RunningWithBulls.com - The curse of Sanfermin

[UPDATE: Ok, so using a different HDD with something else installed didn’t work. I will have to grab the CentOS 3.4 ISO tomorrow. bah!]

[UPDATE: I found what I think is the answer. Apparently “You cannot use the A@H ISO. It isnt configured to run on a I586 CPU witch is on those boards.”

Also, someone posted they were going to try and install on a disk that already had an OS on it. This is probably a shot in the dark, but its worth a go at this stage.
If this does not work, I will have to get CentOS 3.4 ISO and try that.

Here’s hoping.]

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I came across asterisk initially, then found asterisk@home. I found that a number of companies are using astierisk@home, or are starting to consider asterisk, or asterisk@home, as a replacement for their already expensive PABX, and PRI lines.

What is Asterisk@Home
The Asterisk@Home project enables the home user to quickly set up a VOIP Asterisk PBX. A web GUI makes configuration and operation easy. We also provide an xPL (home automation) interface for easy interaction with other devices in the home.
What is Asterisk?
Easily build your own multiprotocol PBX on Linux!
Asterisk is a complete PBX in software. It runs on Linux, BSD and MacOSX and provides all of the features you would expect from a PBX and more. Asterisk does voice over IP in many protocols, and can interoperate with almost all standards-based telephony equipment using relatively inexpensive hardware.

Asterisk provides a central switching core, with four APIs for modular loading of telephony applications, hardware interfaces, file format handling, and codecs. It allows for transparent switching between all supported interfaces, allowing it to tie together a diverse mixture of telephony systems into a single switching network.

The main difference (and only difference I can see after reading a number of articles about it) is the Asterisk@home (*@home for short) has a nice GUI to configure everything by, whereas * is commandline-jockey-hardcore-admin level stuff.

We all like it when things are easier.

*@home contains SugarCRM, an amazingly powerful CRM package. The developers themselves even say its a little overkill, but it works so well. Thats alot of CRM power you have there.

Blueface the first real independent VOIP operator to offer a public service also support *. It seems as it may take work to get it working, but any money you can keep and *not* give to eircom, must be good, eh!? Blueface give a test config for * here.

The main thing seems to be that *@home as opposed to * doesn’t actually play with and change the actual config files, but rather via a web interface, so it may take extra work to get the config files changed.

I am currently having a minor problem of *getting the damn thing installed*. I am trying to install it on a mini-itx box (512MB RAM/1.2GHz VIA EPIA PD10000 LVDS MoBo/Seagate Momentus 20GB HDD). The boot from the *@home ISO works. Packages get installed, but when it comes to the bootloader, it hangs, and hangs for good (I left it 15 minutes…its not that slow!).

I have tried to install *@home, along of lines outlined at TomsNetworking.com, and the install dumped at “installing bootloader”.

After initially thinking this was due to the HDD being seen as /dev/hdc (thanks to Zeris for the help there) I swapped the HDD to make sure it was on IDE1 and was being seen as /dev/hda.
It still dumped.

I then went about installing CentOS, seperately, to see if I could get the OS on, and then get *@home on.

The steps I followed were:
Choose system peripherals/environ:
Language-UK
no mouse

Disk partitioning system:
autopartitioning or disk druid
Action: Choose auto

Automatic partitioning
Action: Remove all partitions

What drive you want to install on : hda
Action: ok

You choose to remove all data from /dev/hda
Action: yes

Partition table:
device start end size type mountpoint
/dev/hdc
hdc1 1 13 101m ext3 /boot
hdc2 14 2302 17955m ext3 /
hdc3 2303 2432 1019m swap

Boot loader choice:
grub/lilo or none
Action: lilo

No special boot params

Boot loader config

default boot label device
* linux /dev/hda2

Where do you want to install the boot loader
/dev/hda MBR
/dev/hda1 first sector of boot partition
Action: choose /dev/hda MBR

Network config
net dev: eth0

IP address: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
subnet xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

gateway: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
dns: pri/sec/ter

set hostname
set language
set localisations

Packages to install
Action: choose all below
webserver
mailserver
ftpserver
network servers
development tools
prionting support
admin tools

It then starts the install of the packages.

All goes well, then it dumps *yet again* on the bootloader.

Any help….anyone?!?!

Help is available from the voip-info.org wiki, but only for the install. There is also the *@home handbook. Digium run mail lists on asterix@home/asterix. They can be sourced here.