Dell XPS 15 / NVIDIA GeForce GT 435M / external monitor issues

I've recently had some curious computer behaviour that appear loosely related to my video card+external monitor  combination.  I have no idea if they're related to each other, I have no idea if this is the whole story, I have no idea if there's some other underlying issue I can't see.  I'm just documenting what I know here for googleability in case it's helpful to someone.

The computer: a Dell XPS 15, running Windows 7
The video card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 435M
The display: a Dell E178FP LCD monitor, connected to the computer via a Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter (because the computer doesn't have VGA output and the monitor only has VGA input. However, sometimes I unplug the external monitor and instead use the built-in screen, which has widescreen dimensions.

The monitor blinking out problem

Every once in a while, it seemed randomly, the monitor would blink out, as though it had gone into sleep mode even though I don't have a sleep mode set.  Moving the mouse or pressing the keyboard wouldn't work and opening up the laptop wouldn't even work.  It would be completely frozen and I'd have to do a hard reboot. The appearance of this problem correlated with appearance of the monitor occasionally flickering when I was shredding paper (about 3 feet away from the monitor) and with difficulty switching back and forth between laptop screen and external monitor - when I connected the external monitor, it wouldn't pick up the picture (even when I pressed Windows key + P).  It would take multiple pluggings and unpluggings to make it work, and sometimes even a reboot.  And it got worse as time passed.

After this had been going on for some time, I noticed that the monitor blinked out when the Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter got jiggled.  I therefore bought a new adapter, and the problem stopped happening.

The Windows 7 Action Centre mystery

Shortly after I bought the new Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter that could withstand jiggling, an alert appeared in my Windows 7 Action Centre saying "Solve a problem with NVIDIA Graphics Driver."  However, when I clicked on it, it said "This solution could not be downloaded."  It's been saying that for months, always when I did in fact have a full and active internet connection.  The problem that it claims to be solving correlates with times when the computer crashed because of the adapter problem, so I don't know that there is in fact a driver issue (when this first appeared, my driver was the most recent one available).

The bad Windows Update

I don't routinely install all Windows updates, because in the past I've had problems with them conflicting or causing problems. Once my setup works, I prefer to keep it that way.  But, just recently, I noticed an update called "nVidia Graphics Adapter WDDM1.1, Graphics Adapter WDDM1.2, Graphics Adapter WDDM1.3,  released in October, 2013". I thought this might be the NVIDIA solution that the Action Centre was trying and failing to deliver, so I installed it.

And it completely disabled my external monitor.  No matter how many times I unplugged and replugged and switched back and forth between the monitors, nothing would display on my external monitor.

So I did a system restore, and the external monitor started working again.

The takeaway (to the best of my knowledge):

- If your external monitor is connected using a Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter and you lose monitor signal, freezing the computer, try replacing the adapter.
- If this has happened and there's a useless Solve a problem with NVIDIA Graphics Driver" notice in your Windows Action Centre, this might be why.
- If you have installed a Windows update called "nVidia Graphics Adapter WDDM1.1, Graphics Adapter WDDM1.2, Graphics Adapter WDDM1.3,  released in October, 2013" and lost the use of your external monitor, try undoing the update.

Router update

In follow-up to my previous questions about routers, I ended up getting a Linksys N300 for no especially good reasons, and I discovered a few things:

- Nearly all, if not absolutely all, of the routers currently commercially available are wifi-capable
- You can turn off the wifi from the software
- You can also limit the number of users who connect to the router in the software.  The default setting was 50, but I limited it to 2 since I'm only connecting two computers. 

These last two things mitigate my wariness of having a wifi router.  I don't particularly need wifi, so I didn't really want to deal with having to secure an unnecessary wifi network.  But being able to turn it off and to limit the number of users makes me feel more secure.

One thing I haven't figured out: I can change router settings via software by going to a specific 192.*.*.* IP address.  However, this only works on my primary computer (i.e. the one I used to set up the router.  It doesn't work on my secondary computer, even though it's connected to the router too.  Is it supposed to be this way, or should I be able to reach the 192.*.*.* address with my secondary computer too?

How to slide the edge guide in an Epson Stylus NX130

In the paper tray of the Epson Stylus NX130 all in one inkjet printer, there is a grey slidey thing, apparently called an edge guide.  It needs to be slid to the side so the paper will fit in.

In order to slide it side to side, you have to squeeze it while sliding it.  It won't move if you don't squeeze it.

I'm blogging this because I had a hell of a time finding this information when I needed it.

(Note that this is neither an endorsement nor a condemnation of this printer.  I bought it because I needed a scanner and a printer on short notice and didn't have time to research or comparison shop, and this was the cheapest one that was small enough in the box for me to carry.  It does the job, but printing is slower and noisier than it could be.  I would have preferred to do more research and buy a faster, quieter, better-quality laser printer.)

How to get rid of the colon after the comments in Blogger's "Ethereal" template

Short version: search your template's HTML for <data:post.commentLabelFull/>:, and delete the colon after the >

Detailed version:

1. Log into Blogger
2. From the More Options drop-down (just to the left of the "View Blog" button), select "Template".
3. Under "Live on Blog", click on the "Edit HTML" button.
4. A warning may pop up; click on "Proceed".
5. Check the "Expand Widget Templates" checkbox.
6. Use your browser's search function (most likely Ctrl+F) to search for <data:post.commentLabelFull/>:
7. Delete the colon after the >.
8. Click "Preview" to make sure it worked.
9. Click on "Save Template".

"Hearts as both and cars"

My iTunes started playing the Disney song "I'm Professor Ludwig von Drake", and there was a line I couldn't hear clearly.  I googled it, and got:

I know all about atomic energy
hearts as both and cars and bio chemistry

"Hearts as both and cars"?  That doesn't make any sense.  The first dozen or so google results seemed unanimous, but there's no possible way that's the lyric.

Upon further selective googling, I found, and decided I agree with, this TVTropes page:  "horses, boats and cars."

I know all about atomic energy
Horses, boats and cars and biochemistry
but when it comes to brain surgery then I can only do swell.

 And now I'm blogging it in the hopes of increasing the googleability of the correct lyrics.

Theme song to The Bubblies

The theme song from The Bubblies is as follows:

Come back, come back,
Come back to Bubbly Town
Seems like such a long time
Since you were around
While you've been away
We've waited for the day
When you'd come back, come back,
Come back to Bubbly Town

I can't find the theme online in English, but here it is in French.

I'm blogging this because, even though it's already answered on the internet, I couldn't google up the name of the show when I didn't remember the key word in the title.

I googled things like "Come back come back come back to * town" and "come back come back come back" "town seems like such a long time", and nothing came up. I wasn't sure whether it's "since you were around" or "since you've been around" and "while you've been away" or "while you were away", but no permutation produced the results.

Finally, @amyrhoda and @bwinton helped me figure it out on Twitter, so thank you to them! And now I'm blogging it in the hope of making it more googleable.

Problems with Bluefire Reader

I switched to Bluefire Reader in November, when the upgrade to iOS 5 killed Stanza. Most of the time it works, but sometimes it will just cease to be able to read a certain file. Sometimes this presents as, when I search through the file, the spinner will spin and spin and it will never find anything or stop searching. Sometimes it presents as, after I switch to another app then go back to Bluefire, it will show me the library instead of the page I left it on and then spin and spin when I try to open the book I was reading. On the "info" page, the current page for these books shows up as page 1 instead of whatever page I was actually on.

Every file that this has happened with has been a DRM-free epub. It's happened with three separate files out of a total of somewhere between 10 and 20 files.

Following the instructions for when a spinner won't go away listed on this page doesn't help. Deleting the book from my ipod and then putting it back on doesn't solve the problem. Converting the book to PDF and then back to epub does make it openable by Bluefire again, but it messes with the formatting so it's not as easy to read. (Converting them just to PDF also works, but makes them even harder to read.) I can't find any way to look at the back end of either Bluefire or the epub files either through my ipod or through my computer.

I haven't been able to google up any evidence of anyone else on the internet having this problem, so I'm blogging it. If you google your way here and are also having this problem, I encourage you to post your findings in the comments. (Anonymous comments welcome.)

Fortunately, Stanza has since updated for iOS 5, so I'm back to using it. It should be noted that Stanza is able to open and search the epub files that made Bluefire freeze and crash, so the problem lies in something Stanza can do that Bluefire can't.

Possible conflict between Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and iTunes (and possibly Sims 3)

Short version: iTunes 10.2.2.14 wouldn't sync or restore my iPod (3rd generation touch) after I installed Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (KB976932) on May 28, 2011. Uninstalling the service pack made the iPod useable again. I don't yet have a solution to allow the two to coexist.

Blow-by-blow: On Sunday I was heading out to do my errands, only to notice that my iPod thought it had no songs on it. Weird. When I got back home I tried to sync it, only to have iTunes tell me it couldn't detect the iPod and it needed to be restored. I was rather wary based on my past experiences with restoring this iPod, but I didn't see a choice.

As I'd suspected, it got stuck in recovery mode, giving error code 6 every single time (unlike my previous attempts, when it would change it up a bit. I tried all the usual stuff - restarting iTunes, rebooting the computer, switching USB ports, switching cables, updating USB drivers (they were already up to date), reinstalling iTunes, turning off security software. When I looked up error code 6, it said the problem might be with a registry entry called TCPWindowSize, but the regedit search function found no such entry. The iTunes diagnostic found everything fine, except that it claimed it couldn't detect the iPod.

I ended up going to the Apple store (lesson learned: get an appointment. The schedule looks empty during the day, but fills up after work) and getting them to restore my iPod. But then when I got back home and tried to load it up with music again, it wouldn't work. It kept freezing only a few songs in (e.g. 20 or 30 songs into my nearly-5,000 song playlist), then telling me it couldn't load the song in question because of an "unspecified error" (with error codes 0xE800801C, 0xE800400C, or 0xE800400B), then telling me it couldn't read the disk of the iPod. I set about removing variables, but the best I could get it to do is load 48 songs by a single artist, which completely defeats the purpose of an iPod. I tried restoring an older backup of the iPod, but it froze around 85% of the way in. The iTunes diagnostic said that iTunes Helper was not running, despite the fact that I've never disabled it on this computer. Restarting and reinstalling iTunes didn't help. Googling around the problem, I found suggestions to disable certain USB controllers in the Device Manager, but that only made my USB ports stop working. Another googled-up suggestion was that my music might not me loading because my iPod was restored on a Mac at the Apple store and I have a PC at home, so I held my breath and restored it again. And, once again, was faced with error code 6. I think this is the point where I broke out the wine.

With visions of having to schlep back to the Apple store with my oversized PC laptop in tow and insisting that they get my iPod to sync MY music, I finally remembered that the beginning of these problems correlated with a large Windows update. So I went back into Windows Update and uninstalled recent updates one by one, trying to restore the iPod in between. After I removed Service Pack 1, my iPod finally restored successfully, and allowed me to reload all my songs by restoring a previous backup.

The next logical step would be to disable automatic syncing in iTunes and then reinstall the service pack, but I haven't gotten there yet.

In general, this little iPod has given me more trouble than any other piece of technology I've ever used in the past 30 years. But I suspect this problem might have been with the service pack, because of two other things that happened at the same time.

1. Sims 3 had an update while all this was going on, so I installed it, but the installer crashed just before it finished. I was caught in limbo between the old version and the new version, and had to reinstall the game from scratch.

2. Before I uninstalled the service pack, I tried to do a system restore. That didn't work either due to "an unspecified error (0x80070005)."

I can't be certain that these two problems were due to the service pack because I didn't troubleshoot thoroughly enough to eliminate variables, but as it stands I'm hesitant to reinstall the service pack. At the moment I'm just glad my ipod works (I get edgy and stimmy without music in my ears, and having to go to sensory-overload places like malls and Apple stores makes it worse), but I'll update if I figure out anything new.

"Setting up personalized settings for: Windows Desktop Update"

I just installed the latest Windows 7 service pack, and, after I rebooted, my computer gave me a message saying "Setting up personalized settings for: Windows Desktop Update", and then stayed on that message for quite a long time. I was certain the computer was frozen, but I was in the middle of exercising so I decided to wait until I was done to do anything about it.

It turned out the computer stayed on that message for 15 minutes. Then the screen turned black and, again, stayed there for quite a long time. Again, it seemed frozen, but the mouse moved and the numlock key still worked, so I decided to give it some time. The screen stayed black for about 12 minutes. Then Windows finished booting up as usual.

So the moral of the story is: if your computer appears to freeze on "Setting up personalized settings for: Windows Desktop Update" or on the black screen that comes after, give it a really long time before you decide that it's frozen and interrupt the service pack installation. My computer is only 5 months old, so if your computer is older than that it might take even longer than the 15 minutes. (I guess the other moral of the story is don't install service packs if you're going to need the computer right away - wait until you have some time.)

Dear Windows Update designers: a percentage complete/time remaining progress bar at that point in the installation would be helpful.

Weird solution to ipod stuck in recovery mode

Last weekend, itunes offered me a software update for my 3rd generation ipod touch. Unfortunately, it froze while installing the software, and itunes told me I'd have to restore the ipod.

I clicked on the restore button, it went through the process, and I got a pop-up saying it had been restored to factory settings. But then I got another alert in itunes saying the attached ipod was in recovery mode and it would have to be restored. So I tried restoring again and got error code 37.

Thereafter followed multiple attempts at troubleshooting and restoring. Rebooted computer, tried different USB ports and cables, updated USB drivers, did a hard restart on the ipod (pressing and holding the two buttons), tried updating itunes, tried disabling my security software, nothing worked. Sometimes I'd get a message saying it had been restored followed in quick succession by another message saying the ipod was in recovery mode, sometimes I'd get error code 37

Then, on my final attempt, just as my next step was to google up the nearest Apple store, I accidentally discovered that when the message saying the ipod has been restored to factory settings pops up, you have to click OK. It says this message is going to disappear in 10 seconds so I'd just been letting it go. But when I clicked OK, the ipod restarted normally and it was fine.

So the moral of the story is: click OK on your itunes pop-ups rather than waiting for them to disappear.

How to connect a Dell XPS 15 to an external monitor that only has VGA input

On the Things I Wasn't Expecting list: my new laptop doesn't have VGA output. And my existing monitor only has VGA input. I'd been hoping to plug the laptop into my existing peripherals for everyday at-home use (Q: Why? A: Ergonomics and because I tend to eat and drink at the computer.) so this threw a wrench in my plan.

The solution: a VGA to Mini DisplayPort adapter. The Mini DisplayPort (with which I was unfamiliar going in) is another video input, and is located (as of December 2010) at the back right (as you're facing the screen) corner of the computer, just behind the XPS logo. I found them at Future Shop but not The Source, but didn't look anywhere else. Apple appears to manufacture them, so you can probably get them through the Apple Store too.

Temporary workarounds for when your computer enters power save during boot up

Yesterday, my computer froze completely and I had to do a hard reboot. During the reboot, it entered power save (just after the Windows XP screen) and couldn't be woken up. When I did another hard reboot, there were minor flaws with the graphics, which suggests that the problem is related to the video card somehow.

Restarting in Last Known Good configuration didn't help. A System Restore didn't help. Cleaning out the inside and reseating the RAM and video cards (because the internet suggested it) didn't help. I did manage to boot up in Safe Mode (press F8 at the BIOS screen, before the Windows screen shows up) and tried to update my video drivers, and it blue-screened on reboot (the error message was Driver IRQL Not Less Or Equal). So I tried rolling back the video drivers and it blue-screened and crashed before I could even see the error.

So currently the temporary workarounds I know are: boot up in Safe Mode with Networking and you can get on the internet and access some stuff. It will get you through the day and help you google through your troubleshooting. You can also choose Enable VGA on boot-up (through the same F8 method as to get into Safe Mode) and you'll have access to everything, but ridiculously low resolution (640x480) and graphics quality. When you boot up, you get an alert saying that your graphics settings are very low and offering to raise them, but doing so causes it to enter power save again.

I do not have a permanent solution to this problem. Since my googling was finding stuff about motherboards that's way over my head, and since my computer is 6 years old and a desktop, I've just bought a new laptop. So don't hold your breath watching this space for a permanent solution (although if you have one, please post in the comments for anyone who's googling!)

The computer is a 6 year old Dell Dimension 4700 and the video card is an Nvidia GEforce 6800.

How long a tube of Touche Eclat lasts

When used 5 or 6 times a week to cover undereye circles and the occasional zit, a tube of Touche Eclat lasts six months.

Just in case anyone was googling for that :)

How to fix your computer freezing after the latest ZoneAlarm upgrade

After the latest ZoneAlarm update (I got it on Friday, May 28), my computer started slowing and freezing. I'm running Windows XP on a five-year-old computer, 2.8 GHz processor and 2 gigs of RAM. Not the best, but it had served me well right up until that upgrade.

Sometimes after boot-up, nothing would work. Like I'd click on something and after five minutes it still hadn't loaded, and even the Task Manager would freeze. I also started getting errors when launching Sims 3, "Application failed to initialize properly." I tried a system restore to before the ZoneAlarm upgrade, but that didn't help.

The ultimate solution ended up being to uninstall and reinstall the ZoneAlarm upgrade, but not installing all the components. Unfortunately I failed to write down the exact name of the interface items, but there's a window with three checkboxes asking what you want to install. The first checkbox is the regular firewall, I forget what the second is, and the third offers to put a ZoneAlarm security function in your Google toolbar. If you uncheck the second, the third is greyed out.

The first time around (which caused all the problems), I'd chosen all three. The second time around, I chose only the first of the three. The installation went smoothly and there have been no problems since.

What to do if your Phillips Wake-Up Light hisses

My Phillips Wake-Up Light makes a hissing sound after I change the alarm settings. I've discovered that unplugging it from the wall and then quickly plugging it back in makes this go away. And, for some reason, if you do it quickly, the clock doesn't lose its settings.

(The internet has also suggested that this can be fixed under warranty, but I bought mine on ebay.)

What to do if your TTC Metropass doesn't arrive in the mail

If you don't get your Metropass, go to the Metropass office at Davisville station (during business hours, 8:30-5 weekdays I think), show them ID, and they'll issue a replacement. They ask you to return the original if it subsequently arrives in the mail.

Blogging this because I couldn't google up the information.

The difference between La Senza and Victoria's Secret bra sizes

The bra I liked best at La Senza was discontinued and I saw one that looked identical in the Victoria's Secret catalogue, so I ordered one in the same size I wear at La Senza.

The band of the Victoria's Secret bra is a good inch longer, and the cups are smaller. The arc of the wire is identical on both bras, but if you lay the Victoria's Secret cup on top of the La Senza cup, the La Senza cup has about a centimetre more material the cleavage side and on the armpit side. The result is if the La Senza bra contains your entire breast, the Victora's Secret one will create cleavage or uniboob or quadboob (assuming you distribute your assets so that all the fleshy lymph-nodey part of your breast on the armpit side is always contained inside the bra cup).

I don't know which bra is closer to true size (i.e. the size you're supposed to be if you measure yourself and plug the numbers into the chart) because I'm infuriatingly nowhere near a true size.

This is something that annoys me about the bra industry. People always say that all you need to do is get a really good professional bra fitting and then you'll know what size you really are and live happily ever after. Now I have no doubt that a really good professional bra fitter can help you find a good bra. (Assuming you get a proper professional bra fitter, not one of those people who just takes a tape measure around your ribs and then around your bust and runs the numbers through the chart and says "Okay, done!" But since the sizes don't seem to be reliably the same from store to store, this isn't going to help you find other bras. Even if I go to Secrets From Your Sister and let them spend like 45 minutes doing their voodoo and they come up with the perfect bra, that isn't going to help me buy bras from other places if the sizes aren't going to follow the rules. I don't want professional assistance every time I buy a bra, I want to be able to pick something off the rack and have it fit. What's the point of measurement-based sizes if they aren't going to do this?

How to make a volumized half-ponytail without looking like a polygamist

This works on long thin straight hair. I haven't tried it on any other hair types, I don't know if any other hair types need extra volumization in their half-ponytails. This volumizes the scalp part only; if you want the long part more voluminous too, you'll have to curl it or whatever.

You need:

1. A clip that is suitable for holding a half ponytail in your hair (I use a tiny claw, but whatever works for you)

2. A pronged headband i.e. this sort of thing

Instructions:

1. Let your hair dry pinned in a quiff on top of your head like this.

2. Once your hair is dry, brush it out like normal.

3. Put the headband in, not too far back.

4. Make a half-ponytail like usual, but push it upwards vertically so it's ridiculously poofy behind the headband - like a parody of Sarah Palin kind of poofy.

5. Remove the headband by gently pulling it straight forward.

Now the ridiculous poofiness at the back of your scalp will be distributed over the entire scalp and softened by the natural weight of your hair. The result is not perfectly smooth, it just looks like you casually and haphazardly put your hair in a half-pony and it just happens to be poofy because your hair is so very naturally voluminous.

How to volumize your ponytail without looking like a polygamist

This is for people with flat straight hair. I have no idea what happens with other hair types.

1. Make a regular high, tight ponytail at the crown of your head, using a plain regular ouchless elastic. You can use any other kind of elastic too if you want, but it won't work with a scrunchie.

2. Slide the elastic about a centimetre down the ponytail.

3. Keeping the elastic in the same place in relation to your hair, push it back so it's against your scalp. This should make your hair poof up ever so slightly around the scalp. If it isn't poofy enough for your tastes, pull the elastic back further and repeat.

4. Pin the elastic to your scalp hair with a bobby pin. To do this, insert the pin from the back, around the elastic, so the elastic is in the U of the pin and the arms of the pin are in your scalp hair. If it won't hold, insert two pins diagonally at right angles to each other to form an X and they should hold each other.

Now your hair should be in a sleek ponytail, but not perfectly flat against your scalp. If the scalp hair underneath your ponytail is too poofy, just pull the corresponding ponytail hair through the elastic some more.

If these instructions are unclear, ask me questions and I'll edit them. I know it would do better with pictures, but my only camera is a phone and my hair and my bobby pins are the same colour, so all I can do is big black blobs.

Helpful Hint: delete your restore points every once in a while

I found a function in disk cleanup that allows you to delete all but the most recent restore point. So I clicked on it. It hourglassed for quite a while, and when it was finished I had 7 gigs of space freed up. (My computer is just celebrating its third birthday sometimes soon or recently.)