Simkin.Org

Category: Tech stuff

  • Mac Mini 2009 Media Centre

    Having had to rebuild my Mac Mini Media Centre recently, I’ve had a chance to review how I built it originally and pin-down a nice, working config. I connect it to my Logitech z5500 speakers with an optical cable and my Samsung 37″ TV with a mini-display to HDMI cable) So here is the detail:

    1. Boot from Windows 7 DVD and use the whole disk.

    2. Install the nVidia 15.35_nforce_win7_32bit chipset drivers

    3. Install the nVidia 285.26-notebook-win7 graphics drivers for the 9400M (8.17.11.9555 dated 13/11/2009)

    4. Install the Bootcamp drivers and run Apple Update

    Network drivers will now be:

    Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter (5.10.38.26 dated 22/10/2008)

    NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet (67.8.6.0 dated 08/07/2008)

    5. Run Windows Update for a few hours until everything is updated. Don’t take anything optional.

    6. Install the latest High Definition Audio Codec drivers from Realtek (6.0.1.6602 dated 27/03/2012). Use the Audio manager to default to Digital output. Don’t worry that it only sees two speakers. That is normal.

    7. Start Media Center. Run Setup and choose SP/Dif and 5.1 Surround. (May as well set up the folder locations whilst you are here, especially if you have DVD movies ripped into VIDEO_TS folders on your NAS)

    8. Download and install AnyDVD. Turn off the notifications.

    9. Chuck in a DTS-capable DVD (Jurassic Park III), make sure you choose DTS under sound options or language. Listen to the rear speakers to make sure they are working. Adjust the levels on the z5500 as needed.

    10. Chuck in a THX-enabled Dolby DVD (Empire Strikes Back) and test that one too

    11. Install your anti-virus tool of choice and do a full scan.

    12. Take a Backup. System, System Protection, Create.

    Optional Steps:

    – Install TunerFreeMCE

    – Install Keymapper (and map the teletext remote button to ^+`)

    – Install CDEject (and make the hot key combination CTRL SHIFT `)

    – Maybe put a little sticker on the remote….

  • In praise of the TP-Link TL-SG1008D

    My Netgear GS608v2 started to give me a very erratic network. Have swapped it for a £30 8-port gigabit switch from Argos! This little TP-Link switch just works. I’m a convert!

  • nVidia 296.10 Sleep problem

    If you’ve recently upgraded your display driver to 296.10, you may find your computer doesn’t come back from sleep mode. Actually, it DOES come back when you move the mouse but the screen stays black. Roll-back to a previous driver (295.73 or earlier) and skip this release if you want to fix it.

  • Mac Mini Broadcom network issues

    My MAc Mini is getting pretty poor LAN performance since the latest round of Windows 7 updates. Coincidentally, a Dell Optiplex 380 in the office had the same problem. A Maplin USB to Ethernet adapter solved the problem. No idea what Broadcom/Microsoft are doing but the network performance over USB2 was far superior to the onboard GigE RJ45 port.

    **UPDATE**

    After doing a total rebuild of the box, the network is working fine and dandy again. Latest Windows Updates, Bootcamp drivers and it all settled down

  • iphone and Google Calendars

    Getting an iphone can be fun. Finding a way to make it work with mail and calendars can be tricky.

    I recommend getting a Gmail account and then following two sets of instructions:

     

     

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  • iphone Screen Grab

    iPhone equivalent of PrtScrn button on your PC:

    Press the top button and hold it. Press the round button. Screen flashes. Release. Look in Photos.

    If you hold the top button too long, it’ll turn off.

  • How to Fix Steam

    Steam is used for a lot of games these days and generally it works fine. It can break though.

    Best fix: delete everything in c:\program files(x86)\Steam  EXCEPT steamapps and steam.exe. Run Steam.exe and go put the kettle on.

  • Vista Recovery

    I’ve had to fix a few Vista PCs recently. In every case, they came without a CD or DVD from which to recover unless you wanted to erase the disk and start again.

    Luckily, getting a bootable CD that can recover a failed Vista boot is as easy as looking here.

  • MyBook and the Case of the missing frames

    My home network is more complicated than most. Two devices on it are a pair of Netgear switches. The GS608v2 connects to my PC, printer and spurs off to the Powerline kit and a second switch in the living room, a GS605v3. Having noticed that the NAS performance is a bit iffy and a few reports from the alerting system that the NAS drops out a could of times a day, I naturally ignored the problem.

    Eventually of course, I decided to fix it.

    Plug the NAS into the GS608v2 and packet loss is quite high from the PC on the same switch. Plug the NAS into the downstream switch via a different cable and the packet loss goes away. Mmm. Must be the cable.

    Plug the new cable into the GS608v2 and the packet loss has gone.

    How did the cable suddenly start causing a problem? Well new new cable is Cat5E. The old one is unmarked. Could just be that there is an interference source nearby that wasn’t there before. Could be that we have mice. Could be something else.

    Task now is to leave the temporary cable dangling and watch for packet loss over the next few days.

    Makes you realise just what a struggle it must be for the average home user now that there are so many Ethernet connected devices at home.

    Then again, maybe it’s just me that has their TV plugged into the LAN?

  • Airplay for Media Centre

    If you have an iphone, ipod or ipad (I suppose that would be ip* to fans of regular expressions) device, you can use the Airplay feature to stream from your device to your telly. Currently all fans of the software are waiting for an iOS 5 fix but if you want to take a look, pop along to here.