tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69511021095241481852024-03-06T00:47:41.728+00:00Ubuntu Media ServerThe story of converting an old Sparc Classic server into a mini-ITX ATOM processor NAS.Mickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05840193490329395294noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951102109524148185.post-48642544539208925182010-01-18T23:49:00.001+00:002010-01-18T23:49:52.957+00:00Well it worked, kinda.<br />
<br />
In the end I got a QNAP TS209 and used the 1Tb discs mirrored - the Twonky Server is really good for serving media, and I recommend the Popcorn Hour Media player.<br />
<br />
The.<br />
<br />
End.Mickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05840193490329395294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951102109524148185.post-45900746053312321352008-10-20T08:46:00.004+01:002008-11-22T13:20:30.956+00:00Progress so far.<br /><br />A long bout of headscratching. The Samsung disks were giving Kernel errors, I first thought duff disk/leads etc, but it turns out there are some low-level SATA disk issues with the Ubuntu 8.4.1 (and earlier) builds. (A lot of Google ...)<br /><br />Happy to report that this seems to have been fixed with the imminent 8.10 release (the Beta version is working fine at the moment).<br /><br />Mediatomp & Samba left to install & configure and she'll be ready for service.Mickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05840193490329395294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951102109524148185.post-37249214828044481952008-10-15T14:05:00.002+01:002008-10-15T14:18:29.782+01:00Had a few assembly hitches, but all fixed now.<br /><br />1. Not realising that the motherboard needed a momentary PSU switch (or shorting the header pins with a screwdriver !). Using a jumper connector gets you 2-3 seconds of power then everything conks out.<br /><br />2. The USB riser is the "wrong way round" - offering the ports to the side of the case rather than than over the motherboard - for now I'm using one of the external USB ports.<br /><br />3. I should have got right-angled SATA cables - it's a really tight squeeze, and has involved hacking the disc chassis about 2-3 times and a lot of tin-snip & Dremmel grinder action.<br /><br />4. One good thing - I noticed I had a spare "silent" fan which has silenced the nosiy chipset cooler that comes with the Atom motherboard - in the UK Maplins sell these for a couple of quid. Made by Evercool, a 40mm "PC brushless DC fan".<br /><br />Ubuntu is 8.04.1 is installed, but I haven't started the <span style="font-style: italic;">apt-get</span> update installs yet. SATA discs are installed & wired up, but not yet mirrored.<br /><br />Just waiting for a proper switch and LEDs to install, the ceremonial closing of the case and some more photos.Mickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05840193490329395294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951102109524148185.post-29138826688627445272008-10-13T11:38:00.002+01:002008-10-13T11:41:56.403+01:00Minor change of plan. Housing 2 x 3.5" SATA discs <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">and</span></span> a 3.5" IDE one is going to be tight. Opted instead for installing a USB riser on the motherboard header, and using a 16Gb flash drive instead. Once booted it should rarely be used so ought to be ok. <br /><br />I'm using <a href="http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2008/04/14/ubuntu-804-usb-hard-drive-install/">this guide</a> for a PenDrive install (from bootable CD, which I'll disconnect after installation).Mickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05840193490329395294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951102109524148185.post-91826461380816542552008-10-08T17:04:00.003+01:002008-10-10T12:16:29.539+01:00Take your Sparc Classic ...(With apologies to Mrs Beeton)<br /><br />Here we are at the start, one Sparc Classic awaiting gutting.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-WBUmW9SRUrwpJT-58t7lRbJ40TSo-scT7SVHac5swayWuktivsqv0PEvLIq8sJ39P57PIed4-CaqIfzOtSKgao1wM91v4sv3kH29DEbhQu2Cm8jvHtSQc4Bg5pFaxiwu3rAUjTRMdO9/s1600-h/UBMS_314.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-WBUmW9SRUrwpJT-58t7lRbJ40TSo-scT7SVHac5swayWuktivsqv0PEvLIq8sJ39P57PIed4-CaqIfzOtSKgao1wM91v4sv3kH29DEbhQu2Cm8jvHtSQc4Bg5pFaxiwu3rAUjTRMdO9/s200/UBMS_314.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254815886085322082" border="0" /></a><br />Open it up like a briefcase.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67tYoicQE-7IUuy1zuMqjCUNMnXN4cunkMfhT3LMOcK7KAXvQbCabJaBkxGOAt3SpSIBIgU2l_EVddIBKxGDi_5EBEeSU_OWnTS4QJ3pS4NTUzWg8h4j3gAbGEVXbTL5ajZJ7n9DXGcJL/s1600-h/UBMS_315.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67tYoicQE-7IUuy1zuMqjCUNMnXN4cunkMfhT3LMOcK7KAXvQbCabJaBkxGOAt3SpSIBIgU2l_EVddIBKxGDi_5EBEeSU_OWnTS4QJ3pS4NTUzWg8h4j3gAbGEVXbTL5ajZJ7n9DXGcJL/s200/UBMS_315.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254815892546104898" border="0" /></a><br />There was this great lever thing that I could wouk out what it did - I assumed it was a support pillar for the lid with the PSU & Disc Drives. It's the thing that gets the motherboard off the edge connectors.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXyMHOfxVUYU0IOiYCAis_UMsJ4aAM6xbuQNgtLDP9mELy2H6q2Q1sz9cdRddzQJyry4t5KJmP7yVWXofIvV_7vQ7XQTdz9jiP4oPw73Z7znybOkzW3x4t9yQnrg-Q_YHiuLF86Fc_LkFe/s1600-h/UBMS_317.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXyMHOfxVUYU0IOiYCAis_UMsJ4aAM6xbuQNgtLDP9mELy2H6q2Q1sz9cdRddzQJyry4t5KJmP7yVWXofIvV_7vQ7XQTdz9jiP4oPw73Z7znybOkzW3x4t9yQnrg-Q_YHiuLF86Fc_LkFe/s200/UBMS_317.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254821556167067666" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQ8RsuB3cJ9qU7K_vWbtR5LXini_GljsD_rZIRNjlqgc77kwX-Y8gvjlDh3VyVF18tP7L_aH6y_Oai5iE7E62cLYLXIUqwPkU5PnkuuQ7vOLIzDzAAIhHWZA3IcFgi5VXonwk8JvSf55W/s1600-h/UBMS_318.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQ8RsuB3cJ9qU7K_vWbtR5LXini_GljsD_rZIRNjlqgc77kwX-Y8gvjlDh3VyVF18tP7L_aH6y_Oai5iE7E62cLYLXIUqwPkU5PnkuuQ7vOLIzDzAAIhHWZA3IcFgi5VXonwk8JvSf55W/s200/UBMS_318.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254821561171053506" border="0" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWkHgRSxF5UuoEiU4M0A_MApR-a3GFjmgoBZCN9buiKRopm0TW4r_seQEi4QdnjRNbCAVwuYlUjEC6cSMJ9SJdZ17sWu4-sG0EV47ZQzJVw4lSOUWGnVhUdiOsn2WfQN2bgVJJVb9wZdz/s1600-h/UBMS_319.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWkHgRSxF5UuoEiU4M0A_MApR-a3GFjmgoBZCN9buiKRopm0TW4r_seQEi4QdnjRNbCAVwuYlUjEC6cSMJ9SJdZ17sWu4-sG0EV47ZQzJVw4lSOUWGnVhUdiOsn2WfQN2bgVJJVb9wZdz/s200/UBMS_319.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254821565068962754" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />You have to ease the motherboard out by tilting it to one side.<br /><br />The rest of the innards falls out after you undo a few screws - typical of the superb production engineering of Sun Microsystems !<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwMsMjYzSmh_IiGQ8X9xwMFU0g5szFdk901779pHrQ4oIWH9Rvg0cQf93kCxSvOYdq2_R7u2gslpKNPypj9YDSp7dfOv7Hkw3iXkc5gySM7yjIoHOVcxMX3Tauxl2LXIcipkRMS0ihaLSG/s1600-h/UBMS_323.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwMsMjYzSmh_IiGQ8X9xwMFU0g5szFdk901779pHrQ4oIWH9Rvg0cQf93kCxSvOYdq2_R7u2gslpKNPypj9YDSp7dfOv7Hkw3iXkc5gySM7yjIoHOVcxMX3Tauxl2LXIcipkRMS0ihaLSG/s200/UBMS_323.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254819305567577506" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />I decided to chop up the PSU housing to avoid having to mount the new PSU on the case. This involved a hammer to flatten protruding screw mounts and a pair of Tin Ships to get rid of unnecessary bits of metal - it's tough stuff. The only issue so far is the position of the IEC block on the new PSU. I <span style="font-style: italic;">could</span> make a new hole in the side of the case and offer it up flush - but I'm not going to - just going to plug a lead in situ (for now anyway).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWDWq8N6uVmy6s67iCD08r7vKTpCWNv7Q23nlnlvqVKiPV_zOpQhia0Jk23EQmnfI8ti6ZYu03esw1JGBH3YnshtOjZn-zIWEePYnT9-GdfXdi5LqQ-n4d7MjvCc_DTcf7JRhTG-XCpi0-/s1600-h/UBMS_324.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWDWq8N6uVmy6s67iCD08r7vKTpCWNv7Q23nlnlvqVKiPV_zOpQhia0Jk23EQmnfI8ti6ZYu03esw1JGBH3YnshtOjZn-zIWEePYnT9-GdfXdi5LqQ-n4d7MjvCc_DTcf7JRhTG-XCpi0-/s200/UBMS_324.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254819307143287378" border="0" /></a> <br /></div><br /><br />Here's the top half, the PSU and disc chasis reassembled ready for discs. The half that use to house the floppy drive will need drilling for Hard Drive mounts.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZoLZE5EVnWbrEqs2MM8bFx-A2pJmQT8egFDve0-tL9NptcS3fppeeBG1fMV7lKmPwML8duwiSyzIVjpYJMvBkJKaaymRVQcG1bfbwK5x5plFOJiD6Z_9Y2KVAYUZKa6ctMN9pk1qlmj4b/s1600-h/UBMS_326.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZoLZE5EVnWbrEqs2MM8bFx-A2pJmQT8egFDve0-tL9NptcS3fppeeBG1fMV7lKmPwML8duwiSyzIVjpYJMvBkJKaaymRVQcG1bfbwK5x5plFOJiD6Z_9Y2KVAYUZKa6ctMN9pk1qlmj4b/s200/UBMS_326.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254819309050412930" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />I'm going to see if I can mount everything keeping the metal shielding, seems like a good idea, but mainly once I've snapped off the moulded plastic rivets it's never going back on again.<br /><br />Next case chopping to house the new mobo.<br /><br /></div>Mickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05840193490329395294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951102109524148185.post-11856338606841815812008-10-07T11:31:00.001+01:002008-10-15T15:52:20.470+01:00The ideaThe plan is to create a Home Media Server / NAS, based on Ubuntu and MediaTomb.<br /><br />I was planning to use the new Intel Atom 230 mobo, but as fate would have it they released a <a href="http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/09/20/intel.dual.core.atom.ships/">Dual Core version (330)</a> last week - so that's what I'm going with.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.intel.com/assets/image/prodlarge/d945gclf2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.intel.com/assets/image/prodlarge/d945gclf2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>As it's a NAS as well as server I'm going with a pair of Samsung 1Tb low noise discs to be (soft) mirrored - these are a couple of mS slower than Seagate Barracudas, but I preferred the low noise option. (remains to be seen what racket the chipset fan will produce, but I'll blow that bridge up when I get to it - I've silenced Northbridge chips before).<br /><br />I am going to do a bit of Case Modding and use as a donor an old Sun SparcClassic I have had lying around for yonks that was saved from a skip, and an old 80Gb IDE system disc. I loaded NetBSD on it originally, but once that worked I never turned it on again and I suspect the battery is long since dead.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.obsolyte.com/sunPICS/classic/sparcclassic.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://www.obsolyte.com/sunPICS/classic/sparcclassic.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />There's a nice example of an VIA mini-ITX case mod using an old SparcIPX (essentially the same box) <a href="http://vader.inow.com/%7Edrbob/itx.html">here</a>.<br /><br />I've managed to source a 1U 250w (overkill) PSU which looks like it's going to sit exactly where the old SUN PSU did inside the case - which has saved about £40 on external PSU, internal DC-DC psu & internal wiring looms. I thought about salvaging the SUN PSU, but the connectors are different, and it's a £30 problem, so barely worth the effort (plus I couldn't find a spec for the old PSU). The new PSU is a Seasonic 250W 1U compact, and the very nice people at <a href="http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=12015">LinITX</a> recommended it (so thanks)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www2.multithread.co.uk/mtcshop/images/linitx.com/products/Seasonic_250W_1U_Compact_Power_Supply_-_80Plus_main.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www2.multithread.co.uk/mtcshop/images/linitx.com/products/Seasonic_250W_1U_Compact_Power_Supply_-_80Plus_main.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Next job (with photos planned) - gut the old Sparc boards & PSU.Mickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05840193490329395294noreply@blogger.com0