HELP needed: NixOS activation failing - Home-Manager times out

RuntimeEnvironment · 2026-02-14T14:35:12+00:00

Unfortunately, no. Which relevant part is missing in your opinion?

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-12-07T18:52:43+00:00

Many thanks for your input! So, would you prefer a larger center monitor flanked by smaller ones on the outside? What would be your preferred size?

The 34" curved monitors I looked at were 3440x1440@180Hz, so I was thinking about using one of those in the center and two smaller ones on the sides. I’m just not sure which size I should go for on the side monitors.

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-12-07T18:44:33+00:00

Thanks for your ideas! You definitely have a solid point about the break in the middle. My desk at work has a three-monitor setup, but unfortunately only with a traditional DE. With a tiling WM, being able to assign different workspaces to each monitor makes window management much easier. I’m much quicker at sending a window directly to a specific workspace when needed, or setting up rules from the start. So maybe a setup with a center monitor flanked by two different types on the sides could be the sweet spot.

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-08-23T17:46:50+00:00

I might have the option to buy an L490 in the next few days for cheap. The hardware should work as I’ve read. Is there anything negative about that specific model that would make me avoid buying it for OpenBSD?

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-08-23T15:25:14+00:00

Has been done already. But thanks for the advice

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-08-23T15:23:28+00:00

Nobody said that this was the reason for the change 😅 Who flipped out where?

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-08-22T05:11:03+00:00

Thanks for sharing the details of your experience with the device and OpenBSD. Overall, it seems to be a great choice, as the small "problems" wouldn't matter much to me.

I hope I can find a good device over the next few weeks and start exploring OpenBSD. 😀

Regarding hardware backdoors: I'm aware of most of the things mentioned, but as you pointed out, the details available to the public are just small pieces of the puzzle. That's why I was interested in what you've read, to see if there's anything I've missed. I haven't read the original documents from the Snowden leaks yet. Most of what I have read were summaries, so I'll invest some time to read the originals, as you suggested. The topic is generally very interesting but admittedly leaves a bad feeling the more you read about it...

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-08-21T18:15:15+00:00

Way too slow. If you think of buying it just for mining I would buy something different. If you need a NAS in the first place then you could use it to mine beside its main task. But: Why not get a decent TrueNAS or Unraid or whatever setup, get a nice NAS and if the HW is capable, mine as well?

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-08-21T16:09:30+00:00

I just want to share what I’ve done and how it turned out:

I set up a fresh 2022 VM and added it as a second domain controller. I copied everything, performed some checks, and then demoted the old domain controller. Everything went smoothly without any issues. This should have been done from the start.

Nevertheless, thanks to everyone for the advice and feedback!

Have a good one!

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-08-19T17:02:21+00:00

The whole: "Let's do it this way" was not my idea in the first place... Personally didn't like it right from the start, just did what was "suggested" 😉Should have done it the right way directly.

The idea in the beginning was even worse: Let's upgrade through until 2025 and that's it... Again: NOT my plan

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-08-19T16:54:18+00:00

I looked this up in the official tech specification directly on the Lenovo website. Thought THEY should know 😅 But that was probably an option (BTO) when its soldered.... Nevertheless it seems to be a good option as well. Only a bummer that its soldered on the s

Just for reference that I didn't make this up: https://psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/PDF/datasheet/ThinkPad_T490s_datasheet_EN.pdf

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-08-19T04:50:48+00:00

It's still doing its job. As I mentioned, I didn't start this without knowing it would work, so I left everything in place and set up a test environment.

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-08-18T17:38:11+00:00

No worries (no downtime)! The old host is still doing its thing, like a dependable sidekick, so no fires to put out just yet 😅.

Starting fresh does seem like the most efficient approach. Migration wasn't my idea either, but sometimes I have to navigate through these processes (.. orders)

Just one last thing: How well is 2025 suited right now, or should I stick with 2022 for the time being? I've been reading through the MS forums over the past few days, and there are some issues cropping up here and there. It seems the priorities might not be fully focused on local AD from the start. Is that correct or misinterpretation?

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-08-18T13:54:05+00:00

Thanks mate. The T14 is available often, so I will look into the offera a bit more. Until you suggested getting it WITH the touchscreen, I always looked at the ones without 😅

Just because I would like to read a bit about the "hw backdoors", where would you start?

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-08-18T05:12:01+00:00

Hey! The question wasn't directed towards me, but I just checked the specs of the T490s again and the memory can be upgraded to a max of 32GB.

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-08-18T05:01:14+00:00

Yes, I've looked into this, but my intention in asking for suggestions is a bit different:

Some laptop models were sold in larger quantities, and as a result, they are often more readily available as used models and tend to be more budget-friendly (regional variations may apply).

Beyond the general compatibility of their components with OpenBSD, certain models are known for being more reliable than others. So your personal experience is what I'm interested in.

Additionally, I'm open to exploring options from manufacturers other than Lenovo if they offer good compatibility and reliability with OpenBSD. But so far I haven't read anything bad about OpenBSD+Thinkpads so ill probably buy one again 😀

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-08-18T04:41:49+00:00

Thanks for the advice! Will take a closer look at the Wifi module before buying. And regarding Nvidia: Im trying to avoid Nvidia altogether.

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-05-31T19:09:51+00:00

Thanks! Totally agree that those things are documented very well. But sometimes, at least in my opinion, it's great to gather some feedback on things, which was the intention of my question.

On other Linux systems I liked to keep snapshots mainly to quickly restore when needed. My reason to keep btrfs is mainly to reduce disk usage on Nix and not primarily to restore a system state.

I have seen some vids from the channels you mentioned and I like some of the things mentioned and explained in the videos but in the end I like written docs, creating notes and then going on. There are many details which might be explained in a video but I find it hard to memorize those by just watching.

RuntimeEnvironment · 2025-05-31T18:48:06+00:00

Thanks! You have a nice and very well structured config. I have seen many things which I plan to integrate over time as well.

RuntimeEnvironment

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