eRacks Systems Tech Blog
Open Source Experts Since 1999
Debian 7.3 Now Available
eRacks Open Source Systems announces the immediate availability of Debian 7.3
Debian 7.3 is now available in the OS Dropdowns on most or all eRacks Systems.
If you don’t see what you want, just ask us – http://eracks.com/contact
Here’s the paraphrased original notice from the Debian Project:
– – –
The Debian project is pleased to announce the third update of its stable distribution Debian 7 (codename wheezy
). This update mainly adds corrections for security problems to the stable release, along with a few adjustments for serious problems. Security advisories were already published separately and are referenced where available.
Please note that this update does not constitute a new version of Debian 7 but only updates some of the packages included. There is no need to throw away old wheezy
CDs or DVDs but only to update via an up-to-date Debian mirror after an installation, to cause any out of date packages to be updated.
Those who frequently install updates from security.debian.org won’t have to update many packages and most updates from security.debian.org are included in this update.
New installation media and CD and DVD images containing updated packages will be available soon at the regular locations.
Upgrading to this revision is usually done by using the aptitude (or apt) package tool.
– – –
That’s It!
Dennis
eRacks
Dennis December 21st, 2013
Posted In: Debian, News, Operating Systems, Upgrades
UEFI and the eRacks/ZENBOOK13
Minty Zenbook
I am typing this on a nifty new eRacks/ZENBOOK13, with Linux Mint15 installed.
This is a slightly newer rev of the very pretty Asus Zenbook line, with twin 128GB SSD modules installed in a small carrier which screws into the standard 2.5″ HD space (it could also be replaced or upgraded with one of our standard HD/SSD choices, here: http://eracks.com/products/laptops/ZENBOOK13/)
This post will walk you through what we had to do for the installation, with the details.
Installation Cookbook
- Boot to an Ubuntu 13.04 install disk. (13.10 should work, or Ubuntustudio works too, that’s what I used). For some reason, the Mint installer doesn’t install the default EFI boot choice properly, so you have to start with Ubuntu, then replace it with Mint. Read on.
- Using gparted (fdisk could work, too), delete the partition tables on /dev/sda and /dev/sdb, and replace the GPT-based partition tables with with msdos-type partition tables.
- Install Ubuntu on the 1st of the two SSDs. Don’t worry about the 2nd disk (_yet_). Be sure to check the “Install with LVM” box after you select the default “Erase and install…”.
- Reboot into Ubuntu, and note the partitions cerated.
- Boot into a Mint 15 Install disk.
- Install Mint15 into the same partition structure – in other words, do NOT select the default “erase and install…” , but rather the “Something else” choice, and tell it to put the root partition on the same partition you noted in step 4.
- Install rEFInd (http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/) from a rEFInd install disk, that you downloaded and burned from there. (I used v0.74). Be sure to install it in the /boot/efi partition (typically /dev/sda2) created earlier. The reason to install rEFInd, is it’s an invaluable tool to use to boot from any EFI-capable location on your computer, and will be used later on. I put mine in EFI\refind\refind_x64.efi
- Be sure to also copy shell64.efi into /boot/efi/EFI/tools/, so rEFInd can find it, and show you the EFI Shell choice & icon.
- Boot from rEFInd.
- Choose the EFI shell.
- Using the bcfg command, (help -v bcfg is your friend!), list the boot choices, and verify that “ubuntu” is there.
- Add “mint” as a boot choice, pointing to EFI\linuxmint\grub64.efi – mimic the way the “ubuntu” boot choice is done.
- Reboot into the boot menu (hold Esc down during the Asus logo) and verify that “mint” and “rEFInd” are there.
- Test them both out – rEFInd should also give other interesting choices you can try out.
- You should be able to launch Mint from either the “Mint” choice in the Asus boot (holding Esc), or from the Mint choice in rEFInd.
- Optionally, you can add the 2nd SSD (mentioned in step 3) to the main volume using LVM, to use the full 256GB.
That’s it!
Wrap and Beverage
I must say, this is a BEAUTIFUL machine – I want one myself!
Between the FullHD display, and being roughly the same thickness and sizeas the magazines I often carry into any given bar / restaurant here in Los Gatos, this is a joy compared to my regular 1920×1080 Asus laptop..
…And it beats the heck out of a tablet..
…And the battery life seems great, it barely made a dent in the hour or so I spent surfing with it while drinking my beverage of choice at one of the local establishments here.
…And did I mention it’s screaming fast, with the i7 CPU and 10GB RAM?!
Bon Appetit,
j
joe October 20th, 2013
Posted In: How-To, Laptop cookbooks, New products, News, Open Source, Products, ubuntu
Tags: Dual-boot, EFI, FHD, FullHD, Mint, rEFInd, rEFIt, ubuntu, UEFI
Ubuntu for Tablets Unveiled Today
Ubuntu for tablets was officially unveiled today. According to PCMag, “A Touch Developer Preview will be released on Feb. 21 via developer.ubuntu.com, which will work on the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets.”
I’m actually a huge fan of the interface on the Nexus 7 and I probably wouldn’t change it, but I would absolutely love someone to get a stripped down version of Ubuntu running on a Kindle Fire. I absolutely hate that my Kindle Fire won’t recognize a USB device and can’t access the Google Play Store without rooting it and potentially bricking the device.
Some of the added features of Ubuntu will be voice control, an invisible task-bar called magic edges, and a split screen mode to allow for better multitasking: Skype while you watch a movie at the same time.
Greg February 19th, 2013
Posted In: Uncategorized
50GB of Free Cloud Storage Space
One of the primary complaints that I’ve had about tablets such as the iPad, the Surface tablet and the Kindle Fire HD is the lack of hard drive storage space. All three devices offer between 5-10GB of additional cloud storage for free, but that’s barely enough for a single DVD quality movie. There are plenty of paid options for cloud storage, but many services charge a monthly/yearly fee and they can be expensive. Recently, as hard drive prices have been dropping, I’ve been expecting that some company would finally come along and offer a large amount of free cloud storage to sign up a bunch of new users. I saw a post on a forum today where Box.com was offering 50GB of free cloud storage to new users. I haven’t had a chance to test the service myself, but it can apparently sync files between Apple, Microsoft, and most Android devices. I recommend signing up for this deal as soon as possible, because I highly suspect that the folks over at Box.com have vastly underestimated the number of people who are going to jump on a deal like this.
If you need a new tablet, laptop, desktop, or netbook, check out the new website over at eRacks.com.
Greg February 8th, 2013
Posted In: Uncategorized
eRacks offers new system options through our upgraded digital storefront
NAS50 Network Attached Storage server from eRacks
You may have noticed that the eRacks Open Source Systems website recently got a huge facelift. eRacks now offers a ton of new options and upgrades for their entire line of desktop computers, laptops, storage servers, NAS servers, Linux servers and rackmount servers . eRacks wide choice of operating systems also include Ubuntu, Debian, openSUSE, Fedora Linux and other rackmount server configurations.
The NAS50 network attached storage server from eRacks has also been upgraded with newest hard drives from Western Digital and Seagate. In addition to 200TB of storage, the eRacks/NAS50 holds a maximum of two eight-core Intel Xeon or four AMD Opteron CPUs for a total of 16 Intel cores or 64 AMD cores. Memory can be upgraded up to 768GB DDR3 and multiple RAID arrays can be configured. eRacks also offers 4GbE and 10GbE network interfaces for the eRacks/NAS50 server. An external SAS option enables multiple NAS50 servers or other NAS units together for peta-scale storage.
- NAS50 Network Attached Storage server from eRacks
Greg January 25th, 2013
Posted In: Uncategorized