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Mount exFat filesystem on Debian

ExFat file systems are not supported out of the box on Debian, but support is provided by installing the exfat-utils package:

# apt-get install exfat-utils

Reading package lists... Done

Building dependency tree       

Reading state information... Done

The following additional packages will be installed:

  exfat-fuse

The following NEW packages will be installed:

  exfat-fuse exfat-utils

0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 28 not upgraded.

Need to get 73.0 kB of archives.

After this operation, 295 kB of additional disk space will be used.

Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y

fdisk -l shows my usb disk as:

Disk /dev/sdc: 186.3 GiB, 200049647616 bytes, 390721968 sectors

Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disklabel type: gpt

Disk identifier: ...

Device      Start       End   Sectors   Size Type

/dev/sdc1      40    409639    409600   200M EFI System

/dev/sdc2  411648 390721535 390309888 186.1G Microsoft basic data

So to mount sdc2:

mkdir /media/usbdisk (or whatever mountpoint you prefer)

mount -t exfat /dev/sdc2 /media/usbdisk

Done!

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Proxmox installation on a 2008 Mac Pro

Following on from my earlier article, I read some more about Proxmox running on a Mac Pro so decided to give it a go.

I added an empty drive into one of the spare bays, and then booted from the Proxmox installer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After first boot and logon with the default root user to the web interface:

The first VM I want to create is for CentOS, and I have the iso ready to go on an attached usb drive, which I copied to the isos dir on Proxmox (/var/lib/vz/template/iso – defined storage locations for images are covered in answers to this post). The image now shows up on the local storage:

Creating a new VM based on this image:

Starting up the image and starting the CentOS install using the web-based vnc access:

… after completing the install, success!

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Virtualization, homelabs, eBay rack servers and a 2008 Mac Pro

I’m fascinated with installing different OSes to see what they’re about. At one point on VirtualBox I had about 20 different VMs with all sorts of guests from OS/2 to many different Linux distros. Somewhere on my internet travels I ran into the Reddit Homelab group, a community of sysadmins who run virtualization on older, used rack servers (and other hardware), to experiment with configuration of VMWare ESXi, and other virtualization software like Proxmox VE.

Window shopping on eBay, you can pick up various used Dell or HP rack servers with dual Xeons and several swappable harddrive bays for around $100 to $200 depending on the specs. I was getting close to picking up one of these, until I wondered if you can run ESXi on a Mac Pro. Turns out you can and it is even supported hardware on VMWare’s HCL list. Trouble is my eBay 2008 Mac Pro is not on the supported list for current ESXi versions, so I’m not sure if a current version would install and work ok, or whether I’d have to go back a few versions.

My MacPro currently has 20GB RAM, and I’ve got 3 empty drive bays. Watching a few YouTube videos such as the ones below, I feel a weekend project coming on 🙂

 

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Amateur Radio CQ WW RTTY contest 9/22-9/23/17: 40m contacts using an end fed wire antenna at 5ft

I worked a few hours in the CQ WW RTTY contest today and logged 30 contacts so far, mostly on 20m, a few on 15m, and then this evening several on 40m.

For 20m and 15m I have homebrew wire dipoles in my attic at about 33ft above ground. They probably don’t work as well as they would at the same height outside in the clear, but I logged contacts (from Davis, CA – grid CM98dn) with Japan, Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, Hawaii, British Columbia, and across the US. I’ve worked my Worked All States (WAS) with these antennas, they’ve been working well for me so far.

I haven’t worked out a 40m dipole that will fit in my attic (without some serious bending back and forth), so for 40m and 80m I have a Maple Leaf 160-6m 60ft end fed, which runs along my backyard fence line. Now at about 5ft above ground a 40m antenna is far below it’s optimal height above ground (at least for a 40m dipole which should be 66ft above ground), and yet this antenna works. Does it work well? Probably not as well as an equivalent 40m dipole up at 66ft, but using this antenna this evening to work some RTTY contacts on 40m, I made 6 contacts all between 500 to 600 miles out to the East and South, and then one slightly further out, up to BC at about 700 miles.

I think at 5ft above ground this antenna probably qualifies as an NVIS antenna, but working contacts out to 700 miles is ok for what I’d consider a compromise antenna, or at least with a compromised installation. Or am I misunderstanding how these end feds work?

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