Why upgrade MacBook’s RAM?

The main reason to upgrade is that  4GB RAM is not enough on a MacBook Pro if you run a virtual machine with Windows and want to do an RAM intensive work with your Mac. With a total of 8GB RAM, the MacBook Pro runs very smooth, even when running a virtual machine with 1.5GB RAM allocated to Windows 7.

I upgraded my MacBook Pro (early 2011) RAM from 4GB with 2 new CORSAIR 4GB modules, so a total of 8GB  of RAM. I recommend you upgrade your MacBook to 8GB of RAM to enjoy a lot smoother Mac!

The built-in RAM modules from Apple’s MacBook Pro were 2 HYNIX 2GB modules so a total of 4GB RAM.

WARNING: The tests and procedures in this article are for informative purposes only. Gibni.com and its authors take absolutely no responsibility for the damages, errors and troubles you may cause to your devices. Use at your own risk.

RAM issue or not?

Until now, it happened 3 times:

While using my Mac, the screen froze and horizontal lines appeared on the screen. The only way out is to “hard shutdown” the mac by holding down the power button for 7 seconds. From my IT experience, this relates some times to the Graphical Procession Unit (GPU) and some times to the RAM. So either the Graphics card is buggy or the new CORSAIR RAM modules.

Solving : Mac freeze, horizontal lines…

RAM stress test for Mac:

To test the RAM on the Mac, you should run some stress tests to find if any errors lay in the RAM. Sometimes the RAM behaves good in normal conditions but may throw errors on heavy computation. It is recommended to stress the RAM specially if it is new. One of the best tools is MemTest.

Here’s how to use MemTest on Mac:

( I recommend using MemTest on Single User mode to be able to test more memory as in Single User mode the system occupies very few RAM.)

1. Restart your Mac and hold “Command + S” to go in Single User mode,
2. A black screen appears with lots of text and after a few moments you will get a prompt,
3. Type in : memtest all 4
4. Wait about 1 hour! Remove the 3 to make it just about 20 minutes, but less reliable…
5. If everything gets passed, your RAM is probably OK
6. Else, proceed:
7. The first thing to do is to put back the own Apple’s RAM and run the stress tests again to see if the issue happens or not.

If the new CORSAIR RAM modules are having errors, I should find out which one is messy. I put only one CORSAIR 4GB RAM on the Mac, leaving the other RAM slot empty. Once I find which one is damaged, I will send it back to where I bought it from (RueDuCommerce.com), so they can change it for me.

CPU and GPU stress test for Mac:

If the problem is not with the RAM, it is probably with the GPU, or the way the GPU deals with the RAM (as it shares the system’s RAM)

Start your Mac normally, and use “smallLux GPU” (a tool I used and recommend it) to stress the GPU:

1. Download SmallLuxGPU
2. Install and run it
3. On the top left side, in the interactive modes section, Select “Instances 130Mil Scene”
4. Set the resolution to the maximum available,
5. Select GPU + 4 CPU threads
6. Hit “Run Interactive Mode”
7. Wait…

Your Mac will run and run and will heat up. If everything goes fine for about 20 minutes, your GPU is OK, else if you get errors, freeze or horizontal/vertical lines on screen, there is an issue either with your GPU or the way it handles its memory.

If your GPU passes the tests above, BUT you still have freeze/horizontal or vertical lines issues, then the problem might be software or something very complicated which is not in the scope of this article. You should call an Apple Authorized Repair expert in your area.

In case you have an issue with the GPU, RAM, CPU or any hardware on your Mac, call an Apple specialist as soon as possible. Don’t try to open up you Mac because there is nothing you can do.

Some tools for your Mac:

Mac RAM Stress test:

Memory Tester from diglloydTools

MemTest for Mac

Mac CPU stress test:

Simple Terminal: open up 8 terminal windws and enter (no quotes) ‘yes > /dev/null’

MySQL stress Test on Mac

Stress CPU from Folding@Home

CPU / GPU stress test:

SmallLuxGPU

CPU, RAM, Hard drive,… Temperature Monitor for Mac:

TemperatureMonitor

Fan speed Control for Mac:

smcFanControl

Garmin Inc. a des produits GPS très interessantes et complètes. Garmin Mobile XT est une logiciel créé pour les téléphones mobiles et les surtout les smartphones.

Normalement, vous devez acheter une module GPS Garmin, et les logiciels et produits Garmin tourneront dessus.

Sur HTC HD2, vous pouvez installer le gps garmin pour mobile, nomé Garmin Mobile XT et utiliser le module GPS interne à votre smartphone.

PREMIERE ETAPE: Tout dabord, il faut obtenir la bonne version de  gps garmin pour mobile; Garmin Mobile XT;  pour votre téléphone. Dans le cas de HTC HD2, vous aurez besoin de la version Windows Mobile. Visitez le site Garmin Mobile XT et téléchargez la version pour votre téléphone.

Une fois que vous avez telecharger les fichiers d’installation de Garmin Mobile XT, connectez votre telephone en mode “Transfer de donnée” ou “Disque de stockage”, et puis executez le fihcier d’installation. Le program d’installation vous demandera l’emplacement où vous voulez installer Garmin Mobile XT? Choisissez le bon disque (votre téléphone, ou ça carte memoire) et cliquez sur ”Install”.

ETAPE 2: Telechargez les fichiers de support (Support Files) depuis le bas de la même page du site de Garmin et installez les de la même façon que la premier etape sur votre téléphone.

Etape 3: GObtenez la carte dont vous avez besoin, et copiez-le sur la carte memoire de votre téléphone, dans le dossier “Garmin”.

Dans les pages suivantes, on verra comment activer l’utilisation du module GPS interne de votre mobile dans le logiciel GPS de Garmin pour mobile, Garmin Mobile XT…

]]> http://www.gibni.com/garmin-gps-mobile-xt-sur-htc-hd2-windows-mobile/feed 1 http://www.gibni.com/wordpress-custom-fields-not-working-not-getting-updated http://www.gibni.com/wordpress-custom-fields-not-working-not-getting-updated#comments Mon, 08 Nov 2010 19:56:19 +0000 Gi http://www.gibni.com/?p=1778 Continue reading →

]]> Time solves your problems

I’ve had a problem with WordPress last 3 months, and at last, I found the solution. Here is the story:

WordPress Custom Fields

WordPress posts have meta data (Custom Fields) where additional information on the post are stored. For example the featured image, number of views, comments count, keywords, SEO description and so on…

When posting new posts, the Custom fields where not getting stored on WordPress, so basically nothing was “tracked” and optimized. I looked everywhere on forums and internet resources for a solution to this issue, no luck!

Today I was rechecking Gibni’s data base and in the “post_meta” table, I found that “meta_id” was not set to “auto_increment”. You can see this in the “extras” column in phpMyAdmin while you see the “post_meta” table’s structure. Once setting this parameter to the “auto_increment” value, everything got back in order.

Problem Solved!

Now all the “custom fields” get stored and updated as they should. If you have the same issue, check your database!

In Firefox, as well as other browsers, the bookmarks toolbar is very handy and useful when you use bookmarking in your browsers! A drawback of the bookmarks toolbar is that by default, it’s very limited in size and style. In Firefox, the bookmarks toolbar is very much customizable.

The issue arises when you’ve got plenty of bookmarks on your bookmarks toolbar and the toolbar gets filled! Well, you get a small arrow to click-on to view remaining bookmarks, which is basically inconvenient!

First solution is to reduce the bookmarks’ names manually by editing them one by one and using smaller names. For example, instead of “Gibni”, putting simply “G” as your bookmark’s name.

Second solution is to remove the text and make it available on mouse over. This is accomplished with a simple add-on called Smart Bookmarks Bar, but what if we don’t want more install more add-ons on Firefox and keep it light?! I’ll come to this later…

Third solution is to use the Multirow Bookmarks Toolbar add-on for firefox, which splits your bookmarks toolbar into multiple rows, making all of them visible. But now we have two issues, firstly, we are adding and add-on, and secondly we’re loosing page view area, i.e. the firefox’s header becomes bigger! Like the screenshot below:

Fourth solution: Use both Multirow Bookmarks Toolbar add-on and Smart Bookmarks Bar add-on together and keep the toolbar to the minimum size possible. But big issue here, we are adding TWO add-ons!

Fifth solution is to add the Bookmark Autohider add-on which will hide the Bookmarks toolbar and show it on mouse over. Using this great add-on with our two previous ones, the results are great, but we’ve got THREE add-ons here!

Now comes MY solution to this:

Use userChrome.css to customize the Bookmarks Toolbar in Firefox

I’ve gathered techniques used in the three great add-ons mentioned above to make my own userChrome.css and have an “Auto-hide, Favicons only, Multirow Bookmarks Toolbar” for Firefox!

You can download my userChrome.css file from the Downloads Page.

Here’s a snippet of userChrome.css:

/* Pop-up bookmarks toolbar*/
#navigator-toolbox:hover > #PersonalToolbar{
visibility: visible !important;
}

#PersonalToolbar{
visibility: collapse !important;
}

/* FF36 OK Show Only Bookmars Icons in Bookmarks Toolbar
and show text on mouse over */
/* Folder Names Hiding */
#bookmarks-ptf toolbarbutton.bookmark-item[container="true"] .toolbarbutton-text,
#personal-bookmarks toolbarbutton.bookmark-item[container="true"] .toolbarbutton-text,
#personal-bookmarks toolbarbutton.bookmark-item[container="true"] .toolbarbutton-text-shadow{
display: none !important; /*Set "none" to "block" to display Folder Names. */
}
/* Names Hiding */
#bookmarks-ptf toolbarbutton.bookmark-item .toolbarbutton-text,
#personal-bookmarks toolbarbutton.bookmark-item .toolbarbutton-text,
#personal-bookmarks toolbarbutton.bookmark-item .toolbarbutton-text-shadow {
display: none !important;
}

/* Text display */
#bookmarks-ptf toolbarbutton.bookmark-item:hover .toolbarbutton-text,
#bookmarks-ptf toolbarbutton.bookmark-item[image]:not([image=""]):not([container="true"]):hover .toolbarbutton-text,
#bookmarks-ptf toolbarbutton.bookmark-item[container="true"]:hover .toolbarbutton-text,
#bookmarks-ptf toolbarbutton.bookmark-item[image=""]:not([container="true"]):hover .toolbarbutton-text,
#personal-bookmarks toolbarbutton.bookmark-item:hover .toolbarbutton-text,
#personal-bookmarks toolbarbutton.bookmark-item[image]:not([image=""]):not([container="true"]):hover .toolbarbutton-text,
#personal-bookmarks toolbarbutton.bookmark-item[container="true"]:hover .toolbarbutton-text,
#personal-bookmarks toolbarbutton.bookmark-item:not([image]):not([container="true"]):hover .toolbarbutton-text,
#personal-bookmarks toolbarbutton.bookmark-item:hover .toolbarbutton-text-shadow,
#personal-bookmarks toolbarbutton.bookmark-item[image]:not([image=""]):not([container="true"]):hover .toolbarbutton-text-shadow,
#personal-bookmarks toolbarbutton.bookmark-item[container="true"]:hover .toolbarbutton-text-shadow,
#personal-bookmarks toolbarbutton.bookmark-item:not([image]):not([container="true"]):hover .toolbarbutton-text-shadow {
display: block !important;
}
/*Items Spacing*/
#bookmarks-ptf toolbarbutton.bookmark-item,
#personal-bookmarks toolbarbutton.bookmark-item {
padding-left: 1px !important;
padding-right: 1px !important;
}

/* FF 36 OK Bookmarks toolbar color */
#personal-bookmarks {
/* RGBa with 0.6 opacity */
background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);
}

/* FF 36 OK Multirow Bookmarks Toolbar. */
#personal-bookmarks{
display:block;

}

/*Download userChrome.css from http://www.gibni.com/downloads */

You need to place it in your Firefox’s profile folder > chrome folder.

You can customize some options in the userChrome.css file if you need, stuff is easy to understand, and well commented.

A small issue here is the mouse over auto-show is too sensitive and I had to make the Tabs strip a bit taller by increasing its height.

All suggestions and tweaks are welcome!

There’s a great plugin for the WordPress platform, called SEO Super Comments, which creates a single “virtual” page for each comment on your site. It increases the number of pages you have on the site, and improves your SEO a lot. Read more on SEO Super Comments on the authors page: SEO Super Comments by Vladimir Prelovac .

“The concept relies around optimizing the target page using title and H1 tag using the context of the comment. So basically we will take the excerpt of the comment and use it to create the page title and H1 tag and in the body we will hold the content of the comment…” says Vladimir.

Download modded Google XML Sitemap Generator 3.2.3

I created a modded version of XML Sitemap Generator 3.2.3 to work with SEO Super Comments which puts all your comments pages in the sitemap, and once submitted to Google, you should see a huge raise in your traffic.

Installation

To install, you should replace the downloaded sitemap-ui.php and sitemap-core.php in your Google XML Sitemap Generator Plugin’s directory and overwrite the original files. I would recommend you back up your original files.

Once installed, Go to your administration panel, and to the XML Sitemap Generator settings, and check the ‘Include Comment Pages’ option, click ‘Update Options’ at the bottom, and “Rebuild Your Sitemap”

I personnaly recommend this plugin and would thank the developper for it.

Please send your comments and queries here if you have any issues regarding my modded version of Google XML Sitemap Generator for WordPress.

Donate

Please go to the Donations Page  and contribute to the developpment of more updated plugins if this modded version helped you increasing your traffic.

The first goal of the PrestaShop Revolution, is to use the latest JS librairies, as latest jQuery, and its plugins. Here is the place for everyone interested to share their knowledge, and work toward making PrestaShop a better e-commerce solution.

To be more efficient, I beleive that loaded JS and CSS files should all be defined in template files, and not main PrestaShop PHPs; e.g. the JS files for the Product Page, which are defined in /prestashop/product.php rather than prestashop/themes/mytheme/product.php

For longtime I’ve been a WordPress developper and I beleive that the success of WordPress not only relies on its community, but also on its way of handling themes and interfaces.

 Basically, Smarty – the templating framework used for PrestaShop – is complex and difficult to understand, so why making it more unreliable by using unclean and unhealthy coding?

I’m actually working on integrating latest jQuery 1.4.2 on PrestaShop and updating latest jQuery Plugins, and most important, I moved JS librairies to theme’s folder, rather than PrestaShop’s JS directory.

I invite everyone interested in this project to share their work, knowledge, experiences and ideas here, and on a dedicated forum in PrestaShop Forums called PrestaShop Revolution.

iPad Advantages?

iPad seems to be the next best thing after iPhone, but compared to iPhone,

• it’s got a bigger screen,
• great touch-screen technology,
• faster processor,
• more storage space,
• ambient light sensor,
• and few little details…
• Cool design,
• iPad Applications
• Classy,
• …

But as far as it goes with the details on Apple, there aren’t many advantages to iPad.

iPad, a laptop or a HUGE iPhone?

iPad is definitely not a laptop and neither a netbook, it’s 9.7 inches big screen, it gets close to 10 inches netbooks but the fact that it does not have a great storage space, nor a built-in webcam, nor a USB support moves the iPad far from the competition of all-in-one computers!

To me, iPad is just a HUGE iPhone!

iPad Disadvantages?

• You can’t extend the memory!
• You can’t connect any devices to it, apart from a computer (or a headset/music stand),
• It doesn’t have a webcam,
• Limited language support,
• Not Universal data connection cable (Apple exclusive, not an issue if you got an iPhone already)

What now?

So, after all this, the question is, why should I buy an iPad? What are the best purposes of the iPad? Can iPad replace my iPhone? Can iPad replace my laptop?

What to use iPad for?

• iPad is best for:
• Reading books,
• Being your calendar,
• Be your small TV,
• Watch movies on it,
• Photo screen,
• Basic game console.

Now, if you get one (or already got) everyone reading this would be happy if you share your ideas and points of view. My last question before ending this post is:

“What problem iPad solves in your life?”

Il y a quelque jours, j’ai reçu un ordinateur portable Gericom Overdose 1360e pour maintenance, mis à jour et réparation. Première étape consistait a augmenter la RAM, donc j’ai remplacer la RAM par une barrette de 1Go DDR Sodimm. L’entretien du Windows a été un peu long, car après l’installation de Service Pack 3 sur Windows XP Édition Familiale, il a fallut Défragmenter le disque dure…

FAULT IN NON PAGED AREA

Un erreur rencontré, était par rapport a la mémoire virtuelle. L’erreur a apparue sur un écran bleu. La solution est de vérifier l’état du fichier PAGEFILE.SYS . Il faut que la taille du fichier PAGEFILE.SYS , soit au moins 1.5 fois la RAM installée. Ceci est a définir dans:

Panneau de Configuration > Système > Avancé > Performances > Paramètres > Avancé > Modifier

Une fois dans la fenêtre “Mémoire Virtuelle”, choisissez le disque principale de votre système, et choisissez l’option “Taille gérée par le système”.

Autre manipulation importante a effectuer est d’effacer le fichier PAGEFILE.SYS . Ceci entraîne l’utilisation de l’éditeur de registre. Exécutez la commande “regedit” dans l’outil d’exécuter ou dans l’invite de commande.

Une fois dans l’éditeur de registre, naviguez au clé:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

et changez la valeur de la clé “ClearPageFileAtShutdown” de 0 à 1.

Puis ARRETEZ votre ordinateur. (Boutton Démarrer > Arrêter l’ordinateur > Arrêter )

Maintenant votre PAGEFILE.SYS a été effacé, donc remmettez la valeur de la clé du registre à 0 pour accélérer l’arrêt de votre système.

Si le problème persiste, vérifiez le disque dur, en effectuant une défragmentation avec UltraDefrag, et ensuite vérifiez vos barrettes de RAM, car ceci peut provenir des problème hardware. Pour les anciens, veuillez passer de FAT à NTFS pour le format de votre disque dur. Probablement la réinstallation de Windows pourrait résoudre le problème, si ceci provient des conflits logiciel.

Pilotes Gericom Overdose 1360

D’après beaucoup de recherche, et après avoir contacter le service client de Gericom Allemagne, les pilotes du Gericome Overdose 1360 sont disponible pour téléchargement sur le site de téléchargement de Gericom sous le nom de G557. Voici les liens:

• Pilotes Graphique pour Gericom Overdose 1360
• Pilotes Touchpad pour Gericom Overdose 1360
• Pilotes LAN pour Gericom Overdose 1360
• Pilotes Son pour Gericome Overdose 1360
• Pilotes Wifi pour Gericome Overdose 1360 (Ou sur site du constructeur de la carte wifi RalinkTech: cherchez (RT2500) )
• Pilotes Modem pour Gericom Overdose 1360
• Tout les Téléchargements
  

BIOS Gericome Overdose 1360

Mettre à jour un BIOS (surtout sur un ordinateur portable) est très risqué. Donc vous serrez entierement responsable des conséquences.

Vous pouvez utiliser la mise a jour du BIOS pour le G557 (d’après le service client de GERICOM Allmagne) voici le lien de téléchargement:

http://download.gericom.com/NOTEBOOK/Overdose-Serie/Bios_G557/

Lisez le fichier AFUWIN.txt pour plus d’information.

Meilleur conseil que je pourrais vous donner, c’est d’acheter un nouveau ordinateur portable avec les configuration récentes du marché..

Windows 7 is the latest Microsoft’s operating system. It’s something made out of Windows XP and Windows Vista. I found it a stable system and the visual effects are pretty cool. Something I do not really appreciate is the User Account Control which pops up everytime you make a system related operation. I disabled the UAC at the first startup.

Windows 7 was released first to computer manufacturers and leaked on the internet. Today, a retail version is available to everyone.

There are a lot of articles on the internet written about the features of Windows 7, its advantages and disadvantages. Lots of webhsites provide information on how to download and/or activate Windows 7. I would strongly recommend you buy a genuine version of Microsoft Windows 7, so you get all the benefits and avoid all problems. (Do not make/use illegal copies)

Windows 7 not booting?

Here in this article, I’m going to discuss a special case of error in which Microsoft Windows 7 does not boot. This specific case happens when you alter the hard disk’s Master Boot Record (MBR). This might usually happen if you tried to use an activator to activate Microsoft Windows 7 (which is an illegal procedure).

There is a simple way to fix this issue. What you need to do is to fix the boot record. This is done using the Windows 7 installation disk.

“Repair Windows 7″ steps:

1. Set your computer to boot up from the DVD (using BIOS setup, or pressing a specific key on the keyboard while your PC is getting on which lets you choose what to boot from.)
2. Have the DVD inserted when booting the computer,
3. Press any key to start from the DVD once prompted,
4. Wait few moments,
5. Choose language, keyboard layout and click next,
6. Wait few seconds,
7. Click on the “Repair your computer” link on the bottom of the appearing window,
8. It scans for installed operating systems, and tries to fix it if possible, so wait a few seconds,
9. Then (if unsuccessful), click finish,
10. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click on “Command Prompt”,
11. Locate your Windows drive by navigating the hard drive(s), let’s suppose your Windows is installed in “E:”
12. Type in these commands (and press ENTER after each command) :

    
    
    Bootsect /nt60 E: /force /mbr
    
    Bootrec /FixMbr
    
    Bootrec /FixBoot
    
    Bootrec /RebuildBcd
     

    
    

    (More info on BootRec http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392)

13. Remove the DVD and restart your computer.

Your Microsoft Windows should be alive again now!

Ref:

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/showpost.php?p=138888&postcount=1228

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392/

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/showthread.php?p=87550#post87550

Just now, I got a $30 web hosting coupon from the best web hosting site !

If you doubt buying a web hosting plan, this could help you make the right decision. Here’s a ThinkHost coupon, giving you $30 off your bill! So no more hesitation please!

ThinkHost Coupon Code: oak_ah98 

Why choose ThinkHost?

1. It’s a “perfect” host,
2. It runs on renewable energy (wind and solar)
3. Gives you 100% uptime guarantee
4. Gives LOTS of unlimiteds ( Space, Bandwidth, Websites, Databases…)
5. AND FREE SITE BUILDER FOR BEGINNERS
6. It’s not expensive at all, and also becomes very cheap after the coupon code!
7. And above all, just because I recommend it!