I have an old Sager notebook and the CMOS battery has been dead for about 12 months. The unit had been sitting idle for some time. I decided yesterday to mess with it again.
I had tried a few weeks ago to dismantle it looking for the CMOS battery, but could not find it. So yesterday I called the Sager technical help line and got some great help on how to find and get to the battery.
I released the keyboard, removed a heat-sink, replaced the battery and re-assembled the unit.
Booted it up, ran the BIOS Config process to set the date etc.. and it booted just fine.
Problem was, that it would not produce any sound output, which is one reason for me messing with it again.
So, figuring the loss of BIOS was the cause, I rebooted and reset a few BIOS settings that might have had an impact on the no-sound situation.
But, still no sound. Next step was to emove all the sound drivers, download new drivers, and re-install said drivers. But still now sound. I could record and save a small .wav file using the inbuilt speaker which I could play on another system OK. On the laptop it would show the wave-form as it played, but no sound. I tried using the in-built speakers and a plug in headset, all with no success.
I could set volume levels OK with the sound controls. I looked around the case for any mute-switch, but found none.
After about 4 hours I was ready to give up. I thought that perhaps there was some trash in the earphones jack so grabbed a flashlight and shone it into the hole. That was when I noticed the small and well hidden volume control, just near the jack! Rolled it around and had great sound.
It continues. The debate about air fares and viability of airline because of the increasing fuel prices.
On the one hand, there is much criticism of airline management. And the other, the rising cost of airfares. Well people, get a grip!
My big gripe is that airlines charge a Fuel Levy on flights. This tends to be a flat amount. Hardly fair to charge $65 for a flight LAX (Los Angeles) to SFO (San Francisco) and the same $65 for a flight LAX to JFK (New York). But they do! Also, $15 for your checked in bag. Crazy!
John Griffiths says to airline managers:
Charge enough IN the FARE to recoup your fuel costs
Charge a proportionate amount for extras based on flight distance
Take a long term view, forget about this year’s annual bonus
Start to really MANAGE you airlines finances
If the business were a single owner/driver Cab, then I am sure that the manager would either up the fares, or park the cab. The other alternative is to go bust.
And, John Griffiths says to airline managers:
When/If the price of fuel drops, then you can drop your fares and look great.
OR… Just maintain a management position if fuel prices continue to rise.
If your aircraft leasing rates went to 20% p.a. and state taxes rose, would you not raise fares?
If passenger loads drop because of fare increase, then curtail a few flights.
If too many segments are dropped, and the service is desirable/critical, then hold your hand out for some government funding. - Just like all those old rice farmers and tobacco farmers who are PAID not to produce. Crazy situation!
If bookings fall, and you order less new planes, will not Mr Boeing drop his price?
John Griffiths, trying to solve the world’s problems
So, we are all starting to really feel the effects of the rising price of Oil.
I found this snippet on another blog and thought it would be great to share….
“$200 oil is still very cheap. 200/160= $1,25 per liter of oil.
1 barrel of oil produces as much energy as 12 workers during 1 year, and at $200 it is still cheaper than Coca Cola.
The problem is that we are used to cheap energy, and this cheap energy is essential especially for aviation. But with production stagnant at approx 85mb/day, and demand rising despite record prices, there might be some dark clouds ahead.”
Aviation is beginning to reel from the rising prices… jet fuel went through the $1,300-a-tonne mark last week. Attempts by airlines to hedge against future price increases is becoming more difficult, as hedging providers are being careful not to be burned by price rises. British Airways are planning to reduce flight schedules commencing later this year. Falling demand for tickets limits the airlines ability to raise fares. Other airlines will no doubt follow the the BA lead. Gasoline prices will continue to rise in line with the price of crude. perhaps, if governments raise taxes in an attempt to reduce demand, then gas price rises will exceed the crude price rises. Oh woe are we! The worst is yet to come.
OK, here is a link to our photos of Italy. The link will open in a fresh page/tab.
I built this photo album using JALBUM which works great, especially if you have your own hosted site.
Photos follow the sequence Lake Como Region, Milano, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Assisi, Pompei, Sorrento/Capri and finally Rome/Vatican City. We were away 15 days. to May 10 2008.
We have just returned from our recent trip to Italy alive and well.
We went on a two week tour organised by GoAheadTours.com and had a fabulous time. Everything went according to plan, apart from two very long airport lay-overs (both in New York’s JFK - 1 of 7 hours and one of 6 hours). Go Ahead was great and we would not hesitate to use them again. The Atlantic crossings were flown on Alitalia. This was the first time we had ever flown Alitalia, and would try to stay away from them in the future. Service was not up to the standard we have become accustomed to with Qantas. The Boeing 767 we flew in from Rome to JFK was pretty much fitted out in a vary basic format (no in-seat video), and the most seats had broken support under whatever cushion was left. In all, a very tired plane. My wife had a broken seat. Our two fiends had broken seats. They partially overcame the problem by placing their blankets on top of the seat cushions. As the flights were all full to capacity, there was no option to switch seats.
The highlights of the trip for me were the Lake Como region of northern Italy and the isle of Capri. Also, we enjoyed a few days in Assisi.
I will post some photos in the next few days and place a link here when I get the chance.
The Italian government today (April 22 2008 ) is to somehow (in contravention of EU rulings) advance Alitalia 300 Million Euros. This should keep Alitalia airborne for the next few weeks! Well, to the end of the year at least! So it looks like our trip is going to Go Ahead.
We have trekked back to Texas for the Northern summer but so far summer has gone missing. So much (again) for Global Warming.
In just over a week from now, we are heading to Italy to check things out there. This will be our first visit to Italy and it looks like being a lot of fun. We are touring with some friends from Texas and hope to enjoy some great wine and food there. Oh, yes, we are also going to take in some of the scenery and famous architecture.
There is one factor that may throw a spanner into the works though - The tour company have booked us on Alitalia for the flight across to Italy. Sadly Alitalia are having financial problems and it is rumoured that they may shut down whilst we are away. It is a long swim back to the US so we are hoping that this does not go wrong. Fingers crossed.
This Christmas was an unusual one for me. At this time of year I am usually in Perth, West Australia. But we traveled back to Midland Texas to spend the holidays with our 2 year old granddaughter and family. On Christmas day in Perth, it was about 38C (102F) but in Midland it was a cool 60F with nights all below freezing. It was about the coldest I have ever experienced. I know there are much colder places but why would anyone go there
We did come prepared, and had plenty of warm clothes. My Son Ben and GF Dana came over from London to catch up with us. He said it was great to see the sunshine again - Lots of cloudy cool days in the UK.
On Monday we head back DownUnder on the big Qantas bird. This leaves out of LAX on Dec31 and gets to Australia Jan 2, so we will miss out on NewYear this year. I “think” we will still find an appropriate moment (or more) to celebrate with some Champagne en-route.
There are about a million [ OK, slight exaggeration ] settings that must be just right for your Clarion For Windows compiled program to successfully connect to a running MS-SQL 2005 database.
I have posted some things to check that should help you get configured and connected at…
] settings that must be just right for your