Had a new X240 that gave lots of problems when going to sleep. A factory restore sorted some of the issues, but not all – the system would bluescreen on entering sleep mode. Uninstalling the Intel WiDi software seemed to fix it, and also let the wifi work properly on a home router.
Category: Hardware
RAID Monitoring: PERC H710 Mini and Debian
Debian 7 works with the PERC H710 Mini in a Dell R520 out of the box. To monitor this however you need a binary from LSI. Helpfully, this comes in a packaged form from http://hwraid.le-vert.net/wiki/DebianPackages
http://blog.mattandanne.org/2012/01/hardware-raid-controllersrequire.html pointed me in the right direction. To install, add the repo in a .list file:
deb http://hwraid.le-vert.net/debian wheezy main
and then add the key:
wget -O - http://hwraid.le-vert.net/debian/hwraid.le-vert.net.gpg.key | apt-key add -
Update the repository lists, and then install the relevant package:
apt-get install megaclisas-status
Running megaclisas-status should then give the status of the array(s). The script is set up by default to email root every two hours if there is a problem. These defaults can be overridden using a defaults file:
/etc/default/megaclisas-statusd
You need to create this if necessary. The defaults are:
MAILTO=root # Where to report problems PERIOD=600 # Seconds between each check (default 10 minutes) REMIND=7200 # Seconds between each reminder (default 2 hours) RUN_DAEMON=yes
(can be found in)
/etc/init.d/megaclisas-statusd
If you have the system set up to divert root email to you then it should just work.
PERC H710 Mini virtual disk setup size problems
Interesting little wrinkle setting up a RAID5 on 4x4Tb drives in a Dell PowerEdge R520 with a PERC H710 mini controller. Using the fancy integrated interface (F11) the first VD of 20 Gb is fine, but the second only allows just under 1Tb to be used!
Using the basic bios extension thingy (Ctrl-R) it works fine. Also, somewhat faster…
Replacing heatsink on Dell Precision T1500
This should be a five-minute job, and if Dell used the standard mountings it would be. Guess what…
The T1500 has the mounting holes in the standard places for a LGA 1156 socket, but has screw bosses in these holes, presumably held there by a backing plate behind the motherboard. The stock heatsink screws into these with captive screws – springs hold the bracket down. In theory if the bosses were removed a standard heatsink would clip in, but this would require the motherboard to be removed. Alternatively, the screws with the ~2mm stand-off bits (from the old-style green plastic CD drive mounting rails with the anti-vibration mounts) fit and work quite well. Note the stand-off in these is not quite right, so you probably don’t want to tighten them fully – just enough to hold the heatsink down firmly (It’s best to lay the system down so that the heatsink can rest on the processor to fine-tune the position).
(Why not just replace the fan? Because although it’s a standard size (80x80x25mm) it’s a high airflow model. RS and CPC don’t have anything similar with a 4-pin plug. And as a new heatsink and fan could be got for less than a tenner (before shipping charges) from Misco…)