Quick Links

(alphabetic order, left to right)

Literate Programs

(alphabetic order, left to right, top to bottom)

TODOs

1. Install MoinMoin version 2 on albens, and setup as Hurst-Stevens family archive, and also church wiki.
   1. completed download and successfully run localhost version
   2. installed mod_wsgi
   3. need to check what Flask needs to go into production mode
   4. familiarize myself with the new look and feel
2. install mysql on spencer
3. downloads.py smarter about detecting SD card origin (see next)
4. 20170116 blat to have archive handling methods: i) read log file and make up-to-date list
5. 20180601:104336 find out why web page hit count is occasionally reset
6. 20180610:132315 build movie interface for web photo albums

Python Hints

Have been moved to a separate page.

Emacs Editing Hints

I use the Emacs Editor, with a number of self-defined short cuts. Most of the time these are obvious when using a keyboard with a numeric keypad. But when I don't have a numeric keypad (e.g., my laptop), I have to remember the alternative short cuts (load file ~/lib/emacs/sierra-keys.el). These are:

Configuration

I have a range of computers. Keeping track of them (and maintaining them!) can be a headache. So I've compiled a list of machines in use. There are also a number of web servers (such as the one you are reading right now on ajh.co@spencer). The general principle used to name them is

1. railway junctions in Victoria (on-site and laptops)
2. eucalyptus trees (off-site)
3. disused railway stations in Paris (micro-computers)

albens

Virtual server maintained by Digital Oceans. Used for off-site serving, mail and various maintenance tasks.

bittern

an old laptop, still operational (infrequent use)

burnley

My old home desktop iMac, which used to run Mac OSX 10.6.8. Now running Linux and used as a TV entertainment centre.

echuca

Used to be a Max OSX desktop. Has been rebuilt as a Linux Ubuntu system, and rebranded as burnley (see above).

everton

My latest laptop, an HP 14" Pavilion running Linux. Really only used when I am travelling.

fat-controller

An old Intel box running Ubuntu, and used as the train controller. Out of service pending train system reorganization.

gwuc-wiki

DigitalOcean virtual Linux box (Ubuntu), maintained to supply wiki services to the Glen Waverley Uniting Church.

• Control panel not yet linked
• ssh connection
• Church wiki
• Wiki Tuning

My own use for this machine is residual - all regular data storage and web-serving is now done by albens.

jeparit

A Raspberry Pi Model 4B, running Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster). This was used as the house computer, now replaced by reuilly. Still operational and useable.

kerang

A Beagle Bone, running Debian GNU/Linux 7.4 (wheezy). This was used to directly control an 8-channel relay module, where each relay is used to control some house function. Now replaced by reuilly.

newport

An Intel box, running Ubuntu 22.04, and used as my current desktop.

reuilly

A Raspberry Pi Model 4B, running Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster). This is under development as the new relay controller, replacing kerang.

sophos (previously wolseley)

Previously used as a house server. An HP Compaq machine, purchased second-hand from Monash University. Now has a new lease of life as a network controller, running Sophos UTM9 with 2 network cards, one running bridge mode to our NBN cable modem, the other to our local network.

spencer

disk farm and house server. An 84TiB (98TB = 4TBx1 + 6TBx9 + 8TBx5 drives) lizard fs system is used in an EC(5,3) configuration to store all household data and backups for other machines. It also houses a number of other smaller disks for use in day-to-day use (e.g., TV and Photographs)

A very nice Christmas present from my son was a Brother MFC L8600CDW colour laser printer, which is networked across the house, and provides the main printing facilty (although there are other inkjet and laser printers around).

Obsolete Systems

There are machines that still exist, and may be resurrected one day (subject to software constraints). Others are not so fortunate.

Extant Machines

echuca

My home desktop iMac (Mac OSX 10.6.8). Still in existence, but OS rebuilt as a Ubuntu machine and renamed burnley (q.v.)

fat-controller

An old Intel box running an old version of Ubuntu. Used to control the model railway, but out of use until the railway is restored.

orsay

A BeagleBone Black. Currently decommissioned, but extant.

Never Again Machines

central

Perhaps the longest lived system of them all. Ran from the mid 90s until 2010, serving the house computer system and all that that entailed. Used as the original development system for the house computer, and sadly missed when it died. It had nice features like plenty of I/O ports and parallel interfaces, all good for home DIY use.

dimboola

Was an iMac running Mac OSX 10.11.6. A Time Machine restore saw it reimaged (unintentionally) as a clone of hamilton, including the same (stupid) default name of MU00087507X. This would not have been a problem, except that hamilton is a Monash eSolutions managed machine, and nobody knew how to change its name. When two machines on the same network have the same name, you have problems. So it got rebuilt as a Ubuntu 18.04 system with the purpose of running mythtv as our regular TV recording system. Eventually decomissioned.

eregnans

The original church wiki system. This virtual server service provided by Rackspace was decomissioned in Jan 2017, due to a non-recoverable error in its BIOS which could not be repaired. This came about due to the age of the system, and the fact that it had insufficient memory for more modern versions of the operating system.

flinders

Decommissioned. This was our old house server before spencer came along. A Dell R90 system, noisy as all get-out, and died with a memory fault that was fixable, but we could not be bothered. Went in the hard rubbish. I was not sorry to see it go.

hamilton

A university-owned laptop, and decomissioned at end-of-life.

lilydale

Interesting history. Bought explicitly to run Linux, and to be used as my regular laptop. But I found the trackpad and keyclick very frustrating to use, and it saw service as the house computer for a year or so. Died when I tried to upgrade from Ubuntu 14.0 to 16.04, with a broken BIOS, and now decommissioned.

ringwood

A MacBook Pro system, inherited from my father. Ran as the house server for a few years, until it died with an exploded battery!

Disks

This section has been moved to a separate page on disks.

Hints and Fixes

For Unix (Ubuntu 16.04)

For Mac OSX (10.6.8)

Registries

How The Web Pages were One

These web pages have gone through a number of interations. This Web Page documents the story.

Context

We previously rented a house while our primary residence was being extensively renovated. While renovations were in progress, along came NBN (wouldn't you know it?) This causes some inconvenience, as we had to change our ADSL line across to NBN, without immediately being able to access and test it. The old connection used a 2.9Mbps download/0.74Mbps upload internet connection (Internode ADSL2+), via a Billion 7800N modem, which all worked fine throughout its lifetime, and I was loath to change it.

However, Optus had other ideas. We had a land-line telephone supplied through Optus, and had paid for the connection during the renovation (although unable to use it), because we wanted to keep the number. With the advent of NBN, Mr. Optus told us that the phone would be disconnected only a few months after the NBN was available, and in any case, well before the renovations were to be finished. So we had to do something. I switched both the phone and the internet to NBN (with ISP Internode), and told Optus to go jump. I since see that they are being prosecuted by ACCC for fraudently telling customers they would be disconnected by the statutory period had expired! My three separate experiences with Optus have all been bad. I don't know why they survive. Perhaps because Telstra is so bad?

I took advantage of the fact that our rented house is only 2 doors up the street from the renovations. With the permission of the intermediate neighbour, I ran a cat5 cable along his back fence, connecting number 5 with number 7, and we ran our internet connection via this.

I mentioned Telstra. We paid for a premium cable connection ($140/month) into our rented house, and found it worked well enough. It runs at 113 Mbs download, but only 2 Mbs upload. Contrast this with the Internode NBN connection which supplies 93 Mbs download and 29 Mbs upload, a 6 Mbs improvement for $40 less! ($100/month)

Now! We are back in our extensively renovated house, and have rationalized the systems somewhat. The house computer has been restored (as a new Raspberry Pi 4 system), along with the irrigation systems and the chook house door. The chook house door has been re-instated, and can be controlled remotely through wired connections (manual pushbuttons), or through the house computer. Our internet connection is now via NBN and Internode, and works well enough, although it is no faster than the old Telstra cable we had in the rented property. We still don't have a fixed telephone landline, and are unlikely to see that reinstated.

This page is copyright, and maintained by John Hurst.		459 accesses all since 23 Feb 2022
Local servers: Localhost Newport Burnley Jeparit Reuilly Spencer (accessible only on local network.) Public Web Servers: ajhurst.org ajh.co ajh.id.au (not all may be active.) Dynamically generated at 20231203:1921 from an XML file modified on 20231124:1551, by index.py version 1.6.3.