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Stardate: 20211119.0953 | |
Location: Chimney | |
Input Device: 7202 (cygwin) | |
Audio: Chimney muzak | |
Visual: Chimney patio table | |
Emotional State: anxious | |
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I recieved that DE9 to RJ45 adapter. The pins were not assembled so | |
I had to put that together. I put the adapter at the other end of | |
my console cable and plugged it in, but still no dice. Frustrated, | |
I went looking for information online. I found out that the console | |
port basically needed a straight through cable, not a rollover | |
cable that is usually used with Cisco routers. Kinda funny that it | |
would use a straight through since it is a Linksys switch, which was | |
owned by Cisco at the time it was released (around 2006.) I have | |
since learned that Belkin acquired Linksys from Cisco in 2013; shows | |
what I know. So I swapped out the cable and was able to get in. | |
It turns out that this console port is only good for basic settings, | |
like setting the IP address, changing passwords, administration | |
stuff. The more advanced stuff is in the web GUI. I tried accessing | |
the page with a modern browser, but failed since the web GUI is | |
designed for Internet Exploder and would not even load properly. | |
I tried to ssh into it, but my version of ssh is too advanced and | |
would need to be recompiled to allow for shorter key lengths. | |
At this point, I decided to put it down and will try later with the | |
P1610, which still has an XP partition with Internet Exploder. Maybe | |
this is one of the reasons why the switch is discontinued, as well as | |
the deal with the ssh key length. | |
These are the types of challenges that I am faced with when working | |
with older equipment. The equipment works just fine, but it bugs me | |
when I have to monkey with incompatibilities in accessing the | |
configuration. I figure that I should be able to configure the | |
whole device from a console port, but maybe that is an unfair | |
assumption on my part (cuz when you ASSUME, you make an ASS out of | |
U and ME!) | |
</frustration> | |
This had me thinking even more about some of the newer devices that | |
use web GUIs for the configuration. With the way that things keep | |
getting released, upgraded, then discontinued, will I have to keep an | |
archive of older hardware and software for future maintenance? Or am | |
I NOT supposed to maintain my stuff and the older hardware is meant | |
to be disposed of in the landfill? Planned obsolesence is the term | |
I think they use. Such a waste. #RightToRepair | |
I do have my fair share and then some of old hardware; not just stuff | |
I bought, but also reclaimed hardware that were no longer useful to | |
their previous owners from over the years, many of which I have | |
repurposed. I have since stopped adding more to my pile and have | |
been spending more time with the stuff I currently have. | |
With the shortening lifespan and the premature obsolescence of things | |
these days, I wonder at what point will the usefulness of some of my | |
hardware in my current pile of old will outlive the usefulness of | |
the current devices when they get old since the way many devices are | |
designed these days, they are pretty much useless and cannot be | |
repurposed even only after a few years from being released. | |
Especially stuff that connects to the intarwebs or needs web apps. | |
I do still use many of my old PDAs that have surpassed usefulness in | |
regards to some of my old android devices. Then again, those PDA's | |
were not really designed to be on the intarwebz. | |
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