Notes on Installing Ceiling Fans

It seemed daunting to install a ceiling fan myself but it didn’t turn out to be too challenging. It was also a rewarding exercise since it could cost upward of $100 per fan based on one quote and a label in the store. However, there were some false starts so I am saving the lessons here. These are notes to myself and may not be deemed as an advice for any purpose, whatsoever.

1. I started with a web search on “how to install a ceiling fan” and talked to some folks who had done this before.
2. A 44″ fan should probably serve only big closets, assuming someone bothered to install a fan there. It works just OK in a 12′x10′ room. A 50″ fan feels the right size in such a room.
3. Flush mount (or close mount – without a downrod) installation is the way to go for 8′ high ceiling. Some fans don’t offer this option, so remember that when buying one.
4. Many fans use candelabra base for lighting fixture. Though there are fluorescent lamps available for this base, my regular spare ones won’t fit.
5. I did buy braces and boxes for ceiling mount though I ended up not needing them.
6. When starting work, always turn the power off first and verify. I got this right but I couldn’t go wrong with this reminder.
7. An appropriate ladder is handy.
8. Remember to remove the downrod support from mounting brackets when doing a flush installation.
9. I had a good/strong outlet box on a brace already in place in the ceiling and I was replacing a light fixture which was installed with only one screw. So I had to find another matching screw for installing the bracket.
10. Remember to use washers on screws when attaching the mounting bracket to the outlet box.
11. The brackets with a J hook to hang the fan assembly make muscular arms/shoulders an optional trait for wiring skills.
12. The canopy ring or cover is one of the first things to be used in assembly. The first time I missed it and had to redo the assembly. I was lucky on the other fan where I had the canopy cover oriented with the right side up when I checked.
13. That black unused wire in the outlet box was for the other switch which appeared to be a decorative item before. Use it for separate control of fan and light.
14. I bought three different models, and the Hunter Five Minute fan turned out to be best looking/performing and easiest to install.
15. With a downrod installation ensure that the ball clicks into the wedge on the bracket intended to keep it in place.
16. The downrod installation I did had a slight oscillation on the rod (like a pendulum), though not to a disconcerting degree.

Installing 32-bit Sun JDK 1.5 on 64-bit Fedora Core 6 Linux

Why would anyone want to install a 32-bit JDK on 64-bit Linux? The answer is easy to find if you Google it. Essentially, the 64-bit JDK version for Linux doesn’t support applets and Java Web Start.

Also, Documentum requires the 32-bit version on 64-bit Linux, probably for same reasons in part. When talking about the JDK version 1.5 all the pointers I got were towards using JPackage in the resolution.

While there were a few pages that outlined the steps, this one appeared to be the cleanest and the one that actually worked for me.

Here are the basics – install the 32-bit JDK and then use JPackage magic to create some links that are used with alternatives. This even lets you have multiple JDK’s and choose one of them as default.

NullPointerException during D6 Content Server Installation

While installing D6 Content Server on Linux I got a NullPointerException right at the point when it would try to install Weblogic for the Java Method Server. I was unable to locate any helpful information from the logs.

Then I found a thread on Powerlink Support Forums, entitled “Error Installing D6 Content Server”. While it didn’t give a direct solution, one of the posts indicated that it is probably a permissions issue. I did a quick check and sure enough /opt/dctm has owned by root while the install owner was dmadmin. Changing ownership of the installation path to dmadmin fixed the problem.

libXp.so.6: cannot open shared object file

Encountered the above error while installing Oracle 10g on Fedora Core 6 running on AMD Athlon X2 64-bit architecture. Looking for a solution found this excellent thread which has pointers to other useful resources for installing Oracle on Linux as well.

However, the solution that worked for my particular setup was the following:

yum install libXp

Startx fails on Cygwin

Cygwin is commonly used as a tool for running X server on Windows when graphical applications running on UNIX/Linux need to be accessed from Windows. This is a common need when Documentum products need to be installed on UNIX/Linux remotely from a Windows workstation.

Sometimes, one runs into a problem when startx fails on Cygwin. This may happen intermittently or consistently. Look at the messages carefully. When the message showed error number 487 and fork() failed, the following steps have helped to resolve the issue for me:

1. Close all Cygwin programs.
2. Run bin/ash.exe under Cygwin installation. On the shell prompt run the following commands
   1. /bin/rebaseall
   2. exit
3. Start Cygwin/bash
4. startx

I found this tip here.