Life in The Fast Lane

Windows 8 takes a Cue from the WP7 User Interface

Andy Hamilton — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:03:28 +0000

Check out the new Windows 8 UI being discussed by Microsoft here at my Company News blog

Cheers

Andy

WP7 Mango screen shot

microSD Card use with Windows Phone 7 device

Andy Hamilton — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 13:55:19 +0000

By now its pretty clear that the use of a miroSD card in a WP7 phone results in it being securely locked by the WP7 OS. This is by design, after all SD does stand for Secure Digital.

Here is a great article which describes the current state of play from endgadget

There is more and more information coming forth regarding this. For the CPRM system it is called SD Binding according to the SD Association.

Microsoft’s MSDN portal provides further insight into the use of the SD card.

Microsoft have also issued a Knowledge Base support article which gives some further information on the replacement of SD cards on WP7 phone platform

When the operating system integrates the SD card with your phone:

It reformats the SD card.
It creates a single file system that spans the internal storage and the SD card.
It locks the card to the phone with an automatically generated key.

The KB article also talks more about the unpublished SD card specifications relating to random memory access rather than simply relying on the Class Rating for SD cards

Determining whether an SD card is Windows Phone 7 compliant is not a simple matter of judging its speed class. Several other factors, such as the number of random read/write operations per second, play a role in determining how well an SD card performs with Windows Phone 7 devices

There will be more on the speed issues for SD cards to follow.

How to Reformat a locked or “bricked” microSD Card after use with Windows Phone 7

Now we can thank RotoRooter in the XDA forum for discovering that using a newer Symbian Phone such as the Nokia E71 will bypass the secure password that WP7 applies to each microSD card. Once past the need for a password the Symbian OS simply allows you to format the card back to Fat32, just like that. We are still searching for a more generic way to get a WP7 MicroSD card reformatted after being used in a WP7 phone, but for now you need a friend with a newish Symbian phone. If you want to send me a locked MicroSD card for reformatting I would be happy to oblige.

The sequence on the Nokia E71 (I was lucky we had some of these left over from our last release of Company phones) was as follows:

Insert microSD Card into slot
Up pops a message looking for Memory Card Password
Press Cancel and the phone returns to the Tools Menu
Navigate to Memory, screen shows Memory Card Locked
Press Options to get Remove, Unlock and Format Options
Use Format to Reformat the Card, Unlock will just ask you for the password again.
After a few seconds the Fat 32 Format is complete and your card can be read as a Removable Storage Device on all other devices.

And here is the result in Windows 7, the Kingston 32GB MicroSD card now fully accessible again after trying to use the card in my HTC 7 Mozart.

Next I have been trying some speed test diagnostics on the Kingston 32GB Class 4 card that would not work on my WP7 phone.

Cheers, Andy

Bing Visual Search–A Showcase for Windows Phone 7 Apps

Andy Hamilton — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:17:59 +0000

Want to see what apps are available for Windows Phone 7, then Bing has provided an easy visual and filtered search which lets you see what apps are live here.

With more and more apps going live, its a handy way to keep in touch with what’s new, especially if you do not yet have a WP7 phone or a Zune Marketplace account.

The Bing Visual Search is filterable letting you quickly find what you are looking for and then drill down to see details of each app.

Pretty Cool I think.

Cheers Andy

Flame Grilled Phone King = HTC HD7…Windows Phone 7 beats iPhone and Android

Andy Hamilton — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 00:20:09 +0000

Posted on endgadget yesterday, this “ Ultimate Call of Duty” test certainly sorted the men from the boys and there I was, worried about voiding the warranty in my HTC Mozart teardown to find the SD Card!

Which phone tasted the best, Rare–Android, Medium–iPhone and Well Done Windows Phone 7

Nice touch using a disposable barbeque that cost 10 buck when destroying a couple of thousand dollars of phones.

Cheers Andy

source : EZ Grill Nice one mate!

HTC Mozart 7 microSD Card Change – Video Procedure

Andy Hamilton — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 20:52:48 +0000

Ok, following my previous photo article here on how to get in and change the microSd Card on the HTC Mozart, there has been allot of feedback with thanks to Darren at endgadget for picking it up and posting it .

With many requests for a video of the breakdown, I have now posted one below. I waited until I got my hands on a 32Gb Class 4 card but as you will see it did not work once installed, so I had to do it all over again and go back to my 16GB Class 2 card which has been working perfectly for the last 5 days or so.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Please have a look at the video, it’s my amateur version, so please be gentle about the commentary!

There are Plenty of WARNINGS regarding voiding your warranty so please think very carefully before proceeding at your own risk.

If any of you do decide to carry out this upgrade, please come back and let me know how you get on.

cheers Andy

New HTC 7 Mozart SD Card Memory Upgrade

Andy Hamilton — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 06:45:54 +0000

This phone arrives with 8GB of storage space, which for most is not enough.

The good news is that the storage is managed by an 8GB SanDisk Micro SD Class 4 removable card

The not so good news is that the card is buried under a few layers that have to be carefully removed to get at it.

Now you can also watch my video of the whole procedure here.

The first step after removing the battery cover is to carefully remove the sticker which covers the mini usb cable attachment to the pcb. The remove the top cover by gently prying it off. The main body of the phone is anodised aluminium and is all one unit so it does not split in the normal way. The only access needed is the top and bottom plastic “triangles”

Next unscrew the 3 security screws and one cross head screw at each corner of the phone. They are fairly obvious and clear to see. The screw at the top left has a Void sticker on it which if you proceed past this point you are affecting your warranty – proceed at your own risk. The bottom 2 screws are seen below together with the mini ribbon cable which attaches the mini usb port on the case to the phone. Remove the yellow tape carefully and slide the ribbon out gently so that the case can be separated once the top 2 screws are removed.

Here is what it looks like with the case and insides separated, the inside module just slides out from the bottom at a slight angle to clear the case. You can clearly see the ribbon cable now free but still attached to the case.

Right, now the slightly tricky bit. The whole inside module now needs to be split apart very very gently. I advise taking extra time and care at this stage. There is one cross head screw on the right hand side and everything else is held on by clips. The bottom does not look like it will separate, but go along the edge slowly with a mini flat blade and gently lever out every part that you can see, just use some logic and very gentle pressure and it will eventually come apart. When it separates you will see a piece on grounding tape between the 2 halves, so do not pull them apart completely just in case it is important.

On the photo above you can clearly see the screw hole and the tabs.

The piece of metal that is bent up is a mistake when I was initially looking for the SD card housing and thought it was underneath – it wasn’t.

Showing the plastic tabs which hold the pieces together, gently slide something flat in to lever them apart.

Once its apart, remember to not pull it completely away as there is a grounding strip attached to each half which you do not want to have to stick back.

All the parts of your sexy phone are now pulled apart and look like they will never go back together. But now finally you will get the first sight of the SD card on the side of the PCB.

Ok so now remove the yellow tape and pull out the card. It is very stiff at first but will come out eventually. It is not spring loaded.

I have replaced the 8GB card with a 16GB SanDisk Class 2 card as it was all I had to hand until I can get a hold of a 32GB class 4.

The all that remains is to reassemble the parts in the reverse order. First the 2 halves of the phone will clip back together fairly easily once everything is lined up and replace the screw. Its a little fiddly but not too bad to reinsert the min usb ribbon cable and replace the yellow tape over it. Check when replacing the 2 bottom screws that everything is properly lined up and that the ground braid that sits below the 2 screws is also properly in place.

On first boot up you should get a screen like this. I don’t think the connect to Zune to backup will really work at this stage so better to have done any backup before you start.

Click the reset and let the phone reboot into OEM start-up screen

Once all back up and running I had the Zune sync screen show as below:

The phone now reports 14.73 GB total memory available after formatting.

NICE ONE.

I think that’s covered everything, hope you like your HTC Mozart as much as I do and enjoy some extra storage space that it deserves.

Cheers from Scotland

Andy

Porsche 928 S4 Restoration Plan

Andy Hamilton — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 22:31:35 +0000

This is my pet project, a Porsche 928 S4, 1998 around 60,000 miles on the clock

Needless to say, she goes like stink with a 5.0 litre V8 engine knocking out 320bhp. When I was working on the cruise control to get it operational again, I had to remove the ECU from the passenger foot well and was pleasantly surprised to find that it had a superchips sticker attached which means it probably has had an upgrade in the past and that should improve mid range drivability and torque with an additional 10 bhp.

Restoration Plan

As with any car 22 years old, there are plenty of things to do to get her in tip top condition and make sure everything is functional. Below is my high level plan for what needs doing, as time goes on many of these headings will be broken down to more detailed tasks.

General Electrics
Interior refurbishment
Air Conditioning
Engine Top
Drive Train
Suspension

Making a start

First up was getting some basic electrics sorted out. When I got the car the sunroof did not work, but with a replacement switch from ebay this was soon sorted and the sunroof was back in action. Getting it open I greased up the runners after cleaning it all out and giving the rubber seal a good clean and dose of lubricant to moisturise it.

Next up I traced and cleaned all the earth points I could find. There are lots of different earth positions on the 928 typically with brown wire terminating in a brass ring spade connector. These can corrode and tarnish and there is no substitute for a dose of baking soda and a pink pencil eraser to get rid of the grime and restore the shine. Many illogical electrical problems can be caused by poor earthing. The 928 has a bad reputation for having problem electrics but certainly as a start you should make sure all the earths are clean and properly terminated.

New Orleans for WPC July 2009

Andy Hamilton — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:15:37 +0000

What a place to go for the 2009 Microsoft World Partner Conference. Staying in a hotel right on the corner of Bourbon St. was almost too much to handle by the end of the week – just what alcohol is actually in those bright green grenades ?

We had to get out of the city and took a road trip down to Venice, the southerly most point in Louisiana and the sunset over the marsh was pretty therapeutic. Heading east out of NO another day we took in the Sugar Plantations along the historic River Road – really too close to the Mississippi – and saw the history first hand.