Android Update: 4.4.2

Only two week after upgrading to Android 4.4 the next update was available:

 

 

And like all other minor upgrades: no information about the updates....

 

If you compare the information you notice the kernel upgrade from 3.1.10-gee1a0b2 to 3.1.10-g4776c86.

For a complete history of all updates visit this posting.

Adding Statcounter to Contao-CMS

If you are running a Contao based website and you want to add the Statcounter.com snippet for statistics, there is no manual how to to this. I tried some different things, and this was my solution:

• Create a file name counter.html on your webserver on toplevel of the Contao system (htdocs or something equivalent).
• Put the Statcounter snippet in this file

<-- Start of StatCounter Code for Default Guide -->
(script type="text/javascript")
var sc_project=NNN; 
var sc_invisible=1; 
...

• Then add the following next to the last line inside index.php:

include 'counter.html';

• After that you will be able to get your statistics via Statcounter.com....

Android Update: 4.4

After nearly everyone got the update, my device came up with this tiny icon:

And here we go:

 If you follow the link you will get the following information:

• KitKat 4.4: Smart, simple, and truly yours 
• and several other enhancements of version 4.4

And here the system information after the update:

For a complete history of all updates visit this posting.

Windows 8: create system image fails with 0x80070001

Last week i tried to create a system image with the built-in backup-tool from Windows 8. It sounds very easy:

• connect an usb storage to your computer
• start system image creation (look here)
  But then i got this error: 0x80070001

After googling around i found the following solution:

• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973455

But there you get something with junctions and FAT-filesystems... This did not solve the problem...

The solution was very easy: I had truecrypt running and this created an additional mount point. After stopping truecrypt the system image was created without any error...

Windows 8.1: Update via Store

Yesterday i did the update from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 via Windows App Store. Here some screenshots:

The Download took more than 1 hour...

The some configurations before the reboot:

But after the reboot it took more than 15 minutes until i was able to login again. And that without any progress bar - just several messages like configuring applications and more than once percentage indicators running from 0% to 100% and then the next one...

Android Update: 4.3

This week my Nexus 7 came up with this notification:

I read about that Google launched 4.3, so i tapped on this notification and:

And this time Google provides some information about this release.
One really nice thing is, that with 4.3 it is possible to create restricted user accounts and you can grant these accounts access to specific apps, which you already installed. This is exact the thing you need, if you want to create accounts for your children without app store access and without creating them e-mail accounts....

Windows Surface RT: There is a desktop?!

Last week i had the opportunity to use a Windows Surface RT tablet. For several month i am using a windows 8 laptop, which is equipped with a touchscreen. So i am used to the new tiles interface and i knew at least on laptops, you have the desktop-applications and the "tiles"-applications.
I was curious, how it feels to work without having "two worlds" of applications on a device...
But it was for me big suprise: If you install Microsoft Office on a RT device, you get the desktop back:

 On a tablet with a display size with 10.6 inches (27cm)? I tried to write a document and it wasn't easy to hit the right icons...
By saving the document it was astonishing, that i got a file chooser. From my Nexus 7 i was used to get no folder structures or similar things:

There are two problems with this desktop applications: If not in full-screen mode, you have to work with really small windows and resizing is very difficult and

 the applications are not shown in the application bar:

They are all summarized with desktop... There is no way to switch directly to your word application or powerpoint.  You have to move the desktop und then choose your Office application....

Dual-Boot on UEFI PCs: Booting Ubuntu only works randomly

In my posting about using ubuntu on a Windows 9 laptop, i ended with:

But now rebooting works like expected (with Ubuntu and Windows 8).

After some more reboots and trying to start ubuntu, booting ubuntu only works randomly. Sometimes it worked after walking through BIOS/UEFI. Sometime it did not work at all.
Even doing some more boot-repairs did not make any improvement.
Just give up and no ubuntu on this machine?
I found some strange things, which did not work either. But at the end there was one solution which worked:

Disable secure boot
Run boot-repair once again

.After disabling secure boot on BIOS/UEFI you have to run boot-repair until it really write grub once again (first execution asked for some additional packages to install and did not wrote grub).
Now the statement from the other posing could be done:

But now rebooting works like expected (with Ubuntu and Windows 8).

Linux and UEFI: Files, Mountpoints, Commands...

With Windows 8 secure boot is used. That means if you want to add a Linux kernel, this kernel has to be signed. After installing Ubuntu on a Windows 8 machine, here the directory listing of the /boot directory:

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   844882 Okt  9  2012 abi-3.5.0-17-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    17402 Apr 21 18:48 boot.efi.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        0 Apr 21 18:49 boot.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   147884 Okt  9  2012 config-3.5.0-17-generic
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root      512 Jan  1  1970 efi
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root     4096 Apr 21 18:45 grub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23040071 Apr 21 16:33 initrd.img-3.5.0-17-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   176764 Jan  3 23:48 memtest86+.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   178944 Jan  3 23:48 memtest86+_multiboot.bin
-rw------- 1 root root  2901710 Okt  9  2012 System.map-3.5.0-17-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  5129040 Okt 17  2012 vmlinuz-3.5.0-17-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  5130968 Okt 17  2012 vmlinuz-3.5.0-17-generic.efi.signed

The directory grub contains all files related to grub/grub2. The directory efi is a mountpoint:

/dev/sda3 on /boot/efi type vfat (rw)
/dev/sda3         258048   48975    209073  19% /boot/efi

This partition is a partition, which was created from Windows 8 and contains the following:

./efi/Boot
./efi/Boot/bg-BG
./efi/Boot/bg-BG/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/BCD.LOG
./efi/Boot/cs-CZ
./efi/Boot/cs-CZ/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/cs-CZ/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/da-DK
./efi/Boot/da-DK/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/da-DK/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/de-DE
./efi/Boot/de-DE/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/de-DE/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/el-GR
./efi/Boot/el-GR/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/el-GR/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/en-GB
./efi/Boot/en-GB/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/en-US
./efi/Boot/en-US/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/en-US/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/es-ES
./efi/Boot/es-ES/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/es-ES/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/et-EE
./efi/Boot/et-EE/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/fi-FI
./efi/Boot/fi-FI/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/fi-FI/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/fr-FR
./efi/Boot/fr-FR/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/fr-FR/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/hr-HR
./efi/Boot/hr-HR/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/hu-HU
./efi/Boot/hu-HU/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/hu-HU/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/it-IT
./efi/Boot/it-IT/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/it-IT/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/ja-JP
./efi/Boot/ja-JP/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/ja-JP/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/ko-KR
./efi/Boot/ko-KR/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/ko-KR/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/lt-LT
./efi/Boot/lt-LT/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/lv-LV
./efi/Boot/lv-LV/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/memtest.exe
./efi/Boot/nb-NO
./efi/Boot/nb-NO/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/nb-NO/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/nl-NL
./efi/Boot/nl-NL/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/nl-NL/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/pl-PL
./efi/Boot/pl-PL/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/pl-PL/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/pt-BR
./efi/Boot/pt-BR/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/pt-BR/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/pt-PT
./efi/Boot/pt-PT/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/pt-PT/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/qps-ploc
./efi/Boot/qps-ploc/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/qps-ploc/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/ro-RO
./efi/Boot/ro-RO/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/ru-RU
./efi/Boot/ru-RU/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/ru-RU/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/sk-SK
./efi/Boot/sk-SK/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/sl-SI
./efi/Boot/sl-SI/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/sr-Latn-CS
./efi/Boot/sr-Latn-CS/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/sv-SE
./efi/Boot/sv-SE/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/sv-SE/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/tr-TR
./efi/Boot/tr-TR/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/tr-TR/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/uk-UA
./efi/Boot/uk-UA/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/zh-CN
./efi/Boot/zh-CN/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/zh-CN/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/zh-HK
./efi/Boot/zh-HK/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/zh-HK/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/zh-TW
./efi/Boot/zh-TW/bootmgr.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/zh-TW/memtest.exe.mui
./efi/Boot/BOOTSTAT.DAT
./efi/Boot/Fonts
./efi/Boot/Fonts/chs_boot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Fonts/cht_boot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Fonts/jpn_boot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Fonts/kor_boot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Fonts/malgunn_boot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Fonts/malgun_boot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Fonts/meiryon_boot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Fonts/meiryo_boot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Fonts/msjhn_boot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Fonts/msjh_boot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Fonts/msyhn_boot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Fonts/msyh_boot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Fonts/segmono_boot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Fonts/segoen_slboot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Fonts/segoe_slboot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Fonts/wgl4_boot.ttf
./efi/Boot/Resources
./efi/Boot/Resources/bootres.dll
./efi/Boot/Resources/de-DE
./efi/Boot/Resources/de-DE/bootres.dll.mui
./efi/Boot/BCD
./efi/Boot/BCD.LOG1
./efi/Boot/BCD.LOG2
./efi/bootmgr
./efi/BOOTNXT
./efi/EFI
./efi/EFI/Microsoft
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bg-BG
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bg-BG/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bg-BG/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/boot.stl
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgr.efi
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/cs-CZ
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/cs-CZ/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/cs-CZ/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/cs-CZ/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/da-DK
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/da-DK/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/da-DK/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/da-DK/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/de-DE
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/de-DE/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/de-DE/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/de-DE/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/el-GR
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/el-GR/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/el-GR/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/el-GR/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/en-GB
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/en-GB/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/en-GB/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/en-US
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/en-US/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/en-US/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/en-US/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/es-ES
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/es-ES/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/es-ES/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/es-ES/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/et-EE
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/et-EE/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/et-EE/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/fi-FI
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/fi-FI/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/fi-FI/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/fi-FI/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/fr-FR
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/fr-FR/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/fr-FR/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/fr-FR/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/hr-HR
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/hr-HR/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/hr-HR/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/hu-HU
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/hu-HU/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/hu-HU/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/hu-HU/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/it-IT
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/it-IT/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/it-IT/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/it-IT/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ja-JP
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ja-JP/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ja-JP/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ja-JP/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ko-KR
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ko-KR/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ko-KR/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ko-KR/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/lt-LT
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/lt-LT/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/lt-LT/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/lv-LV
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/lv-LV/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/lv-LV/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/memtest.efi
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/nb-NO
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/nb-NO/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/nb-NO/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/nb-NO/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/nl-NL
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/nl-NL/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/nl-NL/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/nl-NL/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/pl-PL
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/pl-PL/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/pl-PL/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/pl-PL/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/pt-BR
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/pt-BR/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/pt-BR/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/pt-BR/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/pt-PT
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/pt-PT/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/pt-PT/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/pt-PT/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/qps-ploc
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/qps-ploc/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/qps-ploc/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/qps-ploc/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ro-RO
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ro-RO/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ro-RO/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ru-RU
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ru-RU/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ru-RU/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ru-RU/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/sk-SK
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/sk-SK/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/sk-SK/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/sl-SI
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/sl-SI/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/sl-SI/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/sr-Latn-CS
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/sr-Latn-CS/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/sr-Latn-CS/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/sv-SE
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/sv-SE/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/sv-SE/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/sv-SE/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/tr-TR
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/tr-TR/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/tr-TR/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/tr-TR/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/uk-UA
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/uk-UA/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/uk-UA/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/zh-CN
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/zh-CN/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/zh-CN/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/zh-CN/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/zh-HK
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/zh-HK/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/zh-HK/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/zh-TW
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/zh-TW/bootmgfw.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/zh-TW/bootmgr.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/zh-TW/memtest.efi.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/BOOTSTAT.DAT
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/chs_boot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/cht_boot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/jpn_boot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/kor_boot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/malgunn_boot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/malgun_boot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/meiryon_boot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/meiryo_boot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/msjhn_boot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/msjh_boot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/msyhn_boot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/msyh_boot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/segmono_boot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/segoen_slboot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/segoe_slboot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Fonts/wgl4_boot.ttf
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Resources
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Resources/bootres.dll
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Resources/de-DE
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/Resources/de-DE/bootres.dll.mui
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/BCD
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/BCD.LOG
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/BCD.LOG1
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/BCD.LOG2
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bkpbootmgfw.efi
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootx64.efi.grb
./efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootx64.efi
./efi/EFI/Boot
./efi/EFI/Boot/bkpbootx64.efi
./efi/EFI/Boot/bootx64.efi
./efi/EFI/ubuntu
./efi/EFI/ubuntu/shimx64.efi
./efi/EFI/ubuntu/grubx64.efi
./efi/EFI/ubuntu/grub.cfg

.

Using Ubuntu on a Windows 8 Laptop: because of UEFI more problems as expected

Today i tried to install Ubuntu on a Windows 8 Laptop. First thing: you have to use 12.04 or greater because Windows 8 uses secure boot with UEFI.

But after the first boot with a USB-stick i got:

(initramfs) Unable to find a medium containing a live file system

?? - If you ask google you get something like: Do not use a usb 3.0 port... Great... There is no usb 2.0 port on my device....
So just trying around with a usb 2.0 hub  - does not work
Looking inside BIOS i found XHCI:

And after that Ubuntu is installed without any problems... (hmm - that is not really true: resizing the Windows 8 partition could not be done via Ubuntu installer - but just do this in Windows 8 - this will work without any problems).
Ok - end of this posting? Unfortunately not, because Windows 8 does not boot anymore.
I think this is ok ;-)
Asking Google gives the following solution: Just use Boot-repair.

sudo bash
add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
apt-get update
apt-get install boot-repair
boot-repair

And after that the grub menu looks like this:

But now rebooting works like expected (with Ubuntu and Windows 8).
[If you still have problems that booting ubuntu does not work on every startup, read here]

Using Virtualbox images with Hyper-V

In 2008 i wrote about using vmware images with virtualbox. To migrate a host from virutalbox to Hyper-V, you have to do nearly the same, but you have to convert the hdd:

• Convert your Virtualbox-hdd with VBoxManage.exe clonehd:
  (from vdi to vhd)

C:\Users\schroff>"\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" clonehd
"c:\Users\schroff\VirtualBox VMs\Debian64-DS\Debian64-DS.vdi"
"c:\Users\schroff\VirtualBox VMs\Debian64-DS-Hyper-V"\Debian-DS.vhd
-format vhd

0%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100%
Clone hard disk created in format 'vhd'. UUID: c42129a8-c145-4a50-908c-023c8ed2b711

• Create a new virtual machine with Hyper-V:
• Create a vswitch
• Create a new host and add as existing hdd your cloned vhd-file
• Change the network adapter to legacy network adapter
• Start your new system...

Hyper-V: Compile Linux Kernel with Microsoft device drivers

After knowing, that running a linux inside Hyper-V is only working with the "legacy" network adapter (look here), i was trying to build a kernel with the drivers (Microsoft has added the drivers into the Linux kernel versions >2.6.32).
There is one nice tutorial out there:

• IT FROM ALL ANGLES: Hyper-V Guests: Compile Linux Kernel 2.6.32 on Debian 

But the menus of menuconfig have changed with kernel version 3.0. Microsofts Hyper-V kernel modules are no longer located inside the staging section. They can be found here:

Device Drivers --> Network device support -->

Device Drivers -->  Microsoft Hyper-V guest support -->

Device Drivers --> HID Support --> Special HID Drivers -->

All other steps work like described in IT FROM ALL ANGLES: Hyper-V Guests: Compile Linux Kernel 2.6.32 on Debian.
Microsoft offers a ISO-image for installing the kernel modules for some special kernel version for this linux distributions:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.7, 5.8, 6.0-6.3 x86 and x64
• CentOS 5.7, 5.8, 6.0-6.3 x86 and x64

The ISO-image can be downloaded from this location.

Note: If you try to build the kernel in you virtual machine, you need at least 6GB in /usr/src for compiling your kernel...

Hyper-V: Installing a debian linux in a virtual machine - trouble with the (non legacy) network adapter

First try with a virtualization solution like Hyper-V is to install a guest. So let's try debian linux.
The installer runs through this points:

1. Name & path of the virtual machine
2. RAM
3. Network (how to configure a virtual switch with internet connectivity or how to configure internet connectivity with NAT)
   at this point you have to choose no connection (i will explain this later)
4. Create a hdd
5. The summary should look like this:

Next step you have to open the configuration of this virtual machine. There you can see a network adapter with the following properties:

Bandwith management? This sounds really good. There are two types of network adapters:

A network adapter requires a virtual machine driver in order to work, but offers better performance. This driver is included with some newer versions of Windows. On all other supported operating systems, install integration services in the guest operating system to install the virtual machine driver. For instructions, see Install a Guest Operating System. For more information about which operating systems are supported and which of those require you to install integration services, see About Virtual Machines and Guest Operating Systems (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=128037).

A legacy network adapter works without installing a virtual machine driver. The legacy network adapter emulates a physical network adapter, multiport DEC 21140 10/100TX 100 MB. A legacy network adapter also supports network-based installations because it includes the ability to boot to the Pre-Execution Environment (PXE boot). However, the legacy network adapter is not supported in the 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2003. 

And now think about, for which type of network adapter the standard kernel has a kernel modul (or you can get sources for)... Right. Only the legacy adapter.
So you have to delete the network adapter and add a legacy network adapter. After this step, your virtual machine should look like:

The bandwidth management is gone, but your kernel can use the tulip module and your network is working... Here you have to choose a virtual switch, which you can create like described in these two postings:  how to configure a virtual switch with internet connectivity or how to configure internet connectivity with NAT.

It is not really suprising, that Microsoft adds as default to each new virtual machine a network adapter, which only works on a few linux distributions. You can download drivers from microsoft via this page (scroll down to "integration services"). But to add the default each for every new virtual machine, so that you have to delete this one and add the "legacy" adapter.

But after knowing this, it is no problem to install debian linux (or any other linux) onto your Hyper-V.

Hyper-V: Howto configure NAT for virtual machines

In my last posting i explained how to configure a vEthernet adapter to get connectivity to the internet. But there was one "problem": You had to provide one seperate IP for each virtual host, you want to connect to the internet.
But there is a solution (NAT) for this problem and it is easy to configure this with Hyper-V on Windows:
[If you have not configured the "brigde"-solution i explained the last posting, then skip step 1 and start with step number 2]

1. Unbridge your VSwitchExternal from Wifi
   (select both adapter in network adapters and do a right click an use "remove bridge")
2. Create a new internal virtual switch via Hyper-V's virtual switch manager (look here, how to do this) and name it VSwitchNAT
3. Edit properties of your Wifi adapter
   (right click and then properties)
4. Open the tab "Sharing" and enable both Checkboxes.
   Choose "VSwitchNAT" for Home networking connection
   

And after that your virtual machines are using a private subnet which will be NATted by your laptop. This private subnet can be configured via VSwitchNAT:

• Edit properties of VSwitchNAT vEthernet adpater
• Edit properties of ipv4 and here you can edit the subnet
  

Hyper-V on Windows 8: External virtual switches do not work - Howto connect a virtual host to the internet

First thing you have to do after enabling Hyper-V is to set up your network for your virtual machines. This is not so easy, because some things do not work...
So let's start: Open the Virtual Switch Manager

There you have three options:

1. external (connectivity to the internet)
2. internal (connectivity between virtual machines on this Hyper-V and the host)
3. private (only connectivity between virtual machines on this Hyper-V)

Sounds like 1 is the option, which should be used, but this option does not work (you can find many postings via google, from guys, which chose this option and did not get any connectivity to anywhere...). On my laptop i was not able to get connectivity from the virtual host to the internet. Even worse: After configuring an external virtual switch my Windows 8 had no connectivity to the internet, too.

But there is a workaround:

1. Create a internal virtual switch and call it "VSwitchExternal"
   
2. Open network adapters (via control panel->network) and select your network adapter (Wifi) and the new vEthernet adapter (via CRTL and click them):
   
3. Now do a right click and choose "add to network brigde"
   

Now this vEthernet adapter VSwitchExternal will work and your laptop is still connected to the internet.
But you should be aware, that the virtual machine now needs its own ip on your external network. How to configure NAT for your virtual machine, so that you use the same address like your laptop, is explained in  this posting.

Windows 8: Enabling Microsofts Hyper-V virtualization platform

If you are running a Microsoft Windows 8 Professional, you can use Microsofts virtualization platform Hyper-V. To get the management window you have to open

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Hyper-V Management Tools

and double click the icon:

If this icon (or the path) is not there, you have to enable Hyper-V:
Open your control panel and choose programs & features:

Then on the left side choose: activate Windows-features.
The following dialog should appear:

Choose Hyper-V

Ok - now some reboots and then the Hyper-V manager should be there and you can also start it via dosshell:

%windir%\system32\mmc.exe "%windir%\system32\virtmgmt.msc"

And you will get:

Nexus 7: Encrypting all data

After loosing all data on a completely discharged Nexus 7 (look here), i decided to encrypt the storage with my own password, so that i should be able to give the right pin into the "type password to decrypt storage"-question (hopefully).

• Advantage:
  never loose my data again
• Disadvantage
  on every bootup i have to enter my new pin....

First step: go to ->settings:

select "Encrypt tablet". If your tablet is not plugged in and not completely charged you get:

After plugging in and charging you get:

Tapping on "Encrypt tablet" leads to:

And then:

Ok... Irreversible and many reboots... Scared? ;-)
GO!

And after some reboots i had to give my password to decrypt storage for bootup:

(This is exactly the same screen, which was shown after rebooting the completely discharged Nexus 7. So hopefully after next complete discharge, i can start the Nexus without loosing all data)

Android Update: 4.2.2

Three months after the upgrade from Android 4.2 to 4.2.1 i got the option to update my Nexus 7 to 4.2.2. As before there is no official statement about the bugfixes or changes in this new version. The only thing is the confirmation screen the:

After the update the system information shows this:

The size of the update was 47.7 MB. Some applications had network errors after thttp://dietrichschroff.blogspot.de/2014/11/android-update-50.htmlhe update (like the ebay app), but after a restart everthing was fine again...
The really nice thing with Nexus 7 is, that you get every Android update....

• Android Update 5.0 (11.2014)
• Android Update 4.4.3 (6.2014)
• Android Update 4.4.2 (12.2013)
• Android Update 4.4 (11.2013)
• Android Update 4.3 (8.2013)
• Android Update 4.2.2 (2.2013)
• Android Update 4.2.1 (12.2012)
• Android Update 4.2 (11.2012)
• Android Update 4.1.2 (10.2012)