Sunday, May 30, 2010

Asus U30JC-QX010X : Tuning Windows 7 Part 2 : Services

More than 70 services are started by default on my Asus laptop with Windows 7 Professional. Many services can be disabled. Home Group management :
  • FDResPub (Publication des ressources de découverte de fonctions)
  • HomeGroupListener (Écouteur HomeGroup)
  • HomeGroupProvider (Fournisseur HomeGroup)
  • p2pimsvc (Gestionnaire d’identité réseau homologue) : Remote assistance and Home Groups
  • p2psvc (Groupement de mise en réseau de pairs)
Network :
  • BITS (Service de transfert intelligent en arrière-plan) : required for Windows update.
  • CscService (Fichiers hors connexion) : usefull to synchronize files between computers.
  • Dnscache (Client DNS)
Network security :
  • BFE (Moteur de filtrage de base)
  • IKEEXT (Modules de génération de clés IKE et AuthIP)
  • MpsSvc (Pare-feu Windows)
  • PolicyAgent (Agent de stratégie IPsec)
  • WinDefend (Windows Defender)
Security :
  • wscsvc (Centre de sécurité)
  • wuauserv (Windows Update)
Window manager :
  • Themes (Thèmes)
  • UxSms (Gestionnaire de sessions du Gestionnaire de fenêtrage)
Others :
  • AFBAgent (AFBAgent) : Asus FastBoot agent
  • DPS (Service de stratégie de diagnostic) : Might be usefull to ease automatic network reconfiguration.
  • iphlpsvc (Assistance IP) : IPv6
  • LanmanServer (Serveur) : Share file and print resources, Home Groups
  • PNRPsvc (Protocole PNRP) : Required for remote assistance and Home Groups
  • SeaPort (SeaPort) : Microsoft Search Enhancement Applications
  • ShellHWDetection (Détection matériel noyau) : Autoplay hardware events
  • Spooler (Spouleur d'impression)
  • SysMain (Superfetch)
  • TrkWks (Client de suivi de lien distribué) : Maintain shortcuts for moved NTS items accross the network
  • upnphost (Hôte de périphérique UPnP) : Manage hosted upnp devices
  • WerSvc (Service de rapport d'erreurs Windows) : Error reports.
  • wlidsvc (Windows Live ID Sign-in Assistant)
  • WMPNetworkSvc (Service Partage réseau du Lecteur Windows Media) : Share windows media player libraries with upnp
  • WSearch (Windows Search)
Two more services could have been disabled :
  • NlaSvc (Connaissance des emplacements réseau) and netprofm (Service Liste des réseaux) but they must be enabled for the Scheduled Task Manager to work properly (if they are disabled, opening the Conditions tab of a scheduled tasks crashes as it throws an exception.)
  • lmhosts (Assistance NetBIOS sur TCP/IP) is said to be legacy support for NetBIOS over TCP/IP, but I do not known how to access other shares (e.g. NAS) with this service disabled.
References :Todo :
  • ASLDRService (ASLDR Service) : Asus ...
  • ATKGFNEXSrv (ATKGFNEX Service) : ATK Generic Function Service.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Asus U30JC-QX010X Boot Keys

  • F2 : Enter BIOS
  • Suppr : same as F2, but F2 is more reliable
  • F9 : Restore with AI Revovery
  • F10 : Configure booting options
  • Esc : Choose boot device
These keys do not work upon leaving hibernation. And Windows 7 boot menu is not shown either.

Lost Nvidia Geforce 310M

My graphic card disappeared from my asus. I was trying to load latest linux nvidia drivers (with modprobe nvidia) to use the Nvidia Geforce 310m under linux but it told me no such device. The card is also missing in lspci output when I boot Gentoo. And it is not showing anymore in Windows device manager. I only got the Intel HD video driver. Actually, I am not sure anymore about seeing Nvidia driver there... This started to drive me crazy until I read my previous post and saw the line I was looking for :
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GT218 [GeForce 310M] (rev a2)
I did not find anything disabled in the BIOS. As far as I remember, I only switched boot devices (well using Esc key let you choose the booting device). Well I am currently restoring the four AI Recovery backup DVD and I will see if it helps... The card is still missing after recovery. I just filed a case on Asus support web site... Follow up in comments.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Asus U30JC-QX010X : Tuning Windows 7 Part 1

Bluetooth Disable bluetooth :
  • Panneau de configuration / Centre réseau et partage / Modifier les paramètres de la carte / bluetooth (F5 might be necessary)
  • Désactiver
  • Propriétés / Bluetooth / Paramètres Bluetooth / Désactiver la carte Bluetooth
  • (elevated) net stop btwdins
  • (elevated) net stop bthserv
  • (elevated) sc config btwdins start= disabled
Enable Bluetooth :
  • (elevated) sc config btwdins start= auto
  • (elevated) net start btwdins
  • (elevated) net start bthserv
  • Bluetooth tray icon / Activer l'adaptateur
  • Panneau de configuration / Centre réseau et partage / Modifier les paramètres de la carte / bluetooth (F5 might be necessary)
  • Activer
More coming soon... Edit 2010-07-31 : It is also possible to enable and enable bluetooth device with devcon utility from Windows Driver Kit (WDK) :
devcon find *|sort
devcon enable "USB\VID_0B05&PID_1788"
devcon disable "USB\VID_0B05&PID_1788"
devcon status "USB\VID_0B05&PID_1788"

Digging into Windows 7 (Professional)

When you are used to Windows XP and you do not really know Vista, you got a few surprises as you start browsing folder in Windows 7. Windows 7 annoyances :
  • Contextual menu of folders has no Search entry. You are encourage to use Windows Search and the input box in the toolbar.
  • Access to many (hidden) items in your personal folder (jonction folders) is denied (like Application Data, Cookies, Local Settings, Start Menu, Models, Recent, SendTo...) Well, actually, you have access to the target folder (somewhere in AppData like AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows or AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows).
  • You realize that the folder tree in the Explorer is not the underlying folder tree on your hard drive. In French version, the Explorer shows you a C:\Utilisateurs folder whereas it is C:\Users actually.
  • Window manager ignore elevated Windows (when arranging windows with Tile, Cascade, etc.). Same problem with Alt-Tab.
  • No dock tool bar for your shortcuts. You must attach your programs in the task bar. Nevertheless, you cannot attach two copies (as a normal user and elevated) of the same program. Cygwin entry is conflicting with command prompt. There is no option to run attached applications as elevated.

Windows 7 : 2 days to get first BSOD

I do not have Windows 7 Professional for a long time and it took me only 2 days to get my first BSOD. ma config info :
  • Bug Check Code : 0x000000C2
  • Bug Check String : BAD_POOL_CALLER
  • Date du crash : 14/05/2010 22:38
  • Source du crash : fltmgr.sys+8F0B
  • Chemin : C:\Windows\system32\drivers\fltmgr.sys
  • Description : Gestionnaire de filtres de système de fichiers Microsoft
  • Version du produit : 6.1.7600.16385
Secunia PSI might be to blame.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Setup Gentoo on Asus U30JC-QX010X : Part 2

Here is common hardware info about Asus U30JC-QX010X : lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 12)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor PCI Express x16 Root Port (rev 12)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 12)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset HECI Controller (rev 06)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 06)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 06)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev 06)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 6 (rev 06)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev a6)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 4 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset SMBus Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Thermal Subsystem (rev 06)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GT218 [GeForce 310M] (rev a2)
03:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)
04:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications AR8131 Gigabit Ethernet (rev c0)
ff:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-core Registers (rev 02)
ff:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 02)
ff:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Link 0 (rev 02)
ff:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Physical 0 (rev 02)
ff:02.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)
ff:02.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)
cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model  : 37
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU       M 430  @ 2.27GHz
stepping : 2
cpu MHz  : 2267.000
cache size : 3072 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 4
core id  : 0
cpu cores : 2
apicid  : 0
initial apicid : 0
fpu  : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 11
wp  : yes
flags  : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida arat tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips : 4521.00
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 1
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model  : 37
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU       M 430  @ 2.27GHz
stepping : 2
cpu MHz  : 2267.000
cache size : 3072 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 4
core id  : 2
cpu cores : 2
apicid  : 4
initial apicid : 4
fpu  : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 11
wp  : yes
flags  : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida arat tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips : 4521.75
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 2
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model  : 37
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU       M 430  @ 2.27GHz
stepping : 2
cpu MHz  : 2267.000
cache size : 3072 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 4
core id  : 0
cpu cores : 2
apicid  : 1
initial apicid : 1
fpu  : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 11
wp  : yes
flags  : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida arat tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips : 4521.75
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 3
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model  : 37
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU       M 430  @ 2.27GHz
stepping : 2
cpu MHz  : 2267.000
cache size : 3072 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 4
core id  : 2
cpu cores : 2
apicid  : 5
initial apicid : 5
fpu  : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 11
wp  : yes
flags  : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida arat tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips : 4521.75
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:
cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/info
present:                 yes
design capacity:         84000 mWh
last full capacity:      80700 mWh
battery technology:      rechargeable
design voltage:          15000 mV
design capacity warning: 8400 mWh
design capacity low:     840 mWh
capacity granularity 1:  840 mWh
capacity granularity 2:  840 mWh
model number:            UL50-56
serial number:            
battery type:            LIon
OEM info:                ASUSTek