Corridor 9

I’ve begun looking at new computer specifications for Corridor9. I simply can’t wait any longer to upgrade. I haven’t decided on which direction I would like to take though. Should I just get something to get me by for a few years, or should I build something that I won’t need to upgrade for another 10 years? I’d like to get something that will last another 10 years as this one has, but I’m not sure that is the way to go. I’ll keep you informed!

Well… I’ve completed the updates to the webserver, but the system is so bogged down now. I’m not sure it’s worth it. Click the picture below and see if the wait is worth it to you.
Upgrades seem no longer an option. They’ve been moved from the want list to the need list.

I’ve got to patch a few things on Corridor9’s server, so expect a bit of downtime within the next couple of days. I’ve been putting off security issues for a while now as I try to nail down a backup method that works for me.

Today I tested a new method on my laptop that I got from the Gentoo Wiki that allows me to create a full backup with ease. In addition, the restore process is simple and fairly quick. I’m going to try and get a DVD reader, if not a DVD writer, to put into the server so I can do all my backups on one disk as opposed to spanning cd’s.

I’m not sure if I’ll start the upgrade tomorrow, but be prepared for downtime sometime during the next 5 days.

Well, yesterday I completed the upgrade, but unfortunately it did not take correctly. I thought everything had gone ok until I checked the web page and found it exceptionally slow. For some reason the photo gallery update was screwing the entire system up. I tried reinstalling the gallery program 4 times yesterday but was unable to fix the problem. I ended up having to revert to a save point prior to the system update.

I think these server problems are really getting to me, as I was most definitely not a happy camper last night. After spending over a week just getting the first upgrade completed, and then spending an additional 4 days to get the second upgrade done only to have it crap out, I think it’s eating away at my nerves. I’ve got to come up with a way to get some new parts.

The server backup finally finished today after running for over 3 hours. I’m going to try running the secondary upgrade tonight and hope that everything works as planned. If not, it could take me a while to get the server back online again.

On the downside, I ran a few tests on the server while it was down today and found out that its slowly dying. Some of the memory is bad and I can’t get replacement modules because they are so old. In addition, a few other parts a failing including at least one of the hard drives, the CD-RW drive, and possibly the second hard drive as well. Its not surprising as all the components are over 10 years old.

I’ll be auctioning off some of my body parts to raise funds. These include but are not limited to: 1 kidney, 1 lung (2 lobes only), bone marrow, and possibly left testicle. All items are available immediately, with the exception of the testicle which I need at least till I father a child. Payments can be made via Paypal, Cash, Money Order, or Certified Check. In addition, donations of hardware, or cash would be helpful as I would really like to keep all my organs if possible.

Any amount would help, so if you like reading about my life and adventures, please consider helping me stay online. Click the “Make a Donation” button on the sidebar to help.

Peace!

After 7 days of upgrading, I’ve finally completed the primary upgrade. It took a bit of tweaking, praying, crashing, more tweaking, starting over, and wondering if I was ever going to get this running right. I’m going to have to make a backup just in case I crash it on the second upgrade. Hopefully I can get that done tomorrow and start the upgrade when I come back to work on Monday.

Stay tuned!

Well… its 3:20 in the morning and I’m still not done. I think I’m going to head to bed and let this continue through the night. So far I’ve succeeded in upgrading the Apache (webserver), MySQL (database) , and PHP ( hypertext preprocessor). This is the core of Corridor9 and it seems to be working fairly well. I’ve got a bit more to do in the morning including; creating a backup of the entire system, rebooting to make sure mother can recover in the event of a power failure, and reconfiguring the config files from packages that complete tonight.

I’m hoping not to go down tomorrow, but hope is all I can do seeing as how I wasn’t planning on being offline for 12+ hours today.

UPDATE: Still working on this at 2:30 in the afternoon. Is going well.. am in the final phase of backing the sustem up.

I think I’ve finally fixed my upgrade problems. I’ve been wanting to complete this upgrade for months to close a security flaw, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to figure out the exact configuration until today. I think I may have finally found it though. I completed the primary upgrade this morning around 10 am, and am in the middle of the secondary upgrade as we speak. All seems to be going well thus far, and I can only hope this round goes as easily as it should.

Some questions have been posed on the naming conventions I use for my computers. Back when computers were first being networked, it was much easier to give the specific computers a “name” rather than a numerical identifier. Some of the first names came from popular “geek” tv culture and include Lary, Moe, & Curly; Tom, Dick & Harry; and pupular names from such movies as Star Wars and Star Trek. I’ve chosen to use characters from my favorite Movie quadrilogy. I used to have Mother, Father, Bishop, Ripley, and Newt. Unfortunately, due to some of the computers dying, and others being parted out or sold off completely, I am down to Mother and Father now.

Now you know…

I’ve put off a major upgrade to mother for a few months now due to a problem with the Apache web server program that I need to deal with. Apparently the configuration of the Apache program has changed greatly and an upgrade completely breaks the web server. My goal is to upgrade this package over the next few days, hopefully creating a more stable server. Unfortunately, this means that Corricor9 will be down for at least a few hours. A worst case scenerio includes Corridor9 being down for 2-3 days with a complete reinstall of the base OS being necesary. HOPEFULLY this won’t be the case, but its something that must be planned for. I’ll start working on this project Monday morning, so don’t be surprised if you can’t read your favorite blog for a few hours or even days.

Peace.

Sorry all for the unexpected outage. For some reason the site crashed late Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately I was pulling a 3 day shift at the firestation and was unable to get it back up. I had Kristie try a few things, but without the ability to login I couldn’t fix the root of the problem. I really need to update the system. Its running on an old Pentium 400mhz that recognizes only half the installed memory at times, and crashes pretty regularly. The problems are strictly hardware, but with the limited funds right now I am unable to upgrade any of the components. If you wish to donate any of your old computer parts, feel free to contact Rescue.

Well, I had to rollback the server this morning. I lost a few posts in the process, but I think it is more stable now than it was yesterday while I was digging around in configuration files. It got really slow there toward the end, and I wasn’t sure exaclty what the problem was. I am not sure when I’ll try to update the server again, but I know it will definately be after my camping trip.

’m updating Mother today, so the server will be going up and down pretty much all day. I should have it done by this evening hopefully, and if everything goes as planned, you won’t even realize anything happened. Lets just keep our fingers crossed.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, it wasn’t as clean as I thought it would be. I forgot to check my page after the Apache web server loaded, and thus many of you may have seen the “default” Apache web page. Thanks Gwen for emailing me about this.

UPDATE 2: AArrrgghh!!!! I hate it when developers change around configuration files. Its not that the files them self change… its the fact that the locations change. I had to spend 2 hours finding out what configuration files changed on the web server update, and then try to change them back. So here I sit at 3:30 in the morning hoping that what I have fixed doesn’t break again next time I update the system.

COOL BEANS!

Its time I open my mind to the world. Most of you have probably arrived at my site due to an IM or e-mail you received from me. My purpose for creating the website, and the corresponding blog, is quite simple; To keep in touch.

My schedule lately has changed dramatically. Due to the fact that I am now working two jobs in order to pay bills off, spending time with Abby while she’s in town, spending time with Kristie so she doesn’t think I don’t care, exercising at 5 am to lose weight, all the while trying to maintain my sanity, I don’t get a chance to keep in touch with my friends and family near as much as I’d like. I’m sorry all, its not that I don’t love each and every one of you (in one way or another ). The simple fact is; there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

I would hope that you all decide to register (link to left). This will allow you to post your comments, and keep in touch in some little way.

Anyway…… PEACE!

Ok… so I know its not all that interesting, but in the interest of documenting my attempts to get this site up and running correctly I will now congratulate myself on getting e-mail logging to work.

It’s 3 am, and I can’t sleep yet. I was sick as a dog today for some reason. I think its this diet I’m on. Only one more week, then I can have some carbs. I figured working on the site may make me a bit drowsy, but as usual, solving computer problems has done nothing but energized me. I’ll have to call it a night here in a few minutes though, promised Abby we’d do something fun tomorrow…. er today actually.

I’ve finally got my About Me page up… take a look if you like.

I’m still working on getting Mother up and running. Its been a long trying process. Because of my absentmindedness I had to reinstall Gentoo 5 times. What should have taken 2 hour to complete ended up taking over 12 hours. Next time I’ll make sure I have the NEWEST documentation to work from. One simple little kernel configuration error caused so much pain and suffering. Well….. its up now and works great. Its going to take a bit of time for me to tweak everything out due to the fact my daughter is in town and I don’t spend too much time on the computer when she’s around. Slowly but surely its finally coming together the way I want. I’ll post Mother’s specs sometime in the near future.

I’ve also decided to leave the “Hello World” post. I think its fitting.