- Arch-general - lists.archlinux.org

[arch-general] Need Text-to-Speech
by Keith 23 Nov '09

23 Nov '09

On Sun, 22 Nov 2009, at 22:16:58 -0500, Daenyth Blank wrote: > This article may help: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_Linux_for_the_blind and my well have saved sound's sanity, if not tried life. I knew such a play existed but finding it was beyond my abilities. Thank you SO much, Daenyth. I'll (*briefly*) post progress (which will be slow, through the codeine fog ATM; doc with likely be giving me something MUCH stronger in 8 hours, so I'd best move fast...). Peace to you, Daenyth.

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[arch-general] svn:keywords is not set on newer packages
by Evangelos Foutras 23 Nov '09

23 Nov '09

Hello, The $Id$ keyword came up while talking with Angel and I realized that the svn:keywords property doesn't get set on PKGBUILD for new packages, and thus $Id$ doesn't get updated on commit. I believe we should fix this, as this information is useful when determining when a PKGBUILD was last modified and by whom. May I suggest we do the following: 1) Edit the "Adding a package" section [1] of the packaging instructions in the DeveloperWiki to include this step. (Adding `svn propset svn:keywords "Id" new-package/trunk/PKGBUILD' below the $EDITOR line perhaps?) 2) Add this property to all packages (this has been done once before by Aaron, if I remember correctly). What's your view on this? ---- [1] http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/DeveloperWiki:HOWTO_Be_A_Packager#Addin…

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[arch-general] Need Text-to-Speech
by Keith 23 Nov '09

23 Nov '09

Hello. Please excuse my spelling; it's why I'm writing. In the past 3-4 weeks (or less), I've developed a very intense case of "alexia" (I'd never heard of it befor, either). If anyone might be interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexia_%28disorder%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexia_%28acquired_dyslexia%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphasia#History My hearing and speech are completely unaffected. My reading and writing are about 99% dysfunctional. I face the bigging fight of me life, and am not able to comprehend more than 1-2% of any of the links above - or much more than that of the ArchLinx home page, for that matter. I'm in VERY bad need of a simple but effective text-to-speech program. If it can read/render a web-page, and plan text, that'll a darned go start. I'll be (very) slow to reply to posts; my assistant to 100% non-technical, but I well do my best; 10-15 minutes reading = a 5 hour migraine. This post today 5 hours to written, until I afraid for assistance. Ok - AMD x86_64. TIA in the extreme.

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[arch-general] Akonadi control process not registered at D-Bus, committing suicide! -- WTF?
by David C. Rankin 23 Nov '09

23 Nov '09

Guys, I'm trying to figure out what akonadi is doing on my new install, (moreover how to pronouce it's name), and what I am faced with is some strange errors. Specifically, the "Akonadi Server Self-Test Report" that appears when Akonadi crashes is located at: (9k) http://www.3111skyline.com/download/Archlinux/bugs/akonodi-error-on-start.t… I found the following recently closed bug, and either it is something else that is happening, or there may be a regression: http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/16341?string=ed I also found the following, but I'm still having problems: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=85088 Admittedly, I know very little about akonadi, and whether I have packages missing, a config error, or if akonadi is having problems. So, if anybody can help or offer a link or two to some useful information, I would appreciate it. Thanks. -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com

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Re: [arch-general] [arch-dev-public] kernel 2.6.32 experiences
by Damjan Georgievski 22 Nov '09

22 Nov '09

> I've built kernel 2.6.32rc8git1. My ati/radeon drm modules now > requires its own firmware that will be part of new kernel26-firmware > pkg. > > And we need to fix mkinitcpio to include that firmware for kms early > mode that now fails due to missing firmware. It did not help to add > FILES="/lib/firmware/radeon/R300_cp.bin" :( - maybe we need a new hook > for that. did you enable the firmware hook? I wonder how all of this will work on my HD3200 -- damjan

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[arch-general] We need a maintained-by-TU chrome/chromium...
by Hamo 21 Nov '09

21 Nov '09

Dear Archlinux users, Chrome is likely to be a daily-use web browser and with the Chrome OS releasing,it will become more and more reliable.Archlinux is a rolling-release distribution and it aims at being bleeding edge.So we should have a maintained-by-TU chrome/chromium and it is really useful... -- Nick Name:Hamo Website:http://hamobai.com/

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[arch-general] [PATCH] send hostname to DHCP server / router
by Suraj Kurapati 21 Nov '09

21 Nov '09

Hello, For the longest time, the default ArchLinux networking setup had one deficiency: it would not send the machine hostname to the DHCP server / router when acquiring a DHCP lease. As a result, I was never able to ping/ssh my ArchLinux system by its hostname from other machines in my home network --- instead, I was always forced to type out my ArchLinux system's IP address in full. I looked high and low across the 'net before I finally found the answer in the dhcpcd.conf man page: the solution is to add the following line to your /etc/dhcpcd.conf file: hostname One thing that confused me is this line in the default ArchLinux /etc/dhcpd.conf file: # dhcpcd-run-hooks uses these options. option domain_name_servers, domain_name, domain_search, host_name The "option host_name" part *seems* like it would send your machine's hostname to the DHCP server, but it really doesn't. Maybe that's a bug? I request the developers in charge of the default ArchLinux networking setup to make the above change, so that ArchLinux systems send their hostnames to the DHCP server (and therefore can be pinged/ssh'ed/accessed by their hostname) out of the box! Thanks for your consideration.

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[arch-general] Borken kernel-2.6.31.6-1.tar.gz ?
by David Dupin 20 Nov '09

20 Nov '09

Hi, It seems that kernel-2.6.31.6-1.tar.gz is broken and can't be updated on i686 arch. On my x86_64 it works fine. If i unzip the download package i get message "invalid compressed data--format violated" Someone can confirm it ? PS : i try more than one repo but all fails.

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[arch-general] The ultimate Home Theater / media center computer
by RedShift 20 Nov '09

20 Nov '09

Hi list Somehow I got it into my head that I want a home theater PC. I'm growing tired of having to watch television and movies on my computer's 17" LCD screen. At the shop I used to work at, once in a while we'd build a media center computer, but the concept never really took off here (Belgium). There are many reasons for that, such as: * Television is major suckage here (thanks to That Big Company and Government-Not-Governing). The entire country is split into very small regions where broadcast frequencies differ, there's no unified TV guide system, not all regions can receive all channels. Digital television is even worse: That Big Company forces you to buy one of their proprietary decoders. The only way to receive digital television without restrictions is DVB-T with a very limited number of channels (basically nothing). * At that time, the hardware sucked (noisy, too big, not stylish enough to put it along your other hi-fi components, not powerful enough, limited digital outputs, etc...). The software wasn't much better (too complicated, took a long time to start, etc...). Anyway, my goal is to build the *ULTIMATE* HTPC. As such, strong demands must be met: The hardware: * It should be stylish, a timeless look which fits with your other hi-fi components. * It must be entirely silent. Zero moving components. No exceptions. * Unrestricted fully digital outputs. * Must be able to play at least 720p MKV's using x264 encoded video. * Easy remote control. No remote controls with more buttons than there are stars in the sky and certainly no "dual function" buttons (those functions in a different color which you need to flick a switch or are context dependent). * Able to receive DVB-C. The software: * There is no room for "Digital Rights Management" fascism. All content must play flawless and in the highest quality possible. In some cases this will mean circumventing protections. That'll probably make the device illegal in some countries, but I don't care. * Easy user interface (also see hardware remote control point). * Can connect to NAS or other storage devices such as USB sticks. In total: * Must be a complete replacement for your DVD player and other media devices. The goal here is keeping the number of remote controls down. Ideally you should only have two: one for controlling your HTPC and one for your hi-fi set. * It is geared towards modern television, that means stuff like HDTV and no legacy connector stuff (like composite). With those goals set, I started looking for hardware. Here's what I've come up with: * Case: Silverstone LC19 http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_spec.php?pno=lc19&area=usa + Fanless PSU. + Casefans can be removed + Comes with PCI-e and PCI risercards + Integrated cardreader and slimline optical slot + Available in black and silver + Accommodates standard ATX I/O shield + Room for a 3.5" storage device (SSD?) + Vents right above the CPU + Slim - Fits only small motherboard sizes - Only 120 watt PSU - No infrared receiver, no remote control * Motherboard: Asus P5N7A-VM http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=8YiUFvK51IergAqY&templete=2 + Powerful on-board graphics (nVidia 9300) + Supports 16 GB of RAM + eSATA port + Optical audio output + HDMI, DVI and VGA video output + Gigabit ethernet + Solid caps - nVidia on-board graphics (requiring proprietary driver) - On-board graphics use system memory - Crappy realtek audio codec * DVB-C receiver: ? I have zero experience with DVB-C receivers for computers. I've come across the "DVBWorldDTV Cable" (http://www.worlddvb.com/product/htm/pcic.htm) which seems to provide what I'm looking for. Anyone know how good this hardware actually is and how well it's supported by linux? I have an old hauppauge PVR-350 card which works well, unfortunately hauppauge doesn't seem to have DVB-C products. * Remote control: ? I want to have something simple here. Maybe a small USB infrared receiver and a simple remote control with buttons up, down, left, right, enter? Anyone know if such hardware exists? * Processor: Intel Celeron? No idea how much processing power would be required for a decent HTPC. Preferably as low powered as possible, as the CPU will have to be passively cooled. * Processor cooling: ? I was thinking of a big block with small fins which you see a lot in 1U rackservers. Copper would be the logical choice but from what I've read, aluminum allows for better heat transfer to the environment. So a copper base with alu fins would be ideal. * Storage: ? For storing the operating system I was thinking of those IDE compact flash cards. Downside is that they are very slow. An SSD can be considered but I want to leave the option open to use the 3.5" bay for a hard drive for people that don't have the luxury of a NAS or don't want to leave a NAS running all times. Moving along. The most annoying aspect: software. Obviously we want all our software to be open source. A shortlist of open source media center software: * MythTV (http://www.mythtv.org/) * XBMC (http://xbmc.org/) * Elisa (http://elisa.fluendo.com/) The point I really want to focus on is ease of use. Take this as a benchmark: you only have to explain your parents once how it works. Any suggestions, comments, thoughts, etc... are appreciated. Thanks, Best regards, Glenn

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[arch-general] stability of pbzip2 ?
by Ian-Xue Li 19 Nov '09

19 Nov '09

Hi, I'm quote fond of pbzip2's ability to multitask the compression, which comes really handy when backuping large archives of server files. But just heard from my friend: pbzip2 has stability issues, sometimes leads to corruption of archive, and hence unable to recover them. I wonder if this is true (in the sense that anyone once had a problem with pbzip2), because myself had never run into one of them. If so, it really a shame to abandon such a good tool though... -- Ian-Xue Li <da.mi.spirit(a)gmail.com>

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