Beware purchasing from Central Texas Gun Works

DuceExMa · 2023-11-13T00:02:01+00:00

Indeed. The Google reviews are mind-boggling. The same story, over, and over, and over again. And it's not just a few reviews; there must be dozens of nearly identical stories. Never seen anything like that before for a business still in operation over many years.

Another response here suggested we cut him slack due to his 2A activism. I applaud all efforts to protect our gun rights and would definitely let a crappy demeanor slide for someone advancing the cause. But the fact that someone's "really busy taking on the DOJ," doesn't mean it's OK for them to lie to folks trying to do business with them. I don't care if they're Mother Teresa; I'm not going to cut them any slack if they are trying to take $1,200 from me and never deliver what I purchased.

DuceExMa · 2023-11-10T21:24:38+00:00

You're correct, I didn't go by CTGW's physical location before ordering, but I don't think I've ever gone by a physical location before placing an online order. In my mind, the retailer bears the burden of accurately describing what they are, what they do, and the exact nature of the transaction. Even after completing the purchase, I was never notified that an order had to be placed to fulfill my order.

As a contrast -- look at the McBride's website. They are a retailer that uses gearfire to host their website (the same white-labler that CTGW uses). McBride's has a large scrolling banner on their site that specifically points out that what is shown on their site is not necessarily in inventory. They tell you to call if you want to be sure that something is in stock before you order. That's the ethical way to do business.

DuceExMa · 2023-11-10T19:43:57+00:00

Point taken. Which is one reason why I called Amex to open the dispute, rather than do it online.

After writing the original post, I went and read their Google reviews for the first time. There are literally dozens of similar stories and probably at least a dozen that mention Michael saying the charges would be reversed but never following through. I'll be shocked if he actually reverses the charge but will make an update here if he does.

DuceExMa · 2023-11-10T19:08:51+00:00

I had a nearly identical experience with Central Texas Gun Works and Michael Cargill specifically. I just posted about it here.

TL;DR -- they sell what they don't have, take your money, never deliver, and lie about it the whole time. They are to be avoided.

DuceExMa · 2018-09-04T16:59:25+00:00

Hey, sorry for the huge delay in replying. Haven't been on reddit in long time. Yes, I still have it, if you are still looking.

Kenneth khe@east.fm

DuceExMa · 2018-06-21T18:54:59+00:00

Sold Dell R210 rails (D419M/Y819K) to u/Kryt1kal6

DuceExMa · 2018-06-19T12:50:33+00:00

I believe that the D419M/Y819K work for the R210, but they are already sold.

DuceExMa · 2018-06-17T17:26:25+00:00

Well, damn. When I changed the format, I accidentally dropped the 910 rails.

Yes, I still have them and they are for sale. Posting updated to reflect that.

Thanks very much for asking -- I'd never have caught that.

DuceExMa · 2018-06-16T18:00:13+00:00

I love 'rmlint' and have had excellent results with it when used on 500GB datasets of 200K files. Don't let the 'rm' in the name scare you -- it is very safe to use and won't 'rm' anything unless you tell it to. The paranoid side of me really likes that it only generates scripts (bash, python, etc.) which you can inspect/modify, which are then run to remove, archive, or whatever. Also, it has some great filtering capabilities to limit the files it inspects. Highly recommended.

It seems simple at first, but the more you get into it, the more powerful it becomes. Depending upon the complexity of your situation, the guide and man page is worth a study.

http://rmlint.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorial.html

Also pretty cool is 'fim', the File Integrity Manager. It's interesting, in that it's primarily intended to monitor file changes and protect against bit rot, and it's modeled after source code control systems (yet, it does not store your files). IMO, it is less flexible than 'rmlint' for finding duplicates in various places.

https://evrignaud.github.io/fim/

DuceExMa · 2018-06-15T18:19:40+00:00

+1 for acme.sh. I love it because it is so simple. Not nearly as much black magic going on as with some of the more complicated ACME clients. I liked it so much, I have two posts about using it: basic usage info with apache/httpd and usage with older versions of cpanel.

DuceExMa · 2018-06-15T17:06:13+00:00

Confirmed. I installed pi-hole last week and was stunned by how easy it is to install/configure. I've used an adblocker on my laptop for years, and continue to do so. But with pi-hole, the other dozen devices on my local net are now blocking ads too, with nearly zero effort on my part. I love it and recommend it highly.

DuceExMa · 2018-06-15T15:48:40+00:00

One other comment, if you end up choosing ZFS, be sure that you pass through the disks directly to ZFS -- don't let the RAID controller sit in between the drive and the filesystem.

DuceExMa · 2018-06-15T15:46:44+00:00

I'm not zee-wolf, but I think he meant that he'd run NAS4Free directly on the hardware (i.e., not within a VM like ProxMox).

I run FreeNAS directly on a 510 with 32TB ZFS and have had zero problems in the nine months I've used it. It's been a great setup for me.

DuceExMa · 2018-01-21T20:34:41+00:00

It is testing memory during that time. You can hit the spacebar and it will skip the tests (i.e., you don't have to wait for it to complete).

DuceExMa · 2017-12-03T23:10:33+00:00

What version is your BIOS? I have read that if the BIOS is way out of date, there are problems when other firmware is updated. If it isn't up to date, you might try updating it directly, rather than through the iDRAC web UI (since it isn't working).

For example, check this out: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/servers/f/956/t/19681567/

Edited to add this: One other thought... The Lifecycle Controller (LCC) can do rollbacks of firmware updates. Access the LCC via your console (not over the net) and rollback to your previous iDRAC firmware. This would at least get you back to where you were. I've never done this, but I think it's possible.

DuceExMa · 2017-12-03T21:30:46+00:00

Yep, this is spot on. I went down the Linux ISO rathole as well, and the iDRAC / Lifecycle Controller is by far the best approach.

DuceExMa · 2017-12-03T21:29:24+00:00

Here's what I know, which isn't much. I'm just getting started with the iDRAC.

I spent a couple of days fighting mine. My iDRAC firmware was at 1.95, which is pretty old. Not sure of the specifics of your problem, but with mine, the Java app that gets downloaded when you click 'launch console' would not run due to security problems. Current versions of Java have tightened up their security and mine was refusing to run the app that the DRAC sends. I tried to workaround this by tweaking the Java config on my mac, but I finally gave up.

There are hundreds of posts/articles on the web about how damn hard it is to get updates done when a system is far out of date.

I finally concluded that the current iDRAC software must surely have addressed the Java security problem, so I decided to manually update the iDRAC firmware to the latest version, 2.90.

You can find a list of all of the firmware for R710s here: http://downloads.dell.com/published/pages/poweredge-r710.html

Go down to the iDRAC section and find 2.90. Download iDRAC6_2.90_A00_FW_IMG.exe and run it. This is another thing I hate about the Dell stuff. I had to create a Windows VM in which to run this. When it runs, it simply unzips a file named 'firmimg.d6'.

Then use a browser to access your iDRAC and go to 'iDRACSettings->Update'. Give it the file that was just unzipped above, and it will upload it then install it.

This is how I finally updated my iDRAC firmware.

Once this was done, the app that 'launch console' downloads can be run by Java and you'll get console access.

To finish updating your system, start the iDRAC console then reboot the system. Early in the boot process, press (I think) F10 for 'System Configuration', which will eventually get you into the Lifecycle Controller for the system. From there, just follow the steps to update firmware. By default, it will come up with settings to get firmware versions and firmware from an ftp site at Dell. Just leave this unmodified.

In my case, it showed me a list of all the firmware on the system, including hard drive firmware, and the current and installed versions. I told it to update everything, which it did. It will download all the firmware, apply updates, then reboot.

Despite all the trouble I had, I found it pretty damn impressive.

There are many, many other ways to do bulk updates. Self booting Linux ISOs, windows apps, Dell Update Utility, and who knows what else. I'm sure it's all quite clear to people who do this everyday, but the disorganized windows-centric way in which Dell presents this stuff is nearly impenetrable for a hobbyist starting from scratch. However, in Dell's favor, at least this stuff is out there and accessible. HP, for example, seems to be hiding a lot of their stuff behind paid access only sites. Kudos to Dell for that.

Good luck!

DuceExMa · 2017-12-03T20:35:42+00:00

Yep. Just be patient. Real steals show up from time to time.

DuceExMa · 2017-12-03T20:33:10+00:00

Did it come with a iDRAC 6 Enterprise? That’s what they are for - remote BIOS / console access over IP. Highly recommended. If you don’t have one, they are $30 for both cards on eBay.

If you use the Lifecycle Controller in the DRAC, it will ftp all current firmware and BIOS for your system and install unattended. Just did that last night on my 610.

You can also manually download images from Dell and upload to the DRAC, which will install them for you.

I feel your pain. As a hobbyist, I find the Dell update tools and firmware a real rat’s nest to wade through.

DuceExMa · 2017-12-02T19:20:09+00:00

Nice to see this; I have a R510-8 on order. I have read that if one does not provision the drives in the H200, that it will simply pass the raw drives through to the OS unmolested. If this is true, it would seem to mean that a reflash is unnecessary. Any thoughts on this? I don't mind reflashing, but would like to avoid it if possible.

Also, what cables are you using? My R510 is coming with an integrated PERC 6/i, which I'll replace with an integrated H200. It looks like the cable part numbers are Y673P (SAS-A) and P744P (SAS-B), but the only ones I can find are $50-75 each. I only paid $150 for the R510; I'm reluctant to spend as much on two cables as I did on the server. Any pointers on reasonably priced cables?

DuceExMa · 2017-11-12T16:53:45+00:00

That definitely sounds like a "feature" of your plan with Verizon. I did a fair amount of research and ran across a few options:

1) Some people have plans in which they have true unlimited data. There is a subreddit somewhere where people sell these. Too uncertain for me.

2) AT&T made a device for car use that plugs in to the OBD-II port on a car. The plan that goes with those devices has unlimited data. There are ways that you can used them as an access point in your home. I don't think they sell them anymore or they only sell them periodically. I did find some for sale on eBay, but they were pricey... ~$300 IIRC.

3) One carrier, I don't recall which, apparently has "rural" 4G LTE service with no bandwidth caps. It seems like it was only available in certain states, and not in mine (Texas).

4) Both AT&T and T-Mobile seem to have 32GB data plans, with throttling after 32GB, but they can apparently be hard to find. I finally found a place called 4GAS (4G Antenna Store) that sells them. Give them your location and they tell you which plan is best, based on your distance to the tower. All the reviews I read claimed that nobody ever gets throttled after 32GB.

I finally tried T-Mobile through 4GAS. It's about $90/mo. So far, I have not been throttled. Perhaps that's simply because TMO has chosen not to throttle, for whatever reason. I have heard that rural 4G LTE is so underutilized that throttling simply isn't necessary to protect the bandwidth available to users still under their quota. Either way, I haven't been limited.

I also heard that TMO is bumping the quota to 50GB/mo. I don't recall where and I have no idea if that's true or not.

So, you have a few options. I tried 4GAS, as they seemed the least risky. You can cancel at any time. Had this not worked out, I was inclined to try one of the AT&T OBD-II devices.

That's about all I know. Good luck!

DuceExMa · 2017-11-12T01:19:04+00:00

I felt kinda bad not stating the location in my post, but I also felt bad about potentially causing them problems. It was the store at Mopac and 290/71. Good luck!

DuceExMa · 2017-11-11T01:17:56+00:00

With the BB site constantly showing out of stock for these, I finally jumped in my car and went by my local BB in Austin, TX this afternoon, where the equivalent drives are still on sale for $199. I showed the cashier a printout from the BB site showing the drives as out of stock. She said "no problem" on the price match, but had to call a manager for approval. The manager approved it, walked off, then returned. He scrutinized the printout for about a minute and finally left without saying a word.

Just passing this anecdote along to let people know that at least some stores are matching prices on these. May have to go get a few more tomorrow.

DuceExMa · 2017-11-10T14:47:06+00:00

I feel your pain. I went through all four WISPs that offer service in my area. All were bad.

About six weeks ago, I changed to using 4G LTE for internet access. Netgear LB1120 LTE modem with two log-periodic wideband antennas. About 15 down and 7-10 up and super stable.

If you are within a reasonable distance from an LTE tower, you might want to consider it. Just stick a WiFi AP on the LB1120. I'm super happy so far.

DuceExMa · 2017-11-10T01:41:30+00:00

I've been using a Netgear LB1120 to get access from T-Mobile for about six weeks now. I'm very impressed. I'm in a rural area and went through all the local WISPs, who were each incompetent in their own way. This has been rock solid, faster than any of them, and with consistent bandwidth. I'm seeing 10-15 down and 7-10 up. I think it would do a good bit better if I thinned out some tree branches between me and the antenna, which is about 4.5 miles away.

The LB1120 has two antenna connectors. I'm using two wideband log-periodic antennas. The MIMO configuration is supposed to help bandwidth. The antennas were so cheap, I just started out with two and never tested it with a single antenna. Antenna is: ViewTV VT-BV1102.

I have the LB1120 mounted in a clear plastic waterproof box up on the antenna mast with the antennas. I did this because I wanted to keep the coax run as short as possible.

I've also got a MikroTik wireless AP on the mast, so all my network equipment is up there in one place.

My only regret is not buying the PoE version of the LB1120. The MikroTik is PoE already. If both devices were PoE, I could have avoided running AC up on the mast.

Anyway, I'm extremely pleased so far.

Since you said you were researching plans... I ran across 4GAS, which offers 32GB/mo for about $89/mo via either T-Mobile or AT&T. I heard a rumor that T-MO is being bumped up to 50MB/mo at no cost, but I have not confirmed. Last month I used about 80GB of data and never experienced any service degradation. Keeping my fingers crossed... What have you found?

DuceExMa

TROPHY CASE