USB-A to USB-A cable

USB TO USB CABLE

As you already know USB cables come in several variations ranging in length from just a few centimeters to several meters. Most people are familiar with the micro USB cable that was supplied with their cellphone and normally just refer to it as a cell phone charger cable. But this type of cable is not supplied by all cell phone manufactures. Apple and Samsung has now opted for USB 3.0 so by implication their is then also a generation 2.0 USB and obviously a generation 1.0 USB, which of course is most abundant. 

Not to confuse you, there are numerous distinct differences among  generations 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 3.1 USB standards such as colour, speed, dimensions, data throughput, compatibility, among other specifics. USB cables also comes in both male and female versions; and generally OTG Adapters / USB connectors / USB hubs and flash drives are also USB compliant. 

Even though the size and shape of the USB connectors may be identical, it's quite easy to spot the difference between the generations by just looking at the colour of the plastic bar upon which the contact rest. USB 1.0 sports a white plastic color bar, whereas USB 2.0 has a black bar, and USB 3.0 has a blue plastic bar, however you may encounter the odd connector with the red plastic bar. 

This is an exception purely to indicate that the USB will remain active whether or not it’s in sleep mode or in standby mode. Meanwhile the internal wiring between the older USB generations has increased from the 4 copper wires, to  9 copper wires in generation 3.0 and 3.1.

Having said all that, considering all the variations of USB, I needed a USB-A male to USB-A male cable, but didn't have one. But allow me to put you into the picture. A couple of months ago my H96 4k ultra Android TV Box RK3229 gave up the ghost.... the dreaded green screen hit me unexpectedly, within the first few minutes of watching S1E3 of Brutal: Taste of Violence. Lucky for me, I could lay my hands on the successive episodes in MP4 format, so I fired up VLC and watched it on my laptop. However, I still needed to resurrect my Android TV box. 

So after watching an episode, I used half a toothpick and pushed it into the AV jack on the back of the TV box and engaged the reset button. After a few seconds the green screen disappeared and within seconds the android logo was visible on the TV screen. I though that was all that was needed, when suddenly the android logo disappeared and the green screen was back. So I removed the 5V power plug, held in the reset button with the toothpick and reinserted the power jack plug. After a few seconds the a menu appeared among which was restore to factory settings but wasn't willing to do that. Reason being, I bought my TV box "jailbroken" with every popular streaming service installed and fully operational. I was a silly not to make an image of the TV Box when it was still fully operational.

Anyway to return to the USB-A male to USB-A male. For some reason I didn't discard any of my cellphone leads when the micro-USB end  became intermittent or when it just didn't charge my phone any longer. I'm sure many of you have had the same experience with these "cheap Chinese cables". Since it was always the micro-USB side that went faulty, I cut off that ends of 2 of these cables and joined them to make-up a USB-A male to USB-A male cable. Within minutes I was able to flash my TV Box with V88 firmware as I believe it is similar though not identical. I then loaded all the repositories I could find including the DSTV and Netfix ones. I also added Kodi version 18 (Leia) but for some reason my remote control didn't work so I reverted to Kodi 16 (Jarvis) and my TV box is purring once again.

If you know the resistor colour code, the wire colours are 0692. This is viewing the plug with the connecting pins on the insolating substrate. The leftmost pin being pin number 4 and the rightmost pin being pin number 1.

4 = +5V         - RED

3 = +DATA - WHITE

2 = -DATA - GREEN

1 = GND - BLACK

Note that technically you may swap the “+” and the “-” signal wires, since the USB signal pair is balanced, the polarity doesn't matter, so you can just splice two factory-made USB cables together to make -up a USB-A male to USB-A male. I spiced the same colours together since both cable were of the same type. You may end up with 2 cables with different colour wires. Probably the best solution would be to do continuity test on each cable and connect pin 4 to 4, pin  3 to 3, pin 2 to 2 and 1 to 1. A USB-A male to USB-A male is a really handy cable to have for flashing USB devices so its worth while making one for yourself.

4K Android TV Box

Kodi 4K 

My H96 Pro 4K Android TV Box has just arrived - Kody 16.1 fully loaded. It's the one with the Amlogic S912 / Octa Coretex A53 SoC (System on a Chip) CPU, and comes with 3GB of RAM and 16GB ROM. Its powered by Android operating system "Marshmallow"  (Android  OS 6) and sports 3 USB ports, Gbit LAN, AV out, HDMI out, and Wi-FI.

This is certainly not the best system available nor the worse but sits somewhere in the middle.  Even if I have to say it myself, this is a really cool Mini PC TV Entertainment Box ideally suited for video streaming and gives you BfYB (bang for your buck).

At the higher end, the H96 TV Box is also available in the Pro+ version installed with Smart Android 7.1 "Nougat" running the same S912 chip with the same amount of RAM (3GB) but sports a 32GB ROM. Then there is also the H96 MAX Smart Android 6.0 TV Box with the  RK3399 Rockchip chip with 4G RAM and 32G ROM. Not forgetting the newer Quad Core 4K TV Box systems with 4+32GB Android 8.1.0 Oreo  sporting HDR 18.0.

However the S905 and S912 chips from Amlogic are not the only Chip powering Android H96 TV boxes. There is also Android devices from Realtek like its RTD1295; and the Hi3798C V200 from HiSilicon compete with 64-bit ARM Processor. Older Android boxes sport Android 5.11 "Lollipop" and Android 4.4 "kitkat". The newest incarnation is the TV-Fire-Stick 2nd Gen with Alexa voice remote.

OTT Box

Most of these entertainment boxes are available with either US Plug or EU Plug, have several USB ports, a SD/Micro SD /MMC slot, AV and HDMI  out as well as Ethernet. A few years ago they were termed Set-Top Boxes but they been renamed as Over The Top (OTT) boxes. When you turn it on, it displays a cool blue LED. Is fully compatable to wireless mice and keyboards. Several of them come fully installed with Kodi addons like  Phoenix , Genesis, Netflix, Exodus, Navi, TED, You Tube

CASTWARE

Software like Allcast, AirpinCast, Multicast and Miracast are wireless protocols that are standard designed for mirroring a smartphone, tablet, or PC's screen onto a television without requiring any physical HDMI cables. It rivals OTT boxes if you have kody installed on your handheld Android device. Regardless of this, I still think Andoid boxes are nifty gadget and really great gizmo to play with.

IPAD SHUTTER SOLUTION

IPAD SHUTTER SOLUTION

Computer pads and tablets has taken the world by storm but they don't come without problems. An often encountered and most frustrating problem with iPads is the onscreen leaf shutter display that locks-up. Internet forums are inundated with questions like, I have an i Pad 2 with the latest iOS installed and now have problem with the camera, the shutter does not open at all. Why is that? Or statements like, Camera shutter will not open on camera or video. Or Camera lens closed. Or iPad 2 camera shutter problem. Or Camera shutter acting weird. 

iPhone Shutter stuck closed on iPad2 and iPad 4

iPad forums are communities dedicated to the Apple iPad who discuss various topics including iPad Help, iPad Reviews, iPad Apps, iPad Accessories iPad Games and more. At Mac Rumours, Geekfori, discussions.apple.com, iPadForums.net, appletoolbox.com etc. members  are frantically trying their utmost to help one another making the weirdest suggestions. Here are some of their cries.

1) My camera is stuck on shutter closed, I have followed instructions to reboot.

2) The shutter on my i Pad 4 closed. I switched between the front and main cameras. Now it stays closed, and now that the shutter is closed. Unfortunately, I don't  know anyone else who has an iPhone4, so that I can call them using FaceTime.

2) iPad stuck on apple. The camera shutter won't open, although FaceTime camera works properly, 

3 My camera shutter is stuck on close. I have followed instruction to reboot iPad. 

4) I'm having the same problem: brand new i Pad 2, out of the box. 

5) Like many of you,  I experienced issues with the back camera on my iphone shutter. The shutter closed and iphone shutter won't open again. 

6) Already tried resetting i Pad 2 but made no difference. 

7) I also have the same problem, the shutter stuck. I am sure it is not a mechanical problem. It is likely to be a software problem and Apple should take the responsibility to resolve it.

8) I had the same problem I think it is a hardware problem the apple store will be able to replace the whole unit. I too had the same problem.

9) When the shutter on the main camera is closed, I can set the Camera/Video switch to Video, but the controls are generally unresponsive after that. I hope I don't have to replace my  apple 4 ipad.

10) My iPod's Camera shutter being closed, shutter does not open. I tried everything, still couldn't change the fact that the camera shutter was stuck in the closed position. Eventually replaced it through Apple Store near me.

11) when I launch my camera it becomes stuck. I'm looking at the shutter in the closed position. I can take a pic of myself and when I try to get it to go back to the front camera it is still stuck like the shutter again. Anyone else experience this problem?

FORUM ADVICE

1) Try a reboot. 

2) Restore from backup via iTunes

3) Restore to factory default to new iPod installation via iTunes.

4) Restore to factory settings (backup first) 

5) Try closing the camera program in the multitask bar, then reopening it.

6) Make an appointment at an Apple store or call AppleCare since you have a hardware problem.

7) The solution I found solved my problem several times (the shutter stopped to work more than 1 time ). Let the ipad discharge completely, then recharge it, the shutter should work again.

IPAD SHUTTER SOLUTION

Most iPad users who have problems with their shutters will end up using the photo booth (red curtain) to take photos. Even though it works, you cannot zoom in to take closeups nor get access to your photo roll. However the solution is quite simple and its described in the apple users manual under "Restart or reset iPad" on page 153, and "Reset iPad settings" on page 154. These are known as a hard reset and has nothing to do with resetting software settings. Download he manual below,

http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1595/en_US/ipad_user_guide.pdf

APPLE IPAD SHUTTER SOLUTION

Restart iPad. Hold down the Sleep/Wake button until the slider appears. Slide your finger across the slider to turn off iPad. To turn iPad back on, hold the Sleep/Wake until apple logo appears. 

NB! if you don't keep the Sleep/Wake until apple logo appears the shutter will remain locked.

From a technical standpoint, I find most people tend to read user manuals as a last resort first trying to figure out things for themselves, unfortunately in most case it is to their own detriment.

2013 SMARTPHONES

SMARTPHONES

The  Samsung Galaxy S4, the HTC One, the Sony Xperia Z and the LG Optimus G are hailed to be the latest, the best and the fastest smartphones on the market with graphics second to none and with a battery life that will not make your fun come to an abrupt end. 

Question:  So what do they have in common? 

Answer: The latest and greatest Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.

When you’re mobile and you’re connected Snapdragon's low power processors allow you to connect and stay connected for extended browsing time and battery life. Three Cheers for Qualcomm. Samsung has also launched their new dual operating system tablet called the ATIV Q. It  is a convertible tablet / Ultrabook hybrid capable of running  both Microsoft’s Windows 8 and Google’s Android. It is also lighter and thinner than Microsoft’s Surface Pro but  the keyboard is not detachable, however the screen can be folded over to give a full tablet appearance. It allows you to switch operating systems  on the fly and can even access an Android application directly from Windows 8 and vice-versa. It also boasts a super high definition screen which is definitely better than Apple’s Retina display and it sports an Intel i5 processor.

ATIV Q uses will most likely use Android when in tablet mode,  but switch to Windows 8 for laptop mode.  Currently Android still lags far behind Apple’s iPad has nearly 500,000 apps but it's far better than Windows Surface RT with is mere 60,000 mobile apps.