Some while back I was really wishing it was possible to boot to a USB Stick from within a VM – and now it is possible – great news because it just adds that little bit extra in the way of functionality
Great tip how-to boot from USB stick inside of VMware Workstation
A tip pointed by Ivo Beerens. By using my RSS Reader to stay updated on blogs in the Virtualization Sphere I checked this post from Ivo. It’s a great tip. What’s about?
Basically when you want to test ESXi 4 installation to the USB Stick (or this Video post too…) you’ll want to follow my post, which I’ve done in the past and that’s it.
But if you want to test unattended installation of ESXi 4 on USB stick then you would want to boot your VM which is executed in your VMware Workstation, from an USB stick too.Well you can’t. Even the version 7 of VMware Workstation does not support that.
Here comes the help tip from Ivo. Basically what do you have to do is a work around.
01. Download boot manager from PLoP
02. Use the Iso in the boot manager as a boot device to boot your VM
03. Add an USB adapter to your VM (if not already done).
03. Insert your USB stick with ESXi 4 installed in it.
03. When your VM boots from that ISO, just select USB from the menu.
Well not all the credit goes to IVO, because the original help provided was from Ulli Hankeln from sanbarrow.com. -:)
Great tip how-to boot from USB stick inside of VMware Workstation
written by dcaddick
The T5545 Thin Client from HP is quite a neat mid-range device that has some nice features that can make your life quite easy, but so far it seems that it’s not all that easy to find out how to go about tweaking it to your environment and users?
I’ll update this later with some additional links to docs – but feel free to email me if you need additional info?
So some handy hints:
(This all applies to the latest Build 31  )
Logging on as Administrator – default password is root
Add HP or Debian Packages to T5545
- Fsunlock – unlocks file system (equivalent to XPe/WES’s EWF or FBWF)
- cd /media – or cd /mnt
- hpkg -i xxxx.hpk or
- dpkg -i xxxx.deb
- fslock – locks the file system back up
- reboot
Use ezUpdate to automatically update image/packages/custom scripts/Stateless Settings/Persistent Settings
(This is also valid for the new ThinPro K2 build on the T5145)
Do be aware that you do not need to endlessly reboot to test it – just call ezUpdate from the X Term Console?
· If you need to validate what it’s doing then check the logs in ./writable/ezUpdate/log/ezUpdate.log using the MousePad from the Advanced area of the Control Panel
· If you still do not have enough info then run “ezUpdate –d 5” to enable debug mode on the log
· The order of what it will look for is:
- New Image
- Any new packages
- Custom
- Then check for valid Stateless profile
- Finally check for valid Persistent profile
· If you’d like to test/demo the ezUpdate process then you could always *add* the rar package as shown here:
- Download this sample package: http://packages.debian.org/lenny/i386/rar/download
- Put the package in the packages directory on the ezupdate server
- reboot or simply run ezupdate
- Check the log and you should find that it has installed the package correctly
- Run “dpkg –list” in the Terminal to show that rar is now an installed package
· If you’d then like to remove the application, then this is how we can go about it:
- fsunlock
- dpkg -r rar (this might need to be hpkg depending on where the package came from?)
- fslock
- reboot/run ezUpdate
- if it still looks like it might be there, then use the dpkg –purge command?
How to deploy ThinPro Settings via Altiris or HPDM
Link to doc here:
Configuring TeamTalk
Have you ever been frustrated or in the dark on how to configure TT when it comes to GUI Menus? There are a ton of specific GUI configs commands in the Team Talk 7.0 manual chapter 21 command line. The commands can be added to teemtalk_wrapper.sh. These settings will apply to all connections from HP Connection Manager.
The file to modify is – /usr/bin/teemtalk_wrapper.sh
Modifying the Menu
If your user has a need to modify the Menu under ThinPro (say they don’t want the Control Center up and available for users) – use the following technique. You can use it to display commands as well as long as you select the right command.
1) Login as administrator
2) Right click on the Menu
3) Open the menu editor
4) Click the (+) to add an entry
5) Then the command to start a connection is
a. Connection-mgr start $ID
b. connection-mgr start type:label (under the usr/bin directory)
ex. connection-mgr start ica:”My ICA”
Get back in after locking down?
Pressing CNTL+ALT+SHIFT+S will bring up hptc-shutdown – the Shutdown dialog that will give the Switch to Admin Mode Option.
written by dcaddick
So some of you may be aware that the new T5545 was released some while back with a new O/S designated ThinPro – this has recently been updated with a new release of Build 31 and now looks a little like this in Admin mode:
 
To switch to Admin mode there is a simple menu action in the lower left:
and the default password is “root”
Updated T5145 with ThinPro:
Now that by itself may not seem too significant but there has also been some significant changes to the T5145 – the old Admin Interface (ID:Admin\Pwd:Admin) looked like this:
But the newly released version HP ThinPro for HP t5145 Thin Client (128 MB) available for download since Jul 31st looks like the T5545?
In fact there appears to be very little difference between the two – even down to the fact that under the Advanced Tab there is an XTerm Console available? 
written by dcaddick
Essentially, the printer needs to be configured locally first, pretty much the same way you have it now. There’s additional information, with screen shots on how to configure this for ICA starting page 22 of the attached guide: http://bizsupport2.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01367435/c01367435.pdf
I’ve also reference a guide to supported HP printers with Citrix, just in case:
http://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetPDF.aspx/4AA0-8465ENW.pdf
written by dcaddick
DISCLAIMER: If you decide to flash ANY device with something other than the Vendors correct firmware then you are on your own!!!
Moving on from a previous post the other day regarding "Supercharge Your Wireless Router With Open Firmware – Wired How-To Wiki" I was chatting to my brother and it turns out that he has recently been having troubles with his Billion device and as a consequence of it being out of warranty he decided to buy an ASUS WL-500G
And now I can see why, not only is it a Wireless Access Point with ADSL but it also has 2 x USB 2.0 ports as well so that this can effectively act as a mini NAS unit as well by hosting additional storage <see table below>
Model
|
Ver.
|
Platform & Hz
|
Flash
|
RAM
|
Wireless NIC
|
Switch
|
USB
|
Status
|
|
|
|
4MB
|
32MB
|
Broadcom (integrated)
|
in CPU
|
2x v2.0
|
|
|
1
|
|
8MB
|
32MB
|
Broadcom 4318 (mini-PCI)
|
BCM5325
|
2x v2.0
|
|
|
2
|
|
8MB
|
32MB
|
Broadcom (integrated)
|
?
|
2x v2.0 (SMC USB2520)
|
|
|
|
|
8MB
|
32MB
|
Broadcom 4321 (mini-PCI)
|
BCM5325
|
2x v2.0
|
|
But the real neat part is that with his help I was also able to discover that there is a complete OpenSource effort at OpenWrt
About OpenWrt
OpenWrt is an extensible Linux distribution that runs on Linksys WRT54G/GS routers, as well as some related hardware. Unlike many other distributions for these routers, OpenWrt is built from the ground up to be a full-featured, easily modifiable operating system for your router. In practice, this means that you can have all the features you need with none of the bloat, powered by a Linux kernel that’s more recent than most other distributions.
This is where I obtained the information in the table above (link – TableofHardware) – at the very least if you are considering purchasing some form of Wireless Access Point then you should really glance through this table and satisfy yourself that have made the right choice on Hardware?
So back to OpenWrt, is it for you? well it is based on Linux so it is somewhat command line driven etc. and it’s more than likely that as much as this might provide a benefit to some, they will be put off by the install method and the possibility of bricking their device?
So if that is the case then simply move on to: X-Wrt, "OpenWrt for end users"
About Us:
X-Wrt was started because there was a need for end user extensions to OpenWrt, such as an enhanced web management console (webif). For a long time now it has been established that OpenWrt is the best firmware in its class. It far exceeds other firmwares in performance, stability, extensibility, robustness, and design. We at X-Wrt decided it was long past time for end users to get access to this superior firmware.
We are a separate project from OpenWrt due to the difference in focus and development ideals. We are considerably more pragmatic than OpenWrt and have the goal of providing solutions today, while OpenWrt has a more idealistic development philosophy and intends to perfect the firmware core, no matter how many rewrites and how much time it takes. This difference in development attitude creates a complimentary atmosphere that benefits everyone.
So how easy is this to install? Follow the screen shots from here at Installation
written by dcaddick
As it often happens when browsing the web, you start out looking for one thing, and invariably you find something else entirely that you have been looking for a few weeks or months ago?
I have been looking for a decent Media Streamer device that can act as the intermediary between the PC/Server and the TV and I have been looking with these ideas (courtesy of "She who must be obeyed" ) in mind:
- Must be white or silver
- Must be quite small (Desktop PC won’t cut it, needs to be more like a DVD player or smaller)
- Must make no noise (or very quiet – this rules out the Xbox360, etc.)
- Ideally HDMI output
- Would very much like it to be able to record TV (Digital Video Recording) in HD
- It must simply work, not bleeding edge device!
So I did have another scout around the web and find things like TViX that really come very close with their M6500a based on what appears to be the latest Sigma 8635 chipset and this is a very neat unit that can also include the optional T430 HD Tuner to add HD recording to the mix – awesome, check out this thread for peoples opinions at The official DVICO TViX M6500A Discussion the only downside for me is that I can’t get one in Silver or White <see above> although I have considered buying one and painting it
The other thought I did have is to "borrow" a HP T5730 (with WiFi) from work and see if I can’t get a 16Gb USB drive formatted to run XP SP2 with Media Centre (or Media Portal) straight from the USB drive just to see what the performance might be like as it does have a 1Gb of RAM and AMD Semperon +2100 CPU, but the best bit is that the DVI output will support wide screen to something like almost 2056 x 1600 so this might just work?
(Although the sound output with this will not be brilliant, but I could always add the PCI expansion slot and add something else to it?)
And then yesterday I came across this little beauty and I’m starting to wonder if it might be a bit too early to see if it’s possible to pick one up while I’m in Houston in a few weeks time?
Anyway, I’m hoping to have a play with the idea of modding the T5730 next week and then see what happens?
gPC Mini and Mac Mini Battle for the Bookshelf
By Rob Beschizza  February 26, 2008 | 3:45:21 PMCategories: Apple
Apple’s Mac Mini hasn’t had much competition in the last few years. Shuttle and Aopen both make vaguely similar machines, but neither is as small (or as inexpensive) as the six-inch wonder. Enter the forthcoming Everex gPC Mini, a linux-powered lilliputian with similar specifications and displacement.
Lining up the stats makes for an interesting choice: the Mac Mini is still a little bit smaller (84.5 inches cubed to 99.4) and is more powerful, but has less storage. GOS Linux is no OSX, but with the gPC mini, you’re not paying for it either.
Think Mini [Everex]
gPC Mini and Mac Mini Battle for the Bookshelf | Gadget Lab from Wired.com
written by dcaddick
Talk about the cat among the pigeons? I was certainly aware that MS’s 2008 was to have Hyper-V included at a minimal cost of USD$28 but that is not due for another 5 months or so, and it was always expected that the pricepoint would come down to meet MS but this is quite early I would have thought?
As Alessandro points out – this will cause some serious pain in the Sales Channel, this is where Citrix had a big jump on VMware and as far as I am aware VMware was getting very serious about trying to ramp this up ASAP – but it would now appear that one of those benefits or sales models that was being offered to the partners will now be disappearing?
So I wonder what this will do to Citrix’s Xen pricing, I can only imagine that they are going to join VMware and MS and will want to be in there competing on price as well?
So the best guess at the moment is that most of Ron Oglesby’s crystal ball gazing of a couple of years back is now coming to fruition and the Hypervisor is already a commodity – so let’s move on to management of the Virtual World?
Saturday, March 15, 2008 | 4 Comments
Not only Dell is going to sell virtualization-ready solutions (hardware + VMware ESX Server 3i) in one click, but it seems that the OEM vendor is going to give ESX Server 3i for free.
As last article of the week The Inquirer reports the words of Martin Niemer, Senior Product Marketing Manager at VMware, which says that Dell will not charge anything for the hypervisor.
If confirmed this decision will have a serious impact on the sales channel.
On one side other OEMs that have a distribution agreement with VMware (HP, IBM, Fujitsu and other) will be almost obliged to do the same to not give Dell any competitive advantage.
On the other side the VMware distributors and resellers will see their chances to sell ESX Server in the SMB market fall down near to zero.
virtualization.info: Dell to give VMware ESX Server 3i for free?
written by dcaddick
Now I have always been a fan of making the PC as small as possible, but this is verging on the ridiculous surely? I’m wondering how useful this device might actually be?
picotux – the smallest Linux Computer in the World
The picotux 100 is the world’s smallest Linux computer, only slightly larger (35mm×19mm×19mm) than an RJ45 connector. More information can be found here.
picotux – smallest Linux computer in the World
written by dcaddick
So it would appear that Kyle at iFixit is something of a closet Mac Service guy? Really this is very nice to see exactly what is under the hood of this well hyped Laptop, this way you really get to see what’s under the hood and know what you are actually paying for.
It is nice to see that it is not that hard to get in to possibly replace the battery if needed?
- Look! We found the battery.
- Unfortunately, it’s no longer considered a user-installable part by Apple and is attached to the case by 9 screws:
- Four 3mm #00 Phillips.
- Four 3.8mm #00 Phillips.
- One 7.3mm #00 Phillips.
- The RF module, in all its blue glory.
- The Broadcom 802.11 chip had the markings BCM4321KFBG.
- Two other chips were enclosed in metal housings.
- And the backside had another chip marked with BCM94321COEX2.
- We found Intel’s new Core 2 Duo chip right beneath the heat sink (no surprises there). A temperature sensor sits on an external board glued between the CPU and graphics chips. A high-resolution image (632K) is available here.
- There are 16 RAM chips (eight one-gigabit chips on each side of the logic board) for a total of 2 GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM.
- The large microchip in the center of the picture is a low power Intel North Bridge GS965 integrated graphics chip with the markings LE82GS965.
- Three chips adjacent to the North Bridge/graphics controller have a semi-transparent blue epoxy covering them, as part of the HDCP hardware requirement for digital video signals.
- The reverse side of the logic board. Many of these chips are for power management. A high-resolution image (708K) is available here.
- You can see the second half of the Micron RAM chips.
- We identified the Silicon Image SIL1392CNU HDMI video chip and Texas Instruments TPS51120 dual current mode synchronous step-down controller (power management).
iFixit — MacBook Air
written by dcaddick
So not only has Asus finally managed to roll out the Eee PC, but it seems like there will be a slightly larger model, and they are releasing news about an up and coming UMPC that does look like it might have legs?
Posted Nov 14th 2007 11:06AM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Laptops
 Asus has been coyly hinting at a spec-bumped Eee PC for a while now, but it looks like the wink-and-nudge days are over — German Asus spokesman Holger Schmidt said that an 8GB Eee PC with a 10-inch screen would ship in 2008, as well as that equally-rumored but far less sexy desktop Eee. See, sometimes dreams do come true.
[Read link is in German]
Asus confirms the 8GB 10-inch Eee PC – Engadget
Posted Nov 14th 2007 7:56AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: GPS, Handhelds, Laptops, Tablet PCs
 All we have is this picture for now and the promise of more around CES in January, but that’s Asus’ R50A right there. It’s listed as a UMPC and said to "redefine mobile" with full PC and GPS functionality. Funny, we thought that’s what those gen one UMPCs were supposed to do 1.5 years ago. Anyway, this looks to be the R3 we’ve already peeped sporting a 4.8-inch display with abiggie1024 x 600 resolution.
ASUS’ R50A set to "redefine mobile"
written by dcaddick
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