Nifty Hacks
How to fix a corrupt user profile in Windows 7 and Vista: The User Profile Service failed the logon
by mark on Feb.16, 2014, under Windows
I had a recent issue with someones laptop where I got the
The User Profile Service failed the logon
for a Vista installation. This is the second time this has happened on the same computer.
The first time I recreated the user and copied the data across and repair installed windows.
This time I used the reference below. I had 2 entries for the user under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList, the second one having a .bak suffix. The first one was also brief containing only 2 entries and missing the rest.
So I:
- renamed the original to a new suffix (just in case)
- removed the .bak from the other one
- and set state to 0 (was 0x8000)
Rebooted and voila login worked again.
This is here for my fast reference. YMMV
Ref: How to fix a corrupt user profile in Windows 7 and Vista: The User Profile Service failed the logon
Dumping the LG Roboking VR6270LVM
by mark on Jul.25, 2013, under linux, Nifty Hacks
Having just obtained a shiny new LG Roboking VR6270LVM (AKA HomBot Square) via ebay from korea, my first thought was to convert the Korean speech to something I can actually understand.
The english manual is easy to find on any LG web site, however software updates are a bit more difficult. After searching around a bit I found a software update for this model, though I’m not sure on whether it is useful for me. However, it did give me some hints.
This device is running ARM embedded linux. There is a USB port next to the dust catcher which is used to perform updates.
It looks for a file called update.sh
, which if found it executes! It is important that a line in this script has the text
#IS_HIT_UPDATE_SCRIPT=1
usually on the second line.
An example script to dump the filesystem is
#!/bin/sh
#IS_HIT_UPDATE_SCRIPT=1SOURCE_PATH="/mnt/usb"
if ! test -e $SOURCE_PATH/rk.tar ; then
mount >> $SOURCE_PATH/log 2>&1
ls -al / >> $SOURCE_PATH/log 2>&1
ls -al /bin >> $SOURCE_PATH/log 2>&1
ls / >> $SOURCE_PATH/log 2>&1
ls /mnt >> $SOURCE_PATH/log 2>&1R="bin dev etc lib linuxrc root sbin temp tmp usr var mnt/rwfs"
tar cf $SOURCE_PATH/rk.tar $R >> $SOURCE_PATH/log 2>&1sync
fi
aplay -c 1 -r 16000 -f S16_LE /usr/SNDDATA/SND_NOTICE_UPDATE_END.snd
/usr/rbin/rpjig.axf /vision /usr/rcfg/config.xml -poweroff 15000 &
exit 0
It will talk when complete.
There are 2 sets of sound files, one male and one female, and both in korean. These are in mono 16k raw audio and can be converted to wav files with sox.
#!/bin/bashmkdir -p sound/SNDDATA{0,1}
for i in `find . -name "*.snd"` ; do
d1=`dirname $i`
d1=`basename $d1`
i1=`basename $i`
i2=`basename $i1 .snd`
sox -r16000 -c1 -e signed -b 16 -traw $i sound/$d1/$i2.wav
done
The file names are quite descriptive but it would be nice to know what each one says. Then I can rerecord them and make it speak english. If anyone has the english versions of these sound files, I would be grateful.
Also interesting is that it supports wifi. Plug in a compatible wifi USB dongle and upload (using update.sh) wifi.cfg to /usr/etc. The format seems to be
ESSID ssidname
IP
WPS WPS_OFF
but this is untested. It runs dropbear so you should be able to log into it. You may also need to update wpa_supplicant.conf in the same directory with keys for WPA2 as is standard for linux. Supported dongles include rt3070sta, rt5370sta, rt3370sta and 8192cu.
All for now.
Debugging shared Client/ASP Web Service projects in VS2010
by mark on May.19, 2011, under Windows
This post details the setup required for combined Remote Debugging server side web services with client programs in the same project. It is here mainly to assist my memory but may be of use to others as I had to dig for a lot of this info.
It assumes you log into the local development machine as a domain user and the remote IIS server is on a different domain with no shared trust.
This applies to VS2010 but should also be relevant to vs2008 and vs2005.
Local Computer Config
You will have logged on the local computer as MAINDOMAIN\user
- Create a local computer user with the same name and password as your domain one. ( This step may be unnecessary )
- Change the Sharing and Security Model In Local Security Policy/Local Policies/Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts
set Classic – local users authenticate as themselves
Remote IIS Computer
- Create a local computer user with your domain user name and same password.
- Add Administrators group to this user.
- make sure msdeploy works.
- Add debug rights to new user In Local Security Policy/Local Policies/User Rights Assignment/Debug programs/Add User or Group
- Change the Sharing and Security Model In Local Security Policy/Local Policies/Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts
set Classic – local users authenticate as themselves
msvsmon config
Create a batch file to run msvsmon called runmsvsmon.bat in the base path (e.g. wwwroot\ServiceTest) of the asp service as follows
SET _NT_SYMBOL_PATH=%CD%\bin cd "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\Remote Debugger\x86" start msvsmon.exe
Run the batch file as the user added above.
This will allow symbols to be used during step into service debugging.
Change the server name in msvsmon to
DEVDOMAIN\user@LOCALMACHINENAME
This allows your user to attach juts by entering the remote ip address (domain search for remote server is disabled in this case) in the Qualifier field in VS and thus works for standard debugging too.
Visual Studio Config
In Debugger Options
- disable Enable just my code
- enable Enable source server support
In Web Service project properties
- Web/Use Custom Web Server/Url – http://remoteip/ServiceTest
- Package/Publish Web/IIS Web Site – Default Web Site/ServiceTest
In Publish Service
- username user
- password is whatever
- save password checked
- method WebDeploy
- URL http://remoteipaddr
- Site Default Web Site/ServerTest or Default Web Site/Server
- check Mark as IIS app
- check Leave extra files
Procedure
Deploy Web service first
This should succeed if msdeploy is working on the remote server.
You should see the files update on the target.
add debug=”true” to compilation tag in web.config.<compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.0"> </compilation>
Test Tools/Process Attach
If you get a list of processes, you have everything should be working.
Debug Client and Web Service together
Set a breakpoint inside the service module and press F5. It should then break with source.
Set a breakpoint in the desktop client and step into a web method.
Using a Windows CE 4.20 SDK with VS2005 and VS2008
by mark on Nov.23, 2010, under WinCE
I have had the requirement to use a windows CE SDK with Visual Studio 2005 and 2008. This is desirable because they have better/newer ARM compilers, as well as being able to integrate a combined Native/.NET solution in 1 place for a single step build.
The hint on how to do this came after playing with Qt. Qt Comes with a program (continue reading…)
Git Tricks and Tips
by mark on Nov.19, 2010, under linux, Nifty Hacks
Maintaining Vendor Branches
For the case where you have a vendor tarball or zip source bundle, these are effectively managed in a branch.
If the vendor releases a new version, the update process is:
git co vendor
mkdir zzz
mv * zzz/
mv .* zzz/
mv zzz/.git .
rm -rf zzz
git commit -a
Now you can merge or rebase your development tree to the new vendor release.
Some useful Git links.
Refs:
http://cheat.errtheblog.com/s/git
http://sourceware.org/frysk/build/git-fu.html
http://sandofsky.com/blog/git-workflow.html
No Sound in Limited User Account
by mark on Sep.17, 2010, under Windows
Recently I needed to do a repair install on Windows XP, after which sound was no longer working on limited user accounts. After extensive searching I realized no one had a solution. The device driver was ok and operating and sound was working fine on administrator capable accounts.
The strange thing is that the Realtek HD sound app worked Ok on the LUA. I concluded from this that the software enumerator was at fault, specifically the registry keys that would have to be read for the software enumerator to read its current list.
Use regedit to change the permissions of the tree on currentcontrolset to fix this issue. Log in again and its all good.
Mapping special names to multiple USB serial adapters
by mark on Apr.17, 2010, under linux, Solar
The watts clever envi has a USB serial adapter which is a Prolific pl2303. When inserted it is assigned /dev/ttyUSB0 by udev, among a few other symlinks. I have now obtained an RS485 serial adapter on ebay for A$13.98 delivered which uses the exact same chip, which makes it indistiguishable from the envi’s port. What I needed was a way to guarantee uniqueness regardless of the enumeration order on boot or random hot plugin. Naturally, this is for the Aurora GCI which will be installed when they become available in May.
Researching udev a bit, I found /lib/udev/rules.d/60-persistent-serial.rules (mine is a debian system). This file shows how the standard symlinks are done. Since each USB port is unique, I should be able to use that uniqueness to map another symlink to the device.
Firstly plug in the device in the chosen USB port and issue
udevadm info --query=all --name=/dev/ttyUSB1
This shows a heap of stuff but mainly we are interested in
P: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.0/usb2/2-1/2-1:1.0/ttyUSB1/tty/ttyUSB1
Create a file in /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-serial.rules
which contains
#see /lib/udev/rules.d/60-persistent-serial.rules
ACTION!=”add|change”, GOTO=”persistent_serial_end”
SUBSYSTEM!=”tty”, GOTO=”persistent_serial_end”
KERNEL!=”ttyUSB[0-9]*|ttyACM[0-9]*”, GOTO=”persistent_serial_end”IMPORT=”usb_id –export %p”
#IMPORT=”path_id %p”ENV{ID_SERIAL}==””, GOTO=”persistent_serial_end”
# usb nearest ethernet connector
ENV{DEVPATH}==”*usb2/2-2/2-2:1.0*”, SYMLINK+=”serial/by-name/envi”
#bottom front connector
ENV{DEVPATH}==”*usb7/7-1/7-1:1.0*”, SYMLINK+=”serial/by-name/rs485″
# usb below nearest ethernet connector
ENV{DEVPATH}==”*usb2/2-1/2-1:1.0*”, SYMLINK+=”serial/by-name/rs485″LABEL=”persistent_serial_end”
Replug and voila you get /dev/serial/by-name/rs485
which will always be the correct device.
Now I just have to run the wire to where the GCI will be installed.
Funny Characters for gcc/g++ errors and warnings
by mark on Apr.01, 2010, under linux
I have found that on some linux systems when you compile with gcc and g++ the error messages have funny characters like
test.c: In function â:
test.c:6: warning: unused variable â
This is due to the default locale being set to something other than the default.
in /etc/default/locale you will have a line like
LANG="en_AU.UTF-8"
add
LC_CTYPE=C
Restart the shell and compile again and the errors are now meaningful.
test.c: In function 'main':
test.c:6: warning: unused variable 'x'
Naturally you could set it in the local shell for the session, but then you would have to do it every time.
Migrating Windows User Ids
by mark on Mar.12, 2010, under Windows
There are times when domains on windows change and thus your user id changes. However, you may have lots of files owned by you that are not in your user dir. Migrating these user ids to you new one, I’ve found, is not too difficult after all.
All you need is a tool from microsoft called subinacl.
Download and install the msi. Install path is
C:\Program Files\Windows Resource Kits\Tools\subinacl.exe
So use this for the command name below.
First find your old userid. Use a file you know you used to own. E.g. the projects directory.
Subinacl /file c:\projects /display
Copy and paste yours for use in the commands below
Now for the commands. Do for all drives if you have multiple disks.
The lines below are for me of course so sub in your cut S-xxx and new user id
Subinacl /subdir c:\ /accountmig=S-x-x-xx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx=newdomain\username
also the primary group, which can be found up the top of the display dump.
Subinacl /subdir c:\ "/accountmig=S-x-x-xx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx=newdomain\Domain Users"
all registry keys
Subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CURRENT_USER /accountmig=S-x-x-xx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx=newdomain\username
Subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE /accountmig=S-x-x-xx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx=newdomain\username
Subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT /accountmig=S-x-x-xx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx=newdomain\username
(none found, so optional)
and the groups
Subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CURRENT_USER "/accountmig=S-x-x-xx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx=newdomain\Domain Users"
Subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE "/accountmig=S-x-x-xx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx=newdomain\Domain Users"
Subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT "/accountmig=S-x-x-xx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx=newdomain\Domain Users"
After you are happy
Subinacl /subdir c:\ /suppresssid=S-x-x-xx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx
Subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CURRENT_USER /suppresssid=S-x-x-xx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx
Subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE /suppresssid=S-x-x-xx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx
When you are finished, everything you used to own you will own again.
WordPress Install Direct Filesystem Hack
by mark on Mar.05, 2010, under Wordpress
I use
chgrp -R www-data wp-content
chmod -R g+w wp-content
To make this work with wordpress, edit wp-admin/includes/file.php in function get_filesystem_method() and comment out
if ( getmyuid() == fileowner($temp_file) )
to
#if ( getmyuid() == fileowner($temp_file) )
If the test file can be written, who cares if it is not owned by the webserver.
You will have to reapply this edit every time wordpress core is updated.