Check that international data roaming is enabled

Toggle data roaming on the carrier side

Dialing #763# will turn off the roaming on the carrier side (as opposed to just the phone), and dialing #766# will turn it back on. Restart the phone.

• Intel Core i3-370M Processor (2.4 GHz)
• Nvidia G310M Graphics Engine with 1 GB DDR3 Dedicated VRAM and Optimus Technology
• 4 GB of DDR3 1066MHz DRAM (2 GB x 2 slots)
• Intel Wireless 802.11 b/g/n + WiDi
• 500 GB Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
• Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) Operating System (which I upgraded to Pro)
• 13.3-Inch HD (1366×768) LED Display
• HDMI Port
• USB 3.0 port
• Bluetooth
• 8 cell 5600 mAh battery

The one thing it doesn’t have that I realized just now is that the computer doesn’t have an optical drive. I didn’t know that before. I guess I assumed that all computers except for netbooks have them. It’s not really a big deal though.Since my laptop kind of died on me earlier, there weren’t many things I could do to solve the problem. I pretty much only had three options: get my laptop repaired, buy/borrow a monitor for the duration of my stay, or buy a new laptop.

Repairing my laptop was definitely the first thing I tried. I researched on how to fix it, but I couldn’t even get the screws out to even peek at the insides. Right now, I still think that the problem inside the computer is just a loose connection. Unfortunately, I can’t confirm that. I could let Dell fix the computer, but my warranty expired a long time ago. I also bought the computer from Canada and would have to go through lots of red tape just to get it repaired by Dell Europe.

The next thing I tried was to find someone who had an extra monitor I could borrow. Since all my friends in Germany are all interns or thesis students, they all had only a laptop and not an extra display. Although, I did manage to borrow one for like a week until I had to return it. I could have bought a new monitor, but then it would have been really been difficult to bring home a 20 something inch screen (if I’m buying a monitor to keep then I wouldn’t buy anything smaller). I didn’t feel like buying a cheap one and just leaving it behind when I leave Germany either.

In the end, I ended up buying a new laptop (with much financial assistance from my parents). I figure my old laptop is getting old anyways (2007), and for the past year and a half it had been failing to keep up with my intense computer usage habits. When I return to Vancouver, I’ll get this laptop repaired and then my parents could use it (or my brother if he decides that he needs to bring a laptop somewhere).

Virus & Spyware Removal

Best Buy: Apparently they charge a whopping $249 for in home or in office service and $189 for online service or in store support.  This package includes:

Looking at each of these items are the list, these are all things that people could do themselves for free if people took the time to learn.  Some of these tasks take only a few minutes to do.  For example, malware removal just takes a few clicks on the antivirus and the rest is just waiting for results.  Updating the system just requires getting Windows Update to look for them.  Actually, Windows will even tell you that you need to update.  It is just that a lot of people ignore it or disable automatic updates.  Backing up the files on the computer only requires moving files from the computer to an external storage device with a simple drag and drop.  The time consuming part isn’t moving the files, but is actually thinking of what files need to be backed up.  Geek Squad can’t help with that.  Anybody that knows how to use a computer should be able to do that.  And if people don’t have access to external storage, their friends most likely do.

The rest of these services provide little detail about the extent of their service.  Formatting the computer solves most software issues, but a fix like that is quite brute force and not extensive at all.  On the other hand, an extensive fix means determining which piece of hardware or software is responsible for the problem.  Say that the client gets a blue screen or that Explorer is crashing repeatedly.  Solving this problem requires knowing what people do on the computer.  But the problem is that some people are not even aware of what they did (whether directly or indirectly) to cause the computer to behave a certain way.  These computer problems make formatting an attractive repair option.  Again, this fix takes only a few clicks, and the rest is just letting the computer do what those clicks told it to do.

A few minutes worth of work to save over a hundred dollars.  Even if someone is new to computers, a quick Google search will show solutions to these problems catered to beginners.  Sounds like a bargain to me.

Security and Performance

Here are more crazy computer repairs/maintenance services that Best Buy offers.  A little more reasonable this time.

Yet again, Best Buy charges people for easy fixes (see the first nine included services on the list).  They are all quick things that people can do on the computer if they put the time in (see pseudo-rant in the previous section).  One thing here that people that I can see people would pay for is physically setting up the computer, but people should not have to.  It is really not that hard.  In grade 3, my mother set up the computer all by herself, and she had never touched a computer in her life before.  It was mostly typewriters back then.  Organizing the wires and cables is an even less daunting task than setting up the computer.  It merely involves taking wires and cables together, wrapping them together and putting them neatly against the wall so it doesn’t look ugly.  Some would say that organizing the wires isn’t even necessary because people don’t even see the mess of wires behind the computer even if it was there.  The next thing on the list seems like a good idea at first, teaching people how to use a computer.  But realistically speaking, people will always forget.  Like many stereotypical middle aged and older people, no matter how many times they are taught to do something on the computer, they will inevitably forget.  The last three things on the list are a joke.  Simply knowing how to read will allow one to complete those tasks.  People do not need to pay so much to get a computer fixed.

Wireless Networking

Here are more things that people pay for at Best Buy.

Three words for people who pay for this.  Read the manual.  Reading the manual for the router not only teaches people how to hook it up, it also tells people how to set up your entire network complete with enabling the router’s security features.  They don’t even have to purchase an upgrade to install an additional device!  The manual explains how.  All that is required, is pretty much plug in the cable in the spot that the manual says and it will work.  Taking thirty minutes to read the manual to connect to the Internet can help save you $169.  Even better deal than switching to Geico for car insurance!

Conclusion

Getting a computer fixed from Best Buy looks like a huge money grab.  Best Buy’s site featured even more computer services that people could purchase, but I didn’t go through it all.  They are all very similar.  They all offer solutions that literally cost people nothing if they took the time to learn.  Aside from the people that are just not very knowledgeable with computers, maybe some people are just lazy and would rather throw money at a problem to make it go away.

Source: http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/category/computers-networking/28857.aspx?path=3aa9e4f25b9e89f41bd934261dff9881en01

The configuration that I used was that I had my computer connected to an XBee USB Explorer via USB.  On the other end was an Arduino Duemilanove powered by six 1.2 V NiMH batteries, and this microcontroller powered the XBee using its 5 V pin.  I compiled and downloaded the program at the bottom of the article to my Arduino and I tested it using the Serial Monitor that comes with the Arduino IDE.

Even though the test program is simple, it shows that a wireless link can be made between the computer and the microcontroller, meaning that the microcontroller can process computer input to do even more crazy things.

Link: http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/tutorials/how-to-diy-128/xbee-basics-3259/

Computer Specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 Processor
2 GB RAM @ 667 Ghz
Intel GM965 Chipset
nVidia GeForce 8600M GT
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g

Installation

I was lucky enough to only need the Retail Snow Leopard Disc (10A432) and the myHack Installer 1.0.1.  I pretty much followed METHOD 2 in this guide (method 1 didn’t really work out for me, but it might have had something to do with the disc restoration part of the guide):

http://prasys.co.cc/2009/08/installing-snow-leopard-for-osx86/

For the myHack installer, check the box for the kext that says something about PS2 in it.  It will enable the laptop touchpad and keyboard.  Also, read the description for each kext to see if you need it or not.

When I used method 1 in the guide, I had some trouble with an installation error that said “Could not verify BaseSystem.pkg” or something along those lines.  That error appeared at about 10-15% installation progress.  It went away then I used method 2.  I did read somewhere that it may have had to do with the restoration in Disk Utility.  Either way, it worked the second time around.

Once SL was installed, I ran the myHack Installer on my drive to get the Chameleon Bootloader on there so I wouldn’t have to use my USB to boot all the time.  Also, be sure not to install GraphicsEnabler as it will prevent your computer from shutting down completely (more on that later).

Graphics

Since my laptop uses an nVidia card, there is an issue that prevents the computer from shutting down completely if the “GraphicsEnabler” option is used in the myHack Installer.  I believe NVInject, NVKush, and NVDarwin all suffer from this same problem.  What happens is that when the shut down command is invoked, the computer’s screen will turn off, the HD will turn off, but the power stays on.  When the nVidia graphics kexts aren’t used, this problem goes away.

I’ve tried generating an EFI String and loading that with EFI Studio, but it didn’t do the job.  The resolution is still 1024×768 and I have no QE, CI or OpenGL support.  What I did later on was install PC EFI to see if that would fix things (I didn’t really know what I was doing here at this point).  That didn’t really work, but I did later find out that EFI Studio allows me to add boot flags.  I added “Graphics Mode”=”1280x800x32” to the boot flag so now it boots with the proper resolution.  It gives the proper resolution, but still no QE/CI or OpenGL.  This guide has information on how to test for QE (Quartz Extreme) and CI (Core Image): http://prasys.co.cc/tag/enable-qeci/

Another thing I tried was to modify my DSDT to get my graphics card working using this link: http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2010/01/advanced-dsdt-fixes-nvidia-graphics.html.  I managed to get the card recognized using the DSDT code, but when I got rid of the graphics kexts, and the boot.plist options as specified in the guide, I lost my graphics acceleration.  I know my DSDT code is working here still since System Profiler tells me what card I have with the exact same names that I gave in the DSDT.  It seems that having graphics acceleration and shutdown/restart working properly just isn’t meant to be.

The tradeoff:

I either could have proper graphics acceleration and no shutdown, OR I could have shut down and no graphics acceleration.  Graphics is the clear winner here, but I still hate having no shutdown.  I have not found a fix for this.

Power Management

There was a problem with high CPU temperatures with the laptop.  I installed the VoodooPowerMini kext located here (http://forum.voodooprojects.org/index.php/topic,1095.0.html)

Audio

After looking for various kexts, I found that VoodooHDA worked for me.  It can be found here (http://www.kexts.com/view/70-voodoohda_(32–_64-bit,_recompiled_by_prasys).html).

Wireless

Works after installation.

USB Ports

They work since it can recognize my mouse and USB drive.

Battery Indicator

I used the VoodooBattery kext located here (http://forum.voodooprojects.org/index.php/topic,1092.0.html)

Card Reader

I don’t use this so I didn’t install the kext for it.  It can be found here: http://www.dailyblogged.com/retail-snow-leopard-installation-guide/ or SD Card Fix (more direct).

Touchpad

I had an issue where I couldn’t tap the touchpad in order for it to “click”.  I fixed this issue by installing the VoodooPS2Controller kext (check the Trackpad option during the installation) (http://forum.voodooprojects.org/index.php/topic,235.0.html).  Then I installed the preference pane (this allows configuring the Trackpad through System Prefs) here http://www.dailyblogged.com/retail-snow-leopard-installation-guide/ (command -f to find it).  I opened System Preferences and pressed the Show All button, and I saw a “Trackpad” option, so I opened it and the option was there.

Webcam

Works after installation.

Conclusion

Everything I listed here works except for video and the card reader.  There are other things like Ethernet, but I don’t really use it.

• Rogers Wireless: [10-digit phone number]@pcs.rogers.com
• Fido: [10-digit phone number]@fido.ca
• Telus: [10-digit phone number]@msg.telus.com
• Bell Mobility: [10-digit phone number]@txt.bell.ca
• Kudo Mobile: [10-digit phone number]@msg.koodomobile.com
• MTS: [10-digit phone number]@text.mtsmobility.com
• President’s Choice: [10-digit phone number]@txt.bell.ca
• Sasktel: [10-digit phone number]@sms.sasktel.com
• Solo: [10-digit phone number]@txt.bell.ca
• Virgin: [10-digit phone number]@vmobile.ca

http://smartcanucks.ca/how-to-send-free-text-messages-to-rogers-fido-telus-bell-virgin-cell-phones-canada/

Once I fix it, I can use it as a file sharing, remote desktop, and print server.  More importantly, I can delegate high memory tasks that don’t require my constant attention.  I can even play Warcraft on it.  One problem though is that I won’t be able to get Internet on that computer unless I move it downstairs or use a bridged connection.  If I move it downstairs, I can’t play Warcraft, and if I use a bridged connection, I can’t get Internet computer if I’m not home.  Maybe I can get a wireless stick.  I don’t know how good network transfers are going to be on that though.  I must do research.