From: Digest To: "OS/2GenAu Digest" Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2004 00:01:11 EST-10EDT,10,-1,0,7200,3,-1,0,7200,3600 Subject: [os2genau_digest] No. 978 Reply-To: X-List-Unsubscribe: www.os2site.com/list/ ************************************************** Friday 12 November 2004 Number 978 ************************************************** Subjects for today 1 Banks brace for cashpoint attack : Ian Manners" 2 Re: Orian Systems : Ed Durrant 3 Re: Cable Broadband : Ed Durrant 4 Re: Cable Broadband : Voytek Eymont" 5 Re: Cable Broadband : Voytek Eymont" 6 Re: Orian Systems : Voytek Eymont" 7 Re: Cable Broadband : Paul Smedley 8 Re: Orian Systems : Kev 9 Re: Orian Systems : Voytek Eymont" 10 Forefox and Thunderbird : Kev 11 Re: Forefox and Thunderbird : Dennis Nolan 12 Re: Cable Broadband : Ed Durrant 13 Re: Forefox and Thunderbird : Kev 14 Re: Linux vs OS/2-eCS (was: Orian Systems) : Ed Durrant 15 Re: Cable Broadband : Voytek Eymont" 16 Re: Cable Broadband : Ed Durrant 17 Re: Cable Broadband : Paul Smedley **= Email 1 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 01:51:17 +1100 (EDT) From: "Ian Manners" Subject: Banks brace for cashpoint attack http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/11/banks_prepare_for_atm_cyber_crime/ Cheers Ian Manners http://www.os2site dot com/ If at first you succeed, hide your astonishment. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 2 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 06:07:09 +1100 From: Ed Durrant Subject: Re: Orian Systems Please read: http://www.orionsolutions dot com dot au/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=23&zenid=f465baed79163515a5ace022e5f6b374 For the reason why. This is not a vote against eCS but rather the fact that resellers (rather than distributors) are hit by import duties and this simply raises their cost when compared to on-line purchasing directly from the, now sole, distributor - Mensys. By the way, the company name is Orion Solutions, not Orian systems. Cheers/2 Ed. Eric Schilke wrote: > On Thu, 2004-11-11 at 06:04, Dennis Nolan wrote: > > Hi > > > > I was just at their web site to bite the bullit and update eCS and > > firstly noticed that the number available was zero, last week it was 1000. > > > > Then read the notice, seems like they've pulled the plug on eCS. > > > > The eComStation site still has them listed as a reseller. > > > > I supose we will have to deal with Mensys in the future. > > > > Regards > > > > Dennis. > > > I am just *this* close to forgetting about OS/2 forever. I'm writing > from Linux.... > > Eric Schilke > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 3 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 06:14:43 +1100 From: Ed Durrant Subject: Re: Cable Broadband John Angelico wrote: > On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 21:33:09 +1000, David Shearer wrote: > > Hi David. > > >I am thinking about going for cable broadband - upgrading from ADSL. > > That's an interesting way to move, given the hype over ADSL as *THE* greatest > thing in broadband... > > >Can anyone advise on Telstra Bigpond? > > I suggest that you check the whirlpool site http://whirlpool dot net dot au/ if you > on't already know it. > > Kipling said "The race is not alwayus to the swift, nor the battle to the > strong, but that's the way to bet!" IOW going by the form guide, Telstra > service may be somewhat lacking... > > >How does it work under OS/2 or eCs? > > I'm on Optus, but I would guess that Telstra techo's only know how to install > to a Win box. So rig up a simple Win box as similar to your OS/2 as you can > (dual boot would be a great way to do it...) and get them to install. Then > take all the settings over to the OS/2 side. > > >Does the cable modem connect to your network card and > >issue IP addresses via DHCP like my current ADSL one? > > Yes, that much I know is common. > > Best regards > John Angelico > OS/2 SIG > os2 at melbpc dot org dot au or > talldad at kepl dot com dot au > ___________________ The major difference between Bigpond Cable and Optus is that although both use the DOCSIS communications standard, Telstra uses an additional heartbeat signal that must be sent ever 7 minutes (or less) otherwise the link will be disconnected. If you are sharing your connection across several PCs, use a hardware router with Telstra Bigpond cable compatibility (ie the heartbeat). If you wish to connect only one PC, you will need a BpLogin client. There are two - one is JAVA the other an OS/2 port of a Linux one. A search using Google should bring up their location on the web. Cheers/2 Ed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 4 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 07:09:24 +1100 (EST) From: "Voytek Eymont" Subject: Re: Cable Broadband John Angelico said: > On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 21:33:09 +1000, David Shearer wrote: > >>Can anyone advise on Telstra Bigpond? AFAIK, Telstra uses some proprietary 'heartbeat' 'protocol' ? to check for ?... so, I think it needs a heartbeat client. most cable routers will have that built -in, AFAIK also, Dr Martinic sp ? in Sydney converted the heartbeat code to OS/2, so, there is an OS/2 client. though, all-in all, I don't see big problem with using OS/2 on T cable -- Voytek ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 5 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 07:12:20 +1100 (EST) From: "Voytek Eymont" Subject: Re: Cable Broadband Ed Durrant said: > > > John Angelico wrote: > >> On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 21:33:09 +1000, David Shearer wrote: > > The major difference between Bigpond Cable and Optus is that although both > use the > DOCSIS communications standard, Telstra uses an additional heartbeat > signal that must > be sent ever 7 minutes (or less) otherwise the link will be disconnected. > > If you are sharing your connection across several PCs, use a hardware > router with > Telstra Bigpond cable compatibility (ie the heartbeat). If you wish to > connect only > one PC, you will need a BpLogin client. There are two - one is JAVA the > other an OS/2 > port of a Linux one. A search using Google should bring up their location > on the web. Ed, I should have read all the messages nefore posting my half-reply..... I agree, a hardware router with T client is the preferred way I also heard T will ditch the heartbeat soon ? and use non-p protocols -- Voytek ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 6 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 07:17:19 +1100 (EST) From: "Voytek Eymont" Subject: Re: Orian Systems Eric Schilke said: > On Thu, 2004-11-11 at 06:04, Dennis Nolan wrote: > I am just *this* close to forgetting about OS/2 forever. I'm writing > from Linux.... Eric, if I could get performance even similar to OS/2 on Linux, perhaps I would too but, I'm not willing to throw all this hardware at Linux just to try to approach, let alone, match, the performance of an OS/2 box too say nothing about WPS. -- Voytek ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 7 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 07:08:50 +1030 From: Paul Smedley Subject: Re: Cable Broadband Hi David, David Shearer wrote: > I am thinking about going for cable broadband - upgrading from ADSL. Can anyone advise on Telstra > Bigpond? How does it work under OS/2 or eCs? Does the cable modem connect to your network card and > issue IP addresses via DHCP like my current ADSL one? Yes the cable modem connects to your network card and issues an IP - however, with Telstra you need a login client. Fortunately, there is an OS/2 version of bpalogin (the opensource login client) at http://bpalogin.sourceforge dot net/index.php?page=download Or just get a router with a built-in Telstra Bigpond Cable login client. BP Cable works fine with OS/2 - both Ed and I at least are using it. Cheers, Paul. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 8 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 10:29:43 +0800 From: Kev Subject: Re: Orian Systems Voytek Eymont wrote: >>I am just *this* close to forgetting about OS/2 forever. I'm writing >>from Linux.... > if I could get performance even similar to OS/2 on Linux, perhaps I would too > but, I'm not willing to throw all this hardware at Linux just to try to > approach, let alone, match, the performance of an OS/2 box Well I went to Linux for 10 months - and I'm back. Sad to say tho, I know that I'll end up on Linux - eventually. When a desktop version is finally sorted out (within the next 3 yrs I reckon at the current rate of development) it'll be the only non-M$ OS with enough support for modern hardware. The main thing holding Linux back from universal acceptance now, in my opinion, is the Linux community itself. There appears to be very few of them who want drop their exclusivist stance and actually help newbies and non-technical people who just want to do their work on Linux boxes. Most of the "help" you get now is derision and virtual sniggering. I do still run a Linux box so that I can play with it in my own time and hopefully be up to speed when that aweful day arrives. I have just (in the last couple of weeks) installed SimplyMEPIS (http://www.mepis dot org/) It seems to have some promise for the future. When I can get a free one I'll install Novell's brand of SuSE and have a run with that. The demo I saw of it shows some merit there also. > too say nothing about WPS. I wish the old rumours about IBM porting the WPS to Linux were true. This is the item which will make me hang on to the very last. There really is NOTHING out there in the PC world with that amount of power. Cheers Kev Downes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 9 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 14:13:41 +1100 (EST) From: "Voytek Eymont" Subject: Re: Orian Systems Kev said: > Voytek Eymont wrote: > Well I went to Linux for 10 months - and I'm back. Sad to say tho, I > know that I'll end up on Linux - eventually. what about a Mac ? I'm very tempted to get one, actually the OSX Mac are *nix under cover fwiw, I'm about to set up for myself a windoze box, yes, I'm giving in.. well, not exactly - I just want a windoze box to sync the Palm, that's all as for Linux, I have Linux servers, and, clearly, as servers, they're unmatchable as for desktop, as you and I said, WPS is hard to beat or, even come close to -- Voytek ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 10 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:27:30 +0800 From: Kev Subject: Forefox and Thunderbird Hi all (and one) I have Firefox and Thunderbird setup and running and using my default HOME settings (shown below). At least I assume they're using these settings, as they both said they would import the Mozilla settings when I installed them. For sure all my mail folders came over to TB and all my bookmarks came over to FF. SET HOME=G:\HOME\Kev SET MOZILLA_HOME=G:\HOME\Kev SET MOZ_PLUGIN_PATH=G:\PROGRAMS\MOZ_PLUG I need help with .... 1. Do you know how to make FF fire up when I click a link in an e-mail? 2. Do you know how to make TB fire up when I click a link in FF? 3. Also, how do I get FF to tell me of all the installed plugins that it's using? I've scoured all the helps I can find - and I can't find! I have a default plugin environment variable set, but I fear that there are none being used in FF. I tried copying all of the plugins in the default directory over to the plugins directory under FF, but I can't find how to check that they're in use. Thanx Kev Downes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 11 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 20:39:25 +1100 From: Dennis Nolan Subject: Re: Forefox and Thunderbird For Plugins Firefox Tools menu item/Options Select Downloads At the bottom of the file types panel is the Plugins Button As for the auto opening of firefox from Thunderbird: I think you have to make Firefox your default browser. I recall I had the problem and fixed it, but my memory is becoming selectivly inconsistent, and so I can't remember what I did to fix it. Regards Dennis. Kev wrote: > Hi all (and one) > > I have Firefox and Thunderbird setup and running and using my default > HOME settings (shown below). At least I assume they're using these > settings, as they both said they would import the Mozilla settings > when I installed them. For sure all my mail folders came over to TB > and all my bookmarks came over to FF. > > SET HOME=G:\HOME\Kev > SET MOZILLA_HOME=G:\HOME\Kev > SET MOZ_PLUGIN_PATH=G:\PROGRAMS\MOZ_PLUG > > I need help with .... > > 1. Do you know how to make FF fire up when I click a link in an e-mail? > 2. Do you know how to make TB fire up when I click a link in FF? > 3. Also, how do I get FF to tell me of all the installed plugins that > it's using? > > I've scoured all the helps I can find - and I can't find! I have a > default plugin environment variable set, but I fear that there are > none being used in FF. I tried copying all of the plugins in the > default directory over to the plugins directory under FF, but I can't > find how to check that they're in use. > > Thanx > Kev Downes > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 12 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 20:37:13 +1100 From: Ed Durrant Subject: Re: Cable Broadband Voytek Eymont wrote: > Ed Durrant said: > > > > > > John Angelico wrote: > > > >> On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 21:33:09 +1000, David Shearer wrote: > > > > > The major difference between Bigpond Cable and Optus is that although both > > use the > > DOCSIS communications standard, Telstra uses an additional heartbeat > > signal that must > > be sent ever 7 minutes (or less) otherwise the link will be disconnected. > > > > If you are sharing your connection across several PCs, use a hardware > > router with > > Telstra Bigpond cable compatibility (ie the heartbeat). If you wish to > > connect only > > one PC, you will need a BpLogin client. There are two - one is JAVA the > > other an OS/2 > > port of a Linux one. A search using Google should bring up their location > > on the web. > > Ed, I should have read all the messages nefore posting my half-reply..... > > I agree, a hardware router with T client is the preferred way > > I also heard T will ditch the heartbeat soon ? and use non-p protocols > > -- > Voytek No Problems. I use BP Cable myself. I know Telstra are upgrading their network with newer, less fragile modems that are able to scan channels for the best connection, however as far as I know, the heartbeat will stay. Not all hardware routers have the heartbeat function. In the case of the Linksys WRT54G wireless / wired router that I have, I had to load a new (non-Linksys) firmware to get the feature. At present I would NOT recomend this model for Telstra BP cable as I am having problems with it dropping the link every 2 to 3 days. I believe others don't have this problem, so it could be a combination of configurations / impacts. I only know that my previous OS/2 WArp 4 based router NEVER dropped the link except when Telstra had a network outage. I guess I down-graded when I went to the embedded *nix device just to get wireless !! Cheers/2 Ed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 13 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 17:57:20 +0800 From: Kev Subject: Re: Forefox and Thunderbird Hi Dennis Dennis Nolan wrote: > For Plugins > > Firefox Tools menu item/Options > > Select Downloads > At the bottom of the file types panel is the Plugins Button Right!! Found it! What an obscure place to put it. It shows a blank list. ie no plugins. However, if I type about:plugins in the location bar it gives me the list I expect to find there. I think I'll have to write off to Bugzilla. > > > As for the auto opening of firefox from Thunderbird: I think you have to > make Firefox your default browser. I recall I had the problem and fixed > it, but my memory is becoming selectivly inconsistent, and so I can't > remember what I did to fix it. I think for now I'll call it off and stick to Mozilla until a few more bugs are ironed out. I just found a new one. About an hour ago I upgraded to FF v1.0 ga from FF v1.0 pr. With the ga version installed I couldn't even open the 2 apps (FF and TB) at the same time. It had to be 1 or the other. Now I'm back to the pr version I can at least have the 2 open at the same time. Thanx gize Kev Downes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 14 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 21:02:48 +1100 From: Ed Durrant Subject: Re: Linux vs OS/2-eCS (was: Orian Systems) Kev wrote: > > The main thing holding Linux back from universal > acceptance now, in my opinion, is the Linux community itself. There > appears to be very few of them who want drop their exclusivist stance > and actually help newbies and non-technical people who just want to do > their work on Linux boxes. Most of the "help" you get now is derision > and virtual sniggering. > And don't forget the still open legal issues ! If it is proved that Linux includes "stolen" code, people using it could effectively be considered as accepting stolen goods (the fact that they didn't know it was stolen is no defence). > > > too say nothing about WPS. > > I wish the old rumours about IBM porting the WPS to Linux were true. > I thought the rumours were that thw WPS was being ported to "codename K42" , not Linux. > This is the item which will make me hang on to the very last. There > really is NOTHING out there in the PC world with that amount of power. > > Cheers > Kev Downes > Cheers/2 Ed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 15 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 21:08:58 +1100 (EST) From: "Voytek Eymont" Subject: Re: Cable Broadband Ed Durrant said: > Voytek Eymont wrote: >> Ed Durrant said: >> > John Angelico wrote: >> >> On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 21:33:09 +1000, David Shearer wrote: > I use BP Cable myself. I know Telstra are upgrading their network with > newer, less > fragile modems that are able to scan channels for the best connection, > however as far > as I know, the heartbeat will stay. > > Not all hardware routers have the heartbeat function. In the case of the > Linksys > WRT54G wireless / wired router that I have, I had to load a new > (non-Linksys) firmware > to get the feature. At present I would NOT recomend this model for Telstra > BP cable as > I am having problems with it dropping the link every 2 to 3 days. I > believe others > don't have this problem, so it could be a combination of configurations / > impacts. I > only know that my previous OS/2 WArp 4 based router NEVER dropped the link > except when > Telstra had a network outage. I guess I down-graded when I went to the > embedded *nix > device just to get wireless !! a friend of mine has Dlink 804, and, also has drop outs, he power cycles his Dlink on regular intervals, and, blames it on h/beat the WRT54G, that's the one I'm thinking of getting, when I go wireless for now, I've gone wireless with Palm on Bluetooth -- Voytek ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 16 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 21:20:22 +1100 From: Ed Durrant Subject: Re: Cable Broadband Voytek Eymont wrote: > > a friend of mine has Dlink 804, and, also has drop outs, he power cycles > his Dlink on regular intervals, and, blames it on h/beat > > the WRT54G, that's the one I'm thinking of getting, when I go wireless > The heat suggestion is a possible I suppose. I had the WRT54G sat on top of the Telstra Modem which gets quite hot. I've now moved it so, we'll see ahat happens. When the link stops, the rest of the router is OK and I only need to do a disconnect and re-connect via the Web Interface (effectively a logoff - logon), so this may not be the same problem your friend has. Cheers/2 Ed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **= Email 17 ==========================** Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 21:43:08 +1030 From: Paul Smedley Subject: Re: Cable Broadband Hi Ed, Ed Durrant wrote: > When the link stops, the rest of the router is OK and I only need to do a disconnect > and re-connect via the Web Interface (effectively a logoff - logon), so this may not > be the same problem your friend has. I had the same issue with my Netgear WGR614v2 - for a while there I even disabled the login on the router and had bpalogin running on the desktop but still using the router for wireless. The Telstra heartbeat server is sporadically not sending the regular heartbeat - bpalogin and the telstra login automatically log back in if the heartbeat is not received - most routers don't. Mine is much better since I change the frequency used by the cable modem - how to do this depends which cable modem you have... there were thread on Whirlpool about this. Cheers, Paul. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------