Linux on Windows: CYGWIN

In order to setup a working linux environment on Windows try Cygwin. Cygwin is a implementation of a range of linux functions/functionality for Windows.

1. Go to www.cygwin.com and download the setup file.
2. Run the file by double click and choose "install from internet".
3. When prompted I prefer to install Cygwin to "Program Files", which although warned about does not seem to give problems.
4. When prompted for choosing packages choose:
• Editors
• emacs
• mc
• Net
• openssh
• rsync
5. Finish the installation. 
6. Run (double click) the shortcut on the desktop. It will create your home folder in the appropriate location (in this case (english WinXP) "C:\Program Files\cygwin\home\you").
7. In the Cygwin window run "ssh" which will create the ".ssh" folder in your home folder.

Cygwin: Setting up a trusted ssh-relationship

If you are frequently connecting via ssh to the same server or if you are using rsync to backup your files as will be described in a later guide, you might want to set up a trusted relationship between your local computer and the remote server.

Start by generating a private/public key set.
Run the following command:

$ ssh-keygen -t rsa

Now go to your local .ssh folder.
Then download the "authorized_keys" file from the server

scp user@server.com:/home/user/.ssh/authorized_keys .

then make a backup copy of the file:

$ cp authorized_keys authorized_keys.backup

now merge public key id_rsa.pub into the authorized_keys file

$ cat authorized_keys id_rsa.pub

and upload the authorized_keys file to the server

$ scp authorized_keys user@server.com:/home/user/.ssh

Now try and connect via ssh:

$ ssh user@server.com

It should now not prompt for password.

NSLU2: When the power supply (PSU) dies ...

Problem: My NSLU2 has stopped working. Problem pinned down to being the power supply. The following description matches very well my experience, although my power supply worked 24/7 for 3 years (the first two supplying a 2.5' disc.:

"It showed an interesting mode of failure.... after being used for about 1 year 24/7, the LED still illuminated and the unloaded votlage was 5.0V (good) but when a Slug was switched on, the voltage dropped to about 3V and the Slug could not boot. The Slug's Power LED showed faint 'pulsing' in time with USB Memory stick access attempts (difficult to see with your finger over the Power button though). The power supply was binned. "

Diagnose:
"It has been noticed that the supplied Linksys PSU appears to fail after about a year if supplying two USB powered 2.5" laptop drives from the NSLU2.Symptoms include, but not limited to hard drives not being mounted properly at boot time, although the slug will boot with no disks attached for a while until the supply dies completely." - nslu2-linux.org

My solution:
I bought a "AC Power Adapter/Charger for PSP 1000/2000/3000" from dealextreme.com. Then I exchanged the plug that the Power Adapter/Charger came with the plug from the original NSLU2 PSU. When doing this, BE CAREFUL and use a voltmeter/multimeter to make sure + and - are connected correctly. Double double check, because you might end up destroying your NSLU2 if applying a wrong voltage.

I did all this, and my slug is again running like a charm.

Cygwin: Making a ssh connection with tunnels to your server

To make a ssh connection to a linux server, do the following:
Start by loading Cygwin: Start a cmd prompt and load Cygwin:
C:\folder>loadcygwin (the script is described here).

the run the ssh connect command:

C:\folder>ssh user@server.com

This will prompt for your password before allowing the connecntion. Voilá!

If you want to take advantage of one of the strengths of ssh, namely the tunnels run the command as:

C:\folder>ssh user@server.com -L 123:remotehost:456

which will open port 123 locally (on your computer/localhost) which is tunneled to port 456 on the server remotehost.

You can with benefit put this command into a batch (.cmd) file, such as the following ssh_server_com.cmd.

ssh_server_com.cmd:

@echo off echo Connecting ... call loadcygwin.cmd ssh user@server.com -L1125:localhost:25 -L22993:imap.gmail.com:993 -L993:imap.gmail.com:993 -L22995:pop.gmail.com:995 -L22587:smtp.gmail.com:587 -L8888:localhost:8888 -L8080:localhost:8080

Cygwin: Setting up the environment and locale

When using Cygwin to connect to linux servers, and when using Cygwin in a windows environment in general, it is important to get the locale right.

I am using Cywin through cmd-sessions, and I load Cygwin manually for each cmd-prompt session, as I do not want to override the Windows/Dos commands by default.
Thus I run the file loadcygwin.cmd each time I want to switch to/load Cygwin.
The content of loadcygwin.cmd is listed below:

loadcygwin.cmd:

@echo off call setcygwinenvironment.cmd :: WinXp set path=c:\Program Files\CygWin\bin;%path% ::Win7 ::set path=C:\Program Files (x86)\cygwin\bin;%path% echo Cygwin now loaded.

In this file I am calling the script setcygwinenvironment.cmd which sets the locale. (As you can see I am living in Denmark, which my locale settings reflect)

setcygwinenvironment.cmd:

echo Setting up CYGWIN environment... :: Set cygwin locale to the same as windows locale. set LANG=da_DK-UTF-8 set LC_CTYPE=da_DK.UTF-8 set LC_NUMERIC=da_DK.UTF-8 set LC_TIME=da_DK.UTF-8 set LC_COLLATE=da_DK.UTF-8 set LC_MONETARY=da_DK.UTF-8 set LC_MESSAGES=da_DK.UTF-8 set LC_ALL=da_DK set CYGWIN=acl nodosfilewarning echo done.

A sister site : www.tvass.eu

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Mediaportal: How to install mediaportal

If you (like i did) have an old PC which you do not use and at the same time need a mediacentre, why dont you give mediaportal a shot? It is open source, free and for windows.
Here goes:

1. Download the latest version here .
2. Launch the installer file.
3. Choose your country.
4. Choose "Start installation now".
5. If there is ANY chance that you will be using mediaportal to either watch or record TV, answer yes to the question of whether you are going to use mediaportal to watch TV.
6. Unless you know very well what you are doing (and if you are, you not reading this), choose install all in one click.
7. If you are installing under Windows Vista or Windows 7, you will be asked which network the TV-server may communicate on. I have chosen only private networks and would recommend this setting.
8. The setup is now done installing and you will be shown the MediaPortal Manual Documentation .
9. You are now done installing MediaPortal - Have fun! (I will continue posting articles on how to setup things and features on this blog...)

Mediaportal: Choosing and setting up a remote control

I found and ordered a nice looking (and very cheap) remote control from the Hong Kong based store dealextreme.com : http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.34435 .

Conclusion: It works just fine! However there are quite a few keys that don't have the function that was intended (some take mediaportal out of full screen mode, some launch other applications, etc.) and some keys do nothing at all.
However the volume, channel, number, arrow, PC off, close program and mouse keys work fine, which is the most important.
In mediaportal you also have to make some customization in setup. Lauch "MediaPortal Configuration", and go to "Remote" and choose "Microsoft MCE" and "Use Microsoft MCE remote or keyboard".

Conclusion: This remote is so cheap that you can not afford to buy if you are missing a remote for your mediaportal PC. It's only approximately $10.

Hint: You probably can remap some of the key strokes from the remote using the program AutoHotkey.

Firefox: Unblock a nonstandard port in Firefox3

If you try to browse a non-standard (a non-port-80 port) using Firefox 3, you will get he common Firefox can't-do-this-Try-Again error.
This is because Firtefox tries to protect you from evil-men-on-the-net, or yourself by blocking all ports but port 80. You need to unblock using a nonstandard port such as 81, 28 8888, 8971in Firefox3 by following the directions on this page: [ http://bdbits.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/unblock-a-nonstandard-port-in-firefox3/ ]
I've test this and it works just fine!

Debian NSLU2: Installing packages 1

Initial setup

After the installation of the Debian OS is finished it is time to start installing the packages containing the services/servers/programs/utiliies that you need on the nslu2. It is of course the packages that was the initial reason that we started this installation adventure.

Furthermore some packages need to be removed.

Some have been tested and the removed again.

Installed packages

• thttpd
• vsftpd
• samba
• emacs
• mc
• screen
• ddclient
• rsync

Removed packages

I have removed the following packages which were installed by defaul. I must confess that the net"-something" is a package that a friend of mine removed and which he neglected to tell me the full name of.

• nfs
• net"-something"

Installed and removed packages

• sg3-utils
• atop
• gdb

atop is quite usefull for discovering what is going on on the slug regarding network, hdd, memory usage etc.

How to install the packages
How to install the packages?  Start by logging in as root:

$ su

and supply the password that you set during the Debian OS install procedure. Then install sudo and emacs:

$ apt-get update; apt-get install sudo emacs

Add yourself to the sudoers group
Now you need to add yourself to the sudoers group. Run

$ visudo

and find the line

root ALL=(ALL) ALL

and add the line 

"username" ALL=(ALL) ALL

replacing "username" with your own chosen username. Then hit Ctrl+X to exit and answer Yes to the question of whether you want to save the file.

Remaining packages

Now it is time to install the remaining packages

$ sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install ntpdate vsftpd samba mc screen ddclient rsync sudo

How to continue
In the following blog-articles I will show how these packages are configured.