The Techies Thread

[Adam Brown]

re: Doom 3 multiplayer

Hamachi is working a treat, thanks very much for that

Now, is there a way to bring the lag down a bit? (Using Hamachi to simulate LAN).
It's not too bad, but thought I'd ask anyway.

I've tried the following things:

• Using the console to change the net_clientMaxRate and net_serverMaxClientRate to 10,000
• Lowing the graphics settings

I'm not much of a networking guru; is there a way to allocate all my bandwidth to Doom 3? Or whatever IP address Hamachi has allocated me?

AFAIK i don't have any special software that allows me to do stuff like that (because I'd have no idea )

bump?

[Zoso]

I use hamachi at a mates to play left4dead so I'll see if they;ve done anything specific to the router as it runs relatively smooth

I have question.. has anyone ever transported a desktop PC overseas and what is the best way to do this?

Is it better to pull her apart and transport in parts, or since it's not that amazing sell it and instead buy a laptop that is capable of gaming () or perhaps keep some parts and buy the rest there and put together?

[Q.]

I'd say fuck it and build one wherever you're going, unless for some reason pc parts are crazy expensive there.

A reasonable gaming PC these days costs SFA. As for laptops, well, that Macbook Pro 15/17" you've always wanted will play most things at medium settings ;D

[Zoso]

no that was one of the HUGE problems I had with the Mac, even with VMware fusion and a decent graphics card, (Nividia 8600GT?) it couldn't play PC games, woe is me

[Slurm]

no that was one of the HUGE problems I had with the Mac, even with VMware fusion and a decent graphics card, (Nividia 8600GT?) it couldn't play PC games, woe is me

Forget running games in a virtual machine. Use bootcamp and boot into windows for that.

[Zoso]

But I like running my OS's simultaneously

[Slurm]

But I like running my OS's simultaneously

[one like the goose]

I use hamachi at a mates to play left4dead so I'll see if they;ve done anything specific to the router as it runs relatively smooth

I have question.. has anyone ever transported a desktop PC overseas and what is the best way to do this?

Is it better to pull her apart and transport in parts, or since it's not that amazing sell it and instead buy a laptop that is capable of gaming () or perhaps keep some parts and buy the rest there and put together?

Rip the HDD out and throw away the rest. Unless its super spenno, it will probably cost you more to transport it than to buy a new one.

[Dynamik]

Hamachi is working a treat, thanks very much for that

Now, is there a way to bring the lag down a bit? (Using Hamachi to simulate LAN).

problem #1 is that LAN games assume a level of connectivity (i.e. 100Mbit ethernet) that the internet just can't match. Drop the number of players/bots etc.

problem #2 is relative to where on the internet the Hamachi tunnel starts and stops - same ISP? - same country? the more 'hops' to the destination the greater the lag

problem #3 is packet fragmentation. the MTU of your average ethernet is a nominal ~1500bytes. if you have PPPoE DSL then it can be limited to ~14xx bytes. wrap a VPN tunnel around that (i.e. Hamachi) and your MTU drops to ~13xx bytes. Quake might be sending packets that are too big for the MTU and are getting fragmented? No idea.

[ZD]

another odd request from me....

i've got a rather large widescreen monitor. is there a program out there that can adjust or simulate another monitor size within my screen? eg. if i've got a 23" widescreen monitor and i want to simulate a 15" 4:3 monitor....is there a way of fitting the image to this size and have black bars everywhere else?

[Zoso]

Rip the HDD out and throw away the rest. Unless its super spenno, it will probably cost you more to transport it than to buy a new one.

yeah you're probably right, might even just transfer everything onto an external, wipe it, and repurchase over there (or try and get my mac fixed and just take that ) and sell the PC

[Q.]

another odd request from me....

i've got a rather large widescreen monitor. is there a program out there that can adjust or simulate another monitor size within my screen? eg. if i've got a 23" widescreen monitor and i want to simulate a 15" 4:3 monitor....is there a way of fitting the image to this size and have black bars everywhere else?

You're probably screwed unless your monitor has the option of not stretching resolutions lower than it's native in it's OSD controls or in your graphics card driver settings.

If it does, simply set your screen resolution according to the following:
(typical resolutions for this sized monitor in 4:3)
15" -> 1024x768
17"/19" -> 1280x1024
>20" -> 1600x1200 (this won't fit on a 1680x1050 23" monitor though, nor a 16:9 1920x1080WS)

Hope that made sense

If you were hoping to not do it this way, and have some program do it for you, I can't think of anything sorry.

[Q.]

Also, lol @ trying to game in VMWare. If you absolutely have to game in OSX, Crossover office is generally a lot faster, even if it doesn't support quite as many fancy DX9 extensions as VMWare. It runs steam/source engine games really well.

In techier news, Windows 7 final is quite good. I have a technet subscription which cost me not much more than ultimate retail would have and gives me 10 keys for each edition lol. Driver support for bootcamp on my macbook is a bit meh though, but a month or two for vendors to catch up with drivers should make it better.

[Zoso]

Also, lol @ trying to game in VMWare. If you absolutely have to game in OSX, Crossover office is generally a lot faster, even if it doesn't support quite as many fancy DX9 extensions as VMWare. It runs steam/source engine games really well. .

haha I know, I know.. it was my only alternative at the time, and apparently worked for some.. but I installed the graphics card drivers, selected the accelerate 3D Graphics option within VMwares settings.. and the bastard still wouldn't work for me haven't heard of crossover office.. I wouldn't try parallel desktops either...

VMware was actually pretty shithouse for any big application tbh,.. would slow the whole thing down on both mac side and windows, when running big apps.. photoshop, cubase, nuendo, illustrator etc which is what I got it for in the first place ;(

[Slurm]

haha I know, I know.. it was my only alternative at the time, and apparently worked for some.. but I installed the graphics card drivers, selected the accelerate 3D Graphics option within VMwares settings.. and the bastard still wouldn't work for me haven';t heard of crossover office.. I wouldn't try parallel desktops either...

VMWare was actualyl pretty shithouse for any big application tbh,.. would slow the whole thing down on both mac side and windows, when running big apps.. photoshop, cubase, nuendo, illustrator etc which is what I got it for in the first place ;(

Thats because Windows is shit. Running heavy apps in Solaris or Ubuntu under VMWare is great.

[Zoso]

haha I am afraid of linux/unix / noob

[Slurm]

haha I am afraid of linux/unix / noob

Yup, me too.

but I'm also afraid of windows, and bungie jumping.

[Zoso]

haha yup

[Q.]

Crossover Office has a free 30 day trial, give it a shot. It's based on WINE and isn't a virtualisation based solution. Most games ported to mac now simply use Cider, which is another commercialisation of WINE.

[Uisce]

In techier news, Windows 7 final is quite good. I have a technet subscription which cost me not much more than ultimate retail would have and gives me 10 keys for each edition lol. Driver support for bootcamp on my macbook is a bit meh though, but a month or two for vendors to catch up with drivers should make it better.

What's an ultimate key going to cost me?

[Q.]

Already sold them all sorry but they were $45ea lol.

[Infidel]

lol

I never used Vista... piece of crap.

Triple booting WinXP, Win7 RC and Ubuntu Jaunty atm...
Also got vm setup on all of them for fun.
Today I'm going to make my 4gb usb key into a bootable Jaunty.

On a side note, anyone have any Cisco gear they want to part with?
Got my CCNA exam on 12/08, but I want to setup a mini lab at home and maybe head towards CCNP.
Also need to setup the IBM server I scored from work.

[c_avdas]

I might have a spare 2900 if you need a switch..

[Infidel]

I might have a spare 2900 if you need a switch..

I've got one, but only 10Mbps

[c_avdas]

ouch
2900 is 10/100, I'll double check that I have one spare when I get home

[JaYeLL]

ive got plenty of 2924's here

Theres also a Cat 4003 with a sup and 1 x 10/100 blade in it. Only problem is it only runs CATOS not ios.

I've also got a pix 506 without a power supply

There will be a PIX 515E available in about a month and maybe a 2600 router

[JaYeLL]

Also look into using Dynamips its a cisco emulator

I used it heavily when doing my partner certifications, i just need to finish these damn data centre moves so i can start on my ccvp

[one like the goose]

GNS3 > any Cisco simulations. It actually works like a VM. You load real IOS binaries on to them. I have successfully labed up some fairly out there solutions that I would be highly suprised to see work in an emulator. Only catch is it only supports routers and not switches. It does have a function to use plain layer 2 switches.

[Infidel]

2600 would be nice, I've got GNS3 but it keeps crapping out on me
I want actual hardware anyway.

Heh, we just finished a DC move at work too!

[JaYeLL]

2600 would be nice, I've got GNS3 but it keeps crapping out on me
I want actual hardware anyway.

Heh, we just finished a DC move at work too!

ok once we've moved and i've commissioned my new kit i'll let you know exactly what's available.

Im also thinking about buying a cheap ass access point and using that at home and plugging my 2811 in and selling my 877W

Having an 877W, 3560-8PS & 2811 @ home is a bit of an overkill

[GrandMaster]

gns3 ran totally shitbox on my computer, i do have a new dual core gibson now so i might give it another crack when i get a chance to get back into learning some network stuff again at work.
i used cisco packet tracer with i was helping magentas bro with his ccna and it looked pretty sweet.

im learning emc networker at the moment, and it makes me want to stab my eyeballs with a rusty fork

[JaYeLL]

i totally nerded it up the other day and installed CUCM 6.1 in vmware, just need to get my hands on a 2 port fxo card to put in my 2811 so i can get PSTN connectivity .

1000 user system with voicemail for home... not that i need it but hey

[Infidel]

I'm also thinking about buying a cheap ass access point and using that at home and plugging my 2811 in and selling my 877W

I would be very interested in the 877W

[Haile Selassie]

Alright dudes. Im technically retarded so please bare with me..

i have a PS3 next to my phone line and my PC in another room. I also have a router with USB and Ethernet connections.

Can i use my current router on the PS3 and connect a wireless network thing into the Ethernet plug on it turning it into a wireless router? And then stick a Wireless AP on my PC? Would that work.

If not what would be the best wireless router to buy so that i can connect my PS3 and PC into the interwebs?

[one like the goose]

Put the router next to the PS3/phone line. Provide connectivity to the PS3 with wired Ethernet. Buy an AP and plug it into one of the wired ports on the router. Buy a wireless NIC for your PC to connect to the AP.

[Zoso]

What's a good gaming laptop for someone on a budget (I know that's filled with oxymoron's but any help be appreciated )

[Haile Selassie]

Thanks

So by wired ports do you mean USB?

Because all my router has is 1 ADSL, 1 USB and 1 Ethernet connction

[one like the goose]

By wired I meant Ethernet. If your router only has one wired port then you might as well scrap it and by an all in one router/wireless access point/switch. Otherwise it will probably cost you more for a switch and AP. Something like this would set you back less than $100:

http://www.ple.com.au/?p=snapshot&inventory_id=29611]

[linelevel]

Anyone know of a free to use driver update program? I've used the trial version of drivermax and driver robot, is there a freeware prog out there that will scan my pc and tell me exactly what drivers i have installed and which ones need to be updated?

[c_avdas]

http://www.halfdone.com/Development/UnknownDevices/

wait I misread your post, so it prob won't help you at all
but as far as finding the right drivers for a fresh windows install with a billion yellow exclamation marks goes, this pisses on all the other paid/spyware-ridden programs that do much the same thing

[Corteks]

Anyone know of a free to use driver update program? I've used the trial version of drivermax and driver robot, is there a freeware prog out there that will scan my pc and tell me exactly what drivers i have installed and which ones need to be updated?

Driver Detective will scan your PC for free and I think you might be able to get some search-able info from said scan. Of course it wants you to buy it to do the actual updating.

[saki100]

Laptop Advice please -

looks like Andy's laptop has died in the arse, and we need to purchase a new one for him. It has been awhile since we have entered a computer store or even worked in IT to even have an idea of what to buy... and we are in Thailand, so...

techies:
smaller laptop, lightweight, guts and stuff - will probably only consider big brands buying here - not apple for andrew... ideas?
how are the HPs these days?

[linelevel]

http://www.halfdone.com/Development/UnknownDevices/

wait I misread your post, so it prob won't help you at all
but as far as finding the right drivers for a fresh windows install with a billion yellow exclamation marks goes, this pisses on all the other paid/spyware-ridden programs that do much the same thing

cheers

[plankoid]

Laptop Advice please -

looks like Andy's laptop has died in the arse, and we need to purchase a new one for him. It has been awhile since we have entered a computer store or even worked in IT to even have an idea of what to buy... and we are in Thailand, so...

techies:
smaller laptop, lightweight, guts and stuff - will probably only consider big brands buying here - not apple for andrew... ideas?
how are the HPs these days?

If you're fairly central try IT City in Bangkok. Make sure you have a good look around though. You're bound to find something around there that meets your needs for a decent price. If you're not interested in macs I would keep an eye out for asus :-)

[Infidel]

What's a good gaming laptop for someone on a budget (I know that's filled with oxymoron's but any help be appreciated )

http://computers.toptenreviews.com/gaming-laptops/

Alienware Area-51 M17X looks pretty good for sub $2000

I just got that from a google search though, I'm no expert (though I hear alienwear are pretty good at pc's)

Driver Detective will scan your PC for free and I think you might be able to get some search-able info from said scan. Of course it wants you to buy it to do the actual updating.

My mate paid for this and said it was well worth the cost.

[Zoso]

haha nice, cheers

Does anyone know a good (credible) mac repair shop? I've taken to mac shop in carousel before and they were crapola..

My Mac book basically wouldnt turn on one day - could hear hardrive running but there was no display - took it in to a random shop and was told the motherboard was defective; however when buying a PC the bloke managed to boot her up perfectly?

There could be something simply wrong with just the display I think, as it used to invert periodically, anyway any suggestions of where to go?

[Interjecta]

Alienware Area-51 M17X looks pretty good for sub $2000.

Try starting from $3,799

I just ordered a Studio XPS 16 from DELL today:
Core 2 Duo Processor T9550 (2.66GH, 6MB Cache, 1066 MHz FSB)
6GB,1066MHz DDR3 RAM
1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670
16" Full HD screen w/webcam
500Gb Hard Drive
Vista Ultimate (Windows 7 upgrade)
3 year warranty
Digital TV Tuner

managed to bargain them down to $2470 (site price was $2935)

What's your budget Zoso? You can get a base model of the DELL lappy above from $1699

[Infidel]

Try starting from $3,799

Oh yeah

I was looking at the old model refurbished and not from Dell Australia... fail

[Zoso]

What's your budget Zoso? You can get a base model of the DELL lappy above from $1699

That site was actually really good Infidel.. had some good advice on what to look for etc

and budget wise.. I'm moving countries so as little as possible I'll sell my PC so hopefully that will get me around 500 or so ..

this one looks not so bad..http://computers.toptenreviews.com/g...iews-23836.htm

I'm basically looking for a decent processor, memory and graphics card thats supportive of adobe apps and the latest games

[Q.]

haha nice, cheers

Does anyone know a good (credible) mac repair shop? I've taken to mac shop in carousel before and they were crapola..

My Mac book basically wouldnt turn on one day - could hear hardrive running but there was no display - took it in to a random shop and was told the motherboard was defective; however when buying a PC the bloke managed to boot her up perfectly?

There could be something simply wrong with just the display I think, as it used to invert periodically, anyway any suggestions of where to go?

Zoso, the ONLY good mac repair shop in Perth that aren't a bunch of utter tools is Team Digital on Lord St in East Perth. Give them a call, drop it in, they'll solve your problem pronto.