The Cellar - View Single Post

12-18-2001, 08:06 AM

Wowee zowee. Where shall we start?

As we all know, yesterday my UPS died. Well, when I got home, my internet access wasn't working. I tried to ping "router" - an entry in /etc/hosts that points to 192.168.1.1, which is the IP address of my Netgear RO318 "Security Router". Nothing. I went and checked to see if Jenni's internet access was working on her cute little iMac. Sure enough, it was. Hmmm. So now we know that the switch is working, since all the computers (under my control) in the basement go through a single 8 port switch (Jenni's, an older Windows box and the Xbox go through a 5 port which THEN goes into the 8 port, but it's all the same - they all hit the 8 port). Point of failure could be one of three things now. In the order that they would piss me off, from "most" to "least":

<ol>
<li>Network interfaces in the computers
<li>Network cables
<li>Ports on the switch
</ol>

See, I hate re-running cables, and I'd hate even worse to have to swap hardware or, in the case of my PowerMac, take it to get it fixed. Anyway, I knew that I had to get this fixed (one like myself cannot go without Internet access for long, unless one is very much occupied with other things, which one was not, because Jenni was still on her way home from school). First, I just tried switching ports. I moved the pimpintosh and syphon from ports 7 & 8 (respectively) down to 4 & 5. This is important. Anyway, at this point, I was on the pimpintosh (syphon was turned off, because I had a lack of available power connectors because my goddamn UPS died - see previous). The pimpintosh, in port 4, did not work. Okay. So it's probably not the ports. I whipped out the trusty ol' iBook and crawled under my desk. I reached around back to the PowerMac, pulled out its Cat5 cable and plugged it into the iBook's integrated NIC. Then I (get this) clicked the Apple menu, rolled my pointer over "Location" and selected "home ethernet". This automatically disabled my Airport card and attempted to bring up the iBook with IP address 192.168.1.165 (I keep all of my personal computers in the 192.168.1.160+ range, it's easy for me to remember). I gave it a second to do its thing, then I tried to ping "router"..... Nope. Okay. So we haven't ruled out that the NIC is shot, but, we know that there's another point of failure. Cable? Maybe. So, I pulled out a new cable (us geeks have this shit just laying around), plugged it into port 8 and tried with the ol' iBook. Nope. Damn. Well, I know this cable is good. I know the iBook is good. It must be the switch. Must be. So I put the iBook in port 7. No. Port 6.

Pong!

Woah. Hey, port 6 works. What about port 5?

Pong!

Uh. Port 4?

Pbbbbbbbbbbbbttttttttttttt.

Well, I figured that. Port 3?

Pong!

And port 2 is where the 5 port switch comes in, so I know that one's good.

The final verdict? Ports 4, 7 & 8 on my switch are somehow magically dead at the exact same time as my UPS. Argh. Now I have to get them both replaced. How spectacular.

Anyway, I'll take care of that later. As in, after I get off work. Buying hardware that you shouldn't need and have already bought is spectacular, dontcha think?

So. All that having been taken care of, it's time to start constructing das tier. I have everything except for the processors, which I'll probably order today or tomorrow (likely get Athlon MP 1600's, since I've now heard problems about Athlon XP's in this motherboard - from a good friend, no less). That doesn't stop me from building up the rest of the box, though. Of course, the beautiful motherboard goes first. Then the RAM. Then the GeForce3, SBLive! and 3com NIC. I mount the hard drive. Everything is going well, until...

Well, okay. It doesn't really stop going well. It's just not quite as well as I had hoped. See, I forgot that most of the fan headers on the motherboard are near the "bottom" of it. This is a problem. I have the rear 80mm fan hooked up where it should be - a fan header that's right near it. Then there are 2 for the CPU fans, which I will use them for. Then there are 2 at the bottom. One for my power supply fan (since there are 2 fans in the PSU) and 1 for the 120mm beast in the top. Well, there's a problem - the 120mm beast in the top has a shorter fan tail and won't reach. I didn't try, but I just know. So, I'm still working out a solution for this. I'm sure you'll read about it soon.

The other is that the rounded IDE cables are rather bulky and too long. I find myself needing to stash them. Now, I've come up with a pretty good way of doing it - the air should still move pretty well and they're making connections. It's just that they don't look as good while they're doing it. I'll probably leave them as they are, but I'm not as happy about doing it. Oh well.

Anyway, the system is nearing completion. I will take more pictures and post here when I get it done (most likely this weekend). Then I need to make room for it in my bedroom.

As I said, I will probably build a shelf for it - I just need to put a lot of thought into that shelf, 'cause it's going to be housing one very expensive box of electronics. And I don't want that very expensive box of electronics falling, but especially not on one of my grossly expensive monitors. I didn't originally plan on having the PowerMac in the bedroom, so this has lead to a kind of funny situation.

Again, I'll let you know how I manage to work it.

12-18-2001, 08:06 AM	#25
dave Guest Posts: n/a	Wowee zowee. Where shall we start? As we all know, yesterday my UPS died. Well, when I got home, my internet access wasn't working. I tried to ping "router" - an entry in /etc/hosts that points to 192.168.1.1, which is the IP address of my Netgear RO318 "Security Router". Nothing. I went and checked to see if Jenni's internet access was working on her cute little iMac. Sure enough, it was. Hmmm. So now we know that the switch is working, since all the computers (under my control) in the basement go through a single 8 port switch (Jenni's, an older Windows box and the Xbox go through a 5 port which THEN goes into the 8 port, but it's all the same - they all hit the 8 port). Point of failure could be one of three things now. In the order that they would piss me off, from "most" to "least": <ol> <li>Network interfaces in the computers <li>Network cables <li>Ports on the switch </ol> See, I hate re-running cables, and I'd hate even worse to have to swap hardware or, in the case of my PowerMac, take it to get it fixed. Anyway, I knew that I had to get this fixed (one like myself cannot go without Internet access for long, unless one is very much occupied with other things, which one was not, because Jenni was still on her way home from school). First, I just tried switching ports. I moved the pimpintosh and syphon from ports 7 & 8 (respectively) down to 4 & 5. This is important. Anyway, at this point, I was on the pimpintosh (syphon was turned off, because I had a lack of available power connectors because my goddamn UPS died - see previous). The pimpintosh, in port 4, did not work. Okay. So it's probably not the ports. I whipped out the trusty ol' iBook and crawled under my desk. I reached around back to the PowerMac, pulled out its Cat5 cable and plugged it into the iBook's integrated NIC. Then I (get this) clicked the Apple menu, rolled my pointer over "Location" and selected "home ethernet". This automatically disabled my Airport card and attempted to bring up the iBook with IP address 192.168.1.165 (I keep all of my personal computers in the 192.168.1.160+ range, it's easy for me to remember). I gave it a second to do its thing, then I tried to ping "router"..... Nope. Okay. So we haven't ruled out that the NIC is shot, but, we know that there's another point of failure. Cable? Maybe. So, I pulled out a new cable (us geeks have this shit just laying around), plugged it into port 8 and tried with the ol' iBook. Nope. Damn. Well, I know this cable is good. I know the iBook is good. It must be the switch. Must be. So I put the iBook in port 7. No. Port 6. Pong! Woah. Hey, port 6 works. What about port 5? Pong! Uh. Port 4? Pbbbbbbbbbbbbttttttttttttt. Well, I figured that. Port 3? Pong! And port 2 is where the 5 port switch comes in, so I know that one's good. The final verdict? Ports 4, 7 & 8 on my switch are somehow magically dead at the exact same time as my UPS. Argh. Now I have to get them both replaced. How spectacular. Anyway, I'll take care of that later. As in, after I get off work. Buying hardware that you shouldn't need and have already bought is spectacular, dontcha think? So. All that having been taken care of, it's time to start constructing das tier. I have everything except for the processors, which I'll probably order today or tomorrow (likely get Athlon MP 1600's, since I've now heard problems about Athlon XP's in this motherboard - from a good friend, no less). That doesn't stop me from building up the rest of the box, though. Of course, the beautiful motherboard goes first. Then the RAM. Then the GeForce3, SBLive! and 3com NIC. I mount the hard drive. Everything is going well, until... Well, okay. It doesn't really stop going well. It's just not quite as well as I had hoped. See, I forgot that most of the fan headers on the motherboard are near the "bottom" of it. This is a problem. I have the rear 80mm fan hooked up where it should be - a fan header that's right near it. Then there are 2 for the CPU fans, which I will use them for. Then there are 2 at the bottom. One for my power supply fan (since there are 2 fans in the PSU) and 1 for the 120mm beast in the top. Well, there's a problem - the 120mm beast in the top has a shorter fan tail and won't reach. I didn't try, but I just know. So, I'm still working out a solution for this. I'm sure you'll read about it soon. The other is that the rounded IDE cables are rather bulky and too long. I find myself needing to stash them. Now, I've come up with a pretty good way of doing it - the air should still move pretty well and they're making connections. It's just that they don't look as good while they're doing it. I'll probably leave them as they are, but I'm not as happy about doing it. Oh well. Anyway, the system is nearing completion. I will take more pictures and post here when I get it done (most likely this weekend). Then I need to make room for it in my bedroom. As I said, I will probably build a shelf for it - I just need to put a lot of thought into that shelf, 'cause it's going to be housing one very expensive box of electronics. And I don't want that very expensive box of electronics falling, but especially not on one of my grossly expensive monitors. I didn't originally plan on having the PowerMac in the bedroom, so this has lead to a kind of funny situation. Again, I'll let you know how I manage to work it.