I have just used both the CD supplied RAIDar as well as 4.1.7 T7 on linux. I ran into a couple of things that if it were up to me, and if I had the ability to change, I would. I thought that I would share in the event that the changes were simple to implement and made sense for others as well. Quick summary of below: (3) would solve (1) & (2). (4) may be isolated to me, but let me discover something neat which is (5)
Problem: Installer expects root permissions. Solution/Comments: Some users may not wish to grant RAIDar root permissions during installation. Root permissions are only necessary as far as I can tell for the following:
To edit "/etc/Browser.text" by placing the desired browsers name therein
To install in a folder to which the user does not have permissions
To add symlinks into a suitable bin folder
I would find it more graceful to detect root/non-root during install (${EUID} == 0), and in the case of non-root, instruct the user to put the appropriate browser name in /etc/Browser.text as well as mention the fact that the user may proceed but can only install the app into a folder to which they have permissions. I personally have a folder in my /home/ where I store java apps such as RAIDar, Dell's RAC app etc...
Problem: If nothing is present in Browser.text or the file is absent, the Setup button silently fails Solution/Comments: A message should be given to the user stating "No default browser was setup/configured. Please configure one by placing one of [browser list] in /etc/Browser.text"
Problem: Because of (1) & (2), multi-user setup is not practical. Solution/Comments: A big advantage I see for installing as root is that it can place the app in a location accessible to more than one user. This being said, there is no current solution for per user configuration. Why not have an /etc/RAIDar/browser.text and a ~/.RAIDar/browser.text allowing:[list=a:2nxhktj7]
A non root user to install and actually use the software by having settings in their home folder (ie: as is the installation works but the Setup doesnt launch because ordinary users do not have write permissions to /etc/Browser.text and thus no browser is set. If this file were stored in ~/.RAIDar/browser.text, it could be created during install with ordinary user permissions and the Setup button would produce expected results)
Allowing a multi user system to have separate settings per user (ie: UserA wants firefox, UserB wants opera, all stored in their ~/)
Scale to having possibly more than one config related file for RAIDar
Problem: On consecutive launches, the RAIDar window is too small and not resizeable. !! I suspect this may be entirely limited to my setup !! Solution/Comments: This may have something to do with JAVA on my machine. But the problem is as follows. If, at the end of the installation, I opt for it to launch RAIDar, everything is fine. RAIDar launches with the appropriate sizing and works as expected. If I close and relaunch RAIDar, whether I use the desktop icon, or invoke it via console, the main RAIDar window is very small, the same size as the "Scanning" window that first pops up. It remains this unuseable size for exactly 5 minutes at which point it resizes to the expected and useable size. I also found entierely by accident that if I launch RAIDar when there is no network connection, it sizes correctly and displays a helpful legend about the meaning of the different light colors. Once this correctly sized window is obtained, restoring network access and clicking rescan maintains the correct window size. I am not sure how to diagnose this but I have included screenshots for whomever may have suggestions. 12:00:17
Problem: No button/option to launch the helpful legend found in (4) Solution/Comments: I found a very helpful legend entirely by accident in (4). It only seems to appear if RAIDar is launched with no network connection. When launched with a network connection, I do not see how to reach this information. It is kind of handy. It would be nice if there were a button or some other discoverable method for displaying the legend.
I would appreciate other peoples thoughts on these things, in particular (4) as it is the only frequent thing I am going to run into as installing is much less frequent.
Thank you guys for not forgetting linux. RAIDar for linux is very appreciated. I will investigate a RAIDar plasmoid but do not hold your breath.
Screenshots below:
Small size when opened mentioned in (4):
Helpful legend when launched with no network connection mentioned in (5):
I completely agree on the above comments, including a big thanks for the Linux support by Netgear.
I would add that some hints about what command to run after the install would be apreciated.
As of now I have my linux unable to find my readynas duo while another on linux has no problem. Any idea about what I should look to understand my problem?
Forgive me. I already have 4.3.1 and 4.1.7 on the Duo. It's unable to find my NAS that is perfectly visible from winxp and on the same subnet. 😕 Other Ideas? Checks I can do?
