Category: Miscellaneous

FritzBox and Other Machines No Longer Available by Name

Ian Grieve5 minute read0 comment

I was trying to deal with a website issue the other day and started the NAS to access to some saved files. I usually do this using \\nas, but it didn’t work from the PC I was on. I started another PC and tried the same thing to see if it was a local issue, but had the exact same problem.

When I tried to ping the machine name, instead of an internal IP, it resolved to 45.76.93.104 instead.

I checked on the PiHole, which is what controls the DNS servers I use, and everything looked fine, so tried to log onto the router via the web browser, but found this also didn’t work. I tried the IP and was able to access the router settings without issue, and the DNS settings were pointing at the PiHole.

At this point I fell back to searching online and found an article from late January explaining the issue.

The problem is that the FritzBox uses the domain fritz.box, which is hardcoded.

The cause of this is that in mid-January the .box domain went live for registrations and someone, not the maker of the FritzBox router, has registered the fritz.box domain and created a website which the domain now resolves to, and takes precendent over the router itself (if you’re using third party DNS servers; I understand if you’re letting the FritzBox handle the DNS servers then things will continue to work).

It seems that the makers of the router, German company AVM, are in a sales process to purchase the domain, having become aware of the problem after someone else bought the domain; I presume they will then remove the DNS resolution so routers again work correctly.

In the meantime, you can use the IP of the FritzBox or of the machine to access them, neither of which is ideal. I’m not particularly experienced with DNS, but I’ve been told if you set the primary DNS server as the router then it will check this first and correctly resolve internal machine names and then use the secondary DNS server for the external domains.

I’ve not tested this approach as I found a setting on the PiHole which I could use to sort the problem without making the change to DNS servers.

In the PiHole admin, this the Local domain name (optional) field in Settings » DNS » Advanced DNS Settings » Conditional forwarding. I set this field to fritz.box, saved the settings and found that I could again navigate using machine names.

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Reading Order: Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Series

Ian Grieve5 minute read0 comment

LiteratureThis article is part of the Reading Order series of posts where I am going to cover the reading order of some of the book series I enjoy.

This articles is on the reading order for Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series of books.

For those who don’t know, the Discworld series is a collection of novels by the late British author Sir Terry Pratchett, which are set in a fantastical world called Discworld. Discworld is a flat disc-shaped planet supported on the backs of four giant elephants, who in turn stand on the back of an enormous turtle, the Great A’Tuin, as it swims through space.

The Discworld series is a mix of satire, humour, and fantasy, and each book can be read as a standalone novel. However, as they are set in the same world, they are loosely connected with recurring characters and locations, such as the Ramtop Mountains and the city of Anhk-Morpork.

The series follows a wide variety of characters, including wizards, witches, thieves, police officers and many others, as they navigate the eccentricities of Discworld. The series is known for its witty dialogue, clever wordplay, and humorous social commentary on issues such as politics, religion, and gender.

I’ve included reading orders for the whole series as well as each of the major story arcs.

The Entire Series

  1. The Colour of Magic (1983)
  2. The Light Fantastic (1986)
  3. Equal Rites (1987)
  4. Mort (1987)
  5. Sourcery (1988)
  6. Wyrd Sisters (1988)
  7. Pyramids (1989)
  8. Guards! Guards! (1989)
  9. Fuast Eric (1990)
  10. Moving Pictures (1990)
  11. Reaper Man (1991)
  12. Witches Abroad (1991)
  13. Small Gods (1992)
  14. Lords and Ladies (1992)
  15. Men at Arms (1993)
  16. Soul Music (1994)
  17. Interesting Times (1994)
  18. Maskerade (1995)
  19. Feet of Clay (1996)
  20. Hogfather (1996)
  21. Jingo (1997)
  22. The Last Continent (1998)
  23. Carpe Jugulum (1998)
  24. The Fifth Elephant (1999)
  25. The Truth (2000)
  26. Thief of Time (2001)
  27. The Last Hero (2001)
  28. The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
  29. Night Watch (2002)
  30. The Wee Free Men (2002)
  31. Monstrous Regiment (2003)
  32. Going Postal (2004)
  33. A Hat Full of Sky (2005)
  34. Thud! (2005)
  35. Wintersmith (2006)
  36. Making Money (2007)
  37. Unseen Academicals (2009)
  38. I Shall Wear Midnight (2010)
  39. Snuff (2011)
  40. Raising Steam (2013)
  41. The Shepherd’s Crown (2015)
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Reading Order: Series Index

Ian Grieve1 minute read2 Comments

LiteratureWhile this blog is mainly dedicated to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, I do post on other subjects and sometimes some really “off-topic” subjects.

I’m going to start posting a few reading order lists for various book series which I enjoy; this will give me one place that I can look if I am unsure of the reading order, and I figure it might as well be articles here, in case they are of use to other people.

These posts will be intermittent, but the series index, below, will automatically update as each article is published.

Reading Order
Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series
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Books referenced by Bernard Cornwell in the Sharpe series’ historical notes

Ian Grieve4 minute read0 comment

LiteratureThe Richard Sharpe series is a series of historical fiction novels and short stories by Bernard Cornwell centred on the character of Richard Sharpe, charting Sharpe’s progress in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars, starting from his early career in India through to the Battle of Waterloo and beyond (further details on the series can be found on Wikipedia).

In some of the books, Bernard Cornwell mentioned books he used as references when writing the series. I’ve not found a list of these online, so on a recent reading kept a list myself, but hadn’t actually done anything with the list. On a recent call with a client, I mentioned looking to book sightseeing holidays in Italy and Portugal. He recommended a book on the Roman period for me, Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland, which reminded me that I’d been planning to look up the books on the Peninsular War mentioned by Cornwell.

The books Cornwell mentioned in the Sharpe series are:

The Sharpe books in which the above are referenced were:

  1. Sharpe’s Tiger
  2. Sharpe’s Eagle
  3. Sharpe’s Escape
  4. Sharpe’s Waterloo
  5. Sharpe’s Devil

I’ve picked up the Elizabeth Longford book on Wellington as a starting point along with Donald Tomas’ book on Thomas Cochrane, who had a varied and controversial career which I’m sure is going to be a fascinating read.

Berard Cornwell has himself written a book on the Battle of Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles which has been in my “to read” stack for quite a while, being joined now by my recently purchased copy of Tom Holland’s book.

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Factory Reset An iPhone

Ian Grieve2 minute read0 comment

AppleWhen I was at Perfect Image I had a work phone, which was an iPhone 5. Tjis was an absolutely terrible phone which I was delighted to hand back. However, I’d had it for a few years and it was linked to an iTunes account in my name, had my fingerprint locking it, so I needed to do a factory reset.

The process to reset a iPhone isn’t too difficult, but I always struggled to navigate around the OS.

To reset an iPhone, perform the following steps:

Launch the Settings app and select General:

Settings app

Continue reading “Factory Reset An iPhone”

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