A while back I upgraded my HobbyCNC controller laptop to the latest 2.4 release of EMC2 which now also comes with Ubuntu 10.04 on its LiveCD.
I did need a reinstall of the system, but its now smoother than ever. EMC2 on 10.04 is a true joy to work with. Added bonus is the modern operating system with no-hassle wifi for grabbing your NC files off the home wifi network while in the workshop. The LPT pcmcia card I use still works out of the box.
EMC is a definite two thumbs up in my book!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Who needs backup...?
Most Important Files (TM)
Like me, you likely have your Most Important Files (TM) backed up to a USB disk. I mean, just to be on the safe side. All the photos of the kids as they grow up, all those hobby related project files, and just about everything else you want kept safe. And you have that USB disk hooked up to your home network to boot. Neat.
Enter the brand spanking new laptop... Decrapify and dual, or rather multi, boot it. Move the most recent projects to the new SSD equipped iron wonder. I'll do the rest later.
... a year later
Yeah, right you will.
One day the missus goes "Honey, what's that sound?"
What sound? Oh... Err... No proble... Wait... Did I forge... NO!
My ext3 formatted WD 500Gb MyBook, hooked up to the Synology USBStation, had decided to take a walk down amnesia and bad sector lane. The MyBook was now officially a MyBrick. On the early side of MTBF for the MyBrick guts too, if I dare guess.
A quick peek at the WD community site wasn't getting my hopes up. People are obviously experiencing some real pain with the MyBooks in the end. Not surprisingly disks finally give in - and I was truly caught in the middle of such carnage.
Voiding the warranty
My disk spun up and then stopped at random times. Similar problems on the WD community site was tagged as the disk controller possibly overheating. Being November and -15C outside it was worth a try giving the disk a big chill. Disk good as dead already, after all. Voided the warranty, dismantled the disk from the MyBrick and put it in the open window to cool down.
Tried a couple of free Windows ext3 solutions without luck, and Solaris was (sadly) not playing nice either. Last resort would have been a disk-rescue company and 1000 EUR less in the bank.
Enter Ubuntu 10.04. As the disk spun up, it auto-mounted and contained folders magically appeared. For a very brief moment, at least. Then the disk shut itself down again.
Trail and (bad sector) error
But, new hope. Next disk boot I was able to drag a couple of folders across before the disk shut down again. It worked best if I kept the disk tempered at freezing point, 0C, on the window sill. Slightly tilted on its back, while standing on one foot, with ... You get the point. But it would still stop randomly as it encountered a multitude of different disk errors - all visible in the syslog.
Long story short, I had to reboot the disk some 60+ times to rescue the real important stuff. But I did manage to save my Most Important Files (TM). Merging and skipping files in half saved folders got it back piece by piece.
To RAID, or not to RAID
I actually survived my USB disk crash with my most precious files intact. Am I felling lucky - you bet!
Needless to say I now own a RAID capable NAS - and have backup of my NAS too. Still considering if my ISPs online secure vault service is worth its pricetag.
I'm not advocating you do the same to your crashed USB disk though - whatever make or model. Your problem could be something completely different.
Who needs backup...? I do!
Like me, you likely have your Most Important Files (TM) backed up to a USB disk. I mean, just to be on the safe side. All the photos of the kids as they grow up, all those hobby related project files, and just about everything else you want kept safe. And you have that USB disk hooked up to your home network to boot. Neat.
Enter the brand spanking new laptop... Decrapify and dual, or rather multi, boot it. Move the most recent projects to the new SSD equipped iron wonder. I'll do the rest later.
... a year later
Yeah, right you will.
One day the missus goes "Honey, what's that sound?"
What sound? Oh... Err... No proble... Wait... Did I forge... NO!
My ext3 formatted WD 500Gb MyBook, hooked up to the Synology USBStation, had decided to take a walk down amnesia and bad sector lane. The MyBook was now officially a MyBrick. On the early side of MTBF for the MyBrick guts too, if I dare guess.
A quick peek at the WD community site wasn't getting my hopes up. People are obviously experiencing some real pain with the MyBooks in the end. Not surprisingly disks finally give in - and I was truly caught in the middle of such carnage.
Voiding the warranty
My disk spun up and then stopped at random times. Similar problems on the WD community site was tagged as the disk controller possibly overheating. Being November and -15C outside it was worth a try giving the disk a big chill. Disk good as dead already, after all. Voided the warranty, dismantled the disk from the MyBrick and put it in the open window to cool down.
Tried a couple of free Windows ext3 solutions without luck, and Solaris was (sadly) not playing nice either. Last resort would have been a disk-rescue company and 1000 EUR less in the bank.
Enter Ubuntu 10.04. As the disk spun up, it auto-mounted and contained folders magically appeared. For a very brief moment, at least. Then the disk shut itself down again.
Trail and (bad sector) error
But, new hope. Next disk boot I was able to drag a couple of folders across before the disk shut down again. It worked best if I kept the disk tempered at freezing point, 0C, on the window sill. Slightly tilted on its back, while standing on one foot, with ... You get the point. But it would still stop randomly as it encountered a multitude of different disk errors - all visible in the syslog.
Long story short, I had to reboot the disk some 60+ times to rescue the real important stuff. But I did manage to save my Most Important Files (TM). Merging and skipping files in half saved folders got it back piece by piece.
To RAID, or not to RAID
I actually survived my USB disk crash with my most precious files intact. Am I felling lucky - you bet!
Needless to say I now own a RAID capable NAS - and have backup of my NAS too. Still considering if my ISPs online secure vault service is worth its pricetag.
I'm not advocating you do the same to your crashed USB disk though - whatever make or model. Your problem could be something completely different.
Who needs backup...? I do!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Annoying OpenSolaris audio bell
Are you also having your ears blasted by that really loud and annoying audio bell in OpenSolaris?
You used to be able to use xset b 00 00 00 to control the keyboard beep, but that does not seem to work any longer. That nice, tiny, old "tick" sound is long gone...
Oh' well ...
- Install gconf-editor using Package Manager
- Start gconf-editor
- Navigate to apps -> metacity -> general
- Uncheck audio bell
You used to be able to use xset b 00 00 00 to control the keyboard beep, but that does not seem to work any longer. That nice, tiny, old "tick" sound is long gone...
Oh' well ...
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