I installed a new 500GB, 7200RPM drive into the HP Mini 110 netbook and proceeded to install Snow Leopard on it.
Upon booting from the USB drive (made with Netbook Installer), I received an error on the apple loading screen (the ‘do not enter / no smoking’ symbol appeared). I restarted the computer and went into the boot options of the USB drive and selected verbose from the menu (use the up/down arrows to see the menu).
Upon booting verbosely, I saw the Still Waiting for Root Device message. After googling that message, it appeared that the error was common in the OSX86 world and was not usually easy to fix. Many different people having many different experiences with it. Some easily fixed, some not fixable.
To fix, I restarted the PC again and went into BIOS setup, changed the boot options to have the USB drive first in the list and the HDD second. It seems that whenever this error came up, switching the boot order resolved it. It didn’t really matter which drive was listed first, as long as you change it and save/exit the BIOS.
After I made that simple change, the Still Waiting for Root Device message went away and installation proceeded as it normally would.
System:
Model: HP Mini 110-1000
RAM: 1GB
HDD: Seagate Momentus 2.5″ SATA 500GB (7200rpm)
OS: Mac OSX (Snow Leopard 10.6.1)
In no particular order…
- Drink less coffee
- Drink more water
- Build an iPhone app and get it published in the iTunes App Store
- Write a childrens book
- Take more family photos (specifically, focus on the family unit photos)
- Take more “Nick & Jen” couple photos
- Continue to not drink soda (been a few months already)
- Learn to speak Chinese
- Have more patience
- Eat healthier
- Continue to love and cherish Jen, Sam, Lizzy and the rest of the family
Yesterday, I purchased the Incase power slider for my iPhone 3G S. It boasts that it will double your iPhone battery life while protecting it with it’s case. Since battery life is important to me and I find my self constantly running out of battery (usually around 2pm each day), I was excited to get my hands on this. Even posted a tweet about it.
The initial reviews I read indicated that it was worthy of purchase at the right price. Best Buy had it for $47, which I thought was a great deal (since it was originally priced at $99). The packaging indicated iPhone 3G, but not specifically the iPhone 3G S. I asked a worker in the mobile phone department if it would work OK in the 3G S and she indicated “yes, I use it on my iPhone 3G S every day.”. Sold.
The instructions say to fully charge the device before putting your iPhone in it. So, like a good person who just RTFM’d, I plugged it in and let it sit for a couple hours until it was fully charged. What happened next was what surprised me…
I inserted the iPhone into the bottom part of the shell (per instructions), then put the top part of the shell on. The battery on the iPhone did indeed show that it was charging, which is what the user manual said it would do. Then, without warning, my 5 bars of 3G signal, disappeared and went to No Service. I was shocked, so I power cycled the iPhone, just incase it needed to officially recognize the new battery device. Still, No Service.
I took it out and put it back in, probably about a dozen or so times. Each time, the No Service indicator came up about 5 seconds after using the Incase Power Slider.
I googled some more and found other reports of people having the exact same issue. A few people mentioned that Incase retired that model of product because of issues, but I couldn’t find anything to support that claim. Since I really need my phone, I decided to return the Incase Power Slider to Best Buy and find something different.
I ended up with the Invisible Shield. So far so good with the Invisible Shield, but that’s a different post…
Summary: Incase Power Slider = Fail (in my humble opinion)
I installed Ghetto Tweets a few months ago. There is a pretty good review about it, here…
Overall it’s a fun little app to play around with. Minutes worth of fun.
Some examples:
Here is @BarackObama talking about Ted Kennedy. Here is the real update…
Here is @LeviPBlauvelt talking about me. Here is the real update…
Here is @LeviPBlauvelt again. Here is the real update…
Here is @scobleizer talking about @biz. Here is the real update…
Ever since the upgrade to Snow Leopard, Firefox started to open behind other applications. It launches from the dock normally and is the active application in the top menu bar, it’s just behind everything else. You can click the icon again or command-tab to bring Firefox to the front, but I must say, it is quite an annoyance.
A google search revealed a mozilla support thread reporting the same thing, but at the time of this update, no replies with any details on how to fix it. See this URL.
I’ve switched my default browser back to Safari now, until a time when Firefox opens the way it should.
We acquired a 1986 Honda Spree over labor day weekend, 2009. We weren’t satisfied with the stock, Honda Spree look, so we decided to re-paint it, in honor of or little Miss Elizabeth. Her favorite color is pink.
Lizzy says “Lizzy RIDE!” over and over again when she wants to go for a ride. It was a fun project to repaint the scooter…
Thanks Grandpa G for all the help and for the scooter…
I was watching a show called Eco Trip on the Sundance Channel tonight. This episode was about cell phones.
Sundance Channel - Eco Trip - Episode 7
Amongst all the details about how bad they are for the environment while they are being made as well as after you dispose of them, one thing caught my attention more than others…
One of the elements needed to make a key element in just about every piece of electronics we use today, is called coltan.
Coltan is the metalic ore from which tantalum is made. Tantalum is what most capacitors are made from.
The show indicated that most of the worlds coltan resides in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). I don’t think I need to explain why reliance on the DRC for such a core element of all electronics is a bad thing. Well, maybe I do, just a little…
An excerpt from Wikipedia on the DRC:
The Second Congo War, beginning in 1998, devastated the country, involved seven foreign armies and is sometimes referred to as the “African World War”.[4] Despite the signing of peace accords in 2003, fighting continues in the east of the country. In eastern Congo, the prevalence of rape and other sexual violence is described as the worst in the world.[5] The war is the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II, killing 5.4 million people.[6][7]
I googled around to see which companies get their coltan from the DRC and which don’t. Most information I found was related to cell phone manufacturers… This website, ethicalconsumer.org, has a buyer’s guide to mobile phones, which talks about the big companies that are ranked by Greenpeace (which should mean, they do everything they can to get their materials in an ethical/green way), it’s a good thing to have a Greenpeace ranking…
- Nokia
- Sony Ericsson
- Samsung
- Motorola
- Apple
The website also indicates that Australia is taking over the market on coltan, which is where the responsible manufacturers should be ensuring their products components are sourced from.
Another point in the episode talked about the e-waste is handled and that the majority of it still ends up in a poverty stricken countries around the world. PBS has a great story about it…
To sum up:
- Be responsible
- Recycle your old cell phones / electronics
- Ask the recycler where the devices end up
- Don’t just throw electronics in the garbage
- Check out Eco Trip, I really enjoyed it
Next time you look at your cell phone or computer, remember that some it probably came from the Congo and might end up Ghana.
UPDATE:
Ran across the makeITfair.org website shortly after posting this… They’ve posted a list of companies that have responded to their list of principles to follow. http://makeitfair.org/companies/company-responses-to-the-makeitfair-list-of
I was working in Excel 2007 the other day and was in a tabled sheet when I tried to delete a specific row of data. Excel prompted me with this question. Interesting question Microsoft, in fact I do not want to delete a sheet row, just one row in a sheet.
I’ve really been enjoying the new iPhone 3Gs, a lot.
The voice control functionality is very nice and helps a lot when you want to start playing music or turn on shuffle mode, or make a call. Well, call almost anybody. There is one person voice control refuses to recognize. Who? Mom.
Me: “Call Mom mobile”
iPhone: “no match found”
Me: “Call Mom”
iPhone: “no match found”
Me: “Call Jen Melchi mobile”
iPhone “calling Jen Melchi mobile”
I’ve had others try to “call mom” on my voice control, all to no avail. Voice control recognizes everyone else I want to call, just not “mom”.
Interesting, wonder why Apple doesn’t want me to call mom using my voice.
Anyone else having the same issue?
Ever since I’ve been using the HP iPAQ 910c (see http://www.nickmelchi.com/bl0g/2009/01/04/goodbye-iphone-hello-ipaq/), I’ve been trying to not carry an iPod and the iPaq when I commute to Milwaukee.
I had previously only been carrying my iPhone, which served as my music, video, phone, calendar, address book, entertainment and e-mail device. The iPaq takes care of phone, address book calendar, e-mail and music. I’m starting to get videos/movies on it, but its a bit kludgy yet.
I had an FM transmitter that was working just fine with my iPhone and iPod but it was connection specific to those devices. Couldn’t use it with the iPaq. The iPaq 910c only has a mini-USB connection on it, so I had to find an adapter to convert that connection to a 3.5mm audio jack.
If you read one of my other posts (http://www.nickmelchi.com/bl0g/2009/01/15/ipaq-910c-topics/), I reference http://www.repairhppda.com/ as a site to order accessories for iPaqs and other devices. I decided to order the adapter they advertised. Specifically, this is the adapter: http://www.repairhppda.com/35mm-audio-jack-to-usb-converter-p-740.html
USB to 3.5mm converter
I ordered it, paid with a debit card, everything was fine, I thought. Order was processed and everything looked OK, and it was as far as they were concerned.
My bank detected the charge I just made as a fraudulent charge and disabled my debit card. I didn’t know about it until I tried using it several more times while out and about. I called the bank and they explained that the system detected activity outside my normal spending and took preventative action.
After looking more into it, turns out the site is based in Hong Kong and the parts actually ship from Hong Kong. The bank the site uses for credit card transactions, is the royal bank of scotland. Combine me being in the USA, rarely buying things online from outside the country, with a site in Hong Kong that uses a bank in Scotland and you get Nick’s debit card frozen.
It took about a month and a half, but the part did arrive and it works well. I can use any headphones or any FM transmitter that has a 3.5mm connector on it.
They recently sent me an e-mail with a new product they just released. It is an adapter that allows you to charge/sync as well as plug-in a regular 3.5mm connection. They had me hook, line and sinker.
Since I have been using the iPaq as my music source in the car and at work, the battery was draining very quickly and since I could charge while I listened, this new product was just what I was looking for.
After mulling it over for a week, I broke down and ordered it on 5/28/2009. It said shipping is from 7 to 20 days, so who knows when it will arrive and who knows if my bank will freeze my card again, but either way, if it means I can stop carrying two devices with me, I’m in.
An image from their website of the new product. Perhaps I’ll update it with a reallife image when mine arrives. I think I could take a better picture than that anyways.
Overall, I’m happy with the http://www.repairhppda.com website.