Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 December 17

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December 17

Remote Linux options

I do a lot of work remotely. I start on a Fedora box, SSH to a BSD box, SSH to a Debian box, and then SSH to another Fedora box. I primarily do everything from the command prompt, but sometimes tunnel X. What other options do I have to make this rather easy. I know I can run KDE through a tunneled X to see the remote desktop on my local screen. I've seen a Java applet that fakes a KVM to show the screen and give keyboard/mouse controls remotely. I will be increasing my remote work to become most of my work during the next few weeks, so I want to know what I can do before I choose what I will do. -- kainaw™ 02:06, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm by no means an expert, but have you tried using VNC? It works quite well for me in getting remote access to the desktop. You should probably tunnel it through SSH though, it's not all that secure otherwise. Belisarius (talk) 15:08, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

I didn't consider VNC before because I couldn't connect directly to the host machine. I just found out that there are VNC reflectors that I can put on the in-between machines to make it work. I wonder how slow it will be. -- kainaw™ 17:22, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

computer

I have a pop up on my screen, that says this screen saver may not be compatable? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.35.250.63 (talk) 03:15, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

1. You haven't given us very much information. What kind of computer? What operating system? Exact text of the message? When did it come up?

2. Most questions related to errors or messages can be solved by Googling the exact phrase of the message and looking at some of the results. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 04:04, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

And there's quite a few viruses that infect by getting people to put on a nice screen saver. It's called social engineering. So do you really need a new screen saver in the first place? Dmcq (talk) 06:38, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

But, if you don't install the screensaver, your computer won't be turned into a bot to send out spam and some guy in Pittsburgh won't be able to order his fake Viagra pills from South Korea. Can you live with that? -- kainaw™ 17:13, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Next Upgrade for my Computer?

What would the best upgrade for my computer considering the performance boost relative to the cost?

Specs:
Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
Intel Core2 Duo CPU E6750 Shipped: 2.66 GHz OC'd: 3.40 GHz
2 sticks of 1 GB Buffalo Ram (Off brand that came with computer)
650i P5N-E Asus Motherboard
8800GT Nvidia Graphics Card

I'm thinking possibly I'll upgrade RAM or operating system, but I'm not sure. Do I really need 4 GB of RAM? (Yes, I am aware of 32-bit limitations.)
Upgrading the processor or getting a second graphics card are other options.
Nkot (talk) 04:29, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Upgrading the memory is probably your lowest cost upgrade. Next step, upgrade to Linux the no cost upgrade. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 04:49, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Except that this is almost certainly a computer used for gaming. Noticed you didn't post anything about your HDD. A good price vs performance upgrade for when you've already got a good setup is going for a RAID5 or RAID0 setup (5 is better, as it can be recovered when one of the disks starts to fail, RAID0, not so much. If recovering information isn't a problem (it rarely gets used for anything other than gaming) then you can cut the cost by only having two drives, instead of three. --EvilEdDead (talk) 11:45, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm curious about this advice on upgrading to Linux. If the OP wants to use this as a gaming machine, do all the current games run on Linux? Does DirectX work on the Windows Emulator? I tried Linux many years ago and was disappointed by the lack of support for popular software. Has this changed recently and is Linux now a viable alternative for playing modern PC games? Sandman30s (talk) 12:06, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

It's only slightly more viable for gaming than a Mac is. Wine is pretty much the way to run games on Linux. It gets pretty regular updates, so if your target games are about a year (give or take) older than your computer, then you could probably work with Linux for gaming. Emulation will never be as efficient as running native, no matter what they might try and convince you of. Moreso than simply switching to Linux, you need to be confident in your problem-solving, since even after getting a stable baseline, almost every game will need various tweaks to get it working as well as it could/should be. --EvilEdDead (talk) 12:26, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

The reason it's called wine is because it's not an emulator, despite the persistent misconception. :) The whole reason it's interesting is because it isn't emulating or pretending to be windows, it actually tries to teach linux how to run windows programs natively. If the wine developers write more efficient API implementations than Microsoft did, then a program could certainly run faster under wine than under windows. But config problems and an incomplete set of API implementations, not to mention the extra libraries, make it hard for the end user to get to the point where that would matter. Anyway, I just wanted to quibble. You're basically right. Indeterminate (talk) 00:06, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

To be more specific to your questions however: Do all the current games run on Linux? Not by a long shot. This is especially true for games that don't use OpenGL (almost all of them.) Does DirectX work..? Yes, but it's limited and/or old versions (DX8 was the latest mentioned in the official info.) ... is Linux now viable for modern gaming? I suppose your definition of modern and gaming are the most significant factors here. Don't expect the majority of games released in the last 3 years to work. Many casual games will work fine, as will most anything else that doesn't use 3D. If it uses 3D graphics, and you don't know that it uses OpenGL, be prepared for disappointment. --EvilEdDead (talk) 12:39, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks EvilEdDead, I suspected that little has changed over the years. Sandman30s (talk) 15:02, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

I agree with changing the operating system, but suggest Windows XP instead of Linux. XP will be more familiar to a Windows user and will support more of the programs you currently use. Like Linux, it will be more efficient than Vista, which is a resource hog. Thus, your computer should run better with XP. Microsoft, of course, claims that Vista, being their latest operating system, is best, but those are all just lies to improve sales.StuRat (talk) 14:33, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Exactly, this is what I would have said. I would be interested to hear Graeme's comments. Sandman30s (talk) 14:43, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Getting back to the original question. It really IS an upgrade to XP if you're a serious gamer. And use 64 bit at your peril - there are many problems with XP 64-bit and even more problems with Vista. Just use good old plain XP 32-bit and you will have the most compatible games machine for PC games. I just hope that MS fixes all their Vista issues with the next release. Sandman30s (talk) 15:02, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Get more ram. Xp will not be used by many after a year or two. Do they even sell xp anymore? --93.106.37.211 (talk) 21:24, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

That depends on who you mean by "them". Microsoft very much wants to push Vista, so doesn't sell XP any more. However, big retailers, like Dell, continue to offer XP because their customers demand it. StuRat (talk) 05:58, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

Procedure to connect wirless gsm modem into allean brady plc controllers??

Please help me if you know about connecting a wireless modem i.e.. gsm sim operated modem to the Allean Bradly plc controllers through DF1 protocol. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Naag slet (talk • contribs) 05:05, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Apple Mac 2.4

I want to copy iTunes from iMac to Ipod shuffle. How do I start off with everything unticked rather than everything ticked? Kittybrewster ☎ 10:43, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like you have it on Auto Sync. Just go to the iPod menu and set it to Manual Sync, which essentially does what you want it to do. flaminglawyer^c 11:55, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

JSP Code

JSP code for transfer file from one machine to other machine in LAN and JSP code for getting IP address of all machine in a LANMail2irfu (talk) 11:49, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

It appears you are trying to use a search engine. The reference desk is staffed by real people. If you want to search, Google is a good choice. If you want to ask a question, there are some guidelines on how to do so at the top of this page. --LarryMac | Talk 15:34, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

FTP Mirror

What are FTP mirrors and how do they work? Any information or link will be much appreciated. The article on FTP doesn't say anything about mirrors. Thanks! ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 13:34, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

An FTP mirror is a server (other than the main FTP server) that has all the files that the main FTP server has. There is a little program on the mirror that checks the main server for changes and, if there are any changes, downloads the new files from the main FTP server so the mirror will continue having the same files as the main FTP server. In other words - it is a mirror of the main FTP server, or an FTP mirror. -- kainaw™ 13:56, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Alrighty, thanks! =)ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 14:16, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

GIMP: Need a palette file to change boot screen

i want to change the boot screen (among other things) for my XP computer. I am not able to view or edit the file i extracted from ntoskrnl.exe (bitmap/5/1033). I obviously need a palette file, but all the .pal files i download aren't accepted by GIMP. Does anyone have a standard 16-color palette file compatible with GIMP? I know i asked a question about this previously, but it got archived and forgotten.  Buffered Input Output 14:26, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

How about you instead do this:

1. Create a 640x480, 16-color picture at %SystemRoot%\boot.bmp
2. Add option /bootlogo to %SystemDrive%\boot.ini, so it will look like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=7
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptOut /bootlogo

This way you won't need to modify ntoskrnl (modifications of it can cause various things to fail after updating Windows). --grawity 19:39, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

I have XP Home edition. Is that a problem?  Buffered Input Output 14:09, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

Shouldn't be - they use the same kernel.

The "Professional" part you see above is from my own boot.ini (and I'm using Pro), but the trick should work with all Windows XP versions. The part in "quotes" is only shown when you have more than one OS in boot.ini.

--grawity 19:41, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

WMM question

How can you get .rm files into Windows Movie Maker, because-Oh, jeez i'm gonna sound like a crazed fan here-Applemask managed to get TV Ark files into WMM. The evidence I have is the effects he used. Oh, and this Waaaa.--Editor510 ^{drop us a line, mate} 16:22, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

I'd assume it would be a matter of conversion. — neuro^(talk) 16:50, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

You can use MediaCoder to convert from rm to wmv or avi which will be compatible with Movie Maker. SN0WKITT3N 10:37, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

youtube video download

recently i downgraded my pc(p3,256ram),from p4,512 . previously i was able to download any videos from youtube or metacafe etc. with mouseover-ing and selecting 'download 'with the aid of real player beta or 11. but now though i have latest version of real player 11 (downloaded from net, like the previous one), the option from real - "download this video" does not appear, as a result i am unable to download any video. I have account in both the mentioned sites.why am i unable to download videos using real as before ,& what should i do to get it as i used to? thanking you in anticipation ---Pupunwiki (talk) 16:29, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

This is a good addon. — neuro^(talk) 16:48, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Video DownloadHelper is another good addon, or you can use a site like this SN0WKITT3N 10:30, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

thanks much. i'd check them out.--Pupunwiki (talk) 17:05, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

Monitor Display Problem

Everytime I log in to Vista on my secondary account (my other half's log in) it causes errors on my main/administrator account. On the secondary account the font is massive which makes using the internet a headache as everything so large. If I reset the font/display properties it is still too large and will reset when the account is next used again no matter what I do (i.e. I adjust screen resolution and sizes etc but it is unable to retain this info). This then causes problems on my account where all my desktop icons are rearranged (back to alphaorder and autoarranged/aligned - not how I have set them), for a minute or so my icons are large then the screen blanks and the size is back to normal. I have completely deleted this account and set up new/multiple ones using different names etc to resolve this and also logged in as a guest with the same result everytime. Also if I never use this account then I have no problems. Unfortunately I need to be able to access both as the pc is for more than one user and I don't like allowing anyone else to use my log in. I have checked the display settings - screen res is 1280x1024, magnifier is off, it say the monitor is working correctly. I would just reinstall vista (home basic on a 32 bit) but never got the disc with the machine (am chasing with supplier). Any ideas? Thanks. --Gingerzilla (talk) 20:12, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Ask your other half if s/he has screwed anything up in the settings. Perhaps the source of the problem is the operator... flaminglawyer^c 21:25, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks - it's not the issue (did think that myself at first). I've created new accounts which only I have used and the same thing happens, also my other half doesn't touch settings they just use internet explorer and that's it (nothing has come up on virus etc scans either). --Gingerzilla (talk) 23:39, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

(reformatted) I have no advice (except to put responses in places that are not inside of sigs... :] ). flaminglawyer^c 23:59, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

I'd say it's pretty important to get that Vista disk, or at least the Vista registration numbers, because you'll need to reinstall Vista sooner or later. If you have the registration numbers, and actually have a legal copy of Vista, you should be able to download Vista from Microsoft and reinstall. StuRat (talk) 05:49, 18 December 2008 (UTC)