Skip to content

CREATING A LOCAL MSSQL SERVER ON YOUR W10 PC

From time to time you will need to utilize a local sql server, for dev, testing, education, whatever. So here is a quick how-to on creating a local mssql server on your W10 pc.

Download and install the free version of SQL, called SQL Express:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-downloads
Accept all the defaults, except for these few
Use your credentials when prompted
Select all packages to be installed

Once SQL Express is installed, download and install SQL Server Management Studio
https://aka.ms/ssmsfullsetup

Now you have both installed, open SQL Server Management Studio or SSMS for short, and connect to your local SQL Express Database
Connect to “localhost\sqlexpress“
You dont have to put in any credentials if you selected to use your credentials earlier.

To do a test on the database, try restoring the AdventureWorksDW database
Right click on Databases
Select Restore database
Select the AdventureWorksDW file
Click Ok

You can now connect into your database using Power BI or another tool, and start playing around.

Thanks for reading

WINDOWS 10 VM DISK INTEGRITY


This is a quick way to check the integrity of the local disk of a Windows 10 VM, that sits on an ESXi 6.7 Host

Go to the Type here to search box
Type cmd
Best Match will show Command Prompt
Select Run as administrator
Type in chkdsk C: /f /r /x

Check disk will now run and scan your system. If any errors come up, you will be notified, and can choose a course of action.

POWER BI INSTALL & PREVIEW FEATURES

  • Power BI

There are several ways to install Power BI, however the recommended Power BI Install is by going through the Microsoft Store. The reason behind it is, if you install it through the Store, it will auto update monthly. Yes Power BI updates the platform that often, and you will have the latest and greatest version.

Once it is installed, and after the monthly updates you will need to enable the Preview Features. To do this, perform the following:
Click File
Select Options and settings
Click Options
Select Preview features
Place a check mark next to All of them
Restart Power BI Desktop

You have now installed the platform and enabled the extra features.

Thanks for reading

RESTORE MINING WALLETS IN WINDOWS 10

The most recent Windows 10 update, went through my computer and started tagging many of my crypto wallets as threats, then it automatically quarrantined them. HUGE FAIL by Microsoft. I did not want their Defender app enabled after the update. I did not want it to scan my system.

To restore your newly quarrantined items, do the following:

Open Windows Security
Select Virus & threat protection
Click Protection history
In the list of all recent items, filter the Quarantined Items
Click all of the newly identified and restore

That’s it! Thanks for reading

SSH On My RASPBERRY PI 4

This is a quick one. I needed ssh on my Raspberry Pi 4, and this is how I did it

Turn on the Pi

Once on the Desktop, click on the Terminal icon

Type:
sudo bash
apt-get update
apt-get install openssh-server
y

Once that installs successfully
systemctl enable ssh
systemctl start ssh

That’s it. You can now login remotely to your pi through ssh



Thanks for reading

Hardware that I used:
Raspberry Pi 4 (4gb)
https://amzn.to/3q551IO

SanDisk 32GB Ultra microSDHC UHS-I Memory Card with Adapter
https://amzn.to/2Vfvo0y

CanaKit 3.5A Raspberry Pi 4 Power Supply (USB-C)
https://amzn.to/3fNTYPu

CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 Micro HDMI Cable – 6 Feet
https://amzn.to/33u5hr9

Western Digital 500GB WD_Black SN750 NVMe
https://amzn.to/3nZ5pH4

Plugable USB C to M.2 NVMe Tool-free Enclosure
https://amzn.to/3lflV3L

REMOTE SUPPORT THROUGH CHROME REMOTE DESKTOP

Teamviewer has been a constant headache in 2020. So I have had to find a teamviewer replacement…and have found Chrome Remote Desktop. So far my experience has been good. Quick, easy install. I can still remotely manage my mining rigs. This guide shows how I connect to a system that runs during the day for a dedicated user (who owns it), and mines at night. When he has an issue, he contacts me and we setup a Chrome Remote Desktop support session using the following excerpt from this link https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/1649523?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en

Share your computer with someone else

You can give others remote access to your computer. They’ll have full access to your apps, files, emails, documents and history.

  1. On your computer, open Chrome.
  2. In the address bar at the top, type remotedesktop.google.com/support, and press Enter.
  3. Under “Get Support, “ click Download Download page.
  4. Follow the onscreen directions to download and install Chrome Remote Desktop.
  5. Under “Get Support,” select Generate Code.  
  6. Copy the code and send to the person you want to have access to your computer.
  7. When that person enters your access code on the site, you will see a dialog with their e-mail address. Select Share to allow them full access to your computer.
  8. To end a sharing session, click Stop Sharing.

The access code will only work one time. If you are sharing your computer, you will be asked to confirm that you want to continue to share your computer every 30 minutes.

MICROSOFT TEAMS CALL QUALITY FEEDBACK

Have that annoying survey popup after every call. Asking you to rate the call, with stars, and you are just plain sick of seeing it.

Well do I have the solution for you.

When you are in Teams
Click on your Avatar in the top right of the screen
Select Settings
Click Privacy
Slide that Green button next to Survey from On, to Off

No more teams feedback ticklers

IPAD PHOTO UPLOAD TO ONEDRIVE FAILS

  • iPad, MAC

My ipad has been setup with OneDrive, and I had initially configured the photos to automatically upload, so I have a backup of them, off my device. The upload worked great for the first upload, but the ongoing iPad photo upload to onedrive fails with no errors showing.

I finally found the fix

On the iPad
Go to Settings
Scroll down to OneDrive
Enable Background App Refresh
Mine was disabled

Over the next day or so, your iPad should begin uploading all of your photos again to OneDrive!

Success!!!

USING ‘SCREEN’ ON A HEADLESS MINER

To set the stage, my mining rigs are setup on Ubuntu 20.04, with NVidia 1080Ti Cards, and they are headless systems. On these systems, I use Putty to connect to them, and run them. You will notice that when you close putty, your miner will stop mining. Which can be a pain, because who wants to always have a Putty connection to their miner, especially when it is a headless system.

A fun little program that I have used for years and never thought of mentioning, is called Screen. Screen allows you to run your headless mining system, without putty being constantly attached, or having a keyboard / mouse / monitor attached.

To enable screen, you can do the following once you are logged in through putty
sudo bash
apt-get update
apt-get install screen
If you are running Ubuntu 20.04 you may find that it is already installed. If it is installed, to run it, simply do the following
screen ./program-name
and the program will run

For me I use it to run my custom mining scripts, so I will cd to the directory, and run
screen ./etc.sh
The mining software will start up, and I can then close Putty, and the rig will continue to mine…..

If at any time you want to reconnect to your miner to see the progress:
Open Putty
Login
Type screen -r
Press Enter
Your screen will reconnect

Thanks for reading!

The hardware that I used in this guide:
Gigabyte AORUS GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (QTY 6):
https://amzn.to/2JqvXC8

Motherboard (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/2JqGJZ7

CPU (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/3qevp2X

Memory (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/2JqHn8Z

Hard Drive (QTY 1):  
https://amzn.to/3lic3X5

Risers (QTY 6):  
https://amzn.to/33rIgVE

Power Supplies (QTY 2):
https://amzn.to/3fTRpLR

Add2PSU (QTY 1):
https://amzn.to/39s4URY

Power Switch (QTY 1):  
https://amzn.to/3ljmNVk

MINING ETC ON UBUNTU WITH NVIDIA 1080TI

Recently I had to change the software on my rig. My rig is mining ETC on Ubuntu with NVidia 1080TI cards. I had to change it because claymore was not working the way it should with the site ethermine, hence the need to change mining software from claymore to ethminer. The following guide is how i did it.

Login to the headless rig
sudo bash
cd /
mkdir /miner
cd /miner
wget https://github.com/ethereum-mining/ethminer/releases/tag/v0.18.0

Once it downloads you then run
tar -zxvf *.gz
The software will unpack

cd bin
wget https://tacticalware.com/downloads/etc-ethminer.txt
mv etc.txt etc.sh
chmod +x etc.sh
nano etc.sh
Change the wallet address to your wallet
Save the file and Exit
./etc.sh

You should now be mining. Be sure to look at https://etc.ethermine.org/ and monitor your wallet to verify that it is sending data back and forth to the site. It should take about 15 minutes to show up initially, so be patient.


The hardware that I used in this guide:
Gigabyte AORUS GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (QTY 6):
https://amzn.to/2JqvXC8

Motherboard (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/2JqGJZ7

CPU (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/3qevp2X

Memory (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/2JqHn8Z

Hard Drive (QTY 1):  
https://amzn.to/3lic3X5

Risers (QTY 6):  
https://amzn.to/33rIgVE

Power Supplies (QTY 2):
https://amzn.to/3fTRpLR

Add2PSU (QTY 1):
https://amzn.to/39s4URY

Power Switch (QTY 1):  
https://amzn.to/3ljmNVk