Month: November 2008

As seen in [1. General]

If you’ve been playing the latest World of Warcraft expansion the past couple weeks, you’ve probably sampled the inanity that is [1: General]. The starting zones are filled with people asking stupid questions, and getting equally stupid answers most of the time. I dinged 80 a few days ago, so I thought I’d shed some light on a few more common questions I saw on the grind to 80. Continue reading As seen in [1. General]

Eee Top

Eee Top Asus officially announced the Eee Top today, and while it’s only available in Taiwan for the time being, a US version is inevitable.

The Eee Top’s specs are in line with the current generation of Eee netbooks, 160GB hard disk, 1GB of RAM, 802.11n WiFi, 1.3 megapixel webcam, 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, and running Windows XP Home, the main difference here is the 15.6-inches of touchscreen LCD.

I was hoping it would at least feature a dual core Atom, no such luck, though I still plan on picking one up when the US version hits, after all it seems like a prime target for installing OS X.

Maximize your DPS: Retribution Paladin Edition

(Editors note: this post is current as of 3.0.3.)

Background

For the past two years I’ve spent my time in World of Warcraft behind the proverbial steering wheel of an orc warlock. I did the raiding thing pre-Burning Crusade, but got burned out a few months before Burning Crusade came out. Around six months after BC launched I did what every other Horde player did on a PvP server, and rolled a blood elf paladin. I got him to level 25 or so and left him sitting there for the next year while school and work kept me away from spending any significant time in WoW. About three weeks ago I got tired of never being able to find a healer and decided to level up the old pally. I leveled with a standard protection spec after level 40, and kept that spec until 3.0.2 came out, upon which I respecced to retribution to try out this wonderfully ‘OP’ spec I’d been hearing everyone complain about.

Two days ago I dinged 70. The next day 3.0.3 rolled out the promised nerfs to our wonderfully over-powered retribution tree. Not to be discouraged, I equipped my Blessed Battlegear of Undead Slaying and a nice axe I picked up from Kara a few hours after I dinged and set out to learn all I could from my helpful guild mates about my class and spec. Here’s a few helpful tips I learned that can boost you up the damage meters. Continue reading Maximize your DPS: Retribution Paladin Edition

How to Install OS X on the HP TouchSmart

Disclaimer: This was tested on an HP TouchSmart IQ507, but should work on the entire IQ500 series, though the IQ504 runs on a different video chipset.

To get things started, you’ll need a copy of iDeneb v1.3 10.5.5 which can be found on any number of torrent sites. While you’re waiting for it to download, or for the disc image to burn to a DVD, take a few moments to create a new partition under Windows Vista. Name it OSX, and format it as NTFS for the time being.

Step 1: Enter your BIOS and disable the on board audio, then exit saving changes. Next boot off the DVD, select your preferred language, then click Utilities on the menu bar. Open Disk Utility, on the left-hand side, select the partition you created under Windows, then on the right-hand side, click on the Erase tab. Click the drop down for Volume Format and select Mac OS Extended (Journaled), hit Erase. Confirm your choice to erase the volume. After it completes, close the Disk Utility.

Step 2: Back on the Installers welcome screen, click Continue, then blindly agree to the license terms that will popup.

Step 3: On the next screen, select the partition you just formatted as your install destination. Click Continue.

Step 4: You should now see an Install Summery screen, click Customize. Scroll down and expand the options for Patches 10.5.5 Ready, and select the following patches:

Fix -> ICHx Fix
Fix -> AppleSMBIOS -> AppleSMBIOS 667

Click Done, then Install.

Step 5: After the install completes, reboot and complete the Setup Wizard that loads.

These instructions only cover the basics at this point, since I haven’t had much time to mess around with drivers. I’ll be updating this post as soon as I get greater hardware support figured out.

The biggest annoyance right now is that you have to disable the on board audio every time you boot into OS X or else it won’t recognize the keyboard and mouse. Needless to say, working audio drivers are high on my priorities list.

Update: Here’s how to fix the video resolution.

Edit the com.apple.Boot.plist file located in /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist and add the following:

<key>Graphics Mode</key>
<string>1680x1050x32</string>

Open Disk Utility and Repair Permissions. Restart.

Please note, fixing the resolution will not enable QE or fix the calibration issue.

The following items work:

  • Ethernet
  • Memory Card Reader
  • FireWire
  • DVD Burner
  • Webcam (works, but doesn’t function with some apps since the graphics card isn’t supported)
  • Touch Screen (no way to calibrate, so it’s off by an inch or so)

The following items don’t work:

  • Audio
  • Wireless Card
  • Bluetooth
  • Video Card
  • TV Tuner