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

OpenBSD 4.2 (macppc) on Powermac G4 AGP

January 29, 2008

Shiny serif console font on OpenBSD 4.2 (macppc).
(Click for bigger…)

OpenBSD 4.2 (macppc) on the console (framebuffer) on a Powermac G4 AGP has a nice, shiny, traditional UNIX-y hardware (think Sun) serif font. Normally I don’t like serif fonts, but for some reason I really like this.

Of course, the Open Firmware stuff is still a nice, small monospaced font, and the bootloader is dark grey text on a light grey screen in the same font as OF.

Hopefully once I have this box installed I’ll have a serial port to be used as the console, and the video card will be removed, but I still have to wait for the G4Port to be delivered. It replaces the modem and provides a mini DIN 9 Apple-style serial port. I’ll be replacing the mini DIN 9 cable / connector with a DB9 which will be fitted in place of the modem port on the back of the chassis. This will be wired crossed over so that a straight-through cable will provide a console.

Oh, and tonight I was able to confirm that the bridge works as I want. So, in the end I’ll have:

gem0: public interface
fxp0–fxp7: bridge0, acting as a switch

fxp0 will also have an IP and be the gateway / DNS / whatever for the internal network.

fxp7 may be used as a span port for troubleshooting, but I’m not sure of this yet.

computersmoved from livejournal

Address Cache Timeout

January 28, 2008

Do any of you know what is a typical timeout for the address cache on a switch? After some initial problems with the default 240 second address timeout, I’ve found that dropping the timeout back to 5 seconds clears up the problems I was having with moving machines to other ports.

That said, 5 seconds seems a bit low to me, as every time a machine starts to talk after that there will be a brief broadcast to all interfaces. So, I’m thinking 30 seconds, but I’m not sure…

Any idea what the default is on commercial network gear? I’m thinking that Cisco stuff is five minutes, but that seems a little low to me…

computersmoved from livejournal

OpenBSD on PPC

January 26, 2008

OpenBSD 4.2 (macppc) on a Powermac G4 AGP

OpenBSD on PPC, specifically ‘s old Powermac G4 AGP, is weird. I axed the i partition thinking the MSDOS-ness of it was something left over from the disk’s old use, but it seems that it is actually needed for booting. OpenFirmware will look there, since it can understand FAT filesystems.

Well, at least it’s now booting…

It might be nice to shove a bunch of four-port NICs in here and use it as a firewall / hub / bridge / switch thing. Then I could do what is essentially per-port / per-device monitoring and firewalling. I think it would work well to have the Airport Extreme on one port, my Mac Pro on another, the workbench on one, the Xbox 360 on yet another.

I wonder if this thing can run without a video card…

This would be good for ACK prioritization which would really help me out when loads of photos are uploading. Hmm…

Oh, also, the nifty real framebuffer, high-res, serif font is kinda neat.

I think next I’ll try and clean it out (it’s full of cat dander), get it booting from flash, and get the noisy fans sorted out. Right now it’s only pulling 54 watts, but I’d love to get that even lower if it’s going to be a firewall.

Hmm, if I got an Airport card for it (anyone have one of these — the old, original one?) I could also have an open AP, with monitoring, which only has access to the public internet. That’d be handy.

computersmaking thingsmoved from livejournal

Instructables

January 26, 2008

Am I the only person who really doesn’t care for Instructables?

I mean, the concept is good (sharing project ideas step by step), but the execution is rotten. It’s a mishmash of external ads, ads for other pages on the site, comments, hard to save / reference photos (which are often too low res), and YouTube-ish comments.

Uggh.

found thingsmaking thingsmoved from livejournal

Cabin Air Filter

January 21, 2008

2006 Honda Civic Cabin Air Filter after 46,344 Miles2006 Honda Civic Cabin Air Filter after 46,344 Miles
(Click for full res…)

While removing the Honda Music Link cable (head unit to interface box cable, specifically) from my car so that I may list the HML on eBay tonight, I happened to have the glove box flipped down. Remembering that the cabin air filter is back there and knowing that I’d never changed it, I decided to give it a look.

I’m really glad I did. After 46,344 miles of driving in all sorts of conditions, it was pretty dirty. As you can see there was everything from cotton wood seeds to a dead bee, an odd lump of something, and loads of road dust packed into it. Even the back side of it looked dirty. Oops.

Oh, yeah, and when brand new those filters are brilliant white.

Here (full res) is a photo of it straight on, if you want to try and figure out what all the gunk in it really is. It looks worse from that angle because the edges of the fins are completely dirty, but the sides of some of them are still (relatively) clean.

automotivemoved from livejournal

Civic Dash

January 21, 2008

Gah. I’d forgotten what a chore it is to open a Civic’s dash, particularly in cold weather when the clips are harder.

At least I’m now half done. The old Honda Music Link cable has been removed from my dash, and now I can begin the process of selling a second one (my first, original one). Then I’ll be completely done with any HML-related work.

automotiveelectronicsmoved from livejournal

Free Panasonic PV-D4743S

January 20, 2008

Panasonic PV-D4743S sitting in my office.Working Panasonic PV-D4743S Found In Trash
(Click to ebiggen…)

Two weeks ago I mentioned a DVD player / VCR combo I found in the trash. As I thought, it works great. This afternoon I gave it a test, and both the DVD and VCR halves work great. While there isn’t a remote, it doesn’t really seem to be needed. Or, one could easily purchase a universal remote to use with it.

So, that said, would any of you like it? Obviously, you’d have to come get it, but I’d like to be rid of it. I don’t have a need for it, but hopefully someone I know does. And yes, I mean actually use, not just have to add to a pile of other stuff.

If no one here wants it I’ll just take it to the Salvation Army. I’m sure they can find someone who could make good use of it.

Anyway, let me know if you want it…

acquired thingsfound thingsmoved from livejournal

VG’s Bike Rack

January 19, 2008

So, the note I sent to VG’s yesterday? I got a response this afternoon, and it’s good:

Dear Mr. Vigneau....

Thank you for your email. Your request is an excellent one. It seems that in the scramble to get the store open, we missed installing a bike rack. I have ordered one and it should arrive at the store within the next week or so. We'll get it installed as soon as it arrives. We look forward to having you shop at the store and thank you again for the great suggestion.

Have a good weekend!

Regards....

Bill Ogle
VG's Food Center

phone 810.629.xxxx
fax 866.706.xxxx

This is excellent. Here is the route from my house to there, and as you can see, it’s pretty darn short. Very, very bikable. I will be avoiding riding in Schoenherr, as it is a 50MPH road with no shoulders (only curbs) and loads of people driving really, really horrible. (If you know this area, you know the sort… it’s >60% SUVs and trucks, swerving around the people making turns, with ~20% of drivers talking on cell phones.)

But, anyway, yeah. This is good!

Today Danielle and I did a bunch of running around as well. I ended up getting a rack for the back of my bike, the Explorer w/ disc brake mounts. I was going to get a smallish bag for holding the small, necessary bits, but instead I think I’ll get the RX Trunk Bag EX instead. It’s only about $10 more than a small underseat bag and should provide plenty of room for lunch or whatever.

Then again, there’s always the possibility of folding grocery bag holders…

UPDATE: Oooh! This, a basket which clips right into the rack I just installed, is $25.80 via Amazon. I think that’ll do. That should hold a hand-held basket full of groceries, which is exactly the quantity I normally buy when going shopping. Yay!

cyclingmappingmoved from livejournal