Windows Update… from working to non-working.

Well it’s been pretty quiet around here lately, I have had nothing to blog about and I’ve been very busy with work and uni.

On Sunday I ran Windows Update on my laptop. Applied all available updates and upgraded IE from version 7 to 8 (so when I use it at uni some sites will no longer nag me to upgrade to a browser that works). All was good.

Until today, when I turned it on and logged in. Instead of my desktop, Windows taskbar, etc. all I got was the wallpaper and an error message saying Explorer “failed to start because Normaliz.dll was not found” and suggesting reinstalling Windows “may fix this problem”. Installing Linux would be a better fix but since there are no Linux versions of some of the software on there, I need Windows XP.

Pressing ctrl+alt+del still brought up the task manager so I knew part of Windows was still working (hooray!). From there I was able to use “New Task” from the File menu to bring up a command prompt.

My plan was to start a web browser and find a solution. Being at uni, I was forced to use IE for the web (since it has the proxy information, which I couldn’t remember). Sadly, Internet Explorer relies on Normaliz.dll too! I tried starting Firefox and it worked (but couldn’t connect), which shows the value of having software from different vendors.

I wasn’t sure if USB support was working on the laptop, and CDs are as cheap as chocolate eggs at the moment, so when I got home to my other PC I burnt the file onto a CD. Onto the laptop and into the command prompt, then:

C:\> CD C:\WINDOWS\System32
C:\WINDOWS\System32> copy "E:\normaliz.dll"
1 file copied

C:\WINDOWS\System32>

That looks like it should fix it! Ctrl+F5 to refresh the cache (at least that’s what it does in IE, not sure about Windows proper) and at the command prompt type “explorer” and… the same error message popped up! Gah! Turns out that, despite many claims that Windows file names are not case sensitive, Windows file names are case sensitive in some cases. Back to the command prompt window…

C:\WINDOWS\System32> rename normaliz.dll Normaliz.dll

C:\WINDOWS\System32> explorer

And up popped... a different error message! It was almost the same but the missing file was iertutil.dll. So I did the same trick - copy the file to a CD (should have made the first one multisession!), use DOS commands to copy it to the right place, ctrl+F5, try again...

...and it worked! My desktop and taskbar came up and the programs that are supposed to start when the machine boots started. Just to be sure I rebooted to check, and it still worked. This is one of those times that I'm glad I started using computer before GUIs were available.

Quick uni post.

This is just a quick post to mention how things are going with uni. Coming into week 4 of the semester and it’s going great!

As I said before, I met with my program director and we worked out that I should do Network Fundamentals (when I enrolled there was no networking component of the degree, now there is) in place of the last elective. On enrolling I found out there is an option to pay an extra fee and do CCNA parts 1 and 2 as well. (I will do parts 3 and 4 and the final exam next semester) This is already proving to be a great deal, as there is a lot of crossover between the Network Fundamentals and CCNA material.

Backtracking a little for those who didn’t click the CCNA link (to the Wikipedia article) above, CCNA stands for Cisco Certified Network Associate. It’s basically a certificate Cisco gives out that says “this person is good at configuring the stuff we make”. Since Cisco makes most (I’ve heard figures from 70% to 90%) of the networking hardware in the world, having this is a good thing if you want a job in networking. And there are other higher level certifications too.

Three weeks ago I still had no idea what area of IT I wanted to specialise in. Now I still don’t know what is most interesting, but figured since I’m going to get my CCNA before I finish my degree, I may as well focus on networking. It is interesting and there’s demand for it, which are two things I was looking for when I started the degree in the first place. And so far of the assessment items I’ve got back, I’ve got 100%. Sure it’s only 2% of the final mark, but it’s a good start.

Fancy a BOINC? Part 3 – software

This is part 3 of a short series. You might want to read part 1 first.

So far in my project for turning an old laptop into a BOINC box, I’ve been over what BOINC is and prepared the hardware. In this post I get the software running and do some actual number crunching. You need an internet connection for this, my old laptop has an ethernet port which is plugged in to a spare port on my router.

I discovered BOINCpe (site is in German) which is a Windows-based live CD for running BOINC. Just download it, edit a couple of configuration files, burn to CD or make aload it onto a flash drive and you’re all set.

BOINCpe turned out to not be the solution for me because it requires a minimum 256 mb of RAM and the laptop only has 128 (which was a lot when it was made). So because I already had some Ubuntu discs lying around I used one of those instead.

Use the “alternate” install CD (obtainable from here among other places). At the welcome screen, press F4 and choose “command line only”. Answer the questions that come up and away you go.

After installation, login as the user you created during instal. Now it’s time to install the BOINC client and manager. To do that, just type:

sudo apt-get install boinc-client boinc-manager

and then your password.

After a bit of Googling, I figured the easiest way to do what I wanted to do was to use a BOINC account manager. I chose Boincstats BAM because it was first on the list. So, sign up to the site and choose from the projects list. Boincstats will try to login to projects using the same email and password you used to sign up (I had to change my SETI@Home password). For projects you haven’t participated in before, Boincstats will create accounts using your Boincstats details. How many times can I say Boincstats in one sentence?

Anyway, having done that, you need to then tell BOINC to use the account manager. So on the Linux box, type:

boinccmd –join_acct_mgr http://boincstats.com/bam/ username password

where username and password are of course replaced with your username and password. I kept getting an error message at this point. You can probably fix it by editing the right configuration file, but I just navigated to /usr/bin and ran it from there.

We’re not quite done yet though. Now back on the Boincstats website, you need to login and go to the host list page. Select the machine you’re setting up (following these instructions, it will be the only one). Then check the boxes for the projects you want to run on that machine.

Then on the BOINC box, run the join_acct_mgr command again. When you get the command prompt again, run

boinccmd –get_state

This shows what the BOINC client is doing right now. You should get a whole lot of statistics that are really interesting to boring people like me.

And that’s about it. You can attach the graphical version of BOINC to the account manager with a couple of mouse clicks and some copy/paste. In future I might play around with configuring things for better performance, but this will do for now.

Links and resources:

• BOINC download page: <http://boinc.berkeley.edu/download.php>
• BOINCpe (in German, scroll down for the download link): <http://blog.schreiter.info/boincpe-livecd-for-boinc/>
• How to boot BOINCpe from a USB flash drive: <http://blog.schreiter.info/boincpe-livecd-for-boinc/how-to-boot-boincpe-bartpe-from-a-usb-flash-drive-or-usb-hdd/>
• Ubuntu Complete Download Options: <http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/downloadmirrors>
• Boincstats BAM (Boinc Account Manager): <http://boincstats.com/bam/>
• Boinccmd Tool MAN page: <http://bossa.berkeley.edu/wiki/Boinccmd_tool>
• Ubuntu wiki page on BOINC: <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BOINC>

Fancy a BOINC? part 2 – preparing the laptop

This post is part 2 of 3. Part one is here.

The laptop is an old Toshiba Satellite 1800. It features (among other things) a DVD-ROM drive (not a burner), dial-up modem, ethernet and infra-red ports built in. And a 3 1/4″ floppy drive. Somewhere along the line the RAM was upgraded from 64mb to 128mb. Oh and it also has a “Designed for Windows 2000 Professional/Windows ME” sticker.

This laptop also featured a button switch which turns it off when the lid is closed. I wanted to set it up so I can plug in power and ethernet and leave it sitting on a shelf, maybe even in a cupboard. Ideally with the lid closed to take up less space. So the switch had to go!

The offending button

I began taking apart the laptop to get at the button/switch/thingy. After undoing all the screws, I realised that all I had to do to get at the switch was remove one securing strip and a couple of screws. D’oh!

The laptop with the panel off.

So I did that, took the button switch out, put the strip back, then put back all the screws I’d taken out for no reason. The last three or four screws wouldn’t go back in, but the laptop stays together and runs OK so I’ll say it has extra ventilation holes.

The reassembled laptop without the button.

So that’s the hardware taken care of. Onto the software!

CLick here for part 3 – software.

Links and resources:

• Part 1 of this series: <http://ediblehat.wordpress.com/2010/03/06/fancy-a-boinc-part-1/>
• How to take apart and repair a Toshiba Satellite 1800: <http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/Toshiba1800/satellite1800_1.htm> (don’t make the same mistake I did)

Fancy a BOINC? part 1 – what’s it all about?

Last week, among the miscellaneous debris in my flat, I found a box containing two old laptops (a Toshiba and a Dell). The Toshiba originally had Windows 98 installed and the Dell had Windows 95. The Dell doesn’t even have a DVD drive, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do with that, but I decided to set up the Toshiba to run BOINC (which I already have running on a few other machines).

Backtracking a bit: BOINC stands for the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing. The Wikipedia entry (at time of writing, 2010.03.10.16.35 Australian central summer time) says:

The Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) is a non-commercial middleware system for volunteer and grid computing.

In other words, if you run BOINC you volunteer to use your computer to run software for grid computing (I couldn’t think of a way to sum up grid computing in one sentence).

Grid computing is where you take a computing task that would take a long time, break it into smaller tasks, and send each of those to a separate computer to be processed. So instead of one computer spending 20 days to find a solution, you can use 20 computers to find it in 1 day. The original grid computing task was SETI@Home which analyzes radio telescope data to look for signals sent by aliens. BOINC was developed to add some security for SETI@Home and to open the system for other projects and now hosts projects for medical research, climate science, and solving difficult chess problems.

So why run BOINC? I originally joined the old SETI@Home because I hope first contact with aliens happens in my lifetime, since the switchover to BOINC I added a couple of cosmology projects because they may help with that. It’s been running in that form on the PC at my parents’ house for years, with no maintenance. I kind of forgot about it until recently, when Ruben Schade tweeted about medical projects he runs in memory of his mother who died of cancer. That inspired me to set up BOINC on my current PCs and sign up to some medical projects. Not exactly in memory of Ruben’s mother (I never met her, or him for that matter) but as a general altruistic here’s a way I can help do good things kind of way. The aliens probably have a cure for cancer, but if we can’t find them we’ll have to come up with one on our own.

Click here for part 2 – preparing the machine

Links & resources:

• BOINC website: <http://boinc.berkeley.edu/index.php>
• BOINC Wikipedia entry: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Open_Infrastructure_for_Network_Computing>
• Grid computing Wikipedia entry: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_computing>
• SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) @ Home: <http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/>
• Rubénerd Blog : <http://rubenerd.com/>

2010 Projects: Go Open Source

I’ve been so busy lately between work (did some extra hours because of a co-worker’s operation) and getting ready for uni I forgot about this blog until Rubenerd left a comment overnight.

Anyway, now that I’ve remembered, it’s time to post about fulfilling another one of my 2010 Projects things: going open source. This update comes to you from Firefox 3.5 under Ubuntu 8.1 Intrepid Ibex, unlike all previous updates which have been from Firefox under Windows.

First I used GPartEd to wipe out the Linux Mint installation that I had but never used (and had forgotten the password for). Then I shrank the Windows partition to 42Gb and set up partitions for the swap area (6Gb), Linux (42Gb) and my home directory (the rest of the disk… 140Gb in total).

I first tried setting up Ubuntu 9.1 Karmic Koala. It worked fine until I updated it, then the updater gave me an error about read-only filesystems. On restarting it wouldn’t mount something or other and the GUI wouldn’t start.

So I wiped it out and reinstalled. This time the installer failed (same error about read-only filesystems).

So I tried the CD installer (as opposed to the DVD). Installed fine, updating produced the same read-only error.

At this point my bootloader was borked. So I got on my wife’s laptop and downloaded Ubuntu 8.1 Intrepid Ibex and burnt it to DVD.

After installing *that*, it booted up fine. Set it to use Internode’s quota-free mirror of the repositories, updated… and it worked! And it’s been fine ever since, I’ve installed Linux versions or equivalents of everything I used to do under Windows, and it’s going great. Even writes fine to my NTFS formatted external hard drive. I’m keeping the Windows partition because I will need some Windows software for uni, but 95+% of the time I’m in Linux.

I guess I should post some links to the things I’ve mentioned:

• Ubuntu Australia since I’m in Australia, I’ll link to the local site.
• Internode download mirror where I got most of the software I used from. Doesn’t count towards your quota if you’re one of their customers.
• GPartEd the open source partition editor
• Ubuntu entry on Wikipedia just in case anyone wants more info.
• finally, Linux Tux t-shirt I found while looking for the logo I used at the top of the page.

2010 Projects: Rescheduled

In light of my uni commitments, I have had to reorganise a few of my 2010 Projects. So here is the new list, with changes.

• Start a garden This is still going ahead, but will be on a smaller scale at least to begin with. And probably now won’t involve many food plants or growing things from seeds.
• Go open source I will need to stay dual-boot because I will need Windows for uni. I still plan to use Linux more though.
• Get my weight down to 85kg This is still going on, I am still losing 0.5-1kg a week on protein shakes and exercise.
• Start my own personal archive This is on hold until I have enough money to buy rather than build a NAS.
• Work out what’s going on with uni Done (and the reason I’m rethinking the rest of the list) In March I will start my last remaining elective, and later in the year I will start my final project for completion in mid 2011.
• Build a file server from the old computer bits I have lying around on hold, and may now not happen at all.
• Knit a decent pair of socks Sock making is on hold. Instead I have decided to make a throw rug out of the huge amount of feather yarn I have lying around. The rug will be made of 10cm x 10cm squares, but I’m saving myself some sewing by knitting in strips. Pictured is the result of 2 hours work last night.
• Start writing a book on hold
• Move this blog to its own domain on hold (for now), may become part of a new addition to the list.
• Blog at least 3 times a week going strong!
• Be more adventurous with food (was “Learn to cook more”) still going, last week we tried different types of sausages. This week we’re going to dinner at a place we’ve never been to before.
• 52 Books in 52 Weeks not happening. I still read for 15-20 minutes before bed but I’m taking of the pressure to read a book a week.
• Develop an awesome multimedia portfolio A new addition to the list, and one that’s needed because of my poor academic results. I’m starting by doing tutorials every day.

So there we have it – this is what I’ll be doing this year. Notice some parts are much more specific than the original list, this version looks more achievable (bleep-bloop).

2010 Projects

I don’t really do new years resolutions, as nobody ever really keeps them. When you’re ready to make a change, you will, no matter what the calendar says.

Having said that, I have been planning a few projects which just happen to be ready to start in January:

• Start a garden. This will pose a few challenges on its own. We are renting an upstairs flat, but there is a paved courtyard downstairs. The only people who go in there are electricity meter readers and people visiting us. My plan is to (1) get rid of the weeds growing through cracks in the pavers then (2) get some pots and start growing things.
• Go open source. I have this machine dual-booting Windows XP and Linux Mint, but I end up using Windows most of the time. I’m going to back up all my data, then convert this machine to run only Linux.
• Get my weight down to 85kg. I’m currently 102kg. BMI calculations say I should weight 75kg, but when I was at my fittest and healthiest I weight 85. I may have failed the pool body fitness challenge but I have been losing half a kilogram a week for the last month (due to having protein shakes for breakfast). I will achieve this goal by eating healthier and getting exercise. As soon as this post is up I’m getting on the stationary bicycle.
• Start my own personal archive – categorise and label all photos, documents, etc. that I have lying around. This will involve sorting all the digital photos on this computer and printing the best to put into albums. It also means organising my filing cabinet so I can find things. And getting a scanner so everything can be digitised. And coming up with an off site back up of the digital bit. And documenting family events. Eventually I hope to digitise the family history archive and add that too.
• Work out what’s going on with uni, and finish off my degree. I’ve been doing what was meant to be a 3 year degree since 2002. This is the year (or maybe early 2011) I’ll finally finish it off.
• Use the random computer parts lying around here to build a file server. Then all my files should be easily available on the LAN.
• Knit a decent pair of socks. At the moment I’m in the learning stage, making socks that at least resemble socks but they’re not great.
• Start writing a book of some sort. I have a few ideas but I don’t want to share until it’s ready.
• Move this blog to some other hosting with its own domain. That way it will still exist if anything happens to wordpress.com.
• Blog at least three times a week. I know when I started I wanted to do every day, then twice a week, and it’s actually been more like once a fortnight.
• Learn to cook more. I know the basics, but I need more techniques and recipes. I’m getting bored of eating the same stuff every week.

So there it is… my non-resolution list of things I want to achieve in 2010.