iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

JulianCalaby @juliancalaby.social.treehouse.systems.ap.brid.gy · 24/10/2026

@freya They didn't have pins to do the 4 buttons, so they just omitted them. I was seriously shocked by this when I started playing with my T-Deck. It has two arrow designs on each side of the trackball which could easily have been capacitive touch sensors or something, but they're just paint.

A LilyGo T-Deck next to a LilyGo T-Keyboard. The T-Keyboard has a genuine BlackBerry 10 keyboard while the T-Deck has a different keyboard with an identical layout, but lower quality keys.

The T-Keyboard is a shockingly limited Bluetooth keyboard with a tiny LCD display roughly 25mm across awkwardly lumped into the 3D printed case above the keyboard. It has no navigation keys whatsoever and the only other controls are a power and reset switch on the side.

The T-Deck is a small phone form factor device built around the same keyboard. Unlike the T-Keyboard it does have some navigation buttons in the form of a tiny Blackberry trackball, however this is it, there's nothing else. Two arrow designs are painted onto the plastic between the keyboard and display on each side of the trackball and look enticingly like capacitive touch sensors, but alas they are just paint.

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JulianCalaby @juliancalaby.social.treehouse.systems.ap.brid.gy · 15/10/2026

Because this has interest, here's some photos of it all: Note: All computers have RAM, a graphics card, a floppy drive, and no HDDs unless noted. Stuff that is reasonably complete: 1x SS10 with SuperSparc processors and no floppy drive 1x […] [Original post on social.treehouse.systems]

A stack of 4 Sun boxes, top to bottom:
1. An external 5.25" SCSI expansion box with an unusual CD-ROM drive in it
2. A SparcStation LX
3. A SparcStation 10
4. An UltraSparc 5

Two open Sun Sparc computers:

Left: an Ultra 1e that doesn't boot and has a generic CD-ROM burner installed
Right: a SparcStation 10 that has been converted to take wide SCSI HDDs.

Misc Sparc parts including:
2x 13W3 monitor cables
1x external SCSI cable and terminator
1x Sun keyboard with two compatible mice
2x CD-ROM drives with Sun part numbers
1x Sparc audio interface and network adapter
1x wide SCSI cable with adapters

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JulianCalaby @juliancalaby.social.treehouse.systems.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026

Back on my bullshit. This is a test print of the thumb cluster for a Dactyl Manuform style keyboard. Ignore the massive print failure, it detached itself from the bed for some reason, all I wanted to know was whether the keyswitches I bought would […] [Original post on social.treehouse.systems]

A failed 3D print of part of a Dactyl Manuform style split ergonomic keyboard with three key switches fitted. They have the cutest little dog keycaps on them.

The print failed by detaching from the build plate, you can see a snake of the bottom edge of the print sticking out to the left, but enough worked that I could fit three of the 6 thumb keyswiches in.

Next to it there's one of the keyswitches, the box containing the fourth dog keycap, and behind all of this the tube containing a lot more of these keyswitches.

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JulianCalaby @juliancalaby.social.treehouse.systems.ap.brid.gy · 29/06/2026

Cursed Homelab Update: The case of the overly complicated shelf. So instead of dealing with any of the homelab issues, I dealt with the homelab perception issues by upgrading our WiFi to an Asus ZenWifi BD4 mesh system with two nodes (for the record […] [Original post on social.treehouse.systems]

A 3D printed shelf thing for a lozenge shaped WiFi router.

It has a recess in the base for the router to sit in with large air holes, a large flat plate at the rear to mount it to the wall, and gridded sides coming down at 45 degrees for strength and stability and all that.

I've carved out two tall slots in the back with slots to mount this on two nails or screws, however they're not keyhole shaped like most similar things, but stretch down to the bottom of the shelf.

There are two filleted slots at the bottom of the mounting slots for cables to be routed out the bottom and a small cutout at the front for the router's LED.

A side view showing off the gridded lattice sides.

Also of note is that one of the grid holes has been partially elongated to allow more airflow to the side of the router.

The shelf mounted to a wall using two differently sized 3M Command picture hanger plates which are probably not doing anything useful for the WiFi signal.

The router is perched in it's shelf overlooking my server closet / walk in robe like a cat poised to hand out WiFi fist bumps to those walking by below.

It's LED glows happily, but the person who placed it there didn't bother to route the cables through the slots they spent so long modelling, so they're just pushed out over the side of the shelf, making it look weirdly lopsided.

You almost can't see the 3M mounting plate things which really makes one question if they're interfering with the signal or something.

A sticker nobody bothered to remove denotes this as the "main" unit and helpfully informs you to plug it in first. The shelf indicates that we're well past that stage in setting this up.

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JulianCalaby @juliancalaby.social.treehouse.systems.ap.brid.gy · 09/05/2026

Everyone deserves to feel the joy of a brand new Trackpoint. So I replaced the broken adapter on my T480's nub with a new 3D printed replacement. I tried two designs: one that was Just The Measurements and one with a little more flare. I lost track […] [Original post on social.treehouse.systems]

A T480 with three tiny grey plastic Trackpoint adapters on the wrist rest, a baggie of Trackpoint caps next to them, and one installed into the Trackpoint hole in the middle of the keyboard with a fresh cap sitting on a key net to it. The keys are inconsistently shiny and worn. The adapters on the wrist rest are of two slightly different designs, but nobody, not even me, could tell them apart. That said, one design fits, one doesn't, so there is a difference.

A top-down view of a Thinkpad keyboard. It is very black, and in the centre there's the hole for the Trackpoint nub. The Trackpoint's actual nub is a small white square, around it is a 3D printed part made of grey plastic. On a key next to it there is a fresh Trackpoint cap. You obviously don't see the dust, dirt and dog hair built up under the keys.

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JulianCalaby @juliancalaby.social.treehouse.systems.ap.brid.gy · 08/05/2026

Are you normal, or do you have both generations of Steam Controller hooked up to your Steam Deck? #SteamDeck #SteamController

A Steam Deck with both generations of Steam Controller below it on a bed. The new generation is on the left and has the puck below it. The original is on the right. They are all very black and the original Steam Controller is quite dusty.

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JulianCalaby @juliancalaby.social.treehouse.systems.ap.brid.gy · 26/04/2026

Cursed Homelab Server Upgrade - Part 6 The adapterening! So as discussed in a previous nanoupdate, the adapters I bought have a bunch of issues, but ultimately only two matter for me right now: 1. They're not physically compatible with 2.5" drive […] [Original post on social.treehouse.systems]

A PCB to adapt SFF-8639, also known as U.2 - a SATA derived connector - to M.2, the standard used for consumer SSDs.

This particular adapter has two M.2 slots, one for NVMe drives and one for SATA drives.

I've made a tiny solder bridge between two adjacent pins on the SFF-8639 connector to short one of the presence pins to ground. There is also a wire bodged in between another pin on the SFF-8639 connector and an LED next to it to connect up the activity pin. The wire used is way too thick for what it's doing.

There is an SSD in the NVMe slot for scale.

A model showing an adapter for the PCB in the previous picture so it can be screwed into a 2.5 inch caddy and plug into a hot-swap backplane.

It has two thick rails on each side with a web between them, there are square holes in both sides for screws, and slots visible for the PCB. The slots join into the screw holes. There's a "C" marking with an arrow indicating the bottom of the adapter and which end of it has the connector.

Two adapter PCBs with their 3D printed adapters. One is upside down with only the rails attached, the other is fully assembled in a drive caddy.

Two drives in caddies slotted into the front of a 2U high server. The right one has a black marking in the red eject button lit by an LED and looks ugly. The left one has the ring of activity LEDs lit up despite not having a drive installed in it.

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JulianCalaby @juliancalaby.social.treehouse.systems.ap.brid.gy · 03/04/2026

Cursed Homelab Server Upgrade - Part 4 Whoops I got these out of order. Let's talk HDD caddies or trays. HPE's Gen10 servers have caddies which are the exact intersection of "price optimised" and "crazy enterprise nonsense". My experience is […] [Original post on social.treehouse.systems]

Two drive boxes of a 2U HPE DL380 Gen10 server with all but two slots filled with drive caddies. One caddy has it's latch unsecured, this is the only one with a drive, the rest only have a 3D printed spacer in them. The 4 ones on the right are NVMe caddies and have a power button on them.

A rectangular 3D printed block with two trapezoidal slots cut out of it. You can just see a small hole in the short side for a screw. The sizing of this matches pretty closely with the size, screw location and connector placement of a standard 2.5 inch drive, however the slots are slightly off, but not in a way that actually causes problems.

A pile of HPE Gen10 caddies in plastic baggies piled behind a SATA SSD in a caddy.

It looks slightly nervous.

13 HPE Gen10 drive caddies with spacers screwed into them. One of the spacers is grey and the rest are charcoal black. There's also a caddy with a SATA SSD in it for scale, and another spacer block next to it.

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JulianCalaby @juliancalaby.social.treehouse.systems.ap.brid.gy · 11/01/2026

Cursed homelab update: Server #2's partial upgrade is complete: 1. New SAS card is in with shroud and fan 2. Noisy server fans replaced with Noctua fans 3. 4 more HDDs added (one is apparently dead and I haven't yet figured out which one) So after […] [Original post on social.treehouse.systems]

The fan frame in a Silverstone RM43 rackmount case showing 3 brown and cream Noctua fans instead of the usual black server fans.

You can't see the connectors on the other side where they're plugged into one of the SAS/SATA backplanes instead of the custom hot-swap solution.

A top view into a Silverstone RM43 rack-mount chassis with a comically small ITX motherboard installed next to a beefy Corsair PSU.

A SAS HBA is plugged into the only PCI express slot on the motherboard, but you can't see it because it has a huge grey duct attached to it with a fan on the end. By some coincidence the grey fan on the duct is nearly centred with one of the big fans in the chassis.

It's clear that someone is trying desperately to cool that card and has brute-forced a "solution". Just by looking at it you can see that it has the potential to work - more airflow equals more cooling - but who knows how it'll hold up long-term.

Two small 4 pin connectors held between two fingers with the end you'd plug into a socket shown. They're angled so that the two small plastic ribs on the top are visible.

There's a problem though, one is a regular "PC fan" plug with the rib above the third pin, but the other has a rib above the fourth pin which makes them subtly incompatible.

Frustratingly both plugs are attached to PC fans, and this subtle difference makes swapping them annoying because the "wrong" plug mates with a hot-swap connector that only has slots for the "wrong" ribs.

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JulianCalaby @juliancalaby.social.treehouse.systems.ap.brid.gy · 05/01/2026

And here's the photos I meant to include on that last post:

A view of an LSI SAS HBA from the top showing the wonky angle of the heatsink on the main chip. You can see the usual peg-with-spring attachment is pulling the heatsink off-angle.

An LSI SAS HBA PCI-e expansion card. It has a daughter board covering about 60% of the main board, a beeper, lots of connectors at each end and a very small heatsink covering about 20% of the board. The SAS connectors are at the far end of the card above a small bit sticking out that is covered more connectors.

Both the main and daughter boards are covered in components, barcode stickers or both.

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JulianCalaby @juliancalaby.social.treehouse.systems.ap.brid.gy · 27/12/2025

So I'm modelling a fan duct for a SAS card (see the last #cursedhomelab update for details) and was originally going to do it in OpenSCAD like I did for the last one, however this one needs some very specific geometry that I can't quite wrap my head […] [Original post on social.treehouse.systems]

A grey 3D printed fan duct to hold a fan about 15cm away from the front of a tower case, allowing space for 4x 3.5" HDDs that were sticking out by about 4cm. There is a light inside it to demonstrate how thinly the PLA was printed by illuminating the infill pattern.

The PLA is not translucent, but it was printed so thinly that you can see the infill pattern with almost any light behind it. Because of this, it is weirdly light, nearly as light as a similarly sized block of styrofoam.

This was duct taped to the front of the server's cheap tower case and worked well until the duct tape lost grip on the PLA and it fell off.

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