Using nvidia linux drivers from version 270.X to 275.X with some graphics boards, in example the Quadro FX 350M which is built into the Dell Precision M65 notebook,  resulted in a black screen or window for OpenGL applications. Even glxgears did only output a black window. The problem has been discussed on forums.opensuse.org. A downgrade to a lower driver version, in example the version 260.X drivers is not applicable anymore, since these drivers do dot build against a recent linux-3 kernel. A upgrade to newer drivers also was not possible, since driver versions from 285.X to 295.10 did not work at all for this graphics board. Recently version 295.17 of nvidias beta driver has become available, which solves this issue. Download links are available on nvnews.net.

For gentoo users I have modified the nvidia-drivers  ebuild for the 295.17 driver. You can download my modified overlay, nvidia-drivers-295.17.tar.gz (5455 downloads ) and extract it in /usr/local/portage. Be sure to include the following line in your /etc/make.conf:

PORTDIR_OVERLAY=”/usr/local/portage”

Afterwards you may emerge nvdidia-drivers-295.17.

Jürgen

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Starting with the 2.6.36 kernel, tuxonice has been removed from zen-sources. The latest official tuxonice patch that is available is for the linux kernel 3.0.  However, I found a more recent patch at gmane.org. So I patched the zen-stable-3.1 sources with this tuxonice patch.

Suspend to RAM works with this kernel, at least on my Dell Precison M65 and my Desktop, as well as suspend to disk does.

To get things to work, download the zen-stable-3.1 kernel tree from zen-kernel.org and extract it. Afterwards download the tuxonice patch from gmane.org and apply it. After applying the patch you can continue with the standard kernel building process. This time no additional patch is necessary for the zcache feature, the fix is already included in zen-stable-3.1. The zcache feature doubles RAM efficiency while providing a significant performance boosts on many workloads. The zcache feature is located under staging drivers in the kernel tree and depends on the cleancache feature, which is located under processor types and features. To enable the zcache feature, you have to pass the zcache keyword to your kernel, in example in your grub.conf.

Example: kernel /bzImage panic=60 root=/dev/hda3 zcache

For Gentoo users there is a more easy way: Download my modified overlay from zen-sources-3.1.tar.gz (5384 downloads ) and extract it in /usr/local/portage. The overlay contains all necessary patches. Be sure to include the following line in your /etc/make.conf:

PORTDIR_OVERLAY=”/usr/local/portage”

If you want to use tuxonice include tuxonice in your USE-flags. Then emerge zen-sources and build the kernel as you wish.

Tuxonice is not officially supported in current zen-sources. So If you’re using the files above, don’t report any bugs to zen-sources.org. You are on your own.

For my Precision M65 I used the following kernel config: config_zen_3.1_dell_m65.zip (5419 downloads )

For more information on the zen-sources patchset see www.zen-sources.org.

best regards

Jürgen

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After my last kernel upgrade I tried to build the iptables mirror target published here. The iptables mirror target takes the packet sent to your machine and returns the same packet to the machine the packet came from. Thus, let’s say someone tries to scan your machine or tries an attack he would scan his own machine or even attack his own machine. Guess what happened when I tried it with kernel versions 3.1 and 3.2 , it did not build anymore with the current linux kernel. There were some changes in the  kernels network stack. So I had to modify the iptables mirror target again to make the module work with current kernel versions. You can download the newer release for kernel version 3.1 and probably future kernels here:

MIRROR.3.1.0.tar.gz (35594 downloads )

The kernel module has been tested with kernel version 3.2.1 and 3.1. To build the module, boot the kernel you want to use the module with. Afterwards unpack the archive and run the compile.sh script to build the module. Then run the install.sh script for installing the compiled module into the /lib/modules directory for your kernel.

Now you may use the mirror target in place of the REJECT or DROP target in the INPUT, FORWARD and PREROUTING chains, like this in your firewall script:

$IPTABLES -A INPUT -j MIRROR

Beware: The use of the mirror target may lead to strange results, in example if you want to connect to an iptables protected machine which uses the mirror target, you may end up connecting to the local machine without recognizing it. It also may use much bandwith. The worst case occurs if you have two machines using the module. These machines may end up playing ping pong. So you have been warned, use with caution and at your own risk. For more information see: MIRROR target.

Downloads for older kernel versions are below. Notice the version numbering 2.6.25 works for kernels up to 2.6.27. 2.6.28 also works for 2.6.29 and 2.6.30 kernels. The 2.6.13 version of the module should work up to kernel version 2.6.16.

MIRROR.3.0.7.tar.gz (36720 downloads ) MIRROR.2.6.37.tar.gz (38620 downloads ) MIRROR.2.6.36.tar.gz (40579 downloads ) MIRROR.2.6.35.tar.gz (42452 downloads ) MIRROR.2.6.31 (42763 downloads ) MIRROR.2.6.28.tar.gz (49243 downloads ) MIRROR.2.6.25.tar.gz (48410 downloads ) MIRROR.2.6.24.tar.gz (49324 downloads ) MIRROR.2.6.13.tar.gz (47492 downloads )

regards
Jürgen

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Posted in kernel, linux, networking, security | 3 Comments »

Starting with the 2.6.36 kernel, tuxonice has been removed from zen-sources. The latest tuxonice patch that is available is for the linux kernel 3.0.  So I patched the zen-stable-3.0 sources with tuxonice. Hopefully a patch for more recent kernel versions will be available soon.

Suspend to RAM works with this kernel, at least on my Dell Precison M65 and my Desktop, as well as suspend to disk does.

To get things to work, download the zen-stable-3.0 kernel tree from zen-kernel.org and extract it. Afterwards download the tuxonice patch from tuxonice.net and apply it. For getting the zcache feature, to work you have to download and apply this patch: linux-3.0-zcache-fix.patch.bz2 (4430 downloads ) The zcache feature doubles RAM efficiency while providing a significant performance boosts on many workloads.  The patch has been extracted from vserver-sources-2.3.2.5 with working zcache feature.  After applying the patch  you can continue with the standard kernel building process. The zcache feature is located under staging drivers in the kernel tree and depends on the cleancache feature, which is located  under processor types and features. To enable the zcache feature, you have to pass the zcache keyword to your kernel, in example in your grub.conf.

Example: kernel /bzImage panic=60 root=/dev/hda3 zcache

For Gentoo users there is a more easy way: Download my modified overlay from zen-sources-3.0.tar.gz (4473 downloads ) and extract it in /usr/local/portage. Be sure to include the following line in your /etc/make.conf:

PORTDIR_OVERLAY=”/usr/local/portage”

If you want to use tuxonice include tuxonice in your USE-flags. Then emerge zen-sources and build the kernel as you wish.

Tuxonice is not officially supported in current zen-sources. So If you’re using the files above, don’t report any bugs to zen-sources.org. You are on your own.

For my Precision M65 I used the following kernel config: config_zen_3.0_dell_m65.zip (4629 downloads )

For more information on the zen-sources patchset see www.zen-sources.org.

best regards

Jürgen

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Posted in gentoo, kernel, linux, zen-sources | No Comments »

We support the January 18th Wikipedia blackout to protest SOPA and PIPA. Show your support here http://tinyurl.com/7vq4o8g

Some other ways to strike from sopastrike.com

• Zachary Johnson’s blackout page
• ProtestSOPA.org
• CloudFlare’s Stop Censorship app
• SOPA Strike WordPress Plugin

On Jan 24th, Congress will vote to pass internet censorship in the Senate, even though the vast majority of Americans are opposed. We need to kill the bill – PIPA in the Senate and SOPA in the House – to protect our rights to free speech, privacy, and prosperity.

See this timeline of SOPA and PIPA events and the activist backlash.

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After my last kernel upgrade I recognized that the iptables mirror target I published here does not work anymore with kernel version 3.0. There were some changes in kernel code. Thus I had to modify the iptables mirror target again to make it work with current kernel versions. You can download the newer release for kernel version 3.0 and probably future kernels here:

MIRROR.3.0.7.tar.gz (36720 downloads )

The kernel module has been tested with kernel version 3.0.7. According to the kernel changelog it should work with kernels since 2.6.39. If you have tried the mirror module with other kernel versions  than 3.0.7, please leave a reply for others to know whether other versions work, or not.

To build the module, boot the kernel you want to use the module with. Afterwards unpack the archive and run the compile.sh script to build the module. Then run the install.sh script for installing the compiled module into the /lib/modules directory for your kernel.

Now you may use the mirror target in place of the reject or drop target in the INPUT, FORWARD and PREROUTING chains, like this in your firewall script:

$IPTABLES -A INPUT -j MIRROR

Beware: The use of the mirror target may have strange results, in example if you want to connect to an iptables protected machine which uses the mirror target, you may end up connecting to the local machine without recognizing it. It also may use much bandwith. The worst case occurs if you have two machines using the module.  These machines may end up playing pingpong. So you have been warned, use with caution and at your own risk. For more information see: MIRROR target.

Downloads for older kernel versions are below. Notice the version numbering 2.6.25 works for kernels up to 2.6.27. 2.6.28 also works for 2.6.29 and 2.6.30 kernels. The 2.6.13 version of the module should work up to kernel version 2.6.16.

MIRROR.2.6.37.tar.gz (38620 downloads ) MIRROR.2.6.36.tar.gz (40579 downloads ) MIRROR.2.6.35.tar.gz (42452 downloads ) MIRROR.2.6.31 (42763 downloads ) MIRROR.2.6.28.tar.gz (49243 downloads ) MIRROR.2.6.25.tar.gz (48410 downloads ) MIRROR.2.6.24.tar.gz (49324 downloads ) MIRROR.2.6.13.tar.gz (47492 downloads )

regards
Jürgen

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Posted in kernel, linux, networking, security | 1 Comment »

In the post Flightgear with quad buffered stereo I have written about how to get quad buffered stereo to work with the famous flight simulator FlightGear.  Recently FlightGear-2.4.0 has been released. The problem with quad buffered stereo still persists with FlightGear-2.4.0 .

One expects to enable stereoscopic mode in FlightGear starting it with the following line:

export OSG_STEREO_MODE=QUAD_BUFFER;export OSG_STEREO=ON; fgfs

When starting flightgear this way, one gets the following console output and no stereoscopic view:

Warning: detected OpenGL error ‘invalid operation’ after RenderBin::draw(,)

Getting FlightGear to work with quad-buffered stereo

The reason for the above error message and the resulting broken stereo mode is, that the stereo context does not get initialized properly.  The details are described here: Flightgear with quad buffered stereo. However, the  good news is, that the patch I proposed in the mentioned post, still works with FlightGear-2.4.0. You can download the patch from here: flightgear-2.0.0-stereoscopic.patch (11160 downloads )

As usual for quad buffered stereo, you have to use a professional graphics board that supports quad buffered stereo, like a NVIDIA Quadro FX or a Ati FireGL and proper display hardware, like shutter glasses, a HMD or a stereoscopic projection system, to benefit from it. To use the quad buffered stereo mode start flightgear with the environment variables mentioned above. Afterwards you probably have to enable quad buffered stereo mode by selecting the Stereoscopic View Options Item in the the View menu.

With the previous version, when using the quad buffered stereo mode in flightgear, there occurred some graphics errors. Some cockpit controls and other scene details contained yellow lines, like a wireframe, which were not there when starting FlightGear in “normal” display mode. These problems seem to be gone with Flightgear-2.4.0. At least I did not notice them  anymore.

The Gentoo way

For gentoo users I have created an overlay. Like the previous one it contains patches and modified ebuilds for flightgear with working quad buffer support.  You may get the overlay from here: flightgear-2.4.0 overlay (7880 downloads ) Download the overlay and extract it in /usr/local/portage. Be sure to include the following line in your /etc/make.conf:

PORTDIR_OVERLAY=”/usr/local/portage”

Then emerge flightgear and enjoy it in three dimensions.

Have fun

Jürgen

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Posted in 3d, gentoo, graphics, linux | No Comments »