taken a break to reinstall winblows...

well there you have it, I've managed to screw up another perfectly fine XP install, and like the bone headed fool I am i wiped clean the system partition (not the project partition, OggCConv is safe, without checking any hardware versions or anything! well that sux but can I bring my Compaq 2100 laptop back from the dead without begging Compaq for help? the answer is yes and since there is literally NO information on putting windows 2000 on this machine available on the web i thought I'd write a little tutorial here.

First thing's first, make sure you have drivers for Ethernet, and a good install media available. It helps to have SP4 and the security roll up on cd too before you start but dont say I didn't warn you if you decide to do these with the web based install, I haven't tried it... just not my style. NOW first off getting some key info... I had to download Everest home edition and profile the system to find out most of this stuff but here's the specs for key hardware drivers not available on the Compaq web site.

MY specific model is 2108us.... *(atholon)*

Ethernet: National Semiconductor DP83815 10/100 Fast Ethernet Controller
Sound: Uli/Ali M5451 AC-Link Controller Audio Device
Modem: Uli/Ali M5457 AC'97 Modem Controller (shows up as a pci device under device manager)

I was able to Google all of these drivers, I posted them all along with 7zip and the Everest Home Edition tool (freeware downloaded off of Major Geeks). See the bottom of this post.

EVERYTHING ELSE is available on the Compaq web site, I just downloaded the display drivers and the Intel power management stuff.

Install Win2k, basic settings, reconfigure to taste and then install SP4 and the roll up (if that's your style, there are some hard core SP3 users out there, I don't know if this guide will run as smoothly though I haven't tested it.) After all of that is done install the drivers i've uploaded and you should be good and well on your way to installing AVG, Adaware and Spybot SD... or whatever else you install next on a fresh install. Hope all this helps; here's the link to the files:

2108US - Win2K Drivers & Utilities.zip

2108US - Win2K Drivers & Utilities.7z

OGGCConv 1.02 Released!

Another release for OGGCConv, this version suports some error detection, and better handling of time stamp conversion by rounding seconds if ms is > 500... neat stuff, if you don't want that for your files continue to use 1.01... command line flags not supported yet but soon.

OggCConv1.02.zip
OggCConv1.02.7z

Pull them off of snap drive as usual, still no word on sourceforge project page... still being reviewed.

OggCConv

Well i've been saying it for years and now I've finally done it. I tied myself down to an open source project. I wrote a little app that converts OGG style Chapter files to DivxMediaBuilder format. Useful if your app you are working with doesn't generate DivxMediaBuilder Files... you can pull it off my snapdrive at http://www.snapdrive.net/files/469964/OggCConv1.01.7z or http://www.snapdrive.net/files/469964/OggCConv1.01.zip

worth a look right? I put in a request for sourceforge this afternoon, hopefully my application gets approved.

MyspaceIM in a sane environment?

My space, the Juggernaut were everybody who's anybody gathers to network... perhaps but there are many; myself included trying out alternatives to this online lifestyle, using services such as Google, face book, and (dare I say it) yahoo. This works out most of the time but what if there's people in your ring of friends that aren't willing to cut the proverbial cord and go with a more open networking solution? For now you have to install myspaceIM to keep in touch with those im buddies who still cling to the add bloated service. But there's hope for all of us (well at least a glimmer) surf on over to the summer of code and check out this application! http://code.google.com/soc/gaim/appinfo.html?csaid=4B00CA67C908BCE3 some programmers are working on a way to reverse engineer the social network juggernauts IM protocol and create a plug in for the well known IM client Pidgin (formally known as gaim) some really neet stuff.
Anywhoo... real life beacons

PS: theres also a link to the Pidgin Wiki here: http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/MySpaceIM

MKV... Pocket PC.... ETC...

OK so it's a crappy title for this blog but there's not much here, but here goes. I am playing around with the IPAQ and I've decided to write a set of notes on how to make MKV files for TCPMP. I Tried several software's for doing this automatically and finally decided the best way to do it (like anything) is manually. I should have a new post for everybody put up here for later till then were running around getting ready for Thursday (the big due date). Cheers everybody!

Dave

A quick one then I Gotta go...

Just a small update, everybodys fine here at the collins ranch. No baby yet; mary go's to the doctor today to see if we can go early for a C-Section. We're playing around with our pocket PC's i hope to have some fun stuff (with pictures hopefully) to post next time. I'm sorry for not being as diligent with this blog as the rest of you would like. BUT im so glad to not be tied to MySpace any more. Cheers all, i gotta get to work.

PS GOOGLE ROCKS!!!

Day 1 ... a new blog a new rant and fun with Vista

OK here we go i installed vista last night, thinking mary's not using this licence .... well that's were the fun began. I started by popping in the vista cd and clicking fresh install... a few moment's later realized EVERYTHING they taught me in systems class about not putting NTFS on the partition i want to put the OS on (cause you might wanna boot into dos and fix something...) yeah that was wrong..... SOOOOO i start by booting up my computer with the Vista CD and putting in my serial number .... this is an upgrade please run from OS you are upgrading.... SUCK... OK well; next comes the fun part i boot my computer up with win2k install disk (i can't use XP cause my disk is bricked and that was the whole reason for the Vista adventure in the first place) repartition and install win2k... by now its 11pm and i don't even have vista on the computer yet. So after playing though a goodly portion of Wild Arms on the PSX and waiting for the fairly minimalist install to work.... i reboot and then i get nothing! Win2k turns out trashing my partition table... and boom Dave's booting Linux Ubentu now to blank the whole 160 gig disk and start over.... 12:30 win2k install gets to the second stage, I'm setting time zones and installing SP4 (yeah cause the vista installer wont work without SP4).... 1:15 am i kick off the install enter my serial number and walla we have lift off... all 15 gigs of vista are floating off the DVD and on to their new home on my Maxtor.... Wild Arms you are my only friend... 2:00 am vista finishes installing and is testing performance of my computer... i dive into bed but am two wired to go to sleep so end up getting back up and watching the last 45 minutes of watter boy. perusing through the welcome center i come across an activation link with a *you have 3 days to activate* link... so i click it (Mary's not using this licence remember?) .... BOOM this copy of Vista has been activated; SUCK again ... well quickly hop over to Microsoft's web site to see how much a licence for home premium upgrade costs ... $129.99 weee... Mary just spent that to buy her copy and cause she used it for 2 weeks looks like were spending it again. :( REALLY frustrated and tired i install the catalyst drivers for the x1300 and go to bed. *4:00am* ... OK so Mary's 7.5 mo's snoring ... something that usually doesn't happen so i end up out on the couch that is dumpster bound once we move ... ANYWAY i get about 3 hours sleep and Ben wakes up and wants to play... Mary wants me to go to the bank etc... long story short Ben and I get to spend the morning together! yeah! I end up out at comp USA ... apparently everybody but me knows they are closing ... they have the memory upgrade i need to get Dirge up to 1Gig ... yeah so what I'm a cheep skate, and Vista Upgrade at close out prices ... i ended up spending around 150 bucks total for the memory and Vista... not to bad... Ben and i spend the rest of the morning bumming around and i make loud funny noises at him while we drive down the road. I get home and take a nap for about 3 hours... end up at my mother in laws for dinner (pizza NICE) and then home around 6/7 for Ben's bed time... all and all a productive day ... can't wait to see if the extra 512 makes a difference hopefully tomorrow i will actually get to play LC we shall see. Latter all.