Logitech Setpoint Software Rant

I have a rant with Logitech’s SetPoint software that I installed to get the extra functions on my Logitech Wave Keyboard.

This software has a feature that protects you by coming up with a screen to detect possible security risks like a keylogger when you are entering a password or credit card number.

The point of the program is to make sure you are safe by entering a key combination of: Ctrl + Alt + F12. If this worked, I would not be complaining. It does not work! I tried everything possible way of hitting those three keys.  What’s worse is that there was no way of getting out of that screen. A force quit or end process/task does not work because it just comes back up.

You are trapped in that screen. You can’t navigate outside the window, it just comes back up and stays on top. I was in the middle of a purchase about to enter my credit card number and I was disallowed from going back to it. I had to restart the computer manually. What’s worse is that it came back up after the restart. I had to complete the purchase on another computer. I found that unacceptable and decided and gave Logitech Support a email. They weren’t really able to figure out why it’s doing that.

I booted up into Safe Mode (Vista x64 Home Premium) and uninstalled it.

Was this only affecting the Windows Vista 64-bit? No. I had the same results on my 32-bit Vista and XP.

I no longer have this problem when logging into Online Banking or buying things with my credit card!

The main features I use on this keyboard are controlled by Windows. (volume, media center, calculator, and music) I am not missing much without the drivers.

Does this happen to others? How did you fix it? Please tell me.

Wordpress for iPhone

Wordpress for iPhone was released today! Infact, I am posting this on my first-generation iPhone upgraded to the 2.0 firmware.

The major quirk I have with this application is that it doesn’t supports landscape mode with the larger keyboard. I’m not used to using the keyboard in portrait mode.

It will encourage me to post more often though. It even supports photos directly from the camera! (attached below)

My Attempt at Hard Drive Data Recovery

There are a few ways to know when a hard drive is failing:

• Loud Clicking Noises
• Bad Sectors
• S.M.A.R.T. Status Failure (not necessarily accurate…)

Unfortunately, I didn’t have any prior warning. My drive refused to mount late last year with me thinking a cable was loose. It was worse. I smelled burning coming from the hard drive. On closer inspection, this is what I saw:

The logic board had fried and I was able to clearly see a burned area.

This is a 250GB Seagate Hard Drive (PDF specs).

Fortunately, I had a backup of about 90% of the files on the drive. There was some work that I had not yet backed up as it hadn’t reached that cycle yet.

I knew my normal methods of getting data off a drive wouldn’t work:

• Taking the drive and shoving it into an enclosure
• Putting it into a spare machine and running SpinRite for days

This was because the drive is not detected in the BIOS during a boot-up. I decided to leave it alone as I thought it was hopeless.

A few months later, I saw a website about drive recovery, I suspected that I could pull the logic board of the drive and not void my warranty.

I managed to find another drive that had the same model number in another computer. I quickly took apart the drive and swapped the logic boards and then put it into my enclosure. It Mounted! I transferred everything I hadn’t backed.

Since it was under warranty, I decided I wanted to RMA it back to Seagate. I formatted the drive using a 7-Pass format to reduce as much possible data recovery as possible. Then, I swapped the defective logic board back in and sent it to Seagate.

A few days later, my new drive arrived! It was a refurbished drive of the same model. Yay!

What I learned:
- Hourly Backups (to another drive)
- Daily Backups to Internet (Apple iDisk)
- Buy Drives in Pairs (spare logic board and backup usage)

What have you had to do for data recovery? I would love to know. Please comment =)

MacBook Heat, Fan Speed, and Noise

I have been a laptop user for a few years. I started off with an IBM Thinkpad R50e, but my current primary laptop is an Apple MacBook.

Heat has always been a concern when I was working with my laptop. Unfortunately, it has become more apparent recently with my 16-month-old MacBook. The fan speed would go up to maximum of 6214RPM (rotations-per-minute) for just going to a few websites, especially when playing flash video.

The temperature, when new, would max at around 65-70℃. It is closer to 85-90℃ now. This would especially happen when I hook up an external monitor to it, which I do often at my desk. This is expected because it is using an Intel Integrated Graphics Card (GMA950). What I am using to measure the temperature is smcFanControl2, a donationware application can adjust the minimum fan-speed as well as monitor the temperature.

Typical Temperature and Fan Speed:

Fortunately, all of these temperatures are within Intel’s Processor Thermal Specifications of 100℃ (MacBook & Thinkpad). Therefore, it shouldn’t damage the CPU. But, I am just not used to having a loud annoying fan running all the time when I’m trying to concentrate on what I’m doing. Maybe that is just how I tend to work and it may not be as annoying to others. Recently, I have been using my Thinkpad a little more often for some Windows work and it is near silent even under load. Remarkably, even if it’s running a second monitor at 1680×1050 resolution.

Specs:

Apple MacBook Late 2006 Edition (Core 2 Duo T7200 - 2.0Ghz)

• Idle: 45-50℃ (4400RPM, set using smcFanControl2)
• Load: 85-91℃ (6200RPM)

IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad R50e (Intel Pentium-M 725 - 1.6Ghz)

• Idle: 35-40℃ (silent; managed through Notebook Hardware Control)
• Load: 70-77℃ (near silent)

If anyone has thoughts on this or similar problems, please leave a comment. I’m exercising my options to see whether I will do some repair work on my MacBook, as it likely has too much thermal paste appied (similar to: Air & Pro).

Welcome!

After years of wishing, dreaming, and laziness, I have finally decided to start up my site again!

I will be featuring my Product Reviews, Tutorials, Projects, and Opinions. The posts will be geared towards projects that I am working on related to my expertise, as listed in the About page.

The area of my expertise includes:

• Hardware/Software Troubleshooting and Repair
• Web Design and Development
• Java Programming
• Apple Mac OS (9 and above)
• Linux
• Windows (95-Vista)
• Electronic Circuitry

I am open to suggestions. What would you like me to do a post about? Leave a comment or contact me.