NW Digital's DRAWS is pretty interesting I have mine together (it is a Raspberry Pi, a Pi HAT and software) and getting ready to solder cables and fire it up.

Anyone else looking at this?

73

Steve
K9ZW

Blog: http://k9zw.wordpress.com

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/64)
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Looks like an interesting project. What are you going to use it for?

Cheers,
Doug
VE1LG

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
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Hello Steve;

k9zw wrote to All <=-

NW Digital's DRAWS is pretty interesting I have mine together (it is a Raspberry Pi, a Pi HAT and software) and getting ready to solder cables and fire it up.

Anyone else looking at this?

While I have several RPi units (that mainly stay in the original shipping
box) I've just seen way way too many cases where they simply do not hold up. One guy in 9 land I know went through so many when he tallied up how much
he kept spending on replacements he finally broke down and got a nice
dell SFF PC for less than he spend on replacement Pis.

If they had better fault tollerance that'd be one thing but I really don't
see them handling much of a load. I use one for as my 44-net router and
because they don't have much tollerance it also acts as somewhat of a
circuit breaker against brute force crack attempts. It'll just lock up and die.

Just been my experiences with them and experiences shared by others. Some
have great luck with them. For a GO-kit they seem fine.

... Suicidal twin kills sister by mistake!
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On 05-17-21 17:04, k9zw wrote to All <=-

NW Digital's DRAWS is pretty interesting I have mine together (it is a Raspberry Pi, a Pi HAT and software) and getting ready to solder cables and fire it up.

I haven't heard of that one, what exactly does it do? (I can't google while offline at 40,000 feet ;) ).


... Back in the stream that feeds the ocean that feeds the stream.
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Looks like an interesting project. What are you going to use it for?

I'd like to package it up for a portable digital setup to do some US/CDN Islands usislands.org and perhaps some POTA Parks on the Air.

Decided I am NOT dragging my Flex-6600M and a Laptop out for that sort of activation.

You can check out my DRAWS progress at k9zw.wordpress.com put Draws in the little search box way at the bottom

73

Steve
K9ZW

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/64)
* Origin: SPOT BBS (21:1/224)

While I have several RPi units (that mainly stay in the original shipping box) I've just seen way way too many cases where they simply do not hold up. One guy in 9 land I know went through so many when he tallied up how much he kept spending on replacements he finally broke down and got a
nice dell SFF PC for less than he spend on replacement Pis.

Any idea what the mode of failure has been?

I've broke two - hamfisted one trying to get it back out of a poorly designed case. It still works but I broke the camera connector, Another one I think succumbed to static losing its WiFi chip which again is more Operator Error than anything else.

But I've also run a Pi Based VPN as backup for about five years, and have
lots of other projects that have worked long term.

It does pay to note that not all RPis are equal, as there are a number of builders. Since the whole RPi project orbits around an accessible prince
point perhaps the economization of a manufacturer looking to save product
costs might not work out so well?

Certainly would think twice about using one for a mission-critical purpose. There are upgraded versions and other SBC that might be more appropriate.

Another of my RPi projects migrated the same way as this guy's did, but
because of difficulties with the RPi supporting certain SSD hardware (current draw appears to exceed what the RPi will allow) so the project moved to a deskbook running Win10.

73

Steve
K9ZW

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/64)
* Origin: SPOT BBS (21:1/224)

I'd like to package it up for a portable digital setup to do some US/CDN Islands usislands.org and perhaps some POTA Parks on the Air.

Decided I am NOT dragging my Flex-6600M and a Laptop out for that sort of activation.

What radio will you pair it with?

Cheers,
Doug
VE1LG

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Free Speech You Smeg Head (21:1/225)

On 20 May 2021, Otto Reverse said the following...

What radio will you pair it with?

Slightly undecided - thinking one of old ones. Likely either a TenTec
Jupiter or an SGC SG-2020

Could also finish off one of the Phaser kits for a single band alternative.

73

Steve
K9ZW

Blog: http://k9zw.wordpress.com

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/64)
* Origin: SPOT BBS (21:1/224)

On 05-18-21 10:08, N1uro wrote to k9zw <=-

While I have several RPi units (that mainly stay in the original
shipping box) I've just seen way way too many cases where they simply
do not hold up. One guy in 9 land I know went through so many when he tallied up how much he kept spending on replacements he finally broke
down and got a nice dell SFF PC for less than he spend on replacement
Pis.

I've had pretty good mileage. I know a good power supply is a critical component.

Just been my experiences with them and experiences shared by others.
Some have great luck with them. For a GO-kit they seem fine.

Yeah, I've done pretty well with them.


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Slightly undecided - thinking one of old ones. Likely either a TenTec Jupiter or an SGC SG-2020

Never laid eyes on either, but that SG-2020 looks interesting. You can do a
lot with 20 watts and digital modes.

Cheers,
Doug
VE1LG

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Free Speech You Smeg Head (21:1/225)

Yeah that helps. The one the BBSs run on has a read only SD card. Writing is only done to the attached 500GB SSD. :)

My SSD experiments have been largely good, but did find that larger SSDs and non-sata3 ones troublesome.

I have one setup as a radio station eNotebook where my station building notes all end up at.

https://tinyurl.com/24ravk58 is a shortened URL to the small project.

Basically I wanted it hosted on a disposable and separately from my main comps.

73

Steve
K9ZW

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* Origin: SPOT BBS (21:1/224)

Vk3jed wrote to N1uro <=-

I use the Pis for low load applications, even BBSs. ;) I'll have your spares. ;)

You got guts! I would *never* run a BBS on a Pi. Too many read/writes.
Before I run my monthly CloneZilla backups, I do a mirror image of my
SDCard so that also gets grabbed by CloneZilla. I have a very simple script that does it I call do-image. Here it is if you wish it:

#! /bin/sh
echo -n "What size in do you want (ex: 4M): "; read answer1
echo -n "Input device or file with path: "; read answer2
echo -n "Output device or file with path: "; read answer3
sleep 1
echo "preparing: dd bs=$answer1 if=$answer2 of=$answer3 is this correct?"
sleep 3
echo -n "This will take a L O N G while... "
/bin/dd bs=$answer1 if=$answer2 of=$answer3
echo "backup/restore done."

It uses DD... makes bootable backups. You can use it on almost any sort of drive you wish to mirror really... and reverse things to do a restore.
Just make the input device the source and Output device the destination.
I've had to restore my SDCard a couple times already when I've made a dumb
typo <G>

Yeah that helps. The one the BBSs run on has a read only SD card.
Writing is only done to the attached 500GB SSD. :)

I tried using an external drive in a USB case... didn't fly well at all.
I just gave up on the RPi units for anything remotely server related.

Hmm, that's a pain.

Very much so. Makes me sometimes feel as if my assistance really isn't appreciated.

... JOIN THE PARTNERSHIP FOR A FUNDAMENTALIST-FREE AMERICA
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N1uro wrote to Vk3jed <=-

I use the Pis for low load applications, even BBSs. ;) I'll have your spares. ;)

You got guts! I would *never* run a BBS on a Pi. Too many
read/writes. Before I run my monthly CloneZilla backups, I do a
mirror image of my SDCard so that also gets grabbed by
CloneZilla.

On an RPi-4 (and I think the 3B+ also), an SD card is not required at
all. I have a 4 that boots and runs from a 500GB SSD housed in an
(externally powered) enclosure connected to the Pi with USB3. It runs
24x7 doing various things for me (not running the BBS), such as my DDNS updater, automated system-status emails, and distributed computing (the
BOINC projects). Works very well and is fast. Again, it does not even
have an SD card installed in it, and boots/operates from the SSD.



... All the easy problems have been solved.
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On 05-22-21 12:47, N1uro wrote to Vk3jed <=-

Vk3jed wrote to N1uro <=-

I use the Pis for low load applications, even BBSs. ;) I'll have your spares. ;)

You got guts! I would *never* run a BBS on a Pi. Too many read/writes. Before I run my monthly CloneZilla backups, I do a mirror image of my SDCard so that also gets grabbed by CloneZilla. I have a very simple script that does it I call do-image. Here it is if you wish it:

The SSD takes the writes. I used to do a 6 monthly SD replacement cycle, but now leave the SD read only, and do all the writes on the SSD (or RAM disk).

#! /bin/sh
echo -n "What size in do you want (ex: 4M): "; read answer1
echo -n "Input device or file with path: "; read answer2
echo -n "Output device or file with path: "; read answer3
sleep 1
echo "preparing: dd bs=$answer1 if=$answer2 of=$answer3 is this
correct?" sleep 3
echo -n "This will take a L O N G while... "
/bin/dd bs=$answer1 if=$answer2 of=$answer3
echo "backup/restore done."

Nice. :)

It uses DD... makes bootable backups. You can use it on almost any sort
of drive you wish to mirror really... and reverse things to do a
restore. Just make the input device the source and Output device the destination. I've had to restore my SDCard a couple times already when I've made a dumb typo <G>

Yeah, dd is my friend too. ;)

Yeah that helps. The one the BBSs run on has a read only SD card.
Writing is only done to the attached 500GB SSD. :)

I tried using an external drive in a USB case... didn't fly well at
all. I just gave up on the RPi units for anything remotely server
related.

Yeah, mine's working well, though I am running on a Banana Pi, not the Raspberry flavour. :)

Hmm, that's a pain.

Very much so. Makes me sometimes feel as if my assistance really isn't appreciated.

:(

... JOIN THE PARTNERSHIP FOR A FUNDAMENTALIST-FREE AMERICA

Good luck with that. :/


... I have a 9600bps modem and 1.5bps fingers.
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Re: RPis
By: N1uro to Vk3jed on Sat May 22 2021 12:47 pm

I use the Pis for low load applications, even BBSs. ;) I'll have your spares. ;)

You got guts! I would *never* run a BBS on a Pi. Too many read/writes.

Wow, I'm surprised by your issues.

I've been using PI's for many years now - started on the P1 (connected to the TV as plex clients, powered by the TV) and now have P4's.

My main BBS ran on a PI3 for a good two years without any issues (on an SD card). The Net 3 hub as well - for the last 18 months or so.

I've never had an SD card fail - I've had them for many years.

(I lie, my P4 got really hot one day, because the fan failed - and it started getting I/O errors - but cooling it down seemed to fix it.)

Now my P4's run ESXi with 3 VMs - with a BBS in docker that floats between the 3 VMs. Additionly its running on an M2 Sata - which is just a USB device. With USB booting now (which I started using on the P4s), I'm only using the SD card as a backup device.

I'm very happy with the Pis.

...δεσ∩
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Hello Gamgee;

On an RPi-4 (and I think the 3B+ also), an SD card is not required at
all. I have a 4 that boots and runs from a 500GB SSD housed in an (externally powered) enclosure connected to the Pi with USB3. It runs 24x7 doing various things for me (not running the BBS), such as my DDNS updater, automated system-status emails, and distributed computing (the BOINC projects). Works very well and is fast. Again, it does not even have an SD card installed in it, and boots/operates from the SSD.

I haven't looked at the 4's. When they first came out there was a flood of reports of them catching fire - and I don't care to make smores indoors <G>
At least they realized one of their faults. What about ram expansion for the
4?

... MAC: It does less, It costs more, It's that simple.
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On 05-23-21 13:45, deon wrote to N1uro <=-

I've been using PI's for many years now - started on the P1 (connected
to the TV as plex clients, powered by the TV) and now have P4's.

I've had mostly good experiences, though my Pi 1B did die (was the Pi itself, not the SD).

My main BBS ran on a PI3 for a good two years without any issues (on an
SD card). The Net 3 hub as well - for the last 18 months or so.

I've never had an SD card fail - I've had them for many years.

I have had one fail after heavy R/W use.

I'm very happy with the Pis.

Me too. :)

Replying from the VKRadio side of the gateway for a change. ;)


... Freedom of the press is limited to those who have one.
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Hello deon;

deon wrote to N1uro <=-

Wow, I'm surprised by your issues.

I wasn't just talking about mine, which in reality have been quite few but those of others who use them and have had poor luck with them.

I've never had an SD card fail - I've had them for many years.

I had one fail, but I was also logging every little thing that happened on it. SD Cards almost 10 years ago did not like that.

(I lie, my P4 got really hot one day, because the fan failed - and it started getting I/O errors - but cooling it down seemed to fix it.)

Sounds as if you got a little luck there and saved it before things became
more permanent.

Now my P4's run ESXi with 3 VMs - with a BBS in docker that floats
between the 3 VMs. Additionly its running on an M2 Sata - which is just
a USB device. With USB booting now (which I started using on the P4s),
I'm only using the SD card as a backup device.

I'm very happy with the Pis.

I haven't touched a 4 yet. Mainly I get them to make a distro with my stuff pre-installed for those who aren't familiar with installing things. Pi3 was my last one. Now there's multiple issues with Linux's ham protocol stack.
We've submitted patches but they keep rejecting them claiming our patches aren't required - yet they've helped fix many MANY guys who use the native kernel protocol stack.

... I route, therefor you exist.
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