Notebook Remote

I got the travel remote for my Studio 17 yesterday. I’m surprised they didn’t include it by default as it’s dead handy.

It works perfectly with Media Center & Media Player but doesn’t seem to operate in Windows itself i.e. higher or lower the system volume (it may only be programmed to trigger certain responses)

Most of all it slots seamlessly into the ExpressCard slot on the left side of the notebook.

Joy Division Zune

You can't get them over her (the Zune that is) and most people will probably berate them because it's Microsoft but I think in still looks pretty cool. Limited to 500, documentary included and custom Zune Original finish.

http://www.zune.net/en-US/products/zuneoriginals/joydivision/default.htm

Neverwhere DVD

The DVD arrived already and I have it encoded to PC. DVDs are sort of a middle man for me now.

If you want a copy karlthulhu let me know.

Live Mesh = Awesome

Looks like SkyDrive and FolderShare may be redundant already.

Live Mesh allows you to sync files seamlessly to other machines and to the internet.

Still only in tech preview but the concepts look cool and the architecture is so simple.

Check out some of the tours here.

SkyDrive

I know a lot of people are opponents of Microsoft software and services but SkyDrive just came out of beta and has 5GB of free online storage a la box.net.

All you need is a Windows Live ID (Passport ID) and you're off.

PC Scare

My PC decided to do some weirdness last night. It couldn't load up my profile presumably because my registry was corrupted.

I panicked for a while and contemplated re-installing Vista but after a while I tried System Restore and that set things straight.

According to the internets, some applications installing/un-installing can leave handles open in the registry that cause the aforementioned problems.

TV Card

I managed to get the Hauppauge TV card in my PC back in action last night.

I've left it for some time because I didn't want to have to run coax across the room but there was no choice.

It's only the cable (not digital) feed from the set top box but it's better than nothing and now we can schedule it to record shows or even entire series.

More Good News

It seems the long awaited (in Europe) Xbox Video Marketplace will launch here on December 11th.

Full details at http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/news-features/news/Video-Marketplace-announcement-041207.htm

So that's the new dash update and video marketplace. Huzzah!

Xbox 360 Update

Lots if nice new stuff in the update, some subtle UI updates, social additions but most of more video support

Full feature list: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemupdates/20071204-features.htm

Video tech details: http://blogs.msdn.com/xboxteam/archive/2007/11/30/december-2007-video-playback-faq.aspx

Zune

With some much appreciated assistance from lady_bloodlust, we managed to set up my Zune profile (http://social.zune.net/member/blaquewraith) and my blaquewraith@live.com email address.

Just wanted them for the future and for the sake of it.

Only thing is, I can't log into the Zune software itself to start registering music plays :(

Last Steps

Things are going from strength to strength with the Home Server. It's all up & running now on the network. Installed all Windows Updates via Remote Desktop & installed the Office Viewers but I think I'll leave it at that on the software side of things.

Ran a last sync with SyncToy of my music & videos to my external hard drive & connected it to server. Did this as it'd be much faster than transferring it all over wireless. Will get around to photos later.

I've installed the connector on my desktop & the notebook. Had some bother with seeing the server on the notebook but realised I had to allow access in the OneCare firewall. Once that was sorted, everything worked fine.

I may have a go at enabling remote access this evening.

Home Server Success

Finally, some success with the Home Server.

A colleague in work had a spare SATA cable so that saved me the time & annoyance of switching it from my desktop. Yay!

Our housemate managed to burn the ISO successfully to DVD & it booted correctly. Yay again!

Then I had problems with the SATA driver. Boo.

I thought the one from ASUS did not support Server 2003 so I got one from Silicon Image but that wouldn't stick during the "Specify additional drivers" phase (kept re-requesting it). Went back to the original ASUS driver which would stick but I got a blue screen of death on reboot.

After trying this a few times with partitioning & formatting I realised that even though I specified the SATA driver during the Server 2003 GUI install, I had to specify it again during the blue non-GUI install after reboot. Once I specified it again, everything installed as usual.

Had a quick test to see if I could detect the server on the network which failed but I just realised this morning that the OS may not have the drivers for the ethernet ports & I didn't even bother to check last night. Got them & ready to try again this evening.

At least it's only network stuff now.

Home Server

My grand plans to set up a home server in the new house have gotten off to a lumpy start.

I ordered a 500GB SATA hard drive from Komplett which promptly arrived. Unfortunately, it had no leads whatsoever (fair enough, I suppose). One of the lads in work was able to pick me up a SATA power cable the same day so I figured all was good.

The reason I thought this was because I thought I had one in the house, but I didn't. I'll have to wait until we're over in Finglas to get one or buy one (wait methinks).

The biggest problem is the OS. I want to put Windows Home Server on it but I can't write it successfully to DVD. I tried numerous CD/DVD burning software but all failed & now I have 6 or so DVD coasters. The closest I got was extracting the files from the ISO & burning them to the DVD with Vista's own software but the DVD would not boot at startup.

Anyway, I'll figure it out. Only a few bits to fix.

Xbox News

Leaked then confirmed news of the features of a new update due in May for the Xbox 360 dashboard.

Also a dinky keypad for typing in Messenger chats on the way.

New Shiny

I ordered a sweet external hard drive off Komplett. The one I have at the moment is quite bulky so I can bring this one around with me.

TV card

Got a Hauppauge WinTV PVR 500 MCE dual tuner TV card with FM receiver. Works perfectly with Vista.

I have it set up to use the cable off the NTL set top box rather than the digital as we need that for the main TV.

It's pretty cool though. So glad it worked as the one I bought about 2 years ago was a non starter.

Xbox 360 Wireless Receiver

Finally got the Xbox 360 Wireless Receiver for Windows. I was surprised to see it in HMV last week as it seemed to have just been released officially in the US.

Synced up the Wireless Controller fine. I did notice that you need to remove the battery to turn off the controller. There doesn't seem to be a shutdown function by holding the Guide button down.

The Wireless Headset had a few gripes. At first Windows Live Messenger wouldn't see it in the Audio/Video Setup Wizard. I tried rebooting but still nothing. Then I switched from offline to online mode in Messenger & it all showed up. From there on it was just like a normal microphone, still have to test it out though in a chat session.

Apparently the Wireless Racing Wheel does not support force feedback in Windows which is a bit of a shame (don't have that (yet)).

Vista

Got Vista yesterday but only managed to install it late last night.

Still in under 45 minutes I had it up & running. Things were speeded up by the fact I have all my personal files synchronised to an external hard drive everyday.

Vista also detected all my core hardware. I was surprised it picked up the sound & ethernet card but it did.

Only a few bits to finalise & I'll be back on track.

Broken Again

Turns out the Xbox 360 is broken again.

What's really annoying is I just bought the VGA AV cable to connect it to my Dell flat panel monitor so I can have HD. Tasha also bought me a memory card to back up save games.

It's not so bad, I'll just get it replaced & all will be right again.

Saddness

I'm afraid the Xbox 360 is knackered. It crashes on startup sometimes or sometimes midway through on the dashboard & I even get the red lights of death every once in a while.

I've disconnected all accessories & it still does it. I will have to return it to Smyths.