So one day my monitor turns itself off while I was working, and it wouldn't turn on again. I removed the monitor's power plug from the mains and tried again a bit later on, and it worked; the monitor turned on.
Dissapointment after a while, the monitor turned itself off again. And it wouldn't turn on again unless it was left a while with the plug off the wall. I updated the graphic card's drivers - nothing changed.
The monitor worked well when I connected it to another pc, so it lead me to believe that it was the graphic card's problem, a Force3D 4870 512mb. Checking the ATI control panel, EDID automatically "detected" that the maximum refresh rate of the monitor is 200hz. Mind you, an LCD screen has a refresh rate of 60hz only!
So there's a setting to override that and I set it to 60hz. And it works fine since then! It seems like the monitor turned itself off to protect itself from damage.
Oh, and I challenge you to find drivers for the LG w2252tq.
UPDATE: Problems persisted after a while, monitor sent back for repairs. Works fine now!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
"The disk in the destination drive is full. Insert a new disk to continue" although there is lots of free space
Recently I tried copying a file larger than 4gb, on my 8gb USB stick. I kept getting a message saying that "The disk in the destination drive is full", (although there was lots of space) so I tried reformatting the stick. Still, I got the error.
I checked and found out that the USB stick was formatted in FAT32, which I remembered limits files to 4gb. NTFS doesn't have this limitation so I tried formatting it to NTFS, unsuccesfully; there was no choice for NTFS when I right clicked and selected "format", nor there was when I tried through the Disk management.
Doing a bit of research, I learned that a disk can be optimized "for performance" or "for quick removal". By default USB drives are optimized "for quick removal" which limits them to FAT filesystems. In order to have the choice for NTFS format:
- right click the USB drive
- go to the "Hardware" tab
- find the disk in the list and double click it
- go to the "Policies" tab
- select "Optimize for performance"
Now you should be able to format as NTFS and copy files larger than 4gb!
I checked and found out that the USB stick was formatted in FAT32, which I remembered limits files to 4gb. NTFS doesn't have this limitation so I tried formatting it to NTFS, unsuccesfully; there was no choice for NTFS when I right clicked and selected "format", nor there was when I tried through the Disk management.
Doing a bit of research, I learned that a disk can be optimized "for performance" or "for quick removal". By default USB drives are optimized "for quick removal" which limits them to FAT filesystems. In order to have the choice for NTFS format:
- right click the USB drive
- go to the "Hardware" tab
- find the disk in the list and double click it
- go to the "Policies" tab
- select "Optimize for performance"
Now you should be able to format as NTFS and copy files larger than 4gb!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Installing OSX 10.5.6 on a Samsung NC10; what works and what doesn't
So I have managed to install Mysticus' 10.5.6 release on the NC10, following his guide.
Installation issues
The previous Windows 7 beta installation had (apparently) messed up my MBR and I kept getting the dreaded "Still waiting for root device". I can't recall how exactly I fixed it, but I used MBRWizard (/repair), which messed things up (could not boot). I used a USB stick with WinSetupFromUSB which allowed me to boot into my XP partition, and set it as active again. That "reset" my MBR somehow and allowed me to boot into the OSX installation.
Other than that, the installation went as normal. It's noteworthy that the second time I tried installing OSX (yes, I messed my installation up the first time), the Darwin bootloader would not identify my OSX partition but would rather label is as an NTFS partition and would not boot from it. The OSX installer identified it as a "Windows_NTFS" type partition instead of an HFS (if I remember correctly). Disabling the MacDrive installatio on my XP solved the annoying problem and I could reinstall succesfully.
The Atheros AR 5007 EG issues
I spent a couple of days trying to get the wifi card to work with Airport and I failed miserably. I managed to see networks and connect to them using kismac for 4-5 times, but wether it would work or not was totally random. I'd say it worked about once every 10-20 reboots. That's how I messed up my installation - I tried to install the 2008 004 Airport update which I probably shouldn't try to. I got a loop during boot, just before the login screen which forced me to reinstall.
I found a Dell DW 1390 on ebay for £5.99 plus £2.99 shipping which I swapped with the Atheros last night and works like a charm without any drivers or messing about. I hate to say this but its money well spent, £8.98 in total.
Dell DW 1390 installation
The Samsung NC10 doesn't have any warranty seals on either the ram slot or the whole bottom cover, only a bunch of screws (none of them under a label). Opening the bottom cover was quite easy - the only difficult part being unclipping the cover from the rest of the body after the screws were removed. I managed to do it by using a flat screwdriver - be EXTRA careful near the monitor hinges.
The Atheros card is clearly visible once the cover is removed, just one screw and two antenna cables and it can be pulled off its socket. Insert the new card, plug the antenna cables (white at white marker, black at black!), screw and that's it really!
What works - what doesn't
-Speakers work - you only have to choose "internal speakers" from the audio preferences.
-Mic/Headphonesneed drivers in order to work. have drivers now!
-Wifi works with the Dell 1390 (currently denying connection on 12,13 channels). -Bluetooth works and can be turned off with a fix from bike town.
-Trackpad works tap/drag as wellalthough there is no multitouch at the moment because of the differences with apple trackpads (usb) and other makers (ps2). This is a fix that would be extremely welcome! multitouch drivers released!
-Wired ethernetdoesn't work now works!
-Brightness and most other settings don't change with Fn key (volume works!); there is a workaround with Quicksilver for the brightness
I'm very pleased with the setup - currently dual booting XP and OSX. The only thing that I would really wish for is the multitouch trackpad (especially since it works in XP). Battery life is great, and startup/shutdown quite fast.
Big thanks to Mysticus for his efforts!
I should really split my posts into smaller chunks.
Anything I could help with, just ask!
Installation issues
The previous Windows 7 beta installation had (apparently) messed up my MBR and I kept getting the dreaded "Still waiting for root device". I can't recall how exactly I fixed it, but I used MBRWizard (/repair), which messed things up (could not boot). I used a USB stick with WinSetupFromUSB which allowed me to boot into my XP partition, and set it as active again. That "reset" my MBR somehow and allowed me to boot into the OSX installation.
Other than that, the installation went as normal. It's noteworthy that the second time I tried installing OSX (yes, I messed my installation up the first time), the Darwin bootloader would not identify my OSX partition but would rather label is as an NTFS partition and would not boot from it. The OSX installer identified it as a "Windows_NTFS" type partition instead of an HFS (if I remember correctly). Disabling the MacDrive installatio on my XP solved the annoying problem and I could reinstall succesfully.
The Atheros AR 5007 EG issues
I spent a couple of days trying to get the wifi card to work with Airport and I failed miserably. I managed to see networks and connect to them using kismac for 4-5 times, but wether it would work or not was totally random. I'd say it worked about once every 10-20 reboots. That's how I messed up my installation - I tried to install the 2008 004 Airport update which I probably shouldn't try to. I got a loop during boot, just before the login screen which forced me to reinstall.
I found a Dell DW 1390 on ebay for £5.99 plus £2.99 shipping which I swapped with the Atheros last night and works like a charm without any drivers or messing about. I hate to say this but its money well spent, £8.98 in total.
Dell DW 1390 installation
The Samsung NC10 doesn't have any warranty seals on either the ram slot or the whole bottom cover, only a bunch of screws (none of them under a label). Opening the bottom cover was quite easy - the only difficult part being unclipping the cover from the rest of the body after the screws were removed. I managed to do it by using a flat screwdriver - be EXTRA careful near the monitor hinges.
The Atheros card is clearly visible once the cover is removed, just one screw and two antenna cables and it can be pulled off its socket. Insert the new card, plug the antenna cables (white at white marker, black at black!), screw and that's it really!
What works - what doesn't
-Speakers work - you only have to choose "internal speakers" from the audio preferences.
-Mic/Headphones
-Wifi works with the Dell 1390 (currently denying connection on 12,13 channels). -Bluetooth works and can be turned off with a fix from bike town.
-Trackpad works tap/drag as well
-Wired ethernet
-Brightness and most other settings don't change with Fn key (volume works!); there is a workaround with Quicksilver for the brightness
I'm very pleased with the setup - currently dual booting XP and OSX. The only thing that I would really wish for is the multitouch trackpad (especially since it works in XP). Battery life is great, and startup/shutdown quite fast.
Big thanks to Mysticus for his efforts!
I should really split my posts into smaller chunks.
Anything I could help with, just ask!
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