After installing Win7 Enterprise at work, I was getting activation failures. Message says DNS Name does not exist, but it turns out, that's a misleading error.

As usual, Google had the answer, based on at least this post.

Computer, Properties, Change Product Key.

Re-enter the same product key used during install, and then try activation again.

Posted 8:45 AM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

Sort of followed this post from Hanselman. Tried to install Windows 7 straight to a VHD that was mounted and given a drive letter in Disk Management, but Win7 install would install there.

Now trying this:

• Use Virtual PC 2007 to create a new VHD and start the Win 7 install on it
• The Win7 install starts with copying files to the designated drive (the VHD in this case), and then restarts for the rest of the install. At this point when it's going to restart, CLOSE THE VIRTUAL MACHINE! (i.e. you do not want it to start back up and resume installation)
• Now the VHD has the files needed for setup, and is ready to boot to. Now we just have to add the VHD to the boot loader list. Run the following bcdedit commands to add it to the list (taken from Hanselman's post):
  

bcdedit /copy {current} /d "Some Name for Your VHD" (this name will show up in the boot choices)

bcdedit /set {b614f341-ab38-11de-ae36-e3ac8de0d3bb} device vhd=[D:]\VirtualDrives\BaseWin7.vhd
bcdedit /set {b614f341-ab38-11de-ae36-e3ac8de0d3bb} osdevice vhd=[D:]\VirtualDrives\BaseWin7.vhd
bcdedit /set {b614f341-ab38-11de-ae36-e3ac8de0d3bb} detecthal on


Now restart the machine and you should see the new boot option in the list. When you choose it, the Win7 setup will continue from where it left off in the VPC!

Woot!

Posted 7:12 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

Power supply died on our flatbed scanner last month, so it's finally time to replace it. Found the HP OfficeJet 6500 at Costco for $149 after instant rebate. Stace got it last week and it's working great, so decided to jump in.

Model #: E709n
Serial # (I think): MY97J462XG05G2

Wireless connectivity. Printer, Scanner (flatbed and document feeder), Copier, Fax

Uh oh: wont install on Win 7. Installation says this is not a compatible OS. The OS is listed as "601.64" -- I love it. (That's the version code for Windows 7, 64 bit)

No drivers available at HP yet for Win 7, but it shows in their chart as compat with Win7 and that drivers are available on their site. Liars! (Stace said he just saw Win7 drivers available on his HP update software (but you have to successfully install to get there. Doh)

Woot! Found from the internets to run the install in Compatibility mode: Vista, run as administrator.

Posted 9:37 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

Windows 7 RTM, take 3

Still having a hell of a time with the Mass Storage Controller on this Gateway machine. Messed around with the order of install of the ITE controller via Windows Update, then Matrix Storage Driver, etc. Nothing worked.

Now I've started over with the BIOS set to use AHCI for the drives instead of RAID. A couple days into it and haven't seen any errors. Fingers still crossed.

Some of this will be a repeat of this one, but with some extra notes where needed.


Olympus Camera Software
Always seem to have trouble getting the correct order on this one. Notes say install from the EOS Rebel CD first, then get web updates for the A540 (small silver unit).

ZoomBrowser update 6.3.1

OK - finally got it working! CameraWindow is the app that shows the little dialog that you want, just that it doesnt start correctly in Win7. Fix: set the compatibility on CameraWindow application to Vista SP 2.

Well that works for the point and shoot A540, but still cant download pics from the EOS Rebel. This page says drivers are not compatible with Vista (let alone Win 7). So far it's looking like we have to take out the memory card and use a reader.



Previous notes...

Mass Storage Controller
Device manager kept showing Mass Storage controller with missing driver. Installed Intel Matrix Storage driver (Intel-Matrix-StorageDriver-IATA89ENU), but that didnt do it. Finally also got a windows update optional offer for ITE Tech Inc Storage (ITE IT8211 ATA ATAPI Controller). At first after this install, machine didn't boot into Windows correctly, 2nd time success and now device manager is happy with the disks.

update 09/17/09 - now getting CDROM and iaStor errors again. ARGH. Talked through the Maxtrix storage driver stuff with Joe. Recommend:

• Install Win7 (dont do the F6 RAID drivers thing)
  
• Use Windows Update to get the ITE IT8211 controller driver thingy FIRST (unidentified Mass Storage Device in devices list should now be gone)
  
• Now install Maxtrix Storage Driver AFTER the Windows update Mass Storage Controller
  

Posted 5:11 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

Our flatbed scanner died - wont power on.

Thinking about a new scanner, and heard from the Lougeay's today that they got the HP OfficeJet 6500 Wireless All-in-one Printer. here

Good news: according to this, it's even compat with Win 7

Posted 2:30 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

After upgrading to Win 7 and still seeing the cdrom driver errors, iaStore timeouts, etc. Looked into the latest Matrix storage drivers. (get the official name from the ToolSave dir)

Installed the latest Matrix storage drivers - problem has gone away!!

Update 09/15/2009. Well, not so fast. Problems came back today. Same old thing about iaStor timeout and cdrom driver having errors.

Looking through Gateway Apps & Drivers CD that I made from the original image.
F:\I386\Apps\App002351 looks like the one I need to start with after rebuild.
Installation Readme for Intel(R) Matrix Storage Manager.
then come along after that and install the latest vesrsion.

Currently have Intel ICH8R/ICH9R/ICH10R/DO/PCH SATA RAID
v8.9.0.1023
6/4/2009

It looks like I have the ICH9R hardware.

BIOS says currently configured in RAID mode.

Readme says this controller software should be installed at Windows install time with the F6 method of disk software install.

Have a download of Intel-Matrix-StorageDriver-IATA89ENU (not sure if it's the same version as above).

Posted 2:27 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

UGH! After 5th round-trip to Gateway to repair the machine with an intermittent failing DVD drive, it's missing from the system again. Have installed Win7 to see if that's any better. Nope - within the first 5 mins, already see errors in the System event viewer about cdrom failing to start, iaStor timeouts, etc.

Looking for an answer:

• MS registry tweak (direct link to KB article) - did not have the "UpperFilters" reg key to delete
  
• Driver update from Sony (warns of not working on OEM machines). Did not try this one.


• Intel storage driver - download (I originally noted it here). Was 4/8/2009 (8.6.2.1012). Installed. Now 6/4/2009 (8.9.0.1023)

Posted 2:41 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

I'm giving up on Vista on my home Gateway computer. More of the DVD drive disappearing from the system. Have been through 5 times returning to Gateway. Gonna try Win7, see if that's any better.

Want to try putting the ISO contents on a bootable USB thumb drive. Here's info on how to do that.

How To Boot And Install Windows 7 From USB Flash Drive - Make Tech Easier

Posted 9:48 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

• log in to local admin acct
• connect VPN
• join the machine to the domain
• reboot
• log in again local admin acct
• connect VPN
• add domain acct to local administrators group (this is why need to be on VPN again)
• SWITCH users to the domain account (dont logout, this will kill the VPN)
• log in to domain account, will cache creds and you're good to go

Posted 1:28 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

Installed Win7 64-bit today. Here's the first in a series of posts on various software issues.

SonicWall Global VPN client. Existing install does not work on 64-bit. Bails at startup.
Here is the updated one. (also saved it here)

After install, get "Error loading IPSec driver".
Fix described here and below.

Open Device Manager

• in View menu, select Show hidden devices
• expand Non-Plug and Play Drivers
• open SonicWALL IPsec Driver and set Startup Type to Automatic
• If current status is Stopped, start it.

Posted 1:19 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

Finally decided to spend a few minutes looking into HTML Tidy for Notepad++ ... I just kept feeling like "surely somebody has built a plugin" to make XML format pretty (like Visual Studio CTRL+K, CTRL+D)

Turns out - HTML Tidy has support for XML. I've always had the HTML Tidy stuff in the Notepad++ menu, but never got it working against XML.

Here's what you need.

HTMLTIDY.CFG needs to be in the Notepad++\Plugins\NPPTextFX directory
and here's it's contents

indent: auto
indent-spaces: 2
wrap: 72
markup: yes
output-xml:yes
input-xml: yes
show-warnings: yes
numeric-entities: yes
quote-marks: yes
quote-nbsp: yes
quote-ampersand: no
break-before-br: no
uppercase-tags: no
uppercase-attributes: no
char-encoding: latin1
new-inline-tags: cfif, cfelse, math, mroot,
mrow, mi, mn, mo, msqrt, mfrac, msubsup, munderover,
munder, mover, mmultiscripts, msup, msub, mtext,
mprescripts, mtable, mtr, mtd, mth
new-blocklevel-tags: cfoutput, cfquery
new-empty-tags: cfelse

14 Feb 2006 version. Tells about TIDYCFG.INI, but could only get things working with HTMLTIDY.CFG

Posted 9:21 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

I've always wondered what all the other x-1 and x-22, etc. channels are that show up after a channel scan.

Here's a list of them (courtesy of HDTV for San Diego )

• FOX 6-1
• CBS 8-1
• ABC 10-1
• NBC 39-1
• PBS 15-1 (maybe 119-4)
  
• CW 69-1 (maybe 119-3)
• 4SD (Padres games) 92-4
• TWC Guide 111-22
• MTV 112-3
• Nick Jr 114-3

Posted 1:53 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

Having more and more trouble with the "new" machine.

Started here with losing DVD drive
http://vnerdkb.blogspot.com/2008/12/home-gateway-losing-dvd-drive-letter.html

Now the HD locks up for 1 to 15 minutes, causing apps (Word, Excel, IE) to hang at startup for that long, then finally start. Event viewer has all kinds of errors:

The device, \Device\Ide\iaStor0, did not respond within the timeout period.

The device 'Optiarc DVD RW AD-7203S' (IDE\CdRomOptiarc_DVD_RW_AD-7203S_________________1.06____\4&b343978&0&0.2.0) disappeared from the system without first being prepared for removal.

Gateway wants me to send it in, but without my 2nd drive in there. This morning, unplugged that drive to see how it fares before sending in. (Without that drive, if all ok, what's the point of sending it in?). First boot, wouldn't boot (thought I unplugged the wrong disk - nope)

The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) failed to load:
cdrom

Posted 7:07 AM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

Finally got the RRoD on the 360. Sending it in for repair.

Mfr date: 2006-02-14
Serial # 606475760705
Product ID: 77093361606475760705

02/16/09 - started here: repair your console

02/25/09 - sent xbox unit to repair center.
UPS tracking # 1Z 687 4R0 90 1990 2210

Posted 6:55 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

I'll be hitting Hulu.com during the game to catch up on some of the commercials. Apparently they have this gadget that will let me show them to you right here:



Posted 2:27 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

Having pretty frequent "hangs" of file explorer, even Excel trying to open a file, etc. Found a TON of errors in the system event log:

The device, \Device\Ide\iaStor0, did not respond within the timeout period.

Intel� Matrix Storage Manager - Possible issues with Windows Vista* and Intel� RAID

Some dude named Paul writing about it here

02/01/09 update
Reg changes from above hadn't worked - timeouts and lags hitting the drive were as bad as ever.

Physically moved the devices to SATA ports 3-5 as described in the Intel doc above. So far so good, no problems since that change yesterday.

Posted 8:18 AM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

Classic. My Zune was hosed this morning, stuck on the "boot screen". Won't respond to normal reset commands. Finally this eve, searched around a bit.

Turns out it's a clock issue. Will hopefully resolve itself tomorrow.

Official statement from MS

Happy New Year Zune!

Posted 10:04 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

I was cleaning out old Firefox bookmarks and came across this one.

A really long, long time ago, back at SAIC I think, I was a frequent contributor to the rec.sport.volleyball newsgroup. (Yes, this was well before the internet was popular, web sites with "forums" weren't around, so this was the way a group of people with similar interests communicated.)

Anyway here's the post (notice the funny email address @SAIC.COM):

ro...@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Robin Amano) writes:

:
: I have a question I though would never get answered, because I don't know
: anybody. So if possible, what does the US team do for strength training?
: Weights? Plyometrics? If so, what do you do? Squats? Depth jumping?
: Bounding? Sorry if you already answered this, but being that the topic
: on the net is vertical leap, maybe a lot of people would be interested.
: I always wondered what the best do. Take Care and Goodluck!!
:
I have seen this type of question quite a bit lately, in the newsgroup, and
in my email. So, here's the general answer to the USA team conditioning,
jump/weight training, etc.

Our season runs from mid-January to mid-November. All of our 'routines' are
based on this 'year' schedule.

Conditioning: For most of year, do cardiovascular work after practice (which
goes from 8-12pm M-F) 2 or 3 times a week. Start the year with 6 weeks or so
of distance running (2 miles) to build a good cardio base. Then start moving
into sprints. Start with 440s, then 220s, 100s, 50s, and even 20s. Stay with
each distance for a month or so. We do a 440 sprint for time at the start
of the year, then the rest of the year, the sprints are at 70/80/85% so we
have to come in at a certain time.

Weights: Lift 3 times a week after practice, on the days we don't run. Again
start the year building a base, high reps, lower weight...then work into lower
reps (down to 4x6 reps or 10,8,6,4,2reps) with increased weight. As for
which lifts: Flat bench, incline bench, shoulder press, lat pulldowns, upright
rows, seated rows, tricep/bicep work, shoulder work (light weight), leg
extensions, leg curls, calf raises. The big question that is always asked is
SQUATS. That is optional for us - a few guys do them. I don't because of bad
knees, and they do more harm than good. We get a lot of work for our legs in
the course of a 4 hour INTENSE practice.

Jump Training: Occasionally (maybe 4 or 5 times a year) we will do a month
or so of jump training after practice. This consists of jumping at the net,
with weight belts or ankle weights, and working on form with our arms/hands.
Other exercises include attaching surgical tubing between our ankles, and
moving side to side (increasing the distance between the feet - thus creating
tension in the bands) on the court. We test our verticals on a 'vertec'
probably about every 2 months.

Lastly: we are tested 3/4 times a year for body fat and VO2 MAX. Our body
fat must be uner 10% or we cannot practice (until you get it down). But the
goal is 8%. Mine is 7.4% VO2 Max is a test of volume of oxygen that your
lungs cycle for a given time, and is a measure of how in shape you are. The
test consists of riding a stationary bike for 5 mins as fast and as hard as you
can while a doctor monitors heart rate, blood pressure, etc. For anyone who
knows what the numbers mean, we must be above 50 to practice.

That's about all I can think of. Feel free to email or post with further
questions.

Good Luck.
-Dan
-------------------
Dan Hanan USA#12
d...@quebec.saic.com
-------------------

Posted 6:13 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

Got the R4 chip for the kids DS systems. Here's a run-through of how to get it going.

Bought the R4 chip here.

Thanks to this site for the video walk through.

• 2 GB Micro SD card (like this one)
• Copy 4 items (2 files and 2 dirs) from R4 install disc \system v1.18\English-1.18 to root of the SD card
• Add new folder, called "Games"
• Copy .NDS game file into the Games folder

That's it. Put the R4 chip in the NDS, turn it on. The Pac-Man looking icon is the "directory" of the R4 chips. DOS looking directory listing, choose the game and go.

(If it asks to create a save file [SAV], make sure to hit YES)

Posted 9:53 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

The DVD drive in my Gateway FX7029E machine is there sometimes when I boot into Windows, and then randomly disappears. After it disappears, it doesnt show up in BIOS or then anytime in Windows. I have gotten it to reappear only after changing the SATA cables around.

Currently: SATA0 (HD), 1 (DVD), 2 (HD #2)

Called Costco, they brought Gateway on the line, and the guy quoted me MS KB article 929461 about disappearing drive letters in Vista. (not exactly my case, cuz I didn't upgrade from previous Windows version).

Anyway - deleted UpperFilters as described in the KB article (LowerFilters didn't exist).

Wala ! DVD Drive (F) is there again! Not holding my breath that it will stay there for long. Will keep an eye on it.

Thanks Costco / Gateway !

Posted 9:01 PM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink   

Finally got around to updating firmware for my Olympus 850sw camera (the underwater, shock proof one). I was thinking this would take me to v1.1 which is advertised as giving unlimited recording length up to card capacity, but actually took me from existing 1.1 to 1.2

Firmware versions:

• 1.1 - removes limit on recording capacity (on my 2 GB chip, I get about 16 mins of recording capacity - does that sound about right?)
• XD M+ 2 GB chip
• 18:42 capacity according to this chart
  

• 1.2 - improved audio quality on recordings.
• no more no/low volume for first 5 seconds
  
• sounds like better quality
  
• haven't done a long recording, so not sure if audio cuts out occasionally like it did on Grandma's long recording
  

How to update firmware here. Use Olympus Master 2 software to check for, download the firmware, and apply the update to the camera.

Posted 11:20 AM    |    0 comments    |    Permalink