Recent Posts

5051

Living Room / Re: Looking for P2p file sharing for personal use

« Last post by 4wd on July 15, 2009, 12:04 AM »

Do I need to recreate keys for servers and clients everytime I add a new client?

-kartal (July 14, 2009, 10:47 PM)

No, just a new client key/cert for the new client.

Because I did not, I did just create the client2 key and did that build dh thing and copied the original ca.crt(from thr server) file to the client.

I think you only have to run:

build-key <client>

Any time you want to generate another key/cert for a new machine.  Maybe running build-dh again has screwed something up.

The only thing is that client2 is a xp64, and I know 64bit network drivers are tricky. Also I am in the middle of something and I have not restarted my computer this time.

AFAIK, you shouldn't need to restart the machine, (at least I haven't had to), and the installer installs a x86 or 64bit driver depending on the OS it detects, so there shouldn't be a problem there - there are an awful lot of people using OpenVPN, to get to stable 2.09 release I'm sure someone would have tested it on 64bit

Grab the last lot of keys/certs I attached to a post and use the client key/cert on the XP64 machine, replace the dh1024.pem file on the server with the one from the archive, disconnect all clients, then try connecting the XP64 machine to the server.

If that works then there must be something wrong with the keys/certs you generated.

re: shares, I'll get back to you about method (b) - you really need to set up two separate networks in order to test otherwise you end up going through the non-VPN connection when you want to test the VPN connection - gets very confusing.

Method (a) is the simplest for what you want but it means you need to install the client on all machines you need to see shares on, which is what you didn't want to do.

5052

Living Room / Re: A Problem for A Real Expert - the Haunted Router(s)

« Last post by 4wd on July 14, 2009, 11:06 PM »

I seem to recall there being some issue with Linksys router power supplies in the past, (eg. failing within months), but I'm not sure whereabouts on the planet and how long ago.

@raybeere: You could also try powering the router off of an equivalently rated supply, (as long as it's not one the previously killed router supplies) - maybe it's original supply took just enough of a hit to make it marginal.

-4wd (July 14, 2009, 06:47 PM)

I'm trying to understand, but this isn't clear. If the power supply was dying, wouldn't the whole thing fail at once? The router is still working (although on my last ping a few minutes ago, the first ping took 7ms) but I cannot access the control panel at all. Why would the power supply affect this? I was thinking it was more that the firmware was messed up in some way.

-raybeere (July 14, 2009, 08:52 PM)

Sorry, missed the bit about it being a access problem - was thinking more along router failure.

As for a PSU dying completely, that is only one manifestation of any potential fault with them.  It could just be running out of specification, eg. supplying low voltage, low current, intermittent voltage drops, too much ripple, etc, etc.

Depends on the type of PSU, while switchmode are nicely efficient, cool-running and take up less space, there's just something so reliable about a hunk of iron with copper wire wrapped around it when you use a transformer, even though they too are prone to failure.

With the access problem in mind, like Carol said, try a factory reset.  If that didn't work I'd probably stick another power supply on it and/or try a firmware flash via telnet before spending money on another modem/router.

I can recommend Zyxel, [insert deity] knows mine has taken quite a few power brownouts/fluctuations over the last 4 years and it's still going strong

5053

Living Room / Re: Looking for P2p file sharing for personal use

« Last post by 4wd on July 14, 2009, 07:11 PM »

I tried to find some info about sharing my already shared network drives on Openvpn but I could not. Is it possible to access shared folders(on another comp on the network) on Openvpn? I just do not want to install the server on every machine.

-kartal (July 14, 2009, 06:10 PM)

You can either:
a) install the client on all your computers, (which will give you a totally encrypted LAN besides your normal LAN), and enable this line in the server.ovpn file:

client-to-client                 <- This will allow the clients to see each other, by default they only see the server.

b) Bridging the adapters, (OpenVPN and your LAN), there's a easy tutorial here - use your own info for ports, keys, certs, etc in the config files.

c) push the LAN IPs - I'll get back to you on this, I have to go look it up

Just to clarify, you only want to see your normal LAN shares, (192.168.2.x), from clients on the VPN ?

I ask because method (c) will be the easiest.

I take that back, (after having read the docs a bit), method (b) is probably more suited to what you want.  Have a go at following the tutorial I linked to, I'll modify the configs to what I think they should be incorporating what's on the page and what my setup is, you can then substitute your own LAN IPs, key/cert names in the appropriate places.

5054

Living Room / Re: A Problem for A Real Expert - the Haunted Router(s)

« Last post by 4wd on July 14, 2009, 06:47 PM »

Compare this with the warts that normally come with a home router...hence one of the reasons why you have a bigger chance of failure there.

-Shades (July 14, 2009, 05:31 PM)

I seem to recall there being some issue with Linksys router power supplies in the past, (eg. failing within months), but I'm not sure whereabouts on the planet and how long ago.

@raybeere: You could also try powering the router off of an equivalently rated supply, (as long as it's not one the previously killed router supplies) - maybe it's original supply took just enough of a hit to make it marginal.

5055

Living Room / Re: Advice on Netbooks

« Last post by 4wd on July 14, 2009, 03:23 PM »

I thought you liked the size of your 8.9?  This is two inches+ larger...

-wraith808 (July 14, 2009, 07:12 AM)

I do......but I just wish it had 8+ hours battery life, x4500 graphics, a faster CPU, 802.11a-z, 4GB RAM  and a HDD.

You know...the grass is always greener and all that

5056

Living Room / Re: A Problem for A Real Expert - the Haunted Router(s)

« Last post by 4wd on July 14, 2009, 03:18 PM »

Since you seem to be in the middle of Lightning Central, the most obvious question would seem to be:

Does your phone line go through a surge protector/lightning arrestor?

You've mentioned that the modem is plugged into a surge protector but that still leaves umpteen kilometers of phone line for strikes to induce into.

If the phone company deems it necessary to put gas arrestors on every line to protect their equipment, (and it's still no guarantee of protection), then is there a reason why you shouldn't think the same?

Next time your son insists he has to stay connected against your better judgment, ask him if he's willing to buy a new router.

5057

Living Room / Re: Advice on Netbooks

« Last post by 4wd on July 14, 2009, 02:25 AM »

Dang it!! I wish they'd brought this out 6 months ago 

Acer Aspire Timeline 1810T

5058

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows XP & sata drive

« Last post by 4wd on July 13, 2009, 07:39 PM »

It depends whether your BIOS has the SATA interfaces set to 'IDE Compatible' mode or not.

If they're set to 'AHCI' or 'RAID' then you will most likely require the drivers for your motherboard and hit F6 at the start of XP installation to use them, (you can stick them on a flash drive, make sure it's plugged in before booting the CD).

5059

Living Room / Re: 1st Person Shooter Disease

« Last post by 4wd on July 12, 2009, 06:28 PM »

FPS is NOT a disease!!!

It's a state of mind.

5060

Living Room / Re: CometDocs.com -- free online file converter

« Last post by 4wd on July 12, 2009, 06:26 PM »

There's also Media Convert which will do:

Video
Audio
Ringtones
Images
Vector Documents
Text Documents
Archives
Data
Mathematics
Presentation

5061

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for search / replace script

« Last post by 4wd on July 11, 2009, 07:46 PM »

Better late than never: Gsar for Windows

Gsar can search one or several files for a string and report the occurrences. Gsar can read one file, search for a string, replace it with some other string, and create a new file containing the changes. Gsar can perform a search and replace in multiple files, overwriting the originals.

5062

Living Room / Re: Is online access a right or a privilege?

« Last post by 4wd on July 11, 2009, 06:45 PM »

I have some nieces and nephews that live in the puckered sphincter of nowhere with no internet access. They have a hard time of it sometimes keeping up with their school-mates because they don't have the access to online research sources that their peers do.

-Innuendo (July 11, 2009, 03:56 PM)

In that case, shouldn't the school be doing all it can to not disadvantage them?

eg. Scrapping some stupid PE lessons, (yes, I hated PE), so they can have time on school internet access.

Results should be marked taking into the account the means used to obtain them.

And while the Internet should be an aid to education, it shouldn't be the sole source of knowledge.

I remember the days when we actually had libraries in the schools.....imagine that!  You young whippersnappers have it so easy these days.[/old fogie voice]

EDIT: After thinking about I suppose it should actually be the Education Authority, (or whoever runs them, state, federal, etc), running the school that should be ensuring they aren't disadvantaged by providing, for example, a subsidised satellite internet connection if it's so essential to schooling.

5063

General Software Discussion / Re: free scaled down word replacment

« Last post by 4wd on July 11, 2009, 06:32 PM »

....or used or distributed to support any kind of profit generating activity.....

This part kind of implies that anything you create, if used to gain a profit, is against the license.

eg. If you use the software to create a book, which you then sell for profit.

It's not the most clearly worded license.

5064

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by 4wd on July 10, 2009, 12:31 AM »

So...maybe they're just old?

-SKesselman (July 10, 2009, 12:18 AM)

That's generally the case but it still doesn't stop them from actually pulling over to the side of the road to let the 6+ cars crawling along behind them pass.

That's what automatics have exacerbated, it's seems they no longer bother to pull over because their car isn't telling them to, ie. they no longer have to change gear to account for road conditions - the brain no longer needs to be in gear.

BTW, I really liked the "Slow Driver must pull over" Federal Law in the USA - I just wish they had the same here.

5065

Living Room / Re: Looking for P2p file sharing for personal use

« Last post by 4wd on July 10, 2009, 12:07 AM »

4wd, you should try turning your step by steps in this topic to a VPN tutorial. This has been the most comprehensive and helpful I have seen so far. Just open a blog post and put it in there. I am sure many people will find them helpful.

-kartal (July 09, 2009, 11:11 PM)

Thanks, but sorry, I don't do blogging

5066

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by 4wd on July 09, 2009, 11:49 PM »

OK, I can see being annoyed at people driving too slow, but to make a generalization that all slow drivers must be using automatic transmissions? A little presumptuous, methinks!  

-J-Mac (July 09, 2009, 11:10 PM)

Not really, I can't see anyone willingly driving along in 2nd or 3rd at 40kph - the engine would either be revving rather loudly or the whole car kangarooing because the engine is not in it's optimum load range.

We are talking about a main road here, clearly signposted speed limits 20-30kph above what they are doing - not some back street where they might conceivably be looking for an address.
I'm not referring to those high speed sections of road either, just the normal 60/70 kph zones we get here in Australia.  If they're doing 70/80 in a 100 kph zone, no problem because then I'm not constantly changing gears.

If you want to try, jump in a car with a manual transmission and then drive along at 40kph in 2nd/3rd and see how long you last before you get annoyed - it's even worse when I'm driving behind them in my Landcruiser because it's a diesel and at 40kph I'm right on the 2nd/3rd gear change point.

I won't even get into the people who go, "Oh no! There's a bend in the road hit the brakes!"   (A bend, not a corner, a bend where you can see the road continuing clearly for the next 300 metres....sheesh!)

Oh.....I think I just did 

5067

Living Room / Re: Is online access a right or a privilege?

« Last post by 4wd on July 09, 2009, 10:34 PM »

I was using them interchangeably. But if you have no connection, how would you access Usenet?

-zridling (July 09, 2009, 09:11 PM)

That's the problem, they aren't interchangeable.

Unfortunately, you have to be pedantic when you're dealing with legal issues.

The "web" is a subset of the Internet as a whole, just as Usenet, ftp, email¹ and Gopher are.

If the law is used against you and the PTB say, "Right, you are banned from the web.", then you would have a very good case to still have Internet access to Usenet and whatever else that isn't the "web".

1.  Yes I know email isn't actually part of the Internet but it does rely on it for more than intra-[office|region] communications.

5068

Living Room / Re: Looking for P2p file sharing for personal use

« Last post by 4wd on July 09, 2009, 09:29 PM »

Undoubtedly there will be a (lot more) tools able to do the job.

-Shades (July 09, 2009, 08:44 PM)

Including xca at SourceForge.

It can import, export, manage, create, sign and, (this might help you kartal), change password - so you could actually import the keys you have and add a password.

5069

Living Room / Re: Looking for P2p file sharing for personal use

« Last post by 4wd on July 09, 2009, 08:42 PM »

I have already tried the second method of filling a password in the command line both times actually. But I do not get a password request box or anything like that when  I login-connect via Openvpn gui? How is supposed to work? Maybe there is something different in your new steps, I will retry it.

-kartal (July 09, 2009, 08:01 PM)

To tell the truth, I haven't actually tried it that way, (the first method using the wizard works but requires a bit more work with the moving around of CSRs/certs), I assumed that's what the password request was for and it does say "challenge password" which implies it will ask for it when you try to connect.  I'll try it here.

Btw do you know easy client switcher for using inside and outside? I realized that I need to edit the client file to direct to right ip which is not a big deal. I am wondering if there is an easier way to deal with it.

That's easy!!

Create two config files, one called local.ovpn with the IP for when you're on your LAN and one called remote.ovpn with your WAN IP for when you're outside.

Now when you right-click on the tray icon, you can select from local or remote at the top of the menu.

5070

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by 4wd on July 09, 2009, 08:10 PM »

I was reminded of a pet annoyance of mine yesterday when I had to journey out in the car.

Automatic transmissions - the surest way to turn drivers into inconsiderate morons.

Why?  You can bet that the person trundling along at 40kph in a 60kph+ zone with a line of cars behind has an automatic transmission.
They simply have no idea that a high percentage, (here in Australia anyway), of people use manual transmissions and so are behind these idiots stuck in 4th, 3rd or even 2nd gear, (assuming a 5 speed box).

They should ban automatics in anything smaller than a bus, (excepting those people who require one for real disability reasons - not including the lack of eye-hand-foot coordination required for a manual).

5071

Living Room / Re: Looking for P2p file sharing for personal use

« Last post by 4wd on July 09, 2009, 07:31 PM »

Before I start this last part I just want to make sure I am on the right Pc. Am I supposed to "Run the wizard:" on the client pc?  I also do not see any certificate wizard in OpenVPN setup. What build are you using?

-kartal (July 09, 2009, 12:18 PM)

Yes, client PC - but the second method below will be easier, (I just forgot about it ).

It's part of the installation but it's not normally selected for installation.  IIRC, it's the first unticked box in the selection of things you can install.

I'm using the stable 2.09 release.

I am also little lost here. I have keys from previous key setup which are like client1.xxx , what am I supposed to do with those? Are they part of the deal? Do I delete them? Shall I rename them and give the same name as is in the wizard?

I know you have given very clear steps but this last part I am not sure if it is meant for a fresh key creation or follow up on the previous ones we have done.

-kartal (July 09, 2009, 04:34 PM)

They replace any previous key/cert pair that you generated for that client.

The first method I gave is useful if the client is remote from the key signing machine, (server in your case).  The CSR, (the renamed *.req file), can be emailed to the person in charge of the key signing machine who generates a new *.crt file and returns it and the servers' certificate, (the ca.crt file in your case).  This will give the client a valid key/cert pair for connecting to that server.

The second method, (using build-key.bat), is easier if the client is co-located with the key signing machine, which is your case.  You just generate a new key/cert pair for the client, (deleting the old pair).

To generate a new pair for a client without going through the whole procedure in the How To, (which generates new ones for the server as well - which we don't want):

On the server:
1) In the C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\easy-rsa directory, there should be a directory left called keys from when the keys/certs were originally generated.  In your case, there probably isn't if you're using the set I generated.  If there is, then delete any client1.* files.
    If there isn't, create the C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\easy-rsa\keys directory and then copy all the files from C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config to C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\easy-rsa\keys.
2) Open a CLI in C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\easy-rsa and enter the following commands:
    vars
    build-key client1

Default answers for most questions except:
    Common Name                                                                      <- enter client1
    A challenge password []:                                                        <- enter a password/passphrase (and verify if it asks)
    Sign the certificate? [y/n]                                                        <-  answer y
    1 out of 1 certificate requests certified, commit? [y/n]                <-  answer y

The new client1.key/client1.crt replace the existing client1 key/crt files on the client1 machine.

NOTE: When I say key signing machine, it refers to the machine that generated the keys/certs and in our case with the current setup we're playing with, it's the same machine as the server.  So in the above the two references are interchangeable.

5072

Living Room / Re: Is online access a right or a privilege?

« Last post by 4wd on July 09, 2009, 07:30 PM »

If online access is viewed as a right,
then it should be free to all. However, this would imply government/national control (which it does already to a large extent!) of the web. If the government bans your access to the web, then you're effectively crippled in this century with regard to information, all other sources being either under government or corporate control and serving their interests.

-zridling (July 09, 2009, 12:56 PM)

The web is that layer of hypertext that lives on the Internet and provides advertising to so many who need it.

If they ban web access, fine - there's still Usenet.

Pedantic?  Yes, but in cases like this I think it's important to get the terminology right.

5073

General Software Discussion / Re: free scaled down word replacment

« Last post by 4wd on July 09, 2009, 06:39 AM »

For those interested in Softmaker office 2008, there is a killer Ashampoo deal (same as Softmaker):

http://r.ashampoo.co...ings/1/090410_en.htm   for $4.99

-elpresi (July 07, 2009, 03:16 AM)

Or for free if you're quick.

5074

General Software Discussion / Re: Application Settings Backup and Restore tools?

« Last post by 4wd on July 09, 2009, 06:33 AM »

When you think about it, this is probably something that could be knocked up in AutoIt, reading a simple ini file that contains reg values and dirs/files to backup under a section for each program.

There speaks the voice of naivety

5075

General Software Discussion / Re: Application Settings Backup and Restore tools?

« Last post by 4wd on July 09, 2009, 06:08 AM »

There is an app for this and it only supports the programs that the users write configuration files for, but it worked well for a variety of programs. You could get a free licence if you submitted 3 program definitions. The only issue is that I cannot remember the name. hmm google search doesn't help i think it was maybe russian.

-justice (July 09, 2009, 05:35 AM)

NikSaver - It was offered on GAOTD back around the 31-1-2008.  It was also portable so you could keep it on a flash drive and have your program settings saved to it.

I played with it for a while but it was rather 'inconsistent' about the directory structure it would save it in - it worked though and you could specify your own parameters for programs as well as the ones that were included.

The full list of default supported programs is here.