Tell Me: Griffo Info

If you have a Gateway laptop and it ever fails to boot, then you are pretty much on your own.

I recently tried to get help for a family member who has a Gateway Vista laptop. it is about 3 years old. Now it will not boot. It does not even get through the progress bar on the initial “Gateway” screen. The progress bar stops about half-way.

There are on-screen option… F10 or utilities, F2 for BIOS.

Using the F2, the system start showing BIOS and Processor and memory info. Then locks up.

I tried on-line chat support from Gateway, and then 24Hr email support from Gateway. The common responses were just cut-and-paste sentences from some resource the responder has. In neither attempt (chat with their “expert”, or their email tech responder) were any of the concerns I outlined addressed.

Result = Pay $100 for 30 minutes phone support. This would only result in a wasted phone call. The machine is kaput! Their help sucks BIG-TIME.

Stay away from Gateway products as their support is pretty well non-existent.

It is a sad day when tech support has dwindled to such a low level. Bad Gateway!

It has happened again. An airline pilot has reportedly been removed from flight duty due to security detecting alcohol on his breath.

This makes one wonder how, a person clever and smart enough to have an airline pilot license, could get into such a predicament. It had me wondering until I read a very enlightening and heartfelt post on a pilot’s forum by a pilot who could have got himself into such a predicament. He claims he is/was an alcoholic and details the problem faced by people like himself.

I found reading his post to be valuable in being able to understand the differences in Social drinkers, Problem drinkers and Alcoholics. And it explains just how a Pilot gets into such a predicament.

To read his post, click here

I was doing some extensive software testing in a program that talks to a MS-SQL2005 database. I detected that a table INSERT/UPDATE Trigger was seemingly not firing.

I scrutinised the trigger code and could see nothing wrong, and know that it has been functioning well for several years in other applications, using both MSSQL2000 and MSSQL2005.

So what was different in this program? I searched the web and did not find an answer.

I added some code to a test program to work around the issue. That is when I started catching this error message:

Here I was trying to CALL a stored procedure to update some balances. Again, the stored procedure has been working great for many years with no change. So, what was this message all about? Back to the web again and still no resolution.

That is when I dug deeper and added some more tests into a couple of other test programs I wrote, each of which tried different approaches to see what was really happening.

Strangely, some tested OK with no errors, and others threw the same error! So, what was the difference?

The Answer

The original error it seems is caught by the SQL Native Client ( or perhaps Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) ) and translated for the ODBC file drivers I was using. A translation (or miss-translation) is performed and a meaningless message is captured by the ODBC based drivers and passed back to my program as “Executing SQL directly; no cursor”.

Comparing the test programs I was working with pointed me to the answer. It was all to do with permissions! Nothing about “Executing SQL directly; no cursor”.

I found in some programs where I was using Application Role permissions to access the backend SQL, that the Application Role I was using did not have EXECUTE permission on the stored procedure.

Back into MS SQL Server Management Studio I went, and ran this command:

GRANT EXECUTE ON [dbo].[jg_AllBalances11] TO [LMGaus]

Now all my test programs began behaving as expected.

Also, my TRIGGER began working. The trigger was calling the stored procedure to do some of its work, and so now it too performed as expected.

Next time you see the

Executing SQL directly; no cursor

error, check all your permissions!

Hope this helps someone.

John Griffiths

After a great summer DownUnder we are back in Texas for the northern summer. It is already nice and warm here with today around 90°F. Bring on the heat!

The journey was long and tedious as usual. My wife and I are both suffering from Jet-Lag and spend many hours awake at night. We have been waking at about midnight and not getting back to sleep until around 04:00. This should be over within a few more days. Then i will be able to get back and do a few programming tasks that have been piling up!

John

Recently I was invited to join a group of volunteers working on a software development project. As there were to be more than two in the group, I could see problems working through a swarm of emails, cc: emails and all the replies…

That is when I started researching web based Project Management Software.

As the project was to be a low-cost exercise, I think I have found the perfect answer.

We needed three components:-

A domain name ($10 p.a.)

A Site Host ($72) But prices can range from almost free to whatever you want.

Project Managment Software ( Free )

The Site Host:

=============

If you shop around, you can save on the Site Host account. Or even find a free one, but that is not recommended. You may already have a host that will allow an add-on domain at no extra cost. And, make sure that any host offers CPanel access, and not a  management tool they built themselves!

Project Managment Software:

==========================

The site host we selected provides dotProject and PHProjekt system installs via the Fantastico within cPanel.

We went with dotProject

I am truly amazed at the features and functionality in this free software product. You really need to try it to see what it will do.

It is PHP driven and uses a MySQL database for content storage.

I had a quick look at PHProjekt and it too looks great, but we had to choose one so we went with dotProject.

Review of Acronis Migrate Easy

Link: Acronis

OK, we have been battling for several months now with a 4 year old PC (Windows XP) that my Wife uses. The 60GIG hard drive was close to capacity. It was so close that we could not even perform a Defrag!

I had attached 250GIG pocket USB drive and had directed most internet downloads to go to the external USB drive.

She is heavily involved in her love of movies and so does voluntary work for FilmSpotting and their podcast productions. (plus her Blog stuff at MagneticNorth )
This involves downloading large video and sound clips of films. Hence the large accumulation of data on her hard drive.

I knew that the hard drive would need replacing. I dreaded managing getting all her programs and MS-Win-XP onto a new bigger hard drive. Then the crunch came when downloads and FireFox and many other programs began to complain about the HD free space.

Then I learned about Acronis Migrate Easy. I read on-line what was promised. I read several user comments. I believed none of them because of my long term relationship with MS-Windows and programming. But Hey! It is only a PC where I am not doing real development work. Something needs to be done, and it needs doing now. So why not take a small chance and try it out.

The Process:

Downloaded the 15 day trial software, installed it (only just, given the space limitations on the existing HD). Went out and bought a new 500Gig WD hard drive and set it to “Slave”, Installed it, and then ran the Acronis program. I opted for the ‘Automatic’ process (I think the second on the menu) and reboot, watch, walk-away, come back in 50 minutes, and it reported success and was done.

Then I removed the origingal HD, re-configured the new 500Gig HD as IDE Primary (using the jumper block on the back of the HD unit).

Feeling 100% confident, I put all the panels back on the PC case, plugged all the cables back in, and turned it on.

VOILA! All worked perfectly and now we have a PC with enough spare space for several more years! I had been ready with the original Win XP Install CD and activation key, but neither were needed.

Summary:

If you need or want to substitute a newer larger HD to a PC, then go with Acronis. I give it 10/10 for meeting expectations.

John

OK! So you spend all day developing. tweaking a software solution for a customer. Then you find out the actual Windows environment that they are running under… This happened to me recently..

Client wanted/needed a change… In fact, they were having problems with .TPS file on a normally reliable network. They are based about 3000 miles away!

Read more…

One of the things I enjoy after hours is keeping up with “The Dakar“. For the past fifteen years or so, I have thought that if I could afford it, I would charter a chopper and follow “The Dakar” across North Africa. The scenery shown on the TV coverage has been magnificent.

Last year I was very disappointed that the race was cancelled due to political turmoil in the race route countries.

But This year, the race organisers have made a very brave decision, to move the race, even to a new Continent!

What was North Africa is now South America, in particular, Argentina and Chile.

I have been following the race this year with much interest and (initially) doubt. But the route selected this year has amazed me thus far. It has made me want to visit Argentina and Chile to see some of the landscape with my own eyes. Just as I wanted to visit North Africa.

Valparaiso Chile looks very inviting! Who Knows?
I know that Qantas (my favourite airline) flies to Santago, which is close to the beautiful coastal city of Valparaiso. Perhaps one day ….

In the meantime, around here, life stops when the daily Dakar highlights are on TV. I even set an alarm so as not to miss the show!

Recommended viewing for Rev Heads!

John