User:Tonyr/Journal/Nov07 - Revision history

Tonyr: /* 21Nov07 */

2007-11-22T19:15:36Z

21Nov07

Tonyr: /* 21Nov07 */

2007-11-22T19:05:57Z

21Nov07

Tonyr: /* 21Nov07 */

2007-11-22T19:04:47Z

21Nov07

Tonyr: /* 21Nov07 */

2007-11-22T19:00:02Z

21Nov07

Tonyr: /* 21Nov07 */

2007-11-22T18:58:13Z

21Nov07

Tonyr: /* 21Nov07 */ yet more dump

2007-11-22T18:56:24Z

21Nov07: yet more dump

Tonyr: /* 21Nov07 */ corrections

2007-11-22T01:39:41Z

21Nov07: corrections

Tonyr: /* 21Nov07 */ more dump

2007-11-22T00:41:20Z

21Nov07: more dump

Tonyr: /* 21Nov07 */ still more brain dump

2007-11-22T00:18:56Z

21Nov07: still more brain dump

Tonyr: /* 21Nov07 */ more dump

2007-11-21T19:58:46Z

21Nov07: more dump

@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 * Procedures for the Cube, G4 iMac LCD (the 'Dome'), Mac mini (yeah, we actually got one of those one time) are undefined.  Those models are hard to work on; memory and HDs are tested in place if at all possible.
 * Procedures for laptops are completely undefined.  If they work, great. If not, they go into cryogenic storage in the hope that expertise and cures will be available in the future.  iBooks and PowerBooks have a variety of construction/take-apart configurations. Expansion memory and Airport cards are easily accessible, the rest is usually a PITA.  There are take-apart guides for the eMacs on the OSX iMac.
-* MacBuild has not been rebuilding G3 towers.  There is virtually no market for them.  All of the ones on the shelves in the warehouse should be recycled.  There is one in use in the MacBuild area that should stay there until somebody can replace it, retaining the data.
+* MacBuild has not been rebuilding G3 (Blue&White) towers.  There is virtually no market for them.  All of the ones on the shelves in the warehouse should be recycled.  There is one in use in the MacBuild area that should stay there until somebody can replace it, retaining the data.
-* Some Macs come DVD-RW drives in the original configuration. Note that, in my experience, the '-' (minus or dash character) is key.  These drives only work with DVD-RW media, '''NOT WITH DVD+RW MEDIA''' (emphasis mine).  FG does not seem to have any DVD-RW media, so on these drives DVD-RW functionality cannot be tested.  Fortunately they also have CD READ and CD-RW capability, which can be and is tested.
+* Some Macs come with DVD-RW drives in the original configuration. Note that, in my experience, the '-' (minus or dash character) is key.  These drives only work with DVD-RW media, '''NOT WITH DVD+RW MEDIA''' (emphasis mine).  FG does not seem to have any DVD-RW media, so DVD READ/ERASE/WRITE functionality  cannot be tested on these drives.  Fortunately they also have CD READ and CD-RW capability, which can be and is tested.  DVD WRITE can be tested with DVD-R media, but that would be wasteful.  DVD READ can be tested; I use the movie DVD, and look at it in a Browser.
 * The iMac on the stand in the far corner of the MacBuild area has OSX installed.  It has a DVD Writer and CD Writer attached.  There is documentation on various Mac models there in folders on the desktop, including take-apart manuals for a lot of models.  There are CD and DVD images in a folder there, too, PPC bootable installers and standalone Linux rescue CD images and whatnot.
 * MacBuild sets the system clock explicitly before doing the install.  I have been using a Finnix CD, which is a customized version of a Knoppix rescue CD.  The Finnix CD image for burning is in a folder on the OSX Mac Desktop.  There are several versions I think, and the author occasionally releases new versions.  There are existing finnix CDs in the various CD collections in the MacBuild area.  I suspect that some of them are getting too scratchy to work anymore.

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 * There are build procedure documents in '''svn''' in the '''deadtrees''' project.  The two existing ones are something like ''iMacProc'' and ''iMacSWProc''.  Sources are .odt.  Printables are .pdf.  OpenOffice will generate PostScript through the 'Print' function, but I didn't discover that until   later.  The first one is a physical build procedure for the 'colorful' iMacs, those spacey bubble things.  The other one is the network software install procedure.  There isn't one for Towers; I haven't gotten around to creating it yet.  The tower process differs only slightly: towers are a lot easier to open and work on, but get a lot dirtier on the inside.  The Fan and the CD/ZIP cage have to be removed for proper cleaning.
 * Procedures for the Cube, G4 iMac LCD (the 'Dome'), Mac mini (yeah, we actually got one of those one time) are undefined.  Those models are hard to work on; memory and HDs are tested in place if at all possible.
-* Procedures for laptops are completely undefined.  If they work, great. If not, they go into cryogenic storage in the hope that expertise and cures will be available in the future.  iBooks and PowerBooks have a variety of construction/take-apart configurations. Expansion memory and Airport cards are easily accessible, the rest is usually a PITA.'  There are take-apart guides for the eMacs on the OSX iMac.
+* Procedures for laptops are completely undefined.  If they work, great. If not, they go into cryogenic storage in the hope that expertise and cures will be available in the future.  iBooks and PowerBooks have a variety of construction/take-apart configurations. Expansion memory and Airport cards are easily accessible, the rest is usually a PITA.  There are take-apart guides for the eMacs on the OSX iMac.
 * MacBuild has not been rebuilding G3 towers.  There is virtually no market for them.  All of the ones on the shelves in the warehouse should be recycled.  There is one in use in the MacBuild area that should stay there until somebody can replace it, retaining the data.
 * Some Macs come DVD-RW drives in the original configuration. Note that, in my experience, the '-' (minus or dash character) is key.  These drives only work with DVD-RW media, '''NOT WITH DVD+RW MEDIA''' (emphasis mine).  FG does not seem to have any DVD-RW media, so on these drives DVD-RW functionality cannot be tested.  Fortunately they also have CD READ and CD-RW capability, which can be and is tested.

@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 ==21Nov07==
 ''Re-Entry Time, Good-bye for now''<br>
-I gotta go back to the real world.  Got a job programming.  There are, of course, hundreds of loose ends here.  I'll mention those I can recall, and update as other things occur to me.
+I gotta go back to the real world.  Got a job programming.  There are, of course, hundreds of loose ends here.  I'll mention those I can recall, and update as other things occur to me.  A lot of this material is probably mentioned elsewhere in this [[User:Tonyr/Journal|Journal]].
 * Ubuntu support for PowerPC is all but non-existent.  The Gutsy release has some major bugs that are apparently not being paid attention to by anyone with the wherewithal to implement fixes.  Feisty works, but has no long term support.  Edgy and Dapper were insufficient to cover all of the Mac models that FG has been rebuilding.  If MacBuild survives, FG needs to seriously consider some other distribution for PowerPC platforms, Debian maybe.
@@ Line 43: / Line 43: @@
 * There is not a lot of storage area in Mac Triage.  Things that come to the Mac Triage (incoming) should be dealt with daily: triage, recycle, save in warehouse.
 * Don't keep any of the older laptops/notebooks (140,160,190,1400,5400, etc), the black or gray squarish bulky things.  Recycle them: remove the battery, Hard Drive and LCD display.  Hit the Hard Drive with Mr. Smackey the Hammer and take it to Small Parts Disassembly in the warehouse.  Put the display in the Gaylord in the corner by the Black Hole.  Put everything else in the Laptop Everything Else Gaylord at the end of the Monitor Testing Station.  The battery should be recycled in the conventional way, using the Battery Recycle boxes that FG is supposed to have for that purpose but never does because the outfit that recycles the batteries gives FG four at a time and the are filled up right away so there are never any around.  Somebody oughta do something about that.
-* About the time that the white iBook came out, Apple started using a different kind of modem, reported to be a softmodem with a Conexant chip that requires a proprietary driver.You know how Ubuntu feels about proprietary drivers.  Ubuntu willnot discover the modem on such machines.  The ones I know about are iBooks and PowerBooks, later digital-audio G4 towers, Quicksilver and Mirror Drive Doors towers, G4 iMacs.   There is nothing FG can do about this.  The user can purchase, download and install a driver, but FG can't help.  It is also reported that an external hardware modem can be made to work, but I haven't tried that, nor have I tried to install the proprietary driver.
+* About the time that the white iBook came out, Apple started using a different kind of modem, reported to be a softmodem with a Conexant chip that requires a proprietary driver.You know how Ubuntu feels about proprietary drivers.  Ubuntu will not discover the modem on such machines.  The ones I know about are iBooks and PowerBooks, later digital-audio G4 towers, Quicksilver and Mirror Drive Doors towers, G4 iMac Flat Panel, and maybe eMacs, too.   There is nothing FG can do about this.  The user can purchase, download and install a driver, but FG can't help.  It is also reported that an external hardware modem can be made to work, but I haven't tried that, nor have I tried to install the proprietary driver.
 * Feisty installation can be accomplished with a PPC Alternate Install CD, or over the network.  I had to modify the network installation stuff a lot,  that being apparently an early casualty in the evaporation of Ubuntu PPC support.  The result of my modifications are in a folder on the Desktop of the G3 (Blue&White) tower station.  The folder is named '''ubuntu_ppc_netinstall''', or something like that.  I may have modified the copies that are over on glacier and failed to update the local copies.
 * And speaking of glacier, vagrant set up dhcp service and tftp service on glacier to support netboot/installation for Macs.  For some lame reason the boot files have to be at the top of the tftpboot directory ''glacier://var/lib/tftpboot'', so he made links there to the real files which are down a rabbit hole (uh make that directory sub-tree).
 * Netinstallation uses a preseed file.  The only way I could make it works was to add the file ''preseed.cfg'' to the top directory of the ''initrd.img'' used for the netboot portion of the net installation.  That file is currently a CRAMFS filesystem, but that's a whole 'nother story.  Vagrant suggested that ''preseed.cfg'' could be web-served to avoid having to rebuild ''initrd.img'' whenever the preseed stuff had to be changed, so there is a directory ''glacier://var/www/preseeds/ppc/feisty'' (I'm pulling this from memory, caveat emptor) where the preseed file could be placed if anybody can ever make that work.  I couldn't, and I spent a considerable amount of time trying.  Some things about ''yaboot'' and its configuration file are severely hobbled, and seeing fixes from the community does not seem likely at this point.
 * For pricing I have been using [http://www.terapeak.com http://www.terapeak.com].  It provides a search on completed ebay items over the last 7 or 30 days, with links to the found items.  I think it's a little handier than the ebay search thingy.

@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 * Ubuntu support for PowerPC is all but non-existent.  The Gutsy release has some major bugs that are apparently not being paid attention to by anyone with the wherewithal to implement fixes.  Feisty works, but has no long term support.  Edgy and Dapper were insufficient to cover all of the Mac models that FG has been rebuilding.  If MacBuild survives, FG needs to seriously consider some other distribution for PowerPC platforms, Debian maybe.
-* There are build procedure documents in '''svn''' in the '''deadtrees''' project.  The two existing ones are something like ''iMacProc'' and ''iMacSWProc''.  Sources are .odt.  Printables are .pdf.  OpenOffice will generate PostScript through the 'Print' function, but I didn't discover that until   later.  The first one is a physical build procedure for the 'colorful' iMacs, those spacey bubble things.  The other one is the newtwork software install procedure.  There isn't one for Towers; I haven't gotten around to creating it yet.  The tower process differs only slightly: towers are a lot easier to open and work on, but get a lot dirtier on the inside.  The Fan and the CD/ZIP cage have to be removed for proper cleaning.
+* There are build procedure documents in '''svn''' in the '''deadtrees''' project.  The two existing ones are something like ''iMacProc'' and ''iMacSWProc''.  Sources are .odt.  Printables are .pdf.  OpenOffice will generate PostScript through the 'Print' function, but I didn't discover that until   later.  The first one is a physical build procedure for the 'colorful' iMacs, those spacey bubble things.  The other one is the network software install procedure.  There isn't one for Towers; I haven't gotten around to creating it yet.  The tower process differs only slightly: towers are a lot easier to open and work on, but get a lot dirtier on the inside.  The Fan and the CD/ZIP cage have to be removed for proper cleaning.
 * Procedures for the Cube, G4 iMac LCD (the 'Dome'), Mac mini (yeah, we actually got one of those one time) are undefined.  Those models are hard to work on; memory and HDs are tested in place if at all possible.
 * Procedures for laptops are completely undefined.  If they work, great. If not, they go into cryogenic storage in the hope that expertise and cures will be available in the future.  iBooks and PowerBooks have a variety of construction/take-apart configurations. Expansion memory and Airport cards are easily accessible, the rest is usually a PITA.'  There are take-apart guides for the eMacs on the OSX iMac.
@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 * MacBuild sets the system clock explicitly before doing the install.  I have been using a Finnix CD, which is a customized version of a Knoppix rescue CD.  The Finnix CD image for burning is in a folder on the OSX Mac Desktop.  There are several versions I think, and the author occasionally releases new versions.  There are existing finnix CDs in the various CD collections in the MacBuild area.  I suspect that some of them are getting too scratchy to work anymore.
 * There is not a lot of storage area in Mac Triage.  Things that come to the Mac Triage (incoming) should be dealt with daily: triage, recycle, save in warehouse.
-* Don't keep any of the older laptops/notebooks (140,160,190,1400,5400, etc), the black or gray squarish bulky things.  Recycle them: remove the battery, Hard Drive and LCD display.  Hit the Hard Drive with Mr. Smackey and take it to Small Parts Disassembly in the warehouse.  Put the display in the Gaylord in the corner by the Black Hole.  Put everything else in the Laptop Everything Else Gaylord at the end of the Monitor Testing Station.  The battery should be recycled in the conventional way, using the Battery Recycle boxes that FG is supposed to have for that purpose but never does because the outfit that recycles the batteries gives FG four at a time and the are filled up right away so there are never any around.  SOmebody oughta do something about that.
+* Don't keep any of the older laptops/notebooks (140,160,190,1400,5400, etc), the black or gray squarish bulky things.  Recycle them: remove the battery, Hard Drive and LCD display.  Hit the Hard Drive with Mr. Smackey the Hammer and take it to Small Parts Disassembly in the warehouse.  Put the display in the Gaylord in the corner by the Black Hole.  Put everything else in the Laptop Everything Else Gaylord at the end of the Monitor Testing Station.  The battery should be recycled in the conventional way, using the Battery Recycle boxes that FG is supposed to have for that purpose but never does because the outfit that recycles the batteries gives FG four at a time and the are filled up right away so there are never any around.  Somebody oughta do something about that.
 * About the time that the white iBook came out, Apple started using a different kind of modem, reported to be a softmodem with a Conexant chip that requires a proprietary driver.You know how Ubuntu feels about proprietary drivers.  Ubuntu willnot discover the modem on such machines.  The ones I know about are iBooks and PowerBooks, later digital-audio G4 towers, Quicksilver and Mirror Drive Doors towers, G4 iMacs.   There is nothing FG can do about this.  The user can purchase, download and install a driver, but FG can't help.  It is also reported that an external hardware modem can be made to work, but I haven't tried that, nor have I tried to install the proprietary driver.
 * Feisty installation can be accomplished with a PPC Alternate Install CD, or over the network.  I had to modify the network installation stuff a lot,  that being apparently an early casualty in the evaporation of Ubuntu PPC support.  The result of my modifications are in a folder on the Desktop of the G3 (Blue&White) tower station.  The folder is named '''ubuntu_ppc_netinstall''', or something like that.  I may have modified the copies that are over on glacier and failed to update the local copies.

@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 * Ubuntu support for PowerPC is all but non-existent.  The Gutsy release has some major bugs that are apparently not being paid attention to by anyone with the wherewithal to implement fixes.  Feisty works, but has no long term support.  Edgy and Dapper were insufficient to cover all of the Mac models that FG has been rebuilding.  If MacBuild survives, FG needs to seriously consider some other distribution for PowerPC platforms, Debian maybe.
-* There are build procedure documents in '''svn''' in the '''deadtrees''' project.  The two existing ones are something like ''iMacProc'' and ''iMacSWProc''.  Sources are .odt.  Printable is .pdf.  OpenOffice will generate PostScript through the 'Print' function, but I didn't discover that until   later.  The first one is a physical build procedure for the 'colorful' iMacs, those spacey bubble things.  The other one is the newtwork software install procedure.  There isn't one for Towers; I haven't gotten around to creating it yet.  The tower process differs only slightly: towers are a lot easier to open and work on, but get a lot dirtier on the inside.  The Fan and the CD/ZIP cage have to be removed for proper cleaning.
+* There are build procedure documents in '''svn''' in the '''deadtrees''' project.  The two existing ones are something like ''iMacProc'' and ''iMacSWProc''.  Sources are .odt.  Printables are .pdf.  OpenOffice will generate PostScript through the 'Print' function, but I didn't discover that until   later.  The first one is a physical build procedure for the 'colorful' iMacs, those spacey bubble things.  The other one is the newtwork software install procedure.  There isn't one for Towers; I haven't gotten around to creating it yet.  The tower process differs only slightly: towers are a lot easier to open and work on, but get a lot dirtier on the inside.  The Fan and the CD/ZIP cage have to be removed for proper cleaning.
 * Procedures for the Cube, G4 iMac LCD (the 'Dome'), Mac mini (yeah, we actually got one of those one time) are undefined.  Those models are hard to work on; memory and HDs are tested in place if at all possible.
 * Procedures for laptops are completely undefined.  If they work, great. If not, they go into cryogenic storage in the hope that expertise and cures will be available in the future.  iBooks and PowerBooks have a variety of construction/take-apart configurations. Expansion memory and Airport cards are easily accessible, the rest is usually a PITA.'  There are take-apart guides for the eMacs on the OSX iMac.

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:41, 22 November 2007
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	* Don't keep any of the older laptops/notebooks (140,160,190,1400,5400, etc), the black or gray squarish bulky things. Recycle them: remove the battery, Hard Drive and LCD display. Hit the Hard Drive with Mr. Smackey and take it to Small Parts Disassembly in the warehouse. Put the display in the Gaylord in the corner by the Black Hole. Put everything else in the Laptop Everything Else Gaylord at the end of the Monitor Testing Station. The battery should be recycled in the conventional way, using the Battery Recycle boxes that FG is supposed to have for that purpose but never does because the outfit that recycles the batteries gives FG four at a time and the are filled up right away so there are never any around. SOmebody oughta do something about that.		* Don't keep any of the older laptops/notebooks (140,160,190,1400,5400, etc), the black or gray squarish bulky things. Recycle them: remove the battery, Hard Drive and LCD display. Hit the Hard Drive with Mr. Smackey and take it to Small Parts Disassembly in the warehouse. Put the display in the Gaylord in the corner by the Black Hole. Put everything else in the Laptop Everything Else Gaylord at the end of the Monitor Testing Station. The battery should be recycled in the conventional way, using the Battery Recycle boxes that FG is supposed to have for that purpose but never does because the outfit that recycles the batteries gives FG four at a time and the are filled up right away so there are never any around. SOmebody oughta do something about that.
	* About the time that the white iBook came out, Apple started using a different kind of modem, reported to be a softmodem with a Conexant chip that requires a proprietary driver.You know how Ubuntu feels about proprietary drivers. Ubuntu willnot discover the modem on such machines. The ones I know about are iBooks and PowerBooks, later digital-audio G4 towers, Quicksilver and Mirror Drive Doors towers, G4 iMacs. There is nothing FG can do about this. The user can purchase, download and install a driver, but FG can't help. It is also reported that an external hardware modem can be made to work, but I haven't tried that, nor have I tried to install the proprietary driver.		* About the time that the white iBook came out, Apple started using a different kind of modem, reported to be a softmodem with a Conexant chip that requires a proprietary driver.You know how Ubuntu feels about proprietary drivers. Ubuntu willnot discover the modem on such machines. The ones I know about are iBooks and PowerBooks, later digital-audio G4 towers, Quicksilver and Mirror Drive Doors towers, G4 iMacs. There is nothing FG can do about this. The user can purchase, download and install a driver, but FG can't help. It is also reported that an external hardware modem can be made to work, but I haven't tried that, nor have I tried to install the proprietary driver.
		+	* Feisty installation can be accomplished with a PPC Alternate Install CD, or over the network. I had to modify the network installation stuff a lot, being apparently an early casualty in the evaporation of Ubuntu PPC support.