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Sunday, March 27, 2011

EeePC Recovery without the Recovery Partition and an Unbootable Recovery Image

Recently, I had an awkward circumstance whereby I ended up with a mangled partition table on my 1015PD and I somehow had a corrupt backup ISO that was unbootable (partition recovery utilities would not work due to the severity of the problem). Obviously, I tried the usual such as attempting to make it bootable again using BCDEasy, ImgBurn, CDBurnerXP to boot into the required recovery environment (WIM file). However, these attempts usually ended 'unusually' with the recovery process starting but then dropping out after commencing the 'Initialization' process which led to my partition table being mangled (Note that BCDEasy is a fantastic once you've discovered that you need to play around with long strings which are used to identify hard drive partitions).


I tried manually created a partitioning layout (based on research of what it should look like on the Internet), extraction of the relevant WIM (asus?.wim), and manually re-creating the recovery partition but as you'll note in the following you'll see that cylinders overlap one another which fdisk doesn't seem to allow. My setup was virtually identical apart from the the lack of overlap. I noticed that even if I was able to install this would lead to a boot 'stall' (blinking cursor in top left corner) when I attempted to install ExpressGate, and/or if I pressed the F9 button it would somehow end up toggling the 'Bootable' Flag on the the C:\ to another drive which meant that drive ordering would change such that the D:\ would now be the C:\ which meant that boot would fail if you had nothing installed there, which hence meant a reboot with GParted and switching the 'Bootable' flag back to the relevant partition and more experimentation.


I discovered that using a combination of optical drives containing ImageX, BOOT folder of the Windows hard drive as well as BOOTMGR file in combination with a Windows 7 Startup Repair Disk I could get things going again but it was a dirty method and involved too much manual work for me should I have other problems down the line. I could have written a BAT file to complete the job but I soon recalled that I had a spare 1005P Recovery Disk ISO around and took a closer look. I extracted it using WinRAR and extracted the WIM files for examination using ImageX, GImageX, and later on 7Zip (note that you'll soon discover that free tools may be easier to use than Windows AIK). I noted that basically, ASUS.wim was the file being installed/extracted and the WIM files in the SOURCES directory were there to create a recovery environment as is the case with a Windows 7 Startup Disk and/or something similar to BartPE.

Based on content on RCDWIM.BAT it seemed as though it were a generic file that would if required extract several WIM files (naming convention would be asus.wim, asus2.wim, asus3.wim, etc...) to the hard drive. It would then attempt to run a batch file that would then install drivers and other utilities (based on the contents of PERecover.exe the naming convention seems to be $V_[MODEL_NAME].bat, $7_[MODEL_NAME].bat, $[MODEL_NAME].bat with the fall back being Recovery.bat). However, since this was not really required if we were using an updated WIM with drivers/utilities included I didn't investigated this too deeply.

The contents of the Driver/Software directories are obvious, just download updates from the ASUS website if desired and extract them into the relevant directories. It seems as though BIN/AsusIntAll/InstAll.exe in combination with BIN/ASSETUP.EXE file seems to iterate through both directories in order to calculate which pieces of software are up to date (when compared to the base system by using ASSETUP.EXE as well as its corresponding configuration file ASSETUP.ini) and this is used to determine which pieces of software should be updated/installed. EG directory was obviously for ExpressGate. However, due to time limitations I didn't really investigate how this fitted in with regards to the batch file. My guess is that it is looking for a BAT file inside the BIN folder that corresponds to the model number of the netbook in question. However, while I tried 1015P, 1015PD it didn't seem to register this. We'll leave it for a later time to investigate further. However, like I said, extract ExpressGate into the required directory and run the correct executable and everything (including ExpresssGate) should work. Thereafter, you may consider Ghost (included on the disk funnily enough) and or other imaging tools mentioned on this blog and on other websites.Note that both Seagate and Western Digital supply free versions of Acronis to users of their drives.


Another option is using, BartPE, nLite, and vLite to create a standard bootable disk with elements of the standard ASUS image slipstreamed into the final image. Obviously, some research and analysis needed to be done in order to complete this project and you may be interested in the following links. Note that should you attempt to make the image bootable you'll need to extract a boot image from the original 1005P ISO and that the first 8 sectors are what are required in order to boot into the WinPE environment. This may change depending on the disk you use to create your image. Note that VirtualBox is useful for testing out whether your disk is bootable.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Soldering Tips

As I've discovered through time there are a few things that you'd love to know about soldering before you start doing it on a semi-regular level.
- you need a good soldering iron. You'll notice that lower quality irons will have a tendency to be slow to heat up, and have a larger tip which can make it harder to solder when a PCB is a bit 'cramped'
- if possible get a soldering iron with multiple tips and tips of different size/type so that you can deal with jobs of varying size/accuracy
- get a soldering iron which can allow you to vary the temperature to the tip. This will allow you to get away with having to cool it using external entities (such as a wet sponge which when used often can wear out your tip more quickly anyhow)
- de-soldering braid is 'extremely' useful if you are new electronics. Its essentially a bundle of copper fibers that have been layered in such a way that it resembles a 'braiding' pattern that you see in some hair styles. You use it by layering some of it over an area that you need to remove solder from. Heat it up by placing the soldering on top and then due to the braiding structure of the de-solder it will absorb the solder from the PCB. Cut off the used de-solder when you are done with it as it can make a big mess if you attempt to use it over and over again without it being completely 'clean'. Best of all, it doesn't cost much either!
- the stand that comes with most cheap soldering irons is next to useless unless you have a power board on top of the table supplying the power since the weight of the cable is likely to pull it off your table and/or workbench. If you do intend to make moderate use of a soldering iron get a complete soldering stand which is almost likely a third hand holding it in mid-air
- further, good advice regarding soldering is available here:

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Cheap Programmable Robots

I've always had somewhat of an interest in robots. Up until fairly recently though there haven't really been any cheap robots that I've been particularly interested in. Two that I recently found (and that were on sale :-)) were the Asuro as well as the Viper from Microbrics.

The Microbrics option seems to be aimed towards the beginner and reminds me a lot of more expensive Lego and Mecanno options. Components are Lego like in that they fit together as 'modules'. For instance, one module may consist of an IR receiver (for commands from a remote control) while another may consist of a small electric motor. Funnily enough, there also seem to be completely cosmetic parts as well. You should note that most of the parts are put together using a small (supplied) Philips headed screwdriver. The manual was decent but there could have been more detail to be honest (its fairly short at around 30 pages). Unlike other inexpensive robots though this one can be programmed via a serial port (newer versions can be programmed via USB obviously) using an IDE that uses the BASIC programming language. Moreover, it includes sensors for bump detection, motorised wheels as well as mechanisms for remote control, and line detection.


The Asuro robot is probably one of the least expensive options on the market for something this, 'advanced'. The reason why this is the case is that unlike other robots you need to completely assemble/solder it yourself. (For those of you who are relatively new to soldering short pin/side corresponds to the flat side of the LED diagram on the PCB. For those of you who are impatient, read the manual quickly but 'properly'. Some parts are more difficult to connect if others have been installed first. Other than that does not seem overly difficult to assemble.)

Like other more advanced electronic devices it can be programmed using the C programming language as well as a Visual Interface (which only seems to be accessible using German at this stage though). Like the Viper, it includes sensors for bump detection, motorised wheels as well as mechanisms for remote control, and line detection.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Network Monitoring Systems

Nagios: is clearly the easiest to install/administer (even from source). Graphs could be better though but plugins and community support/documentation are probably the best.
Zabbix: is easily the best for graphs but still a slight learning curve and documentation could be better. SNMP support is lacking but is supposedly part of a commercial downstream project and is a project request for 1.8 (next version), slightly worried about agent having security vulnerabilities as well (although it does seem to be patched regularly).
ZenOSS: could be great but still has too many bugs and there's too much of a learning curve. In future I think this will be 'the standard' for larger networks if Zabbix doesn't fix its SNMP capabilities and/or Nagios doesn't fix its graphs or or plugin to do better graphing.
SNIPS: was a disaster. Don't want to even talk about it. Everything is manually configured (crontab, source code install, etc...) guessing it was developed a long time ago and hasn't been worked on since.
OpenNMS: will try later...

All have the ability to Email/SMS provided correct plugin.
All have SNMP/IP capabilities and other service monitoring.

Windows Tiling Window Managers

- Twinsplay: neat if you're into keyboard shortcuts, costs something, 29USD
- MaxTo, you basically setup regions beforehand and then max/min
within those regions, free
- WindowSize: extremely flexible and has pre-aranged setups. If money
wasn't a problem I'd probably go with this. not free, 20 USD
- GridMove: lack of flexibility with preset templates, free
- HashTWM: think TWM for windows, looked at help file not fun to use, free
- bugn: it works but has non-intuitive interface, doesn't work well
with multiple monitors, free

UPS Device Control/Configuration

APC UPS


Settings are 8,0,1,Xon/Xoff

The APC SC 1500 UPS uses a very simple command language that is based around single characters and control characters. Apparently, USB interface is slightly buggy (could be software/firmware but apparently requires to re-attach cable every once in a while).

http://linux.die.net/man/8/apcupsd (APC control software)

Upsonic UPS

While cheap the Upsonic Power PrOffice 650 seems to have configuration software available for it. It has an RS-232 interface and has Linux interfacing software.

Favourite Links

http://arstechnica.com
http://www.osnews.com/
http://www.reddit.com/
http://www.linux.com/
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/
http://www.engadget.com/
http://www.tomshardware.com/
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/
http://www.linuxtoday.com/
http://www.techradar.com/
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/
http://www.f1technical.net/
http://stackoverflow.com/
http://techcrunch.com/
http://serverfault.com/
http://highscalability.com/
http://www.newscientist.com/
http://phys.org
http://www.itnews.com
http://itwire.com
http://www.zone-h.org/
http://www.net-security.org/
http://www.h-online.com/
http://www.computerweekly.com/
http://www.wired.co.uk/
http://www.digitaltrends.com/
http://www.nature.com/
http://allthingsd.com/
http://www.infosecisland.com/
http://www.theguardian.com
http://www.google.com.au/news
http://www.bing.com/news
http://newslookup.com

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Asus 1005P disassembly

The Seashell series look a little bit intimidating since they hide most of the hardware under a very streamlined exterior which seems to be fairly fragile. To upgrade the hard drive you need to remove all four screws from underneath. Then you need to remove a screw from underneath the RAM cover. Then using a business card push in the notches at the top of the keyboard (to avoid scratching the keyboard) inwards and lever upwards and towards you the keyboard. Then remove all screws underneath. You may need to remove the ZIF connector for the keyboard. Then use the business card around the edge of the laptop to separate the top from the middle panel. Remove the ZIF connector from the top of the hard drive by levering the notch upwards and towards the side of the laptop. Then remove relevant screws and pull the hard drive out. Reassembly should be the opposite.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Mobile 3G Router

Of late, I've discovered like others that having gadgets can have benefits as well as downsides. For instance, I have a phone that is just has a prepaid SIM card in it but I would like to upgrade to 3G connectivity but I can't be bothered upgrading my SIM card. As such, I'm reliant on free Internet WiFi hotspots for my connectivity and sometimes even swapping the 3G SIM card from my wireless dongle into my phone when I'm especially desperate. The time was nigh though when a series of devices were produced which had possessed certain things I had in mind though. One of them was the Netcomm 3GT1WN, while another was the Edimax 3G-6200n. Both are similar in that they allow you to insert a wireless USB 3G modem in order to establish a connection, both have a wireless hotspot capability, but most of all they both have the ability to be able to utilise an existing Ethernet based technology in order to use for WAN connectivity or to otherwise use as a LAN port for connection via 3G for when your primary connection goes down (which I have recently been having problems with during the last two weeks. Hence, my interest in these gadgets.). They differ though in the total number of devices they support as well as the battery life. Battery life on the Netcomm device is almost double that of the Edimax (4 vs 1.5) based on reviews on other websites. Moreover, while the Edimax supports about several dozen odd modems the Netcomm seems to support most modems on the market today making it a possible permanent solution for your routing problems. My only real gripes with it may be the occasional stall due to multiple concurrent connections sharing the same bandwidth, the slightly bulkier size, occasional stalls (that may be network related), and a sluggish web interface. I would also like the ability to have both separate WAN/LAN ports. Apart from that it is sensible price effective backup solution for your networking needs.

Mac OS X G4 on a PC via PearPC

Old technology but I wanted to take a look at MacOSX without having to fork out the dollars for the technology. First step is acquiring a copy of MacOSX. Best place is via technology classifieds. Next step, is getting a copy of PearPC and PearPCSetup (to ease setup of the configuration file as well as virtual hard drives). Then extract PearPC (jitc version) to a directory of your choice. Run PearPCSetup. Then create a VM as you would in VirtualBox and/or VMWare. Depending on your version of OSX you may need to setup a network adapter as well and/or setup a TAP device. After this boot from a relevant boot image and install as any other MacOSX installation would go. Note that depending on the size of the hard drive you have setup you may have a very long wait. Moreover, you may need to reboot in order to have the installation recognize this as something that you can install the operating system to. Note that it may also be easier if you decide to rip all CD's to ISO files first and use this as your installation media. This can be both quicker as well as quieter. You'll also note the CD's have a tendency to be smaller in size (about the 350 mark for my G4 cd's).

- as usual thanks to all of the individuals and groups who purchase and use my goods and services
http://sites.google.com/site/dtbnguyen/
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com.au/

Sane and Sensible Hierarchies/Organisational Structures, Random Stuff, and More

- in this post we'll look at professional sports and other fields and how stuff from that field can be used in the business world and ho...