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So earlier this month, I decided to install some new firewall software on my firewall system (an Advantech UNO-3072LA from 2008) and get a proper firewall solution going instead of the hacky Shorewall... thing that I had running. I picked IPFire because it was basically the last Linux-based solution left that would still boot on x86. Equipped with an Intel Atom N270 CPU, it's stuck on 32-bit software, and is a huge limitation, especially considering that it has dual GbE NICs. In the process of configuring IPFire, I ran into a rather nasty problem: It has no idea what to do when I try to open ports to the outside world at the same time the web proxy is running. Which is a breaking limitation, so I needed to pick another firewall solution. Say hello, OPNsense. Thing is, that only boots on x86_64 CPUs, which this Advantech system doesn't have.
Cue a (former) gaming computer from 2004. Equipped with an AMD Athlon 64 CPU, any modern Linux distro should boot on it. It was in 24/7 service from November 2004 until late 2018 when it was pulled from service due to a flaky SATA controller and a bad PSU. It remained out of service until November 2019 when it was very suddenly called upon to act as a bridge system to bridge the Tech Room's wired LAN to the home's WiFi network because the modem had moved, resulting in the unavailability of it's LAN jack. It was recommissioned and was in service from November 2019 until May of 2020. More home networking changes resulted in a nearby LAN port becoming available again, and the system was removed from service.
It's been out of service since May of 2020, but it has been used for other things. It's original installation of Xubuntu 18.04 is still on it's main HDD, but it has since had a Maxtor HDD installed. That had Debian Testing installed on it, and that install was used for recovering the contents of a few hundred floppy diskettes. (Sidenote: That Maxtor drive, despite showing perfect SMART stats, is dog slow.) Since it was last used, it's had a few things piled on top of it, and it was nearly invisible in an odd corner of the Tech Room.
Now to move the pile of junk, get the system up onto the table, and grab some photos before we start messing with it.
Awesome side panel:
Butt shot 1 (lots of legacy ports on this old motherboard):
OOPS, clicked post too early. Carry on...
Butt shot 2:
Other side panel:
Front panel door closed, feat. optical drive with disintegrating cover:
Bottom of front panel:
Front panel door opened:
(Yes, that floppy drive is loosely sitting in the case.)
And for the USB ports:
The headphone jacks are nonfunctional. IIRC, the motherboard's audio controller is also dead.
Now for some inside shots before partially stripping it to make working on it easier.
Top-down case view:
Both HDDs installed and cabled up:
Also, I manually jumpered both drives for master/slave when I added the Maxtor drive.
Installed expansion cards:
See that heatsink? I had that attached to the wireless card's chipset because it would overheat and do all kinds of bizarre crap without it.
GPU:
Molex Madness. Lots of splitters and adapters here:
I don't have a lot of time left this morning to work on this thread. More pictures coming up from last night later today.
So earlier this month, I decided to install some new firewall software on my firewall system (an Advantech UNO-3072LA from 2008) and get a proper firewall solution going instead of the hacky Shorewall... thing that I had running. I picked IPFire because it was basically the last Linux-based solution left that would still boot on x86. Equipped with an Intel Atom N270 CPU, it's stuck on 32-bit software, and is a huge limitation, especially considering that it has dual GbE NICs. In the process of configuring IPFire, I ran into a rather nasty problem: It has no idea what to do when I try to open ports to the outside world at the same time the web proxy is running. Which is a breaking limitation, so I needed to pick another firewall solution. Say hello, OPNsense. Thing is, that only boots on x86_64 CPUs, which this Advantech system doesn't have.
Cue a (former) gaming computer from 2004. Equipped with an AMD Athlon 64 CPU, any modern Linux distro should boot on it. It was in 24/7 service from November 2004 until late 2018 when it was pulled from service due to a flaky SATA controller and a bad PSU. It remained out of service until November 2019 when it was very suddenly called upon to act as a bridge system to bridge the Tech Room's wired LAN to the home's WiFi network because the modem had moved, resulting in the unavailability of it's LAN jack. It was recommissioned and was in service from November 2019 until May of 2020. More home networking changes resulted in a nearby LAN port becoming available again, and the system was removed from service.
It's been out of service since May of 2020, but it has been used for other things. It's original installation of Xubuntu 18.04 is still on it's main HDD, but it has since had a Maxtor HDD installed. That had Debian Testing installed on it, and that install was used for recovering the contents of a few hundred floppy diskettes. (Sidenote: That Maxtor drive, despite showing perfect SMART stats, is dog slow.) Since it was last used, it's had a few things piled on top of it, and it was nearly invisible in an odd corner of the Tech Room.
Now to move the pile of junk, get the system up onto the table, and grab some photos before we start messing with it.
Awesome side panel:
Butt shot 1 (lots of legacy ports on this old motherboard):
OOPS, clicked post too early. Carry on...
Butt shot 2:
Other side panel:
Front panel door closed, feat. optical drive with disintegrating cover:
Bottom of front panel:
Front panel door opened:
(Yes, that floppy drive is loosely sitting in the case.)
And for the USB ports:
The headphone jacks are nonfunctional. IIRC, the motherboard's audio controller is also dead.
Now for some inside shots before partially stripping it to make working on it easier.
Top-down case view:
Both HDDs installed and cabled up:
Also, I manually jumpered both drives for master/slave when I added the Maxtor drive.
Installed expansion cards:
See that heatsink? I had that attached to the wireless card's chipset because it would overheat and do all kinds of bizarre crap without it.
GPU:
Molex Madness. Lots of splitters and adapters here:
I don't have a lot of time left this morning to work on this thread. More pictures coming up from last night later today.
Attached Files
PUNNY!
...
Regardless, here's my story.
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