Fisheye/Crucible Performance Solutions and a DbException Error Workaround
Indexing a repository in Subversion takes a very long time. Especially if you have the Subversion repositories stored on an NFS and the size is over 15 gigs. Below are some performance improvements that worked for the repositories I've dealt with and some workarounds that might not have been previously documented.
For performance, if you have the repository on an NFS share that is also pointed to by the serving mechanism you should duplicate the repository locally using svnsync. This helps remove some of the overhead when dealing with the live filesystem on the NFS share.
Additionally, using PostgreSQL or MySQL in place of HSQLdb is always helpful! The new versions support these external databases, this reduces CPU usage immensely.
If you have a ton of code (who doesn't?), tag versions, then remove the versions at some point in a single merge you'll have to reduce the block size of the repository as it will eat a lot of Memory as it indexes all the files that have been deleted.
If you run into the problems with certain revisions not being indexed and the scanner getting hung in an infinite loop, and get exceptions like this:
com.cenqua.fisheye.rep.DbException
com.cenqua.fisheye.rep.RepositoryClientException
com.cenqua.fisheye.util.VisitorException
com.cenqua.fisheye.rep.DbException
sun.io.MalformedInputException
What you need to do, in Linux anyway, is set the LANG environment variable to UTF-8 and restart the Fisheye server. I had this problem and it took forever to find a solution to it. The environment variable was previously set to: UTF-8.en_us on the server I was dealing with.
You probably didn’t notice the server down last night.. But if you did…
I host this server with another person and we've been running low on disk space every couple of months and had to jump in and clear up some web logs. This has been happening for years. So I had the bright idea of last night stopping the server and expanding the space of the main drive. It appears our host had given us some extra space so it looked perfect. I shut down the system and started expanding the drive. After waiting 20 minutes I eventually fell asleep. I awoke at 2 am to find myself sleeping with the laptop and lights on. The laptop had lost juice (or the will to stay on) and needed a recharge. But I fell asleep again before going to recharge it, I wanted to rest my eyes for a minute or two more. But in the end the person I host with started the server and I checked and started the Apache server in the morning. Now all is well. Next time I'll be sure to get started earlier or wait until the weekend.
ATI Radeon 5770 Issues
I recently upgraded my computer to take advantage of a great deal at Fry's. Plus the darn thing was running slow sluggishly even after upgrading the RAM to 6 gigs. I upgraded from an Athlon X2 3200+ to:
Intel Core i7 860
MSI X58 Pro-E Motherboard
6GB OC-Z DDR3 Ram
ATI Radeon 5770 1gb From XFX
Windows 7 Professional x64
When first assembled everything seemed fine. I ran memtest86+ to make sure the ram and everything was fine. I ended up getting a bad stick of Ram and had to send in an RMA to get it replaced. I will probably never buy OCZ Ram again, it seems so sketchy after my previous encounters with them. In any case, the computer is running much much better now and seems generally more responsive. I can run multiple Virtual Machines without problem whereas previously it'd slow down for the first and struggle with anything more than one. But I've got a small problem; see, the video card apparently has a problem that ATI is looking into (I will post my sources later) whereas the graphics are a bit glitchy and will eventually cause the computer to lock up and gray screen. This is really unfortunate because its been two weeks since the last revision of drivers and I'm currently stuck with a malfunctioning computer. I found a workaround though that might not work for everyone. I noticed the problem when running fullscreen 1920x1200 on my 24" monitor but not at lower resolutions. When the screen was filled the top part of the screen would get random glitches/refresh problems and after about a day of running it actually crashed on my. I lowered the resolution to 1920x1080 and besides the black bars at the top and bottom of my screen everything is running well. So that might work if you have the same problem. Now to hope they fix this issue in the next driver release...
Update! The recent drivers fixed the problems. Now I'm back to full resolution without flicker and no crashes (yet).
Dell M1330 Problems (again)
My Dell M1330 laptop I bought around last May (in 2008) broke again. The first problem it had was the Video Card was toasted. I found this out when the laptop booted with vertical white lines sometime in early October or late September. After Googling for hours, I came across the problem others were having with the Nvidia card and some possible solutions. I opened a ticket with Dell and they had an extended warranty for the Nvidia card found in my notebook. They happily fixed the problem and sent me my laptop back last month. A couple of weeks following the return, and maybe 5 or 6 uses, the laptop stopped charging and nearly drained the battery because I didn't notice the laptop was "unplugged" since it was plugged in. I was able to plug it in and bend it slightly up to get the battery to charge a little, but shortly after that, it would not charge anymore. So I've been stuck with a brick for 2 weeks. After chatting shortly with a Dell Rep and finding out the motherboard needs to be replace, which won't be covered, and searching for a new laptop but not being able to spend the money on a new one. I decide to contact Dell again about this problem to plead my case. Finally talking with a nice support representative, they offered me a $179 "special warranty" that would send a tech out to fix the laptop and cover it for another year. This offer would not be put into writing to be thought over, and could not appear again if I called back. Okay, thats not very cool, you kind of have me stuck though, what am I to do? Try again... After telling the problem over and over again, which is basically the motherboard needs to be replaced again, they were able to accept it back for a motherboard replacement. Luckily the logic that: The motherboard was replaced for the Nvidia-card problem, the motherboard's DC plug was broken and the motherboard needs to be replaced, they are linked and it should be covered. So they'll (hopefully) be sending me another box and fix the problem and the laptop will be happy for another couple of years. I promise to take it for walks.
System Monitoring Tools
I came home from work and my computer is making a whirring sound. I think it might be dust in one of the fans that is causing the sound as it usually is. I then remember what happened with my Dell Laptop, the video card fried after the fan was on all the time. After researching that issue it turned out to be a faulty video card from nVidia and it will be replaced. But I remembered a name of some software people were using to monitor their systems during the debacle. I finally decide it was a good time to try it out and I'm really glad I did because I found another tool to add to my computer-arsenal. The tool is called Speedfan and you can get it Here.
Basically it monitors fans and temperatures and allows you some access to Hard drive SMART statistics. The SMART stats tell you the health of your drives and can indicate a failure pending or generally how your drives are doing. You can do an in-depth analysis and get some pretty interesting stuff. Here's one for my drive: HD Report Card -- Good to know I might be needing one soon!
Why Microsoft, Why!
They've copied just about a billion other internet video sites (and Youtube!). Why can't they be somewhat original. Oh well, they have a funny video on there, which is right here.
Registerfly Madness and FUNNIES
Okay, this is more directed towards eNom than it is towards Registerfly. I've had 4 domains for quite some time on Registerfly, they were happy. But then something happened, someone got angry and then my domains got sent to Limbo. They weren't killed but were forced to hang out and be free from belonging to anyone. They went from Registerfly to eNom, whom doesn't know what to do with them. I've been waiting a week after sending in precious information trying to get these domains back before they expire. We'll see if they do.
This is the first to go..
Now, for funny vids!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iYBmAVuBns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZrr7AZ9nCY
Windows and the start menu
I just noticed this little trick of Microsoft to push its apps, here goes: I run OpenOffice Writer instead of Microsoft's Word because of the equation editor. The equation editor in openoffice lets me take notes in math class, thats how cool it is. With Microsoft's Equation Editor I spend all my time with my mouse, click click clicking my life away trying to build simple equations. In any event, I just popped open my start menu to open it again and walaa, I have an entry for Microsoft Word and Openoffice.org Writer. Hold on, you might be saying, isn't that normal? Well, this is in the most recently used section of the Start Menu, not the programs folder that I'm seeing this. And oddly, even though I use OpenOffice way more than I have used Word in the past, Windows decided to put Microsoft Word on top. I guess its more important than these other applications I have. Hell, I pull open Internet Explorer once in a blue moon and it jumps up to #2 or #3 in this list. So, I really do think that Microsoft is pushing their applications, by weighting them higher, than other applications that you use more often.
(They're out to get us all!)
“Allow Comments”
It seems that wordpress is a bit strange and disabled comments by default. I always have to go back and enable them. NOT THIS TIME, I clicked it to start my post.
On the ICANN/Registerfly Fiasco: It seems that Registerfly is again, a reseller of domain names. Which for me is a good thing! I just wish they had made a notice of it when they put the news out and a big warning on their website. But alas, all it saved. I might still move some of my domains elsewhere, just in case.
Work related: I was about 20 minutes late to a meeting today. Crap! I woke up at 8:20, started to make cereal, then realized "oh shit, I have a meeting at 9:00!" I then proceeded to put my golden grams and milk back into the fridge and take a 2 minute shower, and scuttle out of my apartment to my meeting. Oddly though, the meeting organizers were about 20 minutes late too, and started just as I began to stroll in. And my boss didn't seem to mind too much. Phew!
Weekend: I had a great time. I took my car back up to Thousand Oaks Thursday night so I could get it worked on for the weekend. It finally got over Sunday night and isn't ready just yet. So on Friday, since I couldn't do much else (and had planned it) I took my loving girlfriend, Carmen, out to Long Beach to try out to be the next Elvira. The people in charge didn't know what they were doing so we wandered around the Queen Mary and saw some interesting people. Carmen was really close to actually auditioning for the role, and while I wish she had the opportunity to, we still had loads of fun. Especially the ride down there as she tried to navigate to play 'Conquest' by the White Stripes by using the next button. My mp3 player isn't all that intuitive. On second thought I should have brought my laptop and a ac-car adapter to power it. Its much easier to use. In any event, after that we killed a tone of Fleas at her mom's house and then wandered back into town to watch The Neverending Story at the Insomniac Cinema. I wasn't expecting what I was expecting, Its been ages since I've seen that movie and I don't remember seeing this first one. But it was really good, I just ended up falling asleep for some reason about 3/4 of the way through [I think] but I remember it. It was actually really well done, acted, and directed for its time. Some different innuendo now that I'm older, but still, fantastic movie. Sunday included Transformers (in bold, since they're big robots) with my dad and then hanging out with Carmen. Kicking ass in Chess! (sort of) And leaving later than planned, arriving even later than planned back in San Diego. But I try to extend my weekends past their prime, since I end up having so much fun and really enjoying everything. I miss Carmen already and I hope the weekend comes sooner than later. Rating: 20/5.
Rhapsody Is Cool.
Works in both Windows and Linux via the web. Login and listen to all the music you want. Plus it ain't an apple so it works with any player that supports WMA, which is a lot more than the iPods out there. Sound quality is good as well, no qualms with it at all! Plus if you download a program that takes a WMA and gives it NO DRM (type those all caps things into google) you can actually copy it to a device, copy the wma files back off the device then remove the DRM and do whatever you'd with the music!
Brilliant!
Whats not so brilliant: Getting 4 hours of sleeping, going to work 7 hours at work, then going to school for 3 more. My phone took longer to charge than I got to sleep, damn you phone!
Fin.
ICANN can suck it.
ICANN - the international consortium of assigned names and numbers are a bunch of bastards. I have my domains registered through Registerfly, I have for a few years. I've never had a problem with them, I actually love them because I almost lost one of my domains to a squatter and they actually got it back for me within a month of it expiring. But, I've heard lots of stories of people having issues, in fact a friend of mine had a few issues with them. But I haven't. So when ICANN decided, "oh hey, lets revoke their status as a registrar and PUSH everyone to GoDaddy, they paid us afterall for this." I was kind of irked. I was hoping Godaddy wouldn't be bad, but my god it is. Their site is different from their help documents. I'm having issues getting the transfer done, they don't seem to want to recognize my registerfly.com account and everything, even though its supposed to be easy for them. Okay, I'll e-mail suppport. 2 hours later, no response. Okay. I forget about it a while, they e-mail me what their website says to do, which doesn't freaking work. Hello? I said I'm a registerfly.com account and your shits not working for me, whats my customer number, it seems to reject me unless I put that in. Such a fucking headache. I can't believe this is so hard, its a bunch of entries in a database, copy, paste. Really, its probably that simple. I doubt they have a million line config file they'd have to look through to get it to work. Argh.
Anyone experience something similar? Is godaddy decent when they work?
.end rant.
Update on 7/3/2007: My domain was registered through enom, not registerfly They were a reseller. Wow, lets see if I can get the domain away from them.
Deadlines are insane.
I really don't like being rushed, but I have a tendency to wait till the last moment to do most of my school things. During work, I can work away on projects and get them done. But when I'm in school, with lectures, reading, and programming projects: it gets a bit overwhelming sometimes. The first two just make me want to wait to absorb all the details of the day, but I really can't. I still end up doing the bad thing and waiting till the last moment. Take for instance my current course load: Advanced Digital Design (Circuits), Computer Graphics (OpenGL Programming), Principles & Paradigms of Programming Languages, and Compiler Construction II. The first one we designed a WEP co-processor, FREAKING HARD AS HELL, let me tell you. Actually I don't want to scare you. Comp Graphics is probably the funnest class I've taken, I really enjoy messing around and creating some neat looking 3d things, it takes time, but oh so much fun. PP of P Languages: Not much work, until a HW deadline comes up, then its rush rush rush to get it done. They're not posted that often, so I have an excuse (week to do it? come on!). Now the kicker: Compiler Construction II. WHAT A CRAZY CLASS. I never thought I'd ever need to create a compiler, but my lord, I AM. Two projects kind of sucks, plenty of time to slack off and not do anything. First one I bombed, don't wait till 2 days beforehand to get started. Second one, deadline is a week away, okay. So, started a bit early, I just hope I finish! Its actually rather rewarding going through and seeing, "Look, I take this language, I get this other language, easy compilation, its low level assembly: Program Runs and output is created! WOW!"
I guess the moral of the story here is: Classes are part of the equation, but assignments are where you really shine. Don't eat all your time up with one class, don't slack off. 10 weeks is too quick, its so easy to get behind.
Also, fun programming assignments, where you actually create something that is amazing is the most rewarding thing. Writing simple programs that work in the background and don't show you much of anything, are not the way to go.
This doesn't look like much, but its per-pixel lighting. The lighting is dynamic and it looks damn fine to me:
Linux
I'm messing with linux more and more. I just installed it on my desktop (without a hard drive, as that causes a crash for some reason.. too many hard drives?). And got beryl and xgl and all that working. I'm not all too happy with this new version of ubuntu, it suffers from the same issue as previous ones (that damn Rocket 100 IDE Controller card driver), but it works, so why complain? It took me a while to get the ati drivers working too, although thats an ati driver issue problem. I had to add in the restricted repositories in order to get them to work. Lots of reboots later and it works. Next step is to get it working with dual monitors. Although, I did find an interesting program I wish I had found sooner: http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/ which lets two computer connect virtually in sort of a dual monitor config (one mouse and keyboard). We'll see. Adobe has also released version of flash player 9 for linux: http://blogs.adobe.com/penguin.swf/ (and some other goodies). Beryl also works well, and a lot faster than my laptop. Lots of next steps. Will keep you up to date.
If you're curious as to what beryl is, some videos:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=G3p8IBNNd88
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELwnG9f7lDM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC_YbhhINHk
Think Max OSX, Vista, but free and expandable (to anything you can think and program).
Laptop + Linux
I'm still trying to install a Linux distribution on my laptop for school since it is much better for programming, but I always seem to run into problems. I had Slamd64 setup and sort of working and tonight I just installed Fedora Core 4 (both for x86_64/amd64) which is working rather well. The only problem I always seem to run into is that the built-in wireless card and also the touchpad never seem to work properly. The touchpad this time is making my browser go nuts when I use it. So, I am considering just installing regular ole' Slackware since it is something I know and drivers work well for it. But then what's the point of having a 64-bit processor? Well there is none at the moment, the drivers and programs never seem to work properly for it. And cutting-edge isn't so great because manufacturers refuse to provide drivers that work in linux by either making them open source or supplying multi-architecture ones.
That's what makes me angry with Microsoft and their stranglehold on the Desktop Computer market. We're all stuck with the x86 architecture since all the programs are compiled and run on it. And until recently have we begun to switch. But what if we want to switch in the future? Its going to take lots of hours and hard work to port all the code over, which just won't happen, so we're all stuck. What we need in the computer industry is some software that can keep the sourcecode recompilable on the user end and safe for companies to release this to the world. Which again, probably will never happen. </rant>
So. I like computers 