With the next version of Ubuntu to be releasted in a few days thought I’d go ahead and load it on an extra drive for kicks. What’s nice about this version is the iso is a Live CD which you can then install. I had to do a double take at first when I took the default option on boot and we went straight to the desktop. The install was quick and immediately prompted for 70 plus updates. All major hardware was recognized and no special configuration was required. How cool is it when stuff works !!
The only quirk at the moment is the Alt key on the right side of the keyboard doesn’t seem to be working. A quick change of the keyboard identification didn’t help so I may need to check on that. Otherwise it’s all good.
Ever since the move I’ve debated about bringing cable into the office. This past weekend I decided it was time to do something about it. After checking the outlet in the bedroom, it was split with cable running on the floor, it did not come from the attic. That pretty much told me I needed to go wireless.
Yes I did not want to split, run up the wall and through the attic then back down to the other side.
So it was off to Curcuit City for a new router with wireless and a wireless PCI for the work PC. An important less I forgot here was do some research first before these kinds of purchases it can save you time and money.
The selections to choose from were Linksys, D-Link, Netgear and Belkin.
My current router is a Netgear MR314, it has served me well for the last 5 year but I figured if I was going wireless on the work PC I should be current. I decided on Linksys’s WRT300N and their WMP300N PCI card. I would later learn one of those choices was not the best. I was able to move the cable modem, router and the test server out of the office which was another reason for going wireless. Setup was quick and initial tests with VPN into the office were good.
But then, after about 5 minutes, the PC froze. A hard reset was the only choice and after coming back up it repeated. The uptime would vary between 5 to 15 minutes depending on internet usage. Like I said do some research first cause a quick google took me to the Linksys forums and problems with the WMP300N. No need to go into all the specifics but a driver problem with the Broadcom chipset seems to be the root of it and no update from Linksys at this point in time. So back to the store for another card and we are up and running, no freezes. Signal strength is not as good as the Linksys, as the external antenna of the WMP300N does help, but after a full day of using it I don’t see a difference from wired.
For some time now I’ve been wanting to have a test server I can dedicate to a DMZ. Thanks to the parents for looking to donate an old tower system and I can make that work.. It was a good opportunity to try the Edgy server install but that didn’t go so well. The load went fine but the boot was toast. That might have been something to dig into but I was looking to get it up and I just didn’t feel like it was worth the effort at the time. So I settled on the server install. No problems their, added a few packages and then installed Plone. I’ve been a fan of this product for some time and still believe it is an excellent content management package out of the box. An entry I made a few months back mentioned a backup for a site at work and that’s complete.
I have some other plans for it as well related to general storage. It’s great to have a place where I can put stuff now and not worry about it. The access as a DMZ is also a plus when on the road. The drive is only 20GB but for now that will do the trick.
