As a support technician, I often-times think I have seen it all.  But, last week,  I ran into something I had never seen before, with regards to our software  at a customer site.  When I finally, perplexedly  Googled the symptoms, looking for an explanation or solution,  nothing helpful came up.  It was the most dumbfounding thing I had ever seen!  So, hopefully, should anyone else ever run into this situation,  the information I am about to include here may help!

I work for a transportation software company that caters mostly to over-the-road trucking companies.  Our data is stored in xBase flat file .dbf format and each software module may have dozens of database tables.

The support call came in from one of our customers, that one of his dispatchers had entered a new truck in the system, but for some reason, he couldn’t see it from his computer.  He could see where a new load (order) referenced that truck, but he just couldn’t see the truck, itself, in the truck file maintenance screen.

My first thought was bad index, so I recommended indexing the files.  When he said that didn’t’ help, I remoted into his system to have a look.  He was correct, the truck just didn’t show up on his Windows 7 workstation.  I remoted over to the workstation  that had created the entry, an older XP, and the truck was there and active. “Hmmm… how odd”, I thought.  There has to be a simple explanation for this!

But it became more confounding by the moment!  My second thought was that he MUST be working in a backup copy of the system!  But as I jumped back and forth between his computer and his dispatcher’s computer, checking the paths and the folders that the data was stored in, I could see that they were both pointing to the network’s F: drive and to the same data folder.  I tried creating a text file in the data folder from the dispatcher’s XP computer and sure enough, I could see it from both computers.  So I knew they were both working in the same folder and looking at the same files!  So why was the new truck record not showing in the truck database from both computers???!

I asked them if anything had changed recently.  They said not really, but three weeks earlier they had added this  new Windows 7 machine to their network.  But they said it had been working fine until that day.   I asked if there had been any other changes or problems.  They said no, not really.  They had had a printer problem earlier that day, but it was unrelated and already resolved.

I decided that maybe the Windows 2008 file server was acting up and told them to try rebooting it.  They said they had done that earlier, but they would try again.  I told them  if that didn’t help, to try adding that same truck to the system from the machine that couldn’t see it.  I figured maybe it was just some oddness that might work itself out in a few days.  I was WRONG!

They called me about four days later and said, “Sunny, we really have a problem!  The user on the new Windows 7 machine has added about 200 new loads and we just realized that the other dispatcher cannot see any of them”!!

What was the deal???!!!  The new load records being added from the Windows 7 computer were not being seen by the XP machine and truck records by XP wasn’t being seen by the Windows 7!  But, they could see everything else in all of the other shared tables.  I reaffirmed, again, that there was no shadow of a doubt, they were working in the same file folder on the network!  To make it even more strange, with the exception of the load file and the truck file, they could both see the same information that was stored in other files in that same folder!!!  It was as though a few isolated files were not being shared, almost like they were working in a backup copy of that file, yet everything pointed to the correct place.  With this particular piece of software, there was no way to tell it to write to some files in one folder and other files in a separate folder.  They MUST be in the same physical location!  How could this be happening??!!?

I finally told the customer that I was just flabbergasted and had no explanation and that I really didn’t think it was something in the software.  I suspected something in the hardware setup, but had no reasonable explanation as to what that could be.  He called in two different network consultants, but they were as bumfuddled as I was.  It was as though, out of dozens of files, that mostly they were both seeing,  there were an isolated few, where it was as though they were looking at two different copies!   But where were the copies and how was this happening??!!?

Finally, the second network tech, Dave, and I were looking at one of the files in question, through Windows Explorer, when suddenly he noticed in small letters, but right in plain site:  Offline status:  offline

WTH!!!??  Then the pieces of the puzzled started falling into place. After quizzing the user a little more, we discovered that a week ago, when they had the printer problem (you know, the one that was unrelated!), one of the dispatchers had decided to reboot the server.  It never occurred to him to have everyone log out first.  He just REBOOTED!  In the meantime, the user on the Windows 7 machine was just working merrily away!  Windows 7 had sensed the loss of the network connection, so it took “offline” the  open database tables that he was working in.  When the network was brought back up, it should have synchronized his offline files with the network online files, but it did not.

Fortunately, now that we had finally identified the problem, it was a relatively easy fix.  For more information about offline files and file synchronization, go to:  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Working-with-network-files-when-you-are-offline

~Sunny

There are several ways to tether.  Some phones have built in tethering options, some phones you can tether by downloading an app, but others need to be rooted in order for tethering to work.  Of course, my phone (LG Ally) fell into the latter category.  But, since there are other benefits to rooting your phone anyway, I was not to be discouraged .  There are several ways to “root” a phone.  A lot of this depends on which version of Android OS you have and can also depend on whether you have applied any patches, so, the 1^st thing is to double check your version (this must be exact: i.e. 2.2) and any patches (i.e. 2.2.1).  There are some apps that allow you to root and unroot your phone easily using the app.  Once again, my phone can’t use them, so I had to do some wiggling.  I had to download several things (including special drivers) using my computer and do my root that way.  Since every phone is going to be different, search out your method according to your phone and version of Android OS.

The second step after completing the “root” was to find a tether app that worked.  There are several in the Android Market, but the first one I tried (Barnacle) didn’t work for me.  My laptop did not discover my phone, even though my phone said it was broadcasting.  The second app I tried (Wireless Tether) worked!  YAY! SCORE!  Now, I will be able to use the internet with my wifi devices (laptop, tablet) even when the power is out or I am not in range of any wifi connections.

BJ Exum

p.s. Please remember that “rooting” your phone may void your warranty!

• ADK: Android Development Kit, What people use to develop anything for the droid such as ROM’s
• Baseband: In communications and signal processing, the baseband describes signals and systems whose range of the frequencies measured from close to 0 hertz to a cut-off frequency, a maximum bandwidth or highest signal frequency; it is sometimes used to describe frequencies starting close to zero
• Boot Loader: State in which the droid can be flashed from RSD with an appropriate .sdk file that reprograms the phone into a specific ROM or update. This is typically a last resort when the recovery screen cannot be reached to make a much simpler and less risky solution
• Boot Loop: simply means something is preventing the phone from completing it’s boot cycle and is stuck between the boot animation and the unlock screen, creating a looped animation. This is often fixed by either reloading a Nandroid, or Reflashing a rom from the Boot Loader.
• Brick or Bricked: Jargon for a completely unrecoverable device, (no more than a brick or paperweight)
• Bug or Software Bug: an Error or flaw in software that produces a failure or unexpected/unwanted result. Typically created from incorrect code, this is why some ROMs are better and smoother running than others because certain developers have taken the time to input “perfect” code
• Busybox: BusyBox is a single multi-call binary that packages the functionality of most widely used standard Unix tools, BusyBox provides a fairly complete environment for any small or embedded system.
• ClockworkMod: A recovery program that is often used to apply updates, ROMs, or create a back up or restore a backup file
• De-odex: Apk files have respective odexes that devs use to supposedly save space. Deodexing means you convert it back to a .dex file and put it back inside the apk. This allows you to easily replace files (not having to worry about odexes), but the main point was to deodex services.jar so that you can change all text to different colors (such as the clock color to white) and to deodex services.jar, you need to deodex everything.
• Dev. or Developer: An individual that creates, or alters a file in such a manner as to advance the program
• Flash or Flash Memory: a program technology that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed
• Kernel: The governor of the CPU useage and Battery output, one can upload certain Kernels to achieve greater performance speed of their device at the cost of some battery life
• Root: Common word associated with giving a user “super user” access to their phones programming and other various aspects that would normally not be possible, also known as “Jailbroken” for iPhone’s
• Nandroid or Nandroid Backup: A file typically created in the custom recovery program, such as SPRecovery, that is a carbon copy of whatever state your phone is in before a drastic change is made. the file then can be moved onto or off of the SD card for later use in case something should go wrong in the ROM or Update, or a Boot Loop occurs
• OS: Operating system, I.E. Windows Vista or MAC or ANDROID
• Overclocking: Speeding up the CPU past the factory presets to achieve a faster and more responsive device
• ROM: Read Only Memory, a program used to make changes to anything from the look of the home screen, to icons to custom boot animation
• RSD or RSD lite: Remote Software Download, Motorola’s own tool in flashing virtually any type of program, (so long as its in .sbf form) to the Android OS
• Shell or SSH: secure shell or ssh is a network protocol that allows data to be exchanged using a secure channel between two networked devices
• SPR or SPRecovery: A recovery program that is often used to apply updates, ROMs, or create a back up or restore a backup file
• Stock: Simply means an unaltered state, such as when you first purchase your phone from Verizon, or when you do a factory reset to “go back to stock 2.1″
• SU: “Super user”, or root permissions
• Theme: A set of icons, backgrounds and app trays that change the aesthetics of the overall look of the droid and its applications
• TUN/TAP: Refers to a network TUNnel, operates within layer 3 packets, or ip packets. Packets sent by a system via a TUN/TAP device are delivered to a user-space program that attaches itself to the device. A user space program may also pass packets into a TUN/TAP device. In this case TUN/TAP device delivers (or “injects”) these packets to the operating system’s network stack thus emulating their reception from an external source.
• Underclocking: Slowing down the CPU mainly to limit battery usage
• .sbf: Summation Briefcase File
• .apk or APK’s: An .apk file extension denotes an Android Package (APK) file, an .apk file can be opened and inspected using common archive tools
• .tar: Similar to a zip file, a tar file archives multiple files into one file
• .tgz: TGZ files are commonly used as install packages for Slackware Linux.

Thanks again to Sam Fisher!

Now, as an aside: fooling with your phone WILL void the warranty, so keep that in mind!!

~Sunny

• 1. Wi-fi hotspot coverts your Mytouch 4G into a wireless router where you can connect up to 4 computers or devices, wirelessly, to the internet. USB or Bluetooth Tethering is when the phone becomes a modem and you can connect your laptop (I don’t know if you can connect a desktop) or tablet using the USB cable/ or Bluetooth  and after enabling your phone (going to Settings/Connect to PC/Default connection type/USB tethering) you can navegate the internet on your computer.
• 2. I can connect so far via USB tethering without paying, some claim they can also connect via Hotspot without paying, I haven’t been able to do it, may be I’m lacking skills.
• 3. Wi-fi hotspot goes against your data plan. Making phone calls on wi-fi goes against your minutes.
• 4. As I understand as long as you do not agree and sign up, even if you are able to connect via USB tethering and/or wi-fi hotspot, there shouldn’t be any charges.

Now, I need to point out, this came from a forum, so when it comes to the charges,  proceed with caution.  I know that I ‘tethered’ my Archos to my phone and did not suffer any additional charges.  I did not have to enable anything.  Actually, it wasn’t seeing my wireless network after I had connected to a friend’s network and later returned home, and it just picked up my phone’s bluetooth signal on it’s own.

~Sunny

Wouldn’t it be nice to get paid to download and review Android Apps and weed out the really cool ones?  Well, lucky for us, there are people out there that do just that!  And, if you are like me, you prefer recommendations to the cool ones, instead of repeatedly downloading/uninstalling,  downloading/uninstalling looking for something that you actually might find useful!

Here is a list of the top five (of the day, this changes constantly):

I got this list from a technical email I subscribe to:  TR Dojo and it is referencing a blog by: Jack Wallen So far, the only one I have tried is the Dolphin browser!  And, I’ve got to say “S.W.E.E.T.”!

If you are unsure which version to download, here is a guide:

• What is the difference between Dolphin Browser and Dolphin Browser HD?

Dolphin Browser is built on 1.6 android platform while Dolphin Browser HD is built on android 2.0 platform. So users with 2.0 above devices can try Dolphin Browser HD, which had powerful add-ons for you to choose.

It is setup to allow for tabbed browsing.  It is great on my phone, but where it is really shining is on my Archos Tablet!  Nice!  As you are installing, it will prompt you to install a bookmarks add-on.  I recommend saying Yes.  Once installed, opening a new tab offers another add-on called Screen Cut, that allows you to do a screen cap. (see below)

Dolphin HD Browser Home Screen

I also notice that as I open a new tab, it has an app of the day.  Today’s app is a free PDF Viewer.  How cool is that?

Hope you all have a great day!

~Sunny

Password protecting is easy but  different than in previous versions of Excel.

Here are the steps in a nutshell:

• Open or create the Excel 2007  worksheet
• Click the Microsoft Office Icon.
• Click Save As and pick Excel Workbook.
• Click the down arrow on the  Tools button (in the lower left side of the Save as prompt).
• Click General Options.
• Set a password to open and modify your spreadsheet.
• Click OK and reenter your password.

Make sure you use a secure password, but more importantly, make sure you use a password you will remember!
If you lose or forget your password you will not be able to recover it.

Make sure that you keep the password in a safe place.

A similar procedure applies to other Office 2007 documents such as PowerPoint presentations and Word documents.

Don’t feel bad if you fall into this catagory.  Most people who don’t work with a computer will not know this, intuitively.   In the last several years, with the Internet explosion and people downloading music, most people do know that they can usually find their documents in the document folder and music in the music folder and pictures in the picture folder.  Newer computers are great that way!  By default, the computer will, oftentimes, put the file in the correct folder based on it’s file type.  But this is not always the case!

Your computer is like a file cabinet.  Your computer hard drive is referred to as the c: (C drive), where the folders and files are stored.  On a Windows (Vista or Win 7) computer, you will find the following folders at the “root” or top level of that c:  (like the drawers of the file cabinet)

• WINDOWS
• PROGRAM FILES
• USERS

There  may be other folders, but these are the main folders.  The WINDOWS folder holds your Windows Operating System files and has many sub-folders.  You will find the SYSTEM and SYSTEM32 folders within this folder.

The PROGRAM FILES folder is pretty descriptive, don’t you think?    Most of the time, when you install a new program, this will be the default folder, unless you tell it something different during installation.  Typically, you will find a sub-folder under the PROGRAM FILES folder for each program that you have installed, as well as for each of the programs that came packaged with your computer.

The USERS folder will have a sub-folder for each user who is setup with a login name and password for this computer. Under each USERNAME will be that users personal folders:   DESKTOP, DOCUMENTS, MUSIC, PICTURES,VIDEOS, etc.

So, it would be like a tree structure:

C:
__USERS
_________SUNNY
_______________DESKTOP
_______________DOCUMENTS
_______________MUSIC
_______________PICTURES
_______________VIDEOS

The path or target, to the MUSIC folder, for example, would be C:\USERS\SUNNY\MUSIC\

If you right click on the Windows Start globe and left click on  Explore (Vista) or Open Windows Explorer (Win7) you can navigate through all the different files and folders.  Your folder structure is on the left hand side and the files will appear in the large right hand area, as you click each folder.  The default order for the folders and files are alphabetical, so you will see all the sub-folders listed first, then the files.  If you click the heading at the top of the column, you can change the order  that the files and folders appear.  *tip: to look for something recent, click the Date Modified column heading.  This will sort the folders and files in date order.  If you click Date Modified a second time, it will sort them in reverse order, with the newest files at the top.

I hope this tip was helpful!

~Sunny

I have had my Archos tablet for about four months, but today is the first time I tried using the video chat feature.    Well, I’m always up to seeing that little doll, so I was all excited about the idea.  Of course, trying to find a time that worked with all of our schedules was another story!  But today was the day!  They had already tried Fring and Qik between the two of them, and I offered up that my tablet came with Fring, but that I hadn’t used it.  They said they didn’t like it that well, but they were game to try.

I was shocked when I went to fire Fring up and it wasn’t showing up in my applications!  Now I won’t swear I didn’t uninstall it, but I don’t think so!  I suspect I lost it when I “rooted” my OS to install the Android Market (look under Archos 101 catagory for rooting instructions).   But, no fear, it was easy enough to download and install it again.  Hmmm… well not so easy when it gave me a warning that the video had been disabled on this device.  I went into the settings and enabled it and ran the Fring test.  It started a little backward count-down then suddenly my whole screen froze!  Not good!  I ended up killing it and trying again.  I tried powering down my device and tried again.  Then I decided to Google!

I was disappointed to see many of the Archos 101 forums discussing similar problems.  Either Fring didn’t work, or the call quality was poor.  They suggested other apps, and the one they favored seemed to be Yahoo Messenger.  I looked around a bit more then decided to try QIK.  The kids said they liked it better, anyway.

Hmmm….. Yikes!  What is the deal today??!?!?  I couldn’t find QIK in my Market.  Doing a search kept pulling up Ustream (which looks very cool, but not what I was needing).  What the Hey?? So I decided to look on the new Amazon Android App Market.  I had looked at it on my phone, but hadn’t used it yet (I seem to do that a lot).  Hmmmm… How do I get it on my tablet?  Sheesh!  I had already lost my “window” of opportunity to see my grandbaby this morning and I had a pile of work waiting on me!  Isn’t that how it always seems to go?

Anyway, I ended up downloading the Amazon.com app and then I was able to download the Amazon Appstore.  Craziness!  Now, back to the video chat.  Hmmm… can’t download QIK!!!?!!  You have really got to be kidding me.  I went to my phone, a Motorola Droid, and downloaded QIK, just like that!  What is the deal???!  Why can’t I download it to my Archos??  The phone doesn’t really do me any good, because it doesn’t have a front facing camera.  Dang!  This is starting to not be so fun!

At this point I was frustrated.  I had things I had to get done, so I didn’t come back to this until late afternoon.  I uninstalled Fring, reinstalled, enabled the video, powered down, back up and did the Fring test.  The video quality sucked, but it appeared to be working.  Ok, now we are cooking with oil!  I called my daughter to see if she had time to give it a test run.  Sure, she said.

Hmmm….  ok, <insert bad language here> this is insane. As soon as she calls me and I accept, it pops up grainy video, then dies. Ok, Fring has to go!  Then we tried QIK on my phone to her phone.  Of course, they couldn’t see me, but I could see my granddaughter.  Cool, but not what we had hoped for.  I suggested the Yahoo Messenger option I had seen on the forums and we talked about trying Skype.  Then her husband mentioned trying Tango.  I had read a little about it when I was researching the problem.  Sure, why not.

VIOLA!!  Magic!  Tango did the trick.  Easy to download and install.  I used my mobile number for the setup, even though I was installing on my tablet.  Not a problem!  Good quality video and sound.  The only problem I noticed is that my capacitive screen didn’t seem to want to change position, so I had to watch the video in portrait mode.  We had a few glitches with the sound, but I suspect I did that when I was fooling around with the screen position.  I notice Tango has a nice help and tips screen, which is always a plus!  So, hopefully, I can let other Archos users know that Tango is the way to go for video chat!  Now see, that wasn’t so bad!

Have a great night!

~Sunny

To check this, go to:    (instructions may vary depending on your computer’s OS)

Click Start (Window’s Orb)
Right Click on COMPUTER  for Context Menu
Left click on Properties
Click the Advanced System Settings (link is on left side)
Click the |Advanced| tab
Performance Section – <Settings>
Click the |Data Execution Tab|
Click the radio button in front of Turn on DEP except for those that I select
<Add> your program (full path will be needed) that you are trying to run.

Hope this helps!

~Sunny

~Sunny