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Upgrade the Ethernet to RJ-45 '10BaseT'
My Ethernet is built from surplus 10Base2 parts rescued from
the dumpster. The NE2000 ISA card in my Win2K box died. I
had some difficulty finding a network card with the RJ-58
BNC co-axial connection. It seems that this type of network
is now obsolescent and 10Base2 cards are hard to come by.
After trying most of the local computer hardware stores, I
finally found one at one of the large office supply stores.
It was a D-Link BNC / RJ-45 PCI 'Combo' card.
I will in the near future, pull a length of CAT 5 cable between
the networked computers in our house and replace the old RJ-58
cards with new RJ-45 cards. I will also have to add a network
hub or switch to connect the networked machines together.
Update:
I added a second network to my Freesco Box. This is a 10baseT
Ethernet and is working along with the 10base2 Ethernet.
A few things to improve the Freesco box
Add another 8MB RAM to the Freesco Box and enable the internal
web server. This allows you to connect to the Freesco Box
through a web browser on one of the networked systems. You
may then monitor the router / firewall operation and make
changes to the configuration.
Update:
I added another 8MB of RAM to bring the total up to 16MB.
The internal web server is now working and Freesco is more
stable.
Quiet the power supply fan: The Freesco Box does not have a
hard drive. This is a major contributor of heat and current
draw from the power supply. With out it, the power supply should
run cooler.
I have heard the suggestion to remove the power supply fan altogether.
I want to experiment with some voltage dropping devices for
the 12volt fan. I may try to drive the fan with a 9volt regulator.
Or put a few diodes in series with the fan. This should bring
the voltage down 2 or 3 volts. This will reduce the fan speed
and noise.
Update:
Added a 9V regulator (7809) to the cooling fan. Fan noise
reduced considerably.
Further
update: The 80's vintage XT power supply finally expired.
I shoe horned in an AT 200W power supply. This had a noisy
fan with a worn bearing. I removed this fan and did not replace
it. This supply now runs warm but not hot.
Learn a bit more about Linux and try some of the other single
disk distributions.
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