Magellan Launches New Version Of Magellan RoadMate App For iPhone
Magellan GPS announced an upgraded version of its Magellan RoadMate App for the Apple iPhone. The new app is available for purchase from the App Store for a special promotional price of $59.99. The promotion offers a $40 savings off the regular price and will run through January 3, 2010. If you previously purchased the original app, you're entitled to a free update via the App Store. The latest version of the RoadMate app includes the following upgrades: Compatible with iPod touch 2nd GenerationCustomizable
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T.V. tuner cards
Do t.v. tuner card relay the signal from your digital cable box to your Pc? In other words, if your tuner card only has 125 channels but you cable box has 200 channels can you all 200 channels if you use you cable box with the tuner card?
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Help Troubleshooting Reboots
Hey all! I was hoping the hardware gurus here might tell me if they have seen any similar problems, or have further ideas for troubleshooting that I haven't yet pursued. I'm more of a software guru, so I'll seriously pursue any suggestions.
I apologize for the length of this in advance, but I usually don't bother helping people that don't try to investigate the problem to the best of their abilities and provide thorough information when asking for help, so why should you? If you actually read through all of this, you're a saint - and I appreciate the help.
Here are the specs for the system encountering the problems:
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (@2.4Ghz stock speed)
- G.SKILL 4GB DDR2 1066 (@1066 stock speed)
- ASUS Striker II Formula MB
- Asus EN9800GTX+ Dark Knight
- ABS Tagan BZ800 PS
- Antec 900 Case (w/fans at high speed)
- Running Linux (currently Kubuntu 10.04 alpha)
I built this in March of 2008, and it's been working great for the last 21 months. I'm even typing this from the same system now.
The problem:
On X-mas eve, I was testing some patches for Wine in order to get Champions Online to work (after I noticed the demo was free to play until you hit level 15). Well... the patches worked, and I played... until I ran into this:
Every so often, when I would be in a battle... the computer would just completely reboot. Now, I've seen bad drivers crash the X server before, but in my mind a complete reboot of Linux is almost always a hardware problem. I've had this system up for months straight, playing all kinds of Steam games and never had it just reboot on me.
Lucky observation #1:
I noticed that now I can consistently reboot the system by will just by firing up CounterStrike: Source, choosing to create a server, selecting 23 computer players at easy level, and hitting the tab key... no need to actually start the game: the system reboots in what should actually be a low-stress menu.
I used to play CS:S all the time, so this is a totally new problem. Also, I have my CS:S install set up to use a whole different installation of Wine - not the one that I was applying hacks to in order to get Champions Online running.
Troubleshooting 1:
I turned the system off for a few hours. Restarted and found the CounterStrike menu was working fine. I let the system sit there for an hour or so and started flipping the number of computer bots back and forth... it instantly rebooted. :(
Attempt to fix #1:
My first thought is that the system sucked up enough dust and something must be overheating. So, I pulled out the patented can-o-air and blew everything out. I even removed the video card and blew it out thouroughly.
No luck - still reboots.
Attempt to fix #2:
Just to make sure this wasn't some horrible bug in the beta Nvidia 195.22 drivers that I had installed some weeks back, I backleveled to 190.42 (the latest official 'stable' Linux drivers).
No luck - still reboots.
Troubleshooting #2:
I thought perhaps the CPU fan had slowed and was overheating (though it's still actually running at 2200+ RPM, according to the BIOS). So, I used the Linux stress command to spawn four threads and give the CPU a workout... I left the CPU running at 100% for over an hour... no reboot. :\
Troubleshooting #3:
I fired up 3DMark06, cranked up the settings and let it beat on the video card in and endless loop for an hour.... no reboot.
(in between all of these tests, I would fire up CounterStrike and force a reboot to make sure the hardware-fairies had not magically eradicated the problem).
Lucky Observation #2:
Right after one of these reboots, I started streaming a video from YouTube... halfway through it, the PC rebooted. So it does not seem to be a problem specific to Wine... and is most likely unrelated to the video drivers since I watch YouTube videos all the time with no problem
Troubleshooting #4:
Since I am always using a bleeding edge desktop, I decided to eliminate other software possiblities: #1) I replaced my Compiz desktop with KWin.... tested again: still rebooted. #2) I booted into Gnome instead of KDE 4.4 SC2... tested again: still rebooted.
Troubleshooting #5:
By this time, I was beginning to wonder about the stability of the system memory. So, I rebooted into memtest86 and let it go... 3 passes... no errors found.
I even pulled the memory, reversed the slots, ran memtest86 again... no errors found.
Troubleshooting #6:
Okay... screw this noise. The last time I saw a problem so bad that it could actually crash the Linux kernel, it was a defective video card. So, I yanked the video card and switched it with the EVGA 9800GTX+ from the PC used by my kids.
Fitting the EVGA in was not simple: It's heat-shroud is huge compared to the Asus card - I had to put it in a different slot because the shroud wouldn't clear a hard drive. I even accidentally bent some of the pins on the motherboard fitting it in (luckly I saw and fixed).
SAME EXACT REBOOT ISSUE... so, obviously not a video (hardware) problem.
Troubleshooting #7:
Time for surgery: I took a BFG 800w PS that I had sitting around (Yes, I'm a hardware packrat), and replaced my current PS with it. The thought was that the power supply might be flaky and failing under load (though I don't know what kind of load the CS:S menu would possibly provide).
No dice: It still reboots in exactly the same manner.
So here I am:
At this point, I've eliminated most software, the CPU, memory, and the PSU.
I'm thinking the MB chipset is going bad... and only showing the problems after I do things that cause enough I/O for it to really warm up. I even (troubleshooting #8) reset the CMOS config and tested again: same issue.
What's weird is that the system seems so stable the rest of the time. I'm typing this on it right now... I could use it for days... it won't be unstable unless I use one of those two games - and then it may potentially reboot again (outside of Wine) when I start back up.
The only thing I haven't tried is re-installing Kubuntu 9.10 to see if the problem goes away. I suppose this could be some weird problem with the 2.6.32 kernel, but I've done many Google and Launchpad searches and can't find anyone reporting similar issues.
I'll add more info below, if I can think of anything else to try before buying a new MB. I'm halfway tempted to remove my RAID1 mirrored drives, connect them to the kids PC... and boot them to see if it will crash. Hmmmm... if it did, it's definitely a software issue... but if it doesn't I can't say for sure it's not software because of the differing chipsets...
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Ex. 10,000,000 in Why SMS While Driving is Bad
If you need any proof that while some states have such laws, we should probably have a federal law against text messaging while driving (or maybe even some technology), here's a great example.This bus driver, in San Antonio, TX, is trying to text, while driving disabled passengers to their destination. He pulls the phone out, and starts texting, and boom: right into the rear of another car.
Fortunately, it was all captured on tape, and the guy has lost his job. Let's hope he doesn't get another one driving anyone anywhere.آ
While this didn't result in fatalities, the Metrolink train disaster from 2008 certainly did, and it should be a reminder that not just drivers, but anyone operating a vehicle of any type should refrain from text messaging --- or emailing --- while doing so.آ And meanwhile, we here at HotHardware assume all you readers play itsafer, and are smarter, than to do this.آ Or are you?آ Let us know ifyou text while driving, and why.
آ
Watch the video.
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