Skip to content

Author: John White

Diving Pictures from Grand Turk – Nov 2008

Published April 29, 2010

We were lucky enough to make two trips to Grand Turk in 2008. Unfortunately, the second one was only one month after Hurricane Ike, which pretty much devastated the island. We were some of the first tourists back to the island, and the first ones to go out diving with Oasis Divers. The really big plus was that for the entire week, my son and I had Mackie all to ourselves!

We stayed at the Osprey Beach Hotel, which had definitely felt the effects of the hurricane, but did everything they could to make it a pleasant experience. When (not if) I go back again, I’ll be staying at Osprey, and diving with Oasis.

Pictures are available on Flickr here, and slideshow is below.

[flickrslideshow acct_name=”wpages” id=”72157623829063413″]

Leave a Comment

Required SQL Server Versions and Patch Levels for SharePoint 2010

Published April 28, 2010

Microsoft has been very clear about the requirements for installing SharePoint 2010. The biggest thing in this release is that it’s 64 bit only, not just on the Operating System side, but also in the SQL Server requirements. In addition, it’s also quite fussy about which versions it supports.

On the operating system side, a complete list can be found here. On the SQL Server side, it’s generally thought that it supports only SQL Server 2008 and above. However, this isn’t true – it supports SQL Server 2005 – provided that it’s 64 bit mode. However, the devil is in the details. It’s very specific about the patch level that you’re running. Glenn Berry has a list of the supported versions, with patch levels, and the SQL script for determining your precise version levels. There are only 3, so I’ll repeat them below:

  • SQL Server 2005 SP3 CU3 (Build 4220) or greater
  • SQL Server 2008 SP1 CU2 (Build 2714) or greater
  • SQL Server 2008 R2

The kicker is that neither the SP3 level of 2005, nor the SP1 level of 2008 will cut it,and you will have a failure if you do not conform to these versions. This failure will not appear until you run the SharePoint Products configuration wizard,which is pretty much past the point of commitment. In addition, the stsam.exe –o preupgradecheck command on a 2007 farm does not appear to detect this deficiency (at least it hasn’t yet in my experience).

Do yourself a favour, and patch up your SQL servers before you start your install/upgrade. The most recent cumulative update packages, as of this writing are:

I’ve used CU7 for 2008 on my installs thus far, and can attest that it works. I’m still waiting, hopefully not long now, for 2008 R2…

Leave a Comment

How to get SharePoint Designer 2010 and a few gotchas

Published April 26, 2010

Anyone that’s worked with SharePoint 2007 or WSS 3.0 and SharePoint Designer, and is moving to SharePoint 2010 might be a little confused about how to get the new Designer client. Previously, it was (and still is) delivered through MSDN, but after the announcement that it was made free of charge, it was made available for general download.

SharePoint Designer 2010 is ONLY available through public download. You can find the home page for the product here, and download links for both 32 bit and 64 bit are at the bottom of the page.

There are a few important usage notes here. Firstly, SharePoint Designer 2010 works ONLY with SharePoint 2010 sites (not 2007 sites). Designer 2007 works only with 2007 sites, and not at all with 2010. Therefore, if you find yourself like I do in a situation where you need to support both environments, you’ll need to keep both installed side by side.

This however brings up another issue. The bit level of all Office applications need to be the same. SharePoint Designer is an Office application, and Designer 2007 only had a 32 bit version. In this scenario, you are restricted to the 32 bit version of Office 2010. In truth,this isn’t much of a restriction,and Microsoft itself suggests that you use the 32 bit version of office unless you have a compelling need for 64 bit. The 32 bit version is more compatible with add-ins, etc.

Leave a Comment

Cabo Pulmo 2009 Dive Pictures

Published April 24, 2010

After the SharePoint 2009 Conference last October, a few of our crew took a detour to a very tiny town at the end of the Baja called Cabo Pulmo. It was my third trip there (more pictures to come..) and obviously I highly recommend it. This time we stayed at Reinhard”s Rentals and completely loved it. I’ve stayed there previously. We dove with the Cabo Pulmo Beach Resort and they were excellent once again. Every time I’ve returned they’ve had a different staff, and each time they were great. I think that speaks to an excellent dive operation, not unlike my friends at Abyss Dive Shop in Playa Del Carmen. You can see the pictures on Flickr here or view the slideshow below.

[flickrslideshow acct_name=”wpages” id=”72157623920434822″]

 

Leave a Comment

Not Supported Error While Doing A Clean Install of SharePoint 2010 RTM

Published April 23, 2010

I ran into an odd error today while installing the RTM of SharePoint 2010 on a clean server farm. I had built everything up from scratch on current versions, including SQL Server. I had applied SP1 and run all Windows updates. When I got to the point of actually running the Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard, I received an error stating that my SQL Server was running an unsupported version of SQL, version 2007.100.2531.0. Yes, it was 64 bit, as was everything else. I thought that was rather odd, and thought I’d try to find something newer.

Cumulative Update 6 for SQL Server 2008 is available so I thought I’d try applying that. Lo and behold it worked, and I continue to install away.

I just hope that it’ll be just as happy with SQL Server 2008 R2….

Leave a Comment