Jul/100
How to open an HP Pavilion case!
This is a really weird design, and I hope my info helps someone. One of my girlfriend's friends brought me her old computer that used to run Windows 2000, and what it needed seemed to be pretty straightforward... back up the data on the drive and reinstall windows. I figured I could get it done relatively quickly. It turned out, however, to be quite frustrating.
 The old HP Pavilion. |
 Side Case Off... |
 Official HP Diagram! |
So, I got the side of the case off, and couldn't figure out how to get to the other side of the drive bays! I took the other side of the case off as well to no avail. After some hunting and pecking, a touch of swearing, and some perseverance, I came across a *single* thread buried deep in some google results. That thread lead me to this article on hp's website, which easily explained how to get the drive bays out.
 The Pesky Tab! |
 And The Drive's Out! |
 The Harddrive Is Huge! |
The part that wasn't apparently clear to me (although I found that pesky tab right away) is that the whole set of drive bays slides out forward. FACEPALM! A quick glance at the instructions made the process inherently evident... and simple. So, to clarify, you undo the gold screw on top of the tab and the second screw on the harddrive cage, push outwards on the tab, and slide all of the drives out together as one piece. Don't pull them out all the way yet, as all of the drives will still be attached unless you have unattached them... obviously. Boy, do I need a copy editor.
Anyways, this threw me off as it's not a normal case design. But hey, how often do you see 5.25" PATA drives? THEY'RE HUGE!
Mic-B
Jul/100
Beatbox Looper Freestyle (One-Take Lunch-Breaks)
Just messin around with some looping... the second verse is written, the rest is made up completely on the spot. First attempt at a loop video... more to come! Aside from that, I've launched Mic-B TV, which you can access from the top menu here on the site. If you just let it go, it'll play my videos all day! Let me know what ya'll think!
Mic-B
Jun/100
BIOS Hotswap with LT Hartly!
Welcome back to the site. Today we've got an excellent little fix for you... a BIOS hotswap! A friend of mine, LT namely, had a BIOS flash go awry and we decided it would be a fun project for the site. Now, we found out later that a new BIOS chip cost us less than the tool we bought, but that's beside the point. We did this for the fact that we could!
Now, be warned that putting metal objects into a computer that is currently running is extremely dangerous, and YOU SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT THIS. You have been warned. Aside from tempting death, the process itself is pretty simple.
 It's LT! |
 The culprit BIOS. |
 The brokeded mobo! |
The messed up board is an nForce 5 chipset. The board we used to re-flash the BIOS is an nForce 2. They have the same socket, so they work great. Make sure you get the right flashing program and firmwares or you'll get in pretty deep before you have to start all over again.
Copy over all the necessary files to a *bootable* floppy (we will be using DOS after all) and start the nForce 2 board up with it's stock BIOS. If you don't know how to create a bootable floppy you can click here for a rather useful tutorial. After the computer has booted from the floppy (this *may* take BIOS settings on some computers, but if your doing this you know how to change settings in a BIOS) run whatever program it is that you've downloaded. Most will be distributed WITH instructions; run the help flag with your program to find it's manual.
 Both BIOS chips. |
 Get them chips out! |
 Begin Ze Transfer! |
Once the system has booted from your floppy and you know what commands to run for your system, it's time to physically swap the chips. We attempted this at first with a multi-tool, and pulled out about an inch from the board. Something didn't smell right... figuratively speaking, of course. We looked around the room for something non-conductive and stumbled across some sewing thread. We tried tying it around the stock chip before we put it in initially, but the thread easily broke. These chips are not as easy to get out of their sockets as one might think.
 Ze cheeps! Ze ar tiny! |
 Yeah, we tried string. |
 The new tool! |
So... long story short, we ordered a tool from eBay (around $7 i think) and had to wait a week. Once the new BIOS is in, run the software and flash the broken junk back to life. After this, the process is complete and you can shut down the computer. Simply take the fixed BIOS and pop it back into it's original board. There are no worries here as the boards should be off. Your new/old board should be ready to go!
Of course, we could have easily just ordered a new BIOS chip for only $5 and not had to do this whole process, but why not? We're nerds, man!
Happy Hacking.
Mic-B
Jun/100
Dock that iPhone simulator!
The iPhone Simulator
So, if you've been developing for iPhone and such you know how much it sucks to start xcode every time you want to test webpages or show off your new app. It gets downright frustrating. So, to link to the program in your dock; navigate to the following path. You can start this and select "keep in dock", or drag it down there yourself:
/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/Applications/iPhone Simulator.app
If you would like to administer the files that are considered to be "on" the device, (including photos) you can navigate to:
/Users/YOUR_USER_NAME/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/
Hope this saves you some time!
Mic-B
Jun/102
iOS4 Downgrade
Those dicks locked us out!
So, a friend of mine... "Steve" we'll call him, uses an iPhone 3G as an iPod touch. Never had a problem with it. Basically, the advantage of this is that he has access to a camera. Nonetheless, before iOS4, there was no activation requirement on these units that would prevent you from using the device without a SIM. Such is no more. After upgrading to iOS4, he was locked out of his phone; and without AT&T here in Montana, he was pretty screwed. I gladly took his phone home as a project and jailbroke it back to 3.1.3 for him again.
So, originally I found this great writeup on how to do this process, but of course there were a few things I didn't feel were clarified very well, although it got me from point A to B. They cover a few different methods of this; but chances are that if your an iPhone developer and pay for the xcode dev license, you probably know about the firmware settings through it -- and most of the population doesn't have access to that, so I won't even waste my breath. Instead, here's how the average joe can get the job done... if they have a mac. There are far too many windows-only tutorials on these things.
Anyhow, you need to gather a few things to begin:
Once you've downloaded all of this stuff, (it'll take a few minutes) install libusb and unpack iRecovery. After this, plug in your iPhone. Open iTunes and hold down the "alt/option" key and click restore. When the box pops up (if you did this correctly... tested and working in iTunes 9.2.x) navigate to where you saved your firmware and select it. Upon restoring, iTunes should error out with a 1015.
1015 Error. Brought to us via tipb.com
Now it's time to run iRecovery. If you get the "faster" version, it may not be compatible with Snow Leopard... so be warned; you may have to do some command-line stuff... which I find fun, but you may not. Some people get mixed results here. Namely, some phones are fully restored after this and require no additional work. In my case, however, the phone became stuck in an "endless DFU mode". It was time to resort to some dirty work.
At this point, if you are in my boat, you should download and run blackra1n. Written by a badass named "George Hotz", blackra1n will solve all of your woes. Open up the program, hit the single button that says "make it rain", and let it run it's course. In my case, it solved the endless DFU and came prepackaged with a blackra1n app that allowed me to instantly install Cydia, Icy or Rock My Phone. (These are homebrew repositories, FTWDK) Awesome installer, and a relatively easy process.
If you or anyone you know needs some help with this, shoot me a comment or an e-mail. Always here to help!
Happy Hacking!
Mic-B
Jun/100
WhiteOut is victorious!
It's WhiteOut!
So, a huge thank you to all those who voted for WhiteOut in the recent dewmocracy! Some of you may be asking... what is WhiteOut? The answer has been brought to us via bevreview.com:
"Think a sugar-infused Fresca with caffeine. The flavor is quite sweet, maybe like a liquid version of a jelly bean or a lemon Jolly Rancher candy. But overall, I'd say it's somewhat like a combination of Sprite and Squirt — maybe a tad bit like Mello Yello. In general, it's citrusy, but less bitter."
So, in conclusion, I am now officially a fan of a Mountain Dew product. I never thought this day would come. Oh, and thank god that Typhoon or Distortion didn't win. I couldn't stand them.
Mic-B
Jun/100
Make It Through (One-Take Lunch-Breaks)
Make sure you catch the studio version below!
A new track from "Little Michael", the next joint to drop. The studio version features Raph (itsraph.com) and is available for streaming on my website. The link for that is below. I try to sing on this one; but my singing should obviously be saved for multiple takes, lol. Anyways, make sure you catch the studio version at the site, as this one doesn't do the song justice.
Jun/100
Captain EO has returned!
Captain EO is back!
So, Disney announced late last year (the end of december) that they were closing the "Honey I Shrunk The Audience" attraction indefinitely and re-opening the amazing 3D short "Captain EO" starring Michael Jackson. If you've never seen this or heard about it, you need to jump on your favorite search engine and start doing some research! Your missing out! So, it's time for a road trip! Disneyland, anyone?
Read about it here!
Mic-B
Jun/100
For Heather – Dedicated to Heather Brianna Marie Wilkins, R.I.P. (One-Take Lunch-Breaks)
Dedicated to Heather Brianna Marie Wilkins, who ran away from home on January 11th, 2006. She was found deceased 9 months later. The police have stated that her cause of death was unknown; none of their investigations were conclusive. Produced by B-Rare. This track is from Unless Otherwise Noted, available now.
A very sad situation.
Mic-B
Jun/102
Unless Otherwise Noted… Available Now!
So, I know it's been a long time coming (we're talking years here) but it's finally arrived! Unless Otherwise Noted is now available on iTunes... as well as right here! That's right, if you buy the album direct from me (at the same exact price as iTunes, shipping included) you'll get a copy in the mail, a digital download, and free stickers! If you already purchased a copy of the album at an event or came across one from a friend, you can retrieve your free digital download here.
Thanks for your support!
Mic-B
Don't forget to include your physical address with your order!
