A Small Trick in Setting Local YUM Repository

I wanted to setup local yum repository for further installation, but I found it has a little problem:

FC6's DVD was mounted on /media/FC_6 i386 DVD, so I put "baseurl=file:///media/FC_6 i386 DVD" in /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora-core.repo. However, I found an error below when I yum something:

"Options Error: Error parsing 'file:///media/FC_6 i386 DVD/': URL must be http, ftp, file or https not ""

Why?

The reason is the spaces. After I changed "FC_6 i386 DVD" to "FC_6%20i386%20DVD", the local YUM repository works well.

Setup Your Own YUM Server's Group Functionality

According to Fedora Core installation manual, we can setup our own YUM server on our internal network to provide installation or updating service to save bandwidth.

There are several ways, such as http, ftp or nfs. In the http case, we copy the file hierarchy to /var/www/http, and createrepo/repoview. Then ensure httpd is up, you can yum install the packages from the server. However, I found "yum grouplist" doesn't work. After I checked createrepo manual, I found I have to create group information. Then copy a "comps.xml" to my repodata directory, and #createrepo -g repodata/comps.xml, and now the group functionality works.

MySQL's Log

MySQL's logs works when using the command options (mysqld_safe --log --log-bin). However, I found if I put "log" or "bin-log" at bottom of the file my.cnf, the MySQL's log does not work.

Check manuals - "mysqld_safe" and "mysqld", there are some different groups in my.cnf. "mysqld_safe" reads options from [mysqld], [mysql.server] and [mysql_safe], so put log, bin-log, etc. in [mysqld], and the logs write to log files in "datadir".

If you want to put logs in your /var/log directory, make sure the files are writable by user "mysql", or just create a directory whose owner is mysql.

SugarCRM

SugarCRM 4.5.0f's bugs:

1. No matter the "memory_limit" in php.ini is not enough, the installation always tell us the configuration is correct;
2. Administration -> System -> Backup does a recursive backup, so the zip package always includes the previous backups.

when you find installation stopping before creating database, please check your httpd log, and find a reasonable value for "memory_limit" in /etc/php.ini. When you need upgrade your SugarCRM, you have to change all the files' owner to the "Web User", and increase the "post_max_size" and "upload_max_filesize" value in /etc/php.ini.

Pre-owned IBM IntelliStation

M Pro 6889-80U
Pentium III 500/512M RAM/40G HD/Matrox G400 32M Dual-Head/17" MAG 786F/CDROM/LG CD-Writer

$120 CDN - Great price!
It works well, but "zzz" noise is very annoying!

Opening the case, I found there are four big fans and a small one in it. The noise came from the small one, which is on G400, not from the other four big fans. How can I get rid of the annoying noise? Just try, try, ...

Disassembling the fan, I found there were some dust on the ball-and-roller bearings - that's the problem. So I blew off the dust and put a little oil on it (just a little); then assembled and installed it. Turn on the computer, the noise has gone! It is as quiet as a one-fan-machine.

Go to IBM website, download some updates. Refresh the BIOS, G400 firmware (after updating, the RAM becomes 16M, I think another 16M is for the other display) and CDROM firmware. Now the computer is like a brand new one.

Oracle 10gXE Starts Up Manually

After installation of Oracle 10gXe, there is a configuration file "oracle-xe" under /etc/sysconfig (FC5). It controls whether Oracle be loaded at system boot. If you want Oracle start up manually, you can follow the instructions below:

# cat /etc/sysconfig/oracle-xe
ORACLE_DBENABLED=false
LISTENER_PORT=1521
HTTP_PORT=8080
CONFIGURE_RUN=true

# /etc/init.d/oracle-xe enable
# /etc/init.d/oracle-xe start

When shutdown:

# /etc/init.d/oracle-xe stop
# /etc/init.d/oracle-xe disable

If you use GUI "Start Database", the Listener doesn't start up, so you have to load it manually.

# su - oracle
$ . oracle_env.sh
$ lsnrctl start

Now you can see that the port 1521 and 8080 are up, and you can manipulate the database by using browser and SQL*Net.

Oracle 10g XE on Fedora Core 5

setenforce 0 -- this is the key for installation.

System Administrator Appreciation Day

System Administrator Appreciation Day

Making Deb Package for StarDict-2.4.8

There are a bunch of enhancement in StarDict new edition 2.4.8. One of my favourite is a new button "Result".

When I install a DEB package which is converted from a RPM, it doesn't work. Then I try to make a DEB from the source. My linux box is Ubuntu 6.06 LTS with the default installation. When I ran "sudo ./configure", there was an error:

Package requirements "libgnomeui-2.0 >= 2.2.0" were not met:
Consider adjusting the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable if you installed software in a non-standard prefix.

However, I do have a "/usr/lib/libgnomeui-2.so.0.1401.0", what's wrong? Then I checked "stardict.spec" for the software requirement, and I found:

BuildRequires: libgnomeui-devel >= 2.2.0

That is the reason. After "libgnomeui-dev" was installed, the error disappeared.

To build a debian, there are some essential packages below:

linux-headers-2.6.15-26-386
build-essential
fakeroot
dh-make
libgnomeui-dev(this is depended on a bunch of *-dev packages which should be installed.)
libpcre-dev

Building process:

$ cd /usr/src
$ tar xvfj $SOMEWHERE/stardict-2.4.8.tar.bz2
$ cd stardict-2.4.8
$ sudo dh_make
$ sudo dpkg-buildpackage -d

When it finish, you will get a DEB package "../stardict_2.4.8-1_i386.deb". Then install, and enjoy the new edition of StarDict!

Downtown Vancouver

  

Adding Password Verification on Single Mode in Fedora Core 5

When you enter the single mode in Fedora Core 5, you can get the root prompt "#" without using the root password. We can add a line below into "/etc/inittab" to avoid this issue.

~~:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin

Be Careful with Cleaning Windows Files

I have installed MS Office XP in my laptop. Because of lack of HD capacity, I searched for some files which are larger than 10MB. There is a 56MB file "1e16a6.msp" in C:\Windows\installer, and I got rid of it. However, when I am going to reconfig or uninstall MS office XP, there is a warning sign, and the uninstall process stopped. I was confused with that.

How can I uninstall this product from my computer? After I have checked the uninstall log file, I found there are some hints in the log. The reason is that the uninstall program relies on the file "1e16a6.msp" in C:\Windows\installer or some temporary files in the temp directory. Then I had to find a "1e16a6.msp" in the package files of MS Office. Microsoft knowledge base tells us there is a way using "windows install" v3.1 to extract a file from the package. After extracting the file to the C:\Windows\installer, the uninstall program works again.

Windows does not have a clear package manager, so we don't know where the files will be installed. Cleaning disk is complex job; once you make a mistake, it maybe crash the program and even damage the system.

Linux distributions have good package managers such as rpm and deb, so the users can easily know which file is provided by what package, and what's the function by the package . With these efficient tools, deploying the systems is just a breeze.

Two Bugs in StarDict within Ubuntu 5.10

Ubuntu 5.10 consists of StarDict-2.4.3, the very useful dictionary. I found there are two bugs in that version:

1. When you first double click (or select) on a word, a floating window pops up; however, nothing appears when you double click the same word again.

2. After you have installed tree dictionary, you can find that the tree dictionary doesn't work. The reason is that there is a mistake in the StarDict package. The package includes a wrong directory "/usr/share/stardict/treedic" instead of "/usr/share/stardict/treedict".

Ignore the Swap Size Requirement of Oracle-10gXE

There was an error "Swap is less than the minimal requirement of 974MB" when I installed oracle-10gXE in my laptop (512MB RAM, Fedora Core 4); then the installation stopped. Because of a laptop I only assigned a 512MB swap area. How can I install oracle-10gXE in my laptop without changing the swap? Analyzing the installation script, I found it uses "free -m | grep Swap" to get the swap area size. How about cheating it? ;) Let's try below:

# free -m > /tmp/swap.txt
modify the swap size in swap.txt to 1000.
# vi free

#! /bin/sh
if [ $1 = "-m" ]; then
cat /tmp/swap.txt
fi

# chmod +x free
# mv /usr/bin/free /usr/bin/free.save
# cp free /usr/bin/free

Then installed oracle-10g again, it passed. After configuring it worked on my laptop.

Please don't forget to restore the /usr/bin/free after the installation finished.

Netgear WG511 v2 wireless card under Linux

It requires ndiswrapper.
Download ndiswrapper 1.10, ungzip to /usr/src, make->install->ndiswrapper->modprobe-> iwconfig->dhclient, it works!

Note:
1. In Ubuntu 5.10, you must have build-essential, fakeroot installed, then "make deb" to generate two deb packages.
2. In Fedora Core 4, you can "make rpm" to generate two rpm packages.
3. If your wireless network use WEP authentication, you have to get your passphrase key in hex digits. I found "key s:" option of iwconfig doesn't work ;)

Using FCITX in en locale environment

FCITX relies on zh_CN locale. If you want use it in an en locale environment, try this way below:

$ LANG=zh_CN.UTF-8 XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx fcitx
$ LANG=zh_CN.UTF-8 gedit

Then you can input Chinese in an English system.
This method works with Ubuntu 5.10, it might works with other distros.

Enabling IIIMF Input System in Fedora Core 4

I found IIIMF cannot work when I have installed Fedora Core 4 in default way. According to Fedora IIIMF FAQ, I checked if service was running.

$ /sbin/service iiim status
iiimd (pid 2012) is running...

but when pressing "ctrl+space" in "gedit", no any response. What's wrong?

$ rpm -qa iiim*
iiimf-le-xcin-0.1.10-1
iiimf-le-chinput-0.3-19
iiimf-server-12.2-4.fc4.2
iiimf-server-12.2-4
iiimf-libs-12.2-4.fc4.2

Lacking of some packages, so "yum install" these packages below:
iiimf-gtk-12.2-4.fc4.2
iiimf-gnome-im-switcher-12.2-4.fc4.2
iiimf-docs-12.2-4.fc4.2

Add "InputMethod Switcher" to the panel, then launch "gedit" and click on the switcher or press "ctrl+space", it works now!

Note: IIIMF is related to the locales. If you want to enable IIIMF for other locales, do as FAQ describes.

'Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL which is required for WordPress.'

The problem is in the "wp-settings.php":

if ( !extension_loaded('mysql') )
die( 'Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL which is required for WordPress.' );

So, this issue can be solved:

1. Make sure you have libapache2-mod-php4 installed;
2. Edit /etc/php4/apache2/php.ini, uncomment ";extension=mysql.so";
3. Restart Apache server;
4. Try to reload http://BlogServer/wp-admin/install.php in the browser, it is ok now!