Jeff Geerling
@jeffgeerling.com
Father, author, developer, maker. Sometimes called "an inflammatory enigma". #stl #ansible #k8s #raspberrypi #mac #crohns www.jeffgeerling.com
Finally! Proxmox VE officially supports Arm. At least the more server-grade Arm platforms. I tested it on my Ampere Altra Max 128-core workstation, and it runs there (though I did hit a couple hiccups). See: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg26...
FINALLY! Proxmox officially supports Arm (but not Raspberry Pi)
YouTube video by Level 2 Jeff
youtube.com
I found the cheapest way to add 25 Gbps networking to a Mac. Some 3D printing required... Video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_--J...
Fast networking on a Mac is way too expensive. I fixed that.
YouTube video by Jeff Geerling
youtube.com
The Pi 5 16GB was never a good deal. But at $300+, it's just... don't buy it. Luckily, Pi 4s still start at $35 and Pi 5s at $45. And the 4GB Pi 400 is somehow $50 at Micro Center. Video with more: www.youtube.com/watch?v=53Ak...
This was never a good deal.
YouTube video by Jeff Geerling
youtube.com
I got to test a Pixel Pump 2 (by Robins Tools) for my 2nd SMD PCB. I just used it for manual pick 'n place; it's a solid little bit of kit if you do this stuff often. Video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WzA... Thanks to @idlehandsdev.bsky.social for putting me in touch!
A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure. So now I have three GNSS PPS watches. And I can measure UTC to within 20-40ns. Just need my entire forearm. Not done yet: portable rubidium atomic clock for holdover.
My Spectrum Business Internet connection goes down weekly. I finally set OPNsense up so I can swap to a borrowed cell backup connection. Blog post here: jeffgeerling.com/blog/2026/op... But if you have backup 5G Internet, what do you use? (Midwest US)
Adding a backup Internet WAN on my OPNsense Router
AKA "Spectrum has gone down two weeks in a row and I'm sick of it". I've been borrowing a portable 5G gateway from my Dad for a few weeks, for testing... and two weeks in a row, I've used it as a back...
jeffgeerling.com
I had the best time at Open Sauce—and I can prove it! (At least within ±1µs...). Full video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziPI...
Btw I will be at VCF Midwest this year, with a *table*! I'll be demonstrating NTP timing history on the Mac, and hopefully have some neat rarely-seen demos and info vcfmw.org The event is free, and there are approximately 1,000 other reasons to come lol
Home | Vintage Computer Festival Midwest
A Yearly Celebration of Computing History
vcfmw.org
I machined my first custom part on the Makera Z1, after they sent one over to see if I could transfer any skills from 3D printing to CAM and CNC. It's a little mounting spacer for my old Xserves; plastic wasn't holding up. Today's video on desktop CNC: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ6d...
I learned CNC to fix Apple's 20-year-old server
YouTube video by Jeff Geerling
youtube.com
Houdini 22 includes Arm Linux support (as a 'Technology Preview'). I got my hands on a pre-release version, ran it on the fastest Arm Linux desktops on the planet, and I think the best use case is cloud rendering on cheaper Arm Linux servers. Video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdU7...
Rendering on Arm Linux is faster, cheaper (and possible now)
YouTube video by Level 2 Jeff
youtube.com
Oliver Ettlin's PTP Wallclock project just got a huge upgrade; he's been adding all the features I asked for, and then some! Now it has a fancy web UI and tons of display settings :)
Telstra had a bad time last week. An old time server could cost them $30 million... I briefly covered their GPS timing problem in today's _second_ second channel video :) www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T9x...
Telstra had a REALLY bad time last week
YouTube video by Level 2 Jeff
youtube.com
I completely forgot to mention.... I'm going to be at @opensaucelive.bsky.social this weekend! My theme will be time—if you have a neat time-based project, please tell me about it. I'll be on the lookout for clocks, counters, syntonization, and synchronization :)
From my research, Reolink was supposed to be one of the best local-friendly cam companies... Strike 1: I can't set up my new Reolink camera without the App initially (web UI disabled by default). Strike 2: Can't add RTSP user even in app, so I have to use admin for RTSP?!
QuadRF is a phased array antenna that can see WiFi through walls, spot drones in the sky... and it's powered by a Pi 5 and FPGA board. Very neat device, we have a full video up on Geerling Engineering: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QESe...
This radio can see through walls
YouTube video by Geerling Engineering
youtube.com
I guess the network going down on Monday is better than on Friday afternoon. But I decided to drop Mikrotik for my smaller network rack, and switched to... QNAP?! (Yes, they make switches) Level 2 video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JTk...
My Mikrotik died. So I switched to... QNAP?!
YouTube video by Level 2 Jeff
youtube.com
I'm doing some research into NTP on Macs and there is basically zero information about the history of time.apple.com (and similar NTP servers in other regions). Are there any tech notes or buried info I can look into about how Apple got time (or how they do now?)
Remember that 'special value' Raspberry Pi 4 that only runs at 1.25 GHz? I ran my gauntlet of benchmarks on two of them... and found some surprising results. Also, the listing was taken down while I was testing! Why? I explore my theory in today's video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4Lc...
The Raspberry Pi I wasn't supposed to buy
YouTube video by Jeff Geerling
youtube.com
You have a mini rack. Now you need a mini UPS. Here are all the ones I've tested so far: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JIr...
Every mini rack needs a mini UPS
YouTube video by Level 2 Jeff
youtube.com
I had a great time in Canada. The best time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHSq...
The Most Accurate Watch That Doesn't Tell Time Ft. Jeff Geerling
YouTube video by SeanHodgins
youtube.com
I can finally remote control my Xserve cluster, with GL-iNet's Comet X 4-port IP KVM: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uuo... Pretty neat device, comes with mini and 19" rack ears—it should be up for sale soon!
Comet X finally fixes Apple's 20-year-old server problem
YouTube video by Level 2 Jeff
youtube.com
What's that saying... 'If buying isn't owning...' Sony deletes another large stash of movies off users' accounts after users "purchased" the movies. Cue up the "I'm tired boss" meme www.youtube.com/watch?v=l19t...
If buying isn't owning...
YouTube video by Level 2 Jeff
youtube.com
Last week I flew a 20 TB hard drive up to Canada 🇨🇦, to see if I could outrun the Internet. And I did! But I also got to help @idlehandsdev.bsky.social set up a new 45Drives server, and we had a special guest show up to help via CRT! Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0DE...
I tested WisdPi's 10G Ethernet Expansion Card for Framework computers. Good news: It can hit 9.4 Gbps, in certain scenarios. And it'll be < $100. Bad news: It uses USB-C and that means the combinations where it'll hit full speed are limited 🥲 www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMXT...
Is 10 Gbps too hot for a laptop?
YouTube video by Level 2 Jeff
youtube.com
Somehow this lithium battery's still got voltage over a quarter century later...?
Can you spot the ad integration? 😆 I'm fine with people skipping (i even add chapter markers for it). Time is valuable and if you don't want to sit through an ad read, it's no skin off my back.
One day we noticed a burning smell in the oven. It had code 'F2' and turned a batch of muffins into charcoal... Because GE respected my right to repair my own appliance, I was able to debug and fix it! Quick 2nd channel video on it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrjs...
