Software, Hardware, Technology
15 Jun
This updated version was released a week ago but i forgot to post about it.
Description:
The LightScribe System Software (LSS) is required for proper operation of your LightScribe system. Updates are released regularly to support new hardware or recently introduced LightScribe CDs and DVDs, and will ensure optimal and reliable operation of your LightScribe Labeling system.
In the official website of LightScribe you can download two free programs, Simple Labeler and Template Labeler. These two are very useful if you don’t have labeling software in order to take advantage of LightScribe.
25 May
DD-WRT is a third party firmware which is open source. You can install it in different wireless routers. Please check DD-WRT hardware compatibility to see if your router is supported.
There are many advantages when running third party firmware instead of the factory defaults. The first one is flexibility because they allow you to do many things that normally you can’t do with proprietary firmware. The second is better support.
Believe it or not, it is more likely that you can find a solution to your problem in these communities than in the manufacturer’s site.
19 May
I was revisiting some links i had stored in my bookmarks and i saw this one.
This is an article about building a Windows Home Server for roughly $400. It is interesting that Windows Home Server can run in such generic hardware because it not only appeals to many users and enthusiasts, but it can make you home network administration much much easier and useful at this price range.
Here is another cool site devoted to Windows Home Server.
Source: Home Server Hacks
24 Apr
GeekStuff4U has published a SSD enclosure that alows you to install CompactFlash cards and use it as a SATA drive.
The enclosure itself is not cheap, but it totally beats the price of the new SSD drives that are in the market today.
19 Apr
As i posted yesterday, i had to buy a new wireless router because my two years old Belkin F5D9230-4 started to give me problems 15-20 days ago. My HTTP traffic (mostly when browsing) was very intermittent and sometimes i had to hit F5 or Refresh many times in order to display a web page.
I began researching the new models from the most popular brands and i was pondering to buy a new pre-N router or an old one which costed much less. I have planned to build a HTPC (Home Theater PC) in the near future so i will eventually need a draft-N or pre-N router in order to stream content from my main PC to the HTPC i will have in the leaving room.
But as the N standard isn’t approved yet, i resolved to buy a cheaper one and when i need a new one, then i will buy it. This way i save save money now and i hope than when i need N speeds the standard will be certified already (or at least the price of routers will drop considerably).
It comes to Linksys (Cisco) faced some problems back in 2003 when they used open-source code in their routers and they didn’t make the code public, which was against the GNU General Public License.
I ended buying a Linksys WRT54GL because it allows me to install a variety of open-source firmware if i want to.
I stumbled upon a site where the author develops a firmware called Tomato for mainly a few Linksys and Buffalo routers. In that website were links to other open-source firmware projects. I learn about them all and choose to install Tomato in my new router.
18 Apr
Sev7en, a guy from Micropctalk.com managed to install Apple OS X into a Sony VAIO UX and posted the instructions about how he did it.
This is something more people are trying to achieve, get Mac OS X to run on generic Intel/AMD hardware.
There is another guy from jkOnTheRun.com that installed it on a Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium and posted about this experience.
Despite all the claims and statements made by Apple, that their Mac OS X will only run on Apple hardware, people are trying to circumvent TPM (Trusted Platform Module) in order to isntall it on generic hardware.
If you are interested in this topic, please visit the OSx86 Project wiki to learn more about it.
14 Apr
If you own a cd/dvd burner with LightScribe support, then you need to update the system software with this and future updates.
Description:
The LightScribe System Software (LSS) is required for proper operation of your LightScribe system. Updates are released regularly to support new hardware or recently introduced LightScribe CDs and DVDs, and will ensure optimal and reliable operation of your LightScribe Labeling system.
In the official website of LightScribe you can download two free programs, Simple Labeler and Template Labeler. These two are very useful if you don’t have labeling software in order to take advantage of LightScribe.
Note: You need to use special media and burners that support LightScribe in order to print labels.
24 Jan
Since the introduction of ICHR8 Intel made some core improvements to the new AHCI interface for SATA devices.
If you don’t know what AHCI is, it provides better power managements features, hot-plug functionality and other enhancements to SATA devides such as hard drives and optical drives. Even some sites claim that AHCI provides more performance over standard controllers.
Intel has more information about AHCI.
If your BIOS supports it, you can turn on AHCI mode, but if you are currently running windows you can get into trouble and your current installation won’t boot.
So, if you want to turn on AHCI mode, you first need to enable the AHCI driver in Windows Vista before changing it in the BIOS. Read how to enable it here.
Basically, you just need to change a registry key in order to avoid a BSOD with the message STOP 0×0000007B INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE when enabling AHCI.
I will enable it as soon as i get another HDD to use a RAID 0 for Vista.