When my Proxmox server failed to boot properly and my /etc/pve/ directory was empty, panic set in. With no backup in sight, I scoured the forums until I found a solution that brought everything back to life. If you’ve ever faced a similar disaster, this guide could save your day—and your VMs!
I found I need to upload text over multiple entries to get it all into ChatGPT. Guessing how many chunks to break it into based on the number of tokens is not an easy thing to do. I have created this to help simplify the process. Just drop in your text, select the chunk size …
The first issue that I needed to solve was having enough USB 3.0 ports. I looked at many options. I could run a number of Raspberry Pi computers, and link the databases, I could use some crazy expensive cards I found that have as many as 32 USB 3 ports on them, or I could find a motherboard with as many PCIe ports as possible and use cards.
Well, using the R-Pis the costs started to spiral out of control once you started to factor in storage and other needs to run them.
The host cards I found look like this:
U3X8-PCIE8XE111
They run about $400 each, but just don’t have the bandwidth needed. for 32 ports, it is only using 8 PCI channels. When I started looking at other options, this was just not as economical as I would have hoped.
I finally settled on the Asus B250 Mining Expert motherboard. This has 18 PCIex1 slots, and one PCIex16 slot. I have also ordered a PCIex16 to 8×1 card to further break out channels. This lets me use one Gen3 channel per network card, and have up to 26 available PCIex1 slots for a total of 104 USB 3.0 ports, plus 8 rear, and two more using a connector on the motherboard.
B250 Mining Expert Motherboard 
The PCIe Ports
To prototype, I got a bitcoin mining stand, and used extensions for the PCIe slots. I will go into each of these components in other articles.
My second generation prototype looked like this:
Testing 19 USB 3.0 Cards
I have had little problem with the USB cards to this point. I have been working to tweak the Bios settings, and I believe some of the issues I am having at the moment may be due to some of the options I am locked out of in the Bios. We will see.
I will update later on the new WiFi dongles I am using, and several interesting issues and workarounds I have had to implement as I have begun to scale this up a little at a time. Each stage brings its own challenges.
I recently faced what can only be described as a hard drive nightmare with my Proxmox server, which runs on an HP DL380 server with 12 SAS drives on the front and three bays on the back. The main array was humming along just fine, but the three 16TB drives I added to the back? Not so much. Whether I was adding directories in the GUI or trying to write data to them, the drives would error out, often immediately.
I tried everything. I moved the drives to the P840 RAID card, then to the onboard SATA controllers 1 and 2. No luck. I swapped out SATA cables, used different partitioning tools like Parted, and even tried alternative programs. I rotated the drives, testing one at a time. Two were Seagate, one was Western Digital—no dice with any of them. Over the course of a week or two, I must have rebooted the system over 100 times, trying different configurations.
Eventually, I ruled out the operating system as the culprit since the other drives were fine. It seemed unlikely that all three brand-new drives from two different manufacturers were bad. Changing the SATA cables didn’t help either. That left only one suspect: the backplane.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting. When I first started this build, I had mistakenly bought a Gen10 3LFF drive bay, thinking it would fit my Gen9 server. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. But in my desperation, I noticed that while the Gen10 backplane was slightly narrower, all the connectors were in the right places. It even had a clamp connector and one screw hole that lined up perfectly, and all the slots on the bottom still worked.
With nothing to lose, I swapped in the Gen10 backplane, carefully seated all the drives, and powered up. For the first time, the drive activity lights on the back drives lit up—something I had never seen before. Apparently, those lights weren’t just decorative after all.
I booted up, added the drives as directory storage in Proxmox, and they stuck. To test, I started a backup, and to my amazement, it worked flawlessly.
This experience taught me a valuable lesson: don’t rule out hardware too quickly. If you’re facing a mysterious issue with your server, make sure to eliminate hardware as a potential cause early in your troubleshooting process. It could save you from weeks of frustration.
Hopefully, this helps someone avoid the painful troubleshooting process I endured. Good luck!
In today’s media landscape, discerning truth is a complex task. Between far-fetched conspiracy theories and unquestioning acceptance of mainstream narratives lies the truth. The rise of AI and deepfake technologies further blurs these lines. In this age of misinformation, it’s crucial to be proactive in our quest for knowledge. Whether uninformed, misinformed, or striving to be quasi-informed, our choices shape our understanding of the world. Let’s aim for a future where we’re equipped to discern truth from fiction, no matter the challenge.
The holidays are over, and I just got a box of goodies. A whole slew of new WiFi dongles featuring the MediaTek MT7612U. I spent the night with my sons shucking the boxes, and assembling them to end up with the box above. I am still waiting on a few critical parts, but I will …
The first issue that I needed to solve was having enough USB 3.0 ports. I looked at many options. I could run a number of Raspberry Pi computers, and link the databases, I could use some crazy expensive cards I found that have as many as 32 USB 3 ports on them, or I could …
As my post said earlier, I was seeing NO 5GHz signals on the RTL8812 dongles. None. Zip. Nada. I am messing with the MediaTek MT7612U dongles now, and I was having the same issue. Not a single AC or 5GHz signal. After messing with trying to get the drivers to work properly, I took a …
So after weeks of working the issues, a half dozen different clean installs of Linux, and hours of troubleshooting, I have come to the conclusion that while the RTL8812AU and RTL8812BU might “work” with Kismet, they in fact don’t. This is after buying 114 or so, from multiple vendors. Here are the problems that I …
I’m writing this as much a reminder to myself as a help for others. DKMS is a great tool. It really makes getting drivers in and out of Linux a much easier process than it previously was. I guarantee if you mess with WiFi hacking, you will be dealing with drivers at some point in …
Wireless AC has turned out to be a real pain. First off, in doing my research, the only adapter that does AC and natively loads in Linux are devices with the MT7612UN MediaTek chipset. These do not seem to be terribly common, and the only seller I found was not particularly honest. This leaves the …
The last couple of years at DefCon, I have been following D4rkM4tter’s build of a WiFi Cactus, and then the WiFi Kraken. These are amazingly capable devices that are able to view ALL the standard WiFi channels and capture the packets for analysis. I have been working on my own version for the last couple …
Upgrading to an HP DL380 G9 seemed like a dream until a GPU install triggered a cascade of issues with Proxmox and LVM. After wrestling with cryptic error messages and system failures, here’s how I got everything back on track—faster and smoother than before. If you’re troubleshooting similar problems, this journey might just save you some time (and sanity)
Struggling with a Proxmox server issue that seemed unsolvable, I spent weeks troubleshooting only to discover the problem was hardware-related all along. If you’re dealing with hard drives that just won’t cooperate, this story might save you some headaches—and a lot of time.
When my Proxmox server failed to boot properly and my /etc/pve/ directory was empty, panic set in. With no backup in sight, I scoured the forums until I found a solution that brought everything back to life. If you’ve ever faced a similar disaster, this guide could save your day—and your VMs!
As my post said earlier, I was seeing NO 5GHz signals on the RTL8812 dongles. None. Zip. Nada. I am messing with the MediaTek MT7612U dongles now, and I was having the same issue. Not a single AC or 5GHz signal. After messing with trying to get the drivers to work properly, I took a …
Discover the inside scoop on the Amazon Vine program, where reviewers like me navigate the intriguing world of free products in exchange for honest feedback. It’s not just about scoring freebies; it’s a serious commitment to quality and transparency. Dive into my personal rating system, where I debunk myths and share how Vine reviewers are incentivized not by stars, but by integrity. Whether it’s a ‘Vine Customer Review of Free Product’ or a critical 1-star rating, understand why these reviews deserve your attention.
In today’s media landscape, discerning truth is a complex task. Between far-fetched conspiracy theories and unquestioning acceptance of mainstream narratives lies the truth. The rise of AI and deepfake technologies further blurs these lines. In this age of misinformation, it’s crucial to be proactive in our quest for knowledge. Whether uninformed, misinformed, or striving to be quasi-informed, our choices shape our understanding of the world. Let’s aim for a future where we’re equipped to discern truth from fiction, no matter the challenge.
Well, on a bit of a lark I started looking into bidding on Mini Trucks in Japan. Little did I know I would end up actually winning one. After several months, I now have it here at my house, but not without a number of stories to go along with it. The big thing is, …