mylifeinaminute.com » Hardware

Roku Channel Database

Scott — Mon, 10 May 2010 01:08:29 +0000

The Roku Channel Database provides a consolidated view of all of the channels currently available on the Roku platform (including “private” channels). If you are looking for some new content for your Roku appliance, check it out.

[Roku Channel Database]

Blackberry OS Upgrade (4.2 to 4.5)

Scott — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:08:51 +0000

I recently had the pleasure of upgrading my Blackberry from OS 4.2 to 4.5. Normally this would be a “no brainer”00, but as with all things in life I had to be difficult and perform my upgrade from a Windows Server 2008 workstation.

Without further ado:

Install the latest version of Desktop Manager (DM) that works with your operating system.
- Verify that DM is connected to the BES. If DM is not seeing your BES, your device will not reactivate after the OS upgrade is complete.
Install the 4.5 package.
Unplug your handheld from your PC and reboot.
- A reboot was required in my case as DM and Windows did not detect the new device drivers for the handheld.
Plug your handheld into your PC. Windows will automatically detect the updated device drivers.
Start your handheld upgrade from DM.
Wait.
Wait some more.
Did I mention you should still be waiting?
??? Profit ??? Really RIM, does an upgrade need to take this long?
After the successful completion of your upgrade, DM will automatically reactivate your handheld with the BES.

Important notes:

If you are connected to a Windows domain, when upgrading with DM, make sure you are signed in to your domain account that is tied to your handhelds email configuration. If you do not do this, you will most likely not reactivate on the BES, and that is a BAD thing.
If the upgrade does not take the first time, be sure you have rebooted and that you are utilizing the newest device drivers for your handheld.

Why would you want to upgrade and go through the pain? For some of the following:

BlackBerry Maps with Points of Interest
Improved media player with playlist support and automatic playlist generation
Voice note recording
Video recording on Curve models
Streaming support for YouTube and Sling Player
Microsoft Office document editing with DocumentsToGo
And more…

Older Dells and Pesky Disk Errors

Scott — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 23:00:55 +0000

A family friend was recently having some trouble with an older Dell Dimension 4550. One day, the computer started exhibiting disk errors, and would no longer boot. The specific error was “A disk error occurred – CTL ALT DEL to reboot”. Based on the error, one would think that there was a disk error. The computer had recently been shut off from a power outage, and there was a good chance that the disk had in fact gone bad.

At this point, it was off to the common trouble shooting steps. Reseating the system memory (RAM), replacing the hard drive cable, and replacing the hard disk itself. Replacing the hard disk proved to be interesting. After installing the new disk (and verifying that the system BIOS could see it), I proceeded to re-install the operating system (Windows XP Home Edition). After the installation routine had successfully copied all of its files to the drive, the computer automatically rebooted and exhibited the same disk error message. Hmmm… a disk that is writeable but cannot be read? I’ve never heard of that happening.

Out of ideas, I turned to the system BIOS. The version running was A03 and an update to version A08 was available on the Dell support site. After a quick burn of the new BIOS (and a quick boot with a Windows 98 Boot CD), I was able to apply the update and reboot the computer. At this point, I re-installed the supposedly bad hard disk, crossed my fingers and rebooted once more.

Success! The computer booted with no further problems and showed no further signs of not functioning. This is truly one of the most disturbing PC hardware troubleshooting adventures I have gone on, as the system BIOS appears to have corrupted itself or fallen out of favor with itself. Next time I sit down with a Dell with a hard disk error, its off to the BIOS for me.