How I got my "non-technical" hands "dirty," thanks to community & documentation!

This week I had the chance to get my hands “dirty” with setting up a 3Node, and I wanted to share the story. Yes, ThreeFold can be quite a technical project, especially at this stage in our evolution, but hey we are building a new Internet over here and in the end, even us “non-technical” folks are capable of quite a lot – with a bit of help!

Hands-On with Hardware

The first thing I had to do was swap out two RAM drives from one piece of hardware into a new one. So I called up @scott, and he walked me through it. A few twists of the screwdriver on each device and I was on my way. As there are not many components inside a 3Node, it was easy to identify the RAM. “You see the black plastic pieces on the end of each drive? Pull them outwards and you should be able to pull the RAM out quite easily.” Correct! At first I was a bit worried about how to hold the RAM or how hard to pull, but Scott assured me it was all good, and it was. After putting the two RAM drives into the new hardware, I screwed the casing back together and off we went.

Setting up the Farm

Actually, we were troubleshooting an existing Certified Titan, so parts of this section had already been done for me. But the rest was quite simple thanks to documentation led by community rockstar @Mik. I won’t go into the details, but I can safely say that while it does take some time, the instructions are very clear. Honestly, the hardest part was finding a computer with a USB port (thanks Apple!).

Booting the Node

Hardware installed. Farm created and boot media generated. BIOS set. USB inserted. Network cable plugged in. Now it was time to boot the node. All seemed pretty smooth until we got the final screen, where I was presented with an error that the SSD was not detected. So I pinged a few trusted members of the community, @FLnelson and @Mik, as @scott was asleep back in America, and they told me it was likely that the disk was not fully wiped clean, which is essential for a 3Node to function. When @scott awoke, he confirmed, and sent me this post. It turns out this is quite a common issue people face, and we already had clear documentation about how to fix! So, after a few messages to @scott and simply following the instructions, I was able to successfully wipe 2 bytes off of the SSD. It turns out this was all that was needed to get the node up and running, live on the explorer, and farming TFT.

Lessons Learned

1. What does “non-technical” even mean, anyway?

I mainly wrote this post to share my experience for all those “non-technical” amigos out there, to get rid of that silly perception. It’s something I say quite often, that I am “non-technical,” but in the end, it is only an excuse. Of course we all have varying degrees of technical knowledge, but most of us are using all types of technology every single day, and we are capable of going a level deeper. Especially because of the next two points.

2. Our documentation is super helpful

Yes, documentation can always improve (and continued improvement is a major focus for the project) but after this experience I’ve seen first-hand that if people take the time to read and follow what is there, anything is possible! Sure, some discoverability aesthetic refinements will be nice, but people should not be afraid to dig in. You’ll be surprised what you can accomplish! And if you get stuck …

3. We have an incredible farming community

The farming community, both here and on Telegram is truly amazing, and I have been so proud to see it evolve over time to where it is today. The kind and welcoming atmosphere that has been created and continued is so nice and sets us apart as a project. And beyond that, the unconditional support happening on a daily basis is a real reason this project continues to expand. In this instance, I owe my thanks to @scott, @Mik, and @FLnelson, but I see so many people offering a helping hand all-around with many different types of challenges. And it’s a beautiful thing!

Let me also just say how incredibly satisfying it was to go through this process. At times a bit frustrating, but in the end, when I saw the node live on the explorer, I felt fulfilled. It’s been said that farming can be addicting :wink: and now I really get that.

Together we build! :pray:

14 Likes

THIS!

Let’s @gosam you rock! Great work.

Let the TF Grid grow!

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Good times working on this with you brother! Hope to see some more nodes popping up in Turkey soon :slight_smile: