Now Running Ubuntu Server 7.04

I finally decided to upgrade my Ubuntu Server 6.10 install to the latest version, 7.04 (Feisty Fawn). Out of habit, I now wait a few weeks before upgrading to the latest version of anything to ensure any last minute bugs get worked out.

Best of all, I upgraded the entire OS remotely using SSH. Upgrading your OS remotely is usually not a good idea, but if you know what you’re doing, go for it! Ensure you backup any custom/modified configuration files just in case you press a wrong key during the upgrade! :) The upgrade worked well, with the exception of recompiling eAccelerator (to work with PHP 5.2.2) and updating a line (see below) of code in WordPress to make everything work smoothly.

Immediately following the upgrade, I noticed that my WordPress blog was loading very slowly and I also noticed random strings of hexadecimal characters at the top of the main blog page.

If you upgrade your server to Ubuntu Server 7.04 and run WordPress 2.1.x, ensure that you change line 832 in wp-includes/functions.php to the following (all on one line):

@header($_SERVER[“SERVER_PROTOCOL”].” “.$header.” “.$text, true, $header);

Once you make the above change, your blog should load normally.

Update (5.15.2007):

With WordPress 2.2 (released today), the aforementioned WordPress fix is now irrelevant.

Configuring Ubuntu – Part 2

Opps. I just checked a few of my older blog posts and quickly realized I neglected to post part 2 of my ‘Configuring Ubuntu – Part 1’ guide.

Well, here it is!

By default, Ubuntu Server installs MySQL and PHP. However, it doesn’t tweak the system for performance. If you run a WordPress blog on your server, you may not realize that your blog could run more efficiently. WordPress relies on both PHP and MySQL. PHP scripts need to be read from a server’s hard drive, parsed by the web server software and then executed. Wouldn’t it be nice if the server could just skip the first two steps and just execute PHP scripts as quickly as plain HTML?

That’s where eAccelerator comes in. eAccelerator is a free, open-source PHP accelerator and cache. I’ve been using it for nearly seven years on personal and commercial servers. In other words, it’s very stable for a free product.

Let’s get started.
Continue reading “Configuring Ubuntu – Part 2”

Happy Holidays

It’s that special time of year again.

Colorful lights and decorations are plentiful.  Malls are packed with no parking.

With everyone in a rush to pick up last minute gifts, please remember to drive carefully.  Speaking of giving, remember to support your favorite charities.  There’s no better time to give than now.  When you have more donation receipts than bills, that’s always a good thing!

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Vista + Notebook = Low Battery. Fast.

The general consensus is that Vista substantially decreases battery life on notebooks.  That is, with the new Aero Glass interface enabled.

From independent testing, some notebook users have concluded that Vista draws 20% more power with the Aero Glass interface disabled. With Aero Glass enabled, expect your notebook to run for much less than the quoted battery run-time. Four hours of battery life under XP just decreased to two and a half under Vista.

Isn’t mobility the whole purpose of a notebook? I mean there’s other purposes, but a vast majority of notebook users would agree that portability and mobility are the key reasons behind a notebook purchase. With Vista, I guess we can remove mobility from the notebook equation and hope there’s always a power outlet nearby. Or, we can keep running XP until drivers and hardware with better power management are developed.

More Of The White Stuff

As I was pulling into our parking lot at work this morning, I noticed a hint of something poking out of the snow-covered ground near my parking spot.

I stopped short of the snow-covered object, got out of the car and retrieved it. It was a little dirty and damp, but no one had driven or parked over it. I gave it a few firm shakes to free it of any attached snow. I had recovered my lost scarf. After being washed, I can put it to some use again.

That aside, it snowed another 10 cm near our household and workplace last night. The side roads were a little slippery due to the new snow accumulation, but the main roads and highway were nearly free of any ice. No longer were motorists confined to driving 20 to 40 km/hr. Traffic was finally moving along at the designated street and highway speeds.

With the climate getting warmer today (above 0C!), snow is finally starting to melt, making for safer roads.

Where Are All The Snow Plows?

I decided to drive a FWD car to work today.

It didn’t help much.

Roads were still slippery today, especially intersections. Black ice was plentiful. The smell of burnt rubber was in the air.

I didn’t see a single snow plow during my commute this morning and this evening. The local paper reported that the city had been working 24 hours a day clearing roads. Where were they? All of the major intersections in town were still in the same state they were yesterday evening — very slippery.

The Accord sedan I drove didn’t handle the slippery intersections very well, mostly due to a lack of traction control. My RWD G35 actually faired better with traction control enabled. It swayed a little (an inch or two) in the rear, but gained traction within a second and carried on. In contrast, the Accord swayed to the right at two intersections and took several seconds to gain traction at another local intersection. I recall my Accord V6 coupe (same year as G35) exhibiting similar behavior during a winter storm a couple of years ago. In retrospect, I think the 03 Accord’s traction control implementation wasn’t as refined as the one in the 03 G35 (eg. reducing engine output to gain traction and per-wheel torque distribution).

Continue reading “Where Are All The Snow Plows?”

Extended Power Outage

On Wednesday afternoon, western BC was hit with a powerful storm that knocked out power to over 100,000 households and businesses.

We were one of them.

Thankfully, our utility power was restored almost 21 hours after it was cut on Wednesday afternoon (12:20 PM in my system logs), but that left us with no heat for a night. Brrr. Cold.

Thursday evening was fairly boring with no Internet access, but I made good use of our treadmill and home gym while patiently waiting for the Internet service to be restored. I checked up on my router periodically, but I gave up at 11 PM and went to sleep.

I got up this morning to check my Internet service. Still nothing. I attempted to reach my server from work and finally got a response back!

Forty-eight hours and two complaints later, that is.

Our workplace was another nightmare. I recorded over twenty-five power outages from 12 PM to 4 PM on Wednesday. One computer without UPS power failed to boot up, after it rebooted itself several times in a row. The system registry had become corrupted. However, I had it up and running within a few minutes. In order to avoid such problems in the future, I placed a call to our distributor and ordered two APC 1200VA UPS units. That’ll keep my co-workers and I productive, while keeping me from pulling out excessive hair.

It’s all good for now, but Environment Canada predicts that another powerful storm is headed our way. Hopefully, we are prepared this time around.