Info and forum posts by 'Kin'

A13 ICS tablet using xbox360 controller

Hi, I`ve had a really cheap single core A13 based android Busbi (BUSTAB7R) tablet (ICS 4.04) for a few months and only yesterday was able to make it work with a wired xbox360 controller. It was almost impossible to find the exact file needed which was not included, so I thought I`d share with whoever still might need it. Btw if you want to use a different controller you`ll need different files. I found the file inside a zipped up rom being developed at xda developers forum.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2343531which leads to the rom file cm_a13_20130703.zip at this address https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B240tVoN5YQPS3JtX2FDb1NjbzQ&usp=sharing After downloading and unzipping the rom (I did that on my main computer as it was easier, sorry about having to unzip but if I was downloading I know the original place is where I`d want to get it), copy /system/lib/modules/xbox.ko to your tablet. I put mine into /sdcard/download/ as it doesn`t seem to matter where it goes. ES file explorer is a good free tool for moving files around or between tablet and computer (In ES file explorer go to LAN, click search and it look for computers on your network).Type the following into a terminal emulator to switch on the controller each time Code:
su
insmod /sdcard/download/xpad.ko
dmesg
 (plug in the xbox360 controller)
dmesg
exit
exit
You don`t need to type the dmesg commands unless you want to see what they say.Hopefully this will help someone get theirs working too. (Sorry if this is hard to read it keeps changing my formatting but I fixed the most important parts).

This item was edited on Saturday, 3rd August 2013, 21:40

RE: May be getting a snake for Christmas. Need ideas for a name.

CrackersThat name could have a fun little story to tell visitors.
"We named her Crackers after what she did to some bones she must have found, she`s so naughty always hungry and finding bones from goodness knows where and leaving their shattered remains to be cleaned up. Don`t worry about her being on your lap I`ll only be a few minutes. Umm just before I go there`s a phone over there with a list of quickdials but don`t worry it must be weeks since, well she really likes you, I can tell from the way she`s snuggling around you like that. Best whisper if you want me she doesn`t like noise, be back soon"

RE: Cheeky request: anyone have a Usenet account I can borrow?

I had another look into that 1Mbit speed free unlimited time offer at XS Usenet and nowhere do they say anything about limiting it`s use to certain locations. They display a german flag, a Netherlands flag and most interestingly a european flag at the top of the screen for choosing languages. When registering you must choose the server which you want to use from the choice of Netherlands, Germany or Belgium, so Belgium  must be the european option most obviously meant for more than one country  (and it`s also closest to the UK).

They usually limit the free accounts to 30 days but it`s an unlimited time subscription just at the moment so It`s worth having as a backup even if you won`t normally need it..

This item was edited on Monday, 3rd October 2011, 20:54

RE: Laptop screens, can you get a repair liquid?

I think an attempt to fix a laptop screen that way using a liquid resin might cause more damage or distortion than the repair would improve,  fine with glass where you can clamp something on so the resin applied under pressure can form a flat finish without bubbles, but I bet not so good with a soft film.

I have seen suggestions of using a car wax or polish but it was also said some car waxes can leave a white line and it`s important to use a lint free cloth (the type used for cleaning spectacles) to apply it otherwise you can create lots of little scratches. It won`t be perfect but it might be a small improvement. If you google "laptop scratch" you`ll see all the same sort of posts about it that I did.

If all else fails you could always look into the cost of a replacement screen, some models can be quite reasonable if you`re lucky enough to need the right type.

This item was edited on Monday, 3rd October 2011, 20:21

RE: Help on samsung defualt security lock code.

Haha push the tags on your luggage apart and change it quickly to something you`ll remember, not to 12345678 (Mind reading a speciality).
From the days when luggage security was less of an issue:

This item was edited on Sunday, 2nd October 2011, 17:25

RE: Help on samsung defualt security lock code.

I hope you`ve solved the problem as you haven`t had an answer from fellow mobile phone users (I don`t use one myself), but from a quick look around the net I think the code 00000000 might work for you.

RE: OnLive Streaming Games - To change the face of gaming apparently...

I recently cleaned out a Vista based 1.73GHz core2duo laptop with a truly awful Intel 945 videochip of various bloatware and advertware for a relative and I found Just Cause 2 was suprisingly playable and smooth through Onlive on it. I think a worse laptop might struggle though.

I do see a future for the Onlive service.

Good points:
- Onlive uses a measly 14 megabytes of harddrive space in total including every file it downloads (I checked by installing it to a sandbox)
- It lets people play DX11-only games on a XP computer (or DX12 or DX13 when they eventually come out one day)
- It works well enough even with low speeds and is improving with time just how low (currently 4Mbit/sec or above is good enough)
- Works with what would otherwise be pretty useless laptops as far as gaming goes
- You can play most Onlive supplied games for free for half an hour from the start of the full game each time. Better than installing a demo and a way to demo a game even when the game provider doesn`t create a demo version.

Bad points:
- The internet does need to be on continually while you play which is bad for people who pay their Internet Service Provider according to time connected or amount downloaded.
- Currently wants around a 4Mbit/sec internet speed or faster for a good experience though it will run with less. If you`re with Virgin you`ll want at least a 20Mbit/sec service otherwise the 75 percent throttling ruins Onlive.
- Some Sky internet users may have a problem with high ping times causing movement delays (but from what I read Sky are able to improve it if you call them and know what to ask for).
- The full price for games can be a bit steep unless they`re on offer
- Currently we don`t have the equivalent of a $5 game Friday in the UK, maybe they`ll start one after the £1 for your first game offer runs out.

I had a look at Gaikai again recently a few days ago, they include Crysis 2 now and the games play from the main site without needing a special link. Shame it isn`t working for me, I think any UK servers have been switched off and the others are too far to get a good enough connection to play.

This item was edited on Saturday, 1st October 2011, 01:32

RE: Cheeky request: anyone have a Usenet account I can borrow?

I don`t use or need one myself but this 1Mbit free usenet account might (or might not) help. The fact he said it works in the UK doesn`t mean it`s legal to do so though, I suggest you read through whatever faq`s, terms of use, etc. that they provide regarding access before using it. Here`s a link to the HUDK post where I read about it.

http://www.hotukdeals.com/freebies/xs-usenet-lifetime-1mbit-usenet-free-usenet-access-1026255

This item was edited on Friday, 30th September 2011, 23:35

Coolermaster 750W PSU £52.79 today-only

Saw this on Scan under today-only deals (today is 17th May 2011) Coolermaster 750W PSU £52.79 (which also includes the VAT)
That`s powerful enough for most people`s needs and it`s rated 85% efficient. Thought I`d mention it as higher wattage good branded PSU`s seem to be typically a bit overpriced,  but that`s a really nice price for once. you can read up on it here: http://www.coolermaster.co.uk/product.php?product_id=6690 Just a shame I don`t need one myself.You need to visit the today-only page at www.scan.com to get that price. You can get free Scan P&P if you`re a member of AVForums or Hexus and meet the minimum requirements.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 17th May 2011, 16:01

RE: WinUAE 2.3.0 out

Thanks, about time I updated it I`m still using quite an old 1.51 version.

RE: Irritating dual boot screen... how can i get rid!

Maybe it thought you had a USB drive plugged in and popped up the menu so you could boot from it (hehe the worlds only bootable keyboard). If it ever happens again after you switch keyboards or whatever then try setting the time countdown to 1 second rather than 0, Zero seconds can mean wait forever until a key is pressed.

19 inch 5ms DVI monitor £82.22

I saw this on Ebuyer so if you want one I wouldn`t wait too long, sometimes their prices drift a bit. As they stopped doing free delivery I`ve added that info too.

Extra Value 19" TFT Monitor 1440x900 300cd/m2 500:1 16:9 multimedia VGA/DVI 3 Years Warranty £77.99inc vat
Delivery on Supersaver: £4.24
Total: £82.22

It`s listed as widescreen with built in speakers and says to ignore the 4:3 image they used. It doesn`t come with a DVI cable according to one buyer so you`ll need to buy one of those too if not using the standard VGA. They had 997 of them in stock at the time I posted this.

I think it`s this one Hanton H-341WB. Look at the way they did the T in hanton on their logo, explains why even some other sellers show it as Hanon.

This item was edited on Monday, 27th October 2008, 03:46

RE: LCD burn in?

From what I`ve read it is supposed to be possible if left with the same image long enough due to capacitance build up. Never seen it myself and I also thought it couldn`t happen. I`ve left these computers with the same backdrop day after day and no screen saver for up to eight hours at a time while I use a second one to read or play games and they`re both perfectly fine after years of use.

Anyway what I also read was it isn`t like plasma burn in where it ruins someone`s TV, if you let the capacitors drain it`s said it clears up. Apparently it said that in someone`s LCD TV manual which is corroboration of sorts. I suppose that means switch off the monitor at the plug for however long it takes. If you switch back on to see if the problem is fixed remember you`re starting again so don`t be impatient.

I found that reason and solution by googling LCD Burn in, I hope it helps.

(My guess at the duration, and it is just a guess based on how long I`ve seen capacitors hold a charge, would be days rather than hours)

This item was edited on Monday, 20th October 2008, 04:24

RE: Where`s All The Bargains Gone

There`s this..
Antec Mini P180 Black MATX Case reduced £20 to £59.99inc vat with free delivery.
Only problem is it`s at Ebuyer so the price is likely to slowly rise.

RE: 8800GT down to £85

Those Zotac AMP version clocks are pretty nice, though like all the GTs it releases it`s heat inside the case. It`s the main reason I got the 8800GTS instead, that and the price was barely lower for a GT at the time.

8800GT down to £85

These things just keep getting cheaper. The Zotec model is just £85 at Ebuyer. I`m almost tempted to buy two and build a SLI system.

Rather than link to it directly due to the way Ebuyer`s prices can fluctuate even within a short time here`s a link to show all the 8800GT 512mb in order of price
8800GT 512mb models

Because the 8800GTS-512 are getting competitive too, way way cheaper than when I bought mine for the improved cooling system and substantially cheaper than the newer 9800 models which are barely different, here`s a link to those too as a quick check. Cheapest I see at the moment is £140 though.

8800GTS 512mb

This item was edited on Wednesday, 16th July 2008, 17:01

RE: DVD Recorder - Panny still tops?

I have a Panasonic DMR-E500H (has a 400gb harddrive) and I`m as happy with it today as I was when I found it at the bargain price of £500 two and a half years ago at Richer Sounds reduced from £1000 (and they really were that price elsewhere which is a hefty chunk of cash).

The newer panasonic models that have come out since that I`ve seen on QVC look good as they have a quickstart feature but I`m happy with mine. I love being able to start it recording and just leave it until the next day or longer to playback ignoring the problem of setting timers, or switch to time slip mode and leave it recording if I quite fancy watching the program its currently recording later.

The last time I looked about a year ago they`d increased the price if mine by £100 when I`d expected it to drop with the new models available so they must have continued to sell well. None there at all now but they`ve the newer DMREX77 at £250 with a 160gb drive and a DMREX87 with a 250gb at £300 if you`re comparison shopping.

Btw my panasonic is totally silent in operation except when starting up and shutting down even if I put my head next to it and I can barely hear that either :)

You mentioned copying from VHS, the ones with VHS built in (none of the above models) have protection built in but I read it`s possible to bypass it by looping the output to an input through one of those filtering things if you happen to have put protection on your own videos which is the only reason I mention it ;)

RE: Motherboard, Memory & Processor Bundle £100 Inc Vat

They`re selling the bundle at what they consider a reduced price. I wouldn`t pay for assembling it`s a single stick of ram and a cpu without heatsink etc. which takes all of 15 seconds to slot in.

Code:
Quote from Novatech:
You will have complete peace of mind that:-
- Every component is in full working order.
- You save yourself the time of building the bundle yourself.

As it is tested then yes some might consider it worth the extra £10.61, the cost of shipping and the cost of a heatsink and fan. I`d buy a better heatsink than the standard one anyway if I was planning on overclocking.

It doesn`t list Arctic Silver paste as included, I just added that as something you`ll need and as it`s one of the more popularly liked types so you shouldn`t count it into the price difference. It`s why I put the total first.

Btw buying the parts individually does mean you get a 3 year guarantee on the retail CPU. It`s probably the OEM version shipped with the bundle as it doesn`t have a heatsink and fan included.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 8th April 2008, 23:52

RE: Motherboard, Memory & Processor Bundle £100 Inc Vat

Or just buy the parts from somewhere like Ebuyer (assuming you want that particular board etc)

Intel Pentium Dual Core E2180 2GHz Socket 775 800MHz FSB L2 1MB Cache Retail Box Processor £48.65inc vat
(Heatsink and fan included)
Foxconn 946GZ7MA-8KRS2H Socket 775 946GZ onboard VGA DDR2 mATX £30.75inc vat
Extra Value 1GB DDR2 667MHz PC5300 240pin Extra Value Ram £9.99inc vat

Total £89.39 with free delivery

You might also want
Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound Thermal paste 3.5gram £4.48inc vat
or Arctic Silver Ceramique 2.5g tube £2.48inc vat (which I actually prefer)

This item was edited on Tuesday, 8th April 2008, 18:59

Looks good for a £300 laptop

Not a core2duo but it is at least dual core

FUJITSU SIEMENS AMILO Li1718 Laptop Product code: 637221

Currys Price
£299.97
Standard Delivery
Free
Pay on finance available
monthly product support £6.99

Core Duo technology, Windows Vista, and 2Gb memory -
Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor T2080
(1.73 GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 1 MB Cache)
Genuine Widows Vista (R) Home Premium
2GB Memory
120GB Hard Drive
DVD ReWriter MultiDrive
15.4" BrightView Widescreen Dispalay
ATI Radion Xpress 200 M Graphics Card
Wireless Enabled
2.7kg Weight

> Link here <

RE: looking to buy a new graphics card - advice please

Have you considered getting a slightly bigger midi-size atx case that`s also compatible with micro-atx boards ? It might be the most cost effective option unless you have a really good reason for a tiny one. Bare cases can be quite cheap, you could get one with a window for under £20.

More powerful cards also put out a lot more heat which could be a problem with a micro case unless the ventilation is phenominal.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 12th December 2007, 11:48

RE: looking to buy a new graphics card - advice please

Do yourself a favour and get a good power supply. Your old power supply may well fail if you try running it with a more powerful card and potentially destroy your motherboard and whatever new videocard you buy when it does so.

Check out how well any PSU you like the look of does in stress tests before you buy it, there`s usually an online review somewhere if it`s an even barely semi-reputable branded type. I`ve seen a report of one type of dirt cheap no-name brand 600W PSU that didn`t even reach a 300W load before failing with a loud bang and a power spike so do your homework and google some reviews. While you`re at it you might want to try googling for a review on your old PSU to see what happens when that`s stressed.

I estimate that my 4200x2 running at default speeds under Windows XP and a 8800GT will score over 8000 3DMark06 points by looking online scores others have posted which is way better than the next best, so that`s what I`m going to get. Mine is a 22 inch 1680x1050 monitor so it has to be the 512mb 8800GT, but the 256mb model would run just as fast on a lower resolution monitor.

(same post as before, just edited to show I use Windows XP)

This item was edited on Wednesday, 12th December 2007, 11:39

RE: Help With Playing a movie using VLC..

You can find some interesting stuff to watch on www.stage6.com if you don`t have anything to play. There`s also a nice feature in VLC that a lot of people overlook..

Start the VLC player
Go to view Playlist
Go to manage services discovery Shoutcast TV Listings
Pick something to watch

This item was edited on Wednesday, 12th December 2007, 10:26

RE: 5 year old laptop performance...

I`d be very wary of throwing money at an old laptop or computer to bring it up to date, the parts tend to be more costly and you have to look at the reliability. How long before the internal screen connecting ribbon cable fails from it simply being opened and shut for instance ?

It`s a good basic laptop from the look of it, battery run time is supposed to be around 3.5 hours with a new battery, but I wouldn`t want to pay for one for something second-hand. There are supposed to be ways to rejuvenate an old laptop battery so that it holds a charge if you want to risk them, such as a freezing method, but be sure to read everything there is on the various procedures before trying any. I personally wouldn`t want a battery in my fridge, but it is a cheap option.

Max Resolution: is 1024 x 768 which is a little low, but it is a smaller 14.1 inch screen and the Geforce2go graphics aren`t that bad.

The ram isn`t that expensive as long as it`s a generic brand, just be sure it`s the right type which I believe is Sodimm 144-PIN DDR 133mhz SDRam. I saw 512mb for under £20 on ebuyer. They also have an internal MP54G5 Wireless Mini PCI Adapter for £10 which may or may not be suitable for the laptop, depends if it has the socket, or failing that a Wireless PCMCIA Network Adapter 54mbps 802.11g for £14.

I didn`t bother with links, stock there is changing all the time. Just go to the appropriate sections and click Show all Results if you want to find which is cheapest at the time. They`re not the best place to buy every time but I usually look there first as a basis for comparison.

At the end of the day you`re buying a 128mb ram laptop with a 15gb harddrive so I`d expect it to be reasonably cheap no matter how nice and clean it looks. It might take more ram and even a bigger harddrive but do you need to get technical and update the bios ? Hopefully not.

RE: Sony 1GB Ultra Mini Microvault USB offer price £8.34 incl.vat.

Lol ok a slight mistype there, make that 2gb and 4gb

RE: Sony 1GB Ultra Mini Microvault USB offer price £8.34 incl.vat.

I`d rather have the 2mb model at £10

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/1015033/Play-Com-2GB-USB-Flash-Drive/Product.html

or better yet the 4mb model at £15

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/3335634/Play-com-4GB-USB-Flash-Drive/Product.html

Look good too

RE: Advice needed on upgrading RAM and processor

This FX5500 www.ebuyer.com/product/134880 might be a better option than the FX5200 suggested if they`re still available when you order, they`re cheaper at £20 and a miniscule amount faster.

You could have one of the AGP 7xxx series which would be far superior, but its whether you want to pay the cost. This 7600GS 256MB DDR2 AGP Graphics Card www.ebuyer.com/product/118117 is £47. Personally I`d bite the bullet and get one rather than be left with something that might be underpowered for my needs, but only you know what your own needs are.

Best possible in AGP is the 7950GT 512MB GDDR3 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/128027 which is £142 but you`d have to be crazy to throw that much money away on yesterdays slow technology. It would be more sensible to begin again with a recent PCIE board and the new mostly cheaper parts for it.

You can`t have the 8xxx series unfortunately, they need a PCIE slot and yours is AGP.

This item was edited on Saturday, 10th November 2007, 22:48

RE: Advice needed on upgrading RAM and processor

The main thing holding your computer back apart even more than the ram or cpu would be using internal graphics instead of a discrete graphics board with it`s own ram.

It`s hard to say what to upgrade to, you haven`t mentioned what you`d consider spending on the upgrade or the motherboard model, but here`s a general note or two.

If you switch to a proper graphics card it should make a big difference. I suggest the least you should go for is a 7300GT or preferably something a bit more up to date in the 8xxx nvidia series. I can`t really advise on equivalent ATI cards as I haven`t had one in quite a while, though whatever you use make sure it fits whichever graphic slot your board has (I hope it`s PCIE), and switch off the internal graphics, you don`t want them both on. It should tell you how to do that in the manual.

DDR2 ram tends to be half the price of your DDR but you`d need a new motherboard for it. If you decide to upgrade the processor to one which wouldn`t fit your current board that might make it a more attractive option.

Personally I often use Ebuyer to get parts for upgrading as they`re generally cheap but whether you want to use them depends a lot on how patient you are for delivery and whether Citylink is reliable in your part of the country.

I think you`ve made the right choice about not upgrading from XP.

Btw if you go to a dual core cpu in the future you might want to download a program called Runfirst from Activeplus, it will help with the occasional older program that won`t work perfectly with dual cores. I found this useful too, it`s relevant for more than just setting up laptops for dual core: forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=60416

RE: PC

Hi MicoMan,

According to products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUResult.aspx?f1=AMD+Athlon%e2%84%a2+64+X2+Dual-Core&f2=4200%2b&f3=2200&f4=1024&f5=AM2&f6=&f7=&f8=&f9=2000& there are three AMD2 4200X2s

ADA4200IAA5CU and ADA4200CUBOX = 89Watts, F2, 1.30v, 1.35v, 90nm
ADO4200IAA5CU and ADO4200CUBOX = 65Watts, F2, 1.20v, 1.25v, 90nm
ADO4200IAA5DD and ADO4200DDBOX = 65Watts, G1, 1.25v, 1.30v, 1.325v, 65nm

Which makes the ebuyer ADO4200CUBOX one that you linked a F2 stepping. I tried to look up the name they gave that stepping on www.cpu-world.com but cpu-world made mistakes with the product details for this series and amdcompare don`t mention it.

Personally I want an Intel core2duo or quad2core as they seem more effective for equivalent price although I haven`t compared the lower end Intel`s against AMD.

By the way, avoid trusting remarks on ebuyer about compatibility too much unless they list what they`re comparing in their post. I`ve seen posts talk about completely different items to the ones theyre posted under, possibly thinking they returned to the right one when they didn`t. They can also be responding to postings that aren`t there anymore which can lead to confusion if it isn`t apparent. I always double check externally if it`s something important by searching on the manufacturer identification. Ebuyer have a lot of detracters but I like to buy there myself, I just wouldn`t take a buyers posting as the definitative word.

This item was edited on Friday, 26th October 2007, 06:41

RE: PUOND PC CAMERA WEB CAM 6LED USB 1300

It sounds a lot like this one I found on Ebuyer, Zentium 1.3 MegaPixel Webcam With 6x LED Lights - USB which also looks remarkably like dozens of others with identical descriptions but different brand names.

I went searching the net for a Puond driver and even after 45 minutes I`d only found post after post of people complaining they couldn`t get the driver. French website, Chinese websites, all sorts to give the google translator a workout but none of them were resolved apart from people saying check the manufacturer website which didn`t have a link to them for those that tried, and two Chinese email addresses for the manufacturer.

dnoup[at]moc.361
ekoabzs[at]moc.361

No one mentioned whether they actually had any luck emailing them but I suspect not as they didn`t post the reply to help anyone else resolve the same problem. Btw, that Zentium one is said to be a chinese import too.

I usually download a driver before I buy anything that needs one given the way some places seem to make a complete mess of providing them, or only provide one that upgrades if you have a completely working original disk to install the old version first which is a bit stupid. I run it in a Virtual PC to see if it asks for the original disk or otherwise fails to install for any reason other than the VPC doesnt support USB.

Sorry I don`t have better news for you but I did try. Someone on driverguide suggested opening the camera to say which chipset it was before asking about a driver then locked the post as it was in the wrong forum. The person involved in that post doesn`t seem to have replied elsewhere as far as I can tell.

My only suggestion would be to try to copy the contents of the disk using another computer to a usb drive so that you can take it home and use it yourself. Finding it on the web seems a complete waste of time given how many have tried it previously and failed.