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Uses for an old PC?
    #13317718 -

I have a celeron 2.2 ghz or so box with 512mb of ram. Can anyone think of anything useful to do with it? Maybe an FTP server :shrug:

Any ideas would be much appreciated..

Also, I plan on installing Fedora.


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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: m00nshine]
    #13317735 -

FreeNAS is pretty awesome

http://freenas.org/


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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: m00nshine]
    #13317851 -

Install a Linux OS on it and turn it into a Nagios / Centreon server. Learn to code your own metrics plugins in Powershell and Bash  Learn how to monitor you main system and how to read the metrics.  Then use the info to overclock you main system.  Write a detailed log on an overclockers forum and become a paragon amongst nerds.

Or you can install eMule on it and make it a porn box.


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1st Shiitake Grow /w Filter Bag
Long Term Preservation TEK

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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: shroom-jitsu]
    #13317898 -

Chodeson said:
FreeNAS is pretty awesome

http://freenas.org/


Cool, but it's only got a 20 gb hard drive. I guess I could use it this way and just use it as extra storage. Could my other windows boxes hit it?

shroom-jitsu said:
Install a Linux OS on it and turn it into a Nagios / Centreon server. Learn to code your own metrics plugins in Powershell and Bash  Learn how to monitor you main system and how to read the metrics.  Then use the info to overclock you main system.  Write a detailed log on an overclockers forum and become a paragon amongst nerds.

Or you can install eMule on it and make it a porn box.


Woah too time consuming for me, I'm a slacker :lol:

Emule is a p2p... so it's basically like limewire and frostwire, right? Once again I have a small hd and would not be interested in storing or accessing porn from there.


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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: m00nshine]
    #13318042 -

Install as many P2P apps as your PC can handle and make all of their "share" folders the same folder where you dump all their data.  Essentially, you make everything you download from one network available for share to every other network.  Then take a copy of the PF-TEK PDF, RAR it, name it:

AWESOME."Insert_hot_babe_here".NEW.SEX.TAPE.2010.rar

And share it to the world!  Every perv on the planet will be growing shrooms by years end!!!


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1st Shiitake Grow /w Filter Bag
Long Term Preservation TEK

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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: shroom-jitsu]
    #13318139 -

i use my server on a daily basis. it runs totally headless (no monitor). i access everything via ssh or web ui for the web-based apps i have installed. its just a cheap old Pentium D 820.

the whole thing is run on Arch linux which is pretty much all CLI driven but the documentation is so good its (in my opinion) as easy or easier than ubuntu to maintain.

things i run on it:

rtorrent
newsbeuter - feed reader so i can subscribe to torrent feeds which are automatically downloaded with rtorrent (think tv shows)
irssi - irc client
gnu screen - easy way to manage applications like the ones mentioned above
ssh - access to the machine. cli only. gnu screen session is automatically resumed when i log in via ssh.
nfs - share files over the network. much faster that samba (better for HD video)
CUPS - print server. requires Avahi (similar to Apple's Bonjour)
Apache, MySQL, PHP (LAMP) - on top of this i run:
    Ampache - streaming music from the server to anything with a net connection. there is an Android frontend to this. goodbye ipod.
    a few web sites. 2 drupal installs, one joomla.
    wTorrent - web ui to rtorrent (i dont use this very much)
    webmin - this is for stuff i dont use enough to get me to care about learning the config file syntax



i dont have any GUI environment installed at all. so it cuts down on the overhead.

the entire network is run on gigabit connections and wireless N for laptops so its easier to move 1080p video around.

with a cheap little box like yours you could have a really nice set up. grab a big fat hard drive and you can put together a centralized media server for the entire house. after a while you forget how you lived without it.


if you decide to go this way here is a tip: keep it as simple as possible. only install applications that you are going to want/need. the less complicated the software the less things can go wrong.

before i moved, my server was up for over a year without being shutdown/restarted. this thing is the best.


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Edited by frith (10/10/10 08:41 PM)

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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: frith]
    #13318245 -

GUI is indeed an anchor.


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1st Shiitake Grow /w Filter Bag
Long Term Preservation TEK

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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: m00nshine]
    #13318542 -

m00nshine said:
Chodeson said:
FreeNAS is pretty awesome

http://freenas.org/


Cool, but it's only got a 20 gb hard drive. I guess I could use it this way and just use it as extra storage. Could my other windows boxes hit it?


Yeah, for sure.  Through SMB (windows network explorer) or FTP  or whatever.  If you run out of space you could always buy another drive for it, they're pretty damn cheap these days.  Or salvage one from yet another old PC.


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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: m00nshine]
    #13318862 -

Drying chamber for mushrooms


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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: frith]
    #13319342 -

Shroomism said:
Drying chamber for mushrooms


:rofl:

frith said:
i use my server on a daily basis. it runs totally headless (no monitor). i access everything via ssh or web ui for the web-based apps i have installed. its just a cheap old Pentium D 820.

the whole thing is run on Arch linux which is pretty much all CLI driven but the documentation is so good its (in my opinion) as easy or easier than ubuntu to maintain.

things i run on it:

rtorrent
newsbeuter - feed reader so i can subscribe to torrent feeds which are automatically downloaded with rtorrent (think tv shows)
irssi - irc client
gnu screen - easy way to manage applications like the ones mentioned above
ssh - access to the machine. cli only. gnu screen session is automatically resumed when i log in via ssh.
nfs - share files over the network. much faster that samba (better for HD video)
CUPS - print server. requires Avahi (similar to Apple's Bonjour)
Apache, MySQL, PHP (LAMP) - on top of this i run:
    Ampache - streaming music from the server to anything with a net connection. there is an Android frontend to this. goodbye ipod.
    a few web sites. 2 drupal installs, one joomla.
    wTorrent - web ui to rtorrent (i dont use this very much)
    webmin - this is for stuff i dont use enough to get me to care about learning the config file syntax



i dont have any GUI environment installed at all. so it cuts down on the overhead.

the entire network is run on gigabit connections and wireless N for laptops so its easier to move 1080p video around.

with a cheap little box like yours you could have a really nice set up. grab a big fat hard drive and you can put together a centralized media server for the entire house. after a while you forget how you lived without it.


if you decide to go this way here is a tip: keep it as simple as possible. only install applications that you are going to want/need. the less complicated the software the less things can go wrong.

before i moved, my server was up for over a year without being shutdown/restarted. this thing is the best.


This sounds like something I'd be interested in doing... download link for that distro? Do you hit it from the internet through a static IP or do you use dynamic dns? Or do you just hit it from your home network? 


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Edited by m00nshine (10/11/10 02:54 AM)

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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: m00nshine]
    #13319388 -

m00nshine said:
This sounds like something I'd be interested in doing... download link for that distro? Do you hit it from the internet through a static IP or do you use dynamic dns? Or do you just hit it from your home network? 


i use DynDNS.org to connect to my home machine. just open port 80 for Apache stuff and 22 to get to the CLI stuff via SSH.

i just posted my RTorrent howto here:
http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/13319360

here is Arch:
http://www.archlinux.org

make sure you really read through the install guide and check the wiki for installing the services you are going to be using if you arent confident with linux.. hell even if you are you should probably read through the install guide. Arch does things a little different.

keep in mind that Arch doesnt come with ANYTHING preinstalled. you get a kernel, basic network connectivity, and a package manager. THATS IT. no GUI. no browser. nothing. its up to you to sculpt the machine you want.

once you have it setup though you never have to touch it again. it just works. and Arch works on a rolling release schedule.. you never have to reinstall again.


sorry if im scaring you off Arch.. dont want to tell you its all rainbows and gumdrops. it is (eventually) but you have to do some leg work to get to that point.


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Edited by frith (10/11/10 03:34 AM)

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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: frith]
    #13319411 -

Not scared, appreciate all of the help, though...

I'm downloading it now... then I'll read through the guide and install it.

I enjoy a little challenge, and as far as computers go, linux is perfect for that. If I have any trouble I'll post my question or concern and hopefully you'll be kind enough to help :lol:

Thanks again.


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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: m00nshine]
    #13319421 -

And of course I can't find a blank CD...

:supercrankey: I'll just pick up a few tomorrow.


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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: m00nshine]
    #13319459 -

m00nshine said:
If I have any trouble I'll post my question or concern and hopefully you'll be kind enough to help


absolutely. thats what the linux community is all about :smile:


check out the archives from Linux Reality. its howtos/information designed specifically for new linux users. the episodes are a few years old but still quite relevant. i still find myself going back to relisten/relearn. the host, Chess, explains things really really well.

the episode on the filesystem hierarchy is one of the best informational pieces ive ever seen.


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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: frith]
    #13320257 -

OK... so it's booting from the cd... but, it hangs :lol:

Quote:
If Grub hangs, you're one of the unlucky few whose CD-rom drive doesn't work with grub and you should try the isolinux image.


But it doesn't even get to grub... Just spits out the top line and sits there.

I know it's not the hardware... a celeron is higher than a P2 (LOL)...

I'm probably going to switch out the cd-rom anyway... think that's my problem?


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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: m00nshine]
    #13320272 -

hmm.. not sure.

you could put the iso image onto a usb drive and boot from usb.

seems odd that it would be the cd rom drive though. i didnt know there were issues with grub and some drives..


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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: frith]
    #13320367 -

Quote:
Burn the ISO image to a CD-R or CD-RW using any software of your choice, or if using a USB mass storage device, such as a thumb drive, using dd or similar raw-write software:

dd if=archlinux-XXX.iso of=/dev/sdX


OK, so do I have to be in the directory where the iso is, and simply just enter that command? How do I find out what sdx it is? I went into /dev but when I tried to cd it wouldn't let me... do I have to be root?


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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: m00nshine]
    #13320431 -

i believe that dd command is for linux only. i dont think it exists if you are using windows.

/dev/sdX is the device name, X being a variable. youll need to have the device mounted. it would be something like /dev/sdb1 for device b, partition 1.

the only thing dd does is copy everything that is contained in the iso to the flash drive. you may be able to just copy and paste. although.. you will need to have a FAT32 file system on the usb drive and it will probably have to be flagged as bootable.


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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: frith]
    #13320466 -

I'm on ubuntu right now. I use linux, winxp, and win7, triple boot config.

so dd will do it by itself? (fat, bootable) How do I find out which device it is?

lsusb outputs the following info:

Bus 001 Device 007: ID 058f:6387 Alcor Micro Corp. Transcend JetFlash Flash Drive

also,

emperor@slave1ubuntu:/$ cat /proc/partitions
major minor  #blocks  name

  8        0  78150744 sda
  8        1    1023834 sda1
  8        2          1 sda2
  8        5  73939314 sda5
  8        6    3187434 sda6
  8      16  195360984 sdb
  8      17  91136713 sdb1
  8      18  104222720 sdb2
  8      96    8228352 sdg
  8      97    8224256 sdg1

It's 8 gb, which one is it?! :lol:


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Re: Uses for an old PC? [Re: m00nshine]
    #13320556 -

unplug it.

run this: tail -f dmesg


plug it in.

that should tell you what device it was assigned.


you could also do a df -h if you already know where its mounted


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