Secure Boot has become the latest gatekeeper for PC gaming thanks to EA’s launcher and its Battlefield series. Battlefield 2042 enforces Secure Boot for anti-cheat, and Battlefield 6 is already showing the same requirement in its beta. For some players it is just an annoyance. For others it leads to a full-on system failure that…
CategoriesGuides & Hacks
Perfect Proxmox Tweaks for Homelab SSD and NVMe Installs
Running Proxmox off an SSD or NVMe makes your UI snappy and boots lightning-fast. But if you’re on a consumer-grade drive, there’s a catch: these drives weren’t built for constant write-heavy workloads. Proxmox does a lot of logging, RRD data collection, and swap usage that can wear a cheap NVMe faster than you expect. So,…
CategoriesGuides & Hacks
Upgrade Proxmox VE 8 to 9 on Standalone Nodes: Real-World Runbook with Fixes
How to Upgrade Proxmox VE 8 to 9 Without Breaking Your Nodes Proxmox VE 9.0 dropped on August 5, 2025, and if you’re running a homelab or small production node, you’re probably wondering: “Should I upgrade now, and how much pain will it be?” The good news: it’s not rocket science. The bad news: there…
CategoriesGuides & Hacks
How to Remove the Proxmox VE Subscription Message (8.3+)
Proxmox Virtual Environment (PVE) is an incredibly powerful open-source platform for virtualization, offering robust features without requiring a paid subscription. However, unless you purchase a Proxmox support license, you’ll be greeted by a pop-up message every time you log into the web UI: “You do not have a valid subscription for this server.” While Proxmox…
CategoriesGuides & Hacks
Installing and Configuring iVentoy: Network Booting Made Easy
Anyone who deals with IT deployments, system administration, or just enjoys the chaos of spinning up virtual machines on a whim has probably used Ventoy at some point. If you haven’t, it’s a fantastic tool that allows you to create a bootable USB drive loaded with multiple ISOs without constantly reformatting. Just drop your ISOs…
CategoriesBuilds, Projects & Solutions
How a Smart Plug Became the Ultimate 5G Modem Watchdog Using ESPHome
Internet dropouts are annoying at the best of times. When the connection is the only lifeline to a remote property loaded with gear, it becomes a full-on liability. That’s exactly the headache a friend of mine was facing with a 5G modem setup at his off-grid acreage. It’s not a place he lives full-time, but…
CategoriesGuides & Hacks
Setting Up SMB Storage in Proxmox (And Fixing the ISO Visibility Issue)
Setting up network storage in Proxmox seems straightforward. Add an SMB share, point it to your NAS, and boom – instant access to your ISOs, right? That was the plan at least. My first instinct was to do it the way I know how… the “Linux way”, mounting everything via the command line. But after…
CategoriesGuides & Hacks
Migrating a Proxmox VM Between Unclustered Hosts
Migrating virtual machines (VMs) between Proxmox hosts usually requires them to be in the same cluster. But what if you need to move a VM between completely separate hosts, without clustering them first? Maybe you’re shifting workloads to a new Proxmox environment or just performing a one-off transfer. Whatever your reason, there’s a way to…
CategoriesGuides & Hacks
Unlocking the True Power of the Sonoff S31 with ESPHome
The Sonoff S31 is already a solid choice for anyone looking to automate their home. It’s compact, energy-monitoring capable, and generally plays well with most smart home platforms. But there’s a catch. It ships with eWeLink firmware, which means dealing with cloud dependency and limited local control. If you prefer to keep things snappy, private,…
CategoriesGuides & Hacks
Why You Should Blur Your Home on Google Maps (And How to Do It)
Lately, I’ve been on a bit of a privacy rampage. Call it paranoia if you want, but the feeling of being exposed just doesn’t sit right with me. It’s easy to brush off privacy concerns until you realize just how much of your personal information is out there for anyone to find. A not-so-recent conversation…