home on Nieminen

LackRack V3

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 14:11:38 +0300

LackRack V3 - Cheaper, stronger, complies with standards!

Inspired by the original LackRack - Eth0Wiki and later revisions NiBuch LackRack-20xx, I decided to improve on these designs with real rack mounts.

Plan

Few issues with the original designs:

Required reinforcing the legs with wood -> bit of a hassle.
Rack equipment rarely has round rack ears -> finding good wood screws is a major issue.
Wood screws and high tech electronics dont go hand in hand.
Depending on config, has protruding equipment -> fiber connector danger!

What I want:

CBR1100XX Centerstand installation

Thu, 29 May 2025 15:29:32 +0300

For some reason my Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird was missing the centerstand.

Here’s how you install it on your bike, with parts & required tools listed.

Tools

You must have a 14mm ratcheting spanner!

The stock pipes are quite large, and are in the way of the bolt. I could not find any way to fit a normal ratchet, so I bought a 14mm ratcheting spanner. Something like this: MTX Tools räikkälenkki 14mm.

How to actually use Azure Secure Files with Terraform

Sun, 03 Nov 2024 17:25:41 +0200

I could not find a real guide to use Azure secure files securely in combination with Terraform. All guides either used a PAT (Privileged Access Token) or in worst cases, commiting secrets to code.

The problem:

We are trying to deploy Azure Devops Agent with Terraform to bootstrap our Ansible deployments. Kind of a chicken-egg issue is that how do you deploy the Azure Devops Agent runner to a linux machine without doing manual commands?

Nextcloud VM cloud backups with restic and Backblaze

Tue, 23 Jan 2024 16:58:43 +0200

UPDATE 20241206

Happy Independence Day for all Finns <3

I have created a V1.0 script for backing up your Nextcloud instance using Restic. It has been mainlined to “not supported” scripts folder and you can find it here

Currently script has support for:

AWS S3 Bucket
Azure Blob Storage
Backblaze B2

Tested working with Azure and Backblaze, as I have access to those two environments.

Script has logging, error handling and hopefully clear instuctions how to set it up. Also has options to only backup the config + DB or config + DB + /mnt/ncdata.

HPE Primera LDAPS Configuration

Mon, 30 Oct 2023 18:59:18 +0200

HPE Primera LDAPS

How to get it working and issues you might encounter.

Config

You unfortunately cannot get LDAPS working with SSMC GUI, so you must do the basic config via CLI.

CLI

Open SSH to your primera/3par and type following commands.

First, we set up necessary LDAPS servers:

setauthparam -f ldap-server "fqdn.of.dc.local" < Type this changing the FQDN of DC until you got atleast two.

setauthparam -f ldap-port 636 < Set LDAP port to use LDAPS 636 or GC port 3269.

Toyota Corolla E120 ethanol conversion.

Sat, 12 Aug 2023 12:32:12 +0300

Quick guide to install ethanol conversion kit (eFlexFuel) on 2002-2008 Toyota Corolla (E120).

I was inspired by ChrisFix’s latest video on how to install a ethanol conversion kit: How To Install A Flex Fuel e85 Conversion Kit In Your Car (DIY) . Following this guide is basically this video, but specific to 2005 E120 Corolla.

What you need

Flexfuel conversion kit For example, eFlexFuel.
Rags and brake cleaner for cleaning up fuel you will spill.
Double sided tape. Double sided Velcro is better if you want to remove the kit someday.
Good pair of cutters or really sharp knife to cut the fuel hose.
10mm socket and wrench.
Small pliers if you are having problems removing injectors.
Philips 2 or 3 screwdriver for the hose clamps.
Working multimeter.
Approx two hours of time.
Optional: Metal and metal tools to make a bracket for the ethanol sensor.

Step 1, cool down your engine and disconnect battery!

Really, make sure your engine is at maximum, warm to your touch. You WILL spill some fuel, and you do not want it to ignite in your enginebay. Also disconnect your battery.

How to add boot options in PopOS! 22.04

Thu, 10 Aug 2023 08:51:33 +0300

Most of the guides tell you to just add a grub option. Well, PopOS! 22.04 does not use GRUB, if you have a UEFI motherboard and installed PopOS! with UEFI (no CSM enabled)…

kernelstub

Official documentation from System76: https://support.system76.com/articles/kernelstub/

sudo kernelstub -p

This will print out your current settings:

kernelstub.Config    : INFO     Looking for configuration...
kernelstub           : INFO     System information: 

    OS:..................Pop!_OS 22.04
    Root partition:....../dev/nvme0n1p2
    Root FS UUID:........
    ESP Path:............/boot/efi
    ESP Partition:......./dev/nvme0n1p3
    ESP Partition #:.....3
    NVRAM entry #:.......-1
    Boot Variable #:.....0000
    Kernel Boot Options:.quiet splash amdgpu.ppfeaturemask=0xfff7ffff acpi_enforce_resources=lax
    Kernel Image Path:.../boot/vmlinuz-6.4.6-76060406-generic
    Initrd Image Path:.../boot/initrd.img-6.4.6-76060406-generic
    Force-overwrite:.....False

kernelstub           : INFO     Configuration details: 

   ESP Location:................../boot/efi
   Management Mode:...............True
   Install Loader configuration:..True
   Configuration version:.........3

sudo kernelstub -o “options”

This will modify current kernel options. Beware, this will not ADD, but EDIT, so you will loose your current options… In this example, I’m adding a custom resolution. For some reason my display only shows up as 120Hz, but it is a 144Hz Freesync Premium monitor (works fine in Windows).

HPE Proliant Microserver Gen7 fan mod

Tue, 23 May 2023 21:09:55 +0300

Modding my HPE Proliant Microserver Gen7 (N54L) to be less loud. Also listing the fans which do not work and fans which work.

Mostly following the now “defunct” guide from SilentPCReview. Working guide can be found at Internet Archive

Problem

Stock fans, especially the PSU fan is very noisy. It doesnt output much desibels, but it certainly outputs them at very annoying frequencies.

Here are REW graphs, measured with MiniDSP UMIK-1 measuring microphone approx one meter away from the device, with fans pointing away from the microphone. The server is sitting under my desk, in a corner. Red graph is NAS turned off and green is NAS running with stock fans.

Tesla Model X speaker measurements

Fri, 04 Feb 2022 19:43:58 +0200

Here are some measurements of a Tesla Model X, with “basic” audio package (two speakers per door).

I have also included the full REW measurement data here, so you do not have to trust pictures only.

Measuring setup

Equipment

RTA MIC: Measurements were done with MiniDSP UMIK-1, microphone pointing up, and 90deg calibration file loaded to REW.
Speaker line measuring: Mackie ProFX6v3, with speaker line going in to high-level input.
Source: USB stick, Audison BitOne test CD track “03 Pink noise 10min” in WAV format (lossless), played with volume 5 on Tesla’s head unit/entertainment system.

Method

Method is mostly based on this great guide from diymobileaudio author Hanatsu.

Migrating mumble servers

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 19:44:10 +0200

How to migrate mumble server to from old linux server to new linux server.

This is mostly a reminder for myself, on how to do it in the future if I ever need to migrate servers again. But, it might also help you if you hit a few “gotchas” on the way as I did.

Prep

First, set up the new server. My new server is running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, so I get the best mix of latest packages and stability. Most of the commands are run as #root.

Emma - Sixth part

Wed, 02 Feb 2022 10:39:18 +0200

Welcome to the sixth part of this series focused on building a SQ competition car. The class where I hope I can compete, is the EMMA Sound Quality (S) Skilled OEM-class

Links to more resources EMMA Finland and EMMA International

Make it silent!

Last time I treated the trunk and doors with some sound deadening, but there was still too much noise while driving. The roof has already been treated, but there was one more place which haven’t yet done…

Emma - Fifth part

Sun, 20 Sep 2020 20:00:00 +0200

Welcome to the fifth part of this series focused on building a SQ competition car. The class where I hope I can compete, is the EMMA Sound Quality (S) Skilled OEM-class

Links to more resources EMMA Finland and EMMA International

About that trunk

So now that the sound side is starting to plan out nicely, I need to do something special for the trunk. For a while, the trunk looked like this;

Emma - Fourth part

Tue, 28 Jul 2020 22:35:44 +0300

Welcome to the fourth part of this series focused on building a SQ competition car. The class where I hope I can compete, is the EMMA Sound Quality (S) Skilled OEM-class

Links to more resources EMMA Finland and EMMA International

New speakers, new sounds!

After the first competitions “throw those away” mids, I was on the lookout for better mids. Some research later, I decided on same series mids as the tweeters, the Hertz Mille Legend ML1650.3.

DIY: Boombox

Sun, 29 Mar 2020 23:29:40 +0300

I lost my JBL Flip bluetooth speaker, and I always wanted a bit more “boom”, so I decided to build a real boombox.

Few things I want to have:

Has to be cheap
Has to sound atleast OK
Battery operated, with decent runtime
Bluetooth, AUX

Optional, “nice to have”:

Lightweight (I don’t really care about weight, but the boombox should be atleast “portable”)
CD, Radio, USB
Charger for phone

So, let’s get started!

Emma - Third part

Thu, 26 Mar 2020 20:32:49 +0200

Welcome to the third part of this series focused on building a SQ competition car. The class where I hope I can compete, is the EMMA Sound Quality (S) Skilled OEM-class

Links to more resources EMMA Finland and EMMA International

New car time!

It was finally time to change the trusty old Skoda to a new car, so I bought a 2007 Seat Leon 1P1 from a auction, sight unseen (stupid, I know…), for a great price! Auction said no rust, and it really didn’t have any rust. Later I found out that they had cheaply fixed a few places, so they rusted out after six months. But, the fix up’s are destined for another blog post :)

Kuinka madallat autosi vuonna 2020

Fri, 20 Mar 2020 14:32:07 +0200

Tässä “lyhyt” ohje siitä kuinka madallat autosi 100% laillisesti vuonna 2020 Suomessa. Teksti osittain sarkastista, johtuen prosessin “helppoudesta”…

Päivitys 2022!

Muutoskatsastus on helpottunut huomattavasti ja nykyään ei tarvita enää madalluksen määrää, eikä joissain tapauksissa pyöränsuuntausraporttia (kannattaa kyllä silti renkaiden tasaisen kulumisen vuoksi tehdä tämä!).

Valmistelut

Mittaa ajoneuvostasi etäisyys lokasuojan reunan sekä pyörän navan keskustan väliltä (tätä saatetaan kysyä myöhemmin).
Tilaa oikea madallussarja.
- Esimerkiksi Seat Leon 1P1 korimalliin on saatavilla kahta eri sarjaa, TFSI moottorille sekä 2.0TDI:lle, näissä on noin 50 kg ero, ja katsastusmies tarkistaa sopiiko runkonumero madallussarjaan.
- Tilaa sarja jossa varmasti mukana E-hyväksyntä. Esimerkiksi Eibach sarjassa E-hyväksyntä paperi ladataan netistä Eibachin sivuilta osanumerolla. Esimerkki Eiback sivuilta Seat Leon madallussarjaan
- Tulosta tämä lappu, kahtena kopiona. Voit myös kysyä voiko lapun toimittaa sähköpostilla katsastuskonttorillesi.
Varaa aika nelipyöräsuuntaukseen.
Varaa aika muutoskatsastukseen (Ei saa usein netistä suoraan, vaan pitää soittaa konttorille).
Ota kaikesta kuitit talteen, joko tulosteelle tai sähköiseen muotoon!

Työt ennen katsastusta

Vaihda alustasarja.
- Muutoskatsastuksessa ei oteta kantaa muuten alustan kuntoon, mutta kannattaa katsastusmiehen miellyttämiseksi vaihtaa kuluneet puslat samalla uuteen, ja tarkastaa ettei mikään kolise renkaita kääntäessä yms.
- Avaa/herkistä/kiristä/vaihda kaikki mahdolliset alustan säätöpaikat. Usein pyöränsuuntaukset tehdään tuntiveloituksena, et halua 3h laskutusta jumiutuneista pulteista. Omassa vaati esimerkiksi taka-alatukivarsien säätö lämmittelyä ennen kuin suostui yhteistyöhön.
Aja auto mahdollisimman pian pyöränsuuntaukseen.
- Varaa aika ja tulosta se kirjallisena, jos virkavalta sattuu pysäyttämään. Lain mukaan muutoskatsastus on tehtävä mahdollisimman pian muutosten jälkeen. Näin on jotain kättä pidempää selityksiin, jos sattuu hyvä päivä kohdalle :)
- Pyöränsuuntauksessa kannattaa olla alla renkaat millä aiot ajaa pidempään, koska suuntaukset muuttuvat hieman riippuen renkaan kulumasta.
Pyydä suuntausraportti, jossa lukee seuraavat asiat:
- Ajoneuvo madallettu XXmm
- Nelipöräsuuntauksen tulokset, jossa kaikki arvot OK
- Yrityksen värillinen leima
- Suuntaajan allekirjoitus sinisellä
- Auton rekisterinumero
- Auton alustanumero
- Kyllä, tarvitsen tämän kaiken jos katsastusmiehellä on hyvä päivä :)

Vinkkejä pyöränsuuntaukseen;

Emma - Second part

Mon, 04 Nov 2019 21:32:56 +0200

Welcome to the second part of this series focused on building a SQ competition car. The class where I hope I can compete, is the EMMA Sound Quality (S) Skilled OEM-class

Links to more resources EMMA Finland and EMMA International

My first car

My first own car was a year 2001 Skodâ Fabia 1.9SDI (Slow Diesel…). I drove this car to almost 500k kilometers, but unfortunately, some dbag reversed to the right rear door in a parking lot.

Emma - The beginning

Thu, 28 Feb 2019 17:58:56 +0200

Welcome to this series focused on building a SQ competition car. The class where I hope I can compete, is the EMMA Sound Quality (S) Skilled OEM-class

Links to more resources EMMA Finland and EMMA International

Rules

There are more classes where you can compete and rules, but these are the brief rules for OEM Skilled-class.

Installation

Installation has to be top quality (meaning no loose wires and sloppy installs).
Hidden components have to be documented.
No need for presentation of the car/install.

Limitations

No sponsored cars (receipts have to be available for all the purchases).
No judges or professionals.
No modified/self-made components.

OEM Class specific limitations

Only original speaker locations allowed.
No “tuning”-shop specific car models. Factory special models are allowed.
Headunit swap is allowed.
Separate volume knob or display install is allowed
Modifications to other car components allowed

These rules make the class interesting and fair, and prove that you can have nice audio for a relatively “small” cost.

Storage Spaces

Sun, 24 Feb 2019 13:21:01 +0200

This first documented project has nothing to do with computers or cars or motorcycles, but rather enables me to actually do them, without disturbing the balance of relationships (you know what I mean…)

The project is divided to a few parts.

Clean up the storage “room”
Remove the old support bars
Install new adjustable support bars
Mock up some 3D and find out what depth of shelves we can use
Fill it up, so that you need another room…

1. Start

This is the situation we are currently in.

about

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I prod at things until they break, then I fix them. After the smoke clears, I document the wreckage here.

home on Nieminen

LackRack V3

LackRack V3 - Cheaper, stronger, complies with standards!

Plan

CBR1100XX Centerstand installation

Tools

How to actually use Azure Secure Files with Terraform

The problem:

Nextcloud VM cloud backups with restic and Backblaze

UPDATE 20241206

HPE Primera LDAPS Configuration

HPE Primera LDAPS

Config

CLI

Toyota Corolla E120 ethanol conversion.

What you need

Table Of Contents

Step 1, cool down your engine and disconnect battery!

How to add boot options in PopOS! 22.04

kernelstub

sudo kernelstub -p

sudo kernelstub -o “options”

HPE Proliant Microserver Gen7 fan mod

Problem

Tesla Model X speaker measurements

Measuring setup

Equipment

Method

Migrating mumble servers

Prep

Emma - Sixth part

Make it silent!

Emma - Fifth part

About that trunk

Emma - Fourth part

New speakers, new sounds!

DIY: Boombox

Emma - Third part

New car time!

Kuinka madallat autosi vuonna 2020

Päivitys 2022!

Valmistelut

Työt ennen katsastusta

Emma - Second part

My first car

Emma - The beginning

Rules

Installation

Limitations

OEM Class specific limitations

Storage Spaces

1. Start

about