Samad's Blog

iPod Touch Home Button Issue

Samad — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:58:24 +0000

A few months ago I purchased an iPod touch from a local retailer. The three month exchange period from the retailer expired last month, and right around that time I started having an issue with the home button on my iTouch. The best way I can describe this is that the button seems to be recessed into the device itself. When I click the home button on the iPod, it will read it like a single click sometimes, but like a double click more often (bringing up the music menu if I’m not already in the music application). The intended behavior of this button is a single click will lead you to the home screen, and a double click will bring you to the menu.

I called up Apple tech support and they shipped me out a box to send my iPod back in, and once they received it they claimed it had no problems. WTF? I press the button once and it brings up the music menu!! I tried restoring the device before calling tech support along with taking off the screen protector (in case the button got stuck on it) and neither of those worked. Now I’ve got an iPod on the way that has a faulty home button that Apple claims works properly. Great! Anyone else have this type of issue? I expected Apple to be better about this stuff.. I guess I was wrong.

Downgrade your iPhone from 2.0 to 1.1.4

Samad — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:03:00 +0000

You can not downgrade firmware in iTunes 7.7, you will need to downgrade your iTunes first.

1. Download iTunes 7.5

2. XP: go to C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\My Documents\My Music\iTunes

Vista: go to C:\Users\USERNAME\Music\iTunes

Rename the file iTunes Library.itl to old.itl.

2. UnInstall your current iTunes. Start>Control Panel>Uninstall programs

3. Once iTunes is uninstalled, reboot your PC. Install iTunes 7.5.

4. Plug in your iPod - You will get an error says something like “iPod can not be used because it requires iTunes 7.7 or later.” Just click ok

5. Now Put your iPod into DFU mode.

1. Connect your iPod touch/iPhone to your computer with the USB cable.
2. Hold both power and home buttons at the same time and count to 10 (1 onethousand 2 onethousand etc. )
3. Let go of the Power button, continue to hold the home button until the iPod/iPhone connects back to iTunes.
- Be patient it can take some time sometimes while holding the home button. Also if your iPod/iPhone shows the connect to itunes symbol, your are not in DFU mode. It should look like the device is off.

6. Once into DFU mode, hold the shift key then click restore and select the 1.1.4 firmware. ( if you do not have the 1.1.4 iPod firmware you can download it here) (iPhone users - search their site! :))

Once done upgrade back to iTunes 7.7 and delete the iTunes Library.itl and rename old.itl to iTunes Library.itl and you will have all your songs back.

Fixing Artwork On Your iPod Touch (Linux + Amarok)

Samad — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:39:53 +0000

Recently I decided to install Ubuntu linux on my laptop since Windows was giving me a lot of problems and it was getting to be about the time where I reformat all my computers to start out fresh. Instead of reinstalling Windows, I installed Linux.. but then realized that there is no iTunes for linux. WTF!! Searching around on Google, I found an alternate method to sync music to the iTouch wirelessly, however this “erased” all my artwork for my music. When I say “erased”, I mean it just took it out of the iTunes DB located on the iPod touch. I embed all of my artwork into the MP3/AAC files, so nothing is really ever lost unless I delete the song :). Thanks to commenter #34 (Zubin) on http://blog.adaniels.nl/articles/iphone-amarok/, I was able to retreive my artwork and restore it into the iTunes DB located on my iPod. Thanks for the tip!! Here is the comment, quoted below:

actually, artwork DOES work in amarok 1.4.8 (and 1.4.6) if you are using the latest libgpod3. Make sure you have selected the iphone from the Ipod drop-down list in the Devices tab, and then use the ‘update artwork’ option. I have confirmed that this works myself.

UPDATE: It looks like only the first song in an album has the cover art - the rest don’t. I ended up ditching Linux for iPod management and only use my Windows PC at home with iTunes. Hopefully one day they release an iTunes for Linux

Streaming from the iTouch

Samad — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:21:57 +0000

Recently I got an iPod Touch, and I wanted to be able to listen to my music without needing an iPod cable. I found the FireFly Media Server for the iTouch in Installer.app, but it wasn’t working as its made for an older firmware and not the one I’m running (1.1.3). After searching around Google, I stumbled across RupertGee’s blog and found instructions to set it up properly. Check it out here. Thanks for posting the instructions, Rupert! Now I can enjoy my music without the need for headphones or an iPod cable

Unix Lucas Fork Program

Samad — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 18:05:43 +0000

I wrote this program for a class a few semesters ago. It is a Lucas Number calculator that uses forks/pipes (a requirement of the project). Works great, hopefully it will help someone out there! It is also available for download below.

/* Lucas Fork & Pipe*/ #include #include // to print the time


float    fib(int); // fibonacci function, recursive

int    fork(void);

void   sleep(unsigned);
int main(void)

{

   int n; // input variable

   int i; // for the loop

   int start = time(NULL); // get the time the process started

        char buf[100]; /* store the characters read */
   // pipe needs an integer array of size 2

		int fd[2];

		printf(”Create the pipe\n\n”);

		pipe(fd); /* fd[0] read; fd[1] write */
	printf(”Enter a number: “);

	if (scanf(”%d”, &n) != 1) { // check to make sure there is input

		printf(”Input error.\n”);

		return 1;

	}

		printf(”Create the child process using fork\n”);

   if (fork() == 0) {    // child process

		close(fd[1]); /* close write end */

		printf(”child is running…\n”);

        printf(”about to read from the pipe\n”);

		n = read( fd[0], buf, 100); /* child reads from pipe */

		printf(”after reading from the pipe\n”);

        printf(”the value of n is: %d\n”,n);

        printf(”the value in the buffer is: %s\n\n”, buf);

      for (i = 0; i <= n; ++i) {

         printf("fib(%2d) = %d\n", i, fib(i));

		 sleep(1);

		}

	}

   else    {            // parent process

		close(fd[0]); /* close read end - not needed for this example */

		printf("parent is running...\n");

        printf("about to write to the pipe\n");

        write( fd[1], "Writing to pipe\n", n); /* parent writes to pipe */

        printf("after writing to the pipe\n\n");

	 for (i = 0; i < n; ++i) {

         sleep(1);

         printf("Calculating...elapsed time = %d\n", time(NULL) - start);

      }

	}

   return 0; // exits program

}

float fib(int n) // fibonacci function, recursive { if (n <= 1) return n; else return (fib(n - 1) + fib(n - 2)); }

Lucas Fork Source File (zipped)

Two Months!

Samad — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:03:14 +0000

Wow, I can’t believe its been two months since I last updated this blog. Quite interesting actually. I had a phase last semester where I really wanted to blog just so I could put information I found helpful on the internet out in a place where I could easily access it (and others could too!).. and now I’ve noticed that I don’t really search around much anymore for random information. Not sure why that is. I do have some iPhone information I haven’t posted up, but you can go to any other site and find that info as well (such as unlocking an iPhone/iPod Touch, or getting EDGE to work with the iPhone on T-Mobile). Maybe if I get bored sometime I’ll write it out.. sorry for the lack of updates though! Even if I decide to stop updating one day, I’ll keep the blog up for the information that is already on here.

A New And Improved ModMyDS.com?

Samad — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 07:07:33 +0000

Today I was browsing around and visiting some old sites, to find out that one of the sites I had shopped at had actually shut down September of 2007. What caught my eye though, was a message posted on the site only a few days ago:

Coming Soon!!
A new and improved ModMyDS.com - with product reviews, a forum for discussion, and contests to win DS-related prizes! Check back soon!
-ModMyDS.com (1/15/08)

Interesting.. so they shut down operations and are launching it as a review site. It was a great site to shop at with a friendly atmosphere, so hopefully the same team behind that site is running this new one. Only time will tell, and I can feel a good vibe coming from this!

Nyko’s Wii Remote Charging Station

Samad — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:34:21 +0000

The Nyko Wii Charge Station is probably one of the best accessories you can pick up for your Wii. Especially if you play your Wii a lot. It takes about 3-4 hours to charge the battery to full charge (from the time its completely dead). The only thing I noticed is that the specifications don’t really state how long the battery life is. So, I decided to do a few test runs and have found that the average lifespan of the battery while playing strictly Super Mario Galaxy is 17 hours and 24 minutes. In my opinion, that’s really good, considering that SMG uses not only the Nunchuck accessory, but also uses the pointer feature of the Wii remote, which drains a lot more power in combination with the nunchuck. Without the nunchuck accessory (and pointing), while playing Excite Truck, the battery life lasted about 50 hours. Not bad at all! Definitely worth a purchase, as it pays for itself after only a few charge cycles.

New Year, New Beginnings

Samad — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 09:52:51 +0000

First of all, a happy belated new year to all! I would have posted earlier but I didn’t have anything to write about… and still don’t to be honest :). This is an extremely late post, at 3:50AM, but I’m not really too tired. College starts back up on Monday so I’m not sure how that will affect my posting.. it will probably stay the same but you never know I may post a little bit more. I’m hoping that this semester will be more successful for me socially then the past few ones have been, and hope that my grades aren’t affected by it (unless its for the better!!). Alright, that’s it for now.. nothing too major but enough to hold me over until next time.

Idiots, morons, and American Express Gift Cards

Samad — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 04:25:00 +0000

Recently I received a holiday bonus from my boss in the form of an American Express Gift Card. This is the 2nd time I’ve gotten one of these, and I’m completely happy with the card. I remember being able to access a website to check my card balance, so I searched for “american express gift card” on Google and found the site for the AMEX gift card. But something caught my eye, and I decided to check it out before going and checking my balance. A Consumer Affairs website listing complaints about AMEX gift cards is where I ended up, and I started reading around for fun.

Here’s one of the complaints that made me chuckle:

Another hitch is you have to use for the exact amount of the card, and can not make up the difference, example: if you purchase something for $101. then it will be rejected and you will be billed $2.00 by AMX for going over the card limit. -David from Plano, TX

ITS A FREAKIN’ PREPAID CREDIT CARD!!! Does your normal credit card let you charge $101 when you only have $100 left, and not reject it and charge you fees? Most credit cards reject a transaction that goes over your balance. What makes this one worse is that its from a local idiot, as I live in Plano as well. Great job dumbass!

This one also made me laugh. This person’s a sales clerk and should know better, but again the idiot factor has played a huge role in her complaint:

I am complaining as a sales clerk and a recipient of an AX gift card. As a sales clerk when we have a customer use one with a balance, if they do not know the balance, we must stop, call a special 800 number to get balance, then continue This is a nightmare when we are busy. I recieved one last Christmas. I used part of it for a small purchase. Since then, every merchant I go to does not know how to find the balance so this card with approximately $80 is worthless to me. I now encourage customer and friends not to purchase them -Terri of Huntley IL

You are a true moron. As stated earlier, its not a gift card like you get from Target or Walmart. Its a prepaid credit card. Meaning only the cardholder can check the balance. Meaning that stores are NOT allowed to check the balance through an automated system. Meaning you, as a customer, need to do the work. And merchants have no authority or right to ask the consumer if there is enough balance. If there isn’t, it will automatically be deducted and the consumer will be charged for their stupidity. So if you know you have $80, just go use it. If the merchant asks, tell them they have no right to ask.. if they insist you tell them then guesstimate. And if you wanted to prove to me that you aren’t a complete idiot, you could simply flip over the card and call the 877 number on the back to get your balance. A phone number on the back of the card to call when you don’t know your balance - what an amazing concept!

I could go on and on about these idiots complaining about stupid shit, but I would prefer not to because I would be laughing for days at their antics. I’ve got a great idea - for Christmas, lets give all these complaining morons an AMEX gift and let them beat themselves to oblivion with their stupid complaints!