I just installed the Army Operations game developed by the US Govt - the install went smoothly, although it did not ask where to install, it just went ahead with C:\program files\etc... Seems a bit structured - if you do anything outside the realms of the mission at hand, you fail, the mission ends, and you start over. Figures that an Army designed game would leave very little personal choice in the game. I'll likely complete at least one mission just to give it a better chance. Also, my firewall alerted me to the fact that it attempted dozens of times to connect to machines on the internet for some reason, perhaps to check for updates or connect to a multi-player server, but I like to have more control over what my games do.


Stalin report : I tried multiple methods with just the 2gb drive - nothing I tried would allow it to be recognized by bios as a valid drive.

I then disconnected it and tried the same song and dance with the 8gb drive - and was able to see it in bios as a 167mb drive. Not good. But at least as the only drive in the system, fdisk would see it - and as an 8gb drive. Why bios thought it was 167mb, I don't know. This was with or without the 2gb max jumper in place. I then took off that jumper, let bios think what it may, and installed RH 7.3 on it, using a default workstation install. Worked fine. I played a little Tuxracer and decided that this machine is too freakin' slow to play games on.

Thus, the scsi drives failed, in combination and singly. The ide drives failed in combination, but the single 8gb drive worked although bios misread it. Single 2gb drive did not exist - had apparently been shunned by the Award people for some transgression, as my bios wasn't talking to the drive at all.

Now I have a functional 8gb rh system - I added the 340mb ide and formatted it as swap - worked fine. RH did warn me that I should make a /boot partition - so I did. 50mb /boot, rest as /

The Dell server shipped out already, I should get it next week. When that happens, I may retire Stalin as too old to use. Rasputin will be the RH box I'll be using, and it will likely be RH 8.0.


At work, Brian installed RH 8.0 on a newly configured system, it looks great - there were oohhs and ahhs over the install routine - completely different from 7.3 and far superior. It also allows virtual arrays - which means that the four 120gb drives we installed in the box are now one big honking chunk of storage! :)

posted by MikeM at 1:37 PM    

 
Stalin : I received email from Svenson (of Daynoters fame) suggesting that I go ahead and swap out the scsi drives for the IDE drives. I have now done this, and the only scsi thing left in the chassis is the CD-ROM, of which I don't have an IDE model. So, The 8.6gb is master, and the 2.1gb is slave, so the 8gb should be bootable. I'll boot to dos, re-partition and format both, then let red hat have its way with them. I will most likely make /var and /home 1gb partitions on the 2gb drive as on the previous attempt with the SCSI drives, and put a tiny /boot partition at the front of the 8gb, with the main portion for / and a few hundred mb at the end as swap. I'll post the results!

Update: Utter frustration and failure. The 2gb ide drive is recognized, but the 8gb is not - limiting the 8gb to 2gb with jumpers worked only marginally, it still will not allow access to the disk, although bios sees it now. I'm starting to think that my problems are motherboard/bios related, and not Red Hat problems at all. The SCSI controller handles the bios for scsi drives, but IDE relies on the bios to identify the drives. If the bios is unstable, the drives would be as well. Without changing anything, I got differing results between several boot attempts. Sometimes bios saw the 8gb drive as 167mb, sometimes not at all. Once I changed the jumper to force it to 2gb only, bios detected it as 2gb on one boot, then not at all on the next. This is wierd. In bios itself, under the autodetection, I got the same results. It would see the drive and configure it at 2gb in bios, then reboot and not find it at all. So far, I have tried 3 scsi and 3 ide drives, with pretty much the same unstable results. The SCSI drives allowed the install of RH, but only once the 9gb was id 0 and bootable - other configurations failed to install completely or failed to boot after install. The IDE drives failed at the POST test by bios. Never got to the fdisk stage, much less the RH install. Solution? New Dell server arrives next week sometime. :) The only other test I could run would be to pull the 8gb out, make the 2gb the master, and try it with just one 2gb drive. Not excellent. Might try it if I get some free time though.
posted by MikeM at 5:50 PM    

 
Stalin: Logged into KDE this time, actually got thru the setup portion and was exploring the interface when it hung, ctrl-alt-backspace showed a scrolling page of errors :
EXT3 - fs error (device sd(8,2)): ext3_readdir: directory #65153 contains a hole at offset 81920
I/O error: dev 08:02, sector 1054192

the above two errors alternate, with the sector number changing occasionally and the offset changing each line.

This might be a scsi error (termination or controller), a disk error, a Red Hat bug, or an EXT3 error. In any event, my patience is wearing thin, and the new Dell server will mark the death knell for this somewhat outdated Pentium 240 MMX. I suppose I could pull the SCSI drives and put in the 8gb ide one, but why bother? The new Dell comes with two 80gb drives, I'll pull one out and put into Trotsky, along with the network card from Stalin and make Trotsky a dual boot Windows 2000 / Red Hat box - networked with the new Dell.

What name should I use for this new Dell server? Rasputin? Sounds good.
posted by MikeM at 6:27 PM    

 
Here is an article everyone needs to read. The Boston Globe was correct to print it, even though I'm sure there will be some backlash from the anti-gun folks. Failsafe - By Elaine Scarry, 9/22/2002
I have archived a copy of the article here, just in case.
posted by MikeM at 10:28 AM    

 
Stalin update : The reinstall last night worked. Sort of. I allowed the installer to partition as it chose, then modified it.
sda1 : /boot 47mb
sda2 : / 8001mb
sda3 : swap 628mb
sdb1 : /var 996mb
sdb2 : /home 1153mb

The install took almost 2.5 hrs - and although it claimed it would only be 3543mb, it actually occupied over 4400mb. Surprise!

Booting went well, so did logging in, then the Gnome desktop hung, and breaking out to the text screen showed repeated scsi errors, lovely ones like 'directory contains a hole' and 'I/O error' and the like. I love technology. I reset with extreme prejudice, rebooted to failsafe, then shutdown with the -Fr parm to force a FSCK disk check on reboot. After THAT, I looked around in text mode - things look OK. I'll try gnome again tonight.

I'm at the point of formatting the drives and putting the whole thing back in the storage closet if it doesn't work tonight. I just ordered a new Dell server with 1200 celeron, 128mb ram, and TWO 80gb drives for about $336 after rebate. This is for a NEW dell server. Sale ends the 25th. :)
posted by MikeM at 8:51 AM    

 
Stalin Update: Failure last night led me to take drastic action this morning - I removed both drives and reset the SCSI ID jumpers to swap them. Now the 9gb will be sda and the 2gb will be sdb, allowing me to put the / partition on the larger and active (first) disk. Is this what is required for a Linux install? These two drives ran Win98 for years without complaint, but I cannot seem to get linux to work on them at all! This is what is preventing linux from becoming a mainstream OS - the unreasonable finicky behavior it displays from time to time.

I used the 2940 controller bios to verify both drives, and tonight I repartition/reformat both drives in DOS, then let Red Hat do its magic. Hopefully this time it will install and work flawlessly.
posted by MikeM at 8:38 AM    

 
Landscaping is officially complete - looks fantastic! I'll have to put pics up in the future, as we have no film left!
posted by MikeM at 8:57 PM    

 
Stalin update! With the very gracious loan of a manual kvm switch and a keyboard ps2 adapter (Thanks Scott!), I have both of my systems switching back and forth easily now with one monitor and keyboard. Still have 2 mice, but that's just fine!

fdisk /mbr to reset mbr on the 1st disk, then fdisk /cmbr2 to reset mbr on the second disk (undocumented command line tool)
Then I removed ALL existing partitions, created max partitions on both drives, which resulted in a 2gb active partition on disk 1 and an 8gb partition on drive 2 (non-active). Then I formatted BOTH drives using /C parm (check clusters already marked bad)

Used \dosutils\autoboot to enter red hat installation from the CD. My system will not boot from the CD...

Using disk druid, delete both existing partitions, then create new ones as below:
sda1 = / , 1749mb, mark bootable
sda2 = swap, 400mb
sdb1 = /var, 1028mb
sdb2 = /home, 1028mb
sdb3 = /usr, 6620mb

Right now I'm in the middle of yet another install - 2hr estimate. It usually craps out at just over an hour, within 10 min of swapping in CD#2.
UPDATE: Now only 40 min away from completion! This is the farthest it has ever gone. Dare I think even for a moment that success could be in the future? Stay tuned...
UPDATE: Ouch. 30 min from completion - it popped up a fatal error and forced a reboot. Just after loading the 3rd CD, too.

posted by MikeM at 8:56 PM    

 
Landscaping is almost done! They did a great job of it. The wall in the back looks great and changes the whole backyard - makes it more complete. The two trees they planted are great, and the new white gravel sets off the adobe-colored bricks of the wall nicely. All that is left is to put more gravel, and find some way to cover up a few structural beams and groundcloth that was exposed by the removal of the large bushes where the wall was incomplete, and then we should be done!

In the front yard, they poured concrete to extend the front walk along the driveway about 6' or so, making it a sweeping curve instead of the old right angle with two paving stones. They build a stone wall along the bottom of the curved concrete walk which looks fantastic! On the other side of the driveway they built a flagstone path along the edge of the yard to the back gate. All looking very nice indeed! I think they are finished in front.
posted by MikeM at 12:54 PM    

 
Update (Stalin) : Still no luck. Tried LILO and GRUB, removed third drive (1gb scsi on id3) and reinstalled with the following setup:
sda1 : /boot 100mb
sda2 : /swap 400mb
sda3 : /home 1647mb
sdb1 : / 8676mb
With GRUB/LILO in MBR of sda, boot image on sdb1
Installation of 3500mb gets about half done and exits abnormally, then on boot I get 'Missing operating system'
Still swinging away at it. Maybe I'll get a lucky hit. Next attempt will be to completely fdisk again, repartition as above using DOS fdisk, re-MBR using dos fdisk as well, then re-install.

Bored by all this computer talk? See the next entry!
posted by MikeM at 12:50 PM    

 
I set my main system (Trotsky) to playing thru my mp3 collection for background music, disconnected the monitor, plugged it into Stalin and booted to a dos boot floppy that loads the correct scsi drivers for the CD ROM. on the CD, /dosutils/autoboot.bat worked, so I finally got Red Hat to install - woo! Three disks, all SCSI, id0 = 2gb, id2=9gb, id3=1gb, id5=cd-rom.
/home on all 2gb of /sda
/ on all 9gb of /sdb
/boot on 1st half of the 1gb drive (/sdc1)
/swap on 2nd half (/sdc2)
Installed GRUB to MBR of /sda, boot image is on /sdb1
Selected EVERYTHING - kitchen sink install, its a play machine, after all. 3.5gb, will take 2 hrs to install. Turned off monitor and went shopping.

..Time passed...

Got home, pressed the button to turn on the monitor and realized to my horror that I had MISSED and instead pressed the button about 2 inches below the monitor button - the one on the Interex Power Strip. Silence. Bad Thing. POWER ON! Maybe a 2-sec dead-zone there. Trotsky was silent, it didn't come back on by itself (but worked fine later on). Stalin was... STILL UP. It rode thru the power outage! It was asking me for Disk 2. . Fed it the CD and went away for a bit - leaving the monitor on this time. An hour or so later, and the machine ejected the CD and told me it was Ok to reboot now!

I popped the diskette out, rebooted the machine, and was greeted by

Missing Operating System

I'm going to try to reinstall tomorrow - got some tricks from the red hat site that might work. Otherwise its another install, this time putting /boot on the 2gb drive it sees as sda. We shall see. :)

posted by MikeM at 11:15 PM    

 
Well, I decided to spend this fine saturday attempting to build and install a new linux server here at home. I have Red Hat 7.3 ready to go, so I took a pile of parts I had in my Parts Closet and built a nice box out of them. Nice for linux, anyway. The SCSI-W adapter, three scsi drives, scsi CD-ROM, and a 3com nic I had around, just in case. Got all the drives in the unit, and then put the box under my desk, hooked power, mouse/kbd and a KVM switch...

Ahhhh, KVM. What a nice thing. Keyboard-Video-Mouse switch - two computers, one set of I/O devices. In theory. This one derives power from the keyboard port, so I plugged the keyboard from my main unit into it as well as ran the included cables to the two computers. Hooking up video was no problem, mouse not used - my main mouse is USB, the other one is plugged into the new box. The keyboards. Ahhh... The new unit has an old-style large keyboard plug, and I am sans-adapter. So I plug in the main computer to the kvm keyboard port. Boot it. Keyboard error (at least the video works!). It accepts F1 to continue (???) and boots into W2K, at which point I find myself at a login prompt with no keyboard. Lovely. Plug the main keyboard back into the main computer after unplugging the KVM from the keyboard port. Video goes blank as the KVM shuts off. No power.

Guess what happens when you plug a 9v 800ma adapter into a brand new automatic switching KVM switch that wants 9v 500ma? Pop! Anyone want a lovely translucent teal KVM switch with a blown capacitor and some brown liquidy junk spattered about the insides? Slightly (ab)used. Oh well, at least I have the nice 3' kvm cables.

So, I have a nice computer ready to go, even had a spare keyboard and mouse for it, and no video. Not even a way to get video to it without doing some damage to my cabling scheme and disabling my existing main computer in the process. Drat. I'll figure it out later - might end up buying a cheap manual a/b video switch.

I'll be adding items to the parts page soon, and rearranging others to reflect what is in this new box. Name? I dunno. My main system is called Trotsky, so maybe this new RH box could be Stalin?

posted by MikeM at 1:10 PM    

 
It appears that the DNS propogation is mostly if not completely done. I can now get to my website! Email is working again! Oh Joy. 45 spams, and only 2 days downtime for them to gather.

Landscaping: The plants are planted for the most part, and the concrete gets poured tomorrow for the front walk. The flagstone walk around to the side gate is almost done as well - looks great! They are in the process of building (rebuilding/completing) the wall in the backyard, and soon will begin the process of cleaning up the old gravel beds, relining them and adding fresh gravel where needed. Once its all done I'll try and post before and after pics.

In the last several years, I have collected a fairly large collection of computer parts - I just went through and inventoried it, in case anyone out there had a morbid curiosity about my closets (Gary...). You can find it at MikeM's Parts Closet.
posted by MikeM at 4:22 PM    

 
Here is a review of "Coffee With Richelieu", that I saw at the Olney Theatre on the 11th. This review is lifted from http://www.potomacstages.com.

Is there a more entertainingly intellectual playwright working in the Potomac Region today than Norman Allen? I don’t think so. His latest mental exercise is a reward for any audience member who likes to use his or her brain precisely because Allen is so visibly having a ball using his. It has wit as well as humor, romance as well as sexuality, adventure as well as intrigue, all wrapped up in a package that draws gorgeous designs from the creative team and spirited performances from a superb cast of nine.

Storyline: The basic plot of Alexandre Dumas’ "The Three Musketeers" is the springboard for Allen. To start, he has the story of D’Artgnan’s introduction into the King’s service through the sponsorship of the swashbuckling trio Aramis, Porthos and Athos told by its villain – the Machiavellian Prime Minister in the court of King Louis XIII, Cardinal Richelieu. But Allen invests the crimson frocked courtier with the ability to commune with historic personages of other ages. He brings the likes of Queen Victoria, Mahatma Gandhi and even Jacqueline Onassis to his table to discuss the different views of morality over a sip of mocha java or espresso.

The cast seems to be having just as much fun playing these roles as Allen had creating them. As D’Artagnan, the apprentice musketeer who is taken under Richeliue’s tutelage, Jerry Richardson’s eyes sparkle with delight and wonder at each new discovery (from his 17^th Century perspective the concept of a skim latté made with the watery part of separated milk/cream is a horror). James Slaughter swaggers as Parthos and then swishes as King Louis XIII with mannerisms delightfully matching the gold and white costume Lonie Fullerton designed for him (complete with matching bows in his hair) .

Fullerton’s other costumes are a constant delight including the sparkling dress for Queen Anne, in the lovely person of Shannon Parks, and a gown with a hint of Cruella DeVille for Valerie Leonard who, as the cunning Milady makes the most of both the part and the costumes. Susan Lynskey is nicely attired for her main part – that of a lady in waiting who falls for D’Artagnan in a big way – but it is the capri pants and all the accoutrements for her fabulous scene as Jacqueline Bovier Kennedy Onassis (the name is "almost a complete sentence!") that stands out from the crowd. Lynskey’s droll delivery is so much fun that she got the first of a number of exit ovations that punctuated the opening night.

Paul Morella commands the stage as Richelieu and sets the tone for the evening from the moment he steps on Harry Feiner’s slightly skewed set. He acts as narrator as well as prime mover and delivers some of Allen’s pithier observations on morality, society, religion and human nature. From the very start his cynicism gives reason to ponder – the tag "Every man thinks the universe revolves around him. Some of us are right" is delivered with just enough of a knowing glint and followed by just enough of a pause to let its wisdom as well as its humor to sink in. He spends the rest of the evening as the audience’s guide through a fabulously entertaining exercise for the mind.

Written by Norman Allen. Directed by Jim Petosa. Design: Harry Feiner (set) Lonie Fullerton (costumes) Tom Sturge (lights) Dave White (sound) Charles Conwell (fight coordinator). Cast: Paul Morella, Jerry Richardson, Susan Lynskey, Valerie Leonard, James Slaughter, Shannon Parks, Bill Gillett, Christopher Lane, Scott Graham.
posted by MikeM at 9:48 AM    

 
I received a reply from Yahoo Geocities Support. What nice fellows. They suggested that if I wanted to be able to have control over my email and domain, that perhaps I should close my GeoPlus account (which is no longer actively supported) and open a new Advantage or WebMaster account! What an excellent idea! NOT. My reply to them will be a request to close the account... once I have double-checked that NONE of my data still resides on their servers.

I just changed DNS and domain hosting services to a far more reliable vendor! NERDS.NET !

Everything should be switched over by tomorrow this time, so wish us luck! Geocities was a great host when I needed one, and has been relatively stable and easy to work with, but ever since they were bought by Yahoo the quality of service has declined and the stability as well, until I have had to make this momentous (to me) change.
posted by MikeM at 5:32 PM    

 
Had a nice relaxing weekend, watched 'Shallow Hal' (not great) and 'Shark Hunter' (1700' deep in a normal wetsuit and scuba gear. Right.)

Also, for some reason my email is not working today. Any mail sent to mikem.net seems to go off into the wild blue yonder - I never see it. I may end up having to change domain hosts if my forwarding has been stopped for some reason. Don't you just love modern technology? Something works flawlessly for 5 years, then something breaks. Most likely Yahoo 'upgraded' something, sending my emails off the edge of the world.
posted by MikeM at 10:30 PM    

 
BookCrossing.com is a nice website I found that lets you register a book, get a unique ID number for it, print a nameplate for it and then leave it somewhere for someone else to read. Recycle your unneeded books! Then when someone gets that book, they see inside it the bookplate with a number and instructions for posting a journal entry on the website, and your book is tracked wherever it may go!

Yesterday was a good day, loved the Zoo, loved the play! The one bad point was a possibly broken toe that made nearly every step an interesting experience into the nether realms of pain. (Update 9/16 - no pain now! Must have been a jammed toe?) But we went all over the zoo, walked from end to end and then back again! They recently lost the second of their adult mated pair of giraffes, leaving only the young female, who is now all alone. They don't know if they will be getting more giraffes in or shipping her out to be with others to avoid her being lonely - giraffes need companionship! Hopefully they will get two transferred from somewhere else. I can't imagine our nation's zoo without any giraffes!

The play was great! Check it out online at Coffee with Richelieu. Interesting twist on history, and a very entertaining show. Affordable and a great way to spend some time some evening soon!
posted by MikeM at 4:35 PM    

 
Well, on this anniversary date of the most heinous terrorist attack against America, I have the day off. Patty and I will be strolling our nation's capitol, visiting the zoo and other interesting spots and basically acting like tourists. Tonight we have tickets to a play, "Coffee With Richelieu".

For all those interested, there is a good website to learn about each and every victim of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on New York and Washington, D.C. at September11Victims.com

So far the landscaping is coming along nicely. The front walk is in the pre-concrete stage, the planting beds are lined out and partially cut, and the preliminary demolition and cleanup is almost done! Should be completed on schedule with any luck. We will finally have a yard that we can enjoy, and maybe even put a front porch swing or the like outside.
posted by MikeM at 9:04 AM    

 
Saw 'Queen of the Damned' on DVD over the weekend & loved it! Great music - the soundtrack is awesome!

Today is the day that the landscapers are supposed to begin the re-greening of the yard. Hopefully they will be finished up on schedule and we will have a nice yard once again!

We bought and installed a new mailbox yesterday - the old one was really ugly, and had been hidden in a large bush for years - with a hole cut into the bush for access to the mailbox! I bet the mailman loves the new box and not having to reach into a bush to deliver the mail!
posted by MikeM at 9:34 AM    

 
Landscape demolition is done - no trees, bushes, etc. Lotsa sawdust. They begin the replanting and general cleanup monday, I believe.

For all those Lord of the Ring fans out there with a sense of humor, you really have to read this website. Contains the Secret Diaries of several of the major characters, all with a slightly twisted view. :) If you are offended easily, don't read them, otherwise enjoy!
posted by MikeM at 8:56 AM    

 
Surprise! The landscapers came yesterday and began the demolition - removing bushes, trees, etc. Kinda surprised, as I thought they would call first, but no matter, they are mostly done and should get the last of the trees out today - hopefully without damaging the fence, pool or pool pump & plumbing.

The dogs are 'slightly agitated' at having strangers in the backyard. God help anyone that breaks in with the state these guys are in. Mauled to death by cocker spaniels would be one heckuva way to go.
posted by MikeM at 2:30 PM    

 
With all the furor over West Nile and the Mosquito Menace, I found an old birdbath hidden under a bush in the backyard. Never knew it was there until we began planning to remove the bush, so looked into it to see how big, etc. This birdbath was brimming over with black slime and rotten leaves and such - and likely serving as the incubator for all of the skeeters on the east coast. I turned it over and sprayed all the muck with poison, then hosed down the birdbath and put it out for the trash this morning. Can't wait until the landscaping begins.

We are having all of the large unwieldy bushes removed from the front and back yards, replacing them with far smaller plantings and trees. Should be quite a change!
posted by MikeM at 11:05 AM    

 
Had a nice, relaxing long weekend - went to the movies and rented several as well! At the movies we saw 'XXX' and 'Lilo & Stitch', bought and watched 'Resident Evil', and rented 'Gosford Park' and 'Ghosts of Mars'. WHEW!

XXX - awesome movie, full of action and Vin Diesel makes all prevous bond-like spies look weak and ineffectual. 'XXX' could well become the next 'Bond' replacement! This movie has everything that a good action/adventure/spy/thriller needs, and more. I will be buying this one when it comes out on DVD - it rates 5 stars!

Lilo & Stitch - great family movie, hilarious and has jokes for adults as well as entertaining for kids. Decent!

Resident Evil - not for the kiddies. Good script, great plotlines and set design - very reminiscent of 'Half-Life' (PC computer game) - I think perhaps I need to locate the three Resident Evil games for the PC - hopefully CapCom will cash in and offer them as a boxed set someday soon!

Gosford Park - Clue remake but from the point of view of the servants & staff - not bad, overall a good movie, but very very 'clue-like'. Won several awards.

Ghosts of Mars - Action/Horror, spirits of martian gladiator/protector/warriors take over the bodies of miners/colonists and wreak havoc on the remaining population. A very gory, bloody, and gruesome movie, with poor acting but a fairly good script. Go figure. Worth renting, but don't spend the money to buy it unless you are a hardcore Ice Cube fan.
posted by MikeM at 11:00 AM