Category: Computing

General computing with a bias towards Unix, OS X, Apple products, for use in Music and Photography

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Virtual Machine Manager – Synology makes an Oops

Summary of Synology Virtual Machine Manager console showing it in a healthy state.

I updated my main NAS today and unfortunately found that none of my virtual machines running on it would start. Unfortunately my main DNS server and filtering software was running on that.

A quick internet search found this:

Users upgrading to DSM 7.4.1-90080 have reported that Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) fails to initialize correctly, specifically causing the virtual network switch and storage pool to remain inactive.  This issue was observed on models like the DS723+ running VMM version 2.7.0-12229, where virtual machines lost network connectivity and the system reported errors despite the underlying binaries being present. 

The root cause was identified as a version incompatibility, with Synology support suggesting that the stable package branch was insufficient for the new DSM release. The resolution involved manually installing the VMM 2.8.0-12322 beta package.  After installing this beta version and recreating the virtual machine configuration, network and storage functionality was restored. 

  • Symptom: Virtual network switch and storage pool fail to initialize; VMs lose connectivity. 
  • Affected Version: VMM 2.7.0-12229 on DSM 7.4.1-90080. 
  • Fix: Install VMM 2.8.0-12322 (Beta) and reconfigure the virtual machine.
  • Warning: Ensure you have backups, as DSM 7.4.1 does not allow downgrading to previous versions.

First issue the beta was not available just an error message, then I remembered my DNS would be in fall back mode and some things might not be available. So I quickly pointed the NAS at an alternative and then beta software was available. I updated my virtual machine manager fixed the issues that caused and could then bring back up my virtual servers.

Bad testing from Synology but I suppose as this was a security update they may have had to rush it out. But some notes on the documentation would have been nice.

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VPN’s can you trust them

https://franklinetech.com/vpn-industry-2026

Black haired model with glasses, white blouse and pink jacket. She is sat typing onto a laptop

With authorities clamping down on what you can do on line, authoritarianism rising across the world, black hat hackers, scammers etc, the big tech companies spying on us; being on the internet can be a dangerous thing.

You may say; “I have nothing to hide, I am not doing anything illegal.”

But laws can change what today may be legal may not in five or ten years and what gets logged about you on the internet stays on the internet.

Using a private DNS, a privacy focused browser and reputable VPN can make you safer on line. A quick search will bring up options for DNS and browsers, but VPN’s are tricky. many are owned by the same parent company and there motives are suspect. Many of the review sites are also owned by the parent companies so the results are often their own vpn brands.

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The World Wide Web

I have a had a long career in IT. From mainframes to the start of the PC revolution and the start of networking computers. I have memories from the 1990’s of pulling up the floor to find where the good old coax cable had become broken and brought the whole network down.

I was browsing Mastodon and came across a reminder that last week that we are in the 35th anniversary of the World Wide Web.

Back then the first web browser just ran on powerful Next Machines at Cern, but they developed a universal command line browser similar to w3c that I use sometimes on one of my Linux ThinkPad.

A screen capture of the w3c command line browser I sometimes use on one of my ThinkPads running Arch.

Now with restrictive laws and age verification we are killing the open web; forcing people to use Facebook and other gatekeeping closed systems that steal from us and feed us a lie.

Thank you Tim Berners-Lee and the team, lets hope the open web survives.

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WWDC2026

Unboxing of a 14 inch MacBook Pro.

While I am a heavy linux user, still use a Mac for photo editing. So it was with interest I tuned into the highlights of the opening speech for the Apple World Wide Developers Conference 2026.

As can be expected there was a lot of focus on AI. This is an area shareholders expect companies to be putting their time and effort despite the issues around it. Apple have an issue here with meeting the expected AI goals but also ensuring ethical use, environmental good practice and privacy. Its a difficult path to tread.

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Staying at the cutting edge of technology

Photo of an old T480 Thinkpad.

Staying at the cutting edge of tech brings risk. I have laptops running Linux Debian, solid reliable and certainly not the latest in software. Then I have one running Arch with Hyprland. At any moment an update can break it or at least require a few minutes of work to fix an issue that come up.

Do you work at the bleeding edge or work with things a little more stable.

As I get older I find myself stepping back a little from the edge.

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Physical Media, owning or licensing

Picture of the famous music man of Lincoln, very friendly guy always seen with a smile on his face.

I have mentioned before that I still buy DVD’s of films and series I like, and I also still buy music on CD and vinyl.

Sales do seem to be growing and it was interesting to see more films and series being removed from Amazon that people had bought as digital streams, now their purchases are gone.

So remember unless you have the media file downloaded DRM free or the physical media you likely license the software and not own it; and it be taken away from you.

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How do you relax – Chess

a chess board from chess.com. White and weaved a check mate net and trapped blacks king in the centre.

How do you relax. If I go out it’s generally taking photographs. Or it can be walking the dog and listening to podcasts or music is also high on the agenda. At home it’s often relaxing with a fine wine, or whisky. But sometimes I want to do something different and stretch my brain. So then I hit Chess.com, and play puzzles or occasionally a game.

This game was an interesting one. My opponent did not develop their pieces fast enough and so I pushed hard, it cost me my queen and on paper he was ahead, but I had forced his king out into the centre of the board and it was not long before I check mated him. I’ll be living with the buzz of this game for a while.

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Ripping Music

Do you still buy music CD’s. The last few years I have really gotten into buying them again, using services like Tidal to find music as well as recommendations from YouTube and friends.

I like having my music with me, on my laptop and my portable music player so I still rip my CDs. Back in the early days I used iTunes but now I use a dedicated ripping tool called dBPoweramp, it has tools for ripping and batch converting files from one format to another, this is useful as I rip to FLAC and then create copies in an Apple format for my old iPod. Yes I still have an iPod classic going strong.

Once ripped, I copy them to my NAS and from there to the devices that need them, such as my Roon Core Server, my travel laptop and music players.

This week as I was in town I bought two classic Fleetwood Mac albums as well as one my Dire Straits. All for a typical months stream fee.

I also buy and play vinyl but my record player like my CD player is in need of replacing, but I still spin a disk occasionally, either vinyl or CD.

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Choosing a mouse

Grid view in Lightroom classic showing a selection of black and white fashion photos

As I was redoing my desk, I wanted a new mouse. For light editing on the laptop, the touchpad is fine, but for more detailed editing then I reach for a mouse on the desktop. If its going to be a long detailed editing session then nothing beats a pen and tablet, so I also have my trust Wacom.

Screen shot of the Logitech mouse software for the MX Master 3S showing the controls on the mouse.

For a mouse, comfort, a few extra buttons one can configure for extra functionality in Lightroom and Photoshop, and a way of customising the scroll wheel. MAC OS still has not implemented a way of setting different scrolling preferences between touch pad and mouse, so it set the track pad how I want it in the OS settings and set the scroll wheel how I want it in the Logitech software.

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Desk Re-organise and sourcing cables

Photo of a crowded desk. Two monitors, a mechanical keyboard, mouse and trackpad can be seen.

A change of monitors means a change around on the desk. I am still working on the best places for everything but I have taken the opportunity to change the cabling. One additional thing I will be doing is upgrading my work mouse, I want something better then this old Dell mouse that I can configure for ‘no natural scrolling’ while still having the touch pad set to natural. You would think Apple would allow you to set them independently in the OS but no.

The sound source is also changing for my music and this bit has proven the most difficult. Finding a high quality USB-B to USB-C cable. Its proving harder then you expect unless you want a cheap £2.00 printer cable from Amazon.