There’s a decent amount of home computer work to be done; a laptop to disassemble in order to retrieve and destroy a failing CPU fan, a soon to fail hard drive to replace in the TV machine, and some updates to the file server that I’ve been meaning to do.

The TV machine is easy enough, but annoying; a hard drive that I archive TV shows to has been failing detection on startup, and has failed a couple times while the system is running. I’ll have to boot the system a couple times, see if I can force a re-detect. If it comes on line, I’ll zap the contents of that drive over to a spare and likely just shred the disloyal drive; it’s a 250 GB drive, and is out of warranty now. I have one or two spare 300 GB drives that I can put in its place.

The file server also gives me a part time linux desktop that I use for miscellaneous functions. Now, it mostly holds MP3 files and provides me with a method for syncing my ipod with Amarok. I’ve been using the Ubuntu 8.04 provided version of Amarok (1.4something) and have thought about upgrading once 2.0 was stable. Well, 2.0 has been stable for a couple of months, but there’s no sign of the .deb for anything past 1.9something. So, I have embarked on the process of building from source, which requires all sorts of hoops and manual upgrades. It’s like working on Slackware again at that point. The compile took hours on this old hardware.

I’ve managed to compile and run 2.0.1.1 now, and it’s offering a way to copy over my old stats database with my listening history. However, it assumes that I’m either copying from the previous version’s SQLlite install or from a stand-alone MySQL server. As part of the upgrade to 2.0.1.1, I had to uninstall the stand-alone MySQL in order to cleanly compile the embedded MySQL product that Amarok relies on. I have no idea if the two can exist on the same machine in any easy way, so I opt for the easier method… I’ll just install MySQL on the Macintosh, install my backup of the DB there, and use THAT server to upgrade to the new Amarok format.

Then there’s the laptop. I guess I should print out the how-to-disassemble from Dell and have at that before it’s too late. I’ll just get the MySQL installing and then go rip open the laptop.