So I did some more testing, and I found out my theory about the laptop going into "unfriendly sleep mode" only happens the second time was false. I can't produce a reliable pattern, it just seems to sometimes go into a sleep mode, and then sometimes the display just turns off yet everything is still functionally.
I spent almost 3 hours on the phone with Dell technical support in hopes they could help me. Trying to explain to them the phenomenon of the laptop going into this mysterious "sleep" mode and avoiding it when music is playing was longest part. Over and over again I had to explain to them my situation. In any case, nothing worked. The technician even tried to flash my BIOS, and the scariest part was I was supposed to wait for my laptop to shut down and this would flash it...but it never shut down. When I told the technician I think he was worried out of his mind that he was screwed up my laptop. Flashing your bios is something dangerous and can really screw things up. So I had to manually turn my laptop off...for like the 500th time. And it booted up fine (whew), but when I tried to shut down it THEN tried to flash my bios only it failed with this message about how it couldn't update because it couldn't find the ROM file???
God...the technician then said he would go to bring this to Microsoft because it was clearly a Vista operating system problem. I don't know what is going on anymore. All I fricking want is for my laptop to go into this nice like energy saving mode when I don't use it for awhile. Back in the XP days, I think my laptop always went into this standby mode which was nice and all I had to do was press the power button once and everything came back. But after reading this article
it appears that Microsoft has replaced this with their new feature "sleep" (the same bloody feature I am pulling my hair out about).
Apparently sleep is a combination of standby and hibernate. The computer will go into standby for the first while, and then after awhile it goes into hibernate. Sounds good. Except it DOESN'T WORK.
I hate computers!!!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Dell laptop in eternal sleep
For those who don't know, I just got a new totally wicked Dell Laptop Inspiron 1420. It's totally awesome because it has a Intel Duo Core 2 with 2.2 ghz, 4mb cache, and 800 FSB. And coupled with 4GB of ram. This is one beast. Yeah I am nerd...shut up.
Anyways, I ran into this seriously most frustrating bug or maybe it's a technical hardware problem. Who knows, but the problem is my Dell laptop will go into Sleep mode, no surprise there, after awhile of inactivity. The thing is once it enters "sleep" mode I can't bring the laptop display back! I should make a note that this sleep mode really isn't sleep mode...allow me to explain.
To get an idea of what was exactly going on (I am using Windows Vista by the way, which really isn't that bad...I guess all the talk about how it really sucked got me all scared, but to honest, I kinda like it), I went to the power management options and set my laptop to go into sleep mode after 1 minute. So waited one minute, and the laptop went into sleep mode. And when I say sleep mode what actually happened:
This should technically be the sleep mode. And so, I just pressed the power button and volia the laptop display came back and all the lights (well just the ones needed become solid again) and everything was fine and dandy.
So I am crazy right? What am I talking about? Now I waited one more minute so the laptop would go into sleep mode and I could really convince myself I was going crazy. Except this time after one minute, the display disappeared, but the lights remained solid. No power light blinking...nothing just like it was normally operating..only the display was black...Okay....?? Pressed power nothing...press the enter button nothing...press the media control buttons (ie. play, stop, etc) and the lights came on, and then disappeared. So it appeared my laptop was still running just the display is not visible. So I called Dell technical support hoping I could get some answers and after some lengthly describing of the problem, the guy suggested that run music and let the computer go into sleep mode. This will confirm that the problem is not the computer going into sleep mode, but rather the display or video card driver has a bug or whatever.
So I restarted my computer (doing the manual hold power button down for 10 secs...not good for the computer) and yeah yeah, got back into windows vista. And then I opened itunes and started playing a song and waited...and waited...and waiting...the laptop wasn't going into sleep mode!!! So I stopped the music and then waited 1 minute and sure enough, the laptop went into sleep mode! This was so weird...so according to this...the laptop will not going into sleep mode if music is playing on your lapotop??? But this was the actually friendly sleep mode. So I was able to turn it back on and then I waited another minute and the laptop went into the "unfriendly sleep mode." The funny thing was I left my mouse cursor on the play button of itunes before it actually went into the "unfriendly sleep mode" and so even though the display was gone, when I left-clicked (note: I didn't move my mouse after the display disappeared) the music started again! And I could stop and start it anything. So this proved that the laptop was still running only that the display was gone. So to summarize this:
So how I do I solve this? The honest answer, I HAVE NO IDEA. I am still waiting for the Dell support guy to call me back and help me. But he suggested that we should try upgraded our video card driver (which I already think is upgraded, but we'll see what happens). And as a last resort, I can just set the power settings to NEVER go into sleep mode which would solve everything. But this would pretty stupid, and not to mention energy sucker. Come on, I am want to be environmental...
Crap like this makes me hate computers.
Anyways, I ran into this seriously most frustrating bug or maybe it's a technical hardware problem. Who knows, but the problem is my Dell laptop will go into Sleep mode, no surprise there, after awhile of inactivity. The thing is once it enters "sleep" mode I can't bring the laptop display back! I should make a note that this sleep mode really isn't sleep mode...allow me to explain.
To get an idea of what was exactly going on (I am using Windows Vista by the way, which really isn't that bad...I guess all the talk about how it really sucked got me all scared, but to honest, I kinda like it), I went to the power management options and set my laptop to go into sleep mode after 1 minute. So waited one minute, and the laptop went into sleep mode. And when I say sleep mode what actually happened:
- The display went black
- The front 5 lights all turned off
- The only light doing anything was the power light which was blinking
This should technically be the sleep mode. And so, I just pressed the power button and volia the laptop display came back and all the lights (well just the ones needed become solid again) and everything was fine and dandy.
So I am crazy right? What am I talking about? Now I waited one more minute so the laptop would go into sleep mode and I could really convince myself I was going crazy. Except this time after one minute, the display disappeared, but the lights remained solid. No power light blinking...nothing just like it was normally operating..only the display was black...Okay....?? Pressed power nothing...press the enter button nothing...press the media control buttons (ie. play, stop, etc) and the lights came on, and then disappeared. So it appeared my laptop was still running just the display is not visible. So I called Dell technical support hoping I could get some answers and after some lengthly describing of the problem, the guy suggested that run music and let the computer go into sleep mode. This will confirm that the problem is not the computer going into sleep mode, but rather the display or video card driver has a bug or whatever.
So I restarted my computer (doing the manual hold power button down for 10 secs...not good for the computer) and yeah yeah, got back into windows vista. And then I opened itunes and started playing a song and waited...and waited...and waiting...the laptop wasn't going into sleep mode!!! So I stopped the music and then waited 1 minute and sure enough, the laptop went into sleep mode! This was so weird...so according to this...the laptop will not going into sleep mode if music is playing on your lapotop??? But this was the actually friendly sleep mode. So I was able to turn it back on and then I waited another minute and the laptop went into the "unfriendly sleep mode." The funny thing was I left my mouse cursor on the play button of itunes before it actually went into the "unfriendly sleep mode" and so even though the display was gone, when I left-clicked (note: I didn't move my mouse after the display disappeared) the music started again! And I could stop and start it anything. So this proved that the laptop was still running only that the display was gone. So to summarize this:
- Appears that the dell laptop goes into "friendly sleep mode" the first time and you can get out of the it by pressing the power button once
- The second time, however, results in an "unfriendly sleep mode" which there is no way to get out of. In fact, I wouldn't even call it sleep mode. It's more like display just goes away, everything still works, but you can't get the display to come back. Not really a sleep mode.
- Having music running will cause the laptop to NOT go into sleep mode. I found this to be most interesting of them all.
So how I do I solve this? The honest answer, I HAVE NO IDEA. I am still waiting for the Dell support guy to call me back and help me. But he suggested that we should try upgraded our video card driver (which I already think is upgraded, but we'll see what happens). And as a last resort, I can just set the power settings to NEVER go into sleep mode which would solve everything. But this would pretty stupid, and not to mention energy sucker. Come on, I am want to be environmental...
Crap like this makes me hate computers.
Blocked by one website!
Ack! I had the most frustrating problem ever today and it took me almost two hours to figure out how to fix it. I was trying to access the website http://www.data-face.com only to have my connection time out all the time. I figured the problem might just be the server so I decided to just leave it alone. A few hours later, I tried and still connection time out. Flabbergasted, I email the site owner (who is also my boss) and told him the site is down...only to find out how he was having no problems, and then I asked around and NO ONE ELSE was having problems.
I then tried to use all the computers in my house to access the website and none of them worked. I figured it must have to do with something with my home network and perhaps the firewall was screwing things up. So I went into the settings tried to screw around it and nothing worked. Went ahead to call the Telus support hoping they could figure out what was going on. Went through this lengthly process:
Frustrated because I thought we would never solve the problem, the technical support suggested that maybe it was the webserver blocking my router's ip address! Never thought of that...and he suggested that I grab a new router ip address by turning off my router, unplugging the phone jack, etc. Of course by doing this, I totally forgot that I would lose my phone connection because I was using VoIP, which by the way is the most frustrating thing in the world...I just hate it because it is so unreliable and as soon as the internet is dead so is your phone. Anyways, I told him I would call him back and try the steps.
And to my surprise it solved the problem!!! The website was actually blocking me!! First time something like this has ever happened to me.
I hate computers so much some times...
I then tried to use all the computers in my house to access the website and none of them worked. I figured it must have to do with something with my home network and perhaps the firewall was screwing things up. So I went into the settings tried to screw around it and nothing worked. Went ahead to call the Telus support hoping they could figure out what was going on. Went through this lengthly process:
- Turned off my firewall
- Turned off my anti-virus software
- Screwed around with my webbrowser privacy settings
Frustrated because I thought we would never solve the problem, the technical support suggested that maybe it was the webserver blocking my router's ip address! Never thought of that...and he suggested that I grab a new router ip address by turning off my router, unplugging the phone jack, etc. Of course by doing this, I totally forgot that I would lose my phone connection because I was using VoIP, which by the way is the most frustrating thing in the world...I just hate it because it is so unreliable and as soon as the internet is dead so is your phone. Anyways, I told him I would call him back and try the steps.
And to my surprise it solved the problem!!! The website was actually blocking me!! First time something like this has ever happened to me.
I hate computers so much some times...
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Destiny vs Freedom of Choice
I've always been a destiny type of guy. That whatever we do as already been pre-determined by God...that everything happens for a reason and everything that has happened has happened for a reason. Of course this raises the question: Then what is the point of making choices, or even living if everything is already determined. My theory was always that while everything has been pre-determined, the choices we make give us different interpretations of the end result.
For example, say our end result was that an uncle was supposed to past away later next year. The common thing to think is that a relative uncle will past away, but perhaps the choices we make in life will allow us to meet someone who becomes really close to you that you actually call them "Uncle"...and they are the ones who end up pasting away.
Sounds like a silly theory, but I honestly always thought that was the way things were. Until tonight. I had a very intriguing discussion with the pastor of my church regarding his view on destiny. One of the main reasons I was so interested in this discussion was because the last two months have been really tough on me. There has been many issues on my mind that have mentally, emotionally, and physically drained me...that I just didn't want to have to deal with...and what I really wanted to know was whether I had the choice in what I was doing in life. Was all this dwelling and frustration I was dealing with something I had no control over or what?
After talking with my pastor, things really seemed to clear up. Here is what he thought of destiny:
Sounds like a paradox...if we have the freedom of choice, but God already knows of all our choices...isn't that just the same as saying God knows exactly what we will end up doing? Not exactly:
Just because God knows of the choices we will make, it does NOT mean that God has determined them for us...only we can do that. I still find it hard to comprehend, but my pastor presented an example that helped bit. Imagine a graph that contains space and time. All the choices we make in life will be plotted on this graph at a given space and time. God already KNOWS of all these choices. But are the ones who determined these choices, not him.
This has really put a whole new perspective on my life and my current state in life. Currently, I've been dwelling on some matters that have just been tearing me apart...matters that I continued to dwell on because I honestly thought that this was destiny...something I couldn't avoid. But I really shouldn't...I control my own fate...I don't have to put myself through this ordeal. And I am not anymore. My pastor said it best:
And he is right...I've been allowing this thread to torture me for the past two months...trying to hang onto something because I still hope to turn something good out of it. But by doing so, I've only dug myself a deeper hole. I am going to do what my pastor said, just let go and concentrate on myself. Maybe down the road in my life, there will be a fork in the road for me to make a choice to perhaps try to deal with this thread/issue again...or maybe not...sometimes that's how life goes and I can do nothing but accept it.
I am thankful for tonight and the discussion I've had with my pastor. I truly hope this will stop all the dwelling, frustration, and pain I've had to endure for the last two months.
For example, say our end result was that an uncle was supposed to past away later next year. The common thing to think is that a relative uncle will past away, but perhaps the choices we make in life will allow us to meet someone who becomes really close to you that you actually call them "Uncle"...and they are the ones who end up pasting away.
Sounds like a silly theory, but I honestly always thought that was the way things were. Until tonight. I had a very intriguing discussion with the pastor of my church regarding his view on destiny. One of the main reasons I was so interested in this discussion was because the last two months have been really tough on me. There has been many issues on my mind that have mentally, emotionally, and physically drained me...that I just didn't want to have to deal with...and what I really wanted to know was whether I had the choice in what I was doing in life. Was all this dwelling and frustration I was dealing with something I had no control over or what?
After talking with my pastor, things really seemed to clear up. Here is what he thought of destiny:
No, I don't believe in destiny. I believe that humans have the freedom of choice, but God knows of all the choices we will make.
Sounds like a paradox...if we have the freedom of choice, but God already knows of all our choices...isn't that just the same as saying God knows exactly what we will end up doing? Not exactly:
Knowing does not entail determining
Just because God knows of the choices we will make, it does NOT mean that God has determined them for us...only we can do that. I still find it hard to comprehend, but my pastor presented an example that helped bit. Imagine a graph that contains space and time. All the choices we make in life will be plotted on this graph at a given space and time. God already KNOWS of all these choices. But are the ones who determined these choices, not him.
This has really put a whole new perspective on my life and my current state in life. Currently, I've been dwelling on some matters that have just been tearing me apart...matters that I continued to dwell on because I honestly thought that this was destiny...something I couldn't avoid. But I really shouldn't...I control my own fate...I don't have to put myself through this ordeal. And I am not anymore. My pastor said it best:
Just let go. Cut the thread that is clinging to your heart that is hurting you emotionally, mentally, and physically. Do it for your good.
And he is right...I've been allowing this thread to torture me for the past two months...trying to hang onto something because I still hope to turn something good out of it. But by doing so, I've only dug myself a deeper hole. I am going to do what my pastor said, just let go and concentrate on myself. Maybe down the road in my life, there will be a fork in the road for me to make a choice to perhaps try to deal with this thread/issue again...or maybe not...sometimes that's how life goes and I can do nothing but accept it.
I am thankful for tonight and the discussion I've had with my pastor. I truly hope this will stop all the dwelling, frustration, and pain I've had to endure for the last two months.
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