Tuesday 22 December 2020

Prepare and create a RAID5 Array of 5 * 4TB Segate Barracuda Disks

 We need to prepare the disks as GPT labeled as they are > 2TB.

For each disk:

  • parted -a optimal /dev/sdx
  • mklabel gpt
  • mkpart primary 0% 100%
  • set 1 raid on
  • align-check optimal 1
  • print
  • quit

Create the array:
  • mdadm --create /dev/md0 --level=raid5 --raid-devices=5 /dev/sdx1 /dev/sdx1 /dev/sdx1 /dev/sdx1 /dev/sdx

In all of the above replace /dev/sdx1 with appropriates devices, e.g /dev/sda1 /dev/sda2 etc.

Tuesday 8 December 2020

Restrict ASUS laptop charge to 60% in Linux

 Dual booting my ASUS TUF laptop between Windows and Ubuntu 10.

The tools supplied by ASUS with Windows allows the battery charge to be limited to a specified %, the most agressive being 60%, in a bid to preserve battery life. Most laptops that are docked keep the battery at 100% and this kills the battery.

Found a good answer here:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1006778/set-battery-thresholds-on-ubuntu-asus/1230442#1230442

I didn't have enough reputation on the site to leave a like or comment so I'm showing my appreciation here.

I did install tlp using "sudo apt install tlp" but not certain this is required.

After issuing the command "echo 60 | sudo tee /sys/class/power_supply/BAT1/charge_control_end_threshold" and adding the line "@reboot root echo 60 > /sys/class/power_supply/BAT1/charge_control_end_threshold"  to /etc/crontab, the output of "sudo tlp-stat -b" showed the charge at 78% and that the charge now was 0mA. It still shows as charging in the system tray but the % remains unchanging.

The reason I am not certain that TLP is required is because all the kernal modules listed in "tlp-stat -b" are showing as inactive and laptop not supported.

I've just unplogged my laptop and will let the percentage drop to below 60%, reconnect to the mains and see if the charging stops as hoped.