Apr 12

iPhones need to be unlocked to be used in Canada.  The best unlocking tool seems to be Pwnage currently, but it only runs on Mac.  Of course I am not giving up my Vista installation, so here’s the procedures to dual boot Windows Vista and Mac OS X Leopard the Dell 640m/E1405 system.

  1. Get a Mac OS X x86 distro.  I got the “Kalyway 10.5.2“, available from major torrent sites.
  2. Make sure the Windows Vista DVD is on hand, to fix the Master Boot Record after installation.
  3. Create a partition within the system, either a different disk or on the same disk. Format it while in Windows, so that the Mac installation will be able to see the partition.
  4. Install the Kalyway distro onto the spare partition, being careful to choose “Customize” before install, and make sure to select the Intel GMA driver under Graphics.
  5. After installation, it probably shows a HFS partition error and no OS will load.
  6. Boot up the system using Windows Vista DVD, choose Repair, then choose the command prompt.
  7. Enter the following:
    diskpart
    list disk
    select disk n  (n = disk number)
    list partition
    select partition n  (n = partition number of your VISTA)
    active
    exit

    bootrec.exe /fixmbr
    bootrec.exe /fixboot

  8. Exit the repair utilities and restart the computer.  Now Vista should load normally.
  9. Download and install EasyBCD.
  10. In EasyBCD, add an entry for Mac OS X, using automatic settings.
  11. Dual-boot menu should pop up at restart.  Choose the Mac installation, and at the next menu make sure to choose the Mac install too.
Mar 19

The long-waited Windows Vista SP1 (through Windows Update) is officially released, but not everyone can get it now. Why? According to Microsoft, there are 8 causes, including one like “because you already have SP1 installed”.. duh.

For many Dell laptop computers, the Dell’s driver for the SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC is the culprit for blocking the SP1 update. Go here to grab a more recent update that will allow SP1 through Windows Update. After the update, restart the computer and wait a few hours, and then you should see SP1 available.