Debian DOSEMU needs FREEDOS

I needed a DOS prompt to run an exe file that created a specialised boot disk.

I installed the Debian DOSEMU package, but running dosemu or xdosemu resulted in an error saying the package required FreeDOS to be installed:

Sorry, there is no operating system.
Please try to install FreeDOS.

Problem is, the FreeDOS package is not available under Debian testing.

So I downloaded and installed the Debian unstable FreeDOS package and voila! It works. You can get the FreeDOS Debian unstable package here.

Embedded images in Evolution sent messages

As far as I can tell there is just no way to get this working. I searched and searched and pulled my hair out. No dice. My messages just would not include the image.

This seems trial, but my work email stationery has logo in, and so it was important.

In the meantime, I've moved to Thunderbird.

Setting up Evolution to query your Open LDAP server

This shouldn't really be very tricky, but if you're getting errors or no results, then it's probably because Evolution seems to require that you close it and restart before it commits the LDAP settings.

So, go to contacts. Right click in the left pane. Click "New Address Book" and choose LDAP. Enter your server details and login. the click on the "Details" and enter the search base. If the part of the tree you're querying lower in than the high level search base, ensure you choose "Sub" for search scope.

Click OK, exit Evolution and open it up again. It should prompt you for your password and start searching.

if you want autocompletion, then go to preferences and choose the new LDAP entry to be enabled for autocompletion.

Installing an HP 2840 All-In-One Colour Laserjet in Debian

The HPLip toolbox is a great app - it's one of those GUIs you expect to see in Windows and are surprised top find in Linux. It is a central place for management of HP printers, scanners, multi-function devices and all-in-ones. You can print, scan, fax and copy from there.

Installing the HP AIO 2840 colour laserjet requires loading additional PPD libraries from your package manager however.

The HP_Color_LaserJet_2800.ppd.gz file is in the linuxprinting.org-ppds package.

Once you've used something like the Synaptic package manager or Aptitude to install that, open HPLip, either detect or give it the IP address on the 2840, and it should bring up the correct ppd file.

Stolen laptop - lessons learned and blogging about the new setup

Right. So after the recent excitement, I need to go through the process of setting up a new laptop and recovering data, etc.

I'll make this useful by blogging about the IT trials and tribulations.

In the mean time, consider the following:

• Install a stolen laptop tracker on your PC - if the fuckers ever connect to the net, it'll let you know and provide their ISP details


• Keep invoices, serial numbers, etc in a safe place to facilitate police and insurance reports


• Get one of those cable alarms that screams if your laptop is moved


• Backups really are important - use a syncronisation app like iFolder to sync your laptop with the server when it connects to the network


• Encrypt your harddrive - I am now a prime candidate for identity theft


• Password protect the BIOS on your laptop - same reason as above

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So I've been busy setting up the new laptop. What a mission. Anyway, it is a beautiful new beast. Follow the progress on my techie blog.

Here it is:








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