Windows Vista x64 and Fujitsu Hardware

No x64 SupportOké. I have this Fujitsu Lifebook E8310 from work (we're not allowed to use Apple hardware :( ). This piece of hardware was released with an OEM version of Vista Business, but work-related circumstances forced me to install Windows XP at first. Now about 1.5 years later I wanted to try the included Vista Business version, and since I have 4GB RAM I installed the x64 version. What's the use of the additional RAM otherwise?

B.t.w., you may see this as an addition to this posting about Windows 7.

Installing Vista Business x64 isn't the problem (so this is no rant against Microsoft), but trying to get every piece of (integrated) hardware to function properly is something completely different. Vista is on the market for ages (or so it seems), and still NO decent driver and application support for the x64 versions (example 1, 2, 3 of an endless list). What the f#ck is wrong with hardware (and software) developers? 64bit (client) computing is available since the release of Windows XP. Every new piece of WINTEL hardware released in the last two years has (multiple) 64bit cores or CPU's.

x64 Operating Systems mean that you have more memory at your disposal to do bigger (memory consuming) tasks. Windows-based 32bit systems can only address up to  3.2GB of memory.

As long as this will continue to stay this way, I'll continue to rant about this, and personally not buying (or advice) any more WinTel hardware (or software).

Windows 7 First Impression

Am I growing a cynic, or is this a case being an Apple 'fanboy'? Even though I think I'm open-minded in the world of Operating Systems, I seem to be less and less fond of the latest Microsoft CLIENT Operating Systems. Note the all caps 'client' word. I have no problem whatsoever with the server versions (so far).

Today I installed Windows 7 Enterprise (MSDN edition) on a spare SATA disk in my work laptop (Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook E8310). Initially installing the OS wasn't the problem. The bad things happened when I wanted to install the drivers and work-related software.

I must note that this review might not be very representative. My experience with Vista is about 8 hours total, and as you will find out later on; Windows 7 added about 4 hours today.

Anyway, back to the 'review';
The installation takes (almost) no user input whatsoever. Only things the OS needs to know are;

• clean install or upgrade
• regional settings
• username with a password

The first time Windows booted, I was already getting annoyed with the bouncing / rotating balls in the boot splash screen. They could have used the resources for creating this (either in functionality development ($$$) of the OS, or in speeding up booting the system) for booting faster instead of using CPU-cycles.

For comparison; Apple has a tiny spinning wheel to indicate that the system is booting, no splash screen, and is less expensive (probably $29 USD for an upgrade).

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Juniper NSMXpress 'Fun'

Today was one of those days. First the two NSMXpress appliances failed yesterday (version 2008.2r2). No way of connecting the client gui. The webinterface and SSH connections worked fine though. Picked one up for examination, and since I had some *cough*good*cough* experiences a while back I assumed the latest software had some undocumented bug.

A back to factory defaults (version 2007.3r1) worked fine, but due to certain hardware the 2008 version was needed. So I upgraded the appliance (again) and found (while waiting) that the security certificate, used between the NSM server and the client gui, had expired on Juli 20th, 2009....... So someone forgot to update the certificates in the 2008.2r2 software.
After fixing that, the client gui worked like a charm.

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Dilemma Gigantica

Oké. At the moment I run a server at home. This server runs several services which I need (at the moment). These services include:

• File sharing
• Web server (mostly for testing and development, since this website is hosted @ Dreamhost.com SquareSpace.com)
• *cough*Download station*cough*
• Mail Server (serving several personal domains)
• SSH Server
• Local onsite backups

All this runs on an old (especially in IT terms) PC with Windows. The CPU and other peripherals sucks in electricity like you've never seen before (it's an old AMD Thunderbird CPU from the early overclocking days -> 2000/2001). Apart from being old, it's also responsible for about 70% of my energy bill (a 'rough' estimation). Besides that, it's also responsible for permanent subtropic temperatures in my study.

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Data Robotics Drobo Review

About a month ago, I bought a Drobo to expand my hard disk storage. Normally you would buy an additional hard disk to add storage. Problem with that is that those drives will eventually fill up with all sorts of important information.
Every time you add or replace disk you need to move data around, which takes a lot of time.

The Drobo is an external enclosure which holds up to 4 SATA disk drives. The enclosure can be connected via FireWire800 or USB2.0, and is seen by the OS as a removable drive.

Your data stored on the drobo is secured when you use 2 or more drives. 1 disk drive is used for redundancy. So if one drive fails your data is still there.

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Unibody MacBook Memory Upgrade

My MacBook shipped with the standard 2GB of memory. I had the idea of adding the additional 2GB myself since Apple charges you more money than needed. Downside is that the new MacBooks are kinda sensitive about the memory you use. Regular Kingston / Sandisk memory could result in kernel panics (or other strange behaviour).

After some googling I read some forum posts on OCZ memory and the new aluminium MacBooks. Today I added 2 * 2GB of OCZ memory to my MacBook, and it runs fine (at the moment).

As long as there aren't any updates on this post it probably means that I'm not having any problems with the new memory.

Memory details:

OCZ SO-Dimm 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-8500, 1066Mhz

Update on OSX GPS Logging Software

It's been a while since I used the MTK software for getting GPS logs from my QStarz GPS BT Q1000 travel recorder. This weekend I was surprised to see that the developpers had updated the application interface (among other things). The new version is a JAVA applet, which can be installed in your Applications folder, or it can be run online ('no' installation required).

No installation is not entirely correct, because you still need the USB drivers AND you need to create a directory and set certain filesystem rights.

In short:

• Install the required USB drivers for OSX
  
• Create the required directory by entering the following commands in the Terminal.app

sudo mkdir /var/lock
sudo chmod 777 /var/lock

It's possible that there's a prompt for an admin password.

• Run the Application (or install it).
  You need to trust the signed JAVA application. If you don't, the application will not run.
• Launch the application and switch the GPS logger on (log-mode)
• Press connect, and you're good to go.

I'm definitely looking forward to the maps integration (development version only at this moment).

Panasonic Lumix LX3 Annoyance

The LX3 is in my possession for a couple of weeks, and last weekend I noticed something annoying. When I imported the photos in Adobe Lightroom, some of the photos were imported as RAW, and some as JPG.

By default I set my cameras on RAW (if they support it). When I purchased the LX3 there was no RAW importer for Lightroom or Photoshop, so I shot in RAW+JPG. This way I could see the photos and could work with the RAW files when a proper RAW converter (Adobe Camera RAW) cae along.

I checked the format settings and these were set at RAW, so where did those JPG's came from?
After some searching I found that the iA mode of the camera (intelligent Auto) decides which image quality setting to use. Something I didn't find in the manual (or I read over it).

Anyway, it's annoying as hell.

Cloning and Exchanging MacBook Hard Disk

Recently I bought a new MacBook (late 2008 edition). Since Apple charges the world for options I got the cheapest one available, and decided to upgrade the hard disk and/or memory when I saw the time fit. Well, that time has come.

Today I got a new Western Digital Scorpio Black 7.200rpm 320GB (WD3200BJKT) for €85.00 to replace the default 160GB 5400 rpm drive.Even though the risk is minimal, there's always the risk of screwing things up. So ...

CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

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SSH Connection to Juniper Devices

While in the mids of my Juniper exam preparation I ran into a problem with my Apple equipment. Managing the Juniper firewall (SSG5 in this case) with SSH was not possible from OSX. The connection itself would work, but after entering the password the connection was closed by the remote host (the firewall).
Trying this from a Windows laptop (with SecureCRT) everything worked as expected.

Some searching revealed that this is an OpenSSH bug. To manage your Juniper with SSH from OSX you need to add a parameter to the ssh command (or edit the SSH config file).

Parameter to add:

-o ControlMaster=auto
e.g. ssh willem@127.0.0.1 -o ControlMaster=auto

Or add the following line to the global SSH config (/etc/ssh_config) or the user config (~/.ssh/config).

ControlMaster auto

Juniper has a knowledgebase article (KB12409) on the issue.