Of Navcores and Maps

I regularly update the maps on my TomTom PND, but I can't remember the last time I've upgraded the navcore. I went back to the forums, and seems like not much new is happening on the navcore scene. The newest is series 9 back in 2011.

Apparently, TomTom got wise to all these hacks and tightened up security. While the internal flash memory of older TomToms are accessible via Windows Explorer and/or TTHome, the newer TomToms (which are rocking v10, v11, or v12 navcores) used a web-based mechanism called MyTomTom. All updates are done via HTTP over USB. So far, there is no way to access these navcores. Hence, no new patched or cracked navcores.

Below is the list of TomTom PNDs using this security feature:

• GO 400/500/600/800/1000/2000/5000/6000 Series
• Via Series
• PRO 7100/7100 TRUCK
• PRO 7150/7150 TRUCK
• PRO 9100
• PRO 9150/9150 TRUCK
• Start 20/25/40/50/60 Series
• Blue&Me TomTom 2 Live
• Sony XNV Series
• TomTom Connect

In addition, Wikipedia has a list of TomTom devices with a breakdown of CPU speed, RAM, screen size, GPS chipset, etc. Very handy for deciding which PND you want to buy.

Aurora II CM10.1 to CM10.2

CM10.2 (Android 4.3.1) is out for the Ainol Aurora II, so it's time for a flash. Christian Troy has already released CM11 (Android 4.4.2), but might have some video playback issues, so I'm holding off from that one for now.

 

Installation procedure is pretty standard:

1. Download TWRP recovery from here, and follow installation instructions.
2. Copy ROM, gapps, and compatibility zip to the external microSD card.
3. Power on tablet usingVOL- and POWER buttons.
4. From TWRP recovery, perform a factory reset via the Wipe menu.
5. Flash ROM, gapps, and compatibility zip.
6. Select "Reboot system"

In my case, I used the UBIFS-based TWRP and single-user compatibility zip, as before. After the flash, the tablet wasn't able to boot up. I figured there's something wrong the partitioning because TWRP was complaining about not being able to mount /emmc and internal storage.

With nothing to lose, I loaded up the EXT4-based TWRP and multi-user compatibility zip. Made sure I did factory reset, format data, multiple wipes, etc. This time, the reflash worked like a charm.

Movie 2014.01.04 - The Internship

Feel-good movie about two watch salesmen who lost their jobs, and now trying to transition into the new digital world. They decided to try their hand at a Google internship. At this point, a willing suspension of disbelief comes in handy.

Of course, the interview was done online via Hangouts. The old-timers didn't even have a webcam, so they commandeered a PC from the public library, while bribing the kids with soda money to leave them alone. Incredibly, they got accepted into the program. In spite of being grouped together with the "losers" of the class, they started winning challenges - the Quidditch match when they've never even heard of Harry Potter, coming up with the winning idea for an app after a night of drunken debauchery, etc.

If all Google needs are quirky characters with a lot of Googliness, I'm in.

External HDD Reformat

You'd think it's as easy as going to Windows Explorer, right click on the drive letter, and selecting Format. Well, not on this portable hard disk.

If you check my previous post, I've managed to salvage most of the data from it, but it refuses to be formatted. Windows' built-in Disk Management reports the drive as RAW. Windows format takes too long, and it eventually gives up. Definitely something wrong with the HDD.

This is what I did to fix it. First, download and install TestDisk. It tells me both the main and backup boot sectors are bad. Use TestDisk to rebuild the boot sectors. Then, use the built-in DiskPart clean the disk and create a primary partition:

DISKPART> list disk

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt

  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---

  Disk 0    Online          149 GB      0 B

  Disk 1    Online          465 GB      0 B

 

DISKPART> select disk 1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

 

DISKPART> clean

DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.

 

DISKPART> create partition primary

DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.

 

Download and install low-level format tool from HDDGuru. Took its sweet time formatting the 500GB HDD at an average of 24MB/s. After that, do a quick format using WD's Quick Formatter.

Movies 2014.01.04 - Kung Pow! It's Esther Blueberger

There are some movies that are so bad, they're good. Kung Pow! Enter the Fist is one of those. It's an out-and-out parody of the old HK martial arts genre, complete with the bad dubbing and the over-the-top fight sequences. What makes the movie funny is that the original bad dubbing and cheesy dialogue are made even worse. Let me explain that. Basically, the filmmakers took footage from the 1976 film Tiger and Crane Fist, supplanted the lead character with Steve Oedekerk and gave it a whole new story. A few LOL moments, but expect much else.

Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger is a local production about a schoolgirl and her misadventures. As with other coming-of-age movies, we have a likable main character and a sprinkling of quirky supports. Sadly, the movie plot is everywhere, and the characters are not fully developed. You have an ugly-ducking Esther, who's ostracized at her posh school; her sociopath brother, who moved to a Jewish school; her nagging mother; her public-school friend Sunni and her stripper-mom, who was killed in a bike accident; and her snooty classmates, who thought she's part of a secret student exchange program.

Fedora Boot Order

After installing the Sugar Learning Platform on my Windows 7 laptop, it now has GRUB bootloader with the following boot entries:

• Fedora 17
• Advanced configuration
• Microsoft Windows 7

And by default it goes to the first entry, which is Fedora.

Now that's a bit inconvenient, as I use Windows most of the time. Here's how to make the default boot switch to Windows 7:

1. As su, grep menuentry /boot/grub2/grub.cfg to show the boot entries
2. vi /etc/default/grub By default, it'll say GRUB_DEFAULT=saved. If you run grub2-editenv list, it'll show you Fedora 17 as the default option.
3. grub2-set-default "Microsoft Windows 7" to change the default.
4. grub2-editenv list to confirm that the configuration change was committed.

Another option is to manually make the change:

1. vi /etc/default/grub
2. GRUB_DEFAULT="Microsoft Windows 7"
3. grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg to save.

Sugar on a Stick on an HDD

Just from the name itself, Sugar on a Stick is supposed to be installed on a USB stick, but you can actually install it permanently on a hard disk.

First, download the Fedora Live USB Creator. Then, download the latest SoaS iso image and install it on the USB drive. Boot up the PC from the USB drive. Go through the initial setup. Once on the Sugar homescreen, open up the Terminal activity. Select the Become Root option. If it's not there, just run su. Type 'liveinst' without the quotes. This brings up anaconda, which will assist you in installing the SoaS onto the hard disk.

In my case, I was using the latest Fedora-Live-SoaS-20 image, and the partition manager keeps dying on me, and sending me back to the prompt. Had to downgrade to Fedora 17 before it worked. Shrank the current Windows partition and used the resulting free space for Sugar.

More complete installation instructions here:
http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Tutorials/Installation/Install_with_liveinst

PCA, CDC, OC

Received the PCA, CDC, and OC forms, which I need to sign and email back. Dunno what is the rush about, as the land is not yet registered. And I still need to do the following appointments:

• external finishes
• colours and inclusions selection
• kitchen
• electrical

before the forms can be submitted to council.

Lost Partition on External HDD

Strange case of a known working external hard disk not being accessible anymore. Upon connection to a PC, Windows reports that "You need to format the disk in drive F: before you can use it. Do you want to format it?" chkdsk /f looks promising as it seems to be able to "see" the files, but didn't restore the lost partitions even after a full day and night of fixing errors. Windows 7 Disk Management is reporting the HDD as RAW, healthy. No valid partitions anywhere.

Looks like the partition got corrupted. Thought of booting a Linux live CD and using some parition manager like Parted Magic, but too time-consuming. Apparently, a lot of people have been experiencing this problem.

First software I tried is EaseUS' Partition Recovery. The software didn't work for me. Seems to require a similar-sized "free" partition as the missing partition to work, though it doesn't say so in the instructions. Next one I tried is Partition Find and Mount. It didn't find any deleted or missing partitions after the Smart Scan. Tried the Normal and Thorough Scan, but didn't do anything.

The one which finally did the trick is GetDataBack for NTFS. According to the blurb, "GetDataBack will recover your data if the hard drive's partition table, boot record, FAT/MFT or root directory

are lost or damaged, data was lost due to a virus attack, the drive was formatted, fdisk has been run, a power failure has caused a system crash, files were lost due to a software failure, files were accidentally deleted. GetDataBack can even recover your data when the drive is no longer recognized by Windows. It can likewise be used even if all directory information - not just the root directory- is missing." You tell GetDataBack which drive and partition to work on, and it does the rest. Found all the missing directories and files. It's just a matter of copying them over to another hard disk. Software costs US$79.