Laptop and Netbook: HD on chip?

There's a big push as well as demand for high definition capable hardware. The simple reason being that once you've seen HD done right then there's really no point going back to standard definition (SD).

Most places are now offering HD versions of movies and even video game trailers are usually transmitted in this format to provide users an actual feel of how it would render on the actual console.

My journey to build an HD record and playing rig (PVR) was fraught with a lot of frustration recently and that was because I simply refused to cannibalize my stock pile of parts and use the best of the best and purchasing expensive hardware was not an option. The reality of course is that high definition viewing requires computing power not just from the CPU but also on the GPU.

Video cards that support h.264/x264 aren't cheap but prices are falling. For laptops and netbooks however we're all stuck in the waiting room. That is, until recently.

Broadcom's Cyrystal HD running on chip as BMC70015 is one of the top contenders. Already there's been some scramble to get products out since May and adding to your long term view pleasure only costs $30 on top for the add-on video accelerator.

The other chip in the market is from Quartics via the QV1721. This is secret sauce since I first got wind of it only a few months ago and wondered which product would carry it. The estimated add-on price would be $20 accordingly. On another note, they also offer the QB7xx (51/61/71) which are PCI-Express (PCI-e) solutions for the rest of you PC users.

ZiiLABS is promoting its ZMS-08 chip with competing Blu-Ray capabilities. This Creative subsidiary will be going against some giants so it'll be tough unless they can provide a competitive price. I haven't been able to find a vendor they've already tapped but shipping volume is expected also in the first month of next year.

The other news in town would be the nVidia ION 2 chip which was said to cost from $50 to have. If you were luck enough to pre-order back in September then you'll probably be getting a $399 notebook come January 2010 (yes, chip released in Q4 2009 but product integration and all is something else).

Personally by just looking at specs I was more wow'ed by chip capabilities of Quartics. That being said, the first vendor that comes out with it is going to be high on my shopping list .... for 2010. Take a look at my other projects on the blog and there shouldn't be any questions what for :-)

HP MediaServer EX470: HP Software Update 1.3-R and Home Server Power Pack 3

Its been a hectic few days, what with all the meetings and reporter interviews. Not to mention system maintenance and all that.

On the side though, its time to break out in song: At Last

At last my love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song ...

My HP MediaServer EX475 is once again alive and kicking and rid of that pesky lit RED LED. This same issue with the light was actually fixed some time after PP1 but it never dawned on me that somehow through some freak mishap the automatic installation of PP3 just recently actually rolled the server updates back.

How? I'm not so sure.

What is sure is that my membership in the WHS Beta Program still stands and that part of being a member is to be able to get bleeding updates. I dropped the ball and interest after PP2 came out and proof that's what was installed is the existence of the PVConnect plug-in. At the same time my HP Server Update version was 1.3.6.21622 and for some reason today it had rolled back to 1.1.1.13411?

To review, here's the HP MediaSmart Server Software Version list thus far:
1.1.1.13411
1.3.6.21622
1.3.8.25155

I also spent partial half of the whole afternoon trying to understand and reconfigure the internals of Photo Webshare due to the Error 500 page. Imagine the annoyance to find that after the initial update and the succeeding 1.3-R that it now works after all. Argh!

Right, with that being said everything is now working well and it feels a lot more snappy.

To recap .... Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 - check; HP MediaSmart Server Update 1.3.8.25155 (aka 1.3-R) - check; red warning light off - check; Photo Webshare back - check; and as you'll probably notice there's 2GB RAM already installed from a previous upgrade primed for HP Server Update 2.5 - check!

Its time to enjoy the WHS once again, that is as soon as the Drobo finishes its data protection run which it has pegged to keep going for over 24-hours. Its now apparently "usable" though even if the rest of the message says the Share isn't protecting any of my data at this time. Duh?

pfSense: Triple Load Balancing

After several wrong turns, I've finally gotten my rig to place nice with three-(3) WAN connections load balanced.

Everything is running on an old Intel P3-1000 with 1-GB of RAM and 40-GB PATA drive. Obviously its got four-(4) Ethernet ports with parts scrounged from various spare cases in the garage.

How'd I do it? More details on the adventure shortly....

There's a fairly easy Multi-WAN tutorial to follow over at pfSenseDocs which deals with a basic dual-LAN setup. Using the funny discussion at one of the forums gave me confirmation of what I needed to do. Next thing you'll need to do is make sure outbound is likewise working.

Enjoy!

Comcast Business: Speed Test

As a result of needing to do large file transfers, I ordered another line from Comcast on Tuesday. The technician (Josh) was really helpful in providing options where to correctly place the new router -- we ended up drilling a hole through the wall to drop a line into the garage.

Everything started to work 2-modem replacements later since the units he had along were swapped-out versions during the day or whatever was left in the pile before driving out in the morning. Of course, last night I decided that it would be better to keep the systems together and so transferred the modem back into the office.

The new SMC modem is DOCSIS 3 compliant and has 4-ports gigabit speed. That fact became more obvious when the FVS336G speed led lit up green (1000 Mbps) instead of amber (100 Mbps).

In terms of the feature interface, no changes at all apart from the fact that Full Speed 1000 Mbps is now available. Hmm, time to call Comcast Biz and get the other modem router replaced! Why? Well, see the speed test on that one under no load :-/

Ubuntu Tricks: Discover Network Connections

There will be man reasons you may want to get a map of connection points in a network. In my case I'd setup several VM's to use DHCP and wasn't sure which to connect to and work on from off-site. Enter nmap, a security auditing tool that does exactly what we want as just a tiny part of its functions.

First you'll need to have it installed:
$ sudo apt-get install nmap

Next, issue a scan and use a filter to get the relevant info, for example:
$ sudo nmap -sP 192.168.1.0/24 | grep up
Host 192.168.1.1 appears to be up.
Host 192.168.1.100 appears to be up.
Host main (192.168.1.102) appears to be up.
Host main3 (192.168.1.103) appears to be up.
Host 192.168.1.168 appears to be up.
Nmap done: 256 IP addresses (5 hosts up) scanned in 2.548 seconds

In the above example:
192.168.1.1 is a router
192.168.1.168 is another router*
192.168.1.102 is a WinXP machine
192.168.1.103 is this machine

[*] Machines on the other end of .168 aren't shown as they are on a different subnet and we only scanned the 192.168.1.0/24 in this example. Explaining how to scan beyond the initial subnet would be beyond the scope of this tip. Use your favorite search engine for this. Always be extra careful to put a scope when you do a scan as this could be flagged as a precursor to a network attack by many of today's firewalls.

You can actually get a list of details (including MAC addresses, etc) using the '-vv' option. This would be perfect in locking down a network:
$ sudo nmap -vv -sP 192.168.1.0/24

If you're like me and would prefer a nice working GUI then look no further than zenmap. Similarly, download and install via:
$ sudo apt-get install zenmap

Have fun and safe discoveries!

Windows7 - the First BSOD?

Just reported today? Sorry ... not!

This will happen a lot due to legacy drivers. The same issue comes down from the Vista experience of using old network drivers and is documented in a KB.

The actual driver conflict is with Tdx.sys (both 32-bit and 64-bit versions) which was fixed on Vista via SP1.

Its not only Symantec but also Alwil/Avast and SuperAntiSpyware that have support forums talking as early as last January. Keep going through the forums and it affects a whole lot more vendors.

This is not a new issue apart from the recently reported flaw in SRV2.sys which crashes the SMB2 driver: Crenk and Tom's Hardware

Further user experience of SMB2 complicated by outdated drivers causing issues with their security product is documented in the Microsoft forum.

The solution of course is of course to use compatible and updated drivers. This is a step most users skip and are sorry about later: Windows Compatibility Center

Windows UAC vs Linux vs Mac OS X

There have been may articles written recently and surely they have their merits and by no means is this an attempt to discredit.

Simply stated, below are my perceived difference in Windows XP vs Windows Vista vs Windows 7 vs Linux vs Mac OS X on the User Account Control (UAC) issue from the standpoint of one who has them all installed in production use:

1. Pre-XP and Windows XP – unmanaged default installations have administrative (root) privileges, not good as we’ve seen; you can create unprivileged accounts and system changes will require administrator login (with a right-click clue on what account has it);

2. Windows Vista – a total paradigm shift for users and perhaps too aggressive an introduction to UAC causing administrator-level-addicts to make themselves root and/or totally ignore all the prompts; also got released with very minimal device drive support and the rest is history;

3. Linux – by default you had to do a few hoops to become root and in the most recent variants alerts you that your password settings for root and sub-accounts are of what quality; for any system-wide changes you had to enter your root credentials similar to Windows Vista;

4. Mac OS X (Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard) – introduced simple lockdowns similar to unprivileged Windows XP user by default; any system changes will require administrative login (and no unprivileged user clue as to who has it);

5. Windows 7 – released with better driver support and is as forgiving as Windows XP in terms of outdated driver compatibility mode; UAC is set to be less of a nuisance and allows the user to concentrate on getting things done rather than police the system;

All in all, I think the current generations of whatever OS you have is running the same playing field in the UAC user experience. There are some nuances in terms of what system hardening has to be done by the initial user but all of this is by now well documented in every OS start-up guide.

There will be some changes as well in the “when to patch” paradigm and as I’ve said before gone are the days when hold holding off when to patch is considered a precautionary measure given the speed of malware attacks on new systems that do not sit behind some other patch management and/or firewall. Today's patches do not just deliver fixes but also much needed compatibility upgrades.

And yes, perhaps one thing that has made me move (and be confident) to Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit) is that when fixable compatibility issues occur it actually tells me if one is available from Microsoft or whether I should be contacting my device vendor to get a new one made. Nicely done!

Security Tips: Default Passwords

After you purchase a router or modem, the first thing you should do is run the install wizard (most do) and change the default login/passwords. Otherwise, you're likely to get into a situation where some piece of malware can either change your routing from either internal or external.

Here's a growing list of defaults, however, in case you've had to manually reset your gadget and can't figure out where to start fixing.