October 1st, 2014
I requested and received my unlock from AT&T yesterday, but they sent instructions requiring that I restore my phone with iTunes. This is nonsense, as I have no intention of losing my 7.1.2 jailbreak. I grabbed a T-Mobile SIM from a co-worker and tried the instructions below:
- Turn iPhone off
- Insert non original carrier SIM card (T-Mobile SIM in my case).
- Connect your iPhone via USB cord to your PC or Mac and allow the computer to power on the phone.
- Open iTunes on your PC or Mac iTunes may pause for a moment and/or show a pop up box with a failed activation message, click “ok”.
- Briefly disconnect USB cord, then reconnect USB cord.
- iTunes should now display a message saying “Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked”.
- If prompted for a Carrier Update, please accept.
It appears my iPhone is now unlocked and usable with any active SIM card.
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September 26th, 2014
Most of my posts seem to be nerdy and this is more of the same, but if you’re into vapor intrusion and wanting to present results in Excel, you might find this helpful.
I was trying to present some VOC concentrations in micrograms per cubic meter in Excel and realized I was incorrectly using a greek-letter mu instead of the SI prefix symbol. Yup, go ahead and snicker, there are subtle differences between the two. I decided I could make the correct SI symbol with Unicode, but I wasn’t finding an adequate guide for how exactly to type a Unicode symbol in Excel.
Bringing together a couple sources on the web, this is exactly what you’ll need to type on the keyboard if you’d like to enter “35 ug/m3″ using a mu symbol and a 3 superscript in an Excel cell, type the following and skip the “+” symbols below (follow directions for things in appendices):
3+5+spacebar+alt(hold it down)+0+1+8+1+(release alt key)enter
followed by:
g+/+m+alt(hold it down)+0+1+7+9+(release alt key)enter
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September 17th, 2014
If you need to access a Metasys web interface, created by Johnson Controls, that is running 6.5 or later, try downloading their Mac app which has a JRE builtin:
http://johnsoncontrols.com/launcher/macdownload
or, if that doesn’t work, try this:
http://www.johnsoncontrols.com/content/dam/WWW/jci/be/launcher/Launcher.dmg
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August 27th, 2014
In the last several versions of Mac OS X, I’ve searched for files in Spotlight and on occasion, the preview window gets stuck and blocks off a portion of the screen. To work around this issue, literally, open a Terminal window and execute the following command:
killall QuickLookUIHelper
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August 27th, 2014
For various reasons, I need to reboot a Windows machine when I’m connected with a Remote Desktop Protocol session. I could probably establish a terminal session to avoid this, or I could open a command prompt (click Windows button and search for “cmd) and then execute the following command:
reboot /r
That’s all, your remote machine should now reboot.
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August 21st, 2014
Seems com.apple.IconServices was using up a bit much of my cpu as the fans were whistling away. Fired up Console.app and saw several identical and consecutive entries like:
8/21/14 12:50:34.008 AM com.apple.IconServicesAgent[18804]: Failed to write file /var/folders/9q/08gbl69j4p93h7h59f57m8r00000gq/T/com.apple.IconServices/22C30777DAAC89CE8ADF68CE540ED9EE.iscachebmp.tmp to cache.
1 IconServices 0x00007fff8caa7b85 ___ZN18IconImageGenerator4mainEv_block_invoke7 + 634
2 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff80ae028d _dispatch_client_callout + 8
3 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff80ae1146 _dispatch_barrier_sync_f_invoke + 39
4 IconServices 0x00007fff8caa75ba _ZN18IconImageGenerator4mainEv + 734
5 IconServices 0x00007fff8caa8ea8 _ZN11WorkManager11processWorkEP4Work + 112
6 IconServices 0x00007fff8caa8e1f ___ZN11WorkManager11enqueueWorkEP4WorkU13block_pointerFvS1_E_block_invoke_5 + 26
7 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff80ae31bb _dispatch_call_block_and_release + 12
8 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff80ae028d _dispatch_client_callout + 8
9 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff80ae47e3 _dispatch_async_redirect_invoke + 154
10 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff80ae028d _dispatch_client_callout + 8
11 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff80ae2082 _dispatch_root_queue_drain + 326
12 libdispatch.dylib 0x00007fff80ae3177 _dispatch_worker_thread2 + 40
13 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff8b529ef8 _pthread_wqthread + 314
14 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff8b52cfb9 start_wqthread + 13
Based on the error log from Console.app, it appears com.apple.IconServices is trying to write something here:
/var/folders/9q/08gbl69j4p93h7h59f57m8r00000gq/T/com.apple.IconServices/
To fix this, I just created a new directory in Terminal.app:
sudo mkdir /var/folders/9q/08gbl69j4p93h7h59f57m8r00000gq/T/com.apple.IconServices/
Gradually the cpu dropped back down and all returned to normal.
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July 11th, 2014
Got on LRT with the Dummy today. The driver repeatedly came on the PA requesting me to put my bike in the train’s rack. I resisted at first, knowing the Dummy’s length would pose problems for the fixed length bike racks.
When the driver’s request persisted at the next stop, I decided to give it a shot and use a bungee cord on the front tire:
Success!
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July 9th, 2014
Years ago, we used iGo adapters around my office and they seemed to work well. I found used iGo adapters readily available and cheap on eBay – it seems most people believe these adapters aren’t compatible or worth using with modern devices and computers. I picked up a couple on eBay and figured I’d rig them to work with my MacBooks, iPhones, and iPads.
A Juice 70 or an iGo auto/air85 worked with a MacBook Pro by adding the A3 adapter from the iGo kit and linking them with two things not included with the iGo kits:
1. An adapter I found on eBay, a DC 5.5mm to 5.5 mm power plug coupler/extender/adapter (Female to Female):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191164201422
2. A MagSafe to 5.5 mm DC adapter cable from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JQ5F0ZU
I plugged them in and tested them in 2 vehicles and they all seem to work fine.
I was also able to get an iPad with the legacy iPod adapter (iGo A61 adapter) charging at 6 volts and 1.5 amps – iPads can handle a couple amps, but the iGo’s output is still decent for charging. I found the A61 charger on Amazon and to use it with the iGo dualpower accessory.
Finally, I attached my iPhone 5 to the iGo dualpower accessory using an iGo A46 adapter and one of my Lightning USB cables.
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May 13th, 2014
I was lucky enough to pick up the above-referenced printer on Amazon for a good price. It’s been a great machine, except for envelope-printing and the exorbitant price to operate. The primary reason for the latter issue is Samsung’s firmware, which calculates how much toner remains (rather than measure it) and doesn’t allow you to use a refilled cartridge without also replacing the chip on the cartridge.
Not one to be hampered by an electronics manufacturer, I set out to jailbreak my Samsung CLP-415NW. I wasn’t hoping to root the printer, but just find a way to disable the ability of the printer to read chips on toner cartridges. I knew about this nifty hardware hack for the 315, but I was hoping for something through software to avoid voiding my warranty.
I knew of people who used firmware to disable the ability of the printer to read cartridge chips, but I wasn’t sure which vendor to trust. I decided to dive in and take a chance with “printserv”, but the firmware I received didn’t work. I tried to resolve the issue for several days using Google Translate, but never got it working.
Somewhat defeated, I waited several months and when my yellow and magenta cartridges ran out of toner, I resorted to eBay and found the seller c-h-i-p-t-o-n-e-r. I requested firmware version 4.00.01.48, but I was told this version of firmware was not yet available and my money was promptly refunded. I then downgraded to version 4.00.01.41 and bid on another firmware fix listing from c-h-i-p-t-o-n-e-r and sent the following information:
1) printer model – CLP-410 Series (CLP-415NW)
2) the serial number of the printer – Z9A0BJED111111CN
3) The firmware version of the printer – System Firmware v4.00.01.41 Feb-15-2013
4) serial CRUM –
Yellow:
CRUM-13021560982
Magenta:
CRUM-13021560858
Cyan:
CRUM-13021570036
Black:
CRUM-13021569444
The next morning, I received an email with a link to download my modified firmware. The directions were wonderful and I used my Mac with VirtualPC to download the modified firmware with a USB cable. SUCCESS!
After the printer rebooted, I was successfully able to print from previously “empty” toner cartridges! Knowing there wasn’t much toner left, I promptly ordered new toner for about 1/5 the price of Samsung’s toner cartridges and I also ordered a toner tool so I can pour the new toner into my near-empty cartridges. I’ll post again when I get the new toner and tool.
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April 19th, 2014
While in my shop and rebuilding components on Ella’s bike, I was disturbed by the fans on my Mac mini. Taking a closer look, I opened “top” from Terminal.app and found devicemgrd running away with one of the cores on the machine. Looking for a quick fix and reading Apple’s Discussions, it appeared a reset of the SMC was in order.
After pulling power, waiting about 10 seconds, pressing and holding the power button for 5 seconds, and then plugging the machine back in and pressing the power button again, it booted up and devicemgrd was behaving nicely again.
Back to bike repair.
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