Kyle Farnung

Harmony Remotes and Xbox 360 Power on Delays

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:01:00 +0000

It appears that there can be a handshake issue between some receivers (like my Denon AVR-2311CI) and the Xbox 360 console (like my “Fat” 60GB Pro model). The issue occurs if the Xbox 360 is powered on too quickly after the receiver is powered on. This seems like a simple fix, but from what I’ve been reading online there isn’t a clear solution to the problem of delaying the Xbox 360 power on.

Here is my solution:

Launch the Harmony Remote Software (I’m using version 7.7.0).
Find the activity (or activities) which utilize your Xbox 360 and click “Settings.”
Choose “Review the settings for this Activity” and click “NEXT >.”
Choose “Yes, but I want to add more control of options and devices for this Activity.” and click “NEXT >.”
You should not need to add any additional devices, so just click “SAVE.”
Click next through all of the input questions until you reach the “Please review the actions for your <Activity Name> Activity” (My activity is called “Play Xbox 360”).
The key to adding the delay is to power on the Xbox 360 yourself within the activity startup actions. Select your Xbox 360 from the “Add action for” dropdown box and then click “Add >.”
Choose “Send this infrared delay” and select “5 seconds,” then click “NEXT >” (I used 5 seconds in my setup, but yours might be able to be shorter or need to be even longer).
Select the Xbox 360 again from the “Add action for” dropdown box and then click “Add >.”
Choose “Send this infrared Command” and select “PowerOn” before clicking “NEXT >.”
At this point there should be two additional “Xbox 360” options added to the activity startup. If so, then click “SAVE >.”
Choose “Yes, these settings are correct.” and click “NEXT >.”
To complete this part of the configuration, click “DONE” twice.
Since we are now powering on the Xbox 360 ourselves, we need to remove the power on command from the Xbox 360 device.
Go to the “Devices” tab of the interface, locate the Xbox 360 device, and click “Settings.”
Choose “Adjust power settings” and click “NEXT >.”
Choose “I want to turn off this device when it’s not in use” and click “NEXT >.”
Choose “A button on the remote for On, and a different button for Off” and click “NEXT >.”
Choose “I don’t have the original remote, but I know what command that is used” and select “-None-“ before clicking “NEXT >.”
The next screen will prompt “No command was selected. Would you like to continue?” Click the “YES” button to continue.
Make sure the “I don’t have the original remote, but I know the command that is used” option is chosen with the “PowerOff” command selected and click “NEXT >.”
Leave the options on the next screen and just click “NEXT >” again.
Finally, click “DONE” three times to return to the main interface.
At this point you can update your remote normally and test out the modifications.

Although I haven’t tested this extensively, it seems to resolve my initial issue perfectly. The one downside I’ve found is that the “Help” function will no longer work to turn the Xbox 360 on if it failed to do so. You will either need to choose the device on the remote and send the “PowerOn” command directly or use another remote/controller to turn it on. At this point I’m willing to live with it, but will update if I end up finding a better way.

ProcessWatcher to handle XBMC issues and crashes

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 07:55:00 +0000

I’ve been using XBMC for enjoying video and music on my TV, but have constantly encountered a bug where the video gets choppy if I’ve left XBMC open for too long. To help remedy the situation without needing a full PC restart or the aid of a keyboard, I’ve created a simple tool that will monitor the XBMC process (or any process for that matter) and restart it if it exits.

I call the tool ProcessWatcher and have decided to release it as a free download.

It does require that you have .NET Framework 4.0 installed.

Usage Instructions:

Unzip the downloaded file to a convenient location (like *C:\Tools\ProcessWatcher*).
Create a new shortcut in Windows. Point the shortcut to the ProcessWatcher.exe file and name the shortcut whatever you’d like (I call mine “XBMC”).
Right-click on the newly created shortcut and choose “Properties.”
To the end of the “Target” field you will need to add the full path to the XBMC.exe file. On 32-bit systems this will likely be “C:\Program Files\XBMC\XBMC.exe” (Don’t forget to include the quotes) and on 64-bit systems this will likely be “C:\Program Files (x86)\XBMC\XBMC.exe” (Again, don’t forget to include the quotes).
Change the “Start in” field to match the path you found the XBMC.exe file in (For example *C:\Program Files (x86)\XBMC*).
Change the icon using the “Change Icon…” button to whatever you’d like (I used the XBMC icon).
Click “OK” in the properties dialog and double-click the shortcut to launch XBMC via ProcessWatcher.

If at any point the XBMC.exe process exits (either intentionally or via a crash), the ProcessWatcher will count down and then restart the process. While ProcessWatcher is counting down, you can hit the enter key (if the window has focus) or click “Quit” to abort the countdown immediately and exit the application. If the countdown elapses, then XBMC will be started up again.

Fallout 3, Multi-Core Processors, and You

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 01:33:07 +0000

Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition was only $20 on Steam last night, so I finally decided to pick up a copy. I’ve played a lot of the game already on the Xbox 360, so I’m pretty familiar with the beginning areas, but I spent most of that time dealing with an annoying bug where the game would freeze, but not crash. I could no longer control the game, but the ambient audio continues to play; the only resolution being to kill the process. Needless to say, it really ruins the experience in the game and worst yet, it seems to be a really common problem for anyone who has more than two processor cores (I have eight, so the problem is multiplied further). There doesn’t appear to be any sort of official fix, but people have reported success with some custom modifications to the configuration.

The game engine has some issues with processors that have more than 2 cores. You can force the game to only use two of them and it will stop the freezing. I haven’t had it freeze once since I did this several days ago.

Open up the fallout.ini file in My Documents\My Games\Fallout3

Find the line:

bUseThreadedAI=0

change it to:

bUseThreadedAI=1

Add another line after it and insert:

iNumHWThreads=2

This will limit the game to 2 cores and prevent the engine bug from causing the game to freeze.

Windows 7 and TortoiseSVN problems

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 01:19:36 +0000

For quite a while now I’ve been having issues with TortoiseSVN reporting that files were corrupt while updating and submitting. After my working copy became corrupt, yet again, I decided to do some research and turned up a solution to the problem. Apparently there is a bug, introduced in Windows 7, with the MoveFileEx command that TortoiseSVN uses quite frequently. The fix is now included in Windows 7 SP1.

Download Windows 7 SP1

Ubuntu 8.04 on the Thinkpad T60

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 06:55:10 +0000

Well, as typically happens with me, I got bored and decided to try something new. This time it was Ubuntu Linux on my trusty Thinkpad T60. I hadn’t tried Linux in quite some time and was pleasantly surprised by my experience.

First, my specs:

Core 2 Duo T7200 2.0GHz
2GB DDR2
120GB HD
ATI Radeon X1400 128MB
DVD Burner
Intel Pro/Wireless 3945

To start, I was excited that my wireless worked right out of the box with my family’s WPA protected network. The install worked flawlessly and I was soon booted into a working operating system. After connecting to the wireless network, I rescanned the repositories and installed all of the provided updates. That’s all it takes to get completely up to date.

One of the other things I was really interested in trying out was Compiz Fusion, also knows as “Desktop Effects” in Ubuntu. Trying to enable them using the default “radeon” driver did not work, but enabling the proprietary fglrx driver allowed them to work flawlessly. Although ATI has had a spotty past with their Linux support, this seems to be a very good step forward for them. Even suspending and resuming the computer works almost perfectly.

As far as other hardware, I have yet to try the bluetooth, but it is detected by the operating system when enabled, which is encouraging. In time I will hopefully try that out, but it’s not really high on the list of priorities. I’ve also neglected the modem since I really don’t have a use for it, but it looks to require the Linuxant proprietary drivers (which cost money).

The touchpad worked perfectly right out of the box and Ubuntu does provide a small number of options to configure it. One of the problems I did have was the sensitivity of the scroll, but that was easily fixed using a small Xorg configuration change. Just add the following line to the touchpad section of the xorg.conf file:

Option    "VertScrollDelta"     "130"

A higher number (up to 255 I’m assuming) seems to make the scroll go slower, while a lower number seem to make it scroll faster. As far as the TrackPoint, it worked perfectly as a mouse, but the center scroll button did not function. This was also easily fixed with a few more tweaks to the xorg.conf file. Just add the following to the “Configured Mouse” section of the xorg.conf file:

Option    "EmulateWheel"        "true"  
Option    "EmulateWheelButton"  "2"

Since I seem to have most of the hardware under control (my biggest concern), I’m spending most of my time trying out new applications and learning about everything that a modern operating system has to offer.

ThinkPad T60 - How to Make a Custom OEM Windows CD

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 08:05:00 +0000

Now updated for Windows XP SP3, if you encounter any problems, please let me know!

Please note that the RVM Update Pack and KB896256 hotfix are no longer necessary with Service Pack 3.

When I first bought my Lenovo ThinkPad T60, I was a little disappointed at the absence of a normal OEM Windows XP CD. This CD would allow the user to install their own copy of Windows free of the preloaded garbage that comes on every machine. After reading some posts and tutorials and running into problems, I finally have the solution for ThinkPad T60 owners. The CD that is created in this tutorial embeds the Lenovo OEM key (different from the one on the bottom of the machine) and doesn’t require activation as long as it’s installed on the same machine the license came with.

A lot of the initial inspiration came from this guide, but everything here has been recreated from scratch to customize for T60 owners. This may work on other Lenovo models, but some of the instructions are likely to change slightly (mainly the drivers and hotfix). Anyway, let’s get started.

Update: I tried out the install last night and it seemed to work well. Windows booted up fine the first time and I had only minor problems with System Update not properly installing things. This may or may not have been caused by the slipstreaming, but if anyone is willing to experiment, you can easily leave out the network drivers and update pack (make sure to still use the Intel Storage Matrix Driver).

If you have any suggestions or problems, please post a comment below!

Downloads

Drivers
Tools
Updates
- Windows XP Service Pack 3 Network Installation Package (Essential)

Preparation

Download all of the necessary files listed above.
Install nLite using the provided installer package.
Run the Magic Jelly Bean Keyfinder to retrieve the currently installed CD Key for use later. Write this number key down or save it in a text file.
Execute the driver packages to extract them. By default the packages should extract to C:\DRIVERS\WIN, but please make sure you know where they are being extracted to.
Extract the Windows XP CD Package (wxp.zip) to a drive with at least a few gigabytes of free space. The package includes the necessary CD indentification files that aren’t copied on to your hard drive. Note that the package does not include any actual install files, those come from your computer.
Open the cds folder that you just extracted and then open the wxphome or wxppro folder depending on the version of Windows that came installed on your computer.
Do not modify or remove any of the files in this folder since it will become the root of your CD. Copy (don’t move) the C:\I386 folder containing the Windows install files into this folder so it becomes a subdirectory (ex. *C:\cds\wxppro\I386*).
Optionally, the SUPPORT and VALUEADD folders can similarly be copied into this folder since they are part of the original XP CD.

This is what the folder should look like after it has been prepared. In my example I used the wxppro folder since my computer came with Windows XP Pro installed.

Creating the CD

Start the nLite program and click Next.
Click Browse… and browse for your Windows installation folder (either wxphome or wxppro).

This is what the screen should look like if you correctly located your Windows installation folder.
Click Next twice to get to the “Task Selection” screen. Select the Service Pack, Hotfixes and Update Packs, Drivers, Unattended, and Bootable ISO tasks and click Next.

Make sure your Task Selection screen looks like this.
On the “Service Pack” screen, click Select to locate the Service Pack 3 install file. If a message comes up saying that “Previous Hotfixes have been detected,” hit the Yes button to remove them. Once the Browse window comes up, locate the executable for Service Pack 3, it should be called WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe and click Open. Wait for the slipstream to complete and click the OK button when it says “Integrated install has completed successfully.” Make sure the version is now reported as “Windows XP <Version> Sp3” and click Next.
On the “Drivers” screen, click the Insert button and click Single driver. To add the Intel Storage Matrix driver, navigate to the driver folder (usually C:\DRIVERS\WIN\IMSM) and choose the file iaahci.inf. Select “Textmode driver” and only “Intel(R) 82801GBM SATA AHCI Controller (Mobile ICH7M)” and click OK.

Make sure the selections match before clicking OK.
To add the ethernet driver, click the Insert button and click Single driver. Navigate to the Intel PRO/1000 LAN driver folder (usually C:\DRIVERS\WIN\ETHERNET\PRO1000\WS03XP2K) and choose the file e1e5132.inf.
Optionally, you can do the same for the wireless driver by going to the correct driver folder (usually C:\DRIVERS\WIN\WLANINT\XP\Drivers for Intel PRO/Wireless) and choosing the correct file (NETw39x5.inf for Intel PRO/Wireless).
Once all the drivers are added, click the Next button to continue.

The driver integration screen should look similar to this.
On the “Unattended” screen, you can modify a large number of options for the installer, but I only recommend filling in the product key.

I recommend filling in the product key only and leaving the other options alone.
When you click the Next button, you will be prompted with “Do you want to start the process?” If everything is correct on the previous screens, you should click Yes to make the modifications.
Once the “Processing…” screen is finished, click the Next button to continue.
On the “Bootable ISO” screen, you can choose whether to create an image, burn a CD, or burn an image that you have created previously. I usually create an image to test out on a virtual machine before burning. You can choose any label you want, but I usually use the label “WXPFPP_EN” since it is the label used on all Windows XP Professional CDs I’ve dealt with. Once all of the settings are correct, hit the Make ISO or Burn button. If you chose to create an image, you will be prompted for a location to save it.

The settings I use to make an ISO for testing in a virtual machine before burning to CD.
Once the burn or image is complete, click the Next button and then the Finish button to exit the program.
If you chose to make an image earlier, you need to burn it to CD before trying to install on your ThinkPad. One free program I recommend is ImgBurn (and it even works on Vista).

Using the CD

Before you do anything else, please make sure to backup your important data! It is also highly recommended that you create your recovery discs if you haven’t already and manually back up the Lenovo folders from the C drive. The folders to grab are drivers, I386, SUPPORT, SWSHARE, SWTOOLS, and VALUEADD which should all fit comfortably on a DVD. Some of the installers under SWTOOLS can only be found in this folder and not online.
Make sure your laptop is set to “AHCI” under “Config”->”SATA” in the BIOS and that you are able to boot from a CD. If it is set to “Compatibility,” there may be problems if you try to switch it to “AHCI” after the install.
If you want to remove the recovery partition (make sure you created your recovery disks before doing anything), you need to disable the “Predesktop Area” under “Security” in the BIOS.
Boot with the CD in the drive and you may have to “Press any key to boot from CD…” if the drive already has Windows installed.
On the partition screen you should be able to delete both partitions (system and recovery) and create one or two custom partitions. I personally use 40GB for C and the rest of my 120GB drive for D and that works well for me, but this is an entirely personal thing.
The rest of the install should go like normal except that you won’t have to enter a key during the install. All other prompts should be there just as they once were.
After the install, you should immediately have network access over either ethernet or wireless (if you added the drivers) and should immediately run Windows Update. I wouldn’t bother with the drivers at first, but make sure to get both versions of the .NET Framework (v1.1 and v2.0) so that you can install System Update if desired.
From here you are basically on your own and more information can be found on Lenovo’s site and at the thinkpads.com Support Community where I usually check in a few times per day.

Notes

If you use System Update, it might continually say that the Intel Storage Matrix Driver isn’t installed and even after you tell it to install again, it will still keep coming up. This didn’t happen to me when I tried it and can safely be ignored.
It will most likely be necessary to install the driver package for your wireless card again after the install has completed. At least with my Intel PRO/Wireless 3945, Access Connections wouldn’t work with it until I installed the driver again, even though Windows was able to connect with it just fine. The main reason for integrating the driver is to get wireless immediately so this isn’t a problem for me, but you can always leave it out if this bothers you.
.NET 3.0 refused to install via Windows Update, but installed just fine when I downloaded the installer from Microsoft. This may be related to the RVM Update Pack, but I’m not sure at this time.
Some packages don’t show up in System Update 3.0 and others don’t seem to install properly. I don’t believe this is related to the Windows install, but it’s a possibility. It seems that the best way to install Lenovo software is to use the Driver Matrix.