New post!

I know i have not posted in awhile, but here is the start of a new day!  And here are instructions for Dual Booting Snow Leopard and Windows 7 on a MSI WIND U100.  I haven’t tested this yet, but will update tonight after I have.  I cannot post a link to the actual ISO… but it can be found.  Full Credit to:

http://dalton63841.webs.com

and

http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dual-booting-guides/13679-dual-booting-dummies-snow-leopard-nbm-0-8-3rc2-windows-7-a.html

Things I used:

1
plug in the osx usb key and turn on the mini. Press f12 to boot from usb, and wait until the mac installer starts.

2. In the utilities menu open disk utility. Select the hard drive (not the existing partitions but the hard drive itself), and click on the partition tab.
b) If you are doing a fresh install, you want a GUID partition table with 2 partitions. The first needs to be in the hfs+ format – this is your mac partition. it can be any size you like as long as there’s enough for OSX – typically you need at least 10gb. I chose 110gb). The second partition (for windows) needs to be in the FAT format and again can be any size you like above around 10gb – I chose 50. Note: When you name the FAT partition make sure the name is not longer than 8 or so characters. I used ‘windows’ as the name – you can change it later….

3. Quit disk utility and continue the mac installation

1. First of course you need to burn the iso. It will fit on a single layer dvd.

2. Put in the disk and power on, then tap F11 to get to the boot menu. Choose the SnowyWindoSX Alpha.iso. It does take about 4-5 minutes to boot the disk, don’t worry, that is not the case with the final install.

3. Once booted up, choose the language, click continue, and agree on the licence.

4. Click on Utilities on the menubar, and click Disk Utility. Create and/or format  your partition as Mac OS Journaled. It can be MBR OR GUID.

5. Close Disk Utility and choose your partition.

6. Click Continue. Do NOT click customize. It is pointless. There is nothing on the list to customize.

7. When you get to the Install button it will check the disk, you can skip it or not.

8. After it is finished, Reboot back into the disk, choose your language, and then click Utilities on the menubar and click Terminal.

9. In terminal, type:

cd /Volumes/MacOSXInstall/fix

diskutil list (This will give you the disk and partition number for your Mac install)

fdisk -f boot0 -u -y /dev/rdiskX

dd if=boot1h of=/dev/rdiskXsY

fdisk -e /dev/diskX

p

f Y

w

y

q

(X=disk number from diskutil list)

(Y= partition number from diskutil list)

In the following image, the Green text is the name of the partition youinstalled to, the red text is the disk number, or X, and the blue text is thepartition number, or Y.

10. Now reboot and boot into your newly installed Mac. Note that sound and graphics won’t be working at this point.

11. Once booted into your fresh install, mount SnowyWindOSX Alpha on your desktop. Look in the Optional Installs folder for the 10.6.1 update. Install it, but DO NOT REBOOT.

12. In the Optional Installs folder there is a package called Update Handler. Install that package. Then stored that package on your hard drive. It will handle future updates in this same manner.

13. Now you can reboot into your perfect system.

14. If at this point you do not have full graphics, look in the Optional Installs folder. Read the Read Me file. It will explain the use of EVERYTHING in the folder.

NOTE: The Update Handler.pkg will throw errors about the kexts, but don’t worry, they are false errors. The package rebuilds the kext cache when it is finished, which fixes the errors.
dalton63841
Site Owner
Posts: 21

1. For internal mic just double click on the VoodooHDA prefpane to install it. It will take some time to find the perfect settings for you.

2. For those using the nettop, copy nettop.sh to the desktop, then open terminal and type:

sudo -s

cd ~/Desktop

./nettop.sh

3. If you prefer the Voodoo trackpad drivers, copy the Trackpad folder to the desktop. Then open terminal and type:

sudo -s

cd ~/Desktop/Trackpad

./voodoo.sh

4. if you don’t have 1024×600 graphics after install, copy the DisplayProductID-717 file into /System/Library/Displays/Overrides/DisplayVendorID-756e6b6e and replace the one that is there.

5. If you have the realtek/ralink wifi card, install the drivers for it that are in the Wireless Drivers folder.

6. If you need Rosetta, you can install the pack from here.

7. The 10.6.1 update is included, just install it and see number 8.

8. On major updates, such as 10.6.1, you need to install the update, but DO NOT REBOOT! Then install the Update Handler.pkg in this folder. Then reboot. Keep the Update Handler.pkg for future updates.
4. Once the installation is complete it will prompt you to restart. Do not restart into OSX – turn it off when it is about to cycle, and put in your windows stick. boot into the 7 installation environment.

5. Select language and click install. You should get to a disk utility window. Select partition 3 (the windows FAT partition that you created), and click format (it will format the drive in the NTFS format). You should now be able to click next to install windows.

6. Allow windows to install, it’ll ask you a few things and restart a number of times. Once it’s finished your computer will boot automatically to windows as if it’s the only OS installed. To change the active boot back to Mac OSX do the following: Boot again from the windows installer. You need to set the mac install with the chameleon bootloader as your active disk – when it’s loaded up press Shift+fn+f10 and bring up the command prompt. Type the following:
Diskpart [enter] (you may have to wait a little for this to load)
Select disk 0 [enter]
Select partition 1 [enter]
Active [enter]

Now reboot, and you should be greeted with the chameleon bootloader, and be able to choose between your mac install and a perfectly working windows 7!!

If at any time you need to run NBI again on the OSX install (for example upgrading from NBI 0.8.3RC2 to RC3), follow these steps:

7. Boot into OSX and run Netbookinstaller. Make sure you have the chameleon bootloader and generate dsdt file boxes checked, and that quiet boot is disabled. Click install. Once the install is finished, OSX will now be the active boot, But your windows boot sector will be corrupted.

8. To correct this, reboot, insert your windows usb key and boot from it. If you tried to repair the boot sector now, the windows installer would not succeed, because it is looking at the active partition’s boot sector (where it assumes the windows install is) but this is in fact the Mac EFI partition. To get it to fix the windows boot sector we need to set the windows partition as active: When you get to the language choice, press Shift+fn+f10 to bring up the command prompt. Type the following:
Diskpart [enter]
Select disk 0 [enter]
Select partition 3 [enter]
Active [enter]
It should tell you that partition 3 is now active.

9. Close cmd prompt and click repair windows install. It should now find the windows install and repair the boot sector (and not mess up your chameleon install).

10. Finally, when it restarts, boot to the windows installer one last time. You need to set the active disk to your mac install with the chameleon bootloader – Press Shift+fn+f10 and bring up the command prompt. Type the following:
Diskpart [enter]
Select disk 0 [enter]
Select partition 1 [enter]
Active [enter]

For those who didn’t read the Read Me. file, I have posted the Read Me here.

No posts for awhile

Due to a wedding and the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur,  I have not posted in awhile. I am halfway done with my new Beatles review for Album #3 and hope to post that tonight.

Dirty Restaurant Secrets

I suggest if you are going out to eat, you don’t read this too closely.

LINK

Great little article about ways that you may not be aware that restaurants are cutting corners to save a little cash.

My favorites:

8. Substituting Top-Shelf Alcohol with Generic Booze

I personally would never know as I am not a big drinker. I might know with wine, but at better places, the wine bottle will be brought to your table for your inspection prior to serving.

6. Refilling Pricey Bottled Waters with Tap

My Mom, who loves her bottled water, would know the difference. Except of course if they were using a filter, but the article does not mention this fact.

3. Using Fake Creamer

This is another situation in which there could be something in the fake creamer (which is mixed 50/50 with milk or cream) that could cause an adverse reaction in the person drinking it.

2. Serving Caffeinated Coffee as Decaf

This could be cause for a lawsuit if found out. Some people have very bad reactions to caffeine. Unfortunately it is easy to say they made a “mistake”, and hard to prove it is a standard practice.

Should Banks ask permission before overdrawing your account?

LINK

YES!. It might be embarrassing to get your debit card rejected.. but i’d rather have the card refused than pay a 30 dollar fee on as little as 1 penny overdraft.  The Banking industry makes BILLIONS per year in Overdraft Fees, and while I believe this is a valid source of revenue, I should have the option to have the card refused, rather than overdraw my account and have to deal with the hassle.  Honestly, if I overdraw my account, and you charge me a 30 dollar fee, I may not have the money to pay that fee immediately, causing quite a vicious cyle.

2 points of advice.

1. Have overdraft protection on your account.  Link it to  a savings account so that if this happens, you won’t get burned.

2. Use a credit card instead of debit. Make sure you always have available credit and you won’t get burned.

NYC Restaurant stops accepting Cash

Link

So my money says “Legal tender for all debts public and private”. I don’t carry a lot of cash personally, but it boggles the mind that a upscale restaurant wouldn’t take it. Honestly my view is that they are probably worried about being robbed, etc…  On the other hand they may be trying to attract upscale clientele, but the line that bothered me the most was (paraphrased) “If you don’t have a debit or credit card, you probably cannot afford to eat here”. That is pretty arrogant/elitist if you ask me.

Valuable tool or Clever Marketing?

Link

This purports to be a tool to check your risk assessment for your online information.  It is clever,  I ran it, and it seems useful, but it is hosted by NORTON and at the end convinces you ( or attempts to) that you need anti-virus/ security suite to protect yourself.  Clever marketing, but preys on peoples fears.

Doritos in the toy aisle? MMM

Link

It seems that Walmart will now be putting soda and chips in the toy aisle.  Now the picture in the link is a bit misleading as you cannot really see that it is next to a DVD section and promoting a “family fun” sort of night.  Frankly however, this just makes the kids see everything they want in one place and to ask their parents for it.  I think this is pretty sick, even to the point where children will associate food with their favorite toys. Personally i have a hard time watching television without eating something, and im not prone to gaining weight.   Obesity is bad enough in this country without directly marketing to Kids by putting the fattening /sugary foods RIGHT IN THE AISLE THEY WANT TO GO IN.  While I admit this is a good marketing ploy, it is not really moral.

Expect a Free T-Shirt? Think again.

LINK
The XBOX 360 “BEATLES ROCKBAND” Is advertising (VIA a sticker) that you can get a “Free T-Shirt” with purchase. What they fail to mention is that it is a free t-shirt FOR YOUR AVATAR IN GAME, not you in meat space.  This is a typical marketing ploy we may be seeing more and more of in the coming years as we move to more digital distribution and companies get smarter (lamer?) about their marketing.

More Beatles Reviews coming tonight

I will be reviewing at least the Beatles 3rd remastered , and maybe the 4th tonight.

With the Beatles Remastered- Song by Song Review – Day 2

Day 2: I am listening to With The Beatles – At first glance this seems to be another album that will benefit from the remastering.  I don’t think I will have to do as much comparing to the originals by listening to both. After listening to “Please Please Me” i am starting to get an ear for some of the subtle differences even in songs I haven’t listened to in a long time.

1. It won’t be long – This showcases the Stereo Mix. Voices and instruments pop from channel to channel in a very stellar mix. Its just noticeably cleaner.

2. All I’ve got to do – These first 2 albums really showcase how good John Lennon could sound when given the chance. Unfortunately the original recordings really didnt showcase that very will in the first few albums. John sounds particularily stellar in this new mix.

3. All My Loving – I didn’t hear anything drastic in this track. Not that the remastering hasn’t done it good. So far all the tracks have benefited from the remasttering, just that this one merely sounds good, nothing too drastic. It gives it that surround effect that wasn;t present in the original mono mix. The harmonies are most distinct as has been the case on all of the tracks so far.

4. Don’t Bother Me – Nice reverb on the vocals gives it a little more depth. You can really hear what Ringo is doing back there. There is the sound of a wooden block i can hear along with the regular drums. This is the first track on the set to feature a nice guitar solo. Not one of George’s best as it is quite early in their recording career, and it doesn’t stand out as much as I’d want. The fade out at the end is noticeably more clear.

5. Little Child – Nothing drastic changed in this on, although the Harmonica is much more prominent than before which is very nice to see based on earlier tracks where they had done the same. This gives the song a more bluesy feel.

6.  Till there was You - This really is the first Paul McCartney showcase song. The separate channels really make the Spanish Guitar and Paul’s stellar voice stand out.  This is probably the cleanest I’ve ever heard this song.  This is a cover from many years before the Beatles, but i think Paul does it best. Somehow with the more distinct separation between the vocals and the guitar, it sounds like he is singing slower.

7.  Please Mister Postman – This track isnt much different from the original. The backing harmonies during the verse is much more discernable, and there is a noticable increase in Bass.  It certainly sounds great with the new mix, but nothing horribly unique.

8. Rollover Beethoven – One of the classic covers they did. The backing beat is much strong and the vocals are very crisp and smooth. This song features George Harrison on lead vocals, but doesnt really showcase his gifts to the fullest, although he sounds much better in this new mix.\

9. Hold Me Tight - The vocals and instruments are in distinctly different channels in this mix. It is not really much different otherwise, other than a stronger beat, which seems to overshadow the vocals a little bit.

10. You Really Got a Hold on Me – The Vocals seem more present at the forefront. The Piano that opens the song sounds very crisp and has a bell like quality. The bass is increased but the bass line is not as prominent as in other songs.  I did hear some nuances in John’s vocals that were lost in the original mix.

11. I wanna be your man – This one lets us hear some of the drumming work with a tamborine. The piano and subtle guitar work during the verse is nice to hear. There are guitar riffs i have never heard before.  The vocals seem a little flat still, but it is improved from the original. The guitar solo is not prominent there is too much extra noise.

12. Devil in her heart – The harmonies are much more distinct, and John’s solo parts are less peaked volume wise which caused some mild distortion in the original version.

13. Not a second Time - the piano is much more in the forefront and overshadows the vocals a bit, but you can hear nuances in piano and drums that I never heard before in this song.

14. MONEY – This is the final song on this Album. The piano and percussion get some prominence, again overshadowing the vocals a tad bit.

In the midst of all this… we remember September 11, 2001

Today is September 11, 2009.  8 years since the first time the United States has been attacked on it’s own soil since the War of 1812.  It is somber day, memories of those planes hitting the towers is our generation’s Kennedy, or Pearl Harbor.  Forever now, it will be asked “where were you” when the towers fell.  It seems this comes around once, ever generation or so.

I was in a hospital bed with 2 broken legs and a broken arm when I heard the report on WLS 890, The Don and Roma Show

30 minutes later I was wheeled into surgery not knowing if there would be another attack, maybe in Chicago, while I lay sleeping with a 4+ hour surgery ahead of me.  Credit to Dr. William Meltzer and his team as they were not distracted, and I am walking to this day.  I spent the next few months in a wheelchair watching the coverage on the 24 hour news channels.  In 1941 and 1963,  the world did not have these places to go for information and had to wait for the papers the next day.   The true extent and impact of this event has changed our country and the world forever. Its effects which will color our lives and the lives of our decedents.

I have a friend, Sgt. Kraig Foytek who died in Iraq in 2006.  He is having a statue in my hometown erected in his honor this evening.  I cannot help but think his death is a result of this horrible attack.  I won’t get into politics as that is not the point. If he hadn’t been sent to Iraq he would have been sent to Afghanistan or elsewhere as he was an experienced Purple Heart winning combat soldier.

There is no way to positively prevent this sort of thing from happening, as hate abounds in our world. We need to find a way to end this hate, make everyone’s lives better and find away to live in peace..

It will take a long time, but I hope to see it one day.

Please Please Me Remastered Review – Song By Song – DAY 1

This will just be quick thoughts on each song. There are so many (over 300) that it will be impossible to be comprehensive.  I am not the biggest fan of the Beatles first few albums, they are too early 60′s poppy and not quite as unique as they got later in their career. I did quite enjoy the Remastered version. I think we will see a lot of differences in the early albums as they are FOR THE FIRST TIME presented in Stereo.  I will try and do one a day (some times two, but i might bank them in case I don’t have time for a post some days).

1. I saw her standing there. – Very crisp each instrument sounds very distinct. This is a Beatles standard of the era.  Not a lot of harmonies in this song to get a sense of the distinct voices that are claimed.

2. Misery – Not really my favorite Beatles song, but definitely has a crisp feeling to it, and I kind of liked it better, subtly.

3. Anna (go to him) – This is the first track in which I listened to both the original copy as well as the remastered.  I was never really sure what the background singers were singing (AAHHHHHH). I heard them singing VERY clearly “ANNA” elongated.   I listened to the original  and since I knew what to listen for, I did hear it, but it was definitely not as clear.

4. Chains – Another song I didn’t like all that much before.  I have to say though, I do not remember John’s solo vocal parts sounding so good.  He really did have a great voice back then before it got more nasal. This song benefited from the Stereo mix.

5.  Boys - My first impression was that Ringo sounds really good in the lead.  You never really got a sense of his voice before (it sounded distorted and muddy in the original).  I listened to the original of this one too to really hear the contrast. I think this one definitely benefited from the stereo conversion to separate the voices better. The beginning guitar riffs were much more distinct at the beginning.

6. Ask Me Why – First thought… it sounded FULLER. A little more bass, but also CRISP. The Vocals are a little more reverbed and sound just fine.

7. Please Please Me – The Title Track.  Definately has that FULLER feeling i mentioned in the previous song.  The Vocals are a little more reverbed, and it really didnt hurt.  I definately felt this sound more “3d” where the original always sounded flat.  I can say I always blamed the flatness of the originals to the technology at the time. The stereo remix did make this sound better, even if the vocals sound flat at times.

8. Love Me Do – I never really heard the bass line in this song until this remaster. This seems to have definitely benefited from the stereo mix.  The Harmonica warbles a lot more in this version.  Paul does sound a little distorted in some of his solo bits, but that might be the best they could do with the source.

9.  PS. I love You - As before the bass line is more distinct, and sometime the instruments overpower the vocals a bit.  The harmonies are more distinct and this is a definite improvement over the original.

10.  Baby It’s You.  – The Harmonies definately benefit from the Stereo Mix. There is a distinct fullness and separation to the mix that couldn’t be accomplished on the primitive equipment they used in 1963

11. Do you Want to Know A Secret? - These Stereo mixes really give the best benefit to Paul’s Bass as the bass line really comes through in this one as well.  John’s voice somehow sounds less nasal than the original, a benefit for sure.

12.  A Taste of Honey – What i thought was distortion/white noise in the background in the past, turns out in this new stereo mix to be a brush on the snare drum LINK in a definite pattern.

13. There’s a place – Another one where the bass benefits from the new stereo mix. The harmonys sound about the same, but the instruments are much more distinct.

14.  Twist and Shout – One of the classics in the Beatles early years.  The initial reviews say you can really hear John’s vocal chords shred.  It is definately more distinct as John’s voice is on a separate channel really bringing out what he did to his voice in this one.

That’s it for the first review. Coming tomorrow – With the Beatles.

New Beatles Remastered CDS

I am going to start reviewing the Beatles remastered CDs one by one. First one up tonight will be Please Please Me.  Frankly i listened to 1 track last night (I’m So tired) and couldn’t tell the difference.  I was tired though, so I will give it a pass till I get home today and listen to them fresh.

What happened to GYM class in Chicago?

LINK

I’m not sure how this slips past the radar.  Let’s follow the bouncing ball shall we…

1. Illinois State Law requires 155 – 225 minutes of PE every week, one of only 2 states with a daily PE requirement

2. Chicago Public schools can have as little as 1 day of PE every week.

3. Waivers can be granted for schools who cannot meet this requirement for many reasons.

4. Chicago Public schools neither applied for, nor recieved such waiver.
FACT: Illinois is the 4th highest state for child obesity.

FACT: These schools are blatantly defying the law, and no one seems to care.
What is the solution? Someone needs to step in and fix this. My mother works at a public school that falls under this category. They have Gym once a week and that just floored me the first time I heard it.  When I was growing up (Grades 1 – 12) I had gym EVERY DAY FOR THOSE 12 YEARS!  The only exceptions were for 3 sport athletes (one sport per season, high school) and injuries.  I got out of Gym for a semester once with an injury, but still had to do research and write a paper about physical education topics.

Man is too fat to fly… Again… Once he is already there.

LINK

A man has been found to be too fat to fly, after he has already finished one leg of his trip. Shame on you Southwest. I love you Southwest with your low fares, no baggage fees, etc. etc., but this is blatant discrimination and may even fall under violation of civil rights/ ADA (Disclaimer: IANAL, I am not a lawyer)

Rebate Scams

LINK

Tiger Direct has been sued by the Florida Attourney General for failing to live up to Rebate promises. To be honest, I have avoided rebates like H1N1 as it is most of the time more trouble than its worth (I always go for the instant rebate, mail in is so 20th century)

I say HUZZAH! to the Florida AG!

What happens to male chicks in a chicken processing plant.

DO NOT CLICK IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH OR DISTURBED BY VIDEO OF ANIMAL CRUELTY.

LINK

As you may or may not know, chicken hatcheries have no use for males. They do not produce eggs so are apparently good for nothing.  I am a ardent supporter of animal rights ( I am looking at you Michael Vick) and think this is just disgusting. I’m sure there are other uses for the male side of the chicken family besides… this.
Click at your own risk, it is terrible.

Quick Reference Card for Visa/Mastercard “Minimum Purchase” rules.

LINK

As you may or not know, it is a violation of Visa/Mastercard merchant agreements for a store to require a minimum purchase for Credit/Debit transactions, or to charge a fee for Credit/Debit.  Here is a good wallet sized card to show a merchant if they attempt this.  I cannot guarantee it will work (it probably won’t) but by doing this, and reporting businesses to Visa/Mastercard, maybe we can make a change.

Grateful Dead for A Grateful Labor Day

Consumerist – $1490.00 to restore a hard drive that was affected by “Electrical Severance”

Link

Great video on a Fox News investigation into a shady data recovery company.  Point being that “Electrical Severance” is not a real cause of a problem. Word to the wise: ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR DATA.