/usr/bin/php^M: bad interpreter: No such file or directory

This error seems to be because the files in question do not use Mac line endings.  To get it to work you need to convert your file into Mac line endings, and using the terminal app, we can easily do this with Nano, already built into OSX.

Right first step is to open the problem file in Nano

nano -w [yourfilename]

Press f3 to access the save dialogue.  Now here is where we need to change the file to Mac line endings.  The key combination to do this is the Meta Key + M.  On the Mac Wirless Keyboard the Meta Key is Escape so press Escape  + M, then press Enter to save and F2 to quit out of Nano.

Try executing the file again and this time it should work.

The other choice was Android, specifically Andriod 3 Honeycomb.  The Playbook and HP’s Touchpad were not considered as these products could easily fail due to low market adoption.

I have had a handful of Android phones such as the G1, Dell Streak, HTC Desire, Sony Xperia X10i and Samsung Nexus S.  The Nexus S is by far the best one due to being a Google Experience Device and receiving updates straight from Google.  This is also the route I shall follow with a Android tablet.  This filtered down the selection to just one device, the Motorola Xoom.

Best Buy Hedge End staff will have you believe that all Honeycomb tablets are directly updated by Google by this is just blatant lies.  They also told me the Xoom is the official Google tablet which means it get updates first but the display unit is locked to 3.0.1, turns out this was another blatant lie.

The real truth is that the US version is GED and not the EU/UK version. This is really annoying as the Xoom costs £100 more that the competition such as Acer Aconia Tab or Asus Transformer and has older version of Android Honeycomb installed.  Granted it has 32GB of memory vs the 16GB of the others but expandable microSD cards are realtivly cheap.  The EU/UK Xoom is a rip off pure and simple.

However, if you have a bit of technical ability, you can turn the EU/UK Xoom into the GED US version very easily.  I did this and got 2 immediate updates in succession taking me from 3.0.1 to 3.1 to 3.2.  There is no rooting required and this can be reversed incase you need to do a warranty claim.  I have read online that some people when doing this process get Google Market in American Dollars but my device has stayed in pounds.  I think this is due to my device being used and set up on the original firmware before I flashed it.

The process is simple please follow the steps below, please note this is for the WiFi version only.

Download the kit including the firmware here

Extract the archive XoomGED.zip, if you are not using Windows rename the fastboot-lin or fastboot-mac file to fastboot.  Also if you are using windows you may need additional drivers which I believe are avaiable from the Android SDK. You will find two firmwares in the archive the US and UK versions.  The UK one is included incase you need to return your device to factory incase of any warranty claims.

Open the command prompt and navigate to the extracted folder

Turn off your xoom hold down the volme down key as you turn it on, release the volume down key when the screen says “starting Fastboot protocol support”

In the command prompt type

fastboot devices

If you can see you device listed in the terminal output you can continue to type

fastboot oem unlock

then follow the onscreen instructions

Reboot your Xoom into fastboot mode.  In the terminal window navigate into the US Original Firmware folder and run the following commands

fastboot flash boot boot.img

fastboot flash system system.img

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

fastboot flash userdata userdata.ing

fastboot erase cache

fastboot oem lock

Reboot your Xoom and you should be presented after booting with a system update

* Update *

I have had to revert my Xoom back to the UK firmware due to the HDMI port not working and I need to get it repaired.  I had to perform the flashing process on Windows and I was missing a dll and a driver, which I have sourced and added to my download in case any other Window users need these items when performing this process.

The fix is quite simple, in your home directory delete the folder “~/.fontconfig”. Log out to restart your session and your fonts should now appear smooth and fuller.

The solution is simple, you just need to edit the file /etc/default/grub. Change the following line

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

to

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="i8042.nopnp"

After the edit, open up a terminal and run

$sudo update-grub

Then reboot and find your touch pad working.  There is however, a problem, which is that it is recognised as a mouse so you can not use features such as turning of the touch pad when you are typing, which I find really annoying.

This issue is also there when using Windows Explorer to view the music files.  Its seems that some MP3′s and M4a’s (AAC) do not show any ID3 information.  I know this information is there as its works perfectly with Rhythmbox on Ubuntu, or even Songbird on Windows but its seems that Windows has an issue with some files.

It turns out the answer to this problem is rather unsurpirising, Windows 7 does not support nativley ID3 v2.4.  The solution is to either use a different media player such as Songbird or to convert your ID3 v2.4 to ID3 v2.3.

I don’t care much for Songbird, Media Monkey, iTunes or any other media player I have found available for Windows and hope one day either Banshee or Rhythmbox will be available for the Windows platform, so until then I have chosen to convert my ID3 tags.  There is a great application for completing this task called Kid3 which you can download from Sourceforge here kid3.sourceforge.net/#download

Installing MySQL seemed to be a headache.  The installer would stop responding at Instance Configuration Wizard, however the solution to this problem is easy.

You need to punch a hole in Windows firewall for MySQL before you install.  Open up TCP ports 3306 for both incoming and outgoing and the installation will complete fully.

If you get stuck with a problem that I did where it installed MySQL without a root password even though you selected one, run:

$ mysqladmin -u root password NEWPASSWORD

Replacing NEWPASSWORD with your password.

If the command above does not work for you, you will need to use a full path to the command which may be in C:\Program Files\MySQL or C:\Program Files (x86)\MySQL or another location depending on where you installed it.

T-mobile is a little more difficult than O2.  You get a swipe card to top up with but you still need to select the usage you wish to use to deduct from your credit (daily, weekly or monthly).  This is easy with the connection manager software that comes with the dongles but all the software does is take you here www.t-zones.co.uk/apps/ebdc/en/purchase-redirect.

So its simple, get your dongle, use the swipe card and then visit the web address above and your good to go.  Your dongle will not be activated until you top up and after top up it could take up to 1 hour.

T-mobile also let you know that you can top up by using “my T-mobile” online.  However, this involves getting a pin sent to you by sms so you will have to use a Windows or Mac machine to receive this or put your sim card in a phone that will accept it.

This is slightly more hassle that the fantastic way O2 PAYG mobile broadband works as you just need to visit the website https://mobilebroadbandaccess.o2.co.uk pay and go.  No content locks or hassle involved.  With T-mobile though, you get a much better fair use policy on internet usage and you do not get charged for going over your usage, instead they may block video sites and downloads between he hours of 4pm and midnight, whereas every other provider will charge you stupid amounts or stop your usage.

Just as a re-cap, the connection deatils for T-mobile PAYG mobile broadband are

APN: general.t-mobile.uk
Number: *99#
Username: user
Password: pass

Contract

Pay as you go

I took my hard drive out of my old laptop which had Intel GMA graphics and put it in my shiny new Studio 17. Everything seemed to be fine until I tried playing a video in Totem or VLC. The video was very dark and reddish. I tried installing the proprietry crap fglrx which seems to suck at multi head if the external monitor has a higher resolution than the laptop screen. With this fglrx driver enabled the video completely disappeared and left just a blank black window in Totem.

The solution is easy, run

$ gstreamer-properties

On the Video tab on Default Output select X Window System (No Xv).

Fire up your text editor

$ sudo gedit /usr/share/mobile-broadband-provider-info/serviceproviders.xml

On line 1877 (or around if this file has been updated since I wrote this post) change the APN to m-bb.o2.co.uk from payandgo.o2.co.uk

<apn value="m-bb.o2.co.uk">
 <name>Prepaid</name>
 <username>payandgo</username>
 <password>payandgo</password>
</apn>

If you currently have a connection set in your Network Manager you will need to delete it and add a new mobile broadband connection.  Selecting O2 prepaid will now set you up with a working connection.

If you have no credit, don’t forget the only website you can visit will be O2′s Top Up Website.