Insert name here

A teacher at a school we work for recently found the free Ikea Home Planner software. It looks like a great bit of software to help children learn about 2D measurements and design. We decided to install it on the school network, however, we came across one major problem. The software would not run unless the user was an administrator, instead quitting with the following error:

The application stops due to an unforeseen situation, for example an error in the database.

It turns out that the application tries to write to various files that are installed in Program Files, which of course normal users do not have access to. Obviously giving the entire userbase rights to modify things in this way was out of the question, so we decided to try some other methods. We have a ’software’ share on one of the servers for software that can be run directly from an installation directory, so we tried that. The same problem existed, as users were still not able to write to the install directory.

In the end, our solution was to create a new share, to which users have write (update) access, as we did not want to compromise the existing software setup, when everything was running smoothly. Once we had shared the software in a user writable directory (and published it in the form of a shortcut on the default desktop), everything worked!

It would be nice to see an update to the software to allow it to run without administrator rights, as I am sure there are situtations where a solution like ours would not be feasible.

Update 24/03/2009:
We have found that although this solves the problem of running the software, it does not allow you to run more than one instance at a time – useless for a network application like this one. The software must be putting a lock on its files, very annoying!

It must be 3 weeks now since my beloved 2.5 V6 TDi Passat brokedown on me. Actually, that’s not entirely correct. The injection pump broke down on me, the Passat just happened to be cursed with the not so popular Bosch VP44 Injection pump.

My car was running great, freshly serviced by myself, I had no complaints – smooth and effortless, it was business as usual. Then, at the drop of a hat, it was crippled. The power rapidly faded away to nothing. It didn’t even have the guts to top 5mph.

“That’s it” I said. “The Passat is dead!”. Well, I was pretty much correct. The injection pump had pressurised its last atom of fuel before packing up for an extended holiday.

The gear indicator which usually displays the currently selected gear lit up red and the gearbox started shifting really violently. Initially I thought this could be a gearbox fault, but I later discovered this is simply a side effect of the car entering “limp mode”.

The car made quite a lot of smoke and the engine also sounded a lot more rough than usual. I noticed air in the fuel line too. A quick scan with Vagcom revealed 00550 – Start of Injection Regulation – Control Difference – Intermittent (also known as error code p1248).

I was genuinely hoping for a straightforward repair of the pump, but the reality was I needed a whole new one. I found a guy who really knew his stuff when it came to Bosch VP44 pumps, his name was Peter over at King’s Lynn Auto Diagnostics. He offered a prompt testing service for £70 and discovered the body (housing) of my pump was worn beyond repair, causing loss of fuel pressure. Wear in the pump housing means the pump is pretty much a write-off.

dieselbombers.com describes a similar problem:

The housings on the VP44 wear out due to low fuel pressure from weak lift pumps causing the diaphragm in the front of the VP44 pump to rupture. This causes the steel timing piston to vibrate in the aluminum bore of the housing and the result in a short time is the housing wears to the point that fuel bypasses the piston and full advance cannot be accomplished

Peter managed to source me a replacement pump, although he made sure I was sitting down before telling me the price, because it came in at an eye watering £762. He thought the damage to the housing was probably due to mileage more than anything.

I must admit, that was almost enough for me to seriously consider writing the car off. It has 180,000 on the clock and market value of the car is probably not more than £2000. But anyway, I decided I needed my car repaired. The exact model of the pump was 0470 506 002 – These seem rare and consequently expensive.
I’m still waiting for the pump to arrive (should be early next week). Peter assured me the new pump would be “virginised” so that it didn’t need to be coded to the car (watch out of this if you get one from a scrap heap)
It took the local garage about 3-4 hours to remove the pump, which just happened to be on a separate belt on the V6 TDI, so the cambelt did not have to be removed.

So the grand total for the pump failure comes in at about £1152 including fitting. I can only conclude this article by saying that under no circumstance buy a car with a Bosch VP44 injection pump, although if you’re reading this, the chances are it’s too late, you already did. Just take a quick look on the internet and there are pages and pages of people with similar problems. Good luck, you’ll need it.

I stumbled upon an annoying bit of IE7 behaviour recently. Whilst putting together an enquiry form, I used normal divs to contain my text input elements. The divs had a left-margin defined, but for some reason IE7 would render the left-margin correctly, but in addition to this it would then apply the same width as if it were a left-padding on the div, or as if it were a left-margin on the text input element.

The following example should show that no gap is present between the left of the text input field and the red border of the div (in browsers other than IE7 of course), this is the behaviour I expected.

http://blog.tanist.co.uk/files/iemargin.html

I found the fix to be to put a zero-width space before the start of the input tag, this makes IE7 behave as per the other browsers. I have tested the example in the IE8 beta, and it does perform as per everyone else.

Has anyone else had the same problem?

PhotoScape is a really nice, simple, easy to use bit of FREE photo editing software. It offers a lot of basic features without ever complicating matters – ideal for people just learning to play with their photos, or anyone who just doesn’t want the hassle of having to learn a more complex piece of software.

To deploy this via group policy, you will need to use a startup script, as it is not possible to extract an MSI to use with the usual method. However it’s a really simple script so should be no problem to get it up and running.

Just share the installer executable somewhere on your server (we usually have a shared software directory for this purpose), and add the following to a startup script (replacing the path with the correct one for your situation, of course)…

“\\SVR\Software\PhotoScapeInstall\setup.exe” /S

Note the upper-case S in the switch – it will not function with a lower-case S. This will install desktop and quick-launch shortcuts, which unfortunately there seems to be no way around. However, a good point is that it does not install Google Toolbar, which is an option selected by default if you use the wizard install.

Have fun!

I’ve had my Nokia 7610 a long time now (about 4 years) – I seem to remember it set me back about £200. In fact I’ve had it so long that Nokia have gone full circle and produced a new Nokia 7610 called the Nokia 7610 Supernova. Unfortunately I would never buy one because it runs the inferior S40 OS, unlike the old phone which runs the brilliant S60 OS. Besides, the old one looks better.

Anyway, todays tutorial is going to focus on fixing the 7610 keypad. My keypad became almost impossible to use and I’d never bothered to investigate the the problem. The keys had to be pressed with an almighty force to produce a keypress. I’d almost comitted the phone to bin, but it was worth a look first.

First I removed the battery, front fascia and plastic keypad. From here on a T6 Torx Screwdriver is required. There are 6 torx screws, but only the bottom 4 need to be removed to get the PCB keypad free.

Once you have these 4 torx screws out, the PCB keypad can be levered up at the bottom and gently slid downwards and removed. This is a delicate piece of kit so you need to take care. The keypad consists of a PCB with a white sticky label (membrane) on top, which holds the bubble contacts in place. Gently peel back the white sticky label, but don’t remove it from the PCB entirely (otherwise you’ll have to realign it later).

This is where I noticed the contacts on the membrane side were badly corroded. The contacts should be nice and shiny but mine had black spots dotted around. I used a mixture of Brasso metal polish and a small screwdriver and cotton bud to remove the dirt and polish the contacts. I also cleaned the PCB contacts before sticking the membrane back on to the PCB.

Having refitted the torx scews I fired up the phone and the origional keypress feel was restored. Result!

We had this problem on our Vista machines in the office whereby they would get stuck during the logon process. We couldn’t for the life of us pinpoint the problem, as the logon information is very vague. Then I remembered a neat feature from XP which is also available in Vista. The key was to enabled Verbose logon information to find out what exactly was going on:

If you are using a stand-alone computer or if you want to enable verbose status messages on only one computer, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type gpedit.msc, and then click OK.
3. Expand Computer Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, and then click System.
4. In the right pane, double-click Verbose vs normal status messages.
5. Click Enabled, and then click OK.
6. Close Group Policy Object Editor, and then click OK.

Run a gpupdate /force if you can. After doing this, we noticed our machines were hanging at the printers group policy. After disabling the offending printer policy, logon worked fine again. As techies we decided to leave Verbose Status Messages switched on, as it can actually be very useful. Check out Chris’s previous post for more on our printer issues.

A few weeks back I was working on setting up an ASP application which I knew very little about. Having setup IIS I encountered the follow error message:

Server Error in ‘/’ Application.

Configuration Error

Description: An error occurred during the processing of a configuration file required to service this request. Please review the specific error details below and modify your configuration file appropriately.

Parser Error Message: Unrecognized configuration section ‘connectionStrings’

Source Error:

Line 20: Line 21: </appSettings> Line 22: <connectionStrings>

Source File: D:\home\Default\website.com\htdocs\web.config Line: 22

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:1.1.4322.2379; ASP.NET Version:1.1.4322.2379

Well, it turns out this is what happens if you try and run an ASP.NET 2.0 application using ASP.NET 1.1. So just follow these quick steps to cure the problem:

1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type inetmgr (or open the IIS manager from the admin tools)
4. Expand the server object
5. Expand Default Websites
6. Select your website, eg website.com
7. Right click and go to Properties
8. Select ASP.Net Tab
9. ASP.Net version select version 2

If this option isn’t available make sure you have the dotnet framework 2.0 installed. Problem solved!

I recently went on holiday to France and took my Sony DCR-HC19E Handycam along to capture the action. It’s a few years old now but hasn’t had that much use.

It has a fancy touchscreen colour LCD which flips out and rotates. I’ve always wondered how such movement is possible and I’d soon have the opportunity to answer my own question. Only a few days into the holiday and the LCD screen stopped working. Initially it was possible to view the screen when it was folded out to about 30 degrees. Opening it up to 90 degrees and the screen would simply switch off, it just went black. I knew the camera was still functional as the touch screen still worked – just I couldn’t see anything on it. The viewfinder in the camera still works too.

A quick look around the Internet turned up a whole load of people with the same problem. Some people suggested it could be the backlight in the LCD or a CCD Chip problem (Outlined here) but alas my model was not listed.

It was time to get the screwdriver and find the real cause of the problem. Removal of side panel on the camera was straight forward. It’s easy to slip and scratch the case, so I recommend using masking tape to cover the plastic to prevent damage. There are two small screws on the front of screen and one on the hinge. There are two further screws on the rear of the screen/hinge assembly which are only accessible by tilting the screen at an angle, then rotating it slightly. This allows removal of the LCD cover and you can inspect for loose ribbon cables. Mine looked fine so I had to move on to the main camera body.

The main body has about 4 or 5 really obvious screws holding the side on. There is one non obvious screw under the battery. As you remove this, it frees up a small piece of plastic which drops out (and is easily refitted afterwards). Now it’s just a case of carefully levering the side off. I used a small screwdriver, working my way from the bottom to the top of the camera body. It came free quite easily so don’t get too carried away with the levering. You need to be super careful at this point, as the side is still attached to the camera with several ribbon cables.

There should be enough room to look inside and see the back of the LCD hinge.  At least two ribbon cables seem to disappear into the back of the hinge. There is a small strip of sticky felt covering two further screws on the back of the LCD hinge. Remove these two and you should be able to lift up the semi-circle wedge of plastic. I then levered out a smaller piece of plastic which had a ribbon cable clipped into it.

This gave me a good view of the ribbon cable from the screen, past the hinge and on into the camera. I inspected this area closely. That’s when I found the problem. There are two ribbon cables back-to-back which cross the hinge and enter the LCD screen. Just inside the camera, one of the cables in the back-to-back arrangement had clearly split – it looked like someone had cleanly cut the cable with a pair of scissors. This ribbon cable must be replaced in order to restore the LCD to a working condition. Unfortunately I have yet to find a source for this cable. So despite finding the problem I have yet to repair it. In theory with the right ribbon cable it would be a very easy repair.

This is clearly a design fault which has been caused by the rotating screen. Overtime the copper/plastic ribbon cable has become weak and split. I must say I am not best pleased with this and feel that Sony should repair the camera free of charge, although I also believe that given another few years the problem would reoccur, unless the quality of the plastic ribbon cable is improved.

This post is somewhat off the usual topic of computing but I thought it would be worth compiling a list of injuries I’ve acquired over the last year and a bit, with the view of trying to receive less for the coming year. I’ve also provided a pain rating out of 10 so you can judge for yourself how much each of these injuries actually hurts (10 being maximum pain). I don’t think this list is anywhere near complete but these are the most memorable:

December 2008 – Foot burn.

This time I discovered the hidden danger in making a cup of tea. Having completed the perfect pour I dropped the kettle onto the cups, causing a catapult effect whereby an entire cup of boiling water landed on my foot. It looks quite bad, the skin started falling off straight away and various blisters developed overnight. Initial pain was probably 7 out of 10 but overall only  3 out of 10 (with the right treatment). Recovery time is estimated at 2 weeks.

December 2008 – Coccyx damage.

Snowboarding can be huge amount of fun, the sense of speed is great but as a beginner I found there was a fine line between extreme fun and massive pain. Ski runs are rated by difficulty, green is easy, blue is intermediate, red is difficult and black is extreme. As a beginner I naturally opted to try out a difficult “red” slope. I soon found the gradient of the slope was massive, which made it all too easy to pick up speed. The surface was very hard ice rather than soft snow. I fell at speed onto my tailbone (Coccyx) and ever since sitting down has caused me quite considerable pain. I’d rate the initial pain as a 4 out of 10 but the after pain is a definite 6 as it hurts almost all the time. Recovery time is estimated at +6 weeks.
October – 2008 – Achilles heel.

Running is great exercise and I found I could sleep a lot better after running a mile every day. I kept up a regular run on the treadmill nearly every day. However, I made the mistake of not wearing shoes. This resulted in an unsupported foot and ultimately a very sore Achilles heel. Initial pain was very low, only a 2 out of 10 but I made the classic mistake of ignoring the pain until it got worse. Overall a 4 out of 10 and recovery took 8 to 10 weeks.
June 2008 – Bicycle Crash.

Cycling is of course great exercise too! I thought it would be great to try out the cycle tracks at Haldon Forest Park in Exeter.  I tried some of the normal cycle tracks which were great, but I wanted more. The best on offer was a track rated “severe”- “A highly technical trail for experienced riders with the right bikes and protective equipment.” I defiantly didn’t have the right protective equipment and probably had the wrong bike – the rear tyre blew within the first minute of setting off. Having replaced the tyre I managed a further 30 minutes or so before entering a steeply banked corner way too quick. The track dropped away and I went straight over the bars, forcing my face into a collection of mud and rocks. The result was not good, my face was badly scratched. Luckily nothing was broken (apart from my sunglasses which must have saved my eyes). The pain was bad, probably a 5 out of 10 and the recovery time was quite long – at least 6 to 8 weeks and the scars live on.

May 2007 – Ear damage.

Unlike the previous incidents, this one wasn’t an accident. Some Plymouth scum decided to attack me, landing an unprovoked punch to my right ear, splitting the cartilage and causing a large amount of swelling. The pain was an instant 9 out of 10. Recovery was very slow, about 8 weeks before the pain subsided, although I don’t think my ear has fully recovered, I estimate a 10% loss of hearing in that ear.

So that concludes my accident prone year. I can confirm that thankfully I remain in one piece, all be it a collection of broken pieces!

Things have been a bit too quiet on here recently, so I thought I would take a few minutes to tell you about some neat scripts I have discovered recently whilst working on a site for Scotts Castle Holidays – they specialise in self catering holidays in large Scottish castles.

The first one would be Highslide JS. SCH uses this on a few pages, for HTML popups as well as the main image galleries belonging to each property. Highslide is an awesome bit of code, customisable in almost every aspect, extensive documentation and a great support forum for issues/feature requests. It needs to be licenced for a commercial site, but it is a small price to pay (29USD) for the instant functionality gain.

Secondly, there is the simple accordion script from Deziner Folio. This required quite a bit of tailoring to add the additional functionality required for the site, but is a great starting point for any accordion as it is so small, coming in at barely over 1k.

Let us know if you decide to use either of the above in your own projects!