MPC-HC D3DX9.DLL error

When I use the dDirectX output for the Media Player Classic Homecinema, I got the D3DX9 error. A quick search on Google shows that this error can be eradicated by

Step 1. open “C:\Program Files\MPC HomeCinema” with your explorer.
Step 2. Make a copy “ANY” of dll (e.g. mpcresources.fr.dll)
Step 3. Rename the duplication dll to “d3dx9_41.dll”

Full details can be found at

http://hkdennis2k.homeip.net/2009/12/29/simplest-way-to-fix-no-d3dx9-dll-with-mpc-hc-on-windows-7/

Older ATi Card and Ubuntu

I have been using VESA driver instead of ATi driver for my old IBM Notebook due to the corrupted notification problem in Ubuntu.

Today, I have found the following from the Ubuntu site, which may seem to be the solution for my problem.

Window corruption with older ATI graphics cards

With older ATI graphics cards with 32MB or less of video RAM some corruption of direct rendered windows, for example OSD notifier windows, might appear. This may be worked around by disabling 'RenderAccel' in the Xorg configuration. (426582)

To do this first exit to the console using the following command:

sudo service gdm stop

Then create an Xorg configuration file with the command below:

sudo Xorg -configure

Then add the 'RenderAccel' option to /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

Section "Device"

...

Driver "radeon"

Option "RenderAccel" "off"

EndSection

And restart X/GDM.

sudo service gdm start

ATi and nVidia

Since the fan on my nVidia card was dying, I got my myself a new ATi 4550 card for my Media Center. It does more or less my old card can do except one thing which is crucial. Although most reviews on the Internet said the differences between the nVidia's Purevideo and the ATi's AVIVO are very little, and in many case ATi solution is recommend due to its passive cooling (silent) and HDMI inclusion, after having both cards, I can say the nVidia's PureVideo is a better option if SDTV is involved.

ATi and nVidia may both handles high definition video very well and can offload works from CPU, however, HD isn't everything! PureVideo has the advantage of deinterlacing SDTV video which ATi lacks. The lack of deinterlacing on ATi card makes live SDTV on my media center look horrible. The "comb" effect is so obvious. Interesting enough, there is a solution, and it is from nVidia. It seems that PureVideo can run on ATi card too. After putting PureVideo back to my computer, the deinterlacing problem solved.

Clear temporary Windows Update installers

If you have problem to update Windows, e.g. it gives you 80072EFE error, it may be worthwhile to clear the Update Installers in your system and restart again. The instructions can be found at:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822798

Especially method 10 which tell you how to empty the software distribution folder.

After you clear the "cached" installers, you may want to restart you system before re-try the update services.

VirtualBox USB and Ubuntu

I finally manage to get the USB working inside VirtualBox. I followed the instructions from this site https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VirtualBox/USB, restarted my machine, and like magics, my USB works inside my guest system now!

Ubuntu and NTFS

It seems that by default Ubuntu does not allow you to format drives with NTFS system. If you want to have more advanced options, you need to install the package ntfsprogs, i.e.

sudo aptitude install ntfsprogs

After the installation, you can format disks with NTFS system and check their "health"

Additional Symbols for Dia

You can find additional Dia symbols at http://dia-installer.de/shapes.html