E-Cycling event (DOC'S SOLUTION)

Wed Mar 18 14:25:36 CDT 2009

Mike,

I can help you get a "script" included on your very own custom Ubuntu
Live-CD.  I have done this at least once before to create a custom Ubuntu
distro containing various gaming programs for friends to play D&D over the
internet using OpenRPG, PCGen, and Teamspeak. I think it would be relatively
straightforward.  First I'd propose testing out the script on just a regular
Ubuntu Live-CD, and once it is "proven" then go through getting it installed
on a "custom" Ubuntu distro. After that, the process would be:

1.	Plug the machine into your network (which should have DHCP running
to give you an IP address when you boot)...a very simple router would
suffice. If you'd like to test wireless cards as well you would just need a
wireless router running DHCP and then manually select the wireless network
from the network selection box on the top toolbar after booting.
2.	Insert your new "custom" Ubuntu Live-CD and boot from it. (Select
wireless network if you're testing a wireless card.)
3.	Run the testing script (clean.sh) as root...I played around with it
and found a way to give progress on the dd command with something called
"the command line toolbar." This program needs to be installed with a
separate .deb package and will also need to loaded onto the "custom" Ubuntu
Live-CD along with the script:

#!/bin/bash

# This script uses the command line progress bar,
http://clpbar.sourceforge.net

# GPL - clean.sh script written by David A. Brown (db at cinlug.org)

# If you send any argument, the script uses /dev/urandom instead of
/dev/zero

# Make sure user is root...

if [ $USER != "root" ]; then

  echo "You must be root, use: sudo $0"

  exit

fi

# Test ALL network cards...

for item in `/sbin/ifconfig -s | grep -v Iface | grep -v lo | awk '{print
$1}'`

do

  echo "-- Testing $item..."

  /usr/sbin/ethtool -t $item | grep result

done

# Erase ALL hard drives...

for drive in `fdisk -l | grep -v identifier | grep Disk | awk '{print $2}' |
tr ":" " "`

do

  size=`fdisk -l | grep -v identifier | grep Disk | grep $drive | awk
'{print $5}'`

  cnt=$(($size/1048576))

  echo "-- Erasing $drive ($cnt MB)..."

  if [ $# -lt 1 ]; then

    dd if=/dev/zero bs=1M count=$cnt | /usr/bin/bar -s $size > $drive

  else

    dd if=/dev/urandom bs=1M count=$cnt | /usr/bin/bar -s $size > $drive

  fi

done

OUTPUT WILL LOOK SOMETHING LIKE THIS:

-- Testing eth0...

The test result is PASS

-- Testing eth1...

The test result is PASS

-- Erasing /dev/sda (29921 MB)...

  29.2GB at  200.8MB/s  eta:   0:00:00   99%
[=========================================]

Copied: 31374442496B (29.2GB) (99% of expected input)

Time: 02:29

Throughput: 210566728B (200.8MB/s)

29921+0 records in

29921+0 records out

31374442496 bytes (31 GB) copied, 148.901 s, 211 MB/s  

-- Erasing /dev/sdb (239372 MB)...

   9.1GB at  207.8MB/s  eta:   0:18:28    4% [==
]

4.	If everything passes, unplug the machine and ship it. If something
fails, rip out the part(s) that didn't work, replace the part(s), and try
again.

WARNING - RUNNING THE clean.sh SCRIPT ON A WORKING MACHINE WILL MAKE IT NOT
WORK!!!

Give me a call if you'd like to meet up and do this thing. P.S. I'll be
unavailable March 27 - April 6. I've done my taxes so I'm not constrained by
that at least. I made the script use /dev/zero by default, because erasing a
200 GB disk would take less than 20 minutes just writing zeros, but if you
use /dev/urandom to (really, really) securely erase the disk, it could take
up to 2 full days!  This is why you should not guarantee "secure" erasure
and just go ahead and write zeros.

David (Doc) Brown 
Information Specialist 
EDS, an HP Company 
Rolls-Royce Account 
2001 S. Tibbs Ave. W2C 
Indianapolis, IN 46241 
Tel: +1 317 230-3623 
Fax: +1 317 230-6152 
Page: +1 317 230-3883 
E-mail:  <mailto:doc.brown at eds.com> doc.brown at eds.com 

We deliver on our commitments, 
so you can deliver on yours. 

   _____  

From: Michael Zierdt [mailto:MZierdt at indy.rr.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 9:57 AM
To: Brown, David (Test Dept)
Subject: RE: E-Cycling event

Would you ask your membership if someone in CINLUG would like to volunteer a
little time to create a Linux distribution CD and a brief step by step
process. I have looked at the websites Dave sent me and (my technical skills
are now low) can't quite figure out what to do.

Today our process is:
We receive a machine
See if it powers on and boots
If so we see if the NIC card works
If not and it does not have a hard drive (often a corporate machine) we
install one, install XP, and check out the machine
We reformat the hard drive and once the machines get to Africa they install
a French language version of the OS

This is our most time consuming task

I would like (if this works) to:
Have a Linux distribution on a bootable CD.
Have a short written script so volunteers can execute the process (I can
write this with some direction from an expert)
Validate the NIC
Reformat the hard drive (Dave showed me the Linux command)

I have time available, and so can travel anywhere to support this. I have 3
donated CPU's, mice, keyboard, and a CRT monitor for testing.

Attached is a flyer describing Wings for West Africa - though it is aimed at
drives.

In addition to the St. Paul's drive I sent you, we have scheduled these
drives, if your members want to dispose of old machines (I am getting this
data on a Gmail calendar to post on our web site)
Cathedral High School 5225 E. 56th Street, Indianapolis, 46226
(dates and times TBA)

Holy Spirit Parish at Geist
10350 Glaser Way, Fishers 46037
May 2 & 3 (times TBA)

Unitarian Universalist Church of Indianapolis
615 W. 43rd St, Indianapolis 46238
April 25 & 26 (times TBA)

North Central High School
1801 E. 86th Street, Indianapolis 46240
3/20 4-7pm, 3/21 9am-4pm

Thanks,
Mike

Michael Zierdt
5815 N. New Jersey
Indianapolis, IN 46220
Home: 317-253-9418, Cell: 317-224-5967
mailto:MZierdt at indy.rr.com <mailto:MZierdt at indy.rr.com> 
* Please consider the environment before printing.

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Zierdt [mailto:MZierdt at indy.rr.com
<mailto:MZierdt at indy.rr.com> ]
Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 4:16 PM
To: 'Michael Schultheiss'
Cc: 'webmaster at cinlug.org'; 'Doc.Brown at eds.com'
Subject: E-Cycling event

This is the e-Cycling announcement you said would use. There will be more
coming

Second annual E-Cycling event
In celebration of Earth Day, St. Paul's Episcopal, Trinity Episcopal and
Christ Church Cathedral are joining forces to promote another E-Cycling
event at St. Paul's. This year the collection will be limited to computers,
computer parts and microwaves, only. Items we collect will be picked up and
put to good use by two groups: Wings for West Africa
http://www.wafwings.org/ <http://www.wafwings.org/>  and WorkForce, Inc.
http://www.work-force-inc.com/ <http://www.work-force-inc.com/> 
Drop-off times are Friday, April 24, 12 noon to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday,
April 25, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in St. Paul's Parish Center building at
6150 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN 46208. For more info, or to
volunteer your time, contact Michael Zierdt, 317-253-9418.

Thanks,
Mike

Michael Zierdt
5815 N. New Jersey
Indianapolis, IN 46220
Home: 317-253-9418, Cell: 317-224-5967
mailto:MZierdt at indy.rr.com <mailto:MZierdt at indy.rr.com> 
* Please consider the environment before printing.

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Schultheiss [mailto:schultmc at cinlug.org
<mailto:schultmc at cinlug.org> ]
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 10:27 AM
To: Michael Zierdt
Cc: webmaster at cinlug.org; Doc.Brown at eds.com
Subject: Re: Account details for jz4h3m at CINLUG (pending admin approval)

Michael Zierdt wrote:
> When clicking on
> http://www.cinlug.org/user/reset/1403/1236264626/2293c7f8dd109958b9339
<http://www.cinlug.org/user/reset/1403/1236264626/2293c7f8dd109958b9339> 
> e577e6 b872b "I get a "Access denied - You are not authorized to
> access this page"
>
> When trying to login using jz4h3m and password you sent below I get
> "The username jz4h3m has not been activated or is blocked."

Due to the plethora of fraudulent accounts being setup on the CINLUG
website, the CINLUG webmasters must manually approve each new account.
I've just approved your account - sorry for the confusion.

> Please help. (actually I used to work with Dave Brown at EDS and am
> trying to get his e-mail do I can ask him a question, if you could
> please forward this on to him and he can respond. I entered what I
> thought it might be in
> cc: but it has been over a year and I could be wrong.

You guessed right.

> And my question is (which I will post in a forum once I get activated) is:
>
> I am working with a charity, Wings for West Africa,
> http://www.wafwings.org/ <http://www.wafwings.org/>  that collects old
Pentium III or better PCs,
> checks them out, and sends them to Africa. To check them out today
> they erase the hard drive, install Windows XP (very slow), look at the
> control panel / hardware and se if the NIC, and other devices are
> functioning. This is a very slow process and I wondered if there is a
> small Linux distribution that would install quickly so we can save
> time. FYI: we currently have over 50 pc's to check out and 4 upcoming
> events between now and May 4, so you can see that this is our bottleneck.

Linux would definitely be a good fit for this process.
Damn Small Linux - http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
<http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/>  - is what I'd recommend.

CINLUG members might also be interested in helping check the PCs if you're
interested in volunteers.

> Also, if I sent you the dates and locations of collection events,
> would you let your membership know?

I'd be glad to.

--
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Michael Schultheiss             Central Indiana Linux Users' Group
President                       http://www.cinlug.org
<http://www.cinlug.org> 
E-mail: schultmc at cinlug.org

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