The Dell 9400 / e1705 is a nice laptop - great combination of high res 1920x1200 17" display and a dual core 2 duo processor - the ideal desktop replacement. Except - There exists a serious design flaw with this laptop - the video card gets very hot causing it to eventually fail.

The symptoms (any of these):

• Flickering video
• Graphic corruption on your screen (lines, stripes, dots, squares, jumbled mess)
• Laptop won't turn on - on light flickers for a second and off again.

Cracked Solder Joints

It is most likely that your nVidia 7800/7900gs is failing due to the stress of heating up and cooling down.

This usually leads to cracked solder joints.

Shake 'n Bake

Shake 'n bake is a term I use for this method - shake the bits off and bake it!

Yes, that's right- we're going to bake the card in our kitchen oven at 200c for 10min.

This will melt the solder and repair the card.

Important Notes

• The GPU on the video card is connected to the heat sink and requires thorough cleaning and high quality thermal paste (or similar) - I have used Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste.
• To improve the cooling and life of this fix, you can purchase special 'copper shims" from eBay that aid with better cooling.
• Be sure not to let your oven rise above 200c and limit the exposure to 10min.
• If the first attempt is not successful, repeat. I have read that other people have required two or three roastings to fully repair their cards.

  I have done two and each only required one bake for 10min.

The two laptops I fixed have been working great ever since.. I'll post if they ever fail again.

Here's a video of my repair effort.

Getting the Intel Matrix RAID working on my P6X58D Premium took a bit of searching and good luck despite how simple the solution.

Update: This works for Fedora 13 also.

My Configuration:

Primary OS - 64GB SSD: /dev/sda

Storage - 2 * 1GB Sata: /dev/sdb & /dev/sdc - Configured as Raid 0 with the Matrix Storage Manager bios setup.

Symptoms:

No device present in /dev/mapper/

dmraid finds my raid 'device' but:

[root@xxx xxx]# dmraid -ay
RAID set "isw_ebibiffebg_DataVolume01" was not activated
ERROR: device "isw_ebibiffebg_DataVolume01" could not be found

Hmmmm!

[root@xxx xxx]# dmesg
device-mapper: table: 253:2: mirror: Device lookup failure
device-mapper: ioctl: error adding target to table
device-mapper: ioctl: device doesn't appear to be in the dev hash table.

Hmmm...

Solution:

After a lot of searching and digging I finally found that I need to disable a kernel module/feature/whatever by editing my /boot/grub/grub.conf by adding the noiswmd option to the end of the boot options like:

After the modifications and rebooting I now have:

[karl@hummer ~]$ ls -la /dev/mapper
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 140 2010-05-23 13:24 .
drwxr-xr-x 19 root root 4180 2010-05-23 14:34 ..
crw-rw---- 1 root root 10, 62 2010-05-23 13:23 control
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 253, 0 2010-05-23 13:24 isw_ebibiffebg_DataVolume01
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 253, 1 2010-05-23 17:39 isw_ebibiffebg_DataVolume01p1
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 253, 2 2010-05-23 13:24 vg_xxxxxx-lv_root
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 253, 3 2010-05-23 13:24 vg_xxxxxx-lv_swap


Done - now just mount your drive like any other (or partition, or what ever) eg:

I can mount it like:

mount /dev/mapper/isw_ebibiffebg_DataVolume01p1 /data

Or add to your /etc/fstab:

/dev/mapper/isw_ebibiffebg_DataVolume01p1 /data ntfs-3g rw,defaults,umask=0000 0 0

Hopefully you don't have to search as hard I as did to find this solution.

Now go and enjoy that raid!

It seems that some visitors have stumbled on my site from web searches, so I thought it best to at least provide an update on the closure of my Dell XPS 1645 nightmare.

I've updated the original article to include what details I could of the remainder of the experience.

I'm really disappointed with Dell, I do like their products - they have good specs and are somewhat stylish, but their drop in quality control and incredibly poor customer service is simply not worth the pain.

Instead of these laptops I have taken a different approach. I went for two custom built desktops (Intel Core i7 930) and one netbook (Samsung N510), it's working out really well and cost me less.

I hope you never have to endure the poor customer service I received from Dell.

Let me know if you've had a similar experience with them.

Here's how I got Citrix Presentation Server (Citrix Client) running on Fedora 12.

• Install the rpmfusion repo if not already installed

• Make sure your system is up-to-date

• Install OpenMotif - at this time is version 2.3.2 which works fine.

• There is a conflict with the cjkuni-uming-fonts package - so we'll remove it

• Download the Citrix ICA Client rpm from:

• Install the Citrix ICA Client:

Now, just recently I've been getting a VeriSign cert error, that reads:

To fix this problem, I added the missing certificates by exporting them from firefox into the ICA client's cacerts folder.

If you have a local install of the ICA client this is usually in:

Otherwise it will usually be in:

Ok, to export the certs from firefox go to: [Edit->Preferences->Advanced->Encryption->View Certificates]

Scroll down to the set of VeriSign certificates - Now for each that has "Class 3" in its name, export it in X.509 (PEM) format to .../ICAClient/keystore/cacerts/

For me there were 8 Class 3 VeriSign certificates to export.

That's it, you should be all set to go.

Dell have the worst customer service of any company I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with.

Dell's rules:

• Never remember any details from previous correspondence.
• Force customers to reiterate their entire experience on each correspondence
• Place customer on hold for 30min stints repeatedly
• Cease any activity on customers case when call is ended
• Only act on a customer's case while they are present on the phone (hold is ok)
• Ignore the details of conversations and make a half arsed attempt at correcting issues
• Do not respond to customer emails - hope they go away
• Refuse to call customer back (our policies don't allow this)

That list could go on and on... Anyway here is my experience:

Oct 5th 2009 - Ordered two Dell XPS 1645s from dell (Obsidian Black RGBLED Intel i7).

Oct 12 2009 - My order is still at "order received" status - No communication from dell - I call them - Problem with wireless cards.

Oct 26 2009 - Still at "order received" status - Still no communication from dell - call them - Problem with monitors (they going to go through each component like this?) - Dig deeper and I find that they are having problems with the supply of Obsidian Black - still a few weeks wait, but I can change to White and they can build straight away - Except, we'll need to cancel your order and place a new one (yep, back on the end of the line) - They could have told me this 21days ago!!!!!! Since we need one of these laptops ASAP I changed one to white (we'll wait for the other).

Nov 11 2009 - Alright first 1645 has arrived - It looks nice - feels good too... Turn it on and it beeps like crazy and I need to power it down (I'm in the office and this thing is going nuts - everyone's looking at me now :) - brushing my hand over the keyboard a few times got it booting (stuck key) - after using it for a few minutes I found the down key keeps getting stuck (not good) - After few moments the machine hung - totally dead - screen fixed with the last image in place, but even the caps lock key doesn't light up - power button it off. Well we found this was the expected affair for this laptop - not a good start.

Nov 20 2009 - Received the second laptop (first still sick - discussing with Dell - slowly) - Again, looks nice, feels nice - but low and behold, same ol' crashing problem..

Nov 23 2009 - Noticed new issue - both laptops spontaneously awaken from being suspended - the white one does it every night without fail - drains the battery, great! The black one does it less often, but does so. Get on to dell - they offer replacements.

Dec 5 2009 - 1 Replacement arrived - Upon opening I notice some cosmetic damage to the screen hinge area (great), a blob of glue/rubber/stuff stuck in a joint making a bulge and a second bulge on the side of the screen from poor assembly.. But best of all - this replacement also suffers from the random crashing and spurious wake-ups - Contact dell to see what I should do - they'll escalate my issue - the manager will contact me.

Dec 15 2009 - Still no word from dell, still no second replacement machine - still no advice on the return of the first replacement - I call them and email them asking for some updates and to please tell me the 1) the status of the second replacement 2) what should I do about the crashing 3) what should I do about the cosmetic issues with the replacement 4) what should I do about the spurious wake-ups - No-one could help - They escalate my case again. I Inform them that they second replacement machine will need to be delivered to my residential address over the Christmas period as my workplace will be closed until Jan 4)

Dec 16 2009 - A random email from dell with a contract for a replacement 1645 - but no context as to what it is for... Call dell again and speak to a manager - he responds with a half baked response - I emailed him back again with my explicit questions itemized to which I got a better response but still ambiguous, I wrote another reply to clarify - no response.

Dec 22 2009 - Still no reply from dell, no confirmation about the delivery address being unavailable - Email them again asking for confirmation and an update.

Dec 23 2009 - Still no reply from dell (rude - ignoring emails) Call them again - I'm told that my case has been forwarded for a refund (Huh? I never asked for this - oh well better than being stuck with lemons) - I ask, where is my correspondence about this? Anyone going to let me know? Why did you just start ignoring my email? (rude!)

Dec 30 2009 - Still nothing from dell - call back again to ask what the status is - As with every call, I must go back to the beginning and go over it all again - department to department - to find that the second replacement has arrived in Australia and is should be delivered (my workplace is closed - where are you delivering it to Dell?) And the refund details are only being processed for one of the laptops (Grrrr) and I need to go through it all again for the other!!!!

I'll update this as my story goes....

Well, it's time for an update - sorry it's taken so long for the finale of this adventure.

Ok, I have spent too much energy on this transaction and I gave up following the dates and events in great detail - I have dates from email, so I'll piece it back together as much as I can, but anyway I'll summarise how this ended up.

After many phone conversations:

3rd Jan - Still waiting for confirmation details on returning the first replacement laptop - again lots of email sent asking - all ignored - This is handy when they make you agree to a contract stating you will be charged for the replacement laptop if it's not returned by their said date - then they make it hard to return - an uneasy experience! Supposed to be collected on the 5th Jan

4th Jan - Still struggling to get Dell to understand and complete the refund for both laptops and getting them returned.

6th Jan - Finally some concrete correspondence about the return of the first replacement... They'll be picking it up on the 11th

11th Jan - All 4 laptops were collected for refund - Finally, they are gone from my life!

26th Jan - I'm waiting for the refund to come through, I get an email on the 26th Jan:

Obviously, I'm not totally happy with this... As I explained to them -

1) Two laptops purchased in same order
2) Two replacement received for faulty originals
3) All four returned in same shipping for refund
4) Refund for only one received

What's going on?????

3rd Feb - I get an email

Stating that I can get the remainder of my refund via either:

Huh? What the hell are they playing at now?

This email was received at 5pm so contacting them immediately was impossible.. The next morning I get onto the phone and struggle through the usual department to department shuffle demanding to speak to a manager, being refused, persisting and eventually (after literally 2 hours of waiting - so bad that I used a second phone to call up to ask why the hell I have been on hold for over an hour - to which my original call was quickly revived - incredible!).

Anyway, the manager I was speaking to said they can not refund it all directly to my Visa as that is a security risk... (Huh???) I refuse to end the conversion and demand that they refund the money to my Visa, just as the purchase was made and without delay - otherwise I will be seeking legal advice.. Eventually they agree to make the payment. An to my amazement:

04 Feb 2010 - What an amazing day! - The remainder of my refund appears credited back to my Visa!

The End - 05 Oct 2009 to 04 Feb 2010

What an adventure!

Soon after upgrading to Fedora 11, Deluge would not start. It turns out that a missing include statement in my /usr/lib/deluged was causing it to fail. Adding a import zlib fixed it for me.

My /usr/lib/deluged:

openssl doesn't use the standard ./configure && make setup, but configuring and cross compiling is amazingly simple.

Three simple steps.

• Set the host/compiler prefix.

Here it is important not to miss the '-' on the end of the host prefix eg:

export cross=mipsel-linux-

• Configure openssl.

Note the uppercase 'C' in Configure.

./Configure dist

• Make openssl libs.

make CC="${cross}gcc" AR="${cross}ar r" RANLIB="${cross}ranlib"

Now copy the headers and libs as needed.

I'm a big fan of fuppes, a free, open source, upnp, dlna media server with transcoding ability. So, I decided to build it for the NMT (well, I've only tested it on my PCH A110).

I only use it to stream flac and mp3 audio files to my denon receiver so I have not tested any of the transcoding ability, let me know if you have success or failure with that..

Included Libraries

I have compiled in support for and included the libraries for:

• taglib
• flac
• lame
• vorbis
• ogg

Fuppes can be compiled to run on the PCH, but it has a few dependencies that we'll need to build first.

These are:

• zlib
• libpcre
• libsqlite3
• libxml2
• taglib

We'll do these one at a time, but before we start we need to prep our environment for cross compiling..

[update: a compiled binary is available here.]

I've finally got the popcorn hour toolchain to compile on fedora 10.

Here I'll present a step-by-step how-to.

Step 1: Get the toolchain source

First you'll need to get the toolchain source: Syabas NMT (SMP8634) toolchain.

I used the version smp86xx_toolchain.20080505.tar.bz2.

Step 2: Ensure some dependent packages are installed

Next ensure that the following packages are installed, you can use Add/Remove software if you prefer: