273 lines
9.1 KiB
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273 lines
9.1 KiB
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<TITLE>The Answer Guy 31:
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Modem Connect Speed
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</TITLE>
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<!-- ORIGINAL SUBJECT:
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How to check your modems connect speed?
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<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#A000A0"
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ALINK="#FF0000">
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<H4>"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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</H4>
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<H1 align="center"><A NAME="answer">
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<img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" alt="" border="0" align="middle">
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<a href="./index.html">The Answer Guy</a>
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<img src="../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif" alt="" border="0" align="middle">
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</A></H1>
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<BR>
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<H4 align="center">By James T. Dennis,
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<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com">linux-questions-only@ssc.com</a>
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<BR>Starshine Technical Services, <A HREF="http://www.starshine.org/">http://www.starshine.org/</A>
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</H4>
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<p><hr><p>
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<H3><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" alt="(?)"
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width="50" height="28" align="left" border="0"
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>Modem Connect Speed</H3><p><strong>From James R. Ebright on 15 Jul 1998
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in the</strong>
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<a href="news:comp.unix.questions">comp.unix.questions</a>
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<strong>newsgroup</strong></p>
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<!-- begin body -->
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<p><strong>
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Dear Answer Guy,
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</strong></p>
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<p><strong>
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I have a question that I can't seem to find any refernce to in any
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of the regular documentation, (though I must admit, I only searched
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for about an hour this time, and sporadically over the last month or so).
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</strong></p>
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<p><strong>
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How can you tell the connection speed that a modem auto-negotiates
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when dialing an ISP? My system log (<tt>/var/log/messages</tt> in RH5.1) does
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tell me the line speed I have set in the chat script, but I would
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like to know the connect speed as well (56K, 33.6, etc). I know this
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info must be available somewhere/somehow.
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</strong></p>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)" width="50" height="28" border="0" lign="bottom"
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>I've gotten questions like this before and I never
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did find an answer. Indeed I actually beg the question
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itself.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>My problem with the question amounts to a couple of
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rhetorical questions in return:
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Who cares?
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>What are you going to do based on this metric?
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>At first these questions may seem hostile. But
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they aren't intended in that sense. There are both
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practical and philosophical aspects to this.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Are you going to return the modem to your vendor
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or retailer if it doesn't "live up to" some speed?
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Are you going to switch to a different ISP if
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their connect speed is better than your current average?
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Are you going to force the phone company to
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pull new wire to your home, resplice their cables, or replace equipment
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in their CO based on these results?
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>You used the term "info" --- the "info must be
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available somewhere" --- but what is the real informational
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content of this number. Let's say you connect at 49000 bps
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--- your effective throughput is likely to vary throughout
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the duration of each call. The factors involved may be
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quite different but they all have one thing in common ---
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they are probably not anything you can effectively do anything about.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Certainly you can do metrics on latency and throughput
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by running scripts between two hosts (after synchronizing
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their clocks). That could give you highly accurate <em>data</em>.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>I personally still question the <em>informational</em> content of
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that data.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>So, I'm going to sound like a curmudgeon and say:
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>I don't know how to get that data, and
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I don't care to spend more time trying to find out.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>... However, I'll forward this for publication in
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this months LG --- and I'll forward any responses
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back to you. (To respect your privacy we normally
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don't publish your e-mail addresses in LG. That does
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result in a bit of extra work on my part --- but I don't mind).
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>On an academic level I'm curious what answers and
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suggestions we'll see. I'll be curious where this
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number comes from and what it "means."
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>On a practical level I try to configure my systems
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and my work habits so I just don't have to care if
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my modem is working at 28.8, 33.6, 14.4 or whatever.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>If you search the Answer Guy archives on the terms
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"modem" or "benchmark and you'll probably also find
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some other choice comments I've made about the marketing
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claims of modem vendors (and CPU vendors for that matter).
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>I have similar opinions about most claims of "speed"
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as a feature.
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</blockquote>
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<STRONG><P><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)" width="50" height="28" border="0" lign="bottom"
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>PS, I am using the standard RH5.1 "if-up" scripts, but have used my
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own "ppp-on" style script in the past. I currently wrap my "if-up"
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script with a ppp-on script that looks like:
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</p></strong>
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<pre>
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>-------------------------------------------------
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#!/bin/bash
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cd /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts
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./ifup-ppp ifcfg-ppp0 &
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-------------------------------------------------
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</pre>
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<STRONG><P>
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and "ppp-off" looks like:
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</p></strong>
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<pre>
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>-------------------------------------------------
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#!/bin/bash
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cd /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts
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./ifdown-ppp ifcfg-ppp0 &
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-------------------------------------------------
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</pre>
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<STRONG><P>
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I can offer more information if needed. Thank you for any light you
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can shed on this issue.
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</p></strong>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)" width="50" height="28" border="0" lign="bottom"
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>I don't think these have anything to do with how
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fast or slow your modems are. If you want to
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reduce the amount of traffic that flows over these
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lines while running PPP --- run a caching <tt>named</tt< (and
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point the first entry in your <TT>/etc/resolv.conf</TT> to
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the localhost address: <tt>127.0.0.1</tt>) and a copy of Squid
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or <A HREF="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</A>'s cache proxy
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and configure your browsers to use this WWW cache.
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</blockquote>
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<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)" width="50" height="28" border="0" lign="bottom"
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>James R. Ebright
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<br>IT Professional, <a href="http://www.coastalnet.com/">CoastalNet</a>
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</strong></p>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)" width="50" height="28" border="0" lign="bottom"
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>Sorry if I sound grumpy on this issue.
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</blockquote>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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Your frustration with slow modems seems palpable
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--- and the great backward regulatory morass that
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is our telecommunications infrastructure doesn't
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leave you (or me) many alternatives.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>(Cable modems are currently a pipe dream in my area).
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</blockquote>
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<!-- end body -->
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<!--================================================================-->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<H5 align="center"><a href="http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html"
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>Copyright ©</a> 1998, James T. Dennis <BR>
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Published in <I>Linux Gazette</I> Issue 31 August 1998</H5>
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<!--================================================================-->
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<table width="98%"><tr valign="center" align="center">
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<td rowspan="3"><A HREF="./lg_answer31.html"><IMG
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SRC="../gx/dennis/answernew.gif"
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ALT="[ Answer Guy Index ]"></A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_backup.html">backup</A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_uidgid.html">uidgid</A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_connect.html">connect</A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_95slow.html">95slow</A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_badblock.html">badblock</A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_trident.html">trident</A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_sound.html">sound</A></td>
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</tr><tr valign="center" align="center">
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<td><A HREF="tag_kernel.html">kernel</A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_solprint.html">solprint</A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_idescsi.html">idescsi</A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_distrib.html">distrib</A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_modem.html">modem</A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_NDS.html">NDS</a></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_rpm.html">rpm</A></td>
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</tr><tr valign="center" align="center">
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<td><A HREF="tag_guy.html">guy</A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_maildns.html">maildns</A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_memleak.html">memleak</a></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_multihead.html">multihead</A></td>
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<td><A HREF="tag_cdr.html">cdr</A></td>
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</tr></table>
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<P> <hr> <P>
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