So, outside of attempting to ‘do’ the kitchen and my exciting and exotic literature search (Combine: ‘organ’ and ‘donation’ AND (‘premortem’ OR ‘antemortem’ OR ‘perimortem’) to hopefully yield useful results on treatment of people going for organ donation after an imminent death), I’ve been thinking about the ‘EntMac’.
Yes, this is a faintly computercentric post, so all those not after computercentricity look away now…
Essentially, the EntMac is going to run Ubuntu Linux. At least that’s the plan. What’s also ‘the plan’ is that it will run it using the 802.11b/g card in the machine as a bridge-type-affair (hopefully just about extending wireless to the garage). Originally I was intending to move the Router out there, but actually it’s probably better, if the linux box will let me do what I want, making it a bridge or a network extender would be, well, good. The problem with that is it’s not something I instantly know how to do, and thus comes under the ‘needs time’ problem. Still, that can be a longer term issue, because once it’s connected to the wired network I can at least access it from inside the house.
Which is important, because while the warm and potentially sometimes damp laundry room is no doubt not the ideal location for it, it is out of the way, heated (albeit minimally) and usually dry. It means I don’t have to have whirring server fans in the lounge*. The one teeny tiny inconvenience is that because the EntMac has decided that it doesn’t want to connect to the new router (for reasons that escape me, since the password’s the same, the network name’s the same, the IP block is the same, it’s set to DHCP, etc, etc. I can’t think of any reason why it now can’t connect) I need this to happen a bit more rapidly, because the laptop isn’t over endowed with space, and I was just thinking of moving some files onto the EntMac to clear some space off here. Only I can’t now. Because it won’t talk to the router**. And I can’t troubleshoot it because, well, I don’t have a monitor. Although I did locate the keyboard (well, a keyboard). And the trackball. So when I find a CD-R on which to burn Ubuntu*** and scrounge the monitor off John (which will be a ridiculously big monitor for a computer in a cupboard, but free is free :) ) I can install it. The batteries even claim they’re charging (unlike my sad little UniRoss ones which came out of the remote. They definitely don’t want to charge :( ).
Anyhow. So that’s that.
As a third side point, I’m trying Serviio. Anyone had any luck with it? For reasons I’m yet to understand it sat with nothing served (apart from empty directories) then suddenly had the music shared. But no video. I’m trying to work out if it’s just building a library and it’s taking a long time… or if it’s something else I need to fiddle with.
* Of course, we now have whirring fans in the kitchen (because the heaters in the kitchen are fanned), and at the moment, since the heating’s lacking radiators in the lounge and only 50% installed in the kitchen, well, it’s pretty much on continuously when the heating’s on.
** And for obscure reasons known only to it, the wired connection isn’t working either.
*** Irritatingly I saw one a few days ago and thought ‘Ah, a CD-R. That’ll be handy for when I want to do the Mac’. Now I have no idea where that was.
