20MB Boot Floppy Image

These days BIOS and IPMI (and other no doubt) updates are getting larger.

Most of the boot floppies you can download are 1.4MB which makes upgrading some firmware modules difficult when PXE booting as the images wont fit.

I was able to build a 20MB image using these commands.

wget http://itblog.su/downloads/W98SE_R.img
rpm -ivh ms-sys-2.2.0-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm
dd if=/dev/zero of=floppy.img bs=1024 count=20000
mkdosfs floppy.img
ms-sys -1 -f floppy.img
mount -o loop floppy.img /mnt/floppy
mount /W98SE_R.img /mnt/dos
cp /mnt/dos/* /mnt/floppy/
umount /mnt/dos/

IPMI Upgrade through PXE

The Supermicro nodes have IPMI modules built in. These can be accessed using either the dedicated IPMI NIC, or by sharing the primary NIC with the host OS. We have chosen to use the shared option to reduce cabling.

Out of the box the machines came with a version of IPMI that didn't work for us so we had to update the IMPI firmware using the yafukcs utility.

The standard approach is to perform this via USB key but due to the number of nodes this is not practical. Therefore I created a freedos image containing the required firmware and configuration files that can be PXE booted to the nodes in one go.

This process saves around 4 days of manual labour. We still have to manually gather the MAC addresses of the new IPMI interfaces and add them to DHCP, but there are ways we can speed this process up using FDB in the switches.

Once we have our bootable image we add the required firmware update files

autoexec.bat

@echo off set PATH=.;\;\LOCALE
echo Using US-English keyboard with US-English codepage [437]
ipmicfg.exe -m
1.bat
2.bat
fdapm coldboot 

1.bat

yafukcs.exe -full X8DTT_~1.IMA 

Although it was quicker to update only the required modules using the -auto option we had better success with re-updating all the modules using the -full option.

2.bat

ipmicfg.exe -m
ipmicfg.exe -dhcp on
ipmicfg.exe -dhcp
ipmicfg.exe -r 

Once we run the update we configure IPMI with ipmicfg.exe to DHCP and very importantly perform a BMC cold reset. Then we add the image to the PXE config on our boot server (puppet in this case)

The relevant lines in the /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/

LABEL Supermicro IPMI Firmware Update
KERNEL /sysresccd/isolinux/memdisk
APPEND initrd=/sysresccd/isolinux/floppy.img 

And copy the image (floppy.img) to /var/lib/tftpboot/sysresccd/isolinux/

We can now boot into the new image to ensure it works by selecting the new menu option from the PXE boot menu.

hot new club

CCOMTB - 2011 - Round 1

Status: Finished
Grade: B

What a race, and what a turn out! It looked like there were about 15 people in A grade alone. Great Nobmob turn out too, hopefully those that haven't been before can see what a great race it is and will attend some more. Well done to Ray for what looked like 5th place in A grade - what a demon. Logan, hope your cuts heal OK, they looked pretty nasty but nothing a pommy victory at the cricket wouldn't solve eh?

I started at the back of the pack in B grade, and had great fun once I decided to back the first lap pace off a bit. No idea what place I came, Gazza said I came in after him but I can't see how, I felt like I was pretty coozie on the last 2 laps. I was expecting to blow up hard given that I've been zero training since the new little man was born (who has great quad development at 7 weeks old incidentally) but I felt in pretty good shape. I had a chance to ride behind a 29er for some of it, those bikes certainly seem to make sense at a track like Ourimbah, he was certainly rolling over the rough stuff and making it look easy.

No events really.. big traffic jam at the top of the drop on the first lap, looks like someone didn't ride the lap before hand , I lost the rear end on Small meadows, I couldn't get rid of the smile in the grave yard, oh and I loved the end of the the roller coaster now that it misses magic carpet. It sounds like magic carpet is about to get some pretty choice upgrades - can't wait for round 2.

CCOMTB - 2010 final results

For my record keeping, the final results have been posted up:

Final results : http://www.ccomtb.com.au/results/Final%20XC%20Rankings%202010.pdf

What a great year, never thought I could get first place in B grade, but I guess showing up to as many races as possible really pays off. I'm really going to try and do some next year as well.

Edit: Managed to get to the first round of CCOMTB XC 2011, and picked up my trophy

CCOMTB - Club Race - 2010 Round 10 - 6 hour Final

Status:

Finished

Laps:

9

Time:

06:20:16

Position (Overall):

8

Hard. Phew, what a race.

This was my last for a while with a baby on the way my races are taking a back seat. This was also the last race of the CCOMTB season and I managed to do all but one so wanted to go well. I started too hard after telling eveyone I was going to go easy and realised I was in for a hard race by the end of lap two. I just couldn't drink enough water and by lap 5 was showing the signs of dehydration. I pretty much had a rest after every lap from then on. Timing was good though, managed to time the cut off just after passing through the gate so squeezed another (very slow) lap in. On that lap I ran over a snake and narrowly avoided a rider coming the wrong way at the bottom of browns! The scare almost made me forget the cramps.

How some people do solo 8 hours around here I don't know.

The CCOMTB season has been great, recommended to everyone for good hard racing, friendly people and of course some of the best trails around.

CCOMTB - Club Race - 2010 Round 9 REVERSE LOOP

Status: Finished

Laps: 3

Race Category: B Grade Men

Great but hard race. Like a different track in reverse, but really good fun, and some big hucks. Still waiting for the result but I'm told I was 3rd or 4th.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/48763936

Top Step

CCOMTB - Club Race - 2010 Round 8

Status:Finished

Laps: 3

Time: 01:45:07

Race Category: B Grade Men

Position (Category): 4

Great race this weekend. Come on Gazza, the championship's yours to loose now.

JetBlack 12 Hours WSMTB Race

Team:

Mixed Nuts

Status:

Finished

Laps:

23

Time:

12:25:52

Race Category:

Masters/Team/4

Position (Category): 1

Entering this race with man down might have been seen as in a negative light but as we won our class in the most recent 24 hour JetBlack race we thought we had a good chance of at least making the podium of Masters 4s. I was in a team with Carlgroover and Whisperer. Carlgroover was positive we had first place in the bag before even starting!.

We started off in the lead and kept it all the way through. There isn't much to say about our laps really, they were pretty uneventful other than the usual things that happen at races. Steve had a puncture after putting a hole in a side-wall on one of his laps but fixed it in record time so we only lost around 8 minutes I think. On my first lap I got lost twice (which can be seen from my GPS track) which brought me in a couple of minutes slow. There were a LOT of people getting lost on that lap, I do think the signs could have been better, yellow arrows on a white back ground are hard to read at speed.

I really liked the track. For me there was a good mix of everything, and I think the longer fast stretches worked well with my current "training program". The downhill was great fun and Whisperer manages to set up camp with a great view, providing some excellent near misses, some riders getting very loose over a jump next to a barb wire fence. I did see one off there, some chap on a crosser who was thankfully ok.

We never backed off as the second place team were pretty close after the puncture but obviously we are all happy with the result considering there were only 3 of us.

Kudos to Gav for coming in third on the first lap and setting the fastest night lap (I think) of 27 something. No mean feat on that track.

Man it was cold but the vibe around the massive fire was great. All in all, a top event :)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/43562981

CCOMTB - Club Race - 2010 Round 7 NIGHT RACE

Status: Finished

Laps: 4

Time: 01:12:27

Race Category: B Grade Men

Position (Category): 7

Hard at night when you have rubbish lights.

Dirtworks Classic 2010

Status:

Finished

Time:

05:28:28

Position (Overall):

198

Race Category:

100km Male Masters

Position (Category):

57

Anyone see that inconsiderate idiot that cramped on the canoe bridge and held up stacks of people for about 5 minutes? That was me
Sincere apologies to anyone behind me. There really was nothing I could do, movement was not an option, I have never had cramp that bad.

I thought I was on for a cracker of a time up till then too, as it was, with the 5 odd mins. lost on the bridge and from having cramp for the remainder of the ride, loosing loads of places etc. I was only in 2 mins. slower than last year. I suppose I could be pleased with that, if it wasn't for the shame.

Note to self; one 70kay training ride on the road is not enough for the DW.

Hats off to all that took part this year, you are all legends.

CCOMTB - Club Race - 2010 Round 4

Status:

Finished

Laps:

3

Time:

01:37:01

Race Category:

B Grade Men

Position (Category):

11

Track was perfect today, nice and tacky mostly everywhere. Happy with the 1:37 mins in light of the lack of training recently, I don't think that is far off my old times. It was good to get some hill training done after the race as well.

Well done to Steve and Gazza for a nobmob 1, 2. Sorry I wasn't around to make it a 3 as well, but this is one hellish competitive race

CCOMTB - Club Race - 2010 Round 3 DEMTEL CHALLENGE

Status:

Finished

Laps:

3

Time:

01:37:53

Race Category:

B Grade Men

Position (Category):

11

Actually I shouldn't call it hell, it was completely expected. It really felt like there was a lot of climbing for this race but in fact it was only 694m in total. The downhill section after Demtel was fine, I was expecting all sorts of surprises but most people I saw took it all very slowly and it was all pretty straight forward. I got a pretty rubbish start but I'm not going to use it as an excuse, I just need to do more interval training.

Well done to the fast guys that finished in front of me (how competitive is this little group getting!), and bad luck to the DNFers.

CCOMTB - Club Race - 2010 Round 2

Status:

Finished

Laps:

3

Time:

01:37:18

Race Category:

B Grade Men

Position (Category):

12

Due to injury I haven't been training for 2 weeks and it really showed today. I found it hard to keep with the leaders on the first lap and I wasn't enjoying the pace one bit, None the less my HR was often up around 97% so I wasn't slacking off. I made a couple of silly mistakes and was getting a bit loose so I was much happier when I backed off to around 90% HR.

Bad luck to Gazza for getting a flat front tyre on the first lap. When I got to him he was about the throw the towel in but I chucked my seat bag at him and yelled something about thinking about the points. I only found out at the end he didn't even have a pump!! Sorry Gazza, I tried

Great to see Wazza racing the whole last lap bashing handlebars with some young gun. At the end he looked like he had given it everything, they were glued together on the line.

There were a lot more riders this weekend so I'm not expecting top ten, but it's good to have my race number for the year - 27

Temp: Around 28 I think.
Hydration: 1.2 Litres
Energy: 1.5 Gels (not enough)
Track: Just about perfect.

JetBlack twenty four hours Sydney 2010

Team: Salty Nuts

Status: Finished

Laps: 28

Time:24:22:48

Race Category: 24 Male Team 4 40+

Position (Category): 1

This was always going to be a competitive team, just look who is in it. From the start I thought we had a good chance at a podium finish, and finding out on Friday that I wasn't able to compete in the Mont 24 due to work commitments I was ready to give this race everything I had.

From the start I was a bit worried about the track, it sounded as if it would suit road riders more than technical riders (I consider myself the later although with my recent dosage of training on the road that could be argued I guess) but actually the circuit worked really well. Yeah the hill was painful but then they always are and it was easy to put your head down and grind it out. The gully was great fun and you could carry some pretty decent speed through there. I had a couple of stacks on the off camber roots on the new section of single track that annoyed me a bit but somehow didn't slow me down and in the end all of my laps where within a few seconds of each other (apart from the madness before it the race was pulled for the night. Yes it rained, it rained a lot. Rocky trail made the right call to call it when they did, sending people out at night in that rain would not have been a popular call, it was getting dangerous.

This is the first race I have used my heart rate as my "speedo" and the technique worked well for me. When you get fatigued it's easy to drop the pace without realising it but watching the heart you can keep the same level of effort at all times, even down hill. This works best of all when you get to the top of a climb when most people back off, this is the perfect time to bang it down a few gears and get some speed up.

I wasn't THAT surprised we were leading out category but when I heard we where second in open fours that was quite a shock. John had already made his mind up we were going to win the whole thing and was going after getting first overall, I think he was racing Jason English! The rest of us where along for the ride. Each of us rode as hard as we could every lap, there was no pace setting, it was just one long sprint. No mess ups, not too many crashes (despite Steve_01 pushing his luck on the cabin steps), just hard riding. It felt great to be on such a quick team.

Great vibe out on the track, lots of chatting (although none from my fatigued lungs). And a nice last lap dual with an unknown rider right up to the finish line. I hadn't been passed all weekend and was damned if I was going to let that happen on the line. Competitive? Perhaps I was in the right team after all

Highlights:
Not being passed during the event
Food and Hydration spot on
Consistent Lap times
Brilliant team
My first first place (I think)

Lowlight: Getting home to find my house had been flooded

Well done to "Pissed and peddling" (hope your tooth mends well Blondie). Thanks to the roadies that made it out on both days, great to see you make the effort and appreciate the support even if I did more or less blank you on the road, race face was firmly attached. Thanks to Whisperer for pulling the great team together and doing all the organising etc.. Thanks to Steve_01 for stepping up as the gun and handing me that last unexpected lap. And thanks to John for the advice, comedy and endless reminders that he has some kiwi in him somewhere. Eh Bro?

Results

CCOMTB - Club Race - 2010 Round 1

Status: Finished

Laps: 3

Time: 01:47:00

Race Category: B Grade Men

The downpour on the way up should have given me an indication of what was to come. It stopped long enough to fool me into racing, then on the start line the heavens opened again. Alongside me on the front of the pack was Gazza, who on hearing the news that this race was to decide our year long race numbers was like a bulldog off the leash when the hammer fell and led the pack to the first corner. I was about 5 back and quickly realised I required more sight than was being allowed me by the mud and rain and had to back off. God knows how the guys up front managed to stay on the track, I couldn't see anything at all. This is pretty much how the first lap continued, I knew there was a line of people behind me but none tried to pass so I carried on, cursing my glasses and the incessant mud. Had I been able to see my HRM I would have seen a pretty constant 95% so I was going about as hard as I could which was my object in preparation for next weekend, and I backed off a little on lap two when I could tell no-one was behind me.

The grip started coming back in lap three, I was able to remove the glasses and get some pace going. I was passed a couple of time but was able top pass a few back, or just sit behind those that I couldn't catch. The rear brake was making some VERY nasty noises on the last lap, and when I got home I could see why. Even Hope brakes couldn't deal with Ourimbah today. I had been saving my brake pads for the Sydney 24 next weekend, I think I need some more spares.

Well done to Gazza for the dream season start, he wears the number 1 plate all year and wasn't going to settle for number 2 (although secretly I think it was the lend of my sidi insoles that did it).

First day with the Racing Ralph and I did have a slip but to be honest any tyre would have struggled today, in places you couldn't see the track through the river we were riding in. All in all, a fun, technical (and expensive) days racing.

http://connect.garmin.com/player/23587537

WSMTB - 4 Hour Summer Enduro Series Race 2

Status: Finished

Laps: 10

Time: 04:07:07

Position (Overall): 39

Race Category: Solo - Male

it's been quite a while since the last race and it showed.

I decided that because of the fairly high amount of riding I have been doing during the week I would treat this as a training ride and aim to ride consistent laps and work on my techy skills, it turned out this variation of the track was certainly good for that! I started well toward the back on the pack and spent most of the first lap walking! I think next time I will fight for mid pack on the start line at least. Once the pack started to thin out I settled into a nice pace, aiming to keep the lap times the same all the way. The plan went pretty well until I started to feel the chilly signs of dehydration on the 8th lap. Although I was drinking the correct amount of liquid I think my salts were low, luckily I was able to ninja a salt tablet from Martine and Gav kindly filled my water bottle, just in case.

The track variation was quite bumpy this time and on the last lap I unlocked the RP23 to get some plushness... my lower back was hurting quite a lot, must investigate my seating position, I don't usually get it as bad as this. Quite a few others complained of the same too.

Good to see Gordo and the rest of the Rockstars out there, polite as always and always good to watch smash past, something to aspire too.

Respect to Martine for the podium finish.

Finally, a massive high 5 to Gazza, he's a missile at the moment - looked seriously fast today.

Ave HR: Z3.1
Max HR: Z5.1
KMS: 59
Temp: 32

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22519572

Highland Fling 2009

Status: Finished

Time: 06:02:54

Position (Overall): 138

Race Category: Full/Male/Veterans

Position (Category): 44

I love this event. I loved it last year and I loved it more this year. I love the children's paintings in the woods, I love the water bottle free thing, I love the way the village really get behind it, the organisation that's just first class, the volunteers that rock (along with their beards!), and of course the track. OK so it doesn't have heaps of single track or testing technical but it still has great sections and some good long fire trails to get some rhythm time. It's no walk in the park.

Last time I was down here I saw the Bundanoon dash I though I would have some of that action, so I put my name down. To be honest I was a lot more nervous about this race than the big one the following day. I had the whole day to fettle with the bike and try to keep calm and work out some plan but how much planning can you do for a 10 minute race anyway? Eventually I found myself on the second row behind and surrounded by guns. The race was a blur from start to finish. Following the car down the road I though I would surely crash on every pedal turn, the pack at were rabid and riding bar end to bar end. At the bottom of the hill the car pulled to the side and my heart shot out of my mouth (where it stayed for the rest of the race). Amazingly I found my self in the lead pack all the way around the dirt track, this was it - I was in the tour de France and was going to take yellow, if I didn't have a heart attack first. It was great seeing and feeling how completely mental a short sprint can be at this level, I couldn't believe I was still there. Then at the bottom of the hill they all took off. I looked down to check my heart and back up to find the 9 riders where gone. Literally, I couldn't see them. So dropped the suspension, and locked it all out, dropped into the bit dog and smashed my little legs off. I vaguely remember crowds of people lining up on each side of the road closing in and cheering, clanging cow bells. I was Lance Armstrong, dancing on my pedals. I heard some support for me but have no idea who from. Please heart, keep working. I got to the top of the hill and saw the finish line but just could not stay out of the saddle, my legs were shot, all in less than 11 minutes. But wait... there's a guy ahead! I can catch him! I'm Lance Armstrong, this is the Alpe d'Huez. Get up again and PUSH... and..... argh my legs..... just.. got.. him. I came in tenth place and a big smile on my face, oh and I set a new max heart rate Flipping EPIC fun, why doesn't everyone one do this, it's insane!

So, the next day. I was in for the hundred and whatever kay race. I didn't really care where I came because I had the day before as a top trumps excuse card, which was great because it took a lot of pressure off. I started with Gazza way to close to the front and within the first 5 kays fell back to my rightful place a great many riders back. I rode side by side with many familiar faces, Linco (well done on a wicked time mate), Bryn, Gazza (who was having a shocker with his new bike but still managed to spank my arse), Rob (who spent most of the time telling me how slow I was going, thanks for the encouragement mate ), Dr Eggs on a frankly very silly quest to take his SS around 100miles, and for about 2 minutes the entire elite peloton. For once my race plan was perfect in every way. I couldn't believe it. I came in at around 6 hours with no cramps, a perfect average heart rate, and more in the tank.

Watch it all go wrong at the next one.. when is that again?