This is a read-only archive of an earlier blog posting. Reasons for the
change are at http://blog.sensicomm.com.
The permanent version of this post - with comments (if any) - is at
http://sensicomm.blogspot.com/2013/01/my-debian-tweaks.html
My Debian tweaks
When doing a new Debian Linux installation,
there are a set of basic configuration changes that I nearly always
make. While the issues do not apply to everyone, I think they are
common enough that many others may find them useful. As always,
your mileage may vary, use at your own risk, etc.
My
system is Debian Testing installed on a laptop that is typically
shut down at night and that often runs disconnected from the
Internet. So here are the problems I often see and my solutions:
- PC locked by fsck. The
fsck partition check program typically runs every 30 reboots or so
on EXT2/EXT3 filesystems (and maybe others). This automatically
happens during the boot process and, per Murphy's law, it usually
happens while setting up a critical demo or presentation. The
problem is that it can't be interrupted, so the group gets to spend
several minutes watching the progress bar slowly move. The fix is
to add the lines:
[options]
allow_cancellation = true
to the file
/etc/e2fsck.conf. One site that discusses this fix and potential
issues is wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fsck - Boot
pauses due to exim. When booting while not connected to
the Internet, the exim mail handling program may hang for 60
seconds. I found that adding
MAIN_HARDCODE_PRIMARY_HOSTNAME = mypc.example.com
to /etc/exim4/exim4.conf.localmacros gets rid of the hang, where
mypc.example.com should be changed to whatever is appropriate for
that PC. Depending on other configuration options, this line might
belong somewhere in /etc/exim4/conf.d
instead. - Annoying computer
beep.For some reason, many programs seem to think a loud
"beep" on errors is a helpful feature. I'm one of the legions that
disagree, so I disable the pcspkr device by
adding
blacklist pcspkr
blacklist
snd_pcsp
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist directory. See
www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_disable_the_pc_speaker_%28beep!%29
for example. - Hardware Clock.
Normal PC's have a hardware clock that keeps track of the date and
time of day even when the PC is powered off, and Linux also has a
system clock that keeps time when running. This system clock is
initialized from the hardware clock while booting. In normal Debian
setups the /etc/init.d/hwclock.sh script also copies the system
clock back to the hardware clock during system shutdown. That's a
problem in my system because it's using the less accurate clock to
reset the more accurate clock. One fix is to install the ntpdate
package; then the system time gets set whenever an Internet
connection comes up. Another option I use sometimes is to edit
hwclock.sh to disable the hardware clock update, and just set it
manually. I'm planning a more detailed post on this
issue.
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