May 26
2009

I picked up a couple of SD cards on sale today at Radio Shack so that I could use them to take advantage of the ReadyBoost feature in Windows 7.  When I inserted the card, windows told me that the device didn’t install properly, but the SD card showed up as a drive.

Flash drives are shipped pre-formatted using the FAT32 file system because FAT32 tends to be a universally supported format.  I tried to reformat the drive to the new exFAT filesystem (a new Windows file system optimized for flash drives).  The format failed.

As I tried to troubleshoot the issue, I realized that ReadyBoost wasn’t working right.  When restarting the computer, the system would hang on “logging out” until I ejected the card.  The card was quite unstable.  The file system kept becoming corrupt, requiring multiple attemps to reformat it.

I happened to notice some unknown devices in the device manager that hadn’t been there before.  A little while later, I inserted the card into the other card reader slot.  More unknown devices showed up, and the system told me that the hardware didn’t install properly again.   I realized I was on to something!

The card reader hardware wasn’t working properly because Windows 7 didn’t have the right driver included.  A little bit of diging and I came up with another idea.  Most computer manufacturers try to reduce costs whenever possible.  Just like car manufacurers, they reuse parts across different models when they can.

I couldn’t find a Vista/7 driver for the Acer Aspire One netbook that I have, but I was able to find a Vista driver for another acer model that I guessed was probably using the same card reader hardware.  My guess was right!

I found the driver that I needed for the built in Jmicron card reader on this page.

If you have an Acer Aspire One laptop and your card reader slots aren’t working right, grab that driver.  It should fix the problem, and allow you to use ReadyBoost too!



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May 25
2009

Load #1

Load #1

When I wrote about my new truck a couple months ago, I mentioned always being on the lookout for a “score”.  Well, this one was a good one, and proves that it pays to knock on doors.

For the last month or so, I’ve been looking at this pile of wood that we pass every day going to and from work.  On Friday evening, we decided to stop and ask the owner of the house if he had any plans for it.  He told me that he did not and asked “Do you want it?  You can take all you want, ’cause I’d love to get it out of my yard.” Click to read more …



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Apr 27
2009

I heard about this video and had to go find it.  Once I saw it, I decided it was worth sharing.  It’s unbelievable! Enjoy!



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Apr 26
2009

My DesktopI’ve been thinking for a while that I should write down the things I do after a fresh install of Kubuntu to get it ready for general day to day use.  I’m writing this article based on what I have done with my Kubuntu 9.04 installation. Click to read more …



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Apr 26
2009

KubuntuThe new release of Ubuntu (and subsequently Kubuntu) came out a few days ago.  I decided to wipe the Linux partition (running Kubuntu 8.04) and install a fresh copy of 9.04. Click to read more …



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Apr 18
2009

My granddaddy got me interested in Ham Radio when I was a kid.  Back then, the entry level license was the novice class.  The test for the novice license required passing the Morse Code test.  I tried to learn the code when I was in 5th grade, but was never able to get it.  Honestly, to this day, I’ve still been unable to get it.

In 2004, at the age of 26, I decided that I was going to finally get my license.  I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point the FCC had dropped the novice class and replaced it with the technician class.  The entry level technician class license test didn’t require learning Morse Code.  To help make sure I stuck with it, I signed up for a class at Universal Radio.  At the end of the class, I took my test and received my first callsign: KD8ANP.

About three weeks ago, I filed an application with the FCC to change my amateur radio callsign.  My application was granted two days ago, and my callsign has officially been changed from KD8ANP to W8IPK.

Why W8IPK?  It was my Granddaddy’s callsign from the time he was 16 years old in 1932 until he passed away in 1999.  He never got to see me get my license, but I think he’d be proud that I’m keeping his old callsign on the air.



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