Posts by 89724102172714182892114I7551670349743096734346773478647892349863592355648544996312855148587659264921 833 publicly visible posts • joined 17 Jul 2018
Yet another ultra-thin device without a user replaceable battery, marvellous, if you love the taste of toxic chemicals in your coffee in the morning. I can't wait for the day when for right to repair is extended worldwide beyond just white goods, to all electronic products, and devices expressly designed to make repairs easy.
> The major flaw of reMarkable is that it does not offer encryption and it does not have any security whatsoever (password is easy to recover).
> So treat it like a regular notebook, that if lost or stolen anyone can read everything that is on it.
> This means it is not suitable for professional work.
I have no issue with "Simple", but draw the line at "Daft as a brush".
> Resizing and moving the viewport on enlarged documents have been a bit ropey
That's exactly what's wrong with the PDF viewer on my tiny screened Sony eReader, and it's so easy to fix at the design stage: two extra physical buttons to zoom in and out over the top, plus a higher zoom level. But once again aesthetics have triumphed over function. Yes I know nobody cares about using old devices, but this Sony eReader is very close to being useful PDF reading-wise, and it staggers me that the creators of a modern device such as the ReMarkable, initially made such a daft basic error (now apparently fixed). An advantage of a BOOX over the ReMarkable, is that you have a wide choice of reading apps in the Play store, or you can cook your own.
I might just hate reading PDFs, and should simply quit trying? I much prefer physical documents - it's harder for history to be rewritten to make crappier futures, while there are sufficient numbers of physical records in existence, or it would be if were not for our human biases being exploited by app and content delivery network design and use, combined with ever poorer standards of education, leading to increased frequency of society-altering bullshit storms. Humanity is kinda fooked.
> The stylus that you pay extra for is a piece of crap. It is extremely fragile, mine broke after a couple of weeks.
> You can buy something like Staedtler Noris pen. It works great, has a working eraser and it only costs like £40 on Amazon.
Does the 0.7mm point of the Staedtler Noris pen leave marks on the screen? Ideally, the material used to make the pen's point, should be less hard than whatever material the screen's writing surface is composed of - presumably ReMarkable's own stylii are designed with such in mind? A harder pen point could risk screen erosion?
I don't trust Amazon to not suddenly erase my reading material willy nilly, or shove utter crud into "My" Kindle, if I got one - reading PDFs is a pain using my Sony PRS-T2, screen's too small, but for ePubs it's fantastic.
I tried a 10.1" Lenovo M10 Android tablet for PDFs, but short battery life and heavy weight was a pain, besides I never know what the heck Lenovos might be doing surreptitiously to further the Chinese Government's famous secret World Domination Plan (I've applied electrical tape squares over the cameras - there is no hardware switch for the microphone(s?) and I should rip it/them out), so I've recently been trying to read PDFs using my newly upgraded old 8" Sony VAIO P, which now has a fast and much larger mSATA installed in lieu of it's original slooow and tiny hard drive and... it's a pain because of it's madly proprtioned screen:1600 pixels wide and 768 pixels high, for which there appears to be no other resolution available which fills the screen and doesn't alter the geometry of very localised space-time, making the lettering look like it's being stretched to the side by a passing micro-black hole... and the interface of PDF reading applications are so damned tiny when aspect ratio is correct, at 1600 X 768, I have to use a screen magnifier (Windows>Accessories etc, Magnus in Linux), in order to see anything of the miniscule controls to enable further reading... plus controlling the mouse is a pain, unless I use my Logitech M570 wireless trackball... but happily battery life is now over five hours (thanks to the mSATA, was a little under four hours when reading, before upgrade)... so I was looking at the ReMarkable last week, but the moment I saw the stupid pricing for the styluses, at silly extra, I made a nasty ReMark and smelled a rat; it wasn't in my kitchen.
I continue looking out for a cheapo deal on an OONX BOOX, which supports the widest variety of file formats, and has a significantly larger screen than my Sony PRS-T2. It's a pity Sony exited the eReader market, because despite being too small for PDFs, in many other respects the Sony PRS-T2 is an excellent reading and note taking device, and not their only success in that space. Sadly, I don't have the version with the hackable firmware, which allows installation of a full version of Android - if their screens weren't too darned small, I'd find one.
The version I tried to boot live on the Sony VAIO P using a USB thumb drive, which I was impossible credential challenge presented with was: kali-linux-2022.4-live-i386.iso (also tried an eariler version, same result), but it's ok... I have given up on the idea, will use a PC with WiFi adapter and 64 bit Kali installation. I wanted to try a live version to assess it's speed. If it had been faster than Mint's live iso, it was a contender for general purpose Linux on the VAIO P, as well as serving home pentesting functions. Min when installed was too slow, glacial in fact, and only a bit faster than it's live iso.
> This took about 2sec on Google:
> https://www.kali.org/docs/introduction/default-credentials/
Those didn't work, neither did the others I found over several minutes - maybe it's a hacking test by the developers, which I failed lol. I tried both using EasyUSB, and in case there was a sneaky script locking Kali down and making mischief on the mSATA drive, wrote the LIVE ISO to a USB thumb drive using Rufus, to boot from that directly... and I still ended up looking at the same login screen, for which no username and password I could find worked. Also tried leaving the password blank, which didn't work either, neither did "demo" as the password. I wanted to pentest my home network, which I can do using another PC, so it's no biggie. But puzzling.
After booting up the 32 bit Kali Linux Live .ISO on my Sony VAIO P a couple of weeks ago, I was presented with a login, and no username or password would work, and I tried every combination I could find reference to. So that didn't work :( I gave up eventually, as it seemed I needed another Kali Linux to get into that Kali Linux. It was the same result two versions down. The fact that it loaded faster than the latest 32-bit Linux Mint, had been encouraging. I was and remain rather disappointed.
> I am half-seriously considering buying a second-hand 25th Anniversary model, which looks close, but to be honest, the performance of my three Core i7 models from the *20 series is still adequate for my needs. I'm on the lookout for some cheap RAM to max them all out.
Best place for reasonably priced, hard to find used RAM is webuy.com, while you still can - there's a 2 year warranty, but do read their Ts and Cs regarding such. They're cheaper than ebay for RAM, where there is no 2 year warranty on any second-hand RAM, just Paypal's usual 180 days payment protection.
> I am half-seriously considering buying a second-hand 25th Anniversary model, which looks close
I've yet to see how repairable and upgradeable those in particular are. EuroPC's laptops looked promising - supposedly upgradeable - but I was put off by Trustpilot reviews: not experiences you'd expect after dropping a couple of k on a laptop.
...and when super-sharp photos of laptops in publicity shots aren't rendered 3D models, they're focus stacked, which is harder to compete with - I recommend going with real shallow depth of field, using proper cameras instead of the fake DOF effect applied by phones. There's no reason anyone can't learn to use a DSLR/SLR quickly, with full manual controls for work and fun,. The basics of photography are the same for any camera, whatever the budget (apart from light field cameras, which don't have to conform, being computational photography).
> I am not a professional photographer and do not have a studio, or even good lighting.
Sharp shots of products are available everywhere, often rendered, but the reverse can be more pleasing to view. Pretty much any object can look interesting even in near complete darkness at F1.4, on something cheap and cheerful like a secondhand Canon 650D from mpb - by far it's my favourite lens: Simply set to Aperture Priority, set at F1.4, point focus and shoot. To reduce noise, you can optionally set the ISO appropriately, to something like 100 (but then you may require a tripod, as on Aperture Priority the camera will choose a lower calculated shutter speed, to suit the aperture and ISO combination selected). That 50mm F1.4 lens is even more epic at portraits, as there is almost no distortion to correct, and it flatters skin tones at F1.4
My Sony VAIO P's 8" 1600 x 768 screen has 221.85 PPI, and the Carbon X1 has 237.76 PPI - therefore application interfaces must look even more unworkably freaking tiny. Magnus desktop magnifier enables my damaged (Central Serous Retinopathy - it's the new RSI for IT, thanks to blue light LEDs [they're all blue]) and aged eyes to see what the hell is going on using MX Linux... and the Poundland magnifying glass, available in all good Poundlands right now (priced deeply troublingly pound plural).
> Small screen non-2-in-1... why?
The only useful seeming use for the second screen on something like Microsoft's Surface Duo phone, is for it's keyboard emulation, when it can (soon) run Windows (untethered) thanks to the efforts of Gustave Monce, which might make it a viable UMPC-like micro-laptop device for (limited) on the go productivity,
I was minding my own business cycling one dark night, when a badger broke my wrist. The hospital refuse to remove the big titanium implant and screws they used to repair it with, despite titanium causing problems. On a motorbike at speed, I'd probably be dead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXdrFfpn3Is
Fortunately I was only travelling at 12mph on my 2006 Dahon Helios P8 (250W Bafang BBS01B mid-drive) ebike conversion, unfortunately I was carrying 8 heavy pumpkins in my very large rucksack, plus another four in pannier bags. The jawguarded helmet saved my teeth, but my left wrist felt crunchy. Eventually one of the many passing cars stopped (I wasn't trying to flag any down, was considering calling a large cab [my bike folds]), and two witches returning from a seance (I'm not joking) drove myself, my bike and my pumpkins 13 miles home, then another 8 miles to hospital. After a 12 hour wait in A&E, they tried unsuccessfully to put my wrist back into place by forceful manipulation, using nitrous oxide to dull the pain of yanking and twisting; X-raying to see if it worked. It didn't. Three times, and each time the nurse doing the twisting was switched for a burlier one... the third time, my arm was being stretched by a nurse of truly gigantic proprtions bracing himself against the bed with his legs. The nitrous was very effective - I would have been laughing if my wrist was being sawn off. It was determined the fractures and breaks were too bad, and what approximates to a ball joint was too damaged for a solution so simple, hence this troublesome titanium. The surgeon was a keen cyclist, and had difficulty believing what had happened, until I showed him the video. He said he'd be more careful cycling in the woods near his home, where he's seen badgers.
I couldn't find the badger, wasn't in any shape to search. I can't imagine it would have lived for long, as the combined momentum of myself, bike and cargo was substantial. The badger was quite large and stocky, looks smaller in the viideo because of the wide angle lens and poor sensor, which like all of the current crop of action cameras, is useless at night. It actually screamed like a small child, a moment before my front wheel hit it, which wasn't picked up by the action camera microphone. Unavoidable - it leapt out from a hole in the roadside hedge directly under my front wheel. I have been unable to find statitics about bicycle badger collisions.
BTW These settings work well at night for GoPro Hero Black 7 or newer, to record vehicle number plates, for fun and litigation. Kudos to GoPro for including a good set of DSLR-like manual settings:
... flickering of LED streetlamps is revealed at 1/480th shutter speed, which is even better at capturing clear number plates (when they're not deliberately kept obscured with grime, to thwart speed cameras), but colour information is reduced:
The good news is, action camera sensors and lenses are only going to improve.
A bit too cold for cycling at the mo, but I have to run down the battery to a safe voltage for storage. I really should make make larger resistors to do the job.
64gb is barely enough for all my Android apps and related files - after partitioning a Gemini for a dual boot with Debian, there wouldn't be much room... not all Android apps can be moved to the microSD card. The Cosmo Communicator's 128gb looks a better bet for longer term usefulness? Android won't get smaller.
> [1] there is a modern Psion. It's a Planet Gemini. I have one. It's great.
How long will that remain secure?... Android devices have much shorter shelf-life - that's one of my main reservations about buying one, plus I can complete a greater variety of necessary tasks using a slightly larger laptop.
@Liam Proven
I was unhappy about AntiX's inability to play the video in Firefox 109, of a badger breaking my wrist, which required a big titanium implant and bunch of screws repair, which the hospital now refuse to remove. Tried Puppy ssl :( , Linux Mint, AntiX, PsychOS - but MX actually managed this feat, just about! So now I've got to Gparted the mSATA again, to shorhorn it in. Magnus screen magnifier comes in handy, otherwise it's all too tiny for my eyes to see these days (Windows has it's own - unsure if the magnify function key on the VAIO P did just that, or activated something else? I haven't found a Vista or Win 7 program for that Sony function key [as yet]... BTW if you want the Alps tap nipplemouse to click function: install that from the Vista driver and software installation set). MX, like antiX and Mint, found the second display via the VIA port replicator. It's quite alarming how my eyesight has gone so wonky over the past decade (maybe my left wrist breaking will slow it's decline lol). In addition to the 240gb mSATA, I can add 2 X 64gb USB thumb drives, plus 64gb via the VIA's integrated SD card reader, plus another 32gb via the VIA's Sony DUO via a dual SD to DUO converter, for my documents and other files.
@Liam Proven
I can't upload photos here, and it's hard to keep track of replies because I can't check often, and because there is no reply alert system on The Reg (unless they're in my spam folde?)... so for reference I've uploaded some photos on the UK's top ebike forum, where I can try to help if you encounter difficulties while upgrading your Sony VAIO:
@Lian Proven
> There is a higher-end Vaio P with a trackpad next to the screen. I think it came with an SSD. Maybe I'll try to find one of them if I find a modernish OS that's usable on it.
Mine is a vgn-p19wn with 2GB RAM. Those early SSDs were relatively slow - check out YT videos displaying tests. I've tested the Integral 240gb mSATA I've installed using Crystaldiskmark on Win 7 Pro:
SEQ1M Q8T1 READ 99.82mb/s
SEQ1M Q8T1 WRITE 48.55mb/s
SEQ1M Q1T1 READ 96.06mb/s
SEQ1M Q1T1 WRITE 46.77mb/s
RND4K Q32T1 READ 23.08mb/s
RND4K Q32T1 WRITE 32.87mb/s
RND4K Q1T1 READ 14.04mb/s
RND4K Q1T1 WRITE 16.99mb/s
@liam Provem
> Wow... that is quite a saga.
>> And it isn't over yet! Bashing one's own head against a brick wall: it's nice when it stops.
__
> For XP, I suggest TinyXP from the Internet Archive.
>> Tried: I should have used Easy2Boot to insall that, but it failed because of a driver/first post-install-boot CD seek issue, which Easy2Boot has a two stage XP installation mitigation for - I cannot believe how fast Windows XP Pro boots and flies! It now only takes 28 seconds to get from the BIOS password screen to Windows 7 Professional's (see install method below) chirp upon full successful boot, and it's snappy in use. Quite honestly I'm delighted. XP Pro will be my go to quick access OS, because it supports my ancient but good software for getting on with writing my memoirs about my oh so very interesting life, and making horrible noises.
__
> There is a higher-end Vaio P with a trackpad next to the screen. I think it came with an SSD. Maybe I'll try to find one of them if I find a modernish OS that's usable on it.
I had no problems booting Win7 on mine, but I did need to update its BIOS. That is worth checking. I put Windows Thin PC on it, but it's sluggish.
>> A small update... circumvented the mysterious Windows 7 Professional driver issue which prevented installation, by starting the install on a desktop PC, then putting the mSATA back into the Sony VAIO P to finish the installation (The same install method should shoehorn in Windows 10, but judgingby what I've seen on Youtube, it isn't worth it). Now that I have Gparted resized (tried some windows based tool call Partition Wizard minitool - it corrupted the disk) and installed a dual booting XP + Win7Pro, I'm auditioning for a decent but light 32 bit Linux (already had a tri boot XP + Vista + Mint working), for the latest Firefox releases going forward, which will come in handy for those occasional websites (and routers) I encounter on the road, which are not usable because the developers haven't programmed a decent desktop mode for Android. AntiX seems a tad time consuming to harden... trying 32-Bit Zorin Lite right now. Most Linuxii seem easy to remove from dual or multi-boots.
Also my previous post should read Easy2Boot, not Easy2USB - it's XML file for Window Vista Business should be bypassed.
__
> I think I will leave mine's hard disk in place for now, then!
You too should experience the seemingly unending hell of SSD upgrade of VAIO P via mSATA to ZIF converter! It's almost over now, thank fsck! And it seems well worth the effort. I've just finished scrubbing off the cheap and nasty Poundland sticky pad I used to secure the ZIF converter, ready for the heat resistant version which arrived today, to secure it properly. Just need to be certain of a perfect setup with a usable and useful 32-bit Linux first. I hope the isopropyl hasn't dissolved/weakened the rubber covering one of the hard drive shock sensors (small bubble, looks like alcohol may have deflated it, as it does most things lol), which one of the cheap and nasty pads had stuck to (!). Full fat Linux Mint did run, sluggshly - best to install Linux after singular or dual Windows, otherwise Windows 7 replaces the boot loader (but there's EasyBCD to correct that).
There's a video on YT which goes through the whole SSD upgrade (hardware) process, but leaves out the necessity of having heat-resistant Kapton tape at hand.
Zorin was glacial too, it has to be AntiX - it even plays the video on YT detailing how a badger broke my wrist cycling (the badger wasn't cycling, and my wrist wasn't cycling alone), which is the main benchmark I'm judging Linuxii by. Stuttery playback, but sound is continuous in Firefox ESR - it all goes t*tsup with the latest version: zero sonicry, barely 1 or 2 fps. AntiX takes about 49 seconds to fully boot, and it's comparatively snappy in operation, much more responsive than Mint and Zorin - in fact if I didn't need certain Windows apps, it'd do. I'll have to read up on hardening AntiX... but currently it's dual booting with Windows 7 Pro, and I'm about to wipe the disk and start again for the final time, for the tri-boot with XP. Then I can still work on holiday, after I tape the SSD secure and screw it all back together again, if I can find homes for all of them. I knew upgrading that cr*p hard drive would be a freaking nightmare...
Well worth upgrading IMHO. The SSD might even make a VAIO P Hackintosh viable? I'm going to buy another Sony VAIO P, plus the VAIO UX.
@Liam Proven
Ubuntu? Sadly not for my VAIO P. BTW Haiku wouldn't install! antiX is a lot faster than 32-bit Mint on my newly upgraded with SSD Sony VAIO P - the SSD (240gb Integral mSATA) upgrade went painfully: One screw was almost completely stuck - galvanic corrosion probably, and the plastics are old and very delicate, therefore I broke a tiny tab (inconsquential, near the battery, which I could repair by filing, cutting and sanding an impossibly small shape to fit using superglue + very fine baking soda, but who has the time?), then discovered that the ZIF cable was completely stuck in the drive's ZIF connector clasp (after removing umpteen tiny screws to get at the tiny 1.8 inch hard drive [kept dropping the screws on the busy floor... best to keep a neodymium magnet handy, to seek out those screws which are actually magnetic, or better still don't drop them on the floor in the first place. I'm deffo not cut out to be a surgeon - it's worrying that there are two screws left over after reassembly. I don't think they're fatal omissions, will try again to determine their exact original function]), and because the design of the unit is fanless, over the years heat had baked the ZIF hard drive connector clasp very brittle, and that broke too - I may still attempt to save Sony's original cut-down Vista build via drive cloning, after pressing a ZIF cable against the connector using two plectrums either side of the hard drive and tiny cable, using a small G-clamp... One thing to be aware of, is that the old version ZIF cables are thinner, therefore you must apply a layer of heat-resistant Kapton tape on the non-conducting side of the Sony ZIF cable connector, to make Sony's old and proprietary ZIF cable thick enough for the new ZIF to mSATA converter's ZIF cable's clamp to operate, otherwise no drive will be detected. Connector secured... after trying and failing installing every Windows 7 version old and new (I have licenses for both 7 Home Premium and Pro - all versions could partition, but screen-freeze crashed on or before the commencement of formatting. I have no idea why this was. Aside from boot order, there are no hard drive options in Sony's tiny BIOS), and failing miserably to install TinyXP... Easy2USB saved my bacon! The full version of Windows XP Professional booted within 10 seconds! But no WiFi (drivers) and no sound - you (sometimes, depending on model) only retain sound if you downgrade from the original version of Vista from Sony, the recovery partition of which is on the now damaged ZIF drive. So I thought I'd try the full fat version of the OS it originally shipped with: Windows Vista Business, and that also works! I have no idea if it'll activate yet, used the serial provided in the battery compartment. Vista takes three times as long as XP Pro's sub-10 seconds to load. I have no idea how long Vista originally took to boot up when the Sony had a hard drive, because I bought it post Windows 7 upgrade. Instant-on boots within 10 seconds, for all the good that does - it's far less useful than XP Pro, and I'm in the process of installing all the Vista drivers, so that I can upgrade it to Windows 7... but if I can't and Vista is slow (so far so good on that front: snappy in operation), a dual boot of antiX and XP Pro could do for some of my on-the-go tiny computing needs, plus a Win10 on a USB stick for newer/alternative browser functionality? There must exist a lighter Linux than antiX, which has WiFi, Firefox, LibreOffice and sound for my VAIO P! If Windows 7 Home Premium (after upgrading) is no slower than Vista (which looks speedy in use thanks to the SSD, considering the puny Atom CPU, on a big monitor via the Sony port replicator, which also has ethernet. But as before, Youtube will barely play audio [stutters sound and video]), that may be a keeper, or antiX + Win 7, dual boot... or XP Pro + Win 7 dual boot with antiX USB permanently optioned by one of it's two USB ports, via a tiny Verbatim USB thumb drive. I may attempt a tri-boot. Now I'm waiting for double sided heat-resitant sticky foam tape to arrive, so that I can secure the mSATA converter, to enable use of my Sony VAIO P on the road again. I'd used some other sort of sticky pad, which is making for a messy removal - careful application of isopropyl alcohol will dissolve the adhesive, ready for the proper stuff. The error messages were too tiny to read on the 8 inch 1600 X 768 screen, and this entire process was a blur. It it hadn't worked, I would have sourced another slim-profile ZIF drive, or used one of it's two USB ports for a Live OS and the other for storage, in addition to it's integral SD card and Sony memory card readers... but that would gave been slow. I do wish Sony would make new netbooks in a similar size or smaller, they clearly know a thing or two about attractive and functional design, hampered in this case by the puny Atom CPU. Pity about Haiku - if you get it running on your VAIO P, please do detail your solution somewhere.
BTW Haiku wouldn't install! antiX is a lot faster than 32-bit Mint on my newly upgraded with SSD Sony VAIO P - the SSD (240gb Integral mSATA) upgrade went painfully: One screw was almost completely stuck - galvanic corrosion probably, and the plastics are old and very delicate, therefore I broke a tiny tab (inconsquential, near the battery, which I could repair by filing, cutting and sanding an impossibly small shape to fit using superglue + very fine baking soda, but who has the time?), then discovered that the ZIF cable was completely stuck in the drive's ZIF connector clasp (after removing umpteen tiny screws to get at the tiny 1.8 inch hard drive [kept dropping the screws on the busy floor... best to keep a neodymium magnet handy, to seek out those screws which are actually magnetic, or better still don't drop them on the floor in the first place. I'm deffo not cut out to be a surgeon - it's worrying that there are two screws left over after reassembly. I don't think they're fatal omissions, will try again to determine their exact original function]), and because the design of the unit is fanless, over the years heat had baked the ZIF hard drive connector clasp very brittle, and that broke too - I may still attempt to save Sony's original cut-down Vista build via drive cloning, after pressing a ZIF cable against the connector using two plectrums either side of the hard drive and tiny cable, using a small G-clamp... One thing to be aware of, is that the old version ZIF cables are thinner, therefore you must apply a layer of heat-resistant Kapton tape on the non-conducting side of the Sony ZIF cable connector, to make Sony's old and proprietary ZIF cable thick enough for the new ZIF to mSATA converter's ZIF cable's clamp to operate, otherwise no drive will be detected. Connector secured... after trying and failing installing every Windows 7 version old and new (I have licenses for both 7 Home Premium and Pro - all versions could partition, but screen-freeze crashed on or before the commencement of formatting. I have no idea why this was. Aside from boot order, there are no hard drive options in Sony's tiny BIOS), and failing miserably to install TinyXP... Easy2USB saved my bacon! The full version of Windows XP Professional booted within 10 seconds! But no WiFi (drivers) and no sound - you (sometimes, depending on model) only retain sound if you downgrade from the original version of Vista from Sony, the recovery partition of which is on the now damaged ZIF drive. So I thought I'd try the full fat version of the OS it originally shipped with: Windows Vista Business, and that also works! I have no idea if it'll activate yet, used the serial provided in the battery compartment. Vista takes three times as long as XP Pro's sub-10 seconds to load. I have no idea how long Vista originally took to boot up when the Sony had a hard drive, because I bought it post Windows 7 upgrade. Instant-on boots within 10 seconds, for all the good that does - it's far less useful than XP Pro, and I'm in the process of installing all the Vista drivers, so that I can upgrade it to Windows 7... but if I can't and Vista is slow (so far so good on that front: snappy in operation), a dual boot of antiX and XP Pro could do for some of my on-the-go tiny computing needs, plus a Win10 on a USB stick for newer/alternative browser functionality? There must exist a lighter Linux than antiX, which has WiFi, Firefox, LibreOffice and sound for my VAIO P! If Windows 7 Home Premium (after upgrading) is no slower than Vista (which looks speedy in use thanks to the SSD, considering the puny Atom CPU, on a big monitor via the Sony port replicator, which also has ethernet. But as before, Youtube will barely play audio [stutters sound and video]), that may be a keeper, or antiX + Win 7, dual boot... or XP Pro + Win 7 dual boot with antiX USB permanently optioned by one of it's two USB ports, via a tiny Verbatim USB thumb drive. I may attempt a tri-boot. Now I'm waiting for double sided heat-resitant sticky foam tape to arrive, so that I can secure the mSATA converter, to enable use of my Sony VAIO P on the road again. I'd used some other sort of sticky pad, which is making for a messy removal - careful application of isopropyl alcohol will dissolve the adhesive, ready for the proper stuff. The error messages were too tiny to read on the 8 inch 1600 X 768 screen, and this entire process was a blur. It it hadn't worked, I would have sourced another slim-profile ZIF drive, or used one of it's two USB ports for a Live OS and the other for storage, in addition to it's integral SD card and Sony memory card readers... but that would gave been slow. I do wish Sony would make new netbooks in a similar size or smaller, they clearly know a thing or two about attractive and functional design, hampered in this case by the puny Atom CPU. Pity about Haiku - if you get it running on your VAIO P, please do detail your solution somewhere.
@Liam Proven
> You won't be able to. The Vaio P is a 32-bit Atom. There's no 32-bit version of Elementary; like any other Ubuntu remix, it's 64-bit only.
---->> So much for bringing old but still functioning PC hardware back into use with thin, light and frothy OSs, which Ubuntu isn't either :(
> I think I'd just use a CF card, myself. o_O
---->> I used a IDE>CF converter to do that many years ago on a Pentium 90 laptop - it extended battery life by about 30%, and the laptop became quite spritely, also wonderfuly silent. Longevity is the worry with CFs, because of the many read/writes when used in computers; cameras don't thrash them to death as swiftly with such rabid R/W rates, and of course SSDs have better built-in mitigations for memory R/W failures over time.I didn't need a massive mSATA (240gb Integral mSATA is an upgrade to it's existing 80gb HDD), because if I run short of space, the Sony VAIO P has so many USB ports for micro USB drives which can simply be safely left plugged in, if small enough.
> TinyXP is working fairly well on mine, _pace_ some limits. (E.g. the Intel Poulsbo drivers seem to override Windows' font-size settings.)
The 2nd OS is currently Raspberry Pi Desktop, the latest version, with the go-faster tweaks I described here:
https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/18/improve_linux_performance/
It works but it's not quick.
---->> Ver ver interesting indeed! I might try TinyXP. Must say I'm looking forward to swapping VAIO P OSs by simply writing an .ISO to the mSATA.
>I unpacked the Vaio over the weekend but as of yet I have no internet at my new home.
---->> Are you in a cellular dead zone? The aerials of 4G routers are better than that of most phones, might be worth a try? I use mine on those rare occasions when the fibre connection borks. Plus the VAIO P has a SIM slot, which works with GiffGaff.
> My plan is to try Haiku soon.
---->> You might beat me to it! The online massive river souk operated by ferocious single-breasted warror women has intimidated Royal Mail into delivering this morning an Integral mSATA I ordered less than two days ago... I'm waiting for the other items to arrive, before I can schedule VAIO P surgery. They weren't kidding about the "m" in mSATA, it's tiny. Hopefully tiny enough. If the first ZIF>mSATA converter and mSATA card combination is too big for the available tiny space, I'll have to keep trying with various others. While I'm at this upgrade, I'm considering buying a third battery for the VAIO P I've just spotted at an absurdly low price, but it'd be the first non-original I've bought for it, and I'm nervous of how the VAIO P would react. The oldest original charges to 90% capacity, and I worry that it could soon develop a fault bad enough to put the motherboard into protection sleep mode, which it might not ever not wake from, as has happened with another of my laptops - no amount of CMOS clearing or long discharge by removal of CR2032 battery (or replacement) would revive it. I shudder trying to imagine how miniscule Sony VAIO P motherboard jumpers might be. I doubt there's a CR2032 in there... didn't see one when I was putting a ribbon cable back into position to connect the screen, after it was dislodged by sticking to a tiny blob of hot glue which had dripped off from somewhere else inside the VAIO, the source of which I couldn't determine - there are no fans, the hot glue must have got too hot at some point, causing it to soften melt and drip to near the cable with the subsequent jostly carriage in my jacket pocket, which I have asked my tailor to enlarge and add dual-sidedd lockable zips to.
My long game cunningly posting endlessly on this widely read forum is, of course, to drive up demand for the Sony VAIO P and increase it's resale price in case I ever sell mine (Never! From my cold dead hands!) and also draw attention to the fact that such small form factor PCs are and would be useful to large numbers of people, should manufacturers got their fingers out to make modern versions of the same size or preferably smaller, perhaps even as small as the Psion Series 5mx, featuring keyboards as excellent - I'm pretty sure suitably electrickeried shrunken innards could be stuffed into that! E-ink screen option or switching for long battery life, would be nice. Otherwise it's a choice between a whole bunch of similarly sized devices running horrible increasingly intrusive OSs intended primarily for consumption and the increase thereof, not creation, which is fiddly to do if not nigh on impossible on Android and iOS. I find the entire situation wildly exasperating tbh. Well, at least my operating theatre is now ready...
@Liam Proven
Now that I've got around to ordering a mSATA SSD for the Sony VAIO P, all I've got to do is get around to performing micro-laptop surgery (making sure to not have any spare scews left afterwards lol) to install it, then trying out this OS, after I've tried Haiku first... and that'll be after I've removed the 1.8" HD, connected that via a ZIF to SATA converter, then connected that to a 2.5" SATA to USB converter, and backed up the old Windows 7 image to the beast PC - I wonder why it's taken me this long? The VAIO P is the best possible device for reading things on the move, and for all sorts of other tasks. While the Integral mSATA is winging it's way to me, I've got a lot of hardware RAID mirroring of Western Digital Blacks and data shifting to do, because I don't yet trust SSDs; for the VAIO P, I don't really have much choice, because any mechanical disk will simply keep it sloooowww.... (but not glacial) My only worry is whether the mSATA to ZIF converter will fit inside the VAIO P, with the mSATA SSD. I didn't buy the Samsung 860 mSATA which I preferred, because it might be too big for the mSATA to ZIF converter. There were some reports about the the ZIF ribbon cable's tendency to easily fall out of the converter's ZIF cable connector slot, which rather defeats the other reason for converting to SSD. Gaffa tape. It's the solution for nearly all of life's problems. If you haven't done this already yourself to your VAIO P, the ZIF>mSATA converter I'm going to try (arrives next week) is marked "M819" on fleabay (£5) - I seem to recall seeing a Youtuber using that particular converter to upgrade his. Are SSDs uogrades? TBH not yet IMHO, in terms of longevity for the same price of Western Digital Blacks, which in my experience last about a decade or more of near constant punishment.
@DenTheMan
Using used laptop cells is asking for trouble, with any common BMS. New cells vary in high discharge capability, and usually the battery packs which burst into flames use cheap Chinese cells, which have high internal resistance, are of highly variable chemistry (often within the same pack) and overheat when individual cells are stressed at high discharge rate... which is less of a problem if the battery pack is large, where individual cells are less stressed, but then high internal resistance means a hotter pack than say using say Molicel P28A. Many cheap Chinese escooter battery packs are only capable of discharging 7A safely, but the controllers are set to draw 15A to 25A... which is why they feature most often in the news. On a pedelec, high currents are drawn briefly (if throttles aren't used, which are illegal in the UK anyway) because of pedal assistance, so it's less of a issue using chep Chinese battery packs on those.
@Androgynous Cupboard
That's very interesting information, and a good post.
Marvellous... the Battery Management System needs a Capacitor And/Or Resistor Management Subystem, plus a Temperature Management System, plus oodles of wires and tubes. Sounds heavy, but even a ebike battery ten times the weight, made using "Second life" lithium-ion battery cells, isn't really much of an issue in use, from my experience at least, towing very heavy trailers up steep hills, using UK legal 250W pedelecs.
> they won't be able to afford to make the sort of affordable EVs the world needs. (Or the Chinese will, because barring a war nothing will stop the flood of cheap Chinese EVs. People will be buying the on Ali Express.*)
Trouble with those cars is, they are not UK road legal. To be a UK road legal car, without ABS and a lot of other required safety features, it has to be of a different vehicle class entirely - the Citroën Ami, is classed as a light quadricycle. But like all of the damned cars from big manufacturers, it's a b*stard to repair long term. It's the same situation with ebikes in that regard, where the likes of Bosch, Shimao and others use proprietary comms to lock you into buying just their components and subsystems, and actively sabotage repairs by users/owner. In contrast, cheap, generic Chinese conversion kits and ebikes are easily repaired; components and subsystems can be swapped and adapted. The Chinese could easily manufacture a more user-repairable, fully enclosed light quadricycle like the Ami, legal to drive on British roads, but thus far none have AFAIK. The biggest hurt to the wallet within a few years of course, is the battery. A 14Kw/h battery could be made far more cheaply, if you make it yourself. I could convert a two seater tadpole recumbent to a UK legal pedelec quite easily, but the bodywork is a problem I'm still working on. My experience of towing heavy bike trailers up steep hills all summer using my 250W convereted folding bike, has informed me that lugging 100kg of body shell and extra suspension with that mid-drive kit, is no problem. It's deeply frustrating that electric cars are not user repairable.
> un-clever battery management systems.
Yes that's begging for a burned down home. Sodium-ion 21700 cells can't arrive soon enough!
>you might need to lift them up steps etc. and they already suffer a weight penalty. Why add to it?
The batteries are detachable - I remove mine and place it in my rucksack, before runing along with my rolling folded bike along a train platform to board. Ebike weight doesn't matter all that much in practice - I've been towing a 15.5kg Homcom folding bike trailer with a 78kg cargo + myself (78kg) + 22.4kg bike (with battery and motor etc.) up steep hills all summer (Bafang BBS01B converted Dahon Helios P8 folding bike [manufactured in April 2006]), so an extra 20kg without trailer + cargo isn't going to make much difference. My battery pack is 19.2ah containing LG MH1 cells, personally I wouldn't mind if it was 20% heavier, if it was made using cheapo used cells, managed safely by a very smart BMS... sadly such don't exist for ebike batteries, to safely utilise "Second life" lithium-ion cells.
Old lithium ion batteries differ in charged voltage, often widely - if the battery management systems of large groups of cells aren't very clever in how they charge, discharge and utilise individual cells, they'd create big unstoppable fires which burn uncontrollably for days... which for me begs the question, why can't very smart BMSs be created to utilise these old batteries in less demanding EVs, such as electric bicycles? 15A @36V is sufficient for say, a 250W Bafang BBS01B motor.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
