Fixing something remotely

[bathwatch]

A bit of background - my brother and sister-in-law have never used a computer before in their life, but when they tried to renew their telephone only arrangement with Talk Talk they were told that only a package of telephone and broadband was available. They received a Talk Talk router delivered without them asking for it, So they asked me if I could provide them with something that did e-mails and could browse the internet. I found and bought a second hand Toshiba laptop on ebay, being sold because it had automatically updated itself to Windows 10 and the owner didn't like it and left it too late to revert. I am a relative newbie to linux but recognised that for someone who had never used a computer it was probably more sensible than anything running Windows, particularly if they were not told the admin password. So I wiped the disc and installed Linux Mint Mate 17.3 64-bit, the same as I have here at home.

I knew that my brother had a Canon MP250 which was just used as a photocopier, so I downloaded the Canon drivers and then discovered that without connecting the printer, I couldn't install them. I set up a free e-mail address, and then configured Thunderbird to provide an IMAP view on it, and then set up a free text-only Newsgroup service and set Thunderbird up to view a couple of newsgroups they would be interested in. Then I set up Firefox with several Favourites they might want to use. Then I installed Teamviewer on their laptop, set it to run on boot, and installed Teamviewer on my own Linux laptop and proved to myself that I could connect to and control their laptop from mine. I also installed Dropbox and linked one sub-folder to a new folder on my own Dropbox so that what they put in theirs appeared in mine and vice versa, so that we could transfer files that are too big to e-mail. At home with two laptops on my table, I was satisfied that I had done all that was needed to provide them with a computer that they could use and which I could manage remotely if necessary.

I then arranged a date when I could take them their computer, set up their router and printer and show them how to do the simple things they wanted. I also took miscellaneous cables because I wasn't sure what might be needed. My day was a 3-hour train journey, 5 hours there during which I also needed to eat, and another 3 hours getting back.

Setting up the router wasn't difficult, and I discovered that the room layout wasn't compatible with an ethernet cable connection to their laptop so I set up a wireless connection and used that to connect to the TalkTalk customer view of services. That brought the first snag, in that I had to input the Talk Talk e-mail address and password to log in and Talk Talk had never communicated it. So I rang the Help Desk and spent the next 2 hours convincing them I had a bona fides reason to ask because the man in India couldn't get his head round a situation where someone wouldn't know their e-mail address. When I finally convinced him to tell me, he sent a code to the mobile number he had registered for the account, which didn’t arrive because the customer had replaced their mobile and had a new number, and he had to be passed to the customer to convince him that apart from the mobile number, all the rest of the security questions could be answered and then the system was updated with the new mobile number and I had to hold on for 10 minutes while the number propagated and I could read on the mobile the code he sent and enter it into a box on the computer screen. Only then could I go into the "I have forgotten my password" feature and set up a new one. I then registered the Talk Talk e-mail in Thunderbird as an IMAP account, at which point some 2 years worth of e-mails downloaded. Talk Talk must have been sending e-mails to a customer with a telephone-only account from the day it was started!

Now running out of time I used the time left to show sister-in-law how start up and shut down the laptop, how to use a mouse to drive the laptop, how to read and send e-mails, how to find things on the internet. I then connected the Canon printer, and the system recognised it immediately and was able to print to it, so I did some training on LibreOffice Writer so that she could write and print correspondence and find the files saved.

With 20 minutes left before my train I tried Simple Scan and it showed the MP250 as the scanner under Properties and when I tried to scan, the lights on the printer indicated 'busy' but it didn't scan, and the Simple Scan screen showed that it had eventually timed out. This was something I could eventually fix from home via Teamviewer. So I did a last check to make sure that Teamviewer had started with the boot sequence, and it had started, but was unable to find the Teamviewer server, and I watched as it retried every couple of minutes and failed every time.

I got my train back, but now I am stuck. Because without the remote laptop communicating with the server, my laptop shows it as offline. Now it did work home here on a VM ISP service, and it doesn't work there on a Talk Talk service. So I can't fix anything remotely. And although I regard myself as a linux newbie, I have a long background in Microsoft and I really don't want to trust a complete novice with the superuser password.

So I imagine that I'm going to have to make another visit sometime, but I need to know what I must do when I get there. Has Talk Talk blocked all access to Teamviewer for security reasons? Or do I have to configure the Talk Talk router to give Teamviewer privileged access (and how do I do that)? Or does Teamviewer configure itself to the server it finds when it is first installed, in which case how do I uninstall it without leaving something behind which might affect the re-installation (which I will have to do there so that it finds the Talk Talk service)? Alternatively, is there a decent alternative to Teamviewer which Talk Talk might not have blocked?

Similarly, does Simple Scan not work with the Canon MP250 at all, requiring a different scanning package, or do I have to specifically install the scanner drivers despite them having been on the disc in advance and Simple Scan correctly identifying the MP250?

I am long retired and long days like that are tiring, So when I go again, I want to know exactly what I am going to do when I get there. Primarily I need to get Teamviewer working, but if I can fix the scanner at the same time that would be a bonus. All advice is welcomed.

[phd21]

Hi bathwatch,

I.) Apparently, the "Talk Talk" Internet Service Provider (ISP) in UK is purposely blocking Teamviewer (TV), but there are two ways to overcome this:

1.) You might be able to just change the local ISP DNS Server IP addresses to safe, secure, and anonymous ones from a reliable DNS provider (dns.watch, openDNS, freenom world, etc...) to prevent your Local ISP from doing this kind of censorship stuff. I recommend everyone do this anyway.

This can easily be done through the router or the desktop, I prefer the desktop unless there are smart computer literate children to contend with.

Linux Mint/Cinnamon – OpenDNS - how change desktop local ISP DNS server IP addresses.
https://support.opendns.com/hc/en-us/ar ... t-Cinnamon


2.) Get on the Talk Talk chat and request release for TV and provide their phone number or account number which they also claim should be in their account profile as well.

Solved: Re: Teamviewer is being erroneously blocked - TalkTalk Community
https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Let ... 3172#M2805

UK ISP TalkTalk Blocks Popular Internet VPN Tool TeamViewer AGAIN - ISPreview UK
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2 ... iewer.html


II.) Regarding the multi-function printer (MFP), you probably just need to install the correct printer and scanner drivers, see links below.

Install Canon IJ Printer Driver, ScanGear MP in Ubuntu 16.04 - Tips on Ubuntu
http://tipsonubuntu.com/2016/08/14/cano ... ntu-16-04/

Printer Canon MP250 / MP252 Driver for Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial How-to Get & Install
https://tutorialforlinux.com/2016/04/19 ... t-install/

Hope this helps ...

[Schallaven]

You probably have just to open the TeamViewer ports in your router settings (here is a list of them: https://community.teamviewer.com/t5/Kno ... /ta-p/4139). The browser interface of the router should have the respective options (if you tell us the exact router model someone might have a step for step guide at hand)

edit: Just saw that TalkTalk apparently banned TeamViewer from their network. So, do as phd21 suggested

Otherwise, I suggest to maybe find a local Linux community or someone else who can do a little bit of support at your brother/sister-in-law place, because remote-support can be very exhausting and frustrating - for both sides

[phd21]

Hi bathwatch, & Schallaven, etc...,

You probably have just to open the TeamViewer ports in your router settings

One of the many things I love about TeamViewer (TV) is that you do not have to concern yourself with updating the hardware router or a software firewall to allow Teamviewer, or at least I have never had to do that to provide remote access or remote support with TV.

[bathwatch]

Thanks for the pointers to Teamviewer. Scrolling through them I spotted
<quote>
‎11-01-2018 12:18 AM
Re: Teamviewer is being erroneously blocked

You can now switch off Scam Protection in your MyAccount.

Log in to My Account
Click on MyServices on the grey header bar
Click on View HomeSafe settings
Click on Scam Protection Off
You will receive a warning notice to the effect that TalkTalk will never ask you to switch off Scam Protection but as you've requested to have TeamViewer access then this is at your request.

Having switched off Scam Protection then you will be able to access TeamViewer.
<end quote>

Knowing that the remote laptop is currently off, and having set up everything yesterday I still remember the User Account log-in email and password, I logged in to talktalk from here and switched off the Scam Protection, then logged out. I know the remote end has other things to do today so I will leave it until tomorrow and get them to switch their laptop on and I will see if Teamviewer will connect then. Fingers crossed!

I will leave this subject open for now in case anybody has advice on the Simple Scanner issue. At least if Teamviewer works I should be able to do anything that is necessary from my home. Thanks for that.

Jim

[phd21]

Hi bathwatch (Jim),

You are welcome...

I still highly recommend changing yours and theirs Local ISP's DNS server IP addresses. FYI: I have been using "dns.watch".


The links I gave you before should provide you with enough information to download and install ScanGear software and drivers for their Canon MFP.

[Mattyboy]

I can confirm that Talk Talk do DNS blocking, unlike BT who do IP blocking.

They're blocking Teamveiwer due to to 'hacks' of account information and the barrage of scam calls to genuine customers. These calls, rather unimaginatively, use team viewer to insert fake virus warnings into the command prompt after tricking unsuspecting people into running the tree command in windows... as an ex Talk Talk customer I had hours of fun messing around with these repulsive people in Windows Virtual Machines. Its been widely reported in the UK press account information is still being stolen directly by staff working in offshore third party call centers... think we all know to whom I refer, frankly I'm shocked they're still trying to pull this scam.

You can't change DNS settings in Talk Talk routers or indeed most other routers supplied by British ISP's.

However simply changing your local machine DNS to, say openDNS will allow the use of teamveiwer over Talk Talks network... you have to be a bit more imaginative with providers who do IP blocking.

[bathwatch]

The good news is that once I had logged into the appropriate TalkTalk account and switched off the spam filter I could then connect into and manage the remote computer OK.

The less good news is that eventually when the other end had time to spare I went through the installing the drivers for their MP250 following the instructions in
http://tipsonubuntu.com/2016/08/14/cano ... ntu-16-04/
It all went to script until the "Apply" stage when it reported a conflict between a file it was supposed to install and a file already in use. From the look of the filename it seemed to be a CUPS file, and until I started trying to get the scanner working the CUPS installed printer had been printing, and the file it had failed to install looked like a 32-bit name whereas I had installed a 64-bit version of 'Rosa', so I thought it best to keep the existing one.

Snag 2 was the person I was talking to on the phone couldn't identify a USB socket for the printer, and I didn't have the User Manual for their laptop handy to talk them through where to find it, so I got them to take out the wireless mouse dongle and plug the printer into the vacated socket. That was good enough for me to try the Simple Scan utility and discover that it wouldn't cause the printer to scan, but they couldn't do much then without the mouse (they had never used a trackpad and I didn't fancy trying to explain it without a picture of the layout of the buttons).

I got the mouse dongle put back and decided to do a bit more research before trying again. They don't currently need to use the scanner so there is no great hurry, and they are complete novices so I don't want to scare them with too many failed attempts when the priority is to get them more comfortable by practising with the things they can do.

Jim