Darwin Mach

Let’s admit it, gMail is awesome (some of you would beg to differ), especially when you use gApps like I do. But I’ve always had a few requirements:

• being able to access my most recent e-mail offline
• without using a browser
• large mailboxes (4+ GB)
• use of certificates to sign or encrypt e-mail
• integrated calendar, tasks, contacts
• multiple e-mail account support
• and recently, synchronize all this with my Android phone

My former method was to use Microsoft Outlook, but that program is riddled with problems and cumbersome. It also doesn’t seem to alert you when you have new mail if you use IMAP. Synchronizing Calendar and Contacts with my phone required a 3rd party program, which would be limited to just 1 calendar in Outlook and often create duplicate Contacts. On one occasion, the program got stuck with corrupted information and about half of the ~75 contacts in my list had about 25 copies each. (I fixed this shutting off Outlook & the sync program, exporting all my contacts to a Google CSV, and removing the duplicates offline.)

So in my quest for a more seamless & less troublesome e-mail client, the only VIABLE non-browser e-mail client turns out to be Mozilla’s Thunderbird. However, integration with Google Mail isn’t seamless or without quirks.

My Thunderbird installation required the following add-ons to run Thunderbird with some of Outlook’s best features:

• AlertSwitch (Enables & Disables new alert with one click)
• Blinking Alert (enables Outlook-like “Desktop Alerts”
• Display Quota (displays the gMail quota)
• Google Contacts (Sync Contacts with Google)
• Lightning (Calendar for Thunderbird)
• Master Password (Security Enhancements, password protected TBird Access)
• MinimizeToTray (Because I don’t use the Windows 7 combined taskbar labels)
• Provider for Google Calendar (Sync calendars with Google)

Each add-on requires some configuration tweaks for setup and optimal behavior. The most complicated was setting up “Provider for Google Calendar” – follow each add-on’s instructions.

After setting this all up, I had 6 e-mail accounts set up (IMAP), about 4 of which were Google Mail (Apps). The initial sync took a while – be patient as TBird will seem like it is frozen. But afterwards, it seemed to run smoothly… Until I re-opened the program or tried to send an e-mail, where it literally freeze for up to 10 minutes!

After some troubleshooting, I narrowed it down to just a few settings. They are both due to gMail’s conversation/relational e-mail nature operating at the server side.

The first “setting” to disable is the option to sync the “All Mail” folder under “GMail”:

 

And the other is to disable saving a copy of sent mail to the Sent folder:

 

Why disable these settings? The former because the All Mail folder in IMAP is a redundant copy of EVERY e-mail in your account, Inbox, Sent, Drafts, all your labels, etc. By having TBird sync this folder every 2-5 minutes, or on every startup, it will take an eternity, especially with multiple mailboxes. The latter because gMail will AUTOMATICALLY create a copy of your sent mail in the Sent folder.

By disabling these two options, I can still set my message size limit to 25KB and sync my past 30 days of e-mail across 4 Google Mail accounts without TBird freezing on my due to extended, extraneous syncing of redundant emails.

I hope you find this useful if you use gMail with Thunderbird.

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So here’s my long overdue hardware review / disassembly “guide” of the Dell Precision M6600… (Thanks, Dell for the exchange upgrade covered under your wonderful warranty!)

DISCLAIMER: I take no responsibility for what you do with your own machine. Also, any “guidance” herein is merely suggestions and is in no way an official disassembly instructions from Dell. When writing this, I assume that you have working knowledge on laptop repair. You’ve been warned.

My apologies if some of these pictures are blurry – I was in a hurry to get my new M6600 up and running so I wasn’t as careful as I could have been to get better quality pictures.

So here are a few pictures comparing the new M6600 series with the old M6400/6500 chassis:

This one is a picture of the two systems side by side (M6600 on the left). Visually, you can tell that the new series is longer and thinner than it’s older series. This is mainly because of the change in aspect ratio from about 16:10 to the HD “Standard” of 16:9.

As you can see from the two pictures above, the ports on the left side of the Precisions have been distributed more evenly to make better use of space. This also allows for fatter USB devices to be plugged directly into the system.

The right side of the Precisions have also changed. The Express Card (EC) slot has moved over to the left side and there is no longer a PC card slot (It’s also worth noting that the new EC slot is spring loaded, contrary to the one in the M6400). The VGA, ethernet, and now dedicated eSATA port have moved to the back. In its place are 2 USB 3.0 ports. The wireless switch is also moved closer to the front, but the DisplayPort is still in the same location

Here you can see the M6600′s VGA, ethernet, and dedicated eSATA port on the rear of the machine. Dell also added an HDMI port and moved the power input to the left, back side of the machine.

Here’s a picture of the two laptops side by side , opened to show you their full glory (M6600 on the left). The two systems have a different keyboard layout. Most notably the volume controls have moved to the top left of the palmrest assembly as silver buttons that are flat, click, and are harder to press. The “Page Up”, “Page Down”, “Home”, and “Del” keys have been relocated and in their place, 3 media keys are now present (Back, Play/Pause, Forward). The convenient calculator key has just moved down and is the same spot. The speaker grill on the M6600 is also clearly visible. Although it can’t be clearly seen in the photo, the M6600 no longer has a fully “perforated” top cover (where the speaker bar is), which traps less dust. Also not shown on the M6600 is the FIPS fingerprint reader, which is exactly the same as the M6400, but in lower right hand corner just above the Windows 7 logo sticker. The M6600′s screen is gloss finished because this model has a multi-touch panel built in.

The bottom cover of the two systems are much different as well, save for the docking connector, which is the same (and also compatible with any E-family dock).

The M6600′s battery is much smaller than M6400′s battery, but ONLY due to a reduction in the extra plastic size. Otherwise they’re pretty much the same in physical size and charge capacity (97 vs 95 W-Hr).

The interior of the M6600′s bottom is also different (of course). Unlike before, the primary hard disk is not directly removable from the bottom. The two “user replaceable” RAM is also accessible from the bottom. Two more are underneath the keyboard, which will require a partial disassembly to reach.

To remove the primary hard disk, you have to remove the “H” screws and push the release tab in the battery compartment to release it.

Now we’re going to discuss accessing and replacing the major components on the M6600. IMPORTANT NOTE: Some details are omitted because I’m writing this from the re-assembled system.

First, you need to remove all the “P” labeled screws plus a few unlabeled screws: 2 next to the primary hard drive and a few more I don’t remember exactly where (probably 2 near the screen hinges and one under the optical drive, don’t quote me on it). You’ll only need to remove these screws if you’re going to access anything BEYOND the keyboard and the “internal” memory slots.

The first step is to remove the plastic keyboard cover that surrounds the entire keyboard. You’ll need to start at the edges and use a plastic card to carefully pop it up. Hint: it’s very fragile.

After removing the keyboard (5 screws, “K”), the “non-replaceable” memory memory slots can be accessed. Because of an Intel Sandy Brigde CPU limitation, you must have a quad Core-i7 CPU in order to use these two RAM slots. This is because each 2 cores has its own memory controller that only supports 2 slots of memory.

Remove all the remaining “P” screws & use a plastic card at the edge of the chassis to remove the palm rest assembly. Three of these screws are self-retaining. Of course, disconnect all visible cables. If so equipped, there’s a Bluetooth cable you won’t be able to unplug until you get the palm rest removed, so be careful.

Here’s a closeup shot of the CPU socket. Is is compatible with any Socket G1/G2 Sandy Bridge CPU. Personally, I replaced my Core-i5 with a Core-i7 2820QM (and subsequently enabling the “internal” memory slots). Unlike the previous Precision laptops, there is only 1 daughter board. Additionally, unlike the M6500 series, there is only 1 motherboard that supports both Dual and Quad core CPUs.

Removing any other components from this point on requires that the display be removed. The procedure is the same as the M6400. Here is a picture of the GPU (upper middle card) with the GPU heat sink removed. The GPU is an MXM card.

Here’s a picture of the main board without the GPU card.

Here’s a picture of the GPU by itself. This one is the nVidia Quadro 4000M.

To re-assemble, just go backwards. Make sure you keep track of your screws

This picture shows the M6600 “BIOS” (firmware to be correct) screen with the option for uEFI boot.

To wrap it up, I’ll leave you with another interesting tip: because of nVidia Optimus, the M6600 supports 3 screens (1 internal, 2 external) for sure. The Intel integrated graphics on the CPU drives the internal display and the VGA port and the dedicated GPU drives the DisplayPort and HDMI ports. Apps are selectively processed on either the dedicated GPU or the integrated chip (as determined by drivers) and then passed to the display (see nVidia’s website on how Optimus technology works). Because the Intel GPU is driving the VGA port, I have reason to believe that a 4th monitor can be added, but I don’t have the resources or the space to test this out.

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Over the summer, I acquired an exchange upgrade from my Dell Precision M6400 to an M6600. I got a chance to disassemble and replace the mainboard in this new system, but didn’t get around to posting photos and comments I had about the new hardware. (Post a comment below if you want the pictures.)

My experiences with the M6600 were not without headaches. Issues ranged from a keyboard that locks up if the backlit was on during boot to drives not waking up when the computer resumed from S3 standby due to the Free Fall Sensor not waking up with the system.

Well, Dell decided it was a real problem with the BIOS and Embedded Controller and released a BIOS (uEFI firmware to be correct) update to the system on 02 OCT 2011. Here’s the official changelog:

Fixes/Enhancements
------------------
1. Addressed some express cards fail to be detected issue.
2. Addressed Hard Drives encryption issue in ATA mode.
3. Addressed some keyboard with USB Hub not accessible during POST.
4. Fixed issue where disabling webcam stops microphone from working.
5 . Fixed issue where battery temperature sensor throttling CPU at high temperature when external power.
6. Fixed issue where Video memory size limited to 256MB in WinXp.
7. Fixed issue where Free Fall Sensor protection doesn't work after resuming from S3.
8. Fixed issue where TPM measurements were not correct when authenticating via PBA.
9. Updated Intel ME Firmware to 7.1.20.1119.
10. Updated to the 1.3.76 version of the Intel PXE OROM.
11. Added support for the new Nvidia graphic optimus keys.
12. Update Intle SandyBridge Client PPM Reference Code to version 1.4.0.
13. Update Intel Microcode patch to version P_12.
14. Fix Turbo Boost function abnormal.

Note:
1. Please note that if the A02 or before A02 BIOS is currently installed on your system,
you must first update to A03 BIOS and then flash to the latest A-rev BIOS.

I have updated to this latest revision from A04 and it has been buttery smooth, even fixing a SSD stuttering issue that seemed to plague my everyday usage of the laptop.

Link: ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/M6600A06.exe

A few more notes about the Dell M6600 hardware:
- The graphics card is MXM
- The “BIOS” is actually uEFI with BIOS extension.
- There are about 4 unlabeled screws underneath and a flimsy plastic snap you need to remove to service the system. Improperly removing these will destroy your chassis.

Cheers.

-> UPDATE

M6600 A06 Firmware Package Contains the following firmware revisions:
- System BIOS: A06
- Embedded Controller: X23
- Gigabit Ethernet: 0.D.3
- Legacy Video OROM: 2089.V.11
- GT1 Legacy Video OROM: 2089.V.11
- GT2 Legacy Video OROM: 2089.V.11
- Legacy RAID OROM: 10.1.0.1008
- Intel AntiTheft: 3.0.0.18
- Intel Management Engine Update: 7.1.20.1119
- ACPI OS Support: 0.0.0.1

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This week, the HTC Sensation (Pyramid) is being blessed with an OTA update that brings Android Gingerbread 2.3.4 and has been reported to fix the HTC Sense lag issues and generally boost the interactive performance of the device. It’s also suspected that this update prepares the bootloader to be unlockable, because updating to this OTA release prints a “***LOCKED***” text at the top of the bootloader screen.

For those of us that are running a custom ROM, or just have your device rooted, you may have already be running 2.3.4, but may be wondering if you could update your bootloader without losing S-Off or root access. The answer is YES!

I’ve attached to this post the extracted “firmware.zip” from the OTA update, which contains the updated bootloader (HBOOT 1.18.0000), radio (10.56.9035.00U_10.14.9035.01_M), and a bunch of other firmwares (pg2fs_spcustom, rcdata, rpm, sbl2, tz). THIS PACKAGE IS MEANT FOR CUSTOM ROM USERS ONLY – I’ve removed the stock HTC kernel and recovery images, assuming that you have installed your own (2.3.4 compatible kernel of your choice, Clockworkmod Recovery). Rename the ZIP file to PG58IMG.zip, place it into the root of your SD card, and reboot into the bootloader to update:

[download id="5"]

Because this firmware update includes a new radio, I’ve also attached the corresponding radio interface library (RIL) for the radio included in this update. This one must be flashed via recovery, with the /system partition mounted:

[download id="6"]

Standard disclaimer: I’m not responsible for anything that happens to your device. You’ve been warned. Enjoy!

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With a new burst of laptops this year, there is a good handful of them that now come with nVidia Optimus.

What is this technology? In a nutshell, nVidia Optimus is a technology currently for laptops that allows the use of both the onboard Intel GPU and the nVidia GPU simultaneously, depending on the processing needs of the running applications. When an application needs advanced hardware acceleration, it powers up the nVidia GPU from a “sleep” state. This dynamic use of the nVidia GPU allows for lower power consumption (and thus better battery life) because most of the productivity applications or the even the windows interface itself does not need the full power of an nVidia GPU.

There are a few “gotchas” to this technology, however. The first is that you must be running Windows 7 ™ with supported drivers in order to take advantage of this. If you aren’t, then you might be stuck using the Intel GPU, depending on how your system manufacturer routed the video on your motherboard. The second is that some applications don’t automatically run with the nVidia GPU. You might need to manually configure the application to run using the higher power GPU. The final one that I am aware of is that the use of currently available GPU monitoring software or widgets can severely impede hardware performance.

The typical GPU monitoring applications that cause some hardware quirks are the ones that periodically poll the GPU to obtain its temperature, clock speed, load, memory usage, etc. So far, it has caused the following:

On the Dell XPS 17 (L702X), non-3D edition, running a GPU monitoring app or widget caused the fan to switch on (at high speed) and off. This in turn caused the CPU & GPU temperatures to go on a roller coaster ride, going sky high then back down, inverse to the fan’s state.

On my Dell Precision M6600, running a GPU monitoring app or widget reduced my battery life by 40 some minutes!

This is all happening because the monitoring app causes the driver to wake up the GPU in order to poll for its status. So users, beware!

Have any other weird issues related to nVidia Optimus? Post a comment below.

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