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Networking issues with Windows 7 7057 – RESOLVED!

Given how smoothly Windows 7 had been running on the NC10, I really did not think twice about updating to the (unofficially released) latest version 7057. Windows 7 is still peppy and I’m running the Ultimate version on the netbook rather than the more limited version which is likely to come pre-installed on most future netbooks. I have not had a chance to test whether power management has been improved in this build but plan to do do shortly.

I did my update last Sunday and then Monday flew to London.  I noticed a network problem immediately on Sunday evening but thought it was my usually very reliable cable connection rather than my computer.   I did not have time to really test things out and instead rebooted the cable modem and went to bed.  The next day I was completely unable to connect to Boingo at JFK and only after a reboot did things work.  My time was limited so I checked a few messages and boarded the plan.  At my hotel in London is where I finally realized the problem was consistently related to the new Windows 7 build.  Both my wireless and wired connection options were dropping after about 30 minutes and given the hassle of frequent reboots I chose to just leave the NC10 in the safe and use my work machine instead.  This morning however back at home, I’ve had time and the patience to try and few things and it seems I’ve solved the matter for real …

Windows comes with it’s own generic drivers and I had them running alongside my Atheros Driver from Samsung though the Atheros was the preferred choice. I guessed there was a conflict between the two and decided to remove the Atheros via the Setup utility (in the installer download).  When the Windows 7 generic driver also failed to stay connected I removed that as well and then re-installed the Atheros driver – leaving just that as my only wireless connection option.

I’m happy to report that after over an hour of connectivity I am still connected and there are no detectable issues.  Previously I would see the Yellow Caution Triangle appear on my wireless signal meter within 15-30 minutes killing the connection.  Clearly beta is beta though with a bit of troubleshooting Windows 7 is back online reliably.

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Update on My Netbook Usage

Samsung NC10-14GW netbook

I’ve been using the Samsung NC10 as my main travel system (also carrying my work laptop) since the end of December and I thought it would be worth reporting on my findings to date.  In general, the NC10 performs admirably for every request I’ve made though it’s not hard to find the edge of the netbook limit either.

Since buying the NC10, I’ve traveled abroad twice and found that aside from needing to connect to my office’s VPN, I can do everything I need with ease during the course of a business day.  I can email, IM, video chat, browse sites, open office docs, play media etc.  The battery in Windows XP goes basically the whole day though I actually rarely run XP as was pre-installed.  Instead, I’ve been using a combination of Windows 7 and OSX as my primary systems – mainly Windows 7.

Both OSX and Windows 7 use more power, but are infinitely more pleasurable to use over XP.  I accept the lesser battery capability in return for user experience and will definitely remove XP when Windows 7 is properly released.  OSX is something I run when I want to use a Mac specific app like iPhoto though after this vacation I will probably not do that too much more moving forward with this current rig.  As much as I like running the Mac side of things, editing high resolution media is not very efficient on the current Atom spec.  You really need more horsepower and ideally a GPU to complement the CPU.  This would most likely reducer battery life further, but again it would be worth the sacrifice to let something this size serve as a primary computer.  I’d pay more for this privledge as well.

This past week, aside from shooting a few hundred RAW images of my kids, I’ve also captured a lot of HD video clips with a Flip MinoHD I received from my wife.  It’s basically impossible to playback these clips at full strength … they play fine in smaller preview scale, but fullscreen HD is just too much to ask for a low powered system in these initial netbooks.  While I would not be looking to edit or playback HD video or edit RAW images on a daily basis I actually lost track a bit that my computer was indeed a netbook.  Of course I know it’s a netbook, but since it really is an incredibly versatile system, I don’t really consider it secondary.  This last thought is something I think is pretty impressive … While the intent of the netbook as it was sold was as a low cost, reasonably powered computer you can actually do a ton of stuff with it – and not really consider the limits unless you start to venture into richer media.

For me, the netbook is still a very strong category of computers and I look forward to upgrading to a more capable system at some point this year when things evolve.  For a typical user these current and even the soon to be released computers will serve a very wide segment and after a few months of use, it’s not hard to see why they are selling well.  In these financially unknown times getting a lot of return on a small investment is a great deal.

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Psion is really working hard to keep netbook for themselves

02/07/2009 - Netbook For Mobile Internet

jkOnTheRun reports on how Google is now honoring Psion’s trademark of Netbook effectively killing the search term for anyone else.  If this pushes further we are likely to see devices currently called netbooks go through a rebranding.

What’s strange about this is that Psion has effectively been a dead company for years and has no active product in the market – even if they did in fact invent one called a netbook though it was discontinued in 2003 – long before the notion of low cost computers we now know as netbooks came around.

Why now?  What are they cooking here?  There’s no known effort underway that would require Psion to protect the term so their device alone could be marketed that way … and it’s not looking lie a legal battle is mounting to do anything other than stop people from saying netbook.

Sites like netbooknews apparently get 50% of their earned ad revenue from the term netbook and this change is going to sting initially for sure.  I’ve been debating removing the sticker on my NC10 which reads Netbook for Mobile Internet but now I might just have to keep it there out of spite.

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The Samsung NC10 Hackintosh

About This Mac

I’m happily writing this on my Samsung NC10 in MarsEdit in version 10.5.6 of OSX. Courtesy of an awesome forum and guide, I was able to install OSX on a partition and now have this little trooper of a laptop triple booting across WIndows 7, XP and OSX. I’ve been going back and forth between Windows 7 and OSX and think I’ll get rid of XP at some point down the line when Windows 7 is ready for release.

At first I tried my own way with the OSX project, but discovered after failing (twice) that perhaps I should read the guide through and once I did it was actually very straight forward and relatively simple to do it. The experience of failure certainly helped as I know a lot more about the process, but in general if you are comfortable partitioning a disk and installing an operating system it’s really not so bad.

If you are considering this project, there are a few kinks that I still need to sort out and these are known issues currently being worked on by the community:

  • My screen brightness tends to be lower than I’d like when booting over battery power.
  • Sound through the headphone jack does not work.
  • Ethernet is not supported as the Marvel controller has no OSX driver.
  • In order to get wireless running you need to swap the wireless card, which I’ve done.
  • The trackpad is a bit less controlled than I’d like though I’ve been using a mouse with the system quite a bit anyway.

The amazing upside here is that OSX easily sees the Windows 7 partition and vice a versa. I’m able to use dial up networking for remote connections. Software updates appear to work just fine as illustrated in the following:

NC10 Hackintosh Software Update

Updating OSX Software

01/14/2009 - NC10 running Software Update

As I had previous discussed the wireless slot on the NC10 is pretty small given the size of the system and you need to have the right card to swap in. From everything I’ve read, the Dell series of wireless cards seem to be the most compatible across Windows and Mac OS. I chose the Dell 1490 which offers 802.11 a/b/g. While I’ve got an N capable router I have too many things that run on G and it did not seem worthwhile at this stage to pay more than twice as much just to say I had it.

Back inside we go … I removed the 15 screws on the underside and gently pried the cover apart. Here’s a quick shot of the wireless slot empty:

Samsung NC10 Wireless Card Slot

As you can see the stock card and the Dell are exactly the same side … unlike my attempt to get the Airport Extreme card in there.

01/14/2009 - Samsung NC10 Wireless Options

Once the card was installed I noticed as expected that Airport was not enabled yet. This is because the network port is tied to the previous hardware. Adding the new port is simple. Open the Network Control Panel and select the + in the lower right as seen here:

Adding a new network interface

You can name it anything you like and also remove the prior one which is what I did so the new one could actually be called Airport. As soon as I added this new interface it found my home network and I added a preferred network for my office and that connected instantly today when I got to work.

After that it’s up to you what you want to do … I’ve installed my core apps and synced in my personal data. While the NC10 is not of the same caliber hardware as a Macbook, the cost and bang for the buck here is substantial. The NC10 is showing around 6 hours of battery life which is far better than any MacBookPro performance I’ve seen yet actually a bit less than my experience in XP. I think Windows 7 and OSX are running a pretty close race in the battery life department here and to be honest while more is better with regard to battery life, I’m very pleased with 6 hours.

Gotta love the Mac!

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OSX DUN on the Samsung NC10 Netbook

It’s been a while since I’ve had the pleasure of traveling with a Mac laptop and even though my current setup is a tad unique, the same rules apply. The Samsung NC10 netbook is a killer travel machine … light weight, strong battery life, great keyboard etc. It also happens to run OSX like a champ and I’m really very happy with my sub 3lb mac hackintosh. A few kinks to work out still (brightness controls and sound through the headphone jack) but generally speaking this a great way to go – though far from a simple out of the box experience.

With a PC running windows it’s easy to get a bluetooth to phone data connection using either PC Suite or Ovi Suite and your choice of Nokia handsets. On the mac side, you need some modem scripts and and a little patience. I hope this brief guide helps. I’ve written about DUN connections previously but thought this would be a good time for a new post as the conditions have changed. OSX 10.5 has moved things around in the network panel though it’s not too hard to track down what to do. For this example I’m using a Nokia N85 and ATT.

The first step is to define a PPP connection and you do that right on the first panel once you’ve selected Bluetooth. I’ve set the following options:

Telephone Number: WAP.CINGULAR
Account Name: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
Password: CINGULAR1

Network Control Panel - DUN

Ross Barkman’s excellent modem scripts are still THE way to go for anyone looking to use a phone as a modem on their mac. I downloaded the HSDPA scripts and dragged them over to /LIbrary/Modem Scripts. Once there they become available within the Network Control Panel though you need to select other as your brand of phone. I chose the first script which is the Nokia HSDPA CID1 version. Enable error correction and compression in modem is active and I’m ignoring dial tone. I turned sound off too though because you are not actually dialing I don’t think that actually matters.

Network Control Panel Advanced - Modem

Last step is to check the far right tab under advanced for PPP. I did not change anything in mine, though you can certainly check the box for Connect automatically as needed if you find you’ll be doing this for an extended time. That will make sure there’s an open network connection anytime something makes a request so be sure you are comfortable with your data plan.

Network Control Panel Advanced - PPP

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Battery life is the key to mobility

There are of course many factors when it comes to mobility, but battery life tends to be the Achilles heel for most devices.  Today for the second time I left the NC10 unplugged inadvertently at my desk.  I did not use it that much directly (more in ambient third screen mode) and only discovered it was unplugged at the end of the day when I went under my desk to pull the cord.  Yesterday I actually did the same thing, but realized when the system refused to update the BIOS without a DC connection. 

Now on the train home I see I’ve got about 35% or about 1:16 left to run at this current brightness (3 of 8) and activity (Firefox, Tweetdeck, Windows Live Writer and iTunes) level.   I only woke the system from sleep once after an extended away period in a meeting which is killer considering any other laptop I’ve used would absolutely have been dead by lunch. 

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Ovi Suite – Syncing Smoothly in Windows 7

One issue I’ve had running Windows 7 was Nokia’s PC Suite refuses to install due to some privilege issues.  I’ve tried a few tricks and it seems it’s just going to fail.  The good news is that Ovi Suite installs just fine (except for Nokia Music  which I will have to try separately in compatibility mode) and brings a sleek UI and connections to the Ovi.com portal.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that my E71 was also able to connect even though it is not listed as a supported device.  The E71 will actually only sync PIM data for the moment though … no media sync through Ovi Suite until it’s eventually supported (right Nokia??).

The real benefit though is that I now have a simple way to connect to my phone for a data connection which is something I do daily during my commute.  I know there are other options but prefer DUN over Joikuspot or Walking Hotspot for a 2 device connection as the connection seems to just work better.

As you can see in the image above, my N79 is syncing while I’m typing this.  I’ll give the rest of the suite a whirl over the next few days, but having this working is a big bonus running Windows 7!

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Some system updates arrive for the Samsung NC10

I suppose you might have noticed that the Samsung NC10 is something of a new obsession in my writing here … Par for the course with a new device, I’m afraid.

Today the Samsung Software update popped up when I got to the office and informed me that there were some updates.  Three in fact … though the first notice was for the notifier itself.  Once it updated, there was a notice for both the system bios as as well as the easy network manager. 

The process was smooth taking about 10 minutes which included two reboots – one after the initial updater and then another after the bios update which took most of the time.  I can’t say I am noticing anything new here … Windows 7 still generally resumes from sleep without sound, volume and display controls which is quite frustrating to say the least.  At least the reboot process is fast – much faster than my work machine so it’s all good.

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Black NC10 available now

black NC10

A very tempting transition option while still within my return period with Amazon … The Samsung NC10 in Black is finally available. I probably would have ordered the black one if it had been ready a few weeks ago. Debating now though as I am quite committed with software and my personal configuration. Thanks Joseph!

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Windows 7 beta on the Samsung NC10

I should probably preface this post by saying I’m far from a windows expert.  I am quite comfortable within XP but don’t really have much experience in Vista outside of the few occasions I’ve launched it in VMware to flash a phone.  I use XP daily for work, but basically just tolerate how it all works.  I definitely prefer OSX, though the more I’ve used Windows on a daily basis the less I find I care as there are ways to basically to everything I need on each system.

The Windows 7 beta was leaked at the same time I ordered the Samsung NC10 netbook so I decided to go for it.  I had a few days of experience in VMware before the NC10 arrived and overall I find that it’s quite peppy and looks really slick.  It definitely reveals XP’s age visually and offers some general niceties.  I was pleased to see that performance in both virtualized as well as the netbook environment was excellent.  The standard install / startup of the NC10 includes some Samsung specific applications for controlling the keyboard, trackpad, battery etc and none were obviously included in the Windows 7 install though they all installed without too much hassle in Windows 7.  I did have to use compatibility mode to install things, and thus far the only conflict here seems to be the synaptics trackpad software.  Through some trial and error I was able to find that the conflicts are unfortunately with most of the cool stuff you get with the synaptics driver.  By disabling the virtual scrolling and gestures, I was able to stop the trackpad from freezing.  While this essentially reduces the trackpad to a basic device again, I at least can continue using the PalmCheck feature which prevents the trackpad from activating while typing.  With the smaller keyboard this feature is actually critical for me.

Otherwise I’m running Firefox, iTunes, Tweetdeck, Chrome, Windows Live Writer, Evernote, Launchy, Skype, WinSCP, OpenOffice, Boingo and probably a few things I’m not remembering.  I’ve seen a few circular stalls (the windows 7 beach ball) which I expect to have resolved when I upgrade from 1 to 2GBs of RAM.  Windows 7 installed beautifully and seems to handle pretty much anything I’ve thrown at it.  I’m looking forward to seeing how things evolve over the course of the beta.

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Hacking the Samsung NC10

One of the real reasons I wanted a netbook was to be able to play around a bit with some things I would not normally get to do on a daily machine.  A key goal is to get OSX installed and running so I’ve got a netbook hackintosh system going.  So far I do actually have OSX installed and running along with Windows 7 and XP though the standard hardware inside the Samsung NC10 does not have any network drivers within OSX.  I knew this going in and thought it would only add to the fun of toying around with this system.

Tonight I remembered that I had a spare Airport Extreme in the house and thinking the card inside might work in the NC10 I ran to get it along with some tools …

01/10/2009 - Samsung NC10 dissection

The Airport Extreme open and card removed …

I then took the back case off the NC10 to get to the good stuff …

 01/10/2009 - Samsung NC10 dissection

Unfortunately it was pretty obvious right away that the card was quite a bit larger than the internal space available so I’ll have to try again with a known working option. 

01/10/2009 - Samsung NC10 dissection

This was a fun project while everyone else in the house was sleeping.  Hopefully I’ll be able to report back soon enough after a successful transplant. 

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The ultimate netbook?

I was quite pleased to see Sascha show his NC10 and confirm my own purchase decision.  Seems he agrees that the Samsung NC10 remains the current king and that battery and keyboard are the two features which strongly contribute to a solid mobile experience.  I have to keep reminding myself that I don’t have to be conservative with my use or consider when I’ll next top up with this computer which truly is a first for me.

This video from Scoble is a great capture of a conversation on Netbooks, Vista, XP licensing and the Sony Vaio P – well worth the 10 minutes.

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Ok … so more one Netbook for consideration – The Samsung NC10

Samsung NC10-14GW netbook

So I’ve had some great comments and discussion since yesterday’s post on finding my likely netbook (the MSI Wind) and it seems the Samsung NC10 is clearly worth a serious look as well.

For starters it offers a considerably larger keyboard (93% vs. 80%) and battery life is well over 6 hours … possibly closer to 8 through conservation. Both of these features are well worth a pause over the Wind and believe me, I’ve spent some time researching again today. What I think is really driving me though is the option for a SIM slot. Apparently, the Samsung NC10 has a SIM slot hiding behind the battery (a 6-cell comes standard) though it’s unclear so far if the current model actually has a modem inside. The modem / SIM combo is what initially drew my attention towards the HP Mininote, but it seems the MSI wins on a few counts there – for now anyway. Netbooks are hot and the competitive nature of the various companies is bringing new features and enhancements pretty rapidly.

Back to the Samsung… I need to confirm the SIM slot is functional of I’ll be waiting for the next rev to arrive — or will just wait it our for that updated MSI model. You can get an Acer at Radioshack now for as low as $99 if you are willing to sign up for a 2-year data plan with AT&T though I’m quite certain I can get data for less than $60/mo. The Acer did feel quite solid though – especially compared to the ASUS systems I saw recently at Best Buy.