UPDATES 2018

  • January

    • 01/01

        • Happy New Year

    • 01/03

        • I my not be able to work on my project as much as I would like for now. With my 3D printer I am making things for friends and spending a lot of time learning the ins and outs of 3D printing. Also it helps to put some money in my pocket from the print jobs. I have placed a time lapse video here so you can look to see what I am making.

    • 01/07

        • So to give my apartment a more home like feel I have added a digital fireplace. This fireplace runs a video loop that is about 2 hours long, then it just starts over again. I have it connected to an old TV that I really just use as a monitor for my Raspberry Pi's as part of the initial configuration settings.

  • February

    • 02/10

        • So I was reached out to by a buddy of mine who wanted to take a look at the web page I made for him under the Society of Japanese Bladed Arts. When I went to check on the site I found that somehow that my entire website was wiped out. I had to upload everything over again. Good thing I keep a copy on a thumb/flash drive.

        Also to give another 3D Printer update, I have fallen in love with Micro Center customer service. My 3D printer, a WanHao Duplicator I3, had an issue with the power lines that connect to the heating element of the print head. They completely got disconnected, for a few min I thought about soldering them back on, but as the unit was still under warranty I took it back. They replaced the unit with no questions asked. The good thing about it was that they didn't carry that model any longer so they replaced it with the WanHao Duplicator I3 Plus. Its a step higher and easier to manage. Bad news is I am unable to use the OctoPi with it. There are continually connection errors that restart the system. This is something I will continue to work on, and update once I have it working.

    • 02/16

        • So recently running into new issues with my 3D Printer. When starting a print job the initial layer has had issues when getting layed down. this causes the entire print to fail. I have been troubleshooting it for the past few days. Still haven't worked out the issue. Also added a RetroPi Arcade system to the mix. Have several different ROMs for it.

        Also did some configurations for the OpenHabian as well. Got the basics started, working on several different layouts. Will hopefully update again shortly.

    • 02/18

        • So in order fix my 3D printer issue and to "help" with the start of a 3D print I have added a Plexiglas plate to my printer with Painter's Tape cover it as well. It appears that the prints are starting out a lot better. But will have to see over time. I still haven't figured out the connection issue with the OctoPi, continually to troubleshoot between prints.

    • 02/21

        • For the past couple of days I have been working on the Society of Japanese Blade Arts. This has been for John a long time friend in the Martial Arts. Once I have the several different Demos I am creating for him to make a final decision I will update here.

  • March

    • 03/01

        • So I have changed the hardware for the servers. I added a full size PC with a Samsung 860 EVO 500G SSD running Ubuntu 17.10 Server. I uploaded my web page information to the server, and currently working on the SSL, once that Webmin fixes their site. By making this change I am opening up some hardware for other things in the future, and making it easier to keep the network load down as well.

    • 03/07

        • So the previous istall failed. I am having to attpempt again, for the 4th or 5th time. The SQL server keeps either getting corrupted or the way the keyboard I am using trasnmitts the key strokes is making it fail as I input the proper password.

    • 03/08

        • So I have added the full PC server to my home setup running Ubuntu 17.10. Yes I do know that this is going to be an unsupported version soon, but once the 18.04 comes out in late April I will be updateing to that version of the software. I have added several different modues to the server as well. Once that are all up and running I will update again. But Below are the ones I am planning on haveing configured early on:

        • Webmin. I am using this guide. Webmin allows me to manage the server in a lot easier capacity.

        • NextCloud. Makes it easer to keep a running copy of my website and allows me access with out having to carry a USB/Thumb drive with me at all times.

        • Plex Server. Allows me to keep videos for personal use. That is all. ;)

          Yep it failed again..... Redoing tonight for the 9th or 10th time, lost track some time ago. This time though I was able to get the SQL to work. Now the SSL is failing. Steep learning curve since the last time I was in a computer class was over 10 years ago.

    • 03/09

        • IT'S ALIVE, IT'S ALIVE!!!!

        So I have my server back up and running. With the SSL. So is my Next Cloud, Plex Server. Now I need to work on the OpenHab Config.

  • April

    • 04/05

        • Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Not much to really report.

        I have been able to get my 3D printer running with out having a piece of plexi glass. Started also on a extended print job for a friend of mine. I am printing a 40K Bolter from Thingiverse. I am not selling the item, I am not even printing it at a profit, Lee who requested that I print it is buying the filament and I just run the hardware on my personal 3D printer.

  • May

    • 05/24

        • IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!! I am now a Level 36 Computer Tech.

        Yes my server has been offline for a long time. Been working on the Ubuntu 18.04 and getting it to work with my NextCloud Server. It's been a headach to say the least.

        The ongoing issue was the MariaDB and the Nextcloud. I was able to get the MariaDB woring and fully operational.

        The issues with the NextCloud were pretty stuid that I ran into. Since the Ubuntu 18.04, I haven't been able to get the coud server up and running. Found out that the PHP version I was installing didn't work with the version of the nextcloud software. So I had to keep wipping it over and over and over again. I lost count after the 10th time. Once I found the cause I was able to get it installed and up and runnig.

        I also set up the storage drives that I am using for the NextCloud as a RAID 1 incase one of the drives goes down, this way I don't loose my or anyone else's files.

    • 05/25

        • The mirror sync/build is finally done on my RAID storage. After troubleshooting for almost 2 hours I was able to get my NextCloud to store all the files and data to the proper drive. My next step will be to connect my OpenHab system through the SQL server to the main server. This I already have a simple walk through, but just need to start doing it...... sooner or later.

        The cloud server also will allow me to keep files and records as well.

        This is most likely my last update for this month. Not to many days left and a lot of configuration in the background again.

        Sometimes I wish I had a roommate. Maybe start looking for one.

    • 05/26

        • So I lied. I started looking for the website template that I am using, but to no avail. The site that I got it at is no longer up and running, so I found something similar, real similar. So I have to essentially rebuild my entire website.

    • 05/29

        • I was able to finally find a good copy of the template for my home website. I threw out the one that i started to re-do it all on. Spent a good 10 to 12 hours rebuilding, but now I don't have to. Now I have to make the changes to the new files that I have been wanting to, then upload them to the server.

  • June

    • 06/30/2018

        • I have made several changes but forgot to update, dear me.

  • July

    • 07/04/2018

        • Happy Birthday America

    • 07/20/2018

        • I have added 2 back up servers to my network. They are configured the same, but I am needing to work on the network for a good failover process.

        Most of the month of June I was working on getting a secon server up and have a 3rd on standby but ran into several issues. I didn't document that well.

        I have also swaped out my Raspberry Pi 3 on the 3d Printer for a Raspberry Pi Zero. Needed the processing power of the Pi 3 over the fact I had a couple of Pi ZeroW just waiting for use.

        I know there was something else I wanted to add, but right now I can't remember.

  • November

    • 11/06

        • Sorry for the lack of updates. I have been running my Home server with no Issues for a while other than the Cloud Storage RAID array keeps failing and crashing.

        Also I have been playing a lot of miniature wargames recently, this take up the better part of my week. Over this winter I will be working on a game table or two, depnds on funds.

        So my server keeps having issues with the RAID array. It will either crash or not load at all wiht a Sfotware Raid. Tonight I am planning on rebuilding the entire RAID as a hardware RAID and redo all the configurations.

        I have also recently added in the RocketChat software and also working on adding in a GitLab build as well. But it's going to be a time will tell for GitLab as it runs on NGINX while my server runs on the Apache2 web software.

        I have also changed the Web Server layout for several of the links. I have update all of them, but I could have missed one or two. As I find them I will make the proper changes.

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