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October 31, 2005
Vollyballocracy
We should have a Vollyballocracy. We elect a six-pack of presidents.
Each one serves until they screw up, at which point they rotate.
-- Dennis Miller
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 30, 2005
How (little) women think?
Recycled from 2003/08/01.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 29, 2005
It's Hereditary
If your parents don't have kids, neither will you.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
T3 Serial Cables
Q. Seeing as how you know about T3 Disk Lights, could you tell me how to use the serial port on a T3 - it looks like a phone connector but seems to need four wires.
A: Well, if you need to know about Sun Serial Ports, the ultimate reference can be found at SunHelp: Serial Port Resources. This wonderful document suggests for the T3:
Sun StorEdge T3 Disk Tray (This information is reprinted from the Sun StorEdge T3 Disk Tray Installation, Operation, and Service Manual.)
Pin Function
1 Ground
2-3 Reserved
4 Ground
5 RXD
6 TXD
The controller card has an RS-232 serial port connector (RJ11-6). A standard serial cable is used to connect the controller service interface to a dumb terminal or computer serial port with terminal emulation.
Note: The serial port is reserved for special service procedures that can be performed only by qualified, trained service personnel. Do not attempt to perform any procedures through the serial port or you risk damaging the disk tray configuration and data.
In Australia, you cannot buy an RJ11-6 but you can buy RJ12 adaptors at Dick Smith. These are exactly the part you need. Given how fiddly the plugs are, I would use 6 core cable, wire up the RJ12 and an RJ45 at the other end (don't worry about cable order at this point). Then use an RJ45-25pin convertor plug that lets you shift the wires around. Make sure that pin 1 on the RJ12 ends up being pin 1 on the 25 ping serial plug. Pins 5 and 6 should be 3 and 2 respectively.
As for the warning about using it, you should be aware that all the boot messages are sent to that serial port..... if you have a misbehaving T3, a serial cable is the ONLY way to check what is happening. It certainly lets you check the status of the network port and the status of the components as well.
Note that the T3plus is quite different so make sure you actually have a T3 if you want to use this cable.
Posted by Ozguru at 06:00 AM
October 28, 2005
Elevators
A crowded elevator smells different to a midget.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
Kernel Changes Missing
Q. I am making changes to my kernel but the changes don't appear to happen. For example, I change the value of shmsys:shminfo_shmmax, then touch /reconfigure and reboot. When I check with sysdef -i the value has not been changed.
A. Believe it or not, the problem is probably due to a failed mirror. Sun servers with root mirrors start the boot sequence by deciding which bootblock and kernel to load. This will normally be taken from the primary mirror (say c1t0d0s0 on a V480). Once the kernel is parsed, th boot process will realise that it needs to mount the metadevice (normally d10) instead of the underlying filesystem and this will happen before the system leaves single-user mode.
Now, if at some point the mirror is all in-sync (say c1t0d0s0 and c1t1d0s0) and the kernel contains metadevice information then all is well. Now imagine the primary fails (c1t0d0s0) in some way (so that it needs maintenance) and the user changes /etc/system. The kernel being changed is on the mirror (and the only single remaining sub-mirror). The system boots and reads the kernel config from c1t0d0s0 which is the *old* configuration and then mounts d10 which displays the *new* configuration. The sysdef does not read /etc/system to check the values, it checks the running kernel in memory which was build from the *old* /etc/system not the currently visible /etc/system.
To fix, remove the disk that needs maintenance (or try to bring the disk back online with metareplace -e) so that both copies of /etc/system are the same.
Posted by Ozguru at 06:00 AM
October 27, 2005
Famous last words
1: Don't unplug it, it will just take a moment to fix.
2: Let's take the shortcut, he can't see us from there.
3: What happens if you touch these two wires tog...
4: We won't need reservations.
5: It's always sunny there this time of the year.
6: Don't worry, it's not loaded.
7: They'd never (be stupid enough to) make him a manager.
8: Don't worry! Women love it!
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM | Comments (1)
Unix Expertise
People often ask why "guru" in my handle. Does it mean that I meditate up a high mountain? Well, I found the perfect explanation in a ranking system for Unix people. Some of the concepts are a bit dated but I can proudly claim to meet all the criteria for Guru - but not all the criteria for Wizard...
People who come into contact with the UNIX system are often told : "If you have trouble, see so-and-so, he's a guru", or "Bob there is a real Unix hacker". Often they are baffled by these appellations, and do not pursue the matter further. What is a "Unix Hacker ?". How does he differ from a "guru" ? To answer these and other questions, here is the UNIX HIERARCHY :
- beginner
- insecure with the concept of a terminal
- has yet to learn the basics of vi
- has not figured out how to get a directory
- still has trouble with typing <RETURN> after each line of input
- novice
- knows that ls will produce a directory
- use the editor, but calls it vye.
- has heard of C but never used it
- has had his first bad experience with rm
- is wondering how to read his mail
- is wondering why the person next to him seems to like Unix so very much
- user
- uses vi and nroff, but inexpertly
- had heard of regular-expr's but never seen one
- uses egrep to search for fixed strings
- has figured out that '-' precedes options
- is wondering how to move a directory
- has attempted to write C program and has decided to stick with pascal
- thinks that sdb is a brand of stereo component
- knows how to read his mail and is wondering how to read the news
- knowledgeable user
- uses nroff with no trouble, and is beginning to learn tbl and eqn
- thinks that fgrep is fast grep
- has figured out that mv will move directories
- has learned that learn doesn't help
- somebody has shown him how to write C programs
- once used sed to do some text substitution
- has seen sdb used but does not use it himself
- thinks that make is only for wimps
- expert
- uses sed when necessary
- uses macro's in vi, uses ex when necessary
- posts news at every possible opportunity
- writes csh scripts occasionally
- writes C programs using vi and compiles with cc
- has figured out what && and || are for
- thinks that human history started with !h
- hacker
- uses sed and awk with comfort
- uses undocumented features of vi
- writes C code with cat > and compiles with !cc
- uses adb because he doesn't trust source debuggers
- can answer questions about the user environment
- writes his own 'nroff' macros to supplement standard ones
- writes scripts for Bourne shell (/bin/sh)
- guru
- uses m4 and lex with comfort
- writes assembly code with cat >
- uses adb on the kernel while system is loaded
- customizes utilities by patching the source
- reads device driver source with his breakfast
- can answer any Unix question after a little thought
- uses make for anything that requires two or more distinct commands to archive
- has learned how to breach security, but no longer needs to try
- wizard
- writes device drivers with cat >
- fixes bugs by patching the binaries
- can answer any question before ask
- writes his own troff macro packages
- is on first-name basis with Dennis, Bill and Ken
Posted by Ozguru at 06:00 AM | Comments (3)
October 26, 2005
What is your IQ?
It appears that after his death, Albert Einstein found himself working as the doorkeeper at the Pearly Gates. One slow day, he found that he had time to chat with the new entrants. To the first one he asked, "What's your IQ?" The new arrival replied, "190". They discussed Einstein's theory of relativity for hours. When the second new arrival came, Einstein once again inquired as to the newcomer's IQ. The answer this time came "120". To which Einstein replied, "Tell me, how did the Cubs do this year?" and they proceeded to talk for half an hour or so. To the final arrival, Einstein once again posed the question, "What's your IQ?". Upon receiving the answer "70", Einstein smiled and replied, "Got a minute to tell me about Windows Vista?"
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
T3 Disk Lights
Q. A Sun engineer replaced the disk in my T3 and now the light is solid amber. Does this mean he used a dud disk?
A. No. It means that the disk is being rebuilt. This can happen in two ways depending on the configuration of the T3. If there is a HotSpare (drive 9) in the array then the rebuild will be fast (simple copy of data from drive 9 to the replaced disk. If the whole array is RAID then the rebuild will take much longer as the T3 is recalculating parity.
There are two lights for each disk. The leftmost light is the drive activity light, the rightmost light is the drive status light.
If the right hand light (drive status) is blinking amber then it means the drive has failed and should be replaced. You should verify this failure using the CLI.
If the right hand light (drive status) is solid amber then it means the drive is being reconstructed or a firmware download is in progress.
If you have reached this far in the diagnostics, the right hand light should be off. If the left hand light is solid green, the disk is OK but idle.
If the left light is blinking (and the right light is off), then the drive is active (or possibly being prepared for removal.
If both lights are off, the drive has not been installed properly.
Posted by Ozguru at 06:00 AM
October 25, 2005
Insignificance
Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
-- Ghandi
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 24, 2005
A Sign from God
If only God would give me some clear sign!
Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank.
-- Woody Allen, "Without Feathers"
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
Solaris vs Serial Terminals
If you unplug the serial console on a Sun server it will halt the box. This is not a bug. It is how the system is supposed to work.
If an unreasonable customer wants this behaviour changed, there are two parts. To fix it right now (until the next reboot) use:
# kbd -a disable
To fix it for after the next reboot, edit /etc/default/kbd and uncomment the line which disables the interrupt.
Note that the side effect is that you cannot use Control-Break to halt the server.
Posted by Ozguru at 06:00 AM
October 23, 2005
How (little) women think?
Recycled from 2003/08/01.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM | Comments (1)
October 22, 2005
Young vs Old
Young men think old men are fools;
but old men know young men are fools.
-- George Chapman
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
iTunes 6
The tip is easy: Don't upgrade yet.
See JHymn for information:
It appears that if you make any purchases using iTunes 6.0, from that point on you must use 6.0 — and then JHymn won't work for you either. JHymn will have to learn how to perform the iTunes 6.0 protocol before this problem is likely to be fixed -- so hang on, it could be a bit of a wait.
In the meantime, you may wish to delay upgrading to iTunes 6.0 so that you can continue to free your music until a new solution is found.
Also note that I am not suggesting you use JHymn for piracy (and neither is the author of the software):
Let me start with what JHymn is not meant to do. JHymn is not meant to aid music piracy. I personally love shopping for music at the iTunes Music Store (I have nearly 900 legally-purchased songs so far, at the time of this writing), I'm happy to pay for the music I get, and I wish Apple all the success in the world at making legal music downloads a viable, profitable business.
I don't much care, however, for Digital Rights Management (DRM). I understand why it's there, and I know Apple never would have gotten the music industry to cooperate without it, but that doesn't mean I have to like DRM or having my fair-use rights restricted.
I have a non-Apple network music player attached to my stereo. With DRM, I can't play my music on my stereo with my existing equipment. I like to play my music on my computer at work, but I don't like the idea of having to "authorize" a computer that's not completely under my control. I like to edit my music sometimes — trimming intros, adding fade-ins and fade-outs, splicing consecutive tracks together to eliminate between-track dropouts, etc. As of iTunes 4.5 and QuickTime 6.5.1, however, my favorite audio editing software would no longer open my iTunes purchases for editing. That really annoyed me. I couldn't burn iTMS purchases music using Toast anymore, either. That annoyed me even more.
Posted by Ozguru at 06:00 AM
October 21, 2005
Courage
Screw up your courage! You've screwed up everything else.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 20, 2005
Maths
[Found at Mad Elaine's Pages...]
After four decimal places, nobody cares.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 19, 2005
How do you know...
... if there is a terrorist in the airport ...
(Check extended entry for the clue...)
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM | Comments (4)
October 18, 2005
Political Jokes
[The trouble with political jokes is they get elected.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 17, 2005
United Nations Survey
[Joke sent via email from Theepan]
Last month, the UN conducted a worldwide poll. The question was: "Please give us your honest opinion on how to solve the shortage of food in the rest of the world."
The poll turned out to be a major disaster:
- In Africa, participants didn't know what "food" was.
- Eastern Europe didn't know what "honest" meant.
- Western Europe didn't know the word "shortage".
- The Chinese didn't know what "opinion" was.
- The Middle East inquired what "solution" meant.
- South America didn't know the meaning of "please".
... drumroll ...
And in the US nobody knew what "the rest of the world" was.
Recycled from 2003/04/16.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 16, 2005
How (little) women think?
Recycled from 2003/08/01.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 15, 2005
Horse Sense...
Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.
-- W.C. Fields
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 14, 2005
US Masters (Golf)
Via email again (what we we do without email?). Apparently there was a feminist protest at the US Masters PGA. Wonder what would have happened if they had spotted this bloke in the background?
Recycled from 2003/04/29
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM | Comments (2)
October 13, 2005
What is the difference...
What's the difference between a BBQ on the beach and an Australian wedding?
Most people pick the clothes after all you can't wear beach clothes to a wedding? Actually the correct answer is: "only one man is guaranteed to get lucky at the wedding" :-)
Of course the followup question is about the difference between an Australian wedding and an Australian funeral? "One less drunk".
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 12, 2005
Contents....
[Found at Mad Elaine's Pages...]
Contents may have settled out of court.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM | TrackBack
October 11, 2005
Objects in the mirror....
...are closer than they appear:
This joke was recycled from 2003/04/24.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 10, 2005
Explain School?
How do you explain school to a higher intelligence?
-- Elliot, "E.T."
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 09, 2005
Live a Good Life
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 08, 2005
Lifes Little Problems
Do not try to solve all life's problems at once -- learn to dread each day as it comes.
-- Donald Kaul
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 07, 2005
Women vs Men
[Found at Cynical Cyn....]
Friendship among women:
A woman doesn't come home one night.
The next day she tells her husband she slept over at a friend's house.
The man calls his wife's 10 best friends.
None of them know about it.
Friendship among men:
A man doesn't come home one night.
The next day he tells his wife he slept over at a friend's house.
The woman calls her husband's 10 best friends.
Eight of them say he did sleep over and two claim he's still there.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 06, 2005
Greatness
Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never consistent.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 05, 2005
The Late News
Ronnie Barker:
We interrupt this website for a special bulletin:
"The Metropolitan Police today denied that prisoners in their custody are excessively pampered. This follows yesterday's report that a man was hustled out of New Scotland Yard with an electric blanket over his head."
Ronnie Corbett:
"And we’ve just heard that a juggernaut of onions has shed its load all over the M-1. Motorists are advised to find a hard shoulder to cry on."
RB: "Following the dispute with the domestic servants' union at Buckingham Palace today, the queen, a radiant figure in a white silk gown and crimson robe, swept down the main staircase and through the hall. She then dusted the cloak room and vacuumed the lounge."
RC: "After a series of crimes in the Glasgow area, Chief Inspector McTavish has announced that he's looking for a man with one eye. If he doesn't find him, he's going to use both eyes."
RB: "The perfect crime was committed last night, when thieves broke into Scotland Yard and stole all the toilets. Police say they have absolutely nothing to go on."
RC: "And we've just heard that in the English Channel, a ship carrying red paint has collided with a ship carrying purple paint. It is believed that both crews have been marooned."
You can find more of the Two Ronnies here...
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM | Comments (1)
October 04, 2005
A.A.A.A.A.
[Found at Mad Elaine's Pages...]
A.A.A.A.A. - An organization for drunks who drive.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 03, 2005
Critics
The avocation of assessing the failures of better men can be turned into a comfortable livelihood, providing you back it up with a Ph.D.
-- Nelson Algren, "Writers at Work"
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 02, 2005
Unforgettable Face
I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception.
-- Groucho Marx
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM
October 01, 2005
Tax
[Found at Mad Elaine's Pages...]
The difference between tax avoiding and evasion is 10 Years.
Posted by Peskie at 12:00 PM