A few weeks ago, a friend asked me what the problem might be when all browsers stop working. More specifically: Whenever they tried to launch either Microsoft Edge or Mozilla Firefox, they only got an error message saying they didn’t have sufficient permissions. It was a strange error – why would permissions suddenly be missing after years of trouble-free operation?

After some back-and-forth, we managed to install a new version of Mozilla Firefox with step-by-step phone instructions and finally installed AnyDesk using a working browser, which allowed me to take a look at the problem myself. That’s when a surprise came to light: The PC has been running Windows 8.1 Home, 64-bit, just as it always has!

Having gone without any updates for quite some time (end of life was on January 10, 2023!), the problem ultimately came down to expired root certificates. Continuing to run 8.1 wasn’t a viable option anyway, so I performed an in-place upgrade to Windows 10 22H2 remotely via AnyDesk. That took hours because the factory-installed 3.5″ WD hard drive with 1 TB capacity* is still the boot drive. The already very underpowered fourth-generation dual-core i3 is further severely hampered by the now very limited 4 GB of DDR3 RAM in the form of a single memory module. All in all, a significantly outdated system, but one with the potential to be upgraded very cost-effectively. That’s exactly what I did today, a few days later.

After a deep clean, everything looks so much brighter:

Upgrades

The PC is used solely for viewing photos and occasional web browsing. So there’s no reason to switch to the very latest and most expensive hardware. For a reasonable price, you can still get a lot out of this 2014 Acer Aspire, here’s a comparison of the current components and the planned upgrade:

The UEFI was already up to date; I checked that before taking anything apart. The reason is that newer processors within the same generation are usually only supported by updated microcode in the form of a newer BIOS or UEFI version. The planned i7-4790 is actually a refresh within Haswell-DT, so it’s even newer than the original i7 release models and incompatibilities cannot be ruled out.

Here are the components; everything except the CPU is from my own stash:

Processor replacement

This is incredibly easy thanks to the FC-LGA 1150 socket:

For thermal paste, I used the tried-and-true MX-4 from Arctic* and 99.9% isopropyl alcohol* to clean the components. I added the two new RAM modules, and lo and behold: POST was successful, and it’s running. Everything is recognized correctly in the UEFI. Now I just need to shrink the partitions, clone the hard drive to the SSD, and put everything back together.

Success?

For comparison purposes, I ran Cinebench R23 and the PassMark Performance Test v11.1 on the original hardware at the beginning and then again after the upgrade. Both tests were run on the same Windows 10 Home 64-bit system. This makes it easy to see the performance gains:

The performance gains are consistently very substantial and extremely noticeable. In particular, the integrated graphics unit – which is slightly more powerful in the i7 than in the i3 – benefits further from dual-channel operation with two memory modules (instead of just one as before). However, due to the patches addressing Spectre and Meltdown as well as other factors, the results do not quite match the reference scores. Here are the Cinebench screenshots:

Next, the PassMark results – though, due to a lack of internet connection at the time of testing, these are only available offline:

Last but not least, here is the HWiNFO overview of the respective configuration:

Der Beitrag Acer Aspire XC-605: A Late Upgrade in Times of Skyrocketing Storage Prices erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

Our largest Synology NAS, a DS1819+, is equipped with a PCIe 3.0 x8 expansion slot (electrically connected with four lanes), which, along with its eight 3.5-inch hard drive bays, was one of the reasons we chose this specific model at the time. We purchased our unit right after its release in mid-2019. That was almost seven years ago.

Since then, the RAM has been upgraded from the factory configuration of a single 4 GB DDR4-2133 module to 2 x 8 GB DDR4-2133* modules for a total of 16 GB of memory and dual-channel operation and the storage configuration has been changed several times. Currently, eight 18 TB drives from Western Digital* are installed, which originally came from external 3.5″ WD Elements* hard drives.

By chance, I’ve finally carried out the long-overdue network upgrade:
The original plan was to use one of the compatible Intel network cards as an alternative to the very overpriced Synology-rebranded cards, since these are inexpensive and widely available in used condition. Typical candidates with 10 Gbps over RJ45 (copper) would be the X540-T2* with two ports or the X540-T1* with just one port, or the significantly better but also more expensive X550-T2* or X550-T1*. Both have the well-known issue of running warm to hot. With the X540, instability and crashes are not uncommon without active cooling, especially since it only supports 10, 100, 1,000, or 10,000 Mbps; 2,500 and 5,000 Mbps are missing. The chip is too old for that (these intermediate speeds were only introduced later).

Given these circumstances and the fact that more than 1 Gbit is currently more of a “nice-to-have” than an absolute necessity for us, I have postponed the network upgrade indefinitely.

Until a few days ago, when I spotted the Synology “E10G18-T1*” network card at the bottom of Mindfactorys “Mindstars” section, a single unit for €99 including shipping (Review). Since I’d also had a €50 Mindfactory gift card sitting around for a while, it was clear: €99 for a network card guaranteed to be compatible without any tinkering or issues isn’t a bad deal; the standard price for this model has hovered around €150 since it hit the market. The fact that I ended up paying €49 for it instead made the deal even more irresistible to me. So off I went and bought the card.

It arrived today, fast as expected in its original packaging:

This card is based on the “AQC107” from Aquantia (a networking equipment manufacturer that has since been acquired by Marvell). Compared to older Intel chips, this is a very energy-efficient network controller (~6 watts). However, an even more energy-efficient successor from the same manufacturer is already available: the “AQC113” (~3.5 watts).

100 / 1,000 / 2,500 / 5,000, and 10,000 Mbit are supported, everything you could possibly want.

Overview and RAM

Fully equipped, the DiskStation 1819+ weighs a few pounds, so it’s a good idea to remove the hard drive bays (which are almost prohibitively expensive right now) along with the drives. I combined the upgrade with a cleaning since NAS devices run continuously, they tend to get dusty quickly, and it was time to do it again:

To access the RAM (in my case, for cleaning), you need to turn the DS1819+ upside down. Then, remove two PH2 Phillips-head screws to open the compartment:

Install the expansion card

To access the PCIe slot, the metal cover must be removed. To do this, remove all the PH2 Phillips-head screws circled in red; then slide the metal cover toward the back to unhook and carefully remove it. The Phillips-head screw circled in blue secures the card/slot bracket:

Now the card can be installed very easily:

Finished?

Yes, that’s all there is to it. Now just put everything back together in reverse order, and there you go:

In the network configuration, the additional RJ45 port is now correctly displayed as “LAN 5.” That is the strength of the expansion options offered by Synology itself: plug and play. As an alternative to the model I installed, there are also other options:

Der Beitrag Synology: Upgrade the DS1819+ to 10 Gbps over copper – E10G18-T1 erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

PTM or “Phase Transition Material” has been a recurring topic in the PC industry since at least 2022. Some manufacturers now use it as standard in their products (for example in certain Lenovo laptop models and in servers).

The reason to seek an alternative to traditional thermal paste* becomes particularly apparent in devices with high to very high power density (e.g. modern GPUs): the so-called “pump-out effect” occurs. Due to the cyclic heating and cooling of the silicon, the IHS and the heatsink, the simultaneous expansion and contraction of the material over time forces the thermal paste out, resulting in progressively poorer contact between the two components over time and a decrease in cooling performance.

This is why many recommend replacing the thermal interface material at least once a year if a device runs frequently and at its limits, as cooling performance noticeably and measurably declines. Thermal interface material therefore has the lowest thermal resistance immediately after it has been freshly applied or shortly thereafter. After that, cooling performance gradually deteriorates slightly with each cycle.

The other advantages and disadvantages of common TIMs, including PTM, can also be easily compared in a table:

Just give it a try!

Just like with liquid metal back then, I’ve wanted to try out this PTM from Honeywell ever since I first read about it. The advantages are obvious:

• No pump-out
• Theoretically no future maintenance required
• Slightly better heat transfer than thermal paste
• No risk of short circuits or the high effort necessary for liquid metal (or surface corrosion over time)

There are also some drawbacks, though; for example, you need to run through a few full temperature cycles to reach full performance. That should be the least of your worries, though. It’s also not exactly convenient to use.

I recently purchased two units of the 40 x 40 mm version at a good price from a reputable seller on AliExpress*. This size fits the heatspreaders of all older and newer Intel and AMD desktop processors (but not the large server or workstation CPUs!).

The whole thing came as a set with everything you need:

Intended Use, or: The Victim

Ideally, the PTM would be used with direct-die cooling, meaning the silicon die is in direct contact with the cooler rather than through an additional “Integrated Heat Spreader” (IHS).

Since desktop and server processors typically always come with an IHS, I’ll have to test the PTM in this suboptimal scenario for better or worse:
The processor in the “Küche-PC” – a max overclocked, air-cooled Intel Core i7-7700K – will be the first test subject. First, because I could do without this system if necessary and second because access to the hardware is very easy right now. By running it at the limits of voltage and cooling I should be able to see and measure significant differences, despite the IHS.

First off, it should be noted that this CPU was delidded some time ago, treated with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut* and resealed with Elring Dirko HT* to replace the very poor-quality thermal paste used by Intel at the factory between the die and the heat spreader. I wrote a series of posts back then about the entire “Küche-PC” project, which also describes the delidding process in detail. So this post is about the second interface between the heat spreader and the cooling solution.

Currently, the hardware is temporarily installed in a used Corsair Graphite Series 230T case without any internal fans:

To remove the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE* I had to take out the motherboard – there just wasn’t enough room. As it turns out, that was a wise decision.

Removing the cooler and cleaning it

Now that accessing all the components had become much easier after removing the board, I took out the cooler and carefully cleaned all the parts first dry with paper towels and then with isopropyl alcohol* (instead of the wipes that came with the kit):

Let’s go…

First, I unpacked the entire PTM kit and used a pair of sharp scissors to trim the 40 x 40 mm pad so it would fit the IHS of the i7-7700K a bit better, then I attached one of the included removal aids to one side:

Next, I attached a second peeling aid to the opposite side of the pad, peeled off one layer of film, carefully aimed, and “positioned” the pad on the heat spreader – if you can call it that, since it was essentially just dropped in place and has to stick there permanently because the adhesive bond is very strong right away and the risk of damaging the pad is very high. Then I peeled off the second, upper protective film, where you can see from the slightly damaged corner of the pad that this was anything but easy (second photo, bottom left).

At this point, it would have been advisable to cool the pad beforehand, as is often recommended, but I deliberately wanted to try it without doing so. It worked, but it wasn’t fun. Next time, I’ll cool the PTM for 10 – 15 minutes beforehand. The “holes” were visible air pockets, which I pricked with a needle so I could squeeze the air out:

After that, I carefully reinstalled the cooler, attached the fans, plugged them in and put everything back into the case.

First impression

I actually wanted to start recording with HWiNFO right from the first 45°C phase transition: However, the cooling performance was a few degrees Celsius worse than before, which resulted in several blue screens as soon as the system was under full load. The hottest core reached between 90°C and 100°C; previously, I had never seen 90°C or higher under the same conditions.

So, over the course of two days, I ran 5 cycles consisting of the following steps on the side to get a proper “burn-in” – after all, it’s well known that the PTM7950’s full cooling performance can only be achieved through burn-in:

• 10 minutes of idle time
• 30 minutes of Cinebench R23 Multicore
• 10 minutes of idle time
• 10 minutes of Prime95 without AVX (overclock is not AVX-stable)
• Turn off the PC and let it cool down for at least one hour

In the end, I ran Prime95 without AVX for several hours, and there were no further issues, crashes, or similar problems. This shows how the cooling performance has improved, but also how close this overclock is to its limits, both thermally and in terms of voltage (5.2 GHz under load on 3 – 4 cores, 5.3 GHz under load on 1 – 2 cores at just under 1.40 volts Vcore with air cooling!).

The differences in detail

Before upgrading to the PTM, I used HWiNFO to record several 10-minute runs of Prime95 without AVX, each with a 20-second pre- and post-run to clearly see the ramp-up and ramp-down phases. I repeated this after the upgrade and the burn-in phase. In the end, I selected the most representative and average result from each set of three recorded measurements, and here I am comparing the various relevant values of an MX-4 run (blue) and a PTM7950 run (red). The system was warmed up for at least half an hour beforehand to achieve values that were as close to realistic as possible (Cinebench R23 Multicore, 30 minutes).

The thermal paste* had already been in use for several months at that point but had undergone significantly fewer than 100 cycles. If anything, there shouldn’t be much difference from freshly applied paste, especially since the system is normally operated far from heavy loads. As can be seen in the photos, there was also no significant “pump-out” visible yet (which occurs more frequently and intensely with direct-die cooling anyway).

I created the following comparisons from the graphs generated by HWiNFO logs using “Log Visualizer”:

Temperature comparison of the first core

The three values in the table, from left to right, are: Minimum, Maximum, and Average. The values stated are in degrees Celsius.

Temperature comparison of the second core

The three values in the table, from left to right, are: Minimum, Maximum, and Average. The values stated are in degrees Celsius.

Temperature comparison of the third core

The three values in the table, from left to right, are: Minimum, Maximum, and Average. The values stated are in degrees Celsius.

Temperature comparison of the fouth core

The three values in the table, from left to right, are: Minimum, Maximum, and Average. The values stated are in degrees Celsius.

Temperatures of all cores combined

The three values in the table, from left to right, are: Minimum, Maximum, and Average. The values stated are in degrees Celsius.

Temperature of the entire CPU

The three values in the table, from left to right, are: Minimum, Maximum, and Average. The values stated are in degrees Celsius.

Interim conclusion

Temperatures have improved across the board – slightly but measurably – and are outside the measurement tolerance range. What stands out is the nearly identical temperature distribution across the individual cores, regardless of which thermal interface material (TIM) is used between the IHS and the cooler: The liquid metal* is likely not distributed perfectly even on the die beneath the heatspreader, whether using paste or PTM. Even if it were, exactly identical values are likely never achievable for a variety of reasons, starting with the fluctuating silicon quality even within the die itself.

Next, we’ll move on to comparisons of power consumption and fan speeds.

Total CPU power consumption

The three values in the table, from left to right, are: Minimum, Maximum, and Average. The values stated are in watts.

Fan speeds (2 x 120 mm from Thermalright, PWM)

The three values in the table, from left to right, are: Minimum, Maximum, and Average. The values stated are in revolutions per minute.

Conclusion

Since I’m not testing under laboratory conditions, the measurements won’t be 100% accurate because I can’t control factors like air pressure and room temperature. Nevertheless, I can draw a clear conclusion:

Even when used on a heatspreader, the PTM7950 is at least as good as high-quality thermal paste. In the measurements it was generally slightly better. Of course, there are also significantly more expensive thermal pastes and ones that are at least slightly better on paper than Arctic’s MX-4*. But regardless of which one, my primary goal was to prevent pump-out and, as a result, avoid maintenance on the cooling system (other than regular dusting).

Of course, I can’t say anything about the PTM’s medium- or long-term performance at this point. Also, the product I bought on AliExpress has the correct specs and a genuine-looking Honeywell logo but the pad inside could still be one of the many knockoffs out there now. It’s very hard to verify that with tools at home.

Personally, I’m satisfied with the result; if the cooling performance doesn’t decline, the change to this pad has done exactly what it was supposed to. If the opportunity arises, I’ll eventually apply the PTM to a very high-performance GPU die, where the results should be significantly better, especially in the long term.

Der Beitrag Honeywell PTM7950 – A pad instead of paste or liquid metal? erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

I wonder how many hours people spent playing this simple yet incredibly fun pinball classic from Cinematronics / Maxis back in the Windows XP days?

But let’s start from the beginning – this stripped-down pinball game has a history:
Originally, Space Cadet was just one of three tables in the full-fledged game “Full Tilt! Pinball (1995)” by the American developer Cinematronics, which was acquired by Maxis shortly thereafter. Maxis is best known today for “The Sims” and “SimCity” and was acquired by Electronic Arts as early as 1997.

How did Space Cadet end up in Windows?

First and foremost, this version – which was limited to a single table and otherwise technically stripped-down – appeared on the market as part of the “Windows 95 Plus!” bundle, just as we still know it today. Later, it was re-licensed by Microsoft and included with Windows ME, NT 4.0, 2000 and XP. Personally, I remember it as one of several games included in Windows XP.

Since then, this game has not been included in subsequent versions of Windows – which is a shame, i liked it.

Does it run on modern Windows?

Yes, the game still runs unchanged today on the original systems as well as on Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and 11 – on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the operating system. A port to SDL has also been implemented, so since 2020 you can play this game on many platforms or even in a browser!

You can download the game for example from archive.org in various languages; the “WaveFiles” must also be downloaded separately to get the sound effects. Or you can simply copy the entire game folder from a Windows XP installation to a newer version of Windows, that works too.

Here is the overview page on archive.org: 3D Pinball: Space Cadet (EN/DEU/PL/CS/JP/DA)
Here’s how to combine the files to play Space Cadet in all its former glory:

Step 1: Download the files

Download the two neccessary 7-Zip archives from the link above or from the following direct links:

PINBALL_ENGLISH.7z
WaveFiles.7z

Step 2: Unpacking

WinRAR or 7-Zip is necessary to unpack the archives.
Extract both archives to separate folders using the context menu.

Step 3: Merge sound effects

Copy or cut the entire contents of the “WaveFiles” folder from the extracted archive and paste or move them into the “PINBALL_ENGLISH” folder, which has also been extracted.

There should be 60 wave sounds.

Step 4: Play

Double-click “pinball.exe” to start playing this classic game.
First, the familiar full-screen splash screen appears, and after a few seconds of initialization, the game begins!

Cheats!

Something that used to be relatively unknown: There’s a hidden test mode in this game. To access it, simply type “hidden test” (including the space) into the fully initialized, running game. This unlocks new possibilities:

In addition, instead of “hidden test” you can enter “1max” during the game (as many times as you like) to get an extra ball each time!

Der Beitrag 3D Pinball for Windows – Space Cadet: The favorite among the included games erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

FAT32 is essentially the “standard file system” for many devices, especially embedded and older ones. The Nintendo Wii, for example, only supports FAT32-formatted SD cards, just as many media players (car radios) can only read USB sticks with the FAT32 file system. It has been supported by Microsoft operating systems since Windows 95, but with some limitations – Wikipedia lists these very nicely.

One of these limitations is that Windows only allows formatting with the FAT32 file system for drives with a storage capacity of up to and including 32 GB when formatting via the GUI (context menu in Explorer). Above this, only NTFS or exFAT are offered, both of which are incompatible file systems for many devices.

This is incomprehensible, as significantly larger volumes are supported depending on the selected sector size (up to 2 TiB with the universally compatible standard sector size of 512 bytes!). However, the limitation of individual files to a maximum of 4 GiB cannot be circumvented.

There are several ways…

…to format a drive as FAT32 in Windows anyway. For example, using the command line, where there is no 32 GB limitation:

format S: /FS:FAT32 /Q

format S: /FS:FAT32 /Q

The most convenient way for me so far has been to use a small program from “Ridgecrop Consultants Ltd“: small, free, standalone, and available with or without a GUI.

A description of the application can be found here, and you can download it directly from the developer as a console version here (archive.org). My preferred GUI version is described here (direct download of the EXE, archive.org).

Usage

The application is very easy to use – connect the drive to the computer, ensure that there is only one main partition (Control Panel -> Administration -> Disk Management) and run “guiformat.exe” (as administrator, like requested).

Select the appropriate letter from the drop-down list, set the sector size (for a total size of less than 2 TiB, select 512 bytes to ensure maximum compatibility) and format.
Done!

The file explorer also displays everything correctly as expected:

Der Beitrag Format drives with a capacity of over 32 GB as FAT32 under Windows erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

This “rack-mounted switch for small businesses” from Linksys (then still a Cisco subsidiary) will initially be used temporarily in our home until the network is fully set up. But even later, 48 ports with a maximum of 1 GbE* each will still be useful for a large number of devices. Fortunately, the technical data can still be found at Cisco (archive.org). The user manual is elsewhere also available.

First, the device had to be reset, cleaned, serviced, and reconfigured, as it came from a company liquidation and had been lying around for years (condition unknown). This model series is equipped with “WebView” which allows for convenient configuration via a web browser. Unfortunately, this only works in older browser versions – but at least it works.

Condition

The black plastic front panel is cracked on both sides (this should be easy to repair with superglue*) and the fan(s) have audible bearing damage. After testing all 48 RJ-45 ports, they all seem to work fine with both 100 Mbit and 1 Gbit. I did not test the four SFP ports on the right-hand side due to a lack of modules but these can also “only” handle GbE and share their bandwidth with specific RJ-45 ports as labeled, so they are of little interest at the moment. I have sealed them with 3D-printed PLA caps to protect them from dust (model from Thingiverse by jbanion):

Apart from dirt and scratches, the rest of the device is in relatively good condition; there is no visible corrosion or mechanical damage to the relevant components.

Hardware

Open the device

First, the switch must be opened: this is not as easy as it sounds. The rack mounts are each secured with four PH2 screws on each side and must be unscrewed. Then, using a soft, flat tool such as a guitar pick*, the front panel must be loosened; it is pushed on all around and clipped in place. Next, use a spatula* or a similarly thin but harder tool to gently pry open the gap in the metal housing on one side first; both parts of the housing are held together with metal clips. Work carefully, as the brackets are fragile.

Once the gap has widened, you can work your way across until the entire width is detached. Then do the same on the opposite side, but this is much easier because you can push and press. Finally, pull the upper part of the housing out of the rear plastic cover. It is quite tightly fitted.

Remove the fans

The fans are clamped into special brackets using bent metal: To remove them, it is advisable to use a flathead screwdriver to gently bend up the flat side of the construction (at the edge of the lower part of the housing) and remove the respective fan by tilting it sideways toward the circuit boards.

Unfortunately, all three of the bearings in the installed fans are defective and are not standard components: 40 x 40 mm size with a depth of 20 mm, 5 volts DC with 0.4 watts power consumption, not speed controlled. The OEM manufacturer is Sunon, but the specific model was too expensive for me because it is hardly available and officially only for commercial customers:

As an alternative to the built-in model “KDE0504PKV3”* I used the slightly quieter and significantly cheaper model “MF40200V3-1000U-A99”* also from Sunon. Other fans with these dimensions and specifications are available from Delta Electronics, for example, or from no-name suppliers (not a good idea, as a switch is a 24/7 device!). The replacement I used does not come with a plug, so I simply cut off the plugs from the original fans, soldered them to the new ones, and insulated them (heat shrink tubing*). Here is a comparison of the technical characteristics:

Remove and clean the motherboard

To remove the motherboard, the ribbon cable for console access and the power supply connector (caution: potential residual voltage!) must be removed. Then the three spacers and the remaining PH2 screws must be unscrewed. Now you can remove the circuit board from the lower part of the housing. Here, all components have already been cleaned and are ready for reassembly:

The sticker on the flash chip suggests that this unit was already shipped with the latest firmware version (v1.2.2d) and therefore no update will be necessary.

Configuration?

I connected the SRW2048 via a power cable* to power and to our home network via a network cable* connected to port 1. After several attempts, the switch was not assigned an IP address. I suspected that the integrated HTTP/HTTPS server, which should provide the WebView configuration, was disabled.

This leaves access via the serial console port on the rear panel. This is where the next problem arises: I don’t have the double female DB9 cable (null modem*) that was originally supplied. However, I do have several console cables for newer Cisco switches, which are designed as female DB9 serial to RJ-45. Using an RJ-45 coupler*, I then put together a double female cable:

Next, you need a computer with a serial port (or a serial-to-USB adapter, which I don’t have). The docking stations for the HP EliteBook 8540p have one, so I used mine and installed PuTTY and Tftpd64 (for a possible firmware update that doesn’t exist) on it.

The correct settings are:

Here is a screenshot of PuTTY (only the correct speed needs to be entered):

The initial contact

If the switch is already running and you only establish the connection then, you will initially only see an empty terminal. However, after pressing “Return” you will see that everything is correct and a response will appear:

To access the boot menu and configuration, leave the serial connection as it is and power cycle the switch, i.e., briefly disconnect and reconnect the power. After all LEDs light up briefly as with every boot, you can now watch the firmware POST live and interrupt it with “ESC” to enter the boot menu. This is particularly important if you do not know the access data and want to reset it, or if you are trying to solve other problems:

Once the boot process is complete, you will be greeted with this login screen. By default, the username is “admin” and the password is either blank or also “admin” . In my case, I was able to log in with a blank password field:

Finally, access!

For documentation purposes, I took lots of screenshots of everything, divided into menu categories. Maybe these will help someone in the future figure out what works and what doesn’t. As mentioned before, the latest firmware version v1.2.2d is installed.

System Configuration Menu

System Information

Management Settings

User & Password Settings

This is what it looks like with the default settings.

Security Settings

IP Configuration

Here, “DHCP client” and “HTTP” and/or “HTTPS” must be set to “ENABLE” otherwise no IP address will be assigned for WebView or it will not be available!

File Management

Port Status

You can use the arrow keys to cycle through all available ports.

Port Configuration

Here, too, you can navigate using the arrow keys.

System Mode

Help

Configuration options via WebView

After configuring everything as desired, I restarted the system using the menu option. And lo and behold: the switch now receives an IP address from the router in the network as configured and can also be accessed on this address. However, nothing works in the latest version of Firefox on Windows 11 and the view is very unusable, but in general, “WebView” should now work.

So I booted up the EliteBook with Windows XP and everything works as it should in Internet Explorer 8:

I have also documented the possibilities of WebView below:

Login

Setup

Port Management

VLAN Management

Statistics

ACL

Security

QoS

Spanning Tree

Multicast

SNMP

Admin

LogOut

This should ensure that every configuration option is documented in detail.

Der Beitrag Recommissioning of a 19″ GbE switch: Linksys SRW2048 erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

We have planned and already purchased two generously sized network cabinets (12SZBIT42U88RAGM from ZPAS), each with 42 U of installation space and a width and depth of 80 cm. One is on the ground floor to distribute the “incoming Internet” sensibly (the plan is to use fiber optic from Deutsche Giganetz, which has already been laid and is active, but cables from Vodafone or classic (V)DSL would also be possible, as well as mobile and satellite Internet, which are available almost everywhere) and to create a cool place for the storage servers and NAS.

This article will focus on this very cramped built-in cabinet. The second cabinet will be located in the DG and will be responsible for computing and most of the switching, in a specially partitioned and separately air-conditioned area with more than enough space in every direction.

⧉ IT-Budget

The problem

In Germany there are a multitude of regulations governing virtually everything in the electrical sector, with dependencies on everything else. In some cases, this leads to complicated situations, such as the one described here:

There must be at least 1.20 meters of unobstructed space in front of the main meter cabinet. The same applies to the house connection box (HAK), which, like the meter cabinet and the network cabinet, is located in a room measuring less than 7 square meters. That sounds cramped and it is: the somewhat unfavorable L-shape of the room further exacerbates the problem.

It is not possible to maintain both distances at the same time; unfortunately, in old buildings, you can’t always choose. Since the meter cabinet needs to be accessed frequently and the HAK virually never needs to be accessed, the priorities are clear – but what if you need to create the distance to the HAK (temporarily)?

What to do?

Fortunately, there is an M12 thread at each corner of the base plate of the cabinets, which is even open on the inside and therefore does not significantly restrict the screw-in depth. The network cabinets come with feet for levelling:

⧉ IT-Budget

If I were to install these simple feet* as originally planned, the cabinet, with its considerable weight once fully equipped, would never be able to be moved again. On the one hand, this is good because the Cat. 7A installation cables* are not designed for movement anyway, but on the other hand, it is bad because it would be impossible to move the whole thing temporarily.

There are a variety of casters available as an alternative, with or without brakes, made from a wide range of materials. The simplest solution would be to install casters with M12 threads* instead of the feet. The disadvantage is that these “stand in the floor,” as PVC will be laid in this room and will certainly give way somewhat over time. At the same time, standing permanently in the same position is probably also not particularly good for the casters’ bearings.

It exists, the optimal solution:

After doing some research, I came across several types of heavy-duty casters that combine both:
a caster and a foot, which is even rubberized. The original manufacturer of this type of combination base appears to be G-DOK with the brand name “FOOT MASTER®” (Product overview as PDF, archive.org), with corresponding patents and prices. Since most things are quickly copied these days, it’s not hard to find a much more affordable and equally suitable clone (note the copied but modified “FOOT MASIER” instead of “FOOT MASTER®”):

Von diesem gibt es dann sogar wie im Original noch eine leicht weiterentwickelte Form als Nachbau, u.a. mit Weldinger-Branding* – für diese Variante habe ich mich letzendlich entschieden: Statt sich wie bei ersten Variante mit dem Drehrad zur Höhenverstellung abmühen zu müssen (das mit mehr Gewicht und mehr Standzeit garantiert wesentlich schwerer zu verstellen sein wird) kann man den integrierten Fuß einfach “hoch- oder runterrätschen”, bei hoher Gewichtsbelastung dann auch z.B. mit einem Schraubendreher als Verlängerung zur Kraftverstärkung:

As with the original, there is even a slightly more advanced replica version available with Weldinger branding*, among other offers – I ultimately decided on this variant: Instead of having to struggle with the rotary wheel for height adjustment (which will definitely be much harder to adjust with more weight and after some time), as with the first version, you can simply “ratchet up or down” the integrated foot, and for heavy loads, you can also use a screwdriver as an extension to increase the force:

As with the previous swivel wheel version, the weight rests permanently on the rubberized foot, which in turn can be raised or lowered internally by means of a thread, ensuring that it stands securely. If movement is necessary, all four feet can simply be “ratcheted down” until the roller stands securely and the foot is far enough off the ground.

This was also copied, but not quite as brazenly as the previous version and is marked with “FOOT CASTOR”.

This solution is sold for workbenches and laboratory equipment, but the feet are also very well suited for my intended use. The maximum load capacity of 1000 kg with four feet is also well dimensioned, which is also the limit of the cabinet. The only thing I didn’t like was the yellow color of the hexagon for countering the M12 thread, so I painted it glossy black to match the rest of the foot:

Der Beitrag Casters or feet on network cabinets – why not both? erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

I heard some time ago that a repair café is being organized in Bad Rappenau. However, I didn’t know until now that the initiative has been running since 2023 and that the organizers are a registered association. Initiatives like this can only be supported; far too much is thrown away or produced in such a way that it cannot be repaired on purpose. It’s very gratifying that we’ve had a café of this kind in our local area for quite some time now.

In the meantime, I have even considered whether I should get involved, but I am not sure whether I, as an electronics engineer with a strong interest in computer science, can make a meaningful contribution (there already seem to be enough repairers with an affinity for electronics). I may contact the association in the future when I have more time than I do at the moment.

In this post, I would primarily like to point out that something like this exists in our area and where you can get in touch or find out when, how, where, and what is happening. I myself have nothing to do with the association at the moment and don’t know anyone who is active or has been a guest there. However, I have only read good things about it in various places (Meine Stimme, Nussbaum Medien, RNZ, ProRegion).

Contact points officially operated by the association

Netzwerk Reparatur-Initiativen:
Official Site

Instagram:
Official Account

Contact

Reparatur Cafe Bad Rappenau e.V.
Burgeckstr. 4
74906 Bad Rappenau
Germany

Landline telephone
+49 7264 / 20 56 62

E-Mail Address
agnesklaus.ries-mueller@web.de

Bank details (The association is a non-profit organization and can issue donation receipts)
Volksbank Kraichgau
IBAN: DE34 6729 2200 0071 5449 07
BIC: GENODE61WIE

Membership application and direct debit authorization (German)

Der Beitrag Repair Café Bad Rappenau erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

For the purpose of significantly improving comparability, sp00n, who is active on GitHub and Hardwareluxx, among others, has compiled many benchmark results for different Cinebench versions.

More results are available there for Cinebench R15, R20, R23, and 2024. He makes these available for download on his GitHub repository:

https://github.com/sp00n/cinebench_scores (ZIP-Archive)

To use the downloaded text files, copy the ones that match your version to the “cb_ranking” subfolder in the respective program directory. Then simply start Cinebench and the list of comparison results should be considerably longer.

Der Beitrag Additional results for Cinebench erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.