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1.30.2012

Spent half my day to patch up Lenovo S12

It all started yesterday when I tried to use my Lenovo S12 as a laptop (instead of the media center machine for my bed room).  Then I found that the WiFi was not working, which is odd because the Wifi was turned on on the BIOS and so was the WIFI switch pointed to the right setting.  After more than half hour of frustration, I finally decided to first back up the machine (very easy, as I just need to copy a few folders to an external USB hard disk), and then rollback to machine back to the original setting.

The whole process of getting everything running properly took half a day.  But I did recover the machine to factory setting.  I restored all the factory default apps.  I removed all the crap ware (there were a LOT) from the machine.  I kept the good ones.  I installed Microsoft security essential.  I found no hardware driver missing.  I used the build in OneKey Recovery to back up the OS partition.  I got the OS Windows-Updated to the latest.

And now the machine becomes a very usable machine as a basic Netbook.  The WiFi is back and working good (it seems like that the problem is on some software).  The performance is, while not awesome, pretty OK for being a web device that runs Windows application.  I think this is a great companion for my iPad since S12 has a nice keyboard to allow me to type and type, like what I am doing now.  The gear can get pretty hot after hours of using.  But then, I seriously doubt that I will use S12 hours and hours.

The only thing that I will take a wait-and-see was the stupid shut down problem.  That is when the machine was being used for more than an hour to watch TV shows on Windows Media Center, the laptop will shutdown itself.  I wonder if this problem will still come back.

1.29.2012

Fun with XBox 360

I didn't really spend much time on games.  Mostly because I lack the patient on playing difficult games these days.  Recently I joined Blockbuster Video rental, and because of that I got to rental some games.  A few days ago I received Fable III and Alan Wake for XBox 360 and then Fallout 3 for PS3.  I really didn't enjoy the dark atmosphere of Fallout 3, plus I always hate giant insects.  So I stopped playing it after a while.  Alan Wake was OK, but sometimes the control seemed frustrating.  Fable III, on the other hand, is just about the right level for me.  It's easy enjoy for me to pick up and play, and interesting enough for me to keep playing it.  In fact I am seriously thinking about buying it, but then I usually play the game I brought the least, so maybe it's better for me to keep it as rental, so that there's a much bigger chance that I will finish it.

1.22.2012

Screw you Windows 8 for now

I got so feed up with Window 8 running on my Asus Slate that I finally gave up and decide to install Windows 7 on it, or AT LEAST do a dual boot in case I need to switch to the usable mode of the machine.  The reason is simple: Windows 8 Developer Preview running on EeeSlate was terrible.  The bluebooth keyboard that comes with the machine doesn't work anymore.  The touch screen FAILED to understand the orientation when it wakes up from sleep.  The Windows 8 environment is simply painful to use as they KILLED the Windows button.  The Windows 8 WinRT API is full of problem, and simply DOES NOT worth my R&D time putting on it.  Plus using EeeSlate as a sole development platform is just painfully slow.  At the end of the day, the EeeSlate just sit at the corner of my table gaining dust.  Since I need a machine to replace my Lenovo S12 as the media center machine, I may as well just use the EeeSlate to do just that.

1.09.2012

No Save State in nullDC

Sad, turns out the Dreamcast emulator nullDC does NOT support saving states.  Sad.... Sad .....

More about running Dreamcast games on MacMini

I found out a few more items that I need to write down before I forget:

To use your XBox360 for Windows controller with nullDC, you need to [Option][Select Plug in], and in Maple, select port A, and select "Controller [XInput](Aug 21 2011)(XMaple_Win32.dll:0).  That should give you full controller support, including the analog stick.

To get full screen, go to [Options][PowerVR][Max, but up to 1280x800].  That, at least on my MacMini, gives me the best graphical result.

There's still no solution for games that require Utopia boot disc.  sigh.

Running Dreamcast on MacMini

Now that I have Playstation (One) running on my MacMini (in Windows 7), my next question is: how about Dreamcast, and thus started my journey of trying to find a way to run Dreamcast emulator.

First I need to find an emulator.  Judge by what I read, Makaron is the first one I found, so I grabbed that.  The next challenge is to find the BIOS and Flash file.  Eventually I found them, and then I read this tutorial, tired and tried, and couldn't get it work.

So I moved on and try another one.  DCNull seems to be the only one that's still actively updating. At first I accidentally used to nullDC_NAOMI_104_r136, which is actually for NAOMI Sega Motherboard.  Once again use the right version, which is nullDC_104_r136.7z , I was able to boot up.  I then follow this tutorial, and found that things are still not very clear.

And then I came cross this, and finally got the big picture and resolved the problem.  Turns out the trickiest part is to make sure that you properly rip the Dreamcast disc.  And the way that make it work is by using DiscJuggler.  The trial version should be good enough, since you don't use it to burn disc but rather simply use it to create .cdi disk image file.  MAKE SURE when you asked "do you want to fix the disc .." you say NO, otherwise the generated.cdi disk won't work.

However, I still haven't figured out how to make those disc that use "Boot Disc" to work, but then I already wasted enough time today, so ... maybe later.

1.08.2012

Playing Playstation on MacMini

I always love retro console video games.  Super Nintendo, Genesis and Playstation were the time when I dedicated the most of my time playing video games.  Yet, I also suck at playing video games.  I constantly have hardtime getting through tough levels.  So game console emulator on PCs is my saving grace.  Because not only I can play retro video games, but almost all of them support State Save, so that I can keep trying and trying on the same level until I can get through it.

So this morning I spent most of my time trying to make Playstation emulator working on my MacMini (Late 2009), and the result was pretty satisfying.

I use ePSXe v.1.7.0 and it worked great.  Here's the configuration I used to get the best result:
-  Video: Pete's OpenGL Driver 1.77, with "Fullscreen mode" selected, "1280 x 720 resolution", Color depth:32 bit, "Keep psx aspect ratio".
- Soft Video Plugin: "Fullscreen mode, 1280 x 720, 60Hz", 32 bit color, Scale to window size keep aspect ratio"
- Game pad: use my XBox 360 for Windows controller, remember to map all the keys.

I realized that ripped Playstation disc can be tricky.  In fact, not all the disc that I have can be ripped.  For instance, I can't rip Tekken 3, but have no problem ripping Parappa The Rapper.  So I guess I just have to each give them a try.  For ripping software, I use ImgBurn, and it created .BIN and .CUE files that ePSXe can read.  Worst come to worst, I can still use Nero to rip and then use Deamon Tool to map the disc.  But after using ImgBurn, I see no reason doing the other way,