Dual boot Linux with Windows 7

Oh, this is rich.
I'm testing Arch Linux but I want to run Windows 7 on my Dell 1318 laptop as the primary operating system. So I look up HowTo information on the Internet. I stumble upon this little howto for Vista. I even found another, very detailed discussion using OpenBSD 4.4. Assuming Vista is the same as Windows 7 is a mistake. I tried to follow the instructions for using the BCDEdit program to the letter. Here are the steps:

Create an entry for GRUB in Windows Vista boot configuration data store using bcdedit.

1. Launch a command prompt with administrative privileges (right click on cmd and choose Run as Administrator)
2. Copy Linux boot sector on the root of the Windows boot (active) partition, namely the one containing bootmgr. If you don’t know for sure you can use diskpart or diskmgmt.msc to find out which one it is
3. Now Create an entry for GRUB
4. bcdedit /create /d “GRUB” /application BOOTSECTOR
5. Note: bcdedit will return an ID for this entry that we will call {LinuxID} below. You will need to replace {LinuxID} by the returned identifier in this step. An example of {LinuxID} is {81ed7925-47ee-11db-bd26-cbb4e160eb27}
6. Specify which device hosts a copy of the Linux boot sector
7. bcdedit /set {LinuxID} device boot
8. Specify the path to a copy of the Linux boot sector
9. bcdedit /set {LinuxID} PATH \linux.bin
10. Add Linux entry to the displayed menu at boot time
11. bcdedit /displayorder {LinuxID} /addlast
12. Let the menu be displayed 10 seconds to allow for OS selection
13. bcdedit /timeout 10

I did this over and over expecting different result. The classic definition of an insane person! What I didn't realize is that the Windows boot partition WASN'T (in Linux-ese) /dev/sda2 also known as Drive C:. But that odd little 100Mb partition that had no drive letter which Linux sees as /dev/sda1!

So I gave that little drive a letter using disk manager and copied linux.bin over there. Guess what? It booted first try. Ya live, ya learn (hopefully).

Calendars on my Pre

Uh - Oh!

This is a bit of a problem. I noticed today as I was trying to sign in on a wireless network at the office that my Pre's calendars were blank. Too busy typing convoluted WPA passwords to check it out, I ignored it. Then... I looked again. Sure enough. It was blank.

That's not good.

I selected Preferences and it just hung. Then it went dead. I seriously freaqued out! Then I remembered that the batter was due for a charge. "Oh, right," I mumbled.

Googling around I found others experienced something similar.

Armed with that knowledge and a charged battery, I started wiping out stuff on my Pre. Sort of a death-n-destruction troubleshooting method. When I got to the calendar though nothing helped.

So I went to Google and removed all the calendars except the one that's blank - that would be mine. I turned off the Pre and turned it back on... and it worked. I have my calendar entries back. OK, Google... whadja do to my new PREcious?

Palm Pre Hits the Spot!

When I worked for a fairly large multi-national software company, I used AT&T Mobile and HTC phones with Windows Mobile software for years and years. They were the only things that would let me get my Exchange email and have access to company directories and such.

When I left (merger/buyout/layoff), I moved to Sprint and a little free Samsung flip phone. I was frustrated by its lack of ... well, everything except multi-colored numbers and on-board ring tones. So I went back to HTC when the original HTC Touch became available (much to my wife's chagrin, not having a multi-national company to pay for the phone any more). I was frustrated by it's lack of ... well, touch anything despite the name. A year later my daughter gave me an HTC Touch Diamond for my birthday. I was frustrated by it's lack of ... well, any advance over the regular touch.

So imagine my surprise when I started using a Palm Pre. Hey! I'm not frustrated. It's actually pretty darned cool. Now don't get me wrong. There are things on it that I'd like improved (afterall, WebOS is only at version 1.1). And apparently there are others who agree. But in general, it's a phone I can live with. At least for a year.

What's Wrong with this Battery?!

I was sitting watching the battery meeting in my TSOwen Taskbar count down. "What the ...?" I thought. This is insane! So I decided to go through a little exercise of finding ways to save the poor little battery in my Touch Diamond from self-destructing before noon every day. It makes it hard to enjoy music, watch movies, read books, surf the web... and oh, talk to people on the phone!

I found that you have to be familiar with a registry editor such as PHM Registry Editor. It's not for the faint of heart. But if you want to help your battery limp along, it's necessary!

1. Go to HKLM\Drivers\BuiltIn\Battery. Choose PollInterval and set it for 20000. Yeah. That's what I heard.
2. Use Advanced Config to set Battery tweaks
3. Use the Telus Radio. I read that the battery overheats when charging and using the radio causing it to lose life.
4. Use Energy Rom. It is supposed to conserve... energy!
5. Setting the connection to X1 only (no EVDO) is supposed to help. The problem is the radio switching networks for sending SMS/phone calls (X1) and fast data (EVDO) robs the battery of energy.
6. I found an application called LUMOS that adjusts your screen brightness within a range. This helps conserve battery!
7. NueDynamicClock controls the clock speed of your phone's CPU so that it isn't eating battery when you don't need it to... like when it's in your pocket!

So there are a few ideas. I've used some and they've worked well, but I'm still sad to see that battery meter counting down while I watch!

Hasty Makes Wastey

Ok - maybe I was a little hasty in thinking I'd be "stuck" with a Touch Diamond forever. Or perhaps Sprint read my little post and decided to give in.

"Uncle!" they said and are now allowing me to order a Pre.

I checked into at least one thing that I need: the ability to access SAMBA/Windows shares. Apparently there are people trying to do the same thing as me! This post on PreCentral shows how to get Samba running on the Pre.

Maybe Diamonds ARE forever!

No Pre for YOU!

I've been patient. I really have. I've waited while the rush was on to find out when the Pre would be available. I waited for the first availability day. Then I waited one more day to go play with one in a Sprint Store. I waited another week before doing that again. Then I waited until a day after the SDK and emulator was leaked to download it. Then I waited another day after the official version was announced. I've been waiting.

It has now been two months I've been waiting.

But Sprint says since I'm on an employee plan, I can't have a Pre. Why?

Sprint has them in their stores. And apparently has decided to let them be sold at other retailers. Best Buy has them (for $99 no less). Let's Talk.com has them (also for $99). Amazon has them.

The final insult is this note at the bottom of the announcement:

• Selling Palm Pre in these channels will be permanent.
• All processes will be business as usual.
• Palm Pre is still not available for employees.

Harumph! Maybe I don't even want one now. This Diamond is just fine. The price was right. Maybe I'll just get a Diamond 2.

Palm Pre Update 1.1 - Not!

I spoke to a Palm Pre power user yesterday after her Pre updated to the 1.1 version. Her reaction was pretty quick and to the point.

As if there was an update that was for anything I needed!! What a pain. I looked to see what they updated, it is NASCAR mobile (woohoo) calander and clock. SOOON I am going to hack this thing and make ringtones for email/text/and battery reminders, and a reminder for calls. WHY NOT GIVE US SOMETHING USEFUL??? Stupid phone.

She's not happy apparently. But seriously, these are things I can do on my the Samsung A640 that Sprint gave me for free. How about on the primo device I paid $200 for (and apparently costs almost $850 without a contract!

5 Things I need on a Pre

I know I'm on the list for a Pre. I've been waiting since Day 1. I'm on an employee account and just have to wait until real customers have their Pre in their pockets. Of course, that doesn't stop me from going to the Sprint store and looking. Or downloading the SDK and playing with the emulator! It's actually pretty cool. I've even uninstalled it, reinstalled, logged in and restored my settings from Palm. It worked! But I have noticed a few things I didn't like.

See, I've got this HTC Touch Diamond running Windows Mobile 6.5. It's a pretty nice phone. It's got a lot of really good features. And when Iine things up, I notice it already has a lot of features the Pre does. Plus one the Pre doesn't have. It's already paid for.

• Change notification tones for new email, sms message

I have to admit it. I like to have my phone... in my pocket. I like to know when I've gotten an email. I also like to know when I've gotten an SMS. Emails are from work. SMS messages are from family.

• Notification when you've missed a phone call

I also like to take my phone out of my pocket and put it on my desk. I leave it there. Often. I wander off. I wonder if I've received a phone call, or email or even an SMS message! But I don't want to turn on the phone to do it. Can it not tell me with a simple blinking light?

• Multi-Selecting email or text messages for deletion

I get a lot of email. Some of them I delete. I know. I know. I should save them all. After all, Google is just aching to give me 8 no 10 gigabytes of storage. Those crazy folks in Mountain View are just aching to archive and analyze and index all my terribly useful email.

• Arrow Keys (for crying out loud)

I type pretty fast. I look at what I'm typing mostly. But occasionally I get stuck watching the keyboard. Then I look up and find out I've mispelled a word two lines above the cursor. Now I have to poke and poke and try to get the cursor up there... or backspace through two lines of already typed text! How about a quartet of arrow keys, huh?

• Applications for Blogging

Ok, this one is selfish. I blog from my phone. It's hard (given the problems with typing and all). But I do it. If something comes to me in the middle of traffic and I'd like to make sure I don't forget it. I can whip out my phone and start the MoBlog program, switch to Block Recognizer and type in a quick blog draft.

So there you have it. Just a few of the things I need to make a Pre work for me. Palm, are you listening?

EDIT: Oh yeah. There's actually six!

• File Storage/File Manager

I prefer to keep documents and files on my phone so I know where they are. I actually like the way Windows Mobile provides me with the ability to not only store files in a file system but also access files on a remote share. I hate connecting my phone to a laptop or desktop. The only reason I do it is to flash a new ROM. The rest of the time, I prefer to connect to shares over the WiFi and download my music, movies and files that way.

Palm Pre Hangs... Waits for Reprieve

As I may have told you, someone I know works for Sprint. She was promised a Palm Pre to have, to hold, to get to know really, really well! She was designated the store Pre champion or advocate (they keep changing the name). Except her boss snagged it before she got to. As a result, he activated it on a store number. Oh no... that's not the problem!

They shared access for a while. Most of the data, numbers and information on the phone was his. The number belonged to the store. And the Palm account, the one that backs up the settings and data... that belonged to her. Oh no... that's not the problem!

But as with anyone who loves an ADD sufferer can tell you, the shiny wore off quickly. A short time later, the boss got tired of using it but not really using it. Apparently he'd already showed off to every Apple iPhone user he knew. So he handed it over. Oh no... that's not the problem!

So she tried to unactivate the store number. And reactivate it on her own number. But it didn't work. No! wait! It really, really didn't work! Now that's the problem!

When you first turn on a Pre, it initializes and asks you to create an online profile with Palm.

The phone was active on her number. The Sprint account was active on the store number. And the Palm profile had yet another! It was a traditional Mexican standoff! No way to win at this.

The phone could not get beyond the Palm login because it had no Internet connectivity via the phone's EVDO network. She tried everything she knew... and given that this phone was just released, that wasn't much.

• Rebooting the phone didn't work.
• Removing the battery didn't work.
• Holding down the power button down and moving the ringer switch six times didn't work.
• Holding Volume Down, Power Button and executing software on the phone didn't work.
• Rooting the phone didn't work.
• Turning on WiFi didn't work.
• Sending a full reset from Palm's support site didn't work.

No matter what she tried, the phone just stared back at her looking for a userid and password for the Palm login that it couldn't use.

The, in the wee hours of the morning, she stumbled upon a simple number:

• ##786#

That worked. It reset her phone and allowed her to reconnect to the Internet, the Palm support site and set it up once again. This time on her own number.

So my question is, should the phone be dependent on over the air recovery? What if I'm in a remote spot like my company's computer room and this phone suddenly loses its signal? That's been known to happen. I think I'm going to classify this as a bug! Or at least a shortcoming of the provisioning process.