Resurrecting the 2009 iMac

Got hold of a 2009 21.5" unibody iMac.

Powered it on and was greeted by the startup chime and the Apple logo. Looking good so far. Progress bar steadily moving all the way till the end. Waited for more than 10 minutes, but still not loading the OS. It's most likely a really old CPU, but this is too long.

Suspecting a corrupted OS, I booted into macOS Recovery using Ctrl-R. There's a 1TB hard disk with 1.3GB used. Doesn't look like there is a proper OS on this thing though. Ran the Disk Utility to erase the disk - said "Unable to unmount disk". Chose the Install macOS option, but the 1TB hard disk does not show up as an option. First Aid reports the hard disk to be fine.

My guess is that because I'm running the recovery image from the HDD itself, Disk Utility is not able to unmount the disk. So the next step is to build a bootable USB stick, and run the erase/install from there. 

Downloaded a bunch of DMGs and APPs, tried TransMac and command-line, but the USB sticks either won't be detected during boot-time, or getting a forbidden sign as soon as selected, or won't even get created by the createinstallmedia utility.

Another option is to replace the hard disk and try Internet Recovery, which bypasses the hard disk altogether. However, this requires me to open up the iMac, which doesn't look easy (if you don't have the right tools).

So I simply took the easy way out. Created a bootable installer of CloudReady (now ChromeOS Flex) and boom! Mission accomplished.

Reinstalling Windows on Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 320-10ICR

My wife has been using the Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 320 for many years for one thing and one thing only - watching videos on KissAsian and YouTube.

It's a neat little tablet that does the job well. She doesn't even need to have the physical keyboard attached. Any typing required is done on the onscreen keyboard. The only complaint is that it's starting to get a little bit sluggish. All those Windows updates have used up all the free disk space, and the thing can't take any more new updates. The 32GB eMMC wasn't much to begin with.

I've always reinstalled the latest Windows 10 Pro to get around the updates issue, but looks like I need a more permanent solution. Given that the tablet is only used for media consumption, I've decided to just install Windows 7 on it. No performance degradation as there are no expected Windows updates. Turns out Windows 7 won't install as it's missing/asking for some device driver that it can't find.

Bumped it up to Windows 8.1. The operating system installed just fine, but the touchscreen does not work. Same goes for Peppermint OS. Need the touchscreen to work, so that we won't need to have the physical keyboard attached.

Looks like my only option is to just install Windows 10, then disable Windows Update. Version 21H2 didn't work. The ISO booted just fine, but the screen was all garbled. I can move the mouse and see something moving, but no way to complete the install. Then I read somewhere that Version 2004 and up won't work on the Miix 320. Tried Version 1909 and that one installed just fine. Took a looong time to set up though because every time I tried to create an offline account and set up the password, the system would switch to the "Just a moment..." screen then power off or hang.

I reckon this is because I've already set up the wireless network and it's trying to install drivers, while I was finishing the setup. After what felt like a dozen forced reboots, I managed to log in to Windows and set up my account. As for disabling Windows Updates, lots of tutorials out there, but none of them supposedly work anymore. Will just just reinstall the latest Windows the next time it slows down again.

Field of Mars Reserve and Buffalo Creek Reserve

Field of Mars Reserve is a protected bushland reserve in East Ryde. Best way to start exploring the reserve is to use the main entrance along Pittwater Road. There's ample free parking when you get off the roundabout. There is a Visitors Centre nearby, which is open during weekends.

From the reserve entrance, you have a choice of four walking trails. The shortest is Doyle Loop, which 1.2 kilometers, 45 minutes return with a grade of medium. Next shortest is the Warada Loop - 1.9 kilometers, 60 minutes return, easy grade, which is the one we tried. You can find the walking trail map here.

We found the track (relatively) slow-going, and the kids didn't like the occasional spider web. So instead of taking the return loop, we pushed on north and took the Cressy Road exit. From there, we took the long way to the parking lot. If you intend to do the same, there is a cafe called Fox and Bird along Moncrieff Drive, in case you need some refreshments along the way.

Across the street is the Buffalo Creek Reserve. Had to give this a visit, as the kids spotted the shaded playground. Further beyond is a walking/bicycle track around a cricket oval. We almost missed it as we walked around the oval, but I knew what I was looking for.

On one side of the oval, you'll find access to The Great North Walk, which goes from Sydney to Newcastle. Of course, no 250-km. walk for us. We took the mangrove boardwalk loop and headed back to the oval.

TomTom Map 2021 Update

Can't believe it's been over two years since I last updated my TomTom maps. To be honest, since the last update back in 2019, I've never used my TomTom PND even once.

Most of the time, I just use Google Maps on my Android phone. Cellular connectivity used to be an issue on long drives (depending on where you're going), but not anymore. And even then, you can download Google Maps for offline use.

In any case, let's see where things stand. Seems to be GPS Underground is no more. Good thing Navitotal is still around.

Got the latest 1075 maps here: https://www.navitotal.com/topic22415.html

And the meta codes here: https://www.navitotal.com/topic22420.html

Downloaded the newest 1075 map that is compatible with my v9.530 navcore.

Basically same upgrade procedure as before:

1. Make a backup of the TomTom drive.
2. Remove the old Australia maps folder and copy over the new one.
3. Copy over the street cam files (from the backup folder) or new ones if you have.
4. Run FastActivate (with the latest meta codes) to activate the maps.

In my case, activation was successful, but device was not able to detect the new map. Had to downgrade to an older map (one that is actually shown on the compatibility chart) for it to work.

Xiaomi Mijia Temperature and Humidity Monitor 2

Bought a few of these to place around the house to check the temperature once in a while.

Xiaomi has released different temperature and humidity sensors, but the ones I got are the LYWSD03MMC model. Instead of a AAA battery, these uses a CR2032 battery, which is included. Just pull out the clear plastic tab to turn them on.

First impression is that these things are deceptively small (43 x 43 x 12.5mm). The marketing pictures always make them look like they're as big as your hand, while in fact, you can probably fit 3 or 4 of these on your palm.

The square LCD display shows the temperature and the humidity and a smiley face and not much else. You can use the Mi Home app to view historical data and supposedly integrates with home automation hubs / IFTT to switch on humidifier when indoor humidity is too low or air-conditioner when indoors temperature is too high. Me, I just want to know the temperature.

Looks like these Xiaomi Mijia sensors are popular enough that someone took the trouble to hack them. Can use this to flash custom firmware on the device to unlock additional customization options.

The neat thing about the project is that everything is done over-the-air on a browser. No need to open up the device or make any hardware changes.

Everything is explained in detail on the Github page, but in summary:

1. Use a browser to access the webupdater page
2. Press "Connect" and pair with the target device once detected.
3. Activate, then flash custom firmware, which takes a couple of minutes.
4. Once flashed, reconnect to view or change configuration.

In my case, I do the following:

• Change device name, as I have a few of these sensors, so I name them differently - "Set New Name"
• Tick "Comfort," "Show batt," and "Clock" to make the LCD display cycle through the different LCD screens.
• "Set Time" to set the device to the local machine time

I thought of monitoring these babies by running Home Assistant on my Raspberry Pi Zero W, but I seriously doubt the Pi has the grunt to make it work. Oh, well.

Xbox - Alive and Kicking

 

Twenty years after it was introduced, my soft-modded Xbox is still alive and kicking.

Mine has been connected to the spare TV in the second living, and I haven't used it for years. Kids were playing the Switch on the main TV, so I thought I'd take the Xbox for a spin.

Booted up just fine. EvolutionX dashboard came up. Was able to connect to the network via DHCP. Tried out a few games. Switched to XBMC4Xbox. That also worked fine. Connected to my NAS via SMB. Songs like mp3, flac, and ogg - no issues. A bit of a hit and miss with videos. RM and RMVB files played audio, but no video. Same goes for some of my newer MP4 movies. Photo-viewing and slideshow work flawlessly.

Haven't updated XBMC for a while. Checked xmbc4xbox and the latest release is v3.5.3 (released on February 27th, 2016). Mine is just one release behind - v3.5.1. I used to download T3CH's binary builds from somewhere, but no amount of Googling is giving me any good hits this time. If you're interested in xbmc4xbox v3.5.3, go here:

• https://digiex.net/threads/xbmc4xbox-v3-5-3-download.14655/
• http://xbmcxbox.blogspot.com/2013/03/xbmc4xbox-build-download.html

The DVD tray doesn't work anymore though. Well, it has been 20 years. Looks like I'll have to start giving away all my Xbox game DVDs.

Asus VivoBook E200H Boot

Boot options for the Asus VivoBook E200H:

• On startup, as soon as you see the Asus logo, press F2 to access the BIOS menu.
• If you just want to select which device to boot, press ESC to launch the boot menu.

Shrinking Windows 10

After a clean install of Windows 10 LTSC, I get about 11 GB of free space on a 32GB eMMC. Given that there are no crapware that comes with LTSC, there is not too many options on reducing the footprint of the operating system.

I started off by turning on NTFS disk compression a.k.a. "Compress this drive to save disk space". Windows started compressing each and every file on the drive. After an hour of processing, it's still at it. Strangely enough, I didn't see the progress bar updating, so I clicked on the Cancel button. The compress option is still checked/enabled, so I'm guessing the system will continue compressing files in the background. (I hope.) I did recover about 1 GB of space, so not too shabby.

Next option is Compact OS. This basically compresses the system files of a running Windows installation.

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.17763.1158]
(c) 2018 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>compact.exe /compactos:query
The system is not in the Compact state but may become compact as needed.

C:\Windows\system32>compact.exe /compactos:always
Completed Compressing OS binaries.

45819 files within 23290 directories were compressed.
10,110,547,923 total bytes of data are stored in 5,648,116,616 bytes.
The compression ratio is 1.8 to 1.

C:\Windows\system32>

From 11 GB of free space to 16 GB - pretty good.

Turned off the hibernation feature, which effectively deletes the hiberfil.sys file, for another GB of free space.
C:\Windows\system32>powercfg /h off

Another option to try is turning off System Protection under System Properties, which disables the creation of regular restore points. Looks like this is the default option in LTSC.

Windows 10 LTSC

Tired of Windows Updates popping up evey week and reducing your productivity? Switch from the normal Windows 10 Home or Pro to Enterprise LTSC (Long-Term Servicing Channel)?

What's so good about the LTSC edition? Well, no feature updates, no Windows Store, no Cortana, no Edge. Updated every two to three years with guaranteed critical updates for 10 years. Turns your laptop into a lean, mean Windows machine.

Tried it on my Asus VivoBook E200H notebook PC. Setup didn't even deteck my trackpad, so I have to do the clean install using only the keyboard. After first boot, make sure you run Windows Update, so the required drivers for network, audio, trackpad, display, etc. can be detected and installed, plus some security and cumulative updates.

After all that, trackpad is working again, but no audio. From Device Manager, I can definitely see the Conexant audio driver under "Sound, video, and sound controllers", so no idea why I'm getting a "No Audio Output Device is installed" error. I did notice an Intel SST Audio Device (WDM) under "Other Devices". Must be conflicting with the Conexant driver. Uninstalled the Conexant audio driver. Restarted a couple of times, and audio is back using the Intel SST (Smart Sound Technology) audio driver.

Next issue I noticed is that Windows 10 LTSC is not able to access shared network drives. I entered \\server\share into File Explorer, and got "Windows cannot access \\server". Apparently, this is because:

• Windows now has 'guest' turned off by default and/or
• Network Discovery (SMBv1) is not installed by default

To fix, I had to set the following registry key to 1:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters\AllowInsecureGuestAuth


I understand some people have to go further and enable two system services:

1. Function Discovery Provider Host
2. Function Discovery Resource Publication

Which are required for network sharing/browsing.