More and more hosting providers are moving to FTPS to replace FTP. But there are several aspects of modern networks that make using FTPS more challenging than FTP or the other alternatives.
Problems with FTPS? (FTP-SSL, TLS, etc)
January 6th, 2010Why were Athlon/VIA systems so notoriously flaky back in the day?
July 31st, 2009I remember fondly the NASDAQ bubble days, when it seemed like everyone was upgrading their PC every six months to be able to do useful and fun things, like play the newest 3D games (or to take advantage of the emerging high-speed internet without being slowed down by the piles of cable/DSL ISP crapware that came on the modem install CD).
Back then, custom PC shops competed with the big-box system builders by offering cheaper AMD Athlon based systems that frequently outperformed the much more expensive Intel Pentium III based systems, especially when unlocked and overclocked. But a common thread in the day was debating whether a motherboard with an Athlon CPU and a VIA chipset would be stable enough for the customer’s needs, or if his system should be specified with an Intel CPU and a 440BX based motherboard instead.
Hardware choices for my retro-utility/gaming rig
July 7th, 2009What hardware goes into a machine that exists for the purpose of interfacing with old hardware and software?
Notes on programming Creative Sound Blaster series ISA cards
July 6th, 2009In the world of PC hardware, Sound Blaster cards were the market leader in terms of install base. There are three different types of Sound Blaster cards which interest us. The types are derived from the BLASTER environment variable from DOS. We discuss the non-Vibra and non-PCI types only, because compatibility with software written for the standard “classic” Sound Blaster series was really suffering with PCI and Vibra.
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Why doesn’t Slackware run on my old 386?
July 6th, 2009It might seem like a laughable question. After all, who uses a 386 anymore? Well, one reason might be for integrating legacy industrial hardware with newer technology. Or utilizing legacy PC hardware for which a modern equivalent does not exist.
In any case, it is common knowledge that the Slackware kernels up to and including version 8.1 were compiled as 386 kernels. But in Slackware 9.0 and later, the kernels are compiled as 486 kernels, with the exception of the lowmem.i kernel.
How to change encryption type on your encrypted LVM
June 28th, 2009If you are like a lot of users who were “early adopters” of Linux disk encryption, you probably installed with the aes-cbc-essiv encryption scheme, which is decent, but not as secure as the new aes-xts-plain encryption method.
There is a helpful post on the Ubuntu bugtracker explaining how to install Ubuntu with i.e. XTS support. Unfortunately, this does not help a user who wishes i.e. to change encryption methods while upgrading his hard disk.
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VirtualBox eats excessive CPU, up to 100% usage
May 24th, 2009If your VirtualBox guest operating system is eating excessive CPU on the host, perhaps causing your laptop fan to spin up and excessive heat to be generated, you may try this list of ways this can possibly be fixed.
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Steps to test silver bullion coins for fakes/counterfeits
May 11th, 2009There are currently a lot of fake silver coins making the rounds on Craigslist and Ebay. Most risky buys are uncirculated U.S. silver dollars (circulated are OK) and 1 oz silver bullion rounds. If buying used, it is best to buy from a seller with uniformly positive feedback and to pay with a credit card so that the transaction can be reversed directly. If buying new, there is no reason not to go straight to APMEX or a similar mint and purchase silver rounds from them. If you join their mailing list and wait for specials, you can get rounds for as cheap as $0.99 over the spot price of silver.
If you have bought something that you are suspicious of, here are all the tests I know of that you can use to make up your mind to send it back or not.
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Why does my Antec case not support high speed front USB operation?
May 2nd, 2009On a 2004 vintage Antec SX series case, I was surprised to find out that while the rear ports on the motherboard supported high speed USB 2.0 operation, the front ports limited the USB device (iPod) to USB 1.1 speed (“full speed”). I checked and rechecked the wiring.
I came across the following posts which described a similar problem, USB 2.0 devices are unable to connect to the front ports or simply don’t work. This is due to a no-connect pin being connected to the front USB panel. The solution is to remove the header pin or cut the wire going to that pin.
Then I found the solution to my precise problem: USB 2.0 devices only work in slow speed on the Antec cases. The solution is to remove and bypass the filter circuit on the small board containing the front USB and firewire ports! It looks like Antec may even offer a free upgrade of the front USB board to one that operates correctly with USB 2.0 devices, so it doesn’t hurt to ask at Antec’s tech support site.