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• Powershell wait for file to delete, then copy a folder

  - by user3317623

  Morning guys, I have a couple of scripts that have to sync a folder from the network server, to the local terminal server, and lastly into the %LOCALAPPDATA%. I need to first check if a folder is being synced (this is done by creating a temporary COPYING.TXT on the server), and wait until that is removed, THEN copy to %LOCALAPPDATA%. Something like this: Server-side script executes, which syncs my folder to all of my terminal servers. It creates a COPYING.TXT temporary file, which indicates the sync is in progress. Once the sync is finished, the script removes the COPYING.TXT If someone logs on during the sync, I need a script to wait until the COPYING.TXT is deleted I.E the sync is finished, then resume the local sync into their %LOCALAPPDATA%. do{cp c:\folder\program $env:LOCALAPPDATA} while(!(test-path c:\folder\COPYING.txt)) (So that copies the folder while the file DOESN'T exist, but I don't think that exits cleanly) I cannot format the above as code for some reason I'm sorry? Or: while(!(test-path c:\folder\COPYING.txt)){ cp c:\folder\program $env:LOCALAPPDATA\ -recurse -force if (!(test-path c:\folder\program)){return} } But that script quits if the COPYING.TXT exists. I think I need to create a function and insert that function within itself, or a nested while loop, but that is starting to make my head hurt. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

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• PrgressDialog when load a WebView crash issue

  - by AndreaF

  I have an Activity with a WeView that load an url, and I want to display a little waiting dialog during the load of the site, so I have tried this: private ProgressDialog dialog = new ProgressDialog(MyNameActivity.this); @Override public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); StrictMode.ThreadPolicy policy = new StrictMode.ThreadPolicy.Builder() .permitAll().build(); StrictMode.setThreadPolicy(policy); setContentView(R.layout.web_view_activity); WebView wv; wv = (WebView) findViewById(R.id.areaWebSolver); wv.setWebViewClient(new WebViewClient() { @Override public boolean shouldOverrideUrlLoading(WebView view, String url) { view.loadUrl(url); return true; } @Override public void onPageFinished(WebView view, String url) { if (dialog.isShowing()) { dialog.dismiss(); } } }); dialog.setMessage("Loading..Please wait."); dialog.setCanceledOnTouchOutside(false); dialog.show(); wv.loadUrl(url); WebSettings webSettings = wv.getSettings(); webSettings.setJavaScriptEnabled(true); } Unfortunately doesn't works and the app crashes with a source not found... If I try to remove the Progress dialog code the activity works. What's wrong? How could I fix this?

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• Detecting modifier keys held down during startup in OS/X (or Windows)?

  - by Tom Swirly

  I've searched here and not found any question that really covers this. I have a cross-platform Windows-OS/X application in which I'd like to be able to detect whether modifier keys like shift or control are being held down while the application starts up. We'd like to do this to allow the application to start up without reading its preferences file, in case that somehow gets corrupted (we saw in testing a prefs bug, now fixed, that made the window size 0 by 0, for example). We're using the excellent and comprehensive cross-platform C++ library named Juce. Unfortunately, Juce's master tells me that he believes this is impossible on OS/X at least since you only get keyboard events and there is no way to read the state of the keys unless something changes. Is this true? Or is there some way around this? I'm almost sure I've used Mac programs that used this mechanism to bypass their preferences. Or... stepping up one level... is there another solution to providing the functionality of "run the program but don't read the prefs file" other than "holding a key down while launching the program"? This is consumer software so we can't expect too much from the user. The final solution will end up being a cross-platform one so hints on the Windows side will also be appreciated. Thanks, and be well! I'll report in with progress on my end.

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• setContentView taking long time (10-15 seconds) to execute

  - by Paul

  I have a large activity that contains 100 or more buttons. But it's working fine once loaded. Problem however is loading. From clicking its launch icon to getting the first view it takes 10-12 seconds. Until the first view, it shows gray title bar in black background. At least, I want to show a simple progress bar or dialog while its loading. But it seems like you cannot show anything before setContentView executed. I think I have tried everything I could without any success. If you can give me any hint or idea, I would be thankful. UPDATE: I found a dramatic resolution. It takes now a second to load the view. I didn't use splash, thread or async task at all - BTW, don't try to use thread or async on UI because Android UI is not thread-safe. Problem was that those buttons were based on a custom class that requires initialization to load same resource. - so 100 or more file operations were happening on setContentView. Making them a just single loading solved my problem.

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• Week in Geek: USDA Chooses Microsoft for Cloud Services Edition

  - by Asian Angel

  This week we learned how to create geeky LED holiday lights with old bottles, dig deeper in Windows Defrag via the command prompt, use Google Chrome’s drag/drop feature to upload files easier, find great gift recommendations by looking through the How-To Geek holiday gift guide, and have fun adding Merry Christmas fonts to our computers. Photo by ntr23. Random Geek Links It has been a busy week, so we have extra news link goodness with information that is good for you to know. USDA making the move to Microsoft The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that it has chosen Microsoft to host things like e-mail, instant messaging, and collaboration through the software giant’s Business Productivity Online Suite. Google says it was cut off from USDA project bid Google is claiming that it was not given a chance to bid on a cloud-computing project for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for which the contract was awarded to rival Microsoft. Apache is being forced into a Java Fork When Oracle rolled over Apache and Google’s objections to its Java plans in December, the scene was set for Apache to leave and, eventually, force a Java code fork. Tumblr explains daylong outage After experiencing an outage that started on Sunday afternoon and stretched through most of the day yesterday, Tumblr has explained what happened. Google demos Chrome OS, launches pilot program During a press briefing this week in San Francisco, Google launched the Chrome application store and demonstrated Chrome OS, its browser-centric netbook operating system. Don’t expect Spotify in U.S. this holiday season As of last week, Spotify had yet to sign a single licensing deal with a major label, after spending more than a year negotiating, multiple music sources told CNET. December 2010 Patch Tuesday will come with most bulletins ever According to the Microsoft Security Response Center, Microsoft will issue 17 Security Bulletins addressing 40 vulnerabilities on Tuesday, December 14. It will also host a webcast to address customer questions the following day. Hacker plants back door in Symbian firmware Indian hacker Atul Alex has had a look at the firmware for Symbian S60 smartphones and come up with a back door for it. PC quarantines raise tough complexities The concept of quarantining PCs to prevent widespread infection is “interesting, but difficult to implement, with far too many problems”, said security experts. Symantec: DDoS attacks hard to defend It has surfaced that the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on Visa and MasterCard Web sites on Wednesday were carried out by a toolkit known as low orbit ion cannon (LOIC). Web Sockets and the risks of unfinished standards Enthusiasm for a promising new standard called Web Sockets has quickly cooled in some quarters as a potential security problem led some browser makers to hastily postpone support. Internet Explorer 9 to get tracking protection Microsoft is making changes to Internet Explorer 9’s security features that will better enable users to keep sites from tracking their activity across browsing sessions. NASA sold PCs with sensitive data NASA failed to remove sensitive data from computers that it sold, according to an audit report released this week. Cybercrooks create fake Amazon receipts The bad guys have created yet another online scam, this one involving fake Amazon receipts. World of Warcraft character move fees waived Until December 22, Blizzard will allow free realm transfers from 25 highly populated servers to alleviate log-in queues or performance issues. (The free transfers are one-way and one-time only.) SpaceX Dragon reaches orbit atop a Falcon with a fiery tail The Space Exploration Technologies corporation has become the first nongovernmental entity to put a vehicle into low Earth orbit. Geek Video of the Week If birds have wings, then why are the Angry Birds using slingshots? Photo by Dorkly Bits. Wait… Birds have Wings, Why are the Angry Ones Using Slingshots? Sysadmin Geek Tips How To Setup Email Alerts on Linux Using Gmail or SMTP Linux machines may require administrative intervention in countless ways, but without manually logging into them how would you know about it? Here’s how to setup emails to get notified when your machines want some tender love and attention. Random TinyHacker Links Red Panda Webcam Support Firefox and the Knoxville Zoo’s Red Panda program. Christmas Icons (Icons we like) Superb set of holiday icons by lgp85 at deviantArt. Download the .zip and use as .png or convert to .ico at Convertico.com or with tiny app Imagicon. Super User Questions Enjoy reading the great answers to this week’s popular questions from Super User Useful USB boot disks? DVD/CD burning .zip: is it more reliable, faster, longer lasting to burn a zip of files rather than the files as a folder? What are other ways to backup my files if I do not have an external drive? Anti virus what is the difference between these all? How can I block all Facebook elements/content? How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap Have you had a busy week between work and preparing for the holidays? Get caught up on your HTG reading with our hottest articles of the week. 20 Windows Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know The 50 Best Registry Hacks that Make Windows Better LCD? LED? Plasma? The How-To Geek Guide to HDTV Technology HTG Explains: Which Linux File System Should You Choose? How to Use and Customize Google Chrome Web Apps One Year Ago on How-To Geek This week’s batch of retro geeky goodness is all about customizing Windows 7. ClassicShell Adds Classic Start Menu and Explorer Features to Windows 7 Get an Aero-Styled Classic Start Menu in Windows 7 Customize the Windows 7 Logon Screen Get the Classic Style Network Activity Indicator Back in Windows 7 How To Enable Check Boxes for Items In Windows 7 The Geek Note We would like you to join us in welcoming Jason Fitzpatrick to the writing staff here at How-To Geek. He started with us this past week, so take some time to read through his articles about the Wii, Kindle, & PlayStation 2 Peripherals and leave a friendly comment to say “Hi”! Got a great tip to share? Make sure to send it in to us at [email protected]. Photo by real00. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC The 50 Best Registry Hacks that Make Windows Better The How-To Geek Holiday Gift Guide (Geeky Stuff We Like) LCD? LED? Plasma? The How-To Geek Guide to HDTV Technology The How-To Geek Guide to Learning Photoshop, Part 8: Filters Improve Digital Photography by Calibrating Your Monitor Our Favorite Tech: What We’re Thankful For at How-To Geek Settle into Orbit with the Voyage Theme for Chrome and Iron Awesome Safari Compass Icons Set Escape from the Exploding Planet Wallpaper Move Your Tumblr Blog to WordPress Pytask is an Easy to Use To-Do List Manager for Your Ubuntu System Snowy Christmas House Personas Theme for Firefox

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• Oracle Data Mining a Star Schema: Telco Churn Case Study

  - by charlie.berger

  There is a complete and detailed Telco Churn case study "How to" Blog Series just posted by Ari Mozes, ODM Dev. Manager.  In it, Ari provides detailed guidance in how to leverage various strengths of Oracle Data Mining including the ability to: mine Star Schemas and join tables and views together to obtain a complete 360 degree view of a customer combine transactional data e.g. call record detail (CDR) data, etc. define complex data transformation, model build and model deploy analytical methodologies inside the Database  His blog is posted in a multi-part series.  Below are some opening excerpts for the first 3 blog entries.  This is an excellent resource for any novice to skilled data miner who wants to gain competitive advantage by mining their data inside the Oracle Database.  Many thanks Ari! Mining a Star Schema: Telco Churn Case Study (1 of 3) One of the strengths of Oracle Data Mining is the ability to mine star schemas with minimal effort.  Star schemas are commonly used in relational databases, and they often contain rich data with interesting patterns.  While dimension tables may contain interesting demographics, fact tables will often contain user behavior, such as phone usage or purchase patterns.  Both of these aspects - demographics and usage patterns - can provide insight into behavior.Churn is a critical problem in the telecommunications industry, and companies go to great lengths to reduce the churn of their customer base.  One case study1 describes a telecommunications scenario involving understanding, and identification of, churn, where the underlying data is present in a star schema.  That case study is a good example for demonstrating just how natural it is for Oracle Data Mining to analyze a star schema, so it will be used as the basis for this series of posts...... Mining a Star Schema: Telco Churn Case Study (2 of 3) This post will follow the transformation steps as described in the case study, but will use Oracle SQL as the means for preparing data.  Please see the previous post for background material, including links to the case study and to scripts that can be used to replicate the stages in these posts.1) Handling missing values for call data recordsThe CDR_T table records the number of phone minutes used by a customer per month and per call type (tariff).  For example, the table may contain one record corresponding to the number of peak (call type) minutes in January for a specific customer, and another record associated with international calls in March for the same customer.  This table is likely to be fairly dense (most type-month combinations for a given customer will be present) due to the coarse level of aggregation, but there may be some missing values.  Missing entries may occur for a number of reasons: the customer made no calls of a particular type in a particular month, the customer switched providers during the timeframe, or perhaps there is a data entry problem.  In the first situation, the correct interpretation of a missing entry would be to assume that the number of minutes for the type-month combination is zero.  In the other situations, it is not appropriate to assume zero, but rather derive some representative value to replace the missing entries.  The referenced case study takes the latter approach.  The data is segmented by customer and call type, and within a given customer-call type combination, an average number of minutes is computed and used as a replacement value.In SQL, we need to generate additional rows for the missing entries and populate those rows with appropriate values.  To generate the missing rows, Oracle's partition outer join feature is a perfect fit.  select cust_id, cdre.tariff, cdre.month, minsfrom cdr_t cdr partition by (cust_id) right outer join     (select distinct tariff, month from cdr_t) cdre     on (cdr.month = cdre.month and cdr.tariff = cdre.tariff);   ....... Mining a Star Schema: Telco Churn Case Study (3 of 3) Now that the "difficult" work is complete - preparing the data - we can move to building a predictive model to help identify and understand churn.The case study suggests that separate models be built for different customer segments (high, medium, low, and very low value customer groups).  To reduce the data to a single segment, a filter can be applied: create or replace view churn_data_high asselect * from churn_prep where value_band = 'HIGH'; It is simple to take a quick look at the predictive aspects of the data on a univariate basis.  While this does not capture the more complex multi-variate effects as would occur with the full-blown data mining algorithms, it can give a quick feel as to the predictive aspects of the data as well as validate the data preparation steps.  Oracle Data Mining includes a predictive analytics package which enables quick analysis. begin  dbms_predictive_analytics.explain(   'churn_data_high','churn_m6','expl_churn_tab'); end; /select * from expl_churn_tab where rank <= 5 order by rank; ATTRIBUTE_NAME       ATTRIBUTE_SUBNAME EXPLANATORY_VALUE RANK-------------------- ----------------- ----------------- ----------LOS_BAND                                      .069167052          1MINS_PER_TARIFF_MON  PEAK-5                   .034881648          2REV_PER_MON          REV-5                    .034527798          3DROPPED_CALLS                                 .028110322          4MINS_PER_TARIFF_MON  PEAK-4                   .024698149          5From the above results, it is clear that some predictors do contain information to help identify churn (explanatory value > 0).  The strongest uni-variate predictor of churn appears to be the customer's (binned) length of service.  The second strongest churn indicator appears to be the number of peak minutes used in the most recent month.  The subname column contains the interior piece of the DM_NESTED_NUMERICALS column described in the previous post.  By using the object relational approach, many related predictors are included within a single top-level column. .....   NOTE:  These are just EXCERPTS.  Click here to start reading the Oracle Data Mining a Star Schema: Telco Churn Case Study from the beginning.    

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• CodePlex Daily Summary for Sunday, April 18, 2010

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Sunday, April 18, 2010New ProjectsBare Bones Email Trace Listener: Bare Bones Email Trace Listener is about the simplest email trace listener you can have. No bells, no whistles, and no good if you need authenticat...Cartellino: Scopo del progetto è la realizzazione di un software in grado di rilevare i dati dai rilevatori 3Tec (www.3tec.it) e stampare i cartellini presenza...Castle Windsor app.config Properties: The Castle Windsor app.config Properties library makes it possible for users of Castle Windsor to reference appSettings values in Windsor's XML pro...DeskD: This is a simple desktop dictionary application(something like WordWeb) created in Java using Netbeans IDE. Since i am new to codeplex all updates ...FunPokerMakerOnline: It is a play of poker online with a game editor. It is done with .net 4 and WPF and SOAP or WCF. KLOCS Team GIN Project: This is a Master's Degree program group project. It may have academic interest, but won't be maintained after June 2010KNN: This is KNN projectProject Santa: Program to organize teams using mysql databases and c# in a clean and robust task and group system. For more information see my blog post at http:/...ProjetoIntegradoJuridico: Sistema Integrado de Acompanhamento JurídicoRSSR for Windows Phone 7: This is a simple RSS reader application, the project aims to show people that it is easy to build application for windows phones. The applicatio...Simple Rcon: Simple Rcon is a simple lightweight rcon client for HL1/HL2 Servers. It is developed in C# and WPFTAB METHOD SQL Create a data dictionary from your Transact SQL code: TABMETHODSQL makes it easier for data/information workers to document their work. Create a data governance solution that maps sql data process, inc...TM BF Tournament: WPF software to manage Trackmania tournament with Battle France RulesviBlog: visinia plugin, this plugin is used to add blogging facility in visinia cmsviNews: visinia plugin, this plugin can be used to create a news portal like cnn.com nytimeVolumeMaster: VolumeMaster is an On Screen Display (OSD) that gets activated whenever the volume changes. It's written in WPF and uses Vista Core Audio API by Ra...WiiCIS.NET: This is a managed port of WiiCIS, which is a Nintendo Wiimote library originally created by TheOboeNerd and posted on Sourceforge.New ReleasesCastle Windsor app.config Properties: Version 1.0: Initial release.Code for Rapid C# Windows Development eBook: Enumerable Debugger Visualizer Version 1.1: Second release of the Enumerable Debugger Visualizer. There are more classes registered and it is more robust. The list of classes I have register...Convection Game Engine (Basic Edition): Convection Basic (40223): Compiled version of Convection Basic change set 40223.CycleMania Starter Kit EAP - ASP.NET 4 Problem - Design - Solution: Cyclemania 0.08.59: See Source Code tab for recent change history.DbEntry.Net (Lephone Framework): DbEntry.Net 3.9: DbEntry.Net is a lightweight Object Relational Mapping (ORM) database access compnent for .Net 3.5. It has clearly and easily programing interface ...Hash Calculator: HashCalculator 2.0: Upgraded to .NET Framework 4.0 Added support to calculate CRC32 hash function Added "Cancel" button in the Windows 7 taskbar thumbnailHKGolden Express: HKGoldenExpress (Build 201004172120): New features: Added jump links at top of page of message. Bug fix: Fixed page count bug. Improvements: HKGolden Express now uses DocumentBuild...HTML Ruby: 6.21.4: Styles added to override those on some sites for better rendering of ruby Fix regression on complex ruby annotation rendering Better spacingHTML Ruby: 6.21.5: Removed debug code in preference handling Status bar indicator now resets for each action Replace ruby in place without using document fragment...IceChat: IceChat 2009 Alpha 12.4 EXE Update: This is simply an update to the main IceChat program files and DLL. Simpply overwrite the ones in the place where IceChat 2009 is installed.IceChat: IceChat 2009 Alpha 12.4 Full Install: Build Alpha 12.4 - April 17 2010 Added IceChatScript.dll , needs to be added in same folder with EXE and IPluginIceChat.dll Added Self Notice in ...PokeIn Comet Ajax Library: PokeIn Library v05 x64: With this version, PokeIn library has become a stable. Numerous tests have completed. This is the first release candidate of PokeIn. Cheers!PokeIn Comet Ajax Library: PokeIn Library v05 x86: PokeIn Library version 0.5 (x86) With this version, PokeIn library has become a stable. Numerous tests have completed. This is the first release c...Project Santa: Project Santa V1.0: The first initial release of my project manager program, for more information see http://coderplex.blogspot.com/2010/04/project-manager-using-mysq...Salient: TestingWithVSDevServer v1: Using code from Salient, I have assembled a few strategies for programmatic contol of the Visual Studio Development Server (WebDev.WebServer.exe). ...SharePoint Navigation Menu: spNavigationMenu 1.1: Changed the CAML query so it will order by Link Order, then Title. Added the ability to override the On Hover event on the parent menu to use On ...Simple Rcon: Simple Rcon Version 1: Version 1TAB METHOD SQL Create a data dictionary from your Transact SQL code: RELEASE 1: TESTING THE RELEASE SYSTEMTribe.Cache: Tribe.Cache Beta 0.1: Beta release of Tribe.Cache - Now with cache expiration serviceviBlog: viBlog_beta: visinia plugin to add blogging facility in visinia cmsviNews: viNews_beta: visinia plugin.visinia: visinia_beta2: visinia beta 2 released with many new feature.Visual Studio DSite: Visual C++ 2008 Login Form: A simple login form made in visual c 2008. Source code only.WiiCIS.NET: WiiCIS.NET v0.11: 0.11 Removed an unnecessary function from the Wiimote class, and improved the demo. You will need the latest version of SlimDX to compile the sourc...WinControls TreeListView: TreeListView 1.5.1: -fixes issue #5837 -Preliminary feature #5874WoW Character Viewer: Viewer Setup: Finally, I've brought out the next setup of WoW Viewer. Most loose ends have been tied up. Loading and Saving of character files has been fixed.Most Popular ProjectsRawrAJAX Control ToolkitMicrosoft SQL Server Product Samples: DatabaseMicrosoft SQL Server Community & Samplespatterns & practices – Enterprise LibraryPHPExcelFacebook Developer ToolkitBlogEngine.NETMvcContrib: a Codeplex Foundation projectIronPythonMost Active ProjectsRawrpatterns & practices – Enterprise LibraryIndustrial DashboardFarseer Physics EnginejQuery Library for SharePoint Web ServicesIonics Isapi Rewrite FilterGMap.NET - Great Maps for Windows Forms & PresentationProxi [Proxy Interface]BlogEngine.NETCaliburn: An Application Framework for WPF and Silverlight

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• Brighton Rocks: UA Europe 2011

  - by ultan o'broin

  User Assistance Europe 2011 was held in Brighton, UK. Having seen Quadrophenia a dozen times, I just had to go along (OK, I wanted to talk about messages in enterprise applications). Sadly, it rained a lot, though that was still eminently more tolerable than being stuck home in Dublin during Bloomsday. So, here are my somewhat selective highlights and observations from the conference, massively skewed towards my own interests, as usual. Enjoyed Leah Guren's (Cow TC) great start ‘keynote’ on the Cultural Dimensions of Software Help Usage. Starting out by revisiting Hofstede's and Hall's work on culture (how many times I have done this for Multilingual magazine?) and then Neilsen’s findings on age as an indicator of performance, Leah showed how it is the expertise of the user that user assistance (UA) needs to be designed for (especially for high-end users), with some considerations made for age, while the gender and culture of users are not major factors. Help also needs to be contextual and concise, embedded close to the action. That users are saying things like “If I want help on Office, I go to Google ” isn't all that profound at this stage, but it is always worth reiterating how search can be optimized to return better results for users. Interestingly, regardless of user education level, the issue of information quality--hinging on the lynchpin of terminology reflecting that of the user--is critical. Major takeaway for me there. Matthew Ellison’s sessions on embedded help and demos were also impressive. Embedded help that is concise and contextual is definitely a powerful UX enabler, and I’m pleased to say that in Oracle Fusion Applications we have embraced the concept fully. Matthew also mentioned in his session about successful software demos that the principle of modality with demos is a must. Look no further than Oracle User Productivity Kit demos See It!, Try It!, Know It, and Do It! modes, for example. I also found some key takeaways in the presentation by Marie-Louise Flacke on notes and warnings. Here, legal considerations seemed to take precedence over providing any real information to users. I was delighted when Marie-Louise called out the Oracle JDeveloper documentation as an exemplar of how to use notes and instructions instead of trying to scare the bejaysus out of people and not providing them with any real information they’d find useful instead. My own session on designing messages for enterprise applications was well attended. Knowing your user profiles (remember user expertise is the king maker for UA so write for each audience involved), how users really work, the required application business and UI rules, what your application technology supports, and how messages integrate with the enterprise help desk and support policies and you will go much further than relying solely on the guideline of "writing messages in plain language". And, remember the value in warnings and confirmation messages too, and how you can use them smartly. I hope y’all got something from my presentation and from my answers to questions afterwards. Ellis Pratt stole the show with his presentation on applying game theory to software UA, using plenty of colorful, relevant examples (check out the Atlassian and DropBox approaches, for example), and striking just the right balance between theory and practice. Completely agree that the approach to take here is not to make UA itself a game, but to invoke UA as part of a bigger game dynamic (time-to-task completion, personal and communal goals, personal achievement and status, and so on). Sure there are gotchas and limitations to gamification, and we need to do more research. However, we'll hear a lot more about this subject in coming years, particularly in the enterprise space. I hope. I also heard good things about the different sessions about DITA usage (including one by Sonja Fuga that clearly opens the door for major innovation in the community content space using WordPress), the progressive disclosure of information (Cerys Willoughby), an overview of controlled language (or "information quality", as I like to position it) solutions and rationale by Dave Gash, and others. I also spent time chatting with Mike Hamilton of MadCap Software, who showed me a cool demo of their Flare product, and the Lingo translation solution. I liked the idea of their licensing model for workers-on-the-go; that’s smart UX-awareness in itself. Also chatted with Julian Murfitt of Mekon about uptake of DITA in the enterprise space. In all, it's worth attending UA Europe. I was surprised, however, not to see conference topics about mobile UA, community conversation and content, and search in its own right. These are unstoppable forces now, and the latter is pretty central to providing assistance now to all but the most irredentist of hard-copy fetishists or advanced technical or functional users working away on the back end of applications and systems. Only saw one iPad too (says the guy who carries three laptops). Tweeting during the conference was pretty much nonexistent during the event, so no community energy there. Perhaps all this can be addressed next year. I would love to see the next UA Europe event come to Dublin (despite Bloomsday, it's not a bad place place, really) now that hotels are so cheap and all. So, what is my overall impression of the state of user assistance in Europe? Clearly, there are still many people in the industry who feel there is something broken with the traditional forms of user assistance (particularly printed doc) and something needs to be done about it. I would suggest they move on and try and embrace change, instead. Many others see new possibilities, offered by UX and technology, as well as the reality of online user behavior in an increasingly connected world and that is encouraging. Such thought leaders need to be listened to. As Ellis Pratt says in his great book, Trends in Technical Communication - Rethinking Help: “To stay relevant means taking a new perspective on the role (of technical writer), and delivering “products” over and above the traditional manual and online Help file... there are a number of new trends in this field - some complementary, some conflicting. Whatever trends emerge as the norm, it’s likely the status quo will change.” It already has, IMO. I hear similar debates in the professional translation world about the onset of translation crowd sourcing (the Facebook model) and machine translation (trust me, that battle is over). Neither of these initiatives has put anyone out of a job and probably won't, though the nature of the work might change. If anything, such innovations have increased the overall need for professional translators as user expectations rise, new audiences emerge, and organizations need to collate and curate user-generated content, combining it with their own. Perhaps user assistance professionals can learn from other professions and grow accordingly.

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• Database continuous integration step by step

  - by David Atkinson

  This post will describe how to set up basic database continuous integration using TeamCity to initiate the build process, SQL Source Control to put your database under source control, and the SQL Compare command line to keep a test database up to date. In my example I will be using Subversion as my source control repository. If you wish to follow my steps verbatim, please make sure you have TortoiseSVN, SQL Compare and SQL Source Control installed. Downloading and Installing TeamCity TeamCity (http://www.jetbrains.com/teamcity/index.html) is free for up to three agents, so it a great no-risk tool you can use to experiment with. 1. Download the latest version from the JetBrains website. For some reason the TeamCity executable didn't download properly for me, stalling frustratingly at 99%, so I tried again with the zip file download option (see screenshot below), which worked flawlessly. 2. Run the installer using the defaults. This results in a set-up with the server component and agent installed on the same machine, which is ideal for getting started with ease. 3. Check that the build agent is pointing to the server correctly. This has caught me out a few times before. This setting is in C:\TeamCity\buildAgent\conf\buildAgent.properties and for my installation is serverUrl=http\://localhost\:80 . If you need to change this value, if for example you've had to install the Server console to a different port number, the TeamCity Build Agent Service will need to be restarted for the change to take effect. 4. Open the TeamCity admin console on http://localhost , and specify your own designated username and password at first startup. Putting your database in source control using SQL Source Control 5. Assuming you've got SQL Source Control installed, select a development database in the SQL Server Management Studio Object Explorer and select Link Database to Source Control. 6. For the Link step you can either create your own empty folder in source control, or you can select Just Evaluating, which just creates a local subversion repository for you behind the scenes. 7. Once linked, note that your database turns green in the Object Explorer. Visit the Commit tab to do an initial commit of your database objects by typing in an appropriate comment and clicking Commit. 8. There is a hidden feature in SQL Source Control that opens up TortoiseSVN (provided it is installed) pointing to the linked repository. Keep Shift depressed and right click on the text to the right of 'Linked to', in the example below, it's the red Evaluation Repository text. Select Open TortoiseSVN Repo Browser. This screen should give you an idea of how SQL Source Control manages the object files behind the scenes. Back in the TeamCity admin console, we'll now create a new project to monitor the above repository location and to trigger a 'build' each time the repository changes. 9. In TeamCity Adminstration, select Create Project and give it a name, such as "My first database CI", and click Create. 10. Click on Create Build Configuration, and name it something like "Integration build". 11. Click VCS settings and then Create And Attach new VCS root. This is where you will tell TeamCity about the repository it should monitor. 12. In my case since I'm using the Just Evaluating option in SQL Source Control, I should select Subversion. 13. In the URL field paste your repository location. In my case this is file:///C:/Users/David.Atkinson/AppData/Local/Red Gate/SQL Source Control 3/EvaluationRepositories/WidgetDevelopment/WidgetDevelopment 14. Click on Test Connection to ensure that you can communicate with your source control system. Click Save. 15. Click Add Build Step, and Runner Type: Command Line. Should you be familiar with the other runner types, such as NAnt, MSBuild or Powershell, you can opt for these, but for the same of keeping it simple I will pick the simplest option. 16. If you have installed SQL Compare in the default location, set the Command Executable field to: C:\Program Files (x86)\Red Gate\SQL Compare 10\sqlcompare.exe 17. Flip back to SSMS briefly and add a new database to your server. This will be the database used for continuous integration testing. 18. Set the command parameters according to your server and the name of the database you have created. In my case I created database RedGateCI on server .\sql2008r2 /scripts1:. /server2:.\sql2008r2 /db2:RedGateCI /sync /verbose Note that if you pick a server instance that isn't on your local machine, you'll need the TCP/IP protocol enabled in SQL Server Configuration Manager otherwise the SQL Compare command line will not be able to connect. 19. Save and select Build Triggering / Add New Trigger / VCS Trigger. This is where you tell TeamCity when it should initiate a build. Click Save. 20. Now return to SQL Server Management Studio and make a schema change (eg add a new object) to your linked development database. A blue indicator will appear in the Object Explorer. Commit this change, typing in an appropriate check-in comment. All being good, within 60 seconds (a TeamCity default that can be changed) a build will be triggered. 21. Click on Projects in TeamCity to get back to the overview screen: The build log will show you the console output, which is useful for troubleshooting any issues: That's it! You now have continuous integration on your database. In future posts I'll cover how you can generate and test the database creation script, the database upgrade script, and run database unit tests as part of your continuous integration script. If you have any trouble getting this up and running please let me know, either by commenting on this post, or email me directly using the email address below. Technorati Tags: SQL Server

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• General monitoring for SQL Server Analysis Services using Performance Monitor

  - by Testas

  A recent customer engagement required a setup of a monitoring solution for SSAS, due to the time restrictions placed upon this, native Windows Performance Monitor (Perfmon) and SQL Server Profiler Monitoring Tools was used as using a third party tool would have meant the customer providing an additional monitoring server that was not available.I wanted to outline the performance monitoring counters that was used to monitor the system on which SSAS was running. Due to the slow query performance that was occurring during certain scenarios, perfmon was used to establish if any pressure was being placed on the Disk, CPU or Memory subsystem when concurrent connections access the same query, and Profiler to pinpoint how the query was being managed within SSAS, profiler I will leave for another blogThis guide is not designed to provide a definitive list of what should be used when monitoring SSAS, different situations may require the addition or removal of counters as presented by the situation. However I hope that it serves as a good basis for starting your monitoring of SSAS. I would also like to acknowledge Chris Webb’s awesome chapters from “Expert Cube Development” that also helped shape my monitoring strategy:http://cwebbbi.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!7B84B0F2C239489A!6657.entrySimulating ConnectionsTo simulate the additional connections to the SSAS server whilst monitoring, I used ascmd to simulate multiple connections to the typical and worse performing queries that were identified by the customer. A similar sript can be downloaded from codeplex at http://www.codeplex.com/SQLSrvAnalysisSrvcs.     File name: ASCMD_StressTestingScripts.zip. Performance MonitorWithin performance monitor,  a counter log was created that contained the list of counters below. The important point to note when running the counter log is that the RUN AS property within the counter log properties should be changed to an account that has rights to the SSAS instance when monitoring MSAS counters. Failure to do so means that the counter log runs under the system account, no errors or warning are given while running the counter log, and it is not until you need to view the MSAS counters that they will not be displayed if run under the default account that has no right to SSAS. If your connection simulation takes hours, this could prove quite frustrating if not done beforehand JThe counters used……  Object Counter Instance Justification System Processor Queue legnth N/A Indicates how many threads are waiting for execution against the processor. If this counter is consistently higher than around 5 when processor utilization approaches 100%, then this is a good indication that there is more work (active threads) available (ready for execution) than the machine's processors are able to handle. System Context Switches/sec N/A Measures how frequently the processor has to switch from user- to kernel-mode to handle a request from a thread running in user mode. The heavier the workload running on your machine, the higher this counter will generally be, but over long term the value of this counter should remain fairly constant. If this counter suddenly starts increasing however, it may be an indicating of a malfunctioning device, especially if the Processor\Interrupts/sec\(_Total) counter on your machine shows a similar unexplained increase Process % Processor Time sqlservr Definately should be used if Processor\% Processor Time\(_Total) is maxing at 100% to assess the effect of the SQL Server process on the processor Process % Processor Time msmdsrv Definately should be used if Processor\% Processor Time\(_Total) is maxing at 100% to assess the effect of the SQL Server process on the processor Process Working Set sqlservr If the Memory\Available bytes counter is decreaing this counter can be run to indicate if the process is consuming larger and larger amounts of RAM. Process(instance)\Working Set measures the size of the working set for each process, which indicates the number of allocated pages the process can address without generating a page fault. Process Working Set msmdsrv If the Memory\Available bytes counter is decreaing this counter can be run to indicate if the process is consuming larger and larger amounts of RAM. Process(instance)\Working Set measures the size of the working set for each process, which indicates the number of allocated pages the process can address without generating a page fault. Processor % Processor Time _Total and individual cores measures the total utilization of your processor by all running processes. If multi-proc then be mindful only an average is provided Processor % Privileged Time _Total To see how the OS is handling basic IO requests. If kernel mode utilization is high, your machine is likely underpowered as it's too busy handling basic OS housekeeping functions to be able to effectively run other applications. Processor % User Time _Total To see how the applications is interacting from a processor perspective, a high percentage utilisation determine that the server is dealing with too many apps and may require increasing thje hardware or scaling out Processor Interrupts/sec _Total  The average rate, in incidents per second, at which the processor received and serviced hardware interrupts. Shoulr be consistant over time but a sudden unexplained increase could indicate a device malfunction which can be confirmed using the System\Context Switches/sec counter Memory Pages/sec N/A Indicates the rate at which pages are read from or written to disk to resolve hard page faults. This counter is a primary indicator of the kinds of faults that cause system-wide delays, this is the primary counter to watch for indication of possible insufficient RAM to meet your server's needs. A good idea here is to configure a perfmon alert that triggers when the number of pages per second exceeds 50 per paging disk on your system. May also want to see the configuration of the page file on the Server Memory Available Mbytes N/A is the amount of physical memory, in bytes, available to processes running on the computer. if this counter is greater than 10% of the actual RAM in your machine then you probably have more than enough RAM. monitor it regularly to see if any downward trend develops, and set an alert to trigger if it drops below 2% of the installed RAM. Physical Disk Disk Transfers/sec for each physical disk If it goes above 10 disk I/Os per second then you've got poor response time for your disk. Physical Disk Idle Time _total If Disk Transfers/sec is above  25 disk I/Os per second use this counter. which measures the percent time that your hard disk is idle during the measurement interval, and if you see this counter fall below 20% then you've likely got read/write requests queuing up for your disk which is unable to service these requests in a timely fashion. Physical Disk Disk queue legnth For the OLAP and SQL physical disk A value that is consistently less than 2 means that the disk system is handling the IO requests against the physical disk Network Interface Bytes Total/sec For the NIC Should be monitored over a period of time to see if there is anb increase/decrease in network utilisation Network Interface Current Bandwidth For the NIC is an estimate of the current bandwidth of the network interface in bits per second (BPS). MSAS 2005: Memory Memory Limit High KB N/A Shows (as a percentage) the high memory limit configured for SSAS in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSAS10.MSSQLSERVER\OLAP\Config\msmdsrv.ini MSAS 2005: Memory Memory Limit Low KB N/A Shows (as a percentage) the low memory limit configured for SSAS in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSAS10.MSSQLSERVER\OLAP\Config\msmdsrv.ini MSAS 2005: Memory Memory Usage KB N/A Displays the memory usage of the server process. MSAS 2005: Memory File Store KB N/A Displays the amount of memory that is reserved for the Cache. Note if total memory limit in the msmdsrv.ini is set to 0, no memory is reserved for the cache MSAS 2005: Storage Engine Query Queries from Cache Direct / sec N/A Displays the rate of queries answered from the cache directly MSAS 2005: Storage Engine Query Queries from Cache Filtered / Sec N/A Displays the Rate of queries answered by filtering existing cache entry. MSAS 2005: Storage Engine Query Queries from File / Sec N/A Displays the Rate of queries answered from files. MSAS 2005: Storage Engine Query Average time /query N/A Displays the average time of a query MSAS 2005: Connection Current connections N/A Displays the number of connections against the SSAS instance MSAS 2005: Connection Requests / sec N/A Displays the rate of query requests per second MSAS 2005: Locks Current Lock Waits N/A Displays thhe number of connections waiting on a lock MSAS 2005: Threads Query Pool job queue Length N/A The number of queries in the job queue MSAS 2005:Proc Aggregations Temp file bytes written/sec N/A Shows the number of bytes of data processed in a temporary file MSAS 2005:Proc Aggregations Temp file rows written/sec N/A Shows the number of bytes of data processed in a temporary file 

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• SQL SERVER – SSMS: Disk Usage Report

  - by Pinal Dave

  Let us start with humor!  I think we the series on various reports, we come to a logical point. We covered all the reports at server level. This means the reports we saw were targeted towards activities that are related to instance level operations. These are mostly like how a doctor diagnoses a patient. At this point I am reminded of a dialog which I read somewhere: Patient: Doc, It hurts when I touch my head. Doc: Ok, go on. What else have you experienced? Patient: It hurts even when I touch my eye, it hurts when I touch my arms, it even hurts when I touch my feet, etc. Doc: Hmmm … Patient: I feel it hurts when I touch anywhere in my body. Doc: Ahh … now I get it. You need a plaster to your finger John. Sometimes the server level gives an indicator to what is happening in the system, but we need to get to the root cause for a specific database. So, this is the first blog in series where we would start discussing about database level reports. To launch database level reports, expand selected server in Object Explorer, expand the Databases folder, and then right-click any database for which we want to look at reports. From the menu, select Reports, then Standard Reports, and then any of database level reports. In this blog, we would talk about four “disk” reports because they are similar: Disk Usage Disk Usage by Top Tables Disk Usage by Table Disk Usage by Partition Disk Usage This report shows multiple information about the database. Let us discuss them one by one.  We have divided the output into 5 different sections. Section 1 shows the high level summary of the database. It shows the space used by database files (mdf and ldf). Under the hood, the report uses, various DMVs and DBCC Commands, it is using sys.data_spaces and DBCC SHOWFILESTATS. Section 2 and 3 are pie charts. One for data file allocation and another for the transaction log file. Pie chart for “Data Files Space Usage (%)” shows space consumed data, indexes, allocated to the SQL Server database, and unallocated space which is allocated to the SQL Server database but not yet filled with anything. “Transaction Log Space Usage (%)” used DBCC SQLPERF (LOGSPACE) and shows how much empty space we have in the physical transaction log file. Section 4 shows the data from Default Trace and looks at Event IDs 92, 93, 94, 95 which are for “Data File Auto Grow”, “Log File Auto Grow”, “Data File Auto Shrink” and “Log File Auto Shrink” respectively. Here is an expanded view for that section. If default trace is not enabled, then this section would be replaced by the message “Trace Log is disabled” as highlighted below. Section 5 of the report uses DBCC SHOWFILESTATS to get information. Here is the enhanced version of that section. This shows the physical layout of the file. In case you have In-Memory Objects in the database (from SQL Server 2014), then report would show information about those as well. Here is the screenshot taken for a different database, which has In-Memory table. I have highlighted new things which are only shown for in-memory database. The new sections which are highlighted above are using sys.dm_db_xtp_checkpoint_files, sys.database_files and sys.data_spaces. The new type for in-memory OLTP is ‘FX’ in sys.data_space. The next set of reports is targeted to get information about a table and its storage. These reports can answer questions like: Which is the biggest table in the database? How many rows we have in table? Is there any table which has a lot of reserved space but its unused? Which partition of the table is having more data? Disk Usage by Top Tables This report provides detailed data on the utilization of disk space by top 1000 tables within the Database. The report does not provide data for memory optimized tables. Disk Usage by Table This report is same as earlier report with few difference. First Report shows only 1000 rows First Report does order by values in DMV sys.dm_db_partition_stats whereas second one does it based on name of the table. Both of the reports have interactive sort facility. We can click on any column header and change the sorting order of data. Disk Usage by Partition This report shows the distribution of the data in table based on partition in the table. This is so similar to previous output with the partition details now. Here is the query taken from profiler. SELECT row_number() OVER (ORDER BY a1.used_page_count DESC, a1.index_id) AS row_number ,      (dense_rank() OVER (ORDER BY a5.name, a2.name))%2 AS l1 ,      a1.OBJECT_ID ,      a5.name AS [schema] ,       a2.name ,       a1.index_id ,       a3.name AS index_name ,       a3.type_desc ,       a1.partition_number ,       a1.used_page_count * 8 AS total_used_pages ,       a1.reserved_page_count * 8 AS total_reserved_pages ,       a1.row_count FROM sys.dm_db_partition_stats a1 INNER JOIN sys.all_objects a2  ON ( a1.OBJECT_ID = a2.OBJECT_ID) AND a1.OBJECT_ID NOT IN (SELECT OBJECT_ID FROM sys.tables WHERE is_memory_optimized = 1) INNER JOIN sys.schemas a5 ON (a5.schema_id = a2.schema_id) LEFT OUTER JOIN  sys.indexes a3  ON ( (a1.OBJECT_ID = a3.OBJECT_ID) AND (a1.index_id = a3.index_id) ) WHERE (SELECT MAX(DISTINCT partition_number) FROM sys.dm_db_partition_stats a4 WHERE (a4.OBJECT_ID = a1.OBJECT_ID)) >= 1 AND a2.TYPE <> N'S' AND  a2.TYPE <> N'IT' ORDER BY a5.name ASC, a2.name ASC, a1.index_id, a1.used_page_count DESC, a1.partition_number Using all of the above reports, you should be able to get the usage of database files and also space used by tables. I think this is too much disk information for a single blog and I hope you have used them in the past to get data. Do let me know if you found anything interesting using these reports in your environments. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL Tagged: SQL Reports

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• Dell Studio 1737 Overheating

  - by Sean

  I am using a Dell Studio 1737 laptop. I have been running Linux and have ran Windows recently for a very long time. I upgraded to the 10.10 distribution and since that distro, it seems that for some reason all Linuxes want to push my laptop to extremes. I have recently upgraded to Ubuntu 12.04 since I heart that it contains kernel fixes for overheating issues. 12.04 will actually eventually cool the system, but that is after the fans run to the point it sounds like a jet aircraft taking off and the laptop makes my hands sweat. In trying to combat the heat problems I have done the following: I installed the propriatery driver for my ATI Mobility HD 3600. I have tried both the one in the Additional Drivers and also tried ATI's latest greatest version. If I don't install this my laptop will overheat and shut off in minutes. Both seem to perform similarly, but the heat problem remains. I have tried limiting the CPU by installing the CPUFreq Indicator. This does help keep the machine from shutting off, but the heat is still uncomfortable to be around the machine. I usually run in power saver mode or run the cpu at 1.6 GHZ just to error on safety. I ran sensors-detect and here are the results: sean@sean-Studio-1737:~$ sudo sensors-detect # sensors-detect revision 5984 (2011-07-10 21:22:53 +0200) # System: Dell Inc. Studio 1737 (laptop) # Board: Dell Inc. 0F237N This program will help you determine which kernel modules you need to load to use lm_sensors most effectively. It is generally safe and recommended to accept the default answers to all questions, unless you know what you're doing. Some south bridges, CPUs or memory controllers contain embedded sensors. Do you want to scan for them? This is totally safe. (YES/no): y Module cpuid loaded successfully. Silicon Integrated Systems SIS5595... No VIA VT82C686 Integrated Sensors... No VIA VT8231 Integrated Sensors... No AMD K8 thermal sensors... No AMD Family 10h thermal sensors... No AMD Family 11h thermal sensors... No AMD Family 12h and 14h thermal sensors... No AMD Family 15h thermal sensors... No AMD Family 15h power sensors... No Intel digital thermal sensor... Success! (driver `coretemp') Intel AMB FB-DIMM thermal sensor... No VIA C7 thermal sensor... No VIA Nano thermal sensor... No Some Super I/O chips contain embedded sensors. We have to write to standard I/O ports to probe them. This is usually safe. Do you want to scan for Super I/O sensors? (YES/no): y Probing for Super-I/O at 0x2e/0x2f Trying family `National Semiconductor/ITE'... No Trying family `SMSC'... No Trying family `VIA/Winbond/Nuvoton/Fintek'... No Trying family `ITE'... No Probing for Super-I/O at 0x4e/0x4f Trying family `National Semiconductor/ITE'... Yes Found `ITE IT8512E/F/G Super IO' (but not activated) Some hardware monitoring chips are accessible through the ISA I/O ports. We have to write to arbitrary I/O ports to probe them. This is usually safe though. Yes, you do have ISA I/O ports even if you do not have any ISA slots! Do you want to scan the ISA I/O ports? (YES/no): y Probing for `National Semiconductor LM78' at 0x290... No Probing for `National Semiconductor LM79' at 0x290... No Probing for `Winbond W83781D' at 0x290... No Probing for `Winbond W83782D' at 0x290... No Lastly, we can probe the I2C/SMBus adapters for connected hardware monitoring devices. This is the most risky part, and while it works reasonably well on most systems, it has been reported to cause trouble on some systems. Do you want to probe the I2C/SMBus adapters now? (YES/no): y Using driver `i2c-i801' for device 0000:00:1f.3: Intel ICH9 Module i2c-i801 loaded successfully. Module i2c-dev loaded successfully. Now follows a summary of the probes I have just done. Just press ENTER to continue: Driver `coretemp': * Chip `Intel digital thermal sensor' (confidence: 9) To load everything that is needed, add this to /etc/modules: #----cut here---- # Chip drivers coretemp #----cut here---- If you have some drivers built into your kernel, the list above will contain too many modules. Skip the appropriate ones! Do you want to add these lines automatically to /etc/modules? (yes/NO)y Successful! Monitoring programs won't work until the needed modules are loaded. You may want to run 'service module-init-tools start' to load them. Unloading i2c-dev... OK Unloading i2c-i801... OK Unloading cpuid... OK sean@sean-Studio-1737:~$ sudo service module-init-tools start module-init-tools stop/waiting I also tried installing i8k but that didn't work since it didn't seem to be able to communicate with the hardware (probably for different kind of device). Also I ran acpi -V and here are the results: Battery 0: Full, 100% Battery 0: design capacity 613 mAh, last full capacity 260 mAh = 42% Adapter 0: on-line Thermal 0: ok, 49.0 degrees C Thermal 0: trip point 0 switches to mode critical at temperature 100.0 degrees C Thermal 1: ok, 48.0 degrees C Thermal 1: trip point 0 switches to mode critical at temperature 100.0 degrees C Thermal 2: ok, 51.0 degrees C Thermal 2: trip point 0 switches to mode critical at temperature 100.0 degrees C Cooling 0: LCD 0 of 15 Cooling 1: Processor 0 of 10 Cooling 2: Processor 0 of 10 I have hit a wall and don't know what to do now. Any advice is appreciated.

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• Google Analytics on Android

  - by pjv

  There is a specific and official analytics SDK for native Android apps (note that I'm not talking about webpages in apps on a phone). This library basically sends pages and events to Google Analytics and you can view your analytics in exactly the same dashboard as for websites. Since my background is apps rather than websites, and since a lot of the Google Analytics terminology seems particularly inapplicable to a native app, I need some pointers. Please discuss my remarks, provide some clarification where you think I'm off-track, and above all share good experiences! 1. Page Views Pages mostly can match different Activities (and Dialogs) being displayed. Activities can be visible behind non-full-screen Activities however, though only the top-level Activity can be interacted. This sort-off clashes with a "(page) view". You'd also want at least one page view for each visit and therefore put one page view tracker in the Application class. However this does not constitute a window or sorts. Usually an Activity will open at the same time, so the time spent on that page will have been 0. This will influence your "time spent" statistics. How are these counted anyway? Moreover, there is a loose coupling between the Activities, by means of Intents. A user can, much like on any website, step in at any Activity, although usually this then concerns resuming the application where he left off. This makes that the hierarchy of Activities usually is very flat. And since there are no url's involved. What meaning would using slashes in page titles have, such as "/Home"? All pages would appear on an equal level in the reports, so no content drilldown. Non-unique page views seem to be counted as some kind of indicator of successfulness: how often does the visitor revisit the page. When the user rotates the screen however usually an Activity resumes again, thus making it a new page view. This happens a lot. Maybe a well-thought-through placement of the call might solve this, or placing several, I'm not sure. How to deal with Page Views? 2. Events I'd say there are two sorts: A user event Something that happened, usually as an indirect consequence of the above. The latter particularly is giving me headaches. First of all, many events aren't written in code any more, but pieced logically together by means of Intents. This means that there is no place to put the analytics call. You'd either have to give up this advantage and start doing it the old-fashioned way in favor of good analytics, or, just be missing some events. Secondly, as a developer you're not so much interested in when a user clicks a button, but if the action that should have been performed really was performed and what the result was. There seems to be no clear way to get resulting data into Google Analytics (what's up with the integers? I want to put in Strings!). The same that applies to the flat pages hierarchy, also goes for the event categories. You could do "vertical" categories (topically, that is), but some code is shared "horizontally" and the tracking will be equally shared. Just as with the Intents mechanism, inheritance makes it hard for you to put the tracking in the right places at all times. And I can't really imagine "horizontal" categories. Unless you start making really small categories, such as all the items form the same menu in one category, I have a hard time grasping the concept. Finally, how do you deal with cancelling? Usually you both have an explicit cancel mechanism by ways of a button, as well as the implicit cancel when the "back"-button is pressed to leave the activity and there were no changes. The latter also applies to "saves", when the back button is pressed and there ARE changes. How are you consequently going to catch all these if not by doing all the "back"-button work yourself? How to deal with events? 3. Goals For goal types I have choice of: URL Destination, Time on Site, and Pages/Visit. Most apps don't have a funnel that leads the user to some "registration done" or "order placed" page. Apps have either already been bought (in which case you want to stimulate the user to love your app, so that he might bring on new buyers) or are paid for by in-app ads. So URL Destination is not a very important goal. Time on Site also seems troublesome. First, I have some doubt on how this would be measured. Second, I don't necessarily want my user to spend a lot of time in my already paid app, just be active and content. Equivalently, why not mention how frequent a user uses your app? Regarding Pages/Visit I already mentioned how screen orientation changes blow up the page view numbers. In an app I'd be most interested in events/visit to measure the user's involvement/activity. If he's intensively using the app then he must be loving it right? Furthermore, I also have some small funnels (that do not lead to conversion though) that I want to see streamlined. In my mind those funnels would end in events rather than page views but that seems not to be possible. I could also measure clickthroughs on in-app ads, but then I'd need to track those as Page Views rather than Events, in view of "URL Destination". What are smart goals for apps and how can you fit them on top of Analytics? 4. Optimisation Is there a smart way to manually do what "Website Optimiser" does for websites? Most importantly, how would I track different landing page designs? 5. Traffic Sources Referrals deal with installation time referrals, if you're smart enough to get them included. But perhaps I'd also want to get some data which third-party app sends users to my app to perform some actions (this app interoperability is possible via Intents). Many of the terminologies related to "Traffic Sources" seem totally meaningless and there is no possibility of connecting in AdSense. What are smart uses of this data? 6. Visitors Of the "Browser capabilities", "Network Properties" and "Mobile" tabs, many things are pointless as they have no influence on / relation with my mostly offline app that won't use flash anyway. Only if you drill down far enough, can you get to OS versions, which do matter a lot. I even forgot where you could check what exact Android devices visited. What are smart uses of this data? How can you make the relevant info more prominent? 7. Other No in-page analytics. I have to register my app as a web-url (What!?)?

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• SOA Suite Integration: Part 3: Loading files

  - by Anthony Shorten

  One of the most common scenarios in SOA Integration is the loading of a file into the product from an external source. In Oracle SOA Suite there is a File Adapter that can process many file types into your BPEL process. For this example I will use the File Adapter to load a file of user and emails to update the user object within the Oracle Utilities Application Framework. Remember you can repeat this process with other objects and other file types. Again I am illustrating the ease of integration. The first thing is to create an empty BPEL process that will hold our flow. In Oracle JDeveloper this can be achieved by specifying the Define Service Later template (as other templates have predefined inputs and outputs and in this case we want to specify those). So I will create simpleFileLoad process to house our process. You will start with an empty canvas so you need to first specify the load part of the process using the File Adapter. Select the File Adapter from the Component Palette under BPEL Services and drag and drop it to the left side Partner Links (left is input). You name the Service. In this case I chose LoadFile. Press Next. We will define the interface as part of the wizard so select Define from operation and schema (specified later). Press Next. We are going to choose Read File to denote that we will read the file and specify the default Operation Name as Read. Press Next. The next step is to tell the Adapter the location of the files, how to process them and what to do with them after they have been processed. I am using hardcoded locations in this example but you can have logical locations as well. Press Next. I am now going to tell the adapter how to recognize the files I want to load. In my case I am using CSV files and more importantly I am tell the adapter to run the process for each record in the file it encounters. Press Next. Now, I tell the adapter how often I want to poll for the files. I have taken the defaults. Press Next. At this stage I have no explanation of the format of the input. So I am going to invoke the Native Format Wizard which will guide me through the process of creating the file input format. Clicking the purple cog icon will start the wizard. After an introduction screen (not shown), you specify the format of the input file. The File Adapter supports multiple format types. For this example, I will use Delimited as I am going to load a CSV file. Press Next. The best way for the wizard to work is with a sample. I have a sample file and the wizard will ask how much of the file to use as a template. I will use the defaults. Note: If you are using a language that has other languages other than US-ASCII, it is at this point you specify the character set to use.  Press Next. The sample contains multiple instances of a single record type. The wizard supports complex types as well. We will use the appropriate setting for our file. Press Next. You have to specify the file element and the record element. This will be used by the input wizard to translate the CSV data into an XML structure (this will make sense later). I am using LoadUsers as my file delimiter (root element) and User Record as my record root element. Press Next. As the file is CSV the delimiter is "," so I will also specify that the End Of Line (EOL) indicator indicates the end of a record. Press Next. Up until this point your have not given the columns their names. In my case my sample includes the column names in the first record. This is not always the case but you can specify the names and formats of columns in this dialog (not shown). Press Next. The wizard now generates the schema for the input file. You can specify a name for the schema. I have used userupdate.xsd. We want to verify the schema so press Test. You can test the schema by specifying an input sample. and pressing the green play button. You will see the delimiters you specified earlier for the file and the records. Press Ok to continue. A confirmation screen will be displayed showing you the location of the schema in your project. Press Finish to return to the File Adapter configuration. You will now see the schema and elements prepopulated from the wizard. Press Next. The File Adapter configuration is now complete. Press Finish. Now you need to receive the input from the LoadFile component so we need to place a Receive node in the BPEL process by drag and dropping the Receive component from the Component Palette under BPEL Constructs onto the BPEL process. We link the receive process with the LoadFile component by dragging the left most connect node of the Receive node to the LoadFile component. Once the link is established you need to name the Receive node appropriately and as in the post of the last part of this series you need to generate input variables for the BPEL process to hold the input records in. You need to now add the product Web Service. The process is the same as described in the post of the last part of this series. You drop the Web Service BPEL Service onto the right side of the process and fill in the details of the WSDL URL . You also have to add an Invoke node to call the service and generate the input and outputs variables for the call in the Invoke node. Now, to get the inputs from File to the service. You have to use a Transform (you can use an Assign action but a Transform action is more flexible). You drag and drop the Transform component from the Component Palette under Oracle Extensions and place it between the Receive and Invoke nodes. We name the Transform Node, Mapper File and associate the source of the mapping the schema from the Receive node and the output will be the input variable from the Invoke node. We now build the transform. We first map the user and email attributes by drag and drop the elements from the left to the right. The reason we needed to use the transform is that we will be telling the AS-User service that we want to issue an update action. Remember when we registered the service we actually used Read as the default. If we do not otherwise inform the service to use the Update action it will use the Read action instead (which is not desired). To specify the update action you need to click on the transactionType node on the right and select Set Text to set the action. You need to specify the transactionType of UPD (for update). The mapping is now complete. The final BPEL process is ready for deployment. You then deploy the BPEL process to the server and to test the service by simply dropping a file, in the same pattern/name as you specified, in the directory you specified in the File Adapter. You will see each record as a separate instance entry in the Fusion Middleware Control console. You can now load files into the product. You can repeat this process for each type of file to process. While this was a simple example it illustrates the method of loading data can be achieved using SOA Suite in conjunction with our products.

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• Benefits of Behavior Driven Development

  - by Aligned

  Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Aligned/archive/2013/07/26/benefits-of-behavior-driven-development.aspxContinuing my previous article on BDD, I wanted to point out some benefits of BDD and since BDD is an extension of Test Driven Development (TDD), you get those as well. I’ll add another article on some possible downsides of this approach. There are many articles about the benefits of TDD and they apply to BDD. I’ve pointed out some here and copied some of the main points for each article, but there are many more including the book The Art of Unit Testing by Roy Osherove. http://geekswithblogs.net/leesblog/archive/2008/04/30/the-benefits-of-test-driven-development.aspx (Lee Brandt) Stability Accountability Design Ability Separated Concerns Progress Indicator http://tddftw.com/benefits-of-tdd/ Help maintainers understand the intention behind the code Bring validation and proper data handling concerns to the forefront. Writing the tests first is fun. Better APIs come from writing testable code. TDD will make you a better developer. http://www.slideshare.net/dhelper/benefit-from-unit-testing-in-the-real-world (from Typemock). Take a look at the slides, especially the extra time required for TDD (slide 10) and the next one of the bugs avoided using TDD (slide 11). Less bugs (slide 11) about testing and development (13) Increase confidence in code (14) Fearlessly change your code (14) Document Requirements (14) also see http://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2013/06/01/roc-rocks.aspx Discover usability issues early (14) All these points and articles are great and there are many more. The following are my additions to the benefits of BDD from using it in real projects for my company. July 2013 on MSDN - Behavior-Driven Design with SpecFlow Scott Allen did a very informative TDD and MVC module, but to me he is doing BDDCompile and Execute Requirements in Microsoft .NET ~ Video from TechEd 2012 Communication I was working through a complicated task that the decision tree kept growing. After writing out the Given, When, Then of the scenario, I was able tell QA what I had worked through for their initial test cases. They were able to add from there. It is also useful to use this language with other developers, managers, or clients to help make informed decisions on if it meets the requirements or if it can simplified to save time (money). Thinking through solutions, before starting to code This was the biggest benefit to me. I like to jump into coding to figure out the problem. Many times I don't understand my path well enough and have to do some parts over. A past supervisor told me several times during reviews that I need to get better at seeing "the forest for the trees". When I sit down and write out the behavior that I need to implement, I force myself to think things out further and catch scenarios before they get to QA. A co-worker that is new to BDD and we’ve been using it in our new project for the last 6 months, said “It really clarifies things”. It took him awhile to understand it all, but now he’s seeing the value of this approach (yes there are some downsides, but that is a different issue). Developers’ Confidence This is huge for me. With tests in place, my confidence grows that I won’t break code that I’m not directly changing. In the past, I’ve worked on projects with out tests and we would frequently find regression bugs (or worse the users would find them). That isn’t fun. We don’t catch all problems with the tests, but when QA catches one, I can write a test to make sure it doesn’t happen again. It’s also good for Releasing code, telling your manager that it’s good to go. As time goes on and the code gets older, how confident are you that checking in code won’t break something somewhere else? Merging code - pre release confidence If you’re merging code a lot, it’s nice to have the tests to help ensure you didn’t merge incorrectly. Interrupted work I had a task that I started and planned out, then was interrupted for a month because of different priorities. When I started it up again, and un-shelved my changes, I had the BDD specs and it helped me remember what I had figured out and what was left to do. It would have much more difficult without the specs and tests. Testing and verifying complicated scenarios Sometimes in the UI there are scenarios that get tricky, because there are a lot of steps involved (click here to open the dialog, enter the information, make sure it’s valid, when I click cancel it should do {x}, when I click ok it should close and do {y}, then do this, etc….). With BDD I can avoid some of the mouse clicking define the scenarios and have them re-run quickly, without using a mouse. UI testing is still needed, but this helps a bunch. The same can be true for tricky server logic. Documentation of Assumptions and Specifications The BDD spec tests (Jasmine or SpecFlow or other tool) also work as documentation and show what the original developer was trying to accomplish. It’s not a different Word document, so developers will keep this up to date, instead of letting it become obsolete. What happens if you leave the project (consulting, new job, etc) with no specs or at the least good comments in the code? Sometimes I think of a new scenario, so I add a failing spec and continue in the same stream of thought (don’t forget it because it was on a piece of paper or in a notepad). Then later I can come back and handle it and have it documented. Jasmine tests and JavaScript –> help deal with the non-typed system I like JavaScript, but I also dislike working with JavaScript. I miss C# telling me if a property doesn’t actually exist at build time. I like the idea of TypeScript and hope to use it more in the future. I also use KnockoutJs, which has observables that need to be called with ending (), since the observable is a function. It’s hard to remember when to use () or not and the Jasmine specs/tests help ensure the correct usage.   This should give you an idea of the benefits that I see in using the BDD approach. I’m sure there are more. It talks a lot of practice, investment and experimentation to figure out how to approach this and to get comfortable with it. I agree with Scott Allen in the video I linked above “Remember that TDD can take some practice. So if you're not doing test-driven design right now? You can start and practice and get better. And you'll reach a point where you'll never want to get back.”

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• Screenshot Tour: Ubuntu Touch 14.04 on a Nexus 7

  - by Chris Hoffman

  Ubuntu 14.04 LTS will “form the basis of the first commercially available Ubuntu tablets,” according to Canonical. We installed Ubuntu Touch 14.04 on our own hardware to see what those tablets will be like. We don’t recommend installing this yourself, as it’s still not a polished, complete experience. We’re using “Ubuntu Touch” as shorthand here — apparently this project’s new name is “Ubuntu For Devices.” The Welcome Screen Ubuntu’s touch interface is all about edge swipes and hidden interface elements — it has a lot in common with Windows 8, actually. You’ll see the welcome screen when you boot up or unlock a Ubuntu tablet or phone. If you have new emails, text messages, or other information, it will appear on this screen along with the time and date. If you don’t, you’ll just see a message saying “No data sources available.” The Dash Swipe in from the right edge of the welcome screen to access the Dash, or home screen. This is actually very similar to the Dash on Ubuntu’s Unity desktop. This isn’t a surprise — Canonical wants the desktop and touch versions of Ubuntu to use the same code. In the future, the desktop and touch versions of Ubuntu will use the same version of Unity and Unity will adjust its interface depending on what type of device your’e using. Here you’ll find apps you have installed and apps available to install. Tap an installed app to launch it or tap an available app to view more details and install it. Tap the My apps or Available headings to view a complete list of apps you have installed or apps you can install. Tap the Search box at the top of the screen to start searching — this is how you’d search for new apps to install. As you’d expect, a touch keyboard appears when you tap in the Search field or any other text field. The launcher isn’t just for apps. Tap the Apps heading at the top of the screen and you’ll see hidden text appear — Music, Video, and Scopes. This hidden navigation is used throughout Ubuntu’s different apps and can be easy to miss at first. Swipe to the left or right to move between these screens. These screens are also similar to the different panels in Unity on the desktop. The Scopes section allows you to view different search scopes you have installed. These are used to search different sources when you start a search from the Dash. Search from the Music or Videos scopes to search for local media files on your device or media files online. For example, searching in the Music scope will show you music results from Grooveshark by default. Navigating Ubuntu Touch Swipe in from the left edge anywhere on the system to open the launcher, a bar with shortcuts to apps. This launcher is very similar to the launcher on the left of Ubuntu’s Unity desktop — that’s the whole idea, after all. Once you’ve opened an app, you can leave the app by swiping in from the left. The launcher will appear — keep moving your finger towards the right edge of teh screen. This will swipe the current app off the screen, taking you back to the Dash. Once back on the Dash, you’ll see your open apps represented as thumbnails under Recent. Tap a thumbnail here to go back to a running app. To remove an app from here, long-press it and tap the X button that appears. Swipe in from the right edge in any app to quickly switch between recent apps. Swipe in from the right edge and hold your finger down to reveal an application switcher that shows all your recent apps and lets you choose between them. Swipe down from the top of the screen to access the indicator panel. Here you can connect to Wi-Fi networks, view upcoming events, control GPS and Bluetooth hardware, adjust sound settings, see incoming messages, and more. This panel is for quick access to hardware settings and notifications, just like the indicators on Ubuntu’s Unity desktop. The Apps System settings not included in the pull-down panel are available in the System Settings app. To access it, tap My apps on the Dash and tap System Settings, search for the System Settings app, or open the launcher bar and tap the settings icon. The settings here a bit limited compared to other operating systems, but many of the important options are available here. You can add Evernote, Ubuntu One, Twitter, Facebook, and Google accounts from here. A free Ubuntu One account is mandatory for downloading and updating apps. A Google account can be used to sync contacts and calendar events. Some apps on Ubuntu are native apps, while many are web apps. For example, the Twitter, Gmail, Amazon, Facebook, and eBay apps included by default are all web apps that open each service’s mobile website as an app. Other applications, such as the Weather, Calendar, Dialer, Calculator, and Notes apps are native applications. Theoretically, both types of apps will be able to scale to different screen resolutions. Ubuntu Touch and Ubuntu desktop may one day share the same apps, which will adapt to different display sizes and input methods. Like Windows 8 apps, Ubuntu apps hide interface elements by default, providing you with a full-screen view of the content. Swipe up from the bottom of an app’s screen to view its interface elements. For example, swiping up from the bottom of the Web Browser app reveals Back, Forward, and Refresh buttons, along with an address bar and Activity button so you can view current and recent web pages. Swipe up even more from the bottom and you’ll see a button hovering in the middle of the app. Tap the button and you’ll see many more settings. This is an overflow area for application options and functions that can’t fit on the navigation bar. The Terminal app has a few surprising Easter eggs in this panel, including a “Hack into the NSA” option. Tap it and the following text will appear in the terminal: That’s not very nice, now tracing your location . . . . . . . . . . . .Trace failed You got away this time, but don’t try again. We’d expect to see such Easter eggs disappear before Ubuntu Touch actually ships on real devices. Ubuntu Touch has come a long way, but it’s still not something you want to use today. For example, it doesn’t even have a built-in email client — you’ll have to us your email service’s mobile website. Few apps are available, and many of the ones that are are just mobile websites. It’s not a polished operating system intended for normal users yet — it’s more of a preview for developers and device manufacturers. If you really want to try it yourself, you can install it on a Wi-Fi Nexus 7 (2013), Nexus 10, or Nexus 4 device. Follow Ubuntu’s installation instructions here.

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• Using Supermicro IPMI behind a Proxy?

  - by Stefan Lasiewski

  This is a SuperMicro server with a X8DT3 motherboard which contains an On-board IPMI BMC. In this case, the BMC is a Winbond WPCM450). I believe many Dell servers use this a similar BMC model. A common practice with IPMI is to isolated it to a private, non-routable network. In our case all IPMI cards are plugged into a private management LAN at 192.168.1.0/24 which has no route to the outside world. If I plug my laptop into the 192.168.1.0/24 network, I can verify that all IPMI features work as expected, including the remote console. I need to access all of the IPMI features from a different network, over some sort of encrypted connection. I tried SSH port forwarding. This works fine for a few servers, however, we have close to 100 of these servers and maintaining a SSH client configuration to forward 6 ports on 100 servers is impractical. So I thought I would try a SOCKS proxy. This works, but it seems that the Remote Console application does not obey my systemwide proxy settings. I setup a SOCKS proxy. Verbose logging allows me to see network activity, and if ports are being forwarded. ssh -v -D 3333 [email protected] I configure my system to use the SOCKS proxy. I confirm that Java is using the SOCKS proxy settings. The SOCKS proxy is working. I connect to the BMC at http://192.168.1.100/ using my webbrowser. I can log in, view the Server Health, power the machine on or off, etc. Since SSH verbose logging is enabled, I can see the progress. Here's where it get's tricky: I click on the "Launch Console" button which downloads a file called jviewer.jnlp. JNLP files are opened with Java Web Start. A Java window opens. The titlebar says says "Redirection Viewer" in the title bar. There are menus for "Video" "Keyboard" "Mouse", etc. This confirms that Java is able to download the application through the proxy, and start the application. 60 seconds later, the application times out and simply says "Error opening video socket". Here's a screenshot. If this worked, I would see a VNC-style window. My SSH logs show no connection attempts to ports 5900/5901. This suggests that the Java application started the VNC application, but that the VNC application ignores the systemwide proxy settings and is thus unable to connect to the remote host. Java seems to obey my systemwide proxy settings, but this VNC application seems to ignore it. Is there any way for me to force this VNC application to use my systemwide proxy settings?

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• Backup VM : Copy virtual disk xxx.vmdk The virtual disk is either corrupted or not a supported forma

  - by boiteavinc

  Hi I'm french. I'm student and I use ESXI4 for my studies. When I try backup my VMs, with ghettoVCBg2.pl and vSphere Management Assistant, I get the following error message on Vsphere Client : "Copy virtual disk xxx.vmdk The virtual disk is either corrupted or not a supported format". I have no error in the log VCB ; 03-23-2010 08:31:56 -- debug: Main: Login by vi-fastpass to: esxi 03-23-2010 08:31:56 -- debug: copyTask: Task START 03-23-2010 08:31:56 -- debug: copyTask: waiting for next job and sleep ... 03-23-2010 08:32:00 -- info: Initiate backup for AD_DNS_DHCP found on esxi 03-23-2010 08:32:09 -- debug: AD_DNS_DHCP original powerState: poweredOn 03-23-2010 08:32:09 -- debug: Creating Snapshot "ghettoVCBg2-snapshot-2010-03-23" for AD_DNS_DHCP 03-23-2010 08:33:19 -- info: AD_DNS_DHCP has 1 VMDK(s) 03-23-2010 08:33:19 -- debug: backupVMDK: Backing up "Raptor1 AD_DNS_DHCP/AD_DNS_DHCP.vmdk" to "Backup_VM VM/AD_DNS_DHCP/AD_DNS_DHCP-2010-03-23/$ 03-23-2010 08:33:19 -- debug: backupVMDK: Signal copyThread to start 03-23-2010 08:33:19 -- debug: backupVMDK: Backup progress: Elapsed time 0 min 03-23-2010 08:33:19 -- debug: copyTask: Wake up and follow the white rabbit, with status: doCopy 03-23-2010 08:33:19 -- debug: CopyThread: Start backing up VMDK(s) ... 03-23-2010 08:33:25 -- debug: copyTask: send copySuccess message ... 03-23-2010 08:33:25 -- debug: copyTask: waiting for next job and sleep ... 03-23-2010 08:34:20 -- debug: backupVMDK: Successfully completed backup for Raptor1 AD_DNS_DHCP/AD_DNS_DHCP.vmdk Elapsed time: 1 min 03-23-2010 08:34:22 -- debug: Removing Snapshot "ghettoVCBg2-snapshot-2010-03-23" for AD_DNS_DHCP 03-23-2010 08:34:24 -- debug: checkVMBackupRotation: Starting ... 03-23-2010 08:34:26 -- debug: Purging Backup_VM VM/AD_DNS_DHCP/AD_DNS_DHCP-2010-03-23--1 due to rotation max 03-23-2010 08:34:28 -- info: Backup completed for AD_DNS_DHCP! 03-23-2010 08:34:28 -- debug: Main: Disconnect from: esxi 03-23-2010 08:34:28 -- debug: Main: Calling final clean up 03-23-2010 08:34:28 -- debug: cleanUP: Thread clean up starting ... 03-23-2010 08:34:28 -- debug: cleanUp: Send exit to copyThread 03-23-2010 08:34:28 -- debug: copyTask: Wake up and follow the white rabbit, with status: exit 03-23-2010 08:34:28 -- debug: copyTask: die ... 03-23-2010 08:34:28 -- debug: cleanUp: Join passed 03-23-2010 08:34:28 -- info: ============================== ghettoVCBg2 LOG END ============================== My ghetto conf file is : VM_BACKUP_DATASTORE = "Backup_VM" VM_BACKUP_DIRECTORY = "VM" VM_BACKUP_ROTATION_COUNT = "3" DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT = "thin" ADAPTER_FORMAT = "lsilogic" POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP = "0" VM_SNAPSHOT_MEMORY = "1" VM_SNAPSHOT_QUIESCE = "1" LOG_LEVEL = "info" VM_VMDK_FILES = "all" I tried several I tried several DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT, I have same error. Despite the error, even when I get files on the NFS share. But when I try to open the vmx file with vmware workstation. I get this error: Can not open the disk 'G: \ Backup ESX \ VM \ AD_DNS_DHCP \ AD_DNS_DHCP-2010-03-23 - 1 \ AD_DNS_DHCP.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on. Reason: The called function can not be performed on partial chains. Please open the parent virtual disk. I have no snapshot on my VM on ESXi. Can you help me ?

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• How to reinstall OEM Windows 98 SE?

  - by Sammy

  I'm trying to install Windows 98 SE on an old PC and it's not going well. I run into this problem. Searching for Boot Record from Floppy..OK Starting Windows 98... TOSHIBA Enhanced-IDE CD/DVD-ROM Device Driver (ATAPI) Version 2.24 (C)Copyright Toshiba Corp. 1995-1999. All rights reserved. Device Name : TOSCD001 Number of units : 1 MSCDEX Version 2.25 Copyright (C) MIcrosoft Corp. 1986-1995. All rights reserved. Drive Z: = Driver TOSCD001 unit 0 TOSHIBA MACHINE Invalid drive specification Path not found - C:\TOOLS\CDROMDRV.SYS Invalid drive specification Invalid drive specification After that last line, it leaves me at a bitmap image displaying instructions to reboot with Ctrl+Alt+Del. It doesn't say why I have to reboot, and it doesn't state any error type, it just want's me to reboot for no apparent reason. After reboot, it just boots up from Floppy again and it cycles through the same thing all over again. The computer has been restored to original specification. Original system recovery "CD-ROM" discs are available and they are not scratched or anything, they are in very good condition. It's a set of 3 CDs, and the first disc labeled "1/3" should be the one holding the OEM version of Windows 98 SE. There is also a boot disk for Windows 98. I'm not sure what the other two discs are for. This computer came with three language support, so those could be holding different language versions or additional OEM discs. But I'm quite sure that the first disc holds the main operating system. BIOS has been set to optimized defaults. Boot priority is as follows; Floppy, IDE-0, CD-ROM. Under Standard CMOS settings, BIOS scans and autoconfigures both the hard drive and the CD/DVD drive. On POST it finds them both, and it finds the DOS bootdisk and starts preparing for installation, as you can see above. So what's this "invalid drive specification" about? Why isn't the installation starting? Updates Update 1 Booting from CD disc 2 In desperation I tried booting from the second CD. Boot order was; Floppy, CD-ROM, IDE-0. It boots normally from floppy disk, just like above, but then returns following. File not found - Z:\3LNGINST\TOOLS\PARTINFO.TXT I accidentally pressed some key on the keyboard, and before I knew it, the following screen showed up. Create Primary DOS Partition Current fixed disk drive: 1 Verifying drive integrity, 16% complete. After completion another screen showed up. Create Primary DOS Partition Current fixed disk drive: 1 Do you wish to use the maximum available size for a Primary DOS Partition and make the partition active (Y/N)?....................? [Y] Verifying drive integrity, 7% complete. I didn't choose Yes, it was set automatically. After completion the computer was automatically rebooted. Then I got a new screen. This is in Norwegian/Swedish/Finnish. Here's the message in Swedish. Hårddisken är inte klar för återställning av programvara. Installationsprogrammet måste skapa nya partitioner (C:, D:, ...). VARNING! ALLT INNEHÅLL PÅ HÅRDDISKEN KOMMER ATT RADERAS! Tryck på en tangent om du vill fortsätta (eller CTRL-C för att avbryta). Let me translate that. Hard drive is not ready for restoring the software. Setup program has to create new partitions (C:, D:, ...). WARNING! ALL CONTENTS ON THE HARD DRIVE WILL BE ERASED! Press any key to continue (or CTRL-C to cancel). I pressed Enter and it started formatting the hard drive. WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK DRIVE c: WILL BE LOST! Proceed with Format (Y/N)?y Formatting 14,67.53M 1 percent completed. It automatically sets the "y" option and starts formatting. Rebooting with CD disc 1 After completing this operation it rebooted automatically. I inserted CD disc 1 and there was no issue with "invalid drive specification" anymore. Instead, a bitmap menu was displayed where it asked me to choose a language. And I thought I had it there for a while but it didn't work out. After choosing the language, another menu was displayed asking me to choose a type of recovery (restore pre-installed software OR restore hard drive partitions and pre-installed software). I opted for the second option. Then a data destruction warning showed up where I just pressed 1 to Continue. It did something and then just rebooted and the same formatting screen shows up as before. So something is not right. Am I doing it wrong? I seem to have come past the CD-ROM driver issue at least. But now I'm stuck with this problem... it seems to have something to do with the hard drive. Like... why is is it always trying to format it? Isn't it enough to format it once? By the way, it needs to be formatted as FAT32, right? Windows 98 doesn't support NTFS? I think FDISK should have taken care of this already. I know this is an old hard drive, but I connected to my main computer and it was able to read and write to it without a problem. It does have bad sectors though, but it's expected on an old hard drive like this. Any ideas?.. Update 2 I seem to be repeatedly getting stuck at the format screen where it asks to press any key to continue. So tried to cancel it this time with Ctrl+C. This leaves me at: A:\TOOLS> I can do DIR and CD and I tried to change to Z: drive. I tried running "setup" but there is no such thing. Z:\>setup Bad command or file name Update 3 Floppy structure Here's the file/folder structure of the floppy disk. A:\>dir /s Volume in drive A has no label. Volume Serial Number is 1700-1069 Directory of A:\ 1999-10-11 10:44 <DIR> BMP 1998-05-11 22:01 93 880 COMMAND.COM 1999-10-11 10:44 <DIR> factory 1999-10-11 10:44 <DIR> lang 1999-10-11 10:44 <DIR> TOOLS 2000-05-19 15:32 339 CONFIG.SYS 1999-10-26 13:38 0 BOOTLOG.TXT 2000-06-08 08:32 3 691 AUTOEXEC.BAT 4 File(s) 97 910 bytes Directory of A:\BMP 1999-10-11 10:44 <DIR> . 1999-10-11 10:44 <DIR> .. 0 File(s) 0 bytes Directory of A:\factory 1999-10-11 10:44 <DIR> . 1999-10-11 10:44 <DIR> .. 2000-06-08 13:09 2 662 3LNGINSF.BAT 1 File(s) 2 662 bytes Directory of A:\lang 1999-10-11 10:44 <DIR> . 1999-10-11 10:44 <DIR> .. 1998-11-24 08:02 49 575 FORMAT.COM 1998-11-24 08:02 63 900 FDISK.EXE 2 File(s) 113 475 bytes Directory of A:\TOOLS 1999-10-11 10:44 <DIR> . 1999-10-11 10:44 <DIR> .. 1998-05-06 22:01 49 575 FORMAT.COM 1995-10-27 20:29 28 164 BMPVIEW.EXE 1999-01-26 15:54 15 MAKEPA32.TXT 1998-05-06 22:01 3 878 XCOPY.EXE 1998-05-06 22:01 41 472 XCOPY32.MOD 1998-05-06 22:01 33 191 HIMEM.SYS 1998-05-06 22:01 125 495 EMM386.EXE 1998-05-06 22:01 18 967 SYS.COM 1996-01-31 21:55 18 CLK.COM 1994-04-02 08:20 22 HARDBOOT.COM 1999-02-03 15:46 15 MAKEPA16.TXT 1999-04-14 16:36 7 840 PARTFO32.EXE 2000-05-19 15:01 1 169 PARTFORM.BAT 1996-10-02 01:47 1 642 MBRCLR.COM 1999-07-01 11:58 8 175 BIOSCHKN.EXE 1998-06-23 08:55 5 904 PAR-TYPE.EXE 1998-11-24 08:02 29 271 MODE.COM 1998-11-24 08:02 15 252 ATTRIB.EXE 1998-11-24 08:02 19 083 DELTREE.EXE 1999-04-21 15:01 23 304 NTBB.EXE 1997-05-07 14:19 1 SYS.TXT 1999-07-01 12:23 61 566 F3DCHK.EXE 1998-05-11 20:01 34 566 KEYBOARD.SYS 1998-05-11 20:01 19 927 KEYB.COM 1999-10-26 14:31 910 partinfo.txt 1998-06-16 15:58 5 936 CHKDRVAC.EXE 1998-05-06 22:01 63 900 FDISK.EXE 1998-05-06 22:01 45 379 SMARTDRV.EXE 1992-12-03 19:48 10 695 SCISET.EXE 1997-06-25 15:49 6 YENT 1998-05-06 22:01 25 473 MSCDEX.EXE 1998-05-06 22:01 5 239 CHOICE.COM 1997-07-18 17:41 6 876 MBR.COM 1997-07-01 15:01 6 545 CHK2GB.COM 1998-06-10 20:04 8 128 PARTFORM.EXE 1990-01-04 02:09 19 MAKEPAR2.TXT 1990-01-04 01:00 27 MAKEPAR3.TXT 1990-01-04 01:00 27 MAKEPAR4.TXT 1998-02-13 13:47 15 MAKEPART.TXT 1999-04-14 13:47 5 200 DISKSIZE.EXE 1999-05-06 14:56 7 856 PARTFO16.EXE 1999-01-13 11:13 13 720 CDROMDRV.SYS 42 File(s) 734 463 bytes Total Files Listed: 49 File(s) 948 510 bytes 12 Dir(s) 268 800 bytes free A:\> CONFIG.SYS contents Here's the content of CONFIG.SYS. DEVICE=A:\TOOLS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF REM I=B000-B7ff for Desktop BIOSes rem DEVICE=A:\TOOLS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS I=B000-B7ff x=C000-D000 DEVICE=A:\TOOLS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS x=C000-D000 DEVICE=A:\TOOLS\CDROMDRV.SYS /D:TOSCD001 BUFFERS=10 FILES=69 DOS=HIGH,UMB STACKS=9,256 LASTDRIVE=Z SWITCHES=/F SHELL=A:\COMMAND.COM /P /E:2048 AUTOEXEC.BAT contents :BEGIN @ECHO OFF PATH=A:\;A:\TOOLS; MSCDEX /D:TOSCD001 /L:Z /M:10 smartdrv 1024 128 SET TOOLS=A:\TOOLS SET COMSPEC=A:\COMMAND.COM SET EXITDRIVE=C: SET EXITPATH=\ CALL Z:\SETENV.BAT > NUL :TOSHCHK BIOSChkN IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 goto C_ACCESS BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\BMP\NO_TOSP3.bmp /X=120 /Y=80 PAUSE > NUL SET EXITDRIVE=A: GOTO END :C_ACCESS CALL PARTFORM.BAT :C_EMPTY IF EXIST C:\*.* GOTO C_NOTEMPTY call z:\setenv.bat>nul goto PREPDU :C_NOTEMPTY REM ------------------MENU------------------------ :STARTMENU CLS BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\BMP\LANGSELC.BMP /X=120 /Y=120 CLK CHOICE /C:123 /N >NUL REM L is the language that is selected IF ERRORLEVEL 1 SET L=%LNG1% IF ERRORLEVEL 2 SET L=%LNG2% IF ERRORLEVEL 3 SET L=%LNG3% SET BMP=BMP%L% BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\HDDMENU.BMP /X=72 /Y=82 CLK CHOICE /C:129F /N > NUL IF ERRORLEVEL 4 GOTO FACTORY_MENU IF ERRORLEVEL 3 GOTO EXIT_MENU IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO PARTFORM_MENU IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO FORMAT_MENU GOTO END :FACTORY_MENU BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\qformat.bmp /X=120 /Y=140 CLK choice /c:12 /N >nul IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO STARTMENU IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO FORMATF GOTO END :EXIT_MENU BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\9.bmp /XC /X=96 /Y=267 choice /C:1pause /T:1,01 >nul SET EXITDRIVE=A: SET EXITPATH=\lang cls mode mono rem keyb xx>nul cls GOTO END :PARTFORM_MENU BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\2.bmp /XC /X=96 /Y=216 choice /C:1pause /T:1,01 >nul BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\partform.bmp /X=120 /Y=140 CLK choice /c:12 /N >nul IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO STARTMENU IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO PART_FORM SET EXITDRIVE=A: GOTO END :FORMAT_MENU BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\1.bmp /XC /X=96 /Y=165 choice /C:1pause /T:1,01 >nul BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\qformat.bmp /X=120 /Y=140 CLK choice /c:12 /N >nul IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO STARTMENU IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO FORMAT SET EXITDRIVE=A: GOTO END REM ------------------ MENU END ------------------------ :FORMAT bmpview Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\1.bmp /XC /X=145 /Y=235 choice /C:1pause /T:1,01 >nul CLS IF (%QFORMAT%)==(NO) GOTO FULLFO FORMAT C: /Q /V:"" <A:\TOOLS\YENT >NUL call z:\setenv.bat>nul goto PREPDU :FULLFO FORMAT C: /V:"" <A:\TOOLS\YENT call z:\setenv.bat>nul goto PREPDU :FORMATF CLS IF (%QFORMAT%)==(NO) GOTO FULLFO_F FORMAT C: /Q /V:"" <A:\TOOLS\YENT >NUL call z:\setenv.bat>nul goto PREPDU_F :FULLFO_F FORMAT C: /V:"" <A:\TOOLS\YENT call z:\setenv.bat>nul goto PREPDU_F :PART_FORM bmpview Z:\3LNGINST\bmp\1.bmp /XC /X=145 /Y=235 choice /C:1pause /T:1,01 >nul MBR /! HARDBOOT REM ====================== Triple Select ====================== :PREPDU XCOPY z:\3LNGINST\*.* C:\*.* /E /S /V >NUL ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\TOOLS\CDROMDRV.SYS COPY A:\TOOLS\CDROMDRV.SYS C:\TOOLS /Y SYS C: >NUL goto REBOOT :PREPDU_F copy A:\TOOLS\SMARTDRV.EXE C:\ /Y ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\SMARTDRV.EXE copy A:\FACTORY\3LNGINSF.bat c:\ c:\3LNGINSF.bat cls REM ====================== Dual Select END ====================== REM --------------- END ------------------ :REBOOT SMARTDRV.EXE /C bmpview Z:\3LNGINST\BMP\reboot3.bmp /X=120 /Y=140 :FOREVER pause >nul goto FOREVER :END SMARTDRV.EXE /C %EXITDRIVE% cd %EXITPATH% echo on CD structure S:\>dir /s Volume in drive S is T3ELK4SC Volume Serial Number is 2042-5BC9 Directory of S:\ 2000-08-22 14:14 <DIR> 3LNGINSF 2000-08-22 14:14 <DIR> 3LNGINST 2000-06-15 15:57 <DIR> CRC 2000-06-15 12:04 387 667 767 T310C1NO.W98 2000-09-07 15:36 273 setenv.BAT 2 File(s) 387 668 040 bytes Directory of S:\3LNGINSF 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> . 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> .. 1999-10-27 10:51 1 806 AUTOEXEC.BAT 2000-08-22 14:14 <DIR> BMP 2000-05-19 15:29 265 CONFIG.SYS 2000-08-22 14:14 <DIR> POSTINST 2000-08-22 14:14 <DIR> TOOLS 2000-08-22 14:14 <DIR> WIN98SYS 2 File(s) 2 071 bytes Directory of S:\3LNGINSF\BMP 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> . 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> .. 1997-04-22 09:43 718 1.BMP 1997-04-22 09:44 718 2.BMP 1999-01-04 02:38 718 3.BMP 2000-07-05 11:22 60 118 Cdchg2.bmp 2000-07-05 11:22 60 118 Cdchg3.bmp 2000-07-05 13:37 60 118 Fin.bmp 2000-07-06 14:18 120 118 Menu.bmp 2000-07-05 13:34 60 118 Nor.bmp 2000-07-05 11:53 35 318 Progress.bmp 2000-07-05 13:40 60 118 Swe.bmp 2000-07-05 12:09 84 118 Wrongcd2.bmp 2000-07-05 12:09 84 118 Wrongcd3.bmp 12 File(s) 626 416 bytes Directory of S:\3LNGINSF\POSTINST 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> . 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> .. 2000-05-19 09:15 33 POSTINST.BAT 1 File(s) 33 bytes Directory of S:\3LNGINSF\TOOLS 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> . 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> .. 2000-07-06 14:49 3 593 3LNGINST.BAT 1998-11-24 08:02 15 252 ATTRIB.EXE 1995-10-27 18:29 28 164 BMPVIEW.EXE 1999-01-13 11:13 13 720 CDROMDRV.SYS 1998-05-06 20:01 5 239 CHOICE.COM 1996-01-31 19:55 18 CLK.COM 1998-11-24 08:02 19 083 DELTREE.EXE 1998-05-06 20:01 125 495 EMM386.EXE 1999-07-01 12:23 61 566 F3DCHK.EXE 1998-05-06 20:01 49 575 FORMAT.COM 1994-04-02 06:20 22 HARDBOOT.COM 1998-05-06 20:01 33 191 HIMEM.SYS 1998-05-06 20:01 25 473 MSCDEX.EXE 1998-05-06 20:01 12 663 RAMDRIVE.SYS 1998-05-06 20:01 45 379 SMARTDRV.EXE 1997-05-07 14:19 1 SYS.TXT 1995-09-27 14:25 6 813 VOLCHECK.EXE 1998-05-06 20:01 3 878 XCOPY.EXE 1998-05-06 20:01 41 472 XCOPY32.MOD 1997-06-25 13:49 6 YENT 20 File(s) 490 603 bytes Directory of S:\3LNGINSF\WIN98SYS 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> . 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> .. 1998-12-04 20:00 222 390 IO.SYS 1998-05-06 20:01 18 967 SYS.COM 1998-05-06 20:01 93 880 command.com 3 File(s) 335 237 bytes Directory of S:\3LNGINST 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> . 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> .. 1999-05-31 09:51 1 576 AUTOEXEC.BAT 2000-08-22 14:14 <DIR> BMP 2000-08-22 14:14 <DIR> Bmpfin 2000-08-22 14:14 <DIR> Bmpnor 2000-08-22 14:14 <DIR> Bmpswe 2000-05-19 15:30 265 CONFIG.SYS 2000-08-22 14:14 <DIR> POSTINST 2000-08-22 14:14 <DIR> TOOLS 2000-08-22 14:14 <DIR> WIN98SYS 2 File(s) 1 841 bytes Directory of S:\3LNGINST\BMP 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> . 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> .. 1997-04-22 09:43 718 1.BMP 1997-04-22 09:44 718 2.BMP 1999-01-04 02:38 718 3.BMP 2000-07-05 11:22 60 118 Cdchg2.bmp 2000-07-05 11:22 60 118 Cdchg3.bmp 2000-07-05 13:37 60 118 Fin.bmp 2000-07-06 14:18 120 118 Menu.bmp 2000-07-05 13:34 60 118 Nor.bmp 2000-07-05 11:53 35 318 Progress.bmp 2000-07-06 14:08 40 518 Reboot3.bmp 2000-07-05 13:40 60 118 Swe.bmp 2000-07-05 12:09 84 118 Wrongcd2.bmp 2000-07-05 12:09 84 118 Wrongcd3.bmp 2000-07-05 13:52 48 118 langselc.bmp 2000-07-05 11:47 57 318 no_tosp3.bmp 15 File(s) 772 370 bytes Directory of S:\3LNGINST\Bmpfin 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> . 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> .. 1997-04-22 09:43 718 1.BMP 1997-04-22 09:44 718 2.BMP 1998-06-13 00:07 718 9.bmp 2000-03-08 15:02 78 486 Hddmenu.bmp 2000-03-08 15:31 25 318 No_tospc.bmp 2000-03-08 15:37 36 518 PARTFORM.BMP 2000-03-08 15:42 36 518 Qformat.bmp 7 File(s) 178 994 bytes Directory of S:\3LNGINST\Bmpnor 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> . 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> .. 1997-04-22 09:43 718 1.BMP 1997-04-22 09:44 718 2.BMP 1998-06-13 00:07 718 9.bmp 1999-05-05 13:26 78 486 Hddmenu.bmp 1998-07-13 11:36 25 318 No_tospc.bmp 1998-07-13 11:41 36 518 PARTFORM.BMP 1998-07-13 11:45 36 518 Qformat.bmp 7 File(s) 178 994 bytes Directory of S:\3LNGINST\Bmpswe 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> . 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> .. 1997-04-22 09:43 718 1.BMP 1997-04-22 09:44 718 2.BMP 1998-06-13 00:07 718 9.bmp 1999-05-06 08:14 78 486 Hddmenu.bmp 1998-07-10 16:25 25 318 No_tospc.bmp 1998-07-10 16:29 36 518 PARTFORM.BMP 1998-07-10 17:08 36 518 Qformat.bmp 7 File(s) 178 994 bytes Directory of S:\3LNGINST\POSTINST 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> . 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> .. 2000-05-19 09:15 33 POSTINST.BAT 1 File(s) 33 bytes Directory of S:\3LNGINST\TOOLS 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> . 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> .. 2000-05-19 14:52 3 898 3LNGINST.BAT 1995-10-27 18:29 28 164 BMPVIEW.EXE 1999-01-13 11:13 13 720 CDROMDRV.SYS 1998-05-06 20:01 5 239 CHOICE.COM 1996-01-31 19:55 18 CLK.COM 1998-05-06 20:01 125 495 EMM386.EXE 1999-07-01 12:23 61 566 F3DCHK.EXE 1998-05-06 20:01 49 575 FORMAT.COM 1994-04-02 06:20 22 HARDBOOT.COM 1998-05-06 20:01 33 191 HIMEM.SYS 1998-05-06 20:01 25 473 MSCDEX.EXE 2000-07-06 14:41 910 PARTINFO.TXT 1998-05-06 20:01 12 663 RAMDRIVE.SYS 1998-05-06 20:01 45 379 SMARTDRV.EXE 1997-05-07 14:19 1 SYS.TXT 1995-09-27 14:25 6 813 VOLCHECK.EXE 1998-05-06 20:01 3 878 XCOPY.EXE 1998-05-06 20:01 41 472 XCOPY32.MOD 1997-06-25 13:49 6 YENT 19 File(s) 457 483 bytes Directory of S:\3LNGINST\WIN98SYS 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> . 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> .. 1998-12-04 20:00 222 390 IO.SYS 1998-05-06 20:01 18 967 SYS.COM 1998-05-06 20:01 93 880 command.com 3 File(s) 335 237 bytes Directory of S:\CRC 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> . 1601-01-01 02:00 <DIR> .. 2000-06-15 12:07 181 422 T310C1NO.ALL 2000-06-15 12:09 215 427 T310C1NO.CRC 2000-06-15 12:07 2 157 T310C1NO.HID 3 File(s) 399 006 bytes Total Files Listed: 104 File(s) 391 625 352 bytes 42 Dir(s) 0 bytes free S:\> Now which line or lines need to be changed? Do I really have to change drive letter Z: to C:? Proposed solutions Solution #1 Ramhound proposed to change the boot order to following; CD-ROM, IDE-0, Floppy This didn't help. In fact, here is the result of it. Searching for Boot Record from CDROM..Not Found Searching for Boot Record from IDE-0.. OK Missing operating system Any other ideas?... Solution #2 Rik proposed to run Z:\setup. Now that I have found a way to drop to DOS prompt with Ctrl+C as described above (Update 2), I did try running setup but there is no such command or file in there. So that didn't work.

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• APC UPS replace battery light and apcupsd reporting "replace battery"

  - by mgjk

  We have an APC Smart UPS 1500. The "Replace Battery" light is on, and apcupsd reports: Emergency! Batteries have failed on UPS xxxx. Change them NOW However, from this article, http://sturgeon.apcc.com/kbasewb2.nsf/for+external/f39c4312fcaf7b948525679a005ebb78?OpenDocument it seems that it's not so clear that the UPS battery needs to be replaced. Stranger, according to the information on the UPS, an 11 minute runtime at 42.9% load running at 27.7V isn't so bad. Any thoughts about what to try next? We're a non-profit, money is an object. It would be a shame to replace a battery with a year or so left in it. # apcaccess status APC : 001,041,1017 DATE : Thu Mar 29 13:01:41 EDT 2012 HOSTNAME : oreilly2 VERSION : 3.14.6 (16 May 2009) debian UPSNAME : xxxx CABLE : Custom Cable Smart MODEL : Smart-UPS 1500 UPSMODE : Stand Alone STARTTIME: Thu Mar 29 12:57:30 EDT 2012 STATUS : ONLINE LINEV : 112.3 Volts LOADPCT : 42.9 Percent Load Capacity BCHARGE : 100.0 Percent TIMELEFT : 11.0 Minutes MBATTCHG : 5 Percent MINTIMEL : 3 Minutes MAXTIME : 0 Seconds OUTPUTV : 112.3 Volts SENSE : High DWAKE : -01 Seconds DSHUTD : 090 Seconds LOTRANS : 106.0 Volts HITRANS : 127.0 Volts RETPCT : 000.0 Percent ITEMP : 23.8 C Internal ALARMDEL : Always BATTV : 27.7 Volts LINEFREQ : 60.0 Hz LASTXFER : No transfers since turnon NUMXFERS : 0 TONBATT : 0 seconds CUMONBATT: 0 seconds XOFFBATT : N/A SELFTEST : NO STATFLAG : 0x07000008 Status Flag SERIALNO : AS0603298896 BATTDATE : 2006-01-14 NOMOUTV : 120 Volts NOMBATTV : 24.0 Volts FIRMWARE : 601.3.D USB FW:1.5 APCMODEL : Smart-UPS 1500 END APC : Thu Mar 29 13:02:12 EDT 2012 Error when running upstest You are using a SMART cable type, so I'm entering SMART test mode mode.type = USB_UPS Setting up the port ... Hello, this is the apcupsd Cable Test program. This part of apctest is for testing Smart UPSes. Please select the function you want to perform. 1) Query the UPS for all known values 2) Perform a Battery Runtime Calibration 3) Abort Battery Calibration 4) Monitor Battery Calibration progress 5) Program EEPROM 6) Enter TTY mode communicating with UPS 7) Quit Select function number: 2 First ensure that we have a good link and that the UPS is functionning normally. Simulating UPSlinkCheck ... YWrote: Y Got: getline failed. Apparently the link is not up. Giving up.

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• Sending text messages from Raspberry Pi via email fails

  - by vgm64

  I'm using mailx on my raspberry pi to try to send text messages updates for event monitoring. My phone number: 9876543210 My phone's email-to-text gateway address: [email protected] I can 1) Send emails from my raspberry pi to various email addresses. mail -r [email protected] -s "My Subject" [email protected] < body.txt and off it goes and is successfully delivered. 2) Send emails from various email address (not on RPi) using mailx to the above phone-email address and have them delivered as text messages. However, when sending emails to [email protected] from the Raspberry Pi using mailx the emails seem to spiral into the void and are never heard of again (no errors, no undeliverable messages, nothing). Does anyone know what could be causing this to go awry? Something about the basic deployment of the mail server on the pi? EDIT Based on @kobaltz's suggestion, I used sendmail instead. This led to a hang, then an error that stated that I lacked a fully qualified domain name (FQDN). I then used this website's instructions to add a domain name to the RPi. To paraphrase: I have set the FQDN in /etc/hostname: my-host-name.my-domain.com and /etc/hosts: 127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost 192.168.0.5 my-host-name.my-domain.com my-host-name Then add to /etc/mail/sendmail.cf: MASQUERADE_AS(`my-domain.com') MASQUERADE_DOMAIN(`my-host-name.my-domain.com') FEATURE(`masquerade_entire_domain') FEATURE(`masquerade_envelope') I put this in /etc/mail/sendmail.cf, BEFORE the MAILER() lines, ran sendmailconfig, answered Yes to the questions about using the existing files, and restarted sendmail. Emails now have the proper domain name. Progress, however, I am now stuck at the following error: 354 Enter mail, end with "." on a line by itself >>> . 050 <[email protected]>... Connecting to mxx.cingularme.com. via esmtp... 050 421 Service not available 050 >>> QUIT 050 <[email protected]>... Deferred: 421 Service not available 250 2.0.0 q9U3ZESt021150 Message accepted for delivery [email protected]... Sent (q9U3ZESt021150 Message accepted for delivery) Closing connection to [127.0.0.1] >>> QUIT

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• Profiles and using the local profile for a domain user

  - by Harry

  I’m having some trouble with profiles and would like to reach out for some help. I’ve tried to do some research to help myself along, but I’m not making much progress on my own. I’ve pretty much taken over the sys admin duties for my small lab, I don’t have much experience to justify it besides I’m the only with the time and dedication to go at it (The environment was in a state of disrepair). My network and domain I look over are extremely small by most standards, about 10 users at a time. They are pretty intensive activity on the network, and we do work with fairly large files. None of the network is online, which is nice at the moment because it allows me not to have another headache. On to my profile problem, I have set up roaming profiles for the users in the network. Now after a little research, I think I will be switching this to a hybrid of folder redirection and roaming profiles as this seems to best practice. I also don’t want the users having to wait for a long time if they have a bloated profile. Now I’ve finally got a build working using MDT. We have Mac Pros, and it wasn’t fun getting everything to play nice. The way I did this was by setting up a reference computer and installing all the software and tools that each user would need and editing the settings preferences to how we would need them. I think used MDT to do a sys prep and capture to create the image of my reference computer. Using the reference image I can push out my images to the rest of the desktops in my environment. The issue I’m having is when we join the computer to domain. The user can login and operate fine on the computer, but I’d like a more. When the user is logged on with their domain user name they lose a lot of the icons I had on my reference image, as well as the desktop background and some other miscellaneous settings. I would love to have the user log on using their domain user name and see the icons and desktop environment as I had it setup on the reference computer. I’m not sure if it is possible, or something simple that I’m missing, but any help would be greatly appreciated!

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• Filtering Security Logs by User and Logon Type

  - by Trido

  I have been asked to find out when a user has logged on to the system in the last week. Now the audit logs in Windows should contain all the info I need. I think if I search for Event ID 4624 (Logon Success) with a specific AD user and Logon Type 2 (Interactive Logon) that it should give me the information I need, but for the life of my I cannot figure out how to actually filter the Event Log to get this information. Is it possible inside of the Event Viewer or do you need to use an external tool to parse it to this level? I found http://nerdsknowbest.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/filter-security-event-logs-by-user-in.html which seemed to be part of what I needed. I modified it slightly to only give me the last 7 days worth. Below is the XML I tried. <QueryList> <Query Id="0" Path="Security"> <Select Path="Security">*[System[(EventID=4624) and TimeCreated[timediff(@SystemTime) &lt;= 604800000]]]</Select> <Select Path="Security">*[EventData[Data[@Name='Logon Type']='2']]</Select> <Select Path="Security">*[EventData[Data[@Name='subjectUsername']='Domain\Username']]</Select> </Query> </QueryList> It only gave me the last 7 days, but the rest of it did not work. Can anyone assist me with this? EDIT Thanks to the suggestions of Lucky Luke I have been making progress. The below is my current query, although as I will explain it isn't returning any results. <QueryList> <Query Id="0" Path="Security"> <Select Path="Security"> *[System[(EventID='4624')] and System[TimeCreated[timediff(@SystemTime) &lt;= 604800000]] and EventData[Data[@Name='TargetUserName']='john.doe'] and EventData[Data[@Name='LogonType']='2'] ] </Select> </Query> </QueryList> As I mentioned, it wasn't returning any results so I have been messing with it a bit. I can get it to produce the results correctly until I add in the LogonType line. After that, it returns no results. Any idea why this might be? EDIT 2 I updated the LogonType line to the following: EventData[Data[@Name='LogonType'] and (Data='2' or Data='7')] This should capture Workstation Logons as well as Workstation Unlocks, but I still get nothing. I then modify it to search for other Logon Types like 3, or 8 which it finds plenty of. This leads me to believe that the query works correctly, but for some reason there are no entries in the Event Logs with Logon Type equalling 2 and this makes no sense to me. Is it possible to turn this off?

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• chrooting user causes "connection closed" message when using sftp

  - by George Reith

  First off I am a linux newbie so please don't assume much knowledge. I am using CentOS 5.8 (final) and using OpenSSH version 5.8p1. I have made a user playwithbits and I am attempting to chroot them to the directory home/nginx/domains/playwithbits/public I am using the following match statement in my sshd_config file: Match group web-root-locked ChrootDirectory /home/nginx/domains/%u/public X11Forwarding no AllowTcpForwarding no ForceCommand /usr/libexec/openssh/sftp-server # id playwithbits returns: uid=504(playwithbits) gid=504(playwithbits) groups=504(playwithbits),507(web-root-locked) I have changed the user's home directory to: home/nginx/domains/playwithbits/public Now when I attempt to sftp in with this user I instantly get the message: connection closed Does anyone know what I am doing wrong? Edit: Following advice from @Dennis Williamson I have connected in debug mode (I think... correct me if I'm wrong). I have made a bit of progress by using chmod to set permissions recursively of all files in the directly to 700. Now I get the following messages when I attempt to log on (still connection refused): Connection from [My ip address] port 38737 debug1: Client protocol version 2.0; client software version OpenSSH_5.6 debug1: match: OpenSSH_5.6 pat OpenSSH* debug1: Enabling compatibility mode for protocol 2.0 debug1: Local version string SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_5.8 debug1: permanently_set_uid: 74/74 debug1: list_hostkey_types: ssh-rsa,ssh-dss debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT sent debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT received debug1: kex: client->server aes128-ctr hmac-md5 none debug1: kex: server->client aes128-ctr hmac-md5 none debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_REQUEST received debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_GROUP sent debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_INIT debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEX_DH_GEX_REPLY sent debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS sent debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS received debug1: KEX done debug1: userauth-request for user playwithbits service ssh-connection method none debug1: attempt 0 failures 0 debug1: user playwithbits matched group list web-root-locked at line 91 debug1: PAM: initializing for "playwithbits" debug1: PAM: setting PAM_RHOST to [My host info] debug1: PAM: setting PAM_TTY to "ssh" debug1: userauth-request for user playwithbits service ssh-connection method password debug1: attempt 1 failures 0 debug1: PAM: password authentication accepted for playwithbits debug1: do_pam_account: called Accepted password for playwithbits from [My ip address] port 38737 ssh2 debug1: monitor_child_preauth: playwithbits has been authenticated by privileged process debug1: SELinux support disabled debug1: PAM: establishing credentials User child is on pid 3942 debug1: PAM: establishing credentials Changed root directory to "/home/nginx/domains/playwithbits/public" debug1: permanently_set_uid: 504/504 debug1: Entering interactive session for SSH2. debug1: server_init_dispatch_20 debug1: server_input_channel_open: ctype session rchan 0 win 2097152 max 32768 debug1: input_session_request debug1: channel 0: new [server-session] debug1: session_new: session 0 debug1: session_open: channel 0 debug1: session_open: session 0: link with channel 0 debug1: server_input_channel_open: confirm session debug1: server_input_global_request: rtype [email protected] want_reply 0 debug1: server_input_channel_req: channel 0 request env reply 0 debug1: session_by_channel: session 0 channel 0 debug1: session_input_channel_req: session 0 req env debug1: server_input_channel_req: channel 0 request subsystem reply 1 debug1: session_by_channel: session 0 channel 0 debug1: session_input_channel_req: session 0 req subsystem subsystem request for sftp by user playwithbits debug1: subsystem: cannot stat /usr/libexec/openssh/sftp-server: Permission denied debug1: subsystem: exec() /usr/libexec/openssh/sftp-server debug1: Forced command (config) '/usr/libexec/openssh/sftp-server' debug1: session_new: session 0 debug1: Received SIGCHLD. debug1: session_by_pid: pid 3943 debug1: session_exit_message: session 0 channel 0 pid 3943 debug1: session_exit_message: release channel 0 debug1: session_by_channel: session 0 channel 0 debug1: session_close_by_channel: channel 0 child 0 debug1: session_close: session 0 pid 0 debug1: channel 0: free: server-session, nchannels 1 Received disconnect from [My ip address]: 11: disconnected by user debug1: do_cleanup debug1: do_cleanup debug1: PAM: cleanup debug1: PAM: closing session debug1: PAM: deleting credentials

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• "vagrant up" fails with "NS_ERROR_CALL_FAILED" error [on hold]

  - by TahitiPetey

  I am following the basic "Getting Started" guide: http://docs.vagrantup.com/v2/getting-started/index.html I ran vagrant init <etc> followed by vagrant up, but it fails with "NS_ERROR_CALL_FAILED" error. Then by enabling debug logging with VAGRANT_LOG=debug vagrant up, I get the following error output: ERROR vagrant: /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/base.rb:316:in `execute' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/plugins/providers/virtualbox/driver/version_4_2.rb:165:in `import' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/plugins/providers/virtualbox/action/import.rb:15:in `call' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/action/warden.rb:34:in `call' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/action/builtin/handle_box_url.rb:72:in `call' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/action/warden.rb:34:in `call' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/plugins/providers/virtualbox/action/check_accessible.rb:18:in `call' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/action/warden.rb:34:in `call' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/action/runner.rb:61:in `block in run' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/util/busy.rb:19:in `busy' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/action/runner.rb:61:in `run' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/action/builtin/call.rb:51:in `call' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/action/warden.rb:34:in `call' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/action/builtin/config_validate.rb:25:in `call' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/action/warden.rb:34:in `call' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/plugins/providers/virtualbox/action/check_virtualbox.rb:17:in `call' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/action/warden.rb:34:in `call' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/action/builder.rb:116:in `call' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/action/runner.rb:61:in `block in run' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/util/busy.rb:19:in `busy' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/action/runner.rb:61:in `run' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/machine.rb:147:in `action' /Applications/Vagrant/embedded/gems/gems/vagrant-1.2.2/lib/vagrant/batch_action.rb:63:in `block (2 levels) in run' INFO interface: error: There was an error while executing `VBoxManage`, a CLI used by Vagrant for controlling VirtualBox. The command and stderr is shown below. Command: ["import", "/Users/me/.vagrant.d/boxes/precise32/virtualbox/box.ovf"] Stderr: 0%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100% Interpreting /Users/me/.vagrant.d/boxes/precise32/virtualbox/box.ovf... OK. 0%... Progress object failure: NS_ERROR_CALL_FAILED My system setup info: Vagrant 1.2.2 VirtualBox 4.2.14 (Also tried 4.2.10, same error) Mac OSX 10.8.3

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