Tech Tips: 2012

18 November 2012

Eliminating UAC prompt for individual programs

Here is how I was able to stop the annoying UAC prompt in Windows 7 everytime I started Fraps without disabling it completely.

Download the Windows Compatibility Toolkit from: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=7352

ApplicationCompatibilityToolkitSetup.exe
And install it

Open the Compatibility Administrator (use 32 bit for 32 bit programs and 64 for 64)
Click the Fix Button which will bring up a wizard

Type the name of the program (eg. Fraps)
Click the browse button and select the program
Check the RunAsInvoker box and nothing else
Click Next twice and then Finish

Click Save

Type in a name for the database, I used Fraps
Select a location/name for the save, I used the same directory as the program and fraps.sdb

Exit Windows Compatibility Toolkit
Start an elevated command prompt

Click the start button
Type: cmd
Right click on the cmd result and select "Run as administrator"

Navigate to the directory you saved the sdb file to
Type: sdbinst Fraps.sdb
You should see the following result:

Installation of Fraps complete.

All done! Enjoy your starting of the program without UAC prompts!

Source: http://pcsplace.com/windows-vista/how-to-turn-off-user-account-control-for-individual-programs-in-vista/

03 November 2012

Windows X11

To install a X11 window manager in windows, I used Cygwin and made sure to check the X11 options when installing.

To start the X11 window manger open a cygwin terminal and type:

xwin -multiwindow

You can then use X forwarding in PuTTy to open Linux Guis on windows! Each window will have windows native minimize, maximize, and close buttons.

28 October 2012

Upgrade from Xubuntu 10.04 LTS to 12.04 LTS

Here are the couple things that I found that I had to fix when upgrading from Xubuntu 10.04 LTS to 12.04 LTS:

I was not getting DNS resolution

```
sudo vi /etc/resolv.conf
```
add:
```
nameserver 192.168.1.1 
```

UPDATE: the above does not last you should instead:

```
sudo vi /etc/network/interfaces
```
add:
```
dns-nameserver 192.168.1.1
```

My VNC session was not loading a window manage (giving a failure to load gnome message -- I also got a trash not supported error and application crashes when starting xfce4-session)

vi ~/.vnc/xstartup
make sure it has:
```
startxfce4 &
```

When running synaptic from the application menu, it would ask for a password then fail to load

```
xhost +localhost
```

noip2 was removed and not in the package list

```
cd /usr/local/src
```

sudo wget http://www.no-ip.com/client/linux/noip-duc-linux.tar.gz

```
sudo tar xf noip-duc-linux.tar.gz
```
```
cd noip2-2.1.9-1/
```
```
sudo make install
```
```
sudo /usr/local/bin/noip2 -C
```
```
sudo vi /etc/init.d/noip2
```

change:

DAEMON=/usr/local/bin/$NAME

CONFFILE=/usr/local/etc/noip2.conf

```
sudo /etc/init.d/noip2 start
```

27 October 2012

Creating/Mounting/Burning ISOs in Linux

Creating an ISO:

First make sure everything using the cd/dvd drive is closed
Unmount the cd/dvd drive:

```
sudo umount /dev/dvd1
```

Create the copy:

```
readom dev=/dev/dvd1 f=disk1.iso
```

Verify the copy:

```
md5sum /dev/dvd1
```
```
md5sum disk1.iso
```

If you are getting read errors, you can use safecopy:

```
safecopy /dev/dvd1 disk1.iso
```

Mounting an ISO:

sudo mount -o loop -t iso9660 disk1.iso /mnt/iso

Burning an ISO:

```
wodim dev=/dev/cdrw -v -data disk1.iso
```

01 October 2012

Toshiba L875D-S7232 Review

Here are my thoughts on my newly purchased laptop, a Toshiba L875D-S7232. Overall I am very happy with my purchase, but will definitely be looking to upgrade to a SSD at some point.

Pros:

17.3" 1600x900 screen
A8-4500M Processor
6GB of 1600MHz RAM
HD 7640G Graphics (defaults to 512MB use)
The Silver and Black color makes the laptop look professional
Good Windows Experience Index Scores (scale 1.0 to 7.9):

Processor: 6.7
Memory: 7.0 (out of the box; 7.2 after updates)
Graphics: 6.7
Gaming Graphics: 6.7
Hard Disk: 5.9

3DMark 06: 4693
Price: $479.99 + tax at Staples
Boot Time is 2-3 minutes including login and browser launch

Cons:

No Hard Drive Activity LED (I replaced with a software one: http://sourceforge.net/projects/activityindicat/ )
The shiny black plastic surrounding and under the keyboard shows dirt and fingerprints easily
Norton 30 day trial - I uninstalled and replaced with Avast Free Home - http://www.avast.com/en-us/index
Power Plug does not have a separate ground
No Spot for a second hard drive
It appears that video driver updates must come thru Toshiba instead of AMD, but this seems to be common with notebook APUs

Other Thoughts:

Toshiba Software Update Page
Island Keyboard may take some getting used to
Function keys (F1-F12) default to their function use (change screen brightness/volume etc.)

Was able to change this behavior thru the pre-installed Toshiba HWSETUP Utility

Comes with Office Starter (ad supported Word and Excel)
On Med/High settings at 1600x900 I get between 40 and 60 FPS (capped by vsync) in DDO
On High settings at 1600x900 in Battlefield Play 4 Free I get ~30FPS
Side exhaust does get quite warm
Battery Life seems to be around 2.5-3 hours

Update 2016-07-06:

Toshiba disabled virtualization in the bios. I am disappointed that they did this on a mid-range laptop to try to force more high end laptop sales.

19 September 2012

Root and ROM Verizon Droid X 4.5.621

Here is my compilation of how to root and rom on a Verizon Droid X 4.5.621

Disclaimer: I am not liable for any damage done to your device and always backup before beginning.

Root:

Download the iso from:

http://rootzwiki.com/topic/31735-combined-droid-2d2gdx2-and-droidx-root-cd/

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1823112

Recommended: run a md5sum on the iso
Use Unetbootin to write it to a blank USB drive/CD
Boot from this new USB drive/CD
Follow on screen instructions
Congratulations you are now rooted! You should see a new super-user app.
Install Titanium Backup from Google Play
Run Titanium Backup, it will fix your root permission

Rom:

Install Droid 2 Recovery Bootstrap

Available on Google Play for $2.99
Or from the web:

Open it and have it Bootstrap your phone
Install Clockwork Mod Recovery
Open it and have it install CWM
Choose Phone:

Droid X for installing Blur based ROMs
Droid X (2nd Init) for installing CyanogenMod style ROMs

Have it backup your phone
Install your favorite ROM; Here is a list of many of them:

Other thoughts:

As of this writing, CM7 does not install with the 5.X CWM
How to reboot into recovery:

Open up Clockwork Mod Recovery click "reboot into recovery"
Power Off Phone -> Hold in Camera Key -> Press Power until Phone starts booting -> Release camera key after 5 seconds

23 March 2012

LG Spectrum Review

Pros:

Gorgeous 4.5" 1280x720 HD screen protected by Gorilla® Glass

Qualcomm Snapdragon Dual Core 1.5GHz CPU makes the phone responsive

1GB of RAM

4G Data on the Verizon Network

8 MP rear camera with LED flash

Front Facing Camera

16GB Micro SD card included -- upgradeable to 32GB

Allows Grouping of Icons in App Drawer

Comes with Swype

Cons:

No Notification LED

Only 4GB of internal memory

Back is slick, so I had to get a case

Not on Ice Cream Sandwich yet

Wifi range seems to be smaller than my Droid X

Social Networking Widgets/Apps not as slick as MotoBlur

Comments:

Battery Life seems middle of the road (1830mAh)

Icons are bright and cartoonish

Speakerphone volume is sufficient

Price: $199 with 2 year contract, buy one get one free

15 February 2012

Best Firefox Simple Proxy Toggle

The best Firefox Simple Proxy Toggle that I have found is in QuickJava 1.7.5

It accomplishes the following:

Has a toolbar button

Simply toggles between No Proxy and Manual Proxy Configuration

Toolbar Graphic remains synced between windows