Darragh Ó Héiligh blog and accessibility guides

It’s a bank holiday weekend over here.  That means I’ve three days off!  Isn’t that just the most fantastic thing to ever happen on this planet?  I’m absolutely delighted!  Oh, the weather is good too!  This is highly unusual by the way.  Irish law states that when there is a bank holiday or annual leave planned, the weather must be dark, wet and cold.  Someone’s going to get in the neck for this I’m sure.

Oh, I finished the big job I had this week.  It’s taken dozens of hours of work and a lot of frustration but I’ve finished all 289 fields in 18 tables.  That is a hell of a lot of coding I’ll tell you.  I’m relieved now.

Things are still going well on the work front too!  The management of the backups is difficult.  Not only because it’s technically complicated but it’s made very difficult by the fact that I need to manage a print orientated system without being able to see any of the stupid labels!  I’m getting there though.  This week has been my first week doing it alone.  Aside from a technical glitch in the Symantec Backup Express job engine service, that caused a few backups not to run because they missed their scheduled window, everything’s run ok!

Due to a request one of the listeners to my audio walk through's sent to me, the review of Linux", installing Ubuntu and configuring Orca walk through's are now hosted on www.blindcooltech.com

As Emma will attest to, I am absolutely terrible when it comes to remembering people or place names.  I don’t know how many times I’ve met someone on the street or somewhere else and have had to introduce them only to completely forget their name!  Some times I have absolutely no idea who the hell they are at all!  I have actually mastered the art of going through an entire conversation without once needing to say the other persons name!  If I have someone with me of course, the other person I’m talking to will, after a while introduce them selves, therefore giving their name away to me. This of course was proven during my last post where I got the pipe makers and even the dates wrong! So, again, here goes with the correction. Thanks to Ronan Browne for this:

1. The pipe maker of the 1st set was James Kenna circa 1770's
2. The 2nd set was made by Denis Harrington circa 1845
3. The Kenna pipes are in what was the normal key of the time which was roughly around where modern concert pitch is today.  All the old sets of that era seem to be what you might nowadays call "narrow-bore D"

Sorry for my complete lack of communication at the moment.  I took on a job to do in what limited spare time I have at the moment that is much bigger than I had hoped.  It’s paying well and it’s letting me do some really cool asp.net development but it means I’ve no time for anything!

OH, Sunday night, I went back to two sessions in the Rathmines Inn and Mortins in Ferhouse.  I haven’t played there in months and it was really good to go back.  As always, I really enjoyed the few tunes with Maurice Lennon as well. He has a knack of slowing me down a lot but at the same time, he can play as fast as the rest of them when the mood takes him.

OH I’ve just had an absolutely fabulous weekend. I spent most of it in the Pipers Club in Dublin playing music.  I said last week in one of my posts that one of my priorities in the weeks ahead was to increase the priority that I placed on playing music.  This weekend I certainly kept that promise to my self.  What made the weekend really great though was not that I played lodes of music, it was the fact that I played a few sets of pipes that were really old but have changed my entire perception of old instruments.  Most old recordings are very muddy and the style of playing is quite different.  I was always led to believe that this was due to the change in pipe making for that time. Naturally then, I expected all old pipes to be the same!

On Saturday however, I played two sets of pipes belonging to Ronan Browne, a piper of incredible experience, taste, skill and imagination.  He’s also very opinionated and likes to talk a lot but really, he’s a nice guy.

The first set I played was a Canna set.  These were made back in 1782 and were a concert D set.  This alone is very unusual for that time period but what was even more unusual was their fabulously bright happy sound and the best tone I’ve heard from a chanter in a really long time.  These weren’t the loudest pipes I’ve ever heard but the feeling from every note and the responsiveness of the chanter was unbeatable and unlike anything I’ve ever heard.   I played them for about ten minutes and I enjoyed absolutely every second of it. These are a very old set and therefore only have one regulator. There is also no lever for turning off the drones.   It really doesn’t matter because they all just fit together so well.

The second was a Coyne set in B from 1812.  This was probably one of the biggest sets I’ve ever played. Still though, they were incredibly light and the workmanship on them was incredible!  I was even impressed by the key mounts.  They were even shaped and moulded.  They weren’t as easy to play, mainly because the fingering was slightly different but still, the sound from them was just out of this world.  Not as responsive as the Canna set but still an absolute pleasure to play.  When I played an air, the changer sung out every note but when I went into a jig and then a reel afterward, they took the pressure equally well.  Triplets were simple to really push out and the drones were balanced so well I almost forgot they were there!

I’m meeting someone later in the week to play a set of concert pitch pipes made by the Tailor brothers. That’s something I’m really looking forward to.  The tailor brothers originated from Drogheda, the town that I’m from and they were the first people to develop the design that is currently in use.  That is, a design where the bores are bigger and the pipes are in D concert pitch.  This was actually to facilitate the performances in larger halls in the States.  I have to admit, this is going to be a personal highlight of mine and it’s one I’ll not forget in a hurry.  I saw the pipes yesterday and I had to stop my self drooling over them. The workmanship of these and the detail is just……. Wow.  Really, I couldn’t begin to describe them because they are just too amazing. The ivory mounts, the metal inserts, the German Silver keys and even the wooden decoration on the stock for the drones and regulators is just so carefully finished that my description could never do it justice. Oh, one thing I really liked was the keys on the regulators.  Their so chunky!  They feel absolutely brilliant!  I’m really looking forward to running them through their paces.

If you haven’t realized, I absolutely love playing old pipes.  In fact, even new pipes.  I really enjoy comparing them to my own.  I have to say though, I’m very lucky with my own at the moment.  Their singing beautifully at the moment. 

OH, that reminds me, I’ve started doing lessons again.  I already have a few new students but if anyone wants to learn the Úilléann pipes, tin whistle or Bádhrán send me an email.

I've been corrected.

First, let me say, I'm absolutely terrible with names!  I think I've just proven that in this post because I got the spellings and in fact, the names completely wrong!  Ronan was kind enough to email me with a few corrections:

Emma told me to blog so… here goes.

There’s a lot happening but not much you’ll really be interested in. 

Last weekend, I went down to a good friend of mine in Carlow as his girlfriend organized a surprise for him for his birthday.  The poor fella’s getting old so it was the least I could do. I have to say though, I really enjoyed my self.  I’m spreading things very thin at the moment as I’ve just so much to do but the break last weekend really did me a lot of good.  That is, excluding the lack of sleep I managed to catch up on last weekend.  Because I’m travelling a lot during the week and up at absolutely crazy times in the morning, usually before 6AM, I like to have nothing to get up for during the weekend.  That’s not to say I sit around doing nothing, I just like to wake up when I’m ready as posed to an alarm clock screaming at me at an unmerciful hour.   What can I say! I like my Sleep!  If sleep can’t be had, coffee is very regularly a good replacement.  Oh, I had a great cup of coffee this morning. It was only instant and I made it my self but it just really hit the spot.  Sorry. I’m just rambling.

I’m not playing enough music at all at the moment!  I’ve not played regularly in months.  It’s something I’m going to have to pay more attention to.  I don’t want to let things slide like they did a few years ago.  Music is a very important past time for me and if I don’t keep it up I feel guilty and more importantly, my fingers start to get tight and the ornamentation that I want to use just won’t work!  I’m thinking of going to a few gigs and classes that the pipers club are organizing this weekend, but I really need to do some practice first! I must also get to a few sessions with Maurice Lennon again.  I usually enjoy his music so it might get me motivated again.

On the technical front, I’ve moved away from Linux" somewhat and am now focusing more of my energy on windows 2003 server for my administration needs.  AS YOU CAN SEE FROM MY EARLIER POSTS RELATREGARDING Orca and Ubuntu, I’m still reasonably involved when I get time however as my new job focuses more on the windows side of things I need to prioritise and learn as much about Windows server technologies as possible in a very short space of time.  Would you believe actually, the accessibility of Windows Server technologies is much worse than that provided in Linux"?  With Linux", on my laptop, I had speakup in the console when I was sitting in front of it and when accessing it via SSH, I had access via what ever screen reader I was using.  Essentially, I could SSH to any remote machine and start using it without needing to install any additional assistive software.  Here, where I work now, there are dozens of servers.  All of which I need regular access to.  So, I therefore need to install Jaws onto each one.  I fortunately don’t need to install a full version.  They don’t need servers or anything like that however it’s a real pain none the less!  The servers don’t even have sound cards so I can’t access them with any ease while standing in front of them.  The best thing I can do is take a laptop around with me to remote desktop into them.  That’s basically what I’m doing at the moment anyway.

At home, I’ve decommissioned my Linux" server and in its place I’ve installed a shiny new Windows 2003 SBS operating system complete with Exchange 2003, IIS, Sharepoint, and all that other stuff. I have to say, although it’s exceptionally easy to set up, I’m not overly impressed with its flexibility.  In Linux", I had things set up really well, customized to meet the needs of my self and Emma.  We both had different set ups because we both have different requirements.  In Exchange, there’s a standard way of doing things and if you want to go outside that, exchange is no longer your friend.  In saying that, there’s certainly a reason why it’s so popular.  That is, anyone who’s got any experience with Windows conventions can set it up.  If you know that right clicking on absolutely everything will get you a lot of options, you’re going to be able to set it up.

On the work side of things, I’m still really enjoying my self.  I’m still having problems with remote access, a topic I think I wrote about last week or the week before but accessibility related problems are slowly but surely getting a bit easier to handle.  My main thing at the moment is finding an alternative way of reading bar codes for all these tapes I’m managing.  There are six very active tape servers at the moment and labels for each tape.  Each server takes a minimum of twelve tapes with a maximum of 24.  That’s a lot of labels!  Backup Exec, the application that we use for managing these backups will give the bar codes when a tape has been processed but that’s far from an efficient way of obtaining that information. So, I’m on the hunt for a more accessible solution.

OH, on the Linux" accessibility side of things, I’ll be working on another few recordings soon so if your interested, stay tuned.  If your not, you should be!  Linux" is the future!  It’s coming and there’s no escaping it!

This process is not very difficult however I've been as descriptive here as possible to allow users who have listened to my configuring Orca in Ubuntu 8.04 walk through to access these commands in a more friendly format.

1. Go into a terminal. Press alt + F2, type gnome-terminal then press enter.
2. at the command prompt: ($) use the su command to change to the root user.
3. Firstly, install an easy to use text editor such as Nano / Pico.
   

   apt-get install nano

   
   If nano is not found, replace this with pico. These are escentially the same editors just different versions.
4. Create a .orbitrc file in your /root directory by typing the following:
   

   nano /root/.orbitrc

5. Insert the following two lines into this file:
   

   ORBIIOPIPv4=1
   ORBIIOPUNIX=0

6. Save and exit this file. First press the key stroke: Control + x. When asked for the file name you want to save this as just press enter. Then press Control + C.
7. Change the permissions on this file so that only the root user can read and write to this file and the root group and all other users and groups can read it.
   

   chmod 644 /root/.orbitrc

8. Turning our attention to /etc/sudoers, first allow write access to this file.
   

   chmod 777 /etc/sudoers

9. Edit this file using nano by typing:
   

   nano /etc/sudoers

10. Arrow down to the line containing the words: "env_reset". Just after this line, insert the text below:
    

    Defaults env_keep+="GTK_MODULES"

11. Save and exit the file. Control + x, hit enter to accept the name /etc/sudoers. Hit control plluss c to quit.
12. Change the permissions on this file again to secure it against attacks on your system using the following command:
    

    chmod 440 /etc/sudoers

13. type exit to return to your own user account.
14. Change to your home directory by typing:
    

    cd

15. Create another .orbitrc file:
    

    nano .orbitrc

16. Insert the following two lines into this file:
    

    ORBIIOPIPv4=1
    ORBIIOPUNIX=0

17. Save and exit this file. First press the key stroke: Control + x. When asked for the file name you want to save this as just press enter. Then press Control + C.
18. Change the permissions on this file so that only you can read and write to this file and the users group and all other users and groups can read it.
    

    chmod 644 .orbitrc

19. Exit the terminal window by typing the exit command.
20. Log out of your session. Press alt f1, Press the right arrow twice, press up to quit then enter. Alt and l will activate the log out button or alternatively, tab over to it and press enter.
21. When you log in again, access an administration tool such as software sources by doing the following:
22. Press alt f2 and type gnome-terminal then hit enter.
23. Change to the root account by typing su then hit enter
24. Restart orca with root privlidges:
    

    orca --no-setup --disable main-window

25. Orca will start and welcome you however will not speak yet. Press alt f1, left once, down twice, right once then up seven times to software sources and press enter. (Confused? ) Don't be. it's something you'll ge tuse to.
26. You will be prompted for your password. Type the same password as you used to log into the system.
27. You should now recieve feedback from orca.
28. To start orca normally again, press Alt+F2 and tyetype orca in the launch application dialogue box.

If you have problems hearing sound output after installing Ubuntu or any other distribution that contains the alsamixer, try the following:

1. Enter a terminal. Use the run dialogue box by pressing Alt+F then type gnome-terminal, or alternatively, press alt + F1 to enter the top menu bar, arrow down through the applications menu to accessories, press the right arrow then arrow up to terminal and press enter.
2. If you have followed the instructions for Linux".aspx">changing your root password, change to root by typing the su command.
3. Start the alsa mixer by typing
   

   alsamixer

   
   at the command prompt.
4. At this point, you are in a text based volume control window. Use up and down arrows to increase and decrease the volume respectively and use the right and left arrows to move through the different volume settings. Example: speakers, mike, cd, wav etc. If you have very low sound output, hold down the up arrow for a few seconds on each control. Press the right key to move to the next slider then hold the up arrow again. Do this a few times.
5. To exit the alsamixer, press the escape key twice.
6. Exit the terminal by typing exit twice. Remember, you type exit once to leave the root account then exit again to close the terminal window.

I don't doubt there is a better and more accessible way of fixing this type of issue however this has never failed me so it's worth listing.

Changing your root password in Linux" is very easy. Follow the below instructions:

1. Start the gnome terminal. Press Alt F2 to start the run dialogue box and type gnome-terminal then press enter.
2. In the terminal, type
   

   sudo passwd root

   
   then press enter.
3. You will be prompted to enter a new password twice. Tyep this password and press return.
4. You can now elivate your permissions by typing the su command at the command prompt.

Note: When logged in on a terminal / console as a user, you will see a $ sign on the prompt. If you are logged in as root, this $ sign will change to a #.

To check who you are logged in as on the console / terminal, type the command:

whoami

The second in this series of recordings for the Ubuntu 8.04 Linux" distribution is now available.  This recording will guide you through configuring Orca via the Orca preferences window, Updating Orca via SVN, Configuring Orca to provide access to administration tools, the Software sources window where you can select or deselect software repositories and finally updating Ubuntu 8.04 via apt-get.   The recording is available at www.digitaldarragh.com/linux/configuring-orca.mp3 and as always, you'll find this and all other recordings at www.digitaldarragh.com/linuxat.asp  Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Morning!  How are you?

Oh, thanks, I’m not bad. 

How was your weekend?

Glad to hear it.  Mine was absolutely fantastic.  Went down to Carlow to a friend for Saturday night. 

This morning though, I’m feeling dodgy! I didn’t drink anything yesterday but I think I’m going to need someone to carry me into the shower and to the train to work.

Shit this is going to be a long day.

I'd take the day off work but that would look really bad considering I just started there a month ago.

I don't know what to write about at the moment.

My finger is sore because yesterday, I walked into the railing at a set of steps in Connolly station.

I'm working on something to stop comment spam on some parts of this site.

I'm slightly hungry.

There's a protest in Lenster house just outside this window.

You know, although we all give out about commuting, there are some advantages to it. Since I’ve been using the trains again, I’ve been meeting up with a lot of people who I’ve known very well in the past.  Séan, a guy I use to work with saw me last night on the train and we got talking for a good while.  I’ve also been meeting people who I use to know from the train years ago when I was using a much earlier service.  Caroline and John are their names.  I got talking to John originally as he was big into 3G as he was working with Vodafone helping to role it out. There are people I’m getting to know from seeing them on the train more recently as well. It’s surprising how many conversations start with talking about your dog but continue for a long time after.  Now, of course, some conversations end just as quickly as they start but that’s generally a good thing.

After a lot of talking about wanting to do another recording, I’ve finally got around to doing it! Over the last few days I’ve been getting things ready.  Last night I finished it and uploaded it to the web server.

This recording will walk you right through the installation of Ubuntu 8.04 with screen reader support right from the start.  It also begins to describe the installed system and skims over web accessibility with the Firefox web browser.

The audio file is available at http://www.digitaldarragh.com/linux/installing-ubuntu-8-04-with-orca.mp3  Of course, like before you can access and previous recordings at www.digitaldarragh.com/linuxat.asp

All your comments and suggestions are welcome by email at d@digitaldarragh.com or via commenting to this post.

Part two of this installation detailing the configuration of the system will be released soon.

Doesn't really have the same ring to it does it.

Why isn't Blog in the dictionary in MS Word?

You’d think something as simple as concurrent remote desktop sessions should be something that’s reasonably straight forward and logic wouldn’t you?  I certainly did.  It’s something I’ve got to work before at home on PC’s that aren’t connected to a domain however for some reason; I just cannot get it to work when connected to a Windows 2003 domain!  It’s so frustrating!  I need this access and VNC isn’t accessible when using a screen reader!

So, what should you be able to do to get around this?  These are the steps I have written down.
Firstly, I got a termserve.dll from a Windows XP SP2 Beta build.
I installed this in c:\windows\system32\ and c:\windows\service pack releases\i386\
I then changed a few keys in the group policy editor to allow for remote log ons.  Go to gpedit.msc, go to computer configuration, administrative templates, Windows components, Terminal Services, “Restrict terminal sessions to a single session. You can also go to computer management, Windows settings, Local policies, User rights assignment and then “Allow log in through terminal services.  Add users and administrators to this.  Alternatively, just go to control panel, users and groups, advanced and then add the required users to the terminal services remote access group.
In the registry, you need to do some editing too. First, go to HKey_Local_machine \ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\ Current Version\ Winlogon and change the value of Allow Multiple TS Sessions to 1.  Also change the value at HKey_Local_Machine\System\ControlSet 001\ Control\ Terminal Server\ Licensing Core\ called Enable Concurrent Sessions to 1.Note, you may also need to create  a value called PolicyACOff with a value of 5.
Oh, one more thing, go into services.msc and start the fast user switching compatibility service and in the properties, set this to start automatically at boot.

I’ve spent hours on this now with no success.  So, as you can probably imagine, I’m very frustrated!  I’d love to find a way around this!

Frustratingly, I lost my pen drive last week. In the search for a temporary replacement, I found one that I hadn't used in ages! It's only a 128MB drive that I keep for emergencies. I found a track on it though that was recorded during my last Israel gig. There's also a track similar to this on Youtube however the last two tunes on the Youtube recording are replaced by one much better tune on this audio-only recording. Listen to me, Darragh Ó Héiligh, playing Roisin Dubh followed by Crague's pipes on the Úilléann pipes.

Could I be any more obvious?

Seriously though, if I do say so my self, it's a good recording. I really love the response I got at the end.

As promised, Emma sent me the pictures last week.  I've just not had the time to get them uploaded until today.  Now, when your looking at this, remember that these were taken before the move in date which was the 13th.  So, a hell of a lot has changed since then.  Really, we must get more pictures taken soon! You'd not recognise the place any more.  Even since these pictures.  It's my hope to do up a slide show of the before, during and after pictures.  These are the during pictures.  I must get Emma to show me the before pictures too so I can put them up here.

 

I really don't know why.  It escapes me. Why would Emma take a picture of a sink resting against the wall?  Strange!  anyway, to describe the sink: It's got two basons.  One large and the other is small for rincing and all that kind of good stuff.  Other than that, it's kind of standard enough I suppose.

Emma Emma Emma! What's the facination with the sink!  Especially the tag on the sink!   Hahahaha.  sorry. I shouldn't be so mean but I'm really baffled!

We've got a press that completely pulls out so you can access everything really easily.  I think we should get a picture of it now that it's all set up!

Oh! we're back to the sink again.  Sorry about that temporary diversion away from what seems to be Emma's favorite part of the kitchen.  Sorry. I'm only messing.

This shows the cooker hood.  Actually the protective covering featuring in this shot is still on that.  We've just been too busy to paint the kitchen so until that's done, the covering isn't coming off.

 

Shelves. That's really all I can say here.  The next few images are the same so I'm not going to write anything under them.

Oh. that's interesting.  Here are the horrible shelves that had to be ripped off the wall before the new kitchen went in.

Pictures of the doors for what I presume are the new presses.  Emma, your labling of these images wasn't very clear!  Hmm.  At this rate, by the time I get home tonight she'll have changed the locks because of all the slagging I'm giving her on today's posts.

Oh, I hope I never see the inside of these walls ever again!  That's a picture of some of the sockets being sunk in the kitchen.  So, in other words, the socket isn't mounted onto the wall, it's actually in the wall, as it should be so there is no external conduit.

This is the bedroom when the walls where under coated with white paint.  I heard the room looked huge!

Aside from hanging the wardrobe doors, a job that I was suppose to do a long time ago, the bedroom is done.  That shows what it's like at the moment.... I think.

Oh, this part of the room is actually finished and Freddie's bed fits into it really well! Again, we'll have to get you some more pictures!

Here is where my server and all that kind of stuff is living at the moment.  Believe me, it doesn't look as clean at the moment as it does in the picture!  I could really do with organizing it a bit better.

Last but not least, Emma's room.  This room has been painted white so it has it's under coat however we still need to get the floor down and put on the finishing touches.  It's unfortunately been the last room in the house to get the attention it deserves but we've had to take it easy for a while to consintrate on other things.  It's certainly my main priority now though.

That's it for the moment.  Believe me, we've come a long way since these pictures were taken.  We're not living in a building site.  It's much worse!x

As promised, I’m posting again!  Two days in a row!  This is an achievement when looking at my lack of contribution to the blog over the last few weeks.

I just had to tell you of my fantastic weekend.  What did I do?  Nothing. Where did I go? No where far. Did I do anything exciting? No.  Not at all.  I simply had a weekend where there were very few expectations placed on me, we had the house to our selves for the entire weekend and we didn’t have any urgent work to do.  I think it’s been the first weekend we’ve done nothing since we moved out of the rented house in November! I’m telling you, never under estimate the stress of not having your own place and the pure relief of having your own space again.

On Friday night, we just grabbed a Chinese and sat in our new living room, on our really comfortable leather recliners watching the television for the night. 

Saturday, we got up and again, for some reason, completely out of the blue, we turned on the television and watched the audio described version of mission impossible three for a few hours.    That afternoon, I had to go into town to help with the Irish guide dogs “Shades for a Day” fund raising campaign.  I was back home though by about six o’clock.  On Saturday night, I started to sort out my computer / music room up stairs.  You wouldn’t believe the amount of cable I have to connect up when I’m setting up my computer / mixer / sound system etc.  I also had to sort out the cables I don’t use too often so they weren’t just lying in boxes.  I even got energetic by putting the unneeded boxes up into the attic out of the way! Emma helped too!  Routing desks through the cable management system in the new desk is quite difficult and with that many cables it really helps if one person feeds through to the other.  Again though, on Saturday night, we just relaxed with a drink in the house.    OH, I forgot to say, I bet Emma in a game of chess earlier that day too! Hahahahahaha.

ON Sunday, when I finally halled my self out of bed, I had a fabulous unhealthy breakfast and lounged around again for another few hours.  Oh, as well as just lounging, I also finished setting up my computer / music room.  Ok, from now on, I’m just going to call it my room for simplicity.  At around half two, we went out to a place called townly hall. It’s a huge wooded area that is nothing complicated; it’s just natural and simple.  It’s not something you’d do on your own though when you can’t see without really knowing the place.  There are some very sheer drops off some of the tracks so you really need to be careful as if you put a foot wrong, you could take a long tumble down to the river or the road depending on where you fall from. I use to go there quite a lot when I was younger so I was reasonably prepared for the route we took.  We easily walked for about two hours though.  Freddie had a fantastic time!  I really enjoyed him self sniffing trees, running up and down banks, walking through every muck patch he could find and generally being a very silly dog.

Last night then again, we didn’t do anything special.  It was just a night of relaxation in preparation of the week ahead.

I know that sounds very boring and quiet but when you’ve had five months of stress, obligations, bills, conflicting priorities and …. Builders, a quiet weekend is really refreshing. 

IN saying that, I hardly slept last night.  It was too hot!  So, this morning I’m knackered! 

Greetings all,

I just thought it would be a good idea to write a few words on this tonight because as I now have y self fully up and running in the new house, I’ll be doing a few more audio recordings.  I’ve just tested out some new cables that I got a few months ago that had been sitting waiting to be used and the quality that I get from them is just absolutely fantastic.   I had planned to do another audio review of Orca with the new Ubuntu 8.04 however I decided to leave it until tomorrow evening so I have some more time to prepare my self.  I’ll also listen back over the review and other recordings I did the last time I undertook this type of project to give me a few ideas. 

Oh, I couldn’t put into words how fantastic it is to have my nice big powerful desktop back up and running.  The responsiveness of the entire system is just excellent.  Now, if the sound card works reliably this time it will be even better again.  Oh, that’s right. The Blog hadn’t been born when I bought this PC.  Well, in short, I bought this computer back in August.  It cost me an absolute fortune!  I got it within about four days which was really cool but very shortly after turning it on I found that the sound card wasn’t behaving as it should.  I got it with a SBXVI platinum card so it has loads of bells and whistles but the stupid card didn’t work correctly.  I originally thought it was a Vista problem and the manufacturer of the PC didn’t disagree with this assumption.  However, after a few months of digging around, I found that it was actually a defective machine.  After some messing around and a lot of shouting and complaining, I finally got the machine sent back.  It was sent back to me in December however I haven’t had a change to even turn it back on until tonight!  I’m really relieved to see that it’s all working as it’s supposed to.  Touch wood anyway that it doesn’t start acting up again.  From what I can tell, they’ve replaced the sound card and the motherboard. 

OH, they also removed one of the power cables connecting the second Sata hard disk so I’m going to have to find one of those.  I’d ask them to send me a replacement but its more hassle than it’s worth.  It will only take me a few minutes to connect it up again.  I took the second drive out when I was sending it back as I had been using that to store files and music and I didn’t want it to be formatted on me.

That’s all for now.  If I feel like it tomorrow, I’ll tell you about the absolutely fantastic weekend I’ve just had.  It’s a real shame it’s over!  I want another few days off!

I worked on this this morning.  Basically, there were about a hundred PC's here that weren't recieving updates for the antivirus application due to a flaw in the way updates are roled out and the way Windows handles errors or problems. 

Ordinarily, if a script wasn't used, these steps would have to be carried out manually  That would take days!  After this script was written it took just under an hour to update all one hundred or so PC's. 

In case it's ever useful to anyone else, I've posted it here. It's nice to have the freedom to write code in work! It's a nice medium for me.

I'll have to blog more often.  I've not really taken much time to do it lately.

The script will log each part and if a computer isn't connected to the network at the time it will log that no connection could be made and move onto the next one in the Excel spreadsheet. 

Here are the rough steps that the script performs in edition to the logging and logic.

1. Stop the Automatic Updates Service
2. Delete the %WINDIR%\softwaredistribution folder
3. Delete the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate keys and subkeys.
4. Start the Automatic updates Service
5. Send a wuauclt.exe /resetauthorization /detectnow command to sysem

bEnableLogging = True
bIncludeDateStamp = True
bPrependDateStampInLogFileName = False
sLogFileLocation = "relative"
sLogFileName = "errors.txt"
sOverWriteORAppend = "append"
vLogMaximumLines = 0
vLogMaximumSize = 0

Sub LogToFile(Message)

If bEnableLogging = False Then Exit Sub

Const ForReading = 1
Const ForWriting = 2
Const ForAppending = 8

Set oLogFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

If sLogFileLocation = "relative" Then
Set oLogShell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
sLogFileLocation = oLogShell.CurrentDirectory & "\"
Set oLogShell = Nothing
End If

If bPrependDateStampInLogFileName Then
sNow = Replace(Replace(Now(),"/","-"),":",".")
sLogFileName = sNow & " - " & sLogFileName
bPrependDateStampInLogFileName = False
End If

sLogFile = sLogFileLocation & sLogFileName

If sOverWriteORAppend = "overwrite" Then
Set oLogFile = oLogFSO.OpenTextFile(sLogFile, ForWriting, True)
sOverWriteORAppend = "append"
Else
Set oLogFile = oLogFSO.OpenTextFile(sLogFile, ForAppending, True)
End If

If bIncludeDateStamp Then
Message = Now & "   " & Message
End If

oLogFile.WriteLine(Message)
oLogFile.Close

If vLogMaximumLines > 0 Then
Set oReadLogFile = oLogFSO.OpenTextFile(sLogFile, ForReading, True)
sFileContents = oReadLogFile.ReadAll
aFileContents = Split(sFileContents, vbCRLF)
If Ubound(aFileContents) > vLogMaximumLines Then
sFileContents = Replace(sFileContents, aFileContents(0) & _
vbCRLF, "", 1, Len(aFileContents(0) & vbCRLF))
Set oLogFile = oLogFSO.OpenTextFile(sLogFile, ForWriting, True)
oLogFile.Write(sFileContents)
oLogFile.Close
End If
oReadLogFile.Close
End If

If vLogMaximumSize > 0 Then
Set oReadLogFile = oLogFSO.OpenTextFile(sLogFile, ForReading, True)
sFileContents = oReadLogFile.ReadAll
oReadLogFile.Close
sFileContents = RightB(sFileContents, (vLogMaximumSize*2))
Set oLogFile = oLogFSO.OpenTextFile(sLogFile, ForWriting, True)
oLogFile.Write(sFileContents)
oLogFIle.Close
End If

oLogFSO = Null
End Sub

function Ping(byval strName)
dim objFSO, objShell, objTempFile, objTS
dim sCommand, sReadLine
dim bReturn

set objShell = WScript.CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

'Set default return value
bReturn = false

'Create command line to ping and save results to a temp file
sCommand = "cmd /c ping.exe -n 3 -w 1000 " & strName & " > temp.txt"

'Execute the command
objShell.run sCommand, 0, true

'Get the temp file
set objTempFile = objFSO.GetFile("temp.txt")
set objTS = objTempFile.OpenAsTextStream(1)

'Loop through the temp file to see if "reply from" is found,
'if it is then the ping was successful
do while objTs.AtEndOfStream <> true
sReadLine = objTs.ReadLine
if instr(lcase(sReadLine), "reply from") > 0 then
bReturn = true
exit do
end if
loop

'Close temp file and release objects
objTS.close
objTempFile.delete
set objTS = nothing
set objTempFile = nothing
set objShell = nothing
set objFSO = nothing

'Return value
Ping = bReturn
end function

 

'---------------- Input Computer Name ---------------------

On Error Resume Next
Dim strComputer
Dim intLoopCount, dir, objExcel, objWorkbook
Set objExcel = CreateObject("Excel.Application")

'Gets the directory where our script is running from
dir = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject").GetParentFolderName(Wscript.ScriptFullName)

'Open our EXCEL file
Set objWorkbook = objExcel.Workbooks.Open(dir & "\Computers-Report.xls")

intLoopCount = 1

'Do Until objExcel.Cells(intLoopCount,1).Value = ""
Do While Not IsEmpty(objExcel.Cells(loopCount, 1).Value)

strComputer = objExcel.Cells(intLoopCount,1).Value

 

StrComputer=UCase(StrComputer)

'ping the StrComputer to see if it is accessible
bPingtest = ping(StrComputer)

If bPingtest = FALSE Then
LogToFile "" & strComputer & "Is not accessible. Ping failed."
Loop

end IF
'
'
'----------------Stop Automatic Updates Service--------------------
'
'
'On Error Resume Next
' NB strService is case sensitive.
strService = " 'wuauserv' "
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" _
& strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colListOfServices = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_Service Where Name ="_
& strService & " ")
For Each objService in colListOfServices
objService.StopService()
Next
LogToFile "" & strComputer & "Automatic update service has been stopped."
'
''
'----------------Stop BITS Service--------------------
'
'
'On Error Resume Next
' NB strService is case sensitive.
strService = " 'BITS' "
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" _
& strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colListOfServices = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_Service Where Name ="_
& strService & " ")
For Each objService in colListOfServices
objService.StopService()
Next
LogToFile "" & strComputer & "Background Intelligent Transfer Service has been stopped"
'WScript.Echo "Background Intelligent Transfer Service has been stopped"
'
'
'
'----------------- Delete Folder and Reg Keys --------------------------------

strExe = "cmd.exe /C rmdir %WINDIR%\SoftwareDistribution /S /Q && cmd.exe /C REG DELETE HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate /f"

' Connect to WMI
'
set objWMIService = getobject("winmgmts://"_
& strComputer & "/root/cimv2")

' Obtain the Win32_Process class of object.

Set objProcess = objWMIService.Get("Win32_Process")
Set objProgram = objProcess.Methods_( _
"Create").InParameters.SpawnInstance_
objProgram.CommandLine = strExe

'Execute the program now at the command line.

Set strShell = objWMIService.ExecMethod( _
"Win32_Process", "Create", objProgram)
LogToFile "" & strComputer & "The software Distribution Folder and WindowsUpdate regsitry keys have been deleted."
'WScript.Echo "The software Distribution Folder and WindowsUpdate regsitry keys have been deleted."

'------------------ Start Automatic Update Service -------------
'
'
'On Error Resume Next
' NB strService is case sensitive.
strService = " 'wuauserv' "
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" _
& strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colListOfServices = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_Service Where Name ="_
& strService & " ")
For Each objService in colListOfServices
objService.StartService()
Next
LogToFile "Windows Updates Service has been Started on " & strcomputer
'WScript.Echo "Windows Updates Service has been Started on " & strcomputer
'
'
'------------------ Start BITS Service -------------
'
'
'On Error Resume Next
' NB strService is case sensitive.
strService = " 'BITS' "
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" _
& strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colListOfServices = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_Service Where Name ="_
& strService & " ")
For Each objService in colListOfServices
objService.StartService()
Next
LogToFile "Background Intelligent Transfer Service has been Started on " & strcomputer
'WScript.Echo "Background Intelligent Transfer Service has been Started on " & strcomputer
'
'-------------- Force Checking to WSUS server by issueing a wuauclt.exe /resetauthorization /detectnow ------------

strExe = "cmd.exe /C wuauclt.exe /resetauthorization /detectnow"

' Connect to WMI
'
set objWMIService = getobject("winmgmts://"_
& strComputer & "/root/cimv2")

' Obtain the Win32_Process class of object.

Set objProcess = objWMIService.Get("Win32_Process")
Set objProgram = objProcess.Methods_( _
"Create").InParameters.SpawnInstance_
objProgram.CommandLine = strExe

'Execute the program now at the command line.

Set strShell = objWMIService.ExecMethod( _
"Win32_Process", "Create", objProgram)
LogToFile "" & strComputer & "Force checkin has been sent. Process Complete."
'WScript.Echo "Force checkin has been sent. Process Complete."

intLoopCount = intLoopCount + 1

Loop
LogToFile "*********************************************************"
objExcel.Workbooks.Close
objExcel.quit
objExcel = Empty
objWorkbook = Empty

I'm looking forward to the next chalange now.

The town I love so well was actually a song that just came into my head as I was trying to think of a title for this post.

Emma's taken some really cool pictures of Drogheda from the Millmount tower.  I thought I'd post them up here for people to take a look at.  Drogheda is known as two things.  The town of many churches and the town of many pubs.  The churches still dominate it's landscape though.

There's a great view from this monument. it allows you to see all over Drogheda.

As you may have gathered, Drogheda doesn't always look like that. It's not so decritive.

A picture of the bridge of Piece.

A picture of the huge viaduct in Drogheda YOu can also see the steeple of St. Mary's church.

A picture of theMillmount bar. See? there had to be one pub in there.

 

While growing up, or even finding your place in the world, where socially imposed expectations define how we think we should feel, act or live, being honest and true to our selves let alone the people around us is often a secondary consideration. Primarily due to the significants we place on at-herance to the normal way of doing things and  living our lives all in the name of normalization, inclusion and that all too used word, equality.  Truth is therefore a tragic victom of the indeviduals need for exceptance and their perception, however misguided  it may be, that meeting expectations will gain the approval of their society.

Go on.  tell me what you think.