nas server update complete

i attempted to build a network storage device a few years ago complete with raid5. it would be the one place i would store all the photos i was taking since i started a bit of amateur photography.

but i failed to set put this server on a ups, which after a few brown outs and possible a black out or two, damaged the raid configuration enough to render the server useless.

it sat like that for while.

then i picked up the project again this year. i replaced several components and most of the hard drives.

current configuration:

• 3 seagate 2TB drives
• 2 hitachi 2TB drives
• 1 seagate 250GB drive (for the operating system)

i rebuilt the array by hand rather than using centos install wizardry. and i wish i had started with hitatchi drives since i had to replace a few of seagates due to failed sectors. i would also have found a mSATA adapter since my motherboard doesn't include one and put the centos 7 on it giving me one more drive for the raid.

i'm running four of the five drives in an active raid while one of them remains a spare. (i should consider that mSATA adapter and transfer my op sys to it.)

to avoid losing more data, i created a crashplan account and am backing up data on this raid to that location. it will be my off-site storage solution.

i need to put the panels back on the rig and set it aside to do its job. oh, and i do have this server on a nice ups this time. no more power-related damage going forward.

asus router firmware update screwed up my internet

i am a fan of asus. been using their products for a long time now. i purchased their RT-AC87U router over netgear's nighthawk because of price and a perceived understanding of their grasp on technology. and the router did fine...until a few months ago.

i use an arris cable modem and decided to upgrade to a faster model. shortly after, i started having dropped internet connections. my internal network was fine but my line to the internet would just go away.

i jumped through all the reconnect hoops every isp has you do. sometimes it would resolve quickly, other times it wouldn't.

finally, i called a tech out to house to check lines. he found no problems. i ended up switching my cable modem back to my old one. but problems still persisted.

the last straw was this past weekend when i came home to the same troubles. i had purchased a second RT-AC87U as a backup. i promptly installed it and got it all configured. one of the steps was to upgrade the firmware. all was good again.

until twenty-four hours later. this time, i could get no resolution. as i thought back, it occurred to me that i had probably upgraded the firmware on my previous router before connections started failing.

here's the catch, though: the asus firmware was not letting me downgrade. a recent fcc ruling that prohibits router manufacturers from letting custom firmware to be installed has worked its way into the real world. because custom firmware allows for boosting wifi radio signal strength, it poses a threat to national security and stuff. apparently, asus modified their latest firmware to prevent downgrading or flashing any custom firmware. (reference: http://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-firmware-will-change-the-verification-method.32357/)

but the problem is their latest firmware has flaws which drop my internet link too. i have that broken firmware on two routers i cannot use as main routers. i will probably just make them range extensions since the internal networking still is unhindered. it's just very expensive.

if you have this router, don't upgrade the firmware if you haven't. keep it where it is. until asus addresses this problem, your upgrade could make your connection to the tubes unusable.

what did i replace it with? the linksys WRT1900ACS, which allows for open source firmware installs. (this is why: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/05/linksys-wrt-routers-wont-block-open-source-firmware-despite-fcc-rules/)

nexus 5 replaced

a couple of week before heading on vacation, i started having problems with my nexus 5. it had been trouble-free up until this point. then one fateful tuesday, all that changed.

my n5 started randomly rebooting. since i had manually flashed the latest version of lollipop (5.1.1), i considered it might have been something a little glitchy with how that had been done. i was doubtful, but as the frequency of the restarts increased i did a quick google search for cause and fix.

one suggestion was to clear the cache partition. i booted into recovery and wiped my cache out. it didn’t seem to have an effect. by the time i was driving home, it was consistently rebooting…and it just failed to start.

i got home and plugged the phone in for a standard power feed. it would boot for about one second then recycle. it wasn’t even long enough to get into the bootloader. without power, it wouldn’t boot.

i did quick surgery on it, taking the back off, unplugging the battery, and reattaching it. it acted like it had plugged it in (one second start up) and then nothing.

i had ordered a new battery for it from amazon, but it was set to arrive (from china) later in the month. i quick ordered another in case the battery was the issue somehow.

then i started to wonder if the battery was not the problem, would i have a working mobile device with me on vacation. i asked google support about things. they only cover it for a year, and this nexus 5 was a 18 months old. they suggested i contact lg, who manufactures the phone. i checked their support agreement, and i wasn’t sure they were going to cover the reason this was a problem.

i went to ebay to search for a used replacement. after poking around, i discovered a few in good condition which could hold me over until later this year when the next generation of the nexus 5 would be released.

after about five days of back and forth with a few sellers, i bagged a good black nexus 5 with 32gb storage (just like my original).

i did the transfer of all my stuff after, of course, unlocking the phone and dropping a new recovery image on it including root access. i have the device which i hope will last me until october (maybe october…or november).

birthday celebration

for my birthday celebration this year, i wanted to do something different. i have always wanted to take my family out on my birthday. and so i did.

we met up at brazeiros churrascaria for the evening meal. i had taken my mom and dad there on separate occasions for special events, but my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces had never been. they seemed to really enjoy the place. i know my parents love it. my dad, who’s diabetic, can eat here without being concerned as he would be eating anywhere else.



for dessert, i had ordered some cupcakes from magpie’s. a rich assortment of chocolate-based mini cakes were perfect after braseiros except we had less room for these than if had skipped dinner. we still managed to throw enough down to avoid any accusations of being quitters.

i got plenty of nice gifts including but limited to xbox gift cards and gear, bar mops,  a sizable bacon press, coffee, and led lighting. but the one thing i never would have expected was my great-great grandfather’s pocket watch. this timepiece dates back to the 1800’s, per my dad’s account.



the watch is in working order. my parents also bought a glass case to display the watch. you can see on the cover an engraved McI forning the design. this is amazing.



it was a fun birthday.

honesty is…not the best policy?

according to blog site lifehacker, lying is just fine and dandy as long as no one gets hurts.

what?!

that’s what they are essentially saying in this post from last year: “six questions to ask yourself before telling a lie.”

before you think i promote this line of horrific crap, i will tell you right now that i was appalled when i read this article.

but you have to realize that if you were not brought up with any principles, lying is part of your regular lifestyle. they even make an assumption, which probably sums up at least the author’s life but puts her credibility into question.

the final question you ask yourself is “if you were in their shoes, what would you want to hear?” i don’t know about anyone else, but i want the truth. in fact, i am willing to bet that if you asked anyone what characteristic they would want in a friend, mate, colleague, family member, or even from the media, they would list honesty as either the top option or in the top three things.

would you seriously date someone who only told you stuff to make you happy if they believed it or not, if it was the truth or not?

would you hire someone who lied occasionally to make you feel better about your hiring of them or about the work they should be getting done?

if lifehacker supports this policy, it’s sad, and to be honest, shameful. promoting more lying isn’t making the world a better place. according to gregory house, m.d., “everybody lies.” and he’s right. we all do. some more than others. but the goal isn’t to keep on doing it or to encourage it.

in the so-called information age, what good is any of it if all the information is not reliable. (think brian williams here.) and if we make decisions based on faulty information, how much more damage can be done? again, you can justify how big or small it might be, but you don’t know how big or small it could possibly become.

fear causes us to lie, sometimes fueled by shame or cowardice, but always fear. the post from lifehacker proves that.

i cannot subscribe to their suggested life policy. lying never is positive thing, no matter how much you justify it. i want to know the truth. maybe the truth hurts, but that’s life. maybe the truth causes more work, but that’s life. maybe i can’t handle the truth…initially, but i will adapt, grow even. and that too is life. some things in life shouldn’t be hacked.

the Truth will set you free.

new york city over the sofa

a few years back, i took my first trip to new york city. it was a great time. i took my dslr (a canon rebel xti) and nabbed many photos of the city. i didn’t get to do everything i wanted to do on my initial visit and decided i would come back to complete my list.

last october, i finally made my return. although this trip had a different primary goal: to fetch an image of the city which i could hang on the wall behind my new sofa.



after passing through my photos, i finally found the one that i wanted to use as the image for the picture. this was taken from the top rockefeller center on friday evening during my visit. i think the image is a little dark compared to the original, but it still looks great on the wall in my living room. f/32 Photo did a great job making this into a 40×60 inch piece of wall art. (not to say that my photography as wall art, but it is my wall art.)

new ice box

my kenmore refrigerator of eleven years died last week. i noticed the compressor making a much louder noise than normal. when i got home from choir practice last wednesday, my freezer was too warm. all my frozen fruit has defrosted and leaked all over the bottom. (the cherry juice looked like blood.)

i moved the bacon down to the fridge to keep it alive, and i put a thermometer to monitor the temperature. by thursday, it was getting warmer.

i had already started my replacement search. i wasn’t sure how much time i had because i did not know if the problem was just my freezer or the whole unit. between online and in-store searching, i was not finding what i really wanted. what complicated my search was a static width of 34 inches. most of the fridges these days are being made for 36 inch width spaces.

i narrowed my selection down on by friday morning. despite their selection, sears could not get a replacement to me in less than two weeks. best buy, home depot, and lowe’s didn’t either have model i was considering or they didn’t have an alternative in black.

the winner this time was hh gregg. i had found the LG model LFXS24623B which was more than i primarily wanted to spend; but it matched the size, color, and configuration on my list.



this was my first hh gregg experience, and it was a good one. richard d. was my sales guy. he answered all my questions and was patient as i worked out my final decision on this fridge. for weekend delivery, there was a $20.00 fee, which included transportation of the dead fridge. considering this unit was in atlanta on friday evening and in my house saturday morning, it was worth the twenty bucks.

life is back to normal at mock manor now. i did end up losing some bacon in the whole ordeal. (that was not due to spoiling but to ice in the cooler melting and seeping into the packing.) i will recover that sooner, though.