Syncopated Pandemonium

Diskless Linux boot using ZFS, iSCSI & PXE

Tue, 05 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Motivation #

I wanted to test out the new Unsloth models for Qwen3.6 and Gemma4 on my gaming PC. llama.cpp on Windows is tedious to compile, and I have littered my Windows installation with too many toolchains already. Python venvs, Mingw, Cuda, UCRT64 & WSL to name a few. Windows still does not feel developer friendly to me. I think I’m ok with it being a frontend for Steam’s Big Picture mode.
I didn’t want to disturb my Windows setup that I use for gaming. Windows has a nasty habit of breaking GRUB on updates. UEFI fixes that to some extent, but it’s a pain to maintain the UEFI entries manually and change them every time the kernel updates. One of the best benefits of using the method described here is that GRUB is also on the remote drive.
I have a couple of NVME drives in the PC, both contain a few games that I play frequently. I didn’t want to get into the hassle of repartitioning everything that the boot loader works with both Linux & Windows.
Sure I can use a USB drive and in the past I have done so, but I tend to misplace my USB drives everywhere and when I urgently need one, I tend to pick the USB that’s readily available e.g. for some FedEx printing or as backup drive for photos when on vacation. I end up wiping the Linux USBs more often than not. I already have a NAS, so why not use remote boot ?
I always wanted to know how PXE worked over iSCSI.

Limitations #

Installing Debian on a network drive will indeed be noticeably slower than a native install. Since I’m going to use some portion of my local NVMe drive to store & load the models, I didn’t really care about the OS performance as I have enough RAM to run everything smoothly once the OS has booted up. I won’t be using this for browsing stuff using Firefox.

Sunrise at Two Jack Lake

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2024:06:23 04:33:12
Make	FUJIFILM
Model	GFX 50R
Lens	Fujifilm Fujinon GF30mm F3.5 R WR
Aperture	f/8
ISO	640
Shutter	13/2s

Tokyo

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2026:03:21 17:24:50
Make	FUJIFILM
Model	GFX100RF
Lens	Fujifilm GFX100RF
Aperture	f/4
ISO	320
Shutter	1/750s

Manhattan

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2025:11:08 15:18:17
Make	FUJIFILM
Model	GFX 50R
Lens	Fujifilm Fujinon GF30mm F3.5 R WR
Aperture	f/8
ISO	12800
Shutter	1/45s

Benton Crossing

Sun, 21 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2019:06:22 05:42:40
Make	SONY
Model	ILCE-7RM2
Lens	Sony FE 16-35mm f2.8 GM (SEL1635GM)
Aperture	f/11
ISO	100
Shutter	20s

Chicago

Sun, 16 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2023:04:28 16:37:14
Make	FUJIFILM
Model	GFX 50R
Lens	-- mm f/--
Aperture	f/1
ISO	400
Shutter	1/160s

Reine

Sun, 02 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2025:06:10 07:06:17
Make	FUJIFILM
Model	GFX 50R
Lens	Fujifilm Fujinon GF30mm F3.5 R WR
Aperture	f/8
ISO	400
Shutter	1/320s

Mt Tam

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2021:08:07 19:29:48
Make	FUJIFILM
Model	GFX 50R
Lens	-- mm f/--
Aperture	f/1
ISO	100
Shutter	1/150s

Panamint Range, California

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2017:02:17 11:40:00
Make	SONY
Model	ILCE-7RM2
Lens	Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM (SEL2470GM)
Aperture	f/8
ISO	500
Shutter	1/125s

Valley of Fire

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2024:11:10 17:15:33
Make	FUJIFILM
Model	GFX 50R
Lens	Fujifilm Fujinon GF55mm F1.7 R WR
Aperture	f/8
ISO	800
Shutter	1/52s

Na Pali, Kauai

Sat, 04 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2025:09:26 19:03:59
Make	FUJIFILM
Model	GFX 50R
Lens	Fujifilm Fujinon GF30mm F3.5 R WR
Aperture	f/8
ISO	1250
Shutter	1/400s

Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2018:06:15 14:16:01
Make	SONY
Model	ILCE-7RM2
Lens	Sony FE 70-200mm F4 G OSS (SEL70200G)
Aperture	f/8
ISO	200
Shutter	1/250s

Lake Solitude, Wyoming

Sat, 13 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2018:07:02 13:57:28
Make	SONY
Model	ILCE-7RM2
Lens	Sony FE 28mm F2 (SEL28F20)
Aperture	f/71/10
ISO	100
Shutter	1/1000s

Sea Eagles at Trollfjord

Sun, 07 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2025:06:09 04:19:28
Make	FUJIFILM
Model	GFX 50R
Lens	Fujifilm Fujinon GF30mm F3.5 R WR
Aperture	f/32/5
ISO	400
Shutter	1/680s

Tenaya Lake

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2017:08:25 18:50:39
Make	SONY
Model	ILCE-7RM2
Lens	Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM (SEL2470GM)
Aperture	f/22
ISO	200
Shutter	1/2s

Zephyr Cove, Lake Tahoe

Sat, 23 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2022:05:19 19:05:43
Make	FUJIFILM
Model	GFX 50R
Lens	Fujifilm Fujinon GF30mm F3.5 R WR
Aperture	f/32
ISO	100
Shutter	9/5s

Vatnajökull National Park, Southern Iceland

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2025:06:15 22:46:27
Make	FUJIFILM
Model	GFX 50R
Lens	Fujifilm Fujinon GF30mm F3.5 R WR
Aperture	f/11
ISO	400
Shutter	1/75s

Matanuska, Alaska

Mon, 18 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2016:08:16 15:11:16
Make	Canon
Model	Canon EOS 5D
Lens	35 mm f/--
Aperture	f/9/2
ISO	100
Shutter	1/1500s

Hanging Lake, Colorado

Sun, 10 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2017:09:02 13:54:20
Make	SONY
Model	ILCE-7RM2
Lens	Sony FE 28mm F2 (SEL28F20)
Aperture	f/7/2
ISO	200
Shutter	1/250s

Meadow Sunrise at Dream Lake

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2017:09:01 05:43:33
Make	SONY
Model	ILCE-7RM2
Lens	Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM (SEL2470GM)
Aperture	f/8
ISO	200
Shutter	1/15s

Death Valley Vista

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2017:02:17 17:40:00
Make	SONY
Model	ILCE-7RM2
Lens	Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM (SEL2470GM)
Aperture	f/8
ISO	200
Shutter	1/250s

Christmas at Half Dome Village, Yosemite

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2016:12:25 07:55:28
Make	SONY
Model	ILCE-7RM2
Lens	Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM (SEL2470GM)
Aperture	f/14/5
ISO	1600
Shutter	1/2000s

7-11 on US395

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2018:02:17 04:52:25
Make	SONY
Model	ILCE-7RM2
Lens	Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM (SEL2470GM)
Aperture	f/14/5
ISO	800
Shutter	1/125s

Lake McDonald in Glacier NP, Montana

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2019:07:07 06:52:45
Make	SONY
Model	ILCE-7RM2
Lens	Sony FE 16-35mm f2.8 GM (SEL1635GM)
Aperture	f/8
ISO	400
Shutter	1/3200s

Redwoods of Muir Woods

Sun, 20 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2021:03:20 12:43:07
Make	FUJIFILM
Model	GFX 50R
Lens	GF50mmF3.5 R LM WR
Aperture	f/8
ISO	3200
Shutter	1/100s

Maligne Lake, Jasper NP, Alberta

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2024:06:21 18:06:22
Make	FUJIFILM
Model	GFX 50R
Lens	Fujifilm Fujinon GF30mm F3.5 R WR
Aperture	f/8
ISO	400
Shutter	1/750s

Mount Whitney, US 395

Mon, 14 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Reine, Norway

Sat, 12 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Landmannalaugar

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

exiftool
Date	2025:06:13 10:13:59
Make	FUJIFILM
Model	GFX 50R
Lens	Fujifilm Fujinon GF30mm F3.5 R WR
Aperture	f/28/5
ISO	400
Shutter	1/480s

F225 to Landmannalaugar

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

ISO 400, 1/250s f/11 30mm

Puffins on Ingólfshöfði, Iceland

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Brannholmen Rasteplas on E10, Norway

Sat, 28 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Skogafoss, Iceland

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Reine, Norway

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Eliassen Rorbuer, Reine, Norway

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

New Years' in New York City

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Last year we went to Manhattan for Christmas & New Year’s Day. This was the first time I used my Canon ELAN 7 as my primary camera and used it for about 8 rolls which included color film stocks from Kodak like Portra 400, Gold 200 and Ultramax 400. I tried using the black and white film stocks Kodak TriMax & Ilford Delta 3200 since shooting Ilford 6 years ago in Yosemite. I was scared of shooting an entire roll without color, but the photos from Trimax & Delta turned out to be my favorite. I used a local film developer from Downtown San Jose and it turned out good and cheap.

Zion on film

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In November, we visited one of my favorite places, Zion National Park in Utah. Utah is my favorite state in the US, largely due to the week I spent roaming the high desert around in 2017. This November I took my film camera with me.

Last year I bought a cheap Contax S2 so I could use my old Contax lenses that I had lying around. Unfortunately, it has only spot metering and with me being lazy to learn how to meter my photos correctly, it turned out disastrous. I just could not get a single photo right. The two roles I put in were both severely underexposed. After watching a recent video from @Badflashes, I realized that there were cheap Canon film cameras out there with the trusty EF mount that had good exposure meters & autofocus. I bought myself the Canon Elan 7 & a few roles of Portra 400 in October.

Weekend Printing I - Sierra Nevada

Thu, 05 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Earlier this year, I bought a Canon Photo Printer for printing photos at home. I’ve been printing regularly for a few months now and have about 50 prints lying around. To keep the printer nozzle running smooth and save on ink, I usually do a few small panoramic prints each weekend.

I’m kicking off a new series where I’ll share a few shots on weekends — some new ones I’ve just printed or some from the already printed collection.

Alaska

Wed, 01 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Birds & Waterfall

Whittier Wilderness

Otters in Prince William Sound

Denali NP Hills

Arizona

Mon, 25 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

South Rim

Sedona

Pyramid Lake, Nevada

Sat, 25 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Pyramid Lake

US-50

Zephyr Cove Sunset

Dodge Pyramid Challenger

Pyramid Lake Pano

Lake Tahoe Reflection

Death Valley

Sat, 19 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

February 2017

Wyoming

Fri, 02 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000