The Ramblings of Ken

Update - 1/29/2013:

This turned out to be a partitioning error.  I created a new virtual disk with a new partitioning scheme and cloned my data over to the new partitions.  That fixed the problem.

Original Post:

Something is very wrong here.  I've been trying for about six months to upgrade an old Windows Server 2003 file server to Windows Server 2008.  I have been getting a weird error message when it tries to reboot after the initial copying of files from the DVD.  The error is:

Update 1/29/2013:

I am now using a micro sim adapter for my nano sim.  Obviously, this works much better.

Original Post:

I got my iPhone 5 on Friday.  I'm loving the device.  However, this post isn't a review of the device.  I won't go into any details about it.  I just want to talk about the nano sim in this post.

As you may know from a previous post, I like to tether using my iPad.  The Verizon iPad 3 comes with free tethering.  I've gotten used to moving my Verizon LTE sim card between my phone and iPad. However, the iPhone 5 presents a new challenge.

I just got done migrating all of my old posts from backups of my website dating back to 2005!  I just got years of history back and I am excited about it!  I forgot how much I used to actually post on my site.  It used to be an engaging place for conversation amongst my friends.  It's all back now.

Take a look for yourself by using the archive links on the right.  For example, here's all the posts from 2005.  You just might find comments from yourself that you forgot about.

My ugly redirect from www.tigrao.org to my USU hosted blog has now been eliminated.  I have fully migrated tigrao.org to be a Google Apps domain.  I just finished exporting all my WordPress content to Blogger.  It looks good so far.  This doesn't necessarily mean that I will post more often.  I really should, but we'll see.  I always hated the ugly redirect, though.  This is much better.

I've been beating my head against the wall with this one for three days now, but I finally figured it out!

This problem was due to a corrupt .DS_Store file in the user's Desktop folder.  Removing this file fixed problem.

Update - 8/14/2012: I've since wiped my MacBook Air Linux and Windows partitions. I just wasn't using them enough. Windows 8 completely strikes me as a mess of an operating system. I may come back to post step by step instructions as I do this again with the final version of Windows 8.

This post is a work in progress, bear with me...

I successfully have a triple boot with Mac OS X, Windows 8 Release Preview, and Gentoo Linux again on my MacBook Air. I used to have a triple boot on my old MacBook 13 inch with Snow Leopard. However, Lion changed everything. With the introduction of the Lion recovery partition, triple booting legacy operating systems that depend on BIOS emulation was no longer possible. This is because you cannot have a hybrid GPT/MBR partition with more than four partitions. GPT partition schemes don't understand extended partitions and MBR partition schemes cannot have more than four primary partitions. Mac OS X Lion now takes up three of those partitions with a default install. You've got the EFI partition, the Mac OS HFS+ partition, and the recovery partition. You've only got one left if you want to boot a legacy OS alongside Mac OS X.

I dreamed for the day when Windows could successfully EFI boot on a Mac. I tried it with Windows 7 and it failed miserably. I can't remember if I tried it with Windows 8 Consumer Preview at all. I guess I figured that Apple had to change their EFI implementation from version 1.1 up to UEFI 2.0. Apple still uses a wacky non-standard EFI. They haven't changed anything there. However, I decided to attempt an EFI boot from a USB Windows 8 installer to see what would happen. It worked fine! With Windows now able to boot and install on my MacBook Air in EFI mode, I resurrected my old EFI enabled Gentoo Linux image and restored it to an additional partition. All operating systems are booting and running just fine now.

In the coming days I will post the exact steps I used to achieve this. The only drawback is that Windows cannot use an accelerated video driver when booted in EFI mode on the Mac. If I don't plan on playing games on my Mac under Windows then it shouldn't be a problem, though.

Stay tuned...

Verizon Wireless is killing unlimited data. It's true. I was so upset about this when I read the article that I picked up the phone to call and cancel my account with them. However, I remembered that $350 early termination fee that I would have to pay and I hung up the phone before even making the call.

There have been official updates since then from Verizon saying that you will only be forced off of an unlimited plan if you purchase a new subsidized device and renew your contract for another two years. Those that continue to pay full price for their new phones will be able to keep their unlimited plan.

Later, I came across a forum posting at MacRumors.com saying that it worked to take a Verizon 4G LTE sim card and put it in your Verizon 4G LTE iPad. Your unlimited data plan will work on the iPad, including personal hotspot functionality. There's nothing Verizon can currently do about this. They are obligated to allow you to put your sim card in any device that will function on their 700 Mhz block C LTE network. When the FCC auctioned off the 700 Mhz block C spectrum, they put a provision into the terms of the purchase that open access must be allowed. Verizon sued to try and get this open access requirement removed, but then later dropped the lawsuit. They seem to have surrendered to the FCC's requirements.

Reading about all of this sparked an idea. If I somehow had my 3G unlimited account upgraded to a 4G account and got my hands on a 4G LTE sim then I could have unlimited 4G LTE data on my iPad. Then, if I fully switch over to Google Voice, I could also tether my iPhone to it and still use it while my account was provisioned on the iPad. Then, what convinced me to actually give this experiment a try was that I logged in to my account on the Verizon Wireless website and saw that they actually had a free 4G LTE phone. It wasn't actually free, of course. It comes at the price of a new 2 year contract commitment.

Well, I took the plunge. I decided that it was worth the risk of a new two year contract on one of my lines to try this experiment. I transfered one of the upgrades that was available on my family plan over to my line. I ordered the Droid Charge to replace my beloved iPhone 4S. Let me say that I don't have too much experience with Android devices. The little experience that I do have has left a bad taste in my mouth. It didn't feel very good to order the Charge, for all intents and purposes, to replace my iPhone. It especially didn't feel good after reading all the reviews about the Droid Charge. It doesn't look like a very good phone at all. I still went ahead and did it, intending to never use it at all. I knew that I could still contact Verizon and have my iPhone activated again if the experiment failed horribly.

The device finally arrived. I followed the instructions that came in the box to activate my sim card. As soon as I heard confirmation that my new sim card was activated I picked up my iPhone and tried to make a call. I got the message saying that my device was not activated. Ahhh! It was really done! I stuck the sim card into the Droid Charge and turned it on. I confirmed that I could make calls and that the data connection was working.

I actually made myself use the device that night and the next day to see if I could ever like it. It seemed like an okay phone while I used it until I went to sleep. The next day, however, it was a horrible experience. The battery was dead by noon, the data connection kept dropping, and the device started to feel very slow. I've never had experiences like this on my iPhone.

Later that night, after I got home from work, I pulled the sim card out of the Droid Charge and cut it down to micro sim size. I pulled the sim tray out of my iPad, removed the sim card, and replaced it with my cut down card. Everything that I had read said that you should only have to go into the settings app on the iPad and reprovision the cellular account under general -> reset -> subscriber services. However, after fussing with the sim card and rebooting the iPad several times, I decided to try the reset account option under subscriber services. It worked! I had a cellular data connection on my existing unlimited plan!

It turns out the next day we were traveling up to the Boise area. I turned on the iPad's hotspot option and tethered my iPhone to it. I logged in to my Google Voice account using the Talkatone app. I had my wife give me a test call and Talkatone would not ring. We then made an outbound test call while on the freeway using a 3G data connection. They heard us loud and clear. I realized that my iPad would drop the data connection if I was receiving an incoming call on my Verizon number and the busy/no answer forwarding wasn't working because of that. I stuck the sim card back in my Charge and dialed *72 plus my Google Voice number to enable permanent call forwarding. We tried another incoming call and it worked great. My experiment was working. At this point I was delighted that everything was working out. My enjoyment was increased even more when we finally got to Boise and I tried this all out in a 4G LTE service area. I was getting speeds up around 20 megabits a second!

So far this experiment seems to be a success. My iPad already went with me on my commute to work and back, so it's not a problem to have my iPad in my backpack and my phone tethered to it in my pocket. No behavior is changing there. 99 percent of the time I am always in an area with WiFi, so I will still be able to receive calls without the iPad. When I am going somewhere where I won't have WiFi and it is inconvenient to carry my iPad with me, then I will just pop the sim back into my Droid Charge and just use it as a basic phone.

I just thought I'd share my experience for those that might be thinking about doing something similar...