nesdev.org

Posted: **Wed Nov 22, 2006 2:05 am**

Well I do ofcourse have a full backup of the Cherryroms forums, basically they were taken down as the phpbb script wasn't maintained and became a threat to the security of the machine.

I have a complete MYSQL dump if someone wants to setup a new version however, there will be a lot of sensitive information in those mysql records I'm sure a lot of the ex-users will still appreciate their privacy so I'm lothe to actually give the dumps out.

Maybe I could host the forums on a Temp domain.

Posted: **Wed Nov 22, 2006 10:38 am**

The sensitive personal information issue is certainly understandable and I have no idea how I could go about convincing you that it would be perfectly safe in my hands. Such information would not be leaked, sold, traded, or otherwise whatsoever. I would just respectfully request your trust on this matter. If we can come to an agreement, I have all the necessary resources to have the public information back online rather quickly, CopyCon.org is already set up to accept the data. Whatever you need as proof of my trustworthiness, feel free to ask anytime.

Posted: **Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:19 pm**

Can't the MySQL data be processed so as to remove the sensitive data? Definitely do not let the data die.

Posted: **Fri Nov 24, 2006 9:17 pm**

Yes the data could be stripped quite easily;

You will probably need to plug the MySQL backup blob/files into a MySQL engine and either delete/overwrite the offending columns or make a view(s) and redump the data.

two or three well SQL commands could do it.

Odds are you may even be able to purge most of the stuff from the profiles/user tables and still have integrity. (Rip out; Email/Realnames/MSN/AIM/ICQ/Address/DOB/Whatever)

Leave the User IDs/Alias Intact but simply nullify the columns that contain the sensitive data. Also if possible flag the users account to be made 'disabled/inactive'.

Posted: **Sat Nov 25, 2006 1:11 pm**

Ill try and have a look at this in the next few days... I'm a bit snowed under at the moment with Life and Work.

Posted: **Sun Nov 26, 2006 5:02 am**

The only real "sensitive" information would be PMs and email addresses if the user has chosen to hide it. All the other information is voluntarily given when users sign up at the forum and is viewable in their profile.

Posted: **Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:33 am**

I would rather have someone (perhaps one of the windier members ;) handpick USEFUL threads to keep as opposed to archiving the entire board. I do not want to bring back useless threads and long obsolete discussion. From there, I think good information can be extracted, paraphrased (with proper credits if applicable) to another medium (text or wiki) and then discarded leaving only historic threads which aren't suitable for wikification. I can't think of many examples of these however. All else IMO should be purged.

Posted: **Sun Nov 26, 2006 11:14 am**

Ok, but there is alot of noise to sort out of the singal;

Heres an idea:

Copy a 'cleaned' (no-personal info) version of the DB and set that up as a 'historical archive' forum with limited access.

Pick a bunch of 'Curators' to go through the threads and reconstruct the important stuff;

A Wiki would be neat, I assume however that copycon.org has lots of local storage available, as this stuff gets big fast.

That should minimize the bandwidth use and keep things nice and tidy.

Posted: **Sun Nov 26, 2006 6:29 pm**

I say just make it searchable and unedittable. People will then pull out data into a another document on an as need basis. I've been wanting to write up a simplified document on SWC DX2 and GD SF7 peripherials. Though my new job has been eating up most of my free time, and there is some info that sadly only exists in those CherryROMs threads.

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 12:45 am**

Recoil, Has there been any progress on setting this backup free?

I came across a post at http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/38 made in 2005 with links to cherryroms, where aparantly there was some discussion on getting a Jaz drive working with a WildCard DX2

# Guy Says:
December 5th, 2005 at 8:13 pm

The Datatank is a parallel IDE enclosure that uses the Kingbyte version 1 chipset, which is the only kind of parallel IDE enclosure that the DX2 supports. You can find them on Ebay, but I haven’t seen any for about half a year now. Here is a thread at CherryRoms detailing the parallel IDE devices that work with the DX2:
http://www.cherryroms.com/viewtopic.php?t=4260

You can also use SCSI devices with the DX2. I did a little research and came up with the info in this thread:
http://www.cherryroms.com/viewtopic.php?t=4488

Basically the DX2 supports several things: FAT12, FAT16, ISO9660, IDE, and SCSI. Though there are limitations, as stated in the above threads. The Zip drive support for the DX2 is actually via a parallel SCSI protocol, used by the chipset in DX2 compatible Zip drives. The cool part is that this same chipset can be purchased separately as a small SCSI to parallel adapter. With this, you can attach FAT16 formatted SCSI devices to your DX2. Interesting devices include, but are not limited to:

1. 250MB SCSI Zip drive
2. 1GB SCSI Jaz drive
…

So you aren’t limited to 100MB SCSI disks. There are limitations though. If you use the DX2 to format the device, it will result in a 100MB format, so you have to format the disks on a PC first, which isn’t a problem. Also, there are issues with using the DX2 to write to a format larger than 1GB. Others have tested 1GB Jaz disks without problems. I personally tested 2GB Jaz disks and had problems, though the DX2 could read the drive.

I'm really curious to see what technical information was discussed.

Cheers

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 3:57 am**

vvv wrote:Recoil, Has there been any progress on setting this backup free?

I came across a post at http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/38 made in 2005 with links to cherryroms, where aparantly there was some discussion on getting a Jaz drive working with a WildCard DX2

# Guy Says:
December 5th, 2005 at 8:13 pm

The Datatank is a parallel IDE enclosure that uses the Kingbyte version 1 chipset, which is the only kind of parallel IDE enclosure that the DX2 supports. You can find them on Ebay, but I haven’t seen any for about half a year now. Here is a thread at CherryRoms detailing the parallel IDE devices that work with the DX2:
http://www.cherryroms.com/viewtopic.php?t=4260

You can also use SCSI devices with the DX2. I did a little research and came up with the info in this thread:
http://www.cherryroms.com/viewtopic.php?t=4488

Basically the DX2 supports several things: FAT12, FAT16, ISO9660, IDE, and SCSI. Though there are limitations, as stated in the above threads. The Zip drive support for the DX2 is actually via a parallel SCSI protocol, used by the chipset in DX2 compatible Zip drives. The cool part is that this same chipset can be purchased separately as a small SCSI to parallel adapter. With this, you can attach FAT16 formatted SCSI devices to your DX2. Interesting devices include, but are not limited to:

1. 250MB SCSI Zip drive
2. 1GB SCSI Jaz drive
…

So you aren’t limited to 100MB SCSI disks. There are limitations though. If you use the DX2 to format the device, it will result in a 100MB format, so you have to format the disks on a PC first, which isn’t a problem. Also, there are issues with using the DX2 to write to a format larger than 1GB. Others have tested 1GB Jaz disks without problems. I personally tested 2GB Jaz disks and had problems, though the DX2 could read the drive.
I'm really curious to see what technical information was discussed.

Cheers

Didn't know this

It indeed would be very intressting to read more about.
btw. has anyone ever tried to disassemble the BIOS of the DX2? I'm been thinking about if it would be possible to extend the BIOS with FAT32 and long filename support as I hate the 8+3 names. So if anyone knows anything about the BIOS and wether there is room for I'd like to know

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:05 pm**

Well I did some more research using advanced google search and I found some cached versions of the cherryroms discussion that took place. Very useful information.

Thread 1
SWC DX2 Compatible Zip Drives 1/3
SWC DX2 Compatible Zip Drives 2/3
SWC DX2 Compatible Zip Drives 3/3

Thread 2
Zip Drive won't work with my DX2

1/1

This may be of use to other SWCDX2 owners.

Recoil, you may want to consider releasing the archive to someone else if you are busy with other obligations and don't have time. (I have servers in a data center with good bandwidth and many years of sysadmin experience, including MYSQL administration; and would be willing to invest some time in restoring it or even just lending a helping hand. I bet there are other folks around here that do too)

Take care
-v

Posted: **Fri Dec 08, 2006 11:34 pm**

vvv, I've got my server set up for it also. Wouldn't hurt to have it mirrored more than once so it'd be better preserved.

Posted: **Sat Feb 10, 2007 12:06 am**

So erm...it's been 2 months thus far, no one uses the forum I set up and no word on the cherryroms backup. I guess there's no longer any interest?

Posted: **Sun Feb 11, 2007 12:50 pm**

It looks that way, no archive == no interest.

You could ask Recoil whats happening, perhaps he just been busy.

Also you might need to 'advertise' the forum, for people to know about it.

this might be tricky, as many forum admins can get irritated if you link to something they don't personally approve of, ect...

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