The Unlucky Fish

Large USB Drive Sharing Using DD-WRT and SAMBA 3.5 on WRT610N (v1, CFE .16)

Posted by David T at 7:22 pm DD-WRT, IT Pro, Linux, NAS, Router, SAMBA, Windows 7 4 Responses »

Feb 122011

Large USB Drive Sharing Using DD-WRT and SAMBA 3.5 on WRT610N (v1, CFE .16)

Some time ago, I purchased a WRT610N router from Linksys, which came with the option to share a USB connected hard drive. On a few occasions, I hooked up a 100GB drive from my tool bag on it using the native Linksys firmware. This worked fine, but performance was subjectively poor. I noted that while FAT32 file systems were supported, more reliable ones, such as NTFS, were not. Further, searching online quickly showed me that many people experienced problems with large file sized 2-4GB. Over a year later, while at a work convention, I had the need for massive storage – so I bought what was on the shelf at the local office supply store: one Verbatim 1.5TB hard USB 2.0 external hard drive. Now the fun: How could I integrate the massive USB drive with the Linksys router while still keeping my router intact as a router, firewall, and child-internet-access-limiting device? Back when I ran a Linksys WRT54G (v1) router, I found that a 3rd party firmware provided many features that the native firmware did not support. At the time I discovered many choices existed for 3rd party firmware with Tomato and DD-WRT being the most popular. I opted [...]

Is Email Delivery Guaranteed? Why wasn’t my email received

Posted by David T at 9:44 pm Email, End User / Consumer 1 Response »

Jan 262011

Is Email Delivery Guaranteed? Why wasn't my email received

Occasionally, I run into a person(s) who want me to explain why another person(s) did not get email. Usually, this is in the context of some dispute over whether or not the recipient received the email someone else claims to have sent. For this reason, courts typically do not consider email notification a viable means for delivery of Service of Process. Oh, there may be the odd case where it is permitted, such as in the case of Tishman vs the Associated Press. However, such measures are typically reserved for alternative use when other means fail and even then typically require court approval. In these cases, extra steps usually need to be taken to prove the email was received by the recipient to avoid the defense argument that it was not received. When you were a kid, did you ever play with a walkie-talkie? Imagine calling out for your friend who has the matching walkie-talkie from the pair. He doesn’t answer. Do you relay your message anyway with the idea that he is there and just didn’t answer or do you assume he didn’t hear you? While it’s possible your friend was ignoring you, he could also be out of range, [...]

LOL Catz Ransom Note

Posted by David T at 9:14 pm Humor 4 Responses »

Jan 182011

All your fishies are belong to us. LOL.

Accessing the OOMA setup page without using the Home Port

Posted by David T at 8:52 pm End User / Consumer, IT Pro, Ooma 6 Responses »

Aug 292010

Accessing the OOMA setup page without using the Home Port

How do I access the OOMA setup page without using the Home Port? This article will answer that technical question, but first, I must tell my OOMA story. (Skip on to the real technical stuff…) When people, those whom I have shared my telephone number with, call my home, they are talking to me or my family over OOMA. OOMA is a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) provider that competes with services such as Vonage, Packet 8, Skype, etc. It has been well over a year now since I gave up my Vonage account in favor of an OOMA device (www.ooma.com). Since the switch, I have paid very, very little for telephone service: the cost of the device, the cost of their premier annual service subscription, and a few cents for international calls to Canada. Some things distinguish OOMA from other VoIP providers. For example, with OOMA, you buy the OOMA device for a one-time fee (OOMA Telo $249.99 and up as of 1/20/2001) and then have no phone bill, other than some taxes and regulatory fees just like a land line. With the device alone, you get most common call features including caller-ID, call-waiting, voicemail, and the ability to [...]

Installing Windows 7: Unsigned DVD Driver

Posted by David T at 8:40 pm End User / Consumer, Installation, IT Pro 3 Responses »

May 182010

Installing Windows 7: Unsigned DVD Driver

When my wife recently tried to do a clean install of her laptop to Windows 7, she booted from the DVD, started the install, selected the options for a clean install, watched the installer copy files to the local hard driver from the DVD, and then watched as her laptop restarted so that it could start the Windows Installer. The next thing the installer did was say it could not find her DVD device and ask her to load a driver. The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor which she ran before deciding to install Windows 7, did not mention the DVD/CD device as an issue. The system: HP Pavilion DV8000 Notebook PC The DVD/Drive: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4084N ATA DEVICE After checking the HP website for the DVD driver, I did a quick public search on my suspicions and found several blogs, technical help threads, and the like where people expressed problems with Windows 7 install and DVD drives. I even found this article, http://capitalhead.com/articles/windows-7-dvd-drive-not-working-problem-missing-disappeared-error-gone-not-found-not-recognized-in-x64-and-x86.aspx. An article that says it is good for “If you’ve recently installed Windows 7 or Windows 7 RC x64 and x86”. Well, we had not recently installed it: we were trying to install it. However, there was no reason we [...]