Oops... I Crashed Windows XP Pro

In theory... It should have worked. I installed Fedora 7 on the company laptop without incident, but when I went to install Solaris 10, I didn't have a primary partition for a Solaris /boot. My primary concern was the old issue of an OS not being able to boot if its first sector was beyond 1G.

I tried to use Partition Magic to get generate two primary partitions in front of the WXP install, but it failed with a nondescript error. It could shuffle the NTFS partition, but could not reassign the partition numbers. Sounds like a job for fdisk.

In theory, fdisk only edits the partition table and has no impact on data. Since the NTFS partition was between cylinders 20 and 2039, it should have been a simple case of rebuilding the partition table. Guess what? It didn't work. So, on my fourth day on the new job, I get to take their laptop in and explain that I blew up Windows.

So what went wrong? I'll have to research this, because I've used fdisk a thousand times before, without any problems. A few differences: I've not tried this trick with WXP, and I've never done it under F-7. I'm inclined to think that this is an NTFS issue.

Solaris Shell Scripting: Part 1

Shell scripting is suppose to be universal if you use #!/bin/sh. Yet, some if my scripting tricks are not working. A few notes:

Suppressing carriage return (CR):

Linux: echo -n "Hello "; echo "World"
Solaris: echo "Hello \c"; echo "World"

Capturing keyboard input:

Linux: prompt -p "Input: " VAR
Solaris: echo "Input: \c"; prompt VAR

Single command conditionals:

Linux: if [ -f /etc/passwd ]; then echo "Go"
Solaris: if [ -f /etc/passwd ]; then echo "Go"; fi

Finite count loop:

Linux:for X in {1..5}; do echo $Z; done
Solaris: X=0; while [ $X -lt 5 ]; do X=`expr $X + 1`; echo $X; done

Fedora 7 Install ISO

Had the hardest time finding an install ISO for Fedora 7. Seems there isn't one. There's probably an FM that I could have RT'd, but I figured it out on my own. And the way they have done it is brilliant.

Here's how difficult it is:

1. Insert "Live CD", boot system to Fedora.
2. Login as root. (No password... After all, we have physical access.)
3. Click the icon that says Install to Hard Drive.
4. Anaconda will launch in a window, select the defaults, until you get to partitioning:

Choose Create custom layout from the pull down.

5. No package selection: That's done by YUM.
6. System reboots to Firstboot, where we build a user account.

Simple. It cut the install foot print from five CDs to a single CD. Brilliant.

Welcome Back

Let's see: December, January to May, and part of June. That's easily over seven months. So what happened. Simple answer, I've been busy. Slightly less simple answer...

I had a 1U server at a collocation facility where I was host most of my apps, as well as most of the graphics on this blog. The colo decided to throw out everyone that was not making them at least $500 a month. That was me.

Then the holidays came and went. Then there was the RHEL 4 to RHEL 5 migration. Then there was a management change at Red Hat. (Can you say "disruptive innovation"?) Then I left Red Hat and have started at Windward Consulting Group. (Can you say "Oops... I guess the innovation was too disruptive"?) But... Now I'm back to the blog. With any luck, I may even get the server back online.

So what's new?

*** Fedora 7:

Tried out the Live CD today. Still can't find an install ISO. Luckily, I've got a hack for this.

*** RHEL 5:

Just because the new management team has their head's up their collective asses does not mean the product isn't the best OS on the planet.

*** Vista:

Got the disks, but haven't bothered to load them. My primary concern is that Full Spectrum Warrior will run.

*** Solaris 10:

No, it's not new, but after 7 years, I once again find myself supporting Solaris. The good news is that in nearly a decade, the product has remained completely stagnant.

An then there are my recent Blackjack adventures.

Lets get to business, and see if we can learn anything.

Top 10 PDA Designs

Probably not the best title, but Top 10 PDA Designs chronicals the evolution of wireless data devices. Turns out the Palm is missing from you list because this list starts with the brick cell phone, and only lists data devices. The Palm is not technically a wireless data device: the Treo is. Unfortunately, the Treo is a Blackberry knock-off.

Wine Barrels?

Aging wine at Linganore Winery in Mt. Airy, MD. Five thousand gallon aging cylinders.

The Adama Manuever

I was watching "Battlestar Galactica" the other night, and couldn't help but hoot. In this weeks episode, Adama and Galactica had to rescue the humans that had been left behind on New Caprica, now under Cylon occupation. The plan was for insurgents (I've never heard that word used in any fictional show befor) to launch a ground offensive, while the humans launched to safety in their grounded ships.

Of course, the insurgents were sure to be crushed by superior Cylon airpower (which doesn't seem to be helping against the Iraqi insurgents). Even if the humans could get to the ships, there were two Basestars in orbit to prevent their escape. The solution to these problems involved getting Vipers into the fight to secure air superiority.

So... There's this scene of Colonel Tighe leading an assault. Suddenly, there is a thunderclap, and everyone looks skyward-- and there is Galactica-- hovering at 96,000 feet AGL [above ground level]. Unfortunately, a million ton Battlestar can not hover, so it begins to fall.

As she plummets through the atmosphere, the Vipers pour out of the launch tubes. The hull is blazing, red hot, and its shadow is rapidly engulfing the city. There is no way this puppy is going to land! Oh no! What ever shall we do? That's when Adama orders: "Jump!".

And Galatica FTL's out of the atmosphere, leaving a huge, gaping hole in the air. Dude. That was so cool. Now, off to battle the Basestars.

I do have one question: Don't the Vipers have FTL?

Fix for "Metadata file does not match checksum" error

Since Fedora is using yum to deliver updates, I've been having to learn about it's configuration. In the process, I botched one of my boxes, and kept getting the error in the title. I found this article on Fresh RPMs mail list cache that told me to run yum clean all. Problem fixed.

Linux Distro Download Service

Came across a http://www.madtux.org while trying to download a distribution DVD. They provide uncapped bandwidth for a 3G download for $1.46. That's actually a good price, especially considering the public site kept timing out.

Impala Radio

Got an upgrade on my rental car in Raleigh to a Chevrolet Impala. I liked the use of the LCD on the radio to display the presets. I don't care for the car, as a whole, which is funny considering I once went to buy an Impala, but ended up with a Monte Carlo, instead. I guess I didn't like it five years ago either.

The problem with the car? No way to open the trunk from the outside. No cup holder!