When debugging bash scripts use:
set -o xtrace
to print out each line along with the regular output, as it is executed.
Category Archives: Linux System Administration
Debian Squeeze – .xinitrc .xsession and .xprofile (X startup script)
Annoyed that tapping my trackpad was no longer being recognised as a mouse click after an upgrade to Debian Squeeze, I sought to have “synclient TapButton1=1” executed after login.
It would appear that both ~/.xinitrc and ~/.xsession are not used. Placing the above command in the file ~/.xprofile resolved the issue and I am now happily tapping my trackpad.
(tested when using GDM for logging in and Enlightenment for the Window Manager)
fsck on encrypted (AES-256) Linux (ext3) partitions
As AES-256 partitions using either a block file device or a physical partition cannot be mounted automatically at boot, they will not be automatically checked.
To manually run a fsck:
- Unmount the partition
- Setup loop device:
losetup -e aes-256 /dev/loop0 /dev/sdaX
(use loop1, loop2 etc if the others are being used) - Enter encryption password
The losetup will not give an error if the password was incorrect. Therefore a test is needed to confirm that the password was entered correctly – mount then umount the loop device:
mkdir /tmp/test
mount /dev/loop0 /tmp/test
ls /tmp/test
umount /dev/loop0
If the device could not be mounted, run: losetup -d /dev/loop0 and try again.
Execute the fsck:fsck.ext3 -f /dev/loop0
After running the fsck, delete the loop device: losetup -d /dev/loop0 and mount the partition like usual.
Kernel Build – Traditional output
Linux 2.6 looks nice and clean when it compiles, however sometimes it is useful to see what is actually happening. This is as simple as running:
make V=1
and there will be plenty of build debugging output.
VMWare 7.1 – no /dev/vmnet0
A frustrating error with VMWare:
“Ethernet0: can’t open vmnet device /dev/vmnet0”
Solution is to run ‘vmware-netcfg’ and save, then the problem is fixed until next reboot.