blog about everything

Downgrading Mysql 8 to MariaDB10 on DirectAdmin

In order to have a smooth downgrade on the DA server. You will need to perform the following

Stop mysql;

service mysqld stop

mv /var/lib/mysql /var/lib/mysql.bak

Edit my.cnf, comment out
mysql_native_password=ON

Run

da build mysql

Updating SuperMicro motherboard BIOS via IPMI using FreeDos bootable ISO

So I struggled to come up with a working solution for updating the SuperMicro motherboard bios using the IPMI with FreeDos.

One method I tried is creating a custom bootable FreeDos ISO and allowing the live environment in the boot menu. -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik_PlhwZaTk

The method does have it’s potentials, I was able to get everything to boot and add the files to the ISO. However, after the ISO is booted up, I cannot access the content on the ISO itself.

The author of the video mentioned that in order the ISO to work in an IPMI environment, it need to make adjustment to the memdsk image due to the USB cdrom driver. But didn’t elaborate further on his comment… So I eventually gave up.

The second method is using this premaid ISO of FreeDos 1.1 I’ve found-> https://pingtool.org/bootable-dos-iso-bios-upgrade/

Everything is good, I’m able to put my custom files on the ISO and see the content. However, the issue comes when trying to execute the .exe file. FreeDos 1.1 have some sort of memory limitation that the SuperMicro updater (AMI_1.bat / AFUDOSU.EXE) cannot run. Tried a few things with the ISO, but couldn’t get it to update to 1.2. So gave up on this method.

I eventually found this fully working premaid ISO -> https://github.com/Starttoaster/SuperMicro-BIOS-Upgrade-Image

This ISO is based on FD1.2 and can access the content on the ISO without issue.

To load your custom files onto the ISO, simply

Download and install MagicISO
Open the downloaded ISO with MagicISO
Drag your custom files into the BIOS folder
Save the ISO

Note that if your updated is based off AFUDOSU and it complains that it cannot find it. You need to rename AFUDOSU.SMC to AFUDOSU.EXE

Then once you have it ISO booted up, run the binary manually

AFUDOSU.EXE BIOSFILENAME /P /B /N /K /R

That’s it.

My $100 per month charity donation project

I will be donating $100 to a registered charity of my choice per month as a personal project. Here are the breakdown…

Dec 2020 – Daily Bread Food Bank (Charity Profile)
Jan 2021 – CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) (Charity Profile)
Feb 2021 – Covenant House Toronto (Charity Profile)

Flashing Yi 1080p Home Camera with custom firmware 2020 edition (ALLWINNER Chipset)

There are other guides on flashing the yi home camera, so I’m not going to reinvent the wheels.

This guide is for Yi 1080p home cameras that’s been manufacturerd in 2020, you will need the Yi-hack ALLWINNER edition.

The installation are the same as other Yi-hacks.

To check if you have the ALLWINNER version, look at the back of the camera and you should see a small sticker.

Camera	Firmware	File prefix	Remarks
Yi 1080p Home 9FUS	8.2.0*	y20ga	–
Yi 1080p Home BFUS	8.2.0*	y20ga	–
Yi 1080p Home 9FUS	8.3.0*	y25ga	–

You will need this version if it is 9FUS, or BFUS.

That’s all for this guide.

Quick install of anonymous Samba share for Centos &

yum install samba samba-client samba-common

Then clear the samba config

cat /dev/null > /etc/samba/smb.conf

Now paste the following into /etc/samba/smb.conf

[global]
workgroup = WORKGROUP
server string = Samba Server %v
netbios name = centos
security = user
map to guest = bad user
dns proxy = no
#============================ Share Definitions ============================== 
[Anonymous]
path = /samba/anonymous
browsable =yes
writable = yes
guest ok = yes
read only = no

Start and enable the Samba service

mkdir -p /samba/anonymous
systemctl enable smb.service
systemctl enable nmb.service
systemctl restart smb.service
systemctl restart nmb.service