Hi Happy readers,

Those of you that have a WM5 or WM6 device know the horror of Picsel - yes that interminable wait as you watch the spinner on your screen whilst it loads.

I have a nice easy solution for you!

This registry hack reverts all image views back to the default WM5/6 built-in viewer.

I suggest using “Mobile Registry Editor” by Breaksoft for this.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\bmpimage\Shell\Open\Command

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\bmpimage\Shell\DRMOpen\Command

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\gifimage\Shell\Open\Command

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\gifimage\Shell\DRMOpen\Command

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\jpgimage\Shell\Open\Command

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\jpgimage\Shell\DRMOpen\Command

Change the "Default" value from “picselifv.exe” “%1″ компютри втора употребаto “pimg.exe” “%1″

This takes instant effect, and makes for a much happier user :o)

Paul

6th June 08

Hi All,

Well once again I have a new phone!

It seems that Orange UK wanted to upgrade my business account (saving me £2000+ per year) and give me 6 new phones in the process!

The one I decided to play with is the HTC Touch, and obviously I had to get under the bonnet and have a little ‘tweak’ :o)

Unlocking

Ok, this is pretty straighforward. All you need to do is run two apps on the HTC, and one on your PC to recover the 8-digit lock code.

Here are the exact steps:-

• Download this Zip file, and unpack into a folder on your desktop. [HTC Unlocker]
• Connect your Phone and establish the usual Activesync Connection.
• Browse the the ‘My Documents’ folder on the phone and place the Cert_SPCS.cab and the EnableRapi.cab in there
• Run Cert_SPCS.cab and EnableRapi.cab by using “File Explorer” -Click through any warnings
• ON YOUR PC: Run Touch_Unlock.exe
• A few moments later you will seea file appear in the folder called Unlock_Result.exe
• Open HxD.exe and drag Unlock_Result.exe onto it.
• Look for your IMEI Number (its under your battery) and find it in the Hex File. The 8 Digits that appear after it are the unlock code.
• Place a Sim card from a different provider in your phone, and enter the 8 digit number when prompted (I had to do this twice on my phone)

As you can see, my unlock code was 55644428, but obviously that is tied to my IMEI number (before you try it!) - you will also note that I wiped out the last 4 digits of my IMEI (didn’t want the world to know that info!)

Bluetooth DUN (Dial Up Networking)

As you will know from my previous experiences with trying to get my TomTom working on the Samsung i600, it is almost impossible due to the BT DUN being removed from WM6. Well all is not lost my friends - it seems that on the HTC Touch (and maybe other HTC phones as well), you can install a .cab file that restores this functionality.

Instructions again:-

• Download the WM6 BT DUN Cabinet File [WM6 BT DUN]
• Unzip to Desktop on your PC
• Browse your HTC through ActiveSync and place in “My Documents” on the phone
• ON THE PHONE:Using File Explorer, run the WM6_BT_DUN.cab file and click through any warnings
• Reset your phone
• Run TomTom’s “New Phone” process.

I would recommend updating your TomTom using the TomTom Home application first. These updates seem to really help when it comes to setting up phones, and mine even downloaded the (600 contact!) telephone directory off my HTC without a hitch.

Starting the iPod Diagnostic Mode

In order to access the inbuilt Diagnostic menu on the Nano, you need to press a combination of keys immediately after restarting it.

1. Toggle the Hold switch to Hold, the off again.
2. Press and hold Menu and Select (the centre button) for at least 6 secs, or until the Apple logo appears! - for iPod 1G to 3G press Menu and Play - hereafter referred to as the ‘Reset Method’
3. As soon as the Apple Logo appears, press and hold |<< and Select - For iPod 1G to 3G press |<<, >>| and Select

Navigating the Diagnostic Menu

Once you are in Diagnostic Mode, use the >>| and |<< buttons to navigate the menus. In most cases Menu will go back one menu, and Select will select the menu option. You can exit the menu at any time by selecting Power, Reset or by pressing Menu and Select (Menu and Play for 1G to 3G) to reset it.

Note: The menu’s shown below are from my iPod Nano 3G, and may vary to the menus you see.

iPod Diagnostics BuildID: d002

SVC Sep 10 2007 v.0072

—————————————————–
>Power
Sleep
Audio
Video
LCD
IO
Memory
TouchWheel
About

Power:

Within here you have;

1. ACC_Identify - Shows ACC = 2.497V
2. BatteryA2D - Shows 4.062V Ref=255
3. HighPower - Puts the screen on full brightness and shows a start time, Voltage (3.982V) and current (100mA)
4. ChargeCurrent - Shows Cur=100mA Battery = 4.046V
5. Reset - Resets the iPod

Sleep:

Sends the iPod to “DeepSleep” - you’ll need to do the Reset method above to restart it.

Audio:

Allows you to test the Headphone detection and play test tone. Interestingly there is an option to record from ‘Line In’ - Watch out for the Test Tone, its *VERY* loud!!

Video:

Has one option “TVPattern” that didn’t seem to do much, and needed me to do the reset method above to get out of it.

LCD:

Within here you have;

1. ColorPattern: Shows a series of patterns on the LCD. |<< turns off the backlight, >>| sets it to dim, Select goes to next pattern. You have to look at all 25 before you can exit.
2. Backlight: This allows you to check the back light, using the |<<, >>|, Play and Action buttons. Menu exits this screen.
3. ReadLCMID: Reads vendor info about the LCD. Mine Shows Vendor ID: 38 PanelID: 55 BuildID: 71 Read ID: OK

IO: (Input Output)

1. ACC_Switchtest: Not sure what this is… Accessories detector?
2. IOStatuses: Mine shows; HP_DETECT: 1 LCD_ID1:0 LCD_ID2:1 USB_DETECT:0 FW_DETECT:0 ACC_DETECT:0 HOLD_SWITCH:1

Memory:

1. SdramQScan: Does a very quick SDRAM Test
2. NANDSPEC: Mine Shows; NandLBA=991232 NAND SIZE:3.819200

Touch Wheel:

1. TouchWheelID: Mine Shows; 0:9045003a, 1:c609013a, 2:8000023a, 3:8000033a, 4:8066043a, 5:8001053a
2. WheelAndKey: Lets you test the touch wheel and all the keys (interesting that this is the only place the wheel works!)

About:

This shows various information and the iPod’s serial number, as show below

About Information

SrNum: 6U73xxxxxx (Obscured on purpose here!)
Mod#: MA978
Regn: 1 0 2 0 37 0 1
Fwld:
01000000
1a1b9639
000a2700
00000000

HwVr: 00140010

vrsn: 1.32.f.2

So that’s it. Hopefully this will of use to someone who has a problem with the 3rd-Gen Nano!

Dear Avid Reader,

Since getting my Eee PC, I’ve been reading about the ability to overclock the FSB (Front Side Bus). This bus has the capability of running at 100mhz (as opposed to the default 70mhz). The net effect of this is that the CPU speed increases to 900 Mhz from the normal 630 Mhz (which is 70% of 900 Mhz of course!). You must if course be running Ubuntu to do this!

Once you have downloaded the scripts from [here], run the following commands from within the unpacked archive:

sudo ./tweak-gnome.sh
sudo ./install.sh all

Then reboot your EeePC

After doing this, Pressing Fn-F6 will automatically enable the FSB increase, and various other fixes for the EeePC will start working, namely;

• Asus Eee kernel modules
• ACPI support (suspend, hotkeys)
• overclocking code
• Wifi support
• Sound
• Boot speed
• Additional software sources
• Skype two way video

All this can be found on the Ubuntu Eee Wiki located here: http://ubuntu-eee.tuxfamily.org/

Now I know that I have already told you how to do a lot of this in my article about installing Ubuntu on an EeePC, but this does take a lot of the hassle out of it, and it definately gets the overclocking working!

Bluetooth

There has been lots of mods popping up lately that allows you to install a Bluetooth dongle inside your EeePC utilising the additional USB connections that are hidden on the motherboard… well you could of course use a tiny USB dongle like this. You can pick these up for £10, and its a lot less hassle than getting the soldering iron out! One supplier is Novatech [link]

Now as you all know, I *love* my Eee PC, and have spent some time making sure I could get Ubuntu working on it

But I have been totally blow away by the hacks that someone else has made to this diminutive laptop.

How about adding; GPS, Bluetooth, Modem, Flash Card Reader, FM Transmitter, 802.11N Wifi and more!

Well someone has done this, and documented it well. You can find all the internal upgrade details here [Link]

I may well be trying some of this myself, and will post an article with step-by-steps if I do.