Silas Rescue MissionjawaproFri 29/02/2008 12:15 PM
I had today off - so I made plans for a quick dash to Burnie to rescue Silas.
Silas is a computer.
Silas is actually a dead computer.
You see - back when I was at TAFE, Trojen and I did a project for Seabrook Launceston (our old school). It was actually a project for TAFE, but Seabrook was our 'client'. We developed a student records system (which never got used) and a file server (running FreeBSD).
The actual hardware was donated by my parents. The server was a dual P3 with 3 9G SCSI drives. It was an old server Dad bought from ebay.
And it was named Silas.
But after about a month, the motherboard fried - and because the drives were SCSI and Unix, the computer shop couldnt get the data off it - so Seabrook Launceston decided they didnt like the idea of a file server after all.
So Brett from Seabrook Somerset (that's in Burnie) took the server back to Burnie to get it going again. That was fine - but we said it went on the condition that when it wasnt needed anymore, it would come back to me.
Well that was a few years ago.
A while back I contacted Brett and asked what had happened to Silas - and he said it was just sitting in the corner doing nothing.
So I made plans to go and rescue Silas.
So a quick blast up to Burnie (which wasnt so quick because of all the roadworks and the fact that I took a meander up the Meander River before I left, just for a look - not to mention the fact that I didnt really know where Seabrook was, and was relying on hazy memories from a few years ago) and back again, and I had retrieved him.
So now he's sitting in my room doing nothing (you get that with a blown motherboard and no PSU). But stay tuned - as stage 3 of my grand computer plans (I havent finished stage 1 yet!) I plan to turn him into KARLENDORF - a domain controller for my home network.
But thats after I finish the other stages:
Stage 1: Phaeton
Stage 2: Mara MKIII
Stage 3: Karlendorf
Stage 4: Troglodite
Oddly - stage 4 is the one that's been completed - so that's screwed my numbering up.
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Harddrives ArrivejawaproThu 28/02/2008 08:56 AM
Yay - the harddrives arrived yesterday arvo. I waited until all the normal deliveries had been, but they still hadnt arrived, so I contacted ItEstate to complain. They checked with the courier company and told me that they box was currently in the courier's vehicle, and should arrive later that day.
And suprise suprise, they actually did!
Which is grand, because now I can take Turkey's stuff to camp and give it to him then. Otherwise he'd have to organize a way to get it down to Hobart.
7 Harddrives! A total of just under 3 Terrabytes (2910G to be exact). 3 of which are mine (1250G).
My new computer isnt going to be light. I never really expected it to be light, but it's going to be heavier than I was expecting. I've installed the PSU and Harddrives and Caddies and things - and it already weighs more than Klutz's complete PC, and it dosnt have half the hardware in it yet.
Hurry up Intel! I want my new CPU!
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Wrong RAMjawaproTue 26/02/2008 09:34 PM
Oh bother!
I bought some cheap DDR2 RAM from ItEstate because I had some money to spend there (thanks to something Turkey ordered not being in stock). I was planning to throw it in my current machine to give it a boost while I waited for Intel to release their new processors so I could finish setting up my new PC.
Unfourtuantly it didnt fit. Turns out my current PC pre-dates DDR2. Its a DDR1 machine!
So now I have to decide what to do with this DDR2 RAM. I could save it to put in the new PC, but I was planning to get faster RAM (not this cheap stuff). Hmmm....
Any thoughts?
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It Estate Order - part 1jawaproTue 26/02/2008 06:56 PM
Well - finally the ItEstate order turned up. Unfourtuantly it wasnt complete. It's missing all the harddrives. The guy on the phone had said it would need two boxes, but it's a little strange that only one turned up today. If the other one dosnt get here tomorrow - I'll be ringing up and complaining.
Far out that's a lot of money for not much stuff though. The red graphics card cost over $500 (Martian Leader). Mine wasnt cheap either - but only set me back $350ish.
The yellow box is my new PSU, which cost me around $250. Its a little much for a power supply, but I wanted to get a decent one seeing I was going to be running so much high endish gear off it.
I also bought myself a new keyboard. My current one isnt bad - but isnt as cool as the rest of my stuff, and it sounds like PS2 will be disapearing off motherboards pretty soon - so it's time I upgrade to a USB keyboard. Not that I can use it on my current machine, cause all the USB slots are full!
Because some of the order couldnt be filled due to no stock, I had over-paid. So I added some cheap RAM to the order to throw into my current machine to improve it a bit while I wait for Intel to release their new Yorkfield processors so I can finish upgrading.
Hurry up Intel!
Anyway - sorry to any non-geeks out there who either had no idea what I'm talking about, or were bored out of their socks by this post. Maybe the next one will be more interesting for you.
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Happy Birthday Mum! (and other news)jawaproMon 25/02/2008 09:47 PM
Happy Birthday Mum!
On the weekend we went down to Hobart to catch up with Emma, so we could all celebrate Mum's birthday a day early.
Today's also the day Mum and Emma go back to Uni - how great a birthday present is that - going back to uni?
In other news - Tiani and Andrew are finally engaged. That's Turkey's brother and future sister-in-law, for anyone who didnt know. Congrats guys.
Oh yeah - and Portal 2 has just been announced. Remeber, the cake is a lie....
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