ISO, Media Disk and Old PC - How far down the rabbit whole will you go?

You have to love this Open Source software with a passion or else it can drive you crazy, mad, or just make you feel plain stupid. Locustworld introduced me to the ISO CD burning. ISO is a standard in which data files can burn directly to a CD. The result is a bootable CD that in this case contains OS, application, and systems that will automatically configure a system for you. In Locustworld case it created wireless mesh. In the last two years I have been working with Asterisk PBX phone system. I was able to purchase as FXO FXS Dignam PCI card and start to configure these systems. Then Locustworld created a software module that attached Asterisk to Locustworld. I stop experimenting with Asterisk as a result. As people were moving to VoIP I believed that the Locustworld would have a mature product. Unfortunately it was used for experimentation and although it is functional I was looking for a more robust system and a system that I could upgrade. In two years the development of Asterisk has been outstanding. A product developed from called Asterisk@Home. This product is design similar to Locustworld in that you create a self contain ISO and simply take a used PC and automatically installs and format the PC. In which time the PC becomes a fully functioning PBX with VoIP system there is no wireless or meshing protocols. I was delighted because the original Asterisk was really difficult setup and configure.

So yesterday I figure I would reformat my existing Asterisk installation with the latest and greatest version. The nightmare started all over again. 99% of people out there who use this product will have absolute no difficulty installing the item except for me. Now I not complaining but I ran into some difficulties that I had to write about. Now you may ask yourself how this is related to Locustworld and wireless mesh. Well the problem that occurred was not unique to Asterisk@Home or Locustworld but general problems when using old equipment with new media technology and open source solutions. So if you are doing any open source project you may need to watch out for the following. If I can save you 16 hours of frustration maybe something good will come out of this.

The problem was that the media I used to burn the ISO image onto was 24X CD-R disk. When adding this type of disk to an old PC CD-ROM it tends not to work intermittently or not at all. To resolve the problem I found old 4X stock CD-R disk and reduce the speed of the CD-Writer to create the image. And after that it worked. Here are some of the symptoms I encounter. But before I go on I had exactly the right type make and model of PC that software was recommending.

After burning the ISO image onto the 24X CD I place it into the CD of the PC I that was being formatted for PBX system. It started to configure as expected. Almost near the end of the configuration it abruptly stopped and the software indicated it had a problem with writing some of the files. I rebooted the PC and tried to reinstall. The ISO disk was not being recognized by system. It indicated that there was an error on the hard drive.

I search Google for a solution. Eureka I found the solution. These older CD Readers sometime needs a command prior to launching the software. The command is

linux ide=nodma

Well I tried it and sure enough the boot loader once again worked and I was able to issue the command and yet again it started to work and I was very confident that this solved the problem. It crashed badly.

Then for next few hours the CD did not want to boot up the computer. I produced 4 more copies of the CD and nothing. So I quickly determine it must be the old PC. I remove the hard drive and found a new error message, Not enough memory. Sure enough I started to pull the RAM and replaced with other RAM.

I also added a few other CD ROM thinking it was the CD-ROM. These too were old and could not read the faster media. You know I was doomed.

Next I receive a problem with protected memory. Why on earth would the OS need protected memory? I rebooted constantly in various configuration. I even went to upgrade the Bios on the PC.

Sure nothing I did worked. I replace the PC and though maybe I could sell the PC. Someone could figure out this problem. So I went and took out my old Redhat 9.0 disks that were burnt on 4X CDR. It worked. Well I assumed that Redhat rules. I once again configure the PC and loaded asterisk once again. About 9 o’clock at night I started thinking? And I look at the media speed. I went and found an old unused media that for some reason I never need. I burnt the ISO image one more time, I believe this was copy five, and placed it into the old PC. It worked like a dream. Simple and effortless it configure itself and was up and running with in an hour. I even was able to configure it before I lost my Internet connection (that another story). Asterisk@Home has a good product. Remember when dealing with old equipment to ensure that use the appropriate media with that equipment.