Extracting PPP Password from Router Config Backup

When Exetel posted me the ZTE ZXHN H268A home gateway router, they were also supposed to supply me the PPP username and password, but they never did. And I was not about to give them a call because their support number queue is almost always 90+-person long. I thought, how hard can it be to get the piece of information straight from the router itself?

For one, there are utilities out there that can supposedly reveal or unmask the password hidden under those asterisks. Don't want to risk downloading malware, so ditched that option. Then again, what worked 10 years ago doesn't mean it'll still work now. I'm sure the web designers have gotten wise to this. I tried looking at the page source. For some reason, the info is not there. Pretty sure the info was sent, but just not being displayed in the source. Took some packet captures using Wireshark. This time I managed to get the username, but not the password. Very strange. Maybe that particular parameter was not being sent at all, since it's not required to be displayed on the webpage anyway Was about to dig deeper when I thought of something. Instead of searching for the password parameter, why not generate a configuration dump/backup and focus on that instead. The password should definitely be present in the backup file.

I was hoping for a plaintext XML file. Unfortunately, it was a binary config.bin. Loading it in an ASCII/hex editor revealed nothing. Now, some guys have tried to crack ZTE's config.bin. The theory is that the config backup file is encrypted using AES ECB using the device serial number as the key.

Did some more digging and found a utility called RouterPassView that managed to decrypt config.bin. It's able to decrypt a whole lot of other formats, too! Ah, what would I do without the internet.

Lemon Bars from /r/Old_Recipes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Cream and press into ungreased 9 x 12 pan.
Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Beat 4 eggs, then add:

• 5 - 7 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Pour on baked crust.
Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar while still warm.

Four-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies from /r/Old_Recipes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix thoroughly. Roll into small 2-inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press two ways with fork to flatten slightly.

Bake 350 degrees. 12-15 minutes. Makes 30.

A few tips:

• Reduce baking time to 8-9 minutes for a softer cookie.
• Do not remove from sheet for a couple minutes to prevent crumbling.
• Roll into small 2 inch balls.

TomTom Map 2019 Update

Been a few years since I last updated the maps on my TomTom PNDs. Not that I use them much these days (or at all), since it's more convenient to use Google Maps on my smartphone. I figure it's probably better to use a dedicated GPS unit when going on long drives, so might as well do a refresh.

Normally, I would update the NavCore on the unit, then install the latest map. Then I realized/remembered that since 2010, TomTom has switched the internal filesystem from FAT/FAT32 to Linux, thereby restricting external access to the device. As such, my XL330s and XXL TomToms are stuck with v9.530 with no hope of further upgrades. For the maps, I usually go to GPS Underground and NaviTotal to check out the latest maps available. On an aside, turns out the owner of GPS Underground is retiring, and is looking to sell the forum (vBulletin license and the domain name). Hopefully it stays around for a while longer. Would be sad to see it go, along with the collective knowledge accumulated over the years.

Before downloading any map, make sure that:

• it's compatible with your device and/or NavCore version (check the compatibility matrix)
• has the features that you want (TTS, ALG, and IQ Routes being the most important ones.)
• the meta code is already available (or else the map won't work)

Simplest way to update the map:

1. Connect the PND to a PC.
2. Make a backup of the device.
3. Delete the current map folder.
4. Copy over the updated map folder.
5. Update meta.txt with the associated meta code for the new map.
6. Copy over the safety cam files from the backup if you have them.
7. Run FastActivate.
8. Profit.

I can't stress this enough. Always make a backup of the unit before performing any work on it. In my case, the folder structure got borked while transferring the new map and I ended up with garbage files and folders, which Windows can't even remove/delete. Solution? I had to format the whole drive and restore from backup.

In case FastActivate is not able to update your maps, make sure you're using the latest version of FastActivate. Another common issue for incomplete map errors (dct errors) is due to missing and/or wrong meta codes. If the integrated meta.txt file does not come with the meta code you need, insert the new ones into meta.txt. DO NOT manually add meta codes to integrated_meta.txt because in my experience, FastActivate won't read it.

Movie 2019.06.25 - Men in Black: International

Wasn't really expecting a new MIB installment. I mean, aside from men in black fighting aliens, are we expecting anything new here?

Well, they added some female actors for a start. Moving along with the times and all that. The movie also focuses on the London branch of MIB. So don't understand why it's called MIB: International instead of MIB: London. That way, they can do a different city every year. In any case, Chris Hemsworth is Aussie and Liam Neeson is Irish. International enough?

Now, let's talk about the movie itself. I've got one word for you: sloppy. Chris and Tessa waltz in, fresh from their Thor: Ragnarok high, and take a walk in the MIB park. I know it's hard to act when it's all green screen, and you're interacting with things that may or may not be there. But c'mon, put in some extra effort. I'm looking at you, Chris. Maybe he feels that after that stint with the Avengers, he deserved a break.

And a lot of the scenes in the movie are not really relevant to the plot - M's first visit to the London HQ and seeing all those aliens for the first time, the normal subway car transforming into a futuristic rail carriage, H's intro scene at the gambling den, etc. The CGI is pretty good, but in this day and age? Not enough. Could've worked 10 years ago, but aliens have lost their wow factor. There were some attempts at humour - H throwing the mini-hammer at the Tarantian goon a la Thor, references to the political incorrectness of the name Men in Black, etc. These are merely distractions and don't bring anything solid to the table. Pawny? A sidekick here and there would be helpful, but could've been done much better.

Yeah, things definitely went downhill for the franchise with the absence of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. I guess Liam Neeson can see that, too, which might explain his unceremonious exit. Now that Aladdin is out, I say bring Will Smith back for the next installment, if there will be one.

Windows 10 Blank Screen Showing Only Mouse Pointer

That's the best I can describe the issue.

I boot up my PC/laptop. It shows the blue Windows 10 logo with the spinning dotted circle below indicating that it's booting up. The logo goes away and normally the Windows desktop with the start screen and taskbar should show up. But this time, all I get is a blank screen. I jiggle the mouse a bit, and my mouse pointer shows up. So I know Windows is running, and it's not a screen issue.

What I did notice is that when I move the mouse, I can see that the pointer actually goes off-screen. This tells me that issue has something to do with the multi-display feature on Windows. Very possible that after a Windows update, the default screen was not set to my current display. So here's how to fix it.

Bring up the Project menu by pressing Windows key + P shortcut. You might not see it, as there's a chance it'll show up on the "main" display. Either way, just press the up or down arrow key a few times and press Enter.  If nothing happens, that's fine. It only means that you haven't selected the correct option. Keep trying a few times, until the desktop shows up on your display.

In my case, I'm the only user on my laptop and has configured auto-logon, so I don't need to log in to Windows. However, if your account is protected by a password, you'll have to log in first. You do this by pressing the spacebar or the Enter key or clicking the mouse, then typing in your password. This might be a difficult as you can't see the logon screen, but once logged in, you can follow the steps above to get back your desktop.

Microsoft Surface Pro No Audio on Headphones

Watching YouTube video using Firefox browser on the Surface Pro with audio coming through the built-in speakers. Plugged in headphones on the 3.5mm audio socket. Audio stops from the speakers. No audio on the headphones. Unplugged the headphone, audio is back on the speakers. Strangely enough, this doesn't happen on my other laptops and tablets.

The theory here is that when Firefox is first started, it chose the built-in speakers as the default audio device. Play YouTube and it routes audio to the speakers. When you plug in the headphones, Windows add a second audio device and makes this the default audio device. However, Firefox is not aware of this and continues to send audio to the speakers, which are now muted by the introduction of the headphones. Most likely a hardware/firmware/driver issue somewhere?

In my particular case, this was fixed by shutting down Windows, plugging in the headphones, and booting up. Windows installed some updates during the reboot, so the issue might've been fixed with some new driver, or maybe it just needed a reboot.

A few things you can try if the above didn't work for you:

• First of all, make sure the headphones are not the problem. You never know. Try them out on a different laptop (or phone).
• Have a look at the headphone plug. Give it a clean if it's dirty.
• When you plug in the headphones, does the audio device switch from speakers to earphones? Check by hovering or clicking on the audio/speaker icon. If it's still on speaker, right-click the audio icon, then Open Sound Setting. Choose earphones as the output device.
• If that still doesn't work, try the "Troubleshoot sound problems" option. Windows will most likely reconfigure or reinstall or reset the audio driver, which should fix it.

Mom's Banana Cake

Ingredients:

• 1½ cup all purpose flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 - 4 bananas (mashed)
• ½ cup butter
• 1½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teasepoon salt
• 3 tablespoons evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon banana flavour

Sift flour into a large bowl. Add in sugar. Make a well in the centre. Add in all the other ingredients. Stir until just combined. Pour into an 8"x4" pan. Line with baking paper if not non-stick.

Bake at 350ºF for 40-50 minutes or until  a skewer inserted into centre comes clean. Set aside to cool down.

Mom's Basic Chiffon Cake

With the chiffon cake, you basically have two parts - the egg yolk mixture and the egg white mixture (meringue). Mix the two and bake.

A few things to remember:

• Used chilled eggs, instead of room-temperature ones. This results in a very smooth meringue without the need for cream of tartar.
• Best to use a proper chiffon cake pan. Do not grease the pan, or the the mixture won't stick to the sides and can't rise as high.
• For the same reason, do not use non-stick pans.
• Let the chiffon cake rest upside down. This helps the cake maintain its height, instead of deflating.

Now, on to the ingredients.
For the egg yolk mixture:

• 3 egg yolks
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ¼ cup cooking oil (vegetable or canola)
• 5 tablespoons water
• 1 cup and 2 tablespoons cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• a few drops of vanilla

Whisk the 3 egg yolks together with the sugar until creamy pale yellow color. Slowly add the cooking oil. Then the water. Add in the sifted cake flour and baking powder. Keep whisking until thoroughly mixed.

For the meringue:

• 3 egg whites
• ¼ cup sugar

Whisk the egg whites using a hand mixer using medium speed until opaque and bubbly. Slowly add in the sugar. Mix using high speed until stiff peak is formed when whisk is lifted.

Next, fold in a third of the meringue with the egg yolk mixture and mix. Then the next third, then the last third.

Pour mixture into the chiffon pan. Bake at 350ºF for 40 - 45 minutes until ready.

LRC Support

Not sure how widely supported LRC is. Not much, I guess, as I don't see it mentioned much anymore. IIRC, LRC files came out pretty much soon after MP3 was introduced. Nowadays, it's not so easy finding LRC files for songs.

For those who  don't know what I'm talking about, LRC is basically a specially-formatted text file that allows song lyrics to be displayed in sync with the music. For example, a folder/directory would have song.mp3 together with song.lrc. When song.mp3 is played on an LRC-capable MP3 player, it would also display the synchronized lyrics within song.lrc. An LRC file is basically a collection of text entries - a timestamp in brackets, followed by a line from the song. Sort of like SRT for video files, though SRT is more complicated.

On the PC, my default MP3/OGG player is foobar2000. LRC support is through an extension called Lyric Show Panel 3. It can automatically search for, display, and optionally save timestamped (LRC) or text-only (TXT) lyrics. On my Android phone, I used to have HikiPlayer as my default music player. Recently switched to Musicolet when I found out it supports LRC files. Simply tap on the album cover image to display the lyrics. By default, Musicolet displays the lyrics embedded on the music file. Change the settings to LRC if you have LRC files and want to display synced lyrics instead.

My Hisense smart TV also has LRC support for music files. However, Chinese lyrics shows up as weird characters. Strange that it can't decode Chinese LRC files properly because the song title and song artist (also in Chinese) are displayed onscreen just fine. Tried looking for character-encoding settings to change, but didn't find any. Hopefully this is fixed is some future firmware upgrade.

New Life on Old ThinkPad T41

Found my old IBM ThinkPad T41 in a cupboard. Wanted to see if I get it back to working condition.

Installed Windows XP on it, but couldn't get WiFi to work. I mean WiFi work, I can see the WiFi LED on. I can see the WiFi icon in the notification area. However, it's not able to see any WiFi access points.

Clean installed Windows 7 to see if it's any better. Wireless not even detected. Have to get the install the driver packs from my Windows XP disc to get that working. Ended up with a similar situation. However, after resetting the wireless interface, Windows was able to detect wireless networks, and go from there. The next issue I'm experiencing is that the laptop runs too slow on Windows 7. Opening a simple webpage takes ages (relatively speaking). And after installing Windows Defender, it became even slower (if that's even possible). CPU is almost always at a 100% and the hard disk is always active. Hard to believe this is the same corporate laptop running Windows and Office and Wireshark (Ethereal) back in the day!

Tried to load CloudReady via USB, but it won't boot up properly. Looks like Linux is my only option. My first choice would've been Linux Mint, but I reckon it's still too "modern" for the T41. We need something that is built/designed for old, slow 32-bit PCs from the ground up.

• Damn Small Linux seems to be dead.
• Read somewhere that lubuntu doesn't have the WiFi drivers out of the box.
• Tried Puppy Linux, but the BionicPup variant I downloaded won't install because it comes with a PAE kernel, and the CPU on the T41 doesn't have PAE capability.
• Finally settled on antiX. Based on Debian, but totally free of systemd. Now that's a feature.

Booted up antiX from USB stick just fine. Installed it on the hard disk with no issues. Got the WiFi working using ceni. Memory usage is really low, and CPU is pretty much idle if you're not doing anything. Firefox takes up a few hundred MBs of memory. Web browsing is slow, but works. Watching videos over the network or YouTube pretty much maxes out the CPU. Looks like this is only going to be useful as a text editor.

Uploading Clash Royale Matches to YouTube

Started off with me wanting to put my Clash Royale matches on YouTube. As always, wanted to go with the simplest, easiest, and cheapest way to do this.

First off, recording the gameplay. Two ways to do this - Google Play Games or as I'm using a Galaxy S9+, the Samsung Game Tools. With Google Play Games, you select the game from the carousel, then click on the floating videocamera icon to start recording. Quality setting is either 720p HD or 480p SD. You can also record yourself (audio and video) via an in-game round selfie window, if that's what you want. With Samsung Game Tools, these are the options:

• record format (mpeg or gif)
• audio source (mic or game)
• video resolution (720px or 1080px)
• choice of different bitrates and aspect ratios

Went with the latter, as I want the recording to be as hi-res as possible.

Now that gameplay recording is sorted out, I needed a way to edit the video - basically trim the start and end portions. I know that the Photos app that came bundled with Windows 10 is able to trim videos. From the app, click on the Edit & Create button, then select Trim. Move the blue marker and align the starting point with it. Do the same for the endpoint. When ready, click on the Save as button. Aaand it spits out an error message. "It looks as though you don't have permission to save changes to this file. Try saving a copy instead." That's what I'm trying to do! Tried saving to a different location/folder. Tried changing the filename. It just won't save the edited video clip!

A search on Google shows that I'm not the only one having this issue. Didn't find any solution that worked for me, so had to look for other software that can do the job.

Found mostly trialware that requires either payment or a subscription. Some of the software/websites looks dodgy I don't even want to try them even if they're free. I did play with the open-source OpenShot a bit, but it keeps stalling and freezing. In the end, I went with Sony Vegas Pro. After a few YouTube tutorials, I was trimming videos like a pro. One thing I noticed - Vegas Pro won't render your vertical video when you use the Sony AVC/MVC format. Made sure the render properties match the project properties, but still kept getting "invalid parameter". Switched to MainConcept AVC/AAC and 1080x1920 resolution works just fine when rendering the final video. The only downside is MainConcept only supports 30fps, while Sony AVC/MVC can do 60fps.

Formatting a Write-Protected USB Stick

Most times you don't even need to format your USB stick. Simply delete the existing files and copy in new files again.

People usually reformat when they want to clean out the pendrive. Or switch from FAT32 to NTFS or exFAT to suit a particular OS. In my case, I was using Rufus to install a bootable ISO to my USB stick. For some reason, it failed during the creation of the partitions. Ended up with a pendrive that is not accessible. Right-click, Format. Windows says no. Tried using the excellent HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. Says disk media is write-protected. No write-protect switch anywhere on the pendrive.

Now, the forums said that I should use diskpart to set "attributes disk clear readonly". Didn't work. Some suggested using regedit to create a new DWORD called WriteProtect under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies and set it to 0. Didn't work.

What eventually did work - using diskpart to create and format the active partition on the USB stick.

Here's the session log:
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.17763.316]
(c) 2018 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.17763.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: DESKTOP-46R9F1I

DISKPART> list disk

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          465 GB  1024 KB
  Disk 1    Online         7646 MB  7645 MB

DISKPART> list disk

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          465 GB  1024 KB
  Disk 1    Online         7646 MB  7645 MB

DISKPART> select disk 1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list disk

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          465 GB  1024 KB
* Disk 1    Online         7646 MB  7645 MB

DISKPART> clean

DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.

DISKPART> create partition primary

DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.

DISKPART> list disk

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          465 GB  1024 KB
* Disk 1    Online         7646 MB      0 B

DISKPART> select partition

The arguments specified for this command are not valid.
For more information on the command type: HELP SELECT PARTITION

Partition 1 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> active

DiskPart marked the current partition as active.

DISKPART> format fs=ntfs

  100 percent completed

DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.

DISKPART>

After that, the USB stick works normally again.

Google on a Chinese Samsung Galaxy S9+

Forgot the fact that Google and its apps do not come pre-installed on smartphones sold in China.
I knew I should've gotten the phone in Hong Kong, instead of Shanghai.

After some research, the safest way to do this without mucking around with rooting and/or installing custom ROMs is to simply download Google Services Framework. Google Play Services, and Google Play Store from APK Mirror, then sideload and install the APKs on the phone.

The APKs installed just fine. On first run, it asked me to log in with my Google account. gapps would crash during the password verification phase. Play Store recognizes my account, but is not showing any apps. Getting Server Error message. Restarted the phone. This time, I was able to access Play Store properly and download apps. All this time, I'm getting a notification that says "Google Play Services won't run unless you update Google Play Services". Catch-22 much?

When I click on the notification message, I get to the Play Store entry for Google Play Services, but the only option is Deactivate. I click on it, and pop-up window says device administrator needs to be disabled first. No such option under Settings - maybe because APK was sideloaded??

In any case, it's not really a big deal as Google Play Store is definitely working. Later on I realized that not all Google apps are working properly. For example, Calendar can't seem to see my calendars. Gmail says "Getting messages", but no emails actually show up. Google News says I'm not authenticated. Booted to recovery and wiped cache partition. Didn't help.

At this point, I decided something else needs to be done. I decided to change the firmware from CHC (Open China) to TGY (Hong Kong). The model I got is SM-G9650/DS, which is only sold in China (and HK) and Latin America. Google works in HK, so I'm hoping Play Store will come pre-installed on the TGY image. Not too sure if device needs to be rooted or OEM unlocked first. Hoping the hardware is fully compatible with the new firmware.

One thing to note: Downloading the firmware files from SamMobile took a couple of hours. (SamMobile limits the download speed to 15kB/s for free users.)

Cleanest procedure is to do factory data reset via Settings. Boot to recovery, do a factory reset, then wipe cache and data. After that, flash new firmware. Prior to factory reset from recovery, it warns you that you might need to authenticate with the Samsung account that was first used with the device. Not so sure about this part, so crossed my fingers and continued on to the flashing part. While it took hours just to get the stock firmware, flashing it via Odin took only 8 minutes.

After all the work, I now have a fully-functional Google-enabled Galaxy S9+. (Not so sure about Samsung Pay or Google Pay though as that's usually country-specific.)

To boot to recovery mode:

1. power off the phone
2. press and hold Bixby and Vol+ buttons
3. press and hold power button
4. release when the Android mascot shows up after the Samsung splash screen

To boot to download mode:

1. power off the phone
2. press and hold Bixby and Vol- buttons
3. press and hold power button
4. release once in download mode

Flashing firmware with Odin:

1. unzip firmware file downloaded from SamMobile
2. pre-fill the BL, AP, and CP fields with the extracted files
3. under CSC, put in the CSC file if you want a clean flash; otherwise, use HOME_CSC to keep your apps and data
4. reboot phone into download mode (see above)
5. connect phone to PC using a working USB data cable
6. make sure only Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time are ticked under Options
7. click on Start

Movie 2019.01.13 0 Bumblebee

Have read the reviews (mostly bad). That probably lessened the blow when we finally watched Bumblebee. I mean, it's NOT a Michael Bay movie, so how bad could it be? Having Hailee Steinfeld there probably also helped. The 3D glasses definitely did. Been years since I last watched a 3D movie, and the experience was not good. The images are vague and fuzzy, and tend to make me dizzy and disoriented. This time, the 3D effect is clear and very convincing.

Back to the movie. Main reason I didn't like it is because it's a hodgepodge of cardboard humans, metallic robots, and cliched situations. You get the gungho soldier, the quirky scientist, the troubled teen, the clueless parents, the school jock, the mean girls, the clumsy suitor, etc. Now that I think about it, it has a bit of a Superman feel to it. An alien race forced to evacuate their home planet. An emissary sent off to a promising planet to bring hope to the future. Bad guys in hot pursuit. The new immigrant learning the ropes with the help of a local. Ultimately the big showdown with the bad guys with a little help from his new human friends.

At the end of the movie, I still don't get why these robots still feel the need to transform to Beetles or muscle cars or fighter jets or canines, when they could just choose the most efficient form and stick with it. It's like what Charlie said, "All this time you could've been a Camaro?!"

Despite those, there's still some genuinely unexpected funny moments. Like when Bumblebee spit out that Rick Astley cassette tape so hard it almost broke the wall. Even the Chinese audience have been rickrolled so much, they got the joke. And the last scene when John Cena saluted the Autobot soldier, and Bumblebee replied with Judd Nelson's signature fist pump in The Breakfast Club.

Cheapest E10 Fuel

Having lots of competition is still the best way to get the cheapest price of anything.

Just near my house is a Budget Petrol. A few meters away is a Coles Express. A little further down Victoria Road, we have a 7-Eleven and a Speedway. Just across the street is a Caltex Woolworths station and a BP. That BP station has recently closed shop and replaced by a new player called Apex Petroluem. Apex almost always undercuts everybody else by one cent, which keeps prices low.

I usually check the petrol prices using the Fuel Check NSW app and PetrolSpy. If you're the betting kind, you can have a game with the 7-Eleven Fuel app. Use the app to lock in the best fuel price among the nearby 7-Eleven petrol stations. Locked-in price is good for 7 days. If the price goes up, you can still fill up using the locked-in price. If price goes down, then just pay using the lower price.

This is such an interesting idea that people started sharing notes as to where to find the cheapest fuel. If you happen to be in the vicinity of Truganina, then lock in the price. If you're not close by, then you have to find a way to pretend that you are. Apps that can detect and block spoofed locations? There's a (patched) app for that app!

The things that people do for cheap fuel, huh? Me, I normally just get 4c discount from Caltex Woolies from the weekly shop, and then pay using Woolies eGift cards.