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speedwell68 · (This post was last modified: 2017-09-18, 11:58 by speedwell68.)

(2017-09-16, 22:24)nickr Wrote: Yep, nothing beats a real ethernet cable.

I couldn't agree more. Another thing I have noticed with my network and removing the powerline adaptors is that the whole network is faster as a whole. For example my Desktop PC (Linux) and my the server were both on direct lines to the router and previously an Ookla speedtest would get me 60Mbps at best, on both machines. Now there are no powerline adaptors anywhere in the house I am hitting 72Mbps consistently. I am paying for 76Mbps. Testing the speed between them with iperf I am getting 95 Mbps, up from 88 Mbps. I would get more but this desktop only has a 100Mbps ethernet port.

**Karellen** · (This post was last modified: 2017-09-18, 12:42 by Karellen.)

@speedwell68

Definitely best way to go with wired connection. I could never get powerline adapters to work here in my home. Somehow the signal was getting lost and I could only achieve speeds measured in bytes. Then over the course of a few weekends, I wired Cat6 and installed a gigabyte 16 port switch and gigabyte wall terminals and patch cables. It works amazing.

This is my typical transfer speeds on my LAN... https://ibb.co/fhA5w5

But I am curious about your speeds. You have laid Cat6. Can I assume you have a gigabyte switch, ports, terminals and patch cables throughout? So speeds of 72Mbps is only around 9.5MB/sec as compared to my 112MB/sec.

speedwell68 · 2017-09-19, 08:08

(2017-09-18, 12:24)Karellen Wrote: @speedwell68

Definitely best way to go with wired connection. I could never get powerline adapters to work here in my home. Somehow the signal was getting lost and I could only achieve speeds measured in bytes. Then over the course of a few weekends, I wired Cat6 and installed a gigabyte 16 port switch and gigabyte wall terminals and patch cables. It works amazing.

This is my typical transfer speeds on my LAN... https://ibb.co/fhA5w5

But I am curious about your speeds. You have laid Cat6. Can I assume you have a gigabyte switch, ports, terminals and patch cables throughout? So speeds of 72Mbps is only around 9.5MB/sec as compared to my 112MB/sec.

72 Mbps is the speed I get from my ISP, I pay for 76Mbps. Whilst all of my network gear is Gigabit, other than my server all of my machines only have 100Mbps ethernet sockets.

nickr · 2017-09-19, 09:15

If you pay for 76 and get 72, it is really within the margin of error.

speedwell68 · 2017-09-19, 10:55

Oh yeah I am more than happy with the speed I get from my ISP, 4Mbps overhead is nothing. I wish I could afford a new Desktop to take advantage of the Gigabit network.

speedwell68 · (This post was last modified: 2017-10-19, 11:16 by speedwell68.)

I have hit an issue with this. I noticed that the fan was running constantly. I checked the core temps of the CPU/GPU and whilst they weren't dangerously high they are higher than they should be. So I stripped it down and removed a colossal amount of dust/fluff from the heat sink, fan and duct. Also the thermal paste on the heat sink has gone to nothing. Cleaning it out has reduced the running temp a little. So I have invested 99p in a tube of thermal paste.

speedwell68 · 2017-10-21, 21:34

After much reading on the subject of CPU/GPU temperature on these machines I have discovered that running the proprietary Linux drivers has a big effect on chip temperature. I am a bit of an Opensource 'Fanboi' and will only run proprietary software if there is a real need to do so. I had been running the Opensource 'Neuveau' drivers as I saw no point running the extra Intel and Nvidia drivers, as I seldom use the display. I usually just SSH or VNC into it if I need to. However after a bit of experimentation, I have discovered that using the proprietary Intel Minicode and Nvidia ION drivers it has better fan control and the CPU/GPU/MB temps are about 10c lower.

My ickle tube of Thermal Paste came today, so I will have a go at doing that tomorrow.

rflores2323 · 2017-10-23, 22:36

I have an old revo3610 that I want to put as a server aswell. I just installed ubunut 14.04 on it. I tried ubuntu 16 and for some reason the wifi would not work correctly so I then used 14 and it works great.

I am thinking of putting in more ram in mine also.

Are you using it for couch pototato or sickbeard etc... Huh

Also I was going to use samba to file share. What are your thoughts?

nickr · 2017-10-23, 23:28

Wifi has no place on a server. Kodi will handle either SMB of NFS, so take your pick. NFS is marginally more efficient and speedy.

speedwell68 · 2017-10-23, 23:44

(2017-10-23, 22:36)rflores2323 Wrote: I have an old revo3610 that I want to put as a server aswell. I just installed ubunut 14.04 on it. I tried ubuntu 16 and for some reason the wifi would not work correctly so I then used 14 and it works great.

I am thinking of putting in more ram in mine also.

Are you using it for couch pototato or sickbeard etc... Also I was going to use samba to file share. What are your thoughts?

I wouldn't use full fat Ubuntu, the Unity DE will be far too bloaty for a little Revo. I am using Xubuntu 16.04 x64, which is much lighter than actual Ubuntu. I have upped my ram to 4GB and the machine works much better because of it. The wifi on mine works perfectly, although I never use it, as already said wifi on a server is pointless, especially when it is an old Wifi g card. Part of the attraction to this machine is it has full duplex gigabit ethernet. I have no idea what sickbeard or couch potato are, so I can't help there.

I use NFS to share files, it is way much faster than Samba and is much more reliable too. I used this guide...

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/t...untu-16-04

I mount my drives in /etc/fstab like this....

Code:
LABEL=TV /media/john/TV auto nosuid,nodev,nofail 0 0

LABEL=Movies /media/john/Movies auto nosuid,nodev,nofail 0 0

LABEL=Movies2 /media/john/Movies2 auto nosuid,nodev,nofail 0 0

speedwell68 · 2017-10-28, 12:52

Back to the temperature problem. I have just replaced the thermal paste on the Intel Atom and the Nvidia Ion and running 'sensors' over SSH the core temps on both chips have dropped around 10c. Also, the fan cannot be heard and sensors is reporting the fan speed is now only around 2000 rpm regardless of loading, whereas previously it was at about 3000 rpm at idle and anywhere up to 5000+ rpm on load. I also stripped the fan down as far as I could and took out loads of crud from the back of it's housing. I think I might treat it to a new fan as this machine is 9 years old and there must be some wear in the spindle and bearings, they cost less than £5 on eBay.

In the new year I intend to replace the HDD with an SSD and replace Xubuntu with Bodhi Linux as it is super minimal. I have to run a GUI as the proprietary Nvidia drivers are required for proper fan control and they won't run without a GUI.

When I look at some of the media server builds on here that use the biggest and best chips with bucket loads of ram, that must be burning electricity hand over fist, I ask myself why?

nickr · 2017-10-30, 04:35

As I said in post 3, external drives drive me nuts.

speedwell68 · 2017-10-30, 15:40

(2017-10-30, 04:35)nickr Wrote: As I said in post 3, external drives drive me nuts.

In the beginning they used to TBH, I couldn't remember which one was which. Investing in some sticky labels sorted it.

speedwell68 · 2018-01-28, 02:54

My Father in Law has just upgraded his Sky satellite receiver so he has gifted me his old one. In these Sky HD boxes is a 500GB 3.5" SATA HDD which I put in a caddy and use as a second TV Shows drive, which has worked out nice as my existing 1TB TV drive is over 75% full. It also helps me stick with my ethos of re-purposing kit that would otherwise be scrapped. I am also going to look at getting CEC working properly on my RPI2 and use the Sky+ remote to control the whole rig, as they are fairly nice remote. I am thinking that my AVR isn't passing through the CEC from the TV to the Pi properly. The Pi is reporting that the TV is connecting at startup but it isn't responding to the TV's controller.

speedwell68 · 2018-05-14, 07:59

Yesterday I noticed that Sainsburys had Seagate 2TB drives reduced to £49.99. So I treated myself. Big Grin

I'll use it solely for TV shows, which will mean I have a spare 1.5TBs for later use. I am also going to start using a powered hub for the 2.5" drives to minimise the load on the Acer's PSU.