Apple: If you have an iPod Nano (1st Generation) you may qualify for a replacement from Apple. (Due to exploding battery issue)

Over the years there has been numerous reports of iPod’s unexpectedly exploding (Not that one should ever expect their iPod to explode). Here are just a few of the online stories about the iPod exploding issue (LINKS)

2007 – iPod sets mans pants on fire (From WSB-TV / Atlanta) (http://www NULL.wsbtv NULL.com/news/news/ipod-sets-mans-pants-on-fire/nFDP9/)

2009 – Apple tries to silence man and his daughter over exploding iPod (From Daily Telegraph / UK) (http://www NULL.telegraph NULL.co NULL.uk/technology/apple/5963015/Apple-tries-to-silence-man-and-his-daughter-over-exploding-iPod NULL.html)

2009 – Exploded iPod video (From YouTube) (http://www NULL.youtube NULL.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gqTDUjbHueE)

2009 – Exploding iPod sets kids pants on fire (From Engadget) (http://www NULL.engadget NULL.com/2009/03/13/exploding-ipod-touch-sets-kids-pants-on-fire-melts-his-underwe/)

In some countries, Apple has acknowledged that there is an issue with the iPods battery. Apple started offering replacements in Japan last year, as well as in South Korea over two years ago. Apple has finally made the replacement program global. In an announcement on the (LINK) Apple support site (http://www NULL.apple NULL.com/support/ipodnano_replacement/),

Per Apple, “Apple has determined that, in very rare cases, the battery in the iPod nano (1st generation) may overheat and pose a safety risk. Affected iPod nanos were sold between September 2005 and December 2006.”

“This issue has been traced to a single battery supplier that produced batteries with a manufacturing defect. While the possibility of an incident is rare, the likelihood increases as the battery ages.”

“Apple recommends that you stop using your iPod nano (1st gen) and follow the process noted below to order a replacement unit, free of charge.

Note: This battery issue is specific to the iPod nano (1st gen) and does not affect any other iPod.”

Some key notes

You may order a replacement unit via the web. Click here (https://supportform NULL.apple NULL.com/201110/) to begin.
Your iPod Nano serial number will be checked to verify that it is eligible for this program. You will receive a replacement unit approximately 6 weeks after we receive your current iPod nano (1st gen).
If you have a personalized iPod nano, you will receive a non-personalized replacement. Make sure to use iTunes to back up any data on your current iPod nano before sending it in for a replacement unit. \
Your replacement iPod product is warranted to be free from defects for 90 days from the date of service.

You can see the complete iPod Message on the (LINK) Apple site (http://www NULL.apple NULL.com/support/ipodnano_replacement/)

Facebook: Posts from 3rd party apps not appearing on your page? Here is one possible reason why.

Like everyone else, I have a “connected” life. One of the most common things I do on a daily basis is post from my phone apps to Facebook. What I have noticed in the past couple of days is that anything I would post from 3rd party apps (Like Foursquare, Wordbooker, Cardio Trainer, etc.) stopped appearing on my News Feed page in Facebook. If I checked my profile I would see the posts, but they would be listed as “Only Me” in the post setting.

I was baffled at 1st, as I know I hadn’t made any changes to my settings, and none of the 3rd party apps on my phone had recently been updated. So I started poking around and found the answer. It seems Facebook made a change in Account Settings –> Apps , that at least I (and a few others who have also asked about this issue) didn’t know. Surprise Facebook made changes to account settings (They wouldn’t never do that, I say with sarcasm).

To fix the setting to allow your 3rd party apps to show again in your News Feed, check / adjust the following setting

1) From the top right of Facebook select “down” arrow –> followed by Account Settings

2) Once you reach Account Settings –> select Apps (on left) –> then select edit on the app you want to fix (on right)

3) Once you get to the App Settings area –> scroll to the very bottom of the page (this is why you could miss it, as on some apps there is a lot of scrolling). At the bottom you will see a section called “App activity privacy” (On left). The change you will need is on the right –> this is where you can select who will get to see your post from that 3rd party app.

In my case the setting for all my apps was set to Custom –> Only me. Unfortunately this setting is per 3rd party app, so you will have to go through them 1 by 1. This however solves the mystery of the 3rd party apps not showing.

**Note (Reminder) – These are security settings, if you are looking at them, this would also be a good time to delete apps that shouldn’t be on your profile (either because you don’t use them anymore or don’t know what they are). In addition, you may not want all 3rd party apps to post to Facebook. Review each app carefully before changing its setting to make sure what it does.

Alert: iPhone users – those not using Recurring alarms. The alarm STOPS working on 1/1/2011

It seems that Apple is facing another issue with its alarm clock feature in the iOS software. The following information comes from 9to5MAC (LINK: http://www.9to5mac.com/45310/new-years-2011-breaks-non-recurring-iphone-alarm-clocks (http://www NULL.9to5mac NULL.com/45310/new-years-2011-breaks-non-recurring-iphone-alarm-clocks) ) posted this evening 12/31/2010. The work around for the issue is to make all alarms set on iOS software recurring for the time being …….

*******************************************************************************************************************************

According to multiple users expressing their frustration through Twitter (http://twitter NULL.com/search?q=iphone%20alarm), come New Years 2011 (where ever you are) your iPhone alarm clock won’t function correctly. You may recall a similar bug in iOS (http://www NULL.9to5mac NULL.com/33276/daylight-savings-welcomes-ios-alarm-bug-to-europe) when daylight savings time switched on but this is exactly the opposite. This New Year’s 2011 iPhone alarm clock bug shows its face to users without recurring alarms.

This means that anybody who sets an alarm just for tomorrow won’t be woken up by the iPhone’s built-in alarm clock application. To avoid this issue you need to set a recurring alarm by tapping repeat to select the days you want the alarm to go off on. Apple is yet to say anything and it is still unknown whether this is iOS 4.2.1 only or if it affects past system versions too. Be sure to tell everyone you know with iPhones! (via Engadget (http://www NULL.engadget NULL.com/2010/12/31/psa-iphone-alarms-not-working-come-new-years-day-2011/))

Update: We just ran a few tests and the above iPhone alarm clock issue fixes itself on January 3rd. You should follow our steps to avoid the issue above until then. Reader Aaron F. (https://twitter NULL.com/aaronmfisher) has let us know that the issue is occurring on his iOS 4.1 iPhone 4 as well. Let us know if you see the issue on anything earlier.

(http://www NULL.9to5mac NULL.com/45310/new-years-2011-breaks-non-recurring-iphone-alarm-clocks/repear)

How to: Win 7–Fix for printer share error 0x000006d9

I ran across an interesting error this week that I hadn’t seen before, on a Windows 7 pc as I attempted to share a printer. I would go into the printer properties –> sharing tab and label the printer and as soon as I clicked on either apply or ok I would see “Printer settings could not be saved. Operation could not be completed (error 0x000006d9). The issue turned out to be caused by the Windows Firewall being turned off.

The solution was actually very easy -

1 – Go to Control Panel –> Administrative Tools –> Services

Once you are in services – go to the bottom and make sure the Windows Firewall is turned on

If the Firewall isn’t turned on – Double click directly where it says Windows Firewall. You will get a pop up window where you can click on start.

Once you have started the Firewall service – > Click on OK. (You can close the Firewall –> Services –> and Control Panel Windows.

2 – Now try and SHARE the printer, it should share without any errors
3 – If you have a need or reason for running with the Firewall off, you can at this point go back in and stop the firewall in Control Panel – > Administrative Tools –> Services.

You can now attach to your shared printer from other pc’s…….

Software: Error "The operation failed. An object could not be found" when you click Send and Receive in Outlook

This one was just brought to my attention today by one of my customers. They recently went thru an upgrade from Office 2003 to Office 2007. Now when they attempt to send/receive an email they get the error “The operation failed. An object could not be found” (Shown Below).

It appears that the issue involves your profile in Outlook. The follow steps should correct the issue.

Steps are from Microsoft Support Article #312354 (LINK) http://support.microsoft.com/kb/312354 (http://support NULL.microsoft NULL.com/kb/312354)

- To resolve this behavior, create a new profile. To do this, follow these steps:

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Double-click the Mail icon.
In the Mail Setup dialog box, click Show Profiles.
If you want to be able to select a specific profile each time you start Outlook, click the General tab, click Prompt for a profile to be used, and then click Add.
In the New Profile dialog box, under Profile Name, type a descriptive name for the new profile, and then click OK.
In the E-mail Accounts dialog box, select Add a new e-mail account in the e-mail options, and then click Next.
Click the type of server that your e-mail account works with, and then click Next.
Complete all of the required fields, including those that are on the tabs that appear after you click More Settings.
When you finish providing the required information, click Finish

Cellular: Fix for HTC Battery Issues – How to get your HTC battery to last longer

I keep hearing from different HTC phone users about how they love their phone but hate the short life span of the battery. I will acknowledge that I saw many of the same battery life issues when I 1st got my EVO. I am not an expert on batteries, so I cant really explain how or why the following “extending” battery life solution works, however I do know from trying it on my EVO that it has worked for me. One person I shared this with said that this works because the HTC phones use lithium batteries, which do NOT have memory in them like ni-cads do (Even that is a little over my head, but hopefully that will make sense to some of you).

I know I said that this solution is for HTC phone users, the reason I say that is because I have only tried this solution with owners of HTC phones. In theory, this solution should work for any lithium cell phone battery. (If anyone who isn’t on an HTC device tries this and it works, post a message and let us know)

With that being said here are the steps -

Start by Preparing the phone
With the phone in the on position.

Fully charge the battery with the phone on… (until the led turns green.)
Once the led turns green, unplug the charger until the led goes off.
After the led goes off, plug the charger back in. When the led turns green , power off the phone.

Now the solution

With the phone fully powered off.

Unplug the charger.
Wait until led goes off.
Plug charger back in until the led turns green. When it turns green, unplug the charger again

Now go to step 1. and repeat steps 1 and 3 a total of 10 times. Typically this is about a 10 min. project.

Final Note

I know the question that I get when I tell people about this trick is “How often do I have to do this?” Well in my case, I use this trick once a week (Each Monday) and I can see major improvements to the life of the battery.

Android: (Possible) Solution for Angry Birds Game NOT starting

Angry Birds is one of the most annoying and at the same time most addicting games I’ve ever played. Angry Birds which was just released for the droid is the story of survival of a group of birds that Dish out revenge on the greedy pigs who stole their eggs (Duh – That’s why they are angry) . You use the unique powers of each bird to destroy the pigs’ fortresses. Angry Birds features challenging physics-based gameplay that requires logic, skill, and force to crush the enemy.

Angry Birds can be downloaded from the Android Marketplace (LINK) http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.rovio.angrybirds_lite (http://www NULL.appbrain NULL.com/app/com NULL.rovio NULL.angrybirds_lite) or using the QR Code

(http://chart NULL.apis NULL.google NULL.com/chart?cht=qr&chs=150x150&chl=market://search%3Fq%3Dpname:com NULL.rovio NULL.angrybirds_lite)

Once you install Angry Birds you can find it in the All apps section of your phone

One of the issues that I have been asked about with Angry Birds is that it seems not to start on some phones. During the startup process for the game you see the following screens

The Opening Screen from Rovio

Followed by the Angry Birds (Lite) Title screen and that’s it. The phone goes directly back to your phones desktop

(**This is the screen on my phone)

The (Possible) Solution to be able to run Angry Birds

Step #1 – Under All Apps go to Settings

Step #2 – In settings select Applications

Step #3 – In Applications select Manage Applications

Step #4 – In the Managed Applications Window look for the Angry Birds App and click on it

Step #5 – On the Info Screen click on Move to Phone. The game loads by default to the SD Card and for some phones it seems that is where the hang up happens. The button will change from “Move to Phone” to say “Move to SD”

<—Before <—After

Step #6 (And Final Step) During the game start up – Continuously tap the phone screen or hold your finger to the screen as soon as you see the title/splash screen for the game until it moves to the next screen. (**On my phone (EVO) tapping has worked but on a different phone (droid X) this was tested on holding your finger to the screen worked, so you may need to test both ways**)

Once you see the intro screen – you have made it to play the game.

I know this is a lot for a BETA game – However in the interest of my sanity, here is how I get in to play the game, so that you don’t have to ask (me!).

**Game Tip – Use the pinch function on the phone screen to zoom in and out of the screen. (Hope that helps)

Software: Getting your Creative Labs Sound Blaster soundcard working with Windows Vista / 7

Came across an interesting issue this week with one of my clients who has just upgraded to Windows 7 on his pc (x86/32 bit). His pc hardware included a Creative Labs SB200 sound card, which Windows 7 recognized but said was not compatible with the operating system. I know I could have easily gone out and bought a new sound card but I figured I would try a few things before going down that route. If you do a search for the driver on the Creative Labs site all you will find are drivers that list for Windows 2000 and XP. I tried downloading the XP file and then using Windows 7 compatibility mode to install it, but that didn’t work. So I kept looking and found a version of the Creative Labs Sound Driver on the Dell site – So I decided to try it and “boom”, there it was. Here are the steps I took

Downloaded the Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 (LINK) http://ftp.us.dell.com/audio/R80459.EXE (http://ftp NULL.us NULL.dell NULL.com/audio/R80459 NULL.EXE)
Once Downloaded – Right click on the R80459.exe file –> Left Click on Properties. This will bring up the properties screen. On the properties screen put a check next to “Run this program in compatibility mode” (and select Windows XP SP3) and also select “Run this program as Administrator”.

3. Once you have done that select ok, then double click R80459.exe. During the install you will get prompted for the location you wish to save your file. I recommend just leaving the default location.

4. The install will now run and install your drivers. At the end of the install it will still appear that the install did NOT work. Reboot your pc. After the reboot you should have sound……..Enjoy

**The instructions list Windows 7 – However, should work exactly the same under Windows Vista.

Apple: (From Gizmodo) Apple Security Breach Gives Complete Access to Your iPhone (ALERT)

Gizmodo is reporting that a new vulnerability has been found that affects iPhone, iPod, and iPads

From Gizmodo -

Right now, if you visit a web page and load a simple PDF file, you may give total control of your iPhone, iPod touch (http://gizmodo NULL.com/tag/ipodtouch/), or iPad to a hacker. The security bug affects all devices running iOS 3.1.2 and higher.

Update: Initially we thought that this exploit only effected iOS4 devices, but it turns out all iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads running 3.1.2 and higher are susceptible.

The vulnerability is easily exploitable. In fact, the latest one-click, no-computer-required Jailbreak solution for iOS 4 devices (http://gizmodo NULL.com/5601874/jailbreakme-20-jailbreaks-all-apple-ios-40-401-and-321-devices) uses this same method to break Apple’s own security (although in a completely benign way for the user).

The result is that, without any user intervention whatsoever, that program can do whatever it wants inside your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Anything you can imagine: Delete files, transmit files, install programs running on the background that can monitor your actions… anything can be done.

The short answer to this issue is that you need to be careful and not click on any links to PDFs on your iPhone, iPod, or iPad until Apple releases an update to this issue.

The complete post can be found on the Gizmodo site (LINK:) http://gizmodo.com/5603319/ (http://gizmodo NULL.com/5603319/)

Apple: Possible fix for iPhone 3G(S) that run slow or have issues after upgrading the phone to iOS4

Virtually everyone is aware of the “Antennagate” issues with the iPhone 4, however there have also been reported issues for those using iPhone 3G/3GS models that upgrade to the iOS4 software. The issues appear to be everything from shortened battery life, to very slow performance of the phone (making it unusable, to random reboots of the phone. With all the attention to the antenna issues, these other issues haven’t gotten as much attention until now. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is now conducting a probe concerning complaints about these issues (LINK: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/07/28/apple-investigates-reports-of-problems-with-ios4-on-iphone-3g/ (http://blogs NULL.wsj NULL.com/digits/2010/07/28/apple-investigates-reports-of-problems-with-ios4-on-iphone-3g/) )

With all that being said, it now seems that a member of the tech site Neowin (http://www.Neowin.net (http://www NULL.Neowin NULL.net)) by the name of NathanMillson (http://www NULL.neowin NULL.net/forum/?showuser=327910) may have just figured out the cause (At least one of them) and a simple solution that many have reported fixes the issues.

From Nathan’s Neowin post:

From my experience, I find if you go into Settings->General->Home Button->Spotlight Search-> Deselect every option. No more background indexing on iPhone 3G.

I haven’t had much performance issues after this…

If you find this solution works for you, post a response and TGM will make sure to let Nathan and Neowin know.

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Category Archives: Troubleshooting