metaruss

Trying various ways to import my static website without having to do it by hand.  Poked around with Zack Preble’s “CSV” Importer.  It works fine for short posts in plain text without carriage returns, but it’s a bit lacking for more complicated stuff.

Right now I am trying to write a script that will generate WPX RSS formatted XML files that are good enough to import directly into WordPress.

I’ve been resisting the trend to start a blog for almost a decade now, as I still sort of enjoyed “blogging” through the various esoteric corners of my old, vanilla website.  However, I am finding less and less time to fiddle with HTML though ssh sessions. My brain is also getting such that I seem to forget where I keep things.  This is my attempt to migrate the more useful parts of my partly living home website into a searchable blog-style site.  We’ll see how far I get before I give up!

Update 01/17/2012: Sorry for the broken links. I think I lost some .htaccess magic when moving around my site hosting. I’ve been using my Keyspan on my Debian box running the stock 2.6.32 kernel and have not had issues. That’s why this page is so stale…I forgot all about it.

This driver source code and firmware was taken directly from the kernel.org sources and packaged as a kernel module.  It supports several of the Keyspan “USA” Series USB to Serial converters.  This driver was removed from official Debian kernel sources due to its change in status as “non-free” per the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG).  This was the result of some unclear language in the license found in the firmware header files.

I had invested in several of these dongles due to their quality, performance, and good Linux support.  Debian is the only distribution that is not happy with the licensing terms.  Even Ubuntu (a Debian-derived distribution) has added this driver back to its kernels.  I was a bit frustrated by this and have decided to package the driver for other Debian users.

Source Packages

The sources can currently be built for 2.6.18 and 2.6.26 kernels intended for Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 “etch” and Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 “lenny”, respectively.  Other kernels are likely supported as well, but will require Makefile and possibly source modifications due to internal API changes between kernel versions. You should be able to build the module by installing the keyspan-source package and then using module-assistant: “m-a prepare; m-a auto-install keyspan”.

• keyspan-source_1.26.1_all.deb
• keyspan_1.26.1_amd64.changes
• keyspan_1.26.1.dsc
• keyspan_1.26.1.tar.gz

Binary Packages

Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 “etch”:

• keyspan-modules-2.6.18-6-amd64_1.26+2.6.18.dfsg.1-22etch3_amd64.deb
• keyspan-modules-2.6.18-6-686_1.26+2.6.18.dfsg.1-23_i386.deb
• keyspan-modules-2.6.18-6-486_1.26+2.6.18.dfsg.1-23_i386.deb

Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 “lenny”:

• amd64 coming soon…
• keyspan-modules-2.6.26-1-686_1.26.1+2.6.26-8_i386.deb
• keyspan-modules-2.6.26-1-486_1.26.1+2.6.26-8_i386.deb

Changes from Original Source

• Created Makefile to build outside of kernel tree.
• Initial release based on Linux Kernel 2.6.18.8 for Etch.
• Added driver source and firmware from 2.6.26.6 for Lenny.
• Modified Makefile to build for either kernel tree.
• Added preinst script to divert existing keyspan module.

09/16/2008: Version 60.17 (based on “Blueberry60”) – Add timing back to AdvanceFromMapWarmFull so that retard window is from 2.5 – 10psi. Also add a couple of degrees before and after that. Scale FuelMonitorScaling down instead of up (duh) to try to match observed mileage. Set StartFuelCompBaro back to stock to try to address insufficient fuel at cold start. Change AdvanceFromRpms under 1500 back to original BB60.

A week or two after the convention, the car suddenly got a bad vibration when making right turns.  It seemed like the left axle tripod was bottoming-out.  I had recentered the engine when I had the old stock axle in there and never put it back, but I wasn’t sure what caused it to suddenly appear one day.  It turned out that the aftermarket trans mount I installed had partially collapsed, which was enough to take out the last bit of slack in the axle.  Anyway, I put the poly trans mount back in (the engine vibrations were no better with the rubber mount anyway), fixed the front mount bracket so I could slip washers in there to space the poly away from the bracket, and recentered the engine.  Everything is fine now and the washers did seem to help a bit with the vibs.

I also cleaned-up the crab rims from the CSX, hit the lips with a scotch-brite abrasive wheel, and polished them a bit before installing them on the Daytona.  The Dunlop SP8000s from JT are worn down to the markers now, so I’m running the Kuhmo 712s from the CSX.  They have flat spots from the freeway spin-out, but they do have plenty of tread.  The Dunlops were awesome tires, but you can’t get them in 225/50 R15 anymore.  I’m saving the last of them for the CSX when it is done.

Lastly, I made shims for the brake pads on all four calipers to try to shut them up.  They still squeak, but are better overall.  I think the notches that are worn into the brackets from the pad plates may be to blame.  Would have to weld them up somehow, but I have bigger fish to fry.

The first time I drove the car after coming home from the convention, the door handle broke on the drivers side.  Joe from the club was nice enough to pick one up from an 85 Daytona in the junkyard and ship it to me.  The rod had to be bent to match the old one, but it swapped over just fine otherwise.  While the door was apart, I installed the ’87 power mirrors.  Man, the ’91 wiring diagrams are horrible.  Not one single interesting circuit on the power mirror page was right and as such my splice job from way back when did not work.  I spent many hours trying to sort that out, but now I finally have working power mirrors!

07/07/2008: Version 60.16 (based on “Blueberry60”) – Revert ColdEnrichmentFuelCurveA back to stock since AIS changes seemed to address part of lean startup conditions. Remove more timing from AdvanceFromMapWarmFull to widen range down to -2psi.

07/03/2008: Version 60.15 (based on “Blueberry60”) – Increase boost goals/limits to 21psi. Fix lots of missing TBL entries and re-enable staging mod. Get rid of “2bar/3bar” table names to permit easier comparisons to Turbonator and stock cals. Revert AIS tables and FuelLeanoutFactorOffThrottle back to stock. Bump FuelMonitorScaling to compensate for observed fuel useage discrepencies. Retard timing between 0 to 15psi up to -10 degrees at 6psi in AdvanceFromMapWarmFull for improved turbo spool.

Another awesome time at SDAC has come and gone.  The performance driving school was a blast as always.  The Daytona did great overall, but the stress did highlight some issues.  The intercooler definitely needs to be kicked-out at the bottom to allow some air to get around it.  The loss in cooling capacity was very obvious after a few laps, though it will happen on the street in traffic with the A/C on as well.  I’m thinking of buying a new fan as well.  The other issue was oil pressure.  I know the pump has issues and when the oil temps got high, I was seeing only about 30psi of pressure at 5000rpm.  Not good, so I think it’s time for a new pump.

I made 14 passes at the drag strip.  Times weren’t what I had hoped (was shooting for 13s), but I didn’t break the car.  I couldn’t get the car to hook nor could I get it to make more than 18-19psi of boost…even with the wastegate unplugged.  I also trashed 3rd gear by the end and it seems that it will need a new syncro.  Did a bit of tuning, but most of the effort was spent trying to learn how to launch the car.  Best time was 14.269sec @ 98.87mph.

So I’m going to SDAC-18 and have been doing a mad-dash to get the car ready.  The axle boot was the wrong one and tore itself up on the trans case.  I put an old stocker in there from the Shadow while I worked on other things.  Later I got the correct boots from JT and completely went though the axles.  Only the short axle has the tripod welded to it and it looks like they did it while the bearings were on.  They must have slipped and tagged one of them with the welder.  The tulip race is chewed-up pretty good there.  The outer joints have a lot of hammer blows on them and long axle’s has a lot of play and binds much beyond the center.  I put them back together anyway and they seem to be holding up so far.  I don’t expect to get a whole lot of miles out of them.

Trying to address the somewhat-weak oil pressure issues, I pulled the pan and removed the pickup.  My thought was that it may have been leaking at the o-ring since I had to bend the tube a bit when putting the motor together.  I took the pump apart as well to check the clearances.  It had a lot of scoring in it for some reason, but the clearances were all well within spec.  I also plastiguaged the rods bearings, which looked great and were nice and tight.

I’m going to be running the road course, so I put new pads and rotors in the front and bled the brakes.  Also replaced the front swaybar bushings with new ones from Johnny.  The radiator was throughly flushed, since I had some oil in there.

The ends on the CS Racer panhard bar were shot, so I modified a stocker to make it adjustable.  One end was cut off and a grade 10.9 M16 bolt welded to it.  Some of the bar was removed and an M16 coupler nut was welded to that end and the whole bar was boxed-in.  It warped a bit after all the welding, so I lowered on car on it to bend it straight again.  It was installed with new poly bushings from Johnny Spiva.

I DA’ed and rattle-canned the roof and mounted the side door mouldings.  Painted those as well as some missing paint on the nose.  Also painted the exposed bumper support since the grill is missing there.  Did lots of touch-ups and also tried to deal with the worst of the rust on the hood.  Didn’t have enough time to finish sanding and rubbing-out the patches, but it looks better than it did before.