & the LaCie Network Space 1TB

I recently got myself a NAS from LaCie. The price was quite attractive and I badly needed the storage space as my old 300GB external hard disk from Western Digital was no longer enough.

This is my first experience in working with a NAS, here is a quick review:

First, my set up:

I have the NAS hooked up to my WGR614v6 router.
I connect to the NAS from two laptops and in both cases through WiFi.
My operating systems are OS X 10.5.5 and Ubuntu 8.10

Design

Perhaps the most striking aspect is the design. It is minimalist yet very elegant. Apparently it was designed by Neil Poulton, and although I have no idea who he is, I think this was a most successful design.

Pros

Due to its function, a NAS is great if you have several computers in the house and wish to easily share data between them, or make backups. The NAS is a central storage location.

The LaCie Network Space comes with private and public storage locations. Two user accounts, one for managing the NAS and also accessing the private storage area, and another for the public storage. It can act as an FTP server and a media server to deliver content to upnp media players.

Administration is carried out through the browser. The LaCie has status lights that can be turned on and off through the administration page. The software includes a LaCie Network Agent that can help you access the administration page, configure ethernet settings manually and connect to the NAS.

The Network Agent work in OSX, Linux and Windows.

It has a usb socket for attaching other hard disks and thereby increasing the storage space. You cannot attach it to a computer however.

Cons

It does not have raid and cannot act as a webserver / mysql server. In this price range (€150) that is to be expected.

The configuration possibilities are minimal and basic. This NAS is designed for home use. Connect and forget.

It scans the media files once an hour, during this time, if you are copying to or from the NAS the speeds will drop. If your media collection is small (under 60GB) this won't be an issue.

File Transfer Speeds

The speeds are based entirely on the method you choose to connect to the NAS. I connect through WiFi (g) and average about 2.5-3MB/sec. That is not much but it is okay for my needs as I do not have many large files to copy back and forth.

The LaCie does support Gigabit LAN and so you should average better speeds if using that method of connection.

Setup under OSX

Under OSX setup should be quite straight forward. The LaCie Network Space can be access through the LaCie Network Agent in the menu bar:

Or through Shared:

To map the NAS folders, select System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items. Drag the share’s icon from your desktop into the list of applications.

Setup under Ubuntu

The easiest method in my opinion is to mount the LaCie NAS in your fstab file. First create your mount points in /media:

sudo mkdir /media/openshare

and

sudo mkdir /media/myshare

Then add these lines to your /etc/fstab file:

//192.168.1.64/openshare/ media/openshare cifs 0 0
//192.168.1.64/myshare/ media/myshare cifs username=user,password=password 0 0

or you can use the smb protocol:

//192.168.1.64/openshare/ media/openshare smbfs 0 0
//192.168.1.64/myshare/ media/myshare smbfs username=user,password=password 0 0

(edit ip numbers, mount point names, usernames and password to suite your needs)

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