IDE Card - Day 2

This morning was the first chance I've had to work on the IDE card in several days. I didn't make much progress, but I did rule out things.

I tried booting while disconnecting the original drive and/or the CD ROM, and after changing the IDE channel on the new card. I also tried disabling the onboard IDE. No luck.

There aren't any jumpers on the new card, nor is there any sort of configuration utility that would be used to change settings. This tells me that the card has no user configurable options. It's either installed or not. (My inexperience with hardware in general and PCI in particular is holding me back here.) Also, I checked the Promise Technology website for info. I found a few BIOS updates that address very specific problems, a FAQ, and an email address for support.

In order to keep from spinning my wheels on this for the next month, I sent a request for help to the support email. Here's the text:

Hello,

I'm trying to use an Ultra133 TX2 in a Compaq Presario 5030. During bootup, I see the drive detection successfully find my Western Digital 250GB drive. Next, the message IDE Bus Master Enabled is displayed. After that, the machine locks.

If I disconnect the drive from the Ultra card, the detection process correctly reports no drives, and the boot process continues as normal.

I'm not trying to setup the new drive as the boot disk, instead using the original drive attached to the onboard IDE.

I've tried disabling the onboard IDE, disconnecting the original drive and/or CD ROM, and changing IDE channels on the Ultra card, all with no success.

Any suggestions?

We'll see how they respond.

In other news, the install of Age of Mythology went well, and it looks great. Now we have to figure out how to run a LAN game. My son can get the online multiplayer mode to work, but we haven't yet figured LAN play. No big hurry.

I'm Not Alone

I was searching around for help with my IDE problems, and I found another who is using a Compaq Presario 5030 with Linux. (Plus, he has this cool cutaway drawing of the machine) He's not using a PCI IDE card, so he's not having trouble with the drives. He also seems to be using it as a desktop. Apparently, the onboard sound is working, which I never was able to do with Mandrake 9.0.

The reason I was searching around is that I'm trying to find others that have installed an IDE controller in a Compaq Presario (no luck). The card's documentation states that I need PCI 2.1 or 2.2. Since I see the card's BIOS messages come up at boot time, I'm guessing that the PCI slot is OK, but it would be nice to confirm it.

I haven't worked on the problem since my last post, but I hope to today.

The Cards Have Arrived - And The Fun Begins

The video and IDE cards arrived today. Naturally, I decided to install them both.

The video card went in easily. I actually read the instructions before beginning the job. I installed the card, ran the install program, and configured the resolution. It works just fine. Tomorrow, my son will try to install his game (Age of Mythology) to see if it will run. The old ATI card didn't have enough memory for the game to operate, but this 128 MB card has much more than the 16 MB required.

The IDE card is new territory for me. The Compaq Presario motherboard only supports Ultra33 speeds, while the card will work with drives that talk Ultra133 - as does my new 250 GB drive. I still want to boot from the 7 GB drive and use the big drive for data only.

Once again, I read the instructions, and installed the drive and card. I left the drive jumpered as cable select. When I started the machine, the new card's BIOS came up, and it detected the drive with 232 GB capacity. Sounds good so far. Then, the message 'IDE Bus Master Enabled' came up, and everything stopped. I waited for a while. The Compaq boot screen never appeared.

After nothing happened, I powered down, unplugged the power on the new drive, and restarted. It came up on the existing drive as normal. The instructions suggested that I load the driver in Win2K if I wanted to boot from the existing drive, but I think it refers to when the boot drive is moved to the new controller. (I can't do that because the cables won't reach around the power supply, which is found in the middle of the case.) I installed the driver, shut down, reconnected the power connector to the new drive, and restarted. It hung again in the same spot.

I'm done for tonight, but I will try a couple of things tomorrow:

• Leave the power connected on the new drive, but disconnect the IDE cable. Will had mentioned that maybe the power supply wasn't sufficient to handle the extra drive. If it boots with the drive connected to the power supply, that probably isn't the case.
• See if I can boot from the CD-ROM (using the Mandrake CD) or a floppy. Is this a hard drive issue, or is it just hanging on the new drive? (I don't think this will do much, since I never even see the Compaq boot page.)
• Try the same thing in the previous step with the old drive disconnected. (Not sure what this will show, but it covers the bases.)

We'll see what happens.

Cards are Ordered

I ordered a couple of cards yesterday.

First, the IDE interface for the server that you've been hearing so much about. I'm itching to get going with the Linux server - installing Samba, IMAP, etc.

Also, remember I mentioned that the video card for my new desktop wasn't working? Well, I ordered an ATI Radeon 9200SE based card with 128MB of video RAM for that machine. Among other things, it includes a DVI output along with VGA and S-Video. It could, at some point, attach a 2nd monitor.

They are due to be delivered on Wednesday.

Link to Me!

When I enter Linux Server Diary in Google, this page doesn't show up the results. Even in quotes, it brings up a blog index I signed up with instead of the blog itself.

It would help if all (3) of my readers could add this page as a link on their page. I'll be happy to reciprocate. Leave a comment with your URL, and I'll put it up.

Blogger Export

I know this is off the subject, but I've been thinking about what to do with this diary in the long term. I can leave it up on Blogger as long as it lets me, but how can I get a copy to keep locally?

Can Blogger output an XML formatted document that contains the postings, along with other attributes? I wonder if fancy template tricks could be used to facilitate this. I may do a little research at lunch to see what I can find.

UPDATE: (5 minutes later)
Well, it didn't take me long to find some information. Blogger offers advice on saving a backup, although it is not in XML format. This Radio Userland post show an XML version, but it doesn't include many of the attributes available. We can also convert from Blogger to MT using a PHP include. This is interesting in that it modifies the archive template and not the main one.

It seems that most of the pages I've found are concerned with converting from one platform to another. I'll keep looking.

Not a Waste of Time

One could say that, after reading this web log, that it is a extreme waste of time - mine while writing it, and yours when reading it. However, I disagree.

By including my notes on research and installation, log of steps taken, and description of successes and failures, I've created a useful information store. I've already referred back to earlier posts several times as I've experimented. I haven't had too many readers so far, but I hope that my experiences will help someone else with their project.

Also, having this diary online let's me reference it from anywhere - without having to carry around a notebook (paper or computer). I've been doing much of my web searching at work during lunch, and it helps having everything at my fingertips.

One thing I haven't figured out yet is how to search this blog for info. Blogger offers a search box on the top of the page, but it seems to point to Google and not my pages. I may try the Google desktop tool for this.

Since I'll be transferring software for the next few days, posts may be infrequent. Please feel free to use the Blogger provided ATOM feed to watch for new posts. I'm a big user of RSS/ATOM feed through Bloglines. It keeps track of your feeds on the web, so you can access from where ever you are.

UPDATE: The current version of Google desktop search only indexes Internet Explorer viewed pages. So my Firefox or Mozilla usage is not included. Hopefully, they'll expand it at some point.

I See 250 GB

Well, actually 232 GB.

Anyway, I stumbled upon a Microsoft post outining the steps need to make Win2K see a drive bigger than 128 GB. It worked just fine.

That completes my experiments to ensure that the 250 GB drive is working. I'll pick up the new IDE card on payday (10/29) and begin to work on the new server. In the meantime, I need to transfer/re-install all of my software from the Compaq to the new desktop. So far, I've installed the digital camera software (which I can't download from Canon. I have to have the CD - which I don't!), Firefox/Thunderbird, and various communication programs (VNC, PUTTY). Next, will be the several photo manipulation programs I use, followed by MS Office.

BIOS Flash

Yesterday, I attempted to flash the BIOS on the motherboard of my new desktop machine. (Remember, the goal was to realize the entire 250GB capacity of the hard drive destined for the file server.) I had read the instructions last week when I downloaded the file, and I felt I was ready to go. Using the Q-flash feature in the BIOS setup, I loaded the latest file - version FB.

After booting up and entering setup, everything was unchanged, except that no IDE devices were found. I tried the auto configure feature, but it kept coming back NOT INSTALLED.

Next, I tried an earlier version. I was at v.F6 before I started, so I grabbed v.F7 (the oldest available) and loaded it. No change.

Finally, I decided that drastic measures were called for, so I went back to the instructions page. On my son's machine, it came up in Chinese characters! Not very helpful.

Along with the BIOS image, each download included a flash program. After making a boot disk on an ME machine, I booted to a floppy and ran the flash program. This time, when rebooting, the machine automatically asked to enter BIOS setup. It found the 80GB drive and DVD-ROM drive, and marked the 250GB drive as AUTO. (the other changes I had made to the BIOS earlier - disable the onboard sound, date and time - were lost and had to be reset.)

After I saved an exited, the PC booted and showed a 250GB drive in the primary slave position. However, in Win 2000, it still shows 128 GB.

My long term goal is to use this big drive in my Compaq running Linux as a file server/mail server. The suggested IDE card may be the solution that will allow that machine to access the entire capacity. Since I'm waiting until payday before ordering anything, I have a little more time to research things. I've found that Linux should support the card, and I'm almost confident that the card will work with the drive. I'll keep looking around for information, and as always, I'd love suggestions and stories from readers.

Enough With The Fetchmail Already!

I've been cruising the Linux help boards to see how others have setup Fetchmail for multiple users. It seems that most users are dealing with several external accounts but just one local user. I hope to set it up to grab messages from accounts belonging to each member of my family, and route the messages to each user's local mailbox. We're not sharing external accounts, so there isn't any reason to setup rules to route things. I've found a couple of ways to do this:

1. Setup a .fetchmailrc file for each user in the corresponding /home directory.

   This is good because each user can enter his/her own password information - keeping them all separate. Also, I don't have to be the "Emperor of Email" - having to e in charge of setups and changes.
   
   The down side is that each user has to run a separate copy of Fetchmail to get his/her mail to arrive. To have things startup at boot time, each user will need entries in rc.local (or whatever you use to startup programs) or setup a separate CRON job.




2. Setup one file to hold all Fetchmail configuration

   This file would be either /etc/fetchmailrc or /root/.fetchmailrc. I'm not sure which since this is what caused all of my troubles earlier.
   
   The pros: I don't have to rely on less experienced users to set things up correctly. As much as I don't want to be in charge of everyone's email, the reality is that most of the family members don't know or care how email works. They just want the messages to show up in the email client. If I were using option #1, I'd have to login as each person and setup the configuration.
   
   Also, the Fetchmail daemon mode will work with this config setup. No need to issue the command at each boot, or to have a CRON job (which I have no idea how to setup - another post...). This is the method I have been using on my current system.
   
   Cons: All of the passwords are kept in one file. Sure, it will only be visible to root, but it still doesn't seem to be good security practice. I'm sure at some point my kids won't want me to know their passwords, so some accounts will be left out of the system.

I think that I may have convinced myself to use option #2 - at least for now.

This post on Linux Questions outlines a setup very similar to mine. The author would like to use the individual user .fetchmailrc files and have the Fetchmail process start at boot time. So far, there have been no helpful suggestions.

New IDE Controller Card

My new best friend Will has offered a suggestion to help with my hard drive troubles. My Compaq 5030 won't support drives larger than 128GB. He tells me that an IDE Interface Card should help.

I've been reading about these cards, and it seems that the card will support higher capacity drives than the BIOS on the motherboard (which doesn't seem to be updatable). Someone let me know if I'm way off on this.

I'm not that worried about the other problem - the system rebooting shortly after loggin in to Win2K. I'm thinking that it is a conflict between the HD and the optical drive. On my list of things to do is to disconnect the CD and drive the HD by itself on that IDE connection. I put the drive into my desktop machine, and it worked fine. Although, it only shows 137GB. I've downloaded a BIOS update for that machine and plan to flash it today.

Thunderbird is Easier

I just used the Multiple Identities user interface in Thunderbird 0.8. It is much easier than the file editing I had to do with Mozilla Mail 1.7.

The Hard Drive Saga Begins

The two hard drives arrived on Monday. I installed the 80GB drive in the new client machine without incident. I've installed Win 2000 on it for now, but I'd still like to get XP Pro installed before I get too far into software installs.

The 250GB drive for the server hasn't gone quite as well. The documentation packed with the drive warned that the BIOS in older machines may not recognize the full capacity. When I plug it in, the BIOS settings are automatically set for a 128GB drive - just over half. Then, about 45 seconds after I login to Windows, the machine reboots. If I disconnect the drive, things come up fine.

I'm not sure how to proceed. I'm wondering if the problem is hardware related, or Windows related. For the latter, I could install Linux and see what happens. I may try disconnecting the CD-ROM, which is on the same IDE controller, and try to bring it up. Another option is to put the drive in the desktop machine as a 2nd drive and see how it works.

I'm finding no help on the Compaq web site, and the Western Digital site is "rebooting". They want to come back in a few minutes.

So, I guess I'll be back in a few minutes.

I Figured It Out

After running fetchmail with --configdump, I noticed that the output referenced the /root folder. I found a copy of .fetchmailrc that was apparently being used. I renamed it, and the incorrect deliveries stopped. I now have a .fetchmailrc file in my home directory. I started fetchmail under my user (instead of root), and it read that file and things are great!

One question, if I have more than one user that wants to use this function, would each create his own .fetchmailrc file and then run a separate copy of fetchmail? I think that's why I had the /etc/fetchmailrc file with all of the users mail account information.

For now, I only have two users, so it's not a big deal. I'm just happy that I've solved the mystery.

More on Fetchmail

(Recap: I'm trying to change where fetchmail sends my incoming mail - directing all to one user mailbox instead of four. After changing the configuration file, some messages still arrived in the old mailbox.)

I found something interesting yesterday. I had remembered that in addition to /etc/fetchmailrc, fetchmail commands can also be left in individual config files named .fetchmailrc (remember that the period in front of the name makes it a hidden file) found in each users' home directory. I didn't find any of those, but I found one called .fetchmailrc~. The tilde (~) on the end indicates that this is a 'before' file saved by emacs. This file held commands to redirect messages from the two accounts that have been giving me trouble to the old mailbox. Could this be the problem? I renamed it and waited for the next cycle for fetchmail.

As I would expect, there was no change. The fetchmail manual states that the program should reread the config each time it runs, but I'm just not seeing that happen. I rebooted the server.

After reboot the messages from one of the new accounts now went to the new destination! Apparently, the file with the tilde at the end of the name was still being read. Still, mail from one of the accounts is still going to the old mailbox, and I can't find why. I looked for hidden files in all of the home directories, but found none. Once again, I may give up for now, and just tackle this on the new server.

OK! I just retested, and mail from both accounts is now going to the old mailbox! I had it working once!! So much for the tilde idea. I'm noticing too that messages from my other servers (other than hotpop.com) are not longer begin retrieved. Running fetchmail with the --configdump option shows only the hotpop.com accounts setup. There's got to be another configuration file somewhere that is being used. I GIVE UP!!!

Linux Bootleggers

This article discusses how 4 out of 5 PCs sold with a linux operating system will run a bootleg copy of Windows:

"System integrators put Linux on as a way of staying legal and avoiding Microsoft," ... even though they later install a pirate Windows or know the end user will.

Implement the Multiple Identity Setup

Now that the test of Multiple Identities was successful, it's time to implement. (This is going to be a documentation post - no interesting plot twists. Non-tech heads may wish to skip this post.)

Saturday

7:13 pm

Modify the /etc/fetchmailrc file to point the messages from all of my accounts to one user.

7:16 pm

Restart fetchmail so that it reads the new configuration.

fetchmail -q
fetchmail -d900

7:19 pm

Send some mail to each account, wait 15 minutes and see where the messages are routed.

7:50

Not working yet. The message to the main account was received fine. Two others are going to their original account, and two more haven't appeared anywhere.

I'm wondering if the service isn't really stopping. After issuing the -q command, the process is shown as dead with the subsys locked. I'm going to reboot the system (I'm such a Windows guy!)

Obviously, I need to learn a little more about how to restart or kill a daemon process.

8:05

Dog walk and web surf break

9:01 pm

It seems to be working now - except for one. The messages for that account are not being picked up off the POP server. There's nothing different in /etc/fetchmailrc. In fact, two of the other accounts are on the same server, and they are working fine.

9:24 pm

I stopped and restarted fetchmail again - this time using the --syslog option so that I could see potential errors in the log. As soon as I restarted, the abandoned messages appeared - still in the wrong folder. In the error log, all of the other accounts at that server had "socket errors". Maybe it was the POP server that was having trouble - not me. Now, if I only new why they were still going to that old user.

9:29 pm

I've just sent out another round of test messages. Let's see what happens...

9:58 pm

Fetchmail ran at 9:50, and one of the five messages in the latest test has arrived. Once again, syslog showed socket errors for the other addresses at one of the servers. I've just got to be patient

Sunday

3:24 pm

I don't know what's wrong with fetchmail. Every time it runs, I see the "socket error" message in syslog, and no mail is downloaded. It only happens on the hotpop.com accounts - others have no error. However, I'm not getting any mail from any account, even though my test messages are still waiting. I tried reordering the poll commands in /etc/fetchmailrc so that the hotpop.com accounts were handled last, but the errors continue. Next, I'll remove the accounts on that server from the file completely to see if the other accounts will still work

3:30 pm

OK. So I'm really getting frustrated by my inability to cause this application to stop. All I want it to do is reread the configuration file. I'm going to reboot the server again, and I'm not even embarrassed about it!

9:30 pm

After removing the hotpop.com accounts from /etc/fetchmailrc, and rebooting the server, the mail from the other accounts came in fine.

I think that it may be time to rethink my plan. With the new disk drives coming today, it doesn't make a lot of sense to setup the current desktop and server, since they will both be replaced. Instead, I'll add the hotpop.com accounts back to the config file at the end, reboot the server yet again, and come back to this later.

Stay tuned.

How Easy Was That?

Worked on the 2nd try!

One hint: Only open and edit the prefs.js file while Mozilla is NOT running. When Mozilla exits, it overwrites the file, so your changes will be lost.

When I compose a new message, the FROM: dropdown includes my new identity. Plus, I never noticed before that I could add the recipient column to the message list window, so I can see who the message was sent to.

Now, I can drop back to having just one linux account, and fetchmail can put all of the mail in one box.

Still no idea how the webmail system will handle this. I'll try it now.

I found a multiple identity section in the Personal Information section of Options. I tried to add a new one, and received a security error. I think that I need to look at the permissions on the config files on the web server. I'll save that for another day. I don't use webmail very often anyway.

Multiple Identity Support

A little searching around, and I find that Thunderbird supports Multiple Identity Support. Also, I see that Mozilla 1.7 offers it as well. While v1.8 Alpha includes a user interface, v1.7 requires some tinkering in a configuration file.

I'll try it out and see what happens.

Multiple Email Accounts - How Do I Do It?

I'm trying to work out my email configuration. As long time readers know, I have an old PC repurposed as an IMAP server. I have four logins on the server, and each is used to catch email via Fetchmail. On the desktop machine, I use Mozilla Mail with an acount setup for each (Personal/family email, junk address, e-commerce address, school address). A fifth account in the client hooks to my work mail server. I also get to my email via my webmail setup (SquirrelMail - It's Webmail for Nuts!) that's hosted on my work web account.

I do this not because I need to keep the messages separate, but because I want to be able to choose which is used as the FROM: address when sending mail. I'd like replies to go to whatever address the message came TO:, and I should be able to choose the FROM: address on a new message.

The personal is just used for family and close friends (no spam here). The e-commerce address is used when buying things online and registering at trusted sites (like newspapers). The junk address can be used anywhere where I think the address may be sold or grabbed for spam use. The school address keeps me from having to give my students the personal address - just in case one gets pissed at me and sends it out.

Do I have to do it this way? Is there a way to be able to send out from any of several addresses while the mail sits in just one mail account on my server? I would have to be able to see the FROM: address on each incoming message - similar to the way Outlook can be configured to show any of a long list of columns.

Let me know how you have handled this issue.