tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26263350821437662672024-02-19T00:39:29.710-08:00galets.netAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626335082143766267.post-8599897317397224642015-03-15T16:36:00.002-07:002016-01-08T19:36:47.141-08:00Setting up Attic backup under Windows<b>UPDATE (2016-01-08)</b>: <i>Per my research, by far the most cost effective hosting for online backups is offered by <a href="http://www.time4vps.eu/aff.php?aff=392" target="_blank">Time4VPS</a> . If you are looking to set attic to back up offsite, that's the rock bottom price for what seems a very reasonably sized servers.</i><br />
<br />
Out of all online backup tools, my favorite by far is <a href="https://attic-backup.org/">Attic</a>. It has some unique features, which are hard to come by:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Deduplication - every backup stores only fragments which were not already stored. It is extremely sweet for online backups. Not only fragments of non-changed files are not backed up, but also ANY fragments. Which means, files copied, folders renamed - no problem. You can store 100 copies of the same file, and it will only store it once. You can store live image of virtual machine, and it will only be stored once. Sweet.</li>
<li>Built-in SSH compatibility, which means: can backup over SSH to any server which has SSH access. In other words: here's a good use for VPS servers. With some shopping around, $10/month could get you half-terabyte storage.</li>
<li>Pre-Internet encryption: data could be encrypted before it goes out to storage. Thank you NSA for teaching us we need to not trust our own ISP.</li>
<li>Open source - not that anyone does it, but nevertheless - code is inspectable.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Those of us, who have not switched to Linux are of course deprived from this sweetness, so lets get that fixed now. Using following instructions, you can get attic running under windows.</div>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
<h2>
Platform</h2>
Attic will be running from <a href="http://cygwin.com/">cygwin</a>. There are are two modes you can run it in: 32 and 64-bit. It is possible to run attic in either, however I would strongly recommend 64-bit installation where possible.<br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Required Packages</h3>
<div>
You need at least following packages to be installed in order to be able to install attic:</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>python3</li>
<li>python3-setuptools</li>
<li>gcc-g++</li>
<li>curl</li>
<li>openssh</li>
<li>git</li>
<li>openssl-devel</li>
</ul>
<div>
Installing cygwin would take some time, so fire it up and grab coffee.</div>
<h2>
Installation</h2>
We will now install pip tool, compile necessary packages, download attic source code modified for cygwin compatibility from git, and install it<br />
<h3>
Pip and Cython tool</h3>
<div>
Install pip:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">$ </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">easy_install-3.2 pip</span></blockquote>
<div>
Then, you need to install Cython package:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">$ pip install Cython</span></blockquote>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Get, compile and install Attic</h3>
<div>
Original Attic project was modified by <a href="https://github.com/CogPy/attic">CogPy</a> to give it cygwin compatibility. The changes he introduced allowed using getfacl/setfacl tools in order to store ACLs. Unfortunately, this caused the tool to be very slow, because for every file it works on, there is a process spawned. I modified that project, removing that feature, so in its current incarnation, no ACLs are stored. The project code is currently kept in <a href="https://github.com/galets/attic">https://github.com/galets/attic</a> .</div>
<div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">$ cd /tmp</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">$ git clone https://github.com/galets/attic</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">$ cd attic </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">$ git checkout win32</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">$ python3 setup.py install</span></blockquote>
<h3>
</h3>
<h2>
Testing Installation </h2>
</div>
<div>
Run following commands to test the installation:</div>
<div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">$ attic init /tmp/test-repository</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Initializing repository at "/tmp/test-repository"</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Encryption NOT enabled.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Use the "--encryption=passphrase|keyfile" to enable encryption.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">$ attic create /tmp/test-repository::first-backup /var</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Initializing cache...</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">$ attic list /tmp/test-repository/</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">first-backup Sun Mar 15 16:33:18 2015</span></blockquote>
</div>
<div>
That is it. You are ready to do your own off-site and on-site backups using attic on windows</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626335082143766267.post-16706661675926772702014-12-06T15:36:00.003-08:002014-12-06T15:36:59.880-08:00Asymmetric encryption for C++I have quite a few uses for my <a href="https://github.com/galets/AsymmetricCrypt">AsymmetricCrypt</a> project myself, but not a gread deal of adoption from others. I think the big barrier to adoption is that it requires .NET framework, which means it cannot be directly used in embedded devices and such. In order to address that problem, I have started the <a href="https://github.com/galets/oneway-cpp">C++ implementation of the same tool</a>, which is now in C++ and uses OpenSSL. This makes it possible to compile and use the tool in mobile phones, linux security cameras, etc.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626335082143766267.post-62619756839313068702013-11-24T17:11:00.000-08:002013-11-24T17:11:33.430-08:00Secure your online files with asymmetric encryptionOne of the greatest benefits of asymmetric encryption is that it allows you to keep encryption and decryption keys separate from each other. In other words, the key, which was used to encrypt the data <b><i>cannot be used to decrypt it</i></b>.<br />
<br />
Why is that useful? Imagine you are running online backup. Pretty much every online backup facility allow you to generate your own encryption key, but this key is symmetric. Which means, that attacker could take your computer and extract that key. Another scenario: lets imagine one is archiving recordings from a security camera, and does not want government to be able to view those recordings without his consent (yes, this is about NSA). If symmetric key, such as password is used, it is possible to confiscate the device, and all files will be as good an unencrypted.<br />
<br />
However, when files are encrypted using asymmetric encryption, this problem is mitigated by supplying public key to device and keeping private key safe. Public key will be used to encrypt data, but it will not be possible to decrypt data with it. This way government, malware, or hackers could pwn your computer, but they will not have the private data.<br />
<br />
I recently was struggling to find a tool, which allows me to do just that. Part of the problem is that with widely popular <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSA_(algorithm)">RSA</a> algorithm, only a very small amount of data could be encrypted. Also, encrypting data with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSA_(algorithm)">RSA</a> is very slow. It is therefore necessary to chain RSA to a symmetric algorithm, such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Encryption_Standard">AES</a> to get the best of both worlds. This is how your browser protects the session.<br />
<br />
As I mentioned before, I couldn't find the tool to perform such task online. I therefore decided to write one myself. It is a console application, code of which could be found here: <a href="https://github.com/galets/AsymmetricCrypt">https://github.com/galets/AsymmetricCrypt</a> . It is a console application, and it has four modes of operation:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Generate key</li>
<li>Extract public key which you could then use on untrusted machines</li>
<li>Encrypt using public or private key. Obviously, it makes sense to use public key at this point. The tool will nicely pack all necessary data into a single file</li>
<li>Decrypt. Naturally, this will only work if you have private key.</li>
</ol>
<div>
If you find this tool useful, I would be curious to know how you use it. Please post your use case here. I could also use some support, if you got some bitcoins you wish to tip me with, I will gladly accept at 175iyCxfHoD76GaL2Ms3MN8Qhrwe2R6U2r.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626335082143766267.post-16360571177745956582013-09-10T13:58:00.003-07:002013-09-13T13:54:19.638-07:00I am REALLY sick of junk mailI feel for USPS for losing money, I really do. Mainly, because it's my money that they are losing. But their methods for getting them back are mildly speaking unacceptable.<br />
<br />
Every week I'm getting pile of crap, which I have to dispose, which USPS is being paid for. Not just that, but the others are on the wagon. "To current resident". "To our friends". Who the hell is your friends? I'm anything but a friend to annoying spammer.<br />
<br />
The biggest problem here, aside from annoyance is that someone makes $$$ by wasting other people's time. That really is a form of theft. Even though it's not illegal, they do waste time of many-many people, and none of them is compensated a dime. But someone does pocket a check for that activity, otherwise it would not be going on.<br />
<br />
To add insult to injury they started bulk-mailing me newspaper-print magazines, which cannot even be conveniently carried to a trash box, because they shed the leaflets, like it's fall here. Or, maybe it is fall, I don't give a damn, they are not birches anyway.<br />
<br />
So, I print a sticker and put it into a mailbox, which asks postman (politely) to stop dropping junk into my mailbox. The next day - another magazine.<br />
<br />
Here's what I'm going to do next: I printed a bunch of labels, which I'm going to carry with me in my car at all times now. Every piece of junk will get one and go straight back to the outgoing mailbox:<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin: 0.04in 0.22in 0.04in 0.14in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>UNWANTED: RETURN TO
SENDER</b></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin: 0.04in 0.15in 0.04in 0.14in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><b>Sender: </b>This
household charges for disposal of the unsolicited </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin: 0.04in 0.15in 0.04in 0.14in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">mail. Stop mailing
us junk. By continuing to send unsolicited </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin: 0.04in 0.15in 0.04in 0.14in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">mails you agree to be
billed up to $50 per page.</span></div>
<br />
Do I expect anyone to pay $50/page? No. I expect postman to get annoyed and stop delivering junk to me. But maybe some of the "advertisers" get the message as well.<br />
<br />
If you feel the same way as I do, go ahead, <a href="https://www.googledrive.com/host/0B7WeydlsWR3hRUhqSGhTek9EVk0/do-not-send-junk.pdf">download the PDF</a>, or <a href="https://www.googledrive.com/host/0B7WeydlsWR3hRUhqSGhTek9EVk0/do-not-send-junk.odt">the ODT</a>, print the stickers and go ahead send the message to your local spammers. They are for <a href="http://www.walmart.com/ip/Avery-Eco-Address-Label-White-140ct/17165790">Avery 48862</a> templates, the cheapest one I could get in walmart.<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin: 0.04in 0.15in 0.04in 0.14in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626335082143766267.post-68892180270719729802013-02-02T12:36:00.001-08:002013-02-02T12:36:11.292-08:00Fix HDMI Overscan without CatalystIf you hook up your screen using HDMI cable, you will often get annoying borders and distorted graphics due to so-called "overscan". This technology is used with screens that were produced somewhere around stone age and use CRT technology. CRT tube will cut off sides from the picture, effectively removing all or some of taskbar and start menu. Hence, to compensate for that, they artificially squeeze picture to make sure all of it fits. Usually, overscan will eat up to 15% of the screen.<br />
<br />
Screens produced after stone age usually have LCD panels with exactly as many pixels as they can display, so the overscan technology is no longer needed. But for compatibility, manufacturers still support it and even make it default.<br />
<br />
Micrtosoft supplies drivers for my ATI graphics card. I really do not want any other software. Only thing I must have which they don't let me configure is disable annoying overscan. I found <a href="http://www.avsforum.com/t/1251639/how-i-fixed-overscan-underscan-issues-on-an-ati-card-without-catalyst-control-center">this article</a>, which didn't help me, but gave me an idea what to do:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Go to regedit, navigate to <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Video</span>.</li>
<li>Locate a GUID with 0000, 0001, 0002 entries that has a bunch of values underneath</li>
<li>Set following values:<br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">TVEnableOverscan: DWORD = 0<br />DigitalHDTVDefaultUnderscan: DWORD = 0</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWxyPfl78qhwEZ3U1kG5kpZb_pOTlQOL9CjHfLO3dFlbWSsxDq4WbirSyqgWDY1TeokShkwiABIeClHbSgC0dL9c0uaKnAB0eXvVnJ1rvqwwjoVO0Zx0rEgVbRkQ29-YMUnk_BbI-jcEk/s1600/screenshot_00010.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWxyPfl78qhwEZ3U1kG5kpZb_pOTlQOL9CjHfLO3dFlbWSsxDq4WbirSyqgWDY1TeokShkwiABIeClHbSgC0dL9c0uaKnAB0eXvVnJ1rvqwwjoVO0Zx0rEgVbRkQ29-YMUnk_BbI-jcEk/s400/screenshot_00010.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot of my regedit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I didn't have <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">DigitalHDTVDefaultUnderscan </span>in that registry key, so I had to create it. Once I crated it and rebooted, screen which was connected to HDMI started working properly.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626335082143766267.post-16792388571353151692013-01-15T19:36:00.000-08:002013-01-15T20:11:10.102-08:00Fix Proximity Sensor on Samsung S IIII recently swapped a screen on my S3 using heat-and-unglue method, and I have been mostly satisfied with results, except for one thing: when I call someone, screen was going dark and never turning back on, so not only I could not press any buttons on the phone, but there was not even a way to hang up.<br />
<br />
Needless to say, I was unhappy.<br />
<br />
I figured out what happens using <a href="http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1962873">xda-developers</a>. Apparently, the phones have so-called "proximity sensor", which they use to determine if you are holding the phone next to your ear. When you cook it during lens swap, or when the screen is generally dirty, you get it to misfire.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_SmhaCvSrk0Xy6TMpva6tZYaJwpostPgGEwd-ioY8vVoEKTY7f6h1sezNSbhuoeoDU2L4BRmNwgH8IYNpiD5dBjvQYNor95JinCANOsrHGvAGp8Tk8NeB5hBUCFnuF96GmJTpj8BpO8Y/s1600/screenshot_00002.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_SmhaCvSrk0Xy6TMpva6tZYaJwpostPgGEwd-ioY8vVoEKTY7f6h1sezNSbhuoeoDU2L4BRmNwgH8IYNpiD5dBjvQYNor95JinCANOsrHGvAGp8Tk8NeB5hBUCFnuF96GmJTpj8BpO8Y/s400/screenshot_00002.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proximity Sensor</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
You can test what proximity sensor thinks about the distance by enabling hidden menu (enter number *#22745927 in dialer), then *#0*#, then click on "Sensors". Look the number in "Proximity Sensor" section, and see how it changes when you bring your hand close to the sensor. When ADC is less than 14, proximity is zero, after that it is one.<br />
<br />
My sensor was always showing ADC of 16 or more. That is the problem, which I could not fix even by replacing sensor. I was able to get ADC down to 12, but this barely worked, because a hand even near a phone, while in the call caused screen to turn off, which is annoying to say least. I compared it with my wife's SIII, and it was 1 to 2, depending on lighting, so the problem was clearly in the sensor. But I had a new one!!!<br />
<br />
After several days of looking for solution, I got an idea. There are two openings. It is probably because light is emitted from one opening, and (when your ear is close to the phone) gets reflected into a second one. What could go wrong? Screen could be slightly dislocated, and then the light will hit the dark spot between openings and get reflected into receiver, even when no ear is close to the sensor. How could this be resolved? Apparently very easily: put some black rubber paste or dough in between emitter and receiver, and the light will be blocked.<br />
<br />
This solution worked for me so amazingly well, that I decided to publish some pictures, demonstrating the process.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqy05OzdCpGg00ybWGDJQulchAoz5Locc7_vC6g1dFYi-AEpg8ViSk34lrcqc2qDU9BXV7Oa9Y0_ceaQ86bSVTN_pz1Aa7weKgGaepVzi3ZheK1OCOPaIzhx77iDYMj9ASschMxPc7-KY/s1600/screenshot_00004.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqy05OzdCpGg00ybWGDJQulchAoz5Locc7_vC6g1dFYi-AEpg8ViSk34lrcqc2qDU9BXV7Oa9Y0_ceaQ86bSVTN_pz1Aa7weKgGaepVzi3ZheK1OCOPaIzhx77iDYMj9ASschMxPc7-KY/s400/screenshot_00004.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unscrew the last one and carefully pry out the sensor</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaODatRDKcZ-gwa_Mm0s-beqtZb_rGSc7tiq7lCGMebatSj7yLdSEgX4UT0QParLRl7D8dHADjASLhm5mcExPtESyqRcOCXGY7vWQhmh8Q0521vd8FU7nLYRcpJVXUfGb4j9X36zuYSIg/s1600/screenshot_00005.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaODatRDKcZ-gwa_Mm0s-beqtZb_rGSc7tiq7lCGMebatSj7yLdSEgX4UT0QParLRl7D8dHADjASLhm5mcExPtESyqRcOCXGY7vWQhmh8Q0521vd8FU7nLYRcpJVXUfGb4j9X36zuYSIg/s400/screenshot_00005.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Put some BLACK paste or dough. NOT TOO MUCH!!! Make sure you don't smear any on the windows</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Your mileage may vary, but after I reassembled the phone, ADC stays around 2 at all times. It is amazing. I was expecting a small effect, but the problem was gone <b>completely</b>.<br />
<br />
PS: Oh, and for what it's worth, here's the compound I used to separate light from receiver. As I said, you can be good with probably just about anything, this just happened to lay around.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifkJEkM8e59JckfCEyqVsd35JgOwJYlqVG7oAvjADDtm1lKWIqy3Sowwnbyo2rQbsKtexAryygtiedBXiv3_vVrcXMeAdMfX3vZjHjwdlDWp4JHTEHtTCdsS_zstVWmIQGTNyYbnogOXM/s1600/screenshot_00006.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifkJEkM8e59JckfCEyqVsd35JgOwJYlqVG7oAvjADDtm1lKWIqy3Sowwnbyo2rQbsKtexAryygtiedBXiv3_vVrcXMeAdMfX3vZjHjwdlDWp4JHTEHtTCdsS_zstVWmIQGTNyYbnogOXM/s400/screenshot_00006.png" width="222" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626335082143766267.post-56826929252539621032012-11-03T10:07:00.001-07:002012-11-04T21:23:51.613-08:00Why You Should Stay Away From SimpleMobile<h2>
Introduction</h2>
<br />
I have switched to <a href="http://www.mysimplemobile.com/">SimpleMobile</a>, and wanted to share some thoughts, why I would have never done it, if I knew what I know now. I hope that this post will display to the community, what a bunch of stupid a-holes this SimpleMobile folks are, and hopefully prevent a few customers from making uninformed decision, that they would later on regret.<br />
<br />
First, how I got sold on it. I used to be on <a href="http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Plans/Talk%20n%20Text%201200.aspx">PagePlus Talk n Text 1200</a> plan, which I consider is a great value for $30/month. The only problem I had with it was too little data. I often use my phone for all kinds of stuff, and I found it hard to stay within allocated 100 MB. One time I was attending an event, and there was no wifi. The fact that I had to save data was unsettling, and I decided it is time to shop for something else.<br />
<br />
SimpleMobile with its $40 unlimited everything plan came in beautifully. Not only I could be doing all I was doing previously, but also listen to Pandora and even YouTube.<br />
<br />
A month later I figured I should probably go even up a tier and for $10 more get a 4G plan.<br />
<br />
<h2>
What happened next</h2>
One day, at the end of billing month I started noticing that YouTube is lagging. At first, I discounted it to bad reception and/or being in a crowded space, where a lot of other handsets are competing for the bandwidth, but then I decided to measure the speed. To my great surprise, I saw download speeds matching exactly the times I have been on 3G:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1-YUf-s2N9PzurUdNM6Y9fREqJlWWcZ3XrZKHYRGtom8oAaDvftpKXVWQtwOZvh59edPQtxIjBLe9YSxq8mNF3tdV-GeS26LPPzFx93NruifU0dQ0huecjDqLsnfXnJsgys7cZii9to/s1600/Screenshot_2012-10-28-16-40-37-small.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1-YUf-s2N9PzurUdNM6Y9fREqJlWWcZ3XrZKHYRGtom8oAaDvftpKXVWQtwOZvh59edPQtxIjBLe9YSxq8mNF3tdV-GeS26LPPzFx93NruifU0dQ0huecjDqLsnfXnJsgys7cZii9to/s1600/Screenshot_2012-10-28-16-40-37-small.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Notice the graph in the lower left corner, it is <i>flat</i>. That's a pretty strong indication that bandwidth is throttled. In the natural situation you will never get such consistent bandwidth. Needless to say, I was unhappy. I called customer service and complained that my speed is throttled. A guy replied that no, it isn't, I am getting all I'm paying for, and 4G speeds are <b>only available if I use blackberry</b> anyway. He said, if you use phone as a wifi hotspot and "use Internet properly", they will not throttle. When I asked him to define what "properly" means, he couldn't tell, but indicated there is no warnings and such on my account, so I should be good.<br />
<br />
I couldn't argue with such convincing arguments and decided to try measuring the speed later, and got the same 240 kbps speeds with same flat bandwidth graph, so I decided to write an email to support, hoping it would reach somebody who actually knows what he's talking about. Here's what I wrote:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hi,</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">My phone number is ***-***-****. I have switched to 4G plan 2 months </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">ago, and was able to experience 4G speeds on my phone, which is: samsung </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">galaxy S 4g.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I have a history of speed measurements in front of me and here are </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">download speeds:</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">9/04/12: 2681 kbps</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">9/13/12: 1982 kbps</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">9/13/12: 1597 kbps</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">9/23/12: 2438 kbps</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">10/19/12: 3789 kbps</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">lately, I started getting EXACTLY 230-240 kbps, on every measurement. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This is exactly the speed, that I was getting on 3G plan, before I </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">switched to 4G.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Please, see the screenshot attached. Please see the graph for network </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">speed. The top of it is completely flat. That tells me that the speed </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">limit is not caused by a natural radio interference, which is always </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">variable, but that it is rather limited artificially by you. Also, I do </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">recognize the flat top pattern, which is consistent with the one I saw </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">when I was on 3G plan.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I have contacted technical support. The support person made no sense to </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">me. He stated that 4G speeds could only be achieved on blackberry. This </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">is plain false. I could demonstrate you that I have been getting 4G </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">speeds previously, and then they were turned off. Tech support person </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">assured me that you have no policy of limiting speed to 3G after certain </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">data transfer threshold was reached, which was a basis for my decision </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">to switch to 4G plan. If you indeed have that policy behind the scenes, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">then it is fraudulent for you to advertise otherwise.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I am requesting thorough investigation, based on what my speed was </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">limited, and I also request that you train support personnel to resolve </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">such issues in meaningful manner, instead of providing obviously false </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">information to customers, like we are stupid. If there are thresholds </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">after which you are switching speeds to 3G, I request that you make that </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">information public</span></blockquote>
I was surprised to get a call-back from a tech support a couple of hours later. He asked me what exactly is my phone, and what frequencies it supports. I googled "Samsung Galaxy 4G" for him and read all I could find. He was not happy with what I told him and said, that in order to get 4G speeds the phone must support "4G on 1700MHz", and that he is not convinced that my phone does support it. The fact that it is a T-Mobile 4G phone did not convince him either. So I played my joker. I said: "I have been able to get higher throughput on that phone on multiple occasions in the past, does that mean anything to you?". His answer was: "At first it was able to get 4G speeds <b>because handsdet didn't KNOW it does not support 4G</b>. But then SIM card recognized that phone is not 4G capable and slowed down to 3G speeds. We are having exactly same issues with iPhones". I felt like I am talking to deranged person, so I asked him to leave me a notice in email, so that I could do more research on it. Here's his note:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Thank you for your interest Simple Mobile. We are responding to your </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">recent inquiry.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We were able to speak with you on October 28, 2012 (9:25 PM EST) at </span>***-***-****<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">. You were informed that the reason that your data speed </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">runs only with 3G is because your phone is not a supported handset for </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">4G speeds.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We understand that you were able to use the 4G speed these past few </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">months. You were informed that this case is similar with our iPhone </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">users. During activation, the network does not know the phone model the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">SIM card is inserted into. The network sends data throughput through </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">multiple frequencies in order to determine the frequency the handset is </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">running into. Once the network realizes that the handset does not work </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">with 1700 MHz bands, it sends the appropriate data speed which is 2G.</span></blockquote>
It made no sense to me, but I <a href="http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1961309">asked for an advice anyway</a>. In conjunction with <a href="http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1773841-How-Much-Data-on-the-50-Plan">this thread</a>, it all started to make sense now. The plans were never unlimited. According to the data I got from Internet, both minutes and data are capped, and SimpleMobile would start throttling you once you reach data cap at 2 GB. What is even more preposterous, is that they will turn data off completely when you reach 2.5 GB. I could not find a reliable information on what the minute cap is. Looking at my usage, it is pretty plausible that the issues I started seeing happened right after I exceeded a 2000 threshold:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44vDpKswi9SJ_QYjN44m81HCOiMI_1KPmONiRYjFhXXnYJATbQIhKARkt3_cwxHdM99kNDYGuN3jAvyRLNlvHwAS8FvugKRsqBY7IDv5gx7QW6by5vPXSR8Ekj-pPyVoW9AVTOehp5Y4/s1600/screenshot_00010.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44vDpKswi9SJ_QYjN44m81HCOiMI_1KPmONiRYjFhXXnYJATbQIhKARkt3_cwxHdM99kNDYGuN3jAvyRLNlvHwAS8FvugKRsqBY7IDv5gx7QW6by5vPXSR8Ekj-pPyVoW9AVTOehp5Y4/s1600/screenshot_00010.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<h2>
A few days later...</h2>
New billing cycle, and sure as hell, the 4G speeds came back:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifaFVvne4dJQttfxflWM-sIJ4aM87MajF9vwwcGXJUAIvbJyRj6OcvntkMu5dt73jshGgGhaspdQMhyULyZnJXe153vNCmdKEVbSgUD2OTY7UxV3URzBwdLg-R_M_Z3Q7GMlL87jbkpvM/s1600/screenshot_00015.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifaFVvne4dJQttfxflWM-sIJ4aM87MajF9vwwcGXJUAIvbJyRj6OcvntkMu5dt73jshGgGhaspdQMhyULyZnJXe153vNCmdKEVbSgUD2OTY7UxV3URzBwdLg-R_M_Z3Q7GMlL87jbkpvM/s320/screenshot_00015.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I contacted support one more time, pointing out, that they lied to me, two times. After a few emails back and forth, they explained me, that apparently I have been told about the caps all along, because I accepted <a href="http://www.mysimplemobile.com/Simple-Mobile-Terms-Conditions.aspx">Terms and Conditions</a>, which says:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It states in the Terms and Conditions, Section 25, Paragraph 2, “To </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">provide a good experience for the majority of our customers and minimize </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">capacity issues and degradation in network performance; we may take </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">measures including temporarily reducing data throughput for a subset of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">customers who use a disproportionate amount of bandwidth.”</span></blockquote>
No admission on what the limits are. So, not only there is a cap, but they will not even tell you, how much is too much. So, you could be capped at any time, as they please. Very convenient for SimpleMobile, not so much for their customers.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Sue their ass?</h2>
That's the first thing that comes into my head. And I am not somebody who believes in judicial system at all. I'm just a pissed off person. Look at their web site front page:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrh5BKg9CVBMBGPdJdbvXnFdML1_lSPVWcftdqDkPT8z0Ka2EYHetxJZ7CK4cptR2EhIpuOAcMHspde_JJ5ihQyUaGJ4ZxpeMbd1MnNnZomtagjXe4GUmxf1XmWyM-PgcL5D8vQXB7w8/s1600/screenshot_00011.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrh5BKg9CVBMBGPdJdbvXnFdML1_lSPVWcftdqDkPT8z0Ka2EYHetxJZ7CK4cptR2EhIpuOAcMHspde_JJ5ihQyUaGJ4ZxpeMbd1MnNnZomtagjXe4GUmxf1XmWyM-PgcL5D8vQXB7w8/s320/screenshot_00011.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUAXo131V40JNQ5GtHLNirBWm_zMp_2y-0az7UnWdsu4zosAW4sxxxBbMlxojIxfSwtrsNp3J-t5xeB0rxYYbAD8N1C27ZdURNbuVHXCvZj1D1FLfSZAoaC_-vuk2zgmcPn5HrKs-2xpI/s1600/screenshot_00012.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="92" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUAXo131V40JNQ5GtHLNirBWm_zMp_2y-0az7UnWdsu4zosAW4sxxxBbMlxojIxfSwtrsNp3J-t5xeB0rxYYbAD8N1C27ZdURNbuVHXCvZj1D1FLfSZAoaC_-vuk2zgmcPn5HrKs-2xpI/s320/screenshot_00012.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiljMUXADiwUage1ubBodJQieejEaX7ch4XZJwkYF2h64Y1Tm-6YcLrhynXl2g_3eEUvBKwJzwm2XNNgKxy552kw_ydq1XxMYFN-4BhPtHSGdX7yyb15kFM8-eI_f9rePV84m0n60CX6z0/s1600/screenshot_00013.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiljMUXADiwUage1ubBodJQieejEaX7ch4XZJwkYF2h64Y1Tm-6YcLrhynXl2g_3eEUvBKwJzwm2XNNgKxy552kw_ydq1XxMYFN-4BhPtHSGdX7yyb15kFM8-eI_f9rePV84m0n60CX6z0/s1600/screenshot_00013.png" /></a></div>
<br />
No limits. I went through the whole web site and found not even a slight mentioning that limits apply. And it's not even about the limits. Indication is that they would actually <b>disconnect data completely</b> and you could get a surprise of being stuck without data when you need it most<br />
<br />
And it's not all. Two calls with tech support. Both times I was given the most outrageous lies, that don't even make sense. I was treated like an idiot, that's what is most insulting in the whole story.<br />
<br />
So, I look at the<a href="http://www.mysimplemobile.com/Simple-Mobile-Terms-Conditions.aspx"> terms and conditions</a> of service, and figure out that they came well prepared for pissed off customers. Here's what I am reading:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>ANY AND ALL CLAIMS OR DISPUTES ... WILL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING ARBITRATION, RATHER THAN IN COURT</li>
<li>WE MAY LIMIT, SUSPEND OR TERMINATE YOUR SERVICE OR AGREEMENT WITHOUT NOTICE FOR ANY REASON, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION</li>
<li>WE EACH AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEEDINGS, WHETHER IN ARBITRATION OR COURT, WILL BE CONDUCTED ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT IN A CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR AS A MEMBER IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION</li>
<li>If a claim proceeds in court rather than through arbitration, WE EACH WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL. </li>
</ul>
<br />
That pretty much precludes any customer of their to sue them for damages, as well as doing what is absolutely appropriate in this situation: class action lawsuit. Again, I repeat myself: as a damaged party, I do not expect to get a material satisfaction from this, courts can not provide this. I would be, however, satisfied if SimpleMobile comes clean on their caps, stops making claims that the service they provide is "unlimited talk, text and 4g high speed web", and prohibits their support personnel from<b> making outrageous false statements</b>. The latter irritates the heck out of me.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Summary</h2>
So if you are not convinced that SimpleMobile should be avoided, consider this: 2 GB data cap is not a lot of data. $40 or $50 a month for 2 GB is not such a good deal, especially when insulting your intelligence is added as a free bonus<br />
<br />
There may also be a cap on the minutes and text, we do not know how high, but the problem here that it will be a surprise disconnect, <b>they don't tell you how much is too much</b>. If you got the phone plan for your teenager kid, hoping that he would be able to always call you, no matter how many minutes does (s)he spend, (s)he might not.<br />
<br />
As an alternative, you might want to look at the following plans:<br />
<br />
* T-Mobile <a href="http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans">Unlimited Web & Text with 100 Minutes Talk</a>. First 5GB at up to 4G speeds.<br />
* PagePlus Cellular <a href="http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Plans/55%20Plan.aspx">The 55</a> plan. 2 GB of data.<br />
* VirginMobile offers<a href="http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/beyond-talk-plans/overview/"> Beyond Talk</a> plans for $35 and $45.<br />
* <a href="https://ting.com/">Ting</a> offers <a href="https://ting.com/plans">plan with variable spending</a>, where you only pay for what you use.<br />
* <a href="http://republicwireless.com/">Republic Wireless</a> offers $20/month unlimited everything plan, however phone selection is limited and you must use wifi when you are at home, which sounds like as fair deal.<br />
<br />
I do not personally endorse any above-mentioned plans, and always <b>do your research</b> before ordering. If you skip on research, you might get a case of buyers remorse.<br />
<br />
Like I did.<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626335082143766267.post-31034797584958655382012-07-28T17:48:00.004-07:002012-07-28T17:48:57.995-07:00Know Where To Sell Thy Bitcoin<span style="background-color: white;">Those of you, who are looking to trade reasonably sized amount of bitcoins, most probably are familiar with this issue: the market ticker does not provide enough information to make decision what price should you be calling. For example, look at this market graph:</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5helczijmOhe7GvlM67k_0oNSpaNjG9UOBF0FSAWwXJ9KJHNWd7hnCVMciIzDw-xOlYsCJrfZYeYaJJkM5Kk4IPM_afEz-uzQTgI-zjPPY1y3e9zGSdYrpJPun1Z1QR36CPmOy77ODs/s1600/screenshot_00011.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5helczijmOhe7GvlM67k_0oNSpaNjG9UOBF0FSAWwXJ9KJHNWd7hnCVMciIzDw-xOlYsCJrfZYeYaJJkM5Kk4IPM_afEz-uzQTgI-zjPPY1y3e9zGSdYrpJPun1Z1QR36CPmOy77ODs/s400/screenshot_00011.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Market Depth Snapshot @<a href="https://www.bitfloor.com/">BitFloor</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The ticker shows bid at $8.62, but what if you need to sell 50BTC? You can't at this price. The bid size is only 2 bitcoins, so you will need to keep eating bids at lower price before you could actually sell. You will end up getting price down to $8.50 before you complete the trade.<br />
<br />
This makes it important to know the market depth. Unfortunately, not all markets have depth data easily accessible. Many would only provide the raw order book data. In order to address this issue, I wrote a <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.galets.btcmarketinfo">Bitcoin Market Info</a> tool. It's not one of those complex android applications that take your breath away, but what do you want, it's free.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFpks3-q_VFpTuljtS93ivOJtUPQ03rd-hJZ0cu0XNjr7vGVhxtMPbMe4_B1rGXaKY0EHEd8gLRWCEem5-RJTKJ9k0IZigamHT5Y8s3EqNqXwQ_EBBtT7zqhqEIXrrZJaS8HZgxa_GqYg/s1600/qrcode-btcmarketinfopng.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFpks3-q_VFpTuljtS93ivOJtUPQ03rd-hJZ0cu0XNjr7vGVhxtMPbMe4_B1rGXaKY0EHEd8gLRWCEem5-RJTKJ9k0IZigamHT5Y8s3EqNqXwQ_EBBtT7zqhqEIXrrZJaS8HZgxa_GqYg/s200/qrcode-btcmarketinfopng.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.galets.btcmarketinfo">Bitcoin Market Info</a> tool QR code</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Download and enjoy real-time data on your market depth. </span>Everybody's feedback is mostly appreciated.<br />
<div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626335082143766267.post-59390746278409789362012-07-07T11:06:00.001-07:002012-07-07T11:30:22.495-07:00Upgrade CPU on Lenovo Y410, enable virtualizationMy laptop has been working satisfactory for me so far, especially after SSD upgrade, however the fact that it was<span style="background-color: white;"> running a </span><a href="http://ark.intel.com/products/30786/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-T5250-%282M-Cache-1_50-GHz-667-MHz-FSB%29" style="background-color: white;">T5200</a><span style="background-color: white;"> Core Duo CPU with no hardware virtualization was preventing me from taking advantage of some useful features, such as: building <a href="http://gitian.org/">gitian</a> packages.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Solution was easy and cost me $10: buy a used </span><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://ark.intel.com/products/31728/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-T7250-(2M-Cache-2_00-GHz-800-MHz-FSB)">T7250</a> on e-bay and plug it in. Not only it supports virtualization, but it is also noticeably faster.</span><br />
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Replacement takes 5 minutes<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/k8x3VygYROw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
It is really worth noting here, how inexpensive developer-grade hardware could be these days.<br />
<br />
There were reports of more powerful upgrades possible for that laptop (T8000 and T9000 series). Nevertheless, the T7250 seems like an excellent value for money to me. You get faster laptop and virtualization support for ten bucks - that's unbeatable.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626335082143766267.post-88986271842639232882012-07-03T22:07:00.000-07:002012-07-03T22:07:05.288-07:00How I Fixed AMD Vision Engine Control CenterMy AMD Vision Engine Control Center (formerly Catalyst Control Center) was not loading. I even wrote a <a href="http://superuser.com/questions/442766/amd-vision-engine-control-center-ccc-spontaneously-breaks-and-will-not-run-aft">lengthy rant</a> about it on <a href="http://superuser.com/">superuser.com</a>.<br />
<br />
I tried it all. I went through all the forums, and if I had a penny for every time I saw somebody swearing AMD for being unable to write working software, I would retire.<br />
<br />
I even called AMD support desk and followed their instructions for an hour, going from one level to another. The advices they gave me were so beaten up and standard that it's not even funny: upgrade to the latest version. And if latest didn't fix, update to the latest beta. It seems like a mantra with AMD: we didn't fix anything, but upgrade to the latest anyway, who know, maybe God will see how much we trying here and help us.<br />
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I am uncertain what exactly did fix it, but since I was seriously contemplating some major time consuming crap, that nobody likes doing, here's what I did, that ended up fixing the problem. I did several things, then rebooted, so which one exactly did the trick, I don't know.<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Stop WMI service and remove <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">C:\Windows\System32\wbem\repository</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Delete </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">C:\Windows\Prefetch</span> folder</li>
<li>In registry, create following string value in <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework</span>:<br /><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">OnlyUseLatestCLR="1"</span></li>
<li>Remove <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib</span> from assembly cache<br /><br /><b>... And the last step:<br /></b></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Reboot.</span></li>
</ol>
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That is what worked for me. Which exactly of the items did help, I don't know, but if someone will be able to fix the goddamn ATI control center, my time typing all of this stuff is not wasted.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626335082143766267.post-83680920292293517542012-06-01T10:44:00.002-07:002012-06-01T10:54:17.066-07:00Luna Blanca, Mexico locationDISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with anyone mentioned in this blog post. I'm yet to go on my vacation, so my directions could easily be wrong. Use on your own risk, and make sure you do your own research<br />
<br />
I am not certain why, but it seems that there is a problem locating our hotel in Puerto Penasco. Hotel name is <a href="http://www.lunab.com/">Luna Blanca</a>, and it took me hours to get an idea how to get there. It's not on Google maps, and there is no address mentioned on <a href="http://www.lunab.com/">their website</a>, neither it is on any other sites which are reselling and renting out. This is really weird, considering that the last thing you would want as a realtor, is for your client to get lost in Mexico.<br />
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They gave us <a href="http://www.rockypointrentalsmiramarbeach.com/directions.html">following directions</a>, but I sort of found them cumbersome. They give me no idea whatsoever where on the map is this resort located.<br />
<br />
At the end, I even started becoming worried, if we would make it there. it would certainly suck to get stuck in foreign country, 250 miles from home.<br />
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I think, I finally got it. So, for those of you who are as lost as I am, here are some pointers:<br />
<br />
GPS coordinates: <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=31.254212,+-113.298880&hl=en&ll=31.254194,-113.298912&spn=0.220123,0.447693&sll=31.321381,-113.423195&sspn=0.219966,0.447693&t=h&z=12">31.254212, -113.298880</a><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA5pDMHu3s28F5lAwBccPBdqwraIO_PK6tNrt9OMhxGVW9_xwrjfbkwUDyiFJq6PhHMYQsdXMgCVUjaStTiZU7FuG2bGEg9toKZFyyrdjficVAELa6nYIkbHUDX7yzEVHjNLQ9UaycoTM/s1600/location-googlemaps.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA5pDMHu3s28F5lAwBccPBdqwraIO_PK6tNrt9OMhxGVW9_xwrjfbkwUDyiFJq6PhHMYQsdXMgCVUjaStTiZU7FuG2bGEg9toKZFyyrdjficVAELa6nYIkbHUDX7yzEVHjNLQ9UaycoTM/s640/location-googlemaps.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How to get there</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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As you see, it's not on Sandy beach hotel/resort cluster. Hope we get there fine and have a great vacation!<br />
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UPDATE: Apparently, if I dug enough at their website and payed attention, I could have found <a href="http://www.lunab.com/rockypoint/images/map_area.jpg">this map</a>, which also gives pretty good idea where to go.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626335082143766267.post-35774840961082193822012-05-10T10:11:00.003-07:002012-05-10T10:11:45.689-07:00I Ain't Thanking NobodyThis goes ridiculous.<br />
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You run a piece of software, and it wants you to "help us improve", which is a euphemism for "we are going to track what you are doing". Free software and they want you to contribute in another way? Hell no! This thing in not only paid for, but also fairly expensive. Outrageous? Wait, it gets better!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTGdnJ9waOVdFFfIuaS8eCUOeS-oWYCU46NMZ1jIjUkfVqA8yrJfGPuJLje2JLmynyBWBDPMx6D8WE6ZKyadnF93NRkKhyphenhyphenc8DE0WOjnYgc6VBSzUI1Mywpi7DmmfWBmowyxbaL-sZhpW0/s1600/screenshot_00080.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTGdnJ9waOVdFFfIuaS8eCUOeS-oWYCU46NMZ1jIjUkfVqA8yrJfGPuJLje2JLmynyBWBDPMx6D8WE6ZKyadnF93NRkKhyphenhyphenc8DE0WOjnYgc6VBSzUI1Mywpi7DmmfWBmowyxbaL-sZhpW0/s1600/screenshot_00080.png" /></a></div>
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"No, thank you"? Why would I thank someone for an attempt to invade my privacy? If you are trying to sneak your spyware onto my PC, then I caught you red-handed. So, in order to avoid being tracked I must now THANK you?<br />
<br />
<i>If you'd rather not participate, simply click "No, thank you" below.</i><br />
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I see privacy as my right. I don't need to thank anyone for leaving me alone. So, if you are looking to "offer" me your spyware, don't put this "No, thank you" buttons, it's like adding insult to injury. I'd much better prefer "No, F*CK you" button, it will at least honestly reflect what I feel about your programs<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626335082143766267.post-47868417547386781382012-04-22T09:16:00.001-07:002012-04-25T13:00:36.125-07:00Migrate Encrypted OS to Another SSD Drive using VirtualBoxFinally, I got resolution on my <a href="http://blog.galets.net/2012/04/how-to-migrate-encrypted-drive.html">encrypted drive migration</a> problem using <a href="https://www.virtualbox.org/">VirtualBox</a>, and the best part is: it's done using only free, open source applications. In a nutshell, the steps are:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Import system to a virtual machine by cloning it</li>
<li>Decrypt virtual drive</li>
<li>Extend virtual drive</li>
<li>Copy virtual drive to a new physical SSD</li>
</ol>
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<b>WARNING:</b> this is what I did, it worked for me, it might not work for you. If you blow your drive, or ANYTHING else negative happens, including, but not limited to rain, hail, earthquakes, FBI, do not come blaming me, I have nothing to do with it, all is completely your own responsibility.<br />
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Now that we are done with indemnification, here is what I did:<br />
<br />
<h3>
Make a raw copy of encrypted disk</h3>
I have temporarily created NTFS file system on a new disk, so that I could copy a raw image of encrypted disk into it.<br />
<br />
I used Live CD to boot into Ubuntu and make a raw image of encrypted system disk. You could use disk utility to see which disk is mounted on what device. My encrypted disk has loaded as <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">sda </span>and target SSD loaded as <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">sdc</span>. I mounted NTFS partition , and created a raw copy of encrypted disk, by going into the terminal and executing following command:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;"># mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;"># dd bs=8M if=/dev/sda of=/mnt/original-disk.img </span><br />
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Time used: ~1 hour.<br />
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<h3>
Import drive into VirtualBox</h3>
I already had <a href="https://www.virtualbox.org/">VirtualBox</a> installed. Now I need to import a drive. Use following command to convert raw disk into a virtualbox disk:<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">> vboxmanage convertfromraw m:\original-disk.raw D:\Files\VM\Migrate\original.vmdk </span><br />
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<br />
<b><span style="color: red;">IMPORTANT!!!</span></b> I will later on decrypt OS on this virtual disk, so it's important that drive D: is encrypted. Alternatively, if you don't have a second encrypted disk, you can just shred this file instead of delete, and/or clear the empty space. Needless to say, do not use non-encrypted SSD for this purpose.<br />
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Once this is over, I created a virtual machine and attached a system disk to it. I gave it maximum amount of processors and plenty of RAM, since it will be using CPUs to decrypt the system. Here's how it looks like:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrD0lqo70i2vFlAP9nkZG_K9_Lm_N96k5k9vSGY8TTH_1tVBhrOa2zXlYykM83VQXZ4zXKKeuivHSpfIm-ojGe9jiY6CVGrYkptehWfEAsV5phbnToD4efn-FvQx4WxUPjBOoQAIUTA8k/s1600/screenshot_00082.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrD0lqo70i2vFlAP9nkZG_K9_Lm_N96k5k9vSGY8TTH_1tVBhrOa2zXlYykM83VQXZ4zXKKeuivHSpfIm-ojGe9jiY6CVGrYkptehWfEAsV5phbnToD4efn-FvQx4WxUPjBOoQAIUTA8k/s1600/screenshot_00082.png" /></a></div>
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It took me a lot of effort to ensure, that when I boot this image, I do not see this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP961309Ug4Yhh60cRVTznTZjYI4PGiA0zzOqQLHPEdDYC8WFSHqHxOzpFEQLrE4WbZL9kiFTx-8g7foPpP0QYsoFirS7_Jqyz5mGTgIoPxakG6nJnmjPhNk31SKtqeNZOLN6wWC1QCnk/s1600/screenshot_00078.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP961309Ug4Yhh60cRVTznTZjYI4PGiA0zzOqQLHPEdDYC8WFSHqHxOzpFEQLrE4WbZL9kiFTx-8g7foPpP0QYsoFirS7_Jqyz5mGTgIoPxakG6nJnmjPhNk31SKtqeNZOLN6wWC1QCnk/s1600/screenshot_00078.png" /></a></div>
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STOP 0x0000007B happens because by running OS in virtual environment, we are using different disk controller, than originally was on the system. Windows will crap out when there are no drivers pre-configured for new disk controller. This is very annoying, especially since it is perfectly capable of locating the drivers or using generic one, but it is what it is. I tried quite a few combinations, until I finally booted using this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1qlXm_l1hrKY17WvpjoTQ7LPTjsCRvWoB7NhZfAyCsRwtJ0aIu9m1GKTmd3Y_HXwe-jWCAva-G3k2YjZmeQ8czvt5XJ3MwDELRpsZO69NR1UYapkkIoFoyC7T4spm2OlJ2BoYPDS8MY/s1600/screenshot_00081.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1qlXm_l1hrKY17WvpjoTQ7LPTjsCRvWoB7NhZfAyCsRwtJ0aIu9m1GKTmd3Y_HXwe-jWCAva-G3k2YjZmeQ8czvt5XJ3MwDELRpsZO69NR1UYapkkIoFoyC7T4spm2OlJ2BoYPDS8MY/s1600/screenshot_00081.png" /></a></div>
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Time used: ~1 hour for conversion, many hours to figure out controller snafu.<br />
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<h3>
Boot and Decrypt Source Disk</h3>
Now that my virtual machine is bootable, I could log on and decrypt the system drive. This operation will not expose sensitive data, since virtual disk image is located on encrypted drive.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvd2Vpf2FBKKCTGEPxEwm-ZhdMGKHPkOGgQFX90pMbpchX0m0t8VH8P42k8bVV26JJLwD_IeUDnwG_I9lBmrcu0SSIxvHhtlTeHEqbnHL5XVvKU9vJxm0I-DtL3d3fLm_N16GjzJeFjY/s1600/screenshot_00084.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvd2Vpf2FBKKCTGEPxEwm-ZhdMGKHPkOGgQFX90pMbpchX0m0t8VH8P42k8bVV26JJLwD_IeUDnwG_I9lBmrcu0SSIxvHhtlTeHEqbnHL5XVvKU9vJxm0I-DtL3d3fLm_N16GjzJeFjY/s1600/screenshot_00084.png" /></a></div>
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As you see, takes awhile to decrypt. Unfortunately, VirtualBox is not too speedy. Good thing, you could use your computer while doing it. Lower down priority of virtualbox process, that would make computer more snappy.<br />
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<h3>
Prepare a Copy of Target Disk</h3>
Open up target drive properties in Device Manager, and note how many megabytes exactly is on your target disk (Capacity):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUMf90r_d_HiBX7U5Xo5K9E0N3B6SK4bOace4EKBQ9AWS69Y-wCTCqiG0pIC26yTWmOhN0-zUm31koVigAJ1cqh_T_O3FNmZp7XFS9fhP8inO7gZ21W3yJHKD4ZmS2-6dLvBUR3l_LM8/s1600/screenshot_00050.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUMf90r_d_HiBX7U5Xo5K9E0N3B6SK4bOace4EKBQ9AWS69Y-wCTCqiG0pIC26yTWmOhN0-zUm31koVigAJ1cqh_T_O3FNmZp7XFS9fhP8inO7gZ21W3yJHKD4ZmS2-6dLvBUR3l_LM8/s1600/screenshot_00050.png" /></a></div>
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I went to VirtualBox and created target disk with exactly that size:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYVf_-lwKnW4sWvC07lpCRLSfStzklABxvXJSpMEKjWkU8PxafBtUySPPj5W83lSsGmJDCkTVQzxzmJUV4ZQrhCFF0nTKDliGjnb5vzWmWNBjaHOUpy2YHum1alORYcbd46RRsz67ICdU/s1600/screenshot_00052.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYVf_-lwKnW4sWvC07lpCRLSfStzklABxvXJSpMEKjWkU8PxafBtUySPPj5W83lSsGmJDCkTVQzxzmJUV4ZQrhCFF0nTKDliGjnb5vzWmWNBjaHOUpy2YHum1alORYcbd46RRsz67ICdU/s1600/screenshot_00052.png" /></a></div>
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<br />
<h3>
Move Installation to New Drive Image</h3>
I added the new drive, this time using SATA controller, just so that Windows installs drivers for it, and verified that computer starts. I also added CDROM, so that I could start Ubuntu to copy drive.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZS9X6iaiUM4dDYmrlErNNUvAiAq0H7sZcaXCNM-qj0QiiDUrt6mAjIE2_O_CUIUiINUkHYTRnKYsccYUBGHVqaU6aDawUqfvSaZgRYB0TcEh8KIgHeJv-iNAsGQKPK0knkuScHPPVJI/s1600/screenshot_00087.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZS9X6iaiUM4dDYmrlErNNUvAiAq0H7sZcaXCNM-qj0QiiDUrt6mAjIE2_O_CUIUiINUkHYTRnKYsccYUBGHVqaU6aDawUqfvSaZgRYB0TcEh8KIgHeJv-iNAsGQKPK0knkuScHPPVJI/s1600/screenshot_00087.png" /></a></div>
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I started the OS to make sure the drivers get installed. While working on that task, it becomes very clear how much of a speed boost was system on SSD.<br />
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Now I boot Ubuntu and copy disk to the new drive image. I am not moving it to SSD yet, because the image still needs to be encrypted<br />
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<br />
Then I reboot, and use gparted to expand the target disk:<br />
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<br />
Time to complete: a little over an hour.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Encrypt Target Drive</h3>
I am back to putting drive on IDE controller, somehow I'm getting BSOD otherwise<br />
<br />
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<br />
After chkdsk cycle, the OS will start, and I am going to encrypt it, business as usual, except it takes quite a bit of time:<br />
<br />
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<br />
Finally...<br />
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<br />
<h3>
Convert VDI to raw bytes</h3>
<br />
Theoretically, it is possible to mount a physical disk directly on virtual machine, however I had problems writing to it after that. It is also (theoretically) possible to clone VDI to \\.\PhysicalDriveX using <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">VBoxManage</span>, but that also didn't work well for me.<br />
<br />
So I took a longer, but safer route - make a raw image of a target drive, then copy it in Ubuntu. For that, I used a spare drive. Since the image is already encrypted, I don't need another layer of encryption on the drive.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">> VBoxManage clonehd D:\Files\VM\Migrate\Migrate.vdi I:\target.raw --format RAW</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<h3>
Copy Drive Image to SSD</h3>
For this task, I physically connected the target drive and the one that has an image, and booted my physical box Ubuntu.<br />
<br />
unmount SSD (Ubuntu mounted all volumes automatically), and dd image to a device:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;"># umount /dev/sda1</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;"># dd bs=8M if=target.raw of=/dev/sda</span><br />
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<br />
Time to complete: less than 1 hour. That did it, and now my new SSD is bootable.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Some observations</h3>
There is probably an easier way to migrate the data. One way is to grab image of system drive using <a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/ee656415.aspx">disk2vhd</a> utility, which will allow to skip decryption step. Comment with experiences and happy migrations!<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626335082143766267.post-81452346306312303642012-04-19T21:27:00.001-07:002012-04-19T21:27:34.055-07:00Failed Migrations<br />
In my attempts to <a href="http://blog.galets.net/2012/04/how-to-migrate-encrypted-drive.html">migrate encrypted drive</a>, I tried so far following methodologies, unsuccessfully:<br />
<br />
<h3>
Failed: Clone using Acronis</h3>
Pre-install OS on a target disk. Encrypt OS. Boot original disk, and mount target disk using truecrypt. Perform Acronis image migration.<br />
<br />
Result: fail because Acronis does not see TrueCrypt-mapped target disk as a valid device, so won't migrate to it.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Failed: Try cloning via Ubuntu:</h3>
- Boot Ubuntu.<br />
- Copy sector-by-sector source to target (really, all I care at this time is MBR and partition table).<br />
- delete system partition on target and recreate it in order to resize. Truecrypt will still accept that partition.<br />
- Install TrueCrypt. Mount both drives to /dev/mapper/truecrypt1 and 2.<br />
- Use ntfsclone to clone from 1 to 2.<br />
- Use ntfsresize to make ntfs partition fill the space<br />
<br />
Result: NTFS looks fine, disk looks fine. chkdsk finds no problems. Boot prompts for all the right stuff. System won't boot.<br />
<br />
I think the reason why I'm failing is that TrueCrypt pre-boot code still thinks, that the drive is smaller than it actually is. If this is the case, a hybrid approach of 1) and 2) might work:<br />
<br />
- Partition target disk to match source disk scheme<br />
- Install OS to target, encrypt it.<br />
- Boot Ubuntu, mount both source and target partitions.<br />
- Clone NTFS using ntfsclone, and then resize using ntfsresize.<br />
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Verdana, Helvetica;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="postbody" style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626335082143766267.post-85713878373477934722012-04-15T12:06:00.002-07:002012-04-19T21:29:01.222-07:00How To Migrate Encrypted Drive<h3>
Problem</h3>
I recently got a new 240Gb SSD to replace my older one. The old one was encrypted by a <a href="http://www.truecrypt.org/">TrueCrypt</a>, which makes it harder to make a clean migration.<br />
<br />
The usual advice you will get when migrating to a new hard drive is to decrypt the data on the old one, migrate, then re-encrypt the new one. It could have been a good advice, except there is <a href="http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=299329">no way to guarantee that all the existing data was overwritten</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #f5f5ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">The security risk associated with SSDs is that sensitive data cannot be reliably erased due to the delayed erasure of deleted blocks and the operation of the SSD wear-leveling mechanism. The solution is to encrypt the SSD as soon as you take possession of it and before you write any sensitive data to it in plaintext. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f5f5ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">Thus, it's not a system encryption issue or a TrueCrypt issue. The issue is that you can't reliably sanitize an SSD. If you've already written sensitive data to an SSD as plaintext then it's too late for you to achieve 100% data privacy. </span></blockquote>
Why is it important? The data, that could be left on the drive could contain, among other sensitive data, portions of swap file, which contains raw memory dump with all the keys and passwords in non-encrypted form. With SSD wear-leveling mechanism, you could pretty much guarantee, that sectors of swap file would be all over the place. Therefore, it is crucial, that the drive is encrypted before migration.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Plan</h3>
Here's what I'm planning to do here. In order to successfully boot with SSD, you must have a) properly set up mater boot record; b) correct copy of a drive.<br />
<br />
Here is the process I will follow:<br />
<ol>
<li>Replace an existing disk with a new one</li>
<li>Install operating system from scratch, ensure it has no page file.</li>
<li>Convert system partition to TrueCrypt</li>
<li>Put back an old drive, and boot from it. Have a new drive attached.</li>
<li>Mount both drives. Using Acronis, make a sector-by-sector copy.</li>
</ol>
<div>
Stay tuned, I will make another post once I get a drive.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14203877421874433567noreply@blogger.com0