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Partkeepr and PHP 5.6

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partkeepr-logoBecause I couldn’t find any info on this myself (and therefore my Partkeepr install has been broken since updating to PHP 5.6), and it took the developer of Partkeepr some thought on how to Google for it himself, I thought I would post something quick on Partkeepr and PHP 5.6. Basically, it works, but only if you don’t have a couple options set with PHP 5.6’s Zend OPCache (the built-in OPCache in 5.6, which largely deprecated APC). There are two options for opcache that completely break several frameworks, such as Doctrine, which Partkeepr uses extensively. The options are:

opcache.save_comments
opcache.load_comments

If either of these options is set to “0”, things break. And of course, if you read the notes on “opcache.save_comments” it mentioned breaking Doctrine. So, make sure they’re set to “1” if you’re using any of those frameworks, and especially if you’re using Partkeepr. I banged my head against this for days.

The developer of Partkeepr, however, is going to have a runtime check in a new version that makes sure those two options are set properly, otherwise have Partkeepr throw an error. Here’s the initial bug report of mine. Hopefully this post will help someone, and save them some hair being torn out. =)

UPDATE: I was able to just enable opcache.save_comments and load_comments for just my partkeepr domain by setting:

php_admin_flag opcache.save_comments 1
php_admin_flag opcache.load_comments 1

In the VHOST configuration for apache. This lets me leave them both as 0 for all my other sites, thereby gaining the reduced cached sizes. =) Good luck!

Antec TruePower Trio TP3-550 Fan Bus Repair

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TP3-550Couple weeks back I got a request to repair a friends computer. It would lock up, not reboot, etc. The computer was largely for gaming, so after an initial software scan, I figured it must be heat. Opening the machine, I noticed none of the case fans are running. I had initially done the build on the machine, and new all the case fans were wired to the fan power “bus” provided by the power supply (which handled speeding/slowing the fans based on case temp), an Antec TruePower Trio TP3-550. Asking the friend, he mentioned that he had noticed the LEDs on the front case fan had went out a month or two ago. Hmm. Checking the voltage on that fan bus showed only 2V (not nearly enough to run a 12V 120mm fan). The PSU’s fan was also not running. Crap, that was probably overheating the PSU, and causing the instability.

Wanting to get his machine back up and running, I picked up a replacement Corsair power supply, installed it, and got him on his way. Then, I went to repairing the Antec power supply. Warning, because this is a power supply, and especially because this is a high wattage switcher, there are dangerous (and lethal if you live in parts of the world that run off 220/240 household) voltages inside. Make sure the unit is unplugged, off, and even give it an hour or two for the primary caps to discharge. I have seen the primary discharge relatively quickly, so there must be a bleeder resistor in the unit, but I didn’t bother tracking it down.

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Racal-Dana 1992 Button Repair

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racal-dana-1992-frequency-counterLike nearly ever other Racal-Dana 199x owner, I have the mushy/lifeless buttons, so this last week (during vacation) I decided to do the replacement work. It involved unsoldering all the stock buttons (34 of them). Thankfully I have a Hakko FR-300 desoldering gun that made very quick work of removing the buttons ((note: you’ll need the N50-06 tip to fit around one of the lugs on the buttons, which for some reason have one small, and one large lug)). Took maybe 5-10 minutes to remove all the original buttons. The replacements I used were Panasonic EVQ-21509K switches. The only issue with these is the hole spacing on the board is not “standard” so you have to work at placement to get them lined up. Some others have purchased 4-contact switches on ebay, and cut two corner legs off, and then installed the switch angled 45°. In hind sight, this may have been easier since I had to tweak things a bit to get all the switches lined up.

The real bear of the install was modifying the key caps to fit the new buttons. The original buttons have a cross top that fits into the buttons, and holds them on via simple friction. The new buttons, however, are standard cylindrical actuators. Modifying them required some side cutters (which anyone in electronics will have), and needle nose pliers to twist out the cut pieces. The worst part is on your fingers, as holding the buttons gets pretty painful over the 34 of them… but after an hour or so of work, I had them all done, and waiting to be glued. Then the realization hit me. Because of the weird leads on the Panasonic switches, they didn’t sit flat against the PCB, so the switch stems weren’t perfectly upright, and therefore the key-caps didn’t sit in the holes right. Damn it.

So, admitting defeat, I ordered some cheap 4 contact switches on ebay (6x6x9mm, same as the Panasonic’s), and removed all the panasonic switches (again, thank god Hakko FR-300). 3 weeks later, the eBay switches arrived, and after removing two corner legs, the new switches sit much better, albeit, diagonally (who cares). The legs did have to be bent a tiny amount, but the biggest issue was really just pressing the button against the PCB while soldering it in place. Total time to install all the new buttons took about an hour. Clearing out the inner part of the button caps took a bit longer, and gluing them in place was a bit of a pain, but wasn’t terrible. And really, having working buttons made all of it well worth while. Good luck!