3/21/10
Started the process of germinating the following today:
Jalepeno Peppers
Ploblanos Peppers
Tomatoes
Spinach
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Repairing a bad video cable on a MacBook Pro 15" Model A1150
I recently had an opportunity to work on a video/LCD issue with a MacBook pro.The Symptoms:
No Video on LCD Screen however the DVI Video output tested fine and works.
Furthermore, there is a faint amount of video on screen, and a single row of pixels are lit at the top of the screen. You can only see that in complete darkness though.
I started by checking the LVDS (video) cable connection to the logic board.
I took off the connector from the socket and fully reinserted it. When doing so, the LCD lit up and started working. However, when I closed the machine up and put all the screws back together, it was back to its initial state of no video to the LCD panel. Damn.
I decided the most logical thing to do was replace the LVDS cable. I ordered one from iFixit, followed their teardown guide and when I got it all back together, the display worked properly again.
Case closed.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Hydraq / Aurora Trojan and Microsoft's Repsonce
Y'all,
I’m not one to spread panic and this notice is by no means an attempt to do so. However, as your computer buddy, Y’all Tech feels it’s important to keep you in the loop when an important security patch comes out from Microsoft.
Have a look and make sure all your windows machines have been updated by Microsoft Update recently. Below are some screen shots I took of my system for reference. The update to check for is the one outlined in blue below, As you can see, it was just released yesterday.
This update provides a patch that will keep you system from getting a bug that created such a storm of traffic it shut Google’s servers. (Oddly, I noticed it yesterday; Google’s home page just wouldn’t open.
This is NOT an emergency situation, simply good practice to keep your systems running smoothly.
Call me if you have any questions,
Scott
How to apply the fix:
http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/ -May take several reboots depending on how out of date your system is and how many patches are available.
Supporting Microsoft Article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978207
I’m not one to spread panic and this notice is by no means an attempt to do so. However, as your computer buddy, Y’all Tech feels it’s important to keep you in the loop when an important security patch comes out from Microsoft.
Have a look and make sure all your windows machines have been updated by Microsoft Update recently. Below are some screen shots I took of my system for reference. The update to check for is the one outlined in blue below, As you can see, it was just released yesterday.
This update provides a patch that will keep you system from getting a bug that created such a storm of traffic it shut Google’s servers. (Oddly, I noticed it yesterday; Google’s home page just wouldn’t open.
This is NOT an emergency situation, simply good practice to keep your systems running smoothly.
Call me if you have any questions,
Scott
How to apply the fix:
http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/ -May take several reboots depending on how out of date your system is and how many patches are available.
Supporting Microsoft Article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978207
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Bluffton Rotary Oyster Roast - Saturday, January 30th
Come join me and all my friends at our clubs biggest event of the year.
Ill be washing your oysters, serving your beers and stealing your french fries!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
New video production services added
Hey Y'all,
Chris Mutterer has recently put together a video showcasing his talents behind the camera. I think he did an outstanding job as well. Check out this link to get a look at his handywork!
Chris Mutterer has recently put together a video showcasing his talents behind the camera. I think he did an outstanding job as well. Check out this link to get a look at his handywork!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
ATI Radeon 4670 Monitor Scaling Issue with Hanspree HF257 Monitor
Hi there, Scott Mutterer in Bluffton South Carolina reporting in for Y'all Tech.... I recently purchased a new video card for my Compaq SR5710F computer, after a bit of research and some bargain hunting, I chose an ASUS EAH4670 from NewEgg.
Only $59.00 after rebate for a PCI Express card with a great chipset, 1GB of Ram, support for DirextX10.1, HDMI output and support dual monitors was my dream. I'm proud to report that that dream has come true for me today!
As for my purchasing experience, I have nothing but good things to say about Newegg. The card shipped on time, I received timely email notifications of the products arrival and got some cool free stuff to boot!
Upon its arrival, I found that the card installs quickly and easily into the PCI express slot my computer is equipped with. Window 7 Ultimate 64 Bit recognized the card and all by itself and downloaded a driver for both the Audio and Video upon it first boot.
The first boost in performance I noticed was that my Windows video index score climbed from 3.1 to 6.7!! That helped to raise the computers overall experience rating to a whopping 5.1! (Growing for a tiny 3.1) The 5.1 rating is the ceiling thanks to my little Athlon x64 2 processor. I should upgrade, but why bother; I’m actually a Mac guy at the core...
What didn’t go well you may ask? I struggled with getting the latest version of drivers for the card; ASUS’s web site is VERY slow when it comes to downloading things. After about 4 hours the 99Mb driver and utility file completed its download. Next time I’ll likely go straight to ATI’s web site. I have since learned that ASUS really just puts the chip on a card and cools it properly, ATI does all the development and distribution for the drivers.
Once the drivers were updated, I was left with a weird problem. I couldn't get the image from the computer to scale to the monitor properly. I had black bars all the way around my desktop and all the configurations I tried on the monitor didn't fix the problem. I messed with it for about a day and after deciding that I couldn’t take it any longer, called Hanspree for support. Yes, I am a tech, yes, I did call for support. Part of being a tech is knowing when to ask for help so problems don't take forever to resolve. As it turns out, my call was answered quickly by a nice fellow out in Irving CA. Just as soon as I described the problem, he was quick to respond that he knew of a resolution.
Turns out, the new software that ATI adds to the computer adds a control panel for Scaling the image size to the monitor, by default; the software scales the output at a ratio of about 8% smaller than the available screen size, hence the bars around the picture. The technician sent me an email outing the changes needing to be made and as soon as I read it and applied the suggestions, a tear of joy came to my eye.
Only $59.00 after rebate for a PCI Express card with a great chipset, 1GB of Ram, support for DirextX10.1, HDMI output and support dual monitors was my dream. I'm proud to report that that dream has come true for me today!
As for my purchasing experience, I have nothing but good things to say about Newegg. The card shipped on time, I received timely email notifications of the products arrival and got some cool free stuff to boot!
Upon its arrival, I found that the card installs quickly and easily into the PCI express slot my computer is equipped with. Window 7 Ultimate 64 Bit recognized the card and all by itself and downloaded a driver for both the Audio and Video upon it first boot.
The first boost in performance I noticed was that my Windows video index score climbed from 3.1 to 6.7!! That helped to raise the computers overall experience rating to a whopping 5.1! (Growing for a tiny 3.1) The 5.1 rating is the ceiling thanks to my little Athlon x64 2 processor. I should upgrade, but why bother; I’m actually a Mac guy at the core...
What didn’t go well you may ask? I struggled with getting the latest version of drivers for the card; ASUS’s web site is VERY slow when it comes to downloading things. After about 4 hours the 99Mb driver and utility file completed its download. Next time I’ll likely go straight to ATI’s web site. I have since learned that ASUS really just puts the chip on a card and cools it properly, ATI does all the development and distribution for the drivers.
Once the drivers were updated, I was left with a weird problem. I couldn't get the image from the computer to scale to the monitor properly. I had black bars all the way around my desktop and all the configurations I tried on the monitor didn't fix the problem. I messed with it for about a day and after deciding that I couldn’t take it any longer, called Hanspree for support. Yes, I am a tech, yes, I did call for support. Part of being a tech is knowing when to ask for help so problems don't take forever to resolve. As it turns out, my call was answered quickly by a nice fellow out in Irving CA. Just as soon as I described the problem, he was quick to respond that he knew of a resolution.
Turns out, the new software that ATI adds to the computer adds a control panel for Scaling the image size to the monitor, by default; the software scales the output at a ratio of about 8% smaller than the available screen size, hence the bars around the picture. The technician sent me an email outing the changes needing to be made and as soon as I read it and applied the suggestions, a tear of joy came to my eye.
After owning the card now for 3 weeks, I am very pleased to have made my purchase.
Monday, November 16, 2009
SEO = Search Enging Optimization
Three little letters can make a big difference to your bottom line. Having a webpage used to be novelty, nowadays, it's a must as the print advertising market is just about dead. Y'all Tech works with other Computer / Network and Marketing professionals in the area to deliver technical services that keep your business running as well as helps to make the phone ring. Call us for details on how our business can help you!
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