how to Byte

Ubuntu 9.04 slow youtube(flash) video fix

2009-06-22T18:10:00.010+05:30

The problem
Online flash videos such as youtube videos don't play well on Ubuntu 9.04

Reason
The default flash plugin for Ubuntu 9.04 is set to swfdec instead of adobe flash. swfdec seems to be buggy at the moment.

Solution

Uninstall following packages : mozilla-swfdec, libswfdec

sudo apt-get remove mozilla-swfdec libswfdec

Install Adobe flash plugin 10 from its site.

This should fix the problem.

FIFA 08 Generic Gamepad Right Analog Stick Fix

2009-05-19T11:53:00.013+05:30

THE PROBLEM

Fifa 08 officially supports only few ‘branded’ gamepads.
For ‘generic’ gamepads the right analog stick doesn’t work.

THE SOLUTION

Let us first see how FIFA 08 identifies the gamepad.

FIFA 08 asks the registry the ‘name’ of the gamepad.
Registry returns the ‘name’ of the gamepad.
FIFA 08 locates the ‘name’ in the file devdata.dat (Located at ‘My Documents\FIFA 08\user’), and retrieves the corresponding settings. It then loads the retrieved settings + some other settings as specified in the registry. If it can’t find the name of the gamepad in devdata.dat, it loads a predefined setting for generic gamepads.

Example 1 : Logitech RumblePad 2 USB gamepad (Supported by FIFA 08)

Fifa 08 asks the registry.
Registry returns the name ‘Logitech RumblePad 2 USB’
Fifa 08 searches ‘Logitech RumblePad 2 USB’ and loads the appropriate settings.
The right analog stick works fine in this case.

Example 2: USB Dual Vibration Joystick gamepad (not supported by FIFA 08)

Asks the registry
Gets the name ‘USB Dual Vibration Joystick’
Searches the devdata.dat and doesn’t find the name ‘USB Dual Vibration Joystick’.
Loads generic settings.
Right analog stick doesn’t work.

The generic settings does not support right analog stick. So what is the workaround?

As one can see, there may be two workarounds

1. Modify the generic settings in devdata.dat such that it makes the right analog stick functional.

This method works in some cases. In other cases the right analog stick works, but not as it is supposed to. For example directions are changed and other strange behaviors. Anyway you might want to give it a try. Click here. If it works for you, fine. Otherwise try the 2nd method.

2. Modify the registry

The best thing about generic gamepads are that they are clones of some branded gamepads. They employ the same circuits and interfaces as the branded ones. Most of the generic gamepads I have come across are clones of either Logitech RumblePad 2 USB or PS2 Gamepad.

This makes this workaround possible. When a generic (cloned) gamepad is connected to the computer, it has every capability to support FIFA 08(because it already has the same circuits as RumblePad2 has. Right?). Only thing is that FIFA 08 doesn’t identify it. So if we can make our cloned gamepad recognizable… its done. As we know FIFA 08 recognizes the gamepad by its name written in the registry. Let us change its name to its ORIGINAL name (from which it is cloned).

Connect your gamepad, install the drivers
Go to Control panel > Game Controllers and find the ‘current name’ of your gamepad.

Open registry (run>regedit)
Search for the name of your gamepad found above.
Everywhere replace the name of your gamepad to Logitech RumblePad 2 USB

Keys which stores the gamepad name will be located in these places.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\MediaProperties\PrivateProperties\Joystick\OEM\VID_something

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MediaProperties\PrivateProperties\Joystick\OEM\VID_something

Verify if the name of your gamepad has changed to Logitech RumblePad 2 USB in control panel>game controllers.
If it has changed, run the game.
It should work. If it doesn’t your gamepad is not cloned from RumblePad 2 or PS2.
In that case open the file devdata.dat in notepad and try the names listed there.

Thanks for reading.

nv4_disp.dll Blue Screen Error Fix

2009-05-13T10:21:00.001+05:30

(THIS FIX WORKS FOR CORRUPTED DRIVERS ONLY, NOT FOR HARDWARE RELATED ISSUES)

You are playing your favorite game… eyes glued to the screen… just one more shot… just one more kill… heart throbbing… clinched teeth… you wait anxiously as the final moment arrives… and suddenly its anticlimax… it all turns blue… yes, the dreaded Blue Screen of Death has knocked your desktop with all its glorious error messages. sighs…

It has become recursive now. The more you try, the more often you get it. You have tried everything. You reinstalled the drivers, checked the graphics card, changed the RAM, tweaked the BIOS, changed the graphics settings, changed your power supply. Everything in your computer is changed except…

There are many “fixes” on the web, starting from reinstalling the drivers to buying a whole new machine. I run Windows XP SP3 with NVIDIA FX5200 graphics. Almost a year back I started facing this problem. I tried as many “fixes” as suggested and few more. But the error was too loyal to leave me. Recently I managed to get rid of it. This is how I escaped BSOD.

THE OBSERVATION

It is not the drivers supplied by the NVIDIA that causes the problem. It is the driver that is shipped with Windows itself!

I freshly installed Windows XPSP3 and tried removing NVIDIA drivers using Driver Cleaner Pro. Here is what i got.

Freshly installed windows already had the

nv4_disp.dll
nv4_mini.sys
Other NVIDIA driver files

The idea was clear by now. This problem is most likely caused by the windows drivers itself.

THE FIX

Install Driver Cleaner Professional.(It is not longer free. But its free version is still lurking around the web. Probably here)
Uninstall your current nvidia drivers.
Reboot windows in safe mode. (Show me how)
After rebooting, windows will auto-detect the graphics card and try to install drivers for it. Just cancel it.
Run Driver Cleaner Pro and under ‘Cleaning Selection’ menu select ‘nVidia’.
Hit ‘Start’.(This would delete the driver files and registry entries.)
Reboot Windows in safe mode.
Install the latest nvidia drivers.(Get me there) [84.21 drivers works best in most cases]
Boot windows normally.

It should fix most of the issues related to corrupted nv4_disp.dll driver. If it doesn’t, there might be a hardware issue. Visit NVIDIA forum for more info.

Please let me know if it worked, or a better fix if any.