SLB

Blackberry: The RIM handheld USB drivers are unable to suspend at this time

2009-11-17T06:33:00.000-08:00

It's like a blast from the past with my Blackberry Bold 9000 handheld from RIM. What is it you ask? When I attemtped to close my laptop computer and put it into a "sleep" mode, I got the following messsage:

"The RIM handheld USB drivers are unable to suspend at this time."

The funny thing, it is not 2005 anymore -- when is the last time I can find on Google where anyone experienced this particutlar issue with trying to suspend or put their computer to sleep. Yep, you read that correctly, 2005! Not only that by this wasn't on Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows 2000...it was on a "fairly recent" Windows XP machine. Ok, maybe a little outdated we're two versions behind with Windows 7 being released and Windows Vista before that.

Still, a pretty big surprise.

How and why does it happen?

I am not sure why yet or how to solve the problem, but I can tell you it has happened three times in the past few days. And, I have a pretty good idea on what happened to cause it.

In an effort to improved the terrible performance on the BlackBerry Bold 9000 and the AT&T 3G network, I decided to check and see what updates were available -- both for the Blackberry Desktop Manager and the base handheld software / firmware.

As luck would have it, updates were available for both. The Blackberry Desktop v4.5 software I was running had been updated with version 5.0.1. And the Blackberry Bold Software had an update available to the handheld software. I was most excited about the handheld upgrade to version 4.6 build 297 -- hoping the woeful batter life, random reboots I would experience, and poor 3G coverage would cease.

I went ahead and installed both of the updates and everything seemed fine. Actually, the Blackberry Bold device software has done wonders for my system by upgrading to 4.6 build 297. My service is quite a bit better -- although I am still plagued by a 1/2 mile stretch in Malibu with no signal (how can this been in 2009?). Other than that, the spurious reboots are gone and overall the device seems a lot more stable -- not as stable as an iPhone, but pretty good for a Blackberry.

And then, as mentioned above -- I have started to get the message below when trying to suspend my IBM, err...Lenovo ThinkPad T61:

"The RIM handheld USB drivers are unable to suspend at this time."

How does it happen? Well, in my case the Blackberry is "connected" to the BlackBerry Desktop Manager and Microsoft Outlook / Exchange via a USB cable and not just plugged in. My Lenovo ThinkPad T61 is in the docking station and I go ahead and shut the computer to force it to enter the sleep / suspend mode. However, I get a Windows alert that says:

"The RIM handheld USB drivers are unable to suspend at this time."

With the notebook desktop opened back up, I unplug the Blackberry Bold 9000 from the computer and re-attempt the suspend mode by closing the laptop. The laptop suspends cleanly and goes into the sleep mode.

I did some Google searching and all I could find was a reference to an posting back in 2005 that had to do with USB conflicts. (link here) Given the age of, as well as the description of the issue with Windows 2000, still unanswered -- it clearly does not apply to the situation here.

Has anyone else encountered this error with Blackberry Desktop Software v5.0 or v5.0.1 and have a solution to recommend? If so, please let me know with a comment!

How To: Upgrade / Replace Your PS3 Hard Drive (Sony PlayStation 3)

2009-11-16T11:02:00.000-08:00

So, you want to upgrade the hard drive on your Sony Playstation 3? Maybe to either increase the speed of it or perhaps the capacity?

Or, perhaps the original hard drive on your PS3 crashed or failed and you need to replace it?

Whatever your reason for needing to upgrade or replace the hard drive on your Sony Playstation 3 (PS3), you've come to the right page to find out how you can do it. I recently upgraded my hard drive on my PS3 and this is the experience I went through. My reason is that I wanted to increase capacity as well as speed for downloadable content, multimedia and even the "Other OS" function that you can run Linux on. Overall, this guide should make it really simple for your to upgrade in just a manner of minutes.

Before you get started, there are a couple of things you need before you can get into the actual project.

1. The most important thing to realize about the Sony Playstation 3 hard drive is that it is not a standard 3.5" hard drive. Rather, instead it is a 2.5" hard drive which are generally found in laptops, notebooks, and even the Mac Mini. Another important consideration is that if you are running Ubuntu Linux or another operating system you may want a 7200 rpm drive as it will make a dramatic performance difference. To find the right drive at a great price, click here to see the 2.5" hard drives from Amazon.com.

2. Tools -- you'll neeed a regular flathead screwdriver, a standard phillips screwdrive, and a smaller / precision phillips screwdriver.

3. Other items: A USB memory stick, as you may need to update the Sony PS3 system

Once you have those three, you are ready to goahead and proceed with tutorial. Here is the step-by-step guide on how you can replace / upgrade the hard drive on your Sony PS3.

1. Power down and unplug all the cables from your Sony Playstation 3.

2. Find the side of your PS3 with the sticker labeled "Detach this conver when removing the hard disk". There is a little tab on the right hand side. Place your flat head screwdrived in the slot and slide the plastic piece. It should snap and then pop right out.

3. With the plastic cover removed, the hard drive tray is exposed. There is only one screw (blue) that is required to remove the hard drive. Take your regular phillips screwdriver and remove the screw.

4. With the screw removed, the tab that the screw holds in will slide out from the PS3. From there slide it out and pull the tab to disconnect and slide out the hard drive.

5. Now comes the trickest part. The four screws that hold the hard drive are in fairly tight. If you are not careful or have the right phillips screwdriver size, you could strip them easily. Make sure to apply a good amount of pressue to the screws when turn and they should loosen more easily. Remove all four screws.

6. After you remove the screws, you can easily slide out the hard drive from the tray to make room for your replacement hard drive.

7. Slide your new hard drive into the tray and reverse the previous steps in order to have your PS3 ready to turn back on.

8. Reconnect your Playstation 3 cables and power on.

9. In many cases, you may immediately receive the message "Update data 2.76 required" or a similar message. Do not panic, it's a fairly easy solution.

10. Take you USB memory stick or other storage media types compatible with your PS3 and format it as FAT32. Create a PS3 folder in the root of the stick. Then under the PS3 folder create an UPDATE folder.

11. Go to the Sony site (link here: http://www.us.playstation.com/Support/SystemUpdates/PS3/pc_update.html) and under Step 2, click on the DOWNLOAD NOW button to get the latest update. Once the update downloads, place it in the --> PS3 --> UPDATE folder.

12. Plug it into your Sony Playstation 3 and the system will automatically install the latest update on your USB or other storage media and update the system to the current version.

13. You're complete now and ready to use the new performance and capacity of your Playstation 3 system. I would recommend an immediate formatting of the new system including a partition for OTHER OS so you can have the maximum flexibility for your Sony PS3 hard drive.

If you have experience with replacing any hardware, you can complete this upgrade in less than 15 minutes. Those with less experience may want to plan on the upgrade / replacement taking about 30 minutes.

Good luck!

How To: Fix GNOME blank screen in Ubuntu for PS3 Other OS and other update problems...

2009-11-11T08:58:00.000-08:00

After getting Ubuntu linux installed as the "Other OS" on my Sony Playstation 3 with the upgraded hard drive, I wanted to update to the latest supported version of the Ubuntu, which happens to be version 9.10 as of the time of this post. Since the version of Ubuntu I download based on my Google search was much older (you can get 9.04 from this page: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PlayStation_3), say version 7 -- I had a lot of updates to perform.

In fact, I would first need to jump to version 8 of Ubuntu before I could even get to version 9. A little bit painful to say the least. Still, since the system was going to do the majority of the work for me, I went ahead and browsed to System --> Update Manager and was informed that the update would be to version 8.04. I went ahead and confirmed and started the process.

At first things looked like they were going fine, but at some point I ended up in some sort of error loop between an SSL certificate update and a couple of package installs. In the end, I needed to thumb the PS3 to get any sort of response from the system. I wondered where that was going to leave me...perhaps with a corrupted OS with the partial Ubuntu install?

On boot-up, amazingly everything looked find and I got to the log-in screen for Ubuntu. I was very pleasantly surprised. I went ahead and entered my username and password and they were accepted. Great news...but then the problem started.

After the logon screen went away, I ended up with a blank screen with just the mouse pointer / cursor that would move, but there was no user interface, task bar, or icons to perform any actions. At first I thought I was stuck.

Luckily, Ubuntu / Gnome has a feature that allows you to go directly to the command line by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1. From there, you just log into the shell with the username and password and you are back in business.

Once I got to the command line, I was able to work through the issue by doing an automatic smart update from the command line. The command to enter to perform the update is:

sudo apt-get update

After all the packages are checked and downloaded, you are instructed to enter the following command to complete the update installation:

sudo dpkg --configure -a

It took about 10 minuts and froze on the cups-pdf package which I hit control+c to quit after 5 minutes of no activity, but the install of the updates worked great.

I then rebooted to try and get the PS3 Ubuntu update to work. After getting to kboot and hitting enter, the following happened:

Loading Kernel with initrd … success
Booting system
_

With the system being frozen and not able to boot. I tried a reboot again, and even a cold reboot -- but neither made a difference. Instead, I needed to type in the command "old" (without quotes) which uses the old kernal to boot.

Once I got back to the GNOME, the same symptoms persisted and I could not seem to get an upgrade to version 8.10. Whether I tried a plethora of commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install update-manager-core
sudo do-release-upgrade

The reality is that I got stuck in a loop and there was not way out of it, in fact the update manager would not recognize that new versions (9.04 and 9.10) of ubuntu existed. Other than to start over with the 9.04 release. So, to start the process I turned off the PS3, returned to the kboot command line. Where, contrary to some articles out there you're not stuck and locked out of XMB. Rather than holding down the power button for multiple beeps to return to the Sony XMB, all you need to do is type the following command to get back in:

boot-game-os

The lesson here is that you cannot always fix everything. :-) Or, better stated -- it may not be worth the time to continue down a certain path. Given that I was still on an older version of Ubuntu Linux for PS3 -- I figure it was best to start over.

How To: Prepare and Return Playstation 3 (PS3) for System Repair

2009-11-10T06:28:00.000-08:00

Having the Blu-Ray player in my Playstation 3 (PS3) die a couple of weeks ago was a big bummer. Not only could I not play games, DVDs, or Blu-Ray movies, but my PS3 was out of warranty meaning that I needed to spend $150 to have it fixed.

Despite the loss of $150, Sony (SCEA - Sony Computer Entertainment America Consumer Services Department) makes it really easy to return your Playstation 3 system to them. About 5 days after placing my order, a pre-packaged box arrived at my door that was ready to have my system packed in.

But, before we get too far ahead of ourselves -- there are several steps we need to perform with the PS3 before disconnecting and shipping it. Most importantly, we need to backup the data, then deactivate the user, and then finally delete your local users since once the Playstation 3 is serviced, it will be returned without any of the original data.

Let's start with the backing up of the hard drive. In most cases, you will need an external hard drive (USB) to backup the hard drive. If you do not have one, you can order one pretty cheap from Amazon.com by clicking here.

Once you have your USB 2.0 hard drive for your Playstation 3 (PS3), you need to plug it in, and make sure it is recognized by your PS3. This can be a little tricky to be honest given some of the limitations with what the Sony PS3 will recognize. If you are struggling with this, I posted a how to guide that you can access by clicking here.

Finally, you are ready to perform the backup or take a drive image of your Sony Playstation 3. It entails several steps, that I've documented in a separate guide that you can access by clicking here.

Now that you have finally backed up your Playstation, we're ready to take the next steps.

The next step is to deactivate your Playstation 3 from the PlayStation Network. In order to do this, on the XMB go to the Playstation Network and Sign in by pressing 'X'. Next, scroll to Account Management on the XMB and press 'X'. Then highlight the System Activation icon and press 'X'. Highlight the PS3 System and press 'X'. You'll now receive a pop-up and select the type of content you do not want your system to use. (I started with game and then repeated with video.) Highlight Deactivate System and then press 'X'. An acknowledgement apprears, press 'X' to complete.

It is recommended that you repeat it for video.

Next, it's time to delete all the users. To do this:

On the XMB, go to (Users) and sign in to each user account. With the user name highlighted, press the button. Select "Delete" and press the button. The message "If you delete the user, saved data for the PlayStation 3 format software, messages, and bookmarks will also be deleted. Do you want to continue?" will appear. Highlight "Yes" and press the button. You will receive a confirmation message "Are you sure you want to delete the user?" Highlight "Yes" and press the button. The user will now be deleted. Repeat for all users.

Now we need to format the hard drive. To do this:

Go to (Settings) > (System Settings) and press the button. Highlight [Format Hard Disk] and press the button. The message "Do you want to format the hard disk?" will appear. Highlight "Yes" and press the button. The hard drive will then be formatted.

Now we're ready to pack and ship. The packing and shipping instructions that came in the box were simple and easy to follow.

It takes only 5 minutes to pack and prepare your Sony PS3 for service shipment with the instructions from Sony (SCEA). Make sure to take up the box good!

With the Sony Playstation 3 packed and ready to ship, take it to you nearest UPS store to drop it off with the prepaid return label. Hopefully, in just a couple of weeks your PS3 will be serviced, repaired, and as good as new. I can't wait for mine to return!

How To: Backup Your PS3 Hard Drive (Sony Playstation 3)

2009-11-09T07:10:00.000-08:00

Backing up the data and hard drive of your Sony Playstation 3 is pretty important in a number of cases. In the first case, it is always good to have a backup of all your data in case of a hardware or hard drive failure. The second most important case is the case you need to return you PS3 for repair due to a failure -- like of the Blu-Ray player -- since that is what I am doing right now.

So, let's start with the backing up of the hard drive. In most cases, you will need an external hard drive (USB) to backup the drive because the volume of the contents (usually exceeding 10GB) will not easily on something like a USB drive. If you need a USB at a good price, I recommend checking out Amazon.com -- they have a ton of choices and sizes for any budget. Click here for the list USB hard drives from Amazon.

Once you have your hard drive, it is important to get the hard drive connected and recognized by the Playstation 3. This can be tricky given how "picky" Sony's PS3 operating system is. If you need help, click here to see my guide on how to connect a hard drive to your Sony Playstation 3.

Now with an external hard drive attached to your Sony Playstation 3, you're just about ready to back up the drive. But, before getting started, there are a couple of things that you need to be aware of:

Please note that the following copy-protected content will not be transferable:

Digital Right Management (DRM)
PlayStation format software game data
PlayStation 2 format software game data
PlayStation 3 format software Game Save Data flagged as unexportable

Please note that content purchased from the PlayStation Store can be redownloaded from the PlayStation Network download list and does not need to be backed up.

The good news with trophy data however. Trophy data is saved onto your PlayStation Network account and will be accessible regardless of the content on the hard drive.

Now that we're aware of how this might impact your backup, I would recommend storing any save data from the Playstation or Playstation 2 games on an memory stick or a memory card that you may be using with an USB adapter.

Here's how you backup the hard drive for your Sony Playstation 3:

1. Go to (Settings) --> (System Settings) and press the X button.

2. Go to [Backup Utility] and press the X button.

3. You will be given three options: Back Up (Back-up all data from your PlayStation 3 hard disk drive to the external USB drive.), Restore (Use a back-up that was made to an external storage to restore data to the PlayStation 3 hard disk drive.), Delete Backup Data (Erase backup data).

4. Select the Back Up option and press the X button to start the backup process. Depending on the amount of data, games, saves, and other media it could take up to one hour. The process will inform you of the progress and the approximate time left.

Congratulations, you have successfully backed up the hard drive on your Sony Playstation 3!

Outlook 2007 Multiple Time Zones Offset Incorrect with DST

2009-11-08T06:44:00.000-08:00

As luck would have it, I would be traveling to the East Coast this past week. And I commonly use the "multiple time zones" feature in Microsoft Outlook 2007 -- to keep track of appointment times in the time zone I generally find myself in, Pacific Time (PST). My second time zone either is commonly India Standard Time (IST) for the teams I am commonly working with.

Sometimes, however -- I do shift the timing to the East Coast for the Eastern Time (EST) zone. Especially when I was preparing to head on the above mention trip, that way I can plan my meetings on both the West Coast and East Coast at the right times and easily see everything together on the same Weekly Calendar view inside Microsoft Outlook. (regardless if it is Outlook 2000, Outlook XP, Outlook 2003, or Outlook 2007)

However, after booking a bunch of meetings, I started noticing a problem. The people that I was planning meeting with on the East Coast were mentioning to me that my meetings were for an hour later than I thought they were. I quickly looked at the calendar and it appeared to be at the right time, at least according the what the multiple time zone view told me.

But, when I looked closer...and interesting problem was revealed.

For some reason, the time offset in the Weekly View in the Outlook calendar was showing only a two hour difference between Pacific Time and Eastern Time. Which we all know should be three hours total. Oddly enough the problem didn't appear for either Central Time (CST) or Mountain Standard Time (MST).

Knowing the recent time change happened to Daylight Savings Time (DST), I assumed it was just Daylight Savings Time bug that I could use a tool (like this one). However, the problem I experienced did not directly apply.

What it appears I have discovered is nn existing, unfixed bug in the way Microsoft handles daylight savings with the multiple calendars specifically for the Eastern Time Zone (EST) when used as the secondary time zone. And it only occurs for one week (November 1st-7th in 2009) in with daylight savings and then return to standard time. Oddly, for the week of March 14th-20th in 2010 when we go to Daylight Savings time there is actually a four hour gap. This seems to to occur every year for the same week, with the November 7th-13th, 2010 experiencing the same problem.

While it is unknown whether Microsoft plans to fix the issue in Outlook 2007, we do know that it will occur, rather predictably moving forward. So, if you use multiple calendars and the Eastern Time Zone is your secondary one -- you can consistently expect the behavior the week after Daylight Savings occurs. If we cannot prevent it, at least we can manage it knowing what to expect.

Let's just hope I don't travel to the East Coast in March, 2010...since I'll likely forget about the problem until I start booking meetings at the wrong time.

Windows 7: Transfer iTunes Library and Settings from Windows XP and Vista

2009-11-07T08:46:00.000-08:00

Today was a big day for my Dell computer. Because, I installed iTunes and transferred (moved) my entire music library over to it. This was important because I am retiring my old computer and needed to get my beloved iPod hooked up!

The first piece of amazement for me was that Apple does not provide any tools through the iTunes software or via their website to transfer all of your settings from one machine to another. This can be annoying to setup all of the tabs and keep track of your music library! So, after a little Google searching, I came across Aleksandar Vacić's blog for which he provides a solution:

1. Copy C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\ into the identical folder in new install.
2. Copy C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\ into the identical folder in new install
3. Copy entire contents of old C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\ into the identical folder in new install

However, this does not work for transferring or moving iTunes settings on Microsoft Windows 7 from Microsoft Windows XP (although it does work for Windows Vista to Windows 7). The reason being, is that Microsoft in Windows Vista and Windows 7 they remapped the folders so they do not line up exactly. So, an updated version of Aleksandar's checklist would be:

1. Copy the folder C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\ to the folder C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\

2. Copy C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\ to the folder C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\iTunes

3. Copy entire contents of old C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\ to the folder C:\Users\USERNAME\Music\iTunes

Then start up your iTunes and you will have been successful in the move or transfer of your settings and library to your new Microsoft Windows Vista PC.

Did this solution work for you? If so, please let me know with a comment!

Also, if you are interested in what the mappings of all the old folders in Windows XP were versus what they are in Windows 7.

Microsoft Windows XP	Microsoft Windows Vista
Application Data	AppData\Roaming
Cookies	\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies
Local Settings	\AppData\Local
My Documents	\Documents
NetHood	\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts
PrintHood	\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts
Recent	\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent
SendTo	\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo
Start Menu	\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
Templates	\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates

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Fixed! Nintendo Wii Game freezes frequently at specific location

2009-11-06T06:11:00.000-08:00

This can be the most frustrating problem for us when we are playing games on our Nintendo Wii. That being said, occasional lockups with video games can happen from time-to-time and do not necessarily indicate a need for repair or replacement of your Nintendo Wii gaming system. If you are experiencing frequent lockups, or a particular game always locks up in the same area, please see the information below – as it could be a larger problem..

Most importantly, please make sure you are using only licensed accessories. Unlicensed products and accessories do not undergo Nintendo's testing and evaluation process. They may not work at all with our game systems, and they may have compatibility problems with certain games or accessories. This could be the cause of erratic or unexpected behaviors, including game lockups.

This post is one of several on how to fix problems with your Nintendo Wii. To see the entire list, click here for the Nintendo Wii Repair Guide.

If a game freezes while playing, usually power, reset, and eject buttons will not respond to the problem. Try unplugging the AC Adapter from the back of the console, then check the air vents to make sure they're not being blocked, causing the erratic behavior.

If you are still experiencing this issue, what to do will depend on how many games this issue is occurring with. How many games are you having this issue with "freezing"?

If this happens with just one particular game
1. Check out Nintento's list of specific games to see if there is a known issue with that particular title.

2. Check the bottom of the Game Disc (the side without any labels or writing) for any dirt or damage (such as cracks, scratches, etc.).

o If the game looks significantly damaged, such as with scratches or cracks, it will need to be replaced. Please click here for Nintendo's Game Disc replacement options.
o If the game looks dirty (fingerprints, smudges), try cleaning the Game Disc by using my cleaning guide by clicking here. If the problem persists, the Game Disc will need to be replaced. Please click here for Nintendo's Game Disc replacement options.

If after trying the above information you are still experiencing lockups with and you only have one only game disc, please click here for game disc replacement information.

* If more than one game experiences freeze at specific locations during game-play:
1. Try cleaning a few of the game discs using our recommended method and re-test to see if the situation has improved.

If after trying the above information you are still experiencing lockups with multiple games, please call 1-800-255-3700 for assistance.

How To: Clean Nintendo Wii Game Disc

2009-11-01T15:46:00.000-08:00

Is your Wii game disc or DVD not playing correctly?

Has the game disc been sitting out for an extended period of time collecting dust?

Is it freezing or experiencing other erratic behavior?

If the answer to the any of the above is yes, then this is the post for you where you will be walked through Nintendo's official game clean instructions.

Fingerprints, smudges, and other foreign material can interfere with a game disc being properly read by the Wii console. Please use the information on this page to properly clean a dirty Game Disc.

Before getting started, it is recommended that you get the Nintendo Wii Lens Cleaning kit. It's only $9.99, and you get get it from Amazon.com by clicking here to help keep your Nintendo Wii lens free of dirt and debris.

This post is one of several on how to fix problems with your Nintendo Wii. To see the entire list, click here for the Nintendo Wii Repair Guide.

With the cleaning kit, it makes the process much easier and we are ready to get started. As an important note, please remember:

* Use only: straight strokes when wiping the disc (do not use a circular motion).
* Use only: a clean, soft, cotton cloth (do not use paper towels, facial tissue, etc.).
* Use only: water (do not use soap or any other cleaning solution).

* Do NOT use: solvents such as: benzine, window cleaner, paint thinner, anti-static aerosol spray or abrasive cleaners.
* Do NOT use: machines designed to clean discs or remove scratches. These types of devices could damage the surface of the disc.

Here's how you can properly cleaning a game disc:

1. Dampen a portion of a clean, soft, cotton cloth, using only plain water lightly. Do not over saturate or soak the cloth.

2. With the damp part of the cloth, use straight strokes and wipe the bottom of the disc (non-labeled side) from the inside rim to the outside rim. Do not wipe in circular motion. Please see image below for proper cleaning technique.

3. Using a dry part of the cloth, use straight strokes and wipe from the inside rim to the outside rim. Repeat if necessary.

4. After all of the water has been removed, let the disc sit for at least two minutes to completely dry before inserting it into the Wii console. Do not use a hairdryer, heatgun, or any other heating device to accelerate the drying.

5. Try to play the game to see if the problem has been resolved.

If the problem has been resolved, be sure to properly take care of your game discs by storing them in their plastic cases in order to help prevent your discs from becoming dirty or scratched. Storing games in cases other than the ones they came in, or storing them outside their cases, may damage the disc. Do not leave them sitting out for extended periods of time.

If the same problem continues, the cause is likely damage to the disc. Use the disc replacement policy to determine how to get your game replaced.

If the game never worked or you are discovering errors in areas you have entered for the first time, it is possible that the problem could be with the system or the disc. (The system may still be the problem even if the disc shows some signs of damage.) Please call 1-800-255-3700 to discuss possible repair options.

As I mentioned earlier, if you are occasionally experiencing disc read errors, you may want to consider purchasing the Wii Lens Cleaner. Using the licensed Wii Lens Cleaner can help keep your Wii's lens clean from foreign material, which may help prevent these errors from worsening over time. For more information on this product, click here.

How To: Enter Diagnostics Mode on Sony Playstation 3 (PS3)

2009-10-31T12:12:00.000-07:00

There's a secret way to get your Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) into a diagnostic mode that will enable you to try some advanced "fixing" options for your game console. With the recent failure of my Blu-Ray disc drive, I figured it was worth a try.

In order to enter the diagnostic mode on your PS3, perform the following:

Hold Power button down for three beeps (while PS3 is off): Enter PS3 diagnostic mode.

However, this can be a little tricky. Generally, you do not count the first beep when the system turns on, so it is three after that. What happened on my PS3 is that the first time it beeped three times, the Sony Playstation 3 console shut itself off. On the second try, the second and third beeps come very close together. Take your finger off the button and you enter the diagnostic mode. They key here is the two quick beeps.

Once you enter the main menu for the PS3 Diagnostics, you have the following options:
Restart System
Restore Default Settings
Restore File System
Rebuild Database
Restore PS3 System
System Update

Two of the options are only available through this menu, Restore File System and Rebuild Database. All of the others can be completed through your normal Sony Playstation 3 menus.

Here is how both of them work:

Restore File System
After entering this mode, you are prompted with the question, Are you sure you want to restore the file system. You select yes and press down the X button.

The system restarts and then you get this message:

The hard disk's file systemis corrupted and will be restored.

It took about 45 seconds for my file system to be rebuilt. After it was restored / rebuilt, the PS3 restarts itself automatically.

Rebuild Database
Here, you are prompted with the question:

Are you sure you want to rebuild the database on the hard disk?

If you rebuild the database, messages, playlists and other saved information will be deleted.

It may take a few hours to rebuild the database.

After choosing yes, the system reboot's then you get the message:

The hard disk's database will be rebuilt.

In my case, it took less than 30 seconds and then the Sony Playstation rebooted itself automatically.

Unfortunately in my case none of these diagnostic utilities fixed the problem with my Blu-Ray disc drive...which means I will still need to send it in for service. Hopefully, you'll find these tips and options helpful!

How To: Force disc to eject from Sony Playstation 3 (PS3)

2009-10-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

Will you Blu-Ray, DVD, or game discs not eject from your Playstation 3?

Do you press the eject button, but nothing happens?

Perhaps there was a power outage and now your disks will not eject?

In any case, there is a Sony Playstation secret that will enable you to force the ejection and and removal of the Blu-Ray, DVD, or game disc from your PS3.

How does it work?

While your Sony Playstation 3 is still on, rather than just pressing the eject button, instead hold the eject button down for 8 seconds. This will override and force the disc to eject!

Good luck, hopefully that works for you!

How To: Reset Video Settings on Sony Playstation 3 (PS3)

2009-10-27T12:37:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting problem that I needed to solve. With my primary Sony Playstation 3 being broken (learn more here), I wanted to move my PS3 from upstairs down to the main home theater so I could still watch movies and playing games.

I thought it would be really easy. Just unplug the Playstation 3 upstairs, bring it downstairs and plug it in. Everything would work, no problems. I brought it down, plugged it in and guess what? No video or sound.

Why?

The Sony Playstation 3 does not have an "automatic" detect when you change the type of video connection. In my case, my Vizio LCD HDTV upstairs used an HDMI connection and my Sony Projection HDTV downstairs still used the component / d-terminal video and optical audio output. So, I could not get any video or audio.

I tried first changing the settings upstairs while connected to the HDMI to the component output, but I could not get it to save. Seemingly, Sony's PS3 was trying to protect me from myself by not allowing me to configure an unsupported video mode. If only they knew what I was trying to accomplished.

Was I stuck?

After some searching, I found a technique that your can use in order to reset the video (and audio in my case) settings on your PS3. Presumably it resets all of the "connections" on your PS3.

Here's how you perform the video / audio format and settings reset:

With your Playstation 3 turned off, do the following: Hold power button down for two beeps and then release. This function will reset video and audio to auto-detect and lowest settings.

I tried this out and it worked great for me...my PS3 was working with both audio and video immediately. The good news is that you can use this for any video and audio modes you are changing between including HDMI, Component, D-Terminal, Composite, S-Video, AV MULTI, and SCART.

Good luck, let me know with a comment if this technique works for you!

How To: Attach USB Hard Drive to your Playstation 3 (PS3)

2009-10-26T07:17:00.000-07:00

You think that in this day and age it would be drop dead simple to attach a hard drive to your Sony Playstation 3. In fact, it is 2009 and it's almost been 15 years since Microsoft gave us Windows 95 with it's plug-and-play -- which some called plug-and-pray. You would think, wouldn't you?

But it is not that simple, at all. In fact, your PS3 is very restrictive on the type of USB hard drive or mass storage device that you can attach to your Sony Playstation 3. Why? Your PS3 only allows for a mass storage device like a hard drive to be recognized in the FAT32 format.

FAT32 you say? Microsoft introduced FAT32 with Windows 95/98 (Wikipedia article on FAT here) and Windows 2008 server, Windows 7 and Windows Vista do not support it via their disk utility or disk management systems. Only NTFS and a new version of FAT called exFAT which is also known as FAT64. But, you guessed it...exFAT / FAT64 is not recognized by the Sony Playstation 3 System.

Which, leaves us in a little bit of a quandary. With only Mac OS X system Snow Leopard which will allow a FAT file system and a Microsoft Windows Vista system that will only format in exFAT, what is a person to do? All we want to do is connect an external hard drive to the PS3!

One of the most natural thoughts is...why don't you just go to a MS-DOS prompt and enter "format x: /FS:FAT32" where "x:" is the drive you want to format? Well, if your hard drive is bigger than 32GB -- which most are today -- you're in trouble as that command line will only generate a 32GB drive. (Of course, make sure you're running as administrator with windows elevated permissions)

What are you options?

Well, through this page I found a link (click here) to a program called "fat32format" which is a command line utility that enables you to format the entire partition, even those larger than 32GB as a FAT32 partition.

Here's how you should go about it:

1. Format your hard drive -- in my case it was a 80GB portable drive I have -- in either NTFS or exFAT, using the entire partition.

2. Download the fat32format1.zip file to enable formatting of hard drives and media over 32GB with FAT32 on Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. Unzip it in a location you know.

3. Open up a command line prompt as administrator with elevated permissions (you can do this by right-click and selecting run as administrator).

4. Browse to the folder where the fat32format.exe file is located.

5. Type "fat32format.exe z:" where z: is the letter of the drive you want to format as FAT32 larger than 32GB.

6. Type "Y" to confirm the drive and format. Now your drive will format!

Once it has completed, you will have a hard drive as large as the original partition you created with the FAT32 format on it. In my case, I had ~75GB available for data storage -- plenty of space to backup my Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) system.

I was able to connect it and it was immediately recognized without issue.

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Fixed? PS3 Won't Read or Play DVDs, Games, or Blu-Ray Discs

2009-10-25T10:07:00.001-07:00

The day has come unfortuantely; where it appears the original Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) that I bought 3 years ago at launch needs to have some work done on it. I am not sure exactly how it happened, but it appears that a combination of the Blu-Ray laser and/or mechanism failed.

This apparently was fairly common with some of the early versions of the Sony PS3, especially my CECHA-01 model; basically the very first hardware / firmware release of the Playstation 3. Some of the articles and discussion (this one for example) suggest that this was due to either poor quality Blu-Ray lasers being installed, or some overclocking by Sony early on to get the hardware fast enough to keep up with the demands.

In any case, I see several people with yearly failures of their PS3 Blu-Ray laser and replacements and varying symptoms from not reading just Blu-Ray discs to reading nothing: no games, no standard DVDs, no Blu-Ray.

My PS3 appears to have the symptom that none of them work. The Blu-Ray DVDs, Games, and standard DVDs load and spin up fine. However, there does not appear to be any tracking or reading happening. The end result is that nothing shows up in the main screen of the PS3 Operating System and load screen when turning the PS3 on.

Initially, I was unwilling to accept that my Playstation 3 was dead. I tried a number of old tricks and techniques to see if it was a cleaning or other basic issue. Here are the things I tried:

1. Good old can of air and basic cleaning of the PS3. No luck.

2. I tried the Playstation "cleaning" secret where the PS3 power switch in the off position, you turn power switch back on while holding down Eject button for 6-10 seconds. This mode allows you to clean out the dust inside the PS3. However, this technique only works for Models CECHG and higher. Bummer.

3. I tried resetting my PS3; both a soft reset as well as restoring the default factory settings. If you end up doing this process, please make sure you backup your PS3 system and settings first!

So, after numerous testing and investigation of alternatives...I have oddly opted to send it back to Sony for $150 to have it repaired. This was rather unusual for me to opt for this choice, but after a full investigation -- I decided it was the best option for me.

Why?

After some research, I found that you can get a laser lens and replacement deck from Amazon.com or eBay for about $50-$90, depending on the vendor and the amount of risk you want to take -- for example, a refurbished Blu-Ray lens / deck might be had for $50. Still, given the surprisingly high failure rate on the lasers -- did not seem worthwhile to me. At least you get a 90-day warranty from SCEA (Sony) on any repaired Playstation 3's. It seemed there was a lot of risk to take for $60 of savings; given a high likelihood that I could end up not only with a still broken PS3, but a $90 investment that I would still need to spend an additional $150 to complete the fix. Easy choice in my book where the risk of failure outweighed the cost savings.

However, if these Blu-Ray laser lens replacement approach $30 -- it would definitely be a different story!

Still if you are up for the do-it-yourself, you can get your replacement laser lens / deck from Amazon.com just by clicking here.

Here's a picture of what it looks like:

In addition, I found two great videos that will walk you through how you can accomplish the repair and replacement of the PS3 laser lens and deck on YouTube.

Part I: The tear-down guide for your Playstation 3:

Part II: The removal and replacement of the Blu-Ray laser and laser deck:

If you choose to attempt to repair the laser lens deck or the Blu-Ray laser itself, I am sure you'll be successful given the two videos above.

In the end, this type of problem is a little disappointing for my PS3 --, I had the same thing happen with my early edition Playstation 2 (PS2) where the CD-ROM failed and I needed to spend way too much money to have it fixed and replaced. At this point, I am willing to bite the bullet for $150 to have the Blu-Ray drive and laser fixed with Sony...but if the prices on the Blu-Ray DVD players keep coming down at the rate they have been to under $100. If it happens again, one of my two PS3's will be slated for parts and retirement.

Crazy how this always seems to happen with the game consoles, but I have yet to have a DVD Player itself ever fail on me. It sort of makes me wonder why.

How To: Blackberry Pearl 8100 LCD Replacement Guide

2009-10-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

You put your Blackberry Pearl into your pants pocket and you bumped into something and you heard crack...causing your to squirm.

Or...maybe you Blackberry Pearl was dropped and the face hit a sharp corner of a rock, breaking the LCD.

Or...perhaps you just got made and hit your Blackberry Pearl and you shattered the LCD.

Or...maybe it just burnt out or stopped working.

In any case, if you are out of sorts because you need to replace the LCD screen on your Blackberry Pearl 8100 series, then this is the right post for you! In just a couple of steps, I will show you how you can quickly and easily you can repair the Blackberry yourself for free...in just a few minutes of your time!

Before we get started, there are two things that you need:

1. A replacement OEM LCD screen for your Blackberry Pearl! Thank goodness they are readily available, you can get yours from Amazon.com. Buy a replacement LCD by clicking here.

2. You need a Torx bit screwdriver, specifically of the T6 size. However, I have found that is always best to have a complete set. Again, you can purchase these from Amazon and here is a quick link for you, click here to purchase.

If you have those two items, then you are ready to go. Just as a quick reminder, this particular guide should cover the entire line of Blackberry phones whether you are on the AT&T / Cingular, T-Mobile, or Verizon networks. As each network has it's own Blackberry Pearl model including the Blackberry Pearl 8100, Blackberry Pearl 8110, Blackberry Pearl 8120, and Blackberry Pearl 8130.

Now, let's get started with how to tutorial:

1. First off, you need to perform a basic tear down of your Blackberry Pearl 8100 series smart phone mobile device. I have previously posted a how-to guide on the basic technique for disassembling the Blackberry Pearl here: http://www.somelifeblog.com/2009/10/blackberry-pearl-8100-tear-down-guide.html

2. Once you get the basic tear down completed leaving you with the Blackberry Pearl main board with the LCD screen attached, now you will need to unhook the LCD cable from the board so you can remove the LCD. To do this, there is a small latch in the uppoer left hand corner (upper right of the picture) of the Blackberry LCD FACING the LCD Screen. Lift the black latch with light pressure to unlock the cable -- be careful not to damage the latch or the cable, as recovery is very difficult.

3. Now slide out the cable from the connector and you will notice that the LCD Screen sticks to the main board. Just lift with even pressure in order to remove the LCD screen. It should peel off, just like a sticker!

4. To replace your screen, just follow the two steps above in reverse. You want to position the the LCD Screen first and stick it to the main board on your Blackberry Pearl before you re-attach the LCD cable connector. Be sure to latch down the cable before putting your Blackberry Pearl back together or you will be going through the tear down process again!

Good luck, please let me know if this works for you with a comment; or feel free to leave a question!

How To: Blackberry Pearl 8100 Tear Down Guide

2009-10-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

It's time for another edition of the popular tear down guides for the Blackberry line of mobile devices and phones. This time, I will be tearing down the Blackberry Pearl 8100 Series of phones. This particular phone was no longer functioning (broken trackball) which I will be fixing and showing in an upcoming post.

This particular guide should cover the entire line of Blackberry phones whether you are on the AT&T / Cingular, T-Mobile, or Verizon networks. As each network has it's own Blackberry Pearl model including the Blackberry Pearl 8100, Blackberry Pearl 8110, Blackberry Pearl 8120, and Blackberry Pearl 8130.

Here is the how-to guide on disassembling or tearing down your Blackberry Pearl 8100 series phone. The guide requires a T6 Torx bit screwdriver to be successful. If you don't have one, you can get it here from Amazon.com -- click here.

1. Remove the battery cover. In order to remove the battery cover, turn the phone over push on the cover slightly and slide it down. After the cover clicks and slides, lift up to remove it.

2. Now remove the battery. To remove the battery, lift up on the lower corners of the battery and tilt at an angle. The battery should come out easily.

3. Using your Torx scredriver bit, remove the two screws at the top of the Blackberry Pearl 8100 series.

4. Now comes the trickiest part of this teardown guide. You need to carefully pop out (possibly use a small screwdriver from a eyeglasses set) the bottom plastic piece. There are two hooks that will disconnect from the Blackberry and the you can rotate it off and it pops off.

5. Once you have removed the plastic piece, it exposes two additional screws on the face of the Blackberry Pearl. Remove these two screws with your T6 Torx screwdriver.

6. When you remove the last two screws, it releases the silver sides of your Blackberry Pearl. From there just pull them of, the best technique is to start on one side and apply light and even pressure until they lift off.

7. Once the side plastic pieces are removed, you can simply lift off the black plastic piece holding covering the main board on your Blackberry Pearl.

8. Now you can just lift the Blackberry Pearl's main board out of the face plate of the Blackberry Pearl 8100 and you have disassembled the main pieces of your Blacberry Pearl.

Congratulations, you have successfully completed the tear down of your Blackberry Pearl 8100 series! In order to put your Pearl back together, all you need to do is reverse the steps in this guide and you will complete it. Upcoming guides will include repairing subcomponents and cleaning your Blackberry Pearl device.

Did this guide help you out or do you have additional quesitons? If so, just leave a question / comment below.

P2K Commander V6 (6.0.0) is Available!

2009-10-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

The latest full version release of P2K Commander, 6.0.0 also known as V6 is now available for download. Although, honestly...I am not entirely sure what it means. We know the focus for P2K Commander V5 (5.0.0) was on the P2K over USBLAN with associated features enabling it to be a full featured communication profile. But with P2K Commander V6 (6.0.0), the changes are not readily apparent.

First, I checked out both the ChangeLog.txt and the Whatsnew.txt file to see if there were any documented changes. Unfortunately, there were not any documented changes with the files for V6.

Next, I proceed to load up the application to see if there were any noticable changes. I checked the main screen, the options and all of the commands in the menu bar, but still could not find and new features or changes to the P2K Commander Application. Even checking the about section, I noticed that both the verison name and the build date were updated so minimally it is a new build.

Here is a screen shot of the new version:

The good news is that my phone still connects with ease to P2K Commander V6 and it appears to have all the functionality working properly.

This leads me to the following conclusions; and either one of them is the case.

1. P2K Commander V6 is a minor update to the V5 releases and has some bug, performance, and stability fixes.

2. With the P2K over USBLAN feature completely built out in version 5.1.0; the P2K Commander developers may have made the decision to simply consider it a complete version upgrade and repackaaged it as V6, version 6.0.0.

In either case, if you're looking to download P2K Commander V6, you can get it directly from this link:
http://www.el-co.hu/dl/P2kCommander-V6.0.0.zip

Otherwise, please visit this page for all versions of P2K Commander as well as any updates that may have occurred since this post:
http://www.somelifeblog.com/2007/03/motorola-v3-complete-list-of-p2k.html

P2K Commander V5 (5.1.0 MR) is Available!

2009-10-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

It's been quite some time since I have updated my site on the availability and features with P2K Commander. First off, I have been focused on a number of other things which have distracted me from keeping updated. But, then the creator of P2K Commander has made a number of changes to the site and availability and some of the initial vesions of P2K Commander V5 had some major issues with being able to establish connectivity to my Motorola V3 RAZR phone.

However, with the introduction of P2K Commander V5.1.0MR, which stands for Market Release -- a fully functional version of P2K Commander V5, that gets some great new bells and whistles. First, here is some history for P2K Commander V5 in terms of the releases:

P2kCommander-V5.0.0.zip 30-Jul-2008 20:42 357K
P2kCommander-V5.0.1.zip 01-Aug-2008 20:55 357K
P2kCommander-V5.0.2.zip 13-Aug-2008 21:26 358K
P2kCommander-V5.0.3.zip 18-Aug-2008 22:09 358K
P2kCommander-V5.0.5-MR.zip 03-Sep-2008 21:37 376K
P2kCommander-V5.0.6-MR.zip 30-Sep-2008 20:48 378K
P2kCommander-V5.0.7-MR.zip 03-Nov-2008 08:26 379K
P2kCommander-V5.0.8-MR.zip 04-Dec-2008 14:59 417K
P2kCommander-V5.1.0-MR.zip 06-Jan-2009 21:11 419K

Looking for updates to this list, the complete P2K Commander release list can be found here:
http://www.somelifeblog.com/2007/03/motorola-v3-complete-list-of-p2k.html

This article is a part of the complete guide to Motorola Phones, Modding, Software, and Troubleshooting guide. For additionl articles on Motorola Phone tools and other tips, please click here.

The great news about P2K Commander V5; is that it is the most fully functional and user friendly P2K Commander created thus far. In addition, it is packed with some great new features and updates that include some of the following items:

P2k over USBLAN support
P2K over USBLAN for reading/writing files, download hidden files, create/delete folders, filefilters, new paritions.
New logging code, autodetect if startup mode and phone type differ (p2k vs usblan)
Updated scripting (.p2kc files) for use with backup/restore user files.
Backup folders, recursively copy folders and containing files

And from my perspective, the use of P2K Commander V5.1.0MR was my best experience yet, here's how it went:

First off, when P2K Commander V5 starts up -- there is a snazzy new graphic of a Motorola RAZR phone rotating around. Entertaining update to the software.
After start-up the detection of a new version actually works. It notified me that there was an updated version of P2K Commander available and asked me if I wanted to download it. Since the download location changed recently; this feature is broken in many previous versions.
Lastly, the automatic detection of which mode you should be using worked very well. By default in V5, P2K Commander starts you up in P2K05 over USBLAN where my phone only works with P2K/P2K05 (USBLAN / Samba / Netbios and USBLAN / Ftp are two other options). The software detected my phone and automatically switched. The startup completed properly, connected to my phone and immediately pulled all of the data back

P2K Commander V5 was a homerun from my perspective after a few troublesome beta-like releases. If you need to update your P2K Commander to V5, V5.1.0-MR is the release you want.

Here are a couple of screenshots and descriptions of the tryout...

The new introduction graphic of a Motorola RAZR phone rotating as the P2K Commander V5 Application loads

The pop-up informs you that a newer version of P2K Commander is available and will pop you out to the download area so you can update.

After recognizing my connection mode via P2K05 over USBLAN would not work, it moved me back to P2k/P2k05, connected my phone automatically and read the files on my Motorola RAZR V3 properly.

iPhoto 09 Keepsakes: Photo Books & Calendars Review

2009-10-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

In my continued "lovefest" with Apple's iPhoto 09 since Apple patched the initial release a few months. Now that I am relatively satisfied with the overall product with the exception of a couple of small issues -- I was ready to try out some new features, the Keepsakes.

Keepsakes are ways you can transform you pictures in iPhoto to a permanent memento or "keepsake" as Apple likes to call it. The main choices are a Photo Book, Calendar, or even a Card. Basically, what you do is compile all of your photos the way you want to in the keepsakes, then send it off to Apple. From there, Apple produces the "Keepsake" you choose -- either the book, calendar, or card -- and it arrives about 10 days later at your front door. You can even have it faster, if you want for an additional expedited shipping charge.

We decided to try it...truth be told, we had fallen way behind on our scrap booking and creating of photo albums from our past trips. In fact, our 2006 trip to Germany is still in mid-creation. The photobook capability seemed that if it worked out properly, it would be a great way to "catch up" and have a good way to create the permanent memories as a coffee table book.

In fact, in just a few hours, we were able to create the following book from our recent trip to Madrid and Barcelona Spain.

When we first started the process; we first needed to choose the type of Photo book keepsake that we were going to create. Apple provides you with 3 options: Wire-Bound Books, Softcover Books, and Hardcover books. The wire-bound and softcover pricing are virtually identical where it becomes a matter of preference more than anything else. The hardcover book runs at a 50% premium, but is the only style that offers a "true" coffee table size, the 13" x 10" -- which runs $49.99 before all of the extra pages. Below is a snapshot from the Apple site on the current pricing and available options for iPhoto 09.

We choose the largest size, and created an initial album using all of our "favorite" photos that we flagged from our "Spain Trip" event. From there we choose one of the available styles, a world travel style that integrates maps and other layout and templates that go with a vacation and the initial book was setup.

There is a great little feature called "autoflow" that takes all of the pictures you have in the album and lays it out automatically. It was a great way for us to start the process; although it created a ton of pages...almost 100 or so. Then it was just a matter of time for use to change the layouts (in many cases increasing from 1-2 pictures to 5-6 pictures), and writing the copy for our adventures in the book.

Now was the moment of truth. The one area of nervousness I had was around the quality of the photo book that would be produced. When you take "great" pictures with a 12.1 megapixel DSLR camera, you do so because you care about the quality. And when investing $75 in a keepsake photo album in the full 13"x10" size, you want the quality to be clear and crisp as possible.

In reading some reviews on the web, I had found mixed reviews. It was clear from the reviews, that in past versions of iPhoto the quality of the photo books left a little to be desired. It had appeared to get better in iPhoto 08 and iPhoto 09, although there were some mixed reviews. After carefully considering, I figured it was worth the risk.

I went ahead and hit the submit button and watched iPhoto 09 go to work compiling and sending the information off to the publisher. Briefly, a red flag was raised when only 35MB worth of data was sent over the Internet. I was nervous of that because the raw sizes of the photos along in the album was likely 400MB.

Would I get the quality I wanted, or would I be disappointed? Only a couple of weeks would tell.

After about 10 days, the album showed up at our doorstep. I nervously opened up the album to see what we would get. Almost immediately, when I saw the dust jacket I knew I was going to be happy. The quality of the publishing was just as I had hoped for. The accuracy of the colors and the clarity of the printing met the expectations I had. I quickly flipped through the album and went to a couple of the full page pictures, where there was the most risk for quality and pixelation issues and they were just as expected.

In all, a very positive experience on our first keepsake photo album in iPhoto 09. No question that moving forward (and I should say backwards as well) we'll be using iPhoto 09 Keepsakes in order to put together our photo albums. It's too easy and the quality is great. If you were considering using it, I would highly recommend it.

Taj Mahal 2.0 - My Second Visit to Agra

2009-10-17T12:44:00.000-07:00

On my recent trip to India, I had another opportunity to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. One of my colleagues had never gone, really wanted to and I could not pass up another opportunity to see the Wonder of the World.

I had last visited the Taj Mahal back in July of 2007 and other than the drive, it was quite impressive. We left our hotel at about 1:30am in the morning for the 4 hour drive in order to get there for the sunrise at the Taj Mahal. It was in fact, the worst riding experience I had in my entire life and although the sunrise was impressive -- I vowed never to do the drive half-asleep ever again.

This time, our base in New Delhi was at the Trident Hotel which is actually in Gurgaon which is an impressive 5-star hotel just a few minutes south of the airport in New Delhi in the Gurgaon special economic zone. After a great night's rest at the Trident (which unfortunately is no longer associated with Hilton) our driver picked us up and we headed out at 7am for the Taj Mahal in Agra, about 120 miles away -- expecting a 2.5 hour trip to get there.

The journey to the Taj Mahal in Agra from Gurgaon

We had heard that roads had continued to improve, making the journey to Agra quicker since the last time I had arrived. We headed down SH13 (State Highway 13) on our way to NH71B (National Highway 71B) to catch the main NH2 (National Highway 2) which will get you into Agra. Very quickly, I realized that we were in for a long drive. Both SH13 and NH71B were two lane roads going through towns with a good number of dirt roads. In fact, it took us almost two hours just to get the NH2 highway. In all, our trip there was about an hour and a half longer than we thought it would be.

As we arrived in Agra, we stopped to pick up our "guide" for the Taj Mahal at the side of the road. This is where it is important to understand how it works in Agra. Pretty much either the car / bus / van company or your driver has "contacts" in Agra -- and your "guide" will always be free. The reason? The guide is not only a guide; but they are a commissioned based salesperson. They will be more than happy to give you a free tour and tell you all the details of the beautiful Taj Mahal.

Of course, in exchange for something...

At the end of your tour undoubtedly be told as part of your tour, I will be taking you to place where they still carve marble and inlay the gemstones in the marble. The place I am taking you has 17 generations of family members that still practice the ancient tradition...and you can also purchase an "original" piece that was created here in Agra in that same tradition. Of course, there are hundreds of these places in town and likely the one you will be taken to will be 4-5 times the price that you can find at one of the stores on the outskirts of the city...with no difference in quality. Not to mention you guide gets a 20-25% commission on what you purchase.

More on this later...

So, we pick up our guide and head over to the Taj Mahal. There is a "ban" on non electric and battery powered vehicles as you approach the Taj Mahal as a pollution prevention zone to preserve the marble. We paid our fees of 750 rupees (about $15 US at the current exchange rate) for non-resident visitors and jumped in a golf cart transport to come up towards the entrance of the Taj.

As we entered the protected zone, I noticed a couple of things that were different from my previous trip. The first was that the number of people that came up to us to sell various post-cards and souvenirs was very few compared to the last time. Hardly anyone came up to use. Secondly, there were several more vehicles (mainly police and military) in the non-pollution zone.

We entered the Taj Mahal and it was just as I remembered it...although this time there were no monkeys climbing on the walls surrounding the Taj. The weather was also much more pleasant -- 85 degrees or so -- instead of the 100+ with high humidity I had experienced in July/August of 2007. It was great to experience it again amongst the crowds again.

I mainly wandered on my own since I knew much of the story and history from my first trip and let my colleague Mike get the scoop from the guide. From what I overheard early on, I knew the sales pitch was on. First, he started by checking how much time we had...when we said not a bunch, we saw his pace pickup to make sure we'd have time to "shop", but we kept our own pace and did not allow ourselves to be rushed. Secondly, when we looked at the marble and the inlayed gemstones -- I could just hear not only the history but the sense of...don't you wish you could have something like this...and creating that emotional response.

It helped for both of us to know this was the standard method of operating at the Taj; so we were able to ignore it and still enjoy the tour.

As expected, at the end of the tour it was recommended that we go with the guide in our car to a local shop to see this work. We obliged, knowing we would go for a short demo and then exit to go to a different place with much better pricing. Once we got to the store we were able to watch a couple of people working the marble and stones...whether they were actually working or it was an act we weren't sure...but it was fun.

Once we completed the demo, we were taken into the store and even I was astonished at the types of prices that were being thrown out. First off, if the pricing is in US Dollars you know that you will be paying too much...but in this case, I was amazed. $550 was the asking price for an 18" round table, about 5x what you would expected. I also asked about an 8' table...which I knew someone had picked one up for 1.5 Lakh (about $3,000) and the owner of the shop told me 250 lakh...I could not help but almost laugh...that was $500k. We were polite said no thanks and left the store; thanking our guide for his great tour and giving him a couple hundred rupees as a tip.

We went over to the ITC Sheraton, the ITC Mughal in Agra and had a great meal before hitting a recommended shop on the way out of town. The shop we went to was J.K. Cottage Industries at 45, Shamshabad Road in Agra, 282001 - voice +91 562 2226897. We found the identical items we had seen at the previous store, but for about $120 rather than $550. We picked up a couple of items, negotiated the price down (20% minimum is my usual guide) and were happy with what we got and the pricing.

We then headed back towards Gurgaon and our room at the Trident Hotel. The way back was equally as long and little more trying...ask dusk approached, it seemed that drivers going the other way became more aggressive. Thank goodness that we had a great driver, Sanjeev...but on a couple of occasions we came to a complete stop when a car passing a truck on the little two lane road failed to make it on time. By the time we got back to the hotel it was well after dark.

It was a great trip overall, but thinking about it...if I were to go to Agra in the future I would do either one of the following two things:

1. Fly to Agra from Delhi, it's an hour flight and you probably blow another hour and a half getting to the airport and security, but it would be worth it.

2. Don't stay in Gurgaon, rather stay in Noida and leave from there. The worst part of the drive was SH17 and NH71B. From the special economic zone of Noida, it's pretty much a straight shot down NH2 which is a much farther developed road. Still, according to Google Maps they are both about equal.

Here are a few photos from the trip to the Taj Mahal, which I think turned out much better than my ones from my last trip:

The Trident Hotel in Gurgaon is a great place to stay. Quiet, peaceful, and relaxing.
The main road in Gurgaon. Huge developments going in there with massive luxury apartments and still the roadside vendors.
This was not a zoom photo. About 1000 oxen or cows...whatever. Right outside the window of the car...could have rolled down the windows and grabbed the horns.
Passing through a small town on the way to Agra. What caught my eye was the advertisement in this show for Xenon headlights, even out here in the middle of nowhere.
A picture as we approach the Taj Mahal.
Just the Taj.

One of the many typical poses people take. Definitely a tourist.
Walking outside the Taj Mahal on the way back to the car, I'm practically run over by some sheep.

Personal NAS: D-Link's DNS-323 is a Winner

2009-10-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

After my Galaxy MGB Raid Pro case died a few months ago, I really needed another personal solution for a network attached solution for my home network. With 2 Dell PCs, a Dell Server, and a Mac Mini, there is a lot of data that needs to be shared between devices -- and properly backed up. Please nevermind the fact that the number of desktop computers out number the total household 2:1 and if you add in the laptops and PS3s, it's worse.

Still, a reliable backup soltuion was required, and preferably one that was also compatible with the Apple Macintosh. The Galaxy unit really struggled with any sort of Mac connectivity via SMB, and forget about using Time Machine, even with hacks on it on Snow Leopard, OS X version 10.6. I was left with a modified process where I backed up my Mac Mini to my Windows 2008 server and from my Windows 2008 server copied everything to the NAS. Not really the greenest solution, wasting energy, disk space, and time.

Without any sort of NAS device, I was considering what to do when I happened to be stumbly through the aisles of Fry's Electronics...which can be dangerous for any geek, especially me. I ended up by the storage devices and the D-Link DNS-323 jumped out at me...it was only $149! I double checked only at Amazon.com and it was still $157 there. I had to buy it.

And let me tell you, thus far it has been a night and day difference from that old Galaxy MGB Raid Pro NAS.

First off, setup was pretty easy...just pulled out the 1TB Hard Drives from my Galaxy and dropped them in the quick release slots on the DNS-323 and I was in business. It was also nice not to have to screw everything in, saving me about 10 minutes. The only bummer is that even though you can use the same EXT2 format with the D-Link NAS, you cannot just drop the drives in and go. Unfortuantely, the entire drives needed to be reformatted.

Not a huge loss given the data was all backup and not source data. Just costs a little extra time and energy.

A couple of additional benefits so far:

1. The NAS device is yet to lock up; even when copying 100,000 files or more. That was a frequent issue with the Galaxy device that in the midst of a large copy, it would just freeze up.

2. Network throughput is much higher than the Galaxy. I'm touching much higher rates, peaking at 30M+ in some cases. I could never get the Galaxy much about 15M -- even using the same cables and both supposedly supported gigabit ethernet.

3. Ability to backup your Apple Macintosh directly to the NAS device. While you can configure (learn how to here) the Mac's Time Machine to backup to a network with a minor hack, I could not get it to work with the Galaxy NAS. No problems what so ever with the DNS-323.

4. The D-Link NAS is pretty quiet, especially the fan. Noticeable audible difference in terms of producing less noise.

So far, in my book the D-Link DNS-323 is a winner if you need a basic JBOD or backup configuration at a reasonable price for your home or small business network. The easiest place to pick one up? The D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure is only $148 bucks now at Aamzon. Just click here to pick one up.

How To: Start a Backyard Pool Construction Project

2009-09-21T11:31:00.000-07:00

Putting a pool in your backyard?

That's something we have been thinking about the past few years. It had not been an easy choice for us given the volatility in the real estate market and a sense for us that with the investment that would would be making -- would make us commit to living in our current place for the next 5 years. We have been flip-flopping back and forth. Recently though, after looking at some properties we decided to move forward with an entire new backyard project. Plus, the timing seems right.

For us, living in sunny southern California -- a pool is a very nice thing to have, especially given that with the appropriate setup you can extend your swim season from April to October with relatively little ongoing investment. In addition, we had been neglecting our backyard for a few years, remaining in our indecisive state.

Our backyard with existing patio that we're going to be putting a pool in.

You said the timing looks right?

Yes, appears to be pretty good timing for an economy and opportunity standpoint. For example, if we looked back at 2007, there were close to 4,000 permits filed for to build pools in the greater Los Angeles area. This year, here in 2009 -- that number is closer to a total of 700. That means that there are a lot fewer companies and jobs to go around, weeding out some of the weaker players and making the market that much more competitive.

Those along with a few other opportunities should make for a better price, with higher quality. Jobs are more scarce, labor is cheaper, bids are more competitive, steel is cheaper, and concrete is cheaper. From the initial conversations I have had, the prices may be as much as 20% lower than just 2 years ago -- to me, that sounds like great timing.

This will also be larger than just a "simple" in-ground pool project. Due to the relative size of our patio above, we'll be likely replacing that, adding outdoor lighting, a patio cover, as well as an outdoor bbq area. Altogether, it is a complete redesign of our backyard which should be a lot of fun, and include a few problems that will need to be solved. :-)

Which brings me to another important point, I do not want to be my own general contractor on this project. I do not want to have to worry about coordinating all the various people and places...because I do not feel like I have time to do that. So, the company that I choose will need to be able to provide minimally the coordination between the pool, the backyard hardscaping, patio cover, lighting, and landscaping. Selecting a company that can handle all of these aspects will be a critical factor.

So, to the point of the article title...where do you start?

For me, it starts with researching and interviewing the top 8 pool construction companies in my area. I know of some, have looked at the yellow pages for others, and looked at recommendation and rating services still for others. The purpose of the first conversations is to get a feel for the companies themselves, and if what styles and constructions they are good at are a fit for what we are looking for.

Rather than telling them specifically what we're looking for, I will ask them for their ideas, thoughts, and recommendations for what they would do with our backyard if they had the opportunity. Based on that, as well as recommendations on the types of pool equipments, salt water vs. chlorine vs. bromine, solar heating and others -- we'll make our first round of decision.

After those initial 8 conversations, I will then narrow that down to 4 and go through the design and bidding process. I plan on the process taking 4-6 weeks total to make the selection.

Please join me as I go through the process of researching, selecting, and construction over the next 12-16 weeks. As I have been doing my research on the internet, it is hard to find any experience based articles or other types of information. What I am finding is a lot of articles and boards that are either advertisements for a particular pool company or equipment brand.

What I will post here is my week by week experiences and what I learn (both good and bad) as I interview potential contractors, choose and negotiate the price, and finally go through the construction process. By the time we're finished here, there should be a good how-to guide on what to and what not to do when building a pool.

Next up, results of the first round of conversation and some of the decision making criteria I will be using.

iPhoto 09: I Think I'll Keep It

2009-09-20T12:45:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have received a number of emails based on my experiences with iPhoto. They generally went something like this:

Ken,

I have seen your posts on the various problems that you have experienced with iPhoto. Now that some time has passed and you have not reported any problems with iPhoto 09, what's your opinion? Do you think it is a good photo management application or have you really just lost interest and moved on.

Thanks in advance,
A Reader

And it of course made me realize that I have not updated my blog with an opinion on whether iPhoto 09 is a decent photo management tool -- once all of the kinks were worked out. So, here we go -- this is my final(?) general review on iPhoto 09.

Overall, my opinion has dramatically improved since I first started with iPhoto 09 as a part of the iLife 09 back in February of this year. It's been quite a journey, bolstered by some fixes by Apple, as well as some major upgrades to my Mac Mini.

Here were some of the highlights:

It started with a disaster, as iPhoto struggled to import 12,000 photos.
iPhoto didn't run so well over the network.
The Trash can wouldn't empty, beachballs everywhere.
The Faces feature kept crashing.
But then, the tide started to change...Apple updated iPhoto to version 8.1.
I upgraded the RAM on my Mac Mini to 4GB (even though only 3GB are addressable by the Intel chipset.
I then upgraded to a larger 320GB, 7200 RPM Hard Drive.
And finally, upgraded to OS X 10.6, also known as Snow Leopard.

Which brings me to where we are today...

That I am generally satisfied with the features, performance, and stability of the iPhoto application. It took me six months and some significant hardware upgrades to my Mac Mini, but we're there now -- I am a pretty happy camper, with the 7,000 photos, 200 events, and 100+ faces in my iPhoto library -- it performs as expected.

Which means you can look at it two ways, either I needed to spend $200 to get the performance to make iPhoto work in a way I wanted it to perform...or, my experience dramatically improved as a side benefit from the upgrades. I tend to look at it as the latter as from my perspective I was not specifically solving for iLife / iPhoto.

Though I am generally happy, there are key features which are great, while a couple of areas I would like to see improved in future versions of iPhoto.

Features I like:

Faces feature with facial recognition, great way to find photos of folks.
Organization of photos with events and easy grouping.
Built-in locations for geo-tagged photos.
General usability moving between photots, events, and modes.
Ability to create calendars, photo albums, and photo books (more on that in the next couple of days.

Features that need to be improved:

File organization of photos and events. No rhyme or reason to the organization of the library, when combining multiple events, the photos are spread all over the disk.
Photo editing. Make it easier, something like the "I'm Feeling Lucky" feature in Google's Picasa photo software where a combination of tune-ups without needing to fine-tune every aspect of the picture.
Ability to run more effectively from a network. Running iPhoto 09 off a networked drive like a NAS runs too slowly.

Overall, iPhoto 09 is a good piece of software that, when considering the less than $100 price tag as part of iLife 09 (or my $10 upgrade price) -- is a great value.

Snow Leopard: Not So Smooth Upgrade

2009-09-19T08:17:00.000-07:00

I arrived home from my business trip last Friday evening to find my longly awaited OS X upgrade to 10.6 (Snow Leopard) waiting at my front door in a box. Having just completed a successful hard drive upgrade last weekend (link here), I was ready to take on a new challenge.

In addition to the new challenge, I had done some previou reading on Snow Leopard upgrades. Pretty much everyone I read had a great experience with their upgrade process and in most cases noticed some significant improvements. In my case, I was hoping for the same and really waiting the outcome of that 1GB of RAM in my 4GB Mac Mini that was not being recognized by the system. I figured this would really be an easy, no issues upgrade for me.

My Mac Mini said not so quick...

I popped in the new Snow Leopard Installation DVD into my DVD-ROM player and I was ready to get started. I started to proceed with the installation and then when I went to choose the disk where I was to install Mac OS X, apparently there was a problem accentuated by the big yellow triangle with an exclamation point in it.

And it was not just a little problem, I couldn't move forward. Basically, I received the message that my newly upgraded hard drive, the Macintosh 320GB HD can't be used because it doesn't use the GUID Partition Table scheme. I had no idea what it really meant, but the message made it sound like it was easy. You know, just use the disk utility to change the partition scheme...select the disk, choose the Partition tab, select the Volume Scheme and then click options. Piece of cake, right?

No way. If you run into a partition issue, namely that you have the wrong partition scheme, the solution is simply. Start over. After an amount of research, I figured that I had to reformat my 320GB disk to get it over to the GUID Partition Table scheme from the Apple Partition Table scheme. There is no other way around it.

However, it's not that big of a deal really -- it only ended up costing me three hours of time waiting. Why? Because, the easiest way you can do it is to make a fresh backup via Time Machine. I hooked up my old 80GB drive via USB, and started backing up the entire system (~60GB) via Time Machine so it could be freshly restored using the built-in Migration Assistant in OS X -- Snow Leopard. And some good news is that you will end up with a very clean hard drive.

After the backup completed, I rebooted and used the Disk Utility from the Snow Leopard OS X DVD and then I was ready to install Snow Leopard. The rest of the installation went smoothly, with OS X 10.6 being ready in about 30 minutes after I had to setup some basic things about the machine since I was not upgrading including a new user.

Then the scary part came. Would I be able to restore all of the system's data using Migration Assistant from the Time Machine backup I had taken previously? I went to the Migration Assistant to find out.

In just a couple of minutes, after walking through the wizard...Migration Assistant found my full Time Machine backup and started to restoring. The process would take a little more than an hour to find out.

Once the process finished, I rebooted -- call it a habit from Windows Vista -- and hoped for the best. When the system loaded, Snow Leopard was in it's full glory -- and all of my files and settings restored. What a great experience, aside from the self-inflicted pain I caused myself from the upgrade a week earlier. Which, while the upgrade ended up spanning 6 hours instead of 1 hour -- it was good it happened. Luckily my drive size was still small enough for an easy backup to the external 80GB drive I have. A few month later, who knows what I would have done.

And initial impressions with Snow Leopard are positive. A few of the disk and system intensive programs like iPhoto seem to be performing better. All-in-all, a pretty good upgrade from an experience and a value add perspective.

On an ending note -- with the Mac Mini, Snow Leopard still does not enable the recognition of 4GB of RAM for those of us that have completed that upgrade. The problem as it ends up is with the limitations of the Intel chipset for this version of the Mac Mini. Regardless of firmware, software, or OS upgrades -- the system is only able to address 3GB of RAM, so there will always be approximately 1GB of RAM not being used. But, at least you can get some minor graphics benefits (about 15%) from the dual-channel, matched 2GB memory chips.

iPhone: How to Sync Multiple Calendars and Computers Easily

2009-09-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

Need to sync your iPhone with different computers and multiple calendars, but still want to keep them separate?

Ashley was struggling to get this working properly with her iPhone 3GS 32GB and it was consistently frustrating her. She would plug in here iPhone at work through iTunes, and all of her work appointments would sync correctly. Then she would come home and plug here iPhone in and iTunes would sync all the calendar events, appointments, and recurring items over from her home computer and iTunes would rewrite them.

She tried renaming the calendars, no luck. Tried flagging and saving the events differently, no luck. All she wanted to do was be able to keep here personal and professional life separate on the computers (no work appointments on the home calendar, and no personal appointments on her work calendar) -- was it so hard?

Well, apparently it is...because iTunes won't be able to help you out.

And Apple's MobileMe might be able to help, but it's $99/year pricing does not make it real cost effective.

Isn't there an easier and better yet, free way to do it?

Yes, of course there is. With just a little bit of help from Google and Idea Excursion, I was able to get the calendars to sync properly with the iPhone 3GS for free! All it takes is a quick installation, and about 15 minutes of your time to get it setup and working properly.

Here's how you can do it.

1. Head to Google and make sure you have a Google Calendar account.

2. Download the Google Calendar Sync Application by clicking here.

3. Now, configure Google Sync to work with your Microsoft Outlook by entering your Google Account information; being sure to select 1-way: Microsoft Outlook Calendar to Google Calendar. This will make sure your computer and Outlook files will remain separate, and specify how often you want to update your Google Calendar via the sync program. Just follow the picture below. (Of course, there is the alternative to use the two-way if you want to keep all the machines in sync with one total calendar.)

4. Now all you need to do if configure your iPhone to use the CalDAV protocol settings to sync the Google Calendar to your iPhone Calendar.

5. Open up the Settings menu on your iPhone from the main screen.

6. Scroll down and select the option for “Mail, Contacts, Calendars”.

7. Scroll down to the bottom of your lists and and select “Add Account...”

8. CalDAV calendars are not under any of the built-in accounts, so choose “Other”.

9. Scroll down to the bottom of the Other type screen and select “Add CalDAV Account”.

10. Now, enter the credentials for your Google Calendar, which include:

Server: www.google.com
Username:
Password:
Description:

11. The iPhone will now verify your account and auto-discover any additional settings and then start synchronizing your calendar information.

12. Head back to your settings menu, and click on "Mail, Contacts, and Calendars".

13. Click on the "Fetch New Data".

14. Under Fetch, select the "Every 15 Minutes" option to make sure your data stay up to date, or a similar frequency to what you choose with Google's Calendar Sync.

Repeat the process for the Google Calendar Sync (steps 2 & 3) for any additional calendars you want to sync to your iPhone. That's it, it is easy!