Lenovo X220T Tablet win8 wifi driver issue

Lenovo X220T table runs Windows 8 just fine.  However, there appears to be a issue with the factory 1x1 wifi driver.

The issue manifest as lost of network connection, unable to connect, or "limited connection" upon resume from sleep.  Work around includes resetting NIC through NetSh, turning off and on wifi NIC, or going into and out of airplane mode.

After some digging, it appears that the Realtek driver fixes this issue.  The 1x1 NIC in the X220T uses Realtek RTL8188CE chipset.  The driver was last found on Dec 23, 2012 at:

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=21&PFid=48&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true

ASUS Zenbook Touchpad Hack

So if you have the ASUS zenbook UX31 (13"), you probably know how much the touchpad sucks. Most compliants about it comes from the touch pad being a bit too sensitive, and seemingly doing things you don't want it to do.

Some adjustments that can be made to help it work better are:

1. Tapping - disable two finger tap for popup menu
   This helps prevent the action of putting your thumb on the "left button" being mistaken as a two finger tap.
2. Drag and Drop - disable to avoid dragging windows if you are fast, where you double-tap and move the cursor, and the Smart-Pad thinks you are dragging.
3. Smart Detector - enabled, and change the detect area to where you actually put your finger.
   You can tell after some moderate use by looking at the smartpad and seeing an area of "clean" (or grease - ewww). This is the area you most likely actually are putting your pointer finger.

However, if that's NOT enough, here's one more. It's a good one. Hack the registry. This will allow you to see all the functions the smart-pad software can control, but for whatever reason ASUS or Elantech disabled for the Zenbook

1. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Elantech\SmartPadDisplay, and change all values to "1"
2. Go to the Elan Smart-Pad's properties by using the Mouse Properties dialog box
3. Now you'll see all the hidden options

Once all the options are enabled, you'll see "Palm Tracking" under Additional tab. Turn that up one notch, and it'll make the smart pad less sensitive, but it also makes accidental brushing less likely to register as a mouse movement.

Interesting note on this. Once you make changes to whatever formerly hiddened options and click OK or Apply, the previously modified registry keys will revert back to the way "they want it". If you want to experiment, it's best to change all the values to 1's, export the registry key, and use that to change all the keys at once.

Not all the newly activated options will work with the Zenbook's Elan Smart-Pad, but the Palm Check is tested to work on my UX31. Hopefully this will help you get better control over your Zenbook.

Remove ToughBook CF-W8 Hard Drive

To remove and replace the W8's hard drive:

1. Remove the battery.
2. Take out 6 screws securing the HDD cover. There are 4 screws on the bottom of the laptop(chrome), and two on top (silver). The two screws on top are above the "F7" and "PrtSc/SysRq" button.
3. Slide the HDD cover off the bottom. There should not be any need to pry it.
4. Gently slide the HDD out of the cushioned caddy.
5. Remove cable from HDD. Reverse to install.

IAS Error Reason-Code = 65

When a user attempts to connect through 802.1x running on IAS, they cannot connect. IAS eventlog reports event ID 2, Reason Code = 65, permission for the user account was denied.

Once user has been confirmed to be member of proper AD group with permission in IAS' Remote Access Policies (RAP), check user's AD account to confirm their "Dial-In" setting to be "Control access through Remote Access Policy".

Excel "File not Found" when running a Macro (*.tmp)

If a user receives an error in Excel while running a macro, and the error message is like

File Not Found c:\...\local~\temp\2\vb514.tmp

Check the user's My Documents permission. User must have modified permission for VBA to work properly.

Remove BlackBerry IT Policy

If you are decommissioning an corporate /BES based Blackberry to personal BIS use, you may need to remove the existing IT Policy. The easiest way to do this is:

1. Ensure BB has OS 4.5 or newer.
2. Connect BB computer
3. in command prompt, goto
   c:\program files\common files\research in motion\apploader
   (64 bit OS should go to c:\program files (x64)\common files\...)
   
4. run "LOADER.exe /resettofactory"

Windows 7 and KIX scripts

Logon Kix script that has worked for years stopped working under Windows 7. It goes through the routine like it worked, but in Explorer or CMD, the drive are not there. When the script is manually ran after login, the mapped drives shows up.

Turns out to be a UAC related issue. As explained in MS KB 937624, with UAC enabled, users with administrative membership are logged in with two access tokens, restricted and administrative. When the logon script runs, it runs with the administrative token. When the desktop starts, it starts with the restricted token. Because the two events were started with different access tokens, it's like two different users logged on. They can't see each others drives.

So, the fix is to enable "EnableLinkedConnections". In the registry, set it this way:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System -
EnableLinkedConnections =(dword)1

This "links" the connections made with one access token to another.

Schlage LiNK remote lock Bridge

Schlage's LiNK product appears to be a great concept. However, they are not very clear about network setup. It appears that they assume you local network is wide open for outgoing traffic. Their website does not tell you which port must be opened for the LiNK Bridge to communicate with their web site.

It appears that the only port needed is Outgoing TCP/8879.

UPDATE:
Schlage's customer support just informed me that they also need TCP/8869, 8826, and 2345 opened, as well.

Giving non-Administrators permission to change Power Settings

When you have users who would like to change their power settings to control standby and such, and they are not an administrator, you need to give them certain permissions in the Registry.

• Run Regedit.exe as an administrator
• Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Controls Folder\PowerCfg
• Right-click on the “GlobalPowerPolicy” key and choose “Permissions”.
• Click on the “Advanced” button.
• Click “Add”.
• Type INTERACTIVE and click “Check names”, then OK.
• Check the “Set value” and “Create Subkey” checkboxes in the “Allow” column, and click OK, then OK, then OK.
• Do the same thing with the “PowerPolicies” key.

AT&T Smartphone Mobile Phone GPRS settings

After acquiring a couple of GSM smartphones, I discovered that there's a lot of mis-information about how to properly configure these devices for internet access. This is especially troublesome for phones that has been unlocked, and is being used on a different network.

I've compile enough information to get my unlocked "T-Mobile" HTC Dash / S620 / Excalibur to work properly on the AT&T network.

The setting are as follows:
(WM 6.1)
1. Start / Settings / Connections
2. Goto "GPRS"
3. "New..."

• Description: AT&T GPRS
  
• Connects to: "The Internet"
• Access point: wap.cingular
• Authentication type: "CHAP"
• Done

That is enough to get Internet Explorer and Email to work. From my Blackjack II (SGH-I617), there also is a setting for Proxy, which didn't seem like it was necessary. However, here's the info.

1. Start / Settings / Connections
2. Goto "Proxy"
3. "New..."

• Description: AT&T WAP
• Connects from: "The Internet"
• Connects to: "WAP Network"
• Proxy: wireless.cingular.com:80
• Type: "HTTP"

I hope this works for you.

Disable Windows XP Professional Fast Logon Optimization feature

So Windows XP Pro got the great feature that helps speed up login time. Fast is good, unless it doesn't work.

Well, the Fast Logon feature works, but just not the way "normal" desktop administrator / users would expect.

Read more about it here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305293.

Bottom line on how to disable this? Use either local group policy or AD group policy to set this value to ENABLE:

Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Logon\
Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon

Some of the symptoms of this feature are:

• users not getting network drives at logon
• users net getting User Configuration GPO settings
  

Vista Ultimate (finally)

After "everyone" is on Vista, I finally obtained a copy of Vista Ultimate. Running on a Dell Inspiron E1405, Core Duo, 2gb memory, things are going well.

However, I did have a few small problems, and here are two three tweaks I used.

1. OpenVPN routing issue

When initiating a connection, I got this error message:
ROUTE: route addition failed using CreateIpForwardEntry: One or more arguments are not correct.

Upon a quick search, all I have to do is add two lines to the .ovpn configuration file.
route-method exe
route-delay 2

That's it. Easy.

2. Wireless Group Policy setting (or, Connect to Wireless Network before domain login)

This one is a bit tougher. In XP, the Dell driver took care of this with a check box that said "connect before login", or something similar.

In Vista, the Dell driver didn't provide such option. So on with Google.
Basically, use AD GPO to assign a wifi profile to your PC at bootup, so it could log in to the wifi network by itself, and establish a connection to available pre-determine SSID.

Check out this link. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/04/CableGuy/default.aspx

3. Citrix client reports "Protocol Driver Error" while using CSG (Citrix Secure Gateway)

On two separate Vista computers, I saw this error while trying to launch a published app. Could not figure it out. Firewall, Anti-Virus, nothing.

At one point, I did have one Vista PC running CSG successfully, so I knew it has to work. Turns out, the working Vista PC was using a "incompatible" version of Citrix client (v9.15). Both later Vista PCs were using v10.0. So I went back to 9.15, accepted the "incompatibility" warning message, and got CSG to work.

Windows XP Workgroup issues

Since not everyone has a domain controller with AD at home, using Workgroup for file and print sharing is pretty common.

So what happens when a user of a newly rebuilt computer goes home, and is not able to browse workgroup? For those of us who are not using to using Workgroups, the answer is hard to pinpoint, but easy to fix.

The user reported that she can not see other computers in her workgroup. Her firewall was off, and the other computers are working fine in the workgroup. She can ping the other computers. She can also browse the other computers' resources by IP (eg, \\192.168.0.2). So what's missing?

I suspected that it had to do with NetBIOS name resolution. IPConfig shows a node type P (Peer to Peer). I didn't think that was correct, because P means you need a WINS server to perform NetBIOS resolution.

So what's going on? Turns out, it is because it was connected to an network that sets DHCP Option 46. If a computer connects to a network that sets DHCP Option 46 (WINS Node Type), and then connects to a network that does not change that option, it will stay a the previously set node type. In this case the node type was P. So you can manually change it to B for broadcast, which works well in a small workgroup environment.

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NetBt\Parameters\DHCPNodeType = 1 (for broadcast)

HP OfficeJet 7200 / 7400 network problem

First, I dislike all-in-ones. The concept is good, but they never do exactly what you want. Second, HP has really undesireable AIO drivers. It tries to be too smart, do too much, and end up delivering much less then you expect. Also, do they have to make 10 programs run at startup!?

OK, here's an observation. I've worked with both HP OfficeJet 7200 and 7400, and have noticed a particular problem. They either don't like to work with the 3com IntelliJack NJ90, or they don't like to work at 100 Mbps / Full Duplex. On both machies, at 100 Full, would fail to print or scan. Go to 10 / Full, and it's ok.

Hong Kong, Chinese New Year, 2007

So, we go to Hong Kong for Chinese New Year, which is a SUPER experience. I knew I was going to take a lot of pictures, but didn't realize with a 8 mpx and 5 mpx camera, I'd end up with over 8GB of data.

Anyways. This is a nice picutre of the stuff you can get in HK. Dancing Lion's head, and the Chinese version of "rodeo clown" head. Kind of fun, kind of creepy. In the back, you can see that you could also get a cowboy hat. Rodeo Clown, indeed.

IIS' "Integrated Windows Authentication"

While trying to get "IWA" to work properly, I ran into two new bits of knowledge.

1. Even if you THINK you are in the "Intranet Zone", you should make sure you are by entering the domain name into Internet Explorer's Local Intranet Sites section.
2. In Firefox, under "about:config", you can add your domain to "network.automatic-ntlm-auth.trused-uris", which will pass your local authentication hash to IIS.

These issues were started by my attempt to make access to internal, NTFS secured web pages seamless. Knowing that Integrated Windows Authentication should work, I was still getting prompted for UN/PW.