Don’t Throw Away that Old PC (Part 2)

1 June  2019  Update

Introducing PrimoCache

What is PrimoCache?

PrimoCache is another caching software that utlilises small capacity solid-state drives (SSDs) and flash drives to accelerate relatively slow Hard Disk Drive (HDD) in PCs.  It is developed by Romex Software.   It is different from the other caching software described earlier as it can also use system memory as well as SSD.  Furthermore,  it is  much easily to install as the installation is using Graphic User Interface (GUI).

The  instructions are shown here in this link.   One can either download the software from Romex Software or from here



7 November 2018

This Part 2 was written for those PCs or notebook (PCs) that cannot use the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) to accelerate their mechanical hard disk drive (HDD).  Part 1 about how to use IRST to speed up the HDD  can be found in this link.

Many older PCs did not comply with the IRST requirement to use small capacity msata SSD drive to speed up the mechanical drives.  Manufacturers like  Acer, ASUS, Samsung, Sony, Lenovo and Fujitsu have to use another similar technology called “ExpressCache”.  If one has such PC,  salvage and revive it for the kids to play computer games;  alternatively,  one can try this technology out before acquiring such old PCs.

What is ExpressCache?

It is a Windows-based SSD caching technology developed by Condusiv Technologies.   Like IRST,  it uses a small SSD drive, usually less than 32 GB,  to cache those programs that are frequently used.  Unlike IRST,  the SSD is not part of RAID drives.  It  is  a standalone unit and therefore,  can be partitioned off from a higher capacity SSD. 

How Does it Work?

It is a general knowledge that the intelligent ExpressCache will remember which software were used frequently.  It will store them in the small SSD drive or load them into the RAM during Windows startups.  This will speed up the booting and the computing processes by 2 to 3 times.

What’re the Advantages?

ExpressCache is more flexible than IRST as it has more settings to play around.

1.  It does not need one to re-install the Windows whether the existing system is in AHCI or IDE or in RAID mode;

2.  One could partition off from a larger SSD so that the remaining of the SSD can be used as virtual memory cache drive to further speed up the PCs; 

3.  One could “preload” the necessary windows files into the SSD cache drive to make the PC boot or run faster.  

What is the Catch?

Unlike IRST which is free,   ExpressCache is an OEM product that requires a license to use.   The software will perform a licensing check at every window startup and will not work if a "key" is not found.   It is not available for sale in the market.

What is a OEM product? Can we use it?

Here is a good article about the OEM product and if we can use it.  

In short,  one cannot use or even transfer ExpressCache from an OEM licensed PC to another.  .   However,  for the purpose of investigation if ExpressCache can be used in older PCs,  this article will only explore the steps to be taken to experiment its uses for the benefit of others to further acquire or explore such OEM technology.

What’s used in this Experiment?

1.  A 120 GB SSD drive to work with the 500 GB mechanical hard disks;

2.  An old PC that has LGA 775 ASUS P5K motherboard with E8400 CPU and 4 GB DDR2 RAM running on Windows 7;

2.  An old ExpressCache setup software downloaded from here  or here

Step by Step

Description	Actions	Remarks (dbclick to enlarge pictures)
1.  Preparing the 120 GB SSD drive and create an ExpressCache drive	1.  Uninstall ExpressCache if it has been installed before.  A  reboot will be required. 2.  Use EaseUS or similar partition tools,  partition 2x60 GB drives;  one marked [Cache] and the other [VM] in the Volume. Note and copy down the disk number (disk # where # is the disk number) of the SSD drive. 3.  Fire up the [Command Prompt] window as Admin 4.   Type [diskpart]  to start the program and then type [select disk #] at next prompt 5.   Type [Clean]  after ensuring the correct disk number is selected in step 4 above as the disk will be erased. 6.  Type [convert MBR], followed by [create partition primary size=####] - where #### equals the size, in megabytes or just type [60000].  7.  Type [set id=73 override]  to set the partition type.  Lastly,  type [exit]	1. Check the installation in Program & Features in Control Panel The VM partition can be used as virtual disk. Prepare the drive as a cache drive;  otherwise,  the Expresscache will not recognise it. Important Note:  all data in selected disk will wiped off.   Use [List Disk} command to check the correct drive selected
2.  Install the Expresscache	1.  Navigate to the folder where Expresscache is downloaded and fire up [Expresscache.exe] 2.  Follow the instructions to install the software.
3.  Successful Installation	A restart will be prompted upon successful installation	On successful installation,  one should not receive any error messages;  otherwise,  goto "Installation problems and Error Message" section to find the solution

Tips and Tricks

Description	Actions	Remarks  (dbclick to enlarge pictures)
1.  Create an ExpressCache drive after installation	1. At the [command prompt] as administrator,  type [net stop expresscache] 2.  Then type  [eccmd (space)-partition][diskID] [size] to create the partition; 3.  Then format the drive by typing [eccmd (space) –format] to format the drive	For example [eccmd -partition 1 24GB]
2.  Check if the Caching is working (DOS method)	Restart the PCs.  At the [command prompt] as administrator,  type [eccmd –info].  If the cache is working,  one will be shown the screen at the right;  otherwise,  it will show errors such as "Product is not licensed to run on this system"	If the cache is set up properly,  one should have very high read and write %,  higher than 85% after a few Windows restarts.
3.  Erase the Cache	At the [command prompt] as administrator,  type [eccmd –format]	This will erase all the contents in the ExpressCache’s SSD disk
4.  Preload a program	At the [command prompt] as administrator,  type [eccmd –preload]	One could preload the commonly used programs by Windows to speed up the booting by running this batch file in this link. The conventional wisdom is preload the whole windows folder into the Cache Drive but this is not necessary.
5 No Logo	At the [command prompt] as administrator,  type [eccmd –Nologo]	No copyright message will be displayed.
6. Exclude a Drive from Caching	At the [command prompt] as administrator,  type [eccmd –exclude ]  (space) driveletter	Exclude a drive from being cached. for example  eccmd –exclude C to exclude C drive from caching

 

Interpretation of ECCMD –info results

Description	Explanation	Remarks  (dbclick to enlarge pictures)
1.  EC Cache Info	Besides describing the partitioned size, it also describes the capacity left over and how much memory space has been used for storing the cache etc
2.  Tiered Cache Stats	It shows how much and how often the  RAM memory were used to speed up the PC
3.  Cache Stats	It describes how the Cache were being used in terms of size and  number and the %  of time the Cache drive were used.

Installation Problems and Error Messages

Description	Actions	Remarks  (dbclick to enlarge pictures)
1.  Expresscache cannot find SSD drive	Go to "Tips and Tricks" to create an ExpressCache drive	The SSD has not been formatted with the correct id
2  Product is not licensed to run on this system	Expresscache cannot find the licensed key to complete the startup	Here are some keys but they have not been tested yet ASUS,  ACER, HP,  LENOVO, SAMSUNG. 1. Download the above link for respective brands and place the file in the ExpressCache folder and 2. change the existing EC.LMF to EC.LMF.Old and rename the downloaded file to EC.LMF. If the PC is not licensed,  then one will have to use the batch file that comes with the downloaded file to patch Expresscache in order to proceed further.
3.  ExpressCache not working after Windows update or ExpressCache did not run as fast as expected	A re-installation of Expresscache might be required to restore all the essential files 1.  Format the ExpressCache drive and  2. Preload this batch file using this link for Win 7. 3.  Restart Windows to refresh the system file.  This should  restore the ExpressCache.	The following shows that the Cache is not really working though the read count is high;  may be some preloaded program is affecting the operation.
4.  There is 0 cache shown in eccmd -info	Make sure there is no Windows System files installed in any SSD drive	The cache will show 0% if ExpressCache found Window installation in other SSD drive
5  eccmd exited with error 0x10df 4319	Clear the system error;   erase any application installed just before this happen;  do a system restore if necessary.	The PC appears to have a system or application error and could not proceed further

Result

Note:  The test results may not represent the actual working speed of ExpressCache because the result will depend on where the test program were loaded;  for example,  the test program might just have tested the actual speed of the mechanical hard disk rather than the SSD cache drive.

	Before	After
Speed Test before and after the ExpressCache installation
Speed Test after the Windows’ system files were preloaded but .  before and after the Crystaldiskmark were preloaded onto the Cache drive

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Using Cheap Shower Curtains and Save

5 November 2018

We saw a lot of pretty shower curtains in Daiso going for SGD$2/=.  They are of size 180x180 completed with hooks as shown attached;  good enough to cover a long bath in the bath room.   The good ones of similar size would cost several times more,  around SGD$16/=.

What’s  the “Catch”?

The difference between them is the materials used.  The expensive ones are thicker and they usually have reinforcement strips or metal rings for the hooks whereas the $2/= type has only plastic reinforcement rings around the hook;  some just make a hole without any reinforcement.

Very often,  the cheaper one will get torn easily around the hook.  One would have to repair it or replace the curtain frequently.

 

What is the Best?

Buy the cheap shower curtain and make the reinforcement strip for the hook so that it can be glued on to the curtain.   The plastic reinforcement strip can be cut from clear plastic sheet  that is often used for table top.  Thicker plastic sheet  of around 300-500 micron (0.3 to 0.5 mm) is preferred to withstand the wear and tear.

 Materials Required

1.   Plastic reinforcement Strip of about 50 mm width with length to match the curtain

2.   UHU glue to glue the strip onto the curtain

3.   Scissor or hole puncher to make the holes for the hooks

 

Completed Shower Curtain

As shown.  The curtain should last until it is brittle and torn or the dirty curtain is replaced.

 

A Quick, Easy & Cost Effective Way to Handle Water Leaking Ceilings

2 November 2018

Water leak from ceiling is quite common.  The roof may be leaking.  The neighbor living upstairs may have a leaking pipe.   The conventional wisdom is to place pails all over the place to “catch” the leak while the repairs are on the way.  This may take days or even weeks.    This article will offer a cost effective way to handle this “disaster” in the meantime.

Conventional Wisdom

Placing a pail to “catch” the leak is always the first thing to do but this is not a good solution.  Water could splash all over the place.  It would create lots of noises.  The leaking area could grow and spread to other areas.   Also,  one could not always place pails on top of the bed.  Getting a good night sleep would be difficult when there is constant water dripping noise.  

The other traditional way is to place tarpaulin sheet as shown attached.  This method is commonly used for larger area.   One would have to find way to collect and get rid of the water.

Commercially,  there are available roof leak diverters complete with bucket and other kits as shown.

What is The Cost Effective Method?

Plastic or Tarpaulin sheet plus proper water drainage solution. 

How Does it Work?

The idea behind is to “drain” the water from the ceiling as fast as possible..   If one can drain faster than the water leaking from the ceiling,  one would not see any water drop in the ceiling.  This does not only prevent water from spreading quickly to other areas but also allow cheaper and lighter materials to be used as canvas. 

How to Do it?

Action	Remarks (Dbclick to enlarge pictures)
I)  Materials Required
a)  20kg Nylon fishing String or Nylon Twine
b)  0.1mm (100 micron) thick plastic bag of size capable of covering the leakage area to form a “drain”;  the alternate is to use tarpaulin sheet. Transparent sheet is preferred as one can spot water pool forming.  A plastic covering sheet such as those used for house painting job can be as a canvas to cover an area as big as 9' x 12' as shown.
c)  4 pieces of  wall hooks for wooden walls or special hooks for masonry walls.   Note:  As the hooks for masonry walls are not ring type,  the string can easily get unhooked.   It is good to heat up the hook by using a cigarette lighter and bend it to narrow the gap.   If an ring metal hook such as the one shown in the next picture,  open up the ring hook so that the canvas string can be "hooked" or "unhooked" when necessary.
d)  Fabric sheets Reasons to use 1.  Light weight and can be easily fix to the ceiling using sticky tapes,  masonry nails on concrete (just tagged and not nailed to) or just using stapler on softboard or wood; 2.  Has good water capillary action to lift water and direct water to locations as required.  Water can be directed to flow through door gaps,  allow doors to be closed. 3.  Can act as "conduit" for water flow.  For large water flow,  just use bigger strips cut from the Fabric sheets.
e)  Stapler,  ladder and tools
II)  Preparation
1.  Survey the location and the area of the leak
2,   Determine where the water would be drained and the slope  for forming  the “drain”
3.  If big plastic bags are used,  cut and split both edge  of the plastic bag to form a continuous sheet.   Spread the sheet over the floor.
4.  Cut multiple strips of about 12 mm width from the fabric sheet;  either tie or join the strips with plastic sealer or electric iron or just using stapler to form continuous length of “wick” to direct the water    More strips can be used as wicks if water draining is not fast enough.
III) Installation
1.   Install the 4 hooks at four corners;  for a large area,   more hooks might be required and can be fixed after the installation;   2.  Run the nylon fishing string to the 4 corners and tie a knot so that the string can be hooked or unhooked from the hook,  making sure there is no slag in the string;  3.  Dismantle the string after marking the string to make sure the string can be re-installed back to the same hook/location.   4.  Place the string on the floor and on top of the plastic sheet and secure the string with masking tape.  Cut the sheet to size if necessary after leaving about 40mm free space in the sheet for wrapping and covering up the string; 5.  Stick a piece of masking tape to hold the string and the plastic sheet together and then fold the plastic sheet in place with a stapler as shown in the animated pictures on the right; 6.  When all are done,  just hang the plastic sheet together with the string onto the hooks and there you have a canvas fitted to the ceiling. 7.  Pour a small cup of water on top of the canvas to locate the "centre" where water will flow and accumulate;   adjust the "centre" when necessary;     8.  Cut a small hole underneath for the pool of water  to be drained out.
IV)  Improving Water Flow
1.  Make a long wick using the fabric sheet as described in step 1(d) and place the long water wick through the small hole.  If needed be,  tie the wick be tied to a  “stopper” made from plastic sheets/bag  to stop  the wick from sliding through the small hole.  Spread the top end of the wick to direct water to be drain out through the hole so that there will not be any water pool on the canvas.  Remember:  water pool will add weights to the canvas   2.  Place more wicks to hang from the ceiling so as to direct the water down to plastic sheet or tarpaulin.  “nail” or staple the wicks to secure it onto the ceiling or false ceiling.  Extend the wick if necessary by stapling them.	Without the water wicks,  water would splash over the place when it hit the water surface This will ensure water will be "drained" quickly from the ceiling.
V)  Testing and Commission
1.  Check that water will drip into the pail provided	If the wicks have been installed correctly,  there shall not be any water pool found in the plastic sheet or tarpaulin and hence,  no additional weight would be added.  Cheaper and thinner plastic sheets can be used as canvas

Update  8 November 2018

What Best to do if the leaks spread Further?

The traditional wisdom is to enlarge the canvas or put up another canvas to cover the new leaking area;  however,  the leak might just  be temporary as it find its way to other locations.  This is because water will always find a path with the least resistance.   The existing water path could be clogged up with "debris";  water will find new path to flow.

The better method is still using strips of  fabric cloth.  Cut to size and join them up either by plastic bag sealer or stapler to form longer strip.   Because the fabric are woven material that has good capillary action to "suck up' or lift water to higher level, it can be used to direct the water drippings to where one would like them to flow.   In this example,   water drippings were directed to flow from the study  room next door through the top of a door to the bucket of water  placed in the bed room as shown in the following pictures

(dbclick to enlarge pictures)

Other Interesting Methods 

(Dbclick to enlarge pictures)

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How is the Quality of Xiaomi TV (MiTV)?

 1 November 2018

How is the Quality of Xiaomi TV (MiTV)? 

This question must have been asked thousand times because Xiaomi TV (MiTV) is always a talk in Town.   MiTV has undergone several quick successions and is regularly upgrading its operating system.  So far,  Xiaomi introduced 5 models for MiTV4 series in just  1.5 years.   The quality of MiTV has also improved over the years. 

How Do We Compare the TV Quality?

Besides comparing the picture qualities and performance in regard to user friendliness,  speed and responses of the TV,  one should also compare the quality and design of the component boards and its layouts of the various components inside the TV.  For example,  what's quality of the components  used and who supplied them etc.  The quality of components will affect the TV’s operation and reliability.   This article will concentrate on the layouts and the designs of MiTV4 series and discuss about the problems and complaints found in the TV.

How Xiaomi Manufactures its TVs?

Xiaomi actually don’t manufacture but produce its TV by buying the various component boards and assemble them either in their own factories or factories appointed by them.   They source their LCD panels either from Samsung,  LG or other Chinese LED panel manufacturers.  Their component boards such as power supply and main board came from various other suppliers in China or elsewhere in other parts of the World.  The Xioami TV sold in India and Indonesia are sold with dual OS,  a patchwall as well as a Android TV OS. 

The Various Models of Xiaomi TV

MiTV1

MiTV1 was first introduced around Sept 2013.  Then a 49” TV would cost around CNY3,000.   The major components were most likely designed and manufactured by themselves and one could see the quality was not as good as today's TV.  Wirings were done using hard wirings and quite a lot of the discrete electronic components were used.

MiTV 2

Xiaomi started selling MiTV1 around June  2014.  The same size TV was upgraded with components supplied from various component suppliers.  Great improvement could be readily seen.  Hard wirings have been changed to ribbon wirings;  components were neatly arranged with plenty of working space.  More reliable electronic components were used.

MiTV3

MiTV3 was first introduced in Oct 2015 with a 60” model.  It also has a 3S model with a curved screen.  Other smaller TV less than 60" were introduced later in the year.   The component’s  quality was as good if not better than MiTV2

a)  Better PCB layout and better design and powerful power supply

Better imported component were being used

More surface mounted components and lesser discrete components were used.

MiTV4

MiTV4A was first sold around March 2017.   The MiTV4,   spotted with World's thinnest screen,  was  then exhibited in CES (Consumer Electronics Show).   It won an award for the design.  Subsequently,  4C,  4S and 4X were introduced in 2018 with some variations in the casing designs;  otherwise,  the TV are basically the same.

Again,  good quality components were used in all the boards except more Chinese made components were being used.

The mainboard design is more complex incorporating all the input and output device all in one main board as shown attached

MiTV4 used similar power supply board as in MiTV3.  It came from same component manufacturer near Shanghai.

Picture Quality

It is understandable that most users are more concerned about the picture or video quality of MITV.

MITV4 mostly uses LED panels from 3 sources,  Samsung,  LG or CSOC ( Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd).  The LED panel nowadays comes together with factory built-in "logic display board or T-Con" to ensure picture quality.  As for the CPU (Cortex A53) and other components,  they are quite commonly used also in other branded TV.

As a budget TV,  MiTV4 often use TN LED panels as they are cheaper in price with acceptable quality.  Though the picture or video produced by TN LED panel is not as rich as VA or IPS LED panels used in many other branded TV such as Sony or Panasonic,  they are better in other aspects such as the better response time,  making them better for games because they have less picture lags.  Some MiTV,  such as MiTV3S,  also use VA or IPS LED panels,  comparable to the better and more expensive brands.

Here is a raw display of picture quality of MiTV as compare to SamSung TV

What are the common faults in MiTV4 Series?

The common faults in MiTV4 are usually software related in which the operating system is either not working properly.  The fault could be due to memory clogs or due to “glitches” caused during automatic downloading and upgrading.  The operating system were always downloaded automatically be default and many versions were introduced.  

Sometimes,  the TV can get freezed up or just re-start all by itself.  This is especially true when the operating system came across movies or sound system that have different formats not compatible with the defaulted MiPlayer,  The workaround was either to restart or do a factory reset, then use other players.

Here are some of the complaints,  also commonly found in other brands except some are peculiar to the 9mm thick MiTV due to its special backlight designs  

1.  TV has picture but no sound 

Usually,  this is caused by the movie's sound system not compatible with MiTV’s defaulted music  player.  MiTV’s defaulted music  system can play only aac and AC-3 sound system in 4K movies.  It would not produce any sound in other format.   The workaround is to download and install MXPlayer from Aptiode TV.

2.  TV has no picture but got sound

There are many reasons;  but the common ones are caused by faulty LED backlights.   In some events,  it also damage the Power Supply Board.   In that case,  one would need to replace the fault LED but also the Power supply Board.   This can also occur in other makes as most Chinese made TVs use either LG or Samsung Panels which have this kind of technical problem.   To prolong the life of the LED backlights and also the TV,  the recommended practise is to lower the brightness of the TV or install fans to cool down the LED panels.

3.  TV’s bottom very warm (only in MiTV4)

This is caused by LED backlight which is located at the bottom of the TV panel. The heat can be as high as 50^oC in warm weathers.  The solution is to turn down the brightness or install fans at the bottom of the panel

4.  TV screen curved (only in MiTV4 especially those above 55”)

This is known to have caused also by heating problem,  especially when the LED backlights are operating at very high brightness.   So far,  there were few reports about damages due to curved screens

5.   Other Operational Problems

Note:   Some of these problems found in MiTV are also commonly found in other Chinese made TV or even in more expensive branded TV because of licensing requirements

a)  MiTV from China are in Chinese

This is not a problem as there is a software or APK one can use to automatically convert the language from Chinese to English except some essentials not included in the APK's dictionary will still be Chinese.

b)  MiTV Cannot Sign Into Youtube

The Chinese Version MiTV that are  sold in China have its own Operating System (OS) that does not support Google Service which is banned in China.  Therefore,  it cannot play Google Play and unable to sign directly into YouTube using google account user names.   To overcome,  one would have to use Smart Youtube or other versions of Youtube that does not have signing-in requirement;  the alternative is to buy only their versions that have Andriod TV in their OS such as those sold in India or Indonesia.

c)  MiTV Cannot Play 4K YouTube Movies

MiTV does not have VP9 video decoders to play 4K YouTube Movies.  This is because VP9 are never used in China and Google requires a license to use VP9.

d)  MiTV Cannot Play Netflix and Some Other Movies

MiTV  would hang or does not play properly.   This is because MiTV does not have the required players to play these Movies especially those not used in China .   In the case of Netflix, only the older version of Netflix that is downloaded from Aptiode-TV can play Netflix with some limitations.  This is because Netflix do not support MiTV that requires additional license.

New Development
 
It was speculated that Xiaomi is working on a  newer PRO version that will be called MiTV5 .  It  will have Andriod TV OS; meanwhile,  overseas users will need to buy additional set top box,  such as MiBox S if they wanted to 4K YouTube and Netflix videos.   

In Conclusion

The  quality of MiTV depends much  on its quality control of the component supplied by manufacturers like LG or Samsung.    So far,  the quality is acceptable although there were complains about LED panels especially MiTV4 having black screens because of the heating problem.  After-all,  MiTV is a budget TV which is still undergoing transformation and improvements work.   Understand many users of the new model, such as the MiTV Pro introduced in India,  have encountered many operational problems initially when they change the operating system from Patchwall OS to the Android TV OS.   It has since been rectified

TV heating problem is also common in other brands.   For Longevity,   remember to do the following:-

1.  Keep the TV a distance of at least 4" or 100 mm from the wall and make sure nothing is obstructing the air flow;  not even a piece of cloth or filter;
2.  Reduce the brightness of the TV where possible;
3.  If one owns the 9 mm thick MiTV4,  better to install fans at the bottom of TV panel and make sure the  plastic  sheet that protects the shining aluminum panel is removed at the back.

After Note:  7 November 2018

Some forummers were put off by the heating problems in MiTV4.  It has to be noted that heating problem is not only happening in MiTVs but also in other makes and model.  Many were due to improper installation;  others due to prolonged operation without proper ventilation.   The solution is to install small cooling fans.  Afterall,   Xiaomi has sold millions of the MiTVs in China and India,  much more than any other brands.   Some faulty ones cannot be avoided.  It is always better to know the problem and to handle them beforehand.  ._____________________________________________________________________________
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