ASUS G750JX in Fedora

Playing with my ASUS G750J - fresh off the CentOS install, no networking interaces :(

New laptop, better run a new distro :) Fedora 20 beta did a great job of recognizing the on board nic, athough not the wireless. Apparently Broadcom isn't eager to release their stuff as open source, so nobody has it included. To install the broadcom wireless, add the rpmfusion repo's, and then run

yum install kmod-wl

This is a lspci from my laptop, fully functional in Fedora 20 beta.

03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4352 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter (rev 03)
04:00.0 Ethernet controller: Qualcomm Atheros QCA8171 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10)

There are several hardware specs for the G750 laptops; to make sure this applies to you, check device manager in the pre-installed Windows 8.1. Windows recognizes these as

broadcom 802.11ac
qualcomm AR8171/8175 gig eth


The sources I'm using to install the drivers in CentOS are

NIC
http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/networking/alx

Wifi
http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php -> you will see in the readme.txt that some distros already have a driver - like the "yum install kmod-wl" for fedora/rhel/etc.

cisco vpn on windows 8.1 x64

you will google but this is what I did.

the problem is, after authentication, the vpn cannot establish itself. in device manager, the cisco network interface has a warning.

1 - reg key modification:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\vpnva

Remove all characters that seem to be left over from a bad installation before "Cisco AnyConnect..." and save.

2 - uninstall cisco vpn and reboot (this actually doesn't touch the reg key)
3- follow instructions here http://www.citrix.com/go/lp/dne.html run winfix and then the dnupdate 
4 - reboot and install cisco vpn client
5 - run the vpn client, delete the device with the warning sign in device manager

you will see a valid device disabling and enabling itself when the vpn is establishing itself correctly.

playing with an ASUS G750JX-DB71 - part 1

This is a pretty decent, although big, laptop if you intend to use a lot of vmware workstation or other similar softwares.

The strong points are 2 hard drive bays, all usb3.0, several video options, 4 ram slots (up to 32gb), haswell architecture, for a reasonable price; although imagined as a gamer laptop, there is nothing "cheesy" about it and has an all-black design. Nice, illuminated keyboard, and excellent battery life I have experienced first hand.

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-G750JX-DB71-17-3-Inch-Laptop-Black/dp/B00COQIKKA

Backpack I bought:

http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-15-6-Inch-Notebook-Computer-RMBP-11001/dp/B006UUF27U/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1378707855&sr=1-1-fkmr2

The backpack is huge, cheap, and looks durable enough.

Cons:

-Weight
-I can't say the screen is bad, but somehow 1920x1080 on a 17" can get tiresome after a while
-Drivers are only available for windows 8. My experience with Windows 8 is very similar to this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTYet-qf1jo

I wish I could put windows 7 on it, but it isn't supported directly from Asus. So, Part 2 will detail how to make centos, fedora, windows 7 and/or windows 8.1 work. The first thing you will find is this is meant to run the full UEFI bios spec, and that introduces some changes.

In the meantime, here is an excellent forum if you own one:

http://rog.asus.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?157-G750-Series-Notebooks

songs I would like for you to hear

These are songs that convey incredible moments, full of spine-tingling emotion, to the listener. I highly recommend you seek them out and listen to them with good headphones, even if they are not in your language :)

Consider this list "not finished", and a work in progress, until I can't update it anymore - and also, just the beginning of your journey in discovering so many talented artists.

Some of my personal favorites have way too many songs...

enrique bunbury (and his other projects, especially Heroes del Silencio)
andres calamaro (and his other projects, especially Los Rodriguez)
gustavo cerati (and his other projects, especially Soda Stereo)
Zoe (and Leon Larregui's solo career)

Leon Larregui
-brillas
-souvenirs
-como tu (magic music box)
-femme fatal

Los fabulosos cadillacs (and vicentico's solo career)
Thursday
Deftones

Lucybell
-te quiero ver
-fe
-a perderse
-vuelve a mi
-Juro al sol
-pez demonio
-Tu
-Viajar
-Amanece
-Esfera
-Ten Paz
-Intento no marearme
-Vete
-Eclipse
-Sin alas
-Me dejo tentar
-Carnaval
-Mataz
-Hacia el cielo
-Flotar es caer
-Fui a cazar
-Mi corazon
-Mi propia cruz
-Angel
-Esperanza
-La distancia

Fobia
-Hipnotizame
the following are literally all songs in "rosa venus" except for intro and outro, which are musical
-No eres yo
-200 sabados
-No soy un buen perdedor
-12 pasos
-1 camino y un camion
-2 corazones
-Todas las estrellas
-Una vida sencilla
-Muy maniaco de mi parte
-Hoy tengo miedo

the ataris
-so long, astoria

malpais
-muchacha y luna
-malpais

adele
-set fire to the rain
-someone like you

the strokes
-tap out
-slow animals
-machu pichu
-life is simple in the moonlight
*first 3 albums to come, but they're generally good*

bob marley
-iron lion zion
-waiting in vain
-satisfy my soul
-three little birds
-natural mystique
-turn your lights down low
-so much trouble in the world

Nine Inch Nails (NIN)
-closer
-hurt
-piggy
-march of the pigs
-kinda i want to
-that's what i get
-terrible lie
-the perfect drug
-we're in this together

Aleks Syntek
-Mis impulsos sobre ti
-Mas fuerte de lo que pensaba
-El camino
-Sin ti
-Bendito tu corazon
-Por volverte a ver
-Duele el amor

Victor Manuel
-Soy un corazon tendido al sol
-Asturias
-Quiero abrazarte tanto
-Ay. Amor
-Nada sabe tan dulce como su boca
-Adonde iran los besos

Rata Blanca
-Mujer amante
-Ella
-Noche sin suenos
-Aun estas en mis suenos

Angeles del infierno
-Pensando en ti
-Si tu no estas aqui
-Jugando al amor
-666

Jay-Z
-99 problems
-dirt off your shoulder
-niggas in paris
-encore

Mago de Oz
-fiesta pagana

the cure
-lovesong
-just like heaven
-pictures of you

The Stone Roses
-i wanna be adored

Depeche Mode
-Stripped
-strangelove
-enjoy the silence
-policy of truth
-walking in my shoes
-only when i lose myself
-never let me down again
-sweetest perfection
-precious

The Oh Hello's
-Hello My Old Heart

Fitz and the Tantrums
-Out of my league

Nirvana
-Come as you are
-Heart shaped box
-The man who sold the world ("unplugged")
-Lithium
-In bloom

Lorde
-Team
-Royals
-Ribs
-Buzzcut Season

Vilma Palma e Vampiros
-Verano traidor
-La pachanga
-Fondo profundo

Pink
-Try
-Who knew
-Just give me a reson

Fun
-Some nights
-We are young
-Carry on

Jarabe de Palo
-Agua

Joaquin Sabina
-Besos en la frente
-Quien me ha robado el mes de abril?
-Juegos de azar
-Nacidos para perder
-Cuando aprieta el frio
-Y nos dieron las diez
-A la orilla de la chimenea
-La del pirata cojo
-Peor para el sol
-Amor se llama el juego
-Pastillas para no sonar
-Esta noche contigo
-Por el bulevar de los suenos rotos
-Ruido
-Como un explorador
-Eclipse de mar
-Y si amanece por fin
-Mentiras piadosas
-Corre, dijo la tortuga
-Con la frente marchita
-Medias negras
-Contigo
-Y sin embargo
-Ahora
-19 dias y 500 noches
-A mis cuarenta y diez
-Donde habita el olvido
-Cerrado por derribo
-Pero que hermosas eran
-Whisky sin soda

easy android unlock, root, and new rom

the nexus s 4g was performing worse every day - slow, low memory - a great candidate for the known advantages of a custom ROM.

I followed these 2 videos and was successful - and it was much easier than i thought.

I used the pdanet installation instead of method #3, and also had to manually reboot from the recovery console (happens to the guy in the video too). I did not bother with the super user or busybox install since i was going to put a custom rom.


The ROM i found was best for the nexus s 4g (stable, feature full, lightweight, people happy, active development) was SlimBean - http://slimroms.net

http://theunlockr.com/2012/08/29/how-to-load-a-custom-rom-on-an-android-device/

http://slimroms.net/index.php/installation

don't forget the gapps from the addons section.

http://slimroms.net/index.php/installation

official thread from xda http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2060483

I backed up all the pictures, sounds, and did a factory wipe. I cleared all the caches before and after installing. In the first boot, the slimbean logo kept flashing - I booted into recovery mode, wiped caches, installed gapps again, and wiped the caches again, and that fixed it.

idea: a life's work

"A life's work" is mainly meant as an effort for humanity, to preserve varying approaches and experiences in many different cultures. For all of those who have lost a mentor, older relative, or dear friend, and the wisdom they embodied, and know the value that was lost, have hope - this is the place where those ideas can be preserved for eternity.

It is very common for some lucky people to be able to put forth their ideas into the mass media, but not as common for ordinary people. This effort acknowledges the accomplishments and life lessons learned by each of it's authors, just because they lived and have something to share, something that took a life of calibration and trail and error, and that the owner considers important. They are preserved in the original language they were written, and any authorized translations are included.

The teachings are as varied as the human experience itself and are never restricted - nothing is censored, ridiculed or otherwise left out. This, after all, are the teachings the author decided to leave to human kind.

============

It occurs to me this is not a tough website to create and maintain. I might take this on as a project in the future - asm.

having some fun with dell and esxi

so, let's say you have dell poweredge servers as esxi hosts.

Lets say you want to take care of them. make sure you have firmware updates, check reliably for hardware errors (and not vmware's cryptic 1 liners...), and do it free cause that's who you are.

here is something fun to do with them. this is just basic but gets things moving.

there's a tool called openmanage essentials, free download, but requires 2008. install it, and the repository manager. now to be able to scan:

1) install omsa on the esxi hosts. the easy way is through the vmware update manager. the vib files are in the management section of your server downloads (select esxi as OS)

2) you need to open port 1311 in the esxi firewall. I will explain this in more detail, but you create an xml file inside /etc/vmware/firewall and modify /etc/rc.local to enable this file to be copied and run at reboot

2) now you can scan your hosts.

enable ping and ws-man (set the root creds, and check the secure mode and trusted site). if all went well, you will see the normal openmanage info for your esxi host :)


Added benefit: use the openmanage inventory in the repository manager to create a linux iso and patch your servers.

You can also just create an iso for the server model you are interested and patch, but with the above, you know which servers are where and which are more urgent than others.


Also, semi-related, but in case you only want to enable snmp using ssh:

vi /etc/vmware/snmp.xml and change:

then reboot. CLi doesn't reboot :p there should be a snmp restart command somewhere...


If you only need to re-start the OMSA service

/etc/init.d/wsman restart

when you need to download the vsphere client from the internet

This is a link direct from one of the esxi webpages:

http://vsphereclient.vmware.com/vsphereclient/6/2/3/3/7/3/VMware-viclient-all-5.0.0-623373.exe