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  • AudioTrack lag: obtainBuffer timed out

    - by BTR
    I'm playing WAVs on my Android phone by loading the file and feeding the bytes into AudioTrack.write() via the FileInputStream BufferedInputStream DataInputStream method. The audio plays fine and when it is, I can easily adjust sample rate, volume, etc on the fly with nice performance. However, it's taking about two full seconds for a track to start playing. I know AudioTrack has an inescapable delay, but this is ridiculous. Every time I play a track, I get this: 03-13 14:55:57.100: WARN/AudioTrack(3454): obtainBuffer timed out (is the CPU pegged?) 0x2e9348 user=00000960, server=00000000 03-13 14:55:57.340: WARN/AudioFlinger(72): write blocked for 233 msecs, 9 delayed writes, thread 0xba28 I've noticed that the delayed write count increases by one every time I play a track -- even across multiple sessions -- from the time the phone has been turned on. The block time is always 230 - 240ms, which makes sense considering a minimum buffer size of 9600 on this device (9600 / 44100). I've seen this message in countless searches on the Internet, but it usually seems to be related to not playing audio at all or skipping audio. In my case, it's just a delayed start. I'm running all my code in a high priority thread. Here's a truncated-yet-functional version of what I'm doing. This is the thread callback in my playback class. Again, this works (only playing 16-bit, 44.1kHz, stereo files right now), it just takes forever to start and has that obtainBuffer/delayed write message every time. public void run() { // Load file FileInputStream mFileInputStream; try { // mFile is instance of custom file class -- this is correct, // so don't sweat this line mFileInputStream = new FileInputStream(mFile.path()); } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {} BufferedInputStream mBufferedInputStream = new BufferedInputStream(mFileInputStream, mBufferLength); DataInputStream mDataInputStream = new DataInputStream(mBufferedInputStream); // Skip header try { if (mDataInputStream.available() > 44) mDataInputStream.skipBytes(44); } catch (IOException e) {} // Initialize device mAudioTrack = new AudioTrack(AudioManager.STREAM_MUSIC, ConfigManager.SAMPLE_RATE, AudioFormat.CHANNEL_CONFIGURATION_STEREO, AudioFormat.ENCODING_PCM_16BIT, ConfigManager.AUDIO_BUFFER_LENGTH, AudioTrack.MODE_STREAM); mAudioTrack.play(); // Initialize buffer byte[] mByteArray = new byte[mBufferLength]; int mBytesToWrite = 0; int mBytesWritten = 0; // Loop to keep thread running while (mRun) { // This flag is turned on when the user presses "play" while (mPlaying) { try { // Check if data is available if (mDataInputStream.available() > 0) { // Read data from file and write to audio device mBytesToWrite = mDataInputStream.read(mByteArray, 0, mBufferLength); mBytesWritten += mAudioTrack.write(mByteArray, 0, mBytesToWrite); } } catch (IOException e) { } } } } If I can get past the artificially long lag, I can easily deal with the inherit latency by starting my write at a later, predictable position (ie, skip past the minimum buffer length when I start playing a file).

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  • CUDA memory transfer issue

    - by Vaibhav Sundriyal
    I am trying to execute a code which first transfers data from CPU to GPU memory and vice-versa. In spite of increasing the volume of data, the data transfer time remains the same as if no data transfer is actually taking place. I am posting the code. #include <stdio.h> /* Core input/output operations */ #include <stdlib.h> /* Conversions, random numbers, memory allocation, etc. */ #include <math.h> /* Common mathematical functions */ #include <time.h> /* Converting between various date/time formats */ #include <cuda.h> /* CUDA related stuff */ #include <sys/time.h> __global__ void device_volume(float *x_d,float *y_d) { int index = blockIdx.x * blockDim.x + threadIdx.x; } int main(void) { float *x_h,*y_h,*x_d,*y_d,*z_h,*z_d; long long size=9999999; long long nbytes=size*sizeof(float); timeval t1,t2; double et; x_h=(float*)malloc(nbytes); y_h=(float*)malloc(nbytes); z_h=(float*)malloc(nbytes); cudaMalloc((void **)&x_d,size*sizeof(float)); cudaMalloc((void **)&y_d,size*sizeof(float)); cudaMalloc((void **)&z_d,size*sizeof(float)); gettimeofday(&t1,NULL); cudaMemcpy(x_d, x_h, nbytes, cudaMemcpyHostToDevice); cudaMemcpy(y_d, y_h, nbytes, cudaMemcpyHostToDevice); cudaMemcpy(z_d, z_h, nbytes, cudaMemcpyHostToDevice); gettimeofday(&t2,NULL); et = (t2.tv_sec - t1.tv_sec) * 1000.0; // sec to ms et += (t2.tv_usec - t1.tv_usec) / 1000.0; // us to ms printf("\n %ld\t\t%f\t\t",nbytes,et); et=0.0; //printf("%f %d\n",seconds,CLOCKS_PER_SEC); // launch a kernel with a single thread to greet from the device //device_volume<<<1,1>>>(x_d,y_d); gettimeofday(&t1,NULL); cudaMemcpy(x_h, x_d, nbytes, cudaMemcpyDeviceToHost); cudaMemcpy(y_h, y_d, nbytes, cudaMemcpyDeviceToHost); cudaMemcpy(z_h, z_d, nbytes, cudaMemcpyDeviceToHost); gettimeofday(&t2,NULL); et = (t2.tv_sec - t1.tv_sec) * 1000.0; // sec to ms et += (t2.tv_usec - t1.tv_usec) / 1000.0; // us to ms printf("%f\n",et); cudaFree(x_d); cudaFree(y_d); cudaFree(z_d); return 0; } Can anybody help me with this issue? Thanks

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  • How do I stop and repair a RAID 5 array that has failed and has I/O pending?

    - by Ben Hymers
    The short version: I have a failed RAID 5 array which has a bunch of processes hung waiting on I/O operations on it; how can I recover from this? The long version: Yesterday I noticed Samba access was being very sporadic; accessing the server's shares from Windows would randomly lock up explorer completely after clicking on one or two directories. I assumed it was Windows being a pain and left it. Today the problem is the same, so I did a little digging; the first thing I noticed was that running ps aux | grep smbd gives a lot of lines like this: ben 969 0.0 0.2 96088 4128 ? D 18:21 0:00 smbd -F root 1708 0.0 0.2 93468 4748 ? Ss 18:44 0:00 smbd -F root 1711 0.0 0.0 93468 1364 ? S 18:44 0:00 smbd -F ben 3148 0.0 0.2 96052 4160 ? D Mar07 0:00 smbd -F ... There are a lot of processes stuck in the "D" state. Running ps aux | grep " D" shows up some other processes including my nightly backup script, all of which need to access the volume mounted on my RAID array at some point. After some googling, I found that it might be down to the RAID array failing, so I checked /proc/mdstat, which shows this: ben@jack:~$ cat /proc/mdstat Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10] md0 : active raid5 sdb1[3](F) sdc1[1] sdd1[2] 2930271872 blocks level 5, 64k chunk, algorithm 2 [3/2] [_UU] unused devices: <none> And running mdadm --detail /dev/md0 gives this: ben@jack:~$ sudo mdadm --detail /dev/md0 /dev/md0: Version : 00.90 Creation Time : Sat Oct 31 20:53:10 2009 Raid Level : raid5 Array Size : 2930271872 (2794.53 GiB 3000.60 GB) Used Dev Size : 1465135936 (1397.26 GiB 1500.30 GB) Raid Devices : 3 Total Devices : 3 Preferred Minor : 0 Persistence : Superblock is persistent Update Time : Mon Mar 7 03:06:35 2011 State : active, degraded Active Devices : 2 Working Devices : 2 Failed Devices : 1 Spare Devices : 0 Layout : left-symmetric Chunk Size : 64K UUID : f114711a:c770de54:c8276759:b34deaa0 Events : 0.208245 Number Major Minor RaidDevice State 3 8 17 0 faulty spare rebuilding /dev/sdb1 1 8 33 1 active sync /dev/sdc1 2 8 49 2 active sync /dev/sdd1 I believe this says that sdb1 has failed, and so the array is running with two drives out of three 'up'. Some advice I found said to check /var/log/messages for notices of failures, and sure enough there are plenty: ben@jack:~$ grep sdb /var/log/messages ... Mar 7 03:06:35 jack kernel: [4525155.384937] md/raid:md0: read error NOT corrected!! (sector 400644912 on sdb1). Mar 7 03:06:35 jack kernel: [4525155.389686] md/raid:md0: read error not correctable (sector 400644920 on sdb1). Mar 7 03:06:35 jack kernel: [4525155.389686] md/raid:md0: read error not correctable (sector 400644928 on sdb1). Mar 7 03:06:35 jack kernel: [4525155.389688] md/raid:md0: read error not correctable (sector 400644936 on sdb1). Mar 7 03:06:56 jack kernel: [4525176.231603] sd 0:0:1:0: [sdb] Unhandled sense code Mar 7 03:06:56 jack kernel: [4525176.231605] sd 0:0:1:0: [sdb] Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE Mar 7 03:06:56 jack kernel: [4525176.231608] sd 0:0:1:0: [sdb] Sense Key : Medium Error [current] [descriptor] Mar 7 03:06:56 jack kernel: [4525176.231623] sd 0:0:1:0: [sdb] Add. Sense: Unrecovered read error - auto reallocate failed Mar 7 03:06:56 jack kernel: [4525176.231627] sd 0:0:1:0: [sdb] CDB: Read(10): 28 00 17 e1 5f bf 00 01 00 00 To me it is clear that device sdb has failed, and I need to stop the array, shutdown, replace it, reboot, then repair the array, bring it back up and mount the filesystem. I cannot hot-swap a replacement drive in, and don't want to leave the array running in a degraded state. I believe I am supposed to unmount the filesystem before stopping the array, but that is failing, and that is where I'm stuck now: ben@jack:~$ sudo umount /storage umount: /storage: device is busy. (In some cases useful info about processes that use the device is found by lsof(8) or fuser(1)) It is indeed busy; there are some 30 or 40 processes waiting on I/O. What should I do? Should I kill all these processes and try again? Is that a wise move when they are 'uninterruptable'? What would happen if I tried to reboot? Please let me know what you think I should do. And please ask if you need any extra information to diagnose the problem or to help!

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  • Internal drives vs USB-3 with external SSD or eSata with External SSD

    - by normstorm
    I have a need to carry VMWare Virtual Machines with me for work. These are very large files (each VM is 20GB or more) and I carry around about 40 to 50 VM's to simulate different software configurations for different client needs. Key: they won't fit on the internal hard drive of my current laptop. I currently execute the VM's from an external 7200RPM 2.5" USB-2 drive. I keep copies of the VM's on other 5400 external USB-2 drives. The VM's work from this drive, but they are slow, costing me much time and frustration. It can take upwards of 30 minutes just to make a copy of one of the VM's. They can take upwards of 10-15 minutes to fully launch and then they operate sluggishly. I am buying a new laptop (Core I7, 8GB RAM and other high-end specs). I intend to buy an SSD for the O/S volume (C:). This SSD will not be large enough to hold the VM's. I have always wanted a second internal hard drive to operate the VM's. To have two hard drives, though, I am finding that I will have to go to a 17" laptop which would be bulky/heavy. I am instead considering purchasing a 15" laptop with either an eSATA port or USB-3 ports and then purchasing two external drives. One of the drives might be an external SSD (maybe OCX brand) for operating the VM's and the other a 7400RPM 1TB hard drive for carrying around the VM's not currently in use. The question is which options would give me the biggest bang for the buck and the weight: 1) 2nd Internal SSD hard drive. This would mean buying a 17" laptop with two drive "bays". The first bay would hold an SSD drive for the C: drive. I would leave the first bay empty from the manufacture and then purchase/install an aftermarket SSD drive. This second SSD drive would have to be very large (256 GB), which would be expensive. I would still also need another external hard drive for carrying around the VM's not in use. 2) 2nd internal hard drive - 7400 RPM. Again, a 17" laptop would be required, but there are models available with on SSD drive for the C: drive and a second 7200 RPM hard drives. The second drive could probably be large enough to hold the VM's in use as well as those not in use. But would it be fast enough to drive the VM's? 3) USB-3 with External SSD. I could buy a 15" laptop with an SSD drive for the C: drive and a second hard drive for general files. I would operate the VM's from an external USB-3 SSD drive and have a third USB-3 external 7200 RPM drive for holding the VM's not in use. 4) eSATA with External SSD. Ditto, just eSATA instead of USB-3 5) USB-3 with External 7400 RPM drive. Ditto, but the drive running the VM's would be USB-3 attached 7400 RPM drives rather than SSD. 6) eSATA with External 7400 RPM drive. Dittor, but the drive running the VM's would be eSATA attached 7400 RPM drives rather than SSD. Any thoughts on this and any creative solutions?

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  • Gmail and Live are making all messages from my server as spam.

    - by Ryan Kearney
    I'm getting very weird results here. When my server sends an email to my @hotmail or @gmail account, it's marked as spam. When I send email through my server from Outlook to @hotmail, it doesn't get marked as spam, but it still gets marked as spam in gmail. They seem to get through fine on Yahoo though. My servers hostname A record points to an IP address whose PTR record points back to the same domain name. The TXT record has a SPF record in it to allow email to be sent from that servers IP. I moved from a VPS to a Dedicated server when this started to happen. From what I can see, the email headers are identical. Here's one of my email headers that gmail marks as spam. Some fields were repalced. MYGMAILACCOUNT is the email address of the account the email was addressed to. USER is the name of the account on the system it was sent from HOSTNAME is the servers FQDN IPADDR is the IP Address of the Hostname MYDOMAIN is my domain name Delivered-To: MYGMAILACCOUNT Received: by 10.220.77.82 with SMTP id f18cs263483vck; Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:58:02 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.150.16.4 with SMTP id 4mr3886702ybp.110.1267343881628; Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:58:01 -0800 (PST) Return-Path: <USER@HOSTNAME> Received: from HOSTNAME (HOSTNAME [IPADDR]) by mx.google.com with ESMTP id 17si4604419yxe.134.2010.02.27.23.58.01; Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:58:01 -0800 (PST) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of USER@HOSTNAME designates IPADDR as permitted sender) client-ip=IPADDR; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of USER@HOSTNAME designates IPADDR as permitted sender) smtp.mail=USER@HOSTNAME Received: from USER by HOSTNAME with local (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from <USER@HOSTNAME>) id 1Nle2K-0000t8-Bd for MYGMAILACCOUNT; Sun, 28 Feb 2010 02:57:36 -0500 To: Ryan Kearney <MYGMAILACCOUNT> Subject: [Email Subject] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit From: webmaster@MYDOMAIN Message-Id: <E1Nle2K-0000t8-Bd@HOSTNAME> Sender: <USER@HOSTNAME> Date: Sun, 28 Feb 2010 02:57:36 -0500 X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - HOSTNAME X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - gmail.com X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [503 500] / [47 12] X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - HOSTNAME Anyone have any ideas as to why all mail leaving my server gets marked as spam? EDIT: I already used http://www.mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx to check if my servers IP's are blacklisted and they are in fact not. That's what I thought at first, but it isn't the case. Update Mar 1, 2010 I received the following email from Microsoft Thank you for writing to Windows Live Hotmail Domain Support. My name is * and I will be assisting you today. We have identified that messages from your IP are being filtered based on the recommendations of the SmartScreen filter. This is the spam filtering technology developed and operated by Microsoft and is built around the technology of machine learning. It learns to recognize what is and isn't spam. In short, we filter incoming emails that look like spam. I am not able to go into any specific details about what these filters specifically entail, as this would render them useless. E-mails from IPs are filtered based upon a combination of IP reputation and the content of individual emails. The reputation of an IP is influenced by a number of factors. Among these factors, which you as a sender can control, are: The IP's Junk Mail Reporting complaint rate The frequency and volume in which email is sent The number of spam trap account hits The RCPT success rate So I'm guessing it has to do with the fact that I got an IP address with little or no history in sending email. I've confirmed that I'm not on any blacklists. I'm guessing it's one of those things that will work itself out in a month or so. I'll post when I hear more.

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  • reiserfsck on lvm

    - by DaDaDom
    It seems like my filesystem got corrupted somehow during the last reboot of my server. I can't fsck some logical volumes anymore. The setup: root@rescue ~ # cat /mnt/rescue/etc/fstab proc /proc proc defaults 0 0 /dev/md0 /boot ext3 defaults 0 2 /dev/md1 / ext3 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1 /dev/systemlvm/home /home reiserfs defaults 0 0 /dev/systemlvm/usr /usr reiserfs defaults 0 0 /dev/systemlvm/var /var reiserfs defaults 0 0 /dev/systemlvm/tmp /tmp reiserfs noexec,nosuid 0 2 /dev/sda5 none swap defaults,pri=1 0 0 /dev/sdb5 none swap defaults,pri=1 0 0 [UPDATE] First question: what "part" should I check for bad blocks? The logical volume, the underlying /dev/md or the /dev/sdx below that? Is doing what I am doing the right way to go? [/UPDATE] The errormessage when checking /dev/systemlvm/usr: root@rescue ~ # reiserfsck /dev/systemlvm/usr reiserfsck 3.6.19 (2003 www.namesys.com) [...] Will read-only check consistency of the filesystem on /dev/systemlvm/usr Will put log info to 'stdout' Do you want to run this program?[N/Yes] (note need to type Yes if you do):Yes ########### reiserfsck --check started at Wed Feb 3 07:10:55 2010 ########### Replaying journal.. Reiserfs journal '/dev/systemlvm/usr' in blocks [18..8211]: 0 transactions replayed Checking internal tree.. Bad root block 0. (--rebuild-tree did not complete) Aborted Well so far, let's try --rebuild-tree: root@rescue ~ # reiserfsck --rebuild-tree /dev/systemlvm/usr reiserfsck 3.6.19 (2003 www.namesys.com) [...] Will rebuild the filesystem (/dev/systemlvm/usr) tree Will put log info to 'stdout' Do you want to run this program?[N/Yes] (note need to type Yes if you do):Yes Replaying journal.. Reiserfs journal '/dev/systemlvm/usr' in blocks [18..8211]: 0 transactions replayed ########### reiserfsck --rebuild-tree started at Wed Feb 3 07:12:27 2010 ########### Pass 0: ####### Pass 0 ####### Loading on-disk bitmap .. ok, 269716 blocks marked used Skipping 8250 blocks (super block, journal, bitmaps) 261466 blocks will be read 0%....20%....40%....60%....80%....100% left 0, 11368 /sec 52919 directory entries were hashed with "r5" hash. "r5" hash is selected Flushing..finished Read blocks (but not data blocks) 261466 Leaves among those 13086 Objectids found 53697 Pass 1 (will try to insert 13086 leaves): ####### Pass 1 ####### Looking for allocable blocks .. finished 0% left 12675, 0 /sec The problem has occurred looks like a hardware problem (perhaps memory). Send us the bug report only if the second run dies at the same place with the same block number. mark_block_used: (39508) used already Aborted Bad. But let's do it again as mentioned: [...] Flushing..finished Read blocks (but not data blocks) 261466 Leaves among those 13085 Objectids found 54305 Pass 1 (will try to insert 13085 leaves): ####### Pass 1 ####### Looking for allocable blocks .. finished 0%... left 12127, 958 /sec The problem has occurred looks like a hardware problem (perhaps memory). Send us the bug report only if the second run dies at the same place with the same block number. build_the_tree: Nothing but leaves are expected. Block 196736 - internal Aborted Same happens every time, only the actual error message changes. Sometimes I get mark_block_used: (somenumber) used already, other times the block number changes. Seems like something is REALLY broken. Are there any chances I can somehow get the partitions to work again? It's a server to which I don't have physical access directly (hosted server). Thanks in advance!

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  • Setting up a minimalist linux environment

    - by Nate
    All right, I've been messing around with various linux distros and a variety of window managers (I seem to change operating systems like most people change their pants), and I've gotten to the point where I know what I want but I'm not sure the best way to set it up. Here's what I want out of my programming machine: I don't want a status bar. I don't want a menu bar. When there are no windows open, the screen should show my desktop background and nothing else. I'll use alt+f2 to run things, and my shell prompt will tell me my battery life and the time. I'll open network controls and volume controls when I need them, no need for them to pollute the screen all the time. I want a good, simple terminal emulator. I'll be using it with tmux. It should have no title bar and, if possible, no app frame. It's ok if I have to run it in full screen mode to remove the app frame, but only if it still plays nicely with alt-tab and workspaces. I want a dirt-simple window manager. It needs to support transparency: I don't have a lot of screen real-estate and I often overlay the terminal on the browser and type out commands. I don't want a tiling-only system, for the above reason. Bonus points for tiling and overlaying. I'd like multiple workspaces. I prefer to have one gui per workspace. If I could 'pin' the terminal emulator to always show up in each workspace, that's bonus points. If not, I can have a terminal emulator in each workspace attached to the same tmux instance. I'd like a way to set up a keypress that always takes me to the current open terminal emulator. Currently, 90% of the time I only have two windows open: the terminal emulator and something else. In this scenario, alt-tab works like a toggle between the two. If I have another gui open (like a developer window with a web browser), this throws a wrench in my workflow. I'd like a way to assign, for example, 'super-T' to switch to the first open terminal emulator. Bonus points if I can also assign 'super-B' (or whatever) to switch to the first open browser. So far I've been messing around with gnome and tweaking it heavily to match my preferences, but that seems like overkill and I can never get it quite right. I've toyed with xmonad, but it's more for handling many windows, and I usually only have the two. and am considering fluxbox, but I was wondering if any of your minimalists out there had suggestions that might better match my workflow. I'm sick of fighting the window manager, I just want it to get out of my way. Edit: To make things clear, I am not considering switching to a mac/windows environment. I find programming in windows to be a bore, and I have no interest in buying new (read: mac) hardware. Thanks! -Nate

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  • Windows 7: How to place SuperFetch cache on an SSD?

    - by Ian Boyd
    I'm thinking of adding a solid state drive (SSD) to my existing Windows 7 installation. I know I can (and should) move my paging file to the SSD: Should the pagefile be placed on SSDs? Yes. Most pagefile operations are small random reads or larger sequential writes, both of which are types of operations that SSDs handle well. In looking at telemetry data from thousands of traces and focusing on pagefile reads and writes, we find that Pagefile.sys reads outnumber pagefile.sys writes by about 40 to 1, Pagefile.sys read sizes are typically quite small, with 67% less than or equal to 4 KB, and 88% less than 16 KB. Pagefile.sys writes are relatively large, with 62% greater than or equal to 128 KB and 45% being exactly 1 MB in size. In fact, given typical pagefile reference patterns and the favorable performance characteristics SSDs have on those patterns, there are few files better than the pagefile to place on an SSD. What I don't know is if I even can put a SuperFetch cache (i.e. ReadyBoost cache) on the solid state drive. I want to get the benefit of Windows being able to cache gigabytes of frequently accessed data on a relativly small (e.g. 30GB) solid state drive. This is exactly what SuperFetch+ReadyBoost (or SuperFetch+ReadyDrive) was designed for. Will Windows offer (or let) me place a ReadyBoost cache on a solid state flash drive connected via SATA? A problem with the ReadyBoost cache over the ReadyDrive cache is that the ReadyBoost cache does not survive between reboots. The cache is encrypted with a per-session key, making its existing contents unusable during boot and SuperFetch pre-fetching during login. Update One I know that Windows Vista limited you to only one ReadyBoost.sfcache file (I do not know if Windows 7 removed that limitation): Q: Can use use multiple devices for EMDs? A: Nope. We've limited Vista to one ReadyBoost per machine Q: Why just one device? A: Time and quality. Since this is the first revision of the feature, we decided to focus on making the single device exceptional, without the difficulties of managing multiple caches. We like the idea, though, and it's under consideration for future versions. I also know that the 4GB limit on the cache file was a limitation of the FAT filesystem used on most USB sticks - an SSD drive would be formatted with NTFS: Q: What's the largest amount of flash that I can use for ReadyBoost? A: You can use up to 4GB of flash for ReadyBoost (which turns out to be 8GB of cache w/ the compression) Q: Why can't I use more than 4GB of flash? A: The FAT32 filesystem limits our ReadyBoost.sfcache file to 4GB Can a ReadyBoost cache on an NTFS volume be larger than 4GB? Update Two The ReadyBoost cache is encrypted with a per-boot session key. This means that the cache has to be re-built after each boot, and cannot be used to help speed boot times, or latency from login to usable. Windows ReadyDrive technology takes advantage of non-volatile (NV) memory (i.e. flash) that is incorporated with some hybrid hard drives. This flash cache can be used to help Windows boot, or resume from hibernate faster. Will Windows 7 use an internal SSD drive as a ReadyBoost/*ReadyDrive*/SuperFetch cache? Is it possible to make Windows store a SuperFetch cache (i.e. ReadyBoost) on a non-removable SSD? Is it possible to not encrypt the ReadyBoost cache, and if so will Windows 7 use the cache at boot time? See also SuperUser.com: ReadyBoost + SSD = ? Windows 7 - ReadyBoost & SSD drives? Support and Q&A for Solid-State Drives Using SDD as a cache for HDD, is there a solution? Performance increase using SSD for paging/fetch/cache or ReadyBoost? (Win7) Windows 7 To Boost SSD Performance How to Disable Nonvolatile Caching

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  • How to configure multiple iSCSI Portal Groups on a EqualLogic PS6100?

    - by kce
    I am working on a migration from a VMware vSphere environment to a Hyper-V Cluster utilizing Windows Server 2012 R2. The setup is pretty small, an EqualLogic PS6100e and two Dell PowerConnect 5424 switches and handful of R710s and R620s. The SAN was configured as a non-RFC1918 network that is not assigned to our organization and since I am working on building a new virtualization environment I figured that this would be an appropriate time to do a subnet migration. I configured a separate VLAN and subnet on the switches and the two previously unused NICs on the PS6100's controllers. At this time I only have a single Hyper-V host cabled in but I can successfully ping the PS6100 from the host. From the PS6100 I can ping each of the four NICs that currently on the storage network. I cannot connect the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator to the Target. I have successfully added the Target Portals (the IP addresses of PS6100 NICs) and the Targets are discovered but listed as inactive. If I try to Connect to them I get the following error, "Log onto Target - Connection Failed" and ISCSIPrt 1 and 70 events are recorded in the Event Log. I have verified that access control to the volume is not the problem by temporarily disabling it. I suspect the problem is with the Portal Group IP address which is still listed as Group Address of old subnet (I know, I know I might be committing the sin of the X/Y problem but everything else looks good): RFC3720 has this to say about Network Portal and Portal Groups: Network Portal: The Network Portal is a component of a Network Entity that has a TCP/IP network address and that may be used by an iSCSI Node within that Network Entity for the connection(s) within one of its iSCSI sessions. A Network Portal in an initiator is identified by its IP address. A Network Portal in a target is identified by its IP address and its listening TCP port. Portal Groups: iSCSI supports multiple connections within the same session; some implementations will have the ability to combine connections in a session across multiple Network Portals. A Portal Group defines a set of Network Portals within an iSCSI Network Entity that collectively supports the capability of coordinating a session with connections spanning these portals. Not all Network Portals within a Portal Group need participate in every session connected through that Portal Group. One or more Portal Groups may provide access to an iSCSI Node. Each Network Portal, as utilized by a given iSCSI Node, belongs to exactly one portal group within that node. The EqualLogic Group Manager documentation has this to say about the Group IP Address: You use the group IP address as the iSCSI discovery address when connecting initiators to iSCSI targets in the group. If you modify the group IP address, you might need to change your initiator configuration to use the new discovery address Changing the group IP address disconnects any iSCSI connections to the group and any administrators logged in to the group through the group IP address. Which sounds equivalent to me (I am following up with support to confirm). I think a reasonable explanation at this point is that the Initiator can't complete the connection to the Target because the Group IP Address / Network Portal is on a different subnet. I really want to avoid a cutover and would prefer to run both subnets side-by-side until I can install and configure each Hyper-V host. Question/s: Is my assessment at all reasonable? Is it possible to configure multiple Group IP Addresses on the EqualLogic PS6100? I don't want to just change it as it will disconnect the remaining ESXi hosts. Am I just Doing It Wrong(TM)?

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  • Moving users folder on Windows-7 to another partition - bad idea?

    - by Donat
    Hi, I'd like to re-submit here a question posted by Benjol on Aug 17at 5:57 "Moving users folder on Windows Vista to another partition - bad idea?" (I can't post one than one link until I earn "10 reputation" and removed my "answer" there to post my follow-up questions here). I am anxiously getting ready at long last to to carry out a clean install (using custom install option) from Vista to Windows-7 Home Premium 64bit with the free upgrade I received late October. For my Vista system I successfully set-up last Summer a multi-partitions scheme with Users and Program Data on a a different partition than the operating system (see link below, and its subsequent links in my comment for details). http://tuts4tech.net/2009/08/05/windows-7-move-the-users-and-program-files-directories-to-a-different-partition/comment-page-1/#comment-562 I was planning a similar set-up for windows 7, a little more streamlined, with OS, Program Files on C:, Users and Program Data on D:, and TV media recording on a separate partition. Reading the Question submitted by Benjol, I am second guessing too. Is moving Users and Program Data on a different partition than the default primary partition with OS and Program Files such a good idea? The couple of people I talked to at the official Microsoft Windows 7 booth at CES 2010 gave the same answer to the intention of moving the Users profile folder to another partition. In a nutshell, they all told me that they used to do this in XP and less in Vista but not anymore with Windows 7... "It is stable, after two months still no problem" I had the feeling it was a scripted answer to emphasize how Windows 7 is so stable and efficient... (Will Windows-7 system not become bugged down over the course of several months to a year or two? Only time will tell) Long story short, I share the same view than Benjol expressed with respect to being "able to backup and restore system and user data independently." I just received a 2TB usb2, eSATA external hard drive as a back-up drive, which includes NTI Shadow 4 (4.1.0.150) for back-up solution. I took note of the issue with NTUSER.DAT and I will read more about Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) for Windows 7. I am willing to put the effort if placing Users and Program Data on a different partition would allow to restore a fresher OS+Program image when the system gets bugged down. Questions: Is it such a bad idea? What is the "easy route" referred by Benjol in his post? Is it to just relocate folders to another partition using the Folder property tool? (It is not practical for several users and might not provide a straightforward restore process of just OS and Program Files when needed.) I am starting to learn about Windows 7 libraries. Would Windows 7 libraries be another alternative to achieve this? All this reading to decide how to organize the partition scheme for my custom system is starting to be confusing. I apologize for this lengthy Question. It is my first day here on SuperUser and I am just learning how different from a discussion thread it is. Thank you in advance for all your suggestions and comments. Donat

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  • Postfix MySql Dovecot - SMTP Authentication Failure

    - by borncamp
    Hello I have a Postfix setup with Dovecot and MySql. The server is running Debian Squeeze. The MySql server is a slave that has data pushed to it from a primary (postfix) mail server(running a different os). The emails are stored on a replicated GlusterFS volume. I am able to check email using thunderbird over IMAP. However, SMTP requests fail. After turning on query logs for the MySql server I have noticed that no query statement is executed to retrieve the user information when an SMTP client tries to authenticate. I'd like to know what I'm doing wrong or what the next troubleshooting steps are. I'm about to pull my hair out. Below is some log and configuration data that I thought would be relevant. You're help is much obliged. The file /var/log/mail.log shows Oct 11 14:54:16 mailbox2 postfix/smtpd[25017]: connect from unknown[192.168.0.44] Oct 11 14:54:19 mailbox2 postfix/smtpd[25017]: warning: unknown[192.168.0.44]: SASL PLAIN authentication failed: Oct 11 14:54:25 mailbox2 postfix/smtpd[25017]: warning: unknown[192.168.0.44]: SASL LOGIN authentication failed: VXNlcm5hbWU6 Oct 11 14:55:48 mailbox2 postfix/smtpd[25017]: warning: unknown[192.168.0.44]: SASL PLAIN authentication failed: VXNlcm5hbWU6 Oct 11 14:55:54 mailbox2 postfix/smtpd[25017]: warning: unknown[192.168.0.44]: SASL LOGIN authentication failed: VXNlcm5hbWU6 Oct 11 14:55:57 mailbox2 postfix/smtpd[25017]: disconnect from unknown[192.168.0.44] This is my dovecot.conf file log_timestamp = "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S " mail_location = maildir:/var/mail/virtual/%d/%n/ auth_mechanisms = plain login disable_plaintext_auth = no namespace { inbox = yes location = prefix = INBOX. separator = . type = private } passdb { args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-mysql.conf driver = sql } protocols = imap pop3 service auth { unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/auth { group = postfix mode = 0660 user = postfix } unix_listener auth-master { mode = 0600 user = postfix } user = root } ssl_cert = </etc/ssl/certs/dovecot.pem ssl_key = </etc/ssl/private/dovecot.pem userdb { args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-mysql.conf driver = sql } protocol lda { auth_socket_path = /var/run/dovecot/auth-master mail_plugins = sieve postmaster_address = [email protected] } protocol pop3 { pop3_uidl_format = %08Xu%08Xv } Here is my dovecot-mysql.conf file: connect = host=127.0.0.1 dbname=postfix user=postfix password=ffjM2MYAqQtAzRHX driver = mysql default_pass_scheme = MD5-CRYPT password_query = SELECT username AS user,password FROM mailbox WHERE username = '%u' AND active='1' user_query = SELECT CONCAT('/var/mail/virtual/', maildir) AS home, 1001 AS uid, 109 AS gid, CONCAT('*:messages=10000:bytes=',quota) as quota_rule, 'Trash:ignore' AS quota_rule2 FROM mailbox WHERE username = '%u' AND active='1' Here is my output from 'postconf -n': append_dot_mydomain = no biff = no bounce_template_file = /etc/postfix/bounce.cf broken_sasl_auth_clients = yes config_directory = /etc/postfix delay_warning_time = 0h dovecot_destination_recipient_limit = 1 inet_interfaces = all local_recipient_maps = $virtual_mailbox_maps local_transport = virtual mailbox_command = procmail -a "$EXTENSION" mailbox_size_limit = 0 maximal_queue_lifetime = 1d message_size_limit = 25600000 mydestination = mailbox2.cws.net, debian.local.cws.net, localhost.local.cws.net, localhost myhostname = mailbox2.cws.net mynetworks = 127.0.0.0/8 [::ffff:127.0.0.0]/104 [::1]/128 172.18.0.119 63.164.138.3 myorigin = /etc/mailname proxy_read_maps = $local_recipient_maps $mydestination $virtual_alias_maps $virtual_alias_domains $virtual_mailbox_maps $virtual_mailbox_domains $relay_recipient_maps $relay_domains $canonical_maps $sender_canonical_maps $recipient_canonical_maps $relocated_maps $transport_maps $mynetworks $virtual_mailbox_limit_maps readme_directory = no recipient_delimiter = + relay_domains = relayhost = smtp_connect_timeout = 10 smtp_tls_session_cache_database = btree:${data_directory}/smtp_scache smtpd_banner = $myhostname ESMTP $mail_name (Debian/GNU) smtpd_client_message_rate_limit = 50 smtpd_client_recipient_rate_limit = 500 smtpd_client_restrictions = permit_sasl_authenticated, permit_mynetworks smtpd_delay_reject = yes smtpd_discard_ehlo_keyword_address_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/discard_ehlo smtpd_helo_required = yes smtpd_helo_restrictions = permit_mynetworks, reject_invalid_helo_hostname, permit smtpd_recipient_restrictions = permit_mynetworks,permit_sasl_authenticated,reject_unauth_destination smtpd_sasl_auth_enable = yes smtpd_sasl_authenticated_header = yes smtpd_sasl_path = private/auth smtpd_sasl_security_options = noanonymous smtpd_sasl_tls_security_options = $smtpd_sasl_security_options smtpd_sasl_type = dovecot smtpd_sender_restrictions = permit_mynetworks, reject_non_fqdn_sender, reject_unknown_sender_domain, permit smtpd_tls_cert_file = /etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem smtpd_tls_key_file = /etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key smtpd_tls_session_cache_database = btree:${data_directory}/smtpd_scache smtpd_use_tls = yes transport_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/transport virtual_alias_maps = proxy:mysql:/etc/postfix/sql/mysql_virtual_alias_maps.cf, proxy:mysql:/etc/postfix/sql/mysql_virtual_alias_domain_maps.cf, proxy:mysql:/etc/postfix/sql/mysql_virtual_alias_domain_catchall_maps.cf virtual_gid_maps = static:1001 virtual_mailbox_base = /var/mail/virtual/ virtual_mailbox_domains = proxy:mysql:/etc/postfix/sql/mysql_virtual_domains_maps.cf virtual_mailbox_maps = proxy:mysql:/etc/postfix/sql/mysql_virtual_mailbox_maps.cf, proxy:mysql:/etc/postfix/sql/mysql_virtual_alias_domain_mailbox_maps.cf virtual_transport = dovecot virtual_uid_maps = static:1001

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  • Windows 7 sometimes boots in VGA mode

    - by TuxRug
    I have an Asus G50VT-x5 laptop with nVidia GeForce9800M-GS graphics. Normally, Windows boots normally, but about 20% of the time (rough estimate), it will boot with the fallback VGA driver, maxing out at 800x600 with no Aero. I've checked the system logs and there is nothing indicating an error loading the nVidia driver. It even specifies in the logs that the Nvidia Display Driver service started successfully, even though it has booted in safe graphics mode. This has been happening for a while, but it's happening a little more often now than it was before. Since the first time my system exhibited this behavior, I have updated my graphics driver a handful of times. I used System Information for Windows to check for problems there, but the only thing that stood out was the following: Core Temperature 4486449 °C (8075639 °F) Shaders Temperature 1171513530 °C (2108724330 °F) I know this reading is incorrect, because my laptop is nowhere near the surface of the sun and my desk has not burst into flames. When it's opererating normally, I get a sane reading like [Core Temperature 58 °C (136 °F)] with no Shaders Temperature listed. All I have to do to resolve the issue is reboot. I have seen no stability issues with the graphics or anything else. A long time ago, I had an issue with this computer where my framerate would suddenly drop during a 3D game from 40fps to <1fps, but after looking at the temperature readout immediately after quitting a game, I removed the bottom panel and blew the dust out of the vent and heatsink. Since then I have no drops in framerate under any situation. I have uploaded a zip containing the SIW reports for when the problem is occurring and when the computer is operating normally. I don't have a paid account so it can only be downloaded 10 times, so please only download the reports if you think you can use them. If you try to download the reports and they are no longer available, please comment and I will re-upload them. If you want to look at the files, they are on Rapidshare. EDIT It happened again, and I looked a little deeper into the System logs. When this happens, there are a lot of errors about other device drivers unable to start. All of these errors are for PnP drivers. Also, my USB keyboard and mouse take a few moments before they actually start working, although this happens sometimes the first normal boot as well. I am quite sure this is related, so I am adding the pnp tag. Also, CHKDSK will not run on boot. Even if a check is scheduled or a volume is manually set as dirty, CHKDSK will be skipped entirely, not even leaving an entry in the System logs. I tried running CHKNTFS /D, which did not work. I then manually changed my HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager BootExecute value to the default listed on Microsoft's website. That did not work either. I ended up booting to repair mode and running CHKDSK there, which found a number of minor inconsistencies on my system drive, but none on my data drive. I have no idea if this is related. Some more information for those who don't download my SIW report file: Antivirus and Firewall are ESET Smart Security I have three different virutalization programs installed: VMware Player, Windows Virtual PC, and VirtualBox. The network adapters for these show up in the log of failed device starts. EDIT 2 I tried running sfc /scannow, which reported that it found corrupted files that could not be fixed. The CBS log is extremely cryptic. I tried booting to my install disk, launching repair mode, and doing an offline sfc from there, which produced the same result.

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  • Logitech USB headphones detected and selected in Debian Squeeze but sound still coming from speakers

    - by mattalexx
    I have a pair of Logitech wireless USB headphones that work with Ubuntu Natty but aren't working in Debian Squeeze. When they are selected as the default audio output, the sound comes out of the speakers instead of the headphones. I have rebooted and tried using a different USB port. My computer is a Thinkpad T510. How can I fix this problem? Here is lsusb: Bus 002 Device 005: ID 046d:0a29 Logitech, Inc. Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub Bus 001 Device 005: ID 046d:c52f Logitech, Inc. Wireless Mouse M305 Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub Here is cat /proc/asound/cards 0 [Intel ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel HDA Intel at 0xf2420000 irq 17 1 [Headset ]: USB-Audio - Logitech Wireless Headset Logitech Logitech Wireless Headset at usb-0000:00:1d.0-1.1, full speed 2 [NVidia ]: HDA-Intel - HDA NVidia HDA NVidia at 0xcdefc000 irq 17 Here is the gnome-volume-control GUI: Here's lsmod | grep usb: snd_usb_audio 50670 0 snd_usb_lib 11192 1 snd_usb_audio usbhid 28008 0 hid 50909 1 usbhid snd_rawmidi 12513 2 snd_usb_lib,snd_seq_midi snd_hwdep 4054 2 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec snd_pcm 47226 3 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec usbcore 98969 5 snd_usb_audio,snd_usb_lib,usbhid,ehci_hcd snd 34423 11 snd_usb_audio,snd_rawmidi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device nls_base 4541 1 usbcore Here's cat /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf: # autoloader aliases install sound-slot-0 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-0 install sound-slot-1 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-1 install sound-slot-2 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-2 install sound-slot-3 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-3 install sound-slot-4 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-4 install sound-slot-5 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-5 install sound-slot-6 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-6 install sound-slot-7 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-7 # Cause optional modules to be loaded above generic modules install snd /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet snd-ioctl32 ; /sbin/modprobe --quiet snd-seq ; } install snd-rawmidi /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-rawmidi && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet snd-seq-midi ; : ; } install snd-emu10k1 /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-emu10k1 && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet snd-emu10k1-synth ; : ; } # Prevent abnormal drivers from grabbing index 0 options bt87x index=-2 options cx88_alsa index=-2 options snd-atiixp-modem index=-2 options snd-intel8x0m index=-2 options snd-via82xx-modem index=-2 # Keep snd-pcsp from beeing loaded as first soundcard options snd-pcsp index=-2 # Keep snd-usb-audio from beeing loaded as first soundcard options snd-usb-audio index=-2 EDIT In VLC, I reset VLC prefs (Output: Default) and sound still comes out of speakers as expected. Then I change it to "Output: ALSA Audio output" and a Device menu appears. I select the headphones. When I then save the prefs, the audio switch to the headphones! But here's what's weird: I go back to prefs, change it to "Output: Default" and the headphones keep working. Maybe the ALSA option is actually what is being chosen as the "Default" option, but the Device menu (whose selection is still being used) is still set to the headphones. Anyway, now I need to figure out how to make it work as the default for the whole system.

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  • How to place SuperFetch cache on an SSD?

    - by Ian Boyd
    I'm thinking of adding a solid state drive (SSD) to my existing Windows 7 installation. I know I can (and should) move my paging file to the SSD: Should the pagefile be placed on SSDs? Yes. Most pagefile operations are small random reads or larger sequential writes, both of which are types of operations that SSDs handle well. In looking at telemetry data from thousands of traces and focusing on pagefile reads and writes, we find that Pagefile.sys reads outnumber pagefile.sys writes by about 40 to 1, Pagefile.sys read sizes are typically quite small, with 67% less than or equal to 4 KB, and 88% less than 16 KB. Pagefile.sys writes are relatively large, with 62% greater than or equal to 128 KB and 45% being exactly 1 MB in size. In fact, given typical pagefile reference patterns and the favorable performance characteristics SSDs have on those patterns, there are few files better than the pagefile to place on an SSD. What I don't know is if I even can put a SuperFetch cache (i.e. ReadyBoost cache) on the solid state drive. I want to get the benefit of Windows being able to cache gigabytes of frequently accessed data on a relativly small (e.g. 30GB) solid state drive. This is exactly what SuperFetch+ReadyBoost (or SuperFetch+ReadyDrive) was designed for. Will Windows offer (or let) me place a ReadyBoost cache on a solid state flash drive connected via SATA? A problem with the ReadyBoost cache over the ReadyDrive cache is that the ReadyBoost cache does not survive between reboots. The cache is encrypted with a per-session key, making its existing contents unusable during boot and SuperFetch pre-fetching during login. Update One I know that Windows Vista limited you to only one ReadyBoost.sfcache file (I do not know if Windows 7 removed that limitation): Q: Can use use multiple devices for EMDs? A: Nope. We've limited Vista to one ReadyBoost per machine Q: Why just one device? A: Time and quality. Since this is the first revision of the feature, we decided to focus on making the single device exceptional, without the difficulties of managing multiple caches. We like the idea, though, and it's under consideration for future versions. I also know that the 4GB limit on the cache file was a limitation of the FAT filesystem used on most USB sticks - an SSD drive would be formatted with NTFS: Q: What's the largest amount of flash that I can use for ReadyBoost? A: You can use up to 4GB of flash for ReadyBoost (which turns out to be 8GB of cache w/ the compression) Q: Why can't I use more than 4GB of flash? A: The FAT32 filesystem limits our ReadyBoost.sfcache file to 4GB Can a ReadyBoost cache on an NTFS volume be larger than 4GB? Update Two The ReadyBoost cache is encrypted with a per-boot session key. This means that the cache has to be re-built after each boot, and cannot be used to help speed boot times, or latency from login to usable. Windows ReadyDrive technology takes advantage of non-volatile (NV) memory (i.e. flash) that is incorporated with some hybrid hard drives. This flash cache can be used to help Windows boot, or resume from hibernate faster. Will Windows 7 use an internal SSD drive as a ReadyBoost/*ReadyDrive*/SuperFetch cache? Is it possible to make Windows store a SuperFetch cache (i.e. ReadyBoost) on a non-removable SSD? Is it possible to not encrypt the ReadyBoost cache, and if so will Windows 7 use the cache at boot time? See also SuperUser.com: ReadyBoost + SSD = ? Windows 7 - ReadyBoost & SSD drives? Support and Q&A for Solid-State Drives Using SDD as a cache for HDD, is there a solution? Performance increase using SSD for paging/fetch/cache or ReadyBoost? (Win7) Windows 7 To Boost SSD Performance How to Disable Nonvolatile Caching

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  • Causes of sudden massive filesystem damage? ("root inode is not a directory")

    - by poolie
    I have a laptop running Maverick (very happily until yesterday), with a Patriot Torx SSD; LUKS encryption of the whole partition; one lvm physical volume on top of that; then home and root in ext4 logical volumes on top of that. When I tried to boot it yesterday, it complained that it couldn't mount the root filesystem. Running fsck, basically every inode seems to be wrong. Both home and root filesystems show similar problems. Checking a backup superblock doesn't help. e2fsck 1.41.12 (17-May-2010) lithe_root was not cleanly unmounted, check forced. Resize inode not valid. Recreate? no Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes Root inode is not a directory. Clear? no Root inode has dtime set (probably due to old mke2fs). Fix? no Inode 2 is in use, but has dtime set. Fix? no Inode 2 has a extra size (4730) which is invalid Fix? no Inode 2 has compression flag set on filesystem without compression support. Clear? no Inode 2 has INDEX_FL flag set but is not a directory. Clear HTree index? no HTREE directory inode 2 has an invalid root node. Clear HTree index? no Inode 2, i_size is 9581392125871137995, should be 0. Fix? no Inode 2, i_blocks is 40456527802719, should be 0. Fix? no Reserved inode 3 (<The ACL index inode>) has invalid mode. Clear? no Inode 3 has compression flag set on filesystem without compression support. Clear? no Inode 3 has INDEX_FL flag set but is not a directory. Clear HTree index? no .... Running strings across the filesystems, I can see there are what look like filenames and user data there. I do have sufficiently good backups (touch wood) that it's not worth grovelling around to pull back individual files, though I might save an image of the unencrypted disk before I rebuild, just in case. smartctl doesn't show any errors, neither does the kernel log. Running a write-mode badblocks across the swap lv doesn't find problems either. So the disk may be failing, but not in an obvious way. At this point I'm basically, as they say, fscked? Back to reinstalling, perhaps running badblocks over the disk, then restoring from backup? There doesn't even seem to be enough data to file a meaningful bug... I don't recall that this machine crashed last time I used it. At this point I suspect a bug or memory corruption caused it to write garbage across the disks when it was last running, or some kind of subtle failure mode for the SSD. What do you think would have caused this? Is there anything else you'd try?

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  • e2fsck / resize2fs problems

    - by BlakBat
    I've got 6 drives (each 1.5T, all same model and firmware revision) that are part of a RAID5 array. The RAID5 makes a LVM volume group and a logical group. The latter contains only one ext3 partition. I've recently ran: e2fsck -f /dev/vg03/lv01 && resize2fs -M /dev/vg03/lv01 which exited without an error. Now when I try to mount /dev/vg03/lv01 I get: EXT3-fs error (device dm-0): ext3_check_descriptors: Block bitmap for group 30533 not in group (block 1000532368)! EXT3-fs: group descriptors corrupted! How do I get out of this predicament? This is all the info I can currently give you: fdisk -l /dev/sd[cdefgh] shows (correctly) that they are "Linux raid autodetect" but fdisk now shows: fdisk -l /dev/md0 Disk /dev/md0: 7501.5 GB, 7501495664640 bytes ... Disk identifier: 0x00000000 Disk /dev/md0 doesn't contain a valid partition table (instead of a LVM type partition) fdisk -l /dev/vg03/lv01 Disk /dev/vg03/lv01: 7501.5 GB, 7501491732480 bytes ... Disk identifier: 0x00000000 Disk /dev/vg03/lv01 doesn't contain a valid partition table (instead of a ext3 type partition) I've tried: e2fsck -fy /dev/vg03/lv01 e2fsck 1.41.12 (17-May-2010) e2fsck: Group descriptors look bad... trying backup blocks... Block bitmap for group 30533 is not in group. (block 1000532368) Relocate? yes Inode bitmap for group 30533 is not in group. (block 1000532369) Relocate? yes Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes Relocating group 30533's block bitmap to 1000524246... Error allocating 1 contiguous block(s) in block group 30533 for inode bitmap: Could not allocate block in ext2 filesystem e2fsck: aborted Extra information I can give you: cat /proc/mdstat Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10] md0 : active (auto-read-only) raid5 sdg1[0] sdh1[5] sdf1[4] sde1[3] sdc1[2] sdd1[1] 7325679360 blocks level 5, 128k chunk, algorithm 2 [6/6] [UUUUUU] bitmap: 1/175 pages [4KB], 4096KB chunk unused devices: Lastly, all smartctl tests (short and extendend) showed no errors on any of the disks. Should I try to resize2fs to grow /dev/vg03/lv01 and redo a e2fsck ? Should I cfdisk /dev/md0 and /dev/vg03/lv01 back to their real types? Thanks in advance for all and any help. 2011-09-20 UPDATE I issued the following commands and was able to remount the partition, but by viewing the size (df) of before and after, it seems that 1Tb of data have gone missing. By checking the MD5SUMS (from an old backup) of some files with the "same" files from the remounted partition, some errors have been detected. Commands issued to remount the partition were: dumpe2fs /dev/vg03/lv01 Block count: 1000491435<br /> Block size: 4096<br /> tune2fs -O ^has_journal /dev/vg03/lv01 resize2fs -p /dev/vg03/lv01 dumpe2fs /dev/vg03/lv01 Block count: 1831418880<br /> Block size: 4096<br /> mount -o ro,noatime /dev/vg03/lv01 /mnt/raid OK... but files have been damaged / gone missing.

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  • How to delete files and folders that cannot be deleted?

    - by glenneroo
    I have a backup copy of a previous Windows' Documents and Settings folder which only contains my original user and within 2 more directories: Favorites and Local Settings. When I try to delete Local Settings I get this error: When I try to delete Favorites, I get this error: I ran this in a cmd shell: attrib *.* -r -a -s -h /s ...but it did not help, nor did it return any errors/warnings. I used Unlocker v1.8.5 and LockHunter repeatedly at multiple levels to see if any files are in use, but both always say: No Files Locked. Update #1: I was able to rename the directory, which now gives me this warning before (trying to) delete: If I press Yes (or Yes to All) then I get this error: Update #2: I let chkdsk /f run which required a reboot since it's on my primary system partition. During Stage 2 scanning, I received about 40 of these: Deleting an index entry from index $0 of file 25. ...followed by: Deleting index entry cookies in index $I30 of file 37576. ...but I still get the first error dialog above when trying to delete. I ran chkdsk again, this time: chkdsk /f /r. Produced no messages. Same result when deleting. Update #3: Digging deeper, the 99 is the name of one of many directories located deep in here: C:\Documents and Settings.OLD\User\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Messenger\[email protected]\SharingMetadata\[email protected]\DFSR\Staging\CS{D4E4AE55-B5E2-F03B-5189-6C4DA6E41788}\ Inside each of those directories were files with names such as: 2300-{C93D01AC-0739-4FD9-88C7-13D2F21A208E}-v2300-{C93D01AC-0739-4FD9-88C7-13D2F21A208E}-v2300-Downloaded.frx I noticed that, unlike all the directories, I couldn't rename any of these files. I also noticed that the file + dir names were extremely long: Original directory = 194 characters Filenames = 100+ characters Together the length exceeds the 255-char limit which is bad and would explain the error message I posted in Update #1. Partial Solution: Rename all directories until the total path length is less than 100. Afterwards I was able to rename the .frx files, not to mention delete everything inside the Local Settings directory. This is only a partial solution because these (empty) directories are still not deleteable, C:\1\2\Favorites\Wien\What To Do.. C:\1\2\Favorites\Photography\FIRE Same error as above: Here is what Explorer properties shows for both folders: Update #4 (another partial solution): Using harrymc's answer combined with thoroughly reading through this amazing MS-KB article which contains nearly everyone's idea and then some, inconspicuously titled: You cannot delete a file or a folder on an NTFS file system volume. I was able to delete the 2nd folder C:\1\2\Favorites\Photography\FIRE - the problem being that there was an invisible trailing space at the end. I got lucky when I did an auto-complete whilst playing around with the del "\\?\<path>" command which he suggested. NOTE: A normal del did NOT work, nor did deleting from explorer. Now all that is left is the first directory C:\1\2\Favorites\Wien\What To Do.. (yes I tried endlessly with multiple combinations of the above solution ;) Keep 'em coming! =)

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  • Windows 7 inbuilt and 3rd party (de)fragmentation related queries

    - by Karan
    I have a pretty good idea of how files end up getting fragmented. That said, I just copied ~3,200 files of varying sizes (from a few KB to ~20GB) from an external USB HDD to an internal, freshly formatted (under Windows 7 x64), NTFS, 2TB, 5400RPM, WD, SATA, non-system (i.e. secondary) drive, filling it up 57%. Since it should have been very much possible for each file to have been stored in one contiguous block, I expected the drive to be fragmented not more than 1-2% at most after this rather lengthy exercise (unfortunately this older machine doesn't support USB 3.0). Windows 7's inbuilt defrag utility told me after a quick analysis that the drive was fragmented only 1% or so, which dovetailed neatly with my expectations. However, just out of curiosity I downloaded and ran the latest portable x64 version of Piriform's Defraggler, and was shocked to see the drive being reported as being ~85% fragmented! The portable version of Auslogics Disk Defrag also agreed with Defraggler, and both clearly expected to grind away for ~10 hours to completely defragment the drive. 1) How in blazes could the inbuilt and 3rd party defrag utils disagree so badly? I mean, 10-20% variance is probably understandable, but 1% and 85% are miles apart! This Engineering Windows 7 blog post states: In Windows XP, any file that is split into more than one piece is considered fragmented. Not so in Windows Vista if the fragments are large enough – the defragmentation algorithm was changed (from Windows XP) to ignore pieces of a file that are larger than 64MB. As a result, defrag in XP and defrag in Vista will report different amounts of fragmentation on a volume. ... [Please read the entire post so the quote is not taken out of context.] Could it simply be that the 3rd party defrag utils ignore this post-XP change and continue to use analysis algos similar to those XP used? 2) Assuming that the 3rd party utils aren't lying about the real extent of fragmentation (which Windows is downplaying post-XP), how could the files have even got fragmented so badly given they were just copied over afresh to an empty drive? 3) If vastly differing analysis algos explain the yawning gap, which do I believe? I'm no defrag fanatic for sure, but 85% is enough to make me seriously consider spending 10 hours defragging this drive. On the other hand, 1% reported by Windows' own defragger clearly implies that there is no cause for concern and defragging would actually have negative consequences (as per the post). Is Windows' assumption valid and should I just let it be, or will there be any noticeable performance gains after running one of the 3rd party utils for 10 hours straight? 4) I see that out of the box Windows 7 defrag is scheduled to run weekly. Does anyone know whether it defrags every single time, or only if its analysis reveals a fragmentation percentage over a set threshold? If the latter, what is this threshold and can it be changed, maybe via a Registry edit? Thanks for reading through (my first query on this wonderful site!) and for any helpful replies. Also, if you're answering question #3, please keep in mind that any speed increases post defragging with 3rd party utils vis-à-vis Windows' inbuilt program should not include pre-Vista (preferably pre-Win7) examples. Further, examples of programs that made your system boot faster won't help in this case, since this is a non-system drive (although one that'll still be used daily).

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  • How can I recover an ext4 filesystem corrupted after a fsck?

    - by Regan
    I have an ext4 filesystem on luks over software raid5. The filesystem was operating "just fine" for several years when I was beginning to run out of space. I had a 9T volume on 6x2T drives. I began upgrading to 3T drives by doing the mdadm fail, remove, add, rebuild, repeat process until I had a larger array. I then grew the luks container, and then when I unmounted and tried to resize2fs I was given the message the filesystem was dirty and needed e2fsck. Without thinking I just did e2fsck -y /dev/mapper/candybox and it began spewing all kinds of inode being removed type messages (can't remember exactly) I killed e2fsck and tried to remount the filesystem to backup data I was concerned about. When trying to mount at this point I get: # mount /dev/mapper/candybox /candybox mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/mapper/candybox, missing codepage or helper program, or other error In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try dmesg | tail or so Looking back at my older logs I noticed the filesystem was giving this error each time the machine booted: kernel: [79137.275531] EXT4-fs (dm-2): warning: mounting fs with errors, running e2fsck is recommended So shame on me for not paying attention :( I then tried to mount using every backup superblock (one after another) and each attempt left this in my log: EXT4-fs (dm-2): ext4_check_descriptors: Checksum for group 0 failed (26534!=65440) EXT4-fs (dm-2): ext4_check_descriptors: Checksum for group 1 failed (38021!=36729) EXT4-fs (dm-2): ext4_check_descriptors: Checksum for group 2 failed (18336!=39845) ... EXT4-fs (dm-2): ext4_check_descriptors: Checksum for group 11911 failed (28743!=44098) BUG: soft lockup - CPU#0 stuck for 23s! [mount:2939] Attempts to restart e2fsck results in: # e2fsck /dev/mapper/candybox e2fsck 1.41.14 (22-Dec-2010) e2fsck: Group descriptors look bad... trying backup blocks... candy: recovering journal e2fsck: unable to set superblock flags on candy At this point, I decided it best to order some more drives and make an image using ddrescue Now two weeks later I have an image of the luks partition in a .img file. # ls -lh total 14T -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 14T Oct 25 01:57 candybox.img -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 271 Oct 20 14:32 candybox.logfile After numerous attempts using everything I could find online I could not coerce e2fsck to do anything on the image, so I used mkfs.ext4 -L candy candybox.img -m 0 -S and I was able to mount the dirty filesystem readonly without the journal and recover 960G of data. It gave all kinds of errors of various directories not existing and so forth but I was able to get some stuff. Which gave me some hope! I then ran e2fsck again and it had to recreate the root inode and gave a massive list of correcting group counts, I accepted the root inode creation and said no to everything else, leaving a completely empty filesystem. Re-ran again and said yes to all questions with the same result but now a "clean" but empty filesystem. extundelete gives me 0 recoverable inodes found. And now I'm stuck again, I can't come up with any other methods other than dropping to something like photorec which will give me an absolute mess with how large the filesystem was. I'm willing to re-copy the image from the original array and start over, if I can get any suggestions or ideas on a way to get more of my files back. I wish I could give more detailed logs of the commands that have run, but the output is long scrolled passed except for what gets logged to syslog and my memory is not as detailed due to the timeframe this has occurred over. Any help is greatly appreciated!

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  • Week in Geek: US Govt E-card Scam Siphons Confidential Data Edition

    - by Asian Angel
    This week we learned how to “back up photos to Flickr, automate repetitive tasks, & normalize MP3 volume”, enable “stereo mix” in Windows 7 to record audio, create custom papercraft toys, read up on three alternatives to Apple’s flaky iOS alarm clock, decorated our desktops & app docks with Google icon packs, and more. Photo by alexschlegel. Random Geek Links It has been a busy week on the security & malware fronts and we have a roundup of the latest news to help keep you updated. Photo by TopTechWriter.US. US govt e-card scam hits confidential data A fake U.S. government Christmas e-card has managed to siphon off gigabytes of sensitive data from a number of law enforcement and military staff who work on cybersecurity matters, many of whom are involved in computer crime investigations. Security tool uncovers multiple bugs in every browser Michal Zalewski reports that he discovered the vulnerability in Internet Explorer a while ago using his cross_fuzz fuzzing tool and reported it to Microsoft in July 2010. Zalewski also used cross_fuzz to discover bugs in other browsers, which he also reported to the relevant organisations. Microsoft to fix Windows holes, but not ones in IE Microsoft said that it will release two security bulletins next week fixing three holes in Windows, but it is still investigating or working on fixing holes in Internet Explorer that have been reportedly exploited in attacks. Microsoft warns of Windows flaw affecting image rendering Microsoft has warned of a Windows vulnerability that could allow an attacker to take control of a computer if the user is logged on with administrative rights. Windows 7 Not Affected by Critical 0-Day in the Windows Graphics Rendering Engine While confirming that details on a Critical zero-day vulnerability have made their way into the wild, Microsoft noted that customers running the latest iteration of Windows client and server platforms are not exposed to any risks. Microsoft warns of Office-related malware Microsoft’s Malware Protection Center issued a warning this week that it has spotted malicious code on the Internet that can take advantage of a flaw in Word and infect computers after a user does nothing more than read an e-mail. *Refers to a flaw that was addressed in the November security patch releases. Make sure you have all of the latest security updates installed. Unpatched hole in ImgBurn disk burning application According to security specialist Secunia, a highly critical vulnerability in ImgBurn, a lightweight disk burning application, can be used to remotely compromise a user’s system. Hole in VLC Media Player Virtual Security Research (VSR) has identified a vulnerability in VLC Media Player. In versions up to and including 1.1.5 of the VLC Media Player. Flash Player sandbox can be bypassed Flash applications run locally can read local files and send them to an online server – something which the sandbox is supposed to prevent. Chinese auction site touts hacked iTunes accounts Tens of thousands of reportedly hacked iTunes accounts have been found on Chinese auction site Taobao, but the company claims it is unable to take action unless there are direct complaints. What happened in the recent Hotmail outage Mike Schackwitz explains the cause of the recent Hotmail outage. DOJ sends order to Twitter for Wikileaks-related account info The U.S. Justice Department has obtained a court order directing Twitter to turn over information about the accounts of activists with ties to Wikileaks, including an Icelandic politician, a legendary Dutch hacker, and a U.S. computer programmer. Google gets court to block Microsoft Interior Department e-mail win The U.S. Federal Claims Court has temporarily blocked Microsoft from proceeding with the $49.3 million, five-year DOI contract that it won this past November. Google Apps customers get email lockdown Companies and organisations using Google Apps are now able to restrict the email access of selected users. LibreOffice Is the Default Office Suite for Ubuntu 11.04 Matthias Klose has announced some details regarding the replacement of the old OpenOffice.org 3.2.1 packages with the new LibreOffice 3.3 ones, starting with the upcoming Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) Alpha 2 release. Sysadmin Geek Tips Photo by Filomena Scalise. How to Setup Software RAID for a Simple File Server on Ubuntu Do you need a file server that is cheap and easy to setup, “rock solid” reliable, and has Email Alerting? This tutorial shows you how to use Ubuntu, software RAID, and SaMBa to accomplish just that. How to Control the Order of Startup Programs in Windows While you can specify the applications you want to launch when Windows starts, the ability to control the order in which they start is not available. However, there are a couple of ways you can easily overcome this limitation and control the startup order of applications. Random TinyHacker Links Using Opera Unite to Send Large Files A tutorial on using Opera Unite to easily send huge files from your computer. WorkFlowy is a Useful To-do List Tool A cool to-do list tool that lets you integrate multiple tasks in one single list easily. Playing Flash Videos on iOS Devices Yes, you can play flash videos on jailbroken iPhones. Here’s a tutorial. Clear Safari History and Cookies On iPhone A tutorial on clearing your browser history on iPhone and other iOS devices. Monitor Your Internet Usage Here’s a cool, cross-platform tool to monitor your internet bandwidth. Super User Questions See what the community had to say on these popular questions from Super User this week. Why is my upload speed much less than my download speed? Where should I find drivers for my laptop if it didn’t come with a driver disk? OEM Office 2010 without media – how to reinstall? Is there a point to using theft tracking software like Prey on my laptop, if you have login security? Moving an “all-in-one” PC when turned on/off How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap Get caught up on your HTG reading with our hottest articles from this past week. How to Combine Rescue Disks to Create the Ultimate Windows Repair Disk How To Boot 10 Different Live CDs From 1 USB Flash Drive What is Camera Raw, and Why Would a Professional Prefer it to JPG? Did You Know Facebook Has Built-In Shortcut Keys? The How-To Geek Guide to Audio Editing: The Basics One Year Ago on How-To Geek Enjoy looking through our latest gathering of retro article goodness. Learning Windows 7: Create a Homegroup & Join a New Computer To It How To Disconnect a Machine from a Homegroup Use Remote Desktop To Access Other Computers On a Small Office or Home Network How To Share Files and Printers Between Windows 7 and Vista Allow Users To Run Only Specified Programs in Windows 7 The Geek Note That is all we have for you this week and we hope your first week back at work or school has gone very well now that the holidays are over. Know a great tip? Send it in to us at [email protected]. Photo by Pamela Machado. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC HTG Projects: How to Create Your Own Custom Papercraft Toy How to Combine Rescue Disks to Create the Ultimate Windows Repair Disk What is Camera Raw, and Why Would a Professional Prefer it to JPG? The How-To Geek Guide to Audio Editing: The Basics How To Boot 10 Different Live CDs From 1 USB Flash Drive The 20 Best How-To Geek Linux Articles of 2010 Arctic Theme for Windows 7 Gives Your Desktop an Icy Touch Install LibreOffice via PPA and Receive Auto-Updates in Ubuntu Creative Portraits Peek Inside the Guts of Modern Electronics Scenic Winter Lane Wallpaper to Create a Relaxing Mood Access Your Web Apps Directly Using the Context Menu in Chrome The Deep – Awesome Use of Metal Objects as Deep Sea Creatures [Video]

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  • Getting Started with Boxee

    - by DigitalGeekery
    Boxee is a free Media PC application that runs on Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu Linux. With Boxee, you can integrate online video, music and pictures, with your own local media and social networking. Today we are going to take a closer look at Boxee and some of it’s features. Note: We used Windows 7 for this tutorial. Your experience on a Mac or Ubuntu Linux build may vary slightly. Hardware Requirements x86 (Intel/AMD processor) based system running at 1.0GHz or greater 512MB system memory (RAM) or more Video card capable of OpenGL 1.4, Direct X 9.0 Software Requirements Mac OS X 10.4+ (Intel based processor) Ubuntu Linux 9.04+ x86 only Windows XP / Vista / 7 (64 bit in Vista or 7) Installing Boxee Before downloading and installing Boxee, you’ll need to register for a free account. (See link below) Once your account is registered and verified, you’ll be able to log in and download the application. Installation is pretty straightforward…just take the defaults. Boxee will open in full screen mode and you’ll be prompted to login with your username and password. Before you login, you may want to take a moment to click on the “Guide” icon and learn a bit about navigating in Boxee. Some basic keyboard navigation is as follows. Move right, left, up, & down with the arrow keys. Hit “Enter” to make a selection, the forward slash key “\” to toggle between full screen and windowed mode, and “Esc” to go back to the previous screen. For Playback, the volume is controlled by plus & minus (+/-) keys, you can Play / Pause using the spacebar, and skip using the arrow keys. Boxee will also work with any infrared remote. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch you can download software to enable them as a Boxee remote. If you’re using a mouse and keyboard, hover over the username and password boxes to enter your login credentials. If using a a remote, click your OK button and enter credentials with the on screen keyboard. Click “Done” when finished.   When you are ready to login, enter your credentials and click “Login.” On first login, you’ll be prompted to calibrate your screen. If you choose “Skip” you can always calibrate your screen later under Settings > Appearance > Screen. When Boxee opens, you’ll be greeted by the Home screen. To the left will be your Feeds. This will be any recommended content from friends on Boxee, and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Although, when you first login, it will mainly be info from the Boxee staff. You’ll have “Featured” content in the center and your Queue on the right. You’ll also have the Menu along the top.   Pop Up Menu The Pop Menu can be accessed by hitting the “Esc” key, or back on your remote. Depending on where you are located in Boxee, you may have to hit it a few time to “back out” to the Pop Up menu. From the Pop Up Menu, you can easily access any of the resources, settings, and favorites. Queue The Queue is your playlist of TV shows, movies, or Internet videos you wish to watch. When you find an offering you’d like to watch, select it and then click “Add to Queue.” The selected item will be added to your Queue and can be accessed at any time from the Menu. TV Show Library The TV Show library can contain files from your local hard drive or streaming content from the Web. Boxee pulls content from a variety of online locations such as Hulu and TV network sites. Click on the show to see which specific episodes are currently available. To search for your favorite shows, click on the yellow arrow to the left, or navigate to the left with your keyboard or remote. Enter your selection into the search box. My Apps By default, the “My Apps” section includes a list of the most popular apps, such as Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, and others. You can remove Apps from “My Apps,” or add new Apps from the Apps Library.   To access all the available Apps, click on the left arrow button, or click on the yellow arrow at the left, then select “App Library.” Choose an App from the Library and click it to open… … and then select “Add to My Apps.” Or, you can click start to play the App if you don’t wish to Add it to your “My Apps.”   Music, Pictures, and Movies Boxee will scan your PC for movies, pictures, and music. You can choose to scan specific folders by clicking on “Scan Media Folders…” … or from the Pop Up Menu, selecting Settings > Media, and then browsing for your media.   Conclusion Boxee to be a great way to integrate your local media with online streaming content. It can be run as an application on your home PC, or as a stand alone media PC. It should also be noted, however, that your access to online content will vary depending on your country. If you are a Windows Media Center user and and want to add the additional features of Boxee, check out our article on integrating Boxee with Windows 7 Media Center. Download Boxee Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Integrate Boxee with Media Center in Windows 7Disable Fast User Switching on Windows XPOops! Sorry About the Feed ErrorsDisplay a list of Started Services from the Command Line (Windows)Feedburner to Google: Worst Transition Ever. TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Discover New Bundled Feeds in Google Reader Play Music in Chrome by Simply Dragging a File 15 Great Illustrations by Chow Hon Lam Easily Sync Files & Folders with Friends & Family Amazon Free Kindle for PC Download Stretch popurls.com with a Stylish Script (Firefox)

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  • Try out Windows Phone 7 on your PC today

    - by Matthew Guay
    Anticipation has been building for the new Windows Phone 7 Series ever since Microsoft unveiled it at the Mobile World Congress in February.  Now, thanks to free developer tools, you can get a first-hand experience of the basic Windows Phone 7 Series devices on your PC. Windows Phone 7 Series represents a huge change in the mobile field for Microsoft, bringing the acclaimed Zune HD UI to an innovative phone platform.  Windows Mobile has often been criticized for being behind other Smartphone platforms, but Microsoft seeks to regain the lead with this new upcoming release.  A platform must have developers behind it to be useful, so they have released a full set of free development tools so anyone can make apps for it today.  Or, if you simply want to play with Windows Phone 7, you can use the included emulator to try out the new Metro UI.  Here’s how to do this today on your Vista or 7 computer. Please note: These tools are a Customer Technology Preview release, so only install them if you’re comfortable using pre-release software. Getting Started First, download the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP (link below), and run the installer.  This will install the Customer Technology Preview (CTP) versions of Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone, Windows Phone Emulator, Silverlight for Windows Phone, and XNA 4.0 Game Studio on your computer, all of which are required and cannot be installed individually. Accept the license agreement when prompted. Click “Install Now” to install the tools you need.  The only setup customization option is where to save the files, so choose Customize if you need to do so. Setup will now automatically download and install the components you need, and will additionally download either 32 or 64 bit programs depending on your operating system. About halfway thorough the installation, you’ll be prompted to reboot your system.  Once your computer is rebooted, setup will automatically resume without further input.   When setup is finished, click “Run the Product Now” to get started. Running Windows Phone 7 on your PC Now that you’ve got the Windows Phone Developer tools installed, it’s time to get the Windows Phone emulator running.  If you clicked “Run the Product Now” when the setup finished, Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone should have already started.   If not, simply enter “visual studio” in your start menu search and select “Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone”. Now, to run the Windows Phone 7 emulator, we have to test an application.  So, even if you don’t know how to program, we can open a phone application template, and then test it to run the emulator.  First, click New Project on the left hand side of the front page. Any of the application templates would work for this, but here let’s select “Windows Phone Application”, and then click Ok. Here’s your new application template, which already contains the basic phone application framework.  This is where you’d start if you want to develop a Windows Phone app, but for now we just want to see Windows Phone 7 in action. So, to run the emulator, click Debug in the menu and then select Start Debugging. Your new application will launch inside the Windows Phone 7 Series emulator.  The default template doesn’t give us much, but it does show an example application running in Windows Phone 7.   Exploring Windows Phone 7 Click the Windows button on the emulator to go to the home screen.  Notice the Zune HD-like transition animation.  The emulator only includes Internet Explorer, your test application, and a few settings. Click the arrow on the right to see the available applications in a list. Settings lets you change the theme, regional settings, and the date and time in your emulator.  It also has an applications settings pane, but this currently isn’t populated. The Time settings shows a unique Windows Phone UI. You can return to the home screen by pressing the Windows button.  Here’s the Internet Explorer app running, with the virtual keyboard open to enter an address.  Please note that this emulator can also accept input from your keyboard, so you can enter addresses without clicking on the virtual keyboard. And here’s Google running in Internet Explorer on Windows Phone 7. Windows Phone 7 supports accelerometers, and you can simulate this in the emulator.  Click one of the rotate buttons to rotate the screen in that direction. Here’s our favorite website in Internet Explorer on Windows Phone 7 in landscape mode. All this, running right inside your Windows 7 desktop… Developer tools for Windows Phone 7 Although it may be fun to play with the Windows Phone 7 emulator, developers will be more excited to actually be able to create new and exciting apps for it.  The Windows Phone Developer Tools download includes Visual Studio Express and XNA Game Studio 4.0 which lets you create enticing games and apps for Windows Phones.  All development for Windows Phones will be in C#, Silverlight, and the XNA game framework.  Visual Studio Express for Windows Phone includes templates for these, and additionally has code samples to help you get started with development. Conclusion Many features are still not functional in this preview version, such as the search button and most of the included applications.  However, this still gives you a great way to experience firsthand the future of the Windows Phone platform.  And, for developers, this is your chance to set your mark on the Windows Phone 7 Series even before it is released to the public.  Happy playing and developing! Links Download Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP Windows Phone Developer Site Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Keep Track of Homework Assignments with SoshikuWeekend Fun: Watch Television On Your PC With TVUPlayerEasily Manage Your Downloads with Download StatusbarCreate a Shortcut or Hotkey to Mute the System Volume in WindowsHow-To Geek on Lifehacker: How to Make Windows Vista Less Annoying TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Convert the Quick Launch Bar into a Super Application Launcher Automate Tasks in Linux with Crontab Discover New Bundled Feeds in Google Reader Play Music in Chrome by Simply Dragging a File 15 Great Illustrations by Chow Hon Lam Easily Sync Files & Folders with Friends & Family

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  • SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services - The Word is But a Stage (T-SQL Tuesday #006)

    - by smisner
    Host Michael Coles (blog|twitter) has selected LOB data as the topic for this month's T-SQL Tuesday, so I'll take this opportunity to post an overview of reporting with spatial data types. As part of my work with SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services, I've been exploring the use of spatial data types in the new map data region. You can create a map using any of the following data sources: Map Gallery - a set of Shapefiles for the United States only that ships with Reporting Services ESRI Shapefile - a .shp file conforming to the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) shapefile spatial data format SQL Server spatial data - a query that includes SQLGeography or SQLGeometry data types Rob Farley (blog|twitter) points out today in his T-SQL Tuesday post that using the SQL geography field is a preferable alternative to ESRI shapefiles for storing spatial data in SQL Server. So how do you get spatial data? If you don't already have a GIS application in-house, you can find a variety of sources. Here are a few to get you started: US Census Bureau Website, http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/ Global Administrative Areas Spatial Database, http://biogeo.berkeley.edu/gadm/ Digital Chart of the World Data Server, http://www.maproom.psu.edu/dcw/ In a recent post by Pinal Dave (blog|twitter), you can find a link to free shapefiles for download and a tutorial for using Shape2SQL, a free tool to convert shapefiles into SQL Server data. In my post today, I'll show you how to use combine spatial data that describes boundaries with spatial data in AdventureWorks2008R2 that identifies stores locations to embed a map in a report. Preparing the spatial data First, I downloaded Shapefile data for the administrative boundaries in France and unzipped the data to a local folder. Then I used Shape2SQL to upload the data into a SQL Server database called Spatial. I'm not sure of the reason why, but I had to uncheck the option to create a spatial index to upload the data. Otherwise, the upload appeared to run successfully, but no table appeared in my database. The zip file that I downloaded contained three files, but I didn't know what was in them until I used Shape2SQL to upload the data into tables. Then I found that FRA_adm0 contains spatial data for the country of France, FRA_adm1 contains spatial data for each region, and FRA_adm2 contains spatial data for each department (a subdivision of region). Next I prepared my SQL query containing sales data for fictional stores selling Adventure Works products in France. The Person.Address table in the AdventureWorks2008R2 database (which you can download from Codeplex) contains a SpatialLocation column which I joined - along with several other tables - to the Sales.Customer and Sales.Store tables. I'll be able to superimpose this data on a map to see where these stores are located. I included the SQL script for this query (as well as the spatial data for France) in the downloadable project that I created for this post. Step 1: Using the Map Wizard to Create a Map of France You can build a map without using the wizard, but I find it's rather useful in this case. Whether you use Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) or Report Builder 3.0, the map wizard is the same. I used BIDS so that I could create a project that includes all the files related to this post. To get started, I added an empty report template to the project and named it France Stores. Then I opened the Toolbox window and dragged the Map item to the report body which starts the wizard. Here are the steps to perform to create a map of France: On the Choose a source of spatial data page of the wizard, select SQL Server spatial query, and click Next. On the Choose a dataset with SQL Server spatial data page, select Add a new dataset with SQL Server spatial data. On the Choose a connection to a SQL Server spatial data source page, select New. In the Data Source Properties dialog box, on the General page, add a connecton string like this (changing your server name if necessary): Data Source=(local);Initial Catalog=Spatial Click OK and then click Next. On the Design a query page, add a query for the country shape, like this: select * from fra_adm1 Click Next. The map wizard reads the spatial data and renders it for you on the Choose spatial data and map view options page, as shown below. You have the option to add a Bing Maps layer which shows surrounding countries. Depending on the type of Bing Maps layer that you choose to add (from Road, Aerial, or Hybrid) and the zoom percentage you select, you can view city names and roads and various boundaries. To keep from cluttering my map, I'm going to omit the Bing Maps layer in this example, but I do recommend that you experiment with this feature. It's a nice integration feature. Use the + or - button to rexize the map as needed. (I used the + button to increase the size of the map until its edges were just inside the boundaries of the visible map area (which is called the viewport). You can eliminate the color scale and distance scale boxes that appear in the map area later. Select the Embed map data in this report for faster rendering. The spatial data won't be changing, so there's no need to leave it in the database. However, it does increase the size of the RDL. Click Next. On the Choose map visualization page, select Basic Map. We'll add data for visualization later. For now, we have just the outline of France to serve as the foundation layer for our map. Click Next, and then click Finish. Now click the color scale box in the lower left corner of the map, and press the Delete key to remove it. Then repeat to remove the distance scale box in the lower right corner of the map. Step 2: Add a Map Layer to an Existing Map The map data region allows you to add multiple layers. Each layer is associated with a different data set. Thus far, we have the spatial data that defines the regional boundaries in the first map layer. Now I'll add in another layer for the store locations by following these steps: If the Map Layers windows is not visible, click the report body, and then click twice anywhere on the map data region to display it. Click on the New Layer Wizard button in the Map layers window. And then we start over again with the process by choosing a spatial data source. Select SQL Server spatial query, and click Next. Select Add a new dataset with SQL Server spatial data, and click Next. Click New, add a connection string to the AdventureWorks2008R2 database, and click Next. Add a query with spatial data (like the one I included in the downloadable project), and click Next. The location data now appears as another layer on top of the regional map created earlier. Use the + button to resize the map again to fill as much of the viewport as possible without cutting off edges of the map. You might need to drag the map within the viewport to center it properly. Select Embed map data in this report, and click Next. On the Choose map visualization page, select Basic Marker Map, and click Next. On the Choose color theme and data visualization page, in the Marker drop-down list, change the marker to diamond. There's no particular reason for a diamond; I think it stands out a little better than a circle on this map. Clear the Single color map checkbox as another way to distinguish the markers from the map. You can of course create an analytical map instead, which would change the size and/or color of the markers according to criteria that you specify, such as sales volume of each store, but I'll save that exploration for another post on another day. Click Finish and then click Preview to see the rendered report. Et voilà...c'est fini. Yes, it's a very simple map at this point, but there are many other things you can do to enhance the map. I'll create a series of posts to explore the possibilities. Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!

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  • WWDC and Tech Ed: A Tale of Two DevCons

    - by andrewbrust
    Next week marks the first full week of June.  Summer will feel in full swing and it will be a pretty big season for technology.  In seeming acknowledgement of that very fact, both Apple and Microsoft will be holding large developers conferences starting Monday.  Apple will hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in lovely San Francisco and Microsoft will hold its Tech Ed conference in muggy, oil-laden yet soulful New Orleans.  A brief survey of each show reveals much about the differences in each company’s offerings, strategy, and approach to customers and partners. In the interest of full disclosure, I must explain that I will be speaking at Microsoft’s Tech Ed show, and have done so, on and off, since 2003.  I have never been to an Apple conference and, as readers of this blog may know, I acquired my first ever Apple product 2 months ago when I bought an iPad on the day of that product’s launch.  I think I have keen insights into Microsoft’s conference.  My ability to comment on Apple’s event ranges somewhere between backseat driver and naive observer.  Just so you know. Although both shows cater to their respective company’s developers, there are a number of differences in the events’ purposes and content approaches.  First off, let’s consider each show as a news and PR vehicle.  WWDC will feature Steve Jobs’ keynote address and most likely will be where Apple officially reveals details of its 4th-generation iPhone. Jobs will likely also provide deep background information on the corresponding iPhone OS release.  These presumed announcements will make the show a magnet for the tech press and tech blogger elite.  Apple’s customers will be interested too, especially since the iPhone OS release will likely be made available to owners of existing iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad devices. Tech Ed, on the other hand, may not be especially newsworthy at all.  The keynote address will be given by Bob Muglia, who is President of the company’s Server and Tools Division, and he’ll likely be reviewing things more than previewing them. That’s because the company has, in the last 6-8 months, already released new versions of a majority of its products, including Windows, Office, SharePoint, SQL Server, Exchange, its Azure cloud platform, its .NET software development layer, its Silverlight Rich Internet Application (RIA) technology and its Visual Studio developer suite.  Redmond’s product pipeline has functioned more like a firehose of late, and the company has a ton of work to do to get developers up to speed on everything that’s new. I know I keep saying “developers,” but in Tech Ed’s case, that’s not really accurate.  In North America, Tech Ed caters to both developers and IT pros (i.e. technologists who work with physical IT infrastructure, as well as security and administration of the server software that runs on it).  This pairing has, since its inception, struck some as anomalous and others, including many exhibitors, as very smart. Certainly, it means Tech Ed ends up being a confab for virtually all professionals in Microsoft’s ecosystem.  And this year, Microsoft’s Business Intelligence (BI) conference will be co-located with Tech Ed, further enhancing that fusion effect. Clearly then, Microsoft’s show will focus on education, as its name assures us.  Apple’s will serve as both a press event and an opportunity to get its own App Store developer channel synced up with its newest technology advances.  For example, we already know that iPhone OS 4.0 will provide for a limited multitasking capability; that will only work well if people know how to code to it in a capable way.  Apple also told us its iAd advertising platform will be part of the new OS, and Steve Jobs insists that’s to provide a revenue opportunity for developers.  This too, then, needs to be explicated and soaked up buy the faithful. A look at each show’s breakout session lineup provides some interesting takeaways.  WWDC will have very few Mac-specific sessions on offer, and virtually no sessions that at are IT- or “Enterprise-“ related.  It’s all about the phone, music players and tablets.  However, WWDC will have plenty of low-level, hardcore tech coverage of such things as Advanced Memory Analysis and Creating Secure Applications, as well as lots of rich media-related content like Core Animation and Game Design and Development.  Beyond Apple’s proprietary platform, WWDC will also feature an array of sessions on HTML 5 and other Web standards.  In all, WWDC offers over 100 technical sessions and hands-on labs. What about Tech Ed’s editorial content?  Like the target audience, it really runs the gamut.  The show has 21 tracks (versus WWDC’s 5) and more than 745 “learning opportunities” which include breakout sessions, demo stations, hands-on labs and BIrds of a Feather discussion sessions.  Topics range from Architecture talks like Patterns of Parallel Programming to cloud computing talks like Building High Capacity Compute Applications with Windows Azure to IT-focused topics like Virtualization of Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Farm Architecture.  I also count 19 sessions on Windows Phone 7.  Unfortunately, with regard to Web standards and HTML 5, only a few sessions are offered, all of them specific to Internet Explorer. All-in-all, Apple’s show looks more exciting and “sexier” than Tech Ed. Microsoft’s show seems a lot more enterprise-focused than WWDC. This is, of course, well in sync with each company’s approach and products.  Microsoft’s content is much wider ranging and bests WWDC in sheer volume of sessions and labs.  I suppose some might argue that less is more; others that Apple’s consumer-focused offerings simply don’t provide for the same depth of coverage to a business audience.  Microsoft has a serious focus on the cloud and  a paucity of coverage on client-side Web standards; Apple has virtually no cloud offering at all.  Again, this reflects each tech titan’s go-to-market strategy. My own take is that employees of each company should attend the other’s event.  The amount of mutual exclusivity in content may make sense in terms of corporate philosophy, but the reality is that each company could stand to diversify into the other’s territory, at least somewhat. My own talk at Tech Ed will focus on competitive analysis around Microsoft’s BI products.  Apple does not today figure into that analysis. Maybe one day it will.

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  • Flashing your Windows Phone Dummies

    - by Martin Hinshelwood
    The rate at which vendors release new updates for the HD2 is ridiculously slow. You have to wait for Microsoft to release the new OS, then you wait for HTC to build it into a ROM, and then you have to wait up to 6 months for your operator to badly customise it for their network. Once Windows Phone 7 is released this problem should go away as Microsoft is likely to be able to update the phone over the air, but what do we do until then? I want Windows Mobile 6.5.5 now!   I’m an early adopter. If there is a new version of something then that’s the version I want. As long as you accept that you are using something on a “let the early adopter beware” and accept that there may be bugs, sometimes serious crippling bugs the go for it. Note that I won't be responsible if you end up bricking your phone, unlocking or flashing your radio or ROM can be risky. If you follow the instructions then you should be fine, I've flashed my phones (SPV, M300, M1000, M2000, M3100, TyTN, TyTN 2, HD2) hundreds of times without any problems! I have been using Windows Mobile 6.5.5 before it was called 6.5.5 and for long enough that I don’t even remember when I first started using it. I was using it on my HTC TyTN 2 before I got an HD2 a couple of months before Christmas, and the first custom ROM’s for the HD2 were a couple of months after that. I always update to the latest ROM that I like, and occasionally I go back to the stock ROM’s to have a look see, but I am always disappointed. Terms: Soft Reset: Same as pulling out the battery, but is like a reboot for your phone Hard Reset: Reinstalls the Operating system from the Image that is stored on it ROM: This is Image that is loaded onto your phone and it is used to reinstall your phone whenever you do a “hard reset”. Stock ROM: A ROM from the original vendor… So HTC Cook a ROM: Referring to Cooking a ROM is the process a ROM developer goes through to take all of the parts (OS, Drivers and Applications) that make up a running phone and compiling them into a ROM. ROM Kitchen: A place where you get an SDK and all the component parts of the phone: OD, Drivers and Application. There are usually lots of Tools for making it easier to compile and build the image. Flashing: The process of updating one of the layers of your phone with a new layer Bricked: This is what happens when flashing goes wrong. Your phone is now good for only one thing… stopping paper blowing away in a windy place. You can “cook” you own ROM using one of the many good “ROM Kitchens” or you can use a ROM built and tested by someone else. I have cooked my own ROM before, and while the tutorials are good, it is a lot of hassle. You can only Flash new ROM’s that are specifically for your phone only so find a ROM for your phone and XDA Developers is the best place to look. It has a forum based structure and you can find your phone quite easily. XDA Developer Forum Installing a new ROM does have its risks. In the past there have been stories about phones being “bricked” but I have not heard of a bricked phone for quite some years. if you follow the instructions carefully you should not have any problems. note: Most of the tools are written by people for whom English is not their first language to you will need concentrate hard to understand some of the instructions. Have you ever read a manual that was just literally translated from another language? Enough said… There are a number of layers on your phone that you will need to know about: SPL: This is the lowest level, like a BIOS on a PC and is the Operating Systems gateway to the hardware Radio: I think of this as the hardware drivers, and you will need a different Radio for CDMA than GSM networks ROM: This is like your Windows CD, but it is stored internally to the Phone. Flashing your phone consists of replacing one Image with another and then wiping your phone and automatically reinstall from the Image. Sometimes when you download an Image wither it is for a Radio or for ROM you only get a file called *.nbh. What do you do with this? Well you need an RUU application to push that Image to your phone. The RUU’s are different per phone, but there is a CustomRUU for the HD2 that will update your phone with any *.nbh placed in the same directory. Download and Instructions for CustomRUU #1 Flash HardSPL An SPL is kind of like a BIOS, and the default one has checks to make sure that you are only installing a signed ROM. This would prevent you from installing one that comes from any other source but the vendor. NOTE: Installing a HARD SPL invalidates your warranty so remember to Flash your phone with a “stock” vendor ROM before trying to send your phone in for repairs. Is the warranty reinstated when you go back to a stock ROM? I don’t know… Updating your SPL to a HardSPL effectively unlocks your phone so you can install anything you like. I would recommend the HardSPL2. Download and Instructions for HardSPL2 #2 Task29 One of the problems that has been seen on the HD2 when flashing new ROM’s is that things are left over from the old ROM. For a while the recommendation was to Flash a stock ROM first, but some clever cookies have come up with “Task29” which formats your phone first. After running this your phone will be blank and will only boot to the white HTC logo and no further. You should follow the instructions and reboot (remove battery) and hold down the “volume down” button while turning you HD2 on to enter the bootloader. From here you can run CustomRUU once the USB message appears. Download and Instructions for Task29 #2 Flash Radio You may need to play around with this one, there is no good and bad version and the latest is not always the best. You know that annoying thing when you hit “end call” on your phone and nothing happens? Well that's down to the Radio. Get this version right for you and you may even be able to make calls. From a Windows Mobile as well Download There are no instructions here, but they are the same as th ROM, but you use this *.nbh file. #3 Flash ROM If you have gotten this far then you are probably a pro by now Just download the latest ROM below and Flash to your phone. I have been really impressed by the Artemis line of ROM’s but it is no way the only choice. I like this one as the developer builds them as close to the stock ROM as possible while updating to the latest of everything. Download and Instructions for  Artemis HD2 vXX Conclusion While updating your ROM is not for the faint hearted it provides more options than the Stock ROM’s and quicker feature updates than waiting… Technorati Tags: WM6

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