802.11n APPROVED !!!!

according to signal2noise blog, it Looks like they have finally gotten around to ratifying802.11n Standard - At last , it only took 6 or so years.

We can now look forward to decent interoperability between 802.11n products.

New windows 7 video Driver for XPS M1330 M8400 GS

Nvidia has released (27/08/09) a new WHQL driver for the M8400 GS (XPS 1330)

186.81_notebook_win7_winvista_64bit_international_whql

Now that Windows 7 has RTM'ed It looks like the Drivers are no longer promoted to the windows Update Site by Dell - and we will be having to manually update from now on.

Back from Holidays - Windows 7 RTM Upgrade fest

I'm back and I've now got the fun task of upgrading the Client kit in the lab to the RTM release of windows 7.

A couple of major changes , from now on, all the 64bit capable bits of kit in the lab will be migrated to 64 bit versions of Windows 7 and all the Atom ones will be migrated to Vlited 32 bit versions/

The 1330's have been done, and am now in the process of Vliting the 32 bit version for the Mini 9's

Will let you know how it goes.

Mini 10 New Intel GMA 500 Drivers !!!

Just installed the new Vista driver for the GMA 500 integrated video card on the mini 10, and what a difference, HD files now scale properly and without tearing, and expanding to full screen no longer entails a 20 second wait....but once Aero is enabled, it still has significant issues, Cant wait for the "official " windows 7 driver.

there may be life in the old dog yet.

New Intel GMA 500 Drivers

Intel has posted new GMA 500 drivers here - hoping they fix the scaling issues on the mini 10.

Latitude 2100 - internals

Finally received my 2100 (with Touchscreen )

immediately opened it up and upgraded the memory to 2 gigs and the Disk to a 128 gig SSD , testing windows 7 on it as we speak.

Here are some pictures of all the internals.

Casing removed showing the drive and empty memory slot - this 2100 has 1 gig soldered on the motherboard and the chipset supports up to 2 gigs.

The Drive it comes with is a 160 gig WD Scorpio Blue -nice.

All removed - ready for the upgrade.

SDD and memory upgrade all done :)

A couple of Latitude 2100 ST build pics

Now that we have Finlay launched the Latitude 2100 I had a chance to handle it at the HIT conference in Paris.

I have to say that i was quite impressed, it is a good size (10 inch Screen) feels like it can survive the rigours of student use and has a number of simple yet useful tweaks that make it ideal for use in schools and in the educational market.

Key Specs :


- Durable Case and Network Activity Light, as well as optional touchscreen and keyboard with antimicrobial protection.
- Choice of rubberized colors, as well as optional carrying handle and personalization with custom inserts.
- Core fundamentals of the Latitude family, including remote systems management, long lifecycles, managed transitions, and a broad range of service and support offerings

Processor

Intel® Atom™ N270 (1.60 GHz, 512KB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)

Operating Systems
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic SP1
Genuine Windows® XP Home SP3 available via downgrade rights
Ubuntu Linux version 8.10

Chipset

Intel 945 GS Express Chipset

Displays
10.1" WSVGA (1024 x 576) LED Display
10.1" WSVGA (1024 x 576) LED Display with touchscreen



see here for more information and here for complete specs.

The big windows 7 RC secret :)

Paul Thurrott over at at winsupersite and Rafael Rivera over at withinwindows have broken the (not so secret )news that select windows 7 editions will have Windows XP Mode (XPM)

XP Mode consists of a Virtual PC-based virtual environment and licensed copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 - in effect a client version of Med-V without the complications of MDOP.

This changes everything when it comes to application compatibility in windows 7 and future windows versions and in my mind is great progress as it will allow Microsoft to drop Legacy application compatibility from the OS and move forward with new features.

All Legacy applications will be run transparently in XPM

Whilst this feature will not be on the RTM DVD it will be down loadable from Microsoft web site after Launch.

Paul has some good screenshots of XPM here

Windows 7 RC expected next week for MSDN user

MSDN user should be able to download the RC of windows 7 next week, it should be available April 30Th. General availability is forecast to be around the 5Th of may.

Reseting a Nokia BH-600 Headset

for unknown reasons, my BH-600 Bluetooth headset would no longer connect to my Nokia e51.
The phone kept stating ""Unable to create bluetooth connection

A quick trawl trough the web found the following solution to reset the headset and let it connect again to my phone.

" If you want to reset your BH-600 headset do the following:
- press the volume up key and hold it
- press the function key and hold it
- hold both keys until the light flashes quickly (1 flash per second)
If after this it still doesn't work do the same thing with the headset plugged in. In this case the light will not start blinking. Just keep the buttons pressed for 10 seconds or so and try to repair"

Worked just fine once plugged in to the charger - now connects again.

Decoding Monitors - Whats in your laptop ?

http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm

Found a great bit of software that lets you see the plug and play information your screen passes to you laptop/desktop - its free for individual use.

Firmware Update for the X25-M

an firmware update for the X25-m

http://www.intel.com/support/ssdc/index_update.htm

Wonder if this will fix the performance issues ? will update the drive this weekend and update.

Reading reviews on the web at the moment does seem to indicate that the performance is right back up to where it should be :) will this bring the x25-m back to the crown .

EDIT -I managed to mess up the firmware update and have now got a very sick SSD.... awaiting feedback from Intel on how to force the firmware update , as currently the Intel utility will not let me re flash the disk as it has already (but not usefully) been updated :(

In the mean time here here is the result of my "how to not update a drives firmware" experiment.

FX160 WHS Server !

After a Little bit of tweeking of driver - for some reason only the XP version of the Dell 1397 wireless card would install correctly - all the devices have been installed - the server is fully patched - will add some clients and do some backup tests overnights.

One details that i was not aware of is that the Atom 330N is actually both 64bit capable and supports Hyper treading !

Installing Windows Home Server on a Dell FX 160

The dell Fx160 is a small form factor Atom device that can take a single Sata Hd, up to 4 gigs of ram running off a single 50 Wat power supply.
Wondering if WHS would install and more to the point run correctly ?

am Installing as we speak - Let see the results.

edit - Installation has gone well - needed to change the SATA chain back to ATA mode and do a Little dance with the external disk to get the installation to work . ( i installed WHS from an external USB drive - and of course WHS asks you to remove all USB devices when it formats the first disk)

Am now installing the required network and sound drivers as well as doing a Windows updates and installing Power Pack 2 - so far seems rather swift and responsive.