Removing the argument at the end of the day

We have 2 wonderful and challenging children who both have tablets, and when we want them to put them down at the end of an evening - we either got an argument or it's nearly finished..

I wanted a way of restricting and switching off the internet at set times to specific devices, unfortunately my TalkTalk router did not offer me many solutions.

Sky fails to record from TV guide

My Sky +HD box recently updated to the new version, following this update though it would not record from the TV guide. When I pressed the remote's record button for a program it was just ignored.

If I started to watch a channel I could then record a program on that channel just not though the TV guide.

Searching the internet I found a solution that fixed my problem - rebuild the planner.


This process will stop all recordings in process and reboot the box. If there is a recording underway, consider waiting until it is completed. Rebuilding the planner will not delete any existing recordings. 

1. Press services on your Sky remote control and you will see the main menu with Options highlighted.
2. Highlight the Settings menu using the right arrow button and press select.
3. Press 0 (zero), 1 then select to access the Installer Setup menu (this menu is not listed on the Settings menu options).
4. Use the left/right arrows to highlight Rebuild (this will change to Sky+ Rebuild when reached) and press select.
5. The on-screen message "This will take a few minutes to complete. The rebuild will stop all recordings and reboot your Sky+" will appear. Press select to continue.
6. The on-screen message "Housekeeping please wait" will appear and take up to two minutes to clear. If your Sky+HD box continues to display this message for longer than two minutes please carry out a power reset (below) with the viewing card removed.
7. Once complete your Sky+HD box will switch itself off and then back on automatically displaying the red standby light.
8. Ensure the red standby light on the box has re-appeared, then wait for 3 minutes.
9. Press sky your remote control and the light on your Sky+HD box will turn green. 

http://www.sky.com/helpcentre/tv/sky-plus-hd/recording/guide-to-performing-a-planner-rebuild/index.html

Comtrend Power adapters - adding another adapter

I had an issue where I had two Comtrend power adapters working as a pair, but need to add another for an Xbox.


Here is the solution I followed:

1. Plug one of the new pair of adaptors into a socket close to the Access Point adaptor (This is the first of the original pair of Comtrend adapters the one with the Access Point in green) - ideally next to each other on a power strip.
2. Hold the "config" button of the Access Point for about 5 seconds until the AP led starts to flash, then release the button. 
3. Next hold the "config" button on the new adaptor for about 5 seconds until the AP led starts to flash (you have about 30 seconds to do this from the time you released the config button on the Access Point adaptor - hence having them close together). 
4. Release that button and in a couple more seconds the AP led on the new adaptor should flash quickly three times and go out. The Status led on the new adaptor should then show red and then turn green after a few seconds. 

Assuming this all goes to plan, they're configured!


Comtrends guides to my models:
http://www.comtrend.com/links/22$snd.htm

Method to fix my continually rebooting Joggler

This post is an amalgamation of a number of posts by various people.
Including:
Code by xoom450 http://www.joggler.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2554
Ubuntu by http://joggler.exotica.org.uk/ubuntu/
Joggler mod by http://www.gforums.de/juggler/download.html

Please be careful, I do not take any responsibility for you totally bricking your Joggler.

Telnet Joggler

The following information can be used to configure the Joggler to allow Telnet connections:
http://jogglerwiki.info/index.php?title=Installing_Telnet

If using Windows Vista or Windows 7 you will need to install Telnet from the "Turn Windows features on or off" option in Control Panel - Programs.

Connect to the Joggler:
Start Telnet.

In the command prompt type Open 192.168.1.x  (Where 192.168.1.x is the IP address of your Joggler - obtained from the Settings - Network)
Password -- letmein

Change directory:
cd /media/appshop or cd tv

Make directory:
mkdir tv

Copy file from internet to folder.
wget http://www.location.com/Program.tar   (Ensure you use appropriate capitals)

Expand compressed archive
tar xvf Program.tar

Delete compressed archive
rm Program.tar

List files in the folder
ls

Copying file
cp applications.xml applications.backup


Edit file
vi applications.xml

Insert/edit the file
i

esc to exit insert mode
:x to write and exit
:w to write changes
:q to exit
:q! to exit and discard changes

Reboot the Joggler
reboot

Installing additional drivers at setup via USB floppy

Installing Windows Server 2003 can fail if the disk controller hardware is relatively new and the drivers are not contained within the Windows Server standrad driver set. (i.e. SATA)

You will need to download the driver from the manufactures website and then copy the matching .sys, .cat, .oem and .inf drivers to a floppy disk.

If you are installing to a machine with out a floppy disk driver you will need to use an external USB floppy disk drive.

During the installation after you have configured the partitions, the installation will request the driver files again if the driver fails to load it may be that the driver .OEM is not optimised to look for the USB floppy drive.

You will need to edit the TXTSETUP.OEM file adding the following information:

[HardwareIds.scsi.MSAS2K3]
...
...
id = "USB\VID_03F0&PID_2001", "usbstor" #--HP
id = "USB\VID_054C&PID_002C", "usbstor" #--Sony
id = "USB\VID_057B&PID_0001", "usbstor" #--Y-E Data
id = "USB\VID_0409&PID_0040", "usbstor" #--NEC
id = "USB\VID_0424&PID_0FDC", "usbstor" #--SMSC
id = "USB\VID_08BD&PID_1100", "usbstor" #--Iomega
id = "USB\VID_055D&PID_2020", "usbstor" #--Samsung
id = "USB\Vid_0930&PID_6540", "usbstor" #--MY USB KEY

Acer Aspire One - Linux - installing VLC

The Acer Aspire One (Linux edition) runs a version of Red Hat/Fedora Linux V8.

The built in media player has a limited set of CODECs and so can not play all the available video formats (i.e. Divx & Xvid video formats). You can install the VLC video player which will play a large selection of different types of video files.

Firstly, we need to open up the interface to allow extra software to be added.

1. Go to the green Files pane at the bottom right of the screen and left-click on My Documents.
2. Now left-click on File & Terminal – you'll see a text window open with a $ prompt.
3. Type in xfce-setting-show and press Enter – up pops the Xfce Desktop Manager.
4. Left-click on Desktop, then select the Behaviour tab. Now tick Show Desktop Menu on Right Click.
5. Type Exit to close a Terminal screen.

Now, if you close all those open windows & get back to the standard Aspire One desktop, you'll find that, if you now do a right-click, you'll get a Menu appear!

Installing the VLC video player.

1. Right-Click on the Desktop and select Terminal and type in the following lines at the $ prompt.
   nu -
   (Your appropriate password)
   sudo yum install fedora-release
   sudo rpm -ivh http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-8.rpm
   sudo yum install vlc python-vlc mozilla-vlc
2. When prompted answer Y & Enter, when complete close all open windows.
3. Right Click anywhere on the Desktop and go to MultiMedia -> VLC Media Player. (You might need to restart your Netbook.

Adding Icons to the Aspire One

It's all very well having the Advanced Menu, but for some apps you'd also like the fast access provided by the desktop. Here's how you make them appear. Press Alt-F2, type in xterm to open the command line (Terminal) window - and click on Run...

At the command line, type:
sudo mousepad /home/user/.config/xfce4/desktop/group-app.xml and hit Enter. This calls up the desktop's configuration file. Scroll through and you'll see how the entries are arranged.

Add to the Fun desktop section (Possibly 7) the following line to add a link to the VLC player.

"/usr/share/applications/livna-vlc.desktop"

Remembering to select a unique sequence number the number describes the order of the applications.

Save the file then restart your Acer Aspire. Click on the right-arrow button in the Fun section, and you should see a new VLC icon. Drag and drop it higher in the list if you prefer.

Links:
http://www.aspireoneuser.com/
Ten tweaks for a new Acer Aspire One.

Check the Capabilities of your Processor

SecurAble probes the system's processor to determine the presence, absence and operational status of three modern processor features: .

• 64-bit instruction extensions.
• Hardware support for detecting and preventingthe execution of code in program data areas.
• Hardware support for system resource “virtualization.”

http://www.grc.com/securable.htm