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Brittle init.d scripts - tmpfs ramfs
by Mark 28 Jan '07

28 Jan '07

I never thought Linux was so breakable. We're moving mount points into RAM for performance ( /var/log /var/run /var/lock etc. ). Tmpfs or ramfs can stop disk thrashing and speedup a system. (Flash USB needs it even more, to minimize writes.) Example fstab, http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/179 But....brittle /etc/init.d scripts fail without having their private subdirectories persist across boots, in certain places like /var/log and /var/run. If you write or test init.d scripts, please test with tmpfs and ramfs - do not assume pre-existence of application directories. (P.S. Ubuntu Dapper btw already defaults to tmpfs for such directories, though not /var/log. Dapper uses old style init, Edgy/Feisty have something new.) M

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grml-quickconfig?
by Michael Schierl 28 Jan '07

28 Jan '07

Hi, when I use grml (the live cd), there are a few tasks that I do quite often directly after boot. For example, loading keyboard layout (always), configuring non-dhcp network (sometimes) or starting X or running grml-info for looking something up (rarely). Using cheatcodes for configuring it does not "help", since I have to type the kernel name first, and sometimes I am not even there when it boots (I give the CD to the friend/relative that has problems and tell him that he should boot from it until I am back, and just press Return when "an image of a huge keyboard" appears). So, I'd like to write a script (grml-quickconfig) started at bootup on console 1 that shows a nice screen (with highlighted letters) that allows to do things like that by pressing a single key; the Return key will exit it. Like: Welcome to GRML. Press one of the highlighted keys. Press Return to exit this menu. Configure keyboard language: [d]e [a]t [c]h Configure your [n]etwork card. Show [i]nformation Start [x] d: grml-lang de a: grml-lang at c: grml-lang ch n: netcardconfig i: grml-info x: grml-x (asking for the windowmanager) Windowmanager would be (taken from the completion menu): [d]wm [e]vilwm [f]luxbox f[v]wm fvwm[2] fvwm-[c]rystal ion[3] [j]wm pe[k]wm [p]wm3 [r]atpoison [t]wm w[9]wm [w]indowlab w[m]i wm[i]i wm-[n]g I guess even for people that type really fast this is an improvement (if not, it requires a single keystroke to get out) - and even better for those that cannot type that fast (typing »su grml -c 'grml-x fluxbox'« is a bit more than typing »xf«). The main question now is if something like that would be included into grml and if yes, what other things to add to it (there are still some keys "free"). Michael PS: Recently I tried the "soundtest" script (I wanted to test if a sound card is supported by Linux) and unfortunately it worked... Unfortunately because it got me into a discussion about bad pronunciation of English. I don't want to say that my English pronunciation is much better, but if any native English speaker could re-record the sample file, it would be great. In the meantime, I'm going to use the emacspeak intro sound for such tests...

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grml user survey - please participate
by Michael Prokop 28 Jan '07

28 Jan '07

Hi, I am pleased to announce that I am running a grml user survey. The purpose of this is to help grml developers gain a better idea of what the grml user community is really doing and using, and what aspects people would most like to see improved. This user survey is heavily based on the survey done by Bryan O'Sullivan for the Mercurial Project: http://www.selenic.com/pipermail/mercurial/2006-April/007513.html Mercurial is a great distributed version control system used at grml, see http://grml.org/mercurial/ Please participate! If you know grml users who do not read the grml mailing list, please forward the survey to them and ask them to take part. The more people that respond, the more useful the survey will be! The user survey itself is available online at: http://grml.org/user-survey/grml.txt as well. Please send your responses directly to me (mika(a)grml.org), and do *not* CC the mailing list. Regarding privacy: I will not share your name or contact information with anyone else unless you explicitly allow me to, but I may quote you anonymously (unless you would prefer me not to). At the end of February 2007 I will post a detailed report to the grml mailing list and the grml wiki. Thanks again for taking part! regards, -mika- ---->8 cut here 8<---- About you 1. What country are you in? What is your preferred language? Getting started with grml 1. How did you hear about grml? 2. Did you encounter any problems with grml when starting to use it and if so which ones? 3. Since which release do you use grml? 4. Which version(s) of grml do you currently use? Your habits 1. Do you use grml for private use, work, unpaid projects, or even all of them? 2. How do you obtain grml? Internet (http, ftp, bittorent or rsync?), magazines (Linux-Magazin, Linux-User,...), CD from friends? 3. Do you use any other Live-CDs? * If yes: which ones and why? * If yes: how does grml compare to other Live-CDs you have used? 4. Which operating systems/distribution do you usually work with? 5. Do you use any platforms not x86 based? * If yes, which ones and how often? (daily, weekly,...) 6. Which languages do you speak and which ones do you use via lang=... bootoption with grml? What you think of grml 1. Overall, how happy are you with grml? 2. What do you like about using grml? 3. What would you most like to see improved about grml? (features, bugs, plugins, documentation, ... - whatever you think of) 4. If you want to see grml more widely used, what do you think we could do to make this happen? Documentation 1. Do you use the grml wiki? If yes, do you find it useful? 2. Do you find available documentation useful? 3. What is your favourite user documentation for any software projects or products you have used? Which tools do you use 1. Which tools do you use most frequently on grml? 2. Which scripts of the following ones do you use? [add yes/no] * grml-ap: * grml-bridge: * grml-crypt: * grml-debootstrap: * grml-network: * grml-router: * grml-vpn: * grml-x: 3. Do you use grml as harddisk installation (grml2hd)? * If yes: why? 4. Do you use grml on your usb device through grml2usb? 5. Do you use any special bootoption on regular base? Getting help, staying in touch 1. Have you tried to get grml help from other people? * If yes, did you get these problems resolved quickly and to your liking? 2. Have you used the bug database? * If yes, did you find it useful, easy to use? 3. Do you subscribe to the mailing list? * If yes, do you find it useful, and traffic levels OK? 4. Do you use the IRC channel (#grml on irc.freenode.net)? * If no, did you know that grml developers use IRC, and that there's almost 24-hour help available? Open forum 1. What other comments or suggestions do you have that are not covered by the questions above?

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udev rule for usb boot device
by Mark 26 Jan '07

26 Jan '07

What is the best/approved udev rule for a usb hard drive to escape random drive letter variations /dev/sd[a|b|c|d]. The drives have ATTRS{serial} but I want to walk carefully amidst grml's built-in rules. For example, if sandwiched between other grml rules, what lexical filename to use. Second question: will the udev name work from /etc/fstab during boot, or should we stick to mount-by-label. (Idea for grml2hd - use hostname to auto-generate a related udev naming rule for the drive.)

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sarge and kernel 2.6.18-grml
by Erich Minderlein 26 Jan '07

26 Jan '07

_console and keyboard_ Hallo , I removed console-terminus from the stable(sarge) package(250 kByte) and installed console-terminus from the testing(etch) package(565 kByte). Adding SCREEN_FONT=Lat15-Terminus16 in /etc/console-tools/config did not help; rebooting, prompt login as root, the normal font with serifs shows up, if I type unicode_start: answer : already in UTF8 mode after some fiddling around, I remove /etc/console-tools/config.d/fonty and /etc/console-tools/config.d/ and now it boots and changes to Terminus 16 for all consoles. This will probably not survive an update of package fonty! Small Umlaut äöü is properly printed on the console Capital Umlaut ÄÖÜ and "scharf S"~ß is not printed on the console, but results in ^^^^ dpkg-reconfigure console-common and dpkg-reconfigure console-data do not help, sometimes after testing these umlauts the console crashes and I get a new boot-prompt. regards -- Erich Minderlein <erminderlein(a)locoware.de> MARC Mannheim Rail Commerce GmbH

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Write barriers for journaling filesystems
by Mark 22 Jan '07

22 Jan '07

Testing exercises with XFS, ext3, and power failure. I found advice to use write barriers. It appears that any journaling file system (XFS/Reiser/ext3) will benefit w.r.t. power failures. Almost all hard drives, IDE, SATA, USB, SCSI have a ~multimegabyte write cache nowadays. "OK, enough theory. Do this: mount all of your filesystems with I/O barrier turned on. Something like this (example line from my /etc/fstab): /dev/sda5 / ext3 defaults,barrier=1 1 1" http://kerneltrap.org/node/6173#comment-193357 "Fortunately, you can have your cake and eat it too. The trick is to implement IO barriers using the CACHE FLUSH and/or FUA commands. That way you can have the performance and MTBF benefits of write-back caching while still having a safe fsync() (safe as in doesn't return before data is on the platters)." http://lwn.net/Articles/181393/ It seems like maybe a good default setting for journaled filesystems, especially on USB (which users often yank out...). M P.S. Update on ZFS. Apple will include it in their next OS release (mika: not as default/boot, still HFS+ for that). Also, Sun may release ZFS under GPLv3 "eventually." http://apple.slashdot.org/apple/06/12/18/1155226.shtml http://www.itweek.co.uk/vnunet/news/2172823/sun-kills-gpl3-rumours

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GRUB 2 & LILO delays
by Mark 20 Jan '07

20 Jan '07

The grml FAQ says LILO is used because it works. I have no problem with that and have been using LILO. The problem is that during grml boot, messages appear about sleeping for X seconds to fix problems with LILO. Boot delays I do not enjoy. Would grub be better? What about grub version 2, is anyone using that with grml? Thank you, M

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sarge and kernel 2.6.18-grml: console and keyboard
by Erich Minderlein 19 Jan '07

19 Jan '07

console and keyboard: man zsh*(something) creates some unexpected special characters in the output instead of the foreseen text manipulations like e.g. underscore or ?? (bold works.) Keys Home (Pos1), End, Insert (Einfg) and Delete (Entf) dont work, but give a tilde on the console. Umlaute äöü ÄÖÜ dont work. Tried not very hard to find Lat15-Terminus16 in the repos-pool, did not succeed. where is it ? What is the fitting console font ? and where is it in repos? (booting with lang=de) Thanks -- Erich Minderlein <erminderlein(a)locoware.de> MARC Mannheim Rail Commerce GmbH

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sarge and kernel 2.6.18-grml on amilopro : LAN , zsh
by Erich Minderlein 19 Jan '07

19 Jan '07

Hello _LAN a lot of the difficulty arose from not having known the new udev system. now with inserting a module list in /etc/modules, a consistent booting of network devices can be achieved. the udev solution is still in work. _zsh has been modified with the grml zshrc text hilighting is fine, (done also for vim) however there is a complaint when login : line 779 histring not found. also _console and keyboard_: man zsh* creates some unexpected special characters instead of the foreseen text manipulations like underscore?? Keys Home (Pos1), End, Insert (Einfg) and Delete (Entf) dont work, but give a tilde on the console. Tried not very hard to find Lat15-Terminus16 in the repos-pool, did not succeed. where is it ? What is the fitting console font ? and where is it in repos? Thanks for the patience in this forum. best regards -- Erich Minderlein <erminderlein(a)locoware.de> MARC Mannheim Rail Commerce GmbH

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Limit tmpfs RAM across mount points
by Mark 18 Jan '07

18 Jan '07

What is the preferred grml way to limit total tmpfs RAM usage across all mount points. By default tmpfs takes 50% of RAM before swapout. We want a lower threshold of 20% RAM. With fstab syntax it's possible to limit one mount at a time, but is that the best one can do? It would be easier to limit the whole tmpfs subsystem and leave fstab entries "unlimited." Where is the 50% limit set, for example. M

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