Alternative Tech Blog for Malaysian

Hi guys,

I am glad to announce that my new blog which is primarily targeted for Malaysian could be found at
http://blog.arhamzul.net

As of now, the content of the blog is written in Malay language but have plan to make it dual language once my custom CMS is complete.

Dell XPS 15z and Windows 8

Windows 8 is an amazing OS when you combine it with SSD for your old but trusty XPS 15z. 

However, it does has some slight issue with XPS 15z touchpad driver which is… Dell basically doesn’t list it at all under Windows 8 x64 category. This is real shame because, without a proper driver for this laptop’s touchpad, it can’t be configured to turn it self off when a mouse or wireless usb mouse is used. In the end, I often move away my cursor while typing (accident). …. and I am not very  happy.

Luckily, after spending 1 or 2 hours looking for a solution, miracle happen and I found the compatible drivers (originally for Lenovo) but it work fine for XPS 15z.

The driver can be download from: http://www.mediafire.com/download/lr8mivxm3f77cc4/Cypress.rar

Good Luck

Flash Symbian Anna V7.5 for your Nokia 5800, 5530, 5230 & X6

Out of boredom, I decided to re-flash my old Nokia 5800 Express Music phone with Symbian Anna to replace the original V60 firmware. Not that the original firmware is not good but I kinda need some UI refreshment. After some searching and experimenting, I dare to conclude that Symbian Anna V7.5 custom firmware is pretty excellent for my need.

Get it at: http://www.symbiantweet.com/symbian-anna-custom-firmware-v7-5-for-nokia-5800

  

Steps (Summary) :

This flashing instruction is based on the https://expertester.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/how-to-install-flash-custom-firmware-into-nokia-5800-express-music/. The technique  to flash this firmware (below) into your Nokia phone is no different from the method I shown in the URL above except you are no longer need to mix-up your phone original firmware and custom firmware. The Symbian Anna custom firmware that you can download from this page has already included everything. In short, download the firmware and flash it using whatever flashing tool you confortable with.

If you have any trouble understanding this quick and short instruction, please follow to the link above.

1. Check your phone variant (mine is RM-356).
2. Download appropriate firmware according to your phone variant.
   1. http://www.symbiantweet.com/symbian-anna-custom-firmware-v7-5-for-nokia-5800
   2. Ensure your phone variant is supported
3. Extract the firmware and copy the folder (mine is RM-356) into …/Nokia/Phoenix/Products/ directory.
4. Execute J.A.F with appropriate setting (refer to the URL above (got picture) if you are not remember).
5. Turn off the phone and flash.

Reminder:

Flashing custom firmware into your phone possesses real risk. You may brick your phone if you miss one or two things. So, be careful and read the instruction thoroughly. However, if you happen to somehow brick your phone, you may restore it with Nokia original firmware (download it using Navifirm) and flash the original firmware into your phone using JAF.

How to Fix the missing ‘THX TrueStudio Pro’ from SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium HD

You have purchased X-Fi Titanium HD. Installed the card in your PCI-E slot. Connected your headphone / speaker to the card. Booted up the computer. Installed the supplied X-Fi Titanium HD’s driver and ….. open up the slick Creative Audio Console….. but ….the THX icon at your Audio Console is not there?

Oh Crap! You are screwed because all the glories of THX TrueStudio Pro (which is also one of the signature to this awesome card) is missing.

If you do not install Audio Console, your Audio Control Panel should be like the picture below.

Oh wait! Before you go berserk and pulling your hair frustratedly, please note that THX TrueStudio Pro is only available in ENTERTAINMENT MODE! So, don’t expect to have this thing if you use Game or Audio creation mode…

So, why the hell is this thing happen? Here are the possibilities:

1. Your old dedicated audio card is previous generation X-Fi (happen to me : X-Fi Platinum). You failed to uninstall the old drivers completely.
2. You did not disable your integrated audio chip.
3. You did disable the integrated audio chip but failed to uninstall the driver completely.

Quick and dirty solution:

1. Install the card and the driver in clean state OS. In other word, format your computer and re-install everything. Super big chances it will work.

Messy solution:

1. Remove the cards
2. Install the card in different PCI-E Slot.
   • X-Fi Titanium HD uses PCI-E x1 header. It can be installed in either the short PCI-E slot (x1 version) or the long one (x4,x8,x16 version)
3. Uninstall all X-Fi’s drivers and software.
4. Disable integrated audio chipset and remove all the related drivers.
5. Clean your registry (backup first). It is up to you to use what product to fix and clean your registry’s garbage.
6. Reboot
7. Install the drivers and applications from the supplied CD.
8. Update them.
9. Reboot and Pray.

Honestly, I used the ‘Quick and dirty solution’ since it was suggested by the Creative’s staff. However, not everyone can afford to reformat their computer hence some lucky users capable to fix this problem by using the ‘Messy Solution’.

Good luck.

Spice up Foobar 2000

Foobar 2000 is a very small and minimalistic audio player. But, its modularity make me fall in love with it.These are the components that always will be installed whenever I reinstall foobar.

Noise Sharperning:

The Noise Sharpening DSP boosts high frequencies. The effect depends on the signal’s sample rate. Very handy for darky headphone owner such as AiAiAi TMA-1 therefore, other genre such as Pop, classic etc will not sound muddy. This can is great for RnB, Trance, Electronic and Dance music though (without Noise Sharpening). In short, this component will make your sound brighter.

URL: http://foosion.foobar2000.org/components/?id=delta

 

Windows 7 Shell Integration:

Windows 7 shell integration addon (foo_w7shell) is a plugin to utilize brand new interface features like custom preview thumbnails, flyout toolbars and others.

You’d just unpack the plugin to your components directory. It works “out of the box” and adds nice and user-friendly interface features to your favorite player.

If you want, you can disable progress indicator, hide “stop” button from toolbar or perform some other tweaks via settings page. But you wouldn’t find any system settings – it’s as simple as your iPod.

Features:

• Album art in thumbnail
• Play/pause/stop/next track/previous track buttons in thumbnail
• Progress indicator
• Customizable jump lists
• Overlay icon to display play/pause state

URL: http://wintense.com/plugins/foo_w7shell

 

ASIO :

ASIO 2.0 support. Great for those who own high end soundcard and prefer to use ASIO instead of default audio driver. Personally, I use ASIO component with my Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Platinum in Audio Creation Mode + Beat Match + 96KHz sampling.

URL: http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_asio

 

Personal Backup? http://www.mediafire.com/?q9k6k3tyy6ty2a5