Installing Huawei EM660 on ThinkPad X100e

Several months ago, i've bought a Mini PCI 3G Module, branded as  HUAWEI EM660 CDMA2000 for my Lenovo ThinkPad X100e.

Previously  I knew that there is a single empty slot on the notebook's mainboard for a Mini PCI module. And also, actually  I  want to free-up one USB port rather than using an all-day-long attached 3G USB modem's dongle.

I bought it from Jakartanotebook,  it was costs about $16 at the time.

Specifications :
The specifications of this modem are as follows :

Features	Description
Product title	EM660
Dimensions:	Target:51mm×30mm×5mm
Weight	<30g
External interface	Compliant to PCI-SIG PCI Express Mini Card version 1.2(Support USB 2.0 protocol)
Technical Standard	CDMA 2000 1XRTT ； Compatible to CDMA IS-95 A/B 800/1900MHz； CDMA 2000 1x EVDO Rev.0 800/1900 MHz； CDMA 2000 1x EVDO Rev.A 800/1900 MHz；
Operating Frequency	CDMA/EVDO 800M RX:869MHz～894MHz/TX:824MHz～849MHz CDMA/EVDO 1900M RX:1930MHz～1990MHz/TX:1850MHz～1910MHz
Data Rate	EVDO Rev.A data service of up to DL 3.1 Mbps/UL 1.8Mbps
Max. transmitter power	CDMA 800 MHz :+23 dBm（Power Class 3）; CDMA 1900 MHz +23 dBm（Power Class 2）;
Maximum power consumption	Average power consumption <= 3.6W
Power supply	3.3V/1100mA
AT command Sets	support 3GPP 27007 AT commands, and some Huawei defined commands.
RUIM	support RUIM,standard 6 PIN UIM card interface,support 3V and 1.8V UIM card
Receive Diversity	800/1900Mhz receive diversity
Antenna interface	Use Hirose U.FL-R-SMT connector
driver	Supporting Windows 2000 、Windows XP、Vista and Linux(2.6.18 later)
Operating Temperature	-10 to 55° C
Storage Temperature	-20 to 70° C
Humidity	5%~ 95%
OS Support	Supporting Windows 2000 、Windows XP、Vista and Linux(2.6.18 later)
SMS service	Supporting SMS based on CDMA 1x
Language	English ( can be customized)

* taken from http://www.letswireless.com.cn/en/product/show.asp?id=2


Installation :
To install this module on the notebook is quite easy. I opened the bottom of the laptop (unscrew). The Mini PCI's slot is quite easy to find, it located next to the SIM Card slot.

Plug the modem module carefully, lock it with (two) screws. There are two cables from notebook, each color Blue and Red. Now connect the blue cable connector to the antenna port labeled "A" (mean Auxiliary) and the red wire to the antenna port labeled "M" (mean Main). Do a gentle tap to make sure the connector is attached closely. And lastly, I do inserting the SIM card into its slot.

Test Drive :

This modem does not require special treatment. And it was immediately recognized as Huawei E169/E620/E800 HSDPA Modem by Linux (Ubuntu) without installing any drivers.

 

On Microsoft Windows XP / 7, this modem is also 100% compatible with Mobile Partner application from Huawei.

So how about the speed?. Well the modem is pretty stable and fast, and a little to warm if you're on a high load (such as downloading or watching youtube), of course without buffering :-)

And this is the Speedtest.net result of this modem with AHA (CDMA, from Bakrie Telecom) card (4GB Unlimited Plan, bandwidth 600kbps)

At last, no more USB dongle attached :-)

Ms.Office 2007 runs on Wine: how to solve blinking Office button problems (freezing Office)

Wine

Although I use Ubuntu everyday at work, for reasons of compatibility to the other users I'm using Microsoft Office 2007 rather than LibreOffice.

After I successfully installed Ms.Office 2007 on Wine with the help of PlayOnLinux (how? do read here), I started to  run Ms.Excel first.

But what happened? Ms.Excel stopped working (freezing) with the splash screen stay appeared, with the anomaly that the Office at the top left keep flashing and blinking on.

From my  observation, Ms.Excel in fact do a request for a user's Full Name and Initial information because this is a fresh install. And on unknown cause, the dialog box is closed by the modal windows of the splash screen :-(

Well the solution is easy, press the key combination Alt + Space on the keyboard. A dropdown menu will appears, select Move, then press the arrow keys until the dialog box appear. Enter the requested informations, then press OK. Done!

Press Alt + Space to show up the menu, then choose Move

Move down the box with keyboard, fill the informations

Hope you are helped by these tips.

Note :

• I use Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 
• Wine picture above taken from http://www.techgainer.com

Ubuntu 12.04 : How to enable automatic login

I know that automatic login feature (either on Windows or Linux) is a very-very bad idea. But sometimes this feature is still needed, especially for computers that are used for public area and do not have confidential data.

On Ubuntu, you can switch on the feature easily. Open up the HUD, type 'setting' then choose the appeared System Setting icon. Next, choose the User Accounts module, unlocked it first, then slide the Automatic login switch to ON.

Now, you can test it by reboot it once, and Ubuntu won't ask you for password to login.

How to fix slow & choppy video playback on VLC

There's nothing more enjoyable than watching high definition movies in 720p or 1080p resolution. For watching them, I always use VLC. Love this app, it is so powerfull, lightweight, free and compact.

But for watching HD movies (720p and 1080p),  I got some slow & choppy experiences when playing them. Well, i've got some tricks to solve that.



But first of all, make sure you've installed the latest driver for your graphic card. Please refer to your grapchic card's manufacturer website for latest driver.

Well, this  little trick can solving the choppy playback problem, (at least for me) Follow several customization below on your VLC's Preferences : (Ctrl + P)

uncheck Enable OSD & show media title

check the Use GPU accelerated .. checkbox, Set Skip H.264 to 'All'

well, I'm still experimenting with other settings. But at least with the above settings you should be able to improve the performance of your VLC's playback

HD Videos plays nicely without choppy experiences

Have a try and tell me what you've got

This trick has been tested on VLC running on Ubuntu 12.04 and Windows 7
on my ThinkPad X100e (ATI Radeon HD 3200)

Ubuntu 12.04 : How to make your Ubuntu looks spacious, neat, and clean as Windows XP

One of the many things I hate about Ubuntu is the huge characters on its UI. It's make a narrow and crowded experiences when you use Ubuntu on a tiny display netbook. Apparently we can solve this by shrinking the text size into small size through the Universal Access menu.

This simple trick give a major impact on the overall look of Ubuntu. Ubuntu UI look more spacious, neat, and clean. Almost similar to Windows XP. Just take a look at the comparison below :

Thanks to Mr.Kamil Hayazidie (twitter : @milkajuicer) for this simple trick :-)