X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/9d61613358b88994a247c3e45a34e582ff0b9f67..fc69198f89b689c41f669748e7e9839dfcf9d19b:/blog/index.rss diff --git a/blog/index.rss b/blog/index.rss index bc210c945f..57c57503a2 100644 --- a/blog/index.rss +++ b/blog/index.rss @@ -6,6 +6,511 @@ http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ + + How to fix a Thinkpad X230 with a broken 180 GB SSD disk + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_fix_a_Thinkpad_X230_with_a_broken_180_GB_SSD_disk.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_fix_a_Thinkpad_X230_with_a_broken_180_GB_SSD_disk.html + Wed, 17 Jul 2013 23:50:00 +0200 + <p>Today I switched to +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230_.html">my +new laptop</a>. I've previously written about the problems I had with +my new Thinkpad X230, which was delivered with an +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Intel_SSD_520_Series_180_GB_with_Lenovo_firmware_still_lock_up_from_sustained_writes.html">180 +GB Intel SSD disk with Lenovo firmware</a> that did not handle +sustained writes. My hardware supplier have been very forthcoming in +trying to find a solution, and after first trying with another +identical 180 GB disks they decided to send me a 256 GB Samsung SSD +disk instead to fix it once and for all. The Samsung disk survived +the installation of Debian with encrypted disks (filling the disk with +random data during installation killed the first two), and I thus +decided to trust it with my data. I have installed it as a Debian Edu +Wheezy roaming workstation hooked up with my Debian Edu Squeeze main +server at home using Kerberos and LDAP, and will use it as my work +station from now on.</p> + +<p>As this is a solid state disk with no moving parts, I believe the +Debian Wheezy default installation need to be tuned a bit to increase +performance and increase life time of the disk. The Linux kernel and +user space applications do not yet adjust automatically to such +environment. To make it easier for my self, I created a draft Debian +package <tt>ssd-setup</tt> to handle this tuning. The +<a href="http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=collab-maint/ssd-setup.git">source +for the ssd-setup package</a> is available from collab-maint, and it +is set up to adjust the setup of the machine by just installing the +package. If there is any non-SSD disk in the machine, the package +will refuse to install, as I did not try to write any logic to sort +file systems in SSD and non-SSD file systems.</p> + +<p>I consider the package a draft, as I am a bit unsure how to best +set up Debian Wheezy with an SSD. It is adjusted to my use case, +where I set up the machine with one large encrypted partition (in +addition to /boot), put LVM on top of this and set up partitions on +top of this again. See the README file in the package source for the +references I used to pick the settings. At the moment these +parameters are tuned:</p> + +<ul> + +<li>Set up cryptsetup to pass TRIM commands to the physical disk + (adding discard to /etc/crypttab)</li> + +<li>Set up LVM to pass on TRIM commands to the underlying device (in + this case a cryptsetup partition) by changing issue_discards from + 0 to 1 in /etc/lvm/lvm.conf.</li> + +<li>Set relatime as a file system option for ext3 and ext4 file + systems.</li> + +<li>Tell swap to use TRIM commands by adding 'discard' to + /etc/fstab.</li> + +<li>Change I/O scheduler from cfq to deadline using a udev rule.</li> + +<li>Run fstrim on every ext3 and ext4 file system every night (from + cron.daily).</li> + +<li>Adjust sysctl values vm.swappiness to 1 and vm.vfs_cache_pressure + to 50 to reduce the kernel eagerness to swap out processes.</li> + +</ul> + +<p>During installation, I cancelled the part where the installer fill +the disk with random data, as this would kill the SSD performance for +little gain. My goal with the encrypted file system is to ensure +those stealing my laptop end up with a brick and not a working +computer. I have no hope in keeping the really resourceful people +from getting the data on the disk (see +<a href="http://xkcd.com/538/">XKCD #538</a> for an explanation why). +Thus I concluded that adding the discard option to crypttab is the +right thing to do.</p> + +<p>I considered using the noop I/O scheduler, as several recommended +it for SSD, but others recommended deadline and a benchmark I found +indicated that deadline might be better for interactive use.</p> + +<p>I also considered using the 'discard' file system option for ext3 +and ext4, but read that it would give a performance hit ever time a +file is removed, and thought it best to that that slowdown once a day +instead of during my work.</p> + +<p>My package do not set up tmpfs on /var/run, /var/lock and /tmp, as +this is already done by Debian Edu.</p> + +<p>I have not yet started on the user space tuning. I expect +iceweasel need some tuning, and perhaps other applications too, but +have not yet had time to investigate those parts.</p> + +<p>The package should work on Ubuntu too, but I have not yet tested it +there.</p> + +<p>As for the answer to the question in the title of this blog post, +as far as I know, the only solution I know about is to replace the +disk. It might be possible to flash it with Intel firmware instead of +the Lenovo firmware. But I have not tried and did not want to do so +without approval from Lenovo as I wanted to keep the warranty on the +disk until a solution was found and they wanted the broken disks +back.</p> + + + + + Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB with Lenovo firmware still lock up from sustained writes + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Intel_SSD_520_Series_180_GB_with_Lenovo_firmware_still_lock_up_from_sustained_writes.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Intel_SSD_520_Series_180_GB_with_Lenovo_firmware_still_lock_up_from_sustained_writes.html + Wed, 10 Jul 2013 13:30:00 +0200 + <p>A few days ago, I wrote about +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230_.html">the +problems I experienced with my new X230 and its SSD disk</a>, which +was dying during installation because it is unable to cope with +sustained write. My supplier is in contact with +<a href="http://www.lenovo.com/">Lenovo</a>, and they wanted to send a +replacement disk to try to fix the problem. They decided to send an +identical model, so my hopes for a permanent fix was slim.</p> + +<p>Anyway, today I got the replacement disk and tried to install +Debian Edu Wheezy with encrypted disk on it. The new disk have the +same firmware version as the original. This time my hope raised +slightly as the installation progressed, as the original disk used to +die after 4-7% of the disk was written to, while this time it kept +going past 10%, 20%, 40% and even past 50%. But around 60%, the disk +died again and I was back on square one. I still do not have a new +laptop with a disk I can trust. I can not live with a disk that might +lock up when I download a new +<a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> ISO or +other large files. I look forward to hearing from my supplier with +the next proposal from Lenovo.</p> + +<p>The original disk is marked Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB, +11S0C38722Z1ZNME35X1TR, ISN: CVCV321407HB180EGN, SA: G57560302, FW: +LF1i, 29MAY2013, PBA: G39779-300, LBA 351,651,888, LI P/N: 0C38722, +Pb-free 2LI, LC P/N: 16-200366, WWN: 55CD2E40002756C4, Model: +SSDSC2BW180A3L 2.5" 6Gb/s SATA SSD 180G 5V 1A, ASM P/N 0C38732, FRU +P/N 45N8295, P0C38732.</p> + +<p>The replacement disk is marked Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB, +11S0C38722Z1ZNDE34N0L0, ISN: CVCV315306RK180EGN, SA: G57560-302, FW: +LF1i, 22APR2013, PBA: G39779-300, LBA 351,651,888, LI P/N: 0C38722, +Pb-free 2LI, LC P/N: 16-200366, WWN: 55CD2E40000AB69E, Model: +SSDSC2BW180A3L 2.5" 6Gb/s SATA SSD 180G 5V 1A, ASM P/N 0C38732, FRU +P/N 45N8295, P0C38732.</p> + +<p>The only difference is in the first number (serial number?), ISN, +SA, date and WNPP values. Mentioning all the details here in case +someone is able to use the information to find a way to identify the +failing disk among working ones (if any such working disk actually +exist).</p> + + + + + July 13th: Debian/Ubuntu BSP and Skolelinux/Debian Edu developer gathering in Oslo + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/July_13th__Debian_Ubuntu_BSP_and_Skolelinux_Debian_Edu_developer_gathering_in_Oslo.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/July_13th__Debian_Ubuntu_BSP_and_Skolelinux_Debian_Edu_developer_gathering_in_Oslo.html + Tue, 9 Jul 2013 10:40:00 +0200 + <p>The upcoming Saturday, 2013-07-13, we are organising a combined +Debian Edu developer gathering and Debian and Ubuntu bug squashing +party in Oslo. It is organised by <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">the +member assosiation NUUG</a> and +<a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">the Debian Edu / Skolelinux +project</a> together with <a href="http://bitraf.no/">the hack space +Bitraf</a>.</p> + +<p>It starts 10:00 and continue until late evening. Everyone is +welcome, and there is no fee to participate. There is on the other +hand limited space, and only room for 30 people. Please put your name +on <a href="http://wiki.debian.org/BSP/2013/07/13/no/Oslo">the event +wiki page</a> if you plan to join us.</p> + + + + + The Thinkpad is dead, long live the Thinkpad X230? + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230_.html + Fri, 5 Jul 2013 08:30:00 +0200 + <p>Half a year ago, I reported that I had to find a +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Thank_you_Thinkpad_X41__for_your_long_and_trustworthy_service.html">replacement +for my trusty old Thinkpad X41</a>. Unfortunately I did not have much +time to spend on it, and it took a while to find a model I believe +will do the job, but two days ago the replacement finally arrived. I +ended up picking a +<a href="http://www.linlap.com/lenovo_thinkpad_x230">Thinkpad X230</a> +with SSD disk (NZDAJMN). I first test installed Debian Edu Wheezy as +a roaming workstation, and it seemed to work flawlessly. But my +second installation with encrypted disk was not as successful. More +on that below.</p> + +<p>I had a hard time trying to track down a good laptop, as my most +important requirements (robust and with a good keyboard) are never +listed in the feature list. But I did get good help from the search +feature at <a href="http://www.prisjakt.no/">Prisjakt</a>, which +allowed me to limit the list of interesting laptops based on my other +requirements. A bit surprising that SSD disk are not disks according +to that search interface, so I had to drop specifying the number of +disks from my search parameters. I also asked around among friends to +get their impression on keyboards and robustness.</p> + +<p>So the new laptop arrived, and it is quite a lot wider than the +X41. I am not quite convinced about the keyboard, as it is +significantly wider than my old keyboard, and I have to stretch my +hand a lot more to reach the edges. But the key response is fairly +good and the individual key shape is fairly easy to handle, so I hope +I will get used to it. My old X40 was starting to fail, and I really +needed a new laptop now. :)</p> + +<p>Turning off the touch pad was simple. All it took was a quick +visit to the BIOS during boot it disable it.</p> + +<p>But there is a fatal problem with the laptop. The 180 GB SSD disk +lock up during load. And this happen when installing Debian Wheezy +with encrypted disk, while the disk is being filled with random data. +I also tested to install Ubuntu Raring, and it happen there too if I +reenable the code to fill the disk with random data (it is disabled by +default in Ubuntu). And the bug with is already known. It was +reported to Debian as <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/691427">BTS +report #691427 2012-10-25</a> (journal commit I/O error on brand-new +Thinkpad T430s ext4 on lvm on SSD). It is also reported to the Linux +kernel developers as +<a href="https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=51861">Kernel bugzilla +report #51861 2012-12-20</a> (Intel SSD 520 stops working under load +(SSDSC2BW180A3L in Lenovo ThinkPad T430s)). It is also reported on the +Lenovo forums, both for +<a href="http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-and-newer-T-series/T430s-Intel-SSD-520-180GB-issue/m-p/1070549">T430 +2012-11-10</a> and for +<a href="http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/x230-SATA-errors-with-180GB-Intel-520-SSD-under-heavy-write-load/m-p/1068147">X230 +03-20-2013</a>. The problem do not only affect installation. The +reports state that the disk lock up during use if many writes are done +on the disk, so it is much no use to work around the installation +problem and end up with a computer that can lock up at any moment. +There is even a +<a href="https://git.efficios.com/?p=test-ssd.git">small C program +available</a> that will lock up the hard drive after running a few +minutes by writing to a file.</p> + +<p>I've contacted my supplier and asked how to handle this, and after +contacting PCHELP Norway (request 01D1FDP) which handle support +requests for Lenovo, his first suggestion was to upgrade the disk +firmware. Unfortunately there is no newer firmware available from +Lenovo, as my disk already have the most recent one (version LF1i). I +hope to hear more from him today and hope the problem can be +fixed. :)</p> + + + + + The Thinkpad is dead, long live the Thinkpad X230 + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_Thinkpad_is_dead__long_live_the_Thinkpad_X230.html + Thu, 4 Jul 2013 09:20:00 +0200 + <p>Half a year ago, I reported that I had to find a replacement for my +trusty old Thinkpad X41. Unfortunately I did not have much time to +spend on it, but today the replacement finally arrived. I ended up +picking a <a href="http://www.linlap.com/lenovo_thinkpad_x230">Thinkpad +X230</a> with SSD disk (NZDAJMN). I first test installed Debian Edu +Wheezy as a roaming workstation, and it worked flawlessly. As I write +this, it is installing what I hope will be a more final installation, +with a encrypted hard drive to ensure any dope head stealing it end up +with an expencive door stop.</p> + +<p>I had a hard time trying to track down a good laptop, as my most +important requirements (robust and with a good keyboard) are never +listed in the feature list. But I did get good help from the search +feature at <ahref="http://www.prisjakt.no/">Prisjakt</a>, which +allowed me to limit the list of interesting laptops based on my other +requirements. A bit surprising that SSD disk are not disks, so I had +to drop number of disks from my search parameters.</p> + +<p>I am not quite convinced about the keyboard, as it is significantly +wider than my old keyboard, and I have to stretch my hand a lot more +to reach the edges. But the key response is fairly good and the +individual key shape is fairly easy to handle, so I hope I will get +used to it. My old X40 was starting to fail, and I really needed a +new laptop now. :)</p> + +<p>I look forward to figuring out how to turn off the touch pad.</p> + + + + + Fourth alpha release of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fourth_alpha_release_of_Debian_Edu_Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fourth_alpha_release_of_Debian_Edu_Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html + Wed, 3 Jul 2013 14:00:00 +0200 + <p>The fourth wheezy based alpha release of Debian Edu was wrapped up +today. This is the release announcement:</p> + +<p><strong>New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~alpha3 released +2013-07-03</strong></p> + +<p>These are the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux +7.1+edu0~alpha3, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".</p> + +<p><strong>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</strong></p> + +<p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu, also known as +Skolelinux</a>, is a Linux distribution based on Debian providing an +out-of-the box environment of a completely configured school +network. Immediately after installation a school server running all +services needed for a school network is set up just waiting for users +and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable Web-UI. A netbooting +environment is prepared using PXE, so after initial installation of +the main server from CD, DVD or USB stick all other machines can be +installed via the network. The provided school server provides LDAP +database and Kerberos authentication service, centralized home +directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other services. The +desktop contains +<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html">more +than 60 educational software packages</a> and more are available from +the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE +and Xfce desktop environment.</p> + +<p>This is the fourth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically +this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the +Squeeze release.</p> + +<p><strong>Software updates</strong></p> +<ul> + <li>Dropped ispell dictionaries from our default installation.</li> + <li>Dropped menu-xdg from the KDE desktop option, to drop the Debian + submenu. It was not included with Gnome, LXDE or Xfce, so this + brings KDE in line with the others.</li> + <li>Dropped xdrawchem, xjig and xsok from our default installation as + they don't have a desktop menu entry and thus won't show up in the + menu now that menu-xdg was removed.</li> + <li>Removed the killer system to kill left behind processes on + multi-user machines, as it was no longer able to understand when a + X display was in use and killed the processes of the active users + too.</li> + <li>Dropped the golearn (from goplay) package as the debtags in wheezy + are too few to make the package useful.</li> +</ul> +<p><strong>Other changes</strong></p> +<ul> + <li>Updated artwork matching http://wiki.debian.org/DebianArt/Themes/Joy + <li>Multi-arch i386/amd64 USB stick ISO available.</li> + <li>Got rid of ispell/wordlist related debconf questions that showed + up for some language options.</li> + <li>Switched to using http.debian.net as APT source by default.</li> + <li>Fixed proxy configuration on Main Server installations.</li> + <li>Changed LTSP setup to ask dpkg to use force-unsafe-io the same way + d-i is doing it.</li> + <li>Made sure root and user passwords were not left behind in the + debconf database after installation on Main Server installations.</li> + <li>Made Roaming Workstation dynamic setup more robust and added draft + script setup-ad-client to hook a Roaming Workstation up to a + Active Directory server instead of a Debian Edu Main Server.</li> + <li>Update system to install needed firmware packages during + installation, to work properly in Wheezy.</li> + <li>Update system to handle hardware quirks (debian-edu-hwsetup).</li> + <li>Corrected PXE installation setup to properly pass selected desktop + and keymap settings to PXE installation clients.</li> + <li>LTSP diskless workstations use sshfs by default, allowing them to + work without adding them to DNS and NIS netgroups for NFS access.</li> +</ul> +<p><strong>Known issues</strong></p> +<ul> + <li>No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv) + available yet (698840).</li> + <li>Artwork not enabled for all desktops.</li> +</ul> +<p><strong>Where to get it</strong></p> + +<p>To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use</p> +<ul> + <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso</a></li> + <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso</a></li> + <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso .</li> +</ul> + +<p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 2b161a99d2a848c376d8d04e3854e30c +<br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 498922e9c508c0a7ee9dbe1dfe5bf830d779c3c8</p> + +<p>To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use</p> +<ul> + <li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso</a></li> + <li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso</a></li> + <li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso .</li> +</ul> + +<p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 25e808e403a4c15dbef1d13c37d572ac +<br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: 15ecfc93eb6b4f453b7eb0bc04b6a279262d9721</p> + +<p><strong>How to report bugs</strong></p> + +<p><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a></p> + + + + + Automatically locate and install required firmware packages on Debian (Isenkram 0.4) + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatically_locate_and_install_required_firmware_packages_on_Debian__Isenkram_0_4_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatically_locate_and_install_required_firmware_packages_on_Debian__Isenkram_0_4_.html + Tue, 25 Jun 2013 11:50:00 +0200 + <p>It annoys me when the computer fail to do automatically what it is +perfectly capable of, and I have to do it manually to get things +working. One such task is to find out what firmware packages are +needed to get the hardware on my computer working. Most often this +affect the wifi card, but some times it even affect the RAID +controller or the ethernet card. Today I pushed version 0.4 of the +<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/isenkram">Isenkram package</a> +including a new script isenkram-autoinstall-firmware handling the +process of asking all the loaded kernel modules what firmware files +they want, find debian packages providing these files and install the +debian packages. Here is a test run on my laptop:</p> + +<p><pre> +# isenkram-autoinstall-firmware +info: kernel drivers requested extra firmware: ipw2200-bss.fw ipw2200-ibss.fw ipw2200-sniffer.fw +info: fetching http://http.debian.net/debian/dists/squeeze/Contents-i386.gz +info: locating packages with the requested firmware files +info: Updating APT sources after adding non-free APT source +info: trying to install firmware-ipw2x00 +firmware-ipw2x00 +firmware-ipw2x00 +Preconfiguring packages ... +Selecting previously deselected package firmware-ipw2x00. +(Reading database ... 259727 files and directories currently installed.) +Unpacking firmware-ipw2x00 (from .../firmware-ipw2x00_0.28+squeeze1_all.deb) ... +Setting up firmware-ipw2x00 (0.28+squeeze1) ... +# +</pre></p> + +<p>When all the requested firmware is present, a simple message is +printed instead:</p> + +<p><pre> +# isenkram-autoinstall-firmware +info: did not find any firmware files requested by loaded kernel modules. exiting +# +</pre></p> + +<p>It could use some polish, but it is already working well and saving +me some time when setting up new machines. :)</p> + +<p>So, how does it work? It look at the set of currently loaded +kernel modules, and look up each one of them using modinfo, to find +the firmware files listed in the module meta-information. Next, it +download the Contents file from a nearby APT mirror, and search for +the firmware files in this file to locate the package with the +requested firmware file. If the package is in the non-free section, a +non-free APT source is added and the package is installed using +<tt>apt-get install</tt>. The end result is a slightly better working +machine.</p> + +<p>I hope someone find time to implement a more polished version of +this script as part of the hw-detect debian-installer module, to +finally fix <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/655507">BTS report +#655507</a>. There really is no need to insert USB sticks with +firmware during a PXE install when the packages already are available +from the nearby Debian mirror.</p> + + + + + The value of a good distro wide test suite... + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_value_of_a_good_distro_wide_test_suite___.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_value_of_a_good_distro_wide_test_suite___.html + Sat, 22 Jun 2013 07:00:00 +0200 + <p>In the <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / +Skolelinux</a> project, we include a post-installation test suite, +which check that services are running, working, and return the +expected results. It runs automatically just after the first boot on +test installations (using test ISOs), but not on production +installations (using non-test ISOs). It test that the LDAP service is +operating, Kerberos is responding, DNS is replying, file systems are +online resizable, etc, etc. And it check that the PXE service is +configured, which is the topic of this post.</p> + +<p>The last week I've fixed the DVD and USB stick ISOs for our Debian +Edu Wheezy release. These ISOs are supposed to be able to install a +complete system without any Internet connection, but for that to +happen all the needed packages need to be on them. Thanks to our test +suite, I discovered that we had forgotten to adjust our PXE setup to +cope with the new names and paths used by the netboot d-i packages. +When Internet connectivity was available, the installer fall back to +using wget to fetch d-i boot images, but when offline it require +working packages to get it working. And ad the packages changed name +from debian-installer-6.0-netboot-$arch to +debian-installer-7.0-netboot-$arch, we no longer pulled in the +packages during installation. Without our test suite, I suspect we +would never have discovered this before release. Now it is fixed +right after we got the ISOs operational.</p> + +<p>Another by-product of the test suite is that we can ask system +administrators with problems getting Debian Edu to work, to run the +test suite using <tt>/usr/sbin/debian-edu-test-install</tt> and see if +any errors are detected. This usually pinpoint the subsystem causing +the problem.</p> + +<p>If you want to help us help kids learn how to share and create, +please join us on +<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">#debian-edu on +irc.debian.org</a> and the +<a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu/">debian-edu@</a> mailing +list.</p> + + + Debian Edu interview: Victor Nițu http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Victor_Ni_u.html @@ -270,686 +775,5 @@ make a decision that would work for them.</p> - - Fixing the Linux black screen of death on machines with Intel HD video - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fixing_the_Linux_black_screen_of_death_on_machines_with_Intel_HD_video.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fixing_the_Linux_black_screen_of_death_on_machines_with_Intel_HD_video.html - Tue, 11 Jun 2013 11:00:00 +0200 - <p>When installing RedHat, Fedora, Debian and Ubuntu on some machines, -the screen just turn black when Linux boot, either during installation -or on first boot from the hard disk. I've seen it once in a while the -last few years, but only recently understood the cause. I've seen it -on HP laptops, and on my latest acquaintance the Packard Bell laptop. -The reason seem to be in the wiring of some laptops. The system to -control the screen background light is inverted, so when Linux try to -turn the brightness fully on, it end up turning it off instead. I do -not know which Linux drivers are affected, but this post is about the -i915 driver used by the -<a href="http://www.linlap.com/packard_bell_easynote_lv">Packard Bell -EasyNote LV</a>, Thinkpad X40 and many other laptops.</p> - -<p>The problem can be worked around two ways. Either by adding -i915.invert_brightness=1 as a kernel option, or by adding a file in -/etc/modprobe.d/ to tell modprobe to add the invert_brightness=1 -option when it load the i915 kernel module. On Debian and Ubuntu, it -can be done by running these commands as root:</p> - -<pre> -echo options i915 invert_brightness=1 | tee /etc/modprobe.d/i915.conf -update-initramfs -u -k all -</pre> - -<p>Since March 2012 there is -<a href="http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=4dca20efb1a9c2efefc28ad2867e5d6c3f5e1955">a -mechanism in the Linux kernel</a> to tell the i915 driver which -hardware have this problem, and get the driver to invert the -brightness setting automatically. To use it, one need to add a row in -<a href="http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c">the -intel_quirks array</a> in the driver source -<tt>drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c</tt> (look for "<tt>static -struct intel_quirk intel_quirks</tt>"), specifying the PCI device -number (vendor number 8086 is assumed) and subdevice vendor and device -number.</p> - -<p>My Packard Bell EasyNote LV got this output from <tt>lspci --vvnn</tt> for the video card in question:</p> - -<p><pre> -00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation \ - 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller [8086:0156] \ - (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller]) - Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0688] - Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- \ - ParErr- Stepping- SE RR- FastB2B- DisINTx+ - Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- \ - <TAbort- <MAbort->SERR- <PERR- INTx- - Latency: 0 - Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 42 - Region 0: Memory at c2000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M] - Region 2: Memory at b0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M] - Region 4: I/O ports at 4000 [size=64] - Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] - Capabilities: <access denied> - Kernel driver in use: i915 -</pre></p> - -<p>The resulting intel_quirks entry would then look like this:</p> - -<p><pre> -struct intel_quirk intel_quirks[] = { - ... - /* Packard Bell EasyNote LV11HC needs invert brightness quirk */ - { 0x0156, 0x1025, 0x0688, quirk_invert_brightness }, - ... -} -</pre></p> - -<p>According to the kernel module instructions (as seen using -<tt>modinfo i915</tt>), information about hardware needing the -invert_brightness flag should be sent to the -<a href="http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/dri-devel">dri-devel -(at) lists.freedesktop.org</a> mailing list to reach the kernel -developers. But my email about the laptop sent 2013-06-03 have not -yet shown up in -<a href="http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/dri-devel/2013-June/thread.html">the -web archive for the mailing list</a>, so I suspect they do not accept -emails from non-subscribers. Because of this, I sent my patch also to -the Debian bug tracking system instead as -<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/710938">BTS report #710938</a>, to make -sure the patch is not lost.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately, it is not enough to fix the kernel to get Laptops -with this problem working properly with Linux. If you use Gnome, your -worries should be over at this point. But if you use KDE, there is -something in KDE ignoring the invert_brightness setting and turning on -the screen during login. I've reported it to Debian as -<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/711237">BTS report #711237</a>, and -have no idea yet how to figure out exactly what subsystem is doing -this. Perhaps you can help? Perhaps you know what the Gnome -developers did to handle this, and this can give a clue to the KDE -developers? Or you know where in KDE the screen brightness is changed -during login? If so, please update the BTS report (or get in touch if -you do not know how to update BTS).</p> - - - - - Third alpha release of Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Third_alpha_release_of_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Third_alpha_release_of_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Debian_Wheezy.html - Mon, 10 Jun 2013 22:50:00 +0200 - <p>The third wheezy based alpha release of Debian Edu was wrapped up -today. This is the release announcement:</p> - -<p><strong>New features for Debian Edu 7.0.0 alpha2 released -2013-06-10</strong></p> - -<p>This is the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux 7.0.0 edu -alpha2, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".</p> - -<p><strong>About Debian Edu and Skolelinux</strong></p> - -<p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu, also known as -Skolelinux</a>, is a Linux distribution based on Debian providing an -out-of-the box environment of a completely configured school -network. Immediately after installation a school server running all -services needed for a school network is set up just waiting for users -and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable Web-UI. A netbooting -environment is prepared using PXE, so after initial installation of -the main server from CD, DVD or USB stick all other machines can be -installed via the network. The provided school server provides LDAP -database and Kerberos authentication service, centralized home -directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other services. The -desktop contains -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html">more -than 60 educational software packages</a> and more are available from -the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE -and Xfce desktop environment.</p> - -<p>This is the third test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically -this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the -Squeeze release.</p> - -<p><strong>Software updates</strong></p> - -<ul> - -<li>Iceweasel was updated from 10 to 17. (DSA 2699-1) -<li>Updated libxv (DSA-2674), libxvmc (DSA-2675), libxfixes (DSA-2676), libxrender (DSA-2677), mesa (DSA-2678), xserver-xorg-video-openchrome (DSA-2679), libxt (DSA-2680), libxcursor (DSA-2681), libxext (DSA-2682), libxi (DSA-2683), libxrandr (DSA-2684), libxp (DSA-2685), libxcb (DSA-2686), libfs (DSA-2687), libxres (DSA-2688), libxtst (DSA-2689), libxxf86dga (DSA-2690), libxinerama (DSA-2691), libxxf86vm (DSA-2692), libx11 (DSA-2693), chromium-browser (DSA-2695), gnutls26 (DSA-2697), wireshark (DSA-2700), krb5 (DSA-2701), telepathy-gabble (DSA-2702) and subversion (DSA-2703). -<li>Switched xrdp on thin client servers to use tightvncserver instead of xvnc4. -<li>Now install software oscilloscope xoscope by default. -<li>Now install music tools gtick, lingot and pianobooster by default. - -</ul> - -<p><strong>Other changes</strong></p> - -<ul> - -<li>The subnet-change script is now able to change all files needing a change on the main-server when changing the IP network used. -<li>Updated translation of the installation. -<li>New Romanian translation. -<li>Fix security problem causing root and first user password to no longer show up in /var/cache/debconf/templates.dat. -<li>Fix roaming workstation setup (Closed in libpam-mklocaluser/0.8, libpam-mklocaluser/0.8~deb7u1: #706753: libpam-mklocaluser: Fail to create local user during first login). -<li>Made roaming workstation setup more robust in non-Debian Edu environments. -<li>New script debian-edu-bless to transform a Debian installation to a Debian Edu profile. -<li>Adjust Iceweasel setup to improve performance when $HOME is on NFS. -<li>More testsuite tests. -<li>Make automatic proxy configuration more robust. -<li>Adjust GOsa² GUI configuration. - -<li>Update thin client and diskless workstation setup to work with -LTSP in Wheezy.</li> - -<li>Diskless workstations now run out of the box -- no need to set -them up with GOsa².</li> - -<li>Update IMAP server setup. </li> - -<li>Fix login into Skolelinux Backup Tool (Closed in -slbackup-php/0.4.4-1: #700257: slbackup-php: Fails to submit correctly -entered password). </li> - -</ul> - -<p><strong>Known issues</strong></p> - -<ul> - -<li>DVD binary and source images are not yet ready.</li> - -<li>No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv) -available yet (Open in gosa/2.7.4-4: #698840: gosa-plugin-ldapmanager: -missing import feature).</li> - -<li>Missing artwork for the KDE desktop (and probably a few others). </li> - -<li>KDE Debian submenu lacks icons (Closed: #502192: menu-xdg: invents -own icon names instead of using existing). This will remain -unfixed.</li> - -</ul> - -<p><strong>Where to get it</strong></p> - -<p>To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use</p> - -<ul> - -<li><a href="ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso">ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso</a></li> - -<li><a href="http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso">http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso</a></li> - -<li>rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.0+edu0~a2-CD.iso .</li> - -</ul> - -<p>The MD5SUM of this image is: 27bbcace407743382f3c42c08dbe8178 -<br>The SHA1SUM of this image is: e35f7d7908566cd3075375b3721fa10ee420d419</p> - -<p><strong>How to report bugs</strong></p> - -<p><a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs">http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs</a> - - - - - Is there a PHP expert in the building? Debian Edu need help! - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Is_there_a_PHP_expert_in_the_building___Debian_Edu_need_help_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Is_there_a_PHP_expert_in_the_building___Debian_Edu_need_help_.html - Wed, 5 Jun 2013 17:50:00 +0200 - <p>Here is a call for help from the Debian Edu / Skolelinux project. -We have two problems blocking the release of the Wheezy version we -hope to get released soon. The two problems require some with PHP -skills, and we seem to lack anyone with both time and PHP skills in -the project: - -<ol> - -<li>It is impossible to log into the slbackup web interface - (slbackup-php) using the root user and password. This is - <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/700257">BTS report #700257</a>. - This used to work, but stopped working some time since Squeeze. - Perhaps some obsolete PHP feature was used?</li> - -<li>It is not possible to "mass import" user lists in Gosa, neither - using ldif nor using CSV files. The feature was disabled after a - major rewrite of Gosa, and need to be ported to the new system. - This is <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/698840">BTS report - #698840</a>.</li> - -</ol> - -<p>If you can help us, please join us on IRC -(<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">#debian-edu on -irc.debian.org</a>) and provide patches via the BTS.</p> - - - - - Debian Edu interview: Cédric Boutillier - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__C_dric_Boutillier.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__C_dric_Boutillier.html - Tue, 4 Jun 2013 10:30:00 +0200 - <p>It has been a while since my last English -<a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a> -interview last November. But the developers and translators are still -pulling along to get the Wheezy based release out the door, and this -time I managed to get an interview from one of the French translators -in the project, Cédric Boutillier.</p> - -<p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p> - -<p>I am 34 year old. I live near Paris, France. I am an assistant -professor in probability theory. I spend my daytime teaching -mathematics at the university and doing fundamental research in -probability in connexion with combinatorics and statistical physics.</p> - -<p>I have been involved in the Debian project for a couple of years -and became Debian Developer a few months ago. I am working on Ruby -packaging, publicity and translation.</p> - -<p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu -project?</strong></p> - -<p>I came to the Debian Edu project after a call for translation of -<a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Manuals">the -Debian Edu manual</a> for the release of Debian Edu Squeeze. Since -then, I have been working on updating the French translation of the -manual. - -<p>I had the opportunity to make an installation of Debian Edu in a -virtual machine when I was preparing localised version of some screen -shots for the manual. I was amazed to see it worked out of the box and -how comprehensive the list of software installed by default was.</p> - -<p>What amazed me was the complete network infrastructure directly -ready to use, which can and the nice administration interface provided -by <a href="https://oss.gonicus.de/labs/gosa/">GOsa²</a>. What pleased -me also was the fact that among the software installed by default, -there were many "traditional" educative software to learn languages, -to count, to program... but also software to develop creativity and -artistic skills with music (<a href="http://ardour.org/">Ardour</a>, -<a href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/">Audacity</a>) and -movies/animation (I was especially thinking of -<a href="http://linuxstopmotion.sourceforge.net/">Stopmotion</a>).</p> - -<p>I am following the development of Debian Edu and am hanging out on -<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">#debian-edu</a>. -Unfortunately, I don't much time to get more involved in this -beautiful project.</p> - -<p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?</strong></p> - -<p>For me, the main advantages of Skolelinux/Debian Edu are its -community of experts and its precise documentation, as well as the -fact that it provides a solution ready to use.</p> - -<p>I would add also the fact that it is based on the rock solid Debian -distribution, which ensures stability and provides a huge collection -of educational free software.</p> - -<p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian -Edu?</strong></p> - -<p>Maybe the lack of manpower to do lobbying on the -project. Sometimes, people who need to take decisions concerning IT do -not have all the elements to evaluate properly free software -solutions. The fact that support by a company may be difficult to find -is probably a problem if the school does not have IT personnel.</p> - -<p>One can find support from a company by looking at -<a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Help/ProfessionalHelp">the -wiki dokumentation</a>, where some countries already have a number of -companies providing support for Debian Edu, like Germany or -Norway. This list is easy to find readily from the manual. However, -for other countries, like France, the list is empty. I guess that -consultants proposing support for Debian would be able to provide some -support for Debian Edu as well.</p> - -<p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p> - -<p>I am using the KDE Plasma Desktop. But the pieces of software I use -most runs in a terminal: Mutt and OfflineIMAP for emails, latex for -scientific documents, mpd for music. VIM is my editor of choice. I am -also using the mathematical software -<a href="http://www.scilab.org/en/scilab/about‎">Scilab</a> and -<a href="http://www.sagemath.org/index.html‎">Sage</a> (built from -source as not completely packaged for Debian, yet). - -<p><strong>Do you have any suggestions for teachers interested in -using the free software in Debian to teach mathematics and -statistics?</strong></p> - -<p>I do not have any "nice" recommendations for statistics. At our -university, we use both <a href="http://www.r-project.org/‎">R</a> and -Scilab to teach statistics and probabilistic simulations. For -geometry, there are nice programs:</p> - -<ul> - -<li><a href="http://www.drgeo.eu/">drgeo</a> and -<a href="http://edu.kde.org/applications/all/kig‎">kig</a> to do -constructions in planar geometry - -<li><a href="http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/software/download/kali.html">kali</a> -to discover symmetry groups (the so-called wallpapers and frieze -groups), although the interface looks a bit old.</li> - -</ul> - -<p>I like also -<a href="http://edu.kde.org/applications/all/cantor">cantor</a>, which -provides a uniform interface to SciLab, Sage, -<a href="http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Octave‎">Octave</a>, etc...</p> - -<p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to -get schools to use free software?</strong></p> - -<p>My suggestions would be to</p> - -<ul> - -<li>advertise the reduction of costs when free software is used.</li> - -<li>communicate about the quality of free software projects, using - well known examples like Firefox, ThunderBird and - OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice.</li> - -<li>advertise the living and strong community around the project.</li> - -<li>show that it is not more difficult to use than any other - system.</li> - -</ul> - - - - - Åpent møte på onsdag om bruken av Microsoft Exchange ved Universitetet i Oslo - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/_pent_m_te_p__onsdag_om_bruken_av_Microsoft_Exchange_ved_Universitetet_i_Oslo.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/_pent_m_te_p__onsdag_om_bruken_av_Microsoft_Exchange_ved_Universitetet_i_Oslo.html - Mon, 3 Jun 2013 14:00:00 +0200 - <p>Jeg jobber til daglig ved <a href="http://www.uio.no/">Universitetet -i Oslo</a>, en institusjon som lenge har vektlagt verdien av åpne -standarder og fri programvare. Men noe har endret seg, og for en -liten stund tilbake annonserte USIT at dagens fungerende e-postsystemet -basert på fri programvare skulle byttes ut med Microsoft Exchange og -at Microsoft Outlook skulle bli den best fungerende men antagelig ikke -eneste støttede e-postklienten. Annonseringen har ført til flere -protester og <a href="http://folk.uio.no/dssantos/nooutlookatuio/">en -underskriftskampanje</a>, initiert av Diana Santos, der så langt 253 -personer har signert. Prosjektet -<a href="http://www.usit.uio.no/prosjekter/nike/">NIKE (Ny integrert -kalender/e-post)</a> ble initiert for å se på mulige løsninger med -utgangspunkt i at en kombinert epost/kalenderløsning var påkrevd, og -prosjektet -<a href="http://www.usit.uio.no/prosjekter/nike-implementasjon/">NIKE-implementasjon</a> -er igang med å rulle ut MS Exchange ved Universitetet i Oslo.</p> - -<p>For kun kort tid siden ble det annonsert at det blir et åpent møte -med ledelsen hos universitetet i Oslo med disse planene som tema:</p> - -<p>Tid: <strong>Onsdag 2013-06-05 kl. 10:00</strong> -<br>Sted: <strong>9. etasje i Lucy Smiths hus (admin-bygget)</strong></p> - -<p> Det kan være en god plass å stille opp hvis en som meg ikke tror -valget av Microsoft Exchange som sentral epostinfrastruktur er et -heldig valg for Norges ledende forskningsuniversitet, men at en er mer -tjent med å selv -<a href="http://nuug.no/dokumenter/kronikk-friprog-itsikkerhet.shtml">beholde -kontrollen over egen infrastruktur</a>.</p> - -<p>Saken har ført til endel presseoppslag så langt. Her er de jeg har -fått med meg:</p> - -<ul> - -<li>2013-05-29 - <a href="http://universitas.no/nyhet/58462/forsvarer-nytt-it-system">Forsvarer - nytt IT-system</a> - Universitas</li> - -<li>2013-05-23 - <a href="http://www.uniforum.uio.no/nyheter/2013/05/uio-innforer-nytt-epost-og-kalendersystem.html">UiO - innfører nytt epost- og kalenderverktøy</a> - Uniforum</li> - - -<li>2013-05-22 - <a href="http://universitas.no/nyhet/58424/protestgruppe-vil-stanse-it-system">Protestgruppe - vil stanse IT-system</a> - Universitas</li> - - -<li>2013-05-15 - <a href="http://www.uniforum.uio.no/leserbrev/2013/uio-ma-ha-kontroll-over-sitt-eget-epostsystem.html">UiO - må ha kontroll over sitt eget epostsystem</a> - Uniforum</li> - -</ul> - - - - - - - Educational applications included in Debian Edu / Skolelinux (the screenshot collection :-) - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html - Sat, 1 Jun 2013 23:50:00 +0200 - <p>Included in <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / -Skolelinux</a>, there are quite a lot of educational software. -Created to help teachers teach, and pupils learn. We have tried to -tag them all using debtags use::learning and role::program, and using -the debtags I was happy to be able to create a collage of the -educational software packages installed by default, sorted by the -debtag field. Here it is. Click on a image to learn more about the -program.</p> - -<!-- for f in $(debtags tagcat|grep field::|awk '{print $2}'); do echo; echo "<p><strong>$f</strong></p>"; echo "<p>"; ( for p in $(debtags search --names "use::learning && interface::x11 && role::program && $f"); do img="<img src='http://screenshots.debian.net/thumbnail/$p' alt='$p'>"; if dpkg -s $p > /dev/null 2>&1; then echo "<a href='http://packages.qa.debian.org/$p'>$img</a>"; fi; done; ) | LANG=C sort; echo "</p>"; done --> - -<p><strong>field::arts</strong></p> -<p> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=audacity'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/audacity.png' alt='audacity'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=childsplay'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/childsplay.png' alt='childsplay'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=denemo'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/denemo.png' alt='denemo'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=freebirth'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/freebirth.png' alt='freebirth'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gcompris'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gcompris.png' alt='gcompris'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gimp'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gimp.png' alt='gimp'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=hydrogen'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/hydrogen.png' alt='hydrogen'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=lilypond'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/lilypond.png' alt='lilypond'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=lmms'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/lmms.png' alt='lmms'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=rosegarden'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/rosegarden.png' alt='rosegarden'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=scribus'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/scribus.png' alt='scribus'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=solfege'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/solfege.png' alt='solfege'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=stopmotion'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/stopmotion.png' alt='stopmotion'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=tuxpaint'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/tuxpaint.png' alt='tuxpaint'></a> -</p> - -<p><strong>field::astronomy</strong></p> -<p> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=celestia-gnome'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/celestia-gnome.png' alt='celestia-gnome'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gpredict'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gpredict.png' alt='gpredict'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kstars'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kstars.png' alt='kstars'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=planets'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/planets.png' alt='planets'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=stellarium'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/stellarium.png' alt='stellarium'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=xplanet'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/xplanet.png' alt='xplanet'></a> -</p> - -<p><strong>field::biology:structural</strong></p> -<p> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=pymol'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/pymol.png' alt='pymol'></a> -</p> - -<p><strong>field::chemistry</strong></p> -<p> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=atomix'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/atomix.png' alt='atomix'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=chemtool'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/chemtool.png' alt='chemtool'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=easychem'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/easychem.png' alt='easychem'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gchempaint'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gchempaint.png' alt='gchempaint'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gdis'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gdis.png' alt='gdis'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=ghemical'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/ghemical.png' alt='ghemical'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gperiodic'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gperiodic.png' alt='gperiodic'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kalzium'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kalzium.png' alt='kalzium'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=pymol'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/pymol.png' alt='pymol'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=viewmol'>[viewmol]</a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=xdrawchem'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/xdrawchem.png' alt='xdrawchem'></a> -</p> - -<p><strong>field::electronics</strong></p> -<p> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gcompris'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gcompris.png' alt='gcompris'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gpsim'>[gpsim]</a> -</p> - -<p><strong>field::geography</strong></p> -<p> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kgeography'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kgeography.png' alt='kgeography'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=marble'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/marble.png' alt='marble'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=xplanet'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/xplanet.png' alt='xplanet'></a> -</p> - -<p><strong>field::linguistics</strong></p> -<p> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gcompris'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gcompris.png' alt='gcompris'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kanagram'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kanagram.png' alt='kanagram'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=khangman'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/khangman.png' alt='khangman'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=klettres'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/klettres.png' alt='klettres'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=parley'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/parley.png' alt='parley'></a> -</p> - -<p><strong>field::mathematics</strong></p> -<p> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=childsplay'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/childsplay.png' alt='childsplay'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=drgeo'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/drgeo.png' alt='drgeo'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gcompris'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gcompris.png' alt='gcompris'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=geogebra'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/geogebra.png' alt='geogebra'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=geomview'>[geomview]</a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=grace'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/grace.png' alt='grace'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=graphmonkey'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/graphmonkey.png' alt='graphmonkey'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=graphthing'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/graphthing.png' alt='graphthing'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kalgebra'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kalgebra.png' alt='kalgebra'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kbruch'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kbruch.png' alt='kbruch'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kig'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kig.png' alt='kig'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=kmplot'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/kmplot.png' alt='kmplot'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=mathwar'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/mathwar.png' alt='mathwar'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=rocs'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/rocs.png' alt='rocs'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=scratch'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/scratch.png' alt='scratch'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=tuxmath'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/tuxmath.png' alt='tuxmath'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=xabacus'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/xabacus.png' alt='xabacus'></a> -</p> - -<p><strong>field::physics</strong></p> -<p> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gcompris'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gcompris.png' alt='gcompris'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=step'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/step.png' alt='step'></a> -</p> - -<p><strong>field::TODO</strong></p> -<p> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=blinken'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/blinken.png' alt='blinken'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=cgoban'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/cgoban.png' alt='cgoban'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=childsplay'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/childsplay.png' alt='childsplay'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gcompris'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gcompris.png' alt='gcompris'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gnuchess'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gnuchess.png' alt='gnuchess'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gnugo'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gnugo.png' alt='gnugo'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=gtans'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/gtans.png' alt='gtans'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=ktouch'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/ktouch.png' alt='ktouch'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=librecad'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/librecad.png' alt='librecad'></a> -<a href='http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all&keywords=scratch'><img src='http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2013-06-01-debian-edu-apps/scratch.png' alt='scratch'></a> -</p> - -<p>In total, 61 applications. 3 of them lacked screen shots on -<a href="http://screenshot.debian.net">screenshot.debian.net</a>. If -you know of some packages we should install by default, please let us -know on <a href="irc://irc.debian.org/%23debian-edu">IRC, #debian-edu -on irc.debian.org</a>, or our -<a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu/">mailing list -debian-edu@</a>.</p> - - - - - How to install Linux on a Packard Bell Easynote LV preinstalled with Windows 8 - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_install_Linux_on_a_Packard_Bell_Easynote_LV_preinstalled_with_Windows_8.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_install_Linux_on_a_Packard_Bell_Easynote_LV_preinstalled_with_Windows_8.html - Mon, 27 May 2013 15:20:00 +0200 - <p>Two days ago, I asked -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_can_I_install_Linux_on_a_Packard_Bell_Easynote_LV_preinstalled_with_Windows_8_.html">how -I could install Linux on a Packard Bell EasyNote LV computer -preinstalled with Windows 8</a>. I found a solution, but am horrified -with the obstacles put in the way of Linux users on a laptop with UEFI -and Windows 8.</p> - -<p>I never found out if the cause of my problems were the use of UEFI -secure booting or fast boot. I suspect fast boot was the problem, -causing the firmware to boot directly from HD without considering any -key presses and alternative devices, but do not know UEFI settings -enough to tell.</p> - -<p>There is no way to install Linux on the machine in question without -opening the box and disconnecting the hard drive! This is as far as I -can tell, the only way to get access to the firmware setup menu -without accepting the Windows 8 license agreement. I am told (and -found description on how to) that it is possible to configure the -firmware setup once booted into Windows 8. But as I believe the terms -of that agreement are completely unacceptable, accepting the license -was never an alternative. I do not enter agreements I do not intend -to follow.</p> - -<p>I feared I had to return the laptops and ask for a refund, and -waste many hours on this, but luckily there was a way to get it to -work. But I would not recommend it to anyone planning to run Linux on -it, and I have become sceptical to Windows 8 certified laptops. Is -this the way Linux will be forced out of the market place, by making -it close to impossible for "normal" users to install Linux without -accepting the Microsoft Windows license terms? Or at least not -without risking to loose the warranty?</p> - -<p>I've updated the -<a href="http://www.linlap.com/packard_bell_easynote_lv">Linux Laptop -wiki page for Packard Bell EasyNote LV</a>, to ensure the next person -do not have to struggle as much as I did to get Linux into the -machine.</p> - -<p>Thanks to Bob Rosbag, Florian Weimer, Philipp Kern, Ben Hutching, -Michael Tokarev and others for feedback and ideas.</p> - - - - - How can I install Linux on a Packard Bell Easynote LV preinstalled with Windows 8? - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_can_I_install_Linux_on_a_Packard_Bell_Easynote_LV_preinstalled_with_Windows_8_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_can_I_install_Linux_on_a_Packard_Bell_Easynote_LV_preinstalled_with_Windows_8_.html - Sat, 25 May 2013 18:20:00 +0200 - <p>I've run into quite a problem the last few days. I bought three -new laptops for my parents and a few others. I bought Packard Bell -Easynote LV to run Kubuntu on and use as their home computer. But I -am completely unable to figure out how to install Linux on it. The -computer is preinstalled with Windows 8, and I suspect it uses UEFI -instead of a BIOS to boot.</p> - -<p>The problem is that I am unable to get it to PXE boot, and unable -to get it to boot the Linux installer from my USB stick. I have yet -to try the DVD install, and still hope it will work. when I turn on -the computer, there is no information on what buttons to press to get -the normal boot menu. I expect to get some boot menu to select PXE or -USB stick booting. When booting, it first ask for the language to -use, then for some regional settings, and finally if I will accept the -Windows 8 terms of use. As these terms are completely unacceptable to -me, I have no other choice but to turn off the computer and try again -to get it to boot the Linux installer.</p> - -<p>I have gathered my findings so far on a Linlap page about the -<a href="http://www.linlap.com/packard_bell_easynote_lv">Packard Bell -EasyNote LV</a> model. If you have any idea how to get Linux -installed on this machine, please get in touch or update that wiki -page. If I can't find a way to install Linux, I will have to return -the laptop to the seller and find another machine for my parents.</p> - -<p>I wonder, is this the way Linux will be forced out of the market -using UEFI and "secure boot" by making it impossible to install Linux -on new Laptops?</p> - - -