I have a small low-power x86 machine at home running Debian 5.0. I regularly check for updates to any of the packages I have installed on it, and for a while its been offering an upgrade to MySQL. I dont use MySQL much at home, so I havent been too bothered about keeping that up to date. However, I got fed up of it nagging me, so I decided to proceed with the update. The following is what happened:
Preparing to replace mysql-server 5.0.51a-24 (using .../mysql-server_5.1.34-0.dotdeb.1_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement mysql-server ...
(Reading database ... 120744 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing mysql-server-5.0 ...
Stopping MySQL database server: mysqld.
Removing mysql-client-5.0 ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Selecting previously deselected package mysql-client-5.1.
(Reading database ... 118764 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking mysql-client-5.1 (from .../mysql-client-5.1_5.1.34-0.dotdeb.1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package mysql-server-5.1.
Unpacking mysql-server-5.1 (from .../mysql-server-5.1_5.1.34-0.dotdeb.1_i386.deb) ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Processing triggers for menu ...
Setting up mysql-client-5.1 (5.1.34-0.dotdeb.1) ...
Setting up mysql-server-5.1 (5.1.34-0.dotdeb.1) ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/mysql ...
Stopping MySQL database server: mysqld.
Starting MySQL database server: mysqld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . failed!
Continue reading 'Upgrading MySQL 5.0 to 5.1 on Debian 5.0'»
My iMac broke a few months ago. Nothing too serious, but annoying nonetheless. The Superdrive decided that it would eat any disc that you put in the slot, and would not eject it. You could hear the mechanism whirring away, but then a nice stressful ‘clunk’, as the disc was eaten again. The disc never even making a minor appearance. So I decided to finally get it fixed while my AppleCare is still valid.
But what’s this got to do with UK Broadband, I hear you – imaginary guy that I’ve borrowed from Wil Wheaton – asking? Shh…I’m getting there…
As I have a lot of personal files on my iMac, I wasnt going to trust it as-is in the hands of my local Apple reseller, so I backed it up with SuperDuper!, formatted it and installed a fresh copy of OS X 10.4 Tiger (via a USB DVD drive). The iMac went off for repair, came back fixed, and then came the time for installing OS X 10.5 Leopard.
Still not seeing what this has to do with UK Broadband… Shhhhh!! I’m getting there!… Continue reading 'The State of UK Broadband Services'»
Unlike Flash, I like Adobe AIR. It looks promising. I especially like that there’s a Linux and Mac version.The BBC iPlayer is all the better for moving to the AIR platform, and I’m able to use the same version of Twhirl on any of my Windows/Mac/Linux machines.
However, I dont like Adobe’s lack of support in this area. For example, when downloading the Mac or Windows version, its quite obvious how you install the application. Its how you would normally install an application on those OS’s. On Linux though, it’s not so intuitive. As most Linux users have likely experienced, the usual way of installing applications can differ between distributions. Then there’s compilation from source, etc. For a major software company like Adobe, you’d think they would offer the AIR installer with at the very least, some installation instructions. No?
For those who are wondering, here is how I installed Adobe AIR on my Ubuntu 8.10 system: Continue reading 'Adobe AIR Installation on Linux'»
On 14th February 2009, Debian 5.0 (lenny) was officially released.
For a few years now, I’ve been running Debian GNU/Linux on my Linksys NSLU2 (commonly known as a ‘slug’). I use it to run various services on my home network, but primarily it’s used as an FTP interface to my ‘Toppy’, otherwise known as a Topfield TF5800 Freeview/DVB-T Hard Disk Recorder (PVR), and to populate its MyStuff EPG TAP with daily TV listings from the Radio Times.
The NSLU2 is a great little device. Its small (really small), low power, silent, relatively inexpensive and just works. Ive modified it to run at 266MHz, from the stock 133MHz. Note: This isnt overclocking it. The ARM CPU in use is designed to run at 266MHz, but its limited in the NSLU2 to run at 133MHz. A simple modification allows it to run at its full speed.
When I heard that lenny had been released, I thought I’d go ahead and update my slug, as I like to stay current. The great thing about Debian, is that it’s so easy to maintain. I logged in, and did the usual ‘apt-get update‘ followed by an ‘apt-get dist-upgrade‘, expecting a huge amount of updates to appear. What I actually saw was only a handful of packages offering themselves for the taking, and there was no sight of a full distribution upgrade.
Continue reading 'Upgrading Debian Etch to Lenny (on NSLU2)'»
I’ve been using VMWare ESX 3.5 for a while now, and whilst pretty much all configuration can be performed using the Virtual Infrastructure Client, there are a few configuration changes that I’ve come across that need to be performed from the command line. These configuration commands are generally prefixed with ‘esxcfg-’, and there are quite a few of them. They appear to be largely (publicly) undocumented by VMWare (especially if you dont like sifting through man pages), but I came across an excellent break-down of these commands by the consultants & trainers at Taupo Consulting.
For example:
- esxcfg-advcfg – Get/Set Advanced Configuration (e.g. modify ‘EnableResignature’)
- esxcfg-firewall – Modify the iptables firewall configuration
- esxcfg-module – View and set options for start-up of the VMkernel modules (drivers)
- esxcfg-vswitch – List, add, modify or delete virtual Ethernet switches
- esxcfg-info – Information about the host
- esxcfg-boot – Configure the GRUB options presented at boot time
- esxcfg-vmknic – View and set configuration of the VMkernel ports on virtual Ethernet switches
….and many more, with full descriptions and usage examples.
They also mention many of the configuration files and their locations, along with some popular Linux commands for those unfamiliar with working at the Linux command line. Definitely worth a bookmark if you administer ESX hosts.
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