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Showing posts from June, 2012

HOWTO: Build driver update disk for SLES

Okay, so we have this humongous ERP server we call the "Monster", with a, well, not-so-esoteric network card. We were in the process of upgrading it to SLES 10 SP4, but we hit a snag since SP4 doesn't have the most recent driver. So it was off to HP we go, to search for the latest driver , which was in the form of a kernel module package (KMP). Using Novell's reference as a guide, we built a driver update disk (DUD). Build the KMP to a usable RPM. zypper in kernel-source kernel-syms cd /var/tmp && wget http://path/to/src/rpm rpm -ivh hp-be2net-4.1.402.6-2.src.rpm rpmbuild -bb /usr/src/packages/SPECS/hp-be2net.spec ls -l /usr/src/packages/RPMS/x86_64 Create a build directory and extract the module. mkdir /var/tmp/dud && cd /var/tmp/dud rpm2cpio /srv/packages/hp/hp-be2net-kmp-default-4.1.402.6_2.6.16.60_0.85.1-2.x86_64.rpm | cpio -idv ./lib/modules/2.6.16.60-0.85.1-default/updates/hp-be2net/be2net.ko Create the staging tree. mkdir -p /var/tm...

Goodbye, MBP

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The recently concluded Apple WWDC 2012 keynote left a bitter taste in the mouth. I can hear fanboys ooh-ing and ahh-ing, going cazy over the newfangled gadgets pandered before them; I can almost hear their eyeballs pop and their jaws drop. The raves about the new MacBook Pro (slimmer, more powerful, with better displays) was especially gritty, and set my teeth on edge.  Okay, it *is* bitter -- *I* am bitter. The wounds from my recent woes with the MBP are still fresh. And I'm afraid I might have lost the MBP for good.  Water was accidentally spilled on the MBP, while I was carrying it home on my bag, inside its sleeve. It was only when I got home that I discovered that the sleeve and the MBP was soaked. It took every ounce of control not to scream, and the first thing I did was set the MBP on its side to let the water drip.   I took it to the service center. A week later, they told me that the logic board needs to be replaced. The replacement board was worth...