Vat of Knowledge

Had to finally step it up and get familiar with what has been in use since 2006.  Wow, late bloomer eh?  My company would not step up with 64 bit hardware, but that’s still no excuse.  Any 64 bit machine with a copy of VMWare will do nicely.

I’m running VMWare ESXi 4, the free version.  I started by building out a Windows Server 2008 NON-R2 Enterprise server, updating it, sysprepping it, and copying it.  Exchange 2007 can deploy on R2, but it’s such a pain, just use NON-R2, trust me, you’ll be glad you did.  Save R2 for Exchange 2010.

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On my Moto Droid, every since 2.1, just hold down the center gold key to copy/paste from fields.  Use the shift key and your finger to select and copy text to the clipboard.

To turn off your phone, hold down the power switch for a second or two and go into airplane mode.

I wanted to pass this info along, and rather than stealing this blogger’s info and re-posting it here, here is a direct link on how to accomplish this.  Thanks so much Clement!

http://d3planet.com/rtfb/2009/10/10/add-nas-folders-to-windows-7-libraries/

I recently found that the N version of Win 7, was a UK released version that is stripped of Windows Media Player.  A lot of talk about this subject, and I found no answers for a bit until I searched Google properly.  Here’s a direct link to WMP for the N version:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=31017ed3-166a-4c75-b90c-a6cef9b414c4&displaylang=en

I’ve been a long time fan of BulletProof FTP server.  I recently ran into some issues with my passive mode configuration, and wanted to share what I had to do in order to get it working both on the internal network, as well as the external.

I left the default port, 21, open on my firewall to my FTP server.  Probably not a recommended practice, as you see all kinds of IP scans, and people trying to get into your FTP server.  Probably best to choose a different port to host your home FTP server with, but 21 makes it easier in a business environment, since it’s the default port.  I personally have a static IP address, so under the general settings/passive mode in BPFTP settings, I chose static.  If you have dynamic, just use dynamic and type in your dyndns.com name you’ve got set up (I hope).  When using passive mode, you also need to define a range of ports to listen on.  Set this range with the maximum number of connections you anticipate.  I chose range 50000 – 50100.  I opened this range on my firewall, but from the outside world, I still had trouble getting a list of the directories.  I had no problem logging in, I just couldn’t get a listing, getting error:

(000001) 12/21/2009 4:27:27 AM – ew (24.251.156.85) > LIST -aL
(000001) 12/21/2009 4:27:33 AM – ew (24.251.156.85) > 426 Cannot retrieve. Failed. Aborting

With port 21 already open, and port range 50000 – 50100 open to my FTP server, I had to do one final thing.  Open port 20.  It’s a control port, so whatever port you choose for FTP, also open one port down on your firewall, and you’re in business.

I’ve been working with WSS 3.0 a lot lately, so I wanted to post some of the things I’ve come across so I can get back to them easy.

Renaming the Sharepoint Server

1. Change alternate access mappings in Central Administration
   1. Central Administration > Operations > Alternate access Mappings

   2. Edit each mapping so that it reflects your new server name
      1. Ensure port numbers are the same

2. Use stsadm renameserver operation

   1. stsadm -o renameserver -newservername <newname> -oldservername <oldname> 

3. Rename Server
   1. My Computer > Properties > Computer Name (tab) > Change (button)
   2. Type in new name of server
   3. Reboot server

So, after the fiasco with AT&T, we switched to Verizon and got the Moto Droid. Finally moved away from the Blackberry after a good number of years, and gotta say I’m lovin Android. Phone rooted, currently using Ultimate Droid 9.0 with Chev’s low voltage 1.25 Ghz kernel. Running Android 2.1 on this build, and very stable so far. I tried out the Cyanogen 5.0.5.3 and 5.0.5.4. The only problem I saw was in answering phone calls. I swipe to answer, and nothing. This has turned up on UD 9.0 as well, so it looks like a more universal problem. I may try restoring to factory, which could help with issues like this. It has actually been posted as a bug on the Cyanogen site. Some sites of interest:

www.androidspin.com
www.androidforums.com
www.xda-developers.com

More sites coming, have more links over on the desktop.

I want to start by saying that I’ve had the pleasure of working with ATT for the last 5 years. While they’ve had “decent” service, I still drop calls in the middle of downtown Seattle, downtown Bellevue, etc, just unacceptable.

We ordered a new Motorola Backflip, the first Android O/S phone that ATT has released. It released April 7th, and we ordered that afternoon online. The ads are everywhere, front page of ATT’s site, TV ads… $99 after mail in rebate with a new 2 year contract. So we ordered, and here’s the kicker. On the invoice we saw “not eligible for mail in rebate”. ??? The orders get placed through the Premier site, so I had to contact Premier to find out why. The answer was that we upgraded the phone only, not the phone and a voice plan. What? Ok, we already have the unlimited voice @ $69/mo, what more do we need here? Come to find out, it is invalid, because it just requires a $39 voice plan, but Premier would not budge on it!

Be careful how you order!!! Going into a store may be the best way to do it, or ordering by phone with a representative. Another thing that gets to me is how they bill for the phone. You can’t simply have it added to your bill if you are a residential (or whatever the term is) customer. I am also the telecom manager at work, and I can have handset purchases billed to my account all day long. I’ve been a “residential” customer longer than my company has had ATT service. My company only hosts 5 phones! What’s the difference here?

Ok, so I call in to order another Backflip, I guess I’m a glutton for punishment. Ordering for my workplace, so billing to the account is no problem. I called in, and was told that they would wave the activation fee and give me an additional $50 off. I had to get manager approval, so after that I call back in. The guy on the phone is trying to get $149 out of me right off the bat, even though I informed him of the huge TV ads, and front of their website. I was told “it might not be available in your area”. What? Its a national freakin ad! He looked into it a bit further and I only paid $49. So there you have it, call in or go in. And don’t let them try to weasel their way out of their promotion!

Edit: The Backflip is not only crippled, its seriously hardware impaired. I took them both back, moved to Verizon and got Moto Droids for $100 each!

OK, so this blog is about why you don’t want to TOUCH an E-Machine!  I ended up doing some work for a client, reloading an E-Machine model C2881 that he handed me.  Installed was 512 MB of RAM, and after loading XP SP3 and all updates along with removing all the crap that E-Machines puts in their Ghost image (imagine software from 2004 staring you in the face), and loading a couple of simple, newer, open source programs, the thing is running like a 286 SX-25 loaded with Windows Vista.

More RAM, obvious, that and streamline startup.  OK, so startup is streamlined, and I used CPU-Z to look at the memory clock so I don’t have to open it up.  It uses DDR 2700, great, I know what kind of RAM, but how much will the system handle, so I can send a link to my client to purchase some memory?  Off to www.emachines.com (or whatever their site is).  I pull down the user manual, which has no tech specs.  I look on their page where they claim “specifications”, but it just tells you what the stupid thing shipped with, 512 MB DDR.  So I have to pull up a chat with their support, and get this, max memory is coveted!  Trade secret from what I was told, take a look at the chat session and see how long it took me to get through to this guy.  So here is the secret, in all it’s glory, available for all the world to see.

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