Mon, 02 Oct 2023
I wanted to have desktop PC for all of my family members rackmounted in the garage far away from where they would be using it. After trying some Tripp Lite (one of my favorite companies) solutions for KVM over CAT5 cable and finding the latency sub-optimal, I stumbled upon a Linus Tech Tips video demoing the Icron EL5363 HDMI + USB 2.0 Extender, which works optimally over CAT6A, which I previously cabled all throughout the house in preparation. tldr; These devices work GREAT! The only complaint I have is that their rackmount kit is more for mounting under a desk than in a rack and I needed to do both.
I also explored 2U server cases for this build but was unable to mitigate heat issues, even when using powerful case fans. In the end, I found that a 4U case allowed for the most airflow and a worry free system, even when mounted in a non-air conditioned garage in the middle of the summer.
My build choice was mostly informed by wanted to build something that would keep me from having to build another computer, at least for a very long time. I explored a single, powerful server running VMWare but it seemed too much, so I went for multiple identical discrete systems.
Parts List
PCPartPicker Part ListParts List Notes
CPU
- 10 Cores is almost certainly overkill, but I wanted a high clock speed and this chip fit the bill.
- Here is the ARK listing: Intel Core i9-10900K
- I'll come back in 10 years and let you know if this chip is still cutting the mustard. I might need to deploy watercooling and overclock it to make this happen.
CPU Cooler
- Because Noctua makes the NH-D12L for multiple Intel and AMD sockets, there's a lot of leftover parts that you never feel quite right about throwing away. Nevertheless...
Motherboard
- The ASRock Z590 Pro4 is clean, sleek and straight ahead.
Memory
- PCPartPicker does not know that the ASRock Z590 Pro4 is indeed compatible with ECC RAM.
- Thanks to Micro Center for having the KSM26ED8/32HC locally in stock!
Storage
- This helpful video will be of use when building RAID0.
- You will also need a flash drive with SATA Floppy Image ver:18.6.1.1016.1_21H2 for the Windows 10 installation.
Video Card
- No complaints from my kids about their video games with an RTX 3060 Ti. Don't overthink it!
Case
- The ASRock Z590 Pro4 motherboard is a great partner for a Silverstone RM42-502 case. There were no issues with the installation at all due to the case.
- I removed the expansion card retainer and storage bays altogther.
- I removed the front door and handles, as well as moving the rack ears back to fit in my rack. I will need to come up with a way to filter the intake fans before too long!
- The slide rails require a full-sized 4 post rack.
Power Supply
- Fully modular and perfect!
Case Fans
- There are enough case fan headers on the ASRock Z590 Pro4 and the fan cables are long enough such that no extenders are needed.
Tue, 19 Jul 2022
Best version I've had yet...
Get the UUID of the USB Drive. `-ovalue` outputs the pure UUID to use in /etc/fstab.
blkid -t TYPE=vfat -sUUID -ovalue
Add the following line to /etc/fstab:
UUID=$UUID /media audo nosuid,nodev,nofail,umask=000 0 0
Mount the drive.
mount -a
FreeDB is no more! Long live GNUDB.
Vortexbox will now work with these settings to grab audio metadata:
mb=0 CDDBHOST=gnudb.org mirror=gnudb transfer=http proxy=proxy.gnudb.org:3128
Mon, 26 Oct 2020
I breadboarded a Gigabtye GA-8I955X, jumping the power to kick start the process. Boy was that a mistake! Turns out the motherboard will startup and shutdown without all of its connections made to its pins: PW, RES, MSG, HD. Well, maybe it was just the missing reset jumper. Point being, only plugging in the power cable isn't going to get you very far. With a speaker connected, you will not hear any warning beeps to help you identify the issue.
This motherboard would accept a USB-HDD with Debian 6 (squeeze) running Linux 2.6, which recognized the Sil3132 straightaway. However, the Windows XP installation would not accept anything less than a slipstreamed CD. All attempts to use USB-HDD or floppies to load drivers failed.
USB support for peripherals seems lagging. Best to use a PS2 keyboard and mouse for Windows XP installation.
Mon, 15 Apr 2019
In case anyone was wondering....
Left: 1.25
Top: 1
Right: 3.5
Bottom: 5
Fri, 11 Jan 2019
Setting a Default Version of Excel
If you have two version of Excel running concurrently on a single PC, you may wish Windows defaulted automatically to the older version. However, if you try to associate a file type like .xls with a particularly version of Excel, namely the older one, Office will correct your mistake and re-establish your file type association with the newer verion.
To overwrite this "functionality", the procedure is as follows.
- Install Office 2003.
- Install Office 2007.
- Re-Install Office 2003. Select "Reinstall or Repair". Check "Detect and Repair errors in my Office installation."
- Voila!
No more having to open Office 2003 first before opening a file!
Tue, 19 Jun 2018
Growing up, I spent much of my time behind the screen typing commands into IBM PCs - to solve the puzzles that were the great games made by Sierra Online.
I collected what I could in order to make sure my kids could have the same experience I did, but could not have predicted that the games would all be freely available as Abandonware that could be played via DOSBox.
In any case, I wanted to write down the titles that I remember being enamored with, for posterity. Almost all the games I loved were designed for the SCI game engine. Here is the complete list of SCI titles.
- Police Quest 1-3
- Hero's Quest/Quest for Glory 1-2
- Space Quest 1-4 (4 had amazing graphics for its time!)
- King's Quest 1-4
- Leisure Suit Larry 1
- Colonel's Bequest
- Codename: ICEMAN
- Hoyle's Book of Games
- Manhunter: New York
- Helicopter Simulator
Some other non-Sierra games I liked were:
- Test Drive 1-2 by Accolade
- Hardball 2 by Accolade
- Grand Prix Circuit by Accolade
- Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
- Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?
- California Games by Epyx
- Street Sports Basketball by Epyx
- World Class Leaderboard Golf
- Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing
Some games I had but didn't like a lot, but want to write down:
- Might and Magic, Book One by New World Computing
Sun, 20 Dec 2015
Enabling WiFi on a Thinkpad X61 running VortexBox 2.4
First things first! If you are planning on configuring a Thinkpad X61 for wireless networking, make sure the wireless hardware switch on the front of the unit is set to on!
The root password for a default VortexBox install is: vortexbox
Create a USB key installer using the instructions here:
http://wiki.vortexbox.org/installing_i386_images_using_a_usb_key
'yum' has been deprecated in favor of 'dnf'.
dnf -y update
To setup a static IP address on eth0, configure the network using system-config-network:
dnf -y install system-config-network system-config-network
The X61 uses the 4965GN wireless controller. This driver needs to be enabled:
dnf -y install iwl4965-firmware
Some necessary tools are missing right out of the gate, so install them:
dnf -y install wireless-tools dnf -y install NetworkManager-wifi
'cnetworkmanager' has been deprecated and orphaned, so don't try to install and configure it, as suggested in other HOWTOs. NetworkManager will be used instead.
After installation, reboot the system.
After reboot, configure the interface. My interface was configured with a static ip different from the one used for eth0 and a WPA2 key.
nmcli connection add type wifi con-name my-wifi-static ifname wlan0 ssid ssid_name ip4 static_ip/24 gw4 gateway_ip nmcli connection modify my-wifi-static ipv4.dns "dns_ips_separated_by_space" nmcli connection modify my-wifi-static wifi-sec.key-mgmt wpa-psk nmcli connection modify my-wifi-static wifi-sec.psk password nmcli connection up my-wifi-static
Aside from the wireless driver not installing automatically and some of the applications not being available out of the box, I find these network configuration tools to be quite elegant.
From here, you should be able to access the VortexBox server directly by IP via a browser. After connecting, under 'Network Configuration', set VortexBox to use a static ip.
Note: Something in the configuration might reset eth0 to the same IP as wlan0. If that happens, re-run 'system-config-network'.
Further Considerations
/storage mount
The default installation mounts /storage directly into the root file system, which the installer configures efficiently, leaving a large storage partition free for use. Create a new partition using 'fdisk /dev/sda'. Press 'n' to add a new partition and accept all defaults. Press 'w' to save.
Reboot!
Create an ext4 filesystem on the new partition:
mkfs -t ext4 /dev/sda5
'lsblk -f' will show the UUID assigned to the new parition. Add an entry to /etc/fstab to mount the new partition at boot:
echo "UUID=uuid /storage ext4 defaults 0 0" >> /etc/fstab
Reboot!
'df -h' wii confirm success!
Multiple CD-ROM Configuration
'/etc/ripit/config' contains autorip configuration settings.
coverart=1 dirtemplate="$suffix/$artist/$album" tracktemplate="$artist - $album - $tracknum - $trackname" underscore=1 mb=0
Multiple CD-ROM Setup
Follow this HOWTO to configure multiple CD-ROM drives: http://info.vortexbox.org/tiki-index.php?page=MultiDriveCDRip
Backup!
cp /opt/vortexbox/docd.sh /opt/vortexbox/docd-old.sh
Get the edited script here:
http://mikebaas.org/programs/vortexbox/docd.sh
Or edit '/opt/vortexbox/docd.sh' yourself. Replace the line which reads:
CDDEVICE=`/opt/vortexbox/get-cddevice`
with
CDDEVICES[0]="/dev/sr0" CDDEVICES[1]="/dev/sr1" CDDEVICES[2]="/dev/sr2" CDDEVICES[3]="/dev/sr3"
Add an extra loop to work through each drive in the CDDEVICES array in sequence:
while true
do
for CDDEVICE in "${CDDEVICES[@]}";
do
CDSTATUS=`/opt/vortexbox/checkcd $CDDEVICE`
sleep 2
done
done
'wodim' is a handy utility to check the status of CD-ROM drives:
dnf -y install wodim wodim --devices
Miscellaneous
lltag
'lltag' doesn't exist on Fedora, must be compiled from source.
dnf -y install cpan cd /usr/local/src wget http://download.gna.org/lltag/lltag-0.14.4.tar.bz2 bunzip2 lltag-0.14.4.tar.bz2 tar -xvf lltag-0.14.4.tar cd lltag-0.14.4 make make install cpan install MP3::Tag
Disable Logitech Media Server
To disable the Logitech Media Server:
systemctl disable squeezeboxserver.service
Scripts/TODO
- add user to 'users' group
- create a symlink 'flac' to storage/music/flac
- create a script 'change_permissions' that will set all permissions in 'flac' to chgrp = users and chmod = 775
#!/bin/sh chgrp -R users flac/ chmod -R 775 flac/
Then, create a script that will take you to NAS.
#!/bin/sh ssh -t 10.10.10.16 'cd /share/data/Audio && bash --login -i'
Then, create a script 'monitor_rip' to monitor rips.
#!/bin/sh tail -f /var/log/ripit.log
Done!
Thu, 17 Dec 2015
Like my previous installation of Debian on a QNAP device, this one wasn't easy.
Like others, I followed Martin Michlmayr's HOWTO guide, but had enough problems to conclude that something is off in the way 'jessie' handles a flash bootloader and that it'd be better to install 'wheezy'. This would required a slight modification to his wget commands to get the older version of flash-debian.
cd /tmp busybox wget http://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/wheezy/main/installer-armel/current/images/kirkwood/network-console/qnap/ts-219/initrd.gz busybox wget http://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/wheezy/main/installer-armel/current/images/kirkwood/network-console/qnap/ts-219/kernel busybox wget http://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/wheezy/main/installer-armel/current/images/kirkwood/network-console/qnap/ts-219/flash-debian busybox wget http://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/wheezy/main/installer-armel/current/images/kirkwood/network-console/qnap/ts-219/model sh flash-debian reboot exit
I had to follow the QNAP Firmware Recovery many times. When something went wrong with the Debian install, this was the only choice as I did not save any of my previous flashes anywhere to reload. After a while, I felt confident there wasn't a risk of bricking this unit as it could always be reset back to its initial configuration saved in flash memory. I would always manually load the latest firmware rather than use the automated firmware update which would download it each time and often not work.
Running the manual setup, I set a static IP address. When prompted to configure disks, I opted to configure disks later. SSH access is possible without first configuring disks.
It really help see what was going on during install by monitoring syslog on a secondary SSH connection.
tail -f /var/log/syslog
To begin setting up partitions, I selected 'Guided - Use entire disk', selecting the second partition (/dev/sdb) and choosing to put all files in one partition. When prompted to remove existing RAID partitions, I selected 'yes'. I then setup the first partition (/dev/sda) in exactly the same way. After that, configure software RAID1 with /boot as md0, / as md1, and swap as md2.
When selecting the kernel for the base system, I selected 'linux-image-3.2.0-4-kirkwood'. When prompted to include drivers, I selected 'generic'.
I also found that my old version of PuTTY was unable to connect to the default QNAP SSH server. Upgrading PuTTY to beta 0.66 fixed the issue. It also was necessary to start and stop the SSH daemon inside the QTS Control Panel under Network Services >> Telnet/SSH by unchecking 'Allow SSH connection', clicking 'Apply', and then checking the box and 'Apply' again.
Wireless Networking with D-Link DWA-131
'lsusb' reports the D-Link DWA-131 I bought from Amazon as USB ID 2001:3319.
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 2001:3319 D-Link Corp
which is the REV_E model based on the Realtek RTL8192eu chipset. This driver must be downloaded from D-Link.
cd /usr/local/src mkdir DWA-131 cd DWA-131 wget ftp://files.dlink.com.au/products/DWA-131/REV_E/Drivers/DWA-131_Linux_driver_v4.3.1.1.zip unzip DWA-131_Linux_driver_v4.3.1.1.zip tar zxvf 20140812_rtl8192EU_linux_v4.3.1.1_11320.tar.gz cd 20140812_rtl8192EU_linux_v4.3.1.1_11320/ make make install echo "8192eu" >> /etc/modules update-initramfs -u
My networking requirements for this NAS require that I set up a static IP address on wlan0 that will stay connected to my main subnet and an eth0 that will be configured for a local network. This was a little tricky to configure, since the only way to access the NAS is over ethernet of some kind. If for whatever reason both links were unavailable, I would not be able to access the OS in the NAS. This is how I set it up.
'wpasupplicant' was essential for WPA2 configuration. 'resolvconf' was necessary for getting DNS to work on the wlan0 interface, for some reason.
ip a iwconfig ip addr flush dev wlan0 apt-get -y install wpasupplicant apt-get install resolvconf
My /etc/network/interfaces looks like this:
# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).
# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
# The primary network interface
#allow-hotplug eth0
#iface eth0 inet static
# address 192.168.13.21
# netmask 255.255.255.0
# network 192.168.13.0
# broadcast 192.168.13.255
# gateway 192.168.13.1
# # dns-* options are implemented by the resolvconf package, if installed
# dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8 4.2.2.2
# my-wifi-static
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet static
address 192.168.13.24
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.13.0
broadcast 192.168.13.255
gateway 192.168.13.1
# dns-* options are implemented by the resolvconf package, if installed
dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8 4.2.2.2
wpa-ssid ssid
wpa-psk password
# my-ethernet-local
allow-hotplug eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 10.10.10.2
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 10.10.10.0
broadcast 10.10.10.255
gateway 0.0.0.0
Tue, 19 Aug 2014
Installing DD-WRT on an ASUS RT-N66U
Installing DD-WRT on an ASUS RT-N66U is an exercise in patience. The installation process requires a lot of waiting, presumably for the firmware to flash onto the unit. The unit itself does not give many indications that anything is happening during the process, leading one to conclude that the device is bricked. Here are installation instructions that take into account the wait times for firmware installations.
Disclaimer: Because I was not patient at the outset of the installation, it could be the case that no intermediary firmware was required except for the final version of DD-WRT. I was not able to test this before finishing the installation.
Note: It is possible that this procedure will work best if the router is plugged into a switch and the computer that is used to configure the router is plugged into that same switch, rather than directly into the router Ethernet port.
Installation
- Verify the hardware version of the unit: ASUS RT-N66U H/W Ver: .B1
- Download and install ASUS RT-N66U B1 Utility version 4.2.7.6.
- Download and extract Asuswrt-Merlin RT-N66U version 3.0.0.4_376.45_0 custom firmware.
- Download dd-wrt.v24-22208_NEWD_2_K2.6_mega-RT-N66_64K.trx special 64k CFE compatible firmware. Standard DD-WRT builds will not work.
- Directly connect a PC to port 1 on the router with an Ethernet cable. Disable any wireless cards on the PC. Configure the NIC as follows:
IP Address: 192.168.1.12 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 Gateway: 192.168.1.1
- Power off the router. Power on the router holding the reset button until the power light starts to flash. The unit will enter "rescue mode".
- Setup a ping test using the command line:
ping 192.168.1.1 -t
- Verify that the ping reply shows a TTL=100, which indicates the router is in "rescue mode".
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=100
- Start >> Programs >> ASUS Utility >> RT-N66U Wireless Router >> Firmware Restoration
- Browse for RT-N66U_3.0.0.4_376.45_0.trx and click "Upload" to start the firmware installation. The browser will indicate installation progress. Once the browser indicates that the upload has finished, continue to wait until the ping test indicates the operating system on the router is up and running. This could take in excess of 30 minutes. A ping test showing TTL=64 is the indication that the flash has completed:
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
- Clear the NVRAM by powering off the router, holding down the WPS button and powering the unit back on, continuing to hold the WPS button for 30 seconds.
- Verify the installation of the custom firmware worked by connecting to 192.168.1.1 with a browser.
- Repeat the firmware upload steps 10-12 above for dd-wrt.v24-22208_NEWD_2_K2.6_mega-RT-N66_64K.trx. The flash process might take well in excess of 30 minutes. Be patient!
Helpful links:
DD-WRT on the Asus RT-N66U with 64K CFEAsus RT-N66U - dd-wrt.com
Fri, 05 Oct 2012
I have Debian working on a QNAP TS-259 Pro+. I should have made this document as I was setting up the NAS the first time, but I had so many headaches and reinstallations that I couldn't concentrate on it at the time. I can't actually remember the details of all the steps I followed. The basic overview is:
- Backup DOM from within the QNAP firmware.
- Install Debian netinst.iso from a boot disk.
- Setup /dev/md0 during installation as ext3.
- Setup /boot to the DOM as ext2.
- Install GRUB2 manually on the DOM. /boot will not be RAIDed.
You should be able to piece it together from the help files here:
https://pinboard.in/u:initself/t:qnap/
In recent months, MySpace has viciously cracked down on any form of 'automated use of their systems'. This would include automated messaging and commenting, but it also unfortunately includes trolling through one's own "Friends" and adding calendar entries. Nothing is more annoying than having to enter identical data into two separate databases. If MySpace lightened their hardline stance and let the user community decide was is spam rather than outright banning automation, the tasks that do need to be automated could be automated.
I broke down and purchased a Lenovo Thinkpad W701ds. I had two goals:
- Replace my constantly overheating Thinkpad T61p, my main machine upon which I engage in both business and pleasure.
- Finally overcome my demons and create a portable system I can actually make electronic music on without crying.
I am a technology curmugeon in that I really don't care very much about operating systems anymore and when I have to think about upgrading to the latest version of Office, it really makes me ill and I'll resist doing so until it becomes necessary. So it was with trepedation that I upgraded to Windows 7 64-bit, which you gratefully can configure to work exactly like Windows XP. Here's how you do that...
- Control Panel >> System and Security >> Change User Account Control settings >> the lowest setting
- Control Panel >> Hardware and Sound >> Mouse >> Pointer Options >> Take pointer speed down a couple of notches
- Personalize Desktop >> Windows Classic Theme
- Screen Resolution >> Make text and other items larger or smaller >> Smaller - 100% (I love how the default of Windows 7 is not the native resolution of the screen?)
- Uninstall 'Bing Bar' (for God's sake)
- Download and install Firefox
- Set homepage to https://encrypted.google.com/
- Unlock Taskbar >> Toolbars >> New toolbar... >> %appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch >> Select Folder >> Drag Quick Launch all the way to the left >> Uncheck 'Show Text' and 'Show Title'
- Taskbar >> Properties >> Check 'Use small icons' and 'Lock the taskbar'
- Control Panel >> Easy of Access > Change how your mouse works >> Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen
- Control Panel >> Administrative Tools >> Local Security Policy >> Local Policies >> Security Options >> Network Security: LAN Manager Authentication Level >> Send LM & NTLM, use NTLMv2 session security is negotiated
Ok, anyone reading this interested in this laptop needs to know a few things:
- This sucker is about 2 inches thick and weights enough that you are concerned about it when you are carrying it around.
- The main screen is the prettiest screen I have ever seen in my life. The secondary screen is nowhere near the quality and is by no means essential.
- The speakers are loud! (HOORAY!)
For low latency audio applications, so far the only thing I've had to do is disable my wireless network adapter in order to avoid any large spikes. That makes me happy.
Thu, 26 Apr 2007
Why Do I Need Always On Broadband?
Lately I'm starting to see that I've lost sight about why people use computers, particularly networked computers. As much as the Internet is supposed to be an active medium, one by which we pull content to us instead of getting pushed upon as passive observers, I find that half the time I'm reacting to websites or emails rather than thinking about what it is I am even doing on the computer. Sites like reddit.com used to provide both an active and passive Internet experience whereby I could connect with highly intelligent people and what they value and comb between all their recommendations. Over time, as the site became more popular, the quality of the content diminished substantially. Yet I still found myself checking for new information to consume day after day, regardless of quality. So now I want to step back and start asking myself what it is that I want out of a relationship with computer technology.
