What started as a simple Mini PCI Express WiFi card swap on a ThinkPad T61 notebook, turned into deploying a custom BIOS in order to get the card to work. I love ThinkPad notebooks, they are workhorses that keep on going and going. I always keep my older models around for testing, and one ofContinue reading “Circumventing ThinkPad’s WiFi Card Whitelisting”
Tag Archives: intel
XBMC on NUC’s and Pi’s
I’m still looking for the perfect XBMC hardware; must be small, silent, low power, low heat, 1080p, HD audio, and play anything I throw at it without a hiccup. The number of options are increasing, but no clear winner. I previously tested a XIOS DS running XBMC on Android, and XBMC on Linux.Continue reading “XBMC on NUC’s and Pi’s”
Dyslexic Intel RSTe Driver
I encounter one problem after another running Windows 8 and Server 2012 on the dual Xeon E5 Intel C600 chipset based SuperMicro 7047A-T and 7047A-73 SuperWorkstation machines. I will say that this is really not representative of my Windows 8 experience in general, as all other machines I installed on worked fine with the in-boxContinue reading “Dyslexic Intel RSTe Driver”
Zotac ZBHOXHD-ID11 Case Positioning Impact on Fan Noise
As I was testing the ID11, I noticed differences in the thermal behavior based on how the case was positioned. I tested three positions; case open, case vertical, and case horizontal. This is the fifth post in a series of posts related to the Zotac ZBOX ZBOXHD-ID11. Summary: Place the case in a vertical positionContinue reading “Zotac ZBHOXHD-ID11 Case Positioning Impact on Fan Noise”
Zotac ZBOXHD-ID11 Beta BIOS Reduces Fan Speed and Noise
In a previous post I measured the fan speed and noise under load, and I found it to be unacceptably high. Zotac support notified me that a new Beta BIOS is available that address the issue. In this post I measure the difference between the release BIOS and the Beta BIOS. This is the fourthContinue reading “Zotac ZBOXHD-ID11 Beta BIOS Reduces Fan Speed and Noise”
Zotac ZBOXHD-ID11 4GB RAM
In this post I describe my experience while upgrading the BIOS, in order to support 4GB of memory. This is the third post in a series of posts related to the Zotac ZBOX ZBOXHD-ID11. Summary: – 4GB is supported after upgrading the BIOS. – BIOS has to be updated using less than 4GB, else ID11Continue reading “Zotac ZBOXHD-ID11 4GB RAM”
Zotac ZBOXHD-ID11 First Impressions
Untitled Page I am sharing my experiences and first impressions of the Zotac ZBOXHD-ID11-U mini PC. In the coming days I will connect the device to my home theater, and review the behavior running Windows Media Center, XBMC, and Media-Portal. This is first post in a series of posts related to the Zotac ZBOX ZBOXHD-ID11.Continue reading “Zotac ZBOXHD-ID11 First Impressions”
Intel DP45SG and Lian-Li PC-C33B HTPC
I recently built a new home theater PC using an Intel DP45SG motherboard and a Lian-Li PC-C33B case. I am replacing my existing HTPC that appears to be not quite compatible with Windows 7. The existing machine uses a Lian-Li PC-C31B case, Intel DG33TL motherboard, and ATI Sapphire HD 2600XT video card. I started documentingContinue reading “Intel DP45SG and Lian-Li PC-C33B HTPC”
Getting Vista to go to sleep
I noted my troubles with the Intel GMA drivers, the Intel DG33TL motherboard, and Vista SP1 blue screen crashing in my earlier post. Since I was running the 15.8 version of the Intel GMA drivers, and Microsoft KB948343 indicates that, based on the driver version numbers, these newer drivers should not be affected by SP1,Continue reading “Getting Vista to go to sleep”
Intel DG33TL motherboard
This article was originally posted here. Introduction: After my bad experience with the Abit F-I90HD motherboards, read about ithere, I purchased two Intel DG33TL motherboards. Although these boards do not have HDMI onboard, they do have HDCP compliant DVI,and by adding an ADD2 HDMI board you get HDMI and audio over HDMI. The Good: OnboardContinue reading “Intel DG33TL motherboard”
Pieter Viljoen's Blog 