Clever and potentially profitable

2025-02-19T16:47:00.004-06:00

Amazing. You can still install a Brother HL-1440 driver on Windows 11.

Just printed this on a Windows 11 machine using a 2006 dated driver. It WILL install from Microsoft!

There's nothing 'hacky' etc..just using regular Windows dialogs.

Steps:

Open Device Manager

Select any device type.

Under "Action" at the top, select Legacy Device.

Device Type Printer (scroll down).

Then "Windows Update"

It will load a list of manufacturers...takes a while just let it go.

Then select Brother then select HL-1440

Here's a short video. Between that and the text should be easy to follow how to do it. Comment on vid if help needed.

https://youtu.be/5BEpXe5jamQ?si=C1So8SgiRQT-VR9S

Brokerage Referral Links

2025-01-27T11:05:00.000-06:00

This is a list so I can easily refer people to this page of ...uh..referrals. Inception, anyone?

Order of preference as of 27 Jan 2025.

Here's what I recommend in a one page spreadsheet that you RESEARCH and buy.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT only! (Legally not investment advice.)

BUT this is what I own a LOT of along with family and friends.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ufs7Geiksx9fAZ-1khXw8qFPuHjxr-lHJ5yOoWPubWw/edit?usp=sharing

Brokerages who pay you to sign up: (no monthly fees AFAIK, comment if you see otherwise.) Anyone who charges monthly fees gets deleted from this list. Don't pay them. Too many good free ones.

Robinhood

Always has a small cash or stock bonus for no deposit, just link your bank account. Super super easy. $5 free right now.

https://share.robinhood.com/robertb4367

Webull

https://act.webull.com/nt/vDLeYglLNLGq/4xe/inviteUs/recommend_1555_A_push

The promos change but they are almost always the best bang for the buck. Click the link to see. Right now, ANY deposit gets you two to five times the amount you get for just opening.

Friend of mine got these bonuses. She got 6 total rewards.

Plynk

$10 signup bonus. https://plynkinvest.app.link/tr6kM0BJoFb

Not extensive selection but major brands are all here like Visa, Starbucks, etc etc.

IBKR Interactive Brokers

Super low margin rates if you ever want to borrow against your stock.

https://ibkr.com/referral/robert467

TastyWorks Referral Code Cash bonuses, changes from time to time. THE platform for options trading.

https://start.tastyworks.com/#/login?referralCode=HMCP8WTJ3Q

ETrade

https://refer.etrade.net/robblogg

$100k IRA transfer worth $300. This is pretty solid overall and you can easily open savings/checking alongside and those are also free.

Tradeup/Marsco

https://tradeup.marsco.com/activity/forapp/invite/?lang=en_US&skin=0&invite=5E0IQP#/

Firstrade

https://share.firstrade.com/RobertXYYW

Deposit $100 I think for max.

Public (stock)

https://share.public.com/RealActorRob

Just open.

MooMoo

TBD. So far it's a decent bonus: 5 total stocks if you deposit $100. The interface is busy and there are a lot of buttons features etc. and it's not intuitive for a trade...you have to set almost every option to place one such as 'Buy', amount, etc. Chats and badges are neat. Referral codes expire so I don't have one here. If you need one, DM me via anything on http://linktr.ee/RealActorRob

It's free money. :)

Cheapest Verizon Cell Plan (and other cheap Cellphone Plans)

2025-01-07T13:53:00.002-06:00

Update 12 Jan 2024:

https://infimobile.com/plans

Right now they have plans as low as $5/month. The $75 a month is probably a much better value at $1.25 more per month.

http://mymobilex.com has the cheapest overall Verizon plan I could find. It is not the best DEAL but for me it's an emergency backup for when I travel and T-Mobile doesn't have a signal. Under $7 a month total. You can add extra minutes and data if needed instantly.

Something to note: the MobileX data rolls over so if you don't ever use it, you could build up a large bank but Infimobile $75 a year is about the same price.

I didn't know this but most phones can have 2 active phone numbers easily in the US. That's long been a European thing but the reasonably new iPhones can have two eSIMS (electronic not physical) and the slightly older ones still can do both. (Mini 13 here).

The cheapest combo is probably T-Mobile for main use and Verizon absolute minimum for a backup.

Here's some links.

https://www.bestphoneplans.net/news/best-cell-phone-plans

https://airtable.com/appQ7TstG5Wn17FjY/shrraH105YVJQF2Yr/tblE1phJr6I27XBGE/viwJOh8hODbaFjcMZ

And one more to be added when I can find it lol. It was sortable so make a comment if you know what I mean.

Apple A1277 USB 2.0 Ethernet 100mbit Driver

2024-03-15T10:14:00.004-05:00

Update: My Hardware ID says USB\VID_05AC&PID_1402&REV_0001

and

USB\VID_05AC&PID_1402

The easiest way is to browse for the driver and see if Windows has it. I used the 88772A driver.

Old info:

-------

It's here:

https://www.asix.com.tw/en/support/download

There's even a Windows 11 driver. An old Linux driver, Mac OS driver, etc etc.

Windows 11 64-bit Driver
For x64 CPU platform, HLK certified
Version
3.22.0.0Release Date
2022-02-08File Size
70.4 KB KB
Windows 11 64-bit HLK/WHCK drivers setup program
For x64 CPU platform, HLK certified
Version
1.0.0.0Release Date
2023-05-19File Size
8.5 MB KB
Windows 10 32-bit Driver
For x86 CPU platform, HLK certified
Version
3.20.3.0Release Date
2020-07-13File Size
62.7 KB KB
Windows 10 64-bit Driver
For x64 CPU platform, HLK certified
Version
3.20.3.0Release Date
2020-07-13File Size
70.4 KB KB

You do have to tell Windows 'Have disk' and install it via selecting the file from the unzipped folder, and then tell Windows it's the AX88179 device. Some people say it's the 'A' version, but non-A worked fine for me.

Sorry for the poor formatting etc. but my time is limited today. :)

SSH into an Unraid VM How-To

2023-12-16T14:22:00.007-06:00

I don't recall installing anything special on the VM.

How I did it:

VNC into the VM. Usually it's port 5090 or 5091 but the Unraid VM tab shows.

Once logged in, issue the command 'ip -a' and it will show an address in your private range.

So if your server were on 192.168.1.30, your VM address might be something like inet 192.168.1.204

in the output from 'ip a'.

Open a terminal and type ssh username@192.168.1.204 (where username is your username on the VM) and log in.

Did this help? Send me some Ethereum Classic. :)

0x9ee58b4977cb2701466ea1371d632086cea57fe0

or this QR code:

Asus E203: It doesn't suck for $20

2023-08-20T15:06:00.003-05:00

Bit of a placeholder.

Don't laugh, I got it for $20.

2gb RAM/32GB EMMC. It's going to be my 'live in my car' mostly machine.

Tips:

Turn on memory compression https://www.elevenforum.com/t/enable-or-disable-memory-compression-in-windows-10-and-windows-11.3555/

Turn off CPU power management

Make sure 64GB is allocated to GPU in Bios

Trackpad wonky: reset EC chip https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1050239/

Turn off all visual effects in Windows

Make sure both CPU cores are enabled in Windows (boot options)

Uninstall unused windows programs and features and disable services you don't need.

Set new files/downloads/etc to be created on SD.

disable system restore points (just make a bacup on a thumb drive..usb 3 is fast and this is a 32GB emmc

uninstall MS Office.

Results:

This will play YouTube videos at 1080p60 and not drop frames or max cpu. Display is only x766 but to me it looks a little better than 720p

Have 3.67GB free on the emmc so far.

Lost Password in an Unraid Ubuntu VM: How to reset it

2022-11-08T12:46:00.005-06:00

YMMV. Research thoroughly to make sure this is correct as all info is on the internet.

Right click the VM on the 'VMS' tab on the Unraid web gui.

Select 'VNC Remote'.

Leave the VNC window open.

Now start hitting the left shift key on right click 'Restart' on the same menu above. This will get you to the grub bootloader.

Then, enter recovery mode to get to a Root prompt via these directions.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RecoveryMode

Now, you should be able to type 'passwd <username> ' and reset the password.

now type 'exit' and select 'resume' from the menu.

Give me a follow and some views at http://youtube.com/rcbullock

Leave a comment below if you have issues/questions.

Schwinn Axum Parts and Notes: Upgrades, tools, measurements, etc.

2022-11-01T15:36:00.006-05:00

First, Schwinn has been super easy for warranty. They will send you parts at the drop of a hat.

Wear items like tires etc. are also covered by a 30 day warranty. I had a pinhole in a tube and they sent me a new one no questions asked. I patched it successfully, so, free backup tube.

Send me a new bottom bracket because the bearing in it is trash, IMHO, and it started making noise. The retaining hooks for the bearing stretch out and let the bearing balls move more.

I got the Shimano sealed replacement for it and now it's super smooth. The stock one also isn't sealed. Just get this for about $17 on Amazon:

https://amzn.to/3Nu2LHo

Amazon Proceeds go to pet rescues.

Check the prices, I got an Amazon Outlet one for a few bucks less. Bonus: dry anti-seize is already applied.

Tools List:

https://amzn.to/3TVOvcR Bracket tool. So you can remove and replace the bottom bracket show above. ⅜" drive. Torqu wrench you can get at Harbor Freight etc. Check the Warehouse prices.

https://amzn.to/3TXeVdY Crank puller. So you can remove and replace the bottom bracket. Check the Warehouse prices.

All the above 3 items are probably still cheaper than taking it to a bike shop. Watch some vidoes, work slowly and you'll be fine.

Let Me Stick This Some Place

2022-08-03T15:06:00.000-05:00

I spent 22 years in the military as officer and enlisted. This book is not about Navy Seals. But I did complete the Navy's Aviation Preflight Indoc, and of course their water survival curse (I mean course), Air Force Land/Water survival course, Army Basic, Air Force OTS, and USAF Nav school etc. etc.

I'll have to pull out the DD-214.

The idea being there's enough crazy little stories and details that I believe can give you some chuckles or 'Holy Crap' moments.

Story titles:

Fun with Explosives

Sure, you can Bring a Bunch of Firearms to Drill

The Safety Violation Song

It Was a Good Plan until You Got Caught

Kenny G

Is that a Panicked Item?!

A Mushroom Room

I Get All the "Prince" Jokes

The Faded Brother

Protip: Just Snort a Handful of Pool Water First

We Don't Have A Vacuum but We have a Sextant Port

backblaze.bzpkg was not removed during uninstall

2022-06-25T14:44:00.002-05:00

If this helps, gimme a like or subscribe on any of my YouTube videos at http://youtube.com/rcbullock

My computer got the 'Safety Freeze' issue because I had copied my drive over from my old Mac Pro and I booted it up to erase it.

So backblaze (rightfully) freezes the data because it sees the same computer name/drive name/whatever.

Here's the fix on that:

https://help.backblaze.com/hc/en-us/articles/217666178

But in my case, I got a message about backblaze.bzpkg not being removed.

Simple fix: just download the .dmg from the help article above and run the uninstaller from there vs. from the icon on the menu bar.

What bugs me: seems like there should be a simple way to say 'resume backups' in this case.

NVME drive: cheap heat sink for 2230 size

2022-06-14T17:54:00.003-05:00

Using this Ebay link gets you what I bought and I earn a small commission.

https://ebay.us/RGoEAh

Disclaimer: don't do this. There, does that cover it enough? :) But you're gonna, probably.

You could cut it and drill it but it's not nescessary. I used the screws that came with my PCIe adapter.

This dropped temps about 25 degrees! Massive improvement, partially because this thing is huge compared to the 2230.

The screw is held in place by the tension of the rubber bands and the stickiness of the pad so you can used a small pair of pilers or your fingers to get the brass 'nut' that typically comes with the PCIe to tighten more.

If you're paranoid, perhaps a small dot of hot glue on the 'nut' once it's installed.

If you're paranoid about the rubber bands, then drill through the whole (hole?) thing etc to hold the heatsink via the screw.

Don't drill important stuff nor around any important stuff. Metal shavings bad.

Making Ends Meet: Advice for Poor People, and Frugal People. (I do much or of this stuff!)

2022-06-04T17:50:00.004-05:00

I probably don't need to operate at this level of cheapness/frugality but once you start doing a few things, you built the habits and it's not a big deal.

First, here's some YouTube material and I answer almost EVERY comment.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHfnZVroL1-WNlfCEC09jdPlf6GYUu50e

People are going to comment that much of this advice is just a few cents or dollars here and there.

True, but you can take those tiny gains, and put a few dollars a week or month into stocks that pay dividends in whatever business you like: oil, energy, gambling, real estate, options (you can buy stocks and the company does the work selling options), for as little as $1 at a time.

Over time, this is a nice little income (your dollars make dollars) AND you can borrow against the value of the stock if you need a short term loan til the next payday once you reach $2000.

I wouldn't invest any money I might need quickly. So, if it's $1, then it's $1 that you can put away for a long while.

$2000 is not that much, especially if you can be smart.

First, pick a brokerage here for free. Some will give you free stock for just opening, some will give free stock for a small ($20 lets say) deposit, and it scales up from there. One gives you $200 for depositing $2000. (You could get a credit card advance for that, with one of those 3% offers, since you make 10%. Pocket the difference.)

Read the terms as some require you keep the money there for a while. But you could easily buy $200 in stock in the last example, keep the $2000 in cash in the account then when the time is met, withdraw the cash and pay off the credit card. Or, put it in a savings account after that or whatever. You pay a $60-$80 fee but you make $200.

IMHO, a brokerage account worth $2000 so you can apply for margin (mainly so you can borrow cash against the value of your stock) and use it as another bank account. You can even pay your credit card out of your brokerage in most cases.

Example: Credit card's due, but you don't have the cash for a few days. No problem! Your stocks are worth $2000, in most cases the broker will let you spend $1000. Pay the card, put the money back when you get your paycheck.

Moving on.

The first concept I want to talk about is: delay your gratification. Rich people buy luxuries last, poor people buy luxuries first.

What is a luxury? IMHO, anything you don't NEED. (Or plan to make or save money, etc. such as buying an electric lawn mower and stop paying someone else to do it.)

Those premium beers (beer in general is not a good bargain, I like cheap rum plus whatever), the Starbucks, junk food (I'm hungry) or anything you don't truly NEED.

Do you need a new TV or can you just watch on a tablet and hold it closer?

That money can go into investing.

Why do I keep pushing investing? Because your money makes money all the time. While you are asleep.

Ok, so that's our goals: building a habit of not spending money for wants, but NEEDS and using our money or credit card or whatever to make money.

Rich people don't work for their money. Their money works for them.

Frugal. Cheap.

Here's where it might be embarrassing for you. These are things I do, but many of them are also good for the environment.

I will 'embarrass' myself now. Here's a long list of tiny things I do that just save money.

1. When I get bar soap and such in a hotel, I bring it home. Wrap it in a couple of Kleenex and take it home. Makes your suitcase smell good and keeps it out of the trash. Save conditioner/shampoo small sizes and use those the next time you travel.

2. Showers. I use a lower water output (don't need full blast to wash) and you can turn off the water as you lather. Saves heating the water, saves the amount of water you use. Get wet, turn off water, lather, rinse. Good for the environment. If it's winter, leave the warm water in the tub and the heat will stay in your bathroom. Drain when cold.

3. Food. Take it home from the restaurant, freeze it if you can't eat it right away, buy the store brands, look for the 'dented box' clearance section, etc. Refill your one time use wwater bottle.

4. Save the aluminum cans. Just put them somewhere if you can and make one big trip. I also save other metals as I have storage on site.

5. Pick up those pennies you see in the parking lot.

6. Check out an app called 'CoinOut'. They pay you to take photos of almost any receipt and send it in. Just collect a small pile and do it every now and then while you watch TV.

7. Look for a store in your area that sells out of date items. Anything canned for example that's close to out of date or is just a little out of date is probably fine if the can isn't swollen.

8. Drive slower. Don't punch the gas when the light turns green, and slow down early for red lights and stop signs: coast to them if you can. Keep your tires aired up. That's cheap.

9. Pool resources. Carpool, take trips to the store together, Costco etc: buy a bunch, split it up. It's social, too.

R Mode and TeamRedMiner HiveOS settings

2022-05-21T00:22:00.000-05:00

850 core clock somehow reverted me to 1400mhz.

Appears that 900 is the lowest I can set which saves about 5W in software and about the same hashrate. I presume it runs cooler too, so, saves A/C if your rig is inside.

Pic shows results, which is a nice bump on the 6700XT.

As for the 6600XT and 6600, not much benefit other than a little power savings and a little cooler running, so it's probably worth doing...but. meh.

Basically on the 6600XT you can run the core at 900mhz and get the same hash as 1100mhz, which you'd think would make bigger diff on power...it's about 2W per card from what I see.

900mhz is also the lowest that appears to work correctly on those.

Sometimes one fan will show 14% vs 34%...shrug. Bout as low as they go I'd guess.

Unraid USB boot issue, Creat a new one with same config

2022-05-12T21:29:00.004-05:00

4gb stick.

Started kernel panicking with read errors on boot.

I copied over all files from 'flaky' stick for a backup and I had a backup 2 days prior as well. I keep 3-4 backups in the cloud.

formatted stick 2-3 times no issues. Full format.

FAT32, 4096 sector size. UNRAID as volume name

downloaded unraid zip. MD5 checks.

copied files over.

ran makebootable bat file as administrator.

deleted /config folder.

copied /config folder from flaky copy over to re-imaged stick. working.

Conclusion: just had a small error I guess since full formats went fine. (Not 'Quick' in Windows).

Notes for Unraid upgraders. Is your CPU using too much power?

2022-05-11T16:42:00.000-05:00

I upgraded from a Dell T310 to an R720xd.

The X3440 CPU (I upgraded from X3430 to get HT cores) uses an older driver and it doesn't allow idling on my R720xd.

In the terminal:

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/policy0/scaling_driver

gives and output of "acpi-cpufreq" which is incorrect for the 2697v2 Xeon I have for example.

"Sandy Bridge and newer use the intel_pstate driver"

So, to fix.

Fluxnode Setup on R720XD Unraid

2022-05-02T10:21:00.022-05:00

Did any of these notes help?

Send me some Flux. :)

Address: t1X5WnEuz8EwLkq3s2CSD951XWwZKSVjh6a

24 July 2022

Node offline?

sudo reboot

Update benchmarks. Make sure the benchmark program is updated and they pass.

It took 25 blocks yesterday to go from 'Started' to 'Confirmed' on my Zelcore status page. Is this the new standard?

4 June 2022

I was not seeing my node assets and rewards ANYWHERE in Zelcore. Simple fix: Somehow the 'Investments' wallet had NO assets listed in it. All I had to do was add FLUX. That's a dumb default, IHMO.

Update 23 May 2022

The benchmarks haven't failed once, to all the naysayers that say the 2697v2 CPU in a VM is 'on the bubble' for pass/fail. Yeah, but it's not consumer gear and everything outside the VM isn't going to push the CPU, so the odds of it failing enough to be DOS are slim.

Plenty of RAM/CPU/disk speed here.

First rewards about 5 FLUX for Cumulus.

Update May 10 2022:

Got my 2697v2 in and it just performs well enough to pass at lowest EPS of 61.xx to 63.xx

It might be worth considering a lower core count CPU with higher clocks. This is stock clock so I might look into a little bit of an overclock around 5% or so just for some buffer.

I had to reinitialize the node using the script and re-download the bootstrap file.

For some reason if it's too 'stale' (hadn't been online for about 10 days) then this might be necessary.

The setup guide mentions port 53 and some port. You don't appear to need them, just these ranges. Apparently U-Verse TV also uses 53 and whatever the setup guide on Medium said.

The Flux Network tab on the gui (http://192.168.1.xxx:16126/flux/fluxnetwork) won't populate until the node is up.

Flux Node setup notes 29 Apr 2022.

This is very ugly formatting and it's just notes, really, now.

If any of this helps, you can send me Flux at t1Qxm2xUsyeqShKemb5Q4tYUnduWKoQpzeG

Help me get that node level up. :)

Machine: Dell R720xd with single CPU.

Before you read any further, the E5-2630 0 Xeon will not pass the benchmark for even a Cumulus Node.

Never ever.

It would have to be 20% faster than what I am benching it at. Around 51 EPS and it needs 60 Events per core for these node specs:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qI6poLOieT3TgsAolFicYAyluby91F_BD4mcXblKP_8/edit#gid=1619256168

You're going to need a fiar amount of capital to run anything higher than a Cumulus node anway.

E5 2690 V2 seems to be the choice for R720XD as it is a little cheaper, uses a little less power, but the cores are clocked over 10% higher than the 12 core 2697. Real world, single core perf seems to be the choice as many people also put these in the 2013 Mac Pros (got one) for the same reason: single core perf is the most visible diff in most usage.

2697 V2 Might also be a good choice. It turbos almost as high on single core and has a 20% larger cache.

$70 on Ebay and that's adding a 1 yr Squaretrade warranty: https://ebay.us/h9JAOj

NVME drive holding the VM disk image. Nothing special.

The video and Medium post are pretty good but the script now asks for "FluxNode Identity Key"

Here's my sysbench output:

sysbench --test=cpu --threads=1 --cpu-max-prime=60000 --time=20 run

WARNING: the --test option is deprecated. You can pass a script name or path on the command line without any options.

sysbench 1.0.18 (using system LuaJIT 2.1.0-beta3)

Running the test with following options:

Number of threads: 1

Initializing random number generator from current time

Prime numbers limit: 60000

Initializing worker threads...

Threads started!

CPU speed:

events per second: 48.89

General statistics:

total time: 20.0022s

total number of events: 978

Latency (ms):

min: 18.47

avg: 20.42

max: 46.10

95th percentile: 24.83

sum: 19969.16

Threads fairness:

events (avg/stddev): 978.0000/0.00

execution time (avg/stddev): 19.9692/0.00

Restart benchmarks:

fluxbench-cli restartnodebenchmarks

UPDATE: 8 Nov 2022 Benchmark 3.5.0 is out and I got 67 EPS, so about 12% more than req'd which is comfortable-ish. Sometimes it has to rerun a bench.

The IP of your VM under Unraid will be different than the server IP. So, to access the flux node dashboard it will be 192.168.1.xxx: 16126 where xxx is the IP of your VM. I forgot this. Duh.

Notes:

--probably have to pass ports to the VM machine duh

--how to make sure vm gets allocated the same IP

DISK Benchmarking.

dd if=/dev/zero of=sb-io-test bs=64k count=16k conv=fdatasync; rm -rf sb-io-test

Above command will show you disk speed. My NVME where the VM disk is located gets 350-370mb/s. Enough for almost the largest node level.

Disk size is ony 100GB but you allocated more? This is normal for Ubuntu...dunno why...

See:

$ df -Th

Filesystem Type Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on

udev devtmpfs 3.9G 0 3.9G 0% /dev

tmpfs tmpfs 796M 1.2M 795M 1% /run

/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv ext4 98G 28G 66G 30% /

tmpfs tmpfs 3.9G 0 3.9G 0% /dev/shm

tmpfs tmpfs 5.0M 0 5.0M 0% /run/lock

tmpfs tmpfs 3.9G 0 3.9G 0% /sys/fs/cgroup

/dev/loop0 squashfs 62M 62M 0 100% /snap/core20/1405

/dev/loop1 squashfs 62M 62M 0 100% /snap/core20/1434

/dev/loop2 squashfs 68M 68M 0 100% /snap/lxd/21835

/dev/loop3 squashfs 68M 68M 0 100% /snap/lxd/22753

/dev/loop4 squashfs 44M 44M 0 100% /snap/snapd/15177

/dev/loop5 squashfs 45M 45M 0 100% /snap/snapd/15534

/dev/vda2 ext4 1.5G 213M 1.2G 16% /boot

tmpfs tmpfs 796M 0 796M 0% /run/user/1001

Here's how to resize:

:~$ sudo lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv

Size of logical volume ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv changed from 100.00 GiB (25600 extents) to <254.50 GiB (65151 extents).

Logical volume ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv successfully resized.

:~$ sudo resize2fs /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv

resize2fs 1.45.5 (07-Jan-2020)

Filesystem at /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv is mounted on /; on-line resizing required

old_desc_blocks = 13, new_desc_blocks = 32

The filesystem on /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv is now 66714624 (4k) blocks long.

List of Commands for Flux nodes that might be useful to have.

▶ COMMANDS TO MANAGE FLUX DAEMON.

📌 Start Flux daemon: sudo systemctl start zelcash

📌 Stop Flux daemon: sudo systemctl stop zelcash

📌 Help list: flux-cli help

▶ COMMANDS TO MANAGE BENCHMARK.

📌 Get info: fluxbench-cli getinfo

📌 Check benchmark: fluxbench-cli getbenchmarks

📌 Restart benchmark: fluxbench-cli restartnodebenchmarks

📌 Stop benchmark: fluxbench-cli stop

📌 Start benchmark: sudo systemctl restart zelcash

▶ COMMANDS TO MANAGE FLUX.

📌 Summary info: pm2 info flux

📌 Logs in real time: pm2 monit

📌 Stop Flux: pm2 stop flux

📌 Start Flux: pm2 start flux

▶ COMMANDS TO MANAGE WATCHDOG.

📌 Stop watchdog: pm2 stop watchdog

📌 Start watchdog: pm2 start watchdog --watch

📌 Restart watchdog: pm2 reload watchdog --watch

📌 Error logs: ~/watchdog/watchdog_error.log

📌 Logs in real time: pm2 monit

📌 IMPORTANT: After installation check 'pm2 list' if not work, type 'source /home/xxxxx/.bashrc'

📌 To access your frontend to Flux enter this in as your url: xxx.xx.xx.x:16126

This script for configs/tests.

bash -i <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RunOnFlux/fluxnode-multitool/master/multitoolbox.sh)

---

To clear your logs

cat /dev/null > .flux/debug.log && cat /dev/null > zelflux/debug.log && cat /dev/null > zelflux/error.log && cat /dev/null > .fluxbenchmark/debug.log && cat /dev/null > .fluxbenchmark/benchmark_debug_error.log && cat /dev/null > .fluxbenchmark/flux_daemon_debug_error.log && cat /dev/null > watchdog/watchdog_error.log && cat /dev/null > benchmark_debug_error.log

---

To see your node balances go to https://paoverview.app.runonflux.io/ and enter your node address. Here's mine after a couple of weeks:

BTC-S37 Power supplies: DON'T use more than 1. This person melted part of their board.

2022-04-09T12:43:00.003-05:00

From my Youtube video at https://youtu.be/M-_mJLptBXw

"psu 2 got very very hot and riser melted smoke! "

This question comes up so often I reproduced it here.

It's a BAD IDEA to use two power supplies on the boards where the power connectors are all tied together. Just don't do it. The only way would be to use a power balancing circuit but then monetarily it isn't worth it.

Read thru for my recommendation. Is 2400 watts enough? I got you.

There's no 'riser' on this board. People should not even think of it that way. There are PCIe slots. It's a standard slot, just wired for 1x.

Would you use two power supplies in a PC? Ever seen it? (short of servers of course, but they have it designed that way.)

So don't do it! (I'm not fussing, I'm just trying to get people to STOP doing this).

Solution:

What I have on my board like this with all slots filled is a Dell 1100W power supply from a server that runs all 8 just fine as it has a lot of 6600/67000XTs and lower ppower cards. To go very high would probably require a 240V more expensive supply. It is my belief that efficiency will be key after ETH goes PoS so I've steered that way.

Go here https://www.parallelminer.com/?wpam_id=625 and look for the Dell X15 series. Make sure you match their board with the correct power supply. This link earns me a commission.

You can pick another power supply/board combo but the Dells are cheap.

You can run up to a 2400 watt Dell PSUs on these boards.

I have the X15 Rev:B on both my boards. I would recommmend a cooling solution blowing at the PSU as well.

Please use these links as they support me or you can send $1 to http://paypal.me/rcbullock or whatever amount you feel is worth me wiriting this up for 15 minutes. :)

I have the X15 Rev:B on both my boards. I would recommmend a cooling solution blowing at the PSU as well.

PSU on Amazon like mine:

https://amzn.to/3uq1clS Why? Because you can get a 3 or 4 year warranty for like $9 and they can be found for under $30. R720xd is a server I have for other crypto stuff so I can keep extras around for that too.

A USB powered fan like this will let the PSU sit on top for cooling. It helps. https://amzn.to/3uomWOO

You can also use 120mm case fans. I bought these https://amzn.to/3xkbvto but they spin slow. Molex connector so I daisy chained them with an AC supply brick.

You can see them in my other vid on the 8 GPU rig, frame mounted.

Want to sent me a few cents in crypto? Leave a comment for the blockchain wallet type you prefer.

Little Snitch Mini Review: Three Times A Liar

2022-02-25T10:43:00.007-06:00

Update 2: After reboot, all files are NOT cleared:

Issuing sudo kextcache --clear-staging appears to work. /Library/StagedExtensions/ is now empty.

Update: SOMETHING goes on behind the scenes, as:

systemextensionsctl list

in a terminal window gives:

Little Snitch Network Extension [terminated waiting to uninstall on reboot]

I tried it out, and then went to uninstall it.

There is NO UNINSTALLER.

Their web page lies THREE TIMES: https://help.obdev.at/littlesnitch4/ref-uninstall

1. There is no uninstaller in the 5.3.2 DMG that you can download.

2. There is no uninstaller at /Library/Little Snitch/Little Snitch Uninstaller.app

3. Dragging the app to the garbage DOES NOT start an uninstaller.

There IS a menu option in the app to uninstall. It does NOTHING but show you the app.

Further, dragging it to the garbage leaves TONS of stuff on your drive:

AppCleaner deleted a lot but EasyFind still found all these files:

You wanna buy this? I don't.

This is supposed to be a good package but I with this much cruft left in my system and the fact that the 'Help' page is SO WRONG doesn't make me want to own this.

Mac Windowserver Timeout: Some Ideas

2022-02-16T11:44:00.014-06:00

Summary as of 19 Apr 2022:

So far, using the 'Amphetamine' app to never let the computer sleep by having Amphetamine move the cursor seems to work best. I have the computer / disk / screen never sleep in settings as well.

I manually sleep it via suspend to disk as outlined below.

First, I don't have a cure. But I'm trying some ideas. My system is a Mac Pro 2013 model (made in 2016) with 64GB of RAM (had 16GB but same issues), 3.67ghz 4 core, 1TB Apple SSD, and the D300 CPUs.

I upgraded from 16GB of RAM to 64GB of RAM, no change. Some reported high RAM use by some apps might have been an issue.

SMC and NVRAM resets haven't helped.

Note: live streaming and having lots of tabs and apps open might have been a factor.

Here's an idea if you still want "sleep".

https://computers.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-hibernate-a-mac--cms-23235

I set it to '25' which will suspend to disk and take a little longet to wake. Only issue was it told me I hadn't ejected a disk properly.

Planned: Upgrade from Big Sur to Monterey. *Completed. Scroll down for Post-Monterey notes.

I turned off my second desktop in Mission Control. I have 3 monitors so I don't need that. That should reduce the load on WindowServer. It APPEARS to have cut my CPU us in half. Which makes sense kinda. One 'space' vs two even though the second one was empty.

So far, at firxt glance, this is the largest visible difference from chages I've made.

Idea: wonder if I upgraded from my quad core to a 10 or 12 core would help the issue. CPU would have more overhead.

Idea: I put the Top left output as Thunderbolt so that's the first type of Display I presume the hardware sees vs. a legacy.

Note: I noticed System Report says Auto Brightness is enabled but of course that's impossible for these displays/machine. Can't adjust in settings.

25 Feb 2022:

---I just tried these 3 in succession and rebooted---

sudo kextcache -i /

sudo kextcache -u /

sudo kextcache -system-caches

-------

References: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/has-anyone-found-a-fix-for-the-following-kernal-panic-mac-pro-6-1-watchdogd.2317444/

I turned off all the accessibility features in preferences. Just a thought.

I turned off all the sleep functions related to display.

I was trying to speed up Chrome Browser rendering by forcing GPU rendering but still got the issue.

Here's how to check that. I have it off now.

https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/271264-chrome-gpu-hardware-acceleration-turn-off.html#:~:text=1.%20Open%20Chrome%3A%202.%20Type%20%22%20chrome%3A%2F%2Fflags%20%22,to%20confirm%20settings%3A%20Another%20nice%20addition%21%20Great%20job

I was getting a lot of wakeups in the log for Google Chrome Help Renderer:

Wakeups: 45001 wakeups over the last 208 seconds (216 wakeups per second average), exceeding limit of 150 wakeups per second over 300 seconds

WindowServer was issuing something similar:

Wakeups: 45001 wakeups over the last 276 seconds (163 wakeups per second average), exceeding limit of 150 wakeups per second over 300 seconds

*NOW* it says Windowserver is using a lot of CPU instead it appears:

CPU: 90 seconds cpu time over 161 seconds (56% cpu average), exceeding limit of 50% cpu over 180 seconds

This was after a Chrome restart for the flag setting above, GPU/CPU render.

So, moving the renderer off the GPU might help. I have a lot of Chrome Browser tabs open on 3 monitors.

---Post Monterey 12.2.1 install notes---

This was an all at once install from Mojave that was current as of 27 Feb 2022 on top of that OS.

Here's some Random info on the D300s under Monterey 12.2.1.

This is the GPU with connected displays. Slot-1 is the 'only for compute tasks' GPU. Slot 1 has VBIOS 113-C4012PA-012 but the ROM revision is the same. A slot, as it were, I suppose hence the 'A' vs. B.

---

Chipset Model: AMD FirePro D300

Type: GPU

Bus: PCIe

Slot: Slot-2

PCIe Lane Width: x16

VRAM (Total): 2 GB

Vendor: AMD (0x1002)

Device ID: 0x6810

Revision ID: 0x0000

ROM Revision: 113-C4012F-687

VBIOS Version: 113-C4012PB-012

EFI Driver Version: 01.0D.687

Automatic Graphics Switching: Supported

gMux Version: 4.0.11 [3.2.8]

Metal Family: Supported, Metal GPUFamily macOS 2

----

Windowserver CPU use seems down somewhere. Chrome is what sucks up a ton of it because I have tons of tabs open. Watching it now seems to have it around 21-27% but the suck part: just moving the mouse around makes it increase noticeably.

Actors: Sometimes it literally IS about just showing up.

2022-01-10T14:00:00.005-06:00

A little backstory:

I've done work with this local production company in the past, and while it's a small shop, it's always FUN and includes a paycheck and a nice lunch. (We've all seen the 'UNPAID' roles on certain sites. LOL.)

So when I saw a post that they needed a background actor, I put in for it because it's always been a good time. This is the 3rd project I've worked on for them.

I've done nationally airing commercials and TV shows, but I don't consider this role 'beneath me' because who knows? Maybe someday it will be an Easter egg for someone to spot me. And if I think it's fun, I'll consider pretty much anything.

I'll stretch my acting muscles any way I can and any experience IMHO is good experience. This turned out to be even more than that.

I'm just supposed to be 'warehouse worker'.

Until I show up. Hint hint.

We all sit down. About 1 minute into the conversation, the head guy (he wears several hats and signs the checks), turns to me and says "Hey Rob, we don't have a 'Jason', do you want to handle that?"

I say "no problem" and get a copy of the script.

The conversation content also included something about 'people not showing up', and 'it's always the morning of' when they no show you.

IMHO, this would be, I imagine, the #1 way to tick off a director/producer/etc. It's a small industry, so don't do that.

I don't know who all didn't show up, but it sounds like more than one person.

This is also not the first time I've heard this. I've heard it on multiple sets. Perhaps it's my military/airline captain/engineer background but I do NOT get this concept.

Anyway, what happens is this:

I end up front and center of the camera and one of two main characters the scene hinges on.

SHOW UP. It pays in multiple ways. It's not just an acting lesson, it's a life lesson.

If you want to see it when the project is out. give me a follow at these two spots:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV4GR6sAVNtQbmOf8kC7M3A

https://twitter.com/RealActorRob

FIX : Machinaris Not Syncing

2022-01-08T13:31:00.001-06:00

Short but sweet post:

Fastest way I have found is to go to the Connections tab on the right on the web GUI and add these in the 'Add Connection' box and click 'Add Connection' of course after that.

introducer-va.chia.net:8444

introducer-or.chia.net:8444

These are chia.net sites so they're official. These are the east and west USA introducers but you can Google for chia.net introducers if you need other locations.

Mac Pro 2013: Only two displays working

2021-12-16T19:52:00.005-06:00

Another weird one:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202801

"You can connect up to six of the following properly-configured displays to your Mac Pro (Late 2013).

Six Apple Thunderbolt Displays (27-inch), Apple LED Cinema Displays (27-inch), or third-party Mini DisplayPort displays.
Three 4K displays: two connected via Mini DisplayPort and one connected via HDMI.
One 4K Ultra HD TV or 4K display using HDMI and four Apple Thunderbolt Displays (27-inch), Apple LED Cinema Displays (27-inch), or third-party Mini DisplayPort displays.
Two HDMI (HD or 4K) devices: one connected via HDMI and one connected via Mini DisplayPort with an HDMI adapter.
Six DVI displays. This configuration requires an active DVI adapter. "

*SUPPOSEDLY* this means you only get two 'Legacy' outputs....why, Apple, WHY?!?

What threw me a bit was I had a MiniDisplayPort to DVI, which is a legacy because DVI is just HDMI without Audio signals, so it's still Legacy.

I have to order a MiniDisplayPort to Displayport cable to follow up, which should be allowed.

And if you're wondering why your D300 in slot 1 isn't doing anything in system monitor is because it isn't called into play except for rednering and compute tasks. It never drives the monitor. Can't. Ever. Never.

Although I wonder if you dissassemble your Mac, can you swap them to let the first GPU "rest" after seeing a lot more use?

Big Sur: Show more Monitor Resolutions

2021-12-16T19:10:00.003-06:00

Go to Monitors.

Hold down Option key.

Click "Scaled".

If you see a short list, keep holding down the key and click Scaled again.

Weird. Yup, even tho it's selected, holding Option and clicking 'Scale' appears to toggle the list of resolutions.

Big Sur Mac Pro 2013 Display Issues: No 'Detect Displays' Button in Preferences

2021-12-16T18:34:00.007-06:00

Hold down the Option key.

Right Click on the icon in the Dock for Preferences and 'Force Quit' it.

(Yes, even though it isn't locked up.)

Hold down Option while starting System Preferences. (May not be nesc. but I did.)

In place of 'Gather Windows' when you press Option, it should now say 'Detect Displays'.

Did this help? Send me 50 cents. :) http://paypal.com/beachfitrob

Next Issue: All my Displayports work and my HDMI port works, but no third Monitor. It's not the cable, the cable works with a different monitor.

I'll let you know on that one.

EDIT: It's 'normal'. But sucks. -=> https://rcbullock.blogspot.com/2021/12/mac-pro-2013-only-two-displays-working.html

Before You Buy an NVME for Your 2013 Mac Pro 6,1 Make Sure It Really Is an Upgrade:

2021-12-16T11:36:00.004-06:00

This article is not sponsored but Amazon links used by you generate 4% commissions that I donate to pet rescues. It makes 8 times the money that Amazon Smile does. They are only .5%

I just bought a "new to me" 2013 Mac Pro 6,1 that was manufactured in 2016 with a 1TB drive already in it.

The Ebay Seller had several others that had 256GB drives so I assumed this one was upgraded later or something.

Turns out, it has the 1TB APPLE SSD SM1024G drive in it already. This is about as fast as you're going to get.

Results above are mine. Some ads tout "up to 1565MB/s read and 1354MB/s write" which as you can see are in the same ballpark.

Now, if you need more storage, sure, then you might get a little more speed with a current tech drive.

If you have an original drive then please download BlackMagic's Disk Speed Test (it's free) from the app store and report your speed and drive in the comments below (you can get drive model from "About This Macc-=>System Report-=>Hardware -=>Storage"

I'd be interested if the later manufactured computers had the smaller drives still but with faster speeds.

Download: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/blackmagic-disk-speed-test/id425264550?mt=12

If you're buying an NVME, you'll need a little adapter. Personally, I'd get a regular NVME drive vs. the special 'Just for Macs' drives that have a slightly different interface. OWC and other places sell these.

Also, you won't be able to do 'hand me downs' to PCs etc. that use the industry standard interface if you buy an 'Apple Only' drive.

There could some twiddling, such as if you need a firmware update for the SSD you buy (SK Hynix P31 Gold for example.)

The NVME adapter you want is a Sintech brand:

https://amzn.to/3q0p0sT

The Q&A on Amazon specifically mentions the 2013 Mac Pro and the articles I've read also mention it specifically.

Can't go wrong with a Samsung drive, most likely: https://amzn.to/3E5ryLk

To Sum:

If you're not getting the read speeds above, I'd upgrade to an NVME drive using the Sintech adapter.

But check first. If you have a later manufacure date 2013 Mac Pro 6,1 you may already have the fastest drive available.