About a month ago, a friend showed me a very interesting device. It's a USB analyser. To be honest, I have a similar device at work, but it's much simpler as it only shows the current and voltage.
The device my friend showed me was much more sophisticated. It can decode various communications, debug requests for different currents and voltages, show charts and much more.
There are many versions of this gadget, including different types of USB connector and various connections, such as Bluetooth or USB, to connect to a computer and take measurements using the app.
However, I really only needed the simplest one for my purposes, with just one USB A male port and one USB A female port. It can measure everything and still draw the characteristics, which is more than enough for me. So I ordered one of these for 195 CZK, and it's great!
It can also detect whether the device is being charged or discharged. This would be a great help when I'm tinkering with and reviving old phones, tablets and other devices, and I think it's definitely worth the price.
It can also detect whether the ...
Continue reading →
My colleague brought me another piece of very old tablet. The battery was completely dead, so i had to open it, and solder the wires to directly charge it first. And, i used it as first chance to use my new tools for opening. And honestly they are really useful
During that, i found out, that it is not being changed through any of various USB types of ports, but it uses round connector. Fortunately there is info, on the back of tablet, that it is powered by 5V power supply, so the only thing i needed to do, was to make a cable, with USB-A on one end, to plug it to charger, and with relevant jack connector on the tablet side. It was a question of a few minutes. So after doing the cable, i just briefly checked, the ports on tablet, while it was open. And i was suprised, that the connector does not have a middle pin ! After a while of staring at that, i recognised, that i am looking at sound connector, which has exactly the same shape. So after realising that issue, i connected it to ...
Continue reading →
As I now use a lot of tablets on a daily basis, I have also started looking for some interesting touchscreen games for PC operating systems. I have mostly failed.
I have done a lot of research and tried many games, mainly indie ones. But they are all boring and stupid. Strategy games in particular are completely unplayable, and the Tycoon genre barely exists.
However, then I remembered...
Some of the old games have been reimplemented! I have tried running some of them, and I have chosen Theme Hospital and RollerCoaster Tycoon.
For my Acer running Ubuntu, I chose OpenRCT2. I downloaded assets for both RCT1 and RCT2, installed the open-source reimplementation, and it brought back lots of memories. I went through three beginner parks, finished them, and spent hours playing.
Yes, this is definitely worth playing! The controls are a bit tricky on a touchscreen, but it's still quite comfortable to play. I'm really enjoying it.
I found another game that is even better: the CorsixTH reimplementation of Theme Hospital. I installed it on my Surface tablet and it's fantastic! I downloaded the reimplementation and fed it with the files from the original demo. It ...
Continue reading →
I ordered that from AliExpress about a week ago and it arrived yesterday. Considering it only cost 4 euros, it's quite good!
At first, I just wanted to order a new set of Phone Repair Guitar Picks because they wear out really quickly. However, I found that there are also metal ones instead of plastic ones. I ordered a set of ten to try them out. Then I realised that the shipping cost was around 3 EUR, but if I spent an extra 3 EUR on goods, I would get free shipping. So I added a screwdriver set to my order.
The tools look really good, too. To be honest, only 9 of the 10 guitar picks arrived, and one of them is rusty. But 8 picks for 1 euro is still good value.
Also, the screwdriver has an adjustable length. Even better, it has a hole in the side so that it can also be used as a wrench. This is a really nice detail and would be really useful.
I'm waiting for the first device to arrive so I can try out my new tools!
Continue reading →
Yes, I was reminded once again why I absolutely hate Windows. And, to be honest, I really wanted to give it a chance. It's only been 24 hours since I prepared the Surface 3 for work, but Windows is already driving me mad!
Yes, I solved the driver issues relatively easily based on all my experience with Windows, even though the installation was really tricky without a touchscreen. Everything worked well afterwards. I also came up with a solution for the storage system: I ordered a small USB drive in the shape of a mouse dongle to give me some extra space, as the notebook does not have any other slots for storage (microSD, M.2, etc.).
What is really frustrating me, though, is Windows Update. As I recall, it was also the reason I abandoned Windows many years ago and switched to Linux. The problem is still the same, if not worse.
I installed an app on the Surface which required a reboot. The PC then decided to install updates. I have been stuck in a reboot loop for more than half an hour and I'm only 80% through the update. It's absolutely crazy.
Why would Windows not update while I'm using ...
Continue reading →
I have a Surface 3 tablet with a stylus. And, honestly, it looks very good at first glance. The screen has absolutely no scratches and the chassis is almost perfect, so in that respect it's really great. For the price of shipping, it's a great deal.
It came with Windows 8.1 already installed. However, the GUI was not the standard version of Windows, but a strange edition that was unable to run a lot of basic software, such as the Vivaldi browser. After some research and discovering that Linux is not the answer as it has a lot of driver problems, I decided to reinstall Windows 10.
The process went relatively smoothly, with only one issue arising. There was no touch driver during installation and the tablet does not have a docking keyboard. I therefore had to abort the installation, unplug the USB drive containing the installer and connect the USB hub to the device's only USB port. I then connected the USB drive, together with the mouse and keyboard.
Then the installation was without any more issues, and after running one single executable from microsoft pages, it has installed all the necessary drivers and everything worked well.
Another issue ...
Continue reading →
It's some kind of Barbie phone that my colleague gave me. However, after a while, I had nothing positive to say about it.
Although its design is intended to look premium, the system and functions are just pure pain. The controls are really unintuitive and some adjustments that I would expect to find in the settings menu are only accessible via weird widgets or apps, such as everything related to Bluetooth.
I still haven't managed to install apps either, as it won't run .jar or .jad files, which should be suitable for this phone. It comes with some pre-installed games, but they are just trials. I still haven't found any unlock codes that work, and all the language AI models kick me out as they won't help me illegally activate these.
Also, there is a dead pixel on the screen, as can be seen in the first photo. So I guess it will just be a phone that I put in a drawer and don't use anymore, except for charging to keep the battery alive.
Continue reading →
In the last few months, I haven't released any new user functions or improvements to the HryProDva.cz portal, except for the new avatar design in memory of Ozzy Osbourne.
However, I have many open projects with some nice features, such as two new games, some graphics improvements and other minor fixes. However, I have found that, every time I start working on something, something more important comes up.
For example, I am working on a simple payment system to give users the chance to buy a really cheap VIP account and get rid of annoying advertisements. I have received some feedback about people being willing to pay not to view them. The system is almost finished; the only problem now is the QR code for payments in Slovakia. It works really well for the Czech Republic already.
But now I have to change the development process again, as the need for sophisticated IP banning is increasing every day.
To be honest, I have always wanted to keep the community as free as possible, but as the portal grows, more and more users are not responsible enough and make a mess even after receiving a polite warning. So, once again, I have to keep the ...
Continue reading →
I have added a very nice piece of hardware to my collection. It's an IBM 365X. Even better, I got it for the price of shipping!
The only thing I was warned about was the cracked hinge. At first, I thought it was just a cosmetic issue from the photos, but when it arrived, I found out that it was impossible to open the notebook safely without damaging everything else.
I managed to come up with a solution. At first, I thought I would be able to glue it together somehow, but it did not work. So I chose the least aesthetic way, but it works. I used an engraving pen to melt the plastic and buried some bent nails in it to strengthen the joint. It's not ideal, but it holds the whole thing together.
Later, I would definitely try sanding it down and finding an old sticker — IBM or, even better, Y2K — to cover it up a bit. For now, though, it works, and I will do my best to make it look even better.
I was very surprised that the external floppy drive worked on the first ...
Continue reading →
I received a phone call from a family member. At first, I had no idea what it was and I couldn't turn it on. Even after plugging in the charger, there was no power through the cable. As I thought it was working, I decided to check the battery first.
Unfortunately, after taking a quick look, I realised that it would be rather complicated. The phone itself is not as easy to access as phones used to be. I had no idea how to open it and was afraid that it was glued and that I would have to "cook" it. Fortunately, I tried using my nail and discovered a tiny gap. I used special tools to unclip the back of the phone. Even though I was really afraid of damaging the display because it bent a lot, I was eventually able to open it.
I also had to unscrew some covers inside and remove the tapes holding the battery in order to take it out. Then I saw the battery connector. It's a really fragile, small flex with an even weirder snap. At first, I measured it and found that it had a "nice" zero volts. I ...
Continue reading →
