Creating EFI String for Asus 8400GS Silent

There are a number of ways of getting your graphics card working within OS X (in order of difficulty) : -

• Adding “GraphicsEnabler=Yes” to Chameleon /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist
• Adding EFI string to Chameleon /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist
• Using an injector such as NVInject or NVEnabler
• Patching your DSDT file

The first one didn’t work for my Asus Silent EN8400GS, so here’s how I generated and added an EFI string.

First, install “gfxutil”

Next, get the location of your graphics card by entering the following: -
gfxutil -f display

You should get something back like this: -

DevicePath = PciRoot(0×1)/Pci(0×1,0×0)/Pci(0×0,0×0)

Next, create a file called “graphics.plist” which is the following (but put your settings in): -

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC “-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN” “http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd”>

<plist version=”1.0″>

<dict>

<key>PciRoot(0×1)/Pci(0×1,0×0)/Pci(0×0,0×0)</key>

<dict>

<key>@0,compatible</key>

<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>

<key>@0,device_type</key>

<string>display</string>

<key>@0,name</key>

<string>NVDA,Display-A</string>

<key>@1,compatible</key>

<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>

<key>@1,device_type</key>

<string>display</string>

<key>@1,name</key>

<string>NVDA,Display-B</string>

<key>NVCAP</key>

<data>BAAAAAAAAwAEAAAAAAAABwAAAAA=</data>

<key>NVPM</key>

<data>AQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==</data>

<key>VRAM,totalsize</key>

<string>0×20000000</string>

<key>device_type</key>

<string>NVDA,Parent</string>

<key>model</key>

<string>nVidia Geforce 8400GS</string>

<key>name</key>

<string>display</string>

<key>rom-revision</key>

<string>nVidia Geforce 8400GS OpenGL Engine</string>

</dict>

</dict>

</plist>

Next you need to generate a hex string to be inserted – run the following command: -

gfxutil -i xml -o hex graphics.plist graphics.hex

This will create a “graphics.hex” file in the current directory.

Lastly, copy and paste this string into your /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist file in the following format: -

<key>device-properties</key>
<string>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</string>

Reboot and voila! You should have Quartz Extreme (QI) and Core Image (CI) enabled – open up Front Row, if it works then you’re done!

Sub-£200 Hackintosh

Here are the specs of my soon-to-be-built hackintosh…

Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L iG31 Socket 775 mATX Motherboard
Manuf Code: GA-G31M-ES2L
£ 32.35

Intel Celeron Dual Core CPU – E1500 2.2 GHz (800 MHz) Socket 775 512kb Cache
Manuf Code: BX80557E1500
£ 34.63

Asus 8400GS Silent 512MB DDR2 DVI VGA Out PCI-E Graphics Card
Manuf Code: 8400GSILENTP512MA
£24.86

Crucial 2GB DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 RAM
Manuf Code: CT25664AA800
£ 34.00

Shiny Piano Black/Silver Slim MicroATX Mini Tower Case With 400W PSU
Manuf Code: 908BL
£ 31.05

Netgear GA311 PCI Network Card
Manuf Code: GA311-100PES
£ 16.49

Sony AD-5240S 24x Dual Layer SATA DVD±RW
Manuf Code: AD-5240S-0B
£ 15.30

TOTAL : £ 188.68

Ok, I’ve cheated a little bit – I already had an old 80GB SATA Hard Drive which I will use for this PC, but they can be picked up for around a tenner on ebay…

Installing Torrentflux on the Viglen MPC-L

This is a quick guide to installing Torrentflux on my Viglen MPC-L.

First, make sure that python, mysql-server and mysql-client are installed.

Then simply install the software with apt-get: -

    sudo apt-get install torrentflux

Once it is installed, point your web browser at the following location (where a.b.c.d is the IP address of your Viglen).: -

http://a.b.c.d/torrentflux

…and then start uploading .torrent files to it.

By default, files are saved in the following location: -

    /var/cache/torrentflux/

By default, the ports used are 49160- 49300, so remember to open these on your firewall/router.

Pictures of Hard Drive Swap in Revo

Here are some pictures of swapping the hard drive in my Acer Aspire Revo.

Windows 7 and Samba Shares

This is a quick guide to setting up Samba file sharing on my Viglen MPC-L server which is running Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS. The client is a Windows 7 machine – no changes to the registry or local security policy were needed. The following applies to the version of samba from the repositories –   smbd version 3.0.28a.

1. Install Samba

sudo apt-get install samba smbfs

2. Edit Samba Configuration File

Find the line which is commented out – “;   security=user” and change it to: -

security = user

username map = /etc/samba/smbusers

Find the line “encrypt passwords = no” and change it to “encrypt passwords = true”

Add a section for each share that you want to be available: -

[data]

browseable = yes

comment = Data

path = /data

force user = viglen

force group = users

read only = No

guest ok = Yes

3. Add “smbusers” file

A new file is now needed to map smb users onto local linux users. Create the file: -

sudo vi /etc/samba/smbusers

and add the following to it: -

viglen = "viglen"

4. Change  SMB Password for user

Set a password for the viglen smb user by running the following command: -

sudo smbpasswd viglen

5. Restart Samba

sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart

6. Test Connection from Windows

Open a windows command prompt (Start -> cmd) and enter the following command (with the correct IP address and password)

net use q: \\aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd\data password /user:viglen

You should get a message “The command completed successfully.”, and Q: should be accessible through Windows Explorer etc.

To remove the share, enter the following command: -

net use /d q:

Netgear DGN2000 with o2 LLU Broadband

Here are the settings for if you want to replace the standard o2 Thomson modem/router with the Netgear DGN2000. These should be entered into the web interface.

Setup / Basic Settings

Does Your Internet Connection Require A Login? No
Account Name: Blank
Domain Name: Blank
Internet IP Address: Get Dynamically From ISP (If you have a static IP address, enter it here).
Domain Name Server (DNS) Address: Get Automatically From ISP (I’m actually using the OpenDNS servers, so I have entered 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220)
NAT (Network Address Translation): Enable
Router MAC Address: Use Default Address

Setup / ADSL Settings

Multiplexing Method: LLC-based
VPI: 0
VCI: 101

Routing Issues

Unfortunately, I suffered intermittent routing issues – other users have reported similar issues in this thread.

Thanks to wilderbeastie, there is a workaround detailed here:

Option One

1. Enable telnet access in the router.

http://192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?todo=debug

2. Login via telnet to 192.168.0.1 (via putty or the command line)

3. Run the following command: -

“echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/neigh/nas0/ucast_solicit”

This setting doesn’t survive a reboot so needs re-applying every time.

If you suffer loss of routing, this procedure also seems to restore it (i.e. you shouldn’t need to reboot first).

Option Two

This is exactly the same fix as detailed in option one but the command is inside the following link – all you need to do is copy & paste (all one line) into your browser and enter the username and password: -

http://192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?todo=ping_test&c4_IPAddr=%26/bin/echo%200%20%3E/proc/sys/net/ipv4/neigh/nas0/ucast_solicit

Again, this fix doesn’t survive a reboot.

Option Three

James from ADSL24 has patched the standard firmware to run the relevant commands on startup of the router.

The downloads are here.

This method will survive a reboot.

Accessing ADSL Line Stats from o2 Wireless Box III

I can’t find any easy way to access ADSL line stats through the o2-supplied “Wireless Box III” (a Thomson TG585n).

The only way that I could access them is by using this link.

Once you’ve got them, you can copy them into a stats checker such as this one.

This should all work with the standard “Administrator” user (no password), other functionality is available with the SuperUser user – password default is “O2Br0ad64nd”.

Writing Python with PSPad

PSPad is a great editor for programmers. Instead of using a dedicated Python IDE, PSPad can be tweaked to compile and run scripts directly. Here’s how: -

• Go to Settings -> Highlighters Settings
• Select “Python” in the left hand pane (if its not selected already)
• Select the “Compiler” tab
• In the “compiler” text box, enter or browse to the location of the Python compiler (e.g. C:\Program Files\Python26\python.exe)
• In the “parameters” text box, enter “%File%” (note the double quotes)
• Put a tick box in the “Capture Program Output Window” option
• In the “LOG parser” text box, enter *file %F *line %L*

Once this is set up correctly, you will be able to run .py files directly from PSPad by going to File -> Compile or using the shortcut (Ctrl+F9).

Updating twitter from python

Just looking into posting twitter updates from python. I’ve found three methods so far: -

• Python Twitter Tools
• python-twitter
• Command-line via Curl (can possible do with urllib)

Hmmm, more investigation required…

Pimp my Revo!

I’ve added some extra RAM and a new larger hard drive to my Acer Aspire Revo so here are the final specs: –

• 1.6GHz Intel Atom 230 CPU
• 2GB DDR2 RAM
• 500GB hard disk
• Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics
• HDMI, D-SUB out
• eSATA
• 6 x USB
• 4-in-1 card reader
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 802.11bg WLAN
• Size: 30mm x 180mm x 180mm

The Windows Experience comes out at a weedy 2.2 due to the Atom CPU but the rest of the ratings look pretty decent for such a low-powered PC (it got up to a maximum of around 34 watts during the tests – normally it hovers at around 23 watts when idling).

Next up – install Linux!