Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with port

No more wires please.

Jon-o — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:29:04 -0800

Apple AirPort Express wireless music question. I know iTunes has an option to play music via the speaker-output port on the AirPort Express base station. How do I route all of my computer's audio output through that?

Port wine, less-sweet, $35-ish?

everichon — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:49:26 -0800

At a wine tasting last year, I tried a port that was notably less sweet than any other I have had. I liked it a lot, and I totally forget who made it or what it's name was. It wasn't tawny, and it wasn't white. It might have been vintage. That's all I remember. So: recommendations for less-sweet ports that retail for $35 or so?

Laptop charger inlet slowly breaking.

ekpyrotic — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:43:01 -0800

Laptop charger inlet slowly breaking. Hey guys, the [one pin] port where my laptop charger connects is starting to break. I have to connect the charger to the laptop in a particular position for it to work. Otherwise, I'm happy with my 2-year-old laptop. Any advice?

Do you have a USB serial port that works on Windows 7?

0xFCAF — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:33:14 -0800

What USB serial port works on (32-bit) Windows 7? My motherboard doesn't have a back-panel serial port, but I have a serial device I need to use. I had a no-name (literally zero brand markings on it) USB serial port from Fry's, but it didn't come with any drivers and Win7 doesn't automatically figure it out like XP did. Do you have one of these and have it working in Windows 7?

Alternatively, if you know where I can get a serial port bracket for an ASUS M3A78-EM, that'd do the job as well. Cursory research shows there are two different pin-outs and I haven't been able to figure out a) which this motherboard uses and b) what any given one for sale uses. The manual unhelpfully just says it's "sold separately".

Its a necessity dammit!

QUHZK — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:33:28 -0800

Is there any place to purchase sunscreen at the Orlando International Airport? My wife and I are flying into Orlando and have about an hour between our flight and our chartered bus to Port Canaveral (woo! long weekend cruise!). We've limited ourselves to just carry-on luggage, so we've been able to figure out how to limit our liquids to the bare essentials. However, we are both pasty white and desperately need way more than 3.4 ounces of sunscreen. Is there someplace in the airport itself that sells sunscreen? If not, is there someplace within quick walking distance that would?

what to expect in Durban and Port Elizabeth?

nanhey — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:03:30 -0800

What can we expect when we travel to Durban and Port Elizabeth for the World Cup? Looking for info on transport, safety, lodging, etc. i found lots of info on Cape Town on AskMefi, but nothing on Durban and Port Elizabeth -- what are these towns like? are they safe? cheap/expensive? how should we get from one to the other? We (my boyfriend and I -- both 24 yr old white kids, in case that is relevant) are planning to be there during the World Cup.

any info you have would be greatly appreciated!

Port Snoop / Spy Tool

inquisitive — Sat, 02 May 2009 13:04:22 -0800

How can I Spy the messages being exchanged by 2 programs on 2 known port nos. in my computer ? I am running 2 instances of a particular program: 1 in server mode and 1 in client mode. I have configured the server instance to run on a particular port and the client instance to run on a different port. In the client instance, I also tell the client where (which port) to look for the server instance.

Upon certain user action, the client instance initiates some communication with the server instance. Then the server instance also sends back a message and both the instances keep communicating until all messages are exchanged.

All the messages are exchanged in text format (I know this from a particular source).

I want to spy the messages being sent from the client to the server and the server to the client.

For this, I am looking for an easy-to-use tool which I can first install on the server port, so that I can see the message being first sent by the client. Then I will put this tool on the client port to see what reply the server gives. In this way, I will keep on alternating the spy tool between the server port and the client port.

Which tool can serve my need and which is also easy-to-use and powerful ?

The reason is I want to develop some plug-ins for this software, so I should know the message protocol. The developers of the product are not willing to share this information.

QOS port 5060 apple

cg2 — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:30:39 -0800

how can I set QOS - port 5060 on the apple airport/time machine? I am trying to set QOS - port 5060 to prioritize packets so that I can improve the voice quality for my voip phone on my apple airport/time capsule. is this possible? and if so, how can I do it.

thanks!!!!

Help me port forward with my new router, please!

proj — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 11:44:40 -0800

Bittorrent hell with new router! Vital statistics upfront:

Macbook running OS X 10.5.6.
Actiontec GT701 Cable Modem (Qwest).
D-Link DIR-625 Wireless Router.

I was just forced to buy a new router. I got the D-Link listed above. I have never had a problem forwarding ports before and have always had great bittorrent speeds. This is not my first, second, or even third router over the years. I have never had a problem opening up ports on any of them. Not anymore. The only change that I have made lately is with the router.

I have my computer set to this IP. I have the router forwarding port 50000, like so. Port-checking utilities tell me the port is still not open. Vuze/Azureus says that it is able to open up a connection to that port -- at first. However, all of my connections say yellow (no incoming connections) and Vuze says it is firewalled. Speeds are quite slow on this transfer, though I did a test download of a Knoppix distribution and got speeds of about 270K/sec, although the light/face stayed yellow.

If I place my IP in the "DMZ," it still happens. If I connect directly to the cable modem, I get green lights all around and Vuze says that NAT is OK. I am pulling my hair out here trying to figure out why this is happening.

Any good restaurants in Vancouver, BC with a good port wine selection?

stp123 — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:27:45 -0800

Any good restaurants in Vancouver, BC with a good port wine selection? Downtown area is preferred.

Does all fortified wine taste like raisins?

DeucesHigh — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:06:50 -0800

Help me find a fortified wine that doesn't taste like raisins! So typically I'm a cocktail guy, but recently I've decided I want to find at least one sort of fortified wine that I'll like. Something to have after dinner, as a dessert beverage. To that end, I've been sampling the bottom-shelf offerings of my local Wine & Spirits store to get an idea of my options.

Marsala was the first stop on the fortified wine adventure, and it was so sickly sweet and raisin-y that half the bottle got thrown away. Next, a cream Sherry (might have been Bristol Cream), with high hopes. Nope, this tasted very similar. Madeira? Pretty much like the Marsala. Finally, a five-dollar bottle of ruby Port. This was... slightly better, but nothing I'd buy again.

So my question is this: am I giving myself a totally wrong idea of these wines by buying only the cheap stuff? I'm sure some aficionados will chime in with "absolutely, yes!", but clearly there's some relationship between the taste of $5 ruby port, and $75 vintage port, in the same way that Ten High and Pappy Van Winkle -- while hugely different in quality -- are both still recognizable as bourbon.

Lastly, should I go down other alleys? White Port, fino Sherry? I like the idea of drier and paler, but these are harder to find, at least in Pennsylvania liquor stores.

An unusually boring port in the storm.

furnace.heart — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:45:45 -0800

What to do with a bottle of port? (other than the obvious). I have an inexpensive bottle of port that i have no interest in drinking...but i can imagine it being decent for cooking. What on earth should i make that would use up the better portion of a bottle of port?

ssh sessions when port 22 is locked down?

namespan — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:05:35 -0800

I sometimes visit a network where port 22 is locked down. I'd like to be able to initiate ssh sessions from this site. Is there any tunneling or other magic I can invoke to reach this goal, or any other solution short of badgering the admins? (I'm also not sure now to find out what other ports are open. I know 21,80, and 443 are, because I can do normal web and ftp stuff, but other than manually trying each port with telnet, I'm not sure how to check...)

Austin to Port A

rleamon — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:53:14 -0800

The best route to drive from Austin to Port Aransas, Texas? If you know a faster way and a slower, more scenic one, plus something in between, bonus points to you!

i('m a consumer whore)Phone Filter: I've decided I want an iPhone and I've got a ton of questions.

xotis — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:42:33 -0800

iPhone Filter: I've decided I want an iPhone. I've got a ton of questions, my google-fu is failing me, and I haven't recived much help when I call AT&T. Hopefully you can help me in regards to porting my # from Sprint Business to AT&T. Here are my questions. I warned you that there are a lot! I tried to break them up into categories to make easier. Again, I have googled my heart out and found answers to all of my other iPhone questions but these are the ones I still haven't found answers to. Hopefully your google-fu is better than mine, or maybe you've already been down this path before and can help me out.

1.) Transfer of Current Number
- I've had my current # for over 10 years.
- My current # is a Sprint Business #. The bill is sent monthly to my father's business, and is in his business' name, but they do not pay it. I pay the bill online monthly. I am authorized as the "Account Administrator" according to My.Sprint.com
- How do I get the Sprint Business # that is not registered in my name ported over to AT&T?
- My current phone is 3 years old, but I added text messaging to my plan last year. How do I find out if I'm under any contractual obligation to Sprint? (When I call customer service, is there a better phrase to use than "am I under any type of contract?" I want to make sure I'm not confusing the rep on the line.)
- Is it better to make the transaction for the iPhone & service online or in an AT&T store?
- Are there any specific questions/phrases I need to use with a Sprint/AT&T sales rep to make sure this happens smoothly?

2.) Can I switch my number back to Sprint in the future? (Simple answer seems to be "yes" but I have some clarifying questions.)
- I've heard that the AT&T reception in Minneapolis is spotty with iPhones. If the service sucks, and 5 or 6 months later I want to switch my number back to Sprint, am I SOL due to the 2 year contract?
- Is my only option to wait/buy out the 2 year contract, and then switch back to Sprint 2 years down the road, unless I want to pay a bunch of $$$ to buy out the contract?

3.) Monthly Fees & Total Cost
- I'm thinking about the $69.99 plan, but it appears that text messages are not included, so I need to spend $5 for 200 messages/month. Unless I'm missing anything, my monthly fee will be $74.99, as long as I don't go over my minutes, right?
- Are there any other hidden fees besides standard taxes for mobile phones?
- If my math is correct, the total cost, out the door, should be $331.19 ($199 phone + $69.99 Monthly Fee + $5 for 200 SMS/text + $36 setup + 6.5% sales tax). I like having my expectations set before I head out to the stores.

4.) Any last minute advice?
- For those of you that have gone down this path before, is there anything you wish you would have known before you made the leap to an iPhone?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Gotta Be a Way

thedoctorpants — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:38:37 -0800

I want to easily port my cocoa app (osx) to windows. What are my options? Do I have any?

Fear the Firkin!

ninazer0 — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:45:16 -0800

Are those small novelty wine barrels that one sees in gift shops in the "Bar" area actually meant to hold stuff? I am currently building the Tiki bar of my dreams. It's all bamboo and thatch with a pirate theme.

I'd love to have one of those small cask/barrel-type things at the back of the bar to look the part but I'd actually like to keep stuff in it. Is this a Bad Idea?

Is there a difference between decorative and working casks? If I keep rum or port or something in it will it leak? Taste horrible?? Dissolve??? Explode?????

Help me, Hive Mind!

Help with Bittorrent port fowarding

nivekraz — Fri, 09 May 2008 21:40:46 -0800

Just got Verizon FIOS and the wifi access point sucks. So I disabled the wireless portion on the fios router and plugged in a linksys wifi router. Wireless is now kick a** but my bittorrent is slow. I need help with port forwarding. The fios router is 192.168.1.1/24 and the new access point is 192.168.1.2/24 with the wireless network being 192.168.2.0 and the computer I want to torrent on is 192.168.2.101. On the fios router (.1) I have set port forwarding for port 65473 to forward to the linksys(.3). Then on the linksys, port forward for 65473 to computer (.2.101).

>> Fios Router 192.168.1.1 > Linksys to Fios Interface 192.168.1.3 > AP 192.168.2.1 >MacBook 192.168.2.101

This doesn't work. If I plug into fios router and get into the .1.1 network, it works. How can i get wireless bittorrent working?

Fios router is an Actiontech MI424-WR. Wifi is Linksys WRT160N.

Can US citizens visit US naval ports abroad?

yellowlightman — Sat, 03 May 2008 08:42:53 -0800

Can US citizens access US Naval home ports abroad? I know foreign (and domestic) US Air Force Bases require you to have a military ID or other special arrangements, but I've heard US Naval bases in the US allow US citizens to visit without military ID. Does this apply to US Naval home ports abroad as well?

Specifically Yokosuka in Japan.

Com ports. Endangered Species?

barc0001 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:40:06 -0800

Looking for a *new* motherboard with more than one serial port onboard. A project I'm involved with is dealing with a number of computers that need to hook to measuring equipment via serial ports, and the newer machines they've bought to replace the old boxes only have one serial port, and there are two devices that need to be hooked up simultaneously. But wait, there's more! It needs a USB cell modem hooked up for communication as well, and it's running a custom O/S that's really old, but well geared for the diagnostic software (Custom Linux, not Windows) that needs to run. A USB-to-serial converter is being used to run the second bit of equipment, but if that is in place, then the USB cell modem doesn't work, so the equipment can't report back to base. If the USB-to-serial converter's removed, the USB modem works fine, but there's no diagnostic data to report.

Ultimately, this problem would go away if I can only find a motherboard that doesn't cost a fortune (and even if it did, if it wasn't too LARGE a fortune we'd probably entertain it) that has 2 onboard serial ports. Does anybody know of one, and if so, who still makes 'em?

Port number from Broadvoice?

jackmakrl — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:35:31 -0800

Why can't I port my phone number from Broadvoice? I've been a Broadvoice customer for a couple of years with no real complaints. I have an Asterisk server set up with Broadvoice and a couple other providers. I would like to port my Broadvoice number to another provider to save some money. I initiated the port procedure through my provider. They say the CSR (Customer Service Record) Authorization name doesn't match my name. I called Broadvoice and they say they don't port numbers out of their system.

I thought this would be covered by LNP, and these documents would seem to indicate it is. Has anyone else dealt with this? Does Broadvoice fall into some kind of loophole? Is there anything I can do to keep this number ?

Do you dock your macbook?

bartleby — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:07:56 -0800

Which would make a better Mostly-Always-On-Mac: a Mini, or a MacBook running with the lid closed? I'm soon to be replacing my trusty old G4 Mini with an Intel Mac.
I use it like the desktop that it is, and the tiny size fits my tiny space.

I'm torn between simply replacing it with a newer Intel Mini, or getting a Black MacBook.

The MacBook gives me several options that the Mini doesn't:
1) I can have a laptop for when I want a laptop, duh
2) I can have more than 2gb RAM without having to break out the putty knife and void my warranties, applecare, etc.
3) ?-your contribution here-?

On the other hand, 90% of the time, my hypothetical MacBook would be on the desk, running with the lid closed under the monitor stand (it's a small desk) grabbing torrents, being remotely accessed, etc - so really running, not sleeping peacefully.

Which raises questions:
1) will that work? can / how do macbooks run with lid closed?
I'm not going to have to open it up and juggle settings every time I restart or something, am I?
2) does that risk damage/performance issues? I know the old mac laptops used to vent CPU heat through the keyboard - I don't wanna bake the thing.
3) ?-your contribution here-?

Of course, all this would be solved by the existence of the long-awaited-by-some Apple Docking Station (hint hint, Steve). Two products intrigue me: a kind of ugly port replicator (except for power) by BookEndz, and a vertical clamp type thing from Balmuda which I could hack together myself instead of paying $300 for a chunk of machined aluminum.

So, does anyone run a macbook with the lid closed 24/7 (okay, maybe 21/6.25)? What works for you?

Help.

Brandon1600 — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 13:03:39 -0800

So I tried making my Win XP laptop into a TOR node and...uh...yea, no worky worky. Please help me recover. My Firefox is behaving erratically now and I think I have screwed up my router's security, too. Here's a list of grievances:

-Firefox has a large gray box on the bottom of the window with an up-pointed red arrow on the left of this box. The arrow doesn't do anything and i cant make the box go away. Its as if its a normal part of the window.

-I cant use my bookmarks normally. When I click on one a message appears on the bottom of the screen saying : "Transfering data from ". And it just hangs there. I actually have to go into the "organize bookmarks" pulldown and for some reason those work.

- My "save picture as..." no longer exists. I have had to copy and paste the image's URL to IE and save the pics from there. I also cant seem to open links to mp3's. It just hangs

-Now when I try to run Tor as a client, I get "The proxy server is refusing connections" I dont remember where I go to change this.

- I got a nice little error last nite from my router(?) saying I might have a Blaster Worm virus at my router and I should scan said router. How?

-I have probably mis configured my ports on my router and anti-virus software. What is the basic configuration just to run as a client?

I have tried reinstalling firefox but to no avail. I just downloaded it and reinstalled it but i dont think it was a clean install. How do I ensure I completely removed it? I have used windows recovery to last saved point but it doesnt help.

Amplifying information: I am running win XP home edition SP2 on with firefox 2.0.0.12. I have PC-cillen acting as a firewall. My internet connection is through SBC/AT&T on a 2-wire 2701HG-B. My firefox has No- Script, cookie culler, and adblock.

Please help.

How do I serve this port?

Chrysostom — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 05:15:34 -0800

Do I need to do anything special to serve this bottle of port? I have a bottle of twelve-year old tawny port (aged ten years, bottle was bought two years ago). Do I need to do anything special to serve it? Does it need to breathe or be decanted or anything? And room temperature is proper for serving, right?

I've never had port outside of a restaurant, so just trying to make sure I'm doing this right.

Change printer port name in Windows XP

chitlin — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 06:41:15 -0800

Making DOS program get along with new Windows XP machine and ancient printer: How to change the name of the printer port from USB001 to LPT1? I work in a small company that is managed by 50-somethings who do not feel compelled to stay up to date in the technology department. However, we recently upgraded computers from an old ATX motherboard system complete with LPT printer port to a new Dell mini-ATX system that relies on USB connections for printers.

The problem is that the software the managers use to do what they do is a DOS-based program from 1986. The name of the program is probably not relevant because it's a highly specialized program called Maptech Coordinate Geometry.

It uses dot matrix printers to print line-by-line data as the program runs. The program settings only allow for four characters and a colon for the printer port, i.e. "LPT1:" and such. The new cable adapter we got to get this printer hooked up via USB creates a printer port called "USB001". So the DOS program can't use that port because it has too many letters.

My question is, can I change the name of the port USB001 to LPT1 or LPT2, etc.? Or is there another way of fooling the DOS program into printing on the USB port?