nuxx.net
Making, baking, and (un-)breaking things in Southeast Michigan.

Category moved from livejournal

rez.nuxx.net

May 18, 2006

Gur. rez.nuxx.net threw some SMART errors on /dev/ad10. I’m thinking that box needs some replacin’.

I mean, I would just replace the disks, but I can’t quite take the server down for long enough to replace them all.

My current thoughts are that a Supermicro 1U with four large SATA disks (in hardware RAID 0+1) would be ideal. Unfortunately, I don’t think FreeBSD supports the ICH7 raid stuff directly.

Hmm, I’ll have to do some digging on this… Definitely won’t happen within the next few weeks, though.

computersmoved from livejournal

Dump Switch Support for Windows

May 18, 2006

Ah! I finally came across this again… I’d been looking for it:

Dump Switch Support for Windows

Yes, it’s a schematic of a NMI switch which fits into a PCI slot, and it’s provided by Microsoft. Quite nifty, in my opinion.

Also, add DWORD CrashOnCtrlScroll set to a value of 1 under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters to enable manual crashing when holding the right CTRL key and pressing Scroll Lock twice.

(This is documented for my purposes.)

computersmoved from livejournal

SIDbox… Goes Somewhere…

May 11, 2006


Well, power works.
(Click for more SIDbox photos…)

Well, the SIDbox PCBs came in today, and thusly, I assembled one. Well, as much of one as possible… I’m still waiting for some more sockets to arrive tomorrow, and then I need to finish building a PIC programmer. But after that I will hopefully have a working prototype of a single board SID-based sound module.

For background, I’m using what are basically a bunch of different designs from the MIDIbox projects, implemented by me on a single PCB. It will also run the MIOS software which Thorsten Klose has so kindly shared with the world. The main project has a bunch of small ‘modules’ which can be wired together and fitted together in a case to make a synth of one type or another. Well, I wanted a specific type, build portions of a number of the different modules, so I made just that.

I’ve actually been thinking seriously about selling these as kits, and after asking Thorsten (TK) about it in the MIDIbox Forum, I’m seriously thinking about doing it. If I do this, I’ll be merging 5 or 6 of the MIDIbox modules (I can’t remember right now — but it’s a good bit more hardware than seen above) on a single PCB and sticking it in a single case. With my design it’ll be possible (just with the main PCB) to have 8 buttons, an LCD, and all the stuffs I mentioned before. I’m still not sure if I want to do this work, but… I may… We’ll see. :)

Anyway, this post was supposed to be about SIDbox (photo gallery retired) photos, so I’ll link to some specific ones here:

· Mmm. SIDs. A MOS 6581, MOS 6581R3, and CSG 8580R5.
· The nifty note sent by along with some ridiculously generous SIDs.
· 600dpi scans of the finished PCBs. (photo gallery retired)
· Ahh, a nicely laid out array of six SIDbox PCBs.
· Ooh, and the SIDbox PCBs even fit in the enclosure. They fit a little too well, but that’s all right.
· Test fitting parts to be sure there won’t be any dimensional surprises when actually soldering. Everything looks good from here…
· Well, the power supply works. I was getting a solid 5VDC and 12VDC, which should be ideal for a MOS 6580 SID.
· The PCB with all parts fitted except for two sockets and all ICs.
· The bottom side of the SIDbox PCB, where one can see a hardware bugfix. After I ordered the boards I found out about a potential problem, and the blue wire should resolve that.
· The SIDbox PCB fitted with a PIC18F4620 to test on-board ICSP. It works.
· A photo which may look familiar to those of you who liked the laser printed board layout plus parts photo from before…

So, yeah. If I’m lucky I will have a working SID-based sound module either tomorrow or Saturday. If not, I’ll probably have a lot to learn… And I’ll be really upset with myself… We’ll see. For now, I’m pretty excited.

electronicsmaking thingsmoved from livejournal

RAID

May 8, 2006

Oh, when at Gibralter Trade Center’s ‘Computer Show’ (to get the aforementioned DB25 cable) I was walking past a table of $25 laptops (old Zeniths and such) I heard the guy there saying to someone else “…oh, then you need a RAID. R-A-I-D. It’s what companies use. Have you ever heard of it?”

Yeah, it’s that kind of place.

computersfound thingsmoved from livejournal

Today I…

May 7, 2006

Today I…

– Watched a pair of T-38’s take off.
– Watched other aircraft fly about.
– Went to the dirt mall. It’s full of dirty, trashy, awful people.
– Drove through Algonac, East China, and all other routes along M-29 between New Baltimore and Port Huron.
– Poked around beneath the Blue Water Bridge, likely raising the ire of the DHS. I’m sure there were lots of cameras pointing at me.
– Gazed longingly at the land of the more free (aka Canada).
– Visited Kate and Ben in Lapeer.
– Found a local place to buy Yves veggie products: Kroger
– Became frustrated at the PIC programmer I am building, as it doesn’t appear to be behaving properly.

automotiveelectronicsmoved from livejournal

New Lens…

May 6, 2006

Now I’m wanting to sell my Canon EF-S 17-85 f4-5.6 IS lens and get this one instead. 28-80 f2.8 all the way across…

Only problems I can see is that it lacks IS, but it’s a lot faster. And a bit narrower range zoom-wise… I’d probably need something wide angle. And IS works all the time. With this lens I’d just have to open it up a bit, decreasing DOF….etc.

Hrm, decisions… decisions…

Cost is pretty much not an issue since I could sell one to pay for the other. But I did just get a circular polarizing filter for the Canon lens. I wouldn’t be able to re-use it, as the new lens would be 1cm larger. Hrm.

Oh, also, do any of you know a place where I could get some velvet? I could use white, black, and maybe red. Maybe… 4′ square pieces. I want something for the background when photographing things, but I want it to be non-reflective and not especially well defined.

acquired thingsmoved from livejournal

Coyote?!?

May 6, 2006


Coyote?
(Click for full size image…)

So today I showered and shaved, applied sun block to my head, and headed out to Holland Ponds Park to test out the new lenses I received yesterday. In short, they seem really nice… But that’s not what this post about.

No, this post is about the animal pictured above, which I believe to be a coyote. I was walking quietly along a path when I saw something largeish in front of me, and I was only able to bring the camera up and fire off a few shots. Unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to turn AF off, so focus is actually on the branch in front of the animal. Also, I only had it in single shot mode, so I wasn’t able to get more than three shots. That one there is the only decent one, I think.

Do any of you think that it might be something else? According to the Michigan DNR coyotes are found throughout Michigan, but I surely didn’t expect to find one in a park at ~1:30pm.

Also, turtles are very hard to photograph. They seem to notice if anyone is within 100′ of them, and then they dive right off of whatever log they happen to be on. I got a few decent shots of turtles — including one the size of a hard hat — but nothing I’d call great.

moved from livejournaloutdoors

Camera Lenses

May 5, 2006

Wow, the lenses I mentioned the other day are excellent. The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II is really… interesting. It’s amazingly light, takes really nice images, and seems to be a lot nicer than I expected. The focusing ring only moves about 1/4 turn which is great to operate with a fingertip. It also seems almost weightless, which makes me think I’ll keep it on the camera a lot. It’s also dirt cheap.

The Tokina 100mm f/2.8 AT-X 100 PRO D Macro seems excellent as well. Despite the cheesy (and strangely Asian-looking) gold accents and lettering, it feels better made than any lens I’ve yet been able to use. It feels ridiculously solid, and it’s just a dream to use. It also focuses much faster than I expected. Also, a 100mm 1:1 lens just seems EXCELLENT. Focused at the closest, something just past the lens hood. Oh! And the lens hood can be stored on the lens hood reversed, which is just *great*. The Canons don’t do that.

acquired thingsmoved from livejournal