https://www.sigma-uk.net/ 2026-04-28T16:00:53+00:00 https://www.sigma-uk.net/ https://www.sigma-uk.net/_media/wiki/logo.png text/html 2014-11-12T17:54:53+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/broadband_diagnostics?rev=1415814893&do=diff Broadband: Diagnosing Intermittent or Poorly Performing Connections Although normally reliable and efficient, our modern broadband Internet connections still make use of decades old copper telephone cables laid from our properties to at least the local cabinet, if not as far as the telephone exchange itself. These contain multiple joints and are often exposed to the elements. Problems can occur and these generally manifest themselves as long pauses, disconnections or a general slowing down of… text/html 2016-09-16T13:48:21+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/cloud_server_security?rev=1474033701&do=diff IT Security: Keeping Data Secure on Cloud Servers Many customers are recognising the flexibility that cloud servers and services offered by many big players in the IT industry bring. Being able to access your data from a variety of devices over a secure connection allows much greater choice in methods of working. text/html 2013-02-12T19:19:11+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/security?rev=1360696751&do=diff IT Security: Passwords and Patching Provided some attention is paid to keeping your system up-to-date, the security of IT systems and Internet communications is good. This has made a hacker's life different to the early days. They must now be a confidence trickster if they wish to easily gain access to your valuable information. It is far easier to persuade you (often unknowingly) to give the information away than it is to do the complex coding and mathematics required to steal it without yo… text/html 2011-11-08T18:12:36+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/ubuntu_asm?rev=1320775956&do=diff Adaptec Storage Manager This article describes the installation of Adaptec Storage Manager on a system with a RAID 3405 card but may be applicable to many of Adaptec's RAID cards. Supported Releases Should work in all Ubuntu releases. Tested from 8.04 (Hardy Heron) to 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) on Ubuntu Server 64-bit. text/html 2012-10-05T15:53:46+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/ubuntu_disable_recovery?rev=1349452426&do=diff Disable Recovery Option in GRUB Boot Menu Normally when Ubuntu boots, it is possible to hold the left <SHIFT> key down to access the GRUB boot menu. Among the other entries on the list, is a recovery option for each installed kernel. This allows the user easy access to the file system as the root user, hence invalidating normal run-time security. text/html 2014-06-10T16:04:27+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/ubuntu_intel_hd_rgb?rev=1402416267&do=diff Intel HD Graphics Full RGB Rendering In recent Intel HD Graphics drivers, the range of colour values used for Red, Green and Blue is limited to 16->235 by default and not the full range of 0->255. On a digital connection (such as HDMI) to a monitor or television this can result in grey looking blacks and washed out colours. text/html 2011-10-13T09:27:52+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/ubuntu_kernel_panic?rev=1318498072&do=diff Kernel Panic Automatic Reboot In the unlucky event of a Linux kernel panic, the default Ubuntu behaviour is for the system to sit and wait for the reset button to be pressed. Which sometimes useful for gathering diagnostic information, this can be rather inconvenient if the server is headless or remote. Therefore, this article modifies a kernel parameter to trigger an automatic reboot a specified number of seconds after the panic. text/html 2011-10-13T11:37:33+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/ubuntu_ldap?rev=1318505853&do=diff OpenLDAP: Installation and Configuration Often it is advantageous to have authentication, security and application settings centralised for ease of management. Microsoft provide Active Directory for Windows users and through the use of OpenLDAP, we can duplicate this behaviour in a cross-platform and open-source way. An text/html 2013-11-18T12:11:28+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/ubuntu_replace_disk?rev=1384776688&do=diff Replacing/Upgrading a Data Disk In the unlucky event that one of your data disks starts to show S.M.A.R.T. errors warning of its decline, or you are just running out of storage space, this article describes how to provision a new disk and migrate the data to replace the old one. text/html 2018-10-08T12:16:44+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/ubuntu_rhythmbox_dlna?rev=1539001004&do=diff Using DLNA/uPnP in Rhythmbox For some reason best known to Canonical, the Grilo plugin was omitted from the Rhythmbox music player in Ubuntu 14.04. This article shows how to add it from packages in a third party PPA kindly provided by fossfreedom. We retain the core Rhythmbox files supplied by Canonical and cherry-pick the necessary Grilo plugin. text/html 2011-10-13T09:29:05+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/ubuntu_smart?rev=1318498145&do=diff S.M.A.R.T. Disk Monitoring Incorporating S.M.A.R.T. allows most modern disks to be monitored during their operation. This article shows how to perform periodic tests, monitor parameters and report unusual events to an operator by e-mail. Supported Releases text/html 2012-10-05T15:55:07+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/ubuntu_user_install?rev=1349452507&do=diff Allow Non-Admin Users to Install Software Many Ubuntu users would like the ability to be able to add and remove applications on their machine but are not knowledgeable enough to be safely trusted with full administrative (root) user rights. A good example of this type of operation is Google Play on Android. This is where text/html 2013-02-12T18:00:29+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/web_server_security?rev=1360692029&do=diff IT Security: Securing Web Server Communications These days we are familiar with the https:// prefix for secure web pages, together with the associated padlock shown in most web browsers. However, the technology behind this security allows for different protocols to negotiate the security mechanism and a selection of ciphers used to actually encrypt the data transmitted. Over the years these have been tested extensively and with the power of processors ever increasing, vulnerabilities have bee… text/html 2016-06-21T14:27:38+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/windows_7_csc_vpn?rev=1466519258&do=diff Using Offline Files over a VPN Connection When using a Windows computer away from the office it is good practise to deploy a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to create a secure connection back into the office so that file and print resources can be accessed. Users who regularly travel away from the office potentially also need access to one or more of their files even when an Internet connection is not available. The Microsoft Windows feature known as text/html 2011-10-13T09:30:37+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/windows_fax_viewer?rev=1318498237&do=diff Fixing Microsoft Fax Viewer Often, after installing Apple QuickTime Player, you may find the ability to view multi-page faxes received as TIFF files may be lost. In many cases removing the offending Apple product does not correctly restore the functionality of the original Microsoft Picture and Fax Viewer. This article describes how to achieve this. text/html 2011-10-13T09:31:14+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/windows_ftp_alg_iis?rev=1318498274&do=diff Allowing Passive FTP to IIS via NAT When running an FTP server on Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) behind a NAT device (such as most broadband routers) you may encounter a situation where passive FTP connections hang and no data is returned to the client. Before you proceed, ensure the directions of Microsoft's text/html 2013-09-12T13:10:52+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/windows_office_associations?rev=1378991452&do=diff Fixing Microsoft Office Starter Edition File Associations During some Microsoft Updates, such as KB2589275 and KB2845537, it is possible that the file associations allowing Office documents to be launched by double-clicking them are broken. When this occurs, attempting to open a Word or Excel document will display the Out-of-Box Experience window (shown below) inviting the user to purchase Office: text/html 2016-09-15T20:22:32+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.sigma-uk.net/tech/windows_office_starter_setup?rev=1473970952&do=diff Fixing Microsoft Office Starter Edition Set-up Loop On occasions the set-up, known as Out Of Box Experience (OOBE), for Microsoft Office Starter Edition can become corrupt for some user accounts on a machine. Whenever you start Word or Excel you will be prompted for your name and initials and then the set-up will begin with the following license agreement: