How Do You Handle Backups in Linux? Hardware, Software, Configuration, etc…

Duplicity/Deja Vue backup restoration

Linux EXT-4 File System Corruption & Attempted Recovery There’s a file system corruption bug related to EXT-4 in Linux, and it happened to me a few times in Ubuntu 18.04. You are using your computer normally, then suddenly you can’t write anything to the drive, as the root partition has switched to read-only. Why? Here are some error messages:

What then happens is that you restart your PC, and get to the command where you are asked to run:

Change /dev/sda2 to whatever your drive is, and manually review errors. You can take note of the file modified, as you’ll likely have to fix your Ubuntu installation later on. Usually the fix consists of various package re-installations:

It happened to me two or three times in the past, and it’s a pain, but I eventually recovered. But this time, I was not so lucky. The system would […]

Orange Pi Zero LTS SBC Launched for $8.49 and Up

Buy Orange Pi Zero LTS Allwinner H2 SBC

Orange Pi Zero LTS is an update to Orange Pi Zero Allwinner H2+ board with the same specifications, but tweaks to the hardware that Shenzhen Xunlong Software claims lower power consumption and reduce heat. The SBC supports Armbian’s Debian and Ubuntu images, and best suited for headless applications that require network connectivity via Ethernet and/or WiFi such as smart speakers. The board also features one USB port, and two I/O headers for expansion. The good news is that you can now buy Orange Pi Zero LTS for the same price as the original model, namely $8.49 for the 256MB RAM version, and $10.49 for the 512MB model$10.49 for the 512MB model, excluding shipping costs ($4.73 to my location). Here’s a reminder of Orange Pi Zero LTS (v1.5) specifications: SoC – Allwinner H2+ quad-core Cortex A7 processor @ 1.2 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU @ 600 MHz System Memory – 256 to […]

PineBook Pro Arm Linux Laptop now up for pre-order for $199.99

Pinebook Pro Laptop

Pine64 unveiled a Pinebook Pro laptop prototype at FOSDEM 2019 as an update to the original Allwinner A64 powered Pinebook laptop, but instead of just being a toy to play with, Pinebook Pro aimed to be used as a daily driver thanks to a relatively powerful Rockchip RK3399 processor combined with 4GB RAM, and 64/128GB storage, and equipped with a 14″ Full HD display all for a target price of $200. Last May, we noticed some good progress on the software development side with a demo showcasing Ubuntu & Debian with MATE desktop, 4K video playback, 3D graphics acceleration, and USB-C video output.  The good news is that Pinebook Pro has just launched and can be pre-ordered for $199.99 on Pine64 store. [Update: If you are an existing forum member, you may want to redeem your coupon here] Pinebook Pro laptop specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 big.LITTLE hexa-core Arm Cortex […]

Waveshare Jetbot AI Kit for NVIDIA Jetson Nano Board Sells for $100 and Up

NVIDIA Jetbot

NVIDIA Jetson Nano developer kit was launched for $99 last March with impressive specifications for the price including one module with four Arm Cortex-A57 cores, a 128-core Maxwell GPU, and 4GB LPDDR4 RAM. The company also introduced Jetbot robot based on the new board, with all instructions available on Github, but until now you had to put some efforts to build it up as the fairly long list of parts had to be purchased or 3D printed separately. It’s now become easier, as Waveshare has started selling their Jetbot AI kit on Amazon for $122.99 without Jetson Nano, and $259.99 with, meaning you may be better off purchasing NVIDIA board separately for around $100, or you may purchase the complete kit directly on Waveshare website for $215.99 plus shipping, or $99.99 without the SBC. Jetbot AI kit content: Optional NVIDIA Jetson Nano SBC 64GB micro SD Card Metal box Camera […]

Checking Out Machine Check Exception (MCE) Errors in Linux

Machine Check Exception Error Linux

I recently reviewed ODROID-H2 with Ubuntu 19.04, and noticed some errors messages in the kernel log of the Intel Celeron J4105 single board computer while running SBC-Bench benchmark:

I did not know what do make of those errors, but I was told I would get more details with mcelog which can be installed as follows:

There’s just one little problem: it’s not in Ubuntu 19.04 repository, and a bug report mentions mcelog is not deprecated, and remove from Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic onwards. Instead, we’re being told the mcelog package functionality has been replaced by rasdaemon. But before looking into the utilities, let’s find out what Machine Check Exception (MCE) is all about from ArchLinux Wiki: A machine check exception (MCE) is an error generated by the CPU when the CPU detects that a hardware error or failure has occurred. Machine check exceptions (MCEs) can occur for a variety […]

ODROID-H2 Review – Part 2: Ubuntu 19.04

ODROID-H2 Review

After many months of delays due to Intel not mass-producing Gemini Lake processors, Hardkernel started selling ODROID-H2 again, more exactly ODROID-H2 Rev. B, and the end of last month, and the company sent me a full kit for evaluation. You can check out ODROID-H Rev. B with Type 3 case and the assembly instructions in the first part of the review. I’ve now had time to play with the board using the pre-installed Ubuntu 19.04 operating systems so I’ll report my experience in this second part. Note that ODROID-H2 does not rely on a custom version of Ubuntu, and instead you can download and flash Ubuntu 18.04 or 19.04 ISO directly from Ubuntu website. First Boot and System Information I had already connected two SATA drives inside the enclosure, one SSD and one HDD, but before booting the device I connected an HDMI cable, one Ethernet cable, USB keyboard & […]

Beelink L55 Review – An Intel Core i3-5005U Mini PC Tested with Windows 10 & Ubuntu 18.04

Beelink L55 Review

With the shortage of Gemini Lake processors, some manufacturers have taken to releasing new mini PCs using older CPUs. The Beelink L55 is one such example and uses Intel’s Broadwell I3-5005U CPU which is a dual-core 4-thread 2.00 GHz processor with Intel’s HD Graphics 5500. The L55 is a ‘NUC’ style mini PC and physically consists of a 128 x 126 x 46 mm (5.04 x 4.96 x 1.81 inches) box case with a front panel that includes the power button, a headphone jack and a couple of 3.0 USB ports and then on the rear, two more 3.0 USBs, two 2.1 USBs, HDMI (1.4), DP and two gigabit Ethernet ports. Note that there is no SD or micro SD card slot. The full specifications include: The L55 comes with either a 256GB or 512GB (as tested in this review) M.2 SSD with pre-installed Windows 10 Home version 1809 together […]

AAEON Launches BOXER-8150AI Compact Embedded Box PC Features 8 USB 3.0 Ports

BOXER-8150AI

The new compact embedded solutions’ addition to the BOXER-8100AI family is specially designed for artificial intelligence (AI) support. According to its makers, AAEON, it has a configuration of eight USB 3.0 ports made available through four USB controllers chips. This makes it perfect for a wide range of computer vision applications, some of which are visual inspection, quality control, and facial recognition. Now, each USB chip controls a pair of USB 3.0 ports. By dedicating one chip to one pair of ports, each chip handles less data traffic overall.   This also improves bandwidth from connected devices and allows the BOXER-8150AI to maximize speeds and framerates of AI image processing. The product is currently in stock and available for purchase on AAEON online store for $1,142.00. Key Features of BOXER-8150AI Nvidia TX2 Module HMP Dual Denver 2 + Quad ARM A57 8GB LPDDR4 32GB eMMC 5.1 HDMI 2.0 8x USB […]

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