So a few months ago i bought myself an xbox 360 wireless adapter because i got tired of playing various games using standard wired keyboard (although i don’t play a lot so i often not plugged in the receiver into the usb port). And of course it works fine until today when i tried to plug it again into the usb port because recently i just changed my keyboard and mouse into using a wireless keyboard and mouse (Logitech MX5000 Keyboard and Logitech MX1000 Laser Mouse) that is using Bluetooth technology just like the xbox wireless receiver adapter. And the problem is the Xbox 360 wireless controller can’t be detected by the xbox wireless adapter although the xbox wireless adapter already listed on device manager

At first i thought probably there’s a frequency / signal interference somewhere because both of them are using bluetooth. But after a little bit searching around the net and found this topic at avsforum.com, one of the poster there says:

@CyberScott

Nope! I use a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. No interference problems.

So that means the problem lies elsewhere, although other posters there says:

@pastishe

I was one of the people that had issues with this.

I had a bluetooth dongle for mouse and keyboard, usb hard drive and a wireless receiver for 2 wireless ms 360 pads.

I used to get intermittent problems, so I borrowed a pci usb adapter (as they're not all that easy to find nowadays) and plugged the wireless receiver into that and everything was ok.

It could just have been my motherboard or 2 ms wireless pads is just pushing it?

I'd advice using the pads without a pci or powered usb hub just to test and if you get problems like dropouts then consider a pci card or powered usb hub.

BTW - The 360 pads are great, i'd recommend getting a couple with some rechargeable batteries.

And in my case since my motherboard only have 1 pci slot (i don’t know whether USB PCI Express card exist or not) and currently i don’t have any external powered usb hub and i’m a little bit desperate on playing my new Need for Speed Pro Street on pc using the 360 controller … i decided to look into my system a little bit further

1. The first test is … by restarting the computer with only the Logitech bluetooth receiver plugged and then plug the xbox 360 wireless adapter after getting into windows and the result is although the xbox receiver is listed on device manager, the xbox 360 controller isn’t detected

Device Manager

Bluetooth status

2. The second test is … by plugging the Xbox 360 wireless controller and the logitech bluetooth receiver at the same time and then restart the computer with both of them plugged. And the result is the xbox 360 controller can be detected but both mouse and keyboard isn’t functioning, but since i’m always have my wired p/s 2 keyboard and mouse attached (because i still don’t trust wireless keyboard yet thanks to my previous experience with 2 logitech wireless product) i don’t need to use the restart button on the cpu … and surprisingly if both of them are plugged at the same time the device manager doesn’t detect the logitech bluetooth receiver

Device Manager

Game Controller Status

Since i’m not sure on whether there’s a hardware / software conflict somewhere i can’t blame Microsoft or Logitech …  so i try to unplug the logitech bluetooth receiver and then plug it again … and the wireless keyboard and mouse worked again … but with the only exception it isn’t listed on the Bluetooth status (so i’m not sure on whether the keyboard use the passkey or not)

So if you currently experiecing the same problem like me (and currently desperate on playing game using your 360 controller), perhaps you should try the above … as for the future … i think i’m going to try getting myself an external powered usb hub as stated by pastishe over at avsforum and also because there’s also someone that is experiencing this issues and also receive the same answer from logitech staff directly (link)

Quoted from the link above:

I sent off a support request to Logitech that stated:

Everything is detailed in our post on your forum that has been unresolved for 8+ months:
http://forums.logitech.com/logitech/board/message?board.id=hardware_mice&thread.id=5085
     
Summary: SetPoint thinks the Xbox 360 controller is a mouse and resultantly the real mouse stops functioning and in the process, disables the Xbox 360 controller.
     
Please read forum for all the details, otherwise, I will just copy/paste the entire thread into my next message.
    
In summary, I need a resolution for the problem so that I can once again use my Logitech Mouse, SetPoint and the Xbox controller.

This is the response Logitech sent:

From your e-mail, I understand that you having an enquire with your XBox 360. I understand how inconvenient this issue is for you and I will do my best to assist you.
    
Please check either you have any USB hub or USB PCI card available. If yes, please try connect the Xbox 360 receiver to the hub or PCI card and please connect the mouse directly to the motherboard.

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0x87485B96 | Tags : Hardware

So a week ago i just bought a new UPS named APC BR1500i because the previous UPS is dead (Prolink 1200VA) … well not actually death but since i couldn’t find on where to get a replacement battery for Prolink UPS and even if i could get one, there’s no way i could replace it by myself because only certified / qualified technical person who knows his way around electrical devices able replace it. Although i have to admit this APC BR1500i (i bought it for 272 USD) a lot more expensive compared to Prolink UPS 1200VA (around 80 USD) … and well i guess that’s enough for the intro

The main reason on why i choose APC of course because the end user can replace the battery / user replaceable batteries (read: me who knows nothing when it comes to electrical devices) as long as you can follow the instruction manual supplied with the product, and also offer USB connectivity to monitor your UPS Status / Health via the software provided which is useful (seriously, the Software included with APC BR1500i provides useful information instead of just the battery status of your UPS) especially to those who don’t have Serial Port at the back of their computer anymore (well previously i have one serial port but since i changed my motherboard there’s no more serial port for me and i’m too lazy to get a USB to Serial cable) … and as a side note, the previous UPS (Prolink) use Serial Port.

Other good features offered by APC BR1500i are you can adjust it’s sensitivity by simply pressing the front panel button (ON/OFF Button) for ten seconds and then followed by pressing the button again to adjust the sensitivity from low to high (that provides maximum protection), and you can also connect your RJ45 Cable (LAN) and your telephone cable to the UPS for additional protection (known as Data Line Protection)

p.s when i connected the APC UPS for the first time Windows was able to detect that i’ve installed a new UPS and provided additional options under Power Options in Control Panel

And here’s a screenshot on what information you can see via the software bundled with APC BR1500i (APC PowerChute Personal Edition) :

As you can see at the above image, the last transfer to battery was caused by Blackout on 2/22/2008 which is today when i wrote this post and that is often happen several times a day and that’s why UPS is one of the most important parts i need to make sure that my computer parts can last longer (i’ve learned this the hard way, like my previous Samsung monitor that is dead in just 1 year). So the conclusion is although APC BR1500i can be considered as expensive but it’s worth to buy especially to those who wants the easiest way to protect their computer from electricity failure although it'd be a lot better if it were cheaper :P

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0x87485B96 | Tags : Hardware

What is your answer if someone ask you on which one is better for overall system performance, adding more RAM (physical memory) or get a new processor with higher clock speed ? and of course when someone saying this question to you, definitely he’s looking for a more general computer usage rather than just for specific usage

If it’s for me the answer is definitely RAM, but why ? if you ask me. The answer is really simple, because nowaday application tends to use more memory, even the operating system itself already takes more than 64MB of RAM when started (fresh install of windows xp and could be more for windows vista), and this is true especially to those who’s running to many background application that can be considered as resource hog such as have Norton Antivirus, Nokia Software, etc.

But what if your computer mostly used to encode video (not editing video), or just to watch movie or anime with some post-processing feature from FFDshow ? then … the answer is upgrade your processor, even better if you upgraded it into a dual core processor, because post-processing or encoding task require much more CPU power compared to RAM usage

But what if you’re a gamer ? … the answer is depend on whether you’re already using :

• Good graphic card (any graphic card that has Direct X 9 hardware acceleration) and is not an on board graphic card
• Above 2 GHz Processor Clock Speed (Single / Dual Core)

Then you can be sure if you choose to upgrade your system ram (by adding another stick) to at least 2 GB, you are going to get noticable performance from your computer

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0x87485B96 | Tags : Computer, Hardware

2 Days ago i just received my new power supply from Corsair (HX520W) as a replacement part because my previous power supply (HEC Zephyr) died in less than 2 weeks after i bought it from some retail store (which is quite disappointing)

My first impression when i received this Corsair HX520W PSU was … WoW !!! i never seen something like this before. Because based on my previous experiences, all power supply i’ve used before doesn’t have a modular feature like this one from Corsair although Corsair HX520W only has three +12V rails while the HEC Zephyr has four +12V rails but in the end both power supply gives enough power to all my peripherals

And just in case you didn’t know what does Modular PSU means, here’s some description about it taken from the Corsair Website :

Corsair’s easily detachable and flexible modular cables allow you to use only the cables you need and enhance the air flow inside your system

And i must agree the above statement from Corsair about enhancing airflow inside your computer case, because i’ve experienced it myself (-2 Celcius compared to HEC Zephyr) because i can remove unneeded cable and in the end i just use the additional 3 cable

And here’s a picture on what you’ll get when buying this PSU :

Well … that’s all about it …

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0x87485B96 | Tags : Computer, Hardware

2 days ago i just bought an almost complete cpu set which is using Abit AN9–32X for the motherboard and AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ (ADO5200CZBOX) for the processor, and Corsair PC5300 for the memory … and including any other part but i think there’s no need for me to write it here

Okay … back to the story, after finished assembling every parts i turned on the new cpu and get into the bios (the usual thing to do) to adjust settings for various part such as disabling Floppy Disk Controller, disabling the Silicon SATA Controller (because i do not need it), etc. Then continue to save it and exit from the bios

But what happen next ? i get blank screen without anything else, so i tried to reset the CMOS via jumper. And i can get into the bios once again and try to configure like before … but the same problem always occurs everytime i exited from the bios menu

At first i thought it was memory problem (the post code i get is C1), so i tried replacing the RAM from PC4200, PC5300, and PC6400 memory module (and reset CMOS at every step) … but still get the same problem. Now i'm sure the problem is not because of bad memory. So i tried switching the processor used from Athlon 64 X2 5200 (low power) into Athlon 64 X2 4200 (normal) and surprisingly it works without problem. Now i know that the problem is because the motherboard does not support the new processor, and then i go to Abit website and found updated bios there, and continue with flashing the new bios. And thanks to the new bios, i can use my new processor without problem

The next day (yesterday before i wrote this post), when i turned on the computer … i get a new error message at POST … it writes, CMOS Checksum Error – Default BIOS settings loaded. At first i didnt think there’s something wrong, so i just configured everything once again and continue into windows

And the next day (today when i wrote this post), i get the same error message which writes CMOS Checksum Error … and because i found that error message is strange. I configured the bios once again and then turned off the computer and turned it back on again … but the same CMOS error message still appear

Now … this is strange because usually that error message caused because the CMOS battery already reached it’s limit / weak, but in my case i just bought this mobo 2 days ago and i do not think the CMOS Battery already weak beside i never get that message even for my previous motherboard which is already died (but that’s just my opinion)

So today i just sent an email to Abit Technical support and hope i can found the solution to this problem …

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0x87485B96 | Tags : Computer, Hardware, Journal, Personal

I just do not understand, how come everytime i get new PSU with higher watts and claims to provide higher ampere at +3.3V and +5V rails than the old power supplies (even for brand name power supplies such as my previous Enermax and Enlight), the +3.3 and +5 Voltage always below the recommended area (in other words there’s no change from the previous PSU) although there’s no new peripherals added and even worse i just bought this new PSU several days ago (because i read good reviews about this psu from various website such as from here, here and here) and no this time i do not overclock anything

From BIOS i saw this new psu only provides 3.28V (it always stay in this area and never reached 3.3) for the +3.3V, and 4.89 although at first i saw 5.05 on the +5V rail. And i'm sure that value will be much lower than this after being used for about 6 months or more (which result in unexpected system crash). Other than that, i also saw the same value from Lavalyst Everest, SiSoft Sandra, and ITE Smart Guardian (although i did not check it via wire method like this guy done here)

Quoted from that page :

good because the 5 and 12 were sligtly low (4.96/11.92) but verry stable under load (voltage actualy came up about .02v) and i was able to bring them both up with the 1 pot.

the 3.3v is still allitle low (3.28 idle, 3.29 load) and i dont think there a pot for it. and all measurements are from wires not bios or a monitor.

And i agree with his words, because that’s what i experienced with this new FSP Blue Storm PSU with the exception my +12V rail is normal

I do not know if there’s anyone who’s using the same power supplies like me or not, but if you do use it … of course i’d be delighted if you can tell me your +3.3 and +5 rails (even better tell me your complete computer specification) so i can compare it to mine

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0x87485B96 | Tags : Computer, Hardware, Journal, Personal