John Large – Technology & life Blog

The technical Musings of an I.T. guy

Archive for category Technical

iBook 1.33Ghz G4 – Better than a Netbook

Jan 4

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iBook G4 - Still a damn nice machine!

iBook G4 - Still a damn nice machine!

 

Well I managed to source an iBook 1.33Ghz 12″ for the grand total of £0.00. Our friend Emma had been having trouble with the iBook rebooting and freezing, and the guys in the so called “Genius Bar” had suggested that the Logic Board was faulty and it would be a better idea to upgrade to a new Macbook. So she offered the faulty iBook to me to break up for parts.

I received the iBook and after looking at the thing (it’s pristine, a great size and too good to break up) I decided to have a go at fixing the thing. Out came the screwdrivers and tweezers and apart came the laptop. After a few hours and a few attempts to diagnose the logic board (checking for loose connections and corrosion) I decided to take a look at the RAM. I know I should have really checked this first, but I kind thought the Geniuses at the Genius Bar would have done that in the first place.

Without the 1GB add on SODIMM the laptop seems a lot more stable, with less freeze ups. On closer inspection, some of the memory slot pins where corroded (probably due to liquid on the keyboard). I cleaned up the corrosion, and ordered a brand new 1GB SODIMM online. 2 days later the SODIMM arrived from Play.com and I slotted the ram in place. The iBook booted no problem and even with a hard core burn in test managed not to crash. In instantly formatted the drive and installed OSX 10.5. Within an hour the iBook was configured with my .MAC details and was up and running.

I am pleasantly surprised with this laptop (typing this entry from it as we speak). it is small and lightweight, fast enough for any daily web/blogging/writing stuff, and runs Photoshop & Dreamweaver pretty well. Whats more it was 100% free! Now for the specs :-

 

  Model Name: iBook G4

  Model Identifier: PowerBook6,7

  Processor Name: PowerPC G4 (1.5)

  Processor Speed: 1.33 GHz

  Number Of CPUs: 1

  L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB

  Memory: 1.5 GB

  Bus Speed: 133 MHz

  Boot ROM Version: 4.9.3f0

 

My current iBook 12" Desktop

My current iBook 12" Desktop

 

 

This laptop kicks the arse out of most of the crummy net books available, and still manages to run on battery for around 3.5 hours (although I’m trying to source a new battery this month). The size is ideal for everyday browsing, and I tend to use this laptop more than my more expensive and more powerful Laptops & Desktops due to its size, battery life and good performance as an internet machine. I’m currently running OSX 10.5.6 without issue and the speeds are very good. Everything works as it should, and iLife (iPhoto) runs fine. I play my tunes from my iPod via itunes so the 40GB Hard Drive isn’t a problem (soon to be upgraded to a 250GB drive).

 

For anyone requiring a friendly all round computer, I’d really recommend grabbing one of the ultra portable G4 12″ iBooks. they have plenty of life left in them and are ideal for everything except really processor intense usage.

 

The iBook Keyboard is great. Very Clicky and white

The iBook Keyboard is great. Very Clicky and white

Casio CMD-40 infrared tv watch

Jan 4

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Casio CMD-40 remote Control Watch

Casio CMD-40 remote Control Watch

I received the Casio CMD-40 watch for Christmas this year and the mischeif value is amazing! A quick cycle through the various manufacturer remote codes whilst at the pub or in the city allows me to wreak havoc with employees by systematically turning off every TV in the room. Also of great interest is the Learning mode on the watch which allows you to manually program buttons based on any infra-red signal. You click the button that is to be programmed and point the remote of the device which is being learned and press the appropriate key to transfer the infra-red code. This system allows me to control our Cable TV, my XBMC, and any other device I want to control, all from my wrist.

Also which is of major benefit is the sheer retro value of the watch. I remember when these first came out, and a guy in my Primary School class owned one, we where so jealous! Now all these years on I own one, what joy!

The funny thing is, its also a damn good watch, with the normal Casio reliability and robustness I can see us being friends for a long time. I think any true geek should own such a device, and you should grab one quick!

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Upgrade to 2.7

Jan 4

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Well just an über quick post to let readers know the site has now been upgraded to wordpress 2.7 with support for gears. Very pleased with the result. Much simpler!

Xbox Hacking Repost

Jan 3

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Latest Picture of my Xbox setup.

And a Macro of the xbox & Chip controller.

I started Xbox hacking back in October of 2004. I bought a Crystal Xbox for £100. I wanted to get an older model due to the more complex chipping procedure of the 1.6 motherboards in new machines but after aloof thought I decided to go with the new crystal machine. I then purchased an Xecuter 2.6 Mod chip from Kaneaction who offered a great service. The mod chip fitting itself was a nightmare. Took me almost 4 hours to make all the solder points and rebuild the LPC . Also I lost one of the copper tracks (the heat from the soldering iron destroyed the track) so I had to rebuild the track using wire. After the chip was installed i ripped out the original 8GB Western Digital HD and fitted a 250gb Samsung drive .I then booted the Xbox from Slayers Evox Boot disk and installed Evox, avalaunch & XBMC.

Just recently I removed Evox and set the new CVS build of XBMC as my main dashboard. This was for many reasons but mainly the fact that I use the Xbox more as a media centre of late than a gaming machine. I am able to play Divx and DVD on the xbox from my armchair using the remote, I have the Xbox networked to my media server for watching movies. I also have my entire MP3 collection on the Xbox hard disk(about 100GB of MP3). This allows the xbox to be used as a stand alone Jukebox with a great UI. The new builds of XBMC also allow python scripting. I have a script which random plays a play list when the Xbox boots so I just turn the machine on and music plays. I also have Game trailers & Move trailers streamed directly to the Xbox for my viewing. Perhaps the best script I use is the Yahoo! Launch script, which streams almost every single music video to the xbox on demand at high res. Like MTV, without the adverts and crap music vids. Similar to this is the shoutcast scripting which allows thousands of free streaming radio stations to be played back. The scripts I use are included below

Yahoo Launch Script here

Quicktime Move trailers here

Game trailers here

My own autoexec and randomplay scripts here (place autoexec in XBMC route and the randomplay scripts in the scripts folder) (Edit the autoexec and randomplay files in notepad to represent your file structure)

Below are some screenshots of XBMC

My XBMC Main Menu

My System Info pane

My games uploaded onto the xbox

XBMC playing a selection of mpeg music videos

Music Videos Current Playlist

Main Menu overlayed over video

Weather.com Weather info for me.

Configuration screen.

2 Months of living with the iPhone 3G – Review

Dec 23

Posted by John Large in Technical | No Comments

Well I have just entered my 3rd month as an iPhone 3G owner and I have to say I am smitten with this gadget. I have wanted an iPhone since the original iPhone was released, but held out for the 3G model for obviouis reasons. Also, until recently, it has not been possible to purchase a pre pay version of the iPhone, which would have necessitated buying an unlocked and jailbroken phone. O2 UK recently released both the 8GB and the 16GB iPhone on PAYG for £349 and £399. I opted for the 8GB version as I have a limited edition fifth generation ipod already which I love.

What’s more O2 are providing the PAYG models with free data access for 12 months (£10 per month after the initial period), which includes all 3G, EDGE, GPRS not to mention access at loads of hotspots around the UK for free. This deal is ideal for me as I hate being tied into contracts, so I get all the benefits of a pay monthly phone, without any tie ins and even better I opted for the £10 a month 300 text bolt on which is superb.

So down to using this thing. After 2 months, I have to say that the benefits are terrific, with only a few noticeable drawbacks. First of all the basic functionality such as mobile safari, IMAP email, ipod and phone are all great. I can grab emails on the go either by manually checking my emails, or on a 15 minute fetch schedule which I have setup. It now means I can work and reply to enquiries whilst out walking during the day, whilst on day trips, in fact anywhere I choose to be. As someone who works from home this is ideal as it has freed me from the constraints of sitting at home at my desk or laptop, and I can now operate successfully using the phone, SMS and email on the go, all with a single device.

Anyone who is familiar with OSX will feel right at home with the interface, and the touch screen functionality is amazing. Being a user of PDA’s in the past I thought that the screen input would suck on the iPhone using a finger to type and operate the device. I am super impressed with how responsive the screen is and even the keyboard which I was worried about (due to the fact that I’m a man and have large fingers) seems to work well. The keyboard is further improved by the built in AI error correction and prediction which makes typing a breeze, even when walking.

I am also impressed with the app store and the sheer amount of 3rd party applications now being developed. Apps which I use often include the Facebook app, eBay, paypal along with some lesser know apps such as news readers and games. I also downloaded the apple remote app which allows me to control my iTunes on the desktop. This is a decent app.

Another app which I purchased was the XBMC remote app which allows me to control the XBMC from anywhere in the house (which is fun to screw with people). I did download the word press application which is really poor and refused to work with my blog, even after an update, so I purchased the Blog Writer app which is flawless and allows me to blog from the iPhone.

 

The iPhone 3G is an indispensable gadget - but will benefit from Firmware revisions!

The iPhone 3G is an indispensable gadget - but will benefit from Firmware revisions!

 

 

Criticisms of the iPhone are few, and can probably be rectified in firmware updates. These include the lack of turn by turn and voice instructions on the GPS system, which is OK if trying to find a location on foot, but renders the GPS functionality useless for navigating in a vehicle, especially in built up areas. There are already rumors that this will be fixed in the next firmware update, and it would be a welcome update allowing me to leave the tom tom at home.

Another criticism is the camera, lack of flash and no support for video. Whilst the camera is sufficient for taking shots in good light, night time shots are almost impossible. Many apps claim to rectify this, but without some sort of flash the results are not good. The lack of video support is also laughable as this is available in even low end mobile handsets nowadays.

Something else that really ticks me off about the iphone is the inability to stream music from iTunes over wifi to the iphone. This would allow me to play any tune from my library, anywhere in my home, without the need for syncing the music to the iphone. The fact that my music library is so large, and the iphone memory is small when you consider what is stored on there, the ability to stream from iTunes would really liberate this device, allowing me to listen to any of my music whilst at home. Third party apps can do it, so why can’t apple sort it out.

My last criticism, is not related to the iPhone itself, but to the O2 coverage in the UK. I can get 3G coverage most of the time when out in the open, but if I enter a building, the 3G coverage is lost. This means that if I visit friends and family, i have to rely on the GPRS connection to access email and the web. If O2 are to hold the monopoly on the iPhone in the UK, they really need to improve their coverage and squeeze some more speed out of the network.

I’ll keep adding to this post over the next few days.

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