BeatificaBytes

The Joys of Computing

Category: Tips

  • Local DNS not working anymore due to AVAST

    Since a few week, I have issues when trying to access devices or services in my LAN via domain names defined within my local DNS Server. The problem was due to AVAST’s “Secure DNS” feature (recently enabled unmindfully).

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    I have defined a Master Zone for BeatificaBytes.be in my DNS Server (hosted on my Synology). It’s pointing on my NAS itself. Doing so, I can access my blog from my LAN just as from Internet. Without that Master Zone, a ping on BeatificaBytes.be would return the internet IP of my modem. And I can’t use that IP to access my NAS (hosting my blog) from within my LAN.

    In that Master Zone, I have defined a A record for www, to forward www.BeatificaBytes.be onto the local IP of my blog.

    I have also a few other Master Zones defined to access various devices…

    Since a few weeks, I was not able to ping any devices anymore and my blog was only accessible on BeatificaBytes.be but not anymore on www.BeatificaBytes.be.

    I spent hours to reconfigure my DNS Server, testing all the various settings, without success. I have never executed so many ipconfig /flushdns, ipconfig /release, ipconfig /renew, ipconfig /all, ping www.BeatificaBytes.be and nslookup www.BeatificaBytes.be 😀

    I have finally figured out that the problem was with AVAST. It has a feature named “Secure DNS” which protects yourself against “DNS hijacking”. DNS hijacking redirects you from the site you want to visit, to one that looks just like it. Secure DNS ensures the site you’re visiting is real.

    So, Avast was preventing me to access my blog on an IP which was not the one of my real “domain name” registered on Internet. But as I only defined the fully qualified “www.BeatificaBytes.be” within my Internet Provider’s DNS Settings, I was still able to access my blog locally on “BeatificaBytes.be” (This has been a lot disturbing my investigation).

    It’s really the first time since 1996 that I curse Avast !

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  • WordPress really slow when accessed on LAN via its Domain Name

    Since a few weeks, WordPress is really slow when I access it from my LAN with it’s domain name http://beatificabytes.be

    The problem was with the name resolution on my PC.

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    My blog is hosted on my NAS, that I usually accessed via its netbios name or via its local IP address. But to make it easier for me, I also defined a domain ‘beatificabytes.be’ on my NAS’ DNS Server, with a A Records for www, pointing on the IP of the NAS.

    So, I can access my blog locally with either the domain name ‘beatificabytes.be’ (if I am lazy) or with the fully qualified name ‘www.beatificabytes.be’.

    The problem is that the actual URL of my blog, defined in WordPress’ settings, is ‘www.beatificabytes.be’. So, many pages of the blog are referencing scripts and images hosted on on that address ‘www.beatificabytes.be’.

    And, a few weeks ago, for some unclear reason, my PC started to fail to access my NAS via the url ‘www.beatificabytes.be’. I was only able to access it with its netbios name, its IP or the domain name ‘beatificabytes.be’ (without www).

    The reason was an issue with the name resolution on my PC (I thought it was an issue with the “DNS” Server but it was actually due to Avast’s feature ‘Secure DNS’).

    Therefore, each page trying to load resources from www.beatificabytes.be was getting timeouts, making the rendering very slow (without any visual notification!)…

    I did fix the name resolution issue and I can now access again my blog ‘full speed’.

    Conclusion, open the Debug window of your browser to look at possible network or script errors 😉

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  • Boot Windows 10 into Safe Mode when it does not start anymore and F8 is not enabled

    Many tutorials explain how to reboot in Safe Mode. But they usually need you to already be in a Windows session for that. What if Windows doesn’t start well anymore and the usual F8 doesn’t work? Well, you can enable the classic Boot Menu via the Command Prompt of a Recovery Drive.

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    In my case, the Graphic Cards’ drivers were corrupted. So Windows was actually still booting but I couldn’t do anything as not having access to the UI. I had to restart in safe mode to remove those drivers and reinstall them. But without a UI, impossible to change Windows’s Startup Options…

    Typing F8 during Windows boot didn’t gave me access to the Boot Menu as, since Windows 8, the boot so fast that there is no way to interrupt it anymore – except if you have enabled F8 explicitly, sacrificing a couple of seconds during startup. This can be done by opening an elevated Command Prompt and executing:

    • bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy

    To undo this reopen the elevated Command Prompt and type:

    • bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy standard

    If F8 is not enabled, you can force Windows to present you the Boot Menu using a Recovery Drive (or USB Key):

    • If you don’t have a Recovery drive yet,
      • Go to another Windows 10 PC (a x64 if your PC is a X64, or x86 otherwise)
      • Search for “Recovery Drive” in the Windows Start Menu/Screen
      • And Select “Create a Recovery Drive” (No need to back up system files to the recovery drive).
    • Boot your other PC on that Key (depending on you BIOS, you can use F8, F12, … to access to Device Boot Menu. See a list here).
    • Select your Keyboard and enter the “Troubleshoot” Menu.
    • Enter next the “Advanced Options” Menu.
      • Notice that with this Windows Recovery Drive, you won’t have the “Startup Settings” menu in the “Advanced Options”. This one is only available when you reboot your PC with the “Advanced Startup” Options or when Windows failed to boot twice and enter the Repair mode automatically (NB.: You can obviously use that trick to access the Startup Settings and boot is Safe Mode: boot the PC and switch it off when Windows is starting).
    Recovery Advanced Options
    Recovery Advanced Options with Startup Settings
    • So, no choice here but enter the “Command Prompt” menu
    • In there, type: bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes
    • Type next: exit
    • And shutdown completely before rebooting your PC.
    • You should now be prompted to select your OS. Press F8 there to access other Boot options 😉

    Et voilà.

    Once everything is back to normal with your Windows, run a command Prompt as Admin and disable the Boot Menu by typing:

    • bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu no

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  • Windows 10 Search can’t find any applications

    I am a big fan of Windows’ search feature since Windows 7. So, I was really frustrated when searching stopped to work this morning on my Windows 10. Fortunately, I have been able to fix it easily by deleting a key of the registry.

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    1. Open a Run prompt by typing Win + R
    2. Execute “Regedit” via that run Prompt
    3. Open the Task Manager by typing Ctrl + Shift + Esc
    4. In the Task Manager, open the tab “Details”
    5. Kill all “Explorer.exe”
    6. In “Regedit”, locate and delete the entry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes\{ef87b4cb-f2ce-4785-8658-4ca6c63e38c6}\TopViews\{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}
    7. In the Task Manager, open the menu File > Run new task, and type “Explorer”

    Et voilà, the Search feature should now work fine again.

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  • How to connect a bluetooth headset with a samsung tv UE48H6500

    Yes, this is possible. But you have to enable the support for «Bluetooth headphones» via a hidden menu.

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    To access the samsung hidden menu:
    – Switch off the tv with your remote
    – Press the key «Info»
    – Press the key «Menu»
    – Press the key «Mute»
    – Switch on the tv and wait for a few seconds

    The hidden menu is now appearing on the screen. With the keys «up» and «down» you navigate between entries (submenus or settings). With the key «ok» (Enter) you enter a selected submenu or edit a setting. With the key «Return» you exit the submenu or the edit mode. With the keys «Left» and «Right» you change the value of a setting in edit mode.

    To enable the support for «Bluetooth headphones»:
    – select the entry «Option»
    – select the entry «MRT option»
    – select the setting «BT support»
    – change the value of that setting to set: ON
    – exit that setting
    – exit the submenu
    – select now the entry «Engineer Option»
    – select the setting «BT_AUDIO_ON_OFF»
    – change the value of that setting to set: ON

    And now switch off the tv. Voilà. The feature should be enabled. To access it, switch on the tv and press the key Menu. Then go to > Sound > Speaker Settings > Bluetooth headphones. From there you can search for Bluetooth devices and pair them.

    Later, to reconnect a Bluetooth which is already paired, use the key «tools» and in «Speaker Select», pick «Bluetooth headset». If it does not connect immediately, switch off and on your headphone and retry changing the “Speaker Select”. Notice that you must do this before starting any application like Plex or Netflix in the SmartHub.

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  • Boot from USB Key on a Toshiba Satellite to reinstall Windows

    It can be tricky… And here is the trick: disable the Secure Boot and use CSM Boot mode instead of UEFI. Once you don’t need to boot from the key anymore, reset those settings.

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    Ccomplete details are available here: https://aps2.toshiba-tro.de/kb0/TSB2B03F30002R01.htmNotice also: while the “TOSHIBA” logo appears once the laptop powerd on,

    • Press [F2] key to enter the BIOS Setup Menu.
    • Press [F12] key to access the boot menu.

    I did need that to reinstall Windows 7 x64 SP1 on a old Toshiba as the CD/DVD reader is broken.

    I did create the bootable USB Key using Rufus 2.9: https://rufus.akeo.ie/

    Within Rufus, I did use a “MBR Partition Scheme for Bios or UEFI”.

    Finally, I had issue to install Windows with the key connected on the USB 3.0 port (the one which is blue) : “A required CD/DVD driver is missing”. I did solve that issue plugging the key on a USB 2.0 port and restarting the PC.

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  • Upgrade to Windows 10 before 29/07/2016

    Not yet done ? Go to here https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

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  • Proximus BBOX: Open port 80, 443 and 23

    I recently installed a new BBOX 3 to access Internet via Proximus and wanted to open the port 80. Once configured via “My Proximus” (via your Services), don’t forget to reboot your modem!

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    1. Connect your modem and wait until all the Leds turn blue and stop blinking (see the installation guide)
    2. Open the webpage ww.proximus.be and log in
      Proximus Login
      Proximus Login
    3. Go to the My Products > Internet … >  Services >Teclnica Profile
    4. Select Basic (to open the ports 80, 443 and 23), tick the option to agree with the disclaimer and confirm
      Proximus Profile
      Proximus Profile
    5. REBOOT next your modem otherwise the changes done via Proximus’ website won’t apply !!!

    Et voilà.

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  • Cannot access port 80 on my NAS from Internet

    From time to time, I can’t access any web page anymore on my NAS’ port 80 from the web. The solution is to reboot the my modem (BBOX2) or reset its internal firewall. It’s never an issue with my NAS (Synology DS1815+)

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    When this issue occurs, I can still access web pages on specific port like Plex  (e.g.: on port 32000) or my NAS’ admin console on his own port (e.g.: on port 8080). Also the “Cloud Sync” service of my NAS is still  able to sync files with Google, DropBox and Hubic. Finally, JDownloader which is installed also installed on my NAS, is still able to download.

    To reboot my modem takes time but solve the problem. Another option is to reset the firewall:

    • open a telnet sessin on the modem,
    • log as ‘admin’ with your password (I did change mine. The default is possibly BGCVDSL2 or your MAC Address)
    • execute: fw_restart
    fw_restart BBOX2
    fw_restart BBOX2

    The problem comes from a NAT table full, most probably due to JDownloader or Cloud Sync. But I don’t know how to check which one is the culprit.

    Info about B-BOX-2 of Belgacom/Proximus: http://setuprouter.com/router/belgacom/b-box-2/

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  • Awful Bluetooth Audio Quality on Galaxy S7

    Since I have my Galaxy S7, I only connected it twice with my Philips Bluetooth headphones CB8100. Once to play with an Oculus Game and once to listen music. Twice, I was surprised how bad was the reception. Sound was crackly and skipping continuously. It was due to the WiFi !!

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    When I used my headphones to play an Oculus gamen I thought that the mobile was not powerful enough to stream the sound via Bluetooth while playing the video. Weird, but ok… it was also not powerful enough to mirror the video on my Samsung TV, so….

    But when it failed also to stream fluently music, either from YouTube or from by DS Audio Stations (Synology), I thought there should be a reason behind this.

    As it’s known that Bluetooth and WiFi are both using the frequency 2.4GHz, I tried to disable the WiFi… and it solved immediately the problem.

    I never never had such a problem with my previous mobiles 🙁 Also, I am quite sure I would not have that issue if I could connect on a WiFi 5Ghz.

    Support page for GS7 in Belgium is: http://www.samsung.com/be_fr/support/model/SM-G935FZDALUX

    Awful support from Samsung!

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    I did post a request for support to Samsung on the 2nd May and only got an answer on 20th May. I said that the noise was awful when the Wifi was on and great if it was off. I also said that I had not such issue when streaming from my 300€ OnePlus One mobile (the S7 was 799€) or from my Sony Laptop or from my Lenovo Tablets.

    They answered that “Samsung does not guarantee the proper functioning of Samsung products. with other branded”

    WTF Samsung! Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are standard wireless protocols. My headset works perfect with 3 other brands.

    Numéro de dossier client : 2812699319

    Merci pour votre courriel concernant votre Galaxy S7. Vous indiquez que vous avez un fonctionnement anormal avec votre casque Philips tout en ayant le Wifi activé.

    Nous vous informons que Samsung n’assure pas le bon fonctionnement des produits de marque différente que Samsung avec des produits Samsung.

    Si vous avez des questions vous pouvez toujours contacter notre centre de contact. Cela peut se faire par téléphone, par courriel, Facebook ou Twitter.

    Cordialement,

    EL HARIM Med

    Customer Care Representative

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Tags

Acer iDea 510 AirPlay Android Backup DD-WRT DNS DS209+ DS713+ DS1815+ FlexRaid Galaxy Galaxy S2 Galaxy S7 Google Assistant Google Home HTPC Kies MCE MySQL Nabi 2 Nvidia TV Shield One Plus One OnePlus One OpenHab Outlook Philips Hue Plex RAID Raspberry PI Remote Desktop Root Access Samsung Scripts Synology Team Build Visual Studio VMWare Wi-Fi Windows Windows 8 Windows 8.1 Windows 10 Windows Server 2012 XBMC Xpenology

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