Aug/090
Sony PS3 Slim available to pre-order on Shopto.net now!

Shopto.net has started taking pre-orders for the hot new Sony PS3 Slim, they are taking pre-orders at just £229.99! This is the cheapest price available yet, and its unlikely to get any cheaper than this anytime soon.
The new Sony PS3 Slim features a 120GB HDD and is therefore a better deal than the current Sony PS3 with 80GB HDD, which sells for £299.99. It is a smart move by Sony to make the PS3 Slim the more attractive choice with a larger HDD. The current PS3 will most likely go away as soon as the inventory is cleared out.
The new Sony PS3 Slim offers the same features as the current PS3. The measurements of the PS3 Slim CECH-2000A are Approx. 290 × 65 × 290 mm (width × height × length).
So if you always wanted a Sony PS3, but it was too expensive now is the time to get one.
Get the new one as it ships already on September 1st now on Shopto.net.
Jul/090
Microsoft Windows 7 will RTM on August 6th, it’s official!
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Brandon LeBlanc has revealed the RTM date as August 6th, announcing today that MSDN, Technet, and just about anyone else who isn’t a retail customer or small OEM will be able to get their hands on the English Windows 7 RTM starting August 6, 2009. Additional languages may take until October 1st to appear.
Based on the way things have been happening thus far on the Windows 7 release timeline, that means Wzor.net should have the RTM on August 1st or 2nd and it’ll be all over filesharing networks within a few hours of seeding.
We, of course, advocate only using a genuine TechNet subscription and downloading through official Microsoft channels. That said, should Microsoft’s servers fail to handle the load once again or you don’t want to monkey with an Akamai downloader, you’ll have “other options.”
The post will also point you to ReadySet7.com, where you can find information about – what else – Windows 7 readiness.
Way, way down at the bottom, LeBlanc also confirms the much-talked about Windows 7 family pack, saying “I’m happy to confirm that we will indeed be offering a family pack of Windows 7 Home Premium (in select markets) which will allow installation on up to 3 PCs.”
When will you get Windows 7?
* ISV/IHV – ISV (Independent software vendor) and IHV (Independent hardware vendor) Partners will be able to download Windows 7 RTM from Microsoft Connect or MSDN on August 6th.
* Partner Program Gold/Certified Members – August 16th. By October 1st, the remaining languages will become available to download.
* Action Pack Subscribers – August 23rd. By October 1st, the remaining languages will become available to download.
* OEMs – Approximately 2 days after Microsoft officially RTM
* Volume License with Software Assurance – August 7th via the Volume License Service Center (VLSC). The rest of the languages for Windows 7 RTM should be available within a couple of weeks after that.
* MSDN/TechNet – August 6th and remaining languages by October 1st.
* Everyone else – October 22nd, general availability date.
Jul/090
How to install ESX 4.0 inside of VMware Workstation 6.5.2
I am currently in the process of getting hardware for my ESX 4.0 lab, but as couldn’t wait to try out ESX 4.0 I decided to install it on a VM.
I have provided instructions along with a video of how to configure VMware Workstation so that you can run ESX inside of VMware Workstation 6.5.2(it may work with other versions). The ESX installation itself is very easy when using the graphical installation so I have left this bit out for now.
Pre-requisites:
VMware Workstation 6.5.2 or newer.
VMware ESX Server 4.0 ISO image
Minimum hardware requirements:
2GB RAM
a 64 bit x86 Intel VT-x or AMD-V capable processor (with the feature enabled in the BIOS)
1 Ethernet NIC
16GB hard disk space
This was tested on a Sony VAIO FW21E, some Sony VAIO notebooks have Intel VT disabled by default. The BIOS is very much locked down, and doesn’t allow you to enable it either. You need to do some BIOS hacking for it to be enabled; Enabling Intel VT on Sony VAIO notebook with AMI Aptio EFI BIOS
Installation guide:
VMware Workstation Configuration
1. Start VMware Workstation and go to Edit > Preferences. Select to the Memory tab, select the Allow most virtual machine memory to be swapped radio button. Click OK.
Define the VMware ESX 4.0 Virtual Machine
1. Start VMware Workstation and go File > New > Virtual Machine. Select the ‘Custom’ radio button and click ‘Next’.
2. Choose the Virtual Machine Hardware Compatibility. Ensure that VMware Workstation 6.5 is selected in the Hardware Compatibility field. Click Next.
3. Guest Operating System Installation. Select I will install the operating system later option. Click ‘Next’.
4. Select a Guest Operating System. Select Linux, then in the Version field select Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 64-bit. Click ‘Next’.
5. Name the Virtual Machine. Enter a VM name and specify a location to store VM files. Click ‘Next’.
6. Processor Configuration. Select One. Click ‘Next’.
7. Memory for the Virtual Machine. Select a minimum of 2048MB. Click ‘Next’.
8. Network Type. For this example the Use bridged networking option was selected. Click ‘Next’.
9. Select I/O Adapter Types. Select ‘LSI Logic’. Click ‘Next’.
10. Select a Disk. Select Create a new virtual disk. Click ‘Next’.
11. Select a Disk Type. Select ‘SCSI’. Click ‘Next’.
12. Specify Disk Capacity. 16GB was used in this example. Select the Allocate all disk space now check-box and also select Store virtual disk as a single file. Click ‘Next’.
13. Specify Disk File. Rename the disk file if required. Click ‘Next’.
14. Ready to Create Virtual Machine. De-select the Power on this virtual machine after creation check-box. Click ‘Customize Hardware’.
15. Hardware. Remove the following hardware: Floppy, USB Controller, Sound Card.
16. Hardware. Select CD/DVD (IDE). Select Connect at power on and in the Use ISO image file field, browse to the location of the VMware ESX 4.0 ISO previously downloaded. Click ‘OK’.
17. Hardware. Select Network Adapter. Tick Replicate physical network connection state.
18. Hardware. Select Display. Deselect the Accelerate 3D graphics checkbox.
19. Hardware. Select Processors. In the Preferred Mode field select the Intel-VTx or AMD-V option. Click OK.
20. Click Finish. The virtual disk will be allocated. This step may take some time.
21. To enable nested VMs, a line needs to be added to the .vmx file for this virtual machine. Without it, you won’t be able to power on a VM under VMware ESX4 and will see the following message:
22. The name and location of the .vmx file is show in the VMware Workstation GUI. Edit the .vmx file using Notepad. Add the following line, monitor_control.restrict_backdoor = “TRUE”. Save the file and close.
You can now use the graphical installer to install ESX inside of the VM.
Jul/092
Gnome-RDP fails to start after upgrading Ubuntu from Hardy/Intrepid to Jaunty

I finally decided to upgrade from 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron) to 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) today, although this is probably relevant to those upgrading from 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) too.
After the seemingly flawless upgrade, I decided to RDP into another machine and was presented with the following error:
‘Error in query:
SELECT * FROM version WHERE id = 1
Error:file is encrypted or is not a database’
So I clicked ‘OK‘
‘There was an error during reading of record.’
So I clicked ‘OK‘ again.
‘Invalid database version!’
Now Gnome-RDP decided to close itself.
I assumed the problem was to do with the Gnome-RDP database located in my home directory ‘.gnome-rdp.db’. So I decided to compare the old database to a new one on a clean install. It seems the new one is using sqlite3 whereas the old one used sqlite2. As well as using the newer version of sqlite there is also a new table used by the new version that must be created.
I have found a simple work-around for this problem.
Open a terminal window and run the following commands:
killall gnome-rdp
mv .gnome-rdp.db .gnome-rdp-backup.db
sqlite .gnome-rdp-backup.db .dump | sqlite3 .gnome-rdp.db
sqlite3 .gnome-rdp.db “CREATE TABLE appOptions (name VARCHAR(300) PRIMARY KEY, value VARCHAR(300));”
What this does is:
1) Kill Gnome-RDP if its running.
2) Moves the old database named ‘.gnome-rdp.db’ to ‘.gnome-rdp-backup.db’.
3) Opens the old .gnome-rdp with sqlite 2.x and dump out it’s contents, then pipe it into the new sqlite 3 database.
4) Then create a new table called appOptions in the database. This new table is required by the newer version of gnome-rdp.
I hope this helps, a better fix would be if Gnome-RDP detected the version of the database and did this itself.
Jul/090
Installing Microsoft Vista 64 bit using 32 bit OEM key

My sister bought a Lenovo ThinkPad T61 recently, and (surprise, surprise) it only came with the 32-bit version of Windows Vista. In fact, it only came with a 4GB recovery partition on the hard drive. No Windows installation disc, no recovery CD, nothing. The idea was that if something bad happens, you press the ThinkVantage button and load a fresh factory installation image from the recovery partition. And of course, this way, there is no getting away from all the lovely pre-installed bloatware that makes even the fastest PC crawl (to give Lenovo some credit, most of the pre-installed ThinkVantage utilities are actually quite useful). Also, you can never install 64-bit version because you never got the 64-bit version. And apparently, some vendors (e.g. Dell) are refusing to give out 64-bit OEM discs to their customers who only got 32-bit discs citing a “business contract” with Microsoft (which sounds like a complete bullshit, by the way).
It seems like the solution to this is to borrow a 64-bit disc from a friend who bought Windows Vista retail (all retail versions of Windows Vista, except Home Basic, come with both 32-bit and 64-bit installation discs) and install it with your own key. You know, from the Microsoft Certificate of Authenticity (COA) sticker on the computer.
Not so fast. Microsoft does not allow you activate Windows Vista installed using a retail disc with an OEM key. You will be able to install, but once the 30-day grace period is over, you will get locked into “Reduced Functionality Mode.”
There is a way to get around this though. Here’s how.
DISCLAIMER: THE DIRECTION IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATION ONLY. I CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE YOU MAY CAUSE TRYING TO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS.
- First, you will need a 64-bit Vista disc. Borrow it from a friend, or order a 64-bit Windows Anytime Upgrade disc (which is essentially same as the retail 64-bit disc) here.
- Don’t do anything yet with the disc though. You need to extract some information from your current OEM factory installation.
- You need two bits of information. The first one is your factory OEM key. This key is different from the one written on the COA sticker. Follow the instruction on this website to extract the key.
* Write this key down. You will need it to install the 64-bit disc. - Go the following directory:
\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService
\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SoftwareLicensing- You can’t enter the directory directly into your address bar because some directories require administrator previlege clearance. You will get an error if you try to. Get to the directory by browsing and clicking on Windows Explorer.
- You will also need to make hidden folders visible as AppData directory is hidden. (If you don’t know how to do this, you should probably stop right now. You’re going to mess up your computer.)
- Once you get to the SoftwareLicensing directory, copy the Token.dat to another directory.
- We must now take a peek inside Token.dat and extract the OEM certificate from it.
You need a hex editor such as HxD.
Open the Token.dat from HxD.
Search for the following string: “OEM Certificate“
Find the string “ Find the string “” directly succeeding “OEM Certificate“.
Select from the “” and copy into another file.
Save the file with .xrm-ms file extension onto an external media (USB key, web hard drive such as box.net, whatever).
You might want to save the Token.dat to an external media too just in case you’ve made a mistake while extracting the OEM certificate portion. - Put in the 64-bit Vista disc and start the install process. Use the factory OEM key you’ve extracted in step 3.
- Once the install is complete, copy the .xrm-ms file onto the hard drive.
- Open “Command Prompt” with administrator privileges.
- Within the command prompt, navigate to the directory where .xrm-ms is.
- Type the following and press enter: slmgr.vbs -ilc
- Go to Control Panel – System and Maintenance – System. Scroll down to the bottom. It should now say that Windows is activated. If not, it’s not my fault.
Jul/090
64-bit drivers for Epson Perfection 1660 PHOTO Scanner

I had a bear of a time trying to find Vista x64 drivers for this scanner, so with some help from “Smoove Love” over at planetAMD64 forums, I was able to deconstruct the x64 drivers for the Perfection 2400 and create a driver install package for the 1660.
This driver set should install the printer with the correct name and in the the correct registry location.
While the drivers work fine for me, I take no responsibility for its effects on your system or registry. Use at your own risk/discretion. Drop me a PM if you have any questions!
I needed a place to upload the file, so I put it on Megaupload, hope that’s ok!
Epson1660_Vista_x64_v1.zip:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BWZK5L6W
Jul/0911
How to unlock your 3 ZTE MF627 USB Mobile broadband dongle

I managed to pick up the 3 (three) ZTE MF627 for just £9.99, it also came with a voucher for five free album downloads. This was using purchased from ‘3 Dongle 4 Free‘. I know they did these for free a few weeks a go, but I missed that offer.
I already had an unlimited Internet iPhone SIM card which I had spare from when I had my iPhone 3G. If you need to purchase one of these SIM card’s you can get one from eBay.
How to unlock your 3 ZTE MF627 USB Mobile broadband dongle:
Please only continue if you are using Windows XP! If you are on Vista, then this isn’t going to work.
Please only proceed if you know what you are doing!
1) Make sure that there is no sim card in the dongle.
2) Plug the dongle into the USB port on your PC/laptop, try to avoid using hubs as they could cause problems.
3) Install the drivers if you haven’t already done so, the installer should auto-run when the dongle is plugged in. If it doesn’t then start it manually from My Computer.
4) You should see the “Device is installed and ready to be used” message in your taskbar. Check in “Device Manager” to see if the device has been installed correctly.
5) Download ZTE.rar and unpack the file using WinRAR(or whatever you prefer to use).
6) Run Flash Updater, when it has found device the download button will become active. Click Download and leave it to flash, Mine took 18 minutes.
7) Do not unplug or use PC or you may break your dongle!
When it has finished it will tell you!
9) Unplug it & put in your Vodafone/T‐mobile/Orange or O2 Sim or whatever.
10) Run the auto run file and install Telstra connection manager, make sure there is no other connection manager installed, if there is then uninstall first. Depending on your type of sim you need to add the right config file for your provider.
11) Use one of the APN’s below;
For an o2 iPhone unlimited internet PAYG sim card the settings are:
Config Name = o2 iPhone PAYG
Dial Number= *99#
user = payandgo
pass= password
APN= payandgo.o2.co.uk
DNS servers= Automatic
SMTP gateway (for email): smtp.o2.co.uk
Other settings:
o2 Contract SIM:
Config Name = O2
Dial Number= *99#
user = faster
pass= password
APN= mobile.o2.co.uk
DNS servers= 193.113.200.195
DNS servers= 193.113.200.195
3 SIM:
Internet
APN: three.co.uk
IP address: Leave blank
Username: Leave Blank
Password: Leave blank
or try the following;
APN: 3internet
dial number is *99#
password: leave blank
username leave blank
BT Mobile SIM:
Internet
APN: btmobile.bt.com
IP address: 212.183.137.12
Username: bt
Password: bt
URL: http://wap.btmw.net
o2 SIM:
APN: mobile.o2.co.uk
Username: mobileweb
Password: password
Primary DNS: 192.113.200.200
Secondary DNS: 192.113.200.201
SMTP gateway (for email): smtp.o2.co.uk
Orange SIM:
APN: orangeinternet
Username: Leave blank
Password: Leave blank
Primary DNS: 193.035.131.194
SMTP gateway (for email): smtp.orange.co.uk
T-Mobile SIM:
APN: general.t-mobile.uk
Username: user
Password: pass
Primary DNS: Set automatically
SMTP gateway (for email): smtp.t-email.co.uk
Vodafone SIM:
APN: internet
Username: web
Password: web
Primary DNS: 158.043.240.004
SMTP gateway (for email): smtp.vodafone.net
Jul/090
Installing Windows XP from external USB disk drive
To complete this tutorial you need a 32bit version of Windows XP or Windows Vista installed on your home PC.
What you’ll need:
USB_PREP8
PeToUSB
Bootsect.exe
Special Note: If you use the program Nlite be sure to keep the manual installation files as the USB_prep8 script relies on these files.
Extract the files in Bootsect.zip
The next step is to extract USB_prep8 and PeToUSB.
Next copy the PeToUSB executable into the USB_prep8 folder.
Inside of the USB_prep8 folder double click the executable named usb_prep8.cmd.
The window that opens will look like this:
Press any key to continue
You next window will look like this:
These settings are preconfigured for you all you need to do now is click start.
Once the format is complete DO NOT close the window just leave everything as it is and open a command prompt from your start menu (type cmd in the search bar or run box depending on your version of windows.).
Inside of the command windows go to the directory you have bootsect.exe saved.
(use the cd directoryname command to switch folders)
Now type “bootsect.exe /nt52 R:” NOTE R: is the drive letter for my USB stick if yours is different you need to change it accordingly. What this part does is write the correct boot sector to your USB stick, this allows your PC to boot from the USB stick without it nothing works.
Please note: When running the bootsect.exe command you cannot have any windows open displaying the content of your USB stick, if you have a window open bootsect.exe will be unable to lock the drive and write the bootsector correctly.
If all went well you should see “Bootcode was successfully updated on all targeted volumes.”
Now you can close this command prompt (don’t close the usbprep8 one by mistake) and the petousb window.
You window you see now should look like this:
If it doesn’t try pressing enter.
Now you need to enter the correct information for numbers 1-3.
Press 1 and then enter. A folder browse window will open for you to browse to the location of you XP setup files (aka your cdrom drive with xp cd in)
Press 2 and enter a letter not currently assigned to a drive on your PC
Press 3 and enter the drive letter of your USB stick
Press 4 to start the process.
The script will ask you if its ok to format drive T:. This is just a temp drive the program creates to cache the windows installation files. Press Y then enter.
Once it’s done formating press enter to continue again, you can now see the program copying files to the temp drive it created. Once this is done press enter to continue again.
Next you will see a box pop up asking you to copy the files to USB drive yes/no you want to click yes.
Once the script has completed copy files a popup window asking if you would like to USB drive to be preferred boot drive U: select YES on this window.
Now select yes to unmount the virtual drive.
Ok we are done the hard part, close the usbprep8 window.
Now make sure your EEE pc is configured with USB as the primary boot device.
Insert your USB drive and boot up the EEE.
On the startup menu you have two options, select option number 2 for text mode setup.
From this point on it is just like any other windows XP installation delete/recreate the primary partition on your EEE pc and format it using NTFS. Make sure you delete ALL partitions and recreate a single partition or you will get the hal.dll error message.
Once the text mode portion of setup is complete it will boot into the GUI mode (you can press enter after the reboot if your too excited to wait the 30 seconds)
Once the GUI portion of setup is complete you will again have to boot into GUI mode this will complete the XP installation and you will end up at you XP desktop. It is very important that you DO NOT REMOVE THE USB STICK before this point. Once you can see your start menu it is safe to remove the usb stick and reboot your pc to make sure everything worked.
This method has advantages over all current no cdrom methods of installing XP to the EEE. You do not have to copy setup files in DOS to the SSD and install from there. It gives you access to the recovery console by booting into text mode setup, and it gives you the ability to run repair installations of XP if you have problems later on.
Jun/094
Enabling Intel VT on Sony VAIO notebook with AMI Aptio EFI BIOS

Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT) is a set of hardware enhancements to Intel server
and client platforms that provide software-based virtualization solutions. Intel VT allows a platform to run multiple operating systems and applications in independent partitions, allowing one computer system can function as multiple virtual systems.
Enabling Intel VT on using VTPATCH 1.1
IMPORTANT:
==========
- I won’t be responsible for a failed flash or for a bricked notebook. You are doing it at your own risk. Make sure that your notebook is covered by warranty, and that you have service center nearby because you may need it.
- Have the battery fully charged.
- Run the notebook off the AC adapter.
- If you have set a BIOS password, disable it before attempting this patch, and re-enable it afterwards.
- If you have enabled a Hard Disk password, disable it before attempting this patch, and re-enable it afterwards.
- If you use BitLocker, please turn it off before attempting this patch. If you patch with BitLocker ON, BitLocker recovery password will be required to boot Windows.
- Disconnect all peripherials if any are attached.
- Enter BIOS and load Setup defaults. Only setting which is safe to change is boot order (i.e. you can enable boot from external drive).
- If you are using Sony Notebook Utilities, first make a System Restore Point, and then uninstall them completely. You can restore them after the patching / updating is complete.
- If you have a BIOS update available from Sony’s website and you want to apply it, first update the BIOS using Sony’s recommended procedure. That includes loading Setup defaults again, and rebooting to make sure everything went ok before proceeding with the patch.
Now for the patch itself (PATCH.BAT):
- Patch must be run from writeable media with at least 4MB of free space.
- The following files are required for patching:
PATCH.BAT – You start the process by invoking this batch file.
AFUDOS.EXE – AMI Aptio flash utility for DOS
DOS4GW.EXE – DOS extender, required for VTPATCH.EXE
VTPATCH.EXE – The patch itself, it performs various checks, extracts the BIOS, and patches it to enable Intel VT.
- The following files are optional:
DMIDUMP.EXE – Tool for dumping DMI table to a file for diagnostic purposes in case that VTPATCH.EXE doesn’t parse the table correctly and refuse to run
- Pure DOS boot is required, Windows command prompt is not supported. It may be wise to bypass loading of memory managers such as HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE because they might interfere with the flash utility or with the DOS4GW extender.
- You will be asked several times whether you want to proceed before your BIOS actually gets flashed with the patched file. If you notice any erroneous output please abort the process.
- If you continued, and the flashing process failed do not panic, and above all do not turn off the notebook if it didn’t hang — just attempt to flash it again with the original BIOS by typing:
AFUDOS ORIGINAL.ROM /P /B /N /E
- If you continued and the flashing process finished without errors do the following:
1. Disconnect the AC adapter (do not close the lid or press power button)
2. Detach the notebook battery, and wait for a while then put it back in
3. Connect the AC adapter, and press the power button
- Hopefully it will power up and display VAIO logo, you can then go into the BIOS setup and load setup defaults then save them and shutdown (all from within BIOS).
After powering on again, and booting into Windows or Linux you should have your VT enabled (MSR register 0×3A should read 0×5 or 0xD).
- MD5 checksums of the files included in the archive are as follows:
c35eb72f74e347a7d9b87a343dcc7a5d *AFUDOS.EXE
9e0de36c29049943c5f9396618a5594d *DMIDUMP.EXE
006211ca60fa3d4b38a9a8da2ade1056 *DOS4GW.EXE
8eba8cbb1df7bc4a9f88b5adabda763e *VTPATCH.EXE
- Good luck!
Download: VT Patch 1.1 – Patch for enabling Intel VT on Sony VAIO notebooks with AMI Aptio BIOS
The patch is created by levicki, so credit goes out to him on this one


