Royksopp – A Higher Place

I recently moved house, to move in with my girlfriend. To make things simple, I sold my old HTPC (a first gen Mac Mini, slightly warmed over and with a 1TB external drive) and home theater to the mates whose flat I was departing.

This leaves me with nowhere to store the copious amounts of porn… errr… linux iso’s that I download. I couldn’t be bothered building something from scratch, and really wanted something that was relatively simple for me to administrate and with low power consumption. Granted I could have chucked a spare Via Epia motherboard with a SATA card into a spare case and I’d have been pretty much done with it, or resurrected my Shuttle. Instead, I got a suave looking Acer Easystore H340 with 2x 1TB drives:

The first problem I have with it is that it comes with Windows Home Server, and I’m thinking of petitioning Acer for a cashback on that. Windows is dandy for gaming but for anything else… no thanks. Plus being a Linux admin I simply can’t and won’t allow that shit in my house (except, of course, for the woeful Vista that I tolerate on the girlfriend’s laptop). And on top of that you need to install management software on a Windows box to set it up, something my girlfriend quite fiercely would not allow. Windows, LOL:

So as a BSD guy at heart I checked out FreeNAS, and decided it was probably mismatched given the hardware specs, though ZFS capability is appealing (albeit basically useless in my case, with my 32bit restriction). Openfiler is much of the same. What I was really after was something that I could pretty much replace WHS with, while tying in with my current BSD and Linux work, as well as being able to hook in with my homebrew modified Wii. Then I found Amahi. It’s beta, it’s not perfect (i.e. I don’t agree with the use of MySQL in the Greyhole subsystem, I’d prefer Postgres for anything where security of data is involved) but it’s pretty damned promising.

Ok, so here’s how I installed it. Windows heads at this point need to realise that Linux has a hidden strength – the ability to move a boot drive from PC to PC, and provided the hardware is friendly – i.e. the same architecture, it’ll just work ™. The same with Windows will tend to screw with the HAL and you’ll get BSOD’s.

First, I removed the boot drive and chucked it into a spare box, an Iwill XP4 Evo with a SATA card. As the specs of the Acer are conservative (Intel Atom, 2G of memory), I went with the 32bit version of Amahi. (Also note: At the end of the post I show how you can modify a PCI-E x16 graphics card to run at PCI-E x1. You could just do that and install Amahi straight on to the A340. The instructions I give won’t work, but they’ll give you a guideline. Standard disclaimers, YMMV’s etc apply)

Then I followed the instructions written by a no doubt devilishly handsome fellow on the Amahi forums. (Hint: it was me!)

Then, with Amahi booted and running, I issued the following command:
rm /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules

Then I vi’d /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 and removed the HWADDRESS line, and edited ONBOOT=no to read ONBOOT=yes.

We do the above so that when Amahi next boots, it will pick up the first ethernet interface and assign it the device name “eth0″. If you’re after a more descriptive explanation, look up udev in google. Then I issued a halt, waited for the Iwill box to poweroff, then I plugged the boot drive into the Acer box, which I then fired up. Et voila!

Now for some advanced tips:
1) You’ll notice the led’s aren’t right. Do this (adjusting to suit, e.g. get the latest version from here):

yum -y install gcc-c++ libudev-devel
cd /tmp
wget http://bitbucket.org/adaptation/mediasmartserverd/get/5654cec4f4d1.zip
unzip 5654cec4f4d1.zip
cd mediasmartserverd/ && make
mv mediasmartserverd /opt
chmod 755 /opt/mediasmartserverd
echo "# start our led daemon" >> /etc/rc.local
echo "/opt/mediasmartserverd -D" >> /etc/rc.local
./opt/mediasmartserverd -D

2) to add another drive, use cfdisk followed by mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1, followed by hda-diskmount. This may require some prereq installs:

yum -y install pmount fuse fuse-libs ntfs-3g

3) … probably more to come!

Now, this wasn’t without its issues. But only because of my own stupid fault – I thought I’d shorted the debug jumper but I’d actually shorted the CMOS clear jumpers. FAIL. This set the BIOS date back to something like 2007, Fedora was then complaining about file timestamps being way out of whack and it was subsequently demanding a fsck.

A permanent fix may exist in Network Console on Acid, but for now I had to get the headless Easystore some VGA capability. Balking at the $200 cost and lead time of a debug card, instead I went to a local PC store and petitioned them for any cheap/faulty PCI-E video cards they might have. They sold me a GeForce 8500GT with a dodgy HSF for NZD$30, little did they know that I had a plan.

A couple of drops of sewing machine oil in the bearings sorted out the HSF. I then used my hand nibbler and cut it physically to x4, but that didn’t work. So with some electrical tape I knocked it back to 1x, and that did work. Along with a USB keyboard, I was then able to see that the drives needed a fsck and sorted that out. In the future I’ll pick up a cheap low profile card and make this a permanent addition to the box.

So, that’s it for now. I’ll no doubt update this post and any subsequent ones, but hopefully this helps, and good luck if you decide to try out Amahi

And for good measure I’ll say it again: ALL STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY! I’m all care, no responsibility.

Eclipse – Pink Floyd

I’ve had to crank up the requirements to post a comment here, it looks like the spammers are going nuts

Steve, you marked the spot with an O, not an X.

XOXO,

me

Faith No More – Everything’s Ruined

So today I took delivery of my first custom ordered ukulele, a concert scale backpacker from Captain Ukuleles. It features a tote bag, Italian made Aquila nylgut strings, custom tuners, an under-saddle pickup, and a “uke stick” design reminiscent of the Risa solid-uke. In other words: there’s no headstock, and the tuners are at the tail… it’s back to front from what you’d expect.

Bevan, the man behind Captain Ukuleles had this to say about the wood:

“The Kahikatea is a special piece of wood. It came from a log pulled out of the Kaniwhaniwha stream (in Te Pahu) many years ago. It had been buried under the streambed for a long time. Possibly since settler times, as it had the remains of iron dogs for bullocks in the ends. So it’s a little like ‘Swamp’ Kahikatea. Very green. I was very lucky to get some of this wood through a friend who knew the son of the guy who found the log.
The rest of the timbers came from the south side of Pirongia. Trees that have fallen down over the years on a farm owned by an old guy I met recently.”

I really can’t take my eyes off the back of it, the grain of the Rewarewa is stunning. The grain of the Kahikatea is, for want of a better comparison, a lot like bamboo from a fibrous point of view. Ok, I’ll shut up… just check out these pics

Where Do The Children Play? by Cat Stevens from The Best of Cat Stevens

So Ukulele players tend to get a disorder known as Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome (UAS). It’s quite self explanatory – you keep buying ukuleles. This in turn means that there’s plenty of space taken up by the various ukes that you own. Hanging them on the wall is a great way to get them out of the way, to showpiece them, and to make them easily grab-able. Typically this is done with a suitable guitar hanger, or a cost effective DIY hanger rack.

However, both options require screwing into the wall, which is something that doesn’t tend to fly well with landlords/landladies.

My solution is cheap and simple: 3m command strips

Two Christmases ago, I was given a Kalimba… or at least a version made in Bali that approximates one:
.

I hung this the same way that I now hang cheap ‘beater’ ukuleles: nail a sawtooth hook on the back and use a sawtooth command strip.

For more expensive ukes, though, you don’t want to be nailing anything into them, so I go a bit harder core and use two 3m Wire Hooks, and I hang the uke by its tuner pegs. These things are rated to take 2kg each, so they’re also a good choice if you’re hanging a slightly heavier uke such as an electric acoustic.

Would I do this with a really expensive uke? Hell no. The command strips are pretty damn reliable, but they’re not infallible. The packaging on them even says “DO NOT use for antiques, heirlooms or other valuable or irreplaceable items”. However, in saying that, I’ve never had a problem with the strips, so I trust them to a point.

No, when I get a really expensive uke, I’ll probably build a multi uke stand, probably along the lines of this. Until then, here’s the view from my desk:

Stereophonics – Have a Nice Day

Posted less than an hour ago, keep updated here.

While better than the last version, going by the summary it walks and quacks like a three strikes law. It’s been said elsewhere – why are we basing (pun?) laws on baseball?

Either way, I like that there’s more onus on the rights holder to drive the action with the ISP as an intermediary, instead of forcing ISP’s to be judge, jury and executioner. I also like the idea of capping the maximum penalty, so we don’t get repeats of the multi-million dollar RIAA vs Someone’s Grandma court cases as in the states.

It’ll be interesting to see what further analysis shows… stay on the edge of your seats people!

The Dandy Warhols – You were the last high

So I upgraded my Eee-PC to Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala and it hasn’t been without its problems. It seems that the best way to upgrade Ubuntu is, as always, back everything up, install anew and restore your data.

The main issue I had was that the screen would randomly go black, audio would still work but everything else was unresponsive. Switching to another terminal (e.g. ctrl+alt+F2) resulted in a screen with a full height cursor that was a couple of pixels wide… typing returned vertical white lines.

The fix is to edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf (e.g. sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf)

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Becomes:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "intel"
Option "ForceEnablePipeA" "true"
Option "FramebufferCompression" "off"
EndSection

I’ve lost my other terminals, and ACPI is still broken – it won’t wake up after you’ve closed the lid – but apart from that it’s working a treat.

Shapeshifter – Dutchies

I have google wave invites now. If you’re interested, use the contact form

facemeltingukulele – Little Wing acoustic

Just got back from an exhausting family reunion in Whangarei. We stayed out at Ruakaka beach. Choice hangi, it was good to catch up with the relatives who did show up (ALL of my first cousins who didn’t: for shame!), and I found out that I’m distantly related to a mate of mine!

Don’t have anything else interesting to say, so here’s a photo of my niece:

Sadie deals with an icecream

Orbital – Illuminate

I’ve been struggling recently with some extremely bad shin splints, and after watching various videos about how to strap your legs to mitigate them, and reading other advice such as

• Get properly fitted running shoes
• Adjust your running technique to a mid-strike and/or barefoot running
• Do some fancy stretches

all of which are definately parts of the overall solution, you just have to read a medical description of shin splints to realise that strapping is still going to be the most direct and effective solution. The problem is that it’s wasteful and, if like me you have hairy legs, painful.

I already have fitted running shoes to help with my plantar fasciitis, and the arguments for stretches are partly due to an imbalance between calf and shin muscles and partly due to flexibility. I have extremely flexible leg muscles thanks to years of Taekwon Do, so it’s just for strength building as far as I’m concerned.

The solution I want to talk about though? Compression socks. I got the Skins sox, which at NZD$80 or so aren’t cheap but I consider them an investment. I wear them during activity and the following night for recovery, but you can do either/and/or. So far they’ve worked a treat.