Let's be honest. I don't need much of an excuse for buying some weird old shit.
This time, though, I put the blame squarely on Docker.
The new job has provided me a very fancy new Macbook Pro. It has 4 USB-C ports and a lousy keyboard.
The first strike against the MBP happened last weekend. I needed to help a friend of a friend set up some networking gear. I grabbed my one functional laptop... and realized it has no ethernet ports. I have a large USB-C hub but I wasn't about to drag that thing along. At some point later I needed a RS232 connection. Denied! I have a crappy RS232 to USB-B adapter but it was at home, and would've required the hub as well.
The second strike came later in the week. For $work_reasons, I need to find a method for our developer teams to work on Docker containers that use IPv6. Many of our devs use Macs. After much research, and to my great dismay, I confirmed that Docker Desktop for Mac does not support IPv6.
The issue has been open on Github for nearly 3 years:
https://github.com/docker/for-mac/issues/1432
There was some initial work done in 2017 but it appears Docker, as a company, has stopped work to support IPv6 on their Mac product.
I did a bit more research and it seems possible to run Docker within a VirtualBox VM with IPv6 enabled but I didn’t play around further with that.
This got me thinking about laptops. Specifically, a cheap, possibly old, laptop with lots of ports. Maybe something tough enough to withstand falling off a shelf in a server closet. This took me way down the rabbit hole of ruggedized laptops.
The (likely first) laptop I bought is the Panasonic Toughbook CF-31. There’s at least 5 revisions, and in my haste I bought the oldest, a MK1. The main difference between it and the new models is it is a 32-bit only system and the others are 64-bit. If the 32-bitness becomes an issue, I’ll likely sell it locally and buy a MK4 or MK5 for about $100 more.
Here’s the specs for my Toughbook:
* Touchscreen
* Intel Core i5-M520 @ 2.4GHz
* 8GB DDR3 RAM (which is the max for this laptop)
* 128GB SSD
* HDMI
* RS-232 serial port
* SD card slot
* Stylus
* WWAN
* WiFi
* GPS
* BlueTooth
These specs don’t really tell the whole story. Here’s Panasonic’s sales page for the Toughbook. And more info here.
This is a laptop that
* has a full magnesium alloy case with a built-in handle
* is water-resistant rated at IP 65, which means it’ll stay running and internally dry while being hosed down with water, but not submerged
* has a screen that’s bright enough to be seen in bright sunlight, but can dim for night mode
* backlit keyboard
* can be dropped from 3 feet while running
* and 6 feet while off
* can withstand over 300 pounds of pressure on its lid
I paid $250 for this, shipped, which is still a rip-off because I’m an idiot and didn’t buy a MK4 for the same price.
Installation
The first recommended step for setting up a Toughbook is to update the firmware. This nearly always requires Windows.
Since my TB is old, I’ll install Windows 7 32-bit on it first. I’m using Rufus to create a bootable USB drive.
Next, I’ll get the One-click Bundles from Panasonic. These should contain the firmwares and drivers I’ll need.
After installation, I’ll have to decide: could the Toughbook be good enough to be my daily driver? Obviously it’ll have to run Linux, so I’ll need to test how well Linux works on it. (I also have a rule to never run Linux as a workstation. I tend to fix Linux workstations until they’re broken.) If I decide a Toughbook can be a daily driver for me, I’ll flip this one and upgrade to a newer model. Otherwise, I’ll keep this one and use it as a bench/diagnostics system.
Next up: results of installing Windows, installing Linux, and decisions!
This time, though, I put the blame squarely on Docker.
The new job has provided me a very fancy new Macbook Pro. It has 4 USB-C ports and a lousy keyboard.
The first strike against the MBP happened last weekend. I needed to help a friend of a friend set up some networking gear. I grabbed my one functional laptop... and realized it has no ethernet ports. I have a large USB-C hub but I wasn't about to drag that thing along. At some point later I needed a RS232 connection. Denied! I have a crappy RS232 to USB-B adapter but it was at home, and would've required the hub as well.
The second strike came later in the week. For $work_reasons, I need to find a method for our developer teams to work on Docker containers that use IPv6. Many of our devs use Macs. After much research, and to my great dismay, I confirmed that Docker Desktop for Mac does not support IPv6.
The issue has been open on Github for nearly 3 years:
https://github.com/docker/for-mac/issues/1432
There was some initial work done in 2017 but it appears Docker, as a company, has stopped work to support IPv6 on their Mac product.
I did a bit more research and it seems possible to run Docker within a VirtualBox VM with IPv6 enabled but I didn’t play around further with that.
This got me thinking about laptops. Specifically, a cheap, possibly old, laptop with lots of ports. Maybe something tough enough to withstand falling off a shelf in a server closet. This took me way down the rabbit hole of ruggedized laptops.
The (likely first) laptop I bought is the Panasonic Toughbook CF-31. There’s at least 5 revisions, and in my haste I bought the oldest, a MK1. The main difference between it and the new models is it is a 32-bit only system and the others are 64-bit. If the 32-bitness becomes an issue, I’ll likely sell it locally and buy a MK4 or MK5 for about $100 more.
Here’s the specs for my Toughbook:
* Touchscreen
* Intel Core i5-M520 @ 2.4GHz
* 8GB DDR3 RAM (which is the max for this laptop)
* 128GB SSD
* HDMI
* RS-232 serial port
* SD card slot
* Stylus
* WWAN
* WiFi
* GPS
* BlueTooth
These specs don’t really tell the whole story. Here’s Panasonic’s sales page for the Toughbook. And more info here.
This is a laptop that
* has a full magnesium alloy case with a built-in handle
* is water-resistant rated at IP 65, which means it’ll stay running and internally dry while being hosed down with water, but not submerged
* has a screen that’s bright enough to be seen in bright sunlight, but can dim for night mode
* backlit keyboard
* can be dropped from 3 feet while running
* and 6 feet while off
* can withstand over 300 pounds of pressure on its lid
I paid $250 for this, shipped, which is still a rip-off because I’m an idiot and didn’t buy a MK4 for the same price.
Installation
The first recommended step for setting up a Toughbook is to update the firmware. This nearly always requires Windows.
Since my TB is old, I’ll install Windows 7 32-bit on it first. I’m using Rufus to create a bootable USB drive.
Next, I’ll get the One-click Bundles from Panasonic. These should contain the firmwares and drivers I’ll need.
After installation, I’ll have to decide: could the Toughbook be good enough to be my daily driver? Obviously it’ll have to run Linux, so I’ll need to test how well Linux works on it. (I also have a rule to never run Linux as a workstation. I tend to fix Linux workstations until they’re broken.) If I decide a Toughbook can be a daily driver for me, I’ll flip this one and upgrade to a newer model. Otherwise, I’ll keep this one and use it as a bench/diagnostics system.
Next up: results of installing Windows, installing Linux, and decisions!
