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User: CaptainPhoton

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  1. Hi AC. I used the ISO from Media Creation Tool, which has worked for all the semi-annual updates so far without data loss. For 1809, 5 of 6 machines have not lost the Documents folder. One of the theories floating out there is that it has something to do with being domain joined. Another theory is that it has something to do with OneDrive. The only resolution I've seen on forums is to run undelete software, otherwise the recourse is restore from last backup.

  2. Is unprovision the same as disabled? on Dell Begins Offering Laptops With Intel's 'Management Engine' Disabled (liliputing.com) · · Score: 2

    I have noticed a number of Intel ME articles recently appearing on Slashdot. On the business laptops I maintain, firmware was available to resolve latest issues.  After installing the latest ME firmware, I performed an unprovision through BIOS, then I went into the ME settings via Ctrl-P and added a password to the ME settings.  All the ME settings for IP addresses, etc. are blank.

    I ran the INTEL-SA-00075 procedures to verify unprovisioning and that the LMS service was stopped.  My question is whether unprovisioning ME and using a strong password in ME and BIOS to prevent the provisioning results in the same end behavior as the "disable" that is being offered by System76 and Dell.  What do you think Slashdot?  Are any IT folks going through the configuration of Intel ME as I have done?

    FYI, here is an example of the INTEL-SA-00075 risk assessment after the firmware upgrade and unprovision are verified:

    Risk Assessment
    Based on the analysis performed by this tool, this system's Firmware has been updated and system is in unprovisioned state. See Explanation for specifics.

    Explanation:
    The detected firmware on this system has the fix for INTEL-SA-00075. Ensure that the INTEL-SA-00075 tools were used to perform a full unprovisioning of the system prior to reprovisioning. This will remove any unauthorized configuration settings.

    If Vulnerable, contact your OEM for support and remediation of this system.
    For more information, refer to CVE-2017-5689 in the following link: CVE-2017-5689
    or the Intel security advisory Intel-SA-00075 in the following link: INTEL-SA-00075

    INTEL-SA-00075 Detection Tool
    Application Version: 1.0.3.215
    Scan date: 2017-11-29 16:06:18

    Host Computer Information
    Name: (snip)
    Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
    Model: HP EliteBook 8560w
    Processor Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2620M CPU @ 2.70GHz
    Windows Version: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro

    ME Information
    Version: 7.1.91.3272
    SKU: Intel(R) Full AMT Manageability
    Provisioning Mode: Not Provisioned
    Control Mode: None
    Is CCM Disabled: False
    Driver installation found: True
    EHBC Enabled: False
    LMS service state: Stopped
    microLMS service state: NotPresent
    Is SPS: False

  3. Re:BeagleBoard had this in 2008 on The Secret to Tech's Next Big Breakthroughs? Stacking Chips (wsj.com) · · Score: 1

    Hi A.C.,

    It's a disservice to stop reading, as these boards can be used as reference designs and the chipsets are generally available.  The Beagle docs are a good place to learn about the PoP technology.

    You can base your own board design on one of these boards, unlike the rPI where you would never have enough quantity to procure the MCU.

    Open-source hardware such as Beagle is much more educational than an Apple watch.  The old BeagleBoard is the first place I dealt with PoP in related designs.  It's interesting how the address and data are bussed through the stack of packages and each one gets a chip select.

  4. Re:nothing special on The Secret to Tech's Next Big Breakthroughs? Stacking Chips (wsj.com) · · Score: 1

    Hi A.C.,

    That's my whole point, the article says that the chip stacking is the next best thing, but the tech has been around for 10 yrs!  I posted the example of the Beagle as a old hobby board incorporating the tech from last decade.

    For something "spectacular" in the Beagle eco-system of boards, check out this recent System in Package being used in some Beagle's:

    http://octavosystems.com/octavo_products/osd335x/

  5. BeagleBoard had this in 2008 on The Secret to Tech's Next Big Breakthroughs? Stacking Chips (wsj.com) · · Score: 1

    Original BeagleBoard stacked the ARM MCU, the RAM, and the NAND flash in package on package (PoP):

    https://beagleboard.org/beagleboard

  6. Re:It’s multi-day battery life as long as it on Microsoft Teases Multi-Day Battery Life For Upcoming ARM-Powered Windows Devices (techspot.com) · · Score: 1

    ARM can run in both big- and little-endian mode.  Under Linux, I've only seen little endian on ARM.  I have run both Linux and Windows IoT on my RPi, so Windows has had a level of ARM support for a while:
    https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/iot

    The Win32 API seems to be the thing that's been missing.  I am wondering if the "desktop" will need ARM binaries or if there will be some kind of translation from x86.

  7. Windows Subsystem for Linux is 1 yr. old on Ubuntu Is Now Available On the Windows Store (windowscentral.com) · · Score: 1

    This is kind of old news, as the WSL has been out since last summer. I spend about equal time in this environment as I do running an Ubuntu VM.

    I am really curious about Linus and RMS's opinion of this environment. I haven't seen it mentioned in interviews yet. RMS might argue it's a GNU-only layer, since there's no actual Linux kernel code running (although it's ABI-compatible).

  8. musings on PE, EIT, and unlicensed designations on Oregon Man Fined For Writing 'I Am An Engineer' Temporarily Wins Right To Call Himself An 'Engineer' (vice.com) · · Score: -1, Redundant

    I agree that Mats should be free to talk about the design, but he made a mistake using the title of engineer in his public communications. I disagree with the judge allowing him to use the title, as it dilutes the prestige and the specific legal meaning of the Professional Engineer designation.

    I have my BSEE, E.I.T., and > 20 years of experience, but I do not advertise myself as an engineer, nor do I describe my work as engineering services.

    Being unlicensed, I just call myself a hardware/software designer with a BSEE. He should have just said "hardware designer" or "product designer". Good ideas rise to the top. People can figure out his background and experience on LinkedIn, so he didn't need to say engineer in his formal writing. I think he could have presented his ideas without the legal issues.

  9. TI-BASIC then TI Extended BASIC on Slashdot Asks: What Was Your First Programming Language? (stanforddaily.com) · · Score: 1

    For sprites and speech synthesizer, Extended BASIC was mandatory! :)

  10. Media Creation Tool was NOT updated on Microsoft Releases Windows 10 Anniversary Update (zdnet.com) · · Score: 1

    I downloaded the media creation tool around noon Mountain time. When I ran the installation from the resulting ISO on a lab PC, it just reinstalled Build 10586.

    Then I tried the Windows10Upgrade9252.exe on a second PC. It failed with code 0x8007001f.

    So two manual upgrade methods have failed for me today.

    Has anyone gotten it to work?

  11. yes, it uninstalled Cisco VPN Client on Windows 10 Fall Update Uninstalls Desktop Software Without Informing Users (ghacks.net) · · Score: 1

    I am using Cisco VPN Client v5.0.07.0440, which needs the same minor registry edit on Windows 10 that it did on Windows 8. On Windows 10, it also requires installation of a Dell SonicWall driver before it will work correctly. Once it's set up, it works great.

    When I installed the Fall update for Windows, it automatically uninstalled this Cisco VPN Client citing compatibility issues. After I reinstalled, it worked perfectly again. I am not sure how Microsoft makes the decision to uninstall something automatically. Even though the configuration is not supported by the vendor anymore, there are many people using this legacy Cisco VPN software.

    This is an example of Microsoft uninstalled some desktop software that was working perfectly fine. At least they didn't block the reinstall!

  12. you will want "clone" capability, use Git over SVN on Ask Slashdot: Selecting a Version Control System For an Inexperienced Team · · Score: 1

    First off, if you are doing LabVIEW then avoid the llb files and commit each VI to the repo individually. That way you can track which SubVI changed on an individual basis. Also, llbs will blow up the size of the repo as they are usually huge when compared to the size of the SubVI that you are actually changing. Having the individual VI's in the repo allows the commits to be small.

    Secondly, SVN is great when everyone is in the same building, but if you are working remotely, then "git clone" can be critical for your offline work. You can "git clone" while you are on site, then future pulls are not so terrible when you are on a slow VPN. If you have no connection to your corporate network, you can still track your stuff. We're in a distributed world, and you will suffer without the distributed capability that Git offers.

    I am finding that 100% of my clients starting new projects are using Git. SVN is only being used by people who set up their repos in the early 2000's.

    SourceSafe is an abomination. We discovered that when we added PDFs, they came back out corrupted. We lost a bunch of schematics that way.

    There's a learning curve, but skip the SVN and go for Git. Don't think about VSS.

    Cheers!

  13. disable Diagnostics Tracking Service on Windows Telemetry Rolls Out · · Score: 1

    In the control panel for Win8, there is an option under Action Center to disable the customer experience improvement program. Then under Services, it is possible to stop and disable the Diagnostics Tracking Service. Not sure if these actions disable all the telemetry, but thinking this is part of the solution to have the updates present with the reporting function turned off. Cheers!

  14. Dell T420 server running Hyper-V on Ask Slashdot: What Hardware Is In Your Primary Computer? · · Score: 1

    In a great exercise in willpower to resist my hoarding instinct, I decided I needed to get rid of a decade of tower PC's and laptops that I was keeping around to run different vintages of engineering and build tools.

    I decided to create VM's for everything and went with Hyper-V on a Dell server. I have Ubuntu, Win7, Win8, Win10, and XP VM's running in a mix of 32-bit and 64-bit. If an experiment goes awry, I can flush a VM and start over.

    I can use a cheap laptop or someone else's machine to access my VMs remotely. Kind of a different take on Bring Your Own Device. I'm using my own device, just not physically in your building.

    The discussion is about the machine specs. Without further adieu ...

    PowerEdge T420, Intel Xeon E-24XX v2 Processors
    PowerEdge T420 Motherboard, TPM
    On-Board LOM 1GBE (Dual Port for Racks and Towers, Quad Port for Blades)
    PERC Cable for 3.5in 8HD Hot Plug Chassis
    LCD display for T420
    Chassis with up to 8, 3.5 inch Hard Drives
    Security Bezel
    Power Saving Dell Active Power Controller
    RAID 1 for H710P/H710/H310 (2 HDDs)
    PERC H310 Adapter RAID Controller, Full Height
    Heat Sink, Dell PowerEdge T320/T420
    Intel Xeon E5-2430L v2 2.40GHz, 15M Cache, 7.2GT/s QPI, Turbo, 6C, 60W, Max Mem 1600MHz
    4 8GB RDIMM, 1333 MT/s, Low Volt, Dual Rank, x4 Data Width
    2 2TB 7.2K RPM SATA 3Gbps 3.5in Hot-plug Hard Drive
    DVD+/-RW, SATA, INTERNAL
    Single Cabled Power Supply, 550W

    I give each Hyper-V VM about 4 GB RAM and 1 TB dynamic disks (overcommitted).

  15. already being done in Texas on California Gets Past the Yuck Factor With "Toilet To Tap" Water Recycling · · Score: 1

    This is old news for a different part of the country. North Texas has been in drought for several years now, and they put this idea into practice:

    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/toilet-to-tap-wastewater-recycling-begins-in-wichita-falls-texas/

  16. use PKZIP, ProComm, ZMODEM on Ask Slashdot: Old PC File Transfer Problem · · Score: 1

    Use a null modem cable to connect the COM ports between the old PC and a new PC. On the new PC, you might need a USB to RS232 adapter.

    Get a copy of pkzip and zip each folder on your old PC. Install Procomm PLUS on your old PC. Run Procomm.

    On the new PC, open your favorite terminal program (Tera Term, HyperTerm, etc.)

    On old PC, send each file using XModem or ZModem in Procomm. On new PC, receive the file using the same protocol.

    This was the way we got our files from dial-up BBSes in 80s and early 90s. The transfer through the cable is actually easier since you don't have to dial through a modem.

    Cheers!

  17. LabVIEW anyone? on Little-Known Programming Languages That Actually Pay · · Score: 1

    I saw MATLAB mentioned here quite a bit. I cut my teeth on MATLAB in the 90s to prototype DSP algorithms, but LabVIEW has become my replacement workhorse for that sort of stuff since Y2K. Even through the dot-com bust there was no shortage of LabVIEW work. I'm mostly a C/C++ embedded guy these days, but LabVIEW is still in my grab bag for rapid app development.

  18. How relevant is the Linux kernel in 2014? on How Relevant is C in 2014? · · Score: 1

    The largest program I build each day is the Linux kernel.

    When I ask the question "How relevant is the Linux kernel in 2014?", the relevance of C becomes hard to question considering its 15 million lines or so. ;)

  19. what about other yellow multimeters? on $30K Worth of Multimeters Must Be Destroyed Because They're Yellow · · Score: 1

    If I google "yellow multimeter", there are a ton of non-Fluke meters that show up.

    The meter I have in my lab looks just like a Fluke, but I bought it at Fry's in my poor college days.

    It's too bad SparkFun's product got snagged, they are a favorite local supplier for the Denver/Boulder electronics industry. I drive to their will-call all the time when I need cables, dev boards, and such.

    Anyway, how did all the other yellow meters get through customs??

  20. ah, I've been seeing this on Exponential Algorithm In Windows Update Slowing XP Machines · · Score: 1

    Wow, so I'm not crazy. I have to keep some old XP machines around for certain build tools. When I turned on my XP PC's recently for a sustaining engineering activity, the Windows update had them bogged down all night and all day. Was assuming a machine-specific problem, but this confirms it's a general problem. Thanks Slashdot for pointing this out, and thanks Microsoft for keeping IT interesting.

  21. Oscilloscope and DMM on Ask Slashdot: What's On Your Hardware Lab Bench? · · Score: 2

    On my lab bench for 15 years:

    Oscilloscope and Multimeter

  22. has everyone read Manna? on Rice Professor Predicts Humans Out of Work In 30 Years · · Score: 1

    Manna is an interesting short story on the topic:

    http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm

    In U.S. society, as people who can't compete with automation become non-employable, they are forced to live on welfare in government housing that is essentially a prison camp. There is little opportunity for social mobility.

    In the same short story, Australia redefines their economy to be more of an entitlement society, where people have equal access to education, vacation, etc. It becomes more of the utopia that was envisioned in the early 20th century with technology truly making life easy.

    I enjoyed this short story, because it demonstrates how the U.S. population could gradually become dependent on a massive welfare state with the standards of living becoming very meager, while societies that are willing to reinvent their economy may thrive.

  23. Re:Windows8 can be tamed, but why should you have on Windows 8 Killing PC Sales · · Score: 1

    I tend to agree that the desktop experience in Win8 is not so different from Win7. I have been doing pro HW/SW development using VC++, Eclipse, CAD tools, etc. on XP, Win7, and Win8, and I don't really notice such a different experience on Windows 8. I typically have a VirtualBox or XPmode instance, remote desktop connections, VNC, and Cygwin xterms active for testing, so for the rare cases that I switch to Metro, it's like working with another machine instance. I would argue that for IT people who are already accustomed to managing multiple VM's, the switchover to Metro just feels like going to another terminal.

    The hybrid concept actually works really well for my work-life balance. I bought a Samsung ATIV Pro, which is similar to the MS Surface Pro, but I felt the Samsung had better specs. When I'm working, I'm docked to the keyboard and working mostly in desktop. When I'm at home, I'm un-docked and enjoy my mindless content consumption using Metro and touch. Rather than having a separate PC, iPad, e-reader, etc., the hybrid covers all my use cases!

    For a serious critique of Win8, I would say that people need to use it for a few months. In my case, Metro has become second nature and I can use it equally well with mouse and touch.

    Now, the thing that I really dislike about Metro from a developer standpoint is the inability to side-load custom apps. I often support small teams that are not domain joined, and Microsoft's restricted sale of sideloading keys are a huge deterrent to my desire to ever create a Metro app. I also dislike the developer license concept. When I'm prototyping, why should I have to deal with a license for my own app? Who ever thought we'd have to deal with licensing when writing "Hello World?".

    Anyhow, Microsoft gave us a mixed bag here.

  24. Re:Missing Option on Radio Shack TRS-80 Vs. Commodore 64: Battle of the Titans · · Score: 1

    The software was called Editor Assembler. I remember that it came with a large 3-ring binder of documentation, a cartridge, and some disks.

  25. keep the prefix command code secret on Air Force Looking To Beef Up Spacecraft Network Security · · Score: 1

    If the enemy does not know the prefix command code of our spacecraft, then they cannot remotely command it to lower its shields.