11.18.2005

Microsoft SQL 2000 setup error

during SQL 2000 Standard setup -

error message:
previous installation created pending file operations on the installation machineyou must restart the computer before running setup.

FIX --
go here and delete the contents of the following registry key:HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\PendingFileRenameOperations

11.17.2005

PowerDVD XP v4 DVD error message

If you get (as I did) when trying to play certain DVD movies in PowerDVD XP 4 the following error message then you'll have to get and install the patch listed below.
message:
title bar: DVD Error
error code: 89030000
Unknown file format

patch can be found here: http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/dl_patch_82_1_ENU.html

This error message occurred on a Windows XP SP2 box. Not sure if it happens on other platforms, who knows?

11.16.2005

registration forms for newpaper websites - why bother

Don't register on a newspaper or similar web site simply to access some 'free' content / articles. Use the service: http://www.bugmenot.com

11.15.2005

HBA card install in AlphaServer

How to install an HBA (host bus adapter) in an Compaq / HP AlphaServer running Tru64 Unix - here are some of my tips and a very good writeup on the TRU64-UNIX-Managers mailing list.
SUMMARY: HBA: How to install -- http://unix.derkeiler.com/Mailing-Lists/Tru64-UNIX-Managers/2005-07/0035.html


I had to install a FCA2684 (aka DS-A5132-AA ??) HBA in a ES45 for various reasons. First after picking a 66Mhz slot and installing, at the SRM console, I ran wwidmgr -show adapter to see the adapter and receive an error something about NVRAM being invalid. That's because the NVRAM wasn't initialized since it was a brand new card. So since the topology was set correctly ('fabric' in my case) all I had to do was issue: wwidmgr -set adapter -item to initialize and save the setting in the NVRAM on the HBA.

Many times the firmware on the HBA must be a certain level, to check the firmware level, you can run the 'lfu' command and do the 'verify' command to see what the firmware level is. You can also see the firmware version when the emx driver initializes - see the /var/adm/messages for boot-time messages; grep for emx.

After that comes the Tru64 driver install / kernel rebuilt/config. The emx subsystem/driver that comes with Tru64 provides the support for this card. Support for the FCA2684 is included in Tru64 5.1B-2 (patch kit PK4) and above. If you don't have PK4 or higher installed, install it. If for some reason you can't install the PK, then you can install NHD7 (New Hardware Delivery) which will give you the driver/kernel rebuild necessary. I didn't want to screw with that, so I installed 5.1B-3 (PK5), at least I thought I did...

I configured support for the emx driver in the /sys/conf/SYSNAME ( where SYSNAME is the uppercase name of the system ). It's found in a section of like named 'config_driver' entries. all I did was add a line: config_driver emx and then save the file. Then came time to rebuild the kernel using the new option just added to the config file:
doconfig -c SYSNAME (rebuild the kernel)
cp /vmunix /vmunix.old (backup the kernel)
cp /sys/SYSNAME/vmunix / (move the new kernel into place)

After I rebooted, I noticed something strange in the boot up log: (from /var/adm/messages)
PCI device at bus 0, slot 9, function 0 could not be configured:
Vendor ID 0x10df, Device ID 0xfa00, Base class 0xc, Sub class 0x4 Sub-VID 0x10df Sub-DID 0xfa00 has no matching entry in the PCI option table
This message appear because I was NOT running the correct version of the emx driver. I was on 5.1B not 5.1B-3 (aka PK5). To see what version the emx driver is, or to see what cards it supports you can grep for strings in the emx module:
strings /sys/BINARY/emx.mod grep rev -- I was running 2.06 (from 5.1B)
strings emx.mod grep FCA -- see if my card was supported - it wasn't listed.

I then installed 5.1B-3 from cd and after the reboot, the emx driver loaded and all was well.

Stay in touch with business colleagues

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com seems like a great way to find people that may be interested in working on a project or business idea. I like the idea, if not just to see who in my area is involved in my industry. I always felt like an outsider.

WPA2, D-Link, and Windows XP

How to get WPA2 to work in Windows. I believe it's only supported natively in Windows XP SP2 with the addition of a hotfix. WiFi equipment vendors may offer their own connection software that may work with WPA2...

I've got a DI-624 and wanted to use the more secure WPA2, but didn't know how to configure it properly on my WinXP SP2 laptop with the Dell TrueMobile 1300 WLAN 802.11b/g card. Don't give me the credit, I just found the following via google: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13878831?hilite=dwl-g650

The hotfix to add WPA2 to XP is found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893357 (titled: The Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2)/Wireless Provisioning Services Information Element (WPS IE) update for Windows XP with Service Pack 2 is available)

Here's a good white paper on WPA/WPA2 and deployment: http://www.wi-fi.org/getfile.asp?f=WFA_02_27_05_WPA_WPA2_White_Paper.pdf

intermediary remote control products

No, I'm not talking about the remote control products like PCAnywhere, or NetSupport Manager or SMS.... Those products require you have control over the target PC to install a client piece of software.

The remote control I'm speaking of here is specifically designed for end users / customers that need support periodically and will launch the support via their web browsers by means of a java applet or activex control.

Here's some research I've done. My favorite solution, so far, is the logmeinrescue.com from 3am labs. It seems to be the biggest bang for the buck. If you have one that's better, then comment about it bucko!


www.gotoassist.com
Annually $3900 for 1 seat
$700 implementation fee

www.logmeinrescue.com $1188/year
The technician: www.logmeinrescue.com
ask the user to go to: www.logmein123.com then type in pin number.

remote support products:
http://www.gotoassist.com
3rd party

http://www.networkstreaming.com
appliance

http://www.logmein.com
3rd party

http://www.netsupport247.com

http://www.remoteus.net
requires app server in DMZ

http://www.dualdesk.com
must open ports on technician's firewall.

11.14.2005

Single server KVM over IP

Just saw an ad today for a single device IP KVM. The Dominion KX101 from Raritan: http://www.kxbutt.com

I've always been looking for an inexpensive single device IP KVM. This one isn't that cheap from the quick froogle search I did, it seems to be around $750. Provide a comment regarding more economical IP KVMs that you've used. Thanks.

11.13.2005

In practice: g4u cloning

Very slow: hours... this was in a 100mb fdx switched environment. Basic premise: get an FTP server that can hold an image as big as your drive. Don't use IIS (at least on Win2k pro) it died after 4GB was uploaded (yes, it was an NTFS partition; this wasn't a fat16/32 file size limit problem, it was an IIS problem). I ended up using the free Quick 'n Easy FTP server lite.

BTW: www.webattack.com aka www.snapfiles.com has lots of great freeware / shareware utilities that have helped me over the years. If I'm looking for an app or utility free to use (and when aren't I?), the first place I look is webattack.com.

Anyway, after the FTP server is setup (setup a user named 'install' and give him a password), then boot the PC you want cloned/imaged with the g4u CD. Follow the instructions on the screen. I did this to move from a 40gb drive in my laptop to a 80gb drive. Once the uploaddisk/slurpdisk (g4u terminology for dump disk / load disk) is complete I was able to use my new 80gb drive.

But wait; it copied the configuration over identically. That means all my partitions are still the size they used to be on the 40gb drive. Solution: enter ntfsresize - or the QTparted front end, available on many linux distros. Here's some info: http://mlf.linux.rulez.org/mlf/ezaz/ntfsresize.html

I opted to use the RIP distro: http://www.tux.org/pub/people/kent-robotti/looplinux/rip/ after booting, I followed the instructions from the RIP homepage to backup the mbr and partition table. I then ran fdisk, deleted my partitions, recreated a new 80gb partition that consumed the entire drive size, changed the type to 7 (ntfs) and set it to be bootable ('a' command). After writing ('w') it to disk, I ran the ntfsresize /dev/hda1 to resize the partition to occupy the entire disk. To confirm the resize was successful, I ran ntfsresize --info --force /dev/hda1. Remeber that just because I used fdisk to delete the partition, that doesn't delete the phyisical partition, it just deletes the entry for the partition in the partition table. That part is not that destructive because your can recover from it (if you know what the hell you're doing!).

Lastly for me, since I was doing dual-boot with XP and Fedora and had grub installed on the mrb, I had to fix that since I'm stupid when it comes to grub. I booted with the XP cd, selected R for repair, which booted me into recovery console. From there I did a 'fixmbr' command to kill grub and get the XP boot loader installed. see the description of the XP recover console: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=314058

confused? See the following: http://homepage.smc.edu/morgan_david/cs40/assignments/assgt4.htm
http://homepage.smc.edu/morgan_david/cs40/partitionrec.htm
http://www.ntfs.com/boot-sector-damaged.htm general good source of NTFS info: www.ntfs.com