Eclipse error message "can't create package cachedir"

After looking around for the best solution, I was a little disappointed. The two suggestions out there were:

1. Make the relevant cachedir world writable.
2. Setting python.cachedir.skip = true

Making directories world writable admittedly makes the problem "go away", however, it introduces a huge security hole.

Setting the cachedir to skip would presumably result in a performance drop (why implement a caching scheme other than to improve performace).

Instead I did the following:

I created a new group (in my case eclipse, but it could have been jpython). I added the users of jpython to that group.

$ sudo groupadd eclipse
I then changed the group of my eclipse plugins folder and its children to 'eclipse'.

/opt/eclipse/plugins $ sudo chgrp -R eclipse *

Then I changed the group permissions as follows

/opt/eclipse/plugins $ sudo chmod -R g+w *
/opt/eclipse/plugins $ find * -type d -print | sudo xargs chmod g+s

This added group writable, and set the S_GID bit on all directories recursively. This last bit causes new directories created to have the same group id as their parent.

The final touch was change the umask for the eclipse users set to 007.

$ sudo vi /etc/login.def

change UMASK to 007 (from 022).
UMASK=007

VW Customer Service Update (No Joy as yet)

So now the service folks at 401 Dixie Volkswagen (the local shop that has my car) have told me that they have a high degree of confidence that the problem is fixed. The cost is $460.

I have two problems with this. Firstly, I do not share their confidence. The service manager told me that he could shake a connector to the fuse box and simulate the problem I was having (engine cutting out). That is all well and good, except he did NOT say that this causes the ESP error to come on - and I think if it did, he would have said that. Further, the fuse box was serviced by Volkswagen authorized dealers less than a year ago. Of course the other problem I have is that I still believe this is the same problem that has occurred since the car was only a few months old, and was never correctly diagnosed or fixed.

Therefore, I still maintain that VW owe me the repair cost, and a replacement vehicle for all the time I have been without. Right now, if I must, I will settle for the repair costs, and I will sue for the compensation later. Fortunately, I can go to small claims court for amounts up to 25000, so you can bet I will explore every claim I can make to make the process worthwhile for me.

I have communicated with Customer Service (VW Canada) the information given to me by the Service centre (another thing I don't think I should need to do). I still await their decision.

So - in case you were on the fence about whether to buy a new VW - only do it if you are Okay with being stranded on the highway, and being without your vehicle for 1-2 weeks a year as it spends time in service centres - with no recourse and mostly one-way communications.

UPDATE:
VW called me on Thursday 23rd January, agreeing to pay repair cost + one towing cost (460 + 75). I accepted (for now), I took the car back on Friday, and drove it all weekend and commuted in to work today. So far, so good. The rep who called me made reference to my CANVAP application (here one can apply to have the company take the car back and pay back a pro-rated amount based on the mileage so far. It would seem VW was not prepared to do that and would prefer to pay the repair? Anyhow, it is hard to tell which item put the pressure on them to make the decision. Perhaps my contact at the Toronto Star - Mike Kenzie was the final push.

When all is said and done, the TDI is a fine car, VW Canada is lousy to deal with.

Customer Service Epic Fail - thanks Volkswagen

Two years ago, my wife and I purchased a new VW Golf Wagon TDI diesel.

The car drives very nicely, and is very efficient - as well as being surprisingly fun to drive. That torque is just amazing.

However, we have had a serious problem with the car, from the time we bought it.

About a month in, the car would not start in a parking lot. We called VW Roadside assistance, but they could not find a tow that could accommodate us (myself, my wife and our then 2 year old and her legally mandated car seat). Luckily we were able to call CAA, and we were towed to a nearby dealership.

A couple of days later, they claimed to have changed some parts, fixed the problem and we drove away.

A few months later, it stalled when driving down a major street. I noticed that the gauges all blinked a variety of confusing things, and settled on an ESP error. I was able to roll to a stop in a safe place, and we called roadside assistance (from CAA this time - I don't usually repeat the same mistake expecting different results). It was towed to a different dealership (close to the stall this time). I had to pay for a taxi to get us back home from the dealership, which VW Canada refused to reimburse. It was this time we discovered that the car would start again after the delay. However, we left it at the dealership for them to troubleshoot. This time they spent more time on the car, waited for some parts from Germany, and again claimed to have fixed the problem. We took the car back.

Fast forward to this past Christmas - actually December 15th. I was driving with the family in Hamilton where we now live, and the car stalled again, showing ESP error. I called VW roadside assistance, only to be told the car is out of warranty at 89000 km (the line is 80000). We called CAA, but by the time they arrived, the car started, and it being holiday season and us having a sizable commute, I crossed my fingers and thanked CAA for their trouble and we continued on our way. However, all was not well. That weekend, the car stalled a total of seven times, most of them on the very busy Highway 403, in bad weather. I took the car in to 401 Dixie VW, but they could not replicate the fault. Needing the vehicle, and frankly out of options, I took it back. A week later, it stalled again and would not restart - again with the family aboard. I got it towed to 401 Dixie VW (the nearest at the time). Now they have had it for 3 weeks, and have gone back and forth as to they think they have found the problem, to a silence and not returning my calls. I have been in touch with VW Customer Care also over the last three weeks - demanding that they own this problem and take care of it and me. So far - and we have been without a vehicle for three weeks now - they have yet to commit to anything. VW Canada promised to escalate my call last week - and have someone call me within 48 hours. It has been a full week since then.

Here are some of the impacts on us.

• We have been put in danger every time the car stalled - only my experience as a long time driver has allowed me to consistently coast the car to safety each time.
• We have still been in significant danger each stall - 5 times I have been stuck on the shoulder of a GTA series 400 highway - among the busiest highways in the world - for at least 5 minutes each time, sometimes with my 4 year old daughter in the back. My daughter is now scared of "the white car".
• We have been seriously inconvenienced on every occasion that the car has stalled - missed appointments, parties (for my daughter) etc.
• We have had to car pool everyday for the last three weeks although my wife and I have busy separate schedules most nights of the week. This has cut into our work hours, and our after hours activities significantly.
• My daughter has missed out on some of her activities - swim class, dance class etc.
• I have had to cancel appointments at short notice (every day expecting that to be the day my car is returned) - dentists - understandably - tend to charge for these things.
• We have had to pay out of pocket for a Taxi and a tow (the last tow was at the request of the police since CAA were going to be too long) - another $140.
• We have had to call on family to pick us up across the city and get us home - once to Mississauga and once to Hamilton.
• I am wasting time at home and work on dealing with this issue.

I even had 2 different tow operators tell me they would leave the car at a dealership and cancel the payments - and then I had a VW Roadside Assistance operator tell me the same thing!

I have no real faith that whatever VW do to the car will fix the problem - since they have tried 3 times already without success.

Now this is just plain BAD BUSINESS. If just ONE person changes their mind about buying a Volkswagen as a result of my experiences (I can actually name one person who already has) - then they lose any money they might "gain" by screwing me over. I honestly suspect that they will lose more than that one customer. I am connected to thousands on G+ and Facebook, and I have wide circles of friends and acquaintances as well as a very large extended family.

I get that problems can occur. Any company can make a lemon - a faulty part, poor assembly - whatever. It is what a company does when things go wrong that separates quality from crap. Unfortunately, we have discovered exactly where VW live in this equation. Sorry VW, even if you make good (on the repairs) now - you have already failed.

The Chromecast - works as advertised, surprisingly easy!

Having eyed various "cut the cord" devices for a few months, we decided to give the $35 Chromecast a try. The Chromecast is not available in Canada - but I thought we would take the risk and pick one up cross-border. On one of our frequent forays into the U.S.A., we picked up a Chromecast at Best Buy for the aforementioned $35.

At home, we had just moved. All was chaos in our warehouse/basement - eventually to be Den. I found the big pieces - TV, 5.1 Amplifier and speakers. Wires were a bit of a challenge until I found the handy bag I had packed all that stuff in. As I said up top, we have just moved, but we were highly motivated to get this part working as my 4 year old is very active and easily bored, and we needed to get on with unpacking, and discussing various layout and decor decisions. Without the TV, she was using "the laptop", which eliminated our ability to browse the web and stay in touch, as well she would invariably touch something and lose the app she was watching.

Anyhow - I hooked up the little dongle to an HDMI input on the Denon 5.1 amplifier. Then I plugged in the supplied USB and connected the micro end to the Chromecast and powered everything on. Voila! On the screen in glorious technicolor was a pretty picture and a title identifying my Chromecast with a number. I downloaded the Chromecast app on my phone. Setup was very painless. The app guessed the name of my Wifi network (as my phone was already connected via WiFi), and I supplied the password. Within a couple of minutes my daughter was jumping up and down in excitement as "Winx" played on the big screen.

We further discovered that we can control the TV from anywhere in the house that WiFi reaches, using phones, tablets or computers - including my Chromebook. We can play Netflix, YouTube and our own content.

Overall, the coolest part of the experience was actually the complete lack of drama. Everything went smoothly, with a minimum of effort, steps or fuss. It may well be that Google have nailed it - make stuff that simply works.

It is so handy and easy that I think we will get another one for our bedroom!

My cheapest ever computer

My year old HP netbook, while adequate in the processing department for web browsing and e-mail, always irritated me in screen size (too small) and resolution (too few pixels). Dialog boxes would extend beyond the screen - even for routine tasks like printing. The battery life was nothing special. It was surprisingly thick. It had even lost one of its stick-on rubber feet, which caused it to wobble in an irritating fashion on flat surfaces. That, and I was suffering from device envy looking at everyone elses' sleek tablets.

While mulling over tablets and laptops, I oscillated between the Nexus 10 and some form of Transformer (such as the Asus line). I considered my usage patterns. I type a lot - blogs, e-mails, google+ posts and I am a developer (although I did not expect to do much development on my mobile platform). If I bought a true tablet, I would most likely get a keyboard for it. That bumped the real cost up to about $600. I would probably lug the thing around with the keyboard, making it less portable. I was intrigued by the Samsung Chromebook with its Arm processor, and its slimline appearance. I looked around, and found that I could by a refurbished unit at $229 at US Walmart. Walmart also has really cheap extended warrantees, so I ordered one. Total cost 229 + 29 = USD 258. I figured at that price, I could get one now, and buy a tablet later if I felt I still needed one.

I have had my chromebook for a couple of months now. I use it all the time. It is slim and light. It actually lasts as long as they say it does (6.5 hours on a charge). The keyboard is comfortable and well spaced. The screen is very good - 11.6" turns out to be an excellent size for readability while keeping the overall unit small and neat. The 1366 x 768 is just enough to avoid the dialog overlap problem. I don't have the "stupid key placement" problems that many laptops suffer from - no extra keys on the left making one miss the standard control/alt/shift keys for example, or weird swapping of control key placement. I don't miss the lack of caps-lock at all. I quickly learned to delete using alt-backspace. I have configured it for "australian scrolling" and the trackpad's multitouch is a joy to use. I don't miss a mouse for the first time for me on a laptop. I also like that it is always cool to the touch, and absolutely silent. It suspends and resumes in a couple of seconds. My only concern is its toughness. I have schlepped it around in my backpack many times, and along the way it has gained a small crack on the casing, which has no effect on its function. Its speakers are surprisingly good, and its microphone and camera work fine for google hangouts. I have used the SD card slot to transfer/play music from my phone.

As hardware for a laptop replacement it has met or exceeded all my expectations, with only the one reservation - but for 260, for two years of guaranteed computing, what can I expect?

Now for the OS. I knew from the outset that I would be installing some kind of full Linux functionality - I need at least Libre Office for working with the more complex spreadsheets that people send me even on the road. I switched to "developer mode", ignored the dire warning, and installed crouton with its xfce desktop flavour. That went smoothly, and I was a hot-key away from a familiar Linux desktop. In that, I installed Libre Office, and that went smoothly. I then gave it the acid test. In ChromeOS I used gmail to download a complex spreadsheet. I then hot-keyed over to xfce, navigated the filesystem to my downloaded spreadsheet and double-clicked on it. Voila - Libre Office opened my spreadsheet and I was in business. I could make changes, save it, flip to ChromeOS and send my changes back. Also - the Chromebook did not skip or stutter while doing this. I could also stay in xfce and launch Chrome (or Firefox) and do my business there. The one drawback is that in xfce, I did not experience the same buttery smooth (hardware accelerated) scrolling that I got on the ChromeOS side - so I tend to stay in ChromeOS except for specific app requirements (which are uncommon for me).

As for ChromeOS itself - there are a surprising number of apps available in the play store (oodles of games), and I have barely scratched the surface. I have found I do not need to purchase any apps to meet my usual needs. Overall, I would rate it at 9 out of 10. The .5 is deducted for its lack of scratch resistance and lack of toughness.