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More Audio Driver Drama: Blame Apple, Says Peter Kirn
A few days ago I posted about the problems that the 10.5.2 update was causing with audio recording hardware and software from various manufacturers. Today, in a follow-up post to his original roundup of the issues at hand, Peter Kirn weighs in on Apple's accountability. Kirn's position is that Apple is responsible because all the evidence suggests that the problems lie with the 10.5.2 update, not any one vendor's drivers. "Problems haven't affected everyone," says Kirn, "but they have been widespread enough that we have a right to be disappointed. As a user, I think I have the right to be disappointed. As a writer, it's my obligation to point it out. And I hope they do better in the future."Of course, as Peter points out, rumor is that 10.5.3 is right around the corner, so hopefully these problems will disappear and Trent Reznor can get back to making music instead of standing in for angry Mac-using music geeks in my music-related posts.
Daniel_K speaks out about his modded (better) Creative drivers
We think Creative acted pretty foolishly in forcing Daniel_K to remove his modded drivers that allowed various Creative sound cards to work up to spec under Vista -- customers had already bought the hardware, after all -- but Daniel seems to understand why he's at the center of the firestorm. Speaking to Custom PC, Daniel Kawakami admits that promising faster releases for more donations probably raised some red flags, but he's not happy that Creative took to publicly threatening him on forums, and says that a simple private email would have probably worked a lot better. Just looking at the list of features Daniel managed to enable, however, it certainly looks like Creative should probably be spending time working on driver development instead of threatening its fans. Way to increase your relevance, Creative.[Thanks, Alex]
DisplayLink releases beta drivers for OS X
Folks hanging on the Mac side of life have surely been waiting in tense anticipation for DisplayLink to become OS X friendly, for like, ever. As promised, the first drivers have emerged in order to give Intel-based Macs (yes, MacBook Air and Mac mini are included) the ability to connect with up to four monitors over USB. Granted, the beta software has no 2D acceleration and no OpenGL 3D acceleration, but both limitations are known and will hopefully be ironed out in the final release. So, what are you waiting for? Tap the read link below to get your download on -- but be sure to read up on the documentation before forging ahead without a care in the world.[Thanks, Mike]
Creative halts unauthorized distribution of homegrown Vista drivers
Chances are that if you do your duties on Vista and rely on one of Creative's sound cards to get your dance on, you may have become frustrated by the firm's inability to offer up a driver package that lived up to those loosed for Windows XP. 'Course, if that rings a bell, you're probably not too concerned -- you know, thanks to those unofficial (but totally functional) drivers brought to you by Daniel_K. Unfortunately for users suddenly excited to gain some extra utility from their device, Creative has hopped on the offensive and is forbidding said compiler from distributing the firm's technology / IP (not to mention collecting donations), and it's also scouring the 'net to remove other links to the software. Granted, we fully understand Creative's desire to disallow the distribution of untested, potentially harmful third-party drivers, but until they release the drivers customers expect they should be a little more cautious about shutting down third party patches.[Via Slashdot, thanks to everyone who sent this in]Update: It seems Creative has decided to allow Daniel_K to continue with one particular endeavor at least, noting that "as long as no intellectual property of Creative is distributed, [it] will have no problem with it." Thanks, Aaron!
HTC cooking up faster video for affected devices -- no drivers involved
TyTN II owners, put your cash back in your wallet -- for a minute, anyway. CEO Peter Chou himself along with HTC's European VP have allegedly both gone on record saying that accelerated video drivers are in the works for an unspecified number of devices afflicted by the now-legendary performance issues. Independently, though, we've received word from HTC that that's not quite true. While the company is definitely banging through some improvements in the way video is handled on some of its recent touchscreen models, it turns out that there's technically no driver involved for the dormant Imageon circuitry; rather, the company's crack team of engineers has discovered performance enhancements to the existing software stack that they hope to roll out in the not-too-distant future (March is the tentative plan), and if all goes well, it won't even involve anything more painful than a .cab install. It's a marked improvement over the last official statement, isn't it?
WoW on an Eee PC, in ten (not so) simple steps
I can't say I quite understand the ultraportable thing (why not just use a real computer?), but I have to admit that the Eee PC from Asus is a slick little device. Not as slick as the Macbook Air, but not nearly as pricey, so still pretty slick. And now it's even slicker- Dan from UltraMobileGeek has figured out how to install World of Warcraft on an Eee 701.You can see in the video above that it's just barely playable-- you couldn't raid Black Temple (or even Karazhan, I'm sure), but for logging in and grinding or checking mail, it would probably work just fine. The process, unfortunately, isn't exactly simple-- you have to run modified drivers, overclock the PC, and run experimental code (plus, memory might be a problem, as you need an 8gb SDHC card and probably more RAM than you've got now)-- but if you're interested in pushing your Eee to the limit, it might be for you. One suggestion or Dan (and anyone else messing around with this): would the Wine version of WoW let you skip installing XP, since the Eee is Linux-based? Just wondering.At any rate, sounds like a fun Saturday afternoon project if you've got an Eee to play around with and want your WoW ultraportable.
HTC Kaiser fans cough up over $5,000 for homebrew video drivers
Sure, it seemed like we'd heard the end of the story on HTC phones and the case of the missing drivers, but the cats over at the xda-developers forum have something else in mind. There is currently a $5199.51 bounty on offer from various members of the group for a hacker (or hackers) who can come up with drivers to get their Kaisers' Direct 3D up to par, thus increasing the video capabilities of the phone. If you've followed the case, you'll know that HTC has essentially stonewalled users looking for an upgrade to their poorly performing handsets, and has intimated that if customers want improved video performance, they should look to future hardware as opposed to upgrades on their current models. Clearly owners are looking to take matters into their own hands -- and they're willing to pay for it. We can't wait to see what they come up with, and if anyone out there has the ability and the time, here's a stack of cash that could be yours.[Thanks, Jaime]
24 hours of Leopard: Boot Camp
Features: Boot CampWhat it does: Atten-HUT! No more whinin' about how yer Mac won't run Windows without kickin' it around the block a few times. Leopard now comes with Boot Camp so you can tell your machine whether to come to the party dressed in its Leopard or Windows togs. (You, Soldier, better be wearin' yer camo!)Stop yer complainin' that yer drivers won't work right, neither. Our fine Admirals up at the Cupertino H-Q got ya covered. The Leopard DVD comes with everythin' you need -- if ya think you've got what it takes to handle it.Already running Boot Camp Beta? Well, ain't you special? Leopard walks you through the upgrade and gives you the new drivers that ya need. Who will use it: Soldiers who alternate OS X and Windows Vista or XP. Too much dual-bootin' goodness for ya? Toughen up! Get used to it. This is Leopard, ya big lug. Now drop and give me 20!
AMD announces plans to open up ATI graphics drivers
It looks like AMD's trying to make some friends in the open source community, with it today announcing some new drivers for Linux along with some details on its plans to open up its drivers to the community at large. Set to be released later this month, the new Catalyst 7.9 software will add Linux support for the ATI Radeon HD 2000 series of graphics processors, along with other "major performance improvements across the board," which it says should result in a "90 per cent improvement in such popular titles as Doom 3 and Quake 4." What's more, AMD also reportedly took advantage of this week's Kernel Summit to announce a fairly major push to go open source with its drivers. As part of that initiative, AMD will apparently work with the open source community develop a 2D and 3D driver that supports all the latest Radeon chipsets, and it'll even release documentation to let anyone (with the necessary skills) build some drivers from scratch. According to blogger Christopher Blizzard, however, that will apparently be a rather slow process, with the documentation for the 2D drivers coming first, and the 3D docs coming some time after that. Still, we're guessing that there's quite a few folks that now know what they'll be doing with their free time for the foreseeable future.Read - AMD Press ReleaseRead - Christopher Blizzard, "A new road for AMD and ATI"[Via LWN.net]
New Nvidia drivers for Windows Vista may fix WoW problems
Reader Scott kindly dropped us a note (thanks!) that Nvidia released new drivers for Windows Vista on Tuesday, and hidden in the release notes is a note that the "low frame rates" within WoW have been fixed.So if you're running WoW in Vista, have an Nvidia graphics card (with one GPU), and still having graphical problems, a driver update definitely wouldn't hurt. Things seem to have calmed down on the graphics issues since a few patches have hit, but maybe there are still a few of you out there looking for a solution.As for us Windows XP users, looks like we're still stuck with an older driver version. If you've updated your drivers on XP and are still having problems, the best thing to do is probably just to let Blizzard know about it.Update: Whoops, Slashrude (and other commenters) point out what I missed: these are beta drivers, which means installing them may not be such a good idea. Update at your own risk.
IBM researching intelligent, reflexive vehicles
Count IBM in as one of the many companies looking to skyrocket the cost of our future cars, er, protect our lives by developing must-have active safety systems that are sure to become the standard fare in vehicles of the future. Dubbed a research initiative to "equip cars with technologies that can help reduce traffic congestion and prevent accidents," IBM is looking into driver assist technologies that "exchange information with other cars and with the road infrastructure, take corrective action where appropriate, and provide essential feedback to the drivers to help avoid dangerous situations." These electronic reflexes are said to be much quicker than those possessed by humans, and while the team is not trying to replace the need for driver judgment entirely, it is hoping to provide adequate feedback to help the motorist avoid potential perils. No word on when IBM plans on ushering its marketing team into automakers' headquarters, but we'd enjoy the feel of personally steering and accelerating while you still can.[Via Physorg]
Man sues over red-light cameras for $3 million
David A. Czech is crazy upset about tickets, so he's suing the city of Northwood, Ohio, its police department, and an Arizona-based maker of red-light cameras (which automatically snap photos of traffic violations). The suit alleges that the cameras are part of an "unconstitutional ordinance to extort money" put in place by the city, and Mr. Czech (on behalf of himself and 20,000 other "offenders") is asking for a $3 million payback and an injunction barring use of the cameras. This isn't the first case of its kind that we've seen -- and it undoubtedly won't be the last, considering the recent spate of these systems being utilized across the nation.[Thanks, Simon]
Graphics drivers updates for everyone
Just a quick technical note (thanks to WorldofWar for the heads up): both of the major graphics card makers have released brand new drivers for their video cards recently. Even if you're not technically inclined, all you need to know is that the newer the version of video card drivers you have running, the better your 3D videogames (of which WoW is one) will look.If you're running Nvidia cards, you can get the latest version right here. And those with ATI cards can find their new drivers over on their site. Just download the right file for your operating system, run it (you'll probably have to restart your system, so save your work), and then marvel at... OK, it probably won't look too different, but trust me when I tell you you want to be running the newest drivers possible. In fact, if anything will fix those graphical problems people have been seeing in the last patch, this probably will.But Mike, you say, what if I don't know what kind of card I have? For Windows XP, just right click on My Computer and go to Properties. Choose the Hardware tab, then Device Manager, and then look for the "Display Adapters" menu in the list-- that should tell you the build and brand of your video card. For Mac OS X, you don't have to worry-- Apple updates your drivers for you with Software Update. And for Linux-- well, if you're running WoW on Linux, I'll assume you already know what you're doing, because I sure don't (though you can probably find help here if you need it). And yes, you technically inclined and sharp-eyed ladies and gents, I do call my custom-built, lightning fast XP box "Refridgerator." Why? Because it's freakin' cool, man.
Texas Legislature bans speed cameras, requires warning signs for red light snappers
Ah, Texas. Home to internet hunting, overhead bananas, and WiFi'ed rest stops, the Lonestar State will set yet another precedent by passing a bill onto the governor that would ban speeding cameras and require warning signs to be posted around red-light cameras. Yes, the same state that wanted transponders in every single car registered in the state is now just one signature away from giving heavy-footed drivers something to cheer about. Both measures "were adopted in the state House by unanimous votes," and along with the speed camera ban comes legislation that will put an end to the ticketing programs run by the cities of Rhome and Marble Falls while prohibiting any other cities from enacting such practices in the future. Of course, it should be noted that the bills wouldn't go into effect until September 1st of this year, so you should probably still utilize your cruise control whilst traveling over this long weekend.[Via Autoblog]
SoundofMotion keeps cyclists safe, morphs phone into motorcycle
It may not be legal in most civilized nations to ride a Segway on the sidewalk, but for those still risking their lives on a two-wheeled machine, things are about to get a lot safer. SoundofMotion has developed a clever new warning system that turns your phone into what sounds like a roaring motorcycle, and not content with just playing a pre-recorded loop over and over, it's actually designed to rev up and down based on the speed and acceleration of your bicycle. The application will run on "any Bluetooth- and Java-capable phone," and it interacts with a "wireless BT sensor" that gets mounted on one of your wheels. Unsurprisingly, the device responds to the motion sensor and lets the carefree motorists around know you mean business when crossing an intersection. The app is currently sitting in beta, but the creators hope to have a final rendition ready to go before you make too many summer treks, but you better be willing to face total embarrassment (and have one loud speakerphone) to save your skin before picking this up. Click on through for a demonstration.[Via Slashphone]
Players deal with even more patch bugs
Bugs aplenty in 2.0.3. We mentioned a few yesterday, including the raid promotion issues and the disappearing target frame issues, but players keep finding more.Peridoc from Daggerspine has collected a bunch of them, including the ones above, delays on some characters in the loading screen, and alignment on the Battlegrounds score sheet.Lots of people (including our good commenters) are mentioning that icons have gone all wacky everywhere-- some icons have completely disappeared and some just show the wrong thing. Some textures have messed up, too. Blizzard is collecting the issues here, along with video card specs, which means it's probably a driver problem-- upgrading the drivers on your videocard wouldn't hurt. If you've got an Nvidia, you can get those here. Just know that it is being worked on.Finally, MBAzeroth (and some more commenters) have said there's a problem in AV (and, I believe AB): flags can be capped from many yards away. Obviously, that makes defense pretty unmanageable. Blizzard knows about the issue, and is, as always, working on it.If you've got more bugs, you can include them below, but don't forget to drop them on Blizzard's tech support site, too-- the quicker they know about them, the quicker we'll see them fixed. Someone said the target frame thing was a problem with CTRaid, so updating addons wouldn't hurt, but most of these are real bugs (I'm guessing they have to do with little upgrades to the actual game engine for the expansion, but that's just a guess). At any rate, when you head out into Azeroth, be ready with your bugspray.
NTSB to bus drivers: don't talk and drive, pretty please
While we know there are fanatics out there claiming that cellphones are a tumor's best friend, we're still skeptical of just how dangerous they really are -- but only in that sense. Operating a motor vehicle while keying in an old pal's number certainly isn't a recipe for safe driving, and these acts would probably make protective parents irate if, say, their kid's bus driver was chatting it up while make the rounds. Although we find it quite astounding that cellphone use while operating a school / motor bus isn't already outlawed, it's even more amazing to find that the National Transportation Safety Board is simply "urging" federal and state governments to ban motor coach and school bus drivers from using cell phones except in emergencies. So just as a heads-up, you may want to check with your local school board to make sure John and / or Jane Doe aren't discussing the news while wheeling your offspring around town, as apparently it's still not entirely illegal.[Via TheWirelessReport]
Xbox 360's HD DVD drive already functioning on PCs
In you haven't had enough Xbox 360 (let alone Wii and PlayStation 3) news lately, we've got one more tidbit for you. While we knew the device would sport USB connectivity, the recently released (and unboxed) HD DVD add-on drive has reportedly already been hacked to function on plain ole PCs, no Xbox 360 necessary. Utilizing Toshiba drivers, users have apparently been able to not only view the file contents of their HD DVD flicks directly within a Windows XP environment, but have been able to play back the film on PCs well-spec'd enough to handle the load. By enabling the computer to read the UDF (Universal Disc File system) v2.5 -- which is currently used by Toshiba's first generation HD DVD drives -- you can avoid throwing down the coin required for an Xbox 360 if you so choose. But as these roundabouts always go, we wouldn't count on things working out so smoothly for too much longer, especially with HDCP always lurking and waiting to pounce.
Intel patches Centrino WiFi vulnerability
Is it just us, or is it strangely coincidental to that the day after a pair of hackers announce their ability to compromise certain computers with certain wireless cards and drivers, Intel busts out a driver update for their Centrino WiFi chips. Maybe we're just reading too much into this. In any case, Intel has fessed up to security vulnerabilities in their Centrino systems "which could potentially lead to remote code execution and system control." They've got some new drivers on their website, but advise users to check with their laptop manufacturer for any device-specific updates. No word yet from Apple on the MacBook hackability.[Via The Inquirer]
Mac OS drivers appear in Dell download list
Somehow, some way, Mac OS drivers have appeared as a download option for a Dell Latitude X1. How many times do we have to tell you Michael Dell: You can't sell Mac OS X, no matter how often or how badly you wish to sell an operating system that's made for this century. Besides, trying to sneak it onto your site is just bad form.If you want to see this interesting quirk for yourself, check it out at Dell's Driver and Downloads site. As of this writing, you can snag your own 'Mac OS' drivers for a Latitude X1.This most likely is nothing more than a quirk of Dell's site, as we (thankfully) haven't heard of Jobs changing his mind or seen reports of the sky falling. You can go on about your business.[via Engadget]
