I'm still alive October 29, 2006
Posted by a1291762 in : eve , 1 comment so farIt’s been a while since I’ve posted but I’m still alive. The kids are much the same. Isaac is standing without holding on now but hasn’t taken more than half a step before sitting down again.
I’ve been playing Neverwinter Nights a bit lately. I’ve got it set for easy mode and I’m playing a fighter because I just don’t get all the intricate rules of DnD, especially the magic. Strangely, it took me a few days just to get out of the city. When you talk to the guards at the gate, they tell you that you’re not allowed through but if you just ignore them, you can open the gate and walk through! One of the most disappointing things for me was that I spent time customising the avatar, only to throw away the clothes and put on armour, which didn’t look as nice as the clothes I’d been wearing. I mean, what’s the point of playing a female character if you don’t get to wear a dress? I suppose I could play a cleric or something that doesn’t need armour but as I said before, I just don’t get the magic stuff in DnD so that would most likely prove to be an exercise in frustration.
My lovely airportping (solution to the wifi dropping out has been flawless. I haven’t had a single dropped connection. There’s no lag and unlike some other solutions I’ve tried, I haven’t had to do anything at all to keep it going.
I’ve been working on improving fanspeed to do aggressive fan control based on the temperature. So far I’ve been using speedit for the temp monitoring but from the look of it, the SMC also has access to a temperature sensor so I’ll have a look at that one too. Mind you, figuring out how hot the computer is seems to be the easy bit. The hard bit is knowing just how much to rev the fans so that the machine gets cold but doesn’t end running the fans at full speed all the time. I’ve evolved the algorithm through several iterations but I’m still not so sure that what I’ve got is correct. It’s really annoying because I can think of what to do conceptually but I can’t seem to get that coded up. I couldn’t even figure out how to create a string of numbers that form a curve instead of a line!
Testing out a wifi fix October 11, 2006
Posted by a1291762 in : eve, programs , add a commentSo here’s the suggestion…
Apparently there’s 2 locations that the wifi password can be stored. One of these (a cache for low level code) can become corrupted and that’s why the network drops out (the reconnection happens at a low level). You can still manually connect because the other password (int the keychain) is still ok. So the theory goes that if you remove all traces of your wireless network, including the keychain password then you can connect and a new non-corrupted password will be cached.
Sounds plausible but not terribly likely except… So far it appears to work!
I’m seeing a small dip in reception level (menu bar widget) every now and then. About as often as the connection used to drop out perhaps? I’m not sure. I do know that there’s no interference around here so a dip in reception definitely indicates a connection “problem” (when the router goes away, usually the connection shows a loss of signal before it actually disconnects).
So what are the steps you need to take to achieve this state of Nirvana? Unfortunately, I’m inclined to think they’re not scriptable so you’re going to have to get your hands dirty.
1) Turn off airport
2) open Keychain Access and remove your wifi password (it’ll be marked with your SSID)
3) open /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.airport.preferences.plist and remove your network from the “List of known networks” array. This means a trip to the terminal unless you can run a text editor as root from the GUI.
4) reboot
5) connect to your network, enter your password
6) Nirvana?
It was only a day ago that I thought the connection issues were fixed so we’ll see how long this one lasts for. It might be a solution that requires periodic re-applying (depending on why the password is getting corrupted in the first place).
Update 13 October 2006
NOOOOOOOOO!
Bugger, let’s just make a hack shall we? airportping will ping your gateway every 5 seconds while airport is up. You might need to change the interface name if you’re not on a MacBook Pro.
Crazy SPAM October 10, 2006
Posted by a1291762 in : Uncategorized , add a commentI just got a SPAM email that contained a single .gif file (the actual message) and what looks to be part of a license. I know the spammers have been putting random stuff in to try and get around filters but text from a license?
At first, I thought it must have been someone asking me about a program I’ve written (I’ve been having license discussions)…
Here’s the text.
2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portionThe source code for a work means the preferred form of the work fordoes not normally print such an announcement, your work based on if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of itbe a consequence of the rest of this License.the Program is not required to print an announcement.)
Changing the fan speed to beat the heat October 10, 2006
Posted by a1291762 in : eve, programs , 2commentsSo after reading this thread, I figured changing my fan speed might be a good idea. I packaged up the solution into a nice installer, which you can get from here: fanspeed.dmg.
Basically, I’ve set the minimum fan speed to be 3000 instead of 1000 (what? I don’t know! RPM perhaps?). I can notice the difference in volume it’s not such a big deal. What is a big deal is the lower temperature. The case feels cool (hooray!). Obviously this isn’t a total solution because the system will still get hot when loaded but it’s a damn sight better than any of the other solutions I’ve come across so far.
I’m not sure how it’ll affect battery life. Hopefully not too much.
To me, the sound of a fan running at 3000 is nicer on the ears than both the hard drive spindle (which runs all the time anyway) and the CPU whine (which thankfully went away with the new logic board I got).
Update 11 October 2006
I’ve updated the package to make it easier to change the speed. You can now run /Library/StartupItems/fanspeed/fanspeed [number] to set the speed (for testing out values). The default speed (used at boot time) is now stored in decimal rather than the shifted hex that the smc program needs.
As far as I can tell, the point is that small fluctuations in CPU usage will trigger heat but not necessarily faster fans. The trick then is to set the minimum fan speed such that light loading doesn’t cause the machine to heat up (or if you’re not sensitive to the noise, just crank it up). I have observed that ambient temperature plays a big part in the temperature of the machine. Eve has felt hot for a few weeks now but that’s how long we’ve been having hot days for.
Apple’s default (1000) to me is inaudible. I’m sure it’s making noise but the HD is louder. At 1500, I can barely perceive the sound. At 2000 it’s noticeable and a 3000 it’s obvious, even when there’s ambient noise. Depending on how much the noise annoys me, I might end up writing a GUI front end so that I can quickly change speeds depending on how noisy my environment is.
Version 1.3 adds itself to /etc/rc.wakeup if it exists. It also starts without a reboot. There’s a README notice telling you how to uninstall etc. I’ve included the readme, an uninstall script and a script to change the default speed on the disk image.
coconutWiFi creates lag October 10, 2006
Posted by a1291762 in : eve , add a commentAarrgghh!!
I’ve been using coconutWiFi to make my connection stay active, avoiding the nasty dropout bug Apple still hasn’t fixed (as of 10.4.8). However, recently I’ve been having connection issues and upon investigation, it seems that coconutWiFi is creating lag every 5 seconds. I think it’s stopping the airport connection while it scans for networks. There’s a new version for 10.4.8 but all it does is increase the time between lag bombs.
I’ll have a look around but I’ll probably end up writing something to ping my router to keep the connection up.
Update 10 October 2006
Following some advice I found, I reinstalled the 10.4.8 combo updater, removed coconutWiFi and rebooted. Hooray! I now have a non-lagged wireless connection that doesn’t disconnect when idle!
Update 11 October 2006
Damn Apple! I thought it was working but today I woke up my machine and it’s back to disconnecting when idle. I tried a suggestion of moving the airport connection to the top of the list (ie. making it the preferred connection) but that doesn’t seem to help either. It looks like all the airport scanning apps introduce lag (I wonder if that was always a problem?) so I’m going to code up a StartupItem that pings the gateway machine while you’re connected to an Airport network. It won’t introduce lag but it will keep the connection active (I know, because manually running ping works fine).
Taming the Windows clock when running Boot Camp October 8, 2006
Posted by a1291762 in : computers, eve , 7commentsSo there’s a problem with Windows. It assumes the RTC is in local time which is stupid. Of course, Mac OS X on the other hand is a good citizen and assumes the RTC is in UTC. The problem comes because of Boot Camp. Amazingly, nobody at Apple seemed to pick up on the problem before release. Even now, after the 1.1 release, it’s still a problem (despite Apple’s claims to the contrary).
So, I found a tip about a registry key but as discussed in the article above, it’s a remnant that isn’t supported. Nevertheless, it’s a damn sight better than what I get from Apple’s drivers (that is, nothing!). I found that the setting caused problems when sleeping Windows though. The time is taken backwards, probably by 10 hours (my local time offset). Worse, the Windows NTP stuff in XP Home doesn’t handle polling often. I found a utility called NTPTime that, while not being the easiest thing to install and configure, is free, open source and works. Of course it only works when I’ve got an internet connection so it’s still not a complete solution. Certainly, it wouldn’t have helped me on my recent holiday.
I really hope Apple addresses this properly sometime soon. I would have thought the ideal solution would be for the Mac OS X timezone to be recorded somewhere where EFI can get to it so that the time Windows reads and writes is adjusted by the timezone Mac OS X uses. It’s not perfect (eg. what if you change timezones in Windows?) but a real solution will require Microsoft to fix Windows and even Vista will continue the tradition of treating the clock incorrectly.
Lynx Dry hates me October 7, 2006
Posted by a1291762 in : Uncategorized , add a commentSo not too long ago I started seeing ads for Lynx Dry. I hadn’t realised that Lynx was a deodorant and not an anti-perspirant. I’ve been using a gel anti-perspirant from Gillette but it’s not exactly good at stopping me from sweating. Basically, I’m like that guy on the Lynx Dry ad so I figured I’d give it a go and see if it helps.
At first, it was good. However, after a few days I started to get painful lumps in my armpits. Anti-perspirants generally contain aluminium which is used to clog the skin’s pores, stopping the sweat from getting out. I noticed that the Gillette and Lynx products contained different compounds. I can only assume that the Lynx one, because it’s better, is stopping me from sweating a little too much. Without the chance to clear out the sweat, my glands are going ferral. Switching back to the Gillette let my armpits recover. I tried alternating between the Lynx and Gillette each day and didn’t have any problems so I’m pretty sure it’s just that the “24 hour” coverage in the Lynx product is more like 30-40 hours so you can’t use it every day or you’ll never let your pores recover.
One thing I didn’t try is showering each evening. If having a shower could clean out the aluminium then that would be a solution, as long as you don’t mind showering every evening.
Isaac starts talking October 6, 2006
Posted by a1291762 in : isaac , add a commentIsaac has started talking. I got him to say “da da” and “ma ma”. He tends to say “da da da” lots and can do some other single-syllable sounds. He’ll look at you and make noise so it’s pretty clear he’s talking.
He’s also throwing up again so we think he’s getting more teeth (since that caused him to vomit last time).
His belly button has always been an outie but today he was crying and I could feel something protruding from where his belly button is. I noticed it because he’s got lots of skin on his belly button that is normally folded in on itself but I saw it sticking out. Hernias are somewhat common in my family so I’m thinking he might have a hernia. Hopefully not though because that’ll mean an operation to fix it.
Post-holiday Update October 2, 2006
Posted by a1291762 in : eve, isaac , add a commentI’ve been offline for a while because I’ve been on holidays.
We all went up to Stone Island at Bowen for a few days. I haven’t blogged about it yet so I’ll describe the island for you. Stone Island is just off the shore of Bowen up in north Queensland. It’s technically part of the Whitsundays though most people only think of the islands to the south, near Airlie beach. The island used to have a resort on it but that was many years ago. In the years since the resort closed the island has changed hands a few times and had squatters. For the last few years the owners have been fixing up the buildings and cleaning up the island. The only building that’s been fixed up is the main building which contains a kitchen, lounge area and a few bedrooms. There’s no town water or power. Water is generally barged in and power comes from a generator. The generator is generally only run in the evenings so that means only a few hours of power each day. The kitchen is all gas, including the fridge and freezer so you can still do stuff without power.
Bree said I could take Eve but only to play games. I got one battery each day (2-3 hours depending on the game) and Eve would charge up again in the evening. I played quite a bit of Quake 4 as well as some Half-life and Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight. I was again struck by how good Quake 4 is. I have read lots of bad reviews of the game but then I never went for the multiplayer craze (not enough time) and I liked Quake 2. For me the best thing about the game is how immersive the game feels. I really get the feeling that I’m part of a large army fighting a war. It does come off feeling a bit DOOM 3 at times but thankfully these bits are few and far between. For the most part the game is well lit and even the dark bits aren’t as bad as in DOOM. I went through one section where it was dark enough to require a flashlight but I had two marines with me who were looking everywhere with their flashlights so I was free to keep out a big gun (none of the good weapons have flashlights).
Isaac is close to walking. In the last week he’s started standing confidently, even remaining standing when I put his shirts on and off. He can even stand up without holding anything as long as he’s leaning on something. He cut his fourth tooth while at Stone Island.