Drobo FS on Lion [solved]

On december 13th, Drobo released a new firmware update (1.2.1) for the Drobo FS. I tested this updated and for me it fixed the problems I had with Lion, Time Machine and the Drobo. On december 29th, they also released an update for the Dashboard.

The dashboard seems a bit snappier, though it’s not mentioned in the release notes.

Sadly it took Drobo 16 weeks to deliver this firmware update, but it does fix my Lion and Time Machine issues with the Drobo. So the Drobo is back to the way it was the summer of 2011. The transfer speeds are around 28MB/s again, which is way better than the 3MB/s I’ve seen.

You can find and download the firmware updates here: http://www.drobo.com/support/updates.php

Waiting for the firmware release I tried to find another NAS to replace the Drobo, but could not find any good solution. So I bought some hardware to build my own. I will publish the results as soon as I have something stable.

Drobo FS and Lion [fixed: but it ain't pretty]

Just after Lion was released I upgraded my iMac. As many others with a Drobo FS, I noticed that time machine would not function. After weeks of trying to get things working again (rebooted my machine and the Drobo countless times) I gave up. I had countless Finder hangs. The support articles and instructions I received are way too ‘complicated’. Not that I’m not able to, but damn, I bought a Mac because I wanted to get rid of this install hell and poorly written instructions.

If you’re in the same boat (having a DroboFS that is), you’re not going to like my solution!

I created new time machine shares deleted the old, and lost 1 year of time travel in the process. After instructing the machines to use these new shares, everything is working again. The Finder hangs are a thing of the past too.

Good luck!

Re-download Lion after upgrade

If you wan’t to have you’re Lion-on-a-Stick here’s how…

After installing Lion, the installer image is deleted from the program folder. Some people have partial success getting the installer again to burn it on an USB stick. You can easily re-download Lion as mentioned in this TUAW article and place it on a stick.

In short: Open the App Store application. By holding the option key (alt) and clicking on the purchased items (top icon bar) you can download Lion again. The whole 3.75GB

Inductieplaat ingebrand? echt niet!

Tja, het is gek, maar 2 jaar lang hebben we gedacht dat onze inductie kookplaat was ingebrand. De middelste pit had een doffe aanslag die we niet wegkregen. Mee leven dachten we toen.
Afgelopen weken hebben we gekookt op een keramische kookplaat op ons vakantieadres. Na de eerste keer koken hadden we een vergelijkbare aanslag, dus we schrokken ons dood.

Swap drive under Time Machine

The other day I replaced a 500GB hard disk in my Mac Pro with a larger 2TB model.

I planned to use the old and proven approach of attaching the new disk, copying all the files from the old to the new and removing the new.

But then it dawned on me, that Time Machine would not recognize the swap and would backup all the data on the new disk again! Effectively doubling that set of data in my Time Machine volume.

To replace the disk the correct way you should:

How to take apart a Duplo train

I have two types of Duplo electrical trains. The Intelli train and the regular train (e.g. 3772).  They need some repair and servicing, but are hard  to open. I found a short description opening the Intelli train, but did not yet manage to get it open without damaging it.

The best way to open the Duplo train is by using the following parts:

• pair of pliers
• duct tape
• two small pieces of cardboard
• screwdriver bit (flat)

Jaga Strada Radiator Mod

Today I modded our Jaga bathroom radiator with a Smedbo towel rail. Looking for a good spot to install the towel rail, I thought it might look nice to make it part of the radiator. It’s just the right height and width and warms the towel when the radiator is on.

Here’s the result!

This is the before picture…

ContourHD 1080p slowmotion

Last week I tested the ContourHD 1080p helmet camera on the slopes in Austria. I shot this video on a downhill run in Lermoos on an overcast day with some sunny spells. I slowed down the speed to 50% in iMovie before publishing. I’m pretty impressed with the immersive effect of the video’s and the quality of the material (though Youtube seems to have a bad effect on the final movie quality).

Why Drobo Alerts are implemented poorly!

You can configure e-mail alerts in the DroboFS Dashboard. These are notifications the drobo sends out on certain events.

The notification mechanism works fine, but the information you get in the notification e-mails is poor. Why are they poorly implemented / designed:

iPad printing on a network laser printer

Yesterday’s lasers are not Airprint capable. This means you can’t print to these printers from your iPad, without the help of a Mac.

Luckily there is a work around. The guys that created Airprint Activator created a small tool that shares my printer the Airprint way.
Not the best possible solution, but it works.