Installing ipkg is not difficult, but I hate to do it manually each time I (re)install a Synology… So, here attached is a script to install it automatically.
[EDIT] ipkg is not maintained anymore. Many packages do not run anymore with the most recent DSM. So, use opkg instead.
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First Installation:
Copy on your NAS the script attached at the bottom of this post (Ex.: into \\<YourSyno>\web\admin as used for the illustration here after).
Connect as root on your NAS (Ex.: via telnet using the command ‘telnet <YourSyno>’, the login ‘root’ and the password of your ‘admin’ account – see more details here).
Execute the script (Ex.: use the command ‘sh /volume1/web/admin/installipkg.sh’)
Check which processor your have on your NAS and select the right option accordingly. The script will show you the cpu found using ‘cpuinfo’. But you can double-check here (NB.: I have a DS713+ which is currently not listed. I didn’t test ipkg for the other versions).
Automatic Installation of Ipkg
You can now use ipkg directly in a shell or via the (really) great UI named “IpkgGUI”. This one is available as a Community Package from cphub.net. Add “https://www.cphub.net” as a Package Source in the Package Center’s settings pane and install IpkgGUI.
Ipkg GUI
Re-installation/upgrade:
If ipkg is already installed, the script will remove it automatically and reboot the NAS before proceeding further with the installation (A reboot takes a bit more than one minute to shutdown and a bit more than two minutes to restart on my DS 713+). After the reboot, thanks to a script inserted into /etc/rc.local, the setup will continue automatically.
Automatic Installation of Ipkg With Reboot
Installation status:
(After the reboot, reconnect to the NAS). You can now check the status of the setup in its log, using the command: cat /root/ipkg.log. The output should looks like this:
[code]
[Mon Dec 15 17:34:44 CET 2014] Installing IPKG...
Optware Bootstrap for syno-i686.
Extracting archive... please wait
bootstrap/
bootstrap/bootstrap.sh
bootstrap/ipkg-opt.ipk
bootstrap/ipkg.sh
bootstrap/optware-bootstrap.ipk
bootstrap/wget.ipk
Creating temporary ipkg repository...
Installing optware-bootstrap package...
Unpacking optware-bootstrap.ipk...Done.
Configuring optware-bootstrap.ipk...Done.
Installing ipkg...
Unpacking ipkg-opt.ipk...Done.
Configuring ipkg-opt.ipk...Done.
Removing temporary ipkg repository...
Installing wget...
Installing wget (1.12-2) to root...
Installing wget (1.12-2) to root...
Installing wget (1.12-2) to root...
Installing wget (1.12-2) to root...
Installing wget (1.12-2) to root...
Installing wget (1.12-2) to root...
Installing wget (1.12-2) to root...
Installing wget (1.12-2) to root...
Installing wget (1.12-2) to root...
Configuring wget
Successfully terminated.
Creating /opt/etc/ipkg/cross-feed.conf...
Setup complete.
[/code]
Notice: after the setup of ipkg, this one is upgraded and updated once automatically.
PS.: If you don’t choose the right version of the boostrap, the installation of ipkg will fail. While trying to run it, you could see errors like “line 1: syntax error: unexpected word (expecting “)”)“. Try to install the right package. The script should delete the previous installation and install the new one as explained above.
You become crazy because after hours of trials and errors, your brand new (and probably first) shell script still complains about “syntax error: unexpected “fi” (expecting “then”)”, “syntax error: unexpected “fi” (expecting “then”)” or “syntax error: unexpected word (expecting “in”)”, … The problem is probably with the EOL.
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The problem could indeed be that you are editing your script with a Windows Text Editor… In such a case, you have to convert the Windows EOL (End Of Line character) into the Linux equivalent.
Edit your script with Notepad++ and use the menu “Edit” > “EOL Conversion” > “Unix/OSX Format”. Then save your script and try again…
You may also have to use the ANSI encoding with the menu “Encoding” > “Convert to ANSI”
I got an automatic Windows Update yesterday on my Intel NUC D54250WYK. After the reboot, I discovered that I had no “HDMI audio device” anymore, but only the “Headphone audio device”. Re-installing “Realtek Audio Drivers” didn’t solve the problem. The trick is to uninstall and re-install both the Audio Drivers AND the Graphics Drivers!
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Indeed, the connection to the TV being made through HDMI, the audio connection is managed via the Graphic Drivers.
Get both Audio and Graphic Drivers from the Intel Download site (I.e.: “Audio: Realtek ALC Audio Driver for Intel® NUC” and “Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics Driver for Intel® NUC”).
I did post a feature request on Synology forum to get support for custom shortcuts on the DSM’s desktop. But as I found a trick to do it myself, I have implemented a small .Net application to automate the configuration part. I named it “Mods – My Own DSM Shortcuts”.
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The trick is to create a Dummy Package which will, as any package, add a shortcut for itself into the Synology’s Start menu… This is a Dummy Package as it does nothing else (no installation of an actual application)..
You can find the source code of my App as well as binaries for windows here https://mods.codeplex.com/. Read the documentation for additional information, including how to create such a Dummy Package manually (E.g.: you don’t have Windows)…
On the screenshot here after, you can see both the Dummy Package “My Own DSM Shortcuts” installed via the “Package Center” and the Custom Shortcut that was created to open Net2Ftp – a php website I installed manually on my NAS (I.e.: copied into the webstation).
It was time to replace my old TV… But having become addicted to Plex (on my NUC), I really wanted my new TV to be a Smart one, able to run smoothly the Plex App, with native support for most codecs, to avoid transcoding, as well as 3D and a universal remote control. After a lot of research I have chosen the UE48H6500.
Smartv TV Samsung UE48H6500
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I finally found a TV not too expensive (<700€) but matching perfectly all my requirements!
Features are available in attachment… Here are some notes:
It’s large but not too much (fit in my living room: 48″ = 121 cm).
It runs both “Plex” and “DS Video” that are great apps to play movies stored on a Synology NAS. Those Apps are available in the category “Videos”. But there are really much more Apps than those.
With its Quad Core Processor, the menus (including Plex) are very reactive. That’s the point I was the most afraid of… But I am really not disappointed.
It supports really many many formats (Plex has therefore never to transcode any movie and can easily run with a “lower profile” Synology) – see the User Guide for details:
With its IR repeater, it can remote control the TV Decoder of my Provider (Belgacom) and as it’s own TV Guide (I.e. an EPG) which is really running smoother than to Belgacom’s Guide. The only drawback is that one has to use the Provider’s default sort order of the channel. It can actually be changed, but it requires some tricking.
With the HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel), no need to switch between audio sources anymore on my Sound Bar (TV Decoder, NUC or TV/plex).
Once named adequately (e.g.: with H-SBS in the name), 3D movies are automatically played as such by Plex on the TV.
A really great Smart Remote Control with a touchpad and motion control. I love it ! Small, it fits perfectly in one hand and works really like a charm both to control the TV Decoder and Plex. Also, using the control as a pointer (based on motion control) to pick entries in menu, etc… is so user-friendly!
The TV runs also a decent Web Browser that works:
It’s not the fastest one but it displays fine most web sites (Google, MSN, Facebook, …)
One can scroll easily within pages using the Smart Control’s “OK button” (which is actually a touchpad), simply sliding the finger on that “touchpad/button”. This is very convenient to read pages!!
It’s also very easy to type text/urls/… pointing letters on the onscreen-keyboard with the Smart Control
And it supports Flash animations.
One can connect a Wireless Keyboard to make typing even more comfortable. I am using a Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 and it works seamlessly.
Samsung Smart Control
Tips and tricks:
One thing I have been looking for was how to delete Apps installed in the Smart Hub. One simply has to select an Apps and press ‘OK’ for a few seconds on the Smart Control. It opens a menu with useful actions. To learn more about playing within the Smart Hub, this video is really great.
Another stupid thing I didn’t find immediately: how to specify a specific port within the “DS Video” App to connect on my Synology NAS. Indeed, as long as my Synology’s DSM was configured to run on its default port (I.e.: 5000), there was no need to specify this port in the “DS Video” App (One only had to enter the IP of the NAS and credentials). But once I did reconfigure my DSM to run on another port, “DS Video” didn’t succeed to connect to the NAS anymore. There is no field to type a port in “DS Video” App’s connection pane. The trick (stupid and obvious) was to type the port in the IP field. E.g.: 192.168.0.1:5555
Many years ago, Parental Control was already a native feature of my previously favorite Media Library Manager: Media Browser – reason why, since I am using Plex (mainly because Plex Media Server runs on my Synology), the lack of efficient support for such Control has been really frustrating. A solution has fortunately been developed by iSh0w, early in 2014, as a plugin named “L0ck”. This plugin is now really pretty mature!
NB.: two days after this post, Plex released native Parental Control as part of their new Plex Home feature… But this is not yet available for Samsung so L0ck still makes sense for me.
[EDIT 12/2015] Later in 2015, a new version of Plex for Samsung has been released, which support user accounts (and hence, Parental Control).
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The only solution currently suggested by Plex to prevent Kids watching inadequate content is to create dedicated Plex Accounts for the kids and only share with those accounts the adequate content. This is totally inconvenient, especially when sharing the same player device such as a TV or a Tablet. Indeed, parents may not forget to “disconnect” the device from their account. Next, kids need to be able to connect with a login/password, which is far from easy for the youngest ones. Definitively, Plex is missing a a true Parental Control!
L0ck plugin for Plex, although(*) not yet the very best solution, should be loved by the thousands of users who voted for such a feature!
(*) You have to re-Lock the libraries before quitting your Plex Client. Libraries are not automatically re-locked after x hours or when Plex Client is restarted… Also, when unlocked, libraries are visible for all the Plex Clients, possibly for other devices that would start Plex! Next, the plugin is unl0cking/l0cking all the Controlled libraries at once (If there is a trick to protect distinct subsets of libraries with distinct passwords, I didn’t find it yet). Finally, restarting the Plex Client is usually required… But still, this is better than nothing or much better than Plex’s suggested approach.
Here is how to install this plugin for Plex on Synology:
Disable the “authentication on local networks” on your Plex Media Server (if enabled)
Go to your Plex Server Administration page http://<YourSynology>:32400/web/index.html#!/settings/server
Click on the entry “Connect”
Click on the button “Show Advanced“
Disable “Require authentication on local networks”
Go to the “L0ck” page to download the Plugin customized to lock/unlock some of your Libraries with a password
Type the local IP (LAN) of your Synology
Click “Search For Section(s)!“
Select the section(s) you would like control access to.
Enter next Password. Ex.: 4 digits
And click on “Generate Plugin!“
Finally click on “Download plugin!” on download a zip with your customized plugin (This is not working with all browsers! Use Chrome).
Deploy the plugin into Plex’s plugin folder after customization for Synology
Unzip the archive downloaded at step 2..F into a temp folder
Open within notepad++ the file <YourTemp>\L0ck.bundle\Contents\Resources\l0ck_support\l0ck.sh
Search and Replace “/var/lib/plexmediaserver” with “/volume1/Plex” and Save the file.
Open next the file <YourTemp>\L0ck.bundle\Contents\Resources\l0ck_support\unl0ck.sh
Search and Replace “/var/lib/plexmediaserver” with “/volume1/Plex” and Save the file.
NB.: No need to change the __init__.py as mentioned on L0ck’s webpage.
Finally Move the folder L0ck.bundle into the hidden Shared folder \\<YourSynology>\Plex\Library\Application Support\Plex Media Server\Plug-ins\
Grant access for plex onto the plugin
Open a Telnet console onto your Synology
Run “telnet” from Windows
Type: open <YourSynology>
Login as ‘root’ with your admin password
Execute the following commands
cd /volume1/Plex/Library/Application\ Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/Plug-ins
chown -R plex:users L0ck.bundle
cd L0ck.bundle/Contents/Resources/l0ck_support
chmod a+x l0ck.sh
chmod a+x unl0ck.sh
chmod a+x sqlite3
Re-enable the “authentication on local networks” on your Plex Media Server (if it was enabled)
Restart now your Plex Clients and go to the “Channels” where you should see the L0ck” Icon:
L0ck Plugin
Et voilà 😉
NB 1: By default, the libraries to be “controlled” are all unlocked. So, enter the plugin and L0ck them.
NB 2: The display is not the same within Plex Home Theater and Plex Web Client. E.g.: in the Plex Home Theater (for Windows), you see both the icon “L0ck” and “Unl0ck”. In the Plex Web Client, instead, you see only the “L0ck” icon. In the Plex Home Theater, when you click on “L0ck”, nothing seems to happen while in the Plex Web Client, you see an “Locked” icon replacing the “Lock” icon. But you will quickly find your path…
NB 3: Once your have clicked on “L0ck”, you have to restart your Plex Home Theater or refresh your browser if using Plex Web Client. On the opposite, with Plex for Samsung, I don’t have to quit and restart Plex after Unl0cking/L0cking my libraries, even if e.g. unl0cking via the Web Client…
NB 4: To Unlock the libraries with the Plex Web Client (where the “unl0ck” icon is missing), go to the “Channels” page and enter the “L0ck” channel. Then type your password in the Search box and simply hit “enter”.
NB 5: Once a movie started from an unl0cked Controlled library, the libraries can be rel0cked immediately. This is not stopping the movie as you could see when playing a movie within Plex Home Theater and re-locking the libraries via a Web Plex Client. So, based on that finding, I have customized the L0ck plugin to add a new button: “Short Unlock“. This one unl0cks the libraries for 2 minute and then re-locks them automatically. If you are interested in such a feature, you can simply add the following line in unlo0ck.sh, before the last line (with “exit;”):
[shell](sleep 120 ; sh ./l0ck.sh) &amp;amp;amp;[/shell]
I have submitted this idea to the creator of the plugin (See here). So far, adding a new button does not offer the best user experience with the Plex Web Client due to some technical limitation…
On Synology, L0ck plugin’s log file is named “com.plexapp.plugins.l0ckunl0ck.log” and located in \\<YourSynology>\Plex\Library\Application Support\Plex Media Server\Logs\PMS Plugin Logs. It has better be opened with notepad++.
I had 2 x 2TB disks in a RAID 0 Volume on my DS713+ and wanted to replace them with 2 x 3TB… My first idea was quite simple: move the 2TB disks from the DS713+ into my PC, next to the 3TB disks, clone those 2TB onto the 3TB disks and resize the data partition… Unfortunately, googling for users’ feedback on such an operation, I finally felt that it could possibly be no such a real piece of cake… So, I used my second idea: “Backup” the DS713+ into a Virtual Synology, replace the 2TB with the 3TB in the DS713+ and “Restore”.
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I decided to not try the “partition resizing” approach because it seems that expanding next the Volume to use the free space on the partition could be difficult (if possible at all). I will for sure try that idea later with dummy data. But for now, I wanted a peace-of-mind-solution. So, I did:
Create a Virtual Synology (a DS3612xs with DSM 5.0-4528) with enough space,
Enable the Network Backup Service on that DS3612xs
Clean-up as much as possible on the DS713+ (DSM 5.0-4528 update 1)
Disabled the camera in Surveillance Station and deleting all the recordings
Stopping Plex, Video Station, Audio Station and Photo Station
Deleting all the movies from \\<DiskStation>\video (As those are anyway backuped on my main server)
Deleting all the musics from \\<DiskStation>\music (As those are anyway backuped on my main server)
Keeping however the photos to not loose albums’ settings and thumbnails (as those would require days to be recreated!)
Backup as much as possibly from the DS713+
Using the native “Backup & Replication” feature, but also
“Exporting” the Configuration of the “Surveillance Station” and Copying the extra licences (not the default one)
“Exporting” all the complete zones’ settings from the “DNS Server”
Taking note of the information not backuped:
“QuickConnect”
“External Access”
“Network”
“Security”
“Notification”
“Application Portal alias”
Taking note of:
All the Packages installed:
The custom “Package sources” configured in the settings of the Package Center
Backuping Wordpress
Stopping first WordPress
Taking a Backup of the database wordpressblog via a full “Export” with phpMyAdmin
In addition, to be 100% safe,I also took a full copy of
the Plex’s configuration & settings: \\<DiskStation>\Plex\Library\Application Support\Plex Media Server
the WordPress installtion: \\<DiskStation>\web\wordpress
All my “customized” stuff
Replace the 2 x 2TB with the 2 x 3TB in the DS713+
Reinstall DSM 5.0 on the DS713+ with the same name and admin’s password as previously
I reinstalled WordPress, Plex, DNS Server and PhotoStation, but I did not configure them and stopped them! (Actually, I don’t know yet if installing them before the restore was required… — to be checked).
Enable the Telnet Service in “Terminal & SNMP”
Restore manually the information for
“QuickConnect”
“External Access”
“Network”
“Security”
“Notification”
Restore the Backup made on the DS3612xs. It included:
All the Shared Folders selected to be backuped
Shared Folders recreated when installing a Packages are renamed!
The “File Services” settings
The “Users”
The “Groups”
(I don’t use the Directory Services)
The “Regional Options”
The “Task Scheduler”
The “Application Portal” alias
Reinstall the other Packages.
Import manually the DNS zones exported previously (via “Create” > “Import zone”).
Fix issues with “Surveillance Station” if any.
I had to delete the camera restored with the Backup in “Surveillance Station” (weird as I successfully restored such backups in the past…)
Add manually my extra licences
Import manually the Configuration settings I exported previously.
Restore manually the database of WordPress via phpMyAdmin and start next WordPress. It should not prompt you anymore to configure it.
Check that the expected content has been restore in the various Shared Folders: photo, Plex (music and video if not cleaned-up), etc…
Delete all Plex’s plugins (hidden folder \\<DiskStation>\Plex\Library\Application Support\Plex Media Server\Plug-ins). They will be reinstalled automatically when you will start Plex. I have indeed noticed that various features do not run fine anymore in the Administration site otherwise. Ex.: choose language when editing libraries or fixing incorrect match, choosing providers, etc…
Start all Packages currently stopped.
Here after, the steps to create a Virtual Synology:
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Take the latest Boot Image iso available to start a “DSM” in a VMWare (Nanoboot-5.0.3.2 DSM 5.0-4528 x64) here.
Take next the latest DSM pat Image (DSM 5.0-4528) here.
Get the Synology Assistant from here and install it.
Use VMWare Workstation 10 to create a new VM (You may create a Shared one to be able to run it remotely if you want):
Create a “Custom (Advanced)” virtual machine
Linux, version “Other Linux 2.6.x kernel 64-bit”
With 1 processor, 2 cores
1024MB Memory
Using a Bridged network
LSI Logic Controller
SCSI Disk Type
And a large new virtual disk fully allocated (for performance reason)
Instead of starting the new machine immediately, edit the settings: the CD/DVD must be changed to use the Iso Boot Image donwloaded at step 1.
Next, edit the “.vmx” file created by VMWare next to the VM: Add this line just after the first one: bios.bootOrder = “cdrom”
Now start the VM. It shows a menu with various entries named “Nanoboot-5.0-4528 xxx”. Pick the one to “Install/Upgrade”.
Run next the Synology Assistant. It will find a “DiskStation” not yet installed. Select that one and right-click to “Install” it.
When prompted for the Installation File, pick the pat file downloaded at step 2.
Proceed until the installation is completed (Give a name to you new Synology. No need however to setup a QuickConnect ID).
Enable the Backup https://www.synology.com/en-us/support/downloadService via the Start Menu > Backup & Replication > Backup Service > Enable Backup Network Service.
You are now ready to backup your actual Synology.
And icing on the cake, here is how to access the DSM and data still available in the old RAID 0 Volume (I.e.: on the two old 2TB):
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I did create a second Virtual Synology with the RAID 0 volume still available on the two old 2TB! Doing so, I will still be able to access all my data and settings if by any chance some have not been correctly restored.
Take the latest Boot Image iso available to start a “DSM” in a VMWare (Nanoboot-5.0.3.2 DSM 5.0-4528 x64) here.
Get the Synology Assistant from here and install it.
Use VMWare Workstation 10 to create a new VM (You may NOT create a Shared as those do not support physical disks. Also you better have to run VMWare as Administrator otherwise adding physical disks could be disabled):
Create a “Custom (Advanced)” virtual machine
Linux, version “Other Linux 2.6.x kernel 64-bit”
With 1 processor, 2 cores
1024MB Memory
Using a Bridged network
LSI Logic Controller
SCSI Disk Type
And add the two old physical disks. Notice: the order is important. If they are not in the correct order, the DSM won’t start and report a disk access failure. No panic: simply swap the disks and retry 😉
Instead of starting the new machine immediately, edit the settings: the CD/DVD must be changed to use the Iso Boot Image donwloaded at step 1.
Next, edit the “.vmx” file created by VMWare next to the VM: Add this line just after the first one: bios.bootOrder = “cdrom”
Now start the VM. It shows a menu with various entries named “Nanoboot-5.0-4528 xxx”. Pick the one to “Install/Upgrade”.
Run next the Synology Assistant. It will find your old Synology “Migratable”. Select that one and right-click to “Migrate”. The RAID 0 Volume is detected automatically and the DSM should load. If it fails around 50%, swap the physical disks and restart the VM. They are probably not in inserted in the correct order (I did swap them physically in my PC – as using bays- but I could have removed them from the VM configuration and re-added them in the right order).
NB: installing with the option to download the latest DSM version failed. I had to download and use the pat file DSM 5.0-4528 available here.
Give this new Synology a unique name and disable any service that would conflict with one already running somewhere else.
As a TFS administrator, I often have to solve the same issue again and again: new developers complain that referenced assemblies are not dropped by TeamBuild although locally, Visual Studio copies those references into the bin folder… The trick is to set the property “Copy Local” = “False” on the references to be copied, Save the project, reset the property “Copy Local” = “True” and Save again the project.
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We have experienced this issue at least with VS 2010 – TFS 2010 and VS 2013 – TFS 2013. I have to say I don’t remember about VS 2008 – TFS 2008 and VS 2005 – TFS 2005.
Project’s “Copy Local” property is the one that indicates if a file reference must be copied or not in the output folder. The value of that property is stored in a tag <Private> in the project file (.csproj, .vbproj, …). Ex.: <Private>true</Private>
The problem is that VS does not add this tag for references whose ‘Copy Local’ property is ‘true’, ‘true’ being the default value for file references added on assemblies not in the GAC. It only adds this tag if one changes the property value to ‘false’. Later, if one sets the value back to ‘true’, the tag is kept but its value is changed.
This is a problem because MSBuild, run by TeamBuild to compile the projects, assume that the value of a “Copy Local” property is ‘False’ if the tag <Private> is not found in the project file.
So, the trick is to force VS to add the tag for all references added with ‘Copy Local’=’true’. This can be done as explained above: set “Copy Local” = “False” on the required references, Save the project, reset “Copy Local” = “True” and Save again the project.
I had two main reasons to replace my good old Galaxy SII (GT-I9100): I wanted a larger screen and much more space for the Apps. But since yesterday, only one reason remains: a larger screen. I ave indeed successfully increased the storage for the Apps from 2GB to 6GB thanks to a tutorial from “Techotv“.
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Samsung Galaxy S2 has 16GB of internal storage out of which 14GB space is available, but not the entire available capacity is usable for apps installation. Unlike modern smartphones like Galaxy S4, our galaxy S2 has two internal partition, known as Device Memory (about 2GB) and USB Storage (the rest i.e. about 12GB). Device memory is the location where apps are usually installed. USB Storage is the location where data (apps data like those of games), user files are stored. So, even though you might have lots of internal storage space available, you might face storage issues during apps installation because you’ve just about 2GB available for apps. In this tutorial, we’ll see how we can increase device memory partition and decrease usb storage partition to accommodate as many apps as we want on our beloved Galaxy s2 smartphone.
This tutorial is for Samsung Galaxy SII (GT-I9100) model only !!!
Backup all contents of your android phone including pictures, music, videos, call logs, SMS, etc… as this process will completely format your mobile. Possibly enable next Google’s Automatic Backup and Restore features so all your Apps, Contact, Calendar and Settings will be automatically re-installed.
Go to Settings > (Personal) Back up and reset.
Check the options “Backup up my data” and “Automatic restore”.
Never put all the eggs in one basket. Use another backup tool next to Google. Also notice that Calls logs, SMS, MMS are not backuped by Google.
Prerequisites:
Download Odin3 v1.85 program from Techotv and unzip it. Samsung Odin is the ROM Flashing tool for SAMSUNG Android Smart phone and tablets devices. Including Samsung Galaxy SII, etc. Other official versions are available here.
Download Philz CWM Recovery for Galaxy SII from here. The ClockWorkMod Recovery (CWM) is a replacement recovery option for Android devices. It’s used as being better than the Stock android Recovery. A Recovery is a bootable partition that has the recovery console installed where you can find tools to help repair (recover) your installation as well as install system (OS) updates, delete all user data and files, etc… On Galaxy Samsung SII, you can access the Recovery by turning off the mobile and pressing next simultaneously Volume Down + Home + Power for a few seconds.
Download the Partition files (PIT) from Techotv and unzip them. A PIT file is a Partition Information Table that can be used to re-partition the phone’s internal memory space.
You phone doesn’t need to be rooted but this tutorial is assumed to work both if you have rooted your device or already installed a custom ROM. NB.: Android needs to be rooted to get the full control on the device, various features being indeed usually locked by default to prevent among other users’ mistakes, etc…
You need a PC with the Samsung Drivers for Galaxy SII installed, otherwise the connection required by Odin to flash the mobile won’t succeed (although the mobile is detected by Odin).
Install “Kies” from Samsung (available here) to get those drivers on your PC.
Don’t RUN Kies after the setup. It could interfere with Odin. If required, kill all its related processes using the Task Manager (via Ctrl–Shift–Esc).
If drivers are not installed, you will be stuck within Odin on the step “<ID:0/003> SetupConnection..”
Go go go!
Launch ODIN program.
Turn off your mobile.
Press mobile’s Volume Down + Home + Power buttons together for few seconds.You will enter the Recovery mode.
Press Volume Up key when prompted on the phone screen to continue in download mode.
Connect your phone to computer. You’ll see one of the rectangular boxes in ODIN turned yellow indicating that the program has detected your phone.
Click on PIT button within Odin and select one pit file. I have chosen for the 6GB PIT file as I store anyway music and video files on micro-sd card instead of internal storage and want a lot of place for my Apps!
Hit on PDA button within Odin and select Philz CWM Recovery file.
Keep selected the Options “Re-Partition”, “Auto-Reboot” and “F. Reset Time”.
All other Options must be unchecked.
Hit on Start button.
You will see Messages displayed by Odin… The process is completed once the message “<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 1 / failed 0)” appears. You should also see a green rectangular box with the message “PASS!”.
If Odin is stuck on “SetupConnection..”, try each of the following tips:
Check that Samsung Drivers are installed (See “Prerequisites”) and Kies stopped.
Connect your mobile on another USB port.
Use a shorter USB cable.
Remove the battery of your mobile for 5 minutes.
Unplug your phone from computer.
Odin Storage Extension on Galaxy SII
Check the outcomes:
Go to phone storage settings and check if the device memory has increased and USB storage space adjusted accordingly. You may be required to format USB storage before it is shown in storage setting. I had to do so as requested by a notification.
If the new storage setting is still not visible on your phone, then do factory reset either from recovery (volume up+home+power keys together in phone off state) or from phone settings (Setting > Backup and Reset > Factory reset). I had to do it.
If storage is still not increased, flash stock Samsung firmware or custom ROM for your phone. I didn’t have to do this!
Google started automatically to restore all my Apps, Contacts, Settings, etc… I only had to reorganize my Apps on the “desktop”…
10.000 thx to SAURABH from Techotv.com for this tutorial. Thanks to him, I have only one more reason to buy another smart phone, which is not enough regarding my own criteria 😥
I have a very old SoundBlaster Audigy 2 NX USB (produced in 2002) and wanted to reuse it on my laptop, as I needed an optical audio output for some testing purpose. Unfortunately, it didn’t produce any sound… until I discovered that the Main volume was disabled in the Configuration pane.
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 NX
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I was first impressed that, once that external audio card plugged on my PC (Windows 8.1 x64), Windows found, downloaded and installed drivers for it. I was actually not expecting such an old card to still be supported by Windows 8.1.
But soon I noticed the “Mute” led that was on (red). And indeed, I was unable to get sound from my speakers 🙁
Pressing the Mute button on the card, or using the remote control to unmute the card didn’t succeed. The led never turned off.
Finally, I found that I had to:
Right-click the speaker icon in the systray
Select “Playback devices”
Set the “Speakers” : “SB Audigy 2 NX” as “Default Device”
Possibly set “Headphone” : “SB Audigy 2 NX” as “Default Communication Device”
Double-click on “Digital Audio Interface” : “SB Audigy 2 NX” to access its properties
Go to its tab “Levels” and enabled the speaker of the “Main Volume”, sometimes also named “Sum”. If it is already enabled, disable it first and then re-enable it!
Config Audigy 2 NX – named “Sum”Config Audigy 2 NX – named “Main Volume”
This is going to turn off the “Mute” led immediately. But if you press the Mute button on the card or mute it with the remote control, you will again not be able unmute it physically. You will have to redo the step 6 here above!
