Author Archives: admin

Howto repair a broken USB flash drive

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This is not the first time, I break a USB Drive. And I already heard some people complaining about the same stuff. But how is this possible ? Even if I use it a lot, memory and micro-controller are robust you know, no special reason for a failure (except of course some anormal write, but this is not the case here)

I decided to open this little key, to look closely. After a quick look, I didn’t find anything. So this little PCB stuff was laying on me desk, and people play with it. After a couple of weeks, I discover the memory chip is simply de-solder. My friend at work play so much with it, the failure is now apparent. Nice no ?

Hum, this little TQFN chip will be hard to solder, that’s right. But this is do-able no ? I tried this with a small soldering iron and here the result:

And yes, the key works fine right now ;) That’s fine no ? I definitively won’t trust this drive enought to store important document, but fine for a couple of mp3, or other..

Gkrellm Theme : Invisible by Jkx

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I’m using Gkrellm for a long time now (perhaps 5 or more years). The main issue with Gkrellm is that theme aren’t really fresh anymore. So I tweaked some to feet with my needs.

As you can see on the screen-shot this theme is a transparent one, with a blue and violet krells

You can download it here : gkrellm-themes-invisible-jkx

/ Enjoy the dark side of the desktop :)

Howto install KDE4 on a Ubuntu 8.10 (or 8.04)

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Today, it’s the time to switch to the next Ubuntu version. One interesting stuff in the latest distro, is the KDE4, but by default you still get a 3.5.9 revision..

Here a little tips to switch easily:

First uninstall the previous version

sudo apt-get remove --purge kdebase-bin-kde3
sudo apt-get autoremove --purge

Install KDE4

sudo apt-get install kde4

As you can see, this is not really hard. The trick is to remove the old version cleanly.

Enjoy ?

Switch to wordpress

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During the last rescue of this website, I ran into issue. In fact my old blog engine (Alinea) was buggy due to a lot of changes in SQLObject, Webware and docutils. I was sick to patch this days after days to maintain this. I decided to switch to a plain-old-fashin php install.

Thanks to AlineaObject lib, it doesn’t take me too much time, to do the job. I still need to fix some stuff (mainly the rewrite rules), but this look fine. I switched to WordPress. Of course I lost a lot of functionalities of my initial setup, like the Anti-SPAM feature or the ZPT template engine, but right now I get some more stuff.

I already switched 2 times before (Moveable Type, Alinea ..)

The migration works lilke a charm right now, feel free to post if you have some issues.

Lumex Graphic LCD 128×64 (S12864GSF) + AVR (Atmega32)

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I recently bought 2 LCD from jckrers ebay store. I have a good idea for this stuff, but first I need to run several tests. This LCD are fine and use the common KS108 controller.

My first thought was to use the avrlib, so I wired the LCD and started to use avrlib, but I quickly run into issues. In fact, I want to use some icons on, and the avrlib seems to be buggy.

After a little compile/test/run/compile, I remember an old post on a website about KS108 chips. I find it back, it’s on the science prog

This is really great, you can build some custom fonts easily (that’s exactly what i’m looking for)..

Here a couple of pics…

http://jkx.larsen-b.com/photos/AlarmClock/DSC02817_003.sized.jpg

As you can see, I use a ATMega32 (on a futurelec card), a simple pot for the contrast, and the lumex.

http://jkx.larsen-b.com/photos/AlarmClock/DSC02816_003.sized.jpg

I can use a mix of different fonts on the same screen.

And I can even display some pics too :)

http://jkx.larsen-b.com/photos/AlarmClock/DSC02820.sized.jpg

Here the famous tux.

I still have to deal with menu and other stuff, this should be a little harder than expected, but will be nice. If somebody know a good library to use on a T6963C, please post a comment..

For users who wants high res pics, you can find them in my gallery (as usual).

MP3 Bitrates compared

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A lot of people use some mp3 files right now. I decided to take a look at a spectrum analysis of a sound file at different bitrates. The result is really something, I doesn’t expected..

The original wave file is a radio (FM) recorded… I chose this one, cause this radio have a big noise on the upper part of the spectrum.

Original:

http://jkx.larsen-b.com/photos/blog/spectrum_original.png

b = 128

http://jkx.larsen-b.com/photos/blog/spectrum_128.png

b = 192

http://jkx.larsen-b.com/photos/blog/spectrum_192.png

b = 224

http://jkx.larsen-b.com/photos/blog/spectrum_224.png

Variable bitrate

http://jkx.larsen-b.com/photos/blog/spectrum_variable.png

What we clearly see, it that mp3 encoder (lame here) use a expander, and this is quite a good stuff. I think I should have normalized the input.. but..

After that point, we clearly see it cuts the around 16Khz, I know that my computer system isn’t able to achieve this level, but my stereo system can.

First results show that Ogg give a better results but this is for a future post.

Enjoy sound

Howto reinstall / restore Grub with an Ubuntu

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After a windows fresh install, the windows setup decided to drop my MBR to put its stuff in. Fine .. but I want my grub back now !

This is an old trick, but udev added a little complexity, so let’s give it a try. First boot on a Ubunty CD, open a console and run:

(here my linux partition is sda2, second partition on a sata disk)

mkdir /media/mnt
mount /dev/sda2 /media/mnt/
mount -o bind /dev/ /media/mnt/dev
chroot /media/mnt

=> now you are on the destination disk, so you can install grub.
grub-install /dev/sda

Of course you can do a lot more stuff, like changing fstab etc etc .. but the trick is to mount + mount bind + chroot

My new silent computer (Intel Quad Core Q6600)

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Ok, I decided to change my computer a couple of months right now. But as Intel is doing some strange stuffs with the prices, this took a little longer than exepected. Some friends asked me what I bought, so I decided to write this post.

My new box description:

Here a little photo:

http://jkx.larsen-b.com/photos/Computers/DSC02751.sized.jpg

So let’s take a look closer.. I bought the Q6600 because it has a good price right now.

For the motherboard I wanted to buy a serious brand (I had some bad issues with ASRock ..). And Asus build some good ones, but doesn’t have a PS2 keyboard plug. I choose the Gigabytes because the bridge cooler is on the right, so I can use a big fan in the case back (no cpu-fan) without the bridge fan issue.

For the harddrive, I already have this type of Seagate on another box (in ATA, not SATA), and it’s damn cool ! Low noise and great performances .. a substain 58Mo/sec (a little bit more than my previous LVDS-SCSI config at 10 000 rpm !)

The perfect box should have two 120mn fans. So this CoolMaster is fine.
I only use the front fan right now, but this may change in future. The case is quite big (too much for my needs), easy to mount, and serious quality. The hard-drive combo stuff, isn’t really easy to use but it does it’s job.

For the power-supply, after reading a lot of website, I bought the Seasonic. This stuff cost a little money, but it’s a really silent one, and seems to be robust.

As I bought a silent power supply, I needed a silent cpu cooler two. Everybody knows that default Intel fan are awfully noisy, so I decided to test this Freezer. And that was a good choice. On idle, the fan runs at 450 rpm, (hey that’s low!!) and CPU is at 31°. At full load, the fan runs at 1000 rpm (still really low!!) and the CPU is at 46°. My initial plan was to remove the fan on the cooler and to place a big 120 mn on the case back, but haven’t done this yet.

For the video card, I was looking for something with good bench on Linux, so ATI was a good challenger (beside it only works with the latest ATI binary shit). And finding a passive HD2600 is a bit hard.

For the DVD, I didn’t have any ideas. Most DVD players I used are noisy, have unstable speed. My previous Samsung was a real bullshit. I went to me local computer store, and bought the cheaper they have on stock. And this is a really good surprise. This DVD burner is really cool. So, if someone ask, give it a try :)

So, as you can imagine, this little stuff is quite silent and powerfull :)

I will upload some pictures soon …

Update: I took some photos

Enjoy cores

How to re-install WoW without wasting your time

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Everybody knows that I’ used to play WoW ..ok, not really, but this is a simple tips for people who have crashed their Windows XP install or changed their harddrive (like me). Don’t waste your time to do a fresh install, just use a copy.

(C:=> main drive (new one) / E:=> backup drive )

First: copy the E:Program FilesWorld of Warcraft to C:Program Files

Next, do the same with C:\Program Files\Fichiers communs\Blizzard Entertainment

After that, you must run “WoW.exe”. (Don’t use the Launcher, it will ask you where WoW.exe is..) After this dry run, you can now run the “Launcher.exe” as usual :)

Final step, put a link on you desktop to “Launcher.exe”. Don’t forget always use Launcher.exe cause this program do the auto-update.

Update : I use a french XP install, so the path is translated in french. The right path is \Program Files\Common Files\ ..

Enjoy WoW

Eltax Symphony 6.4 review (Avis ?)

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Eltax Symphony loudspeakers are some really cheap one. It cost around 120 Euros here in France. I was looking for a review for this speakers for a long time. How can Eltax sell speakers for this low price.

http://jkx.larsen-b.com/photos/blog/10228_sys1.jpg

A month ago, I discover that my old Elipson speakers are quite dead.. too old to rock !! ;) So beside I decided to repair them, I need to buy something else during this period (period that could be long, cause I need to find somebody to fix them)

After long googling, I decided to give the Eltax a try. So brought a pair on the web. In fact, I haven’t found anything really interesting on the net about Eltax products, so this is the first real review of Symphonie 6.4 loudspeaker. (Please if you find this one useful, links to this article, in the hope someone else find it)

Aspect:

This is quite important no ? Ok this stuffs are pretty nice floorstanding 2 ways speakers. Eltax has done some serious work here. They seems to be robust, and good quality. This is the first thing that I wasn’t looking for. Cheap speakers != bad products..

The low-middle boomer look a bit too small for me, but ..

Sound:

First, don’t forget I usually use some Elipson, or high end Denon speakers, not this kind of cheap stuffs :) But let’s start. I wired the Eltax on a 2* 80w (big boy) Denon amp, and press the play button. The first impression is really strange. The middle and high are crystal clear. Astomishing !

The highs are a bit to bright for my ears, but this is not a really big issue, because I can fix that with the treble setting. But the middle are really clear, you can listen every small sound and believe me I haven’t heard this kind of middle on a lot of sets.

While playing, I tested several style of music, and discover that’s despite this speakers are really a good discovery, I ‘m missing something. I searched over several CDs, and yes, I found it. Despite the bass are quite fine on this speakers, something is missing: low-mids. I mean, the middle and the bass are really effective, but the low-middle aren’t there. Of course, the problem seems to come from the small boomer, but as the bass-reflex do a good job bass are deep so not really easy to discover at the first listening.

This loudspeakers can play with you, because you when you power them, they give you what you’re looking for: good mids, good highs and deep bass. But after long a listening you will find them a bit strange ..

Even worst, when you try to listen some songs with a lot of different harmonics (Muse is the worst stuff I has on my hand for this time, but it’s a good challenger. Vocals are high, noisy guitars, and lot of bass), the speakers is really in a bad condition. I mean, the speaker doesn’t achieve to play it. Instead of music, you get some noisy background, a mixed bass, and bright vocals, and it sound really bad.

Conclusion:

I read a lot of good comments on the Eltax Monitor III, and right now I know why. I’m quite sure they deliver the same clear middle, and great vocals. This is perfect for a home-cinema setup, but not for Hifi. I’m quite sure, I will buy a Eltax center channel for my next setup, because this is exactly what everybody is looking for.

My first goal with this speakers was to use them for the back channel in home theater setup, and they are really good enough for that. If you want to buy this speakers for a HT setup, let’s do it, it will give some really good results.

I discover that one of my speakers has an issue on low bass (50Hz/60Hz) and low volume, I can ear some scracth. This doesn’t affect sound-stage at normal level (very weird) so I decided to send them back.

So guess what, you should read another Cheap Hifi speaker review soon ;)