In my previous post, I mentioned a couple of gotchas regarding my server upgrade and the Linux install thereon. A day later and things have changed again.
One thing I thought I had fixed: the network autonegotiate problem. I found network performance was once again sucking royally today, and I tried to re-create the circumstances that permitted good network performance the other day. Unfortunately, no luck: disabling autonegotiate on the Cisco RV016 hub and on the NIC didn’t seem to solve anything. One possibility is that I have to disable autonegotiate on both, then reboot both. However, I’m also observing hundreds of errors in the following form
Perhaps that is a bit harsh, but…there seems to be a problem here, and what I’m seeing could be related.
Update: I added a small Gigabit ethernet/wireless 802.11n router to my network, hanging it off my RV016 as an access point. I hooked my webserver to it, and suddenly the rx errors in the servers log files stopped. I then moved the other machines on my network with Gigabit-capable NICs to the little router (a DLink DIR-655), and all of the port packet errors associated with them on the RV016 seemed to vanish. That is… the number of packet errors on the port via which the DLink is attaching is significantly less than the aggregate total of the packet errors on the ports the PCs were originally attached to.
The implication… well, I’d speculate (and this is nothing but an educated guess) that the RV016 isn’t happy dealing with the Marvell 1000/100/10 Mbps NICs, but the DLink has no problem with the same NIC. Side benefit: I can now transfer files between my Gigabit ethernet machines at up to 20 MB/s (200 Mbps): at least on initial testing. Handy
One thing I thought wasn’t going to be fixed: the problem with vncserver/tightvnc and keyboard mapping. There was a response on the thread I linked to yesterday that provides a link to a package of updated files someone thoughtfully and kindly assembled. I installed them and voila: the keyboard mapping problem is gone, and I can remotely control my server. Many thanks to AndrewL733 for creating the fix, and site admin awilliamson for hosting the download!
I seem to have reversed the forces of entropy! The new server is basically operational, and this blog is now being served by fresh, clean hardware. I’ll post something detailing the innards of the new box this upcoming weekend.
Interesting gotchas from the install
always pay close attention to disk space when migrating / backing up old servers: I spent several hours trying to fix a problem that was nothing more than my old server running out of disk
Linux drivers still have problems with network autonegotiate: Or maybe it’s Cisco/Linksys with the problem? For about a decade now, twisted pair Ethernet hubs and NICs have often failed horribly when trying to agree on 100 versus 10 Mbps, and particularly on full versus half duplex. I noticed my file transfers between my two Linux boxes were very slow (on the order of 60 KB/s). I checked my Cisco hub status monitor and, surprise of surprises, both Linux boxes had negotiated themselves a half duplex connection. I changed their configuration to forced 100 Mb/s full duplex, and suddenly I was getting upwards of 6 MB/s of encrypted transfer
Linux GUI software is sometimes better than the command line: Examples include:
installing OS packages/software components- in the GUI, you get a nice list showing what you have installed already and can search component descriptions visually
sftp: the command line sftp must use horrible default settings- I was barely able to get to 1 MB/s using it between two computers on a 100 Mbps LAN (the maximum on a 100 Mbps network would be around 9-10 MB/s); the GUI based FileZilla, on the other hand, happily pushed bits at about 6 MB/s
USB file system mounts: plug a drive in to the computer, and the GUI autodetects it and pops up to tell you it is mounting it and it just works: basically, just like Windows and OSX
I am leaving the GUI (KDE) running on this box; now if I could only get the remote desktop (tightvnc) to work without corrupting the keyboard input, I’d be set
sometimes it is best to give up: One of the things that didn’t work quite right was my install of vncserver/tightvnc. This software allows me to remotely connect to my Linux box with a graphical interface: I use it around the house (not over the Internet) when I’d rather not go and sit in front of the server. Unfortunately, the current install with Mandriva only works until you try to actually use it: at that point, you encounter two problems
the vnc session fails with a fatal “fixed font not found” error. I fixed this by installing the XFS package, but it took me several hours to figure out
at this point I was able to open a session and see it on my other computer. Unfortunately, anything I typed came out garbled: E.G.: typing “l” would seemingly send an “r” character
I banged my head against the wall for hours trying to get this fixed, then read this post. Apparently, this “bad character mapping with Mandriva’s tightvnc implementation” problem has existed for months…
Avhai/ZeroConf/Bonjour are cool: I decided to set up the new server so I could get at its filesystems using my Mac. to that end, I configured Avhai. To get this to work, I followed some guides referred to by this guy. The short story: install and config netatalk, then install (if necessary: it was already installed in my Mandriva build) Avhai for the afp service you just added. Avahi and its friends are really just advertisers: they aren’t “services” in and of themselves, but the let other machines on your network know what is available. For the record, my file share services are blocked by my firewall: sorry Once complete, the services offered by my Linux box show up on the Mac: file shares, terminal services, and potentially other things. I also noticed that the network performance of AFP seems better than SMB. Note that this is purely a seat-of-the-pants observation
There will likely be a few more brief outages over the next couple of weeks as I finish up installing things and tuning the configuration a bit.
I broke the website earlier today. I think I’ve established the Computing Law of Quantum Superposition. Specifically: a computing system is in all possible states until it is observed, at which point it collapses into a single state. Unfortunately, the single state is always “non-functional”.
In the process of making configuration backups I somehow a) corrupted several database indexes; and b) caused the server to run out of disk space. These two things meant that the server stopped working, which caused me to try a series of completely logical and totally wrong approaches to fixing what was at the time an unknown problem.
I have this blog back up and running, at least. The other websites on this server, including my photo gallery, are temporarily down until I deploy the new server.
I mentioned a few days ago that I ordered parts for a new webserver. I picked up the pieces on Saturday, and finished the physical assembly in a couple of hours. It is a very compact and, dare I say, “cute” box. I’ll have to take some pictures of it once everything is finished.
I was making such good progress on Saturday that I started right in to the OS install and config. Install of Mandriva Linux 2008 went very smoothly, but post install config caused me some grief.
First, there was a problem with the screen saver… basically, the power management features of X Windows powered off the display output, and no amount of moving the mouse around or tapping the keyboard would fix the problem. I overcame the issue (I hope) by turning the display power management feature
Second, vncserver (tightvnc-server) refused to launch generating a “fatal” error due to not being able to find any fonts. I corrected this problem by installing the xfs (X windows font server) package
Third, vncserver corrupts all keyboard input. The display and mouse works fine remotely, but anything typed turns into gibberish. Apparently I am not alone in experiencing this problem, but there doesn’t seem to be a solution yet
While trying to correct these various problems, i successfully broke my install three times in succession. Since the install is so new, I decided to re-install the OS each time so that I would have a “clean” build. But that means that my progress has been… disrupted. At one point, I had all of my MySQL databases migrated and was starting to think I might have an 80% complete working replacement for my webserver in place today- unfortunately, that has been undone. I’m giving up for now, with the server sitting on my desk in a seemingly functional but incomplete state. I’ll see how it looks in the morning.
To make things even more interesting, my wireless hub died on me. Fortunately, I still had my ancient but not-so-secure Linksys sitting on a shelf, so I have basic wireless back again. The timing is crappy, though- I want to buy a new Apple Airport Time Capsule 802.11n/Gigabit wired Ethernet/NAS device, but that’s not quite shipping yet. Ah well, life is full of challenges.
I played World of Warcraft a couple of years ago when my Nephew and family decided to check it out. I didn’t mind it, but was just starting to get into EQ2 when we moved and so it was a bit frustrating in that regard. Within a month or two we moved back to EQ2 and have stayed there since.
I’m still playing EQ2 each weekend with my family, and having a lot of fun. But every once in a while I think back to World of Warcraft fondly and imagine that it might be fun to try it out again. Interestingly, WoW is pretty much the only MMOG available for the Macintosh, and so it seemed like a logical progression that one day I would install it on my MacBook.
Of course, I don’t want to go to the store and buy it, and I decided to try out the demo download. It often makes me chuckle when I realize that I’m using an Internet connection dozens of times faster than my modem of yesteryear… and yet the size of the things I download has more than kept pace with the increased bandwidth available:
Ah, a mere 11 hours… well, almost time to read a good book
I’ve been pondering the replacement of my web server, the machine that runs this website, for about a year now. I finally took the leap today and placed the parts order with my favorite computer component dealer, NCIX. A new chassis, motherboard, processor (Intel!), memory, and flat panel display are now waiting to be added to my credit card.
My main objectives with this upgrade:
physically “shrink” the size of the server. The machine I have is a big, noisy, dual processor box. I want to put the machine itself in our attic crawlspace or on a very small stand, and that means smaller
upgrade the OS and related components. I’ve found it challenging to complete in-place upgrades on the server. I’ve done it several times, but this go-around I want to do a clean wipe of the machine. Without having a new computer to perform the build on, this would have meant a lengthy (couple day) outage
minor performance and capacity upgrade. The existing machine is a dual processor 1.6 GHz system with 1 GB of RAM. The new machine will be a dual core 2.6 GHz machine with 4 GB of RAM. I expect the increased memory and, to a lesser extent, faster processor will have some positive effect on performance of some of the odds and ends running on the machine (E.G.: BF2, TeamSpeak- things you folks looking at the web don’t interact with normally)
I don’t expect to get around to actually building the new server for a while, and when I do it will be done without touching this site until the actual switch over. I’ll post the exact details of the new configuration when I deploy it.
The funny thing is, I feel more sentimental about the old server (which I built originally in April, 2003) than about my main gaming PC. Almost five years ago: it has served me well during that time, with very few complaints other than some early heat problems. I hope the new system will serve as well…
The second part of my prediction: despite the fact that these fellows were at least partly responsible for what happened, I expected their parents to sue the zoo. I would be quite happy to be proven wrong on this half of my prognostication, but… my faith in the average American and their love of lawsuits suggests I will be proven right.
Steve Jobs and his reality distortion field apparently put on a relatively quiet show at MacWorld today. Apple stock dropped about $10 on comparatively underwhelming (to the analysts) product announcements- basically, there was no iPhone this year.
The big announcement was the MacBook Air. From my perspective, this is a rather boring release: a very thin MacBook with an underpowered processor, low-end (Intel) video processor, and no user ability to add RAM, upgrade hard disk capacity, or replace the battery. Nothing about it appeals in any way beyond its impressive industrial design: it *is* pretty thin, I’ll give them that. But it still weighs over three pounds, so it isn’t exactly what I’d call “light”. Of more interest to me were the Time Capsule NAS/Airport hub and the improved Apple TV set top device.
Time Capsule is basically network attached storage built in to an AirPort (802.11n) and Gigabit Ethernet hub. But the important consideration is that it works with Leopard’s Time Machine backup application to perform wireless continuous backups. I like backups, so much so that I now have about 1.2 terabytes of hard disk storage dedicated purely to backing up my computers. Unfortunately, I just spent several hundred dollars setting up backup for my MacBook. Buyers remorse…yes, that’s what they call this.
Apple TV has been around for a while. It is essentially a small set top box to store and stream video to your TV. The idea originally is that folks would have digital movies and such, or DVDs that they would rip and store on the Apple TV. Unfortunately, its lack of any built-in mechanism for acquiring legal movie or TV content limited its appeal. The MacWorld announcement regarding Apple TV doesn’t really change the device at all: it gets a software update, and that is about it. The big news is the introduction of licensed movie content available for rental and download directly using the device. 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Touchstone, MGM, New Line, Sony, Miramax, Lions Gate Films: they are all on board to provide movies for Apple TV. Oh, you live in Canada? Oops, sorry, no movies for you.
Yes, that’s right: once again the CRTC has managed to impede another cool technology. It took us years to get satellite radio, TiVo is only just arriving, and TV shows on ITunes are limited to Canadian only content like Corner Gas and NHL hockey. Hurray for Canadian content…. Oh well, maybe one day someone will take the CRTC and its regulations, pack them up in one of those ugly metal shipping containers, and ship them to some country that wants them. Like maybe Zimbabwe: that would be a good home for the CRTC.
I believe it is appropriate to note that I am not a historian before I say anything about Assassin’s Creed. Furthermore, I am not a religious person- I’m an agnostic. These two things together mean that my opinions regarding the religious or historical content of the game Assassin’s Creed should be taken with a grain of salt.
Assassin’s Creed is an open-ended third person sneaker with a strong role playing element. It is single player only, with no multiplayer or online elements other than XBox Live achievements. The main character- the guy you play- is oddly sort of a secondary character within the game itself. You are Desmond Miles, a young guy who finds himself kidnapped and held within a lab at a shadowy pharmaceutical company’s offices. The majority of the game is played through Desmond’s “genetic memories” using a machine called the Animus. You spend your time playing through your recovered memories of an ancestor named Altair: an assassin, Hashshashin, or Fedayeen during the period of the Third Crusade.
The plot involves completing a series of assassinations, partly to restore Altair’s status within his guild, and more importantly to disrupt the plans of the invading Templars. A secondary plot involves discovering why Desmond has been kidnapped and forced to live through his ancestral memories. Something is going on in modern times, something sinister and based on ancient rivalries and power struggles. The story is presented through a series of slightly interactive cut scenes (you can change your point of view and move slightly) with first rate voice acting.
Irene and I went to see Bill Cosby on Friday night at the Red Robinson Theatre. I’ve always enjoyed Mr. Cosby’s stand up comedy, but I have never actually seen him “live” before. Despite the fact that Bill is over 70 now I can assure you that he still has “it”.
A few things I like about Bill Cosby were born out by his live show. He’s a “clean” comic, by which I mean he doesn’t resort to using an endless stream of profanities or toilet humour. I don’t mind risque content, but it seems to me that a lot of comedians have focused more on “shock” than comedy. I prefer Bill’s approach, and find it refreshing. Mr. Cosby is also very relaxed in his approach, which some folks may find less enjoyable. It is like you are chatting with a friend who is just naturally funny- meandering stories with comical “bites” now and then, rather than a staccato burst of rapid fire sequential set ups. There were times that I wondered if he had forgotten where he was going with his story, then all of a sudden the punch line came. Maybe he is forgetting his script, but if so his 50 years of being a comic means he can make something up that is still funny.
A couple of telling things about Bill Cosby’s style: the fact that he had a comfy chair and a side table on the stage…and that he picked both up and moved them closer to the audience right at the outset. I don’t think that was part of his show, either: after everything was over, Irene and I watched while the crowd thinned and the stage crew came out and relocated the whole set closer to the audience.
Bill, I think, likes that “I’m just that funny friend who you are visiting to have a BS session with” effect. Bill’s style is, to me at least, sort of the polar opposite of the frantic, almost spastic humour style of someone like Robin Williams (who is another comic I’d like to see live). Some of that may be the fact that Bill is getting on in years, but the result is a style I find very enjoyable and warm.
The show was, unfortunately, shorter than I would have liked: an hour wasn’t quite enough for me. But on the other hand, I imagine it is a long time for the comedian. And I don’t feel cheated at all- I just was having fun with Bill’s stories, and wanted more. Bill ended with a classic most Cosby fans would recognize: his “dentist” skit, complete with the acted-out results of dental freezing injection. Irene had never heard that skit… here it is from 1983:
