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Quorten Blog 1

First blog for all Quorten's blog-like writings

pip proxy and certificates

quorten

2019-06-19

Categories: unix   python  
Tags: unix   python  

How do you use pip behind an HTTP proxy that is used via an explicit proxy server name? Simply set the http_proxy environment variable to the name of the proxy server, and it will run through that alright. The http_proxy environment variable also works for apt-get and apk.

20190618/DuckDuckGo pip http_proxy stackoverflow
20190618/https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14149422/using-pip-behind-a-proxy-with-cntlm?noredirect=1

What if you need a custom certificate to be accepted by pip? Use the --cert command line option.

20190618/DuckDuckGo chenghlee.com pip –cert digicert
20190618/https://chenghlee.com/2014/06/18/using-pip-with-an-alternate-ca-bundle/

Bi-directional communication on a parallel port

quorten

2019-06-18

Categories: dos   windows   unlipic  
Tags: dos   windows   unlipic  

The Art of Assembly Language book, Borland C/C++ compilers, and the DJGPP compiler provide ample documentation and functions for parallel port output. But what about parallel port input? Here I go a-searching the Internet to find the pertinent information.

20190617/DuckDuckGo dos read input from parallel port
20190617/http://electrosofts.com/parallel/
20190617/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_port

Well, as it turns out, input is easy to do, just make sure to set bit 5 of the control register, then you can read and write the port both ways from the data register, as indicated in the following table.

Register LPT1 LPT2
Data register (Base Address + 0) 0x378 0x278
Status register (Base Address + 1) 0x379 0x279
Control register (Base Address + 2) 0x37a 0x27a

Well, apparently Borland C/C++ does include functions for parallel port input. Look toward the outportb() inportb(), outport(), and inport() functions.

AX.25 and the node package is for amateur radio packet networking

quorten

2019-06-18

Categories: home-network  
Tags: home-network  

You know that interesting other radio package that use to be named node that was conflicting with tme modern booming Node.js developers? Here is the article on the subject, and indeed those amateur radio people are quite geeky compared to modern web devs.

20190617/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AX.25
20170617/DuckDuckGo debian node amateur
20190617/https://packages.debian.org/jessie/node

SLIP and TFTP are really easy to implement and use

quorten

2019-06-18

Categories: unlipic   home-network  
Tags: unlipic   home-network  

The name of the article says it all. SLIP framing is just a few characters to mark the end of packets and escape special characters. It can be implemented using only a few really simple functions given in the RFC.

20190617/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_Line_Internet_Protocol
20190617/https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1055

Let’s show off the Linux-side administration with a quick example.

slattach -p slip /dev/ttyS0 &
ifconfig sl0 192.168.10.2 pointopoint 192.168.10.1
route add 192.168.10.1
route add default gw 192.168.10.1

Obviously, only set the default gateway if the remote end has IP forwarding enabled and another interface that connects to a larger network.

20190617/DuckDuckGo linux slip
20190617/http://tldp.org/LDP/nag2/x-087-2-slip.operation.html

That being said, I should consider implementing it inside of my miniature virtual Unix I am building. Then I can also implement TFTP, which is also really easy and simple to implement.

Read on →

Run Linux on an Xbox 360

quorten

2019-06-17

Categories: unlipic  
Tags: unlipic  

So, as a continuation of my tiny libc project, I would really like to be able to test running my code on a PowerPC architecture. Lucky for me, the Xbox 360 uses the PowerPC architecture, which is more easily accessible hardware than some older PowerPC platforms like late-generation Macintoshes. But, the first order of business is to be able to run Linux on the Xbox 360. Surely, that should be easy, as Xbox is a more open platform than the other gaming consoles. Unfortunately, it isn’t easy as the original Xbox, but it’s still doable, sometimes. So long as you’re not upgraded to the latest Xbox kernel software, you should be good.

20190616/DuckDuckGo run linux xbox 360
20190616/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free60
20190616/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360

Some random mutterings on how to recreate a toy version of the hodgepodge of technology I used at one workplace

quorten

2019-06-16

Categories: ansible   random-software  
Tags: ansible   random-software  

Here are some random mutterings on how to recreate a toy version of the hodgepodge of technology I used at one workplace. There are some good things in concept, that perhaps should be demoed on a smaller scale. There are, of course, many bad proprietary things that could and can be replaced with more open or more industry standard solutions. I’ll have to revisit this later to create some working demo code to play with.

  • Toy IaC Ansible Jenkins Testinfra “in-a-box.” Playbooks? Red Hat generic, IPv4, IPv6, dual stack, MHVTL, build, test, NIS server, ““mega filer,” “eng” intranet web server, Windows server, HyperV MSSQL, Ruby on Rails build & test job submission, nginx load balancer, PostgreSQL DB, dashboarding, Prometheus, Grafana, AlertManager, CoreOS Kubernetes host, Django metrics, microservice visualization, test suite reporting library, test results analysis tools, intranet name server and router, deployment automation.

  • Important! Build stage 1 templates minimal completely automatically, via PXE boot and kickseed. matchbox.

  • Also support SUSE SLES and OpenSUSE. Also need a resource reservation and dynamic deployments. Must integrate Debian package building system and other improvements, support multi-arch. Full support for cross compiles. Support Drone container native pipeline.

  • What are the proprietary components that have been excised? VMware ESXi and VCSA, ElectricFlow, Coverity.

Installing new electrical boxes on an existing finished drywall?

quorten

2019-06-16

Categories: home-network  
Tags: home-network  

So, there is a place where I want to add a new electrical box so I can bring in a new Ethernet port. Alas, I think this through, and is this really possible what I want to do? I’ve seen references in other places to using drywall mounting screws instead when the wall is already all finished off.

Well, let’s see. Indeed, there are quite different methodologies to installing electrical boxes depending on whether your drywall is already up or not. If it is, there are old work boxes that use a special drywall clamping mechanism. New work boxes screw to a stud. So, suffice it to say, you can install an electrical box where there is an existing finished wall, but doing so really isn’t that much different than using drywall mounting for the keystone jack face plate only.

20190615/DuckDuckGo install a new electrical box into existing drywall
20190615/https://www.thespruce.com/install-electrical-box-in-an-existing-wall-3970042

Office Wi-Fi access points

quorten

2019-06-16

Categories: home-network  
Tags: home-network  

Office Wi-Fi access points? What kind of wireless access points are typically used in offices? Well, I haven’t been through very many offices, but the few that I have been through, they all looked rather similar in design, so surely they must be from the same manufacturer. Indeed, I spied on one such access point, and it clearly said “Cisco.” Also, from what I know about these offices, they buy all their office equipment from CDW wholesaler or the like.

So, with that information in mind and some basic web searching, this is what I found.

20190613/https://www.cdw.com/search/Networking-Products/Wireless-Networking/Wireless-Access-Points/?w=N23
20190613/https://www.cdw.com/product/cisco-aironet-1142-controller-based-wireless-access-point/2875911?pfm=srh

Bought from CDW wholesaler, Cisco Aironet 1142 Controller-based-wireless access point is a popular model. Check Cisco’s site for tech specs. Pretty conventional hardware, but sold at a high price. A little higher-end, though.

20190613/https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/aironet-1130-ag-series/datasheet_c78-502793.html

Libre RISC-V M-Class -- Competitive Progress

quorten

2019-06-16

Categories: raspberry-pi   unlipic  
Tags: raspberry-pi   unlipic  

So, I was wondering about the status of EOMA 68 Earth Friendly Computing Devices. Unfortunately, there have been no updates on that project.

20190615/https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates

On the other hand, the Libre RISC-V M-Class does have an interesting update. They’re making progress fast on the design of the processor. Implementing CDC 6600 enhanced scoreboarding the turned out to be easier than expected, overall. With all the progress being made, the resulting design could just as well end up being competitive with those of the giants of the industry.

That would be very interesting, but at best, I would assume it make take a few generations of this processor design before that happens.

20190615/https://www.crowdsupply.com/libre-risc-v/m-class/updates/first-nlnet-grant-approved-to-fund-development

Front panel control switch discussion, and TV Typewriter

quorten

2019-06-15

Categories: unlipic   computer-history   tour-de-force  
Tags: unlipic   computer-history   tour-de-force  

There’s more than one way to build a front panel control switch. A front panel control switch is one level up in sophistication above the absolute lowest layer, a patch panel used to wire together functional units or define memory tables, like was done on the ENIAC.

The oldest way to design a front panel control switch is to use a series of switches and lights to set both the address and data, or view the data contents at a particular address. Slightly better is to provide a means to auto-increment memory addresses.

Read on →