WWWalter

cannot connect to filesystem, incd service not running and Stop error 8E

walter — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:33:31 +0000

Symptoms: After booting your PC a message says: “cannot connect to filesystem incd service not running“. Additionally, when you shut windows down, it pops a blue screen with a stop error: STOP: 0×0000008E (0xC0000005, … Some PC’s will automatically restart so you cannot shutdown the pc.

Reason: You have installed a older version of Incd, probably part of an older install cd for Ahead Nero.

Solution: Uninstall Incd from your PC. ( You most probably won’t need it. )

solution 1:
- Go to your configuration panel to Software and uninstall Incd. It will be listed.

solution 2:
- Sometimes Incd can’t be fully removed. In this case, use the special Incd clean-up tool. You can download it here: InCD-CleanTool.zip ftp://ftp9.nero.com/attach/InCD-CleanTool.zip Extract it (zip) and run it, point it to your Ahead install directory (program files/ahead) and follow the instructions.

Restart and you should be ok.

Sagem error Only one WAN connection can be enslaved by each bridge : Resolved

walter — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:13:45 +0000

Symptoms: You want to change IP settings, change IP address ( local Ip address, default 192.168.1.1 ) but Sagem router returns a message: “Only one WAN connection can be enslaved by each bridge”

Reason: Other VLAN interfaces are enabled and should be disabled when changing the LAN settings.

Solution: You do not need VLAN , so disable the VLAN circuits

- Go to advanced settings
- Choose Network Interfaces
- Click on LAN Bridge
- Click on settings (button)
- Disable the Wan ethoa0 … 12 ( disable everything exept LAN Ethernet en LAN Wireless – first and last ).

- Now you can change your LAN IP settings.
- Eventually return the state of the disabled interfaces ( only if required )

The Sagem 3464 is a (wireless) VDSL2 broadband internet router. It’s used by Belgacom, EDPNET, and maybe other providers using VDSL2 in Belgium.

Connect to the Sagem via a crossed UTP/STP cable into the Yellow port on the back of the unit (next to the power switch). The default IP is 192.168.1.1 Alternatively connect both router and PC to a hub or switch. ( Mind the unit’s DHCP server is active by default. )

My 2 cents on HTPC media PC and DVB

walter — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:55:06 +0000

Some time ago I decided to build myself a HTPC with satellite receiver. I ended up with this hardware:
Gigabyte Motherboard GA-MA785GT-UD3H , AMD PHENOM II X2 (processor), Cinergy S2 PCI HD (dvb card), Corsair DDR 1600Mhz 8-8-8-24 memory. I’m quite happy with it, but I like to share a few insights that I gained since then.

1. Don’t buy an AMD chipset.
I’m not saying AMD is bad. AMD actually is great. But the motherboard comes with an integrated AMD chipset including an integrated ATI video card ( 4600 ). This motherboard has all features to watch TV and Video, don’t get me wrong, but you won’t get any acceleration. Not in Windows that is. ATI is less open to the open source community and as I’m using XBMC to watch video, which uses FFMPEG to decode the video, all decoding will be done by the processor. The X2 ADM can cope only just. ( 55% CPU ). I ended up buying an NVIDIA ( GeForce GTX 260 ) which is affordable and gives me hardware acceleration in ( the latest beta ) of XBMC. As an added bonus I can play GTA with all settings at highest, 40+ fps.

2. Don’t buy Cinergy S2 PCI HD.
This card is stable as a rock and gives average to good picture quality. It’s compatible with DVBviewer Pro. But the remote control doesn’t work for me ( can’t figure out how to configure it ), but more troublesome: the card generates a high pitched sound ( like an old CRT television set ) when tuning to HD channels. It gives me a headache. I’m going to try and find myself a Hauppauge WinTV HVR-4000 00 DVB-S/-S2/-T/analog on of these days.

3. Software: DVBViever Pro
I learned there is a lot of DVB software, but it’s expensive, can’t handle plugins or is just crap. I stayed with DVBViewer Pro which is just perfect.

Some features I find very exiting are:

Can handle plugins, needed to access the subscription card of you got no conditional access module.
I can run as a service in the background, recording following a schedule
It can wake-up the computer to record a tv show
It can share the DVB card over the network so you can watch satellite tv on your laptop. It’s very easy and stable too!

4. Software: XBMC
For watching movies and MPEG4 or DIVX mkv or avi files, I got hooked on XBMC. It is by far the sleekest home theater software out there and it’s FREE. It supports many skins and can play almost everything. One of the coolest features is the ability to change synchronization of audio and video while playing a movie!! They are in the process of incorporating DVB receivers too. XBMC will also lookup your movie files and tv-shows in a few online databases, returning fan art and titles. The library is very comprehensive.

PS: Windows 7 is working great on this system, but try to keep it clean. Do not install to many things, as it will inevitably make your computer slow.

Media centers I tried but abandoned.

Mediaportal: I didn’t like the design, but It’s the second best FREE mediacenter out there.
Windows Media Center: Nice design, but it doesn’t show all files. Hard to get the library organised. Much like media player…

A comparison of many many media centers (wikipedia)

Stream dreambox video to PC via VLC

walter — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:07:46 +0000

This ultra-small tutorial explains how to watch dreambox satellite TV on your PC using the latest version of VLC. If you have problems getting it to work try the comments section, maybe I can help.

Setup:

Firefox 3.5.7
VLC 1.0.3
Dreambox 7000s / Enigma 1 / PLI JADE 2 (other setups not tested)

Parameters in my setup (will be different in yours!):

Dreambox IP : 192.168.1.200
VLC language = dutch

Note: When installing VLC , by default the “mozilla plugin” isn’t installed. You need that plugin to watch Web-X-TV. Check the box “mozilla plugin” while installing VLC.

STEP 1: NETWORK STREAM

Open a network stream ( Media – open network stream )

STEP 2: OPEN HTTP STREAM

The stream is accessible via HTTP. Select HTTP for protocol. Then enter the dreambox IP address. ( 192.168.1.200 in my setup ) and add /video.m3u to the address. The complete address should look like this: 192.168.1.200/video.m3u
Now click on PLAY.

STEP 3: VIDEO

VLC player should start playing whatever TV program that is currently playing on the dreambox.

NOTE: Change video.m3u to audio.pls to listen to the audio only.

TIP: Use the webinterface to change programs.

Rootkit Kryptik.ABX in atapi.sys ( CsimPlayer.exe )

walter — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:04:33 +0000

On Friday, December 11 a trojan horse got it’s way into my Windows.

It all started with AVAST trowing these warnings:

11/12/2009 23:08:51 xxx 412 Sign of “Win32:Malware-gen” has been found in “C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\~TM1F1A.tmp” file.

I told AVAST to delete ~TM1F1A.tmp, but avast apparently didn’t delete the file. Shortly after AVAST complained about a system file:

11/12/2009 23:10:08 xxx 412 Sign of “Win32:Cutwail-AD [Trj]” has been found in “C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\atapi.sys” file.
11/12/2009 23:10:37 xxx 412 Sign of “Win32:Cutwail-AD [Trj]” has been found in “C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache\atapi.sys” file.

Then I looked at the running processes.

A process called CsimPlayer.exe was running and had two child processes svchost.exe attached to it.

Running a SHA Hash comparison between CsimPlayer.exe and the tmp-file confirmed that CsimPlayer.exe was indeed ~TM1F1A.tmp, the file AVAST identified as malware. The same CsimPlayer was added to the startup registry tree : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ( C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\CsimPlayer.exe” )

In the meantime a CMD (command prompt) process was eagerly active tunning a batch called fjhdyfhsn.bat. The batch command file contained following statements (a loop trying to delete firefox… ):

@echo off :try @del /F /Q "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" if exist "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" goto try

The BAT file was dropped on my system at 11 december 23:08, moments before the ~temp files.

Another file called siszyd32.exe was dropped in the StartUp folder.

I still don’t know what it was and why Avast isn’t detecting it. I will keep you posted if more info is available.

At the mean time try following:

download process explorer: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx
Run it then kill all CMDs, siszyd32.exe and CsimPlayer.exe
remove all instances of siszyd32.exe and CsimPlayer.exe on your C:\drive
Remove it from the registry

Removal Instructions

You’ve got this malware probably because java, flash or acrobat aren’t up to date. Older versions are insecure and potentially exposes your system to security threats! Scan your system with this online scanner.

Removal:

Get Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware

Computer Shuts Off without any warning….Why?

walter — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 07:42:35 +0000

Why does my computer just shut off without warning?

Well, It’s having some major failure (soft or hardware) and reboots. You will need to figure out what error was involved. For that, you should tell you computer not to reboot, but to show you the error. Here is how:

press Windows Key + Pause/Break
Click the tab named ADVANCED
Click the SETTINGS button in the Startup and Recovery section
UN-check AUTOMATICALLY RESTART

Now, next time your computer crashes, it will give you a “blue screen” telling you what’s wrong. Now.. sort of. Look here for a blue screen example:

Look for the STOP error, something like STOP 0×000000D1 , forget the numbers between brackets. Go to google and look for “STOP 0×000000D1″. It may give you clues about what is happening.

Also note the filename (in the screenshot it is gv3.sys). Look in Google what that file does. It may reveal clues to what piece of hardware or software is failing.

If you find for example that your sound card is the culprit, go to the manufacturer site (of the card) and download the latest drivers.

And a last (but not least) tip. Try to remember when the problem began and what software you installed just before that. Uninstall that software. It may return your system to normal again.

How do i know what graphics card i have?

walter — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 06:42:58 +0000

You want to know what video graphics card you have. So, besides opening your pc and looking at the card, there are two more ways for finding out plenty details about your videocard.

Way 1:

press windows key + R
type dxdiag and press enter ( The Direct X diagnose window will open )
Click on the tab named DISPLAY

Way 2:

download GPUZ from http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/
run GPUZ ( it gives you tons of information about your graphics card )

Help! My download does not start? Is my ISP blocking torrent?

walter — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:52:29 +0000

Help! My download won’t start? Is my ISP blocking torrent?
Yes, that is quite possible. You are probably behind a NAT and maybe (on top) a firewall.
Let’s find out:
First, go get your internet IP number: Click on http://www.whatismyip.com/ and note (copy) the IP number it returns. (you’ll need it later).

Now go to a dos box and enter IPCONFIG /ALL
If the IP number of you network-adapter is the same as the one whatismyip reports, then you are directly connected to the internet.

If your whatismyip IP address is the same as your local address, then you can still be firewalled. To check this follow these steps:

Go to http://www.auditmypc.com/firewall-test.asp
Enter your IP number (the one you copied from whatismyip), press Enter.
Choose standard security scan.
Click Start Scan

If you see no open ports, or at least no torrent ports, then you are firewalled. But before you go out flaming your ISP, DO CHECK if you didn’t enable the Firewall on your windows XP!! If it’s enabled, disable it. ( Better: ad an exception for your torrent ports…)

If all tests tell you that nobody can access your PC from outside (no open ports), then you’ll need a VPN to access the internet. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vpn ) It will act as a separate network-adapter that is connected to the internet on the other side of a “tunnel”. The tunnel is created trough your normal internet connection by the VPN software and uses only one outgoing connection. The NAT (router at the campus) should normally not block this.

This is a free VPN service: http://www.openvpn.net/

If you want some more “speed” you should look for a paid VPN service. (free VPNs are overloaded and slow). I used ACEVPN and was satisfied with the service. They also have a free service, but that doesn’t allow torrents. As a matter of fact, look closely if the VPN service allows P2P and Torrent and how it should be configured.
Here is a list of VPN providers (in 2008). http://filesharefreak.com/2008/10/18/total-anonymity-a-list-of-vpn-service-providers/

If there is a firewall installed, there could be a problem. When it is configured to block VPN connections. Some VPN software can be configured to use port 80, fooling the firewall into thinking you are browsing websites. But advanced firewalls can now determine what kind of packets are send through any port and can block anything that looks suspicious. In that case you are screwed.

You may talk to the network administrator. Maybe he likes presents?

This may also interest you: Anonymous BitTorrent Through a VPN – The Speed Tests

False positives after update Avast (fixed!)

walter — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:16:05 +0000

UPDATE: THE ISSUE IS RESOLVED / FIXED : updated version: 091203-1
Continue reading at the bottom of this post for info on the fix

What was going on:

The latest Avast virusdatabase update came with a serious bug. In version 091203-0 various files* are being marked as “Win32:Delf-MZG (Trj)”. These are all false positives and should
be ignored. (* rumors say the affected files are written in Delphi )

Apart from falsely marking files as this virus some say it can hinder the windows operating system’s boot, so if you happen to suffer from these symptoms, under no circumstance reboot your system. If you would reboot, Avast could block certain services from starting.

To disable Avast (temporarily) follow these instructions: (continue reading at the bottom for the fix)

Right mouse clicking the Avast icon near your clock.
Choose Stop On-access scanning tasks

If you got stuck and need to reboot your system, follow these instructions first. ( In any other case, just disabling Avast. ): (continue reading at the bottom for the fix)

Reboot in safe mode: Hold down F8.
Log in as Admin
Uninstall AVAST & DO NOT SCAN YOUR COMPUTER!!
Wait until Avast fixes the bug or install another virus scanner.

Disable AVAST for the time being.
Wait for another iAVS update and click NO ACTION when action is required.

Quote from: zone12 on Today at 02:05:26 AM

The recent avast! VPS update has a serious flaw inside it, various files are being marked as “Win32:Delf-MZG (Trj)”. Some of the common files being marked as this false positive include Skype and Spybot S&D.

Apart from marking various files as this virus, the new update brought a crippling threat to the windows operating system. Accounts are vague but some are reporting that the new update may hinder the windows operating system’s boot.If you have updated avast during the last 48 hours do not restart your computer!This is caused by avast scanning the starting files, during this process it will mark a file as hazardous and will not allow you proceed without aknowledgement, being that this is happening during the time in which windows loads there is no possable way to give aknowledgement to the program therefore putting the computer at a standstill.

The problem started a few hours ago. In an attempt to find out what is happening, thousands of users went to Avast’s forum, immediately overloading it. In the mean time, “avast” is trending on twitter.

UPDATE: It is finally fixed. ( Thursday 7:05 CET )

Information about current update:
Total time: 39 s

- Vps: Updated
(previous version: 091203-0, updated version: 091203-1)

Server: download650.avast.com (209.62.90.50)
Downloaded files: 6 (1,78 KB)
Download time: 9 s

To UPDATE Avast follow these instructions:

Right mouse clicking the Avast icon near your clock.
Choose UPDATE
Choose iAVS update

EXTRA:

How to restore files from the chest:

The Virus Chest can be accessed directly from the options menu in the Avast program window. To get there right click the Avast icon near your clock and choose Start Avast!. Cancel any starting scans!!! (important) Then click on the chest icon. A window containing a list of files will open. Right clicking on any file will produce the following options we can use:

Refresh all files: Select this option if you want to make sure you are looking at the complete list of files. The program refreshes the list automatically but you can use this option if you do not want to wait.
Restore file: The file will be restored to its original location and at the same time removed from the Chest.
Extract file: The file will be copied to the selected folder.

I suggest restoring.

(taken from the manual: http://download787.avast.com/files/manuals/user-manual-home-eng.pdf )

update: Official statement of AVAST (Alwil) http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=51647

PC-based DVB-S2 satellite receiver part 1

walter — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:44:15 +0000

Please continue to the updated post.