Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 October 4

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October 4

remote control codes plethora

is there any reason, technical, usability, or business, that every manufacturer has to choose a different set of remote codes for their device? (thinking home entertainment stuff here). can it possibly be that they want the diddly money that comes in from forcing you to buy another of their remotes when you lose the original, because you don't feel like programming a universal? or is it just that the industry is too diddly to assume standards? i note that some vcrs have the capability to designate identical units as vcr1, vcr2, etc. and the remotes have the ability to address each independently, so it can't be just some halfbaked claim that it's so you can run your sony tv separate from your sanyo. grr, i'm steamed. Gzuckier (talk) 03:05, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

This is a cool question. Implied in several of our articles is that there are two basic standards: one based on the RC-5 standard (and a descendant, I think) from Philips, and one from NEC that Japanese companies have basically adopted. The best Wikipedia article on this I've found in the last few minutes of searching is the "Protocol limitations" section of our article Consumer IR (whereas Remote control, Universal remote, and RC-5 are silent on this). That particular paragraph is an uncited heap of OR, but it is very valuable (so don't anybody go and fact-tag it); it notes that there may be "semantic differences between different similar operations" — one VCR may have separate stop and eject functions and another may have a combined stop/eject only, for example. Or separate play and pause versus play/pause — what will the user's expectation be vs. what happens? Possibly another reason is the fear that if you had two VCRs in the same room you'd be inadvertently controlling them both simultaneously, without the user having taken this into consideration when he sat and programmed his universal remote. Or if you had one DVD recorder and one Blu-ray recorder in the same room. I think another reason is probably that once a big electronics company has created and debugged a working remote control standard, they will be loath to spend a lot of money to write and debug an implementation of some universal standard. It's a good idea, though, I think. Tempshill (talk) 05:42, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

From a business perspective, I'd say that the benefits of coming up with such a universal standard are less than the costs of doing so. However, if some group of companies were to offer a truly universal standard, then this might change. I picture each electronic device being given it's own code, much like an I/P address. Then, every signal would contain this first, followed by the universal commands. If such a system were available, then companies not supporting it might find considerable market pressure to get with the program. StuRat (talk) 02:20, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Do Hard Resets Harm my Computer?

Hello. Sometimes while playing a full-screen video game like Grand Theft Auto IV or Far Cry 2, my computer completely stops responding. I can't open the Task Manager and my caps-lock and number-lock keys do not turn the lights on the keyboard on or off. So, I press the reset button on my computer's case. I understand that this may cause file fragmentation, but will it physically harm any of the parts inside my computer? I just replaced the motherboard and the video card. The video card is an ASUS EAH4670. The CPU is almost new. It's an AMD Athlon X2 Black 7750. I have 4 GB of memory. So, I know my hardware can handle the games. I'm using Windows XP Professional, SP3, with dual monitors. I'd also like to know why it's locking up. I checked the event log and I couldn't find anything suspicious. I haven't had a chance to test them out on my new hardware, but before the upgrade, VMWare VMs would also make it lock up occasionally. Does anyone have any suggestions?--Drknkn (talk) 11:34, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

I'm not fully up to speed on this (if anyone knows better, feel free to mock me if I'm wrong), but I think older hard drives could suffer head crashes when powered off unexpectedly. Probably not an issue these days. Might cause errors in Windows, but no worse than your lockup issue anyway.

Speaking of which, I recently had the same issue with my PC. I'd upgraded the graphics cards from a GeForce 8600GTS to a 9800GT, but I didn't upgrade the run-of-the-mill 375W Dell PSU (mainly because Dell use nonstandard wiring in their PCs, and getting a PSU to fit is a pain in the arse). After I started locking up, I imported a Dell-wired 500W PSU from the US and reformatted/reinstalled Windows. It seemed to work; I can't get it to lock up now even if I try. CaptainVindaloo ^{t c e} 17:07, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

ok. Thanks. I think you may be right. My PSU is a 430 W Thermaltake unit from 2006. It doesn't happen right away -- after maybe a half an hour or so of playtime.--Drknkn (talk) 01:09, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

You really should avoid hard resets. If your computer is in the middle of writing a file and the power shuts down, the file may be corrupted forever. The whole hard disk could be badly affected if the PC were writing to the FAT table (or whatever is the equivalent on your OS) when the power shuts down. About the crashes, the PSU probably has nothing to do with this. Have you upgraded to the latest video driver for your graphics card? Tempshill (talk) 04:50, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

System freezing with an underpowered video card is not unusual. At this point, the computer has already had the effect of a hard reset from the point of view of open files and such. It is not possible to do anything except a hard shutdown. I have never been able to fix this problem with new video drivers. I've only been able to fix it with more powerful power supplies (or cheaper video cards if the user never every plays games). -- kainaw™ 05:06, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Well, as I said; I'm wasn't sure what exactly a hard reset or power loss could do if the machine was busy at the time. Now I know. Lockups during periods of high load with no improvement from driver updates sounds familiar too. Before you start looking at new PSUs, try entering all your hardware into this, then add ~100W, just to be on the safe side. That's the PSU you'll need. CaptainVindaloo ^{t c e} 12:30, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Hi. The page gives recommends 300 watts. Adding 100, we get 400 watts. So, I'm within the limit with my 430 watt PSU? I also forgot to mention that I have 4 USB devices, three SATA HDDs, and a floppy drive.

A few months ago, I bought a new CPU, mobo, and memory. But I kept the 430 W PSU. Then, three weeks ago, I came home, and my computer's case smelled like it was burning. So, I rebooted the computer. But after that, it wouldn't POST half of the time and the NIC stopped working. So, I replaced the mobo and added the video card. Now, it works great except for the lockups. I read yesterday that a bad PSU can fry your mobo. Does it do that with a power surge, or just under-powering the fans? I wonder if the PSU fried the south bridge on my old mobo? I checked in my BIOS and it says that the mobo is 87.5°F (31°C). The CPU is 113°F (45°C). Thanks again everyone for helping me with this.--Drknkn (talk) 14:42, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Hang on, burning? That's a different kettle of fish... (does anyone know what that saying actually means?)

Erm, maybe your PSU was overheating, and was slightly damaged? It would fit with symptoms comparable to power shortage even though you're well within the stated limit. I'm not sure now... CaptainVindaloo ^{t c e} 13:52, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

A wiki-style publicly-edited database or spreadsheet?

I would like to know if a wiki-type database or spreadsheet exists, where:

(a) Anyone can add/modify (and of course, view) (b) Once inputed, the information can be sorted/filtered according to whatever categories are of interest

I'm a musicology student. Using itunes, I've taken the time to input song name, album name, artists involved, year of recording, instruments played, country of origin, languages sung/spoken, instrument tunings, and repertoire information for thousands of recording of West African music. Now, if I want to find a version of the piece "Lamban" for solo balafon from Mali, or all the recordings by someone from the Coulibaly family made before 1973, or all the kora pieces played in the hardino tuning, I can.

Well, if an online version of such a database could be made (so that the information can be shared with anyone on the web and so that others could add to it), it would be a much more powerful research tool. But the key is sort/filterability (much as with MSExcel or iTunes.) Does anyone know if such an application exist? I've poked around on Google, but might not be using the right search terms.

Thanks very much for your time.99.254.137.242 (talk) 12:12, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

From someone else who meticulously regulates their iTunes library (of course it's not nearly as detailed as yours, probably because it's more mild OCD than actual musicology), that sounds kind of neat. What first popped into my head was Google Docs, which does spreadsheets and other document types, and is free. I haven't used it personally, but I'm pretty sure you can set up viewing and editing permissions and all that. You will have to take a look at it yourself to make sure it has all the functionality you need for your project. Also, check out the article Online spreadsheet, which has other alternatives (both commercial and free) which may have different features or something. —Akrabbim^talk 12:47, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

Great! Thanks for the suggestions, Akrabbim.99.254.137.242 (talk) 20:30, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

Also try http://docs.wikia.com/wiki/Docs_Wiki That is free and requires no registration. -- penubag  (talk) 02:19, 8 October 2009 (UTC)

Gmail Notifier preferences

How can I access it so it'll know what account to check?? I installed the program but cannot find the prefs panel. The links to viewing my inbox works but it doesn't know of any new messages because I've never told it my account info. Please help. I'm running WinXP. Thanks. 66.65.140.116 (talk) 12:27, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

If you haven't logged in to your account through it yet, right click on it and select "Check Mail Now", and a dialog box should pop up with space for your username and password. It might not pop up over your other windows, so you might have to minimize everything else to find it at the bottom. —Akrabbim^talk 12:50, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

When I do that, nothing happens, and I have minimized all windows. 66.65.140.116 (talk) 12:59, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

Is there any easy way to search all of the the Wikipedia Reference Desk archives?

Rather than having to do it month-by month for each subject area? All these answers have a lot of valuable info in them that it would be a pity to lose. 89.242.93.56 (talk) 13:27, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

There's a search bar at the top of the page that searches them... --Mr.98 (talk) 15:19, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

it's called google —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.44.54.133 (talk) 16:09, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

Google "site:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives" followed by what you want to search for will do it —Preceding unsigned comment added by Avrillyria (talk • contribs) 17:23, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

Font installation problem (Windows XP)

I'm trying to install the font Boton. I have the following .ttf files (they're none of them corrupted, I've opened them all in Font Viewer or whatever):

• Boton Bold
• Boton Bold Italic
• Boton Italic
• Boton Light
• Boton Light Italic
• Boton Medium
• Boton Medium Italic
• Boton Regular

When I copy-and-paste these files into the Fonts folder of Control Panel, they all install fine. But only Boton Regular shows up in any program (Word, Inkscape, OpenOffice etc.) – any advice? Thanks! ╟─TreasuryTag►constablewick─╢ 16:51, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

What happens when you press bold on those programs? Don't you get Boton Bold? Platonides (talk) 16:59, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

No. The only font that shows up in the list is "Boton". What actually comes out is (I think) "Boton Light". Bold does work; Italic only brings up "Boton Bold Italic" - they're all out of kilter. What normally happens is, the Light and Medium show up in their own right, as separate fonts. ╟─TreasuryTag►secretariat─╢ 17:05, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

My understanding is that many applications have very poor font support in this regard. The ones you've listed don't surprise me—Word has horrible font support, and while one would hope to expect a bit more from Inkscape and OpenOffice, my general experience is that the open source people don't treat it very seriously either (viz, the font formatting panel in Inkscape, which lacks even many basic features one might expect out of a graphic design program). Programs like InDesign and Photoshop know how to deal with font families correctly. Most don't. I'm not sure if there is an easy fix. --Mr.98 (talk) 17:55, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

You want to make sure you installed them as microsoft instructs and maybe try to remove and reinstall. --194.197.235.240 (talk) 18:21, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

Memory snapshot

Hello! Is there any way or program I can download that lets me select a process running in my computer's RAM and view the hex dump for that instant of the memory being used? I'm running Vista (64bit), so I doubt there's some native program that'll let me do it. Thanks!--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 18:46, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

See http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/DevTools/Debugging/default.mspx --194.197.235.240 (talk) 19:10, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

HxD can open (and even edit) process memory, but it's a 32-bit program. Still may be useful. --grawity 19:38, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

Memory voltage

My ram's (transcend ddr2 800 mhz) voltage is 1.8v. But in BIOS the voltage set to 1.9v which is fixed.

Is it ok to run 1.8v memory in 1.9v? Will it cause any problem?

I am using xfx 750i SLI mobo.--119.30.36.51 (talk) 19:04, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

Yes probably. This link [1] says supply is 1.8+/-0.1 V. So 1.9 is too high —Preceding unsigned comment added by SpiceJar (talk • contribs) 22:41, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

Hmm 1.9V is within a 1.8 +/- 0.1V range. The real issue is that it's unlikely the motherboard keeps the voltage 1.9V or lower. Having said that, even if it's marginally outside the spec range I don't think it's likely to cause problems except the RAM will be a little hotter and you've also likely technically voided your warranty. Nil Einne (talk) 01:37, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

autorun actions based on system config?

Scenario: At work my laptop is docked and connected to the corporate LAN (and dual screens). I would therefore like the Novell login dialog and Novell groupwise to autorun at startup. When I get home I use a 3G card for internet access (and no dual screens, only the laptop screen) so I'd like for these two apps not to startup. In addition I'd like the system to auto-detect my monitors and correct the aspect ratios and en/disable dual monitor support. Is there any software for Windows XP that can automate this? It should basically sit in the background monitoring the system configuration and autorun things based on what's plugged in. Zunaid 21:11, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

Facebook login

I use MSIE v7 on XP. I recently cleared my cache and cookies etc. Now every time I try to login to Facebook, MSIE decides it has to terminate and brings up the "I give up" message pane. Any suggestions as to what to do about this? AFAIK, all other websites are working fine. -- SGBailey (talk) 22:23, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried it with a different browser? That would tell you if it's MSIE that's giving you the problem or if it is something else. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:46, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

No. I uninstalled chrome when I realised that I never used it. I'll ponder reiinstalling it. -- SGBailey (talk) 22:48, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

For whatever reason, Chrome when installed wouldn't connect. I've re-uninstalled it and will try again later. -- SGBailey (talk) 07:19, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Try using Internet Explorer with add-ons disabled: Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Internet Explorer (No Add-ons). If you can log into Facebook with add-ons disabled, then there might be an add-on causing the problem. To test further, you could disable individual add-ons: Open Internet Explorer normally, then go to Tools, Manage Add-ons, Enable or Disable Add-ons. --Bavi H (talk) 22:50, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

Does exactly the same thing. -- SGBailey (talk) 07:19, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Try uninstalling Internet Explorer (shock! The heresy!) and reinstalling? I don't think it appears in the 'Add/Remove Programs' control panel - this link may help though it's about IE8. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:58, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

In the end I used Ghost to restore an old copy of drive C. All then worked, so I'm happy again. No idea what got corrupted though. -- SGBailey (talk) 09:36, 7 October 2009 (UTC)