Mac blue screen on boot, OS X 10.4 on mac mini

So, something stuffed up.  Software update chimed in and did it's download (new itunes & security update) and asked the usual shutdown/restart.   Knowing my wife was logged in - with perhaps unsaved work - I went to switch users and save it all off.

Except it didn't let me.  So, did a log off, thinking I could login as her and save.  Er, nope.  Blue screen.

Power off, reboot.  Er, nope again.  Grey apple logo, spinner, blue screen.  Sometimes spinner, sometime mouse pointer, sometimes none.  No luck, even waiting for 20 minutes...

There's lots and lots of results if you google the problem.   Nothing really worked.  Booting install & repairing HD fixed some problems, but not the blue screen.  Removing assorted files from the depths of /System and /Library didn't help.  Booting off external firewire backup helped, but only to copy a couple of essential files to a (third) backup.

Solution: archive & install again...  only took a few hours, and user data preserved.  After a tense first reboot, software update required 100's of megs of updates (from 10.4 to 10.4.11, and assorted others).   Still, fixed.

I'm glad I keep regular - bootable - backups!

Ubuntu netbook remix 9.04 & aspire one 110 / zg5

I rather like this.  Did a test dtive off a usb memory stick, boots quite quickly; no doubt faster from SSD...

What I liked most; it's the first distro that i've had - easily - my network printer (Samsung CLP-310), remote samba, and bluetooth working...   The amount of hassle getting those three working on linpus lite is not believable.  And yet Ubuntu NBR (beta!) works, just like that.  Off the usb stick.

I'll wait til final release (tomorrow?) before I think i'll go for it...

Impressed...

Aspire One BIOS reflash, ramdisk on usb freedos boot

First thing to do is a quick google for it, and you should find this very helpful page .

At time of writing, latest version is 3309, so go get that.  I used the windows version of unetbootin, which makes life easy.

I'd used unetbootin to try out moblin and ubuntu nbr (jaunty) on me old aspire one, and it created the boot disks perfectly.  But, this was flashing a previously downloaded img, not choosing a distro at the top.  

 I've got a set of 5 identical 2gb usb sticks (dane-elec, from 7dayshop about £15 for now, right here ) so I knew it wasn't the usb sticks.

Anyway, part of the reflash instructions are basically to create a FreeDOS boot stick, by choosing FreeDOS from unebootin, booting it, and using that DOS prompt to run the batch file that Acer gives you.  Easy.

But...  every time I went to boot the usb drive, it started, but gave an obscure "Could not load ramdisk image: /ubninit"   Curious.

A whole bunch of googling came up with some crazy ideas, none of which worked.  On the way, I discovered macles blog , which is very useful also, so gets a thumbs up.   But still, no luck.

Then I thought; i'm running behind a VPN, which has a proxy connection out the internet.  So, close all that down, and allow my XP machine to reach the internet raw, i.e. directly via my ADSL.

This time, unetbootin spent a good few minutes - with a nice progress bar - actually downloading FreeDOS.  The memory stick had a few more files than before...  And after all that, it booted, and I could run the firmware update.  (for interest, bios reflash took about 5 minutes, although I wasn't timing it - it's really easy and you can see it progressing...)

So, unebootin isn't proxy aware; instead, it will fail the download, and create a partial usb image, which won't boot.  Make sure you have direct internet connection before using it to download distros.

Java deployment cache, XP

Default deployment cache is
C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Sun\Java\Deployment\cache\ 
which is right in the middle of my XP profile space...
So, every time I do something java-ish, it'll eat up loads of space, and I get XP profile warnings.
Change location in control panel / Java, to somewhere not in profile space.  Delete old space using that panel too.
(to be honest, i'm sure it reset itself to Application Data when I wasn't looking...)

Phillips transcription kit LFH 7277 & mac OS X

Found an old one on ebay, comes with USB foot pedal.  

In fact, it's USB -> license dongle -> socket -> pedal via 3.5mm? jack & 3.5mm earphones.

Works a treat under XP with the supplied software, but not luck whatsoever getting it to work on the mac.  Can't find any drivers.

Express Scribe is meant to be very good, and has lots of Mac transciption advice.

Windows XP and SDHC / SD high capacity - 4gb+ cards

I guess most people would have had this KB update applied sometime in the past.  Lurking on a corporate laptop means I miss this kind of stuff.

SDHC cards inserted don't mount, or files show up as gibberish if you don't have the right stuff.

Normal SD cards should work, so 2gb cards are fine.

For SDHC support, you'll need KB923293.  That'll get you working up to 4gb.

Then, for larger than that, you'll need KB934428.  Largest i've tried is a 16gb class 4, which now works very well indeed.

It's left as an exercise for the reader to find those patches...

Android must-have and nice-to-have

I've had an android / g1 / htc dream for a little while now, and i've settled on the following 'keepers'.  I've installed many, many more apps or games or utilities, but none of them have lasted as long as those below.

Used daily:

• BatteryStatus (Monmonja) - so, it just displays "28%" or whatever in big letters. I like.  I used Watts for a while, which helped me realise wifi just kills battery (and now remains mostly off)
  
• KeePassDroid (Brian Pellin) - fantastic, since I use keepass on assorted computers already (i've long since abandoned SplashID)
  
• Picassa Upload (Google) - fantastic - I had a similar thing on a SonyEricsson phone (in fact, it uploaded to blogger), but this is much nicer.
  
• Shake Awake (Maplekey Company) - i'm on conference calls a lot, and this is really very helpful; quick wiggle and phone is awake.  Sorted.
  
• Text Edit (Paul Mach) - very useful for quick notes, often todo lists.  Nice that it saves on memory card too.
  
• ToggleWifi (Andrew Schwimmer) - used frequently, a must-have battery saver
  
• Tricorder (Moonblink) - save the geeky star-trek ui (which I kind of like...), it's a nice way to track wifi hotspots, and to check GPS is actually working (google maps kind of hides the detail)
  

Used weekly:

• My Tracks (My Tracks team) - this is sooo handy, I wish I had it when I was (more) in training.
  
• Pkt Auctions (Bonfire Media, Inc.) - whenever i've got something to sell, or something to watch on ebay, this is brilliant.  Searching ebay isn't worth the hassle.
  
• Quickpedia (Next Mobile Web) - my preferred way to browse wikipedia (nicer than via browser or other apps) due to a nice clean interface
  
• Sandblaster (Logan Hanks) - how can you not have a falling sand game?
  
• Zombie, Run! (Peter Dolan) - makes a quick stroll to the shops much more fun.  Scares the kids too.
  

Used less often:

• aFileShare (mAPPNn Inc.) - used it once or twice, to find stuff
  
• BetterBookmarks - the way to get nice favicon bookmarks on homescreen (instead of dull browser icon over and over again).  it's one of those must-haves, but only when you want to add bookmarks to homescreen (ie not very often)
  
• Cinema (Greg Millam) - although I haven't actually used it - can't get movies in right format!
  
• Compass (Bill Basaraba) - nice, but rarely used.  Maybe if I get lost with no mobile data signal...
  
• Finance (Google) - mostly to track my employers share price, but it's not a daily kind of thing...
  
• Mahjongg Solitaire (nitoware) - a really nice implementation, something to occupy 10 minutes on a bus
  
• ShopSavvy (Big in Japan, Inc.) - on those rare occasions when i'm buying something kind of expensive, this is fantastic
  
• SkyMap (Sky Map Team) - I really like this, but can't say I use it much. I find occasional views of the bright screen messes up my night vision...
  
• Sodoku (genina.com) - not that i'm a fan, but it's nice to have it, for the odd 10 minutes here and there
  
• Speedtest (Xtreme Labs) - handy to demonstrate HSDPA at work is faster than ADSL at home
  
• ToggleBlu & ToggleGPS (Andrew Schwimmer) - installed alongside toggle wifi, but rarely used
  

I would add that Zombie, Run!, ShopSavvy, Skymap and Compass are probably my preferred 'show off android' apps, since they nicely blend features available (ie maps, gps, camera sensors) into something really new and interesting that i've not seen on other phones before.  You'll also note that these apps are all lower down in my 'most used' lists...  The dull stuff wins on true value-add.

Sync google calendar & outlook

So, the obvious choice is google's pc client, which is free.  But, and it's a big but...  it doesn't seem to work very well.    I need to to get calendar onto an android phone...  sending to google/cloud is a bonus too, so i've discounted the more direct android/exchange programs.  I also only want calendar sync too, not email, etc.

The obvious issue with google's tool is that outlook calendar events that were not created by you are not synced.  These would be events to which you've been invited by someone else (as organiser), and they obviously appear in your outlook calendar.  I have a lot of these in my work calendar...  

[a quick google search should find all this stuff...]

This has a relatively easy fix; add your outlook email address to google, authenticate it (usual 'click here if it's you' type thing) then use that email address as the login for the google pc client (with your normal google password, which is a bit weird).

I find this doesn't seem to work so well, odd things keep being missed.   I've recently installed the free SyncMyCal instead.  The free version only does 3 days, and is manual only (ie no timed sync) but it seems to work nicely.  I'll give it a go for a few more days, and see if I shell out $25 (= £17) for it...

(I don't know if it's just me, but when you start some weird 3 way sync, eg outlook <> google <> phone something always goes wrong and you have to kind of tinker to make it work, at which point it's fine...)

Kodak Photo Printer PP300 & Mac OS X 10.4

Bit weird this.

For starters, don't bother installing the EasyShare software - iPhoto is much better.   In fact, ignore the CD that came with it altogether.   (when you uninstall the EasyShare, it asks if you want to keep the printer driver, but it's a bit of a faff).

Instead, go download the driver from the Kodak site (easy enough to find, search for PP300).

Driver is about 11meg, as a dmg.  Mount/open it, and run the installer.  It recommends to keep the printer UNplugged....  It'll also need a restart, so do that.

Plug in printer, open System Prefs, and Print & Fax.  Click on the + sign to add a new printer.

It'll have the photo printer in the list, BUT it won't find a driver in the "Print Using:" pull down...

Instead, click "More Printers..." button.  At the top of that pop up is AppleTalk, choose that pull down, and at the bottom is "Kodak Printers", with printer 0029 at the top.  Choose that....

Quite why you have to go through that fiasco is beyond me...

Palm OS PmTraceDatabase causing hotsync to fail...

see here .

sorted.