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Extending the range of your wireless system

One of the hassles of my house is that a natural gas furnace and its sheetmetal ductwork are centered in the basement, blocking wifi signals from reaching all areas. 

Extension Through Powerline Adapters

My first attempt at extending the range was to use powerline wifi adapters. You buy two, plug one into a power outlet near your wifi box, and then attach the two with an ethernet cable. Repeat the process where you want the second wifi box located. 

The idea is that the network signal goes over the electrical wires in the house. For the most part it works. But not all the time, resulting in irritating breaks when listening to music or watching movies from the Internet.

Extension Through 50-foot Ethernet Cable

For a second wifi box, I instead ran a 50-foot ethernet cable from my main wifi box, drilling holes through walls. This worked, because the wire primarily went through our basement storage room, where looks are not critical.

This has worked well, and I recommend it, if you can hide the wire sufficiently. It helps to have a white colored cable, or other color that matches your home decor.

Extension Through Range Extender

Because the powerline adpater did not work well, and I needed wifi in an area to which I could not run a long ethernet cable, I looked for another solution. I found it in a range extender, which is a wifi box whose primary purpose is to pick up the WiFi signal from one box, strengthen it, and then broadcast it further.

I got a unit ($70) yesterday from Amped Wireless. To get it to work, you have to take these steps:

1. Get a laptop computer, and turn off its wireless.

2. Turn on the range extender box.

3. Connect the laptop with an ethernet cable to any LAN port on the range extender box.

4. Enter its address: http://setup.ampedwireless.com (which connects to the range extender, not the Internet).

5. Follow the instructions, but the main limitation is that the range extender requires a wifi signal with a strength of 70 or higher. (The screen lists the wifis in your area and their signal strengths.) Move one or the other wifi units to get that 70.

6. Enter other items, like a new SSID and password.

Then it should work.

I did have a major headache that all my Internet service ground to a halt after I set up the range extender. After a few hours of debugging, I finally determined the problem lay in an IP address conflict. Here's what happened:

After setting up the range extender successfully, I plugged in several ethernet cables for devices like an XBox, DVD player, and BRIX computer. One of these devices had the same default IP address as the range extender (192.168.1.240), which caused the entire network to not want to work (a half-dozen computers, three wifi boxes, DSL modem). The visual effect is that all network activity lights on all network boxes blink at an insanely fast rate.

The solution is to keep those devices's ethernet cables unattached to the range extender until I have a chance to see which unit's IP address needs to be changed. It is possible to change the IP address of the range extender, but it's working now and I'd rather not mess with it.

Technology is so-o-o tiring.

 

Solving UCPC media problems

OK, so I've been using my Gigabyte BRIX ultra compact personal computer for a while as a media server, and have encountered problems. I waited writing this blog until I found solutions. Here we go...

Video Tearing

When watching hi-def videos running from an MP4 or FLV file, tearing occurs in high-speed scenes. It looks like a shallow diagonal line separating two frames. While not devastating (like some of the other problem I encountered), it irritates. After some research, I found...

The problem is due to Intel not having optimized CPU drivers for Linux. Recall that Intel's recent lines of CPUs include GPUs for displaying graphics on your screen, playing back movies, and so on. While some people report limited success in tweeking advanced parameters in VLC (video playback software), this does not solve the problem when accessing movies through YouTube or a Web browser.

One solution is to switch to Windows, which has CPU drivers optimized for movie playback -- naturally. But it costs money buying a full Windows license. Well, I do have a spare license, but I don't want to infect this new computer with Windows 8.

After much reading through support forums, several people reported that Fedora Linux eliminates video tearing. I confirmed this fact by downloading Fedora and running it as a LiveDVD on the Gigabyte computer. 

Now I have to decide if I want to install Fedora. I downloaded three different versions before I found one that worked for me:

• The Mate version didn't seem to have any system for easily installing software, such as, say, VLC.
• The Gnome version thought my monitor was only 7" small, and so supersized everything, making some GUI elements inaccessible.
• The KDE version had a system for installing new software, understood the correct size of my monitor, but nevertheless made it difficult to install VLC.

Solution: So, yah, install Fedora if you want to watch movies using a Linux system without tearing. I am spoiled by the consumer-friendliness of Mint Linux, but for the sake of smooth video playback, I may have to install Fedora KDE 20 (http://spins.fedoraproject.org/kde/).

No Sound

Recall that when I first hooked up the Gigabyte BRIX computer to my Sony receiver with an HDMI cable, there was no sound. My workaround was to plug a 3.5mm cable from the BRIX's audio-out to the Sony's Portable Media input port.

But I wanted to know why sound would not travel through the HDMI cable. After some research, it turns out that I needed to tell Linux to send the sound through HDMI, instead of the audio port.

Solution: Go into the audio control software, which might be called Pidgin or KDE Mixer. There will be an option to select where the sound should go out -- audio port or HDMI.

No Video

The first time I connected the BRIX to my entertainment system, the video worked just fine (except for the tearing and no sound). 

The second time, however, no video. The Sony receiver and Optima projector could not find the signal. Researching the problem, some people recommended turning on devices in different order. For instance, first the receiver, then the computer. 

Then I found another solution: I changed the resolution of the BRIX down to 1280x720, which matched the resolution of the projector. Now it works reliably.

Solutions: Ensure the BRIX resolution matches that of the projector or tv; turn on the BRIX after turning on the receiver (or tv).

Update

It turns out the BRIX does have a fan, but it is so quiet it is nearly impossible to hear, and runs only when the CPU is working hard.

 

 

 

Playing with an ultra compact PC, part vi

When I bought the UCPC, I didn't know I was buying a kit -- no RAM, no hard drive, no operating system. I've installed the RAM and the solid state drive. Now it's time to start it up and install the operating system.

Starting the BRIX for the First Time

I wasn't sure what a non-OS computer would recognize when starting up for the first time, so I plugged in the following:

• Wired keyboard (instead of a wireless one)
• Wired mouse
• HDMI cable to a monitor

I attached the power supply, and then pressed the On button. It lit up in blue, but the monitor was unimpressed: "No signal," it snarked.

My heart sank. Now what?

I attached an external DVD drive that held the Linux install disc. The BRIX computer sensed it, and I could see the DVD working away. But no display on the monitor.

Try a different monitor, I thought. I moved the BRIX and all the attached components over to another monitor, plugged it in, and...

Instant success! 

Installing the Operating System

The BRIX box knew to look for the external DVD drive automatically, because the solid-state drive was empty. It then took a while for the DVD drive to grind away and install the 64-bit Xfce edition of Mint Linux 16 (download from http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=156). 

Once done, I unplugged the external DVD drive, and then restarted the computer. Man, it boots fast! The speed comes from using the lightweight Linux implementation on the solid state drive. Time to boot: 9 seconds. 

This is remarkable. Even Android takes a minute or longer to start up on smartphones and tablets.

Note: a blue LED inside the BRIX flashes to indicate disk access; it can be seen through the cooling vents. Also, I can now confirm the box has no cooling fan, so it is silent; it gets warm during use, but not hot.

Useful list of new functions in Xfce Mint 16: http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_petra_kde_whatsnew.php#mdm

Completing the Project

With Linux working, I switched to a wireless keyboard. First, I tried a spare Bluetooth keyboard-trackpad device. Linux recognized it and the two connected. But no-go: nothing I typed appeared on the screen, and the cursor was unmoved by the trackpad. I retried a few times, then gave up.

I switched to Logitech's K400 keyboard, which also includes a trackpad. It worked flawlessly, being recognized instantly by Linux.

Then came the big premiere: showing a movie from a USB stick on our big 100" screen in the entertainment room. I hooked the HDMI cable to my Sony receiver, and the Optima projector displayed the image. But no sound.

Meanwhile, my wife arrived and sat on the couch. "Can we watch the movie?" No.

No sound. Odd.

As a substitute to the audio-over-HDMI not working, I ran a spare 3.5mm audio cable from the BRIX's digital audio-out port over to the Portable Device input on the Sony receiver. The sound emerged from the six speakers, finally. 

The movie was now working in hi-def and surround sound, using VLC video replay software. I did notice, however, some video tearing at times. I'll have to investigate this problem some more at some time; perhaps the USB stick was not fast enough in delivering the data.

Summary

The total cost came to around $450 -- about $150 less than an equivalent Mac Mini: 

• $300 - BRIX computer
• $90 - solid state drive
• $50 - DDR3L RAM

Add to this a keyboard, mouse, and monitor.

In the end, I had fun putting together a computer, like the way we did in the 1980s and 1990s.

Playing with an ultra compact PC, part v

In summary, my UCPC (ultra compact personal computer) kit now works!

But first, the details on how I installed the RAM, now that it finally arrived.

Installing the RAM

Because low-voltage RAM is expensive, I chose to purchase just one 4GB module (for $50). The BRIX motherboard has two slots, and so I can always add more RAM later. The motherboard handles a maximum of 16GB RAM (which would cost about $175), but it this amount of memory is unnecessary for my purpose, which is to run Linux. 

After the memory arrived (see figure 1), I installed it.  

Figure 1: We can't tell from the box label that this is low-voltage RAM, but fortunately the label on the RAM itself carries the designation (circled in red)

 

To insert RAM, make sure the slot matches the notch (see Figure 2). Insert the module at an angle, initially.

Figure 2: The red circle highlighting the location of the notch (in white plastic holder) and slot (in green RAM module)

 

The slot-notch do two things for us:

• By being off-center, the notch ensures that we insert the RAM module the correct way around
• Their location ensures we are using the correct RAM module, as modules with different (incorrect) specs would have the slot in a different spot.

With the RAM module correctly aligned, press down on it so that it lays horizontally (see figure 3). Metal clips at either end snap into place. Ensure both clips are solidly in the respective notches.

  Figure 3: Snapping the RAM module in place; the red circle highlights the location of the metal clip; there is one at each end

 

There is too little documentation on this UCPC, but another snippet I learned is that the requirement for 1.35V low-voltage RAM is new to this edition of motherboard and CPU combo. Earlier UCPC boxes from Gigabyte used the more common 1.5V RAM modules.

We can see that the change in voltage did not reach the holders in which the RAM is inserted. Notice in figure 4 below that the white holders still specify "1.5V DDR3" (instead of 1.35V DDR3L).

 
Figure 4: The mislabled RAM holders

Closing the Box

With the RAM installed, it is time to close the case. The problem with a symmetrical lid is that it can be difficult to determine its correct orientation. For this Gigabyte BRIX, one edge lacks the RFI shielding because it's the end with most of the connectors (see figure 5).

Figure 5: Three edges of the lid have RFI (radio frequency interference) shielding; one edge does not, as highlighted by the red circles

 

Close the lid, and then put back the four screws to secure it.

In the next episode: starting up the BRIX and installing the operating system.

 

 

 

 

Playing with an ultra compact PC, part iv

Waiting, waiting...

To complete the hardware installation of the barebones ultra compact PC I've been outfitting, I am been waiting for the delivery of the rare DDR3L memory module -- 1.35V, low voltage RAM. After two weeks of waiting, I finally contacted Mike's Computing about the delay.

As we used to sing on high school band trips during delays in travel, "Why are we waiting? Why oh why are we waiting? Oh why are we, why are we-ee wa-ai-ting?" (to the tune of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful").

Well, turns out the product was not in stock, even though the online inventory system said six were in the Vancouver warehouse. Mike's didn't alert me that the memory module was back-ordered. After all, any DDR3L would do for me. They hope to have the delinquent product back in stock in the new year, with delivery a few days later.

 

 

Playing with an ultra compact PC, part iii

As I await delivery of the DDR3L low-voltage RAM module, I did some more digging about this ultra compact personal computer, for which there is sparse information available:

 

Figure 1: The tiny Gigabyte BRIX ucpc sitting on top of the huge Apple Mac mini.

 

More About UCPC

"UCPC" is an Intel initiative for making ultra small desktop computers -- akin to Intel's ultrabook specs for making ultra thin laptop computers. UCPCs are meant as zero-footprint desktops (because they can be attached to the back of LCD monitors) and as media servers.

Best as I can tell, there are just two vendors of the current Haswell CPU lineup, Intel's "Next Unit of Computing" and Gigabyte's BRIX. The Gigabyte one is the better deal, as it includes WiFi; Intel's does not and so you have to pay extra for the WiFi module.

More About BRIX

Being from Taiwan, Gigabyte may not know that BRIX is an unfortunate name for a computer.

My Gigabyte model includes Bluetooth v4, and I hope it will work with the spare Bluetooth keyboard-trackpad I have.

This UCPC lacks two ports that would make it more useful as a media server: 

• It has no SD card slot; this can be overcome by inserting an SD card reader into one of the four USB ports.

• It has no remote control capability, as there is no infra-red receiver; this can be overcome by using a WiFi remote, such as through an Android phone or tablet. A suggestion I've read is to get a USB remote control receiver. I have found with other similar PCs that a wireless keyboard-trackpad can be better than a regular remote.

More About the CPU

This UCPC is driven by an Intel i3-4010U CPU; other models from Gigabyte use i5 or i7 CPUs, which are much more expensive (twice the cost, in the case of the i7). This 64-bit CPU came out in Q3, is dual-core, and runs at 1.7GHz.

Other specs for the CPU:

• 16GB maximum RAM (I'm installing 4GB for now)
• Intel HD-4400 graphics (good for movie playback)
• Supports wireless displays (I'll have to try this out at some point)
• Supports up to three displays (but BRIX has just two display ports externally)
• Supports four USB 3.0 ports (BRIX has all four USB ports)
• Supports four SATA 6GB/sec ports (found three on the BRIX, so far)

See ark.intel.com/products/75107 for full specs.

Maximum power consumption is 15W -- about as much as an LED lightbulb. Idle consumption is about half that.

Choosing the Operating System

I've downloaded the 64-bit Xfce edition of Linux Mint 16 from http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/linuxmint//testing/linuxmint-16-xfce-dvd-64bit-rc.iso and burned a DVD of the file. Xfce is a slimmed down version of Linux that runs on minimal hardware specs. (XFCE was short for "XForms Common Environment" and is now nicknamed "Cholesterol Free Desktop Environment.")

If Xfce doesn't suit the job, then I'll just switch to the full-feature Mate edition -- no biggie. 

In addition, I'm investigating XMBC, the open source media center software that runs on most operating systems: xmbc.org. Pulse-Eight makes a device that works with XMBC and PCs and HDMI tvs: www.pulse-eight.com.

 

Figure 2: Comparing the backsides of the Gigabyte BRIX (on top) with the Apple Mac Mini (below). The BRIX has all the same ports as the Mini, except it has no Firewire port or SD reader.

 

 

Playing with an ultra compact PC, part ii

While waiting for the mSATA solid state drive to arrive, I researched this strange tiny beast I had bought. An ultra compact PC was unlike any other computer I had purchased.

First off, I discovered there is very little information about using this model of ultra compact PC, partly because it is brand-new (just shipped in the last couple of months), partly because there just isn't much about UCPCs. There are no dedicated forums, as I had expected -- and had experienced with just about any other piece of hardware.

But I did glean some information that Gigabyte doesn't tell us:

• This Gigabyte model must use only DDR3L RAM, that low voltage RAM that runs at 1.35 volts. It will not work with regular 1.5-volt RAM, so my collection of 1GB and 2GB modules is useless. 
  
  
• It will not boot when the RAM and the SSD are missing.
  
  
• If there is no display through HDMI, connect via the miniDisplayPort port instead.
  
  
• Press Del while booting to get to the boot menu.
  
  
• It should work with any modern release of Linux, even though Gigabyte provides drivers only for Windows 7 (both on an included CD-ROM and online)

Because it came with no operating system, I have decided to install the most recent release of Mint Linux. While I was tempted to put on the new Steam Linux, it does not yet support Intel graphics.

Additional Ports

While perusing the Internet for information about this computer, I realized that the motherboard has connectors that acted as additional ports (see figure 1). Gigabyte says nothing about them, so here is a bit of data for you:

EDP - embedded display port. This connector is meant for connecting an display internally, such as on a notebook computer. 

HDD - hard disk drive. This connector can hook up to another SATA drive. This is the data port; for power, use the adjacent 4-pin connector.

? - H08. I don't know what this is for. On PCBs [printed circuit boards], "H" is the code for hardware, which is rather ambiguous.

Figure 1: Undocumented, additional connectors on the motherboard

 

Ordering Low Voltage RAM

So, I put in an order to Mike's Computer Shop for the cheapest DDR3L RAM I could find. Many of the modules listed on their Web page were "back ordered," so I ended up paying $50 for a single 4GB module, specifically Kingston model # KVR16LS11/4. The technical specs are 1600MHz, DDR3L, non-ECC, SO-DIMM, 1.35V -- and is one of the models on Gigabyte's approved list.

Mike's doesn't charge for shipping at this price level, an appreciated bonus. It should arrive in a couple of days.

Installing the SSD

FedEx delivered the SSD late in the afternoon, and so I immediately installed it. It installs almost like a RAM module, but with one twist, as follows:

 1. Open up the box by undoing the four screws found in the feet of the computer. (See figure 2.)

Figure 2: Taking out the four screws that hold the base to the computer.

 

2. Take out the screw standing by itself near the eSATA connector. (See figure 3.) I should point out that the shiny module next to the screw is the wireless networking component.

Figure 3: Taking out the screw that will hold the SSD drive in place.

 

3. Take the SSD out of its packaging, and then shove it into the slot at an angle, as shown in figure 4.

Figure 4: Inserting the SSD into the eSATA slot.

 

4. Put back the screw, which makes the SSD flatten out. See figure 5.

Figure 5: Inserting the screw that holds down the SSD.

 

Next in part iii: installing the low-voltage RAM, and then booting the computer (I hope). 

Playing with an ultra compact PC, part i

For my selfie-Christmas present, I bought an ultra compact computer. It's as small as an Apple TV box, but instead contains an entire computer:

• 1.7GHz dual-core Intel i3 CPU with Intel HD 4400 GPU
• four USB 3.0 connectors
• HDMI (4096x2304 @24Hz) and mini DisplayPort (3200x2000 @60Hz) video out
• analog and digital audio output
• ethernet and wireless networking
• Bluetooth
• adapter plate to attach the unit to the back of a monitor
• external power brick

Price: around $300 for a box that's about 4.5" square and an inch tall. Its small size make a Mac mini look overgrown. 

Why a UCPC?

So, why did I order a UCPC? I had wanted one for years, but the premium price put me off. I wanted to see what a tiny box could do.

I had found the small Mac mini useful as a headless portable system. At weddings of our children, I take it along to the reception, hook up a projector, wireless keyboard-trackpad, and speakers -- for the mandatory slide show. Very handy.

I tried using the Mac mini to stream video from the internet to our projector at  home, but its Flash is flaky and tends to crash the Web browser, irritating my wife. I suspected a Windows or Linux-based system would be more stable.

But look over the specs. See what's missing?

Low Voltage RAM

Yah, the RAM and a hard drive. And because there is no hard drive, there is no operating system, either. Sigh. (I noticed these problems only after the Gigabyte BXi3 was already being shipped to me.) Gigabyte says the omissions let you customize the box to your local conditions. Problem is, it does not emphasize this "benefit" on its product page: http://ca.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4742#ov

Missing RAM would not be a problem, I thought. I have several spare modules left over from upgrade projects. Well, at least I thought so.

After the unit arrived, the included one-page instruction sheet stated the computer uses DDR3L RAM. This was new to me. Turns out DDR3L is low-voltage RAM that runs at 1.35V. Checking sites that sell such RAM indicates it is expensive, probably because it is rare. 

No matter. I stuck in the spare RAM modules I had laying around, plugged in the power and an HDMI cable to a monitor, and then turned on the system. No boot. Hmmm... I thought the PC would at least do a BIOS boot, even with no hard drive installed and improper RAM installed. 

Since then I came across the official list of memory cards supported, and all are 1.35V types: http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Memory/haswell_memory.pdf [PDF file].

mSATA Hard Drive

In the meantime I ordered the hard drive. This computer, being so small, takes only an mSATA drive, which is the kind used in ultrabooks. The drives don't look like traditional hard hard drives with their s rectangular boxes; but rather like a plug-in memory card -- because that's what it is: a 60GB (or larger) memory card. 

(The "m" in mSATA is short for mini.)

I looked around for the cheapest one I could find, and ended up ordering an ADATA 60GB SSD mSATA drive from Canada Computers and Electronics for $90 (including taxes and shipping). FedEx is due to deliver it later today.

Here is the official list of supported mSATA drives, which range from 60GB to 256GB: http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/mSata/haswell_msata.pdf [PDF file]. And that's the problem with SSDs. If you want the cheapest one, the price-per-GB is expensive. 

Next in part ii: what happens after I install the mSATA drive.

 

SSD-ing my office

I've switched the hard drives in most of the computers in the upFront.eZine Publishing world headquarters offices to solid state drives. Sometimes, technology comes along that just makes it worthwhile switching wholesale.

Like only wireless mice, once the batteries lasted for at least a year.

Like only LCD monitors, once 20" and bigger screens were priced reasonably. (The first one I ever bought was for my wife's computer, a 14" LCD screen for $1500. Argh.)

Like only LED lightbulbs for this office (where the lights are on 12-16 hours a day), once their color changed from icy-cold white to warm white. My primary work light: 2.5W. It's not about saving energy, it's about saving the cost of electricity.

Like WiFi stations located at all corners of the house for full home and yard coverage. (My first WiFi installation, a proprietary, reconditioned system from 3COM, cost $1,200. Argh!)

Like a four-speaker sound system, including a pair of big floor-standing Polk units, running off a 37-year-old Marantz amp, because writing well is accompanied best by music that sounds great.

And then there's my desktop computer, the main one that does all the work, which isn't getting an SSD. While all the other computers were faster with the addition of solid state drives, it is odd how I feel that my primary work computer doesn't need one. Maybe it's due to the 3.1GHz four-core CPU, the 16GB RAM, and the 32GB ReadyBoost drive on a USB 3.0 port. 

What it shows is that technology that improves our lives doesn't need to be all-encompassing.

 

How to clone drives under Windows 8 (it's harder than before)

When you want to replace a hard disk drive with a solid state drive, then there is plenty of free software for cloning drives.

(Solid state drives are more expensive than hard disk ones, but are much faster and have no moving parts, and so are more rugged. Cloning means to exactly copy everything from one drive to the other, including the operating system, locked system files, and hidden folders. I wrote about doing this in How I installed my new SSD.)

Last weekend, one of my kids wrecked the hard drive in her laptop computer; this was the second time in a year. (TIP: Don't pound the keyboard in frustration.) I had only a few hours to solve the problem, and so was forced to buy a new notebook computer running the unfortunate Windows 8 operating system from the customer-hostile Saturn electronics store (Germany's BestBuy). I also purchased a 250GB solid state drive for a reasonable $200, so that rough treatment of the laptop would no longer destroy the hard drive.

I used the free Macrium Reflect cloning software to copy the contents of the hard disk drive to the SSD. It took five hours. I swapped drives, and then rebooted the computer. It would not boot.

I did some research to find that most cloning software does not work properly with Windows 8, because Microsoft added extra security to frustrate legitimate customers. (All computers certified by Microsoft and running Windows 8 must employ uEFI -- Unified Extensible Firmware Interface -- which means they no longer will boot regular USB drives, either. Thank you, Microsoft, for making life harder.)

On a forum, I read a recommendation to use the free Acronis Migrate Easy software for Windows 8 cloning. I downloaded it, and it also did not clone a drive that was bootable.

After more research later, I came across Germany's Paragon Migrate OS to SSD. Drawback: it cost me $20. Benefit: it worked. Additional benefits:

• It does not copy empty clusters, and so is super speedy with nearly empty drives, such as ones found in brand new computers. (That 500GB drive was cloned in just 8 minutes.)

• It understands that SSDs are smaller than HDDs, and compensates accordingly.

• For $20 (current special price), they sold me the 32- and 64-bit versions, plus Boot Media Builder, which let me create USB thumbdrives that can boot Windows 8. (I have not yet tested this.)

So, there you go: Windows 8 may be free with the purchase of any computer, but it will cost you a lot afterwards, both in time and for add-ons.

How to erase Windows from a reused hard drive

I wrecked the motherboard of my previous desktop computer, but the 500GB hard drive was perfectly good; plus, it contained all my files. So I installed it into my current desktop computer. It still had Windows and some Windows-oriented folders, which contained system-protected files that I could not erase -- even though Windows no longer uses any files on this second hard drive.

I knew I could get Linux to erase the folders and files, but I didn't want to turn my desktop computer into a dual-boot machine. I tried running Linux in a virtual machine using Oracle VM VirtualBox software, but I couldn't access the drive.

So here is my solution. I had wanted anyhow to install Linux Mint 15 on a spare, external, USB-powered drive, so that I wouldn't have to deal with dual-booting on any computer. I did that (using a utility called YUMI), and then attached the drive to a USB port on my desktop computer.

As my Acer desktop computer was booting, I pressed F12 repeatedly to access the boot screen. I selected the external USB drive, and booted into Linux. I was then able to easily erase the Windows folder, and other folders that Windows wouldn't erase.

The effort freed up 38GB of disk space.

- - -

Bonus Tip!

I have found the best way to deal with an old Windows hard drives is with a Mac. The Mac's Disk Utility program (found in Applications > Utilities) effortlessly wipes out existing partitions and reformats drives in seconds. Windows own disk utility is wonky about partitions, and Linux is too technical.

(Hard drives pulled from Windows computers usually have three partions, two of which are used for backup and OS recovery purposes. You gain disk space by removing these partitions, which become unecessary when the drive no longer runs Windows.)

Mac OS X does not, however, support NTFS natively, and so you'll need to install a driver to recognize NTFS drives and to format them. I use the free NTFS-Free driver from Anton Altaparmakov. (Some others say they are free, but don't tell you they are free for just 15 days.)

 

How to make your aging netbook run like ZIP!

Netbooks were the first ultrabooks, the first Macbook Airs. ASUS invented the new category of diminutive computer back in the mid-2000s. Its first model was too small -- 7" 800x480 screen and just 4GB disk space -- and ran a customized version of Linux with a severe bug: CAPSLOCK would turn on permanently until it was rebooted. (I have that first EEE 701 model, and it cost me $400; naturally, I put on a better version of Linux.)

Microsoft grew jealous of this fast-growing category, and so made Windows XP available cheaply, and arranged with Intel to limit the hardware specs, such as limiting the display resolution, the maximum amount of RAM to 1GB, and limiting the size of largest hard drive.

The price fell to $250 and savvy users added Linux to XP, creating ultra-cheap dual-booting portable work units. This class of computer flourished on campuses (due to the low cost) and among business travellers (due to their portability).

As regular notebook computers got thinner and Apple released the Air, the popularity of netbooks fell. Today, however, a few netbook models are still available from places like Staples.

- - -

In  early 2009, I bought a better netbook than the ASUS model that was beginning to frustrate me with its too small keyboard and display whose resolution was too low. I ended up with the rare LG X110 for $460. (It is rare, because LG no longer makes computers.) The specs seem low-end today, and are as follows:

• Display: 1024x600
• RAM: 1GB (not expandable)
• Hard drive: 160GB
• Ports: 3 x USB 2.0, 1 x VGA, 1 x SD, mic, headphones, ethernet 10/100
• Wireless: WiFi b/g, Bluetooth 
• Webcam: 1.3 megapixel
• CPU: 1.6GHz single-core Atom 
• Graphics: Intel GMA 950 (built-in GPU and shared memory)
• Weight: 2.6 pounds

It looked nice with its piano black finish; at conferences, people would come up to me to ask about it. The only really poor spec were the speakers, which were just about unusable. I stopped using it after two years, however, when I bought an Acer TimelineX for about the same price, but with specs that blew away the netbook: high-res screen with HDMI, 8GB RAM, 1GB nVidia graphics, 750GB hard drive, quad-core CPU, etc. Just the keyboard is poor.

But I missed the keyboard of the X110. LG managed to put into the diminutive computer the finest keyboard my fingers have ever had the pleasure to tickle on a portable computer -- as good as the $110 Logitech keyboard I use with my desktop computer. That LG let me type fast!

- - -

After putting in an Intel 500GB solid state drive into the Acer TimelineX, I wondered if an SSD would give the LG X110 a needed speed boost. The hard drive always seems to be working too hard on that netbook, and maybe by replacing the drive, the netbook would again be usable to today's expectations.

I followed my instructions from How I Installed my new SSD: I mirrored the contents of the old drive onto the 500GB SSD, and then installed the SSD into the netbook. But it would not boot. The BIOS boot screen appeared, the screen went black, and the BIOS boot screen reappeared -- over and over again.

I took the computer to our local geek store, Mike's Computers, but the guys there couldn't think why it wouldn't work. I wondered if the dual-boot was a problem, but didn't have the patience to get rid of Grub (not an easy process), the utility that allows dual-booting for Linux and Windows.

Then I remembered: netbook owners were deliberately short-changed in the area of hardware specs, and Intel limited the largest size of hard drive that could be used. I used the Windows XP install CD to repartition the 500GB SSD to just 160GB, and then installed XP. It worked! And the aging netbook became a speed demon!

I went online and ordered a $100 120GB SSD from FutureShop and 20 minutes later picked it up from the store.  I used the LG's backup CDs to install XP on the SSD. This took these steps:

1. Install XP Home Basic (CD provided by LG with the computer)
2. Add drivers specific to the X110 (provided on a second CD by LG)
3. Download updated drivers (still available from LG, much to my surprise!)
4. Download and install the XP Service Pack 3 from Microsoft

TIP: During the XP installation, the setup program ran into a snag. It claimed it could not find the files it needed on the CD, and asked for a path the find the files. The path is a screwup; the solve the problem, erase all of the path in front of the part that reads \I386 and replace it with d:, like this:
                                        d:\I386
Because this error cropped up many times, I copied the path to the clipboard (Ctrl+C) and then pasted it (Ctrl+V) each time it appeared.

I always found XP's candy-style interface awful, and switched to classic interface. Installing more software on the computer (like CCleaner and Atlantis word processor), I was struck that XP isn't all that different from Windows 7 in its capabilities.

(Search "X110" on this blog for other articles I wrote about this netbook computer.)

 

How I installed my new SSD

At a trade show, I won a 480GB solid state drive from Intel. I was hyped, because I was interested in getting one, but was shy of the $500 pricetag. SSDs promise much faster computer performance for those tasks that involve the hard drive. This includes things like booting the computer, starting programs for the first time, loading and saving files, and paging RAM.

Solid state drives are faster than hard drives, because they have no moving parts. They use the same memory technology as the memory cards I stick into my digital camera and smartphone. Having no moving parts means the drives are impervious to shock should I drop my computer.

Now that I had one, I faced this problem: into which computer to install the speedy drive? I have two desktop computers and two notebook computers. I finally decided that my newer notebook would benefit the most from it.

Installing the SSD (solid state drive) involves the following steps:

1. Clone the contents of the old hard drive onto the new SSD.
2. Remove the old drive.
3. Install the SSD.
4. Reboot the computer and hope it works!

Step 1: Clone the Old Drive

Cloning means to copy every bit of data from the old drive onto the new one. Every bit means everything, including hidden files, locked files, and the operating system. It turns out that Windows has a way of doing this, but the job is much easier with a third-party program.

I searched the Internet and it turns out there are free applications available. (In the early days of SSDs, vendors included the software and hardware tools to do the cloning, but as prices fell, these useful items were left out.) 

I picked out Macrium Reflect software, after it was recommended by one site, and was listed as having a dialog box interface. (Some of the other cloning programs operate at the command prompt, and I had no interest in that.)

To clone the old drive, I followed these steps:

1. Download (such as from http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx), and install the cloning software.

2. Insert the SSD in an external drive enclosure. You can buy these at electronics stores for maybe $15. I happen to have one with a USB 3.0 interface, which makes the file copying process about 4x faster than with USB 2.0 interfaces.

3. Attach the external drive to the computer.

4. Run the cloning software. If given a choice between cloning or imaging, choose cloning. (Imaging also copies all of the bits, but then zip the whole lot into a single compressed file; imaging is better for make whole-disk backups.)

5. Wait a long time. In my case, cloning 358GB took 6 hours, 16 minutes.

6. When done, exit the software and shut down the computer.

Step 2: Remove the old drive

With the computer turned off, remove the old drive.

I won't provide details, because every notebook computer is different, but I find that a set of jewelers screwdrivers (consisting of several flat and Phillips sizes) are indispensable for taking apart computers and their components. Also, a pair of needle-nosed pliers.

Step 3: Install the new drive 

Remove the SSD from the external drive enclosure, and then install it into the computer. (You reuse the old drive by putting it into the now-empty drive enclosure, and use it as a backup drive.)

Step 4: Reboot the computer

Reboot the computer and hope it worked! In my case, the surgery was a 100% success.

Windows noticed the new drive, installed a driver for it, and then asked me to reboot one more time. After this, I decided to benchmark the old and new drives.

Benchmarking

How much faster is the new SSD? I ran a couple informal benchmarks. Using the Windows Experience Index, the hard drive rating jumped from 5.6 to 7.9. (In Windows 7, 7.9 is the highest possible score, unfortunately, and so the actual score may be higher.)

Next, I timed how long Windows took to boot the computer. The old hard drive took 85 seconds; the SSD accomplished it in 29 seconds -- so 3x faster. (These timings are from when I pressed the power button to the time Windows desktop first appears.)

Summary

Now the depressing part. Yes, the new drive is speedy. But soon its speed will seem to slow as my perception of it normalizes.

The other negative is that the notebook computer has lees disk space, falling from a rated 750GB to 480GB. Or to put it another way, the amount of available space falls from 308GB free to 99GB free. I guess I'll have to erase a few movies.

On the positive side:

• The drive cost me nothing, a $500 savings (thanks to Intel and to me for being the first to answer a skill-testing question correctly)

• The notebook computer runs quieter, because there is no longer any drive noise; I am hoping the battery now last longer

• The up-to-3x-faster faster speed is appreciated

• And I now have a free 750GB backup drive installed in a USB 3.0 enclosure

Here are the specs for the SSD drive: http://ark.intel.com/products/66251

 

 

Intel wishes it could do what Androids already do

I had to chuckle reading an interview on the Verge, titled Ultrabook, round two: can Intel control the future of the laptop? (The text of the URL, however, reads, "intel-on-all-day-battery-life-we-really-mean-it-this-time.") The interview is with Intel consumer PC head Kirk Skaugen, and just about every promise he makes for future PCs is already established on Android tablets and hybrids, like the ASUS TF101 with keyboard dock that I currently enjoy.

All-day battery life

• 12-16 hours on Android tablets with dual batteries
• Intel founded the Mobile PC Extended Battery Life Working Group -- in 2002!

Touch

• Found on all Android tablets
• Found on very few Windows PCs and on no Macs at all

Connected Standby

• When my ASUS Android is sleeping, it is still connected to the Internet; when I wake it, email, RSS feeds, updates, and so on are ready for me to peruse.
• This is a new feature in some Macs, and apparently soon on Windows PC. "Even on the world's fastest tablets today, you power it on and you have to wait for your email, wait for Facebook to update. This will give you instantaneous access," Intel says. Notice how they leave out mention of Android tablets.

High Resolution

• My ASUS has a screen resolution of 1280x800, which I find ideal: high enough to see any Web page, yet low enough to enable accurate touching. 
• I feel that the drive towards ultra-high screen resolution is as pointless as high pixel counts for digital cameras. As the resolution increase, the touch experience decreases as UI elements become too small to touch accurately. Intel's silly solution is to dynamically change the resolution when the screen senses it is being touched.

This is a case of Intel pedalling furiously from behind, and probably not catching up.

 

Adding RAM to Acer's ZS600 all-in-one computer is tough; here's how to do it

From the specs provided by Acer, I know that my all-in-one ZS600 touchscreen computer had just 4GB RAM, but could take 8GB. Even better, one slot was empty. (Usually both slots are filled for better memory performance.)

But adding the RAM is not just a case of undoing a couple of screws and sliding a panel. Fortunately, I found the repair manual online. Here are photos I took that show you how to remove the back of the computer.

You will need:

• pliers
• phillips screwdriver (I use a cordless screwdriver)
• jewelers screwdrivers: phillips and flat
• optionally, a magnet. (My pliers are magnetic)
• box in which to place the 22 screws (my screwdriver box has compartments)

1. Remove the plastic cover covering the hinge of the stand. Here is where I used the pliers to squeeze the cover until it popped loose. See figure below.

 

2. Remove the three screws holding the stand to the body. The middle screw is a tight fit, and so I used a jewellers screwdriver, which was thin enough to get between the hinge springs.

Once the stand is removed, there are two more screws to remove.

3. Use a paperclip to open the DVD drive.

4. Remove the plastic bezel (front) of the DVD drive with your hand. It is merely clipped onto the drive. (In a later step, you use the opening of the DVD drive to start removing the cover.)

5. Close the drive by pushing it back into the body.

6. Remove the two phillips screws that are visible in the main body.

7. Along the back of the stand are five more screws. Remove the rubber coverups (they are glued in) with a small flat screwdriver, and then remove the five screws. The photo below shows one of the main body screws, and two of the stand screws.

 

8. Now it is time to remove the cover, which is clipped in. Begin where the DVD drive is: reach in and pull away the cover.

Repeat on the opposite side of the case. Repeat where the case becomes the back of the stand. I found the stand part the toughest, but mild force works eventually.

9. Remove the 12 screws that hold the metal shielding over the motherboard. Here is where the magnet comes handy, for some of these screws might fall into crevices.

Also covered by separate metal shielding is the hard drive (near the top of the photo), the DVD drive (near the bottom), and the fan (in the center.) At this point you could replace the hard drive, if you wish.

10. You now see the RAM slots. This computer uses notebook RAM: DDR3-1600/PC3-12800. Touch some metal before adding the new RAM card.

The mother board has a spare PCI slot (at the bottom of the photo), and I suspect that this is where the nVidia graphics board would go. I haven't investigated what kind of special connector would be needed to connect it to the built-in LCD screen; maybe another time.

There are two more slots available: a spare SATI connector for a third drive, but there is no obvious place inside the case to locate the drive. And a MiniCard2 slot (another form of PCI slot).

12. Reassemble the computer.

Bonus Tip

In an earlier posting, I complained that this computer's USB v3 port did not provide power when the computer was turned off. It turns out that there are two USB v3 ports, and that only one provides power at all times -- the one located closer to the SD Card slot.

The Steve Jobs myth of the Mac UI

One of the on-going myths of Steve Jobs is that he was a visionary because he saw what a research lab run by Xerox had done, and then turned the idea into the Lisa computer first, and then the Mac.

He gets credit for commercializing it, but not for dreaming about it. The engineering office in which I worked in the early 1980s had two IBM DisplayWriter word processing systems that used the Xerox monitor and printer. These were dedicated word processors, at which two secretaries turned our hand-written engineering report into beautiful pages that looked like they were typeset.

The DisplayWriter computers featured a white-screen monitor in portrait orientation, using WYSIWYG to make the screen look like the printed page. I remember seeing them and thinking, wow! Wouldn't it be great to have that on the desktop.

This was around the time that IBM launched its PC in 1981, which came with either a green text-only screen or very-low res graphics; but it was good enough. Apple launched the Lisa a few years later, in 1983. The base model was $10,000, and eventually it failed in the market place due to its high price and failing hardware.

The AZS600 touch screen all-in-one computer from Acer

My dad didn't like the all-in-one Acer desktop computer with 23" screen and Windows 8 that I got him a couple of weeks ago. So he gave it to me, and I've had a chance to explore it.

Windows 8 is alright, so long as I ignore the metro UI junk, and stick to the Windows 7 look-alike part.I can't always ignore metro, as Windows 8 sometimes insists on shoving it back onto the screen. A real productivity killer. Thanks, Steve and Steve.

I described my experience with using AutoCAD and the touch screen over on my WorldCAD Access blog. (Summary: I now see why Autodesk does not trumpet AutoCAD running on Windows 8; touching it doesn't work great.)

Specs about this computer:

• At $800, the cheapest desktop computer with a touch screen in Canada

• 23" 1920x1080 touch screen; but the screen is so shiny it acts like a mirror. I have positioned it to minimize the glare.

• Six USB ports, including one USB3; this USB 3 port, however, loses its power when the computer goes to sleep, negating the spec it is supposed to follow.

• a/b/g/n WiFi and 1Gbit Ethernet; I hook it up using ethernet for faster speed and greater security

• Digital audio output port, plus mic and headphone ports; decent built-in speakers but no bass

• Webcam, with a bright LED that is supposed to light you up when the room is too dark, but all it does is irritate the eyes; one of the first things I hunted down was how to keep that light off!

• Sturdily built, with a tiltstand on the back, and well-rubberized feet

• 1TB hard drive; DVD-RW drive; SD memory card slot

• HDMI in and HDMI out ports

• Comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse, and a unifying receiver; but the mouse buttons are so stiff that I cannot double-click, so I am using my own mouse

• 2.8GHz dual-core Pentium with 4GB RAM (expandable to 8GB); no discrete graphics; I added an 8GB ReadyBoost memory stick

• A slot under the monitor lets me store the keyboard out of the way.

• The computer runs silently, no fan. 

The nice thing about this all-in-one is that it has an HDMI in port, and an HDMI switch button. This lets me use the computer (as a secondary computer) on my side desk together with my Apple Mac Mini. Pushing the button switches between the Windows 8 display and the OS X Mountain Lion display.

But then I ran into a perpetual motion machine: the first evening after I hooked everything up, I put Windows 8 to sleep. The monitor noticed there was no PC display, and so switched automatically to the Mac display. Nice, I thought.

But not for long. I put the Mac to sleep. The monitor noticed the signal from the Mac disappeared, and so woke up the PC. I put Windows 8 back to sleep, and the signal switched back to the Mac, waking it up.

Back and forth things went before I set Windows 8 to hibernation mode.I hope Acer will fix some of the problems I found.

 

Fixing a screwed-up memory card

Using a bad memory card reader can screw up memory cards, such as SD cards. There is little sign that there is a problem, except that Windows is hesitant to recognize it.

Windows won't fix the card, whether through formatting it, running ChkDsk, or whatever. I have found a solution involving your digital camera.

Digital cameras can format memory cards, and they seem less fussy than Windows. When a poor-quality memory card reader "wrecked" a 16GB SD card of mine, I did the following:

1. I stuck the card into my digital camera.

2. The camera complained that it was not suitable. It asked if I wanted to format it. (If the camera does not offer to format the memory card, then do so manually.)

3. After the card was formatted (with FAT32, in the case of my Samsung EX2F camera), I removed the card from the camera.

4. I plugged the memory card back into my Windows computer, and ran ChkDsk on it, asking the utility to fix all problems.

5. After ChkDsk found and corrected problems, I reformatted the SD card with NTFS for use with my computer.

The card now worked correctly.

Three computer repairs this week, two successful

I have been working this week on fixing three computers.

MacBook Hard Drive Replacement

Daughter #1's Macbook has a small 250GB hard drive, and because she takes many photos, the drive quickly filled up.

I read on the Internet that it is easy to switch drives and move the data on Macs (not so for Windows PCs!). I removed the 640GB hard drive from my daughter-in-law's old, broken computer. It took about 3.5 hours to move the data from MacBook hard drive to the external one, and then another ten minutes to physically swap the drives. Well, that and a few more steps, as outlined in http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos/2012/12/how-to-replace-the-hard-drive-in-your-macbook.html

I didn't mention in that blog posting that Apple uses proprietary bolts to mount the hard drive in this model of MacBook. Fortunately, a pair of narrow-nose pliers became the effective alternative to removing them.

(The daughter-in-law's old computer was my dad's new laptop from a few years ago. So, that PC's hard drive now runs in a MacBook.)

PC Laptop Hard Drive Replacement

Daughter #2's computer broke down while she was in Germany, and now that she is back home, I examined it. Sure enough, the hard drive had suffered a catastrophic hardware failure inside. No data access software I tried could access the data on it, it just went clunk, clunk, clunk. So, she lost it all -- including her computer's copy of Windows.

A new drive is about $80, and a fresh copy of Windows 7 is $250. But you can get a entirely brand new laptop for $380!  For me, the economics did not work out.

However, I had a spare 500GB hard drive laying around, and put it into her computer. So that cost nothing.

Then I found that it is legal to download a full copy of Windows free, if (a) you need it for a computer whose hard drive is gone, and (b) the computer still has the Windows activation sticker.

This worked, but because the version of Windows made available for these situations is a bare bones version, I had to also download files specific to the computer, so that the networking and sound work, so that the resolution is correct on the screen, and so on.

Fortunately, the laptop manufacturer, Acer, makes these additional files available on their Web site. I downloaded about a dozen driver files to my desktop, copied them over via USB thumbdrive, and then installed them. Sometimes it was a bit tricky; for example, Acer has drivers for ATI (AMD), Intel, and nVidia graphics boards; a bare bone Windows won't tell you what the hardware is. It was a matter of trying one 500MB driver, being told no such hardware existed, and then on to the next.

(Funny story: for a while, Windows said it could not find the drivers I had downloaded. I tried over and over again. Finally I realized that while I was telling Windows to look in the laptop's C: drive, the files were still on the USB thumbdrive.)

Finally, I hunted around my backup drives for any copies of daughter #2's materials I might have. (She had failed to back up her laptop.) I found about 8,000 photographs, a bunch of her music, and dozens of documents (which she had emailed me for checking or printing). So, we were able to get back some of her stuff she thought she had lost.

A Tablet Bricked Hard

Last of all, I did not have success with my tablet. I managed to brick it last week in trying to upgrade Android to Cyanogen v4.2. ("Bricking" means that it won't start up, and so it acts like a brick.) I spent a few days, on and off, trying various tactics to resuscitate it, from instructions I gleaned off the Internet, such as EasyFlasher, NvFlashTf, and the Universal Naked Driver -- plus countless videos on YouTube.

The fundamental problem is that the APX driver disconnects just when flashing software starts flashing the OS back onto the tablet. I could find no solution to this problem.

Finally, I contacted the maker, ASUS, and they gave me authorization to ship it to their repair facility in North Bay, Ontario. I will mail it today, and we will see if they fix it for free. (It is still under warranty.)

So, two successful computer repairs that cost me nothing, but time!

How to replace the hard drive in your MacBook

My daughter's MacBook has a miserably small hard drive, just 250GB. Being a semi-professional photographer, all those RAW files filled up the drive in no time.

I figured she should replace the hard drive, and then we came into a spare one after my daughter-in-law's HP laptop went bye-bye. The CPU was shot, but the 640GB hard drive was fine. After I got all the files off the drive and safely to my daughter-in-law, I realized I had the ideal drive for my daughter. It was ideal because the drive was (a) the right kind, (b) 400GB more capacity than her existing one, and (c) free!

The drive that your MacBook will probably use is any 2.5" SATA drive commonly used by just about any notebook computer today, Windows or Mac. You can tell if it is the right drive if (a) it is about 2.5" wide and (b) if its connector matches the one in the MacBook.

I looked into what it would take to replace the drive, and it was laughable easy:

1.    Download  SuperDuper! free from Shirt-Pocket Software: http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper.

2.    Attach the new drive to the MacBook. (I got an empty external drive box for $18 from the local geek computer store.) USB is better than FireWire, for some FireWire drives do not allow booting. If necessary, use the MacBook's DiskUtility software to (a) erase and then (b) format the external drive with "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)."

3.    Run the software, copying all files from the MacBook to the external drive.

4.    Check that the external drive will boot: restart the MacBook while holding down the Options key. You are presented with the option of which drive to boot from: pick the external one.

5.    If the MacBook boots successfully, you can shut it down, remove the old drive, and insert the new one.

I won't give you instructions in how to pull the old drive, because different generations of MacBook have different ways of accessing the hard drive.

(The only hiccough was that after rebooting, Dropbox wanted me to sign in, even thought I didn't need to.)

I say it is laughable easy, because this would not be as simple with a Windows computer.

 

My failed toy: LaCie network drive

I've written before about the dreadful state of LaCie and its line of hard drives. I am slowly getting rid of the ones I have.

At one time, I thought that a network drive would solve the problem created by Microsoft, in which they make it difficult to access data on networked computers. Since networked printers had worked well in our office, I got LaCie's Network Drive so that data could be easily stored and shared among multiple computers.

Short story: didn't work.

The LaCie Network Drive is a beautiful beast outwardly, but inside it is a nasty beast. Because of its minimalist design, it lacks even a serial number stamped on its black bottom, should one want tech support from LaCie. No serial number,  no support. (Remember to cut the serial number from the cardboard box and then clumsily scotch-tape it to the drive.)

Installing a network drive is tough, software-wise. It is not plug'n play. As one of LaCie's troubleshooting pages admits:

IP Configurator and Network Assistant [software] use a less common protocol called ARP to find an Ethernet Disk. As this isn't often used by computer users, many firewall and security programs will interfere with it.

This is not a sentence you often read in pre-purchase marketing materials.

Anyhow, I got the drive set up and operating. It appears in the network section of Windows Explorer, with two primary folders: one private (needs a password to access it) and one public. That was fine, but often Windows could not find the drive, as LaCie explains to you only post-purchase (see quote above).

More irritatingly, the drive's heads constantly moved, making this scratching noise that never ever stopped. LaCie tech support explained to me that this was a bug, in which the drive continuously updates its index of files found on the drive. They sent me an update, which fixed the problem.

The difficulty that Windows had in reliably finding the drive, however, made me give up on using it. Because I could not use it for every-day use, I thought I would use the drive just as a backup for files that I don't need frequent updates, such as my collections of photographs, videos, book projects, and software.

Fine, but then last week I needed some files from the drive, and for the first time in a couple of years I reconnected it to my computer. This was the start of about a week spent battling the drive to get it to give up its files to me.

Windows saw the drive, but copying files took, well, centuries it would have been. I don't think a single file was fully copied the first day.  I went to the LaCie site and got a software update, although I was not sure if it was the right one, because of the drive being devoid of markings.

The LaCie utility software for applying the update to the drive didn't think it saw the drive. In any case, it spun its spinner for a day or so.

Even the simple act of turning off the drive meant eventually pulling the power plug, because it would not shut down. (BTW, network drives have tiny Linux computers inside, just like routers and other network devices.)

At one point, I took apart the drive, and installed it in my desktop computer. But while the computer recognized it as hardware (Windows installed the correct drivers),  Windows did not see the drive at the software level. I think this is because it is a network drive, and is not meant to be installed directly in computers.

At one other point, LaCie's software complained that Bonjour was not installed on my computer (which it is), which it needs to operate. Bonjour is installed, so this was another irritant LaCie provides customers.

Eventually, I came across this page at LaCie's site -- http://www.lacie.com/support/support_manifest.htm?id=10300&guideid=10596 -- and I did the following things to get my files back.

• Moved the network cable from a router (that had had a spare port) to the router which more directly accessed my desktop computer. The link between the computer and the drive was now more direct.
• Reset the drive by turning it off, turning it back on for 3 seconds, then off and on again. I had to do this a few times before the drive was reset.

The reset process is safe: no files are destroyed. But it does remove all updates, and so this drive is back to its annoying, relentless indexing.

Never mind, Windows now was able to copy my backup files. The 77GB of photos were copied in about six hours. I was surprised at how slowly the drive delivers its data. The final black mark.

I'll get a few more files off it drive, and then junk it.

My new toy: An Optoma projector that plays back BluRay but not DVD discs

I got a new Optoma HD66 home theatre projector for our entertainment room. Since it was refurbished from a place that specializes in projectors, I got it for pretty much half-price. The image is stunning, compared to my previous projector (Benq MX511, which was suffering from a massive wave of dead pixels after just two years of use.)

But after I hooked it up to my Sony BluRay player, I discovered curious problems.

• The projector showed a blue screen (along with the HDMI Signal Searching message) when the Sony player was not showing a movie; the projector should be showing the options screen of my BluRay player.
• The projector also showed the blue screen when I tried to play a regular DVD disc.

Only when I inserted a BluRay disc did the projector show the movie. Curious.

I called Optoma tech support, but the woman answering insisted that projectors only display what they receive -- kind of like loud speakers only playback what they get from the amplifier.

But this is not true for components that use HDMI connections, where a lot more goes through the wires than just video and audio signals. For example, handshaking takes place so that the BluRay player and the projector can exchange information regarding the security of the video content.

Together with the tech support person, I thought of a few solutions, such as swapping DVD players or not using the HDMI cable. But after I hung up, I thought I should first search online to see if anyone else had the problem. They did!

Fortunately, by the fourth or fifth forum I read the solution from a member named "kkellycpa": In the Sony BluRay player, turn off HDMI Deep Color Output, like this:

1. Settings
2. Screen Settings
3. HDMI Deep Color Output
4. Off 

(The option might be in a different location on your player.)

I called back Optoma tech support to tell them I found the solution, but the techie I spoke with was disinterested. He insisted that projectors only play back what is sent to them. When I persisted by describing the solution to the problem, he claimed I was the first ever to experience the problem. I told him that the problem and its solution was posted nearly three years ago (Feb 2010) -- specific to Optoma HDMI and Sony BluRay.

When I suggested he could record the solution and post it to their Web site, he sounded patronizing, saying "yes, yes," and that was pretty much the end of the conversation.

(The HDMI communications problem is much more common than than you might suspect. It is not uncommon for devices to fail to fully communicate over HDMI connections. My son's first LCD tv had a problem where the screen would flash white for a second every so often while showing movies over HDMI. My daughter's first BluRay movie would not play, because my son's BluRay player was incompatible with the disc version-wise.)

Update: Speaking with the seller of the projector, Consignia.ca told me that they had heard of the problem before.

My new toy: VMultra drive

Brand-new from Velocity Micro is the VMultra drive. It is a USB-3.0 station that sports:

• 1 x SD card slot (SD, SDHC, MMC, but not SDXC)
• 2 x USB 3.0 ports
• 1 x USB 2.0 port 
• DVD read-write 8x-speed drive (or optional BluRay drive)
• 500GB hard disk drive (or optional SSD drive, or no drive at all); it is a 7200rpm Western Digital "Black" drive attached with the SATA III connector.

All this comes in a box about the size and twice the height of one of today's external DVD drives.

I found the VMultra interesting, because (a) I wanted a USB-3.0 backup drive; (b) needed an external DVD drive for my notebook computer; (c) would find an extra SD slot useful, because the one in my notebook computer is consumed by the ReadyBoost drive; and (d) extra USB slots are always useful. And here was a unit that had all four functions in one.

So I ordered it. During ordering, I did not realize it could be configured, and so I bought the standard configuration (DVD R/W and hard drive) for $199. You can substitute the DVD with a BluRay drive, change the hard drive for a solid state drive of various sizes, or have no hard drive at all (install your own). http://www.velocitymicro.com/wizard.php?iid=234

(I used to have an external DVD drive that also read BluRay discs, but I found I never used the BluRay function, partly because I have no need for BluRay discs, and partly because I'd have to pay another $80 for software to play back BluRay movies on my computer.)

It arrived yesterday, and here is what I found:

• The case is made of rubberized plastic, so it feel like it will not slip from my hand. On the  other hand, this type of plastic is a finger grease magnet.

• A door covers the hard drive, allowing me to replace it. 

• The VMultra attaches using a USB 3.0 cord that has a T-shaped connector at the peripheral end. It provides almost all the power needed, even to burn DVD discs. The unit comes with a spare power supply, needed only if you want to run more than one thing at a time -- according to the documentation. 

• I can access all drives at the same time: the hard drive, DVD drive, inserted SD card, as well as other storage devices attached to the USB ports. 

D:    DVD drive 
E:    Hard drive
F:    SD card
G: and so on: other devices attached

• I found the DVD drive slightly faster than the one I used to have. 

• The tiny instruction booklet claimed the hard drive needed to be formatted first, but I found it already had NTFS formatting.

• The device has no copy button or other controls, and so I cannot, say, copy files from the DVD drive to the hard drive, or from the SD card to the drive. This means it cannot be used as a portable backup drive for cameras.

• The device has no media output ports (neither video or audio), and so it cannot be used as a source for playing back music, display photos or movies on tvs, or doing presentations on projectors.

The documentation does not explain the three lights on the unit. Here they are:

Green light indicates a card is successfully plugged into the SD card reader.

Blue light on the side indicates the hard drive is working (I had to pull the hard drive to figure this one out).

Long blue light on top indicates the unit is plugged into the computer.

Plugged Into Laptop Computer

I attached a variety of peripherals to see how well the USB ports acted as a hub. I plugged in my Google Nexus S phone, MOMO8 Android tablet, and Apple iPod Classic. In all these cases, the VMultra charged the device, and the computer recognized its existence (after installing device drivers). This means the VMultra can be used as a charging post for portable devices, as well as to move files back and forth (between attached mobile device and the computer) like a USB hub. Again, files cannot be copied from the mobile devices to the MVultra directly, but can be via the attached computer.

When I attached an external hard drive, it was not recognized, nor was a multi-card reader or digital camera. That does not mean such devices would not work for you; it's just that these particular models did not work for me.

Plugged Into Android Tablet

I plugged the VMultra into my ASUS Android tablet. The tablet recognized the 500GB hard drive, calling it USBdisk1. So I can use it as external storage. But when I put a movie into the DVD drive, the tablet recognized neither. (When I removed the disc, the hard drive again was recognized.)

When I attached the iPad, it was charged and the tablet could read the folders that Apple makes public. But once again, the hard drive disappeared. The hard drive reappeared only after I unplugged and replugged the VMultra to and from the tablet.

It would not recognize my Android phone, but then I can plug the phone directly into one of the tablet's other USB ports.

Bonus Tip: When you have a choice in plugging a peripheral into a USB 2 or USB 3 port, then choose USB 3. I find things work better with USB 3 ports, perhaps because they output more power.

 

How to convert IMG files to VDI format

I want to try out the lateset release of ChromeOS on Oracle's VirtualBox operating system emulator. Problem is that the download file (from chromeos.hexxeh.net) is in IMG format. This format is used to burn an image of the operating system onto USB thumbdrives -- similar to the ISO format used to burn images to CDs and DVDs.

Unfortunately, VirtualBox does not read IMG files.

Fortunately, it does provide a utility to convert IMG files to VDI files. (I don't know why it doesn't simply read IMG files, like it does ISO files.)

Unfortunately, using the converter is a bit annoying. Here's how to run it:

1. Click Run, and then enter cmd

2. Notice that Windows opens a DOS window.

3. Copy the following text to the Clipboard, including the quotation marks. (You will probably hvave to change the name of the filename I show below in yellow; it is identical in both cases.)

 "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage" convertfromraw -format VDI ChromeOS-Lime-2237.0.2012_05_29_1626-r021858a8.img ChromeOS-Lime-2237.0.2012_05_29_1626-r021858a8.vdi

4. Paste the text into the DOS window: right-click, and then choose Paste.

5. Press Enter to start the conversion. Wait about a minute or so while the conversion takes place, and then create the new virtual machine with the VDI file.

The iMac's got "only one cord" -- or maybe it's eleven

A reader and I have been going back and forth on HP's claim that its new Z1 is the world's only 27" all-in-one, and you can read about our email-conversation in next week's upFront.eZine. He and I did a bit of digging to see if HP's claim is true, and it is when you include all three of HP's qualifiers. The full description from HP is:

Introducing the HP Z1, the world's first:
(a) all-in-one workstation 
(b) with a 27" (diagonal) display 
(c) that snaps open to let you swap out parts and make upgrades.

Of course, Apple has its iMac (a) all-in-one workstation with (b) a 27" (diagonal) display. But it doesn't snap open, and Apple is proud of that:

While you’ll find a collection of [ten] ports on the back of iMac, you won’t find much else. A seamless, precision-forged enclosure makes the back one continuous aluminum surface. And there's only one cord: the power cord.

And there the logic fails. Since you cannot open the back of the iMac to swap in next year's better components, you have to add features through the one FireWire 800, four USB 2 [not v3], two Thunderbolt, one ethernet, and two audio ports. I'd count that as eleven wires, not one.

Not that I am a fan of HP, but sealing the back shut on the iMac means that you are locked out of upgrades that can't be done through ports, such as to add more RAM, upgrade the graphics board, or swap out for a bigger power supply.

I recall years ago at a COFES event where HP excitedly showed me their no-tools workstation: big plastic knobs, levers, and so on. I see some of it made it to their consumer models, but I wonder why they never went whole-hog. In any case, here is what can be swapped with no tools:

• Power Supply
• Graphics Card
• Hard Drives
• Optical Drive
• System Cooling Blower
• Memory [never need tools for RAM cards]

(Tools may be required for other components.)

We'll see if Dell can compete. They're having a hush-hush media event Friday, and I will be there. My guess: an all-in-one (that doesn't look like their current ones, see below) that runs the new Ivy Bridge CPU/GPU from Intel. Or as HP puts it, "the power without the tower."

As fanbois tonite set their alarm clocks for 3am, others are passe

Canada's primary electronics chain, FutureShop, got some exposure in the local media yesterday for being excited about opening their stores at 8am Friday. (Normally, they open at 10am; staff tomorrow will be yawning.) No doubt that a certain hardware manufacturer required FutureShop to open at 8am to carry their new tablet product, whatever it might be.

 Actual screen grab from FutureShop's actual front page of their Web site this morning.

We have an iPad in the Grabowski household, generously donated by IMSI/Design for testing iOS software related to their CAD products, such TurboViewer.

When not in use for testing software, the iPad operates as Mom's $500 Kitchen Radio. AM radio reception a couple of years ago went downhill, and so the solution is to listen to local radio stations over the Internet. The iPad 2 sits in the corner kitchen counter on a $2 stand I got from the Dollar Store.

Others use iPads in other ways in kitchens, as this video attests. It's in German, but you needn't understand the language to appreciate the innovation.

http://biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=33329

 

If you are wondering what is said in German, the granddaughter asks, "How are you coming along with the new iPad we gave you for your birthday." Grandfather replies, "Good."

"Have you been able to figure out 'apps'?" she continues. As he turns to the stove, the grandfather responds, "What about apps? Please move aside a bit."

At the end, the grandfather asks, "What's wrong?"

Fixing the wrong aspect ratio for HDMI monitor connection

I have an Apple Mac mini, which sports an HDMI port, with a 22" monitor with VGA, DVI, and HDMI interfaces. I was using the DVI connector, since the monitor included that cable. I wondered what it would be like to use the HDMI connector.

DVI (digital video interface) and HDMI (high definition media interface) are the same, except for the following differences:

• DVI is video signal only
• HDMI transmits video and audio on one cable
• HDMI incorporates copy protection in an attempt to prevent you from syphoning off the signal and making copies, legal or illegal.
• DVI and HDMI use different connectors: DVI has a bulky square connector, while HDMI is slim and rectangular. 
• Monitor vendors seem to always include in the box a DVI cable, but not an HDMI one.

 I found a short HDMI cable at Walmart for $10, and connected the miniMac to the monitor. The aspect ratio was wrong and signal overshot the screen (the Mac desktop image was bigger than the monitor).

Weird, I thought. I pressed the monitor's AUTO button, but no change. I checked the miniMac's monitor settings, but all seemed fine.

Finally, I went through all of the monitor's settings, one by one. I finally found one that corrected the problem: signal type could be Cinema or PC. It was set to Cinema, so I changed it to PC, and the problem was fixed.

Speeding up Windows 7 greatly -- for $40

I read yesterday of a blogger's enthusiastic endorsement of SSDs -- solid state drives. He replaced his desktop computer's hard drive with a 128GB solid state drive he had purchased from Amazon. (The drive kit included the software needed to transfer the data image from the old to new drives, so no need to reinstall all his software.) He wrote excitedly about the improvement in speed.

This speed-up solution worked for  him, because his old hard drive contained just 60GB of files, and because he has enough money laying around to pay the $250 for the new drive.

The solution does not work well for those with large amounts of data, such as the 500GB and 1TB drives in my desktop computer that are 3/4 full. Here the solution is to use a large and fast USB thumbdrive for ReadyBoost -- the Windows feature that made use of USB memory to speed  up load times.

My desktop computer uses an 8GB USB drive from Imation. Through ReadyBoost, PaintShop Pro loads instantly, and AutoCAD 2011 opens up 5x faster. This speedup cost me just $35.

There is no problem finding a large USB drive; the problem lies in knowing which ones are fast.

My new (wired) keyboard

As a full-time writer, I need a keyboard that works well for me. As a touch typist, the keys need to find my fingers; the keyboard needs to react quickly; the touch has to feel good.

I had been using the wireless Wave keyboard that Logitech gave me about two years ago.  I liked the wave shape and the multimedia controls. But I found that I could not type on it as quickly as I would like, and I seemed to make an inordinate number of splling erros. I think the problem is that the keypress is too deep, and so my fingers would catch on undepressed keys.

As the painted on letters began to wear off, I began looking for a replacement. Any keyboard I tried in Future Shop, Staples, Best Buy, London Drugs was unsatisfactory. Last week I read in a flyer about a new pair of keyboards, but then I forgot which store was carrying them.

On a hunch, I tried Future Shop, but they did not stock the new brand. Idly, I tested the Microsoft and Logitech models. Still no go. I noticed a new keyboard from Logitech -- with the generic name of "Logitech Illuminated Keyboard."

Its keys felt fast and shallow. Each key was individually lit by an LED, suitable for when I work late at night (or early in the morning). It had media keys. And it has a stunning, clean design.

It was pricey (about $100) but I decided to go for it. I am pleased with how fast I can type again, error-free.

But here the part that puzzles me: the box boasts of PerfectStroke key system:

Research shows that a longer distance required for each keystroke (key travel) improves typing experience. Logitech's PerfectStroke system, with precision micro-scissors, gives you more key travel than typical notebook keyboards. So every stroke is comfortable, fluid, and silent. Tested for up to 10 million keystrokes.

 Let's examine the statement:

• This  keyboard's travel is shorter than most other keyboards, including those from Logitech. I find shorter travel is better for faster typing.

• Why are they comparing a keyboard for desktop computers with that of a notebook computer?

• Strokes with this keyboard are fluid, but not silent. They keys make a clattery tap sounds. 

Still, this is a good keyboard for me.

 

When your wireless mouse acts up

My desktop computer uses a wireless keyboard and a wireless mouse. The two used to be a matched pair, until the mouse's left button wore out. Although I disassembled it in an attempt to repair it, it appears that the left button was permanently pressed down. (It was pretty impressive seeing the amount of electronics squished inside for this six-button mouse.)

I substituted an older wireless mouse, and kept on working. But every so often, it would not cooperate:

• Button presses did not register
• Moving the mouse failed to move the cursor
• Spinning the roller wheel did not scroll documents.

I've had this mouse for quite a few years, and so I thought that perhaps it was wearing out. I came close to buying a new one, but the ones that fit my hand well cost well over $100. That was a bit too rich for me.

I discovered the solution to the mouse's problem by accident. Instead of a new mouse, I decided to treat myself to a new keyboard. The new one had a wired connection (was not wireless). When I substituted keyboards, I noticed that the wireless mouse no longer acted up.

I think that the two wireless devices were conflicting with each other, making the mouse stutter. While a keyboard only sends the occasional bit of data (key presses up and down), the mouse is is constantly sending data to the computer -- x and y distances, key presses, and wheel rotations.

Even though both wireless devices were from Logitech, it appears that two 2.4GHz devices do not coexist well.

Couple of Galaxy S tips

Thanks to Patrik Emin for these tips for those of use who use the Android-running Galaxy S cell phone from Samsung:

Tip 1. Press the status bar (at the top of the screen) to see today's date.

Tip 2. When auto-brightness is off, you can change the screen brightness manually by dragging your finger across the status bar.

 (To turn off auto-brightness: Settings | Sound and Display | Brightness and then turn off Automatic Brightness Adjustment.)

And here's shortcut that I found:

Tip 3. In the Home screen, you can go directly to one of the other six screens by pressing the dot representing the screen.

 

Apple asks, "What PCs?"

FedEx is scheduled to deliver a MacBook to my door this afternoon, my first Macintosh computer. In anticipation, I thought I'd watch some movies at Apple's Web site to get me pre-familiar with this computer that runs a very different operating system than I am used to.

I clicked on "PC to Mac: The Basics" and for the past few hours I've had this on the Apple Web page:

Sigh. Is this how it will be from now on?

One year later: Logitech keyboard-mouse combo reviewed

It is too common in computing to not have long-term reviews of hardware and software, because one or five years later, the products are just about obsolete. 

Take the spate of "Windows Phone 7 in-depth previews" that appeared this morning. Clearly, the reviewers were released from the NDAs [non-disclosure agreements], and the previews [reviews of unreleased hardware and software] come pouring out. In addition to being told when they can talk about the new products, the bloggers were probably told what they can talk about.

(I've never understood this orchestrated pre-release hoopala, especially so many months early. When this item ships late this year -- or sometime in the next few years, this being Microsoft -- all the early previews are very forgotten.)

A year ago, Logitech sent me their wireless keyboard and mouse combo -- both use the same wireless transmitter. The keyboard is one of those wavey ones, while the mouse had tons of buttons, including a few "hidden" under the rubbery skin that covered part of the device. Here are my long-term view based on a year of experience:

Pros
I like that both use a single USB transmitter; one less USB port used up.

The mouse uses a rechargeable battery (1.2v). Even though the battery needs to be replaced often, I just pop in another rechargeable.

The keyboard is still using the battery that it came with, so it lasts a long time. I guess a keyboard has lower power consumption than a mouse with its laser beam.

The keyboard has a bunch of extra buttons. Some, like volume and mute, I use a lot. One pair of extra buttons I really like are the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons. 

The utility software for the keyboard lets me disable the Caps Lock key -- a function that should really be part of Windows!

I find I can't remember the functions of more than three mouse buttons, so all those extras are useless to me. I do like the roller wheel, which has momentum: give it a twirl, and on the screen the page keeps scrolling until you grab the wheel to stop it; no need to keep the finger rolling, rolling, rolling...

Cons

As a professional writer and a touch typist since age 15, I have no patience for poor keyboards, for they get in the way of moving my thought stream to print. This Wave Cordless Keyboard has these problems:

i. The output stutters at times. I am typing and nothing appears on the screen, from time to time. I notice, I stop typing, and after a second or two, the letters finally appear. Annoying!

ii. Some letters are wearing off the keycaps: A, S, D, and N at this point. Blank keys are not a problem for touch typists, but the lack of quality build bothers me.

iii. The keyboard has a mushy feel, and that feel is a problem with pretty much all keyboards on the market these days, so there isn't much point in me switching. (The only keyboard I found with really good feel was a discontinued model by BENQ, which I ruined accidentally one day. Oh, and the keyboard on my LG X110 netbook is good for typing very quickly.)

As for the mouse, I no longer use it. Something went wrong a month ago, where just moving the cursor across the screen causes buttons to be activated. I now use an older mouse, meaning there are two USB transmitters plugged into my desktop computer.

I continue to use wireless mouse and keyboard, because I don't like cords dangling around my legs.

[Disclosure: Logitech provided me with the keyboard and mouse at no charge.]

Finding Eneloop batteries in Canada

Sanyo's Eneloop batteries are currently the best ones on the market. They are like NiMH rechargeable batteries but with one special feature: they hardly lose their charge. After a year of laying on the shelf, they still hold 85% of their charge. (Regular rechargeables are nearly dead after 30 days.)

I was puzzled why they are not available in Canada, and so bought them from eBay, department store to the world. Yesterday, I think I figured out why: Loblaws.  Yesterday I was in Real Canadian Superstore (owned by Loblaws) to buy HP inkjet cartridges (they have the lowest price, even lower than Wal-Mart), and noticed the President's Choice house brand of rechargable batteries.

It was the 85% claim that caught my eye. I bought the 4 2000mAHr batteries and compact charger ($25). Removing the wrapping revealed the Sanyo name on the back of the charger. 

I wonder of Loblaws got an exclusive on distributing the Sanyo Eneloop battery in Canada?

Getting the tx1220 running again

I got my HP tx1220ca convertible (tablet notebook) running again through the use of the press-edge-of-palm-hard-on-JKL-keys-while-turning-on trick that Deelip had found for his "dead"  tx2000 convertible.

But I had to completely restore the operating system to the hard drive, for I had pulled to 200GB drive to use a portable drive. And had wiped it clean.

I used the tx1220's restore CD to reinstall Vista. But of course it was the original Vista. The initial restore was followed by two days of further effort:

1. Restore the original Vista. Reboot several times.

2. Remove about 12GB of unwanted software (Norton, et al).  Reboot several times.

3. Install dozens and dozens of updates from Windows Update.  Reboot several times.

4. Download and install SP1.  Reboot several times.

5. Install SP2 (which I had burned to a CD).

6. Install dozens of additional updates from Windows Update. Reboot several times.

7. Download and install updated drivers from HP Support. Reboot several times.

8. Install my own suite of utility apps, like FireFox, AVG AntiVirus, CClean, 7zip, and more.

Through all this, I remembered why I dislike this computer so much. It is slow. Vista frequently pulls a "Not Responding." It is noisy, with the fan spending most of its time roaring away. The screen is dim, relative to all other monitors and notebooks in my office. The touchscreen is unresponsive. And its dedicated remote control does not work. 

Naturally, the next step was to install Linux Mint 8, dual-boot. (This would be my 4th computer running Mint.) I created a 27GB partition for Linux Mint, leaving 150GB for Vista. I wondered, Would Mint recognize the touchscreen? Was the hardware so slow, or was Vista to blame?

1. Install Linux Mint 8. Reboot once.

2. Download and install one set of 95 updates. No reboots required.

3. Install my own suite of utility apps. No reboots required.

And then... golden silence. With Linux Mint, the tx1220 runs fast and quiet. The touchscreen does not, however, work.

Sleepy USB ports still a problem in 7

Earlier I posted a solution to a bug in Windows 7 that causes the computer to lose contact with external drives, whether hard drives or USB keys. The bug in 7 causes Windows to power down the USB hubs, causing the contents of drives to disappear, and then the drives themselves to become invisible.

The solution is to turn off the option that powers down the hubs. (Get into the Device Manager, and then in the Properties for every USB Root Hub, turn off the Allow the Computer to turn off this device to save power option.)

The problem is that 7 randomly turns this option back on. This seems to occur after each reboot, as best as I can tell.

Fixing the 4GB-Installed, 2GB-Usable Problem

I was shocked to discover yesterday that my 4GB desktop computer was using just 2GB. To see this for yourself, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the Computer icon on the Windows 7 desktop.
2. From the shortcut menu, choose Properties.
3. Notice the amount of Installed Memory (RAM).

In my case, it read:

Installed Memory (RAM):  4GB installed (2GB usable)

Yikes! The problem is common to older operating systems, older motherboards, and 32-bit systems. Windows XP and older supports at most 3GB. Older motherboards support as little as 1GB. 

But my computer ran 7 on a motherboard that supports many gigabytes of RAM, and is a 64-bit system -- OS and CPU.

Solution

I dug around numerous forums, but most people with this under-used RAM problem had systems with the three limitations listed above. Finally, I came across a solution that worked:

1. Run msconfig.
2. Choose the Boot tab.
3. Click the Advanced Options button.
4. Turn off the Maximum Memory option*.
5. Close the dialog boxes, and then reboot the system.

*) Do not set the maximum memory manually. For instance, I entered 4096, but when I rebooted, only 3GB were usable. Be sure to turn off the Maximum Memory option.

Hey, HP tech support: Here's how to fix your tx1000/2000 distaster

Thanks to fellow blogger Deelip Menezes, I got my hp tx1000-series convertible notebook computer working again.

He had the same problem on his tx2000, which has the same design flaw as the tx1000 -- something goes wrong and the computer no longer boots. However, he spent more time researching for a solution than I did, and he came across this one:

1. Press the palm of your hand hard on the J-K-L keys on the keyboard.
2. While pressing down, turn on the power.

And, oh my goodness, it worked for me. Well, not right away. Since I thought this computer was a goner, I had pulled the 200GB hard drive and stuck it into an external drive enclosure that cost me $30. (I had also pulled one of the 2GB RAM modules, putting it into my son's notebook computer.)

So, to actually boot the computer, I quickly plugged in a USB key that had Linux Mint 8 on it. 

Why does the JKL-plam trick work? No one knows for sure, but it is thought that the force pushes a component on the motherboard, enabling the computer to start properly. I am glad I didn't pay HP $446 for the second repair.

Now if only HP would get social, and read up on how to fix its own computers.

Blackberry is the New iPhone

I don't care about cells phones -- I just want them to make and take phone calls. But I am fascinated by Western society's fascination with the device, both from bloggers and the young community around my children (aged 19-23) and their friendship circles. 

And it appears that the Blackberry is the new iPhone. They see the iPhone for people who need to show off. They like the Blackberry for its instant-access keypad (no flipping, no sliding, no vague screen touching) and its larger-than-normal screen.

Yesterday one daughter needed to replace the 7-year-old flip phone she'd been using. She picked a Blackberry look-alike from Samsung. My son's girlfriend wants a Blackberry. Other daughter's friend: Blackberry.

When Good USB Keys Go Bad

Within one month, I had my two biggest USB keys go bad on me. Windows had spent a couple of weeks complaining about problems on my 16GB USB thumbdrive, and then one day the drive was no longer recognized by Windows or Linux.

Right before my trip to Russia, I loaded my second biggest USB key with backup data. During the trip, I plugged the 4GB keydrive into my computer, and there was no recognition by Windows or Linux that it existed.

Last night, I tried again. The 16GB one was still dead; but I noticed something different about the 4GB one: the metal stem seemed short. I tugged at it, and found that the rectangular part (that plugs into the computer) had receded into its plastic body.

I pulled the metal connector out to its proper length, applied some crazy glue to keep it in place, and now have a working 4GB USB drive again.

Apple Wins Mobile; Microsoft Keeps Desktop

Henry Blodget describes how Apple is the new Microsoft for mobile computing at Silicon Alley Insider. Now, I am no Apple phan (I own no Apple products, hardware or software) but I have admired their comeback story -- though not their arrogance, which is now getting the company into trouble.

Mr Blodget's article contains several key phrases that show Apple's keen understanding of where some aspects of computing's next destinations are located:

In reality, "music" and "phone calls" are just apps...

Fortunately for Apple, iPods aren't really "music players," and the larger mobile platform market is very much alive.

Not that Apple understands all of it, having missed out on the netbook phenom.

Adding a Monitor with DislayLink

DisplayLink technology lets you add another monitor to your computer when the graphics board lacks sufficient ports. Basically, it lets you attach a monitor to a USB port.

This means that you can add a second monitor when your graphics board has just one connector; or a third monitor when you graphics board has two connectors.

I find two monitors very useful: I do my primary work on the larger, higher-resolution screen in front of me, and have email and other utility software displayed on the smaller, lower-resolution screen at the side.

My graphics board supports two monitors; why would I want three? My wife and I enjoy watching Deutsche Welle's English-language tv broadcast over the Internet from Germany. (We don't have cablevision.) A few weeks back I thought it might be nice to change my office so that we watch the broadcast in a tv-like manner (in front of the couch in my office), instead of in a computer-like manner. The problem is that video cables don't stretch the 10-12 feet needed to relocate a monitor.

HP USB Graphics Adapter

I had heard about DisplayLink and wondered if it might be a solution. There is a wireless version available but costs around $200. Several manufacturers make a wired version for 1/3 the price. I ordered the HP model through eBay, since HP Canada does not sell the item through their Web site. HP calls it the "HP USB Graphics Adapter."

I was concerned about the distance over which this device would work, but HP pre-sales support assured me it work with "any" length, but that it worked best when the video cable was as a long as possible (ie, keeping the USB cable as short as possible.)

The USB Graphics Adapter is a small black box about the size of a small cellphone; no buttons, no lights. One end has a miniUSB connector; the other has a DVI (digital video interface) connector for the monitor; a VGA-DVI adapter is included in case you lack a DVI cable or your monitor has only a VGA connector.

Installation and Operation

Installation is trivial. Insert the CD to install the drivers; this adds a button to the taskbar that lets you change some basic parameters, like resolution and screen orientation (like upside down). The Windows own Display dialog box knows that the computer now has a second or third monitor.

Plug in the supplied USB cable into one end of the box, and add more USB extension cables, if need be. Plug the monitor's video cable to the other end of the box. Windows recognizes the added monitor and after a couple of flickers, the new monitor springs to life.

(If it does not work, it could be you added a low-quality USB extension cable. Remove it and see if the video system now works.)

While installation was flawless, DisplayLink itself is not perfect. We noticed a lag in the video so that the Deutsche Welle newsreaders lips did not sync with the sound. I'll ahve to try some things to reduce the lag.

Shrinking a Stubborn Volume

After successfully installing Linux Mint in dual-boot mode with Windows 7RC on my LG X110 netbook, and replacing the default Xandros EeePC Linux on my Asus Eee 701 netbook, I decided to add it to my HP notebook computer. 

Normally I would leave this notebook on the shelf for emergency use only. The TX1200-series of touchscreen notebooks were poorly designed: they run hot, the fan is on most of the time, and they break down -- a lot, according to another dissatisfied TX user I met in an airport.

But I leave for my in-laws soon, and they live in rural Canada, which means the Internet connection is through a telephone wire -- and both my netbooks lack modems. I didn't really want the painful slowness of 7RC running on this TX, so I decided to add Linux Mint as a dual-boot install.

The key is to a dual-boot install is through the Computer Management dialog box, which I described in an earlier post. In Vista and 7, it is trivial to shrink the volume, making space for Linx on its own partition.

When when I ran the Shrink Volume command, Vista indicated that shrinkage was limited to 4GB, despite 80GB of free disk space. I used Defrag to clean up the drive, but this made matters worse! Now only 1.3GB were available. I ran ChkDsk, and the available space inched up to 1.7GB. I wanted a minimum of 10GB for Linux Mint.

Time to google. I found "Working Around Windows Vista’s "Shrink Volume" Inadequacy Problems" by The How-to Gekk and followed his steps in cleaning out problem files. I needed only to do these steps in order to create the 10GB partition I wanted:

• Run the Disk Cleanup Wizard. 
• Disable System Restore 
• Disable the pagefile.
• Change the Write debugging information drop-down to “None” to disable the kernel memory dump.

Read the entire Web page for full instructions.

PS: According to their own stats, Linux Mint is now the third most popular distribution of Linux.

Elecom Scope Node Mouse

While in Germany last month, my wife allowed me time in Saturn's Kudamm store -- seven stories of electronics that makes BestBuy look like a 7-Eleven. Generally, I don't buy electronics in Europe, because they're too expensive, there might be warranty problems, and returning a defective product to the store becomes r-e-a-l-l-y difficult once back home in North America.

How expensive? Generally, computers and such are priced in Euros what I am used to paying in Canadian dollars -- about 60% more expensive. For instance, my LG netbook was $460 in Canada but e450 in Europe. Now, those prices need to be adjusted for sales tax; the Canadian price excludes 12% tax, the German price includes 19% tax.

This time, however, I bought the Elecom Scope Node Mouse, which looks much better in person than in photographs. Best looking mouse I've ever seen. Designed in Japan. It was e39. Not available in North America.

As is usual for non-Logitech mice, it claimed it would work just fine with Microsoft's generic mouse driver -- a white lie, for the driver does not -- and never has -- support the "middle mouse button", where you click the roller wheel. No driver disk included in the fancy packaging.

On a hunch, I searched for an Elecom mouse driver, and found one that works. For me, "works" means I can program the middle button to perform double-clicks.

Getting the Elecom Mouse Driver

To access the driver, you have to take several non-intuitive steps:

1. Do not go to Elecom's home site in Japan. Instead, go to the site of its European distributor at http://www.ednet-gmbh.de/?lang=en&corp_id=0&page=0

2. Click the Support tab.

3. Download the Generic 32-bit driver for XMouse. (There is no driver specific to the Scope Node mouse, but I guessed that any driver would probably work.)

4. Install, and then run the driver. (An icon appears on the taskbar.)

This driver is meant for a six-button mouse, but I found it works just as well for the Scope Node mouse. There is also a driver available for 64-bit systems.

DisplayLink? Not Today

I've been reading about displaylink technology that acts like a wireless video cable. It comes in two parts: a USB transmitter that attaches to your desktop computer, and a VESA receiver that plugs into the VGA port of a distance monitor or projector.

It would be the ideal solution for showing stuff that resides on my computer (one end of my office) through my projector (at the other end). Right now, I have to carry a notebook computer over to the projector, try and force the VGA cable on, and then sweat while hoping the projector and computer notice each other. (Last time, they didn't.)

Over the weekend I was in a nearby London Drugs computer department; I think I was the only customer in the store. Two two young computer salesmen asked if I needed any help. I asked them about displaylink. After trying to show me some VGA extenders, we decided they had never heard of the technology. Relieved, they returned to their back room.

Searching the Internet I found why it might not be popular: IOgear's list price is $200 for the technology. I could buy direct from the mfg'er, but not at $200. I might be convinced to spend $100, shipping included.

The New Era of Good Enough

Over at Crunchgear, John Biggs asks, "Are we headed into an era of dumb tech?" I'd like to think we are. He asks the question on the heels of Cisco paying a half-billion dollars for the lowest of the low-end video camera makers, Flip Video.

I was glad to read him saying what I've been preaching for several years now, that computer stuff is good enough now -- hardware, software, and accessories.

After a decade of unparalleled one-upmanship -- the gigahertz race, the megapixel race, the storage race -- we are now hitting a wall. The devices we own are small enough, fast enough, and hold enough data to suit us now until 2012, thank you, so we’ll sit this next iteration of the Intel Xaphod chip out, thank you.

We first got the glimmer of our new Era of Good Enough when Asus shipped the first netbook in late 2007. I chortled over the outrage expressed by ceos of large computer companies when they began to realized the low-cost threat. They responded by producing under-spec'd netbooks, but that's another story.

Another glimmer was a poll that showed that most people want a cell phone that makes calls and stores phone numbers. That's not the kind of cell phone we are being sold.

I was amazed at the abilities of my first digital camera, purchased in 1999. Since then, I have become dismayed with the Race to Maximize the Number of Meaningless Features -- 17 scene modes, three options for shutter sounds, customized background images for the LCD on startup, mega-megapixel sensors. Who needs it; who wants it. 

These sorts of meaning features are added, because they are cheap and easy to add. For instance, I am close to buying a new digital camera. Not because I want a new one, but because my 3-megapixel Canon S1is fried its sensor. You'll read in camera reviews about the drawback of 10-megapixel cameras -- they create muddy images because of pixel-packing. My defunct 3-megapixel unit took wonderfully clear photos; I've even enlarged one to 3'x4' for our family room.

As we were being ignored by three salesmen behind the otherwise free-of-customers camera counter at FutureShop last night, I pointed out to my daughter the most important feature on the Canon SX10 I am considering: it has a maximum aperture of f2.8. The similar camera from Fuji maxed out at around f5.6. 

(We finally got the attention of the salesmen when I suggested my daughter pick up the Canon DSLR to feel its weight. The action made the theft alarm go off, and made the salesmen now notice us.)

Cameras are not about megapixels anymore. The two primary fields of improvement are in increasing the aperture and the ISO. And those are hard to improve.

Netbooks Prove Microsoft's Inability to Design

The netbook is keeping the computer hardware business humming, after ASUS invented the category 1.5 years go. It is remarkable that a company that specializes in assembling computers for others was able to come up with a winning formula after software monopolist Microsoft failed when it defined a similar, yet pointless device, the UMPC -- short for ultra mobile personal computer.

What sunk the UMPC was (1) it's price and (2) its touchscreen orientation. You may recall an earlier reference design by Microsoft that also sunk for the same two reasons: the TabletPC. 

Knowing how Microsoft thinks, the initially high target price (roughly $2000) was deliberate. With it, Microsoft was able to fool hardware vendors to go along with their plan to ship more Windows and Offices -- develop and sell expensive hardware to consumers who would fall over themselves to buy it.

Problem is that Microsoft's monopoly is the reason Apple-priced hardware doesn't sell well in Windows' World. Competition between the HPs, Dells, and Toshibas of the world ensures that prices headed to the $500 level. Apple has seen the mistake made by Microsoft, and so keeps a local monopoly on its OS and its hardware.

Never one to have an original thought, Microsoft attempted the same among music players, cutting off its PlayForSure "partners" in order to create a monopolized music delivery and hardware system. But for its efforts (I won't use the word "backstabbing" here), it has a smaller marketshare than does Apple in PCs.

I'd Like to See: Monitor Partitioning

My dad wanted a new desktop computer last fall, so I bought him one, complete with a 23" LCD monitor running at 2048x1158 resolution. Then he decided it was too confusing to have a notebook and a desktop computer, and gave the brand new system to me.

The monitor is almost too big. Open a Web browser, maximize its window, and there is lots of blank space on either side of the Web page. Which got me to thinking...

How if the operating system could partition the monitor, just as hard drives are partitioned. For example, partition by 2/3 and 1/3: maximize a program's window, and it takes up only 2/3 of the screen -- instead of 100% of the screen. This is a way to have two screens without needing two physical monitors.

We have the barest hint of partitioning with the sidebar found in Vista and 7. There is the Show Windows Side by Side option, but it is manually invoked.

I'd like to see something along the lines of AutoCAD's MView command, where you split the screen into independent viewports -- a big one for the main app(s), plus a few smaller ones for utility apps, like file manager, email, and so on.

There is a hardware solution today, in the form of 8" side monitors that plug into a spare USB port.

Warning: The Source Overcharges

Today's email blast from The Source (the Canadian version of Circuit City) highlights gaming computers. The first item is the ACER ASPIRE AM5700-E5731A DESKTOP COMPUTER GAMING BUNDLE, which comes with a 7200rpm 640GB hard drive.

Red all-caps text, however, screams that you can UPGRADE TO 1TB FOR $650. Surely 1TB of RAM, I thought. After all, these days 1TB drives are under $200 and some even around $100. I checked the specs for the ACER ASPIRE AM7720-E7730A DESKTOP COMPUTER GAMERS BUNDLE but no, the extra $650 was for an added 320GB worth of disk space. Works out to $2.03 per gigabyte.

The site doesn't seem to sell internal drives, but one of their 1GB external drives is a mere $250 (works out to 25 cents per gigabyte).

The Source is operating under bankruptcy protection in Canada, and so I can see why it might want to charge 8x more for the larger hard drive.

Merry Christmas to Ralph, from HP

I have railed against nVidia and their decision to remove several resolution settings from their drivers for HP notebook computers, which rendered my external 1440x900 monitor unusable.

Today, the railing stops.

One of the files in today's Vista update was a new nVidia driver. I decided to download it, since I had nothing to lose. After a few moments the screen collapsed to about a line a dozen pixels long. Oh, oh. Then it bounced back to 640x480 resolution. I knew that meant the driver was being installed. After a few moments, the notebook computer's screen was back to normal.

I reattached the external monitor, and then checked the resolution options. 1440x900 is back! I feel the relief that one feels after one stops pounding one's head against the wall.