tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77917272024-03-19T06:17:46.401-04:00Random ScribblesLinux, Debian, Technology, and various other thoughts...KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.comBlogger359125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-21182512940105265352022-01-02T10:53:00.002-05:002022-01-02T10:53:54.229-05:00Apple fix low battery warning in iOS FacetimeNoticed this since at least iOS 14 that FaceTime does not warn about low battery when using it in landscape mode. None of the instructions appear (at 20% or 10%). It has not been fixed in the several updates of iOS version 14 and now iOS 15 has already reached 15.2 and the bug still exists! Fix this Apple, this isn't something that is difficult to fix.KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-57116457062248439042021-11-20T08:51:00.002-05:002021-11-20T08:51:50.412-05:00Wemo WSP080 smart plug - how to resetPlaying around with a Wemo WSP080 smart plug (connected in a HomeAssistant+HomeKit Integration on a RaspberryPi Zero W(see note below) and iPhone/Home application for control) recently required a reset as it was not being detected. With just a single button and no documentation in package to reset it, I looked for the procedure on Belkin website. Tried the steps a few times but was unsuccessful. KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-44825236348642437202021-09-04T10:54:00.002-04:002021-09-04T10:54:30.383-04:00Upgrading to Debian 11 (bullseye) - sources.listDebian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) was released 14 August 2021. I have upgraded 3 servers to the latest version and the upgrade experience has been quite smooth. The one thing which is missing from the Debian upgrade instructions is the security updates line for bullseye in sources.list. Normally, you would have the following line in your /etc/apt/sources.listdeb http://security.debian.org/KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-22379820601682535342021-08-27T23:09:00.000-04:002021-08-27T23:09:04.645-04:00Reduce /boot usage by decreasing initrd image size I had noticed that every time there was a new kernel being installed on my Asus EeeBox PC EB1033, it always failed due to lack of free disk space on /boot. The /boot partition is 232 MB in size and it couldn't fit 3 versions of the kernel (Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS). Earlier, I had used the easy way out of manually uninstalling the older unused kernel and then installing the newer one. In normal KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-49741868023279591182021-07-31T09:43:00.001-04:002021-07-31T09:43:14.582-04:00EEEPC fan and sensor dataRecently I had done a fan tuneup for my Asus EeeBox PC EB 1033 and it had been performing quite well with almost no fan noise audible from 8-10 feet. However, while watching an old video the screen suddenly went black and after a few seconds the TV indicated no signal on the input! On checking, I noticed that the PC had shutdown and its case felt quite hot. I started it up again and checked the KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-55491336749665129042021-06-17T17:00:00.000-04:002021-06-17T17:00:10.101-04:00NetBackup 9.1 and new services userVeritas NetBackup® 9.1 was released earlier this month with several new features like full support for backup and restore of Kubernetes, backup anomaly detection using AI/ML, non-privileged user for NetBackup services, etc. You can read about the new features in detail in the NetBackup 9.1 Release Notes guide.Before an upgrade, it is recommended to perform a catalog backup. The catalog backup KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-63658979752131608972021-04-30T17:07:00.004-04:002021-04-30T17:07:36.325-04:00Noisy EEPC fanI have an Asus Eee Box PC 1033 connected to my TV via HDMI and it runs Kodi. Even though I do clean this mini PC regularly, it was making a loud hum since the last couple of days. Thinking it might be getting too hot, I checked the temperature using sensors command it showed normal temperatures.~$ sensorscoretemp-isa-0000Adapter: ISA adapterCore 0: +49.0°C KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-87995555061259407622021-04-25T18:47:00.000-04:002021-04-25T18:47:35.055-04:00Fixing DVD/CD drive which won't openI fixed my DVD drive in my PC today. It had not been used for a long time (3+ years) and was originally purchased in 2010, if I remember correctly.Issue: DVD drive would not open using eject command or the eject button on the drive.Behaviour: When using eject command or button, the drive makes a "thud" kind of sound and then tries other things to test what is loaded and the busy indicator LED KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-89402209400212573812018-06-13T19:39:00.001-04:002018-06-13T19:39:18.885-04:00Mechanical Keyboards: daskeyboard & DURGOD backlitRecently, a couple of my keyboard's keys died. I tried the normal cleaning but they wouldn't work. They keyboard was a heavy HP keyboard and lasted more than a decade. I was not the original owner, so can't say how old it was. So, I was on the lookout for a new keyboard which would give me a feeling of proper keyboard and also last long enough. A few searches later, I noticed the mechanical KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-27369486042568064102018-05-21T20:15:00.003-04:002018-05-21T20:16:44.112-04:00pfSense 2.4.3_1 upgrade might fail at first attemptIf you have not upgraded your pfSense to the latest version (read release announcement for details on what was fixed: 2.4.3_1 released 14 May 2018), just be aware that there might be a hiccup during the upgrade. The upgrade fails with the interface showing the following:
My pfSense instance gave the above message and also the following in the system log:
May 21 19:20:10 KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-8895575889799301602018-05-19T20:27:00.000-04:002018-05-19T20:30:07.662-04:00Install Wordpress on Debian "The Debian way"There are quite a few websites with instructions on how to install the "LEMP" {Linux,(E)Nginx, MariaDB, PHP}. A simple search brings in a few on the first page of results, so I won't list any links here.
Installing nginx, mariadb and php on Linux is quite straight forward and nicely documented in several of those pages. However, they all end with the following to install Wordpress using KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-35142187027725194032018-05-06T19:42:00.001-04:002018-05-06T19:42:33.494-04:00XCP-ng Center works!After the transition to XCP-ng, the free/libre edition, of xenserver, I installed XCP-ng Center, the free version of XenCenter to manage the xenserver. However, it failed to load using either the portable version or the installer version.
It turns out that the VM (on my desktop) that I was using to run XenCenter 7.0 was too old and did not have the required .NET Framework version (installer KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-24977243722187900252018-05-05T22:54:00.003-04:002018-05-05T22:54:31.478-04:00Install XCP-ng 7.4.1 without lossing VMs on local diskRecently, my xenserver (v7.0) dom0 had been experiencing ballooning of the memory used and pFsense, which handles routing, runs in the virutal environment, my local networking stopped and so did access to Internet. I have also been following the XCP-ng project and waiting for their release. The XCP-ng 7.4.0 was the first release (out 31 March 2018) but as being the very first one, I had decided KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-38661324684685436282018-04-29T14:21:00.001-04:002018-04-29T14:21:06.257-04:00Mozilla Firefox sends user dataMozilla Firefox is one of the top 3 most popular browsers used by users all over the world. Mozilla is among the organizations that have influenced the WWW in the past two decades in the direction of open and accessible web. Their most popular product is the web browser Firefox, the browser which broke the dominance of Internet Explorer about 10 years ago. Firefox's user base might have KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-17042523687442831912016-10-24T21:31:00.001-04:002016-10-24T21:31:27.705-04:00CloudAtCost - performance updateThe sage continues regarding CloudAtCost VM. In the earlier post, I detailed the the DNS response sluggishness, VM console performance and dial-up-speed like feeling when downloading updates from a Debian mirror.
Fast forward a few months, and my VM has been unresponsive almost every day with the sole option of rebooting it from the console. I opened a ticket on 12th of Oct and no response KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-48409069745274975602016-06-06T22:09:00.002-04:002016-06-06T22:09:38.012-04:00Buying a real Japanese knifeRecently, I was looking for a Japanese knife made of VG-10 carbon steel, santoku or gyuto, 7"-9", and preferably damascus steel. I had bought one a few years ago as a present from Paul's Finest website and it was a good purchase. This time I was looking around at different websites and as I'm not a chef, I didn't want to spend too much on a knife.
I found an interesting series of knives labeled KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-15114841467808737122016-06-05T18:11:00.002-04:002016-06-05T23:53:29.592-04:00CloudAtCost - VM performance patheticI had bought a VM (with one-time billing) last year in October. The price was the main attraction, $28. Also, it was not really for any kind of serious work.
However, over time the conclusion has been that the performance in general is pathetic. SSH login prompt takes about a minute or so to ask for password. This could be due to other issues, e.g. DNS response, so I thought it might be a KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-20547140856946081112016-06-02T20:29:00.001-04:002016-06-02T20:29:48.699-04:00Waiting for pfSense applianceCan't wait for the in-development μFW appliance for pfSense. It is expected to be out in 2016 Q3 i.e. as early as July! Here is a image of the product that pfSense devs have been teasing with.
Highlights
Runs pfSense on ARM
Size 74mm x 43mm, smaller than a credit card
2 GbE ports (not on USB 2.0!)
4GB eMMC and microSD card support
For full details head on to the product page at ADIKDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-21332312441788605872016-05-29T17:23:00.003-04:002016-05-29T17:23:39.003-04:00Extending LVM volumeAn LVM setup on a physical disk helps to increase the logical volume size in case it is almost full. Steps to be able to extend a logical volume, when there is free space on the physical volume:
Unmount the volume
Check if there is free space on physical volume (if no, need to add physical volume and extend group first)
Extend logical volume using $> sudo lvextend -L+10G /dev/gp02/virtual
KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-45788411302117140002016-05-18T16:58:00.001-04:002016-05-18T21:18:45.793-04:00pfSense 2.3.1 available.....almostWarning: Upgrade your firewall after having a proper plan and back out option. As a minimum a snapshot before starting work and backup of the firewall configuration is recommended.
Did a Xenserver setup in the last few days with a pfSense 2.3 instance running on it. After finishing another VM and configuring the setup, what appears on pfSense administration page?
All issues marked for the KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-77819482412029413222016-04-15T12:38:00.000-04:002016-04-15T12:38:05.335-04:00pfSense upgrade - "can't find kernel" errorI had pfSense 2.2.4 running as a virtual machine and noticed that version 2.3 was finally released. Broadly, pfSense 2.3 has a complete redo of the webGUI using bootstrap, and the backend system is completed based on FreeBSD. The new web interface is clean, modern and "easier" on the eyes to say the least. Being based on FreeBSD, future upgrades will be much easier as individual packages can be KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-58602488186051111552016-01-06T22:43:00.003-05:002016-01-06T22:44:52.493-05:00Fido! Fix your loopLog-in in to a Fido account and you will see links to do a private chat if you have questions. On clicking, it takes you to a page with options to contact them depending on your relationship with them (see partial screenshot below):
When you click on the "Customers" section, you end up on a page with different ways to contact them. What does the option for Live Chat say? It tells you to KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-48001328890525810102015-12-21T23:24:00.003-05:002016-05-29T17:08:35.727-04:00Debian/Apt and disk spaceFor a few days I was getting the following error when trying to do an apt-get update on my Debian/Stretch machine
~$ sudo apt-get updateGet:1 http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca stretch InRelease [200 kB]Ign http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca stretch InRelease KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-5229165652221793272015-11-10T21:21:00.003-05:002015-11-10T21:21:50.652-05:00Facebook & privacyFacebook & privacy: something that comes up in the new often. Anyone who knows a little about how Facebook "makes" money, would say that these words are a perfect example of antonyms!
BBC reporting on another challenge Facebook is facing in Belgium due to its practices related to how they use cookies for users (even users who are not logged in to Facebook). A quote from the full article:
KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791727.post-89753967932346223302015-10-14T21:54:00.001-04:002015-10-14T21:54:13.199-04:00CloudATclost.com VM 60% offOrdered a "one-time" billing VM from cloudatcost.com today. It was their Developer 2 setup. Currently the site shows 50% off i.e. $35 instead of $70. I just happened to view their member page and saw a post about 60% off using code CAC606060 valid for only 9 Oct 2015.
I tried it and the Dev 2 setup one-time fee came out to $28. Enjoy the extra 10% off while it works.KDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11059480997961603300noreply@blogger.com0