Preparing to replace mysql-server 5.0.51a-24 (using .../mysql-server_5.1.34-0.dotdeb.1_all.deb) ...
 Unpacking replacement mysql-server ...
 (Reading database ... 120744 files and directories currently installed.)
 Removing mysql-server-5.0 ...
 Stopping MySQL database server: mysqld.
 Removing mysql-client-5.0 ...
 Processing triggers for man-db ...
 Selecting previously deselected package mysql-client-5.1.
 (Reading database ... 118764 files and directories currently installed.)
 Unpacking mysql-client-5.1 (from .../mysql-client-5.1_5.1.34-0.dotdeb.1_i386.deb) ...
 Selecting previously deselected package mysql-server-5.1.
 Unpacking mysql-server-5.1 (from .../mysql-server-5.1_5.1.34-0.dotdeb.1_i386.deb) ...
 Processing triggers for man-db ...
 Processing triggers for menu ...
 Setting up mysql-client-5.1 (5.1.34-0.dotdeb.1) ...
 Setting up mysql-server-5.1 (5.1.34-0.dotdeb.1) ...
 Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/mysql ...
 Stopping MySQL database server: mysqld.
 Starting MySQL database server: mysqld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . failed!

 invoke-rc.d: initscript mysql, action "start" failed.
 dpkg: error processing mysql-server-5.1 (--configure):
 subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
 dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of mysql-server:
 mysql-server depends on mysql-server-5.1; however:
 Package mysql-server-5.1 is not configured yet.
 dpkg: error processing mysql-server (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
 Processing triggers for menu ...
 Errors were encountered while processing:
 mysql-server-5.1
 mysql-server

Aaargh! My good MySQL install has been blown away, and the update has failed to install properly!

The error messages were less than helpful, and as far as I could see, I had all the prerequisite packages installed. What to do?

After a bit of googling, I came across someone with the same problem at this forum thread.

They suggested that MySQL 5.1 cannot have ‘skip-bdb’ in the my.cnf configuration file. As my Debian machine is a low memory box, I had ‘skip-bdb’ set for MySQL 5.0 in order to save some memory. After commenting ‘skip-bdb’ out of the my.cnf file (placing # in front of it), I tried an ‘apt-get -f install’, and the installation completed successfully.

A colleague of mine wanted to get some kind of mobile broadband solution for his netbook – an Acer Aspire One. Brilliant little machine. I fancy a Samsung NC10 myself, or maybe an Asus 1008HA Seashell.

Anyway, he’s running the standard Acer OS – Linpus. He already had the ‘Mobile Partner’ application installed, which is required if you want to connect using a Huawei modem. We plugged the dongle in, and it was recognised by the software within a few seconds, albeit as a Huawei E220 (technically identical to the E160). It picked up a perfectly reasonable O2 3G signal considering we were indoors. Next came the creation of a ‘profile’ for the connection. We set up a new one, called it ‘O2′, and attempted to enter the settings. This is where we got a bit stuck. O2 dont provide any help for this OS. There is software available for Windows and Mac OS X, but that configures your connection settings for you. We needed the settings for a manual setup. A quick Google or two later, and we had found a variety of suggested settings. We tried all of them, but to no avail. In the end, I remembered that when I set a manual connection up on my Mac laptop, I didnt need usernames or passwords, just the APN. So I went ahead and set the APN to be ‘m-bb.o2.co.uk’, with a phone number of ‘*99#’. I’d read that the username of ‘o2bb’ with a password of ‘password’ may be necessary, but I didnt enter these. I left the authentication method as CHAP. As with the other settings we tried, we just kept being presented with the ‘Connecting..’ message, but it never seemed to complete the connection. The light on the dongle (green for GSM, blue for 3G) went solid, which suggested to me that it was completing the connection, but maybe not authenticating?

A bit more Googling, and someone suggested that the Mobile Partner software recently had a bug introduced, which meant that the ‘Connecting…’ message would remain on the screen, even once it had made a successful connection! The workaround is to just minimise the Mobile Partner software once  the light changes to solid. Then you can just load up your web browser, etc, and it should all just work! It certainly did for us.

But what’s this got to do with UK Broadband, I hear you – imaginary guy that I’ve borrowed from Wil Wheaton – asking? Shh…I’m getting there…

As I have a lot of personal files on my iMac, I wasnt going to trust it as-is in the hands of my local Apple reseller, so I backed it up with SuperDuper!, formatted it and installed a fresh copy of OS X 10.4 Tiger (via a USB DVD drive). The iMac went off for repair, came back fixed, and then came the time for installing OS X 10.5 Leopard.

Still not seeing what this has to do with UK Broadband… Shhhhh!! I’m getting there!…

After installing Leopard, I went straight for the software update to get the latest patches. The Mac OS X 10.5.6 update alone weighed in at a monstrous 675MB. This was without the Airport, Java and other updates, which took the total way over 1GB. At this point, I havent even installed the iLife suite, or Microsoft Office, which will also require some hefty updates.

I also wanted to upgrade my laptop running Ubuntu Linux 8.10 Intrepid Ibex, to 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope. The amount needed to be downloaded for this upgrade came in at a hefty 607MB.

Anyway, the point of all this, is that I have recently had a new phone line fitted, with O2′s home broadband service. I was considering going with Sky for their ‘free’ broadband, but with a monthly download limit of 2GB, I would have punched through that in one evening alone. God forbid I even consider watching something on the BBC iPlayer service! HD? Don’t be silly! Luckily, the O2 package that I have (which is their lowest package), comes with ‘unlimited’ downloads. Fair use policy aside, this is how all broadband providers should be offering their services.

A quick look at the moneysupermarket.com comparison site, shows that there are still lots of broadband suppliers offering monthly download limits. They’re not even decent limits either. Going back to the ‘free’ Sky broadband. You get a 2Mbps line, with a 2GB download limit. This immediately takes you out of the running if you want to watch BBC iPlayer HD. Even if your 2Mbps line could stream the video to you (which it cant), you’d almost hit your monthly limit from watching one hour-long programme.

I suppose the purpose of this post rant, is just to highlight my frustration at how progress of digital services in the UK, is being desperately hindered by the greed of our lacklustre communications companies. Get it sorted!

Generally, I tend not to use the full screen mode, but in this instance I needed to. Unlike the Microsoft Remote Desktop client, there is no pinnable banner at the top of the screen to allow you to easily enter/exit full screen mode.

After a lot of keyboard mashing, and various key combos later, it seems that CTRL-ALT-ENTER is the correct combination.

However, I dont like Adobe’s lack of support in this area. For example, when downloading the Mac or Windows version, its quite obvious how you install the application. Its how you would normally install an application on those OS’s. On Linux though, it’s not so intuitive. As most Linux users have likely experienced, the usual way of installing applications can differ between distributions. Then there’s compilation from source, etc. For a major software company like Adobe, you’d think they would offer the AIR installer with at the very least, some installation instructions. No?

For those who are wondering, here is how I installed Adobe AIR on my Ubuntu 8.10 system:

Firstly, download the AIR installer from the Adobe site at http://get.adobe.com/air/

This will download a 12.9MB file named AdobeAIRInstaller.bin

Open a Terminal, and change your working directory to wherever you just saved the installer file. For example:

   cd Desktop

Issue the following commands in your Terminal window to first make the installer executable, and then execute (run) the installer:

   chmod +x AdobeAIRInstaller.bin
   ./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin

Simple? Absolutely. However, I remember being incredibly frustrated when I was relatively new to Linux, when simple tasks like this weren’t so obvious. How hard would it have been for Adobe to include that on their download page?

Here’s an excellent, short and to-the-point guide on getting FastCGI configured for Lighttpd:

http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/lighttpd-php-fastcgi-configuration.html

Of course, this is assuming PHP, MySQL (if required) and Lighttpd are already installed:

  apt-get install php5-cli php5-cgi lighttpd mysql-server

I also needed to reconfigure MySQL for a low memory machine (112MB). I did that by doing the following:

Replace /etc/mysql/my.cnf with the my-small.cnf found at /usr/share/doc/mysql-server-5.0/examples/

  cp /usr/share/doc/mysql-server-5.0/examples/my-small.cnf /etc/mysql/my.cnf

Edit your new my.cnf and do the following:

Uncomment skip-bdb
Add a new line beneath it for skip-innodb

Finally, restart your mysql server:

  sh/etc/init.d/mysql restart

For a few years now, I’ve been running Debian GNU/Linux on my Linksys NSLU2 (commonly known as a ‘slug’). I use it to run various services on my home network, but primarily it’s used as an FTP interface to my ‘Toppy’, otherwise known as a Topfield TF5800 Freeview/DVB-T Hard Disk Recorder (PVR), and to populate its MyStuff EPG TAP with daily TV listings from the Radio Times.

The NSLU2 is a great little device. Its small (really small), low power, silent, relatively inexpensive and just works. Ive modified it to run at 266MHz, from the stock 133MHz. Note: This isnt overclocking it. The ARM CPU in use is designed to run at 266MHz, but its limited in the NSLU2 to run at 133MHz. A simple modification allows it to run at its full speed.

When I heard that lenny had been released, I thought I’d go ahead and update my slug, as I like to stay current. The great thing about Debian, is that it’s so easy to maintain. I logged in, and did the usual ‘apt-get update‘ followed by an ‘apt-get dist-upgrade‘, expecting a huge amount of updates to appear. What I actually saw was only a handful of packages offering themselves for the taking, and there was no sight of a full distribution upgrade.

I took a quick look at my /etc/apt/sources.list file, and the problem was apparent:

deb http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ etch main
deb-src http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ etch main

deb http://security.debian.org/ etch/updates main
deb-src http://security.debian.org/ etch/updates main

deb http://www.backports.org/debian etch-backports main contrib non-free

My sources were set specifically to ‘etch’. So I proceeded to edit /etc/apt/sources.list and replace all instances of ‘etch’ with ‘lenny’.

Another ‘apt-get update‘, followed by an ‘apt-get install apt dpkg‘ to upgrade apt and dpkg, and I was ready for lenny.

One note though: After running the ‘apt-get update‘ above, I got the following message:

Reading package lists... Done
 W: There are no public key available for the following key IDs:
 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems

Well, I just ran ‘apt-get update‘, so that wasnt going to help! What I actually needed to do was the following:

gpg --keyserver wwwkeys.eu.pgp.net --recv-keys XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

apt-key add /root/.gnupg/pubring.gpg

apt-get update

Replacing the XXX’s with the key ID from the previous message.

Finally, I was ready for the upgrade:

apt-get dist-upgrade

A loooong while later, and my slug was nicely up to date. I would also note that you’ll need a large amount of free disk space before you start this. I needed over 200MB, which is hard to find when my entire disk (including swap) is only 1GB!

Now that the slug is done, I think I’ll have a go at installing lenny on my HP Thin Client that I recently bought off eBay.

For example:

• esxcfg-advcfg – Get/Set Advanced Configuration (e.g. modify ‘EnableResignature’)
• esxcfg-firewall – Modify the iptables firewall configuration
• esxcfg-module – View and set options for start-up of the VMkernel modules (drivers)
• esxcfg-vswitch – List, add, modify or delete virtual Ethernet switches
• esxcfg-info – Information about the host
• esxcfg-boot – Configure the GRUB options presented at boot time
• esxcfg-vmknic – View and set configuration of the VMkernel ports on virtual Ethernet switches

….and many more, with full descriptions and usage examples.

They also mention many of the configuration files and their locations, along with some popular Linux commands for those unfamiliar with working at the Linux command line. Definitely worth a bookmark if you administer ESX hosts.