February 2012 – Deszynski home

VMWare shrink *nix / OS X virtual disk (VMDK)

Feb 252012

It’s quite easy to shrink dynamic disk files in VMWare – just go to VM Settings -> select the desired disk -> Utilities -> Compact or use command line tool vmware-vdiskmanager. You’ve done this and… the VMDK size is still the same.

So… before you shrink the virtual drive make sure you fill the empty disk space with zeros!
On linux/unix/OS X – Lion start terminal / shell and execute:
cat /dev/zero > disk.fill;sync;sleep 1;sync;rm -f disk.fill
after the job is finished you can shrink your VMDK drive.

Have fun.

OS X – PC Keys shortcuts

OS X No Responses »

Feb 202012

So finally I’ve decided to give Mac a try. I’ve replaced my loud Dell XPS15 i7 with MacBook Air 11” i5. I really enjoy the silence of SDD and most of the time passive cooling. But… MAC is missing some of very useful PC keys like DEL, PgDn, PgUp etc. especially if you work remotely on Windows / Unix machines.

Here my Findings:
OS X Terminal

Page Up key – Shift+Fn+Arrow Up key
Page Down key – Shift+Fn+Arrown Down key
Home key – Shift+Fn+Arrow Left key
End key – Shift+Fn+Arrow Right key
DEL key – Fn+Backspace key
Insert key (Selecting files in Midnight Commander) – alternative: Ctrl+t key

Remote Desktop / VNC / Screen Sharing

Page Up key – Fn+Arrow Up key
Page Down key – Fn+Arrown Down key
Home key – Fn+Arrow Left key
End key – Fn+Arrow Right key
DEL key – Fn+Backspace key

have fun.

Pimp your Audi

Electronic No Responses »

Feb 142012

My last year mod for Mini-Me – Audi tuning with LED lights.

Everything is powered with 4 x 1.5 V AA batteries and controlled with low power CMOS 4013 (one battery pack is enough for 6 month usage). The lights switch automatically on (magnet sensor mounted on front wheel) and switching off automatically after 1 minute.

The electrical circuit is a simple multivibrator – unfortunately documented only in my head – so if you are interested in the circuit drop me an email and I’ll make a nice drawing.

Gallery:

[Show as slideshow]

Final product: