Author Archives: lkeyes70

Trixbox and VoIP Update

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I have done an extensive hoeing out of the VoIP Resource Guide, if you thought it was getting a bit long in the tooth, there are new items and I’ve deleted a lot of the old stuff. But, to cut the chase, here are some Stuff That Works:

The above are components that I’ve been using recently. Just today I ordered another Polycom phone, and a Sangoma A200 FXO card to replace my Digium X100p card. The difference between the Polycom phone and the Grandstream B100 phones in sound quality is noticable, and the general fit and finish of the Polycom phones is outstanding. Of course they cost twice of what the Grandstream phones had cost.

Other things highly thought of:
At the Boston Trixbox seminar, people spoke highly of Aastra phones, and Rhino interface cards. M0n0wall, the open source firewall was also recommended.

Unsolved Problems:
I was really happy with Gizmo for awhile, but have never been able to get it to register with my Trixbox server. I fiddled, but always given up.

And, still looking for a QoS solution for my home router, so that when I’m on the phone, and am casually surfing the web, it doesn’t destroy the conversation mid-word.

Monthly Introducation July 2007

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Welcome to Tech for Non-Profits, the unplugged version of Microdesign Consulting. Part lab-notebook, part brain-extension, it is a repository for new and half-baked ideas that we run across as we provide software and database development, network support, and R&D for a growing list of clients in education, health care and non-profit organizations.

Occasional features include Tech Friday, which may include code(!), our (mostly) annotated VoIP resource guide, Stuff That Works for hardware and software items that have passed the Five Minute Test, and Chron This Week, which is a synopsis of technology articles of interest in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Topics on grantwritng and fundraising appear as we seem to have one or more grant application in progress most of the time.

The emphasis this month will be on open source telephone systems, specifically TrixBox, as we are implementing our own small system.

Windows XP Embedded – Taking a look

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Installing the Windows XPe —

The installation files come on 4 CDs.

Includes the database of Windows XP components. This is installed in a MSCE (older version of SQL-Server Express.) The installer doesn’t appear to be smart enough to use existing SQL-Server or SQL-Express that may be present from other Microsoft Developer products.

Once the database engine is installed, it then puts in the components. These include all of the third-party hardware drivers that are included in Windows XP… even things like support for U.S. Robotics modems.

Once XP SP1 is installed, the SP2 is installed over it. This updates the Windows binaries, and refreshes the database.

Install includes a remote boot service which allows PXE and TFTP updates to remote devices. This could be interesting, as it would allow automatic updates to deployed devices.

Working through the tutorials, it assumes that you want to incorporate a “Hello World” .exe file into the final image that is to be loaded on the target hardware. The sample file is a simple .exe which uses the Microsoft C runtime. Both of these items are packaged as a “component” by using the component designer.

Component files are stored with an .sld extension
Configuration files are stored with an .slx extension

Microsoft touts XPe as having the ability to run existing Windows applications without having to port (rewrite, or recompile) the application. Still, assuming an application requires registry entries, when it is installed, you have to figure out what all the registry entries are, and how the application is configured.
MSDN to the rescue:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms838332.aspx

The Configuration Manager includes several pre-configured devices, including:
Kiosk,
Network Appliance
Rich Media Player
Basic Media Player
Set-Top Box

Microsoft Access 2007 Runtime is now available

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The Microsoft Access 2007 runtime is now available at this link. Hooray!

You also need to download and install the Developer Extensions to allow you to build an Access 2007 solution that includes the Access runtime.

After installing these, I was a little nonplussed, as I couldn’t seem to find any of files to start the Packaging Wizard…which is the wizard to step you through the creation of a set of installation files for your Access application. This is now tucked under the “Developer” tab within Access 2007. There is no separate menu item off the Windows start menu.

Dell: Read the Fine Print

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Got a new Dell “home” catalog today… Its as random as ever… a dozen laptops, a dozen desktops. No coherency among product lines. Reading some of the fine print:

Dell’s Return Policy: If you cancel your purchase for any reason within 21 days, we’ll refund your purchase price minus shipping and handling and applicable restocking charges. You are responsible for the cost of shipping your system back to us.

Warranties: You can get a copy of our limited warranties and guarantees by writing Dell USA L.P., Att: Warranties, One Dell Way Round Rock TX 78762. To purchase warranty only or for more information on other service options, please call 1-800-915-3355 or visit dell4me.com/termsandconditions

And I thought this was an interesting technical note:

Shared Memory on Select Dell Dimension, Inspiron and XPS systems:
Up to 512MB of system memory may be alocated to support integrated graphics, depending on the system memory size and other factors (Dim. C521 and E521, up to 512MB, Dim E520, XPS, M1210 and 210, Insp. E1405, E1505, and E1705, up to 224MB, Insp. 1501, up to 256MB)

To paraphrase a well-known technical curmudgeon “we read the fine print so you don’t have to”.

1. Dell used to have a 30-day no questions asked return policy. Clearly this has now been reduced to 21 days, and you may end up paying an applicable restocking charge of how much? If you return a machine, I’d be surprised if the return shipping, fees and restocking are less than $100US.

2. They don’t publish their warranties in the catalog, because they are mostly legalize designed to protect the company and the customer be damned.

3. If you think you have 2 gigs of memory in your machine, you may only have 1.5 gigs of “useful” memory, as a chunk of it is going to the video board.

Note that these gems appear on two full pages, A14 and A15 of similar legal ass-covering.

Trixbox Boston

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The cockpit. Laptop with the VMWare image of Trixbox installed. You can see the version 2.2 management screen. To the right, a Polycom 330 phone. These were part of the package that everyone took home. These are really nice phones, a real step up for those of us who have been using lower-end phones in our Trixbox experiments.


Andrew Gillis tries to debug problems with David Mandelstam’s Polycom phone. If David can “brick” a phone…is there any hope for end-users? ;-0

Andrew, Kerry and Stefanie Chao-Narayan handing out diplomas.


The object of our affection. A pre-production TrixBox. This one was the enterprise version, with dual power supplies. It runs cool as a cucumber, but belongs in a server room or wiring closet, not under your desk.