Cleanup vista.

My harddisk has only 100G. 15 of which is used for Linux partitioning. There is not much left to play with. Recently, it has been reduced to 20G free space. Some desperate measures has to be done.

First I tried to remove manually all orphans from un-installed programs. It looked like AVG left quite a few GB storage. Don't know what they are used for. On my other pc, it only took up 150MB even without uninstalling.

Next I go to "my computer" right click c:\ and select "properties". Clicked "Disk Cleanup". It seems that there is a way to clean up "hibernation" file from here. Also at "more options" tab, you could clear all shadows except the latest. Shadows are actually "System Restore points". It took up almost 27GB for all the hdd in the computer. 19GB is actually for c:\. I did a "clean up" for "system restore and shadow copies".

I also did a defrag using "defragger". The result is impressive. I had 49GB free now.

SQL Server Replication issues

Still having problem doing the replication.

One thing I notice is that the user had to be both OS admin user and SQL Server Admin user. Just add servername\adminuser as user and allow sysadmin right to it. Subsequently, use this user for all replication.

Another thing is that error 2812 can be caused by a number of reasons. One blogger suggest to use "SP_removedbreplication 'databasename' (not the distribution database rather the actual database to be replicated). I tried that and it actually works.

It is a bad idea to remove the "distribution" database. SQL server does not cleanup after you. The publisher and distributor somehow still retains the information.

Brioquery does not refresh table structure

When you use BrioQuery, be aware that the tables in the sections does not refresh itself. If the server database alters the table structure, it will not be updated in your section. You need to delete the table and re-insert the same table to get updates.

WEBGL

After trying to get CUDA to work, I come across this technology called WebGL. It is a Web-based Graphics Library that could be controlled by Javascript and worked on HTML5 canvas.

I started on Firefox, it displays a message that "javascript" is needed. I enabled "javascript". It then tells me that "WebGL is enabled" but a setting in the browser stops it from running. However, there is no indication of what was it that stops it from running. I gave up on Firefox.

Next, I turn to Chrome. It runs perfectly without problem. Now this is done on Vista.

Today, I tried on my XP. Chrome refused to run WebGL. Firefox does not run also. On further digging, I managed to get Firefox to run WebGL. The setting is quite simple. Go to about:config and search for webgl. Just change webgl.force-enabled to "true". Also ensure that webgl.disabled is "false".

Turning back to Chrome, I have tried various methods as advised by forums without success. Most suggest having the command line setting like '--ignore-gpu-blacklist'. '--no-sandbox', '--enable-webgl', etc...

There is a suggestion to use about:flags and change "GPU accelerated composition" and "webgl" to on. However, "webgl" setting is not found. Thus, this setting does not apply for Chrome 11.

Further reading shows that Google disabled "webgl" on xp. Finally, I give up just like the "CUDA". It is just a waste of time. Until such utilities are mature, it is pointless to keep digging.

Haredware Acceleration is good if it works generally without technical knowledge. Browsers are not for techies only. It should not get the non-technical users scratching the head as to what went wrong. Chrome has made the situation even worse by blocking it from XP. At least Firefox still enables it to run if we do the correct setting.

I had enough of playing with Graphics. For crying out loud, I don't even have Vista premium. Why am I bothered with graphics on the web? Games? I don't play games that requires GPU or 3D.

CUDA

I have installed a program called FreeMake. It is a program that converts video to various formats. My primary use is to extract audios from VCDs as MP3 format. It worked quite well except that the program is CUDA cabable but it could not detect the GPU in my labtop.

On digging further I discovered that my graphic card is nVidia GeForce 7150M/nForce 630M. Going to the nVidia web site there are downloads available for this model. It also states that it has CUDA capability.

However, on searching its CUDA site, my card is not specified. Confused, I just tried to install the graphic driver. It installed successfully. Then I tried to install various versions of CUDA tool developer driver. None can detect my GPU.

Digging further, it was discovered to my dismay that the laptop graphic driver should come from HP and not directly from nVidia. I tried to install the HP version of the graphic driver. The CUDA tools still fails to detect the GPU.

On further search on the internet, many forums specifically states that the CUDA can only work for 8 series of the nVidia cards. Mine is the 7 series thus it is not supported. The hateful thing is that the nVidia graphic driver's description (for my model) gives me false hope and wasted my whole day trying.

Creating Routes in Goggle Maps

I used to create Maps in Google Maps. Recently it has heen a point of irritation to me. Regardless of whether I create the route by "line" or "along roads". There seems to be some pointer problem. The waypoint may not always appear at the point you clicked.

Creating the route by "along roads" method is worst. The pointer will simply jump about. The trace lines may disappear for no reason. Worst of all, the resultant route may have all the waypoints but the distance indicated is not the full length. The "show the driving direction" feature was also cut short in this way.

I tried to plot the route by line then turn on "along roads". The result is the same. The route is cut short despite showing all the waypoints.

One other thing is that the "line" mode end of line clicking is hell. I don't seem to be able to click the same point to end the edit mode.

No matter what I tried I could not correct the problem. It has been like that for almost a year already and there seems to be no remedy.

IEndomondo has route creation feature also. The editing of the route is a bit crude and I cannot add additional waypoints along the route after it has been created.

Look like I am stuck with Google Map and had to live with the problem or quite creating routes all together.

3G in HTC DESIRE

I installed Quick Settings and it does not seem to be able to enable the 3G whenever I requires it. It is able to disable the 3G. Tried as I might, it just don't work properly.

I discovered that by pressing the on/off switch for 5 seconds, you will get a menu where there is an option to turn on/off 3G. I tried it and it can turn on the 3G while the Quick Settings was killed. If "Quick Settings" is on then it behaves weirdly.

My final decision is to take out "Quick Settings" completely. Now I can just turn on/off 3G easily using the on/off switch.

The only thing I missed is the other switches in "Quick Settings" like WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. However, there are widgets that could turn on/off the three devices. Just that they take up three spaces in the handphone display panel.

According to what I have read in internet, apps turning on/off 3G are not very successful. I am glad HTC already provided the facility.