First you will need to open a terminal and install rar/unrar.
sudo apt install rar unrar
Then you can navigate to the directory to where your .rar file is. Typically, the file name you are looking for is the first in the numerical sequence. Example: “sample-001.rar”. You will see “sample-002.rar”, “sample-003.rar” etc.
Unrar into the current directory:
sudo unrar x sample-001.rar
Unrar into another folder or drive:
sudo unrar x -e sample-001.rar /media/usb
Recently after an update to my thinkzinc.com server, I was greeted with a “kernel panic” error. I was able to get into the grub menu by holding down the shift key at boot and then choose a different kernel. This worked and I can only assume that the new kernel is not compatible with my hardware. So the question became, how do I force grub to boot the older kernel? I found an answer that worked for me at Ask Ubuntu. Here’s the source.
If you have a few Kernels in your system you can set manually what Kernel version will start:
4.1. Open and edit GRUB setup file:
sudo nano /etc/default/grub
4.2. Find line GRUB_DEFAULT=…(by default GRUB_DEFAULT=0) and sets in quotes menu path to concrete Kernel(Remember menu indexes from steps 2 and 3). In my system first index was 1 and second was 2. I set in to GRUB_DEFAULT
GRUB_DEFAULT="1>2"
Save file.
4.3. Update GRUB information for apply changes:
sudo update-grub
4.4. After reboot you automatically boot on Kernel by chosen menu path. An example on my machine 1 -> 2
4.5. Check Kernel version after reboot:
uname -r
I previously documented in another blog post entitled, “Volta Wireless is a SCAM” Volta Wireless is a trap. Bad service, bad to non-existent customer service and NO WAY TO CANCEL THE ACCOUNT. I had to change my debit card number to end the endless payments from Volta Wireless. So here’s my update.
Now Volta Wireless is spamming my inbox with failed payment notices. Mind you, I have used the only line of communication, which is email to beg Volta to cancel the account. For over a month, I was told they were working on it. Then communication stopped cold.
You know as well as I do that any time you have ever canceled an account, it takes seconds. But this isn’t the case when you are dealing with a scam company that wants to string you along and has no intentions of ever canceling. This kind of scam company should be illegal and should be held accountable for stealing people’s money. Yet, I see commercials for Volta Wireless. Incredible. Please don’t fall for this scam company!
Now I’m left wondering if they will later hire a debt collection service to go after me. It’s wild how sick, evil and predatory some scam companies can be.
The Terasic DE-10 Nano board (the computer of the setup)
I believe I originally paid $160 for this but now it’s up to $215 (as of this post).
All the parts below can be ordered for VERY low costs from AliExpress. If you want to use U.S. sellers, I provided links below along with descriptions and pictures of the needed parts. I also posted a MiSTer setup guide here.
Parts list:
128MB SDRAM. This is necessary for most Console and Arcade cores. Should run you around $62. Most can run with 32MB SDRAM but 128MB is necessary for Neo Geo. If you are on a budget, you can use just the SDRAM, the Terasic DE-10 and an USB Hub you have laying around.
MiSTer FPGA IO Board (version 6.1). Approximately $54. Use this board to connect to a VGA monitor (optional), line out for audio (analog or digital), built-in CPU fan to cool the FPGA, hardware reset and other buttons, and an IO port for using real console controllers (Nintendo, Genesis, etc).
Noctua NF-A4x10 5V, Premium Quiet Fan. Around $14. Mounts on the IO board.
Speaking of cooling – you will need a heat-sink. This one is around $10 but if you order overseas, you can get it for less than half that.
MiSTer USB Hub, which is totally optional but very necessary IMO. Priced around $47.
If you are like me, you have various projects on SD cards. Raspberry Pi images are a huge example of this. I’ve had a Raspberry Pi Zero W2 running as a server on solar power in my shed and decided it’s a good time to back the card up.
Here’s one way to do this in Linux.
The first thing I usually do is bring up the “Disks” utility in Ubuntu. Your distro of choice likely has something very similar to this. I use this to double check that I’m targeting the correct drive. I don’t want to accidentally backup or erase the wrong drive!
As you can see, “/dev/sdb/” is the correct drive.
The linux command we can use to view the drives in a terminal is:
sudo fdisk -l
You will have to sort through all the drives until you find the right one, which in this case is:
We have confirmation from the two methods and can confidently determine that the drive is “/dev/sdb”. So now it’s time to make a backup image of this SD card.
sudo dd bs=4M if=/dev/sdb of=backup_sd.img
Please replace “/dev/sdb” with your drive and feel free to change the name “backup_sd” to whatever suits you.
Once the file is done, it is a good idea to compress it for storage.
tar -czvf backup_sd.tar.gz backup_sd.img
Volta Wireless review:
Like so many others, I tried Volta Wireless only to find out that the service DOES NOT WORK. Dial-up service from the 1990s was faster. Calls and texts do not come in. It’s a big fail.
I immediately asked Volta to cancel my account/subscription. They keep responding that they were working on it. Now a month later, they are still working on it. They just charged my account again.
They obviously intend to just eternally charge me for NOTHING. Notice how in the account section that there’s no way to end the service or remove your credit card information?
They also have no way to cancel the account online. They also have no phone number or any way to contact them outside of a form. When you contact them with the form, you are sent a robo-letter. Rest assured, they are “sorry” you are not satisfied.
If you fall into the trap of signing up for their service, you will be miserable and sorry you did so!
PLEASE AVOID at all costs.
voltawireless.com is a SCAM
There are so many Debian-based Linux distros to choose from that look and work great, with Ubuntu and Linux Mint being the most popular. The best feature is the easy install method and the vast amount of available software.
One of the things people often don’t discuss is the higher gaming capabilities because of Linux’ lower overhead. If you are into retro gaming, Linux is the obvious choice with options like “retropie”, which can be installed on pretty much any Linux PC or Raspberry Pi computer. Here’s an option to install retropie on your Debian-based PC.
Modern games are trickier to find in terms of compatibility and obviously more difficult to install. That is unless you are using Steam, which makes modern gaming on your Linux platform a dream! Installation and access open up. In the Steam Store, you can see which games are compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux. Windows is the obvious choice for the hardcore gamer obviously because of the higher compatibility rate, but you would be surprised at how many are compatible with Linux.
Installation on your Debian-based system:
Install Steam: $ sudo add-apt-repository multiverse $ sudo apt update $ sudo apt install steam Run steam: steam
Look for the Steam app in your menu under “Games”. You can setup your account and start looking for games! It may take a few moments to launch initially, so be patient.
You can spot the compatibility of games in several places, including the game pages:
You can also shop for Linux-only games by going into the menu and choosing the “Categories” tab and then “SteamOS + Linux”.
Once you buy your game, installing it is easy. Look for purchased games in the “Library” tab. Choose a game and click on the “Install” icon. It takes a little time to install so be patient. Once the game is available, you can find it under your menu’s “Games” tab.
One caveat: On every platform you install these modern games, you will need a modern PC to run the games. I am using an old 2010 (almost 11 years old!) Mac Mini with Xubuntu and some (not all) of these games run slooooow. If you are running this on a more modern, conventional PC, you will likely have much better results.
Enjoy, and let me know how it worked out for you!
Open letter to Costco (I actually sent this as a real email):
Good afternoon Costco Administration,
I’m writing to you in the hopes that you could inform your organization about how the Costco Concierge service may be frustrating your customers and potentially cause harm to your brand. Feel free to forward this email to any relevant parties in your organization.
I have been a Costco member since 2004 and have been buying electronics (as well as many other goods) because of their promise to provide a concierge service and a 2-year warranty.
I haven’t had an issue with any of my electronics. They tend to work until they are obsolete. This, until my 28″ LED Acer Monitor (VG280K) gave out after 1 year. I use this monitor for my work-from-home setup, so it’s pretty critical.
I turned it on and saw colorful vertical bars, like you would see with a dropped laptop. The problem is, we are talking about a stationary monitor. I’m not sure what happened. Maybe someone threw something on my desk and the vibration caused the issue? Manufacturing issue? Not sure. I’ve never had a computer monitor die before and had no reason to believe this would happen.
So I took the monitor to my local Costco. I was told that they couldn’t return it after 90 days but was given a card with the contact information for their “concierge service”. Very reasonable. Okay.
This morning I had the day off so I called the concierge service. I was told to do some tests. Next step, I’m transferred to “Acer”. This is the first hand-off.
“Jason” with a thick Indian accent assures me that he will definitely fix the issue and apologizes for the issue. We ran through the same story that I already told Costco concierge services about the monitor. He has an answer! Call 800-999-4409. Can he help me with anything else? I say, “You said you would fix the issue. But you did not.” He’s sorry. We are at the 2nd hand-off and the third contact.
I call the number. “Captial Data Services” in Lansing Michigan. Oh. There are three people that work at this third-party. Lola, Charlotte and Mark. I’m not having a great feeling. I hit 1 for Lola. Please leave a message. Called back and tried Charlotte and Mark too. Please leave a message. This whole process is meant to wear you down. UGH. I kept calling and finally got Mark.
Mark assures me that he is going to help! How? He has another phone number! 866-695-2237. Welcome to Acer! I called the number. They want to know if I’d like to buy something. Further down the menu is an option for service. Okay. Someone answers. He is my fourth person. I explained the situation again. He asks slyly…(I can tell by his tone what is happening next), “When did you buy this monitor?” I told him August, 2020. He says, “Oooh sorrrrrrry. It’s out of warranty. We cover it for one year.” But I have an ace up my sleeve. I have Costco’s guarantee of a 2 year warranty!
“No. Acer has a one year warranty. There’s nothing on record for a two year warranty. It’s been one year, I’m sorry.” I go on to tell him that all electronics at Costco have a two-year warranty. He says, “No, I’m sorry.” I ask if I can escalate and he declines. I’m so frustrated and know this process is meant to wear me down. It’s working.
I called Costco’s concierge service again. From my experience, It’s obvious that at this point I am just repeating the loop of failure. I’m now talking to the fifth person. She apologizes.
She tries to contact “Acer” (a third-party call center in India). She is given a phone number. After 20 minutes of waiting, she reaches a call-center agent who says, “the serial number does not match.” I read back the serial number. “The number is too long.” I tell her, there’s also an “SNID” number. That number is too short. The Costco concierge woman goes in circles with this. She finally tells me I can call Costco concierge back at a later time. This is the end. Nothing achieved.
Conclusion: From my perspective, and pardon my language, Costco Concierge service is COMPLETE BULLSHIT and Acer will run you in circles through a series of third-party call centers. I will not buy anything from Acer again and I’m starting to really resent Costco for the false promise of service. Instead of an actual service, Costco Concierge service appears to be a short checklist of tests (read from a script), followed by a pass-off to a manufacturer. Not good.
Maybe I had a rare experience? I’m not so sure. On another occasion, I ordered a dishwasher from Costco, which was shipped by a third-party. The dishwasher arrived smashed. I waited several weeks for another model, which also arrived smashed. I ended up canceling the order and going with a local company named ABC Warehouse, which delivered without issue.
It is my belief that the loose-network of third-rate, third-party services is damaging Costco’s reputation, frustrating your customers and costing Costco business. I could be wrong but in the meantime, I’m having better luck with BJs Warehouse with parking, customer service and product availability issues. These are things that actually matter to regular people like me.
Sincerely,
Anonymous
This is not an ad. I use PIA and find it both useful and affordable.
If you have been frustrated as I have with the implementation of VPN using Debian-based Raspberry PI Linux distros, you will be happy to know that PIA has created an ARM version of their VPN client software.
Head to their download page. You might have to log in.
https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/account/client-control-panel#downloads
Under Linux ARM, look for “arm64”.
The most recent version of the program as of this writing is: pia-linux-arm64-3.3.1-06924.run
Once you have downloaded it, in a terminal:
Change directories to the directory you downloaded the file in. In my case: cd Downloads Make the file executable: chmod u+x pia-linux-armhf-3.1-06756.run Launch the setup program: ./pia-linux-armhf-3.1-06756.run
Now you can simply log in and use the VPN program. Enjoy!
If you are into various “retro” computer systems and video games, there’s a Hardware emulation platform using FPGA created by Terasic Technologies. An open source hardware add-on called MiSTer gives the FPGA hardware additional functionality, including an integrated USB hub, SDRAM, VGA video, analog out via headphone jack, and many other functions.
The board naively has an HDMI output and one USB port.
Specs:
Once you set it up, you can run computer systems from the early hobbyist computers like the Apple 1 to an IBM 486. You can also run a huge list of arcade games and video game consoles with no input lag. There are filters for scan-lines and video up-scaling for raster images. They are many other options as well, including game saves, input mapping, dip switch settings and more. Imagine the possibilities! Want more RAM for you Pet computer? There’s a setting for that! The best part is that you have a system that fits in the palm of your hand that can replace the hardware for hundreds of systems. It delivers with hardware accuracy, which will be an immediate improvement from software emulation in most cases.
There are three things you can buy that will compose the entire system. The FPGA motherboard, a micro SD card and the kit (I make no $ off these links):
Kit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08ZC2NNW9?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details
Motherboard: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B89YHSB?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details
Once you obtain the hardware, the next step is to flash the MiSTer software to a micro USB card:
https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/mr-fusion/releases
Balena Etcher is a perfect program to flash ISOs (and free).
Then obtain the “update-all” script, which will download all of hardware cores, computer bios files and arcade game roms:
https://github.com/theypsilon/Update_All_MiSTer
Once you flash the “mr-fusion” iso, you will need to run the SD card in the FPGA board. The system will set itself up.
Then place the “update-all” script in the scripts folder on the SD card.
Boot the system, hit ESC on your keyboard to get to option to run scripts. You will then run the wifi script to update your wifi settings. Then go back into the scripts option and run the “update-all” script. This will automatically install all your needed bios files, roms, and hardware cores.
After the wifi is setup and the “update-all” script run, your system will report the IP address when you hit the back button. With this IP, you can later SSH into it and add new games or virtual computer disks (example: d64 files for Commodore 64). Simply add the files under the “games” folder and into the appropriate system folder. Alternately, you can remove the SD card and mount it with your PC to add files.
Reference video:
distantdark 