Tech Stuff
hardware
Dell Servers and Linux
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- Last Updated on Saturday, 07 April 2012 00:15
- Written by MrB
After managing Dell servers for a while I recently discovered they have some very handy Linux tools for managing BIOS and other firmware updates as well as a software repository. It integrates very nicely into RedHat and CentOS. Well done Dell. I can't believe I've missed this all this time.
The instructions below install all three repositories and focus on getting all the firmware in your server updated. All commands are run as root.
Recycling
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- Last Updated on Wednesday, 15 February 2012 09:39
- Written by MrB
January became spring clean month. After weeks of moving things from one room to another I found myself with various piles. One for the tip, one for eBay and one of crap that I don't want or need but is too good to throw out and cant be sold. I also found myself with a pile of tech that was like a journey down memory lane. From back in the days I used to keep things. It was like flicking through an old photo album. A Discman, old 333MHz CPU's, 72 pin RAM sticks, 16MB memory cards, it went on. I was tempted to drop all these items back in a box and shove it to the back of the cupboard (they are in the too good to throw pile) when I decided there WAS a better way. Like other memory inducing pieces of history, why not decorate with them? And thus, I present... server cabinet art...
A use for the old
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- Last Updated on Monday, 13 February 2012 13:37
- Written by MrB
Putting the old laptop to good use
With the arrival of the new laptop (see here) the question begged; What to do with the old one? So, I threw it in the lounge and made it a media PC. I'd not had a media PC since the arrival of the Playstation 3 as that seemed to take care of everything. However, there were some things the PS3 just wasn't good at. Browsing the web tops that list and some media formats didn't play nice.
Server Move
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- Last Updated on Monday, 13 February 2012 13:38
- Written by MrB
The server gets a new house, more storage and an upgrade to CentOS 6 all in the same week.
After years of waiting I finally bought a proper cabinet to house the server. I couldn't lay the server down without purchasing the proper mounting rails so it's standing but there's plenty of room. The fans were far in excess of what I needed (4x 240v industrial fans) so I switched them for a 12v 20cm Antec Big Boy. Silent and still plenty of airflow with speed control. The cabinet was bought from 4Cabling.com.au and I'm very happy with it. It's very sturdy, fully locking, plenty of removable panels for wiring, locking wheels and solid power rail.
I upgraded it to CentOS while I was there and gave it more storage. CentOS worked perfectly although the first time I accidently installed the 32 bit version and only realised when KVM wouldn't work (tip: KVM isn't supported in 32 bit CentOS & RedHat). Virtual networking is still quite clumsy in Virtual Manager (virt_manager) but everything else was a dream.
Sony VAIO Webcam in Fedora 15
- Details
- Last Updated on Thursday, 12 January 2012 10:31
- Written by MrB
Get your Sony VAIO Webcam working in Fedora 15
If you use a Sony laptop you may have found you webcam is not working. There is firmware out there however. Install the following package as root and reboot to get it working. Tested on VGN-FZ35G.
You will need the RPMFusion repos prior to installing.
# yum install r5u87x-firmware*