Acer XP Drivers, HD Confusion, Laziness - Contactify

Acer XP Drivers

Wow, a lot of feedback from people wanting to switch from Vista to XP on this laptop, and similar models. I guess that tells you something.

Here's a few things to help you in case you're not dual-booting with Vista and need your computer's specs (and/or you can download a freeware system info program like the last free version of AIDA):

Acer 5520-5334
Nvidia GeForce 7000M/nForce 610M
Atheros AR5007EG (Wireless adapter)
Nvidia nforce networking controller (wired network adapter)
Realtek HD digital audio (Audio)
HDaudio soft data fax modem with SmartCP (modem)
Phoenix BIOS

Some of the drivers I found said that they were for Vista with no mention of XP. Some worked, some didn't, some still worked by manually using the drivers. The latter I had to extract and then manually update the drivers from the extracted files.

So, below is a list of the drivers themselves that worked for me. You can find these, for the most part, at this site (this dude is doing similar for his laptop but it's a slightly different model) and this site. If you still can't find them do a search for the filenames or driver names or device names in Google or at one of the free driver download sites, like Driverguide.com.

Here's the driver filenames, in the order I think it best for installing them:

Foxconn Modem Driver 7.62.00 or foxconn_modem_driver.zip
Modem driver. Unzip to a directory and run the SETUP, I had a few problems getting this installed because, I think, I installed it after the audio driver. I'd recommend installing this first or second.

15655 nvidia video drivers.exe
This was for the video primarily. It installed and worked great, no problems.

realtek_hd_audio_driver.zip
Unzip this and run the exe. Installed fine.

Chipset_MCP67M_1313_vista_x64_x86.zip
This was trickier. You need to extract this to a directory. Then go into your Control Panel, click System, then Device Manager. Find the system devices that are in error, like the coprocessor and some fo the unnamed ones. Right-click on them and select Update. Click the second option (Install from a list or specific location) and navigate to where you extracted the file. Go through all the sub-directories, eventually you will find that it updates the coprocessor and the MCU. It takes a few tries of the above process.

TouchPad_ALPS(PNP0F13)_V7.0.1101.11_Vistax32_WHQL.zip
Installed fine. I wouldn't normally install this as the default mouse driver works fine for the touchpad on this and other laptops. But I couldn't get the settings for the mouse driver to be exactly the way I wanted. The " increase accuracy" made it pause too long before moving. The ALPS software fixed this, and the nice edge scrolling and tap-right-click is nice too.

There are some more drivers list at the second site above available for the webcam, webcam software, smartcard reader, etc. I didn't install these as mine worked fine after installing WinXP.

You can also find the other miscellaneous software for the extra buttons and Acer's e software, none of which I installed. If anyone else tries these and they work in XP let me know. In fact, please drop me a note or feedback if you find any better methods, better order to install the drivers, more drivers for this laptop, or whatever. I'll post it here.

HD Confusion

There's certainly a lot of confusion when people are discussing HD TV, Blu-Ray DVD, HD DVD, whether people need to do anything before the shut-off of the analog TV signals comes along next early next year. Then throw in HDMI cables and all the different kinds of TV's and you triple the confusion, at least.

One thing people get confused about right off the bat is the difference between "digital" and "HD" TV.

All HD TV is digital, but not all digital TV is HD. Digital is a way to transmit the signal, HD is the format of the signal itself. Just plain digital is usually a lower quality picture then HD, but higher then analog (low quality). Plus, digital can carry a number of channels on one frequency in the same bandwidth as analog carries one channel.

HD TV is capable of resolutions up to 1080 of vertical resolution (1920 horizontal), progressive or interlaced. But right now you probably won't see a whole lot of them at that high of a resolution. Most will be the 720 or so. Consider your old analog TV signals - 250 lines of resolution or so.

Blu-Ray and HD DVD are also capable of 1080. Even though there are two difference formats with very different methods of presenting the data on the DVD; they are similar in what you see and their use. Blu-Ray DVD's do hold a slight amount more data then HD DVD's, but to you; the consumer, they are going to look the same on your HD TV - whichever one you use. Some DVD players are coming out that play both formats.

And it should be mentioned that your regular, run-of-the-mill DVD's have great picture quality as is (depending on the studio and release of course). An HD DVD or Blu-Ray DVD is only going to be a portion better then an "old" style DVD, visually.

To get the absolute highest resolution on your TV you need HDMI cables at this time. If your TV doesn't have an HDMI jack there are probably going to be other connections that are going to give you a good or great picture, maybe even components jacks that will still give you 1080.

One thing to remember about HDMI cables - they're all pretty much the same. As long as they are built correctly and don't break on you or fall apart; it just doesn't matter whether you bought them for $15 or for $100. Of course, the guys in the electronics stores are going to tell you differently.

It's just like these stereo shops that try to sell you gold-plated, super-thick monster cables. Unless you plan on running your Dolby Surround Sound speakers a mile away from your receiver you're wasting your money. Hate to tell some of you audiophiles but copper's copper and aluminum's aluminum.

As to the whole switch-over to HD...I'll leave the "why's" and "whatfor's" to others; the reasons and conflicts and justifications by the FCC and television networks and such (I already ranted a bit about this in a previous message).

Firstly, technically (and contrary to popular belief) the shutdown doesn't mean specifically that everything broadcast over the air must be HD, but it MUST be digital. And it doesn't cover low-powered TV stations. And some specific-purpose ones will still be transmitting in analog a bit longer then the official deadline - February 17, 2009.

If you get your TV off an antenna then you definitely need either a TV with an HD tuner built-in (everything you buy from now on) or an external tuner/receiver that will receive and convert the signal from HD to either plain analog or a high definition signal your existing TV can interpret. You can sign up for the voucher from the government that will help you get a cheapo HD converter box.

If you have an older TV without HD you can still get a good HD picture by getting a converter box that outputs with RCA cables, S-Video, Component, or HDMI. With an HDMI output you'll get a high quality HD picture, same with Component if your TV supports it. With S-Video and RCA cables it won't be as good, but still very nice. If you have an old television with just a composite plug (the thing the big thick cable sticks into) then the best you'll get is an analog picture (though it likely will be better then your TV without the HD converter box).

This switch-over doesn't directly affect cable or satellite providers. Notice I said "directly" because it's more complicated.

Your cable provider may want you to get a box if you don't have one, or switch to digital or even to HD. They probably don't need to, but they may anyway.

Most people with cable get their local channels through the cable, so this all won't affect them for the most part (again, depends on your company and possibly their equipment to some extent).

Satellite signals have been digital for years. You don't need to do anything differently either - unless you happen to get your local channels off an antenna in addition to getting your other channels off the dish.

So this is where it gets tricky.

I heard a guy at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago explaining this whole thing to a co-worker. He did a great job at going through the whole concept and who needs to do what until he got to the satellite part. He told his co-worker that those with satellite wouldn't have to worry about switching over either.

Wrong. Incorrect. But, it depends...

If you have a dish and get your local channels off the dish (like if you're in a good-sized market) then you have nothing to switch over or worry about. You're digital, you're golden, no worries.

But not all local stations in all parts of the country are on the satellite dish. Basically, the local station has to send their local content to the dish company, who then re-transmits it to their satellite transmitters, which then gets sent to the satellites, which in turn rebroadcasts it back to the people in that market who want to watch the local channels. It's round-about, but those people don't need an outdoor antenna or the aggravation of having it and maintaining it, switching back and forth, lack of signal, etc.

As you can imagine it's not always fiscally possible for smaller local TV stations to do this, or at least not at this time.

So some people with satellite dishes get their local stations off an 'old-school' antenna, or not at all; which puts them right in the same boat as the people who ONLY get their TV off an antenna.

So you may have a nice dish sending you high quality digital signals or even HD signals, yet if you're in the boonies your only local TV stations (like if you want local news, local programs, etc) come off a pair of rabbit ears or a roof-mount antenna and in crap-a-vision analog.

Speaking of antennas; there's absolutely no difference between an analog antenna and an HD antenna. But it's another rip-off by some of the electronics stores, both big chains and small shops - because they'll tell you that you need a new antenna for HD. Yes, a "special" HD antenna. A good rip-off for them, right up there with "monster cables".

Don't forget your audio too. Who wants incredible video without at least good sound? Even a cheap Dolby Surround Sound Systems can sound real good. Bug a good one sounds REAL good!

And course if you don't want to run wires there's alternatives.

Wireless speakers come in both RF and IR but they don't always have enough bandwidth for a full frequency range, and there can be timing and interference problems. The new (and expensive) "psychoacoustics" sound bars use a bank of speakers in a kind of "audio trickery" to make it sound like you have speakers all over your room. This idea has been around for many years but never quite perfected until now. I remember experimenting with it as a kid.

There are, of course, multitudes of kinds of TV's. The most common:

Plasmas - the best pictures, but prone to fading and burn-in and a definite lifespan - 5-7 years. These can theoretically be extremely large.

LCD's - usually your blacks aren't so much black as dark gray and there can be long response times so you see pixilation and compression artifacts in scenes with lots of motion, this is getting better and better. Plus dead pixels are fairly common.

Rear projection - these can be CRT projectors where the picture is bounced off a large mirror onto a display screen (good picture but prone to fading, burn-in, etc) or DLP where micro-mirrors, a high-powered lamp, and spinning color wheels or prisms are used to project the picture onto the tiny mirrors, many times one to a pixel. Drawbacks can be long response times and the possibility of certain people being able to see the prismatic "rainbow" effects (and sometimes subsequent headaches and such). Another major con is the lamps have a definite lifetime, some say a few years (would depend on your usage of course). Some new ones use an LED in place of a high-powered arc lamp, increasing the lifetime of the TV (likely it will last as long as you have the TV, or at least as long as another component fails). But sometimes this can be at the expense of a higher response time, causing the possibility of an increased "rainbow" effect and more compression artifacts when there's lots of motion.

And lastly good old CRT's. Big, heavy, but tried-and-true. Limited to 'smaller' size screens.

Sorry there's no reference links above. Wikipedia is your friend.

LaZy/Burned Out - Easy Feedback Box

I've been working on a couple big projects this week. One person wanted a "small" eCommerce system set up. He had bought a whole package through his hosting company quite some time ago but he could never figure out. He finally admitted defeat and contacted me, I set it up (though it turned into much more then a "small" system once he saw all that could be done with it, no complaints from me) but I have to say, the ease that the package brought to the whole process was refreshing, though it still was a lot of work involved.

The other project didn't come out so well. I had mentioned in a previous blog about setting up a wiki for Jefferson County.

I've set up a number of wiki's for fun, for learning, for testing, and also for a few customers. They all worked great and still do.

But none of them had the traffic that this Jefferson County one caught once it was opened to the public. Unfortunately the hosting company we set it up on sucks. Ipowerweb. Sucks. Badly.

I'm sure you'll find lots of bad reviews for them, especially their limits on database query access. Ugh. I've put SOOOOO much work into this, just for the fun of it - no pay for this one.

So now the database won't work, I know the temporary fix for it as well as the permanent one (which requires some hacking into the wiki's code) but now the database is corrupted - AFTER USING Ipowerweb's database fix.

What a pisser.

Anyway, I'm just finishing up a few things on another website. But previously I had received some responses here along the lines of not being able to contact me.

There's a contact link at the bottom of this blog, as well as the ability to leave comments.

So I decided to go ahead and add a little contact box for the blog.

On blogs, websites, and other sites on the Internet a lot of times people jsut add their e-mail in a link. VERY VERY VERY BAD! Spam robots will eat this up, especially if your site is linked well to others and in search engines. Over time you'll have so much crap in your mailbox you won't know what to do with it, even with spam filters.

I use either a little Javascript applet that encrypts this from direct harvesting, or a form.

The latter is probably the best method. But I'm lazy today, and got too much I still need to do today. Not to mention a bunch of snow coming down that I'll have to shovel/snowblow at some point on top (Wow, it's really coming down).

So I'm going to use this nice little free service that does the contact box for me. It's called "Contactify" and creates a little form box for you, complete with anti-automation anti-spam verification. Very nice.

Tweaking Vista, TV Converter Box Program, Bricked WT54G, Minifox for Firefox

Tweaking Vista

Vista. Yea, you've all heard of the problems or more then likely ran into them yourself if you got it on a new computer system or installed it.

I've been helping people with it, usually to get rid of it in most cases or live with it and learn it in others. But really I haven't had the opportunity to sit down with it and figure the in's and out's of it, on a deeper level.

My new laptop came with it. Of course, my first thought was to dump Vista and install XP. I'd dealt with so many headaches concerning Vista, and read about many more.

Well, no, I guess my first thought wasn't exactly to dump Vista - my first thought was to dump the incredibly slow and resource-munching Norton. I did that; which is pretty much mandatory with me. Norton, in any of it's present forms is a hulk of bloatware. It does it's job, especially for those who really need it, but there's many better alternatives.

So after that I set out to really get into the 'innards' of Vista and see if I could make it usable for a super power user like me, and maybe go a bit further for some of my customers then just making sure they know how to use it and turn off the standard crap that they don't need and slugs everything down.

After a week of tinkering I've sped Vista up tremendously; I've gotten rid of the idiotic pop-up messages that ask you questions all the time (like from the "User Account Control" [first thing I disabled] and the built-in firewall), turned off the useless sidebar (installed Rocketdock instead) and hungry real-time indexing, unselected some start up services that were totally unnecessary, put on a compatible firewall and anti-virus, and am delving into the other services that can be disabled. Black Viper, who you'll know if if you're a tech or a tweaking junkie, has some great stuff out. Absolutely required reading.

I eventually partitioned the harddrive and stuck XP on another partition, then repaired the freaky boot stuff that Vista uses (and the XP boot loader destroyed) as well as the MBR. The whole thing took a couple hours of playing around, though it's not that complicated once you use some of the various software made to make it easier. I wanted to figure it out myself though.

Now I have XP on it also, with a nice menu for dual-booting. Maybe Linux next.

But you know what? With the tweaks and such I don't mind Vista. It's not great, but it's not real bad.

There's a bunch of stuff it won't run, especially some of the higher level stuff. Things that you guys who maybe stick to using browsers and e-mail and Office might not run into. But I bet sometime you'll find something it won't run, at least until software is updated from each manufacturer/programming house.

Even with the tweaks the normal use of the GUI interface is slightly slower then XP on the same machine. Aero may be the culprit, but it's too damned pretty to get rid of (at least until I get sick of it - and then likely I'll turn off themes altogether; a great savings in speed and resources). And some programs seem to run slower, especially their interfaces which, again; may have something to do with the Aero theme.

On the other hand some things blaze while they go somewhat slower on XP. Math-oriented, those with high levels of processing for example. Celestia is a good demo - the 64 bit architecture of the machine as well as Vista makes the smooth rendering even smoother on this machine.

So, I plan on keeping it on my laptop - running alongside XP, but more then likely the primary OS on that particular computer. Why, oh why, did MS make such a crappy system out of the box with so many nonsense and wasteful and plain idiotic parts that could; easily be turned off to make it run better and easier and more user friendly.

My conclusions are fairly simple.

It's a crappy operating system in it's stock form. For those who don't do a whole lot with their computers they may not notice it much, or it may be a minor annoyance. More then likely a good percentage will really not want to switch at this point or may want to go back to XP (like so many already have and will continue to for awhile).

If you're into tweaking or have someone like me to do it for you; Vista can be hyped up, streamlined, and made much much more usable and faster. You really won't mind it as long as your favorite programs run on it in that case. Otherwise, avoid it for now.

TV Converter Box Program

We don't live too far from a good-sized city. Unfortunately the area is serviced by a somewhat disreputable and money-hungry conglomerate. You've probably heard of them if you live in this part of the country, and if you have you've probably heard the same problems with them.

We've only about six hundred feet from a cable line but the company refuses to run it to us. Scratch that - they'd run it for us; for thousands and thousands of dollars. We've tried for years to get them to.

On an earlier blog entry you'll see the set up I put into place using two of my hacked routers to span the distance between a neighbor and us, so as to allow us to share his broadband. But after awhile, though we had the system in place, we lost the interest in giving the money-grubbers a cent of our money - either for Internet or TV.

So we get our TV off the satellite (DishNetwork) which works tremendously well and has been digital for years. HD channels are also available but we've never gotten around to go with it as it costs a bit more.

But for local channels we need to receive them off-the-air. Our TV doesn't have an HD converter box nor integral tuner for it, even though it's compatible, and our local stations are simulcasting in both analog and HD right now, and have been for quite some time.

As most of you probably know eventually those receiving over-the-air broadcasts will have to be receiving it in HD as the analog signals will end next year.

What a pisser, huh? We have all this high quality TV equipment with a high quality digital signal but to receive a couple local channels we have to get them in a crappy analog signal, and will be out in the cold next year when they stop broadcasting in analog.

Like many areas, our local TV stations aren't carried by the satellite company as yet, otherwise it wouldn't be a problem.

So at midnight on January 1st I logged onto The Government's TV Converter Program Website and applied for a couple vouchers for converters boxes. Yes, they turned the site on at exactly midnight ;)

Unfortunately it seems that the general idea is for the government to supply these vouchers for the cheaper or moderately cheap boxes. In other words most will only take the digital HD signal and down-convert them to analog - at least it's looking that way.

What we want is a converter that takes the digital HD signal and outputs it into an equally good signal via any number of ways so that our TV can access that high quality signal. We'll have to wait and see what the boxes will really be capable of doing. My guess is they will at least have RCA cables and maybe S-video; better then analog.

This whole process though... Sure, the analog range is kinda splotchy and wasteful because our transmitters are much more precise now then when TV first went on the air. And the bandwidth being wasted can be used for bigger and better things. But I can't help but wonder about this whole thing. The explanations the FCC gives, well, I think a group of politicians are getting their hands royally greased in this whole deal by certain large manufacturers and services, while we; the taxpayer, take up the slack by helping to provide the vouchers and paying for converters our of our own pockets as a stopgap measure for those who receive off-the-air signals. What a boondoggle.

Bricked WT54G.

Ugh, out of the blue my WT54G V5 bricked on me. I'm going to try all the usual methods first, but I'm afraid that I am going to have to take it apart and do a manual restart. Great. Risky.

My WR54G V3 is still running strong on the Linux DD-WRT software (though I was writing a configuration and accidentally turned it off before it was finished. A simple reset fixed it, no problem.). But the non-Linux version seems to be pretty flaky on the V5, squished onto the smaller space as it is too.

Minifox for Firefox

For those who like to tweak Firefox and want as much screen real estate as possible check out the Minifox extension. It squeezes everything down, gaining you a few lines of space in your browser window, There's also a version for Thunderbird, though I haven't tried the Thunderbird one as yet.