Firefox Add-ons I Love

1. LastPass
Used in conjuction with the LastPass on-line password manager service. Free/Premium@$12. Highly recommend them.

2. Firebug
Web development tool.

3. ChatZilla
Feature rich, user friendly in-browser IRC chat client.

4. Lazarus
Lost form data recovery tool. So far very awesome.

5. Down Them All
Works great to pull many files from a web server to a folder on your computer-- initiated directly from the browser.

6. Random Color Tool - Using Rainbow currently
I always install some kind of 'color tool' to help me quickly find out what color that is on the web.

Firefox Add-ons I Would Love to See

A. A Good Torrent Tool
There are two that I know of that are okay. Opera integrates torrenting into it's browser, but I don't really use Opera.

The Problem with TeamViewer (TeamViewer Is Awesome BTW)

The Things I Love About TeamViewer

It is multi-platform. It works on many *nix machines that have an X-Windows GUI. It works on all Windows Machines; Server2008, Win7 Pro, XP Home Edition-- it doesn't care. When other mixed technologies fail, TeamViewer usually works (I have a lot of 'unnecessary' technology in my house.). The same client install serves and acts as a client. You can start a session from your Linux laptop to your wife's Win7 laptop to fix that problem she was having. Later you can use her Win7 laptop to get into your Linux laptop to see if that compile finished. It is the same client. Configuration could be a hair more intuitive, but that is like asking for a revision of the Sistine Chapel. Could it be better, sure. Is it great the way it is, yes. For individual non-commercial use, it is free to use. And do so, it is great. It is the program I use in my home when I don't feel like using CLI. It is the technology I tell my wife and sister to use, their skills are above average-- but that is because most people's technological knowledge is poor. I even think many technologically bereft people could figure out how to use TeamViewer. Tell your friends. (Write about it's awesomeness in a blog maybe.) Nerds, listen up. If you are a Netflix subscriber, you have probably seen the 'You Can't Do That' screen from RDP. TeamViewer works. I regularly control my HTPC connected to my TV with my Android phone-- there is a TeamViewer Android app.

I Thought You Said Something About Problems

I would use the product heavily for SFTP maybe once a month. I would use the product for a few minutes about twice a week to fix some little thing and be done. But, I don't use it for work. I could use it happily instead of RDP, SFTP, CLI over SSH, and remote connection via DDNS like features. If it is so great, why don't you use it? Licensing costs. I want to pay them. I love their product. Licensing is big with me. I want to be legit. I don't want anyone knocking on my door. I am beholden to no-one. Therefore, I use a lot of open source products. Open source is not free. I charge a modest amount of money for each product. Those specific proceeds are donated. I have donated to OpenBSD, the Illumos Foundation, and Debian through SPI. It is important that the projects I like and use get money. Period. They just have so few licensing options, their cheapest option is to pay over $400 per year to rent the software. It is roughly $37 dollars per month. It is harder to give what I feel I can to closed source enterprises, pricing is rigid. What I currently use is free. My other options, (which are sufficient, but not better) are much less expensive. My motivation to use non-free solutions is to simplify my life. Setups and configurations for free solutions take time and effort. I want to do my work, get in and get out. The more time I take, the less money I make on jobs with a fixed cost being billed to the client. Their competitor LogMeIn is good, for the time being that is the product I will use. It is not great like TeamViewer is, but it is less than a third of the price for what I want to do.

Hopes and Dreams

It costs very little for TeamViewer to restructure their product pricing-- or get creative on a case by case basis. I am a raving fan that wants to give them money and I cannot justify giving them what they are asking given my current situation and my infrequent, short lived needs of their product. Their product is an excellent solution to a common problem and most people will like it a lot. If you have room in the budget, I have no qualms with recommending it with all the good I can relay. But, at this time is not at a sufficient price point or with licensing terms that are compatible with the work I do for me to use it.

Had A ZFS Pool with Raw Disk Access Disappear

zpool import POOLNAME

brought it back.

DDNS for OpenIndiana

In this installment, we are going to make up for a short coming in the No-IP service that I otherwise am very happy with.
I am hosting all kinds of machines on a DHCP connection. Shhh....
So I signed up with No-IP which I like very much.
I put a brand new SFTP server in service to replace my somewhat less secure FTP server I only had access to locally.
With all of it's shiny UNIX security, I tried to make it externally accessible-- but was unable with the tools provided by No-IP.
I will be supplementing my primary paid DDNS with No-IP by also using a free DynDNS account.
I plan on keeping No-IP because of their rock solid service that I have noticed 0 issues or problems with in several years.
Depending on how things go, I may also fork some money over to DynDNS.

On to the task at hand.

I chose DynDNS because I have a few friends that use it.

This is important. To avoid getting shut off for abuse while testing solutions, DynDNS has a few dummy accounts that can be used.
http://dyn.com/support/developers/test-account

There is something to be said about the multitude of solutions to a finite set of problems. It took me three tries to get something new to work. Just keep at it, eventually you will get it.

Plan C

Create a heading in your log just for stuff and giggles.

vi /var/log/updatedns.log

DNS Update Log

Write the script that will do the dirty work.

vi /usr/sbin/updatedns.sh

#!/bin/sh

#Get the data that allows for checking that the DNS service has a good IP.
  #I use no-ip for bradchesney.net, which does not facilitate sftp server DDNS services.
  #However, I can us it to see what my current IP is.
  #I leave finding the immediate value of your current external IP to you.
extip=`dig +short bradchesney.net`
  #Then I retrieve what my second DDNS provider thinks my SFTP server's IP is.
sftpserv=`dig +short sftpserv.dyndns.com`
  #Grab the date for simple logging purposes.
thedate=`date`

#Compare the values.
if [ "$extip" = "$sftpserv" ]; then

  #These lines test that the cron service is running the script and the basic logging works.
  #These are debugging lines and should be commented out during normal usage.
  #echo "#######################################################" >> /var/log/updatedns.log
  #echo "$thedate : EXTIP $extip; SFTPSERV $sftpserv -- Debug" >> /var/log/updatedns.log

#If the both IPs match, do nothing.
exit

else

#If they are different, update the IP with cURL and log the update.
  #Create the string to feed to curl
update="https://DYNDNSLOGIN:DYNDNSPASSWORD@members.dyndns.org/nic/update?system=dyndns&hostname=CHOSENDYNDNSHOSTNAME.dyndns.CHOSENDYNDNSTLD&myip=$extip"

  #This is a good debugging test string to avoid getting banned.
  #update="https://test:test@members.dyndns.org/nic/update?system=dyndns&hostname=test.mine.nu&myip=$extip"

#Update via curl and log the output and/or results
echo "#######################################################" >> /var/log/updatedns.log
echo "$thedate : EXTIP $extip; SFTPSERV $sftpserv" >> /var/log/updatedns.log
curl -k $update >> /var/log/updatedns.log > /dev/null
echo -e /r/n

fi

Change the owner, group, and permissions on the script.
chown root:bin /usr/sbin/updatedns.sh
chmod 751 /usr/sbin/updatedns.sh

Setup a cron job for the script.
I have mine set to check that I have a good IP every six minutes.
chrontab -e

Append the following text to run the script every six minutes.

0,6,12,18,24,30,36,42,48,54 * * * * /usr/bin/updatedns.sh

Boom, a somewhat resilient DDNS updater. --I am open to suggestions regarding a better way, but this should work rather well.

(Also, while building the curl command I noticed that I was contacting members.dyndns.org:8245 for ddclient in Plan B. Port 8245 is an unencrypted http port. I have a feeling that if I were to have changed that to port 443 or no port at all, the ddclient script may have worked. Hindsight.)



Plan B -- Failed

ddclient is a perl script that will meet the needs and supports many DDNS service providers.


Download the script.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/ddclient/files/ddclient/ddclient-3.8.1/ddclient-3.8.1.tar.gz/download



Install ddclient.

cp /file/extraction/location/ddclient /usr/sbin
mkdir /etc/ddclient
mkdir /etc/var/cache/ddclient
cp /file/extraction/location/sample-etc_ddclient /etc/ddclient/ddclient.conf


(! I don't know where you extracted the files. You can find / -name ddclient to have your system tell you where you put them.


Configure ddclient

vi /etc/ddclient/ddclient.conf

######################################################################
##
## $Id: sample-etc_ddclient.conf 125 2011-05-19 20:31:20Z wimpunk $
##
## Define default global variables with lines like:
##      var=value [, var=value]*
## These values will be used for each following host unless overridden
## with a local variable definition.
##
## Define local variables for one or more hosts with:
##      var=value [, var=value]* host.and.domain[,host2.and.domain...]
##
## Lines can be continued on the following line by ending the line
## with a \
##
##
## Warning: not all supported routers or dynamic DNS services
##          are mentioned here.
##
######################################################################
daemon=3600
syslog=no
ssl=no
#ssl=yes                                # use ssl-support.
                                        # Works with ssl-library.
fw-login=ROUTERUSERNAME,             fw-password=ROUTERPASSWORD          # FW login and password

## To obtain an IP address from FW status page (using fw-login, fw-password)
use=fw, fw='https://192.168.1.1/Status_Internet.asp', fw-skip='LAN IP' # found after IP Address

## Above is the web address of a page on my router that shows my external IP.
## After that is fw-skip. The visible text immediately after my external IP is LAN IP.
## ddclient must look for that text and then find my external IP relative to it.

login=DYNDNSLOGIN                     # default login
password=DYNDNSPASSWORD               # default password
server=members.dyndns.org:8245  \       # default server (bypassing proxies)

protocol=dyndns2,               \
CHOSENDYNDNSHOSTNAME.dyndns.CHOSENDYNDNSTLD

Install SUNWopenssl, perl510extra, net-ssleay, pmtools, and perl510 from the package manager if not already installed.
They can be easily found by simply searching for perl in the package manager.


Seemingly unavailable from the packages are the IO-Socket-SSL modules for perl.
The following instructions installed the missing files in places ddclient could find them.

The source (that creates the make files via an initial perl script) can be found at:
http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/IO/IO-Socket-SSL-1.44.tar.gz

cd /file/extraction/location/
perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install

At this point you can begin attempting to update your DDNS information with ddclient.
You can use /usr/sbin/ddclient -daemon=0 -noquiet -debug to get information if things don't go as expected.
Alternatively the truss -a -f /usr/sbin/ddclient -daemon 600 command is very cool at seeing the system calls if needed.


Start the ddclient daemon and keep it started
I am using a cron job in conjunction with a script to monitor whether ddclient is running or not.

vi /usr/bin/ddnsupdate.sh

##########################################
#!/bin/sh

#Check for ddclient.
#If not running, run ddclient.

if ps | grep ddclient > /dev/null
then
    exit
else
    /usr/bin/ddclient
fi
##########################################

Change the owner, group, and permissions on the script.
chown root:bin /usr/sbin/ddnsupdate.sh
chmod 751 /usr/sbin/ddnsupdate.sh

Create the line of code that will make cron run the script.

vi /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root

Append

*/10 * * * * /usr/bin/updateddns.sh

to the end of the file.


Plan A -- Failed

inadyn requires linux files that are not present on an OpenIndiana installation.
inadyn requires linux files that are very difficult to put on an OpenIndiana installation.

As-Is, Not Everything I Do Works Out As I Had Hoped

So, putting my file server on a VM did not have the outcome I was hoping.

But, I did do a few cool things that may save someone else a few minutes and some hair pulling. So, some of the steps I took access to the raw disks from a VM are provided below as-is. So, my notes are presented unformatted as such below.

My old fileserver with all my most treasured files was highly under utilized. So the plan was to move it to a virtual machine host.
This begged giving a OpenIndiana VM access to raw disks for zpooling (and maybe raid-z when I get better hardware for the house).

I backed up my files and started with empty platters on my spindles.


Step 1 Attach two physical disks to the host machine which become the storage mediums of the upcoming zpool.
no partitions - don't make any or get rid any preexisting

My Debian Host OS recognized the new drives as /dev/sdb & /dev/sdc and we will not mount and/or prevent mounting them.



Everything else will be easiest to accomplish as the root user.

su



brad will be the user VirtualBox will be running under
change the ownership and mode of the device nodes to allow ufettered access by the user running VirtualBox

chown brad /dev/sdb
chown brad /dev/sdc

chmod 775 /dev/sdb
chmod 775 /dev/sdc



Add the user of the VirtualBox process to the disk group

sudo usermod -a -G disk brad



create the .vmdk files

VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename /home/brad/.VirtualBox/a1.vmdk -rawdisk /dev/sdb -relative
VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename /home/brad/.VirtualBox/a2.vmdk -rawdisk /dev/sdc -relative



change the ownership and mode of the pointer files to allow ufettered access by the user running VirtualBox

chown brad /home/brad/.VirtualBox/a1.vmdk
chown brad /home/brad/.VirtualBox/a2.vmdk

chmod 775 /home/brad/.VirtualBox/a1.vmdk
chmod 775 /home/brad/.VirtualBox/a2.vmdk



log out
log in



add the .vmdk files to your virtual machine via the GUI.



Time to boot the VM.

Yeah, that's it. Fire her up. My username within the OpenIndiana VM will also be brad.



Do whatever administrative things you might do with a new machine.

Set the network connection to a fixed IP. Give good users privileges, take privileges away from bad users-- or the other way around if you desire a little more excitement in your life.



Setting up your first zpool is easiest as root. I am choosing to mount my zpool in a non-standard spot with the -m option.

su
mkdir /export/home/zfs/
zpool create -m /export/home/zfs/ memory mirror /dev/dsk/c1t2d0p0 /dev/dsk/c1t3d0p0



Create filesystems on your zpool that is much like a software RAID 1 volume. Except ZFS cares about the integrity of your data and the effects bitrot.

zfs create memory/photos
zfs create memory/iso
zfs create memory/music
zfs create memory/videos
zfs create memory/misc
zfs create memory/work
zfs create memory/holding

groupadd securftp

usermod -G securftp brad

chgrp securftp /var/zfs/holding

chmod 774 /var/zfs/holding

"My Printer Doesn't Work"

Normally "My Printer Doesn't Work" isn't enough information to give a concise clear answer.

Challenge Accepted

I am going to make a few assumptions...

MS Vista OS, MS Office 2007, and a consumer grade USB Inkjet/Laser printer.

Basics before we do anything.

	Hardware level 

		Power cord plugged in at the printer and the wall?
			Give both ends a gentle tug to make sure they are seated tightly.
		Is the USB cable plugged in at the printer and the computer case?
			Gentle tug at both ends again.

First we are going to make sure that the OS recognizes there is a printer attached.

	Click the 'Start Button' (It is the round button in the lower left.)
	RIGHT CLICK 'Computer' in the second column.
	A context menu will pop up, click 'Properties'.
	A Management Console will pop up.
	Click 'Device Manager' in the left hand column.
		You may neet to allow the action to continue.

	You should see a little directory tree of every hardware device your computer has.
		Many will be gobbldygook devices that you've never heard of.
			PCI Bus... WTF?
		Some, like the keyboard, will be plainly visible and familiar.
		Look for either 'Printers' or 'Universal Serial Bus controllers'
			Is your printer in either of those?

			NO, you need to reinstall the printer with the manufacturer's disk
			 or with a downloaded setup program from the manufacturer's website.

			YES, close all the windows and continue.

Next, since the computer knows your printer exists; we need to make sure it knows to use it.

Let's check to make sure the Operating System has your printer set as the 'default' printer.

	Click the 'Start Button' (It is the round button in the lower left.)
	Click 'Control Panel' in the right hand column.
	A management console type window will pop up.
		You may neet to authorize the action.
	Click 'Hardware and Sound'
	Click 'Devices and Printers' if 'Printers' by itself isn't available.
	Look for your printer, it should have a checkmark.
		If not RIGHT CLICK your printer and cick 'Set as default printer'.
		If it does we'll look in MS Office.
	Close all the windows.

	Open MS Office (Word or Excel)
	Click the 'Windows' type image in the upper left corner.  It is actually a menu icon.
		'Print...' is in there.
			If you use the 'Print...' menu item it will give you printing options.

As a last resort, try 'Windows Update'.
	Click the 'Start Button'.
	Click 'Programs'.
		You should see 'Windows Update'.
		Click it and follow the instructions
		Restart your Computer.
			Rinse and repeat until 'Windows Update' reports no more updates for your computer.

If these instructions fail, you can try ###-953-9738 which is my home number.
But, I will expect a small favor in exchange.
	(Nothing difficult, nothing creepy.  If I were in a movie, I would wear a white hat.)

I was able to learn that the printer was not recognized until the drivers were loaded. Once the drivers were loaded she could print. ...Challenge Beaten

Using nLight to Create Your Own Custom Windows Installs

Background

I have the specific opportunity to build a system specific restore disk on a regular basis. For people I will never see more than once, this issue is nonpoint. But, for people such as me, my close friends and family that may require more than one system restore, as well as the piles of identical machines that have rolled through my workspace; a custom disk would be helpful.

Problem

The restore disks that come with the machines usually install crap in addition to the necessary files and settings. Plain Microsoft Retail Disks often don't have all the drivers the systems require to run properly.

Solution

I've decided to try nLite. Before I can install nLite, I need to install the .NET framework, version 2.0 of the .NET framework at the minimum for nLite version 1.4.9.1 .

Once the initial program requirements are met, it is as simple as installing nLite and running it. The program is very intuitive.

I wanted to use my .iso file instead of going through the trouble of burning a disk. Since nLite won't use .iso files directly (to my knowledge) I need to install a virtual optical drive to mount the .iso image in. I am using a trial version of 'Original CD Emulator', but I will probably try something else next time. You can use a real CD to make it more a more simple process.

I keep several images of my OS install disks handy for backup purposes. In addition to being able to burn new disks to avoid scratching up my originals, I can often use the .iso image file in place of the disk. I used my Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2 image created with ImgBurn for this. ImgBurn is my favorite tool for working with disks and images. It is a freeware app that has a small footprint and is highly configurable and intuitive. I have looked at the ImgBurn configurations, but I have only used the default settings.

One of the first things it will ask you is for is the location of the files. In this case I have a virtual optical disk making my .iso file pretend to be a legitimate CD-ROM, drive E:\ .

Although not necessary, I decided to slipstream SP3 (WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU) and an IE security patch (WindowsXP-KB932823-v3-x86-ENU).

It also gave me the option to install hotfixes, add-ons, and update packs. But, I don't have any. So on to the next step.

The feature I am most excited about is adding drivers. When I played with it for the netbooks I worked on, I slipstreamed SATA drivers into the install-- which worked beautifully. This time I want to add the XP networking driver pack available at driverpacks.net and see what happens. It seems like a good idea to check the delete after install box.

When adding all the drivers finished; I added another folder for common programs like the IE8, the Intel SMBus Driver, other driver installers, and sometimes anti-virus intallers.

Automating Windows Driver Installs :(

Background

As a result of needing to reload a sizable quantity of machines with Windows, which really isn't a problem once you know to find the VEN_ and DEV_ information. I wanted to automate the whole process and for some reason I thought I should figure out how the .inf, .drv, .vxd, and .sys files worked with one another. This example just happens to be for the embedded 10/100 Broadcom 440x ethernet device.

Problem

I found a compatible driver on the Dell site like I would any other. But, even though it works-- did Dell put things in there that are tell tale signs that it doesn't belong if anybody were looking? These machines were not my own where certain inconsistencies may not be tolerated. The customers paid a fair price and they deserve a good and polished product.

Another question I asked myself was, "If I streamline the process, can I shave a few seconds off the device install?" Once the .inf file is prepared you still aren't off of the hook if there is no installer with options to install via a script. There is a way to script the install but I had to dig a little to find it.

Solution

Starting with the .inf file I did a lot of reading to figure out what each of the section does.

I renamed the section I wanted in the INF file so that I could use DefaultInstall as the section the OS would choose when I ran rundll32.exe setupapi.dll,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 132 E:\ethernet\bcm4sbxp.inf from the command line. This automates the installation of device driver files.

When I was done, I realized that I could have left the section named as the manufacturer had written it and changed my commandline to rundll32.exe setupapi.dll,InstallHinfSection BCM4401NIC 132 E:\ethernet\bcm4sbxp.inf to achieve the same results.

I removed all references to the Dell Computer Corporation.

Just as unnecessary cleanup, I also removed the ASUStek and MCI lines while I was figuring out what all of the stuff in this INF file was doing since it was an eMachines laptop without ASUS or MCI hardware dependent on those lines. When everything was said and done, because it worked without the alternative sections, I did not revert to the original file to add them back in.

The edited file follows below.

;*******************************************************************************
; Copyright 2002 Broadcom Corporation.
;
; INF for 32 bit Windows XP 
;
; History:
;    06/14/02        Inception.
;*******************************************************************************
[version]
Signature	= "$CHICAGO$"
Class=Net
ClassGUID	= {4d36e972-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}
Provider	= %V_BCM%
Compatible	= 1
CatalogFile=bcm4sbxp.cat
DriverVer=12/17/2002, 3.51.0.0

[Manufacturer]
%V_BCM% = BROADCOM, NTx86.5.1

[ControlFlags] 
ExcludeFromSelect = *

[BROADCOM.NTx86.5.1]

%BCM4401.DeviceDesc%           = BCM4401, PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4401

%BCM4401.DeviceDesc%        = BCM4401_broadcom, PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4401&SUBSYS_840114e4

%BCM4401.DeviceDesc%     = BCM4401_broadcom, PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4401&SUBSYS_00011179

;-----------------------------------------------------------------
; 32-bit Windows XP Install sections.
;  Broadcom  Catch All
[BCM4401.NTx86]
Characteristics	= 0x84			; NCF_PHYSICAL | NCF_HAS_UI
AddReg		= BCM4401AddRegisters, AdvancedTabReg, 8021pPriorityReg, DriverInfo
CopyFiles	= BCM4401.CopyFileNT
BusType		= 5			; PCI bus

[BCM4401.NTx86.Services]
AddService = bcm4sbxp, 2, BCM4401AddService, CommonEventLog

[BCM4401AddService]
DisplayName	= %BCM4401.Service.DispName%
ServiceType	= 1			; %SERVICE_KERNEL_DRIVER%
StartType	= 3
ErrorControl	= 1			; %SERVICE_ERROR_NORMAL%
ServiceBinary	= %12%\bcm4sbxp.sys
LoadOrderGroup	= NDIS

[BCM4401AddRegisters]
HKR,	Ndi,	Service,		0,	"bcm4sbxp"
HKR,	Ndi\Interfaces,	UpperRange,	,	"ndis5"
HKR,	Ndi\Interfaces,	LowerRange,	,	"ethernet"
HKR,	Ndi,	HelpText,		,	%BCM4401_HELP%



;  Broadcom  NIC
[DefaultInstall]
Characteristics	= 0x84			; NCF_PHYSICAL | NCF_HAS_UI
AddReg		= BCM4401_broadcomAddRegisters, AdvancedTabReg, 8021pPriorityReg, DriverInfo
CopyFiles	= BCM4401.CopyFileNT
BusType		= 5			; PCI bus

[BCM4401_broadcom.NTx86.Services]
AddService = bcm4sbxp, 2, BCM4401_broadcomAddService, CommonEventLog

[BCM4401_broadcomAddService]
DisplayName	= %BCM4401_broadcom.Service.DispName%
ServiceType	= 1			; %SERVICE_KERNEL_DRIVER%
StartType	= 3
ErrorControl	= 1			; %SERVICE_ERROR_NORMAL%
ServiceBinary	= %12%\bcm4sbxp.sys
LoadOrderGroup	= NDIS

[BCM4401_broadcomAddRegisters]
HKR,	Ndi,	Service,		0,	"bcm4sbxp"
HKR,	Ndi\Interfaces,	UpperRange,	,	"ndis5"
HKR,	Ndi\Interfaces,	LowerRange,	,	"ethernet"
HKR,	Ndi,	HelpText,		,	%BCM4401_HELP%




;-----------------------------------------------------------------
;
[CommonEventLog]
AddReg = CommonAddEventLogReg

[CommonAddEventLogReg]
HKR,	,	EventMessageFile,	0x00020000,	"%%SystemRoot%%\System32\netevent.dll;%%SystemRoot%%\System32\drivers\bcm4sbxp.sys"
HKR,	,	TypesSupported,		0x00010001,	7

[8021pPriorityReg]
HKR, Ndi\Params\8021pPriority,         ParamDesc,  0, %8021pPriority%
HKR, Ndi\Params\8021pPriority,         default,    0, "0"
HKR, Ndi\Params\8021pPriority\Enum,    "1",        0, %Enabled%
HKR, Ndi\Params\8021pPriority\Enum,    "0",        0, %Disabled%
HKR, Ndi\Params\8021pPriority,         type,       0, "enum"

[AdvancedTabReg]
HKR, Ndi\params\SpeedAndDuplex,       ParamDesc,  0, %SpeedAndDuplex%
HKR, Ndi\params\SpeedAndDuplex,       default,    0, "0"
HKR, Ndi\params\SpeedAndDuplex,       type,       0, "enum"
HKR, Ndi\params\SpeedAndDuplex\enum,  "0",        0, %AutoDetect%
HKR, Ndi\params\SpeedAndDuplex\enum,  "1",        0, %10MbHalfDuplex%
HKR, Ndi\params\SpeedAndDuplex\enum,  "2",        0, %10MbFullDuplex%
HKR, Ndi\params\SpeedAndDuplex\enum,  "3",        0, %100MbHalfDuplex%
HKR, Ndi\params\SpeedAndDuplex\enum,  "4",        0, %100MbFullDuplex%

HKR, Ndi\Params\WakeUpModeCap,       ParamDesc,   0 , %WakeUpMode%
HKR, Ndi\Params\WakeUpModeCap,       default,  0  , "2"
HKR, Ndi\Params\WakeUpModeCap,       type,      0  , "enum"
HKR, Ndi\Params\WakeUpModeCap\enum,  "0",        0 , %WakeUpMode_None%
HKR, Ndi\Params\WakeUpModeCap\enum,  "1",        0 , %WakeUpMode_Magic%
HKR, Ndi\Params\WakeUpModeCap\enum,  "2",        0 , %WakeUpMode_Pattern%

HKR, Ndi\Params\FlowControlCap,       ParamDesc,   0 , %FlowControlMode%
HKR, Ndi\Params\FlowControlCap,       default,  0  , "2"
HKR, Ndi\Params\FlowControlCap,       type,      0  , "enum"
HKR, Ndi\Params\FlowControlCap\enum,  "0",        0 , %FlowControlMode_None%
;   HKR, Ndi\Params\FlowControlCap\enum,  "1",        0 , %FlowControlMode_Rx%
HKR, Ndi\Params\FlowControlCap\enum,  "2",        0 , %FlowControlMode_Tx%
;  HKR, Ndi\Params\FlowControlCap\enum,  "3",        0 , %FlowControlMode_Both%



[DriverInfo]
HKLM,Software\InstalledOptions\%DriverOEM%\%DriverFamily%\%DriverMfgr%\%DriverProduct%,Description,,%DriverDescription%
HKLM,Software\InstalledOptions\%DriverOEM%\%DriverFamily%\%DriverMfgr%\%DriverProduct%,CurrentVer,,%DriverOEMVersion%
HKLM,Software\InstalledOptions\%DriverOEM%\%DriverFamily%\%DriverMfgr%\%DriverProduct%,Ver_%DriverOEMVersion%,,%DriverVersionID%
HKLM,Software\InstalledOptions\%DriverOEM%\%DriverFamily%\%DriverMfgr%\%DriverProduct%,BaseDriverFileName,,%BaseDriverFileName%
HKLM,Software\InstalledOptions\%DriverOEM%\%DriverFamily%\%DriverMfgr%\%DriverProduct%,BaseDriverFileVersion,,%BaseDriverFileVersion%


[DestinationDirs]
DefaultDestDir = 11		; system32 on Win2k and system on win9x
BCM4401.CopyfileNT = 12
BCM4401.CopyFileW9x = 11

[SourceDisksNames]
1=%BCM4401.DiskName%,,

[SourceDisksFiles]
bcm4sbxp.sys=1

[BCM4401.CopyFileNT]
bcm4sbxp.sys,,,1

;-----------------------------------------------------------------
;
[strings]
; Provider
V_BCM = "Broadcom"

; PNP Devices
BCM4401.DeviceDesc = "Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller"

BCM4401_HELP = "Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller provides local area networking"

BCM4401.Service.DispName = "Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller XP Driver"

BCM4401_broadcom.Service.DispName = "Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller XP Driver"


BCM4401.DiskName = "Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller Install Disk"

SpeedAndDuplex = "Speed & Duplex"
AutoDetect = "Auto"
10MbHalfDuplex = "10 Mb Half"
10MbFullDuplex = "10 Mb Full"
100MbHalfDuplex = "100 Mb Half"
100MbFullDuplex = "100 Mb Full"

8021pPriority = "802.1p QOS"
Enabled = "Enable"
Disabled = "Disable"

WakeUpMode         = "Wake Up Capabilities"
WakeUpMode_Magic   = "Magic Frame"
WakeUpMode_Pattern = "Wake Up Frame"
WakeUpMode_None    = "None"

FlowControlMode         = "Flow Control"
FlowControlMode_Both    = "Rx/Tx Pause"
FlowControlMode_Rx   = "Rx Pause"
;FlowControlMode_Tx   = "Tx Pause"
FlowControlMode_Tx   = "Enable"
FlowControlMode_None    = "Disable"


; Driver Information Entries
DriverMfgr="Broadcom"                                 ; IHV name
DriverVersionID="3.51"                                ; The IHV driver version
BaseDriverFileVersion="3.51"                          ; version of key file
BaseDriverFileName="bcm4sbxp.sys"                       ; Key file for version

; These items will be set by IHV and updated by OEM
DriverOEM="Dell"                                      ; name of the OEM
DriverFamily="NIC"                                    ; device family (NIC, Storage, Video...)
DriverProduct="BCM440X"                               ; Specific Name of device (chipset, for example)
DriverDescription="Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller"  ; Description of device (product name, OS or system supported)
DriverOEMVersion="A00"                                ; OEM-specified version

As a note to myself about deleting the output of the find command

find / -name (insert filename parts, wildcards, and/or filename here) -print0 | xargs -0 rm

Great Private File Server for Medium to Small Environments

Use Open Indiana with ZFS to Create a Somewhat Locked Down File Server

Install OpenIndiana v148 with SSH

You will need a system with at least four(4) disks for this example

• The system disk
• This disk is to put the operating system on.
• I recommend at least 30GB
• The faster the better
• The first data disk
• This the first disk of a pair.
• Reliablilty is paramount
• Buy as big as you can afford
• The second data disk
• This the second disk of a pair.
• Reliablilty, again, is paramount
• And buy as big as you can afford
• AT LEAST ONE BACKUP DISK
• RAID, ZFS, OTHER... their purpose is to help with uptime
• ZFS also assists in somewhat painlessly growing your storage capacity
• Backup is backup, redundant disk strategies are for use and failure
• Buy as big as you can afford

Follow the prompts, turn on SSH, use the whole system disk.

Update the system via CLI

pkg image-update --require-new-be

The GUI tools are not working in release 148 upon installation.

Find the disk names

format

Use [CTRL + C] to exit the format command

Create the mirrored zpool

zpool create newpool mirror c2t2d0 c2t3d0

Check out your handiwork

zpool status
df -h

Create a base directory structure

newpool|-business
       |-hobby
       |-books
       |-users|-admin01
       |      |-asmith|-shared
       |      |-lsmith|-shared
       |-misc

mkdir /newpool/business/
mkdir /newpool/hobby/
mkdir /newpool/books/
mkdir /newpool/users/
mkdir /newpool/users/admin01/
mkdir /newpool/users/asmith/
mkdir /newpool/users/asmith/shared/
mkdir /newpool/users/lsmith/
mkdir /newpool/users/lsmith/shared/
mkdir /newpool/misc/

Create any groups if necessary

groupadd admin01
groupadd internal
groupadd external
groupadd common

Add any non-existing initial users

Please note that I am creating two users with two commands, they are long so the text is wrapping.

useradd -d /newpool/users/asmith/ -c "Adam Smith" -G internal,common -s /usr/lib/rsh asmith
useradd -d /newpool/users/lsmith/ -c "Luanne Smith" -G external,common -s /usr/lib/rsh lsmith

The options are as follows:

• -d is the home directory /newpool/users/username/ in this example.
• -c is the real name, it can really be anything. But it you want it to contain a space then enclose the value in double quotes.
• -G list all the groups of the directories you want the people to have access to separated by commas.
• At the very least I give membership to the common group -G common .
• But maybe I want to give access to the external directory as well -G external,common .
• -s /usr/lib/rsh is the 'restricted shell' to prevent a lot of funny business.

Set passwords for any non-existing initial users

passwd lsmith
passwd asmith

passwd username

(Enter password twice-- tada!)

(passwd: password successfully changed for username)

Modify existing users

usermod -G admin01,internal,common admin01

(UX: usermod: admin01 is currently logged in, some changes may not take effect until next login.)

You can verify user information in the plaintext /etc/passwd file

You can verify group creation in the plaintext /etc/group file

Apply proper owner:group properties

chown admin01:admin01 /newpool/business/
chown admin01:peers /newpool/hobby/
chown admin01:peers /newpool/books/
chown admin01:admin01 /newpool/users/
chown admin01:admin01 /newpool/users/admin01/
chown asmith:admin01 /newpool/users/asmith/
chown asmith:admin01 /newpool/users/asmith/shared/
chown lsmith:admin01 /newpool/users/lsmith/
chown lsmith:admin01 /newpool/users/lsmith/shared/
chown admin01:common /newpool/misc/

Apply proper permissions

(4 read 2 write 1 execute)

(! execute required for non-owner:group on directory to traverse file system)

chmod 700 /newpool/business/
chmod 750 /newpool/hobby/
chmod 750 /newpool/books/
chmod 711 /newpool/users/
chmod 770 /newpool/users/admin01/
chmod 770 /newpool/users/asmith/
chmod 770 /newpool/users/asmith/shared/
chmod 770 /newpool/users/lsmith/
chmod 770 /newpool/users/lsmith/shared/
chmod 750 /newpool/misc/

770 gives writability, readability, traversing to owners and group members, and nothing to others - for regular user directories

750 gives writing to the owner, reading and traversing to the owner and group members, and nothing to others - for read only access to regular users

711 gives all access to the owner, and being able to traverse the directory to everyone - allows regular users to descend deeper into the directory tree where they may have access

700 gives no access to anyone but the owner, can't even open the directory - revoke access to regular users entirely

NFS & Samba

Currently, I don't have any NFS or Samba shares set up for this server.

I will update the instructions should that change.

Set quotas

On my file server I don't plan on having many users and even fewer user groups. So far I have no plans for any quotas.

If I did set a quota, I would likely do it on a user by user basis.

zfs set userquota@username=100G newpool/users/username

However, with version 15 of ZFS user group quotas are available as well.

zfs set groupquota@common=250GB newpool/misc

More users?

Add new directories

mkdir in users /newpool/users/username/ and /newpool/users/username/shared/

Add new users

useradd -d /newpool/users/username/ -c "Fname Lname" -G [comma separated list,]common -s /usr/lib/rsh username

Change owner:group properties to new users directories

Same as above

Apply proper permissions to new directories

Same as above

Set new user password

Same as above

Hacking bit.ly and goo.gl

bit.ly & goo.gl users: you can add another query string pair at the end of your link. Any unused pairs are usually ignored-- which will give you not only different shortened links to share but also label one from the other.


Both shortening services are weird about shortening any URL more than once for you. This is a workaround for that by essentially making them different via adding data that will be unused and/or ignored.

Also, neither service provides you a meaningful title for your links beyond the title of the page.

http://rustbeltrebellion.com/?link=facebook
http://rustbeltrebellion.com/?link=googleplus
http://rustbeltrebellion.com/?link=twitter

Guess where I used what.

Here is an example:


Test 1
http://www.google.com/?test=1/  >>  http://bit.ly/oJdAlV || http://goo.gl/9pX4h


Test 2
http://www.google.com/?test=2/  >>  http://bit.ly/qxp4Y5 || http://goo.gl/Ob2oP

Everything above points at the same page of the same site. When your browser arrives at "http://google.com", "?test=#" is completely ignored.

(I can picture sites depending on sequential data in the query string or sites that test for query string shenanigans giving less than satisfactory outcomes-- but by and large you will be successful.)

As cool as this is for bit.ly and goo.gl users who have wanted multiple shortened urls for a single destination for tracking user interest, it is nowhere as cool as what Vitreo has going on with their QR and shortening tools.

DD-WRT control panel, no-ip, and port 80

 I'm a satisfied no-ip DDNS subscriber happily using DD-WRT.
In the no-ip settings, I have an A Name record (hostname.com) that no-ip kindly shoots straight to my house.
I also have a www C Name record (www.hostname.com) which gets some magic applied then is sent to hostname.com:webServerPort (hostname.com:8080 in my case).

www.hostname.net goes to my web server. The port 8080 traffic is handled magnificently. That is awesome.
When I type in hostname.com that is translated to my ever changing IP by my DDNS service, it takes me to the control panel of my router which listens for web browser traffic on none other than port 80--
Not so awesome. Sadness actually.
I had everything working again otherwise.

BACK UP YOUR SETTINGS.
You're going to be in there anyway, jeez man it only takes a few seconds.

I checked HTTPS and unchecked HTTP in Administration > Management > Web Access > Protocol

What this does for us is that it sets the router to listen for requests of the web GUI, the control panel, on port 443 and not port 80 anymore.

Save, Apply Settings, Reboot.
I do it whether I really need to or not, this is my house-- not a Data Center of a Fortune 500.

Now the router needs accessed with https://192.168.1.1 , heads up a certificate warning will probably pop up. The router is self certifying itself for encrypted web traffic and it is not on the preferred list of SSL certificate providers, so click whatever you need in order to continue.

After that I rerouted port 80 (since that is where the naked hostname.com from a web browser goes) via the NAT via TCP only to my webserver IP on port 80 in NAT / QoS > Port Forwarding > Port Forward > Forwards

Save, Apply Settings, Reboot.
BACK UP YOUR NEW SETTINGS.
Pure awesomeness. Enjoy.

Very happy with xvidcap as a linux screen capture utility

 xvidcap is in the debian package repository and I really like it.


You need to right-click to get a context menu on the filename to access the Preferences.

I changed the video settings to a dynamic filename that doesn't have 'test-' in it, 75% quality, and mono channel audio.

If you want the settings to persist then don't forget to bring up that context menu and select Save Preferences.

The PushPin icon is a shortcut button to set the size of the capture area.

Linux TFTP

The user's home directory is the root for TFTP file transfers on Debian based distros (at the very least).

put firmware.chk is the same as put /home/brad/firmware.chk

That is so long as your username is brad-- which mine is.

The Netgear WNR-3500L with DD-WRT and Optware

While I was digging around getting my printer connected to my router via USB to work I stumbled on the holy grail.

 Just as a reminder to myself, now the router handles phone calls.


This thing just made itself the smaller business telecommunications answer. It will now handle data and voice with a sufficient connection.

Keywords are Optware and Asterisk in this case.

USB Printing - Netgear WNR3500L

I had previously turned on all of my USB features in Services > USB

Core USB Support                X Enable  0 Disable
USB 1.1 Support (UHCI)          X Enable  0 Disable
USB 1.1 Support (OHCI)          X Enable  0 Disable
USB 2.0 Support                 X Enable  0 Disable
USB Printer Support             X Enable  0 Disable
USB Storage Support             X Enable  0 Disable
ext2 / ext3 File System Support X Enable  0 Disable
FAT File System Support         X Enable  0 Disable
Automatic Drive Mount           X Enable  0 Disable
Run-on-mount Script Name
Disk Mount Point                /mnt

Turn on SSH in your router Services > Services > Secure Shell

SSHd                            X Enable  0 Disable
SSH TCP Forwarding              X Enable  0 Disable
Password Login                  X Enable  0 Disable
Port                            22                      (Default: 22) 

In Administration > Management enable JFFS2 apply and reboot

JFFS2                           X Enable  0 Disable
Clean JFFS2                     X Enable  0 Disable 

Verify the settings are correct upon reboot

JFFS2 under Administration > Management > JFFS2 Support will be different

It needs cleared and formatted only once, and the system changes these settings for you

JFFS2                           X Enable  0 Disable
Clean JFFS2                     0 Enable  X Disable 

Plug the USB cable of your printer into the router

Yeah that's all, you can do it!

Log In to your router via SSH

Your IP will likely be 192.168.1.1

If it isn't it can be found in the web interface at Setup > Basic Setup > Router IP and you should adjust the following instructions accordingly

brad@laptop:~$ ssh root@192.168.1.1
Release: 08/07/10 (SVN revision: 14896)
root@192.168.1.1's password: WEB GUI PASSWORD

Welcome to the Linux command line of DD-WRT courtesy of BusyBox

See if your printer is already hooked up and recognized -- mine wasn't

Bummer, the lsusb command is not available by default

root@DD-WRT:/# lsusb
-sh: lsusb: not found

Supposedly if the /dev/usb directory is empty you have to create the printer object

root@DD-WRT:/# mknod -m 660 /dev/usb/lp0 c 180 0

Verify that the daemon is not running -- mine was not running the daemon

I got this output

root@DD-WRT:~# ps | grep 910
 4964 root      1532 S    grep 910 

Hopefully you will get output like this and you get to skip a few steps.

root@DD-WRT:~# ps | grep 910
  980 root      1108 S    /jffs/usr/sbin/p9100d 
 4964 root      1532 S    grep 910 

Download and install the package for USB printing

root@DD-WRT:/jffs# wget http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/brcm-2.4/packages/p910nd_0.93-1_brcm-2.4.ipk

No longer available, 'boo' to openwrt.org for breaking their resource links... *Note to self* the new file is on my file server here for me. --Because you cannot count on things to persist on the web.

root@DD-WRT:/jffs# wget http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/brcm47xx/packages/p910nd_0.95-2_brcm47xx.ipk

root@DD-WRT:/jffs# ipkg p910nd_0.95-2_brcm47xx.ipk

root@DD-WRT:/jffs# ipkg update

This is where I encountered my first error as OpenWRT no longer hosts the updates for the packages of my router firmware. 

root@DD-WRT:/jffs#wget http://www.bradchesney.net/downloads/p910nd_0.95-1_brcm-2.4.ipk -O - | tr -d '\r' > /tmp/p910nd_0.95-1_brcm-2.4.ipk
root@DD-WRT:/jffs#cp /tmp/p910nd_0.95-1_brcm-2.4.ipk /jffs

root@DD-WRT:/jffs#cd /jffs
root@DD-WRT:/jffs#ipkg install p910nd_0.95-1_brcm-2.4.ipk

And this is where the game stopped for me. Sadness. Maybe I will dig into the files and fix the errors, but I am a busy guy lately.

Recommended method to start the daemon-- didn't work for me

root@DD-WRT:/jffs# /jffs/etc/init.d/p910nd start

Alternatively start the daemon this way

root@DD-WRT:/jffs# /jffs/usr/sbin/p910nd

Copy these lines:

/bin/mknod -m 660 /dev/usb/lp0 c 180 0
/bin/mkdir -m 755 -p /dev/usb
/jffs/usr/sbin/p910nd -b -f /dev/usb/lp0 0

into the Administration > Commands > Command Shell then click the Save Startup button and reboot

Accessing the printer from a computer

The IP will likely be 192.168.1.1 on port 9100 according to my instructions

That is 192.168.1.1:9100 depending on how you are entering your settings

Ubuntu / Kubuntu On-Screen Keyboard

Recently I wanted to use a stylus in conjunction with an on-board keyboard, sadly I must admit that the MS Windows equivalent seemed better.

Anyway...

Try the program:

onboard

Supposedly gok has more features and handles menus, but for what I wanted to do with it onboard was better.

Firefox 4 - Uses too many resources

There is a default setting for Firefox that causes it to almost peg a Core2 Duo mobile processor. The setting can be changed at the location indicated below.

Edit (Main Menu) > Preferences (Menu) > Advanced (Tab) > General (SubTab)

Uncheck "Use hardware acceleration when available"


After the setting was changed I went from having CPU usage from over 80% to less than 20%.

Also, memory usage of Firefox dropped to around 11% after the change with 10 tabs open.

VirtualBox Windows Guest on Linux Host Machines

Host + Del = Ctrl + Alt + Del

This isn't earthshaking news and it is just about everywhere else on the net. One more place will not hurt.

Breaking My Android Tablet for Fun and Profit...

 I had some pretty lofty goals in mind. --But, life and technical difficulties got in my way.

So before apathy wins these are the results I got and they are presented as I got them.

The bad, not as consistently tested as I would do at work. The good, the results should be somewhat reliable. The great, these are likely to be somewhat representative of what normal users can expect as I have only rooted the device and not optimized any further.

Quick Summary:

ROM              2.1 1204    2.2 0120    2.2 0330
Wireless         OK, Static  OK, DHCP    OK, DHCP
Market           OK          OK          BEST
Angry Birds      Yes         No          No
MyPaperAirplane  No          No          No
Quadrant         No          227         204
CPU Benchmark    OP Error    3848ms      4088ms
BenchmarkPi      2848ms      4194ms      3759ms
System Benchmark 929         830         806

Results: I realize everything points to a lesser experience with the newest software updates.
However, the device just feels better with the newer stuff.
I won't miss Angry Birds, I bet there's a hack but I won't chase it down.
I did not get to play MyPaperAirplane, the tests indicate they find an accelerometer and an orientation sensor.
But the tilting game was not getting readings from the sensors.


We will eventually be testing the ROMs, be patient or skim a couple pages down...

To install the Eclipse Development package with ADB in it for Linux, I followed this tutorial as a guide...

http://maketecheasier.com/install-android-sdk-in-ubuntu-karmic/2010/01/11

The part where you point Eclipse at the SDK was a little different, I ended up going into Window > Android SDK and AVD Manager and saying OK to everything.

At that point I thought I was close enough and decided to try connecting via ADB.

Fail.

I needed a reboot on my laptop, which was unusual-- but eclipse was huge and I bet it has it's fingers in all kinds of stuff.

First my adb was located in /home/brad/androidSDK/platform-tools/
I gave my SDK folder the name androidSDK. platform-tools is the updated place where google put ADB.

Still a no-go.

ADB seemed okay, I was just unable to connect to my device.

adb devices gave me this output:

brad@laptop:/home/brad/androidSDK/platform-tools$ adb devices
 

List of devices attached
????????????   no permissions


lsusb gave me:

brad@laptop:/home/brad$ lsusb
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 009: ID 18d1:d00d Google Inc.
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub


Once there I had to add to a new file to my rules.d directory.

brad@laptop:/home/brad$sudo vi /etc/udev/rules.d/90-android.rules


Then I added this line in accordance with the matching information from lsusb for the "Google Inc." device. (All on one line - formatting is breaking this into two lines.)

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="18d1", ATTRS{idProduct}=="d00d", MODE="0666"

Saved and closed the file with :wq .

From there I was able to send adb commands via:

brad@laptop:/home/brad/androidSDK/platform-tools$adb -d <command> <arguments/parameters...>

Yay.

I installed the Universal Androot .apk with this command.

brad@laptop:/home/brad/androidSDK/platform-tools$adb -d install /home/brad/Desktop/ZT-180/root.apk

(I renamed the .apk to make typing the file name easier.)

The ZT-180 with Android 2.1 Eclair 1204 ROM stores it's .apk files in the /data/app folder.

I entered the adb -d pull <remote resource> <local resource> command:

brad@laptop:/home/brad/androidSDK/platform-tools$adb -d pull /data/app /home/brad/Desktop/ZT-180

com.adobe.reader.apk
com.antutu.ABenchMark.apk
com.aurorasoftworks.quadrant.ui.standard.apk
com.corner23.android.universalandroot.apk
com.opera.mini.android.apk
com.rechild.advancedtaskkiller.apk
com.rovio.angrybirds.apk
com.unstableapps.cpubenchmark.apk
de.hms.xconstruction.apk
gr.androiddev.BenchmarkPi.apk

For each iteration I will apply the TxPower fix to give wireless the opportunity to be more stable.

If not already, root your phone. I'm using UniversalAndroot 2.2 with the integrated SuperUser.
brad@laptop:/home/brad/androidSDK/platform-tools$adb -d install /home/brad/Desktop/ZT-180/root.apk

Install a file manager. I am using Ghost Commander.
brad@laptop:/home/brad/androidSDK/platform-tools$adb -d install /home/brad/Desktop/ZT-180/com.ghostsq.commander-1.apk

My settings were found in: /etc/Wireless/RT2870STA/RT2870STA.dat
Open Ghost Commander, navigate to that file or it's equivalent and change TxPower=100 to TxPower=30.
Values between 20 and 40 seem acceptable. I split the difference and went with 30 for no particular reason.

I restart my tablet after making the change, not sure if I have to or not--
But on normal linux systems (as android sits on top of a stripped down linux OS) you have to restart networking when you fiddle with the settings.

I advise keeping networked widgets and apps to a minimum if speed for what you are actively doing over wireless is important to you.

On to testing the ROMs.

We will be testing ROMs for the ZT-180.

The ROMs to be tested are as follows:
Eclair
 -2.1 1204*
 -2.1 0312
Froyo
 -2.2 0120
 -2.2 0305
 -2.2 0330

*Not a clean install


Tests:
Apply Wireless TxPower:20 fix
Android Market Works
  Setup Wireless (WPA2/PSK DHCP IP first, Static if unsuccessful)
    Stability and Speed of Downloads
      Download
        Angry Birds - Rovio
  Kill Market
ADB install
  BenchmarkPi - Konstantinos Polychronis
  Quadrant Standard Edition - Aurora Softworks
  CPU Benchmark - Unstable Apps
  System Benchmark - AnTuTu
  AppKiller - ReChild
Angry Birds Works
  Stability of Angry Birds - Play first two levels
  Kill Angry Birds
Run Quadrant Standard Edition
Kill Quadrant
Run CPU Benchmark
Kill CPU Benchmark
Run BenchmarkPi
Kill BenchmarkPi
Run System Benchmark


First we'll create a set of screenshots to show the arrangements of the files.

The 2.1 1204 ROM was the last ROM that required a SPL update and the usage of the x86/32-bit based flash tool.
If you have already updated to the 2.1 1204 ROM then you should be okay to flash the new ROMs according to my instructions.

2.1 1204
Android Market Works OK
  Setup Wireless (WPA2/PSK DHCP IP first, Static if unsuccessful)
    Stability and Speed of Downloads
      Download
        Angry Birds - Rovio OK
  Kill Market
ADB install
  BenchmarkPi - Konstantinos Polychronis
  Quadrant Standard Edition - Aurora Softworks
  CPU Benchmark - Unstable Apps
  System Benchmark - AnTuTu
  AppKiller - ReChild
Angry Birds Works OK
  Stability of Angry Birds - Play first two levels OK
  Kill Angry Birds
Run Quadrant Standard Edition - No
Kill Quadrant
Run CPU Benchmark - 1005MHz (My Fault, too late for me to get correct output. All tests were conducted at 1005MHz.)
Kill CPU Benchmark
Run BenchmarkPi - 2848ms
Kill BenchmarkPi
Run System Benchmark - 850 w/o TF tests & 929 with TF tests


2.1 0312 (Could not find proper ROM to install for Ruby based Gen 1 ZT-180)
Android Market Works
  Setup Wireless (WPA2/PSK DHCP IP first, Static if unsuccessful)
    Stability and Speed of Downloads
      Download
        Angry Birds - Rovio
  Kill Market
ADB install
  BenchmarkPi - Konstantinos Polychronis
  Quadrant Standard Edition - Aurora Softworks
  CPU Benchmark - Unstable Apps
  System Benchmark - AnTuTu
  AppKiller - ReChild
Angry Birds Works
  Stability of Angry Birds - Play first two levels
  Kill Angry Birds
Run Quadrant Standard Edition
Kill Quadrant
Run CPU Benchmark
Kill CPU Benchmark
Run BenchmarkPi
Kill BenchmarkPi
Run System Benchmark


2.2 0120
Android Market Works - Yes
  Setup Wireless (WPA2/PSK DHCP IP first, Static if unsuccessful) OK
    Stability and Speed of Downloads
      Download
        Angry Birds - Rovio Error #18 Unknown Error
  Kill Market
ADB install
  BenchmarkPi - Konstantinos Polychronis
  Quadrant Standard Edition - Aurora Softworks
  CPU Benchmark - Unstable Apps
  System Benchmark - AnTuTu
  AppKiller - ReChild
Angry Birds Works
  Stability of Angry Birds - Play first two levels See above
  Kill Angry Birds
Run Quadrant Standard Edition - 227
Kill Quadrant
Run CPU Benchmark - 3848ms
Kill CPU Benchmark
Run BenchmarkPi - 4194ms
Kill BenchmarkPi
Run System Benchmark - 830


2.2 0305 (??? Could not get this one to install)
Android Market Works
  Setup Wireless (WPA2/PSK DHCP IP first, Static if unsuccessful)
    Stability and Speed of Downloads
      Download
        Angry Birds - Rovio
  Kill Market
ADB install
  BenchmarkPi - Konstantinos Polychronis
  Quadrant Standard Edition - Aurora Softworks
  CPU Benchmark - Unstable Apps
  System Benchmark - AnTuTu
  AppKiller - ReChild
Angry Birds Works
  Stability of Angry Birds - Play first two levels
  Kill Angry Birds
Run Quadrant Standard Edition
Kill Quadrant
Run CPU Benchmark
Kill CPU Benchmark
Run BenchmarkPi
Kill BenchmarkPi
Run System Benchmark


2.2 0330 ( zt180-eng AOSP OPENMASTER eng.root.20110115.120935 from Omarahum  )
Android Market Works OK
  Setup Wireless (WPA2/PSK DHCP IP first, Static if unsuccessful) OK - DHCP
    Stability and Speed of Downloads
      Download
        Angry Birds - Rovio Error #18 Unknown Error
  Kill Market
ADB install
  BenchmarkPi - Konstantinos Polychronis
  Quadrant Standard Edition - Aurora Softworks
  CPU Benchmark - Unstable Apps
  System Benchmark - AnTuTu
  AppKiller - ReChild
Angry Birds Works
  Stability of Angry Birds - Play first two levels See above
  Kill Angry Birds
Run Quadrant Standard Edition - 204
Kill Quadrant
Run CPU Benchmark - 4088ms
Kill CPU Benchmark
Run BenchmarkPi - 3759ms
Kill BenchmarkPi
Run System Benchmark - 806