Installing to a new VM from .iso, with a 2 vCPU, 2GB RAM VM.
Booting up from iso:
Success!
Ubuntu 20.10 install on VMware ESXi
Mac Pro 2008: dead ATI 200 XT GPU replaced with not so dead Nvidia 120 GT
The ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT that came standard in the 2008 Mac Pro was a good looking card. I mean, chrome flames?! But unfortunately in this case, mine died:
I primarily used this card only to access the Mac boot screen to switch between MacOS and Windows 10, as my other card, an Nvidia 750ti doesn’t support the boot screen. Once the ATI card died, I was stuck in Windows 10 and couldn’t boot back into MacOS.
Not really needing an upgrade, just a replacement that supports the boot screen, I picked up a cheap Nvidia 120 GT on ebay for $30. Nowhere near as flashy looking as the ATI:
Got the card installed, and it works great:
Turns out the fan on that ATI card was also the noisiest fan in my Mac Pro. Now with the new Nvidia card, my Mac Pro is barely audible. I have 2 SSDs and one 2.5″ HDD, so other than the system fans, I guess with low usage it really shouldn’t be spinning up the fans that loud anyway. Turns out this new card is significantly quieter. Bonus!
Interactive online tutorials for JavaScript
The number of free (or low cost) online tutorials for developers to learn programming today is outstanding. Never before have learning resources been so easily accessible.
My favorite type of tutorial are the interactive style where you get to work on a solution to a problem online and the site checks your result and gives you feedback. Compared to a static tutorial where you just read materials or watch a video, this additional interactive step really helps to apply your understanding at a practical level.
(NOTE: list in progress – last updated 11/03/20)
These are some of my favorite interactive learning resources:
- Learn JavaScript: https://learnjavascript.online/
- React Tutorial: https://react-tutorial.app/app.html
- Code Wars: Kata style programming puzzles for multiple programming languages with an active community https://www.codewars.com/
Comedy of Errors: Mac gpu dies, no boot screen, Unifi Controller on unselectable MacOS disk
I’m not sure how all these issues occurred at the same time (or at least close enough together to cause issues), but here’s the story:
My Unifi network Controller app is on my 2008 Mac Pro. It has 2 GPUs, the original ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT that supports the Mac boot screen, and a Nvidia 750ti that is a PC card and so doesn’t support the boot screen. The 750ti is my normal gpu, the 2600XT is connected to a smaller monitor that I only use to access the Mac boot screen to switch between Windows 10 and MacOS.
At some point the 2600 XT just stopped working, it doesn’t have any video output from either of the monitor connectors. I’ve pulled it out and reseated it, but it’s just dead. While I was booted in MacOS a couple of days ago I changed the default boot disk to Windows 10 (mistake #1) to access some files from Windows. At that point I started to realize I’d lost a way of getting back into MacOS without a way to get to the boot screen.
Fast forward a few days, I started up my DL380 rack server which I use on a different IP range to the IP range for the rest of the house. I can get to the HP ILO on 10.0.0.2, but I can’t access ESXi which is normally on 10.0.0.3. I can’t get to the Unifi Controller (because it’s on the MacOS disk that I can’t boot) to see what IP that port on the hub has, and running arp -a or using Angry IP scanner is not showing any new IPs getting allocated via DHCP.
My stack of network hubs is under my desk, so getting underneath my desk I realized I’d plugged the DL380 in to the PoE input port and not a network port. While adding another PC to the hub a few weeks back I had moved that port from my 10.x.x.x network back to 192.168.1.x. So now plugging the DL380 network into any other free port on another hub means ESXI still thinks it’s on 10.0.0.3, but I can’t reach it as there’s no route via the port it’s now plugged into.
I need to switch back one of the ports on my Unifi switch back to the 10.x.x.x network, but:
- I can’t boot my Mac Pro to MacOS because it’s stuck in Windows 10
- I need to get a replacement Mac GPU that supports the boot screen
- I can’t switch a port on the Unifi switch back to 10.x.x.x because I can’t access the Unifi controller app
- I don’t have remote access enabled to my Unifi network
- I don’t even know what id/pwd I can use to ssh into the Unifi switch
Next steps:
- Cheap replacement Nvidia GT 120 ordered on ebay for $30.