Make SEP Manager Console Suck a Little Less

27. June 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Hack, Software · Tags: , , ,

My biggest complaint about Symantec End Point is that the manager console is slow. On a dual quad-core server with 16GB of RAM, it simply crawls. Sometimes, even when the system load is basically zero, the console is almost unusable. I did a little digging and found that the manager console is, in fact, written in Java –  that explains a lot.

Fortunately, because it’s written in Java there’s a little trick you can you to speed things up a little, assuming you have a decent amount of free RAM. The manager console is typically launched through sesm.bat, which is located (in a default install on an x64 server) in “C:\Program Files (x86)\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager\bin\”. Open that .bat file in notepad, and you’ll see this:

@start “SESM” “C:\Program Files (x86)\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager\jdk\bin\javaw.exe” -Xms128m -Xmx1024m -XX:MinHeapFreeRatio=30 -XX:MaxHeapFreeRatio=40 -Dscm.console.conf=”C:\Program Files (x86)\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager\tomcat\etc\conf.properties” -jar “C:\Program Files (x86)\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager\tomcat\webapps\scm\clientpkg\scm-ui.jar”

Note the bit that I’ve highlighted above in red. Boost that up a little (I set it to 512m), save, and then re-open the management console. You should notice a significant difference in how fast the console operates now.

PFDAVAdmin and the Case of “Could Not Expand”

17. June 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Microsoft, Software, Troubleshooting, Windows · Tags: , , ,

There are a number of articles out there about how to bulk-update permissions on calendars in Microsoft Exchange, most of them pointing to the PFDAVAdmin tool. The problem, though, is that you have to read the requirements for it very carefully. Case in point:

PFDAVAdmin "could not expand"I ran in to this when trying to run the tool from my Server 2003 x64-based Exchange 2007 server. It happened again when I tried to run it from a Server 2008 x64 box, and from my Windows 7 x64 workstation.

As it turns out, PFDAVAdmin requires .Net Framework 1.1 to be installed. It isn’t recommended to install that directly on to your Exchange Server as it can cause issues with .Net 2.0, so I simply installed it on my Win7 x64 box, ignored the Compatibility Warning, and that was it – PFDAVAdmin worked perfectly.

Apple Offers Re-Download Feature, But Only to Americans

08. June 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: "It's a Feature", Apple, Rants · Tags: , , , ,

Being a Canadian citizen, I’m used to getting the short end of the stick when it comes to companies holding give-aways and the like. Apple is, of course, no exception.

I was excited to hear that, starting with iTunes 10.3.1, Apple would be allowing customers to download music that they had perviously purchased (before, if you bought a track/album and lost it, you would have to buy it again). In case it changes, the feature is described as:

Now you can download music you’ve previously purchased to all your devices. When you buy music from iTunes, iCloud stores your purchase history. So you can see the music you’ve bought — no matter which device you bought it on. You can access your purchase history from the iTunes Store on your Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. And since you already own that music, you can tap to download your songs or albums to any of your devices.1

Note the (1) footnote indicator. That footnote reads as follows:

Available in beta now in the U.S. only and requires iOS 4.3.3 on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (GSM model), iPod touch (3rd and 4th generation), iPad, or iPad 2, or a Mac or PC with iTunes 10.3. Previous purchases may be unavailable if they are no longer in the iTunes Store.

Emphasis mine. With any luck, once “iCloud” leaves “beta” (why are you push Beta software through the official update channel, Apple? Google should sue.) the functionality will be expanded to beyond the U.S. and let the rest of us poor suckers get back our copies of ‘Plastic Beach – Deluxe Edition’.

HDD Replacement: Acer Aspire One and ZIF Drives

27. May 2011 · 9 comments · Categories: Hack, Hardware · Tags: , , , ,

I ordered a 30GB 1.8″ ZIF drive to replace the crappy 8GB SSD drive in my old Acer Aspire One netbook. When I got the drive (a Samsung HS030GB) I very quickly discovered that the ZIF ribbon cable that came stock with the netbook didn’t work with it. The problem, it seems, is that Samsung uses a non-standard ZIF connector that is incompatible with 0.35mm ZIF cables (which are the standard). So, I shaved down one end of the ribbon and promptly broke it. Then, being an idiot, ordered a replacement set of cables on eBay without checking the thickness first (the listing stated they were for Samsung drives, although I should have known better than take that at face value).

I got the new set of cables today and, of course, they were all 0.35mm thick as well. I tried a few techniques to try to make the ends thinner but eventually just ended up with a bunch of butchered ribbons.

ZIF Drive and Cable

Remember kids, always review the specs of the drive and cable *before* ordering!

So I’ve ordered another batch of cables, this time making sure that one end has the correct thickness. Hopefully I’ll have a working netbook in a few weeks.

Update: The new ZIF cable came in (ProTip: when ordering ZIF ribon cables, if you need a smaller-than-0.35mm end, look for one where one end is blue (as pictured above), and the other end is white. The white end will be the smaller size)! Surprisingly, it fit, and after making a few modifications to the case (mainly removing the screw mounts for the old SSD) the new drive just dropped right in to place. Xubuntu is now installing, so I finally have a functional netbook again!

Installing Java on CentOS 5.x

26. May 2011 · 2 comments · Categories: howto, Linux · Tags: , , ,

There are a large number of articles floating around with outdated instructions for installing Sun Oracle Java on CentOS. I’m happy to report that the process is now very, very easier if OpenJDK doesn’t work for you.

  1. Browse to this page: http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp
  2. Copy the URL of the “Linux RPM (self-extracting file)” link.
  3. On your CentOS box (assuming you’re SSH’d to it), use wget to download the file (eg, wget http://javadl.sun.com/webapps/download/AutoDL?BundleId=48333)
  4. Note that, when the file finishes downloading you may need to rename it. Due to the redirect process Oracle uses, you may end up with a filename like “jre-6u25-linux-i586-rpm.bin\?AuthParam\=1306440404_3678aad28a7b9aae044da147678b211e\&GroupName\=JSC\&FilePath\=%2FESD6%2FJSCDL%2Fjdk%2F6u25-b06%2Fjre-6u25-linux-i586-rpm.bin\&File\=jre-6u25-linux-i586-rpm.bin\&BHost\=javadl.sun.com” (this happened to me). If this is the case, rename it to “jre-6u25-linux-i586-rpm.bin“
  5. Use chmod to allow execute permissions: chmod +x jre-6u25-linux-i586-rpm.bin
  6. Execute the binary: ./jre-6u25-linux-i586-rpm.bin
  7. Verify the installation worked: java -version

That’s it. No extra compiling, no need to add extra repositories. Simple. (Disclaimer: because this is done without a package manager, you’ll have to remember to manually update the installation to keep your box secure.)

Rogers MMS APN Settings for CyanogenMOD 7

16. May 2011 · 14 comments · Categories: Android, Troubleshooting · Tags: , , , ,

I tried firing off an MMS from my Nexus One this morning to a friend only to have it hang on ‘Sending…’ with no network activity. The short version of it is the APN settings for Rogers that are built-in to CyanogenMOD 7 are incorrect. Here’s what you need.

For Data/Text:

Name: Rogers
APN: rogers-core-appl1.apn
Proxy: <Not Set>
Port: <Not Set>
Username: <Not Set>
Password: <Not Set>
Server: <Not Set>
MMSC: <Not Set>
MMS proxy: <Not Set>
MMS port: <Not Set>
MMC: 302 (might be different – is auto-set by your SIM card)
MNC: 720 (might be 72 – is auto0set by your SIM card)
Authentication type: <Not Set>
APN type: <Not Set>
APN protocol: IPv4

For MMS (edit the bottom entry in the APN list called ‘Rogers MMS‘):

Name: Rogers MMS
APN: media.com
Proxy: <Not Set>
Port: <Not Set>
Username: media
Password: mda01
Server: 172.25.0.107
MMSC: http://mms.gprs.rogers.com (IMPORTANT: in the default settings, this is listed as grps rather than gprs – make sure to correct this!)
MMS proxy: 10.128.1.69
MMS port: 80
MMC: 302 (might be different – is auto-set by your SIM card)
MNC: 720 (might be 72 – is auto0set by your SIM card)
Authentication type: <Not Set>
APN type: mms
APN protocol: IPv4

And that should be it. Make sure that the first ‘Rogers’ entry is selected, and your MMS messages should now send correctly.

Shaw Cable Pulls a Rogers; Hijacks NX Records

01. May 2011 · 5 comments · Categories: "It's a Feature", Hack, Networking · Tags: , , ,

Shaw CableThe last time I wrote about NX Domains, it was because I noticed that Rogers wireless was hijacking them on my phone. Now, it appears that Shaw Cable is doing the same.

I use OpenDNS, so I’m used to search pages coming up when I mistype URLs, however that is something I’d opt’ed in to. You can imagine my surprise when, after mistyping a URL, I was directed to this instead:

http://assist.shaw.ca/shawcaassist/dnsassist/main/?domain=www.example.com

(original URL redacted).

It appears that, even if you aren’t using Shaw’s DNS servers they are still checking your DNS requests and, in the case of NX domains (at least – they could technically do this for any traffic), hijacking the result and forwarding your browser to their page instead.

I’ve sent a barrage of messages to Shaw’s PR team on Twitter, but haven’t had a response yet. I’ll update this article when (or if) they reply.

For the time being, though, it appears you can opt-out of the ‘service’ using this page: http://nxr.shaw.ca/optout/

Update: I’ve had a reply from Shaw saying “We do not modify any DNS traffic going to our customers from other sources”. They’re currently looking in to the issue apparently, so another update will be in order when I hear back.

Additional Update: I received a reply from Shaw asking me to do some further troubleshooting, all of which would have been useless (eg, using the ‘dig’ and ‘nslookup’ commands to confirm my DNS settings and what the NX response was), however as I opted out of the ‘service’ I can’t actually complete the steps as everything is working correctly. Additionally, there doesn’t appear to be a way to opt back in to the ‘service’, so that’s also a bust. I guess I won’t be getting an answer as to what happened. Also, I was linked on Reddit Canada.

Google Changing Free Apps Account Limits

28. April 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: "It's a Feature", Google · Tags: ,

I just received this message from Google. Good to know I’m safe, but if you were considering signing up for a free Google Apps account, better do it before May 10th, 2011 unless you only need 10 users:

Hello,

We recently announced upcoming changes to the maximum number of users for Google Apps. We want to let you know that, as a current customer, the changes will not affect you.

As of May 10, any organization that signs up for a new account will be required to use the paid Google Apps for Business product in order to create more than 10 users. We honor our commitment to all existing customers and will allow you to add more than 10 users to your account for laslow.net at no additional charge, based on the limit in place when you joined us.

Sincerely,

The Google Apps Team

 

Non-Tech: Forever Alone Harper

26. April 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Non-Tech · Tags: , ,
Forever Alone Harper

It's pretty sad when none of the other Federal leaders will play cricket with you

Wallpaper: Lemons

22. April 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Non-Tech · Tags: ,

Portal 2 - Lemons

Ask anyone who knows me, and they’ll confirm that I’m absolutely nuts about Portal 2. As such, here’s a quick wallpaper with one of my favourite quotes from the game (Cave Johnson’s “Don’t Make Lemonade” speech).

(Updated – fixed a typo)

(Portal 2 is copyright Valve software. Quote and ‘Portal’ image used without permission. I call it Fair Use. If anyone disagrees, I would like you to note that I don’t make any money from this, and am too poor to be worth suing.)

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