Author Topic: Fettled any computer stuff today?  (Read 214086 times)

woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #50 on: 28 January, 2014, 04:30:03 pm »
Boy do I like Linux now. Just restored the laptop and is now in process of remove the amount of crap that the manufacture thinks that I need.

I have just installed the same program on Mint and Win 8

win 8 : open browser, find website where said free program lives, download, double click on file, click ok to that I'm about to run said file, click ok for some user agreement, click ok for something that I wasn't sure about - install already will you!!! wait 8 - 10 min while installation happens, find that there is two, oh I'm wrong three extra programs installed, use said program.

Linux : open terminal, type sudo apt-get install gimp, hit enter, type password, type y and hit enter, wait 2 min while program download and install, use program.

Oh then there is the fe<beep>ing nag screens every time you restart....
Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit

Afasoas

Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #51 on: 28 January, 2014, 11:17:27 pm »
nag screens?




Migrated client from their old network to their shiny new one today.
Done on an incredibly tight budget so Cat 5e was specced for the job. I really wish, for all that effort*, I'd future-proofed it and gone Cat6.


(Old network had tones of unused sockets on 1st floor which used to be office space and only four on the ground floor which used to be warehouse. Installing twenty new points downstairs was quite trivial (after the drilling). Splicing existing points upstairs (locating correct calbes, re-routing them, replacing new) is a PITA. Quite a lot of fiddling and ingenuity involved. I don't want to do that again in a hurry.

woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #52 on: 29 January, 2014, 12:25:00 am »
Nag screens, the lovely reminders you get from programs that you never installed or used on your laptop. Telling you anything from please pay, backup, update, you haven't used this program at all so here I am just letting you know it is me who cooks your CPU while stopping your system from shutting down. And then you have to click five times while standing on your head to get it to stop nagging you the next 14 days.

Sorry for the rant, just tired of uninstalling at least 15 programs and along with their shortcuts that is random placed on the systrem, that I know that will nag Peli and that she will never use on her new laptop. 
Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit

Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #53 on: 31 January, 2014, 09:31:59 pm »
RAID 1 meant that it mirrored the corruption to the other disk leaving the whole thing useless.

This is like the rule about expensive semiconductors blowing to protect fuses, I think.

Not only that but I'm pretty sure it's this RAID card (3Ware 9650SE-LP2) that's shitting itself[1] under load, performing a soft reset of itself but causing the kernel to panic leading to random reboots. I think it did this enough times that it eventually led to the corruption that took out the previous HDDs.

Moving the disks to SSDs hasn't solved the problem as the same (model) RAID card is still controlling them. I may get the hosting company to rip out the RAID card and one of the SSDs, it'll be no less safe than running with a suspect RAID card. I need to get busy with chef/puppet to make deploying a new server much quicker.

1. Sorry for the technical terminology
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Chris S

Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #54 on: 31 January, 2014, 09:59:09 pm »
I have spent a rather hectic week trying to wrap my poor brain around OAuth 2.0 and implementing it in a RESTful self-hosted Windows service.

Ugh.

OAuth 2.0 isn't so bad. But then Microsoft took it, added a metric fuckton of bloat and called it Windows Identity Foundation - like they bloody invented it. I gave up with WiF in the end and implemented all I needed from OA2 myself (with the help of some OSource libs).

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #55 on: 01 February, 2014, 04:49:16 pm »
Pointed my route-planning site's domain at new VPS, uploaded site backup, set up DB, etc.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #56 on: 02 February, 2014, 01:51:05 pm »
Testing a backup tool, Deja Dub, which should be able to rsync from ubuntu to a windows machine over network (wifi) and encrypt the files.

It might not be the best idea to do the test run on /home - 405Gb in 300.000+ files :)

Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit

Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #57 on: 02 February, 2014, 08:16:15 pm »
Testing a backup tool, Deja Dub, which should be able to rsync from ubuntu to a windows machine over network (wifi) and encrypt the files.

It might not be the best idea to do the test run on /home - 405Gb in 300.000+ files :)

This filesystem at work must be fun to backup:-

Code: [Select]
Filesystem    GB blocks      Free %Used    Iused %Iused Mounted on
/dev/aaaaaa   307772.15 147844.49   52% 147040917    43% /aaaaaa
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #58 on: 02 February, 2014, 08:36:32 pm »
My laptop.  Turned it on today and there was no response from the keyboard.   Eventually identified the problem as being that the Alt key was mysteriously stuck down.   Got my thumbnail beneath it and it freed without difficulty.   Working just fine since.    :thumbsup:

woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #59 on: 02 February, 2014, 09:51:15 pm »
Testing a backup tool, Deja Dub, which should be able to rsync from ubuntu to a windows machine over network (wifi) and encrypt the files.

It might not be the best idea to do the test run on /home - 405Gb in 300.000+ files :)

This filesystem at work must be fun to backup:-

Code: [Select]
Filesystem    GB blocks      Free %Used    Iused %Iused Mounted on
/dev/aaaaaa   307772.15 147844.49   52% 147040917    43% /aaaaaa
I think it would be best to do a sneakernet first on that drive before going over any kind of network.
Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit

woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #60 on: 03 February, 2014, 09:21:37 am »
oops I seen to have installed #! (crunchbang) last night. I liked that they asked if you wanted to install xyz after install. The back up tool and other setting stayed in place so no extra setup.

A wee problem with getting the graphic driver to play ball with my extra screen, but the wifi worked direct out off box - that is a first (though it could be linked to the fact that I didn't format /home and that was the reason why the backup tool and irc worked)
Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit

Afasoas

Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #61 on: 03 February, 2014, 05:47:39 pm »
I've got a Fujitsu Primergy Server to set-up for a client.

In the spirit of KISS I'm opting to boot if from the Windows Server installation media and go through the process like I would a normal desktop PC rather than use Fujitsu Server Manager. But Windows not recognising a valid driver for the RAID HDD controller even though I've supplied every driver I can find on the USB stick is starting to make me think otherwise.

Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #62 on: 03 February, 2014, 10:36:49 pm »
re-installed windows 7 after it crashed during a windows update......2 evenings and god know how many updates later!

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #63 on: 04 February, 2014, 12:18:54 pm »
On Friday I replaced the line

if (!bDelete) delete this;

with

if (bDelete) delete this;

And a kernel panic disappeared. Simple and obvious but took me three days to find.

Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #64 on: 04 February, 2014, 01:19:19 pm »
Time to spec up new machine to sit in the corner of the lounge.

Gigabyte Motherboard
Intel Pro gigabit NIC
iCore 7
32GB RAM
2 x 2TB HDDs
2 x 120GB SSD
silent fans (current Asus Terminator barebones thing has a very annoying pulsing fan)

(Separate Intel Pro-NIC is to ensure compatability with VMWare ESXi 5 which it'll be running). Ooh. The free version fo VMWare 5.5 ESXi allows you up to 4TB of mem (this mobo will take 64GB).

It'll run a bunch of VMs for my side project, plus one VM to act as a backup target for me and and my brother.

The dual HDDs and SSDs mean I get to play around with zfs pools. Oooh shiny.
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Afasoas

Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #65 on: 04 February, 2014, 07:38:12 pm »
Shiny.

Shame I'm not keeping this server... could be utilized for a whole range of projects. Although right now I'm perplexed as to why the default install of Win Server 2k12 defaults to a .local internal domain when MicroShaft say it's bad practice.

Just acquainted myself with RenDom but fearing the jiggery pokey that may follow.



On a different note, anyone had any experience with SNMP on Gentoo? I had the bright idea of using SNMP to monitor my NAS, Switch, Modem, Router and web server. I'd throw together a PHP page that shows the status (green/amber/red) of all the devices at a glance. And then once the proof of concept was working, roll that out to the studio I'm looking after. As they are 60 miles away, I think it would be good to get some advance warning of any potential IT failures so I can carry out remedial work before any problems affect the business.

Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #66 on: 05 February, 2014, 08:54:29 am »
SNMP is a pain. The "Simple" bit is for the programmer of the device, not the management side of things.

I use MRTG or rrdtool to do graphing of stuff for my own status pages.
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #67 on: 05 February, 2014, 04:12:04 pm »
RRDtool is a lovely thing, and well worth the learning curve.

The 'S' in SNMP does of course stand for "Stan's".

Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #68 on: 05 February, 2014, 10:37:51 pm »
GN: New computer bits (see above) for VM server arrive tomorrow morning
BN: Won't have time to build it until Friday morning

GN: I've got one new shiny 23" Dell monitor also arriving.
BN: Mrs GB wants to keep using her laptop (with her stuff on it) at home (the laptop stays here all the time) rather than me getting a new desktop PC for us both to use that could drive two shiny 23" Dell monitors at 1920x1200.
GN2: The laptop has a VGA and an HDMI port so I can use it to drive two shiny 23" Dell monitors mounted on a lovely bracket[1]
GN3: This saves me having to spend £300 on a basic desktop PC (and another computer in the house)
GN4: The desk will be so much emptier without a whole load of stuff on it.

1. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/scanfx-tc742-dual-monitor-desk-clamp-stand-15-24-ideal-for-multi-screen-gaming-eyefinity-scalable
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Feanor

  • It's mostly downhill from here.
Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #69 on: 09 February, 2014, 08:22:58 pm »
Fettled a new screen onto Junior#2's iPhone 5.
This is the *third* replacement screen it's had in about a year.

First one was done at great expense by Mr. Apple.
Second one by a 3-rd party shop in the US.
This time, I did it myself.

Not difficult, but *very* fiddly.
A photo mid-fettle:


iPhone fettling by Ron Lowe, on Flickr

ETA: The SMD reflow hot-air gun on the left was not being used to reflow solder.   Just to waft warm air to loosen some ribbon cables that had been glued down.

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #70 on: 09 February, 2014, 09:31:10 pm »
Labelled all me power cables.  Important.

Next stop: USB Spaghetti Labelling.
Getting there...

sas

  • Penguin power
    • My Flickr Photos
Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #71 on: 10 February, 2014, 12:33:09 am »
Installed CentOS6.5 in a VM running on Fedora 20, then installed oVirt in the CentOS VM, and finally started up a VM in oVirt, at which point the laptop crashed with a kernel lockup.
I am nothing and should be everything

Afasoas

Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #72 on: 11 February, 2014, 12:20:47 am »
Finally using Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro to edit some video footage into shape.
And hitting a brick wall with the Win 2012 server I am configuring. I need to get it on to its own network segment stat.

tiermat

  • According to Jane, I'm a Unisex SpaceAdmin
Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #73 on: 11 February, 2014, 11:04:39 am »
Got SCCM client on Linux to work (which is harder than it may sound, due to having certificates involved)

Still can't get OEM working properly, though :(
I feel like Captain Kirk, on a brand new planet every day, a little like King Kong on top of the Empire State

Afasoas

Re: Fettled any computer stuff today?
« Reply #74 on: 12 February, 2014, 09:56:23 am »
Dug out a trio of old Pentium 4 boxes and managed to scrape together one working PC with enough memory and stuff to run Win 7 professional.
Means I can test the server I've built. Still some work to do configuring DHCP first.

This is proving to be quite an education :)