tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53885224068034297882024-03-13T23:43:34.466+00:00Making the Net Work....Helping people understand and make better use of technology.Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-51873822581975011742016-06-11T17:47:00.000+01:002016-06-11T17:55:51.289+01:00Powering non-PoE devices from a PoE switchA brief note explaining how to use a standard Power Over Ethernet (PoE) switch to power non-PoE equipment.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;"><b>Introduction</b></span><br />
These days Power over Ethernet (PoE) switches are standard in larger organisations as they are typically used to connect desk phones on users desks using one cat-5 or cat-6 data cable. This one cable provides both the data and power connections that the phone needs and saves time, effort and power (and therefore costs) in the modern office.<br />
<br />
Increasingly you will find PoE is being used in homes and smaller business to power WiFi access points or small security / CCTV cameras where the savings are even more noticeable. For example, if you decide to install a security camera outside your house you can easily see that only having to run one cable to the camera greatly simplifies the installation and saves on installation costs as no separate power socket or adapter is needed.<br />
<br />
The only drawback to this approach is that you have to already have a PoE switch and you would normally need to buy a PoE-compatible camera. At least - you did need to buy a PoE-compatible camera. This note explains how you can use a normal 12V / Ethernet camera and a nice piece of technology from TP-Link - the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001PS4NWW/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B001PS4NWW&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21" rel="nofollow">TP-LINK TL-POE10R PoE Splitter</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B001PS4NWW" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;"><b>What is Power over Ethernet?</b></span><br />
Power over Ethernet or PoE is a general term that is used to describe systems that pass power alongside data on twisted-pair (Cat-5 or Cat-6) Ethernet cables. There are several common techniques used to transmit this power but in this note I'll stick to the IEEE 802.3 standard which defines the power supplied to be typically 15.4W or 25.5W for PoE+.<br />
<br />
Anyone wanting to learn more about other alternative PoE systems are encouraged to look at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet" target="_blank">PoE entry on Wikipedia</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;"><b>What is a PoE Switch?</b></span><br />
A PoE Switch is just like any other Ethernet switch - except it is designed to provide 15.4W of power, on demand, down the Ethernet cable to the end device along with the Ethernet data signals. Similarly, a PoE+ switch can provide upto 25.5W. In my network I use a 24-port PoE+ Gigabit Ethernet switch similar to this <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01BFYSVV4/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B01BFYSVV4&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21" rel="nofollow">TP-Link T1600G-28PS JetStream 24-Port Gigabit Smart PoE+ Switch</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B01BFYSVV4" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />. You should consider one of these - or maybe a smaller <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00N1XQ3J0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00N1XQ3J0&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21" rel="nofollow">4 or 8 Port Gigabit PoE Switch</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00N1XQ3J0" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> to power your IP cameras if you are looking to do the same in your home or small business.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;"><b>What is a PoE Splitter?</b></span><br />
A PoE Splitter is a small device that passes the Ethernet data signals from input to output and at the same time draws power from the incoming PoE signal and provides a stable output power feed suitable for small devices such as a camera or WiFi access point as this diagram from TP-Link's user guide shows:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iniW6e30c7s/V1w1rrXbXcI/AAAAAAAAMu8/IRevDvVQUQ43RuxzMZ1_SL-4mmTXBCcLgCLcB/s1600/PoE-SPlitter-Topology.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iniW6e30c7s/V1w1rrXbXcI/AAAAAAAAMu8/IRevDvVQUQ43RuxzMZ1_SL-4mmTXBCcLgCLcB/s320/PoE-SPlitter-Topology.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
You can see from the diagram that this little device supplies power AND data to the end device but only has one cable connecting it to the switch. To illustrate this the image below shows that I have powered a small 5-port Cisco
switch from the unit. The purple wire on the left connects to my PoE switch; the
grey wire passes the Ethernet signal from the splitter to the Cisco
switch and the black wire supplies power from the splitter to the
switch.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iYp5M1-2mkc/V1w_1G7P5XI/AAAAAAAAMv4/dlQPUTpO4gYEfkc9IxSiUQJO4XvlYA21QCLcB/s1600/P6110013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iYp5M1-2mkc/V1w_1G7P5XI/AAAAAAAAMv4/dlQPUTpO4gYEfkc9IxSiUQJO4XvlYA21QCLcB/s320/P6110013.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In my next project I will be using this splitter to power a <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01CCOXV34/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B01CCOXV34&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21" rel="nofollow">Raspberry Pi</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B01CCOXV34" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> together with a <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01ER1QMGS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B01ER1QMGS&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21" rel="nofollow">Camera Module</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B01ER1QMGS" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and LED light source as I construct a wildlife camera to watch the wildlife using the small pond in my garden.<br />
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I hope this note has been of use to you. I'll refer to it when I write up the Raspberry Pi outdoor wildlife camera project.<br />
<br />Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-82782465799400060102015-06-13T23:51:00.000+01:002015-06-14T21:25:49.542+01:00How to mount Google Drive on LinuxA short tutorial showing you how to install <a href="https://github.com/astrada/google-drive-ocamlfuse" target="_blank">google-drive-ocamlfuse</a> on a Linux Mint 17 system to access the contents of your Google Drive<br />
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<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;"><b>Introduction</b></span><br />
Most linux users who have tried to access their Google Drive contents will realise that there isn't an official Drive client for Linux yet - despite the wide availability of Drive clients for Windows and for Android devices. Luckily there are alternatives available and this article shows you how to install google-drive-ocamlfuse on a system running Mint-17.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;"><b>What is google-drive-ocamlfuse?</b></span><br />
Technically, <a href="https://github.com/astrada/google-drive-ocamlfuse" target="_blank">google-drive-ocamlfuse</a> is a FUSE filesystem backed by Google Drive, written in OCaml. It lets you mount your Google Drive on Linux in a folder you choose during setup. It has the following features:<br />
<ul>
<li>Full read/write access to ordinary files and folders</li>
<li>Read-only access to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides (exported to configurable formats)</li>
<li>Multiple account support</li>
<li>Duplicate file handling</li>
<li>Access to trash (.Trash directory)</li>
</ul>
<br />
The version I installed at the time I wrote this was google-drive-ocamlfuse 0.5.16. The software is <a href="https://github.com/astrada/google-drive-ocamlfuse" target="_blank">hosted on GitHub</a> and more information is available on the project's <a href="https://github.com/astrada/google-drive-ocamlfuse" target="_blank">GitHub page</a>.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;"><b>Installation instructions</b></span><br />
The author has set up a .deb repository for installation under Ubuntu 14.04, 12.04 etc. This means that any ubuntu derivatives (such as Mint) can use the same repository to install google-drive-ocamlfuse. To do this, open a Terminal window and enter the commands below<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alessandro-strada/ppa
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install google-drive-ocamlfuse</div></pre>
Once this has completed you need to configure google-drive-ocamlfuse to suit your system. First run google-drive-ocamlfuse without any parameters<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ google-drive-ocamlfuse</div></pre>
This command will create a folder (<code>~/.gdfuse/default</code>) containing the configuration files for the application and will also open a web browser asking you to confirm that you want the application to access your Google Drive.
<br /><br />
Once access has been authorised the web browser will close and you will be returned to your Terminal window. You can then mount your Google Drive folder in your filesystem. In this tutorial I decided to keep things simple, so I created a Drive folder in my home area and configured google-drive-ocamlfuse to mount my Google Drive at this point.
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ mkdir -p ~/Drive
$ google-drive-ocamlfuse ~/Drive</div></pre>
When you've done this you should see the files appearing as part of your new <code>~/Drive</code> folder, depending on the speed of your Internet connection. Now be aware that there are two things you need to understand in order to get the best from this tutorial:<br />
<ul>
<li>The first is that your Google Drive is mapped from the web. The files in your Google Drive stay in the cloud and are not synchronised with your local hard drive. This means that files take a while to open and close, as they are literally coming in from Google's servers. It also means that no Internet access equals no access to your Google Drive files. You can get round this by using <code>rsync</code> to sync or mirror another local folder with your Drive folder but that is a tutorial for another day.</li>
<li>The second is that the mount of your Google Drive is lost after a reboot or if you log out of your session. To get around this I added a couple of steps to the installation instructions you normally find so that your Google Drive reappears at the start of a new session.</li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;"><b>Automounting your Google Drive</b></span><br />
Open a Terminal session and create a shell script named <code>gdfuse</code> in <code>/usr/bin</code>.<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ sudo nano /usr/bin/gdfuse</div></pre>
Copy and paste the following lines into the script changing <code>$username</code> to match your username:<br /><br />
<code>#!/bin/bash<br /><br />
su $username -l -c "google-drive-ocamlfuse -label $1 $*"<br />
exit 0</code><br /><br />
Give the new script exec<span style="font-family: inherit;"> permissions</span><br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/gdfuse</div></pre>
Now edit <code>/etc/fstab</code> <br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ sudo nano /etc/fstab</div></pre>
And add the following lines like this: (but remember to change <code>uid</code> and <code>gid</code> and <code>/path/to/your/gdrive</code> in the line below to the values of your username and of the path to your Google Drive folder accordingly.) <br /><br />
<code># Google Drive Automount<br />
gdfuse#default /path/to/your/gdrive fuse uid=1000,gid=1000 0 0</code><br /><br />
You can then use <code>mount</code> to mount your Google Drive (again, with your Google Drive path in place of my example):<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ sudo mount /path/to/your/gdrive</div></pre>
That should be it. To test this, reboot the workstation and log back in again. After your desktop is ready you should see the Drive folder once more in place and if you click on the folder your Google Drive files should be visible again.<br /><br />
One final touch I did was to alter the file icon for my Drive folder so that it looked like a Google Drive folder. I downloaded a suitable Drive icon from the web and adjusted the Properties of my Drive folder so that it showed the Google Drive icon instead.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xFI20hcSZ4I/VXymXCltPRI/AAAAAAAALGY/s-oOAxnVXHk/s1600/Screenshot%2Bfrom%2B2015-06-13%2B22%253A36%253A19.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xFI20hcSZ4I/VXymXCltPRI/AAAAAAAALGY/s-oOAxnVXHk/s320/Screenshot%2Bfrom%2B2015-06-13%2B22%253A36%253A19.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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I hope this tutorial has been of use to you. The steps involved took about ten minutes to complete and finally I have access to my Google Drive contents from my Mint workstation.Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-81763570109510484562015-01-08T15:33:00.001+00:002015-01-08T15:33:33.236+00:00Adding new users on Mint 13 XFCE?I've been advocating using <a href="http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=113" target="_blank">Linux Mint 13 XFCE</a> (codename MAYA) as a replacement operating system for older computers that were running Windows XP. It's simple to use, fast, capable of most basic uses and, importantly, it's free!<br />
<br />
I have also used Mint 13 on a number of occasions for single-task systems that just require a single user to do a single job. But today I went to add a second user on a small system I am testing and I found that the basic installation of Mint 13 XFCE does not include the graphical tools to add new users. You'd expect to find these by clicking on Menu then selecting <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">System </span>and then <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Users and Groups</span>.<br />
<br />
Here is a simple one-line command to add this tool back in:<br />
<br />
Open Terminal and enter the following line:<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ sudo apt-get install gnome-system-tools</div></pre>
<br />
Once the command has finished executing you can find the graphical tools to add users under <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">System --> Users and Groups</span>
<br />
Enjoy!
<br />Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-75973626595290231142014-11-18T20:48:00.000+00:002016-02-04T19:54:17.849+00:00How to install an SSD in a Dell D430 laptop<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;"><b>Speed up your laptop with a solid-state drive</b></span><br />
You may know from elsewhere on my blog that I have a tiny Dell D430 laptop that I use for portability when I'm out and about and want more power than just a tablet alone.<br />
<br />
I'd been looking at ways to speed the laptop up and started to look specifically at replacing the 1.8" 4,200rpm 60G Toshiba hard disk with something a bit faster. The Toshiba drive is tiny and very low powered, but it is sloooow. Indeed, it is so slow that it ranks 3189 out of 3192 - literally fourth from the bottom - of <a href="http://harddrivebenchmark.net/hdd.php?hdd=TOSHIBA+MK6008GAH&id=1939" target="_blank">Passmark's November 2014 Hard Disk benchmark</a>!<br />
<br />
No prizes for guessing I need to replace this to get some performance out of this laptop. The obvious direction is to install an SSD - or a Solid State Disk. The question is - How? The Dell D430 hard disk sits under the battery and is shown outlined in red in this photograph. You can see that there's no room for a physically larger hard disk. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EyqFNcIliog/VGuCpjuPoxI/AAAAAAAAKf8/Zt9yO-UaUi8/s1600/HardDiskLocation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EyqFNcIliog/VGuCpjuPoxI/AAAAAAAAKf8/Zt9yO-UaUi8/s1600/HardDiskLocation.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Add to this the fact that the hard disk interface on the Dell D430 is a PATA or IDE interface and that would normally rule out any SATA devices too.<br />
<br />
The only options we have therefore is to replace the disk with a purpose-made SSD that is designed to fit a 1.8" format or to seek an alternative format. There are a few 1.8" SSDs available (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&field-keywords=1.8-inch%20ZIF%2040-pin%20SSD&linkCode=ur2&rh=n%3A340831031%2Cn%3A428655031%2Cn%3A430505031%2Ck%3A1.8-inch%20ZIF%2040-pin%20SSD&tag=vastmblog-21&url=node%3D430505031&linkId=U4OMP3K5WDNIKPTL" target="_blank">there are a few shown here</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=ur2&o=2" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />) so an easy approach would be to buy and install one of these. However, I was looking for something that would likely outlast the Dell, so I looked at using an <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&field-keywords=mSATA%20ssd&linkCode=ur2&rh=n%3A340831031%2Cn%3A428655031%2Cn%3A430505031%2Ck%3AmSATA%20ssd&tag=vastmblog-21&url=node%3D430505031&linkId=P35GU3GF3I56XF42" target="_blank">mSATA SSD</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=ur2&o=2" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and running it using an <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&keywords=mSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter&linkCode=ur2&qid=1443561019&rh=k%3AmSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter%2Ci%3Acomputers&tag=vastmblog-21%22%3EmSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=ur2&o=2%22" target="_blank">mSATA to ZIF Adapter</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00O615PDG" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />. Not only is the mSATA SSD cheaper to buy, it's transferable and usable in other computers and laptops should the Dell die in the future.<br />
<br />
Here's how I did it. To start, I wanted a clean build of a new OS, so I took a backup of my data from the old hard disk before I started this procedure. The old disk had Mint 13 on it but I wanted to move to Mint 17 with the new disk and this is best done with a clean install on the new disk. I'm therefore going to assume that you won't need my help to manage your data or your OS - just the procedure for swapping the old disk for an SSD.<br />
<br />
You'll therefore need:<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;"><b>Tools:</b></span><br />
a small cross-head screwdriver<br />
possibly a wooden toothpick and a wooden coffee stirrer.<br />
<div>
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;"><b>Parts:</b></span><br />
An <b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&keywords=mSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter&l=ur2&linkCode=ur2&o=2&qid=1443561019&rh=k%3AmSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter%2Ci%3Acomputers&tag=vastmblog-21" target="_blank">mSATA Solid State Disk</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00BQ8RFAI" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
</b> (I chose a 120G Crucial m4 mSATA SSD like this)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/%22https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&keywords=mSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter&l=ur2&linkCode=ur2&o=2&qid=1443561019&rh=k%3AmSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter%2Ci%3Acomputers&tag=vastmblog-21%22"><img border="0" src="http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00BQ8RFAI&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=GB&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=vastmblog-21" /></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00BQ8RFAI" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div>
<br />
An <b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&keywords=mSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter&linkCode=ur2&qid=1443561019&rh=k%3AmSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter%2Ci%3Acomputers&tag=vastmblog-21%22%3EmSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=ur2&o=2" target="_blank">mSATA to ZIF adapter card</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00O615PDG" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
</b><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&keywords=mSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter&linkCode=ur2&qid=1443561019&rh=k%3AmSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter%2Ci%3Acomputers&tag=vastmblog-21%22%3EmSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=ur2&o=2" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&keywords=mSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter&linkCode=ur2&qid=1443561019&rh=k%3AmSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter%2Ci%3Acomputers&tag=vastmblog-21%22%3EmSATA%20to%20ZIF%20Adapter%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=ur2&o=2" border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7rkrsXuEJqk/VgsA2beWE5I/AAAAAAAAMDU/N5Zg02omR0o/s200/mSATA-card.jpg" width="185" /></a></div>
<img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00O615PDG" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
</div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;"><b>Method:</b></span><br />
Start with the laptop powered down and the battery removed</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AeJdnbyOHCM/VGuTk7aHdrI/AAAAAAAAKjI/F6r-e8FLjjs/s1600/P1150163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AeJdnbyOHCM/VGuTk7aHdrI/AAAAAAAAKjI/F6r-e8FLjjs/s1600/P1150163.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 1 - Undo the two screws on the disk caddy<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zCgF6c43Dc4/VGuTlumFMsI/AAAAAAAAKjg/Gvv3Cj135PY/s1600/step01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zCgF6c43Dc4/VGuTlumFMsI/AAAAAAAAKjg/Gvv3Cj135PY/s1600/step01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 2 - Lift and slide the caddy so it is freed from the plastic clips on the base of the laptop<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K_tN2qgbd4I/VGuTmCPAjVI/AAAAAAAAKjQ/gGQ_OvGfEcs/s1600/step02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K_tN2qgbd4I/VGuTmCPAjVI/AAAAAAAAKjQ/gGQ_OvGfEcs/s1600/step02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 3 - Gently lift away the disk caddy and put it somewhere safe - with the two screws.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ltPQMHkWopE/VGuTm9vqloI/AAAAAAAAKjY/3DDtdggztKA/s1600/step03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ltPQMHkWopE/VGuTm9vqloI/AAAAAAAAKjY/3DDtdggztKA/s1600/step03.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 4 - Locate the pull tape on the disk plug. Gently grip and pull this straight up to disconnect it<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NEiKvytWN0k/VGuTnninQPI/AAAAAAAAKjo/qDQ2b-XDwoo/s1600/step04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NEiKvytWN0k/VGuTnninQPI/AAAAAAAAKjo/qDQ2b-XDwoo/s1600/step04.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 5 - Lift the old hard drive clear<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jR9g_-P7w6M/VGuToH7-FyI/AAAAAAAAKjw/uzcu_dsVwsI/s1600/step05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jR9g_-P7w6M/VGuToH7-FyI/AAAAAAAAKjw/uzcu_dsVwsI/s1600/step05.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 6 - Ease the rubber case away from the old hard disk. Don't stretch it and don't use anything metal to loosen it. If necessary use a wooden stirrer to ease the rubber free of the drive.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TkbLRPdkNw4/VGuTomZKEmI/AAAAAAAAKj0/pCUFvxqNIgc/s1600/step06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TkbLRPdkNw4/VGuTomZKEmI/AAAAAAAAKj0/pCUFvxqNIgc/s1600/step06.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 7 - When the rubber case is loose, gently pick open the ZIF connector lock (it should just flick up, but don't force it)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eQdqPryMWwg/VGuTo77ZtpI/AAAAAAAAKj8/9-RhjswiGYk/s1600/step07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eQdqPryMWwg/VGuTo77ZtpI/AAAAAAAAKj8/9-RhjswiGYk/s1600/step07.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 8 - Here the lock is free and the ZIF connector is ready to have the cable removed. Slide the rubber case over the connector so you can remove the drive.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BgXJCg9lSNg/VGuTpQMYX5I/AAAAAAAAKkA/xylMQTCh5iw/s1600/step08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BgXJCg9lSNg/VGuTpQMYX5I/AAAAAAAAKkA/xylMQTCh5iw/s1600/step08.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 9 - Gently pull the connector from the drive. Use a toothpick to ease it out if it is sticky. Put the drive somewhere safe.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yyiY2iH-Gkk/VGuTpqgE8pI/AAAAAAAAKkI/O5MXXcFhDZg/s1600/step09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yyiY2iH-Gkk/VGuTpqgE8pI/AAAAAAAAKkI/O5MXXcFhDZg/s1600/step09.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 10 - Start to assemble the SSD and the adapter. Undo the two screws on the adapter<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gyj2yj2hWrY/VGuTp6wW_4I/AAAAAAAAKkw/l9EjDOtqXKo/s1600/step10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gyj2yj2hWrY/VGuTp6wW_4I/AAAAAAAAKkw/l9EjDOtqXKo/s1600/step10.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 11 - The SSD and adapter are ready - now to connect it up.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TL9Kb_2RRPE/VGuTqZpHWeI/AAAAAAAAKkY/-skGlblkSzU/s1600/step11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TL9Kb_2RRPE/VGuTqZpHWeI/AAAAAAAAKkY/-skGlblkSzU/s1600/step11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 12 - Pick open the ZIF connector on the SSD adapter and offer it to the cable. Make sure the cable goes into the connector and not under it. Note that here I have inadvertently put the cable in <i>the wrong way round. </i>More on this later.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zfXjfQIrBMw/VGuTrB0CGXI/AAAAAAAAKkk/6wUJjIT7m5c/s1600/step12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zfXjfQIrBMw/VGuTrB0CGXI/AAAAAAAAKkk/6wUJjIT7m5c/s1600/step12.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 13 - Here is the SSD with the cable connected the right way round. The cable should sit so that it curls or wraps over the top of the SSD.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1F05QZP66E0/VGuTrpGHDfI/AAAAAAAAKks/K8VdNfFGMtI/s1600/step13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1F05QZP66E0/VGuTrpGHDfI/AAAAAAAAKks/K8VdNfFGMtI/s1600/step13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 14 - curl the cable loosely over the top of the SSD and place the SSD top-down in the rubber case. It will be a loose fit. Don't worry, it will be fine.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Da6n7R5QTaY/VGuTrw2X_3I/AAAAAAAAKlQ/4eN8XwlSz5s/s1600/step14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Da6n7R5QTaY/VGuTrw2X_3I/AAAAAAAAKlQ/4eN8XwlSz5s/s1600/step14.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 15 - Offer the SSD in the case to the Dell laptop and connect the blue plug to the disk connector on the laptop, pressing it gently so that it clips into place.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GBpY4s7BYVg/VGuTsX6o5HI/AAAAAAAAKk8/JjPxvbQYQ6U/s1600/step15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GBpY4s7BYVg/VGuTsX6o5HI/AAAAAAAAKk8/JjPxvbQYQ6U/s1600/step15.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 16 - Re-attach the disk caddy to hold the SSD in place. Don't forget to do up the two screws.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ckw-nJfj78/VGuTsjbWMYI/AAAAAAAAKk4/IYsX5uav0Fg/s1600/step16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ckw-nJfj78/VGuTsjbWMYI/AAAAAAAAKk4/IYsX5uav0Fg/s1600/step16.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Step 17 - Re-connect the battery<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-upz621DmMu0/VGuTtdGNO6I/AAAAAAAAKlM/P1ilEAh3cIQ/s1600/step17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-upz621DmMu0/VGuTtdGNO6I/AAAAAAAAKlM/P1ilEAh3cIQ/s1600/step17.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
That's it, done. Now turn the laptop over and turn it on. If you enter the BIOS while the laptop is booting, the new SSD should show itself by advertising its capacity on the Device Info screen as shown here. If you've managed to get the cable the wrong way round (see Step 12 above) you'll know because there would be no disk found by the BIOS! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d6rIF6HT0-0/VGuTk4xEuaI/AAAAAAAAKjE/a4EDgUfT5EA/s1600/Finished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d6rIF6HT0-0/VGuTk4xEuaI/AAAAAAAAKjE/a4EDgUfT5EA/s1600/Finished.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
For me, I next inserted a prepared USB stick with the install ISO of <a href="http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=158" target="_blank">Mint 17 Cinnamon</a> on it and set about installing a clean, fresh copy of Mint 17. When this was complete, I then <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/mint-cinnamon-first" target="_blank">tweaked it from the guide here</a> and tuned it for an SSD <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/ssd" target="_blank">using this guide</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b style="color: #cc6600; font-size: x-large;">Addendum:</b><br />
Two
months after I completed this upgrade I experienced a little problem.
my laptop died. Well, more exactly, I'd let the laptop go to sleep as I
was busy elsewhere. When I resumed the laptop the system didn't come
back to life. After a power off/power on the system still did not boot.
A view in the BIOS showed no hard disk found.<br />
<br />
The SSD had died on me.<br />
<br />
Slightly
worried by this (my British stiff upper lip here...) I began to search
Crucial's web site for a Returns page for SSDs when I chanced upon this
article:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Crucial-SSDs/Why-did-my-SSD-quot-disappear-quot-from-my-system/ta-p/65215" target="_blank">Why did my SSD "disappear" from my system?</a><br />
<br />
It
turned out that my SSD had suffered from a bug in its firmware and had
apparently 'died' as a result of this bug. After following the steps in
that article I once again had an operational SSD. In that article you
are also advised to update the firmware of the SSD and this I completed
from following the instructions in the <a href="http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/support-ssd-firmware" target="_blank">SSD Support page</a><br />
<br />
I once again have a fully working Dell D430 with a 120G SSD on board.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;"><b>Well? How fast is it?</b></span><br />
Let's be clear. You won't get the full speed from your new SSD with the old 100MB/s IDE disk interface on the Dell! That said; the performance of the Dell is greatly improved by the addition of the disk. For me, the laptop now boots from power-on to the log-on prompt in a little over twenty five seconds (the BIOS alone takes 8 seconds of this). And then, from entering my password, it takes a further twenty or so seconds until the desktop is operational. Not bad!<br />
<br />
As you'll see from the comments below I was asked what the measured speed differences were. I must admit, when I first installed the SSD I didn't measure the performance, but I've since popped the old disk back in and run before-and-after speed tests.<br />
<br />
The two tests I carried out are simple but indicative. The first uses the Linux <span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">dd </span>command as described in <a href="https://systembash.com/simple-disk-benchmarking-in-linux-using-dd/" target="_blank">Systembash's post</a> to measure write speeds:<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">
$ dd bs=1M count=512 if=/dev/zero of=test conv=fdatasync</div>
</pre>
<br />
When this is run it produces an output like this (this was run on the old Toshiba hard disk)<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">
512+0 records in
512+0 records out
536870912 bytes (537 MB) copied, 36.4651 s, 14.7 MB/s</div>
</pre>
<br />
and the second test uses the <span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">hdparm </span>command from <a href="http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/how-fast-is-linux-sata-hard-disk.html" target="_blank">Unixcraft's post</a><br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">
$ sudo hdparm -tT /dev/sda</div>
</pre>
<br />
This produces an output like this (again, for the old disk)<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">
/dev/sda:
Timing cached reads: 1090 MB in 2.00 seconds = 545.34 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 32 MB in 3.07 seconds = 10.43 MB/sec</div>
</pre>
<br />
If you run the dd test above, don't forget to delete the test file when you've finished testing - it's 512MB in size!<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">
$ rm test</div>
</pre>
The results for the Toshiba 60G hard disk and for the Crucial SSD on my laptop are shown in the table below:<br />
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr><th>Computer</th><th>Boot time</th><th>dd write speed</th><th>Cached Read speed</th><th>Buffered Read speed</th></tr>
<tr><td><div style="text-align: right;">
D430 with Toshiba disk</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
90s</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
14.7 MB/s</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
545.34 MB/s</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
10.43 MB/s</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><div style="text-align: right;">
D430 with Crucial SSD</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
41s</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
27.4 MB/s</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
775.91 MB/s</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
77.20 MB/s</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
You can see that the SSD is distinctly faster that the older Toshiba disk, but not by as much as you would expect. This is due to the restrictions in the D430 design. Dell built the D430 laptop around Intel's low-power 945GMS chipset and, while the chipset supports both SATA and IDE interfaces, Dell decided to use the much slower IDE interface rather than the SATA interface in the D430 design. It is this IDE interface that is holding back the performance of the SSD in this laptop.<br />
<br />
<b style="color: #cc6600; font-size: x-large;">Conclusion</b><br />
If you have an old Dell D420 or D430, why not try this upgrade on it rather than just throwing it out. My costs for this were around £75 (about $120 or €95) (you can click on any of the orange text in this blog post as they each link to suitable products and articles that back up the points I make). You can even buy a Dell D430 to do this yourself - <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=dell+d430&_from=R40&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l2632.R2.TR10.TRC1.A0.H0&_nkw=dell+d430&_sacat=175672" target="_blank">a good D430</a> can cost as little as £50/$80 on ebay.<br />
<br />
Running Mint, it is still plenty fast enough for Internet browsing, simple office work and light picture editing. I'm even coding on it, running IntelliJ while I learn Java. The device does get a bit warm (I'll get round to improving the cooling later on (using the same approach as I did <a href="http://vastmeridian.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/cooling-modifications-on-my-laptop.html" target="_blank">in this Blog post</a>)) but the battery lasts two and a half hours and it's so light. the casing is magnesium, so it's very strong and the keyboard is plenty big enough even for my fat fingers.<br />
<br />Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com80tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-33839053491567953532014-09-02T20:44:00.000+01:002015-01-08T17:53:01.134+00:00Fixing the Blinking LED on Intel WiFi cards<span style="color: #cc6600;">Introduction</span><br />
I've recently got hold of a Dell D430 laptop and installed Mint 13 Maya on it intending to use it as a small laptop to carry around with my photography kit as it's
small, light and lasts two hours on a battery charge. Installing Mint wasn't a problem, and I've been surprised how quick the laptop is to use. All the
components work as they should and the laptop is fast becoming the first device I reach for when I want something done quickly in the field.<br />
<br />
However, like many people, I've had one gripe with whole set up - the annoying flashing WiFi LED just below the screen. This happens because Dell, like many
other manufacturers, uses an Intel WiFi chipset in their laptops and the Intel developers who put together the Linux drivers for the chipset decided in their wisdom to make the LED 'flash' to indicate that it was passing traffic. This has annoyed so many people that a quick search will reveal a large number of solutions on the Internet where people in one way or another have 'fixed' this problem in their own particular environments.<br />
<br />
So why do I feel the need to write another?<br />
<br />
Well, after trying a fair few of these solutions none of them actually worked on my setup. This is not to say that these other solutions do not work - just that I wasn't successful getting them to work for me. So I've written a blog explaining <i>how </i>I turned off the LED rather than just a prescriptive '<i>do-this-then-that</i>'.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;">Step One - understanding how to tackle the problem</span><br />
The Intel WiFi drivers are usually installed as a family of modules that work together with the linux kernel to set up and run the WiFi chipset. Judging by the people with the same hardware as me, at least one of the module names contained the letters '<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">iwl</span>', so, armed with this, I listed the modules by typing this comment into a Terminal window:
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ lsmod | grep iwl</div></pre>
This gave me the response
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ lsmod | grep iwl
iwl3945 73111 0
iwl_legacy 71134 1 iwl3945
mac80211 436455 3 iwl3945,iwl_legacy
cfg80211 178679 4 iwl3945,iwl_legacy,mac80211$</div></pre>
So I now need to find out which of these files contain the control for the LED. This leads me to:<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;">Step Two - installing some Linux diagnostic tools</span><br />
We will need to look at the capabilities of each of these modules to see which one(s) can control the LED and to do this we need to download sysfsutils. This is a set of utilities built upon sysfs, a virtual filing system in more recent kernels that lets you investigate a systems' device tree.
To install the tools open a terminal window and in the window type:
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install sysfsutils</div></pre>
Once the install is complete, you can run the systool command on each of the modules to see which module has a parameter option to control the LED. (in the examples below I chop the end of the report off to save space and make the response more meaningful):
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ systool -m iwl3945 -av
Module = "iwl3945"
Attributes:
initstate = "live"
refcnt = "0"
srcversion = "301B04B4010DED41B0830D0"
uevent = <store method="" only="">
version = "in-tree:s"
Parameters:
antenna = "0"
disable_hw_scan = "0"
fw_restart = "1"
swcrypto = "1"
Sections:
.altinstr_replacement= "0x00000000"
.altinstructions = "0x00000000"
[ -- some output removed for clarity -- ]
$ systool -m iwl_legacy -av
Module = "iwl_legacy"
Attributes:
initstate = "live"
refcnt = "1"
srcversion = "275221577F5CCA15EDB6755"
uevent = <store method="" only="">
version = "in-tree:"
Parameters:
bt_coex_active = "Y"
led_mode = "0"
Sections:
.altinstr_replacement= "0x00000000"
.altinstructions = "0x00000000"
[ -- some output removed for clarity -- ]
$</store></store></div></pre>
You can see from this that the module <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">iwl3945</span> does not have a parameter option to set the LED mode but <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">iwl_legacy</span> does have such a parameter - the line <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">led_mode = "0"</span> in the list above. So, to stop the LED flashing we need to configure <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">iwl_legacy</span> to switch the LED on for WiFi active and off for WiFi inactive. But what setting for led_mode should we use? The answer lies in the output of another command:
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ modinfo iwl_legacy
filename: /lib/modules/3.2.0-23-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/iwlegacy/iwl-legacy.ko
license: GPL
author: Copyright(c) 2003-2011 Intel Corporation <ilw linux.intel.com="">
version: in-tree:
description: iwl-legacy: common functions for 3945 and 4965
srcversion: 275221577F5CCA15EDB6755
depends: mac80211,cfg80211
intree: Y
vermagic: 3.2.0-23-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 686
parm: led_mode:0=system default, 1=On(RF On)/Off(RF Off), 2=blinking (int)
parm: bt_coex_active:enable wifi/bluetooth co-exist (bool)
$</ilw></div></pre>
What we want is option 1 - On(RF On)/Off(RF Off). Now we need to configure the module to control the LED this way.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;">Step Three - making the change.</span><br />
To make the change to the LED we need to unload the <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">iwl_legacy</span> module, change its configuration file and finally reload the module. In sequence then:
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ sudo modprobe -r iwl_legacy
FATAL: Module iwl_legacy is in use.
$ </div></pre>
If you see this, then you've made a mistake. You will need to unload the other <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">iwl</span> module first, as this module is preventing the other from being unloaded. (you will naturally turn off your WiFi connection at the same time, so be careful!) :
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ sudo modprobe -r iwl3945
$ sudo modprobe -r iwl_legacy
$ </div></pre>
Now the modules are unloaded you can make the changes.
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ cd /etc/modprobe.d
$ sudo nano iwl_legacy.conf</div></pre>
In nano enter this line then save the file and exit nano.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">options iwl_legacy led_mode=1</span><br />
<br />
Now re-start the two modules<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ sudo modprobe iwl_legacy
$ sudo modprobe iwl3945
$ cd ~
$</div></pre>
Finally check that iwl_legacy is properly configured - and check on your laptop that the LED is behaving as it should.
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">$ systool -m iwl_legacy -av
Module = "iwl_legacy"
Attributes:
initstate = "live"
refcnt = "1"
srcversion = "275221577F5CCA15EDB6755"
uevent = <store method="" only="">
version = "in-tree:"
Parameters:
bt_coex_active = "Y"
led_mode = "1"
Sections:
.altinstr_replacement= "0x00000000"
.altinstructions = "0x00000000"
[ -- some output removed for clarity -- ]
$</store></div></pre>
Assuming all of the above has been completed and you have a non-blinking LED, the last thing to do is to shut the laptop down completely and then restart it - just to make sure the configuration works the next time it is used.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;">Conclusion </span><br />
You should now have a
laptop without a blinking LED. You may also find this approach to
tackling the blinking LED problem may be useful with other WiFi chipsets
and it would be good to know if this approach helps you stop that
annoyingly blinking LED too. Please add a comment below and let me
know.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;">Update following Mint 17 (Qiana) </span><br />
I've just updated my D430 to Mint 17 (Cinnamon) and had to repeat the steps in this blog article to stop the blinking LED again!! You'll be pleased to know that I used the same approach as I presented in this blog and everything was the same except one of the files has changed its name in the new release.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">iwl_legacy</span> is now called <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">iwlegacy</span>. This means that this blog article is still valid for Mint 17 - except wherever you read <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">iwl_legacy</span> you should substitute <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">iwlegacy</span> instead. This also applies to the line you need to put into <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">iwlegacy.conf:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">options iwlegacy led_mode=1</span><br />
<br />
Good luck!Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-24249265863406514502014-07-21T22:58:00.001+01:002014-11-23T16:59:20.179+00:00Charging your Smartphone while on the move.<div>
Hands up anyone who has had their Smartphone run out of battery just when you needed to make or take that call? Or you turned up at a meeting and you needed to call your boss. Or, more importantly, perhaps your tablet died during the climax of that film or in the final stages of your game.<br />
<br />
Or perhaps you're going camping or hiking at the weekend and you want to be sure you can charge your phone while you're away. </div>
<div>
<br />
I have found a simple solution to all of the above: a charger you can carry with you and use on the go. In fact, all it is is a <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EK3UHS8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00EK3UHS8&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21">Rechargeable Battery Pack</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00EK3UHS8" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> that you carry with you.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EK3UHS8/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00EK3UHS8&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21%22%3E%3Cimg%20border=%220%22%20src=%22http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00EK3UHS8&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=GB&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=vastmblog-21%22%20%3E%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00EK3UHS8%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EK3UHS8/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00EK3UHS8&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21"><img border="0" src="http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00EK3UHS8&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=GB&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=vastmblog-21" /></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00EK3UHS8" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
When you get the low battery warning from your phone or tablet simply plug in the <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EK3UHS8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00EK3UHS8&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21">battery pack</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00EK3UHS8" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, charge your phone and continue using it. It's so simple. The <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EK3UHS8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00EK3UHS8&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21">battery pack</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00EK3UHS8" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> I use comes with a built in short microUSB cable so it plugs directly into my work Blackberry or my own personal <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&field-keywords=sony%20xperia%20z2&linkCode=ur2&sprefix=sony%20%2Caps&tag=vastmblog-21&url=search-alias%3Daps" target="_blank">Sony Xperia Z2</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=ur2&o=2" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yzbr_XbwYWQ/U82FITn6xPI/AAAAAAAAIRs/Qa4AnPANpJ4/s1600/Charger1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yzbr_XbwYWQ/U82FITn6xPI/AAAAAAAAIRs/Qa4AnPANpJ4/s1600/Charger1.jpg" height="207" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
If I had an Apple iPhone or iPad I could plug in an Apple cable and charge my Apple device just as easily from the USB port. I'd like to point you at an Apple micro USB to Lightning adapter, but, as usual, Apple won't let me do that. You'll have to search for these yourselves - or you could get a non-Apple phone and avoid these restrictions altogether.<br />
</div>
<div>
The <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EK3UHS8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00EK3UHS8&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21">Rechargeable Battery Pack</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00EK3UHS8" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
will charge my Blackberry around three times and my Xperia one and a
half times. You should get two full charges out of the pack on most phones
- including the iPhone. That should be enough for a couple of days use
without needing a charger. The charger has four blue LEDs on the top that tell you how much charge is in the unit. Four LEDs lit means the pack is fully charged; two LEDs lit shows the pack is about half-charged. The pack is as quick to charge your phone as a high-power normal mains charger.<br />
<br />
And an added bonus for me - this <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EK3UHS8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00EK3UHS8&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21">battery pack</a> even runs my <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008PT4GGC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B008PT4GGC&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21">Raspberry Pi</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B008PT4GGC" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b5pU6-fsduk/U82FK7FjN0I/AAAAAAAAIR0/zYq56yHZ2IY/s1600/Charger2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b5pU6-fsduk/U82FK7FjN0I/AAAAAAAAIR0/zYq56yHZ2IY/s1600/Charger2.jpg" height="255" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>Technical Specifications:</b></span></h3>
<ul class="a-vertical a-spacing-none">
<li><span class="a-list-item">Capacity: 5000mAh, Lithium-polymer battery capable of charging two smartphones at the same time.</span></li>
<li><span class="a-list-item">Charges iPhone 2 to 2.5 times, Charges Galaxy S4 about 1.3 times.</span></li>
<li><span class="a-list-item">Max output: 5V / 2.5A.</span></li>
<li><span class="a-list-item">Suitable for Android and Windows Smartphones, iPhones, iPads and Tablets (you will need to buy an Apple adapter as none are
included) </span></li>
<li><span class="a-list-item">On a high-power charger the pack is fully recharged in 3.5 hours.</span></li>
<li><span class="a-list-item">On a normal charger the pack is recharged in about 6 hours</span></li>
<li><span class="a-list-item">Size: 5.1" x 2.75" x 0.31". One of the thinnest battery packs available. It's designed to
stack behind your phone and you can still use the phone with the charger held behind it</span><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b> </b></span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>Conclusion</b></span></h3>
There's simply no excuse. For the little amount this unit costs - and the convenient size - you really should carry one with you at all times. It will save you - or your friends - time and time again.<br />
<br /></div>
Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-51407372186161858882014-07-07T23:06:00.000+01:002014-07-25T22:16:36.020+01:00Upgrading to LED lamps really pays for itself!<br />
I've been replacing my older tungsten bulbs for years now, starting with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and more recently directly with LED lamps<br />
<br />
Although I'm already saving money having switched to CFLs I'm getting fed up with the low light output, the long start times and the noticeable way the light output decays with time so that all too quickly the lamps become next to useless. An example are the candle lamps I have in my dining room.<br />
<br />
The light fitting held eight 40W tungsten lamps so the room was nice and bright, but at a total of 320W was very expensive to run (over £110 per year using the lamps an average of six hours a day).<br />
<br />
I replaced the tungsten lamps with eight 7W compact fluorescents and for a while these have been OK but lately the light output has faded and the electronic ballasts used in the bulbs have started to whine, so these replacements have not only become annoyingly dim but also annoyingly noisy!<br />
<br />
They have got to go.<br />
<br />
I've been looking for a suitable replacement for these for a while - and while it is easy to justify buying LED bulbs to replace tungsten or halogen lamps you do have to be careful replacing the compact fluorescent lamps because the power savings are nowhere near as great. However, I think I've found a bargain. I've found a source of a triple pack of <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00KZIIDS8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00KZIIDS8&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21">Duracell 4w LED Candle Light Bulbs</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00KZIIDS8" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> at a very good price.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00KZIIDS8/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00KZIIDS8&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21"><img border="0" src="http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00KZIIDS8&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=GB&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=vastmblog-21" /></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00KZIIDS8" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
</div>
<br />
Not only are these slightly cooler colour temperature than the old compact fluorescent bulbs, but they are cheaper to replace and run at an even lower wattage so I will make savings when these are fitted. To prove this I knocked up a quick spreadsheet calculator that <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxAV5bZsdYL6ZnBFMU4taTZzV3c/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">you can download here</a><br />
<br />
In the spreadsheet I have assumed that a unit of electricity costs about £0.15 and that the lamps are run for an average of six hours per day. From this:<br />
<ul>
<li>A 40W tungsten lamp costs £13.10 per year in electricity and may need to be replaced twice.</li>
<li>The 7W CFL costs £2.29 per year to run and may last five years.</li>
<li>The <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00KZIIDS8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00KZIIDS8&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21" target="_blank">Duracell 4W LED lamp</a> costs a miserly £1.31 per year to run and should last 10 years.
</li>
</ul>
When you factor in the lives of the other bulbs and their replacement costs the <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00KZIIDS8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00KZIIDS8&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21" target="_blank">Duracell LED lamp</a> will pay for itself as a replacement for the compact fluorescents in under two years - and as a replacement for the 40W tungsten bulb in about three months!<br />
<br />
You can use the calculator to work out how much you can save, but do bear in mind that if a lamp is only used an hour or so a day (perhaps in a cupboard under the stairs) it may not be worth replacing it at all with an LED lamp. Just enter the details of the lamps you want to compare in the yellow boxes and adjust the electricity costs and hours per day to suit you and the rest of the sheet re-calculates for you (it should be easy to convert to other currencies too but I'll leave that up to you).<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>Addendum</b>:</span><br />
The new LED lamps arrived today and they're all fitted. They're bright with a good colour balance and are noticeably brighter than the old 7W compact fluorescents so that's a good start. They're instant-on, which means I get light immediately I turn the switch on (not 30 seconds to two minutes afterwards) and they're silent. No more whistling and whining from the lamps!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>Technical Data:</b></span><br />
<b>
</b><br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr><td>Energy Rating</td><td>A+</td></tr>
<tr><td>Power consumption</td><td>4W</td></tr>
<tr><td>Lumens</td><td>250</td></tr>
<tr><td>Lumens/Watt</td><td>63</td></tr>
<tr><td>Colour Temperature</td><td>2700K (Warm White)</td></tr>
<tr><td>Expected life</td><td>25,000 hours</td></tr>
<tr><td>Power Cycles</td><td>approx. 40,000</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-34539477166665594782014-06-15T00:28:00.003+01:002014-08-06T23:34:51.376+01:00Getting Devmon to start automatically with Xymon on Ubuntu<span style="color: #cc6600;">Introduction</span><br />
<a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/xymon/" target="_blank">Xymon </a>is a brilliantly simple network management tool that runs reliably in the background and can graph, alert and track pretty much anything you want. I use Xymon for example to monitor a number of things around my home - including all my servers and devices, the quality of my Internet - and the temperature in and around the house. I've developed many of the scripts I use to carry out this monitoring myself using Perl. However, while Xymon supports the monitoring of remote devices via ICMP or TCP port tests or custom scripts, it doesn't currently provide any sensible form of SNMP monitoring. Luckily, help is at hand in the shape of Devmon. <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/devmon/" target="_blank">Devmon </a>is a Perl daemon that is designed to supplement and enhance the capabilities of either a BigBrother or Hobbit/Xymon monitoring server allowing that server to monitor remote devices via SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) and integrate this information within the same displays on the BigBrother/Hobbit display server. <br />
<br />
However, the <a href="http://devmon.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">documentation with Devmon</a> is sparse and rather lacking, especially around getting it started when the server starts up. There are example scripts for <a href="http://gb.redhat.com/" target="_blank">Red Hat</a> available in the package but nothing for <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/" target="_blank">Ubuntu</a>. I've set about rectifying this and I present my start-up approach to Devmon using Ubuntu's <a href="http://upstart.ubuntu.com/getting-started.html" target="_blank">Upstart</a> system.<br />
<br />
While Ubuntu supports the more traditional init-based scripts to start and stop services, it is better to think about using Upstart instead, as it is a more robust services management daemon that allows for
things like dependencies, custom events/triggers, pre & post initialisation steps and resource limitations, amongst other things.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;">Installation of Xymon and Devmon</span><br />
The full installation of Xymon and Devmon is beyond the scope of this article, so I'll summarise what I've done here so you can adapt my scripts and notes for your own use:<br />
<ul>
<li>Xymon is installed under <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;">/home/xymon</span> with a username of xymon. It stores its logfiles in <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;">/var/log/xymon/</span></li>
<li>Devmon
is installed under<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">/usr/lib/devmon</span></span> with a username of xymon (so editing
scripts and templates is all completed under the one username) and logs
to <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;">/var/log/devmon/devmon.log</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #cc6600;">Configuring Upstart</span><br />
There are plenty of Upstart tutorials on the Internet - and an excellent '<a href="http://upstart.ubuntu.com/cookbook/" target="_blank">Cookbook</a>' to check out, so I won't repeat that here. All that is necessary is to say that:<br />
<ul>
<li>Upstart's scripts are stored in the <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">/etc/init</span> directory and all end in .conf.</li>
<li>Upstart logs its output to logs for each script in <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;">/var/log/upstart/</span> </li>
</ul>
To work out what I needed to get devmon running I set up <a href="http://www.putty.org/" target="_blank">PuTTY </a>to have three sessions open to my server. One I used to edit and test the script, one I had set to display the devmon logfile (<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;">tail -f /var/log/devmon/devmon.log</span>) and one was set to show the upstart script (<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;">tail -f /var/log/upstart/devmon.log</span>). I found the easiest way to get the script I needed was to take another script as a template and then edit it to start devmon instead. My script, devmon.conf, is shown below.<br />
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">
#!upstart
description "DEVMON Hobbit/Xymon SNMP tool upstart script"
author "Martin Davies"
start on runlevel [2345]
stop on runlevel [!2345]
env PIDFILE="/var/run/devmon/devmon.pid"
env DEVMON_USER="xymon"
env DEVMON_DIR="/usr/lib/devmon/"
script
if [ ! -d "${DEVMON_DIR}" ]; then
echo "${DEVMON_DIR} missing, aborting."
exit 1
fi
exec start-stop-daemon --start -c ${DEVMON_USER} -d ${DEVMON_DIR} --exec ${DEVMON_DIR}devmon -- -f
end script
</div>
</pre>
That's all it took. Looking closer at the script:<br />
<br />
These two lines comment the script and give enough info for anyone to see what the script is for<br />
<pre>description "DEVMON Hobbit/Xymon SNMP tool upstart script"
author "Martin Davies"
</pre>
<br />
<br />
These next lines simply tell Upstart when to run the script (the figures in brackes are the runlevels of Ubuntu)<br />
<pre>start on runlevel [2345]
stop on runlevel [!2345]
</pre>
<br />
<br />
Then we set up the environment variables to set the PID file, the user Devmon runs under and the directory that devmon is installed in<br />
<pre>env PIDFILE="/var/run/devmon/devmon.pid"
env DEVMON_USER="xymon"
env DEVMON_DIR="/usr/lib/devmon/"
</pre>
<br />
<br />
Finally the script itself. First we check that the install directory exists and if it does we run devmon as per the user and directory settings set above. While testing, I recommend that you add -vvv --debug to the end of 'exec start-stop-daemon' line.<br />
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">
script
if [ ! -d "${DEVMON_DIR}" ]; then
echo "${DEVMON_DIR} missing, aborting."
exit 1
fi
exec start-stop-daemon --start -c ${DEVMON_USER} -d ${DEVMON_DIR} --exec ${DEVMON_DIR}devmon -- -f
end script</div>
</pre>
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;">Addendum:</span><br />
I had cause to shut down my server the other day to replace a disk and when it was restarted Devmon didn't start. The problem I saw was that the Devmon entries on Xymon pages stayed purple. Even when starting Devmon by hand I still had purple entries for devmon in the xymon web pages<br />
<br />
<pre>martin@homeserver:~$ sudo start devmon
devmon start/running, process 28703
martin@homeserver:~$ </pre>
You can see here that Devmon reports as starting but after a few minutes I still had purple icons.
Looking at the Devmon log file gave me the answer:
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">
martin@homeserver:~$ cat /var/log/devmon/devmon.log
[14-07-28@21:51:39] Shutting down
[14-07-30@22:18:12] Cant write to pidfile /var/run/devmon/devmon.pid (No such file or directory)
[14-08-05@18:09:00] Cant write to pidfile /var/run/devmon/devmon.pid (No such file or directory)
</div>
</pre>
It turned out that a kill script from the old init.d based setup had not only deleted the pidfile but had also deleted the directory too. So I removed the killscript and re-created the pidfile directory:
<br />
<pre>martin@homeserver:~$ sudo mkdir /var/run/devmon/
martin@homeserver:~$ sudo start devmon
devmon start/running, process 30369</pre>
And looked at the log file again and saw this line
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">
[14-08-06@21:40:16] Cant write to pidfile /var/run/devmon/devmon.pid (Permission denied)
</div>
</pre>
Meh! OK - one more step and we're done:
<br />
<pre>martin@homeserver:~$ sudo chown xymon:xymon /var/run/devmon
martin@homeserver:~$ sudo start devmon
devmon start/running, process 32309
martin@homeserver:~$ cat /var/log/devmon/devmon.log</pre>
Finally. The last few lines on the log file read
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">
[14-08-06@21:40:16] Cant write to pidfile /var/run/devmon/devmon.pid (Permission denied)
[14-08-06@21:47:09] ---Initilizing devmon...
[14-08-06@21:47:09] Node 0 reporting to localhost
[14-08-06@21:47:09] Running under process id: 32309
[14-08-06@21:47:09] Entering poll loop
</div>
</pre>
And sure enough, after a few minutes, the Devmon icons came back to life. I'll check the script again and see if I need to put further tests in the script. If I do, I'll update the post and let you know. <br />
<br />
As usual, please get in touch if this has been useful and drop me a comment if you need more info - or if you find a mistake!Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-6872967852363117042014-02-24T23:06:00.002+00:002014-07-07T22:25:11.120+01:00Tutorial: How to install a 3TB disk drive in an old PCI'd recently run out of room on my data drive so I was looking for an easy way to increase the storage - and to give me some room to rebuild my home server at the same time. Looking round, the best value disk drive I found was a <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00HE7HG2C/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00HE7HG2C&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21%22%3E3TB%20high-capacity%20disk%20drive%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22" target="_blank">3TB high-capacity disk drive</a> as a replacement to install in my main computer.<br />
<br />
I run a reasonably well-specced Dell Optiplex 780 equipped with a quad-core CPU, 8GB of RAM, an Intel SSD and a 500GB disk drive. While this is fine for day-to-day use - and with a decent <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0062CHLYI/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B0062CHLYI&linkCode=as2&tag=vastmblog-21%22%3ESapphire%20low-profile%20Radeon%20HD%206670%20graphics%20card%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22" target="_blank">Sapphire low-profile Radeon HD 6670 graphics card</a>, it's also a fair games player - it is considered an old machine these days and I thought I may run into some problems putting such a large hard disk drive into it.<br />
<br />
I wasn't wrong. <br />
<br />
I'll summarise the three major problems you'll face so you can see what you may be up against if you choose to install a 3TB disk drive - and then show you what I did to get the disk drive active in Windows.<br />
<ol>
<li>Older computers (such as my Dell) run a traditional BIOS rather than the newer UEFI-based systems available now. This means that if your PC has a BIOS it cannot boot from disk drives more than 2.2TB in size. Depending on how old your PC is, it may not even <i>recognise </i>a 3TB disk drive!</li>
<li>Microsoft, in their wisdom, designed their 32-bit consumer operating systems (32- and 64-bit Windows XP, 32-bit Vista, 32-bit Windows 7) so that they do not support larger than 2.2TB disk drives.</li>
<li>Even running the 3TB drive in an external USB enclosure may not work as many USB controllers cannot properly address a 3TB disk drive.</li>
</ol>
For me:<br />
<ul>
<li>I normally boot 64-bit Windows 7 from an <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&field-keywords=ssd%20hard%20drive&linkCode=ur2&rh=n%3A340831031%2Ck%3Assd%20hard%20drive&sprefix=SSD%20%2Ccomputers%2C131&tag=vastmblog-21&url=search-alias%3Dcomputers">80G SSD hard drive</a>, so, although my PC is too old to boot from the 3TB drive, I am able to access the 3TB disk drive as a data drive once Windows has loaded. </li>
<li>I used an <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&field-keywords=external%20usb%20docking&linkCode=ur2&rh=n%3A340831031%2Ck%3Aexternal%20usb%20docking&sprefix=SSD%20%2Ccomputers%2C131&tag=vastmblog-21&url=search-alias%3Dcomputers" target="_blank">external usb docking station</a> to copy my existing data to the new disk drive and then swapped drives in the PC to complete the upgrade. Even though the enclosure did not fully access the new drive I was able to get the full capacity of the drive available to use.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Here's what I did:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #cc6600;">Step One: Check your PC recognises the drive</span></div>
<div>
I temporarily took the existing disk drives out of my PC and installed the new 3TB disk drive to check that the BIOS recognised it properly as a 3TB disk drive. It did.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #cc6600;">Step Two: Check the Caddy recognises the drive</span></div>
<div>
I put back the old disk drives and booted my PC into Windows. I then connected the 3TB disk drive to the PC via the external USB caddy. The drive was recognised, which was positive, but there were issues. See Stage Three below.<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #cc6600;">Step Three: Prepare the new drive</span></div>
Next, you need to format the new disk drive. The easiest way to do this is to run the Windows Disk Management tool. Click on <b>Start</b>, then in the <i>Search programs and files</i> box type <b>diskmgmt.msc</b> and press Enter. After a few seconds the Disk management tool starts up. As you've a new, uninitialised disk in the computer you may get a pop-up window like this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wiIw7dyv59Y/UwvOBYE5tpI/AAAAAAAAHoc/km5W5z1ui-g/s1600/initialise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wiIw7dyv59Y/UwvOBYE5tpI/AAAAAAAAHoc/km5W5z1ui-g/s1600/initialise.jpg" height="243" width="320" /></a></div>
If you don't, hover your mouse over the new drive, right-click and click on <b>Initialise Disk</b>. Note that the wizard offers you two types of initialisation: MBR or GPT. Choose GPD and click on OK. When the disk is initialised you may notice that Windows shows you only have 746GB of unallocated space instead of the full 3TB. Don't worry; this happens frequently, but there is a way round it as you will see if you read on below. Go ahead and create a New Simple Volume and use all of the unallocated space on the new volume. Finally, format the new volume ready for use and assign a drive letter.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;">Step Four: Copy your data to the new drive</span><br />
As I was upgrading my old 500GB data drive, I wanted to copy the whole of the old drive contents to the new drive. For this I used an excellent free product called <a href="http://www.disk-partition.com/" target="_blank">AOMEI Partition Assistant</a>. This has a Partition Copy wizard which I used to copy my old Data drive to the newly created volume on the 3TB drive. Run this wizard and set your old data drive as the Source partition and the 3TB disk drive as the Destination Space, let it complete and then shut the PC down.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;">Step Five: Swap out your old Data drive</span><br />
Once the PC has shut down open it up and replace your old data drive with the new 3TB one. Put the old drive safely to one side - this is your backup while you finish the process!! Then power up the PC. Now, because my data was stored on Drive E and the new drive was set as Drive F, I ran into some issues because Windows could not find some of my data. If you run into the same issues as I did then run <b>diskmgmt.msc </b>and re-assign the drive letter to be the same as your old data drive (E: in my case - yours could well be different) You may have to re-boot the PC to make sure everything works as it should.</div>
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;">Step Six: Resize your Data partition</span><br />
After a successful reboot, re-run the <a href="http://www.disk-partition.com/" target="_blank">AOMEI Partition Assistant</a> and this time highlight the new data partition on the 3TB drive. Run the Resize/Move partition wizard and drag the slider of the data partition to take up the full 3TB (mine showed 2,794GB. Good enough!) <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tmT17La4GNU/UwvOpzJdKwI/AAAAAAAAHow/VPpfcz6j9NM/s1600/Resize.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tmT17La4GNU/UwvOpzJdKwI/AAAAAAAAHow/VPpfcz6j9NM/s1600/Resize.jpg" height="242" width="320" /></a></div>
Let the wizard run until it has finished and check you can read and write files on the new disk.<br />
<br />
Last of all - enjoy all this new-found space! As you can see below, on my system the disk is running well and has lots of spare space - for now!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IZ-9A4keQ1Q/UwvOFU_kz-I/AAAAAAAAHos/c-nS1oUy8qQ/s1600/Clipboard01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IZ-9A4keQ1Q/UwvOFU_kz-I/AAAAAAAAHos/c-nS1oUy8qQ/s1600/Clipboard01.jpg" height="148" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-29758609260751879252014-01-10T20:40:00.001+00:002014-01-12T14:40:10.072+00:00Do you want strangers emailing you? Google says you do!Did anyone get an email in the last few days from Google's Gmail team? Did it have the subject<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;">"<b>Gmail update: Reach more people you know"</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cEc4axkI6iQ/UtBX3XfMVHI/AAAAAAAAHks/uUaTTRV4OM0/s1600/Clipboard03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cEc4axkI6iQ/UtBX3XfMVHI/AAAAAAAAHks/uUaTTRV4OM0/s1600/Clipboard03.jpg" height="313" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Want to know what it means? Well, Google have just introduced a new Gmail feature – the ability to send email to Google+ users whose email address you don't actually know. You'll notice this when you compose new emails as Gmail will start to suggest <b><span style="color: #cc6600;">Google+ connections</span> </b>as recipients without revealing their email addresses to you until the recipient either replies to your email or follows you.</div>
<br />
While some Gmail users may find this feature useful, others may see it as a threat to their privacy - but what you may not realise is that Google has already switched this feature on in your account <span style="color: #cc6600;"><i>without telling you</i></span>. This means, right now, your <span style="color: #cc6600;">Google+ identity</span> could be being suggested as an email recipient on someone's latest get-rich-quick scam email.<br />
<br />
Fortunately Google have provided a way to control how visible your Google+ identity is to strangers and you can therefore control who can use your Google+ identity to send you email.<br />
<br />
<br />
Here's how to access this control:-<br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;">Go to <a href="https://mail.google.com/" target="_blank">Gmail</a> on your desktop (not on your smartphone).</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Click the gear in the top right of your screen.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_jOYF72zH0w/UtBMEQEk-1I/AAAAAAAAHkM/6M9fCDdeaIM/s1600/Clipboard02.jpg" /></div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;">Select <b>Settings</b>.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Scroll down to the <b>Email via Google+</b> section (stay in the "General" tab).</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Click the drop-down menu and choose <b>No one</b>.</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-opsip8fSrbU/UtBXYK4t7mI/AAAAAAAAHkk/HtQcCwHJ5rk/s1600/Clipboard01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-opsip8fSrbU/UtBXYK4t7mI/AAAAAAAAHkk/HtQcCwHJ5rk/s1600/Clipboard01.jpg" height="60" width="400" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;">Click <b>Save Changes</b> at the bottom of the page.</li>
</ul>
This will stop your Google+ identity being suggested to others who don't already know you.<br />
<br />
As usual, let me know what you think by commenting below. <br />
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-75611536535042867172014-01-10T00:59:00.001+00:002014-01-12T22:49:48.950+00:00How to make bread without adding sugar.The <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25650352" target="_blank">BBC reports</a> that a campaign group has been formed to reduce the amount of sugar added to food and soft drinks in an effort to tackle obesity and diabetes in the UK. The group, <a href="http://www.actiononsalt.org.uk/actiononsugar/index.html" target="_blank">Action on Sugar</a>, has been set up to help people avoid "hidden sugars" and to persuade manufacturers to reduce the quantity of sugar they put in their food products.<br />
<br />
Now most of us are not surprised to learn that there is a lot of sugar in fizzy drinks, or sweets, but when you find that <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-25666556" target="_blank">breakfast cereals, low-fat yoghurt, pasta sauces and soups</a> all have added sugar in them you begin to wonder. Even our staple food - bread - has a lot of added sugar. One average slice of shop-bought processed bread can contain as much as 3g (0.1oz) of sugar. This means that a slice of toast for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch will mean a woman would have had a quarter of her recommended daily intake for added sugar from the bread alone!<br />
<br />
So why not <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&field-keywords=breadmaker&linkCode=ur2&sprefix=breadmaker%2Caps%2C161&tag=vastmblog-21&url=search-alias%3Dkitchen">bake your own bread</a><img src="https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=ur2&o=2" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />? that's supposed to be healthy - isn't it?<br />
<br />
Well, yes, you can, but let's look at the ingredients of a typical recipe for a 2lb / 1kg basic white loaf:<br />
<br />
<center>
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr><th>Ingredient</th><th>Quantity</th></tr>
<tr><td>Water</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
360ml</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Skimmed milk powder</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
4 tbsp / 55g</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Sunflower Oil</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
4 tbsp / 30ml</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Sugar</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
3 tbsp / 42g</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Salt</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
2 tsp / 9mg</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Strong white bread flour</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
570g</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Fast Action Dried yeast</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
1x 5g sachet</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</center>
<br />
Let's assume you can get 12 slices from the loaf. Then, if you look at a nutrient breakdown of these ingredients the table looks like this:<br />
<center>
<br />
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th></th><th> Calories </th><th> Carbs </th><th> Fat </th><th> Protein </th><th> Sodium </th><th> Sugar </th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><div style="text-align: right;">
Total:</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
2771</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
455</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
62</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
98</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
316</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
72</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><div style="text-align: right;">
Per Serving:</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
231</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
38</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
5</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
8</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
26</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
6</div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</center>
<br />
So here we have a basic, home-made loaf with a whopping 231 calories and 6g of sugar in every slice! Ok, you could maybe cut thinner slices, but when it's fresh, the loaf can be hard to cut (and equally hard to resist!) so I've erred on the side of caution.<br />
<br />
However, in our household, we've been using our own basic bread loaf recipe. We use ordinary bread-making ingredients and it works. Every time. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare and you can add Omega seeds to it, or herbs to flavour it and I have to say it's been the standard loaf in our house with two or three loaves baked per week for almost three years.<br />
<br />
First the ingredients:<br />
<center>
<table border="1"><tbody>
<tr><th>Ingredient</th><th>Quantity</th></tr>
<tr><td>Water (tepid)</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
360ml</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Olive Oil</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
1 tbsp / 30ml</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Salt</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
1 tsp / 5mg</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Strong white bread flour</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
570g</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Fast Action Dried yeast</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
1x 5g sachet</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</center>
<br />
You see? No milk powder, less oil, less salt - and no added sugar! (you don't need extra sugar to activate fast-action dried yeast - there's enough in the bread flour to do the job) <br />
<br />
Now the method. You may need to vary this for your <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&field-keywords=breadmaker&linkCode=ur2&sprefix=breadmaker%2Caps%2C161&tag=vastmblog-21&url=search-alias%3Dkitchen">Breadmaker</a><img src="https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=ur2&o=2" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />. For mine I simply add the ingredients to the baking pan in the order listed. If I want to add Omega seeds or herbs, I add these on top of the flour. Finally I sprinkle the contents of the yeast sachet evenly on top of the flour and put the pan in the breadmaker. I then bake the bread using the 'Sandwich' setting on my breadmaker which I find gives a better constituency and texture.<br />
<br />
<br />
Once again, let's assume 12 slices from the loaf. The nutrient breakdown now looks like this:<br />
<br />
<center>
<table border="1"><tbody>
<tr><th></th><th> Calories </th><th> Carbs </th><th> Fat </th><th> Protein </th><th> Sodium </th><th> Sugar </th></tr>
<tr><td><div style="text-align: right;">
Total:</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
1827</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
342</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
22</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
69</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
5</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
7</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td><div style="text-align: right;">
Per Serving:</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
152</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
29</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
2</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
6</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
0</div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
< 1</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</center>
<br />
So you see, by cutting out the sugar and adjusting the other ingredients, I have a loaf that is<br />
<ul>
<li>healthier than shop-bought bread</li>
<li>has better texture and taste than shop-bought bread</li>
<li>is considerably better-tasting than the original breadmaker recipe</li>
<li>Has considerably less sugar than the original bread recipe and a lower amount than shop-bought bread</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And in the great tradition of cooks everywhere, here is one I made earlier<br />
(this one has Omega seeds in the loaf)</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xfa3ETBWPzs/Us889prxUTI/AAAAAAAAHj8/oGkQ4wFwY-A/s1600/P1140539_cr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xfa3ETBWPzs/Us889prxUTI/AAAAAAAAHj8/oGkQ4wFwY-A/s1600/P1140539_cr.jpg" height="265" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I hope you try this bread and like it. Let me know how you get on
and share with me any ideas you have for other reduced-sugar breads. <br />
<br />Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-52741870294075561052013-04-14T22:22:00.002+01:002014-06-15T00:17:48.100+01:00Updating Ubuntu 11.10 to 12.04 gives problems with Samba and GreyholeI run an <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/" target="_blank">Ubuntu </a>server as a central home server holding all my media (photographs, music etc.) and the files we all use and share as a family in a safe and easy environment - rather than have different versions stored on each person's PCs and devices.. The server provides file shares via <a href="http://www.samba.org/" target="_blank">Samba</a> and provides file resilience using <a href="http://www.greyhole.net/" target="_blank">Greyhole</a>. Both have been configured and the server has run successfully for over a year since it was installed.
Recently I upgraded my server from Ubuntu version 11.10 to Ubuntu version 12.04 LTS using the Ubuntu instruction
Run 'do-release-upgrade' to upgrade
All went well apart from two 'little' issues.
<br />
<ul>
<li>The first issue was that Zoneminder (a CCTV security monitoring program) 'broke' during the upgrade due to changes made within mySQL during the upgrade.</li>
<li>The second was that my shared folders stopped working.</li>
</ul>
While the first issue I can leave till another day, the second issue needed fixing right away as the
server contents were needed that evening.<br />
<br />
No pressure then.... ;o)<br />
<br />
The first step I tried was to be clear about what had gone wrong. My Samba config was unchanged from before the upgrade and both services (Samba and Greyhole) had started without error. From my Windows 7 desktop I could access and browse my home directory without any issues. (I use this folder as a link between my Windows world and my Ubuntu world so this share is not maintained by Greyhole). However, while I could see all the other shares held on my server I could not browse into them to access the files. Instead, Windows 7 reported that it could not access the shares in an error window like the example below:
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fU6S8HvSFbA/UWsdt41go3I/AAAAAAAAGqk/v4KBYWmtINg/s1600/Network+Error.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fU6S8HvSFbA/UWsdt41go3I/AAAAAAAAGqk/v4KBYWmtINg/s1600/Network+Error.jpg" height="101" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
The next steps were to look at the logs for Samba on my server.
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">martin@homesvr:~$
martin@homesvr:~$ cd /var/log/samba/
martin@homesvr:/var/log/samba$ cat log.win7desktop
</div></pre>
I noticed lots and lots of error messages like this:
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">[2013/04/14 20:09:42.217273, 0] smbd/service.c:869(make_connection_snum) vfs_init failed for service movies
[2013/04/14 20:09:42.226322, 0] smbd/vfs.c:173(vfs_init_custom) error probing vfs module 'greyhole': NT_STATUS_UNSUCCESSFUL
[2013/04/14 20:09:42.226446, 0] smbd/vfs.c:315(smbd_vfs_init) smbd_vfs_init: vfs_init_custom failed for greyhole
[2013/04/14 20:09:42.226518, 0] smbd/service.c:869(make_connection_snum) vfs_init failed for service movies
[2013/04/14 20:09:42.231051, 0] smbd/vfs.c:173(vfs_init_custom) error probing vfs module 'greyhole': NT_STATUS_UNSUCCESSFUL
[2013/04/14 20:09:42.231172, 0] smbd/vfs.c:315(smbd_vfs_init) smbd_vfs_init: vfs_init_custom failed for greyhole
[2013/04/14 20:09:42.231244, 0] smbd/service.c:869(make_connection_snum) vfs_init failed for service movies
</div></pre>
However, for Greyhole there were no real issues:
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">martin@homesvr:~$ greyhole -S
Currently idle.
Recent log entries:
Apr 14 20:09:52 7 sleep: Nothing to do... Sleeping.
Apr 14 20:10:02 7 sleep: Nothing to do... Sleeping.
Apr 14 20:10:12 7 sleep: Nothing to do... Sleeping.
Apr 14 20:10:22 7 sleep: Nothing to do... Sleeping.
Apr 14 20:10:33 7 sleep: Nothing to do... Sleeping.
Apr 14 20:10:43 7 sleep: Nothing to do... Sleeping.
Apr 14 20:10:53 7 sleep: Nothing to do... Sleeping.
Apr 14 20:11:03 7 sleep: Nothing to do... Sleeping.
Apr 14 20:11:13 7 sleep: Nothing to do... Sleeping.
Apr 14 20:11:23 7 sleep: Nothing to do... Sleeping.
Last logged action: sleep
on 2013-04-14 20:11:23 (7s ago)
martin@homesvr:~$
martin@homesvr:~$ greyhole -i
/media/hdd2/gh: 0 kBps
/media/hdd1/gh: 0 kBps
/media/hdd3/gh: 0 kBps
/media/hdd4/gh: 0 kBps
---
</div></pre>
So this led me to suppose that the breakdown is between Samba and Greyhole, and, entering the following command:
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">martin@homesvr:~$ cat /etc/samba/smb.conf</pre>
shows me the config for the share I was investigating:
<br />
<pre class="prettyprint lang-bsh">[movies]
comment = Movie Library
path = /share/movies
browsable = yes
guest ok = yes
read only = yes
force user = nobody
force group = nogroup
write list = martin
dfree command = /usr/bin/greyhole-dfree
vfs objects = greyhole
</div></pre>
Note the <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">dfree command</span> line and the<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> vfs objects</span> line. These are the lines you have to put in the Samba config file if you want Greyhole to manage the files in a Samba share. The <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">vfs objects</span> line is an instruction to Samba to use the <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">greyhole.so</span> object to handle files on a Greyhole storage resource. Looking in the directory where Samba keeps the vfs objects you can see that in fact <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">greyhole.so</span> is a symlink to the <i>actual </i>file located elsewhere within the Greyhole libraries.
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">martin@homesvr:~$ ls -al /usr/lib/samba/vfs
total 604
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Apr 14 13:50 .
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Jan 2 2012 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 31496 Mar 7 22:40 acl_tdb.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 27400 Mar 7 22:40 acl_xattr.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15184 Mar 7 22:40 audit.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23304 Mar 7 22:40 cap.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23304 Mar 7 22:40 catia.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11016 Mar 7 22:40 crossrename.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6920 Mar 7 22:40 default_quota.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11016 Mar 7 22:40 dirsort.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11016 Mar 7 22:40 expand_msdfs.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 19280 Mar 7 22:40 extd_audit.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6920 Mar 7 22:40 fake_perms.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11016 Mar 7 22:40 fileid.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 52048 Mar 7 22:40 full_audit.so
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 39 Jan 3 2012 greyhole.so -> /usr/lib64/greyhole/greyhole-samba35.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11016 Mar 7 22:40 linux_xfs_sgid.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15112 Mar 7 22:40 netatalk.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15112 Mar 7 22:40 preopen.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11016 Mar 7 22:40 readahead.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23376 Mar 7 22:40 readonly.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23304 Mar 7 22:40 recycle.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 27400 Mar 7 22:40 scannedonly.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 35592 Mar 7 22:40 shadow_copy2.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11016 Mar 7 22:40 shadow_copy.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 27400 Mar 7 22:40 smb_traffic_analyzer.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 19208 Mar 7 22:40 streams_depot.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23304 Mar 7 22:40 streams_xattr.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15112 Mar 7 22:40 syncops.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 43784 Mar 7 22:40 time_audit.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23304 Mar 7 22:40 xattr_tdb.so
martin@homesvr:~$
</div></pre>
And, following the symlink, we find:
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">martin@homesvr:~$ ls -al /usr/lib64/greyhole/
total 56
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jan 3 2012 .
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Jan 3 2012 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 13415 Jun 22 2011 greyhole-samba34.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 14560 Jun 22 2011 greyhole-samba35.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 14529 Nov 29 2011 greyhole-samba36.so
martin@homesvr:~$
</div></pre>
So, re-linking the greyhole.so to greyhole-samba36.so should fix this as I was running Samba 3.5.11 under the old 11.10 version of Ubuntu and I am now running Samba 3.6.3 under the 12.04 version.
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">martin@homesvr:~$ sudo ln -s /usr/lib64/greyhole/greyhole-samba36.so
/usr/lib/samba/vfs/greyhole.so
martin@homesvr:~$ ls -al /usr/lib/samba/vfs
total 604
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Apr 14 20:33 .
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Jan 2 2012 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 31496 Mar 7 22:40 acl_tdb.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 27400 Mar 7 22:40 acl_xattr.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15184 Mar 7 22:40 audit.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23304 Mar 7 22:40 cap.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23304 Mar 7 22:40 catia.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11016 Mar 7 22:40 crossrename.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6920 Mar 7 22:40 default_quota.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11016 Mar 7 22:40 dirsort.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11016 Mar 7 22:40 expand_msdfs.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 19280 Mar 7 22:40 extd_audit.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6920 Mar 7 22:40 fake_perms.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11016 Mar 7 22:40 fileid.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 52048 Mar 7 22:40 full_audit.so
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 39 Apr 14 20:33 greyhole.so -> /usr/lib64/greyhole/greyhole-samba36.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11016 Mar 7 22:40 linux_xfs_sgid.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15112 Mar 7 22:40 netatalk.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15112 Mar 7 22:40 preopen.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11016 Mar 7 22:40 readahead.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23376 Mar 7 22:40 readonly.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23304 Mar 7 22:40 recycle.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 27400 Mar 7 22:40 scannedonly.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 35592 Mar 7 22:40 shadow_copy2.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11016 Mar 7 22:40 shadow_copy.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 27400 Mar 7 22:40 smb_traffic_analyzer.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 19208 Mar 7 22:40 streams_depot.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23304 Mar 7 22:40 streams_xattr.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15112 Mar 7 22:40 syncops.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 43784 Mar 7 22:40 time_audit.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23304 Mar 7 22:40 xattr_tdb.so
martin@homesvr:~$
</div></pre>
Given a moment or two to settle and re-trying the browsing from the desktop my access was restored. Checking the logs once more:
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">martin@homesvr:~$ greyhole -S
Currently working on task ID 535303: write movies/Million Dollar Baby.m4v
Recent log entries:
Apr 14 20:36:50 7 write: File /share/movies/Million Dollar Baby.m4v is locked by another process. Will wait until it's unlocked to work on it.
Apr 14 20:36:50 7 sleep: Only locked files operations pending... Sleeping.
Apr 14 20:37:00 6 write: Now working on task ID 535302: write movies/Million Dollar Baby.m4v
Apr 14 20:37:00 6 write: File changed: movies/Million Dollar Baby.m4v - 797MB
Apr 14 20:37:00 7 write: Will use source file: /media/hdd3/gh/movies/Million Dollar Baby.m4v
Apr 14 20:37:00 7 write: Loading metafiles for movies/./Million Dollar Baby.m4v ...
Apr 14 20:37:00 7 write: Got 2 metadata files.
Apr 14 20:37:00 7 write: 2 metadata files loaded.
Apr 14 20:37:01 7 write: File /share/movies/Million Dollar Baby.m4v is locked by another process. Will wait until it's unlocked to work on it.
Apr 14 20:37:01 7 sleep: Only locked files operations pending... Sleeping.
Last logged action: sleep
on 2013-04-14 20:37:01 (4s ago)
martin@homesvr:~$
</div></pre>
And I am now successfully browsing all my shares. This is something to be aware of as Greyhole is not updated or checked during the OS upgrade to Ubuntu 12.04.<br />
<br />
I hope that this helps someone.<br />
<br />
<b>Addendum...</b><br />
... if anyone is interested, the Zoneminder issue was actually a bug in the upgrade of the Zoneminder application to 1.25.0-1.<br />
<br />
The bug is registered here:<br />
<a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/zoneminder/+bug/940632">https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/zoneminder/+bug/940632</a><br />
<br />
And the workaround is as follows (you *did* write down your MySQL admin password during the installation, didn't you?):<br />
<br />
<pre><div style="overflow: auto;">martin@homesvr:~$ mysql -uroot -p
Enter password:
Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 63
Server version: 5.5.29-0ubuntu0.12.04.2 (Ubuntu)
mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON zm.* TO 'zmuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED
BY "zmpass";
mysql> quit
Bye
martin@homesvr:~$
</div></pre>
<br />
So that's my server successfully updated to Ubuntu 12.04LTS with both issues now resolved.
Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-9227375351850385202013-02-27T22:32:00.001+00:002014-01-03T18:06:16.288+00:00Sennheiser Headphone renovation for next to nothing...I've just finished renovating a vintage pair of Sennheiser HD420 headphones that I've owned for over forty years. The renovation was cheap; it was simple and took no more than half an hour to complete.<br />
But why waste time on a forty year old piece of electronics? Surely modern headphones are much better and only a click of a mouse away? Well, maybe, but I love the sound of these old phones and they are so light on my head I can wear them for hours - even with glasses.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--UkSzeGkij0/US6ERAW7mYI/AAAAAAAAGT8/P_kmTHqC4Q4/s1600/HD420-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--UkSzeGkij0/US6ERAW7mYI/AAAAAAAAGT8/P_kmTHqC4Q4/s1600/HD420-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I bought my Sennheiser HD420's when they first came out in the late seventies. Since then, they've been my choice in headphones over any newer headphones I have bought or listened to. They are one of the most openly transparent, detailed headphones I have ever listened to - if perhaps a touch light at the bottom end. They do benefit from being driven from a higher voltage source such as a hi-fi amp rather than straight from an iPod or MP3 player but they still sound good on portable devices.<br />
So what was wrong with them? The foam earpads had perished and had literally gone to pieces inside the cloth covers and the headphones were becoming uncomfortable to wear. I tried looking on Sennheiser's web site - and their support site - for replacement pads, but it appears that you cannot get hold of them any more. Such a pity.<br />
<br />
There are other HD420 owners on the Internet also seeking replacement earpads so I thought I'd see what else I could do - and hope that my findings are of use to others.<br />
<br />
The Sennheiser HD420 earpieces come in three parts. There's the transducer in its plastic housing, an acoustic foam insert and a cloth cover that holds the foam to the transducer. As long as the cloth cover is intact and the headphones work, then all you have to do is replace the pads.<br />
<ol>
<li>First measure the earpiece diameter (they are 80mm)</li>
<li>Next <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&field-keywords=replacement%20earpads%2080mm&linkCode=ur2&tag=vastmblog-21&url=search-alias%3Delectronics" target="_blank">search Amazon for "80mm replacement earpads"</a><img alt="" border="0" class="utrasptxozyhqdghdmqj" height="1" src="https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=ur2&o=2" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></li>
<li>Buy one of the items that come up in the results</li>
</ol>
That's the easy bit.<br />
<br />
When they arrive you have to replace them. This needs patience, fingers, kitchen paper and an old toothbrush. No other tools or you risk damaging the cloth cover or the headphones.<br />
First you must tease off the cloth covers. Use your thumbnail and carefully ease the plastic surround all round before gently sliding the surround off the transducer.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EKdp5CeCisA/US6EQfKIspI/AAAAAAAAGTs/2-W5OTBJQT0/s1600/HD420-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EKdp5CeCisA/US6EQfKIspI/AAAAAAAAGTs/2-W5OTBJQT0/s1600/HD420-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
When the cloth cover is off, clean as much of the old ear pad from the cloth as you can (in the picture all that orange crud is the old earpad).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-raHg8opHo4M/US6EQrVA_zI/AAAAAAAAGT0/paMb_WVw594/s1600/HD420-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-raHg8opHo4M/US6EQrVA_zI/AAAAAAAAGT0/paMb_WVw594/s1600/HD420-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Now, with a toothbrush (and nothing else!) gently brush all the compressed and rotten old earpad from the transducer. Be careful - the white in the transducer is material and this can easily be damaged if you use too much force. Remember it is forty years old!!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cAQIFcZrfDA/US6EeHHBWUI/AAAAAAAAGUM/r9Fgkegnb44/s1600/HD420-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cAQIFcZrfDA/US6EeHHBWUI/AAAAAAAAGUM/r9Fgkegnb44/s1600/HD420-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Here you see the new earpad with one of the cloth covers<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OgKYSakfmfQ/US6EZn1bvCI/AAAAAAAAGUE/FO_VHmVJ7dc/s1600/HD420-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OgKYSakfmfQ/US6EZn1bvCI/AAAAAAAAGUE/FO_VHmVJ7dc/s1600/HD420-5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Here you see the new earpad in position over the transducer<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JgBxOlxCskY/US6EeqRWEDI/AAAAAAAAGUU/z-vGbqItim8/s1600/HD420-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JgBxOlxCskY/US6EeqRWEDI/AAAAAAAAGUU/z-vGbqItim8/s1600/HD420-6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
To re-fit the new pad and the cloth cover, first tuck the pad into the cover as seen here.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TSDytbNzCmY/US6Eg8DQduI/AAAAAAAAGUc/i2rK9AaDnF8/s1600/HD420-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TSDytbNzCmY/US6Eg8DQduI/AAAAAAAAGUc/i2rK9AaDnF8/s1600/HD420-7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
You now need to gently get the cover back on the transducer. I did this by holding the plastic surround in place with one finger while I gently eased the surround back into place around the transducer. The hardest part is the last inch so make sure that the last inch is away from the wire and the headband so you have the most control. Don't use tools or too much force or you'll tear the cover. Of course you can take the transducer off the headband (it just pulls off, but remember it is old so it could be brittle) and you can also pull out the wire, if this makes it easier. I decide not to do this and did not have any real issues, but the choice is yours.<br />
<br />
Finally the restored Sennheisers, all padded out and once again, fit and ready to listen to.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xQfa176jtec/US6MVdsU2GI/AAAAAAAAGUw/BrK15v3xDdU/s1600/HD420-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xQfa176jtec/US6MVdsU2GI/AAAAAAAAGUw/BrK15v3xDdU/s1600/HD420-8.jpg" width="296" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
Total cost? less than £3.00 and under thirty minutes. Satisfaction? Priceless. :)<br />
<br />Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com53tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-41323242265956475052013-01-31T23:54:00.000+00:002013-03-06T22:23:52.170+00:00How the train companies are not helping you work from home.One of the things the Government, the railway companies and Transport for London (TfL) all acknowledge is that the trains into London are frequently overcrowded and that investment is needed to improve this. Surrey County Council, for example, has recently <a href="http://news.surreycc.gov.uk/2013/01/02/new-rail-strategy-to-tackle-some-of-the-countrys-most-overcrowded-trains/">commissioned a rail strategy to tackle what they state is an urgent need to reduce overcrowding</a>. A key aim of this strategy will be to explore how overcrowding can be tackled.<br />
<br />
One obvious strategy that could contribute to a reduction in overcrowding is the strategy of ‘working from home’. Admittedly, this approach cannot work for everyone as many people need to be present at their place of work to carry out their duties, but there are many others who usefully can carry out much of their work at home – some office workers, for example. Modern technologies exist that make it easy for an office worker to work securely and effectively from home and the practice has great benefits for the worker, his or her employer, the environment – and the transport infrastructure!<br />
<br />
Typically, a home worker:<br />
<ul>
<li>Has an improved work/home balance – they spend more time with the family</li>
<li>Is more environmentally friendly – they make fewer commutes, there's less traffic, they save fuel</li>
<li>Is more productive – there is less distraction, less stress and more flexibility</li>
</ul>
If everyone could work one day a week from home then at a stroke the passenger demand would fall 20% and this would greatly ease congestion – particularly while the Rail companies strive to upgrade their facilities. But these same rail companies don’t offer any real incentives to encourage commuters to work from home.<br />
<br />
Let me explain why:<br />
<br />
The commuter’s season ticket is meant to offer the poor commuter the chance to get to work for a reduced price. Annual Season tickets (at least on my service – run by <a href="http://www.southernrailway.com/tickets-and-fares/season-tickets/" target="_blank">Southern Rail</a>) are based on a simple premise that you pay for 40 weeks travel and the remaining 12 weeks in the year are therefore ‘free’. This premise conveniently skips over the fact that of those twelve weeks, you are likely to have four or five weeks holiday and another week or so of Public holidays. This means that, while you are paying for 40 weeks of travel, you only effectively use the ticket for about 46 weeks of the year – the discount is therefore not quite as generous as it seems.<br />
<br />
Now. Let’s say you buy a season ticket and are able to work from home. In this situation you actually LOSE money as a season ticket is costed on the basis of five return journeys a week and is based on a timed period of validity – typically weekly, monthly or annual. I can supply the workings but for my particular service, my annual season ticket costs about £2,500. On average, if I take into account my holidays and work a full five-day week, that costs me £11.14 per day (or £14.28 if I include the London Underground). If I work one day a week at home, regularly, then the daily cost jumps by 25% to £13.96 (or £17.89 with the Underground).<br />
<br />
Hardly an incentive, is it? Particularly when you're helping them out by not travelling.<br />
<br />
What is needed is an alternative to the season ticket that gives you the ability to bulk-buy tickets in advance rather than the more common type of commuter tickets that allow unlimited travel between two dates. This bulk-buy train ticket is sometimes known as a carnet. The Rail Companies talk about these tickets but they're either restricted in use (<a href="http://www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk/tickets-and-fares/peak-tickets/carnet/" target="_blank">First Capital Connect</a>) or they just don't exist (<a href="http://www.southernrailway.com/tickets-and-fares/season-tickets/" target="_blank">Southern Rail</a>) - although interestingly, I did find this snippet on Southern Rail's "Meet The manager" pages from March 2011:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
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Southern will be introducing a new way of ticketing called ITSO smartcards.
These new plastic cards allow tickets to be loaded directly onto the card,
similar to the Oyster card in the London area.<br />
We will also be launching new season ticket products that will work on a
carnet based system, therefore if you buy a weekly ticket which is valid for 7
days and you only worked 3 days a week, essentially you can use it for 2 weeks.
(i.e. carry over the remaining days).<br />
Initially these new products will be introduced as a pilot scheme across
some parts of the Southern network from June 2011, and then over the course of
the next 18 months, rolled out across our entire network.</blockquote>
By their reckoning the rollout should be finished now.... But nothing. No sign of the ITSO smartcard, either. Perhaps Southern could provide us with an update?<br />
<br />
Transport for London (TfL) are just as bad. You can, of course, use the Oyster card, the ideal technology to use for a Carnet, but there is no bulk-buy capability here even on Pay As You Go. I even #askedBoris on Twitter:<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #93c47d;">@savcom - @MayorofLondon #askboris can I ask what can be done with season ticket costs for those who work from home one day a week? </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
Regrettably no reply.... <br />
<br />
I'm not alone in wanting this. I found that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2011/dec/22/carnet-rail-tickets-saver" target="_blank">The Guardian Money Blog talks about Carnet tickets</a> and the writer there expresses her dismay at how difficult these are to find. More recently, Roger Evans of the <a href="http://glaconservatives.co.uk/campaigns/home-works/" target="_blank">Greater London Authority Conservatives</a> has written a report (<a href="http://glaconservatives.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Home-Works.pdf" target="_blank">downloadable here</a>) in which he calls for a step-change in TfL’s attitude to home working and
flexible working. He states that “One of the problems is that once people have paid for a Travel Card,
there is no financial incentive to use it for less than 5 days a week".<br />
<br />
The London Evening Standard covered the report <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/parttime-travelcards-would-ease-tube-overcrowding-say-tories-8520546.html?origin=internalSearch" target="_blank">in this article</a>. They lead with the headline "Part-time travelcards would ease Tube overcrowding, say Tories" and go on to state that "Commuters should be offered flexible travelcards and rebates on monthly tickets to help curb overcrowding on the Tube". To give you an idea of the scale of travel every Monday more than 3.4 million journeys are made by Tube and over six million on London’s buses. The capital’s population has increased by 12 per cent to 8.2 million in the past decade and is likely to reach nine million by 2018. So things are only going to get worse.<br />
<br />
Mr. Evans wants to see the introduction of a three-day per week Travelcard which, he says, would significantly help those who work from home. While a three-day-a-week travel card may help, surely it is better to think in terms of a bulk carnet approach where a commuter who works two days a week from home buys a carnet of (say) 240 tickets in one go and then simply uses them as he or she needs to (if the commuter travelled into the office three days a week, they'll use those journeys up in 40 weeks - the same time as used for season tickets). If the commuter has to or chooses to make more journeys their card will just use up the journeys more quickly and the commuter will need to recharge their card more often. This may actually be a better way for ALL season tickets to be issued and should ensure we're all using and benefiting from the system fairly.<br />
<br />
There is NO reason why the systems in place cannot be re-thought or re-coded to
provide this flexibility as Oyster card and Smartcard technologies
provide the ideal mechanism for this to be achieved, so it’s now time for the Train Operators, the Mayor and TfL to make it a reality. <br />
<br />
Now it's your turn. if you want something like this to help control the costs of your commute then you should all urge your Train Operators, Boris Johnson and TfL to
adopt these proposals. Let them know that we want them to re-think the Season Ticket and to promote fairer ways of supporting the Work from Home movement and to encourage us all to make fewer journeys - after all, if you don't ask, you don't get. <br />
<br />
Let me know by comment if you've approached them and if you've had a response. I'll be doing the same.<br />
<br />Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-6726232586617283802013-01-26T18:57:00.001+00:002015-11-07T13:13:57.184+00:00P2V: How to 'virtualise' your old PC<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">Why am I <span style="font-size: large;">V</span>irtualising a PC? </span><br />
I've recently upgraded my wife's old computer to give her a faster, cleaner PC running Windows 7 rather than the older Windows XP. The PC she is moving from is a slow, single-core Athlon PC with only 1G RAM. In today's world it is now too noisy and too slow to cope with modern software and security demands.
<br />
<br />
Normally, I would just run the File Transfer Wizard on her old PC and on her new one and that would be it; however there is one old application my wife uses regularly that may not run under Windows 7 so I must make sure that this application is available to her on the new PC.<br />
<br />
As her new PC is so much more powerful than her old one, there is enough spare computing power to run her old PC <i>within</i> her new PC using a process called <i>virtualisation. </i>This means she can enjoy all the benefits of Windows 7 yet still be able to run a <i>virtual</i> version of her old PC as and when she needs this old application.<br />
<br />
Before we go through the steps involved in creating a virtual PC, let's look briefly at the technology of Virtualisation and what's involved:<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">What is Virtualisation?</span><br />
Virtualisation is the technology that allows you to simultaneously run a number of independent and fully-functional computers called <i>Guests </i>and their applications on a smaller number of more powerful physical machines called <i>Hosts</i>.<br />
<br />
This ability of running virtual computers is very popular in the IT community as a way of making the most of increasingly scarce and costly IT resources. In commercial IT environments these Hosts are typically very powerful servers. They run sophisticated and often expensive software that provides security, support and control for large numbers of virtual computers - typically as part of Enterprise Computing.<br />
<br />
Even in domestic environments, today's newer desktop and laptop computers have more than enough spare capacity so that you can also run Virtual PC's - perhaps to try out a new configuration or operating system or to maintain an old PC or server that is still essential but now too old to be reliable. This is known as <i>Desktop Virtualisation</i> and is usually freely available to use. The catch is, however, that often there is little or no support available so you need to do a lot of research to make any progress. This is why I've written this article to pass on my findings in the hope that it is useful to you in your research.<br />
<br />
There are a number of Desktop Virtualisation software packages that are freely available for home users so there's no reason why you can't jump in and play with your own virtual environment. Three examples are: <br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.virtualbox.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Oracle's VirtualBox</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=4580" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Microsoft's Virtual PC</a> and</li>
<li><a href="https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/downloads" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">VMware's VMware Player</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
There are plenty of articles and guides around that will help you install the Host software on your PC so I won't cover that here. Instead, I'm going to walk you through the virtualisation of my wife's Windows XP PC and then show you how to get this running as a Guest on a newer Host computer. I chose Oracle's VirtualBox as the Host package as it seems the simplest to use.<br />
<br />
The process of converting an existing real PC into a virtual PC is known as Physical to Virtual conversion and is usually referred to as a <b>P2V</b>. I am therefore about to carry out a <b>P2V </b>of her old PC and then install this as a Guest using her new PC as the Host. She will then have all the new software she needs and will also have full access to her old PC configuration (and that application) but, crucially, I can now turn off her old PC so she does not have to worry about running two PCs in her office.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">The Virtualisation process</span><br />
The basic steps needed to create a Virtual PC in VirtualBox are simple and straightforward. You open the VirtualBox Manager, click on 'New', step through the New Virtual Machine Wizard and what is created is a skeleton of a PC just the same as if you'd built the PC out of hardware. Normally, you'd then install an OS, load up your applications and away you go. However, as I am actually virtualising a real PC, I have to follow a different path, as I actually have a working computer from which to start.<br />
<br />
Logically then I would expect to:
<br />
<ol>
<li>Make a disk image copy of the hard disk(s) in the working PC I am virtualising</li>
<li>Put the disk image copy onto the new PC </li>
<li>Build a matching Client in the VirtualBox Manager on the Host PC</li>
<li>Mount the disk image copy as the system disk in the VirtualBox Client</li>
<li>Launch the Virtual PC with the disk image copy</li>
</ol>
<br />
And you'd think that was all. Just carry out these steps and you'd then be running a virtual version of your old PC....<br />
<br />
Well, it would be all, if Windows wasn't so fussy about how it is installed. Windows memorises which disk controller it was installed on and fails to boot if this controller changes. Since we are moving from a Real PC with a Real disk controller to a Virtual PC with an emulated controller, the odds are that by just carrying out the steps above we will end up with a system that doesn't boot as it is highly unlikely that the disk controllers will match.. There may be other incompatibilities too, with Graphics card drivers and so on.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">The VirtualBox step-by-step guide</span><br />
Luckily, help is at hand. Those nice people on VirtualBox have a <a href="https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Migrate_Windows" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">little article</a> that explains how to go through the virtualising of an XP PC. I'm using that guide here applied to a real-life example with screenshots taken along the way so you can see what is involved:-<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;"><b>Step 1 - Preparing the Old PC for imaging:</b></span><br />
Tools needed<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.virtualbox.org/attachment/wiki/Migrate_Windows/MergeIDE.zip" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MergeIDE</a> - a utility to get round the disk controller problem</li>
<li><a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/ee656415.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Disk2VHD</a> - a utility to create a disk image even on a working PC</li>
<li><a href="http://www.sixty-five.cc/download/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SpaceMonger </a>(optional) a graphical indicator of the size of the files on your disk </li>
</ul>
First of all I created a folder on the old disk to contain the three utilities above. None of the programs require installation; they all run as-is. This makes them simple to use on the Old PC.<br />
<br />
As we are creating an image of the old disk, we should get rid of any files and applications we don't need to keep the size of the image file as small as possible<b>. </b>Empty the Recycle bin. Get rid of Internet caches and temp files. (I used the excellent Spacemonger utility to show a graphical view of the old disk and from the view found that over 10G of data was duplicated on the disk(!) By removing this data I reduced the size of the image file by 30% to 27.5G).<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FZDr0Dj_R-Q/UQQCLf0yamI/AAAAAAAADL0/1r6MM4XTPmw/s1600/Screenshot+01+-+spacemonger.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FZDr0Dj_R-Q/UQQCLf0yamI/AAAAAAAADL0/1r6MM4XTPmw/s320/Screenshot+01+-+spacemonger.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
Do make sure that when you create the image file, whatever storage you use has enough free space to hold the image file produced by Disk2VHD and that you are not running any other software at the time you create the image. It may be quickest and simplest to attach a USB hard disk to the Old PC to contain the Disk image file and to simplify the transfer to the Host PC.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;"><b>Step 2 - Making the disk image</b></span><br />
Next, I ran the MergeIDE utility. According to VirtualBox's guide, this utility modifies the Windows Registry on the Old PC to relax the checks made on the boot disk controller. Just double-click on the MergeIDE.bat file in the folder. (It displays its output in German but should run without needing any input from us). Now we are in a position to run the Disk2VHD utility to create the disk image we will use on the Virtual PC. Navigate to the Disk2VHD folder and run the disk2vhd.exe program. (Don't be tempted to tick the box labelled Prepare for use in VirtualPC. That's for Microsoft's VirtualPC and does not work well with VirtualBox).<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aYAClyt1qQ8/UQQCMphm3AI/AAAAAAAADMA/2L0Uec-iQYw/s1600/Screenshot+02+-+Disk2VHD+-+start.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aYAClyt1qQ8/UQQCMphm3AI/AAAAAAAADMA/2L0Uec-iQYw/s320/Screenshot+02+-+Disk2VHD+-+start.png" width="320" /></a></div>
I was lucky to have enough room on the one drive in the system to store the image on the same disk, so I elected to store the disk image in the folder I had created to store Disk2VHD. Your situation will likely be different, so make sure you have enough space to hold the image file(s) you create. When you're ready, click on Create and the utility will the snapshot the drive and build a .VHD image of the disk as you've specified. This will take a while so perhaps get on with some other work (like reading the other articles on my Blog?) or leave it running overnight.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--rr0bouGOLE/UQQCM4-Fd1I/AAAAAAAADL8/Wft-m-HObi8/s1600/Screenshot+03+-+Generating+image.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--rr0bouGOLE/UQQCM4-Fd1I/AAAAAAAADL8/Wft-m-HObi8/s320/Screenshot+03+-+Generating+image.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
When the program has finished, you'll be left with a very large file with the extension .vhd. You'll have to transfer this file to the Host PC ready to be made into a Virtual PC, which is Step 3. If you have installed Oracle's VirtualBox, you should find a folder in your User Area called VirtualBox VMs. In this folder Virtualbox creates a sub-folder with the same name as the PC you are virtualising (in my case my wife's PC was called Angua, so the folder will be called Angua). This is where you will copy the disk image file - but not yet. You'll see why in a second.
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;"><b>Step 3 - Making the Virtual PC</b></span><br />
Assuming you have Oracle's VirtualBox already installed, open the Oracle VM VirtualBox manager ready to create the Virtual PC.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wqerEtbq-sk/UQQCNAiqPiI/AAAAAAAADME/EX8WEOp9KOU/s1600/Screenshot+04+-+VirtualBox+Opening+Screen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wqerEtbq-sk/UQQCNAiqPiI/AAAAAAAADME/EX8WEOp9KOU/s320/Screenshot+04+-+VirtualBox+Opening+Screen.png" width="265" /></a></div>
<br />
Click on New (top left) to start the New Virtual Machine Wizard and click Next.
Enter the name you want to call the new Virtual PC (Angua in my case, but you should use the same name you used for the Old PC) and click Next.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_burewxbLJ4/UQQCNp77SmI/AAAAAAAADMU/Cw08KqQvXuA/s1600/Screenshot+05+-+New+Machine.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_burewxbLJ4/UQQCNp77SmI/AAAAAAAADMU/Cw08KqQvXuA/s320/Screenshot+05+-+New+Machine.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Now select the amount of memory you want - adjust the slider or type in the amount. For an XP machine, if you have the spare, choose about 1G-1.5G (or 1024M-1600M) and click Next.<br />
<br />
Now we should set up the hard disk. Remember you already have a disk image file so at this point you do not want Virtualbox to set up a disk - you'll do this later. For now, just click Create and acknowledge the prompt that pops up by clicking Continue..<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-52ok7mTGbxI/UQQTuhOEbMI/AAAAAAAADNM/ON2NhMDac24/s1600/Screenshot+06+-+disk+selection.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-52ok7mTGbxI/UQQTuhOEbMI/AAAAAAAADNM/ON2NhMDac24/s320/Screenshot+06+-+disk+selection.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Now you need to set up the Virtual Disk. Open the VirtualBox VMs folder and then double-click on the folder with the name of your new Guest PC. You should see two files. A .<b>box </b>file and a .<b>vbox-prev</b> file. Copy the .VHD disk image from the Old PC into this folder.<br />
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</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QCt5cFoKqfw/UQQVXOq30lI/AAAAAAAADNk/2sdHAd5lhoE/s1600/Screenshot+07+-+folder.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="109" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QCt5cFoKqfw/UQQVXOq30lI/AAAAAAAADNk/2sdHAd5lhoE/s320/Screenshot+07+-+folder.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Now we need to tell VirtualBox to use this disk image. In the VirtualBox manager, highlight your new Guest PC and click on <b>Settings</b> then on <b>Storage</b>. In the <b>Storage Tree</b> window to the right of Controller: IDE, click on the <b>Add Virtual Hard Disk</b> icon and <b>Choose existing disk</b>.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xxQ33x3gW_4/UQQXDSdbVHI/AAAAAAAADN8/hRAe_T4XnBM/s1600/Screenshot+08+-+Add+disk.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xxQ33x3gW_4/UQQXDSdbVHI/AAAAAAAADN8/hRAe_T4XnBM/s320/Screenshot+08+-+Add+disk.png" width="270" /></a></div>
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In the window that opens you should now see the disk image file that you copied over. Select it and click <b>Open</b>. <br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;"><b>Step 4 - Starting up the Virtual PC</b></span><br />
With the new Virtual PC ready to start we need to make one small change to the setup. Select the <b>System </b>tab and, under <b>Motherboard</b>, tick the '<b>Enable IO APIC</b> box. This sets up the Virtual PC to work with the HAL that is likely to be in your disk image. Click OK to return to the VirtualBox manager, highlight your new Virtual PC and click <b>Start</b>. (Fingers crossed here...) <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6CNxRwf48_4/UQQhbmKJb8I/AAAAAAAADO0/md3vDLg1ggw/s1600/Screenshot+11+-+loading.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6CNxRwf48_4/UQQhbmKJb8I/AAAAAAAADO0/md3vDLg1ggw/s320/Screenshot+11+-+loading.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Be warned: we're not quite done yet! Windows XP, if properly installed, will complain as you'll have changed all the hardware, so, depending on your licence, you may need to re-activate Windows.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UwM7Vh9oJG0/UQQCO2A6RBI/AAAAAAAADMo/Ri0g9POxYE8/s1600/Screenshot+08+-+Re-Activate.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UwM7Vh9oJG0/UQQCO2A6RBI/AAAAAAAADMo/Ri0g9POxYE8/s320/Screenshot+08+-+Re-Activate.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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If that wasn't enough, if you still have the old PC active on your network, your new Virtual PC will complain that a Duplicate Name exists on the network.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LYyy_-bQBpw/UQQCPZ5UXgI/AAAAAAAADMw/-LuTBayjNcw/s1600/Screenshot+09+-+duplicate.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LYyy_-bQBpw/UQQCPZ5UXgI/AAAAAAAADMw/-LuTBayjNcw/s320/Screenshot+09+-+duplicate.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Don't you just LOVE Windows?? Let's take this through one at a time. We're almost up and running now.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600;"><b>Step 5 - Getting the Virtual PC running</b></span><br />
<br />
Turn the old PC off to get rid of the Duplicate Name. (easy!)<br />
Log into the Guest PC as you would have on the Old PC. In my case, I clicked on Martin and entered my password.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c8kR4raVCqQ/UQQhchPzboI/AAAAAAAADO8/1W3WypFIsoM/s1600/Screenshot+12+-+logging+in.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c8kR4raVCqQ/UQQhchPzboI/AAAAAAAADO8/1W3WypFIsoM/s320/Screenshot+12+-+logging+in.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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When everything has settled, you can proceed to Activate Windows again if required.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CCsl8f76-bE/UQQhpJOiFrI/AAAAAAAADPE/wNjyObNBB4E/s1600/Screenshot+13+-+Activating.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CCsl8f76-bE/UQQhpJOiFrI/AAAAAAAADPE/wNjyObNBB4E/s320/Screenshot+13+-+Activating.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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On my installation the New Hardware wizard started. And, surprise surprise, so did Windows Update.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pjK7-XkrXLE/UQQhwz1q0WI/AAAAAAAADPQ/0Cn0GyaEbPM/s1600/Screenshot+14+-+Updates+and+Hardware.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pjK7-XkrXLE/UQQhwz1q0WI/AAAAAAAADPQ/0Cn0GyaEbPM/s320/Screenshot+14+-+Updates+and+Hardware.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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For ease, I just selected "Yes, now and every time I connect a device" and clicked Next. I was asked to install a Video Controller and Base System Device. Both failed, but that did not stop the Guest PC working - as can be seen with the two final screenshots below:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C4RrLrNbJ7c/UQQhwnw642I/AAAAAAAADPM/y5vsPnnvxq0/s1600/Screenshot+15+-+Failed+Hardware.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C4RrLrNbJ7c/UQQhwnw642I/AAAAAAAADPM/y5vsPnnvxq0/s320/Screenshot+15+-+Failed+Hardware.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YaJ9Z1xGFME/UQQkaSk60VI/AAAAAAAADPs/S7r27R_zqR4/s1600/Screenshot+16+-+Operationsl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YaJ9Z1xGFME/UQQkaSk60VI/AAAAAAAADPs/S7r27R_zqR4/s320/Screenshot+16+-+Operationsl.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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So there you are. The whole process took a few hours - mainly for creating and copying the disk image, but setting up the Guest PC on the Host only took around 30 minutes. The result is that the Guest PC runs slightly better than the Old PC did without the noise and without having to handle two PCs on the desk.<br />
<br />
Now to get that application running natively on Windows 7.....<br />
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<br />Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-28181914682070364952012-11-08T23:32:00.000+00:002015-05-09T21:55:05.319+01:00Successfully replacing a halogen bulb with an LEDWhile clearing out an old cupboard prior to painting a room we recently uncovered an old desk lamp that had stood the test of time and was sitting all forlorn for want of a new bulb. Do we simply replace the bulb with another 12V halogen - or do we try one of the new LED bulbs and see how they go?<br />
<br />
Well, like many others, we tried the LED route - but it was not quite as simple as we thought it would be....<br />
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<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">Choosing a replacement LED</span><br />
A typical desk lamp is fitted with a 12V 10W or 20W halogen bulb that consists of a glass envelope with two pins coming out of one end. The whole assembly is known as a G4 bulb. Therefore, to choose an appropriate LED replacement we need to look for LED G4 bulbs. But there are lots of different types, designs and styles...<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zWLbTVkUpf4/UJwY6iHjMWI/AAAAAAAAC-0/qx77oq2YA9c/s1600/Clipboard01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zWLbTVkUpf4/UJwY6iHjMWI/AAAAAAAAC-0/qx77oq2YA9c/s320/Clipboard01.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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On top of the different styles you've also got to be a little smart when choosing the LED bulb as manufacturers will overplay their light output so a little research and perhaps not choosing the cheapest replacement will often yield better results.<br />
<br />
The tiny LED chips on these units - the yellow-and-white blocks in the picture above - come in one of three types known as SMD 5050, SMD 3528 or SMD 3020. These numbers refer to the size of the chips - for example the SMD 5050 chip is 5.0mm x 5.0mm and the SMD 3528 is 3.5mm x 2.8mm. One other point to note is that the 5050 chip is capable of three times as much light as the other two simply because they are fitted with three LED chips whereas the others are only fitted with one.<br />
<br />
Armed with this I chose a <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&field-keywords=led%20driver&linkCode=ur2&sprefix=LED%20driver%2Caps%2C267&tag=vastmblog-21&url=search-alias%3Dlighting" target="_blank">G4 LED bulb</a><img alt="" border="0" class="utrasptxozyhqdghdmqj" height="1" src="https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=ur2&o=2" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> from Amazon. It cost me a couple of UK pounds to buy.<br />
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Here it is pictured with the bulb it is replacing:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yPXDbFmlgS4/UJwg_T9i9JI/AAAAAAAAC_E/LEUqgG4SdGc/s1600/P1110748.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yPXDbFmlgS4/UJwg_T9i9JI/AAAAAAAAC_E/LEUqgG4SdGc/s320/P1110748.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Fitting the replacement bulb was easy - just undo the three screws holding the protective glass shield, remove the glass shield, pull out the halogen bulb and push in the LED replacement. Testing the bulb proved troublesome though - it flickered. And the light levels were much less than I was expecting. <br />
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Why is this?<br />
<br />
Simple. The LED is a diode. A diode only conducts electricity one way. In our simple desk lamp, where a 12V transformer fed the old halogen bulb directly, the bulb was lit with 12V AC. For a halogen bulb this doesn't matter - it just gets hot and glows. However an LED replacement will only light up for half of the AC waveform. It will be off for the other half - and this on/off every half cycle will be noticed as flicker.<br />
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<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>A note to readers:</b></span>
<span style="color: blue;">Opening the base of these lamps as I describe below could expose potentially lethal voltages that can easily kill. If you are not confident about working with mains voltages then please do not attempt the modifications below. If in any doubt, ask a qualified electrician. </span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">Improving the light quality</span><br />
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To get round this, I built a simple bridge rectifier and smoothing capacitor on a bit of stripboard with spare parts I had around. This should provide a decent 12V DC supply capable of lighting the LEDs properly. Here is the circuit diagram:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RgluzFCnaNI/UJwyreowHDI/AAAAAAAADAQ/u7d9FAVnk78/s1600/Clipboard02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RgluzFCnaNI/UJwyreowHDI/AAAAAAAADAQ/u7d9FAVnk78/s1600/Clipboard02.png" /></a></div>
And here is a top-and-bottom view of the finished circuit. The rectifier is a simple 1A 50V bridge rectifier, the capacitor is a 47uF 25V Electrolytic. Carefully placing the two components and four wires on a stripboard meant I did not even need to cut any strips.The yellow leads are to be connected to the transformer and the red and black leads to the LED in the lamp housing.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CwppPO5_pk0/UJwlgm6FYEI/AAAAAAAAC_U/hIYboQY8o2k/s1600/P1110740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CwppPO5_pk0/UJwlgm6FYEI/AAAAAAAAC_U/hIYboQY8o2k/s320/P1110740.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OoaF5ThLbyM/UJwl1QJYrGI/AAAAAAAAC_c/e3c-8W-ecPE/s1600/P1110741.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OoaF5ThLbyM/UJwl1QJYrGI/AAAAAAAAC_c/e3c-8W-ecPE/s320/P1110741.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">Assembly</span><br />
Taking the base of the lamp apart shows how the transformer is connected - the two black leads with eyelets were connected to the metalwork connected to the lamp housing.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WoEj9wEXCpc/UJwmByzl1hI/AAAAAAAAC_k/yl1b-ZOdHss/s1600/P1110742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WoEj9wEXCpc/UJwmByzl1hI/AAAAAAAAC_k/yl1b-ZOdHss/s320/P1110742.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
First of all I tested the rectifier before installing it in the base of the lamp. That light was much better - no flicker and plenty bright enough.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rBDHWXlzRFM/UJwmXvkUNYI/AAAAAAAAC_s/QUcQEHP1wuY/s1600/P1110745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rBDHWXlzRFM/UJwmXvkUNYI/AAAAAAAAC_s/QUcQEHP1wuY/s320/P1110745.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Next, I threaded an insulating boot round the rectifier so that it would not touch anything and cause a short. Then I cut off the eyelets on the transformer's black wires and, using a simple screw terminal block, connected the yellow wires from my rectifier to the black cables from the transformer. I then crimped fresh eyelets on the red and black wires from my rectifier and screwed these to the base of the frame that supported the lamp. You can see all this from the next photograph.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HSZknZzO8fM/UJwm11-VnSI/AAAAAAAAC_4/vdvIfLsEASY/s1600/P1110746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HSZknZzO8fM/UJwm11-VnSI/AAAAAAAAC_4/vdvIfLsEASY/s320/P1110746.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Finally, I tucked the rectifier and leads into the base and re-assembled the base making sure no wires were crimped or exposed. After fully re-assembling the lamp I tested it again and this time success. Even with the camera flash, the LEDs show up bright and clear - without any flicker.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WOVMrmci9DM/UJwnTHrdE_I/AAAAAAAADAA/wY6PTSP6ZfM/s1600/P1110749.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WOVMrmci9DM/UJwnTHrdE_I/AAAAAAAADAA/wY6PTSP6ZfM/s320/P1110749.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">Conclusion</span><br />
After adding a rectifier and simple smoothing capacitor I have successfully replaced a 10W halogen bulb with an LED bulb that will last a long time and gives out a very pleasant light to work under. Not only that, the head of the lamp will no longer get hot, as the LED only consumes a fraction of the power of the halogen bulb.<br />
<br />
If you read through the comments below, I've had a question asked by one reader regarding making a rectifier for a larger project involving 10x 2W LEDs in a chandelier. In this case you may find that the best route here is to get a proper <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&field-keywords=led%20driver&linkCode=ur2&sprefix=LED%20driver%2Caps%2C267&tag=vastmblog-21&url=search-alias%3Dlighting" target="_blank">LED Driver</a><img alt="" border="0" class="utrasptxozyhqdghdmqj" height="1" src="https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vastmblog-21&l=ur2&o=2" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> to complete the job as this will provide better safety against heat, short circuits and installation concerns. These are also designed to be installed above the ceilings where chandeliers such as the one my reader is adapting are usually installed.<br />
<br />
<br />Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-15566364190513659132012-04-16T23:20:00.004+01:002013-02-03T13:10:55.897+00:00There's no such thing as a Free Browse ...<div>
The old saying that "There's no such thing as a free lunch" has plenty of meanings in life as many of you will be aware. But it also applies to you and your activities when browsing the 'net. Virtually nothing you read about or surf is 'free'. Even this humble little blog, tucked away in a remote corner of Google's Blogger service is not 'free'. Oh, sure, it's free to use, but the cost is not quite ... how shall we put it? ... 'free' to you. You're likely here because you're interested in the content of my blog. But the fact that <i>you</i> are interested in this information is itself of interest to <i>advertisers and marketers </i>who use this info to build up a profile about you and your habits that they then sell on.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">Let me tell you how.</span><br />
<br />
Money can be made from your surfing habits on the Internet in a number of interesting ways:<br />
<ul>
<li>If you choose to <i>pay </i>for a subscription service (such as a subscription to a news web site or a film provider) you are paying the web site owner directly.</li>
<li>If you <i>buy </i>something (such as from Amazon or ebay) some of the money you pay will go towards the cost of the web site.</li>
<li>And if you use Social web sites that encourage you to share information (such as search engines, Facebook, MySpace etc.) that social site makes money by<i> selling information about you</i> </li>
</ul>
But, you might think, Facebook is free, isn't it? And how on earth can Internet searches make money?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">Sit down. Prepare yourself.</span><br />
<br />
Facebook is certainly 'free to use' in that you do not have to pay to use Facebook apps to play games, or to answer questions about which books you've read, or which countries you've visited. But what you are doing whenever you use these apps is giving away details about yourself to the companies that write these apps. These companies can then <i>sell </i>this information to advertisers who use it to target adverts to you.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mH4a2XEmb4w/T4yPVi7QmcI/AAAAAAAACPI/mqmJuffKXYI/s1600/FreeToUse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mH4a2XEmb4w/T4yPVi7QmcI/AAAAAAAACPI/mqmJuffKXYI/s320/FreeToUse.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /><br />
But Facebook doesn't only limit itself to these Apps. Remember those <span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Social buttons</b></span> that you click on to 'Like' or '+1' a product or article? These are <i>supposed </i>to connect with websites that focus on building social relationships (like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) and to help you share content, interests, and activities with your friends and contacts. However, Social Buttons also allow these same social networks to track your activity across the internet <i>whether you click on them or not</i>. This information is worth money to them as they then sell this on to their customers. You can, for example, read what Facebook does with your data by reading their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Data Use Policy.</a>
<br /><br />
Then there are <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Advertising networks</span>. </b>These share your information across different sites. They collect data, display advertising, place cookies, and do a variety of other things as a paid-for service for their clients. Typically, the customer (not you - you're the <i>product</i>!) who buys from an ad network is a publisher who displays targeted adverts and marketing on many different websites.
<br /><br />
Finally there are <span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Tracking companies</b> </span>who provide individual website owners with tools to analyse and monitor visitors to their sites. These
analytical networks collect data on how long you stayed on a site, what you clicked on, where you went before and after your visit, and more. They'll track which words or phrases you used on a search engine to get here. Even the path your mouse took to get to a button. All of this is used to build up a profile of you, so that advertisers can target you with 'relevant' advertising - or to streamline the performance of a web site to make you click quicker on a link to an advert.
<br /><br />
To give you an example, one person found out his wife might be pregnant from a peculiar source: an online ad. “I was seeing adverts for pregnancy tests every time I turned on my laptop,” says the 28-year-old. “I turned to my wife: ‘Is there something you’re not telling me?’ ” She had been using his laptop to research pregnancy tests.
<br /><br />
This experience is becoming more common and, unfortunately, this is an integral part of your online life. Because of this, your browser now knows as much as about your life as you do – occasionally, as the chap above found, it knows more...
<br /><br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">Enough, already.</span><br />
Ok. So you're not going to stop this from happening. There is just too much money and too many users involved. But you can reduce how much information these companies gather about you. Just a simple thing like not using the apps on Facebook can go a long way to cutting down what information is passed to these companies. Many of you will also use tools such as 'ad blockers' in your browsers. These stop certain adverts from displaying in your browser, but crucially will rarely stop your information from being gathered and stored away (think of your data as being <i>harvested</i>).
<br /><br />
Recently I came across a product from a company called <a href="https://www.abine.com/" target="_blank">abine </a>called <a href="http://www.abine.com/dntdetail.php?" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DoNotTrackMe</a> (When I first wrote this article the product was called DoNotTrackPlus. The images and discussion below is using the older product. The new version does the same job but more efficiently). This free product works as an add-on to your browser and it watches out for advertising companies and social networks looking to gather your personal information from the web sites that you use. Have a look at <a href="https://www.abine.com/" target="_blank">abine's web site</a> to learn more - and download and use it to greatly reduce what the Internet world can harvest about you.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">Is it effective?</span><br />
I've been using it for a couple of months now and all I can say is that browsing seems quicker, and I see fewer ads on my sites. Even my Facebook page doesn't show any ads.<br />
<br />
The picture below shows Do Not Track Plus running on my Facebook page:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9CcuF7eGjEc/T4yTlHXUenI/AAAAAAAACPQ/rRM6mRSOqhE/s1600/Facebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9CcuF7eGjEc/T4yTlHXUenI/AAAAAAAACPQ/rRM6mRSOqhE/s320/Facebook.jpg" height="320" width="282" /></a></div>
And this picture shows the Reuters site. Note the 'Facebook 'Like' button. It's blocked from tracking me, but I can still click on it to 'like' something.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E7E14lAQXDQ/T4yVMUcSMTI/AAAAAAAACPY/aDouJFsupHI/s1600/Reuters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E7E14lAQXDQ/T4yVMUcSMTI/AAAAAAAACPY/aDouJFsupHI/s320/Reuters.jpg" height="320" width="207" /></a></div>
<br />
Try this software. As I said, it's free, it seems to work and at least for me, I feel it improves browsing and privacy. And we all want some of that, don't we?<br />
<br />
Let me know what you think. This week, as you browse the internet or answer those questions on Facebook, keep
in mind that when you're not paying with cash you're paying with your
personal information....<br />
<br />
Since publishing this Blog I saw the following nugget on the BBC news site claiming that ... "There are on average 14 tracking tools per webpage on the UK's most popular sites" and that European legislation was being proposed to control this. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17745938" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Read more about it here</a>.<br />
<br />
I have also had comments made on other forums about why I am promoting a 'free' application (DoNotTrackPlus) when I am warning my readers in the same article to be careful about 'free' internet services.<br />
<br />
Good question.<br />
<br />
Let me set the record straight: abine, the company behind DoNotTrackMe, have this same question in the <a href="https://www.abine.com/donottrackme/faq/#q7" target="_blank">FAQ section about DoNotTrackMe</a>, and I reproduce a section below:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<dl><dd>"Quite simply, we rely on users liking and trusting our free software enough to try our paid solutions such as DeleteMe. You can learn more about DeleteMe here: <a href="https://www.abine.com/marketing/deleteme/signup/index.php?utm_medium=DNTMe_product&split=faq">http://abine.com/deleteme/</a>."
</dd></dl>
</blockquote>
So hopefully you can see that their model accommodates free use of this program by leading you to want to buy their premium, paid-for service sometime later on.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-63909484540239906052011-12-28T21:31:00.000+00:002012-02-04T11:47:11.899+00:00My ten best (free) apps for your new Smartphone<div>
Did you have a new Smartphone for Christmas? Well congratulations. You were among almost <i>seven million</i> new Smartphone users who activated their new phones on Christmas Day and Boxing day in 2011. I was lucky enough to get a new phone at Christmas to replace the <a href="http://vastmeridian.blogspot.com/2011/11/eight-tips-to-watch-for-if-you-water.html">HTC Desire that I drowned earlier in the year</a>. My new smartphone also runs Android (the mobile operating system that was introduced by Google) and I thought I would share the applications I use to make my phone useful and provide links to the Android market and to each of the companys that supply the apps themselves.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<b>App 1 - Lookout (<a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.lookout&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5sb29rb3V0Il0." target="_blank">Android Market</a> | <a href="https://www.mylookout.com/" target="_blank">Web Site</a> )</b></div>
There is a high chance that your phone will become central to your life, so there is an equally high chance you will be storing all sorts of very personal information on it - such as your calendar, passwords, bank details, contacts and more. The first application in my list is therefore an app to protect your phone against mobile threats such as phishing, theft and malware. Lookout provides the following features to help protect your phone and the information it holds:
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Security and Privacy</b> - <i>Lookout checks every app you download for threats and malware. This helps keep your personal data private</i></li>
<li><b>Backup </b>- <i>Lookout makes a backup of your contacts in the free version and offers more advanced features if you subscribe to their premium service. If you lose your phone, your contacts are safely backed up.</i></li>
<li><b>Missing Device</b> - <i>If you lose your phone, just access the Lookout web site to search for it on a map or, on the Premium version, lock the phone and even wipe it remotely</i>.</li>
</ul>
All this protection and the app is free! Just make sure that the free service provides you with all the cover you need -if not, just sign up to the Premium version.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<b>App 2 - Dropbox ( <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.dropbox.android&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5kcm9wYm94LmFuZHJvaWQiXQ.." target="_blank">Android Market</a> | <a href="http://www.dropbox.com/" target="_blank">Web Site</a> )</b></div>
Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, documents, and videos anywhere. After you install Dropbox on your computer or phone, any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, your Android device, and even the Dropbox website! With the Dropbox app, you can take everything that matters to you on the go. Share and collaborate with friends and family using Dropbox's powerful sharing capabilities. We use this extensively in the family and it is so useful. You get a generous 2GB of free, cloud storage when you sign up and you can either purchase extra storage at a later date or build up your storage by referrals. For example, if you <a href="http://db.tt/VRRW9XG" target="_blank">sign up to Dropbox using my referral link</a>, you'll get an extra 250M of storage right from the start - and I get an extra 250M too for referring you. Simple, quick and effective. There are options for businesses too.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<b>App 3 - Catch ( <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.threebanana.notes&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS50aHJlZWJhbmFuYS5ub3RlcyJd" target="_blank">Android Market</a> | <a href="https://catch.com/" target="_blank">Web Site</a> )</b></div>
There are plenty of notes and simple text editors for Android phones. I chose Catch as the most useful simply because it has the features I like. You can record voice notes, photo notes and text notes. You can use Catch to set reminders for tasks and, with their tagging system, categorising and searching your thoughts is a breeze. Catch lets you have full access to your notes on your mobile device even when you don't have access to the Internet - this was especially useful to me as I wanted to keep information with me when on holiday and not able to access my home network. What's also good is that your entire Catch notes collection is available from any web browser, making it especially easy to add more and larger notes from your desktop PC or laptop. Best of all - it's freely available from the market!<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<b>App 4 - Silent Time ( <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.QuiteHypnotic.SilentTime&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5RdWl0ZUh5cG5vdGljLlNpbGVudFRpbWUiXQ.." target="_blank">Android Market</a> | <a href="http://quitehypnotic.com/" target="_blank">Web Site</a> )</b></div>
How many of you keep your phone by your bed? How often does an email or notification come in just as you're dropping off to sleep ... ? How annoying is that 'beep-beep'? Not any longer! Silent Time Lite is a simple app that just silences your phone automatically based on a weekly schedule that you set up. Use it for classes, work, meetings and whatever else you might need. My main use is for when I sleep. What makes this app stand out from the crowd is that you can also add exceptions to the quiet periods to let important calls through. And the app is free! How good is that?<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<b>App 5 - Tweetdeck ( <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.thedeck.android.app&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS50aGVkZWNrLmFuZHJvaWQuYXBwIl0." target="_blank">Android Market</a> | <a href="http://www.tweetdeck.com/" target="_blank">Web Site</a> )</b></div>
OK - I know you can use the default Twitter and Facebook clients, but this app is simply a social browser for your Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Buzz accounts. TweetDeck makes it easy to stay
in touch and is often quicker to scan than the separate, dedicated apps. It's also simple to cross-post too. See something on Twitter that your Facebook contacts would enjoy? Simply re-post it to them. Taken a photo you want the world to see? Simply post it simultaneously with the samr comments and location attached. Simple, quick and free. A fully-featured Desktop version is available too (go to the web site link above.).<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<b>App 6 - SMS Backup+ ( <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.zegoggles.smssync&hl=en" target="_blank">Android Market</a> | <a href="https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/#readme" target="_blank">Web Site</a> )</b></div>
This is a simple app that, as the name suggests, just backs your SMS and MMS messages to the Internet. I know most people just delete texts, but there are times when a text has useful information in it (like flight arrival times, or a phone number) and you really need to keep a copy! It works by automatically backing up your SMS, MMS and call log entries using a separate
label in your Gmail / Google Calendar. It can also restore SMS and
call log entries back to the phone, although MMS is not supported yet. It was developed from the original Google app by the author and, as he puts it ... "SMS Backup+ is available for free in the market, there will never be a pro / paid version."<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<b>App 7 - Taptu ( <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.taptu.streams&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS50YXB0dS5zdHJlYW1zIl0." target="_blank">Android Market</a> | <a href="http://www.taptu.com/" target="_blank">Web Site</a> )</b></div>
Taptu claims to be "the Best News ReaderApp for 2011. Taptu is certainly a flexible and easy way to sort
and share streams from your favorite web sites, blogs, news feeds
and social networks (it includes Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn). You
can build your own favorite sources and topics, sort them into the order
that bests suits you and
finally share and comment on the ones you like the most. it's very
flexible, easy to use and really lets you get to the news stories
without getting in the way. Oh yeah. Did I tell you this was free?
Very easy app to use - especially on a tablet!<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<b>App 8 - Sky+ ( <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.bskyb.android.skyplus&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5ic2t5Yi5hbmRyb2lkLnNreXBsdXMiXQ.." target="_blank">Android Market</a> | <a href="http://www.sky.com/" target="_blank">Web Site</a> )</b></div>
If you have Sky HD or Sky Plus then this is a must. Caught at work? Evening takes longer than expected? Delayed on your journey? Just use this free app to program your Sky+ or HD box and you'll never need to miss your programmes again. You can check the schedules as the app presents a full seven day TV Listing Guide and you can select all your favourite channels. There is also a "Series Link" button
for mobile. This lets you record entire series of shows to your Sky+ box with just a few finger
taps. Easy to set up and use, but obviously requires you to have an active Sky account and your Sky+ or HD boxes must be connected to the phone line.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<b>App 9 - Adobe Photoshop Express ( <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.adobe.psmobile&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5hZG9iZS5wc21vYmlsZSJd" target="_blank">Android Market</a> | <a href="http://www.photoshop.com/products/mobile/express/android" target="_blank">Web Site</a> )</b></div>
One of my hobbies is photography and for me, having the ability to easily edit and share photos directly from my mobile device is fantastic. This free app lets you literally touch up your photos to crop, rotate, adjust
color, and add artistic effects. You can then readily share your photos directly with family
and friends on, for example, Facebook, Photoshop or Twitter (via TwitPic).<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<b>App 10 - Tiny Flashlight ( <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.devuni.flashlight&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5kZXZ1bmkuZmxhc2hsaWdodCJd" target="_blank">Android Market</a> | <a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http://devuni.com&usg=AFQjCNHFJw86VvyjsTH7IneDdBBBp__aqg" target="_blank">Web Site</a> )</b></div>
You never know when you might need this. It's a simple 'Torch' or Flashlight app that lights up the LED used in many Android smartphones as the camera's electronic flash. It's very simple and yet quite handy. It claims to support the widest range of devices with camera leds. You can select and control the brightness of the LED and use it for morse code or as a flashing light in case of emergencies. You can even use it to turn on the screen light (which is bright enough for daily use) if your device doesn't have a camera light.<br />
<br />
There you are. Ten free apps to make your phone really useful in day-to-day life. If you have any favourites you think I should look at, or if you disagree with my assessments then please let me know by leaving a comment.<br />
<br />
Above all, enjoy your phone!<br />
<br /></div>Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-49959713604389598552011-11-29T06:55:00.001+00:002011-12-31T22:08:44.290+00:00A little orange wire..<div>
The quality of Internet in our house has been dubious to say the least for some time and we've long associated it with poor street cabling and distance from the exchange. It is also made worse by bad weather (rain, usually) so we were putting up with the poor performance as being beyond our control. Recently, however, the service had become very frustrating prompting me to investigate further. The symptoms vary, but the usual ones are:<br />
<ul>
<li>Long delays waiting for the browser to start downloading a page</li>
<li>Pauses when clicking on a link for the new link to start</li>
<li>Page loads taking a long time</li>
</ul>
What was (slightly) odd was that these delays did not seem to be restricted to the evening (the traditional Internet 'slow time' in the UK). They were occuring throughout the day - even in the quiet times in the early morning.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<b>Brief Investigation </b></div>
The first thing I did was to look at our ADSL router, a third-generation NetGear DG834G. There seemed to be no errors on the set up of the router - I even rebooted it to see if it had got itself confused - but it was when I looked at the router statistics that I saw the seriousness of the problem:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vr_jOQPamt0/TtamckLsRnI/AAAAAAAAB7c/KQfC3ps5WSs/s1600/Router-before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="109" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vr_jOQPamt0/TtamckLsRnI/AAAAAAAAB7c/KQfC3ps5WSs/s320/Router-before.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The figure that set my alarm bells ringing was the Downstream Noise Margin, showing here as 2dB but regularly this figure was flitting between 0dB, 1dB and 2dB. That's bad! Noise Margin is a measure of how much headroom the router has to maintain a good quality ADSL connection and according to these statistics my router doesn't have any!!<br />
</div>
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<b>Noise Margins and Signal to Noise Ratios</b> </div>
<div>
Let me try to explain this. Your broadband ADSL service is delivered from the exchange by a piece of equipment called a DSLAM which works by putting a signal onto the phone line to your house. Your router needs to reliably decode this signal so that it can link you to the Internet. If there is noise on the phone line this signal will be degraded and your router will have difficulty decoding it. The impact of this is that the quality and speed of your broadband ADSL will suffer. The more noise; the more your service will suffer. You can probably see then that the <i>ratio </i>of your ADSL signal level to the phone line noise level can be used to measure the quality of your ADSL service. This ratio is well-known in communication systems engineering and is referred to as the <i>signal-to-noise ratio</i> or SNR. The higher the SNR is; the better your signal is and therefore the better your service will be. As a good analogy, think of yourself trying to listen to your friend talk to
you at a football match or in a loud pub. It's very difficult to hear
every word he says unless you listen very hard or if your friend shouts. This
is a situation where there is a very poor SNR.
Now imagine your friend talking to you in a coffee shop or a restaurant.
You would expect to have no problems hearing everything that your
friend says. This is a situation where there is a reasonably good
SNR.<br />
<br />
<center><table border="1" style="width: 540px;"><tbody>
<tr><td><b style="color: #cc6600;">Signal to Noise ratio or SNR</b> is a term used to describe the ratio of <i>wanted </i>signal strength to that of <i>unwanted </i>noise levels and is measured in units called dB (decibels). This is a logarithmic scale where each 3dB of SNR <i>doubles </i>the ratio of signal to noise. For example, if the noise level was about 1/100th of the level of the signal then the SNR would be 20dB. If we <i>double </i>the level of noise, the SNR would <i>decrease </i>to 17dB. However, if we <i>increase </i>the signal to 1000x the level of the noise the SNR would <i>increase </i>to 30dB. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel">More info can be found here</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</center>
<br />
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Having established what SNR is, we can now introduce the Noise Margin. This is a sort of buffer zone on top of the SNR that allows the router to cope with all the variations in noise levels that occur through the day. On a 'good' ADSL line this figure is usually around 6dB. So, with our Noise Margin being measured as 0dB to 2dB, our Broadband router had no headroom and that from time to time the level of noise would increase to a level that affected our service. Indeed, it is perhaps a wonder that our ADSL was working at all - never mind
with the poor performance we were experiencing. Just goes to show that
the NetGear hangs on to that signal in the noisiest of environments!</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<b><br /></b><br />
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<b>Further Investigation</b></div>
So now we know what the poor performance is caused by - it's too much noise or interference - the next steps are to try to understand what's causing the noise and then to attempt to correct it. As usual, you begin with a couple of searches on a search engine and I was fortunate to quickly find the excellent <a href="http://kitz.co.uk/">kitz.co.uk</a> that in their own words ... "contains a wealth of adsl information such as how adsl broadband works". On that site I found a section devoted to poor noise and the likely causes. On this site was a page dedicated to 'Low SNR problems' and <a href="http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/lowSNR.htm">this page</a> has a wealth of details I could step through. I worked through the steps that are listed and came upon "~ One last trick - remove the ringwire." The 'ringwire' is a left over from days gone by when it was used to supply the ringing current to older phones. Most modern phones don't need this wire and in modern installations it can actually be removed as all it does is act as an antenna for electrical noise.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B9Ld9Cm9v1Y/Tv99pbg0ETI/AAAAAAAAB9I/j9-HQ1VDzjk/s1600/PhonePlate.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B9Ld9Cm9v1Y/Tv99pbg0ETI/AAAAAAAAB9I/j9-HQ1VDzjk/s320/PhonePlate.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Here you can see our incoming NTE5 faceplate with the front cover unscrewed and the orange/white wire disconnected from the faceplate connector pin 3. The blue/white (pin 2) and white/blue (pin 5) wires are NOT touched. (Note that in some installations you may have a white/orange wire on pin 4. This can be removed also.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<b>Result!</b></div>
Having done this and re-assembled the faceplate the internet router was rebooted and immediately the following router statistics were recorded:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CKpCVkPBRBs/TtamdGaVchI/AAAAAAAAB7g/4UQz6EarWdk/s1600/Router-after.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="110" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CKpCVkPBRBs/TtamdGaVchI/AAAAAAAAB7g/4UQz6EarWdk/s320/Router-after.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Note how much better the noise margin is. Note also how much greater the connection speed is. Just disconnecting this single orange wire has improved our download speed by 14% And the problems we've had since then have largely disappeared.<br />
<br />
Now to tune the MTU - but that's a subject for another time.<br />
<br />
Happy Surfing!<br />
<br /></div>Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-38134453950361205902011-11-10T23:08:00.001+00:002011-12-02T15:32:13.176+00:00Seeing clearly to drive.This time of year is very difficult for drivers with humid air, changing temperatures, mist, fog and low sun. All of these work together to make driving both hazardous and stressful. 2011 is different, because on top of all this we now have overbright DRLs adding a further element of distraction and danger (you can learn more about these on <a href="http://www.lightmare.org/">Lightmare's site</a> or on <a href="http://vastmeridian.blogspot.com/2011/08/do-we-really-need-daylight-running.html">my previous post</a>). If roads are damp and covered with leaves you are further increasing the risk of a coming together as your braking distance is greatly increased and you are more likely to skid when braking. Indeed, statistics show that there are 15 per cent more accidents in October compared to the monthly average for the previous six months, with 21 per cent more accidents that in August alone. (<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/6336002/Accidents-increase-in-autumn.html">see this Telegraph link</a>).<br />
<br />
While you cannot get rid of all of these distractions and dangers you can at least minimise their impact on yourself and others and significantly reduce the risk of an accident by making sure you can see clearly through the windscreen and by checking that your vehicle is serviced and roadworthy before the autumn (at least check your tyres, lights, brakes and battery).<br />
<br />
Before you set off on any journey you should make sure you can see clearly to drive. If your windscreen is at all greasy or just damp with condensation, your vision will be distorted and glare will be increased, either of which will greatly reduce your ability to differentiate between that parked car, that oncoming car with all its lights on and that pedestrian behind the car crossing the road. How many times do you enter such scenarios effectively blind to what's in front? It doesn't bear thinking about, does it?<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Cleaning your windscreen</span></div>
So how do you clean your windscreen effectvely? Believe it or not, newspaper and vinegar are your friends here. Simply use white vinegar and water in a 1 to 10 mix, applied and polished with newspaper (carefully avoiding surrounding paint and brightwork) and your windscreen should become grease-free in a few minutes. Use a cloth soaked in the same mixture and do the wiper blades at the same time, as these get greasy too. You should be able to polish the screen afterwards with a clean dry piece of newspaper to finish off. Don't use wasing up liquid - this will leave a residue on the screen that will very quickly gather up more road grime and will reduce your vision again. Don't forget the inside of the screen too as this can also get as greasy (the moisture in your breath, your hands wiping the screen and - worst of all - tar from cigarettes if you smoke). Don't forget to check the screenwash and make sure it is full (use proper screenwash - not washing up liquid!) and the nozzles adjusted. Finally, make sure you have a kit for the inside of the car. A clean microfibre cloth, a window wiper/scraper and a means of de-icing)<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc6600;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Driving in poor conditions</span></div>
While driving when it is humid, drizzly and foggy or when the temperature starts to drop, remember to set the heater controls to recycle the air, rather than to bring colder, damp air into the car and letting it condense on the windows for you. If your car has air conditioning, use that - even if the temperature is set higher, as the air conditioner also acts as a dehumidifier, effectively drying the air in the vehicle. All of this helps keep the windscreen clear and your visibility as good as it can be for your journey. The less glare on yourscreen, the clearer your vision and the less impact oncoming lights will have on your driving. Finally, don't forget your glasses. Keeping these clean will reduce the glare too.<br />
<br />
Drive safe, drive considerately. Don't use lights inappropriately. Be courteous to other road users.<br />
<br />
Happy motoring!Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-1696863307846042882011-11-09T23:49:00.001+00:002011-12-02T15:30:40.907+00:00Eight tips to watch for if you water-damage your Smartphone<div>
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">The Tale of woe </span><br />
<br />
So I went swimming in the sea while I was on holiday. We've all done it, many times. What was different this time was that my Smartphone went swimming too. Not by design and not through choice. A moment's distraction, a splash and it was all over. Thing is: I didn't realise it was in my pocket until about 15 minutes later, by which time I'd been snorkelling and the phone had completely drowned.
<br />
As soon as I realised the phone was in my pocket, I got out, took the phone apart and took the battery out. Then I rinsed it with the fresh water from my water bottle and dried it in the sun. I went to town later on and even bought a set of small screwdrivers so I could dismantle the phone and rinse and dry it out properly. As it was the first time I had dismantled my phone I looked on the Internet for instructions and soon the phone was in bits in a shallow dish being gently rinsed and cleaned with a toothbrush then dried carefully leaving the phone overnight to dry completely.<br />
<br />
After re-assembling the phone I popped the battery in, not expecting much, and sure enough the phone remained as dead as a dodo. Not even a flicker of life. Not looking good. I was fortunate in that my good lady wife has the same phone, so I tested my battery in her phone - it was fine - and testing her battery in my phone confirmed that my phone was still dead. (Apple users can't easily do this as Apple have made their phones without a battery cover). So that was that. With the phone looking dead I carefully put it to one side and got on with the holiday resolving to have another look when I got home.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">The Long Wait</span> <br />
Holiday over, all safely home and taking stock of the situation:<br />
<ul>
<li>Can I get the phone working now I'm home with all my kit around me? <b>Answer</b>: No. Phone still inoperative despite further cleaning and probing with alcohol and swabs</li>
<li>
Have I another phone I can use in the meantime? <b>Answer</b>: Yes. My old 2006 vintage Sony Ericsson K800i
</li>
<li>
Can I live without a Smartphone? <b>Answer </b>Looks like I'm about to find out... :o(
</li>
<li>
What are the arrangements with the Travel Insurance - am I covered and with which policy?
</li>
</ul>
<br />
First things first. I transferred my SIM to the K800i, charged it and turned it on. Success! Welcome to Orange. I'm back on the air. Next, insurance. We had ceased the phone-specific insurance within the first month of owning the phone, so we now had two avenues for cover here - our Travel insurance and our Household Contents insurance. After ringing both firms and discussing the matter with them, we found that the Household Policy covered the phone but with a £200 excess and I lose a 10% NCB. I was assured this was a Good Deal. I disagreed.<br />
<br />
I then spoke with Nationwide, as one benefit of our bank account is that it comes with free Travel Insurance. They were a lot more helpful, and sent me the forms I needed to complete so they could assess my claim. Quite rightly they wanted to know:
<br />
<ul>
<li>
Did I really own the phone?
</li>
<li>
Was I really on holiday at the time?
</li>
<li>
Was it really damaged and beyond economical repair?
</li>
<li>
Was there any other insurance for the phone?
</li>
<li>
What was the likely cost of replacement?
</li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">The Damaged Repair</span><br />
All of these were easy to answer - except that for the 'damaged beyond economical repair' I needed a report from a recognised repair company that confirmed the status of the phone. Easy, I thought. Just take the phone to an Orange Shop. Nope. "We don't do repairs, sir, we'd have to send it to HTC" This seemed to be the consistent story for all the high-street shops regarding repairs. So, using the Power of the Internet, I located a M Blue Ltd in Essex who "are highly experienced in water damage repairs". The cost? £34.99 including return delivery. This looked fine. The process would take three days and I would get a repaired phone or a report back that confirms the phone is irreperable. So I sent the phone off to them, wrapped and protected - and complete - and then I waited for the report. Their service was quick and their communication excellent. It's just a shame that they did not take proper care of the phone while it was with them. It was returned with two parts of the case broken, two screws missing and not properly assembled. I sent them photographs of the phone as it arrived back to complain about their lack of care and these are included below:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yJ2ISrWd0do/TrsIBVyuofI/AAAAAAAAB7E/QiRvG1r-B4U/s1600/MBlue-25572-Desire-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yJ2ISrWd0do/TrsIBVyuofI/AAAAAAAAB7E/QiRvG1r-B4U/s320/MBlue-25572-Desire-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vBcX37k9Sbw/TrsICjPP2zI/AAAAAAAAB7M/lpuRvfAlRQI/s1600/MBlue-25572-Desire-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vBcX37k9Sbw/TrsICjPP2zI/AAAAAAAAB7M/lpuRvfAlRQI/s320/MBlue-25572-Desire-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H8YxUUmf39g/TrsH_YLvPXI/AAAAAAAAB68/4rfW4dfjY3A/s1600/MBlue-25572-Desire-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H8YxUUmf39g/TrsH_YLvPXI/AAAAAAAAB68/4rfW4dfjY3A/s320/MBlue-25572-Desire-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Their reply?<br />
<i>"It is clear from your order
submission that the device has been opened before sending it to us and
on arrival we have found it to be in a rough state. Our technicians are
trained to repair to a high standard and not to damage devices in the
way you claim."</i><br />
<br />
Now I know this is not true, but it's my word against theirs. The phone was sent to them water damaged but physically complete and sound. It was returned with further damage to the case showing a lack of care on the part of their engineers. My worry - which was expressed to them - was that their poor quality of care and workmanship would be reflected in all their repairs, so on that basis I cannot recommend this company at all for your phone repairs. Instead, I do recommend that if you have to return your phone for repair, you take a photo of your phone alongside the box you use to send off the phone and include a print of the photo in with the parcel as you send it off. This way, you stand a better chance of arguing your case if they do not take care of the device.<br />
<br />
Back to the insurance claim. This took a long time to settle, partially because the insurance company were "just starting to use a new system" and were "busier than normal" (these do seem to be stock excuses!!) but if you've not heard anything from them, ring them weekly, note the details of the call (because they will do the same) and try to see if you can hurry things along.<br />
<br />
One thing to watch for is if the insurance company need to check something with another company. The odds are that if Insurance Company A need to check something with Company B, Company B will not be able to give information about you to Insurance Company A because of the Data Protection Act. If this is the case, find out what the Insurance Company want, agree that you'll ask for it and how you'll supply it, and get it yourself. However, realise that even with all the chasing in the world, it still takes too long to process a claim. I started my claim for the water-damaged phone in September, when I returned from holiday and finally got a settlement in November.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: large;">Top Tips:</span><br />
<ol>
<li>Make sure you make a point of putting your phone safely in your belongings when you go swimming - or better still don't take it to the beach at all</li>
<li>If your phone gets soaked like this, turn it off. Take out the battery as soon as you can. Disconnecting the battery stops any electrical currents going where they shouldn't and protects the phone from further damage.</li>
<li>Cleaning. Dismantle the phone - carefully - and then clean out all the salt from the sea as gently as you can. Ideally you should use iso-propyl alcohol as this is the cleanest cleaner you can get, but this is not always possible. Equally important is to dry the phone thoroughly but gently so that all traces of moisture are removed. Drying involves three stages. Stage 1 is blotting all parts with a paper towel or tissue, stage 2 is gentle heat from a hair dryer or similar and finally (if necessary) stage 3 is to store the phone components overnight in a sealed container with a desiccant such as
silica gel or uncooked rice.</li>
<li>Always have a spare working phone somewhere available - just in case.</li>
<li>Always be sure what your insurance polices provide in the way of cover for your smartphone - you may not need to take out insurance when you buy a new phone, but you should satisfy yourself that the cover you've got is the cover you need.</li>
<li>If you're sending your phone to be repaired, take a photo of it as you send it to record its state as sent for repair.</li>
<li>Make a note of all calls you make, when they were made, who you spoke to and what was discussed - including the state of the claim.</li>
<li>Help the Insurance Company get hold of information if they need it. It hurries things along.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<ol>
</ol>
</div>Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-33270794927953300762011-11-08T00:12:00.004+00:002011-11-08T21:12:34.718+00:00Charging my iPod's discharged battery<div>
I have an old and venerable 30G iPod Gen 5 which has served me well for a few years. It's had a new battery, a new logic board and a new rotary switch, but it works fine. Until a week ago, when I switched it on and it didn't respond. The battery was flat, so I plugged it into the charger and waited overnight. Then I left it a whole week. The battery remained uncharged - even after a week of being connected to its charger!<br />
<br />
Now I have noticed on previous occasions that the iPod will deep-discharge the battery if it is left unused too long and then not even a normal USB charger will rescue it. Until recently, I have been able to get round this by using the iPod interface on my Becker car radio, which always seemed to be able to wake up the iPod and charge it. But I've changed the radio in my car now and the new one doesn't do quite the same job. So. Do I just replace the iPod battery or do I look to try and charge the iPod some other way? Being reluctant to give up on a technical problem I chose to try to charge the unit another way - after all, if the Becker could do it so should another charger - if it charges the same way and, what have I got to lose?<br />
<br />
The Becker iPod interface is not based on USB, so its design is not constrained by the specifications of USB. I therefore suspect that it is capable of providing more power to the iPod than a USB port and therefore has more chance of getting the charging circuit in the iPod to start charging a deeply discharged battery. Since, by now, a number of laptops and chargers had been tried and failed to charge my iPod I had a look on the Internet to see what else I could learn.<br />
<br />
I rapidly found that the specification for USB power was that the USB voltage is nominally 5v (more specifically, no more than 5.25 V and no less than 4.75 V (i.e 5V±5%)). A USB outlet should also be capable of providing upto 500mA too. So I knocked up a charging circuit based on my bench power supply, an old USB lead and a digital voltmeter. I then put 5V across the power leads of the USB cable and connected the iPod lead between the power source an the iPod. Guess what? It didn't charge the battery! So I carefully adjusted the voltage of the power supply until it read 5.25V. Still no charge. Perhaps my battery was dead after all!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tCVkNtrITFk/Trhpf9EtU7I/AAAAAAAAB6U/SaPveVvyFLs/s1600/bench+PSU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tCVkNtrITFk/Trhpf9EtU7I/AAAAAAAAB6U/SaPveVvyFLs/s320/bench+PSU.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Back to searching the Internet. It turns out that just supplying the power is not enough: there also has to be a signal to
the unit being charged that charge is available and this was what was
missing from my simple circuit. Not one to give up lightly, I looked at the Internet again, this time looking for DIY USB chargers and chanced upon <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-get-your-iPod-to-charge-with-your-homemade-/">this indestructible project</a> which seemed to answer my problems. Turns out I was supplying the right voltage; I just wasn't turning the charging circuit on in the iPod. It seems that the iPod looks for a voltage pattern between the two data leads to identify a valid, dormant USB port before turning on the charging circuit. The indestructible says that you need four resistors arranged as a bridge so that 2.7V is present on D- and 2.0V is present on D+. I set up four resistors on a breadboard and went to work.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bU5oM0ncVhw/Trhph5uTbiI/AAAAAAAAB6c/5hLxlHDQdjI/s1600/Breadboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bU5oM0ncVhw/Trhph5uTbiI/AAAAAAAAB6c/5hLxlHDQdjI/s320/Breadboard.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
And for those who want to know exactly what I connected up here is a schematic:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e2ZXira2fnY/TrmalflwG4I/AAAAAAAAB60/W5Vs7essIFs/s1600/circuit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e2ZXira2fnY/TrmalflwG4I/AAAAAAAAB60/W5Vs7essIFs/s320/circuit.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Once this was set up I switched on and plugged the iPod into the makeshift charger. Within a few seconds I got a warning message on the iPod that the battery was very low - success!! The iPod had woken up at last and was beginning to charge up..<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vdcZdt8awgU/Trhpj62t1SI/AAAAAAAAB6k/WNlfNH8yS_g/s1600/ipod1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vdcZdt8awgU/Trhpj62t1SI/AAAAAAAAB6k/WNlfNH8yS_g/s320/ipod1.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
<br />
Now I have enough juice in the iPod to bring it back to life, I have transferred the iPod to a proper charger and it is now charging merrily as I write this blog.<br />
<br />
The morale of the story? Well, there are three:<br />
<ul>
<li>Don't let your iPod get as deeply discharged as I did mine</li>
<li>Don't assume that 'any old USB charger' will do - if one doesn't work, then try another. Or try a computer. Or another lead.</li>
</ul>
and<br />
<ul>
<li>Don't assume that a dead iPod is a broken iPod.</li>
</ul>
</div>Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-65156239300374891752011-10-01T22:59:00.001+01:002011-12-02T15:33:58.022+00:00Identifying insects in the gardenBeing a keen amateur photographer, I try to experiment with different techniques and approaches so that I get photos I can be proud of. I use a digital SLR for most of the pictures I take, falling back to a small point-and-shoot or even my phone camera when I see a shot but don't have my camera kit with me.<br />
I'm fond of taking pictures of small insects, using a type of photography called Macro Photography - basically the taking of pictures of small creatures sometimes too small for the eye to see clearly.<br />
Often, I'll take a picture of an insect that I can't readily identify so I am then left with the job of identifying the subject of my photograph by trying to match descriptions and lists from the Internet. Usually I'm lucky, but only by perseverance and judicious use of search engine terms and commands.<br />
Let's look at an example to see what I mean:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9l1hMB3CkiI/Tod6KBs6kGI/AAAAAAAAB3Q/hxYTrfWWjpw/s1600/Unknown1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9l1hMB3CkiI/Tod6KBs6kGI/AAAAAAAAB3Q/hxYTrfWWjpw/s320/Unknown1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Some of you will know straight away what this is, but I didn't, so let's try to identify this from this photograph. First of all, how would we describe this? It was found on the inside glass door to our conservatory and was about 25-30mm long. From the photo it has six legs, no wings and a distinctive twin tail from the end of the abdomen. It is also almost colourless.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>(For the technical among you, the photo was taken using a reversed-mounted 50mm prime lens on a Pentax K200D. Exposure was 1/180th of a second, no flash and the speed of the camera was set to ISO 200. Due to the very narrow depth of field available, the camera was mounted on a sturdy tripod and the exposure triggered using a remote control)</i></span></div>
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Starting with an obvious search:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5HePV61T9xs/Tod8SFjs7MI/AAAAAAAAB3U/AGIh0R5Hcn8/s1600/GoogleSearch1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="25" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5HePV61T9xs/Tod8SFjs7MI/AAAAAAAAB3U/AGIh0R5Hcn8/s320/GoogleSearch1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I got the following results very quickly, only one of which in the first screen had any decent relevance to my search:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L_nBIQDM_ro/Tod-O0s_yEI/AAAAAAAAB3c/n2kQFZRTRE8/s1600/GoogleSearch2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L_nBIQDM_ro/Tod-O0s_yEI/AAAAAAAAB3c/n2kQFZRTRE8/s320/GoogleSearch2.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
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The Dragonfly article on Wikipedia was no use this time. The pictures there - and the description - did not match the insect I photographed. The article on Pond Insects did seem worth a look as it mentions in the extract ... "<span class="st">These nymphs are about 2.5 cm long, and usually have three tails attached to .... " <a href="http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pond-insects.html">Clicking on the link</a> and reading through the article gave me slightly more detail to go on. Under the Mayfly section was the following phrase:</span><br />
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<i>"These nymphs are about 2.5 cm long, and usually have three tails attached to the abdomen. They also have 3 pairs of segmented legs ending in claws"</i><br />
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The size is about right, the number of legs is right, but <i>three </i>tails attached to the abdomen? Let's look a bit closer. Next search would be for "Mayfly nymph" and resulted in a number of useful links - and a few images.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WsMTplpBgbs/ToeDoG3jEBI/AAAAAAAAB3g/p5d3ZZxzk_4/s1600/GoogleSearch3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WsMTplpBgbs/ToeDoG3jEBI/AAAAAAAAB3g/p5d3ZZxzk_4/s320/GoogleSearch3.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>
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The first thing you can see is that none of the pictures presented actually look like my photo above. The second is that you can now see some results showing that the 'Mayfly' is used as a fly-fishing bait to catch fish. This means that, as ever, we have to question the relevance of the search results to our actual quest. We're not interested in fly-fishing, so we do not need to click on these links. Starting at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflies">Wikipedia search result</a> we learn that there are a number of stages to the life of a Mayfly and it is likely that this photo is therefore of a young Mayfly that has moulted from a nymph to a Subimago, the last stage before it grows its wings and becomes a full adult.<br />
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Interestingly, Mayflies are so-called because they usually become adults in the Spring. The photo above was taken in late September, in Surrey, UK.<br />
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I've used similar techniques to identify other insects I have taken in photographs - such as this <a href="http://www.uksafari.com/fatlegbeetles.htm">Thick- or Fat-legged flower beetle</a> seen here apparently talking to a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GW_vE0He4js/ToeW_mD9WnI/AAAAAAAAB3o/U3khVavEAgE/s1600/Butterfly+and+Beetle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GW_vE0He4js/ToeW_mD9WnI/AAAAAAAAB3o/U3khVavEAgE/s320/Butterfly+and+Beetle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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There are many online collections of photos of insects and wildlife that you can (and should) peruse. Some of the photography is simply stunning and it is well worth looking through some of these if you have any interest in our wildlife. I have provided some links below to get you started. There are many, many more to find - just use a search engine to look for UK wildlife:<br />
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<a href="http://www.uksafari.com/index.htm">UK Safari</a><br />
<a href="http://www.whatsthatbug.com/">What's That Bug</a><br />
<a href="http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/">Wild About Britain</a>Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-50930089050632346182011-08-05T13:53:00.006+01:002011-08-08T19:32:01.343+01:00Do we really need Daylight Running Lights (DRLs)?So Daylight Running Lights are with us now on all new cars in the UK. But do we really need them and how do we drive with them? Do they work - or are they actually too bright and in fact contribute to accidents rather than reduce them? <br />
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<div style="color: orange;"><span style="font-size: large;">Early Daylight Running Lights</span></div>Daylight Running Lights, or DRLs are not new. They were first introduced in the UK on the Volvo 240 in the mid-70's and were designed to be on whenever the engine was running. They looked like bright sidelights and were in fact 21W bulbs fitted alongside the existing 5W sidelight bulbs. <br />
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Ever since then attempts have been made by various governments around the world to introduce some means of making road vehicles more visible on the roads - and by so doing, reduce the number of accidents on our increasingly crowded roads. Many of the earlier schemes (such as the UK's 'dim-dip' feature in the '80s) failed because of the difficulty in agreeing common standards for manufacturers to follow. Later on, there was much discussion throughout Europe about whether cars and motorcycles should be driven with dipped headlights on at all times and many countries introduced their own legislation regarding the use of headlights while the European Commission considered how it could introduce common standards across Europe and then set the associated technical standards for new cars in line with these standards.<br />
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The conclusion of all this work is the introduction of daytime running lights laws that means that in the UK for example all new cars must be fitted with Daylight Running Lights or DRLs from 7th February 2011. Vans and trucks will follow with their own DRLs from 2012. But is this law - and the specification of DRLs actually a good thing? <br />
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</div><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">Accident Research</span><br />
We're all for reducing the number of collisions and fatalities that take place on our roads, but how do we measure these accidents so that meaningful statistics can be produced? In the UK, the Police Forces have been recording all 'injury road accidents' where injury or death has taken place since 1926 and this data (referred to as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reported_Road_Casualties_Great_Britain">STATS19</a>) has been published by the Department for Transport since 1951. The form to be filled in is available on the <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublicatiohttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dft.gov.uk/">UK Dept of Transport's National Archive web site</a> and the <a href="http://www2.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/accidents/reported-road-casualties-gb-main-results-2010.html">2011 report can be seen</a> on the UK Government's Department of Transport web site. It is analysed nationally and the results are used extensively by Government, Local Councils, Research establishments and manufacturers in studies as diverse as street lighting, traffic calming, road construction, signs, driver training and also aspects of vehicle technology - including seat belts, air bags, better tyres, better brake systems and improved visibility. An idea of the level of detail recorded can be had from <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/accidents/casualtiesgbar/stats19reportform.pdf">looking at the forms used to record accidents</a>, and a useful summary graph, produced by Peter Eastern, can be found on the Wikipedia web site:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Killed_on_British_Roads.png/800px-Killed_on_British_Roads.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Killed_on_British_Roads.png/800px-Killed_on_British_Roads.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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This is where we can start to consider the true effect of the introduction of DRLs<br />
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The reason put forward for the introduction of DRLs is "to increase the visual contrast between vehicles and their background so that the presence of a vehicle is made more obvious to other road users". Studies that have been carried out by the bodies promoting DRLs claim that DRLs will make a difference to certain types of accident. The UK Government, for example, projects a 6% reduction in accidents without compromising other non-DRL road users (pedestrians, cyclists, mopeds etc) whereas the European Commission projects between 3-5%. However, <a href="http://www.lightmare.org/">Lightmare</a>, (a British web site set up by <span class="Verdblack"> Roy Milnes and Ken Perham) </span>specifically targets the increasing use of bright lights on British roads and the wider detrimental effect this is having on road safety. They comment that statistics about DRLs from eight European countries over a 15-year period show that road fatality rates dropped faster in <i>non</i>-DRL countries such as Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands than fatalities in <i>pro</i>-DRL countries such as Finland, Norway and Sweden. Indeed, Austria has gone as far as to ban their introduction despite the EC legislation on the basis of these statistics. Other campaigners say that speeding and alcohol are the main underlying factors behind road deaths, not difficulty in seeing cars that don't have lights on. They say that training motorists to look out for vulnerable road users would be one of the most effective safety measures that can be introduced. <br />
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So despite all the research, we still have no firm conclusion. So how can we judge if DRLs are actually effective?<br />
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Well, there is a section in the <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/accidents/casualtiesgbar/stats19reportform.pdf">STATS19 report form</a> that is labelled 'Contributory Factors'. The Officer attending the accident has to complete the form and he can record up to six relevant factors that contributed to the accident. While DRLs are not mentioned specifically in the form, one factor that is listed is 'Dazzling headlights', (Code 705). We would need to wait for a year or two while statistics are gathered, but it would be interesting to see how this factor featured in accidents before and after the introduction of DRLs and the new legislation. This would therefore provide the confirmation or otherwise that the new legislation is effective.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;">Are DRLs too bright?</span></span><br />
The <a href="http://www.lightmare.org/">Lightmare</a> team are particularly worried that the European standards that have been introduced are too powerful for our normal use and that the lights on current cars are now far too bright to be safe. The regulations (<a href="http://live.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/main/wp29/wp29regs/r087r2e.pdf">ECE Regulation 87, Revision 2: Daytime running lamps</a>) are clear in terms of the specification of the light (brightness and angles, construction and approval) and the use (to make the vehicle more easily visible when driving during daytime). The standard stipulates that the direction of these lights is to be fixed to point <i>directly in front of the vehicle</i> (unlike dipped headlights that are aimed so as not to dazzle the oncoming driver). Now consider that the light levels specified for DRLs are between 400cd and a maximum of 1200cd. To give a comparative reference level for this amount of light, dipped headlights are typically around 800cd - and these are by law aimed down and away from oncoming traffic. Therefore, with current legislation, DRLs can actually be <i>brighter </i>than dipped headlights but <i>without </i>the beam pattern that prevents dipped headlights from dazzling oncoming road users. Nice. No wonder <a href="http://www.lightmare.org/">Lightmare</a> are so concerned!<br />
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Finally, far from being considered primarily as a 'safety feature', manufacturers and the motoring press are treating DRLs as a 'stylish addition' to a car, concentrating on the look of DRLs as adding character to a car rather than contributing to its safety. This needs to stop, as it means that drivers reading this information are being encouraged to buy/specify the lights as a fashion accessory rather than to treat or think of them as a safety feature. We are seeing more and more of this now, with drivers using fog lamps in good weather or fitting non-standard (and often illegal) HID headlamps to make themselves look 'cool'. They're not. They are only increasing their chance of contributing to an accident as they are increasing the chances of dazzling oncoming drivers while travelling. Sites like <a href="http://www.lightmare.org/">Lightmare</a> can help by providing the education that these drivers need to stop this happening and, when enough drivers are aware of the perils, we can bring pressure to Government and to the European Commission to update the standards and reduce the dazzling effect of DRLs and other overbright automotive lights.<br />
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So what can you do? Well, if you agree that the current high-brightness automotive lights are too bright for our roads, then you should visit <a href="http://www.lightmare.org/">Lightmare's web site</a> and sign their petition. Given enough people signing the petition, the Lightmare team will be able to lobby the UK Government and the European Commission to change the legislation and reduce the unnecessary additional lighting that is being used on our roads.<br />
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The fight has started...Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5388522406803429788.post-78562762276997166772011-07-21T23:11:00.001+01:002014-01-09T22:36:44.789+00:00Family meals ARE good for you.Sitting down regularly to a family meal may be alien to many of you but it's something we've known ever since our childhood and we've made it central to our own family way of life. Our four children have grown up with this and we hope they'll see it as important enough to their own lives to want to continue the tradition.<br />
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There's no secret recipe for a successful family meal, but we reckon that they should be regular, there should be no TV, no snacks and no rush. Just prepare the food and sit down together to enjoy the meal, each others company and just .. see what happens. Food can vary from salads and light meals in the summer to roasts, stews and full meals when it's cold. We serve up at the table and people are encouraged to eat as much of what they want, so fads and sensitivities are quietly taken care of. It's just as easy to prepare a vegetarian dish or a different meat dish alongside the main dish for these who can't enjoy the main meal and these days we make sure we do a little planning up front for what people eat. In any case, it's the togetherness that's important. The food is almost a bonus.<br />
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As the children have grown up so the family meal has evolved too. We've had to adapt when we eat and how often as it's as difficult to make a toddler sit still through a long meal as it is to insist on fixed times during teenage years where our children had other activities that overlap mealtimes. However, during all of this we rarely let a week go by without all of us sitting down together for a meal and often we shared two or three such meals every week. Even now, with our children grown up and moved out, we usually enjoy a family get-together once a month - with the added benefit these days of being able to eat out, as well as in!<br />
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It's not an experiment; we don't score points but we do encourage everyone to talk and participate and everyone is equal. There are no real rules other than normal decorum and politeness and it is a great way (if a little daunting) for new friends to become acquainted with the family. We firmly believe that this type of meal - with everyone joining in - has provided our children with a rich environment for language (at an earlier age) for stories, debates, family history - or just plain fun. By encouraging them all to talk during these family meals we've brought up teenagers who could (and would) converse with adults rather than just grunting and we are convinced we have had a happier family life as a result.<br />
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There are one or two 'taboo's' at a family meal. We don't have 'family conferences' at the table, nor do we try to resolve conflicts within the family (important when bringing up teenagers) but we will all help sort out issues that are discussed. Also, it's very important that the family meal is not a platform for the 'head of the household' to preach either!<br />
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It would seem that others also think that family meals are good for you. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/426gxbz">The UK's Daily Mail newspaper reported</a> that children who have family meals are 'less likely to be overweight and binge on junk food' and there is a therapist in the States <a href="http://tinyurl.com/3bwu8w5">who comments on a large number of scientific studies</a> that confirm what we parents have known intuitively for a long time: sitting down to a family meal is good for the spirit, the brain, and the body. She cites that "Recent studies link regular family dinners (5 or more meals a week) with a host of teenage behaviours that parents pray for: lower rates of substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and depression, as well as higher grade-point averages and self-esteem. Dinner conversation is a great booster of vocabulary for young children, and stories told around the table about parents and grandparents help to build self-esteem and resilience. The icing on the cake is that regular family meals also lower the rates of obesity and eating disorders in children".<br />
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So if you've not tried them, turn the TV off, organise a time when no-one is busy (and that includes both spouse/partner and children) and plan a meal. Try to set aside a couple of hours and try to think of some subjects to kick off discussions. Make sure (for the first few meals) that everyone gets to speak and the quieter ones round the table are allowed to speak up.<br />
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Finally, don't give up if the first one doesn't work. Just try again (perhaps after discussing maybe why the first one failed). Drop a comment below if you already have regular meals, or if you'll be trying them, or if they didn't work. I'd like to hear from you.Vastmeridianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821679405833610441noreply@blogger.com0