Computing desk
< February 16	<< Jan \| February \| Mar >>	February 18 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

February 17

how to re-install soundMax at home

Hi there, I accidently removed soundmax program from my laptop..I was removing unnecessary programs by using Add/Remove properity in Control Panel. This caused no audio device in my laptop. So is there any way that can undo that by using OS CD's to bring the sound back.

If your computer was bought from a manufacturer like PC World or Dell you will most likely have a Driver disc that will contain the soundmax program. If you don't have this disc then the options are either search on google for Soundmax and download the program, open up your system properties (right click on my computer) and press the device manager button. Right click on the Audio Device that is showing an error and click update driver. Windows will then find the driver. The_Man_Stephen^talk 01:41, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

HTML Resizing

I'm a noob making a webpage. I've got things sized the way I want on my screen, but apparently there's more than one size of screen and more than one screen resolution. That blew me away. Anyway, how do I get things to resize to fit other screens? Black Carrot 02:32, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Use percentages for your width and give up control over the exact layout of every little letter on your page. The web is not print media. Don't treat it as such. If you want some content to take up half the width of the screen, tell it to have a width of 50%. On a skinny screen, it will be very tall because the content inside it will wrap a lot. On a wide screen, it will be very short because there won't be as much wrapping. As far as images go, you need to remember that they will be much larger on a low-resolution screen and much smaller on a high-resolution screen. You can use CSS and size your images relative to the font-width using ems, such as "width:3em;" to make an image be 3 ems wide. Once you get used to the fluid layout of the web, you can start using all kinds of tricks to stretch and move things around so it looks good on pretty much all resoltions. --Kainaw ^(talk) 05:39, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

And you have to have a little tolerance for the fact that your webpage will look differently on different screens. You can't get around that, and so one of the real tricks to HTML design is to come up with designs that will be somewhat flexible. You also have to have a little faith in the reader — people will often have their own custom settings (making the font the size they find most readable) and will view your page in the way they want to, and that's ok. --24.147.86.187 14:57, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think I've got it. Thanks. Black Carrot 06:05, 20 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Fan connector

I'm not sure if this goes here or Misc... but anyways. What is the name of the connector for fans in computers? The ones that normally have 3 pins. I looked around on google, but there's no mention of what they're called. Can anyone help? --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 05:23, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I've tried to find out the same thing and "3-pin connector" is the best I've come up with :( --h2g2bob 08:04, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Molex connector suggests that it's "Molex KK". Using Google, that name seems to refer to the pin/connector style, not a specific usage for fans nor a specific number of pins. So, the most specific that you'll get is to call fan connectors 3 pin Molex KK fan connectors. Considering that Molex is a registered trademark, it makes sense that the word is usually dropped. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 08:15, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Err, it probably gets more specific than that, considering that KKs are available with a variety of pin sizes, spacings, and formats. Just call it a "3-pin fan connector" or anything similar, and everyone will know what you're talking about. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 08:21, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, guess it might be hard to get 4 pin Molex KKs then, which are what I'm looking for. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 08:21, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Try 4 pin molex or 4 pin fan connector. No one gets specific with the molex brands. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 08:23, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately, I need to be specific, so I know how to make traces for a PCB. But I do see sites now with what I need. I just hope they have specifications before I order some. Thanks all. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 08:26, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Aren't they pretty standard in electronics? They have 0.1 inch pitch and is called "Header Terminal Strip" in Jaycar or "Dual-in-lines/Jumpers" for the 2 row ones. --antilived^{T | C | G} 08:34, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

So they are the same thing as Headers? I've been trying to see if those were the same things but I had been unable to find pictures on any site that sells them. I've been looking at the Molex site, and the ones I want are more or less like the Mini-Latch or Mini-Locks, which are what Molex calls them. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 08:47, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I googled "4 pin header" images and they came out to be fan connections etc, so looks like they are the same thing. Thanks again. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 08:58, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think they are the same as headers, at least they physically and electrically fit. --antilived^{T | C | G} 08:58, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

ADSL modem to comp Connection speed

As the ADSL modem to comp through ethernet connects at 100Mbps, I wanted to know if we can form a lan connection through USB between the ADSL modem and comp at 100Mbps rather than 10Mbps as I have USB2.0 and not USB1.1 .Is it possible to tweak the modem driver or registry setting to do this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.241.48 (talk • contribs)

Please do not post duplicate questions. Your question is here: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing#ADSL_Modem_Connection_Speed. Splintercellguy 08:58, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I feel that the previous questions may not have been specific enough to address the real doubt.I hope this is elaborate enough.This may even circumvent the need to use an ethernet port..

I have an ADSL2+ modem which has both ethernet and USB connectivity.But on the ethernet connection, it connects at 100Mbps(computer to modem), but on USB it connects only at 10Mbps(computer to modem).But the maximum supported bandwidth of the ADSL2 modem from server to modem is 24Mbps.So what would happen if you would connect the modem through USB at maximum server modem connection bandwidth of 24Mbps?Since maximum speed of USB 2.0 is 480Mbps, is it possible to tweak the driver or connection to get (computer to modem) 100Mbps or more speed through USB?59.92.248.92 14:47, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Probably not. Your best bet is Ethernet. Splintercellguy 17:14, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

PCI interface USBcard speed

Any idea how an 133MBps PCI interface can support 5 USB 2.0 hi speed ports(480Mbps) through a PCI card??59.92.248.92 15:03, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I believe you may be confusing megabit (Mb) with megabyte (MB) (that blasted lower or upper case B makes a big difference). There are 8 bits in 1 byte, so 480 megabits per second works out to about 60 megabytes per second, which is still below the maximum PCI bus speed of 133 megabytes per second, or about 1,064 megabits per second. Also, I don't think there are any USB devices that can actually hit the full transfer speed of 480Mbps. Cyraan 20:30, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Also, I might be incorrect, but I believe that that is the maximum speed of a serial bus. That is, only one device can talk at the same time -- it isn't parallel. --Mdwyer 18:25, 19 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Download some complex SWF files for offline viewing

For example, the New York Times provides some SWF files

Think Small by Bethany Lyttle
Think Small SWF Dispatcher <-- This SWF!

How do I download an SWF slideshow that requests another remote SWF file? -- Toytoy 18:03, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I doubt it's possible in this case --⁪froth^T 19:35, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You would need to download and decompile the flash files. Fosnez 05:00, 18 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

JPEGs are 01 to 16, using Wireshark. --h2g2bob 17:53, 18 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

apt-get through proxy / at least SSH help

I'm running Ubuntu Edgy Server on a school computer that I hope to make headless.. but of course I need it running an SSH server. Unfortunately, I'm behind a proxy (that requires authentication) and I can't get apt-get to work (to download the ssh packages). I've set the http_proxy environment variable and added proxy configuration lines to /etc/apt/apt.conf but it doesn't help- when I do apt-get update it IGNores every repository and I have no package information. I'm using the http://username:password@domain.tld:port syntax so I don't think it's getting 403 errors. I have no GUI so I can't use synaptic.

So is there any way to:

Get it to work through the proxy, or at least
Get it to tell me why specifically it's IGNoring each repository

Also, the "ssh" command is set up and working (so I can connect as a client to other ssh servers); could that mean that the ssh server stuff is installed? I tried SSHing to it through PuTTY from my laptop but it didn't reply so how would I start the server on the offchance that it's preinstalled? There's nothing SSH running as a service

Thanks --⁪froth^T 18:15, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

never mind, I changed all of the repo URLs to ftp, which is open to the world (don't have to mess with proxy at all) --⁪froth^T 21:06, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

ssh is preinstalled, but IIRC only the client. --cesarb 13:39, 18 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Darwin and Mac OSX

Are they backwards compatible? Can you run Mac software on a Darwin OS? What is the difference between Darwin vanilla and OpenDarwin? --Russoc4 18:45, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No, most things depend on proprietary Apple libraries like the stuff for the GUI and stuff, which are not free. OpenDarwin is a project to make an independent version of Darwin, but work on it has stopped. --Spoon! 21:03, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, well, I just tried installing Darwin 8.0.1 (Mac OSX 10.4) on my Dell Inspiron 9300. It didn't even make it through the boot process to the install screen. I got an "SAM Multimedia: READ or WRITE failed" error. The Google suggests that its a problem with the CD.--Russoc4 22:24, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Update. I tried reburning the disc at a lower speed. No luck. I'm not terribly upset though. The whole point was to see if Darwin can run software that is built for Mac OSX. I should've known better. --Russoc4 00:31, 18 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Russoc4, check that your CD drive is hooked up as primary slave. Else install in VMware. Splintercellguy 05:37, 18 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How do i check to see if it is the "primary slave". I was able to boot from the CD. It started loading the kernel and whatever else was necessary to get to the installation process, but halted before it could finish due to this I/O error. --Russoc4 19:55, 18 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

IR keyboard driver

Hey, I'm having a spot of bother. I've got a Pocketop IR keyboard for my Dell Axim X51, but I don't have the driver, and it seems Pocketop have gone bust or something and are not supplying drives! Anyone got any ideas where I can get a driver from? Many thanks!!! --86.137.233.160 21:21, 17 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]