SoftRAID for Windows XP and Ubuntu (10.04)

In order to use a RAID (0,1) array to install both Windows XP and Ubuntu, a SoftRAID must be used.

First step
Size the hard drive to have the same number of visible sector, using hdparm.
This can be accomplish from a linux host (I use System Rescue CD for this kind of activities).

Es.
hdparm -N /dev/sda
output: visible sectors / total sectors

hdparm -N /dev/sdb
output: visible sectors / total sectors

Then set the size of the biggest to the minimum size between the 2 using the command:

hdparm -NpMINIMUM /dev/sdX

For example:
hdparm -N /dev/sda
output: 488397168/488397168

hdparm -N /dev/sdb
output: 625140335/625142448

hdparm -Np488397168 /dev/sdb

Then reboot!!!

Second step
Partition the array to prepare the space for the operating systems.
For this I use GParted in System Rescue CD, but I noticed that the array may not have been detected automatically, so I start GParted from the command line, passing as argument the array device

Es.
gparted /dev/md0


Third step
Install Windows

Fourth step
Install Ubuntu. You may need to modfy the kernel parameter passed in at boot to disable HPA. Otherwise it will result in a RAID not recognized and you will have to power off the PC in order to recover it.
In Ubuntu 10.04 I have added the parameter libata.ignore_hpa=0 to the APPEND section of PXELinux for the installer.

Convert from QEMU raw and VirtualBox VDI (...and viceversa)

From RAW to VDI:
qemu-img convert qemu.img qemu.bin
VBoxManage convertdd qemu.bin qemu.vdi
VBoxManage modifyvdi qemu.vdi compact

From VDI to RAW:
VBoxManage clonehd "qemu.vdi" "qemu.img" --format RAW

Manage MERCURIAL from command line

hg clone URL .
hg add *
#hg add hidden directoy & files
hg commit -m "First Commit" -u USERNAME
hg push

Password has to be inserted manually

In case proxy settings must be configured, edit mercurial.ini in section [http_proxy]
host=PROXY_URL:PROXY_PORT
user=PROXY_USERNAME
passwd=PROXY_PASSWORD

Manage SVN from command line

svn checkout URL . --username USERNAME
svn add *
svn commit -m "First Commit" --username USERNAME --password PASSWORD

In case proxy settings must be configured, edit in
C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\.subversion\servers
or
C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Subversion\servers

in section [global], the properties
http-proxy-host= PROXY_URL
http-proxy-port= PROXY_PORT
http-proxy-username= PROXY_USERNAME
http-proxy-password= PROXY_PASSWORD

or try to add the same properties in the registry with:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Tigris.org\Subversion\Servers\global]
"http-proxy-host"="PROXY_URL"
"http-proxy-port"="PROXY_PORT"
"http-proxy-username"="PROXY_USERNAME"
"http-proxy-password"="PROXY_PASSWORD"
"http-proxy-timeout"="0"