welo

EDIT: I just noticed you have another thread running on howto get your bittorrent port forwarding running.

Better you stick to one thread, that will make it easier for people to get the required background information and understand your problem (and give you useful advise).

From what I read on the other thread it seems you are struggling with your port forwarding setup. I would not jump to conclusions until you are sure that your setup is correct. To me it seems the issue at the moment is not TT&T but the complexity of configuring uTorrent behind a router (which is for sure not a trivial thing, but it can be done even by not-so-experienced users, just hang on!)

welo

Had a little read on the AHCI feature. It's actually a specification developed by Intel so it might be possible that Intel chipsets supported this feature sooner. From what I understand it's a standardized way for an OS to communicate with the SATA controller ("The specification describes a system memory structure for computer hardware vendors to exchange data between host system memory and attached storage-devices" source:wikipedia).

Windows has built-in support for AHCI as of version 7.

AHCI is fundamentally different from the 'legacy PATA' emulation. This is what you described as the IDE controller emulating a parallel-ATA to connect an attached SATA drive. To the OS it appears to be a PATA device which should make installation without suitable driver easier/possible. Just as like you said.

However, there seem to be issues when switching between modes after Windows has been installed. I know Windows can be pretty picky when you mess with the system drive/partition. I will look into that.

The interesting thing is that I can access the HDD and partition D and E are readable, but partition C seems to be wiped out. I see two explanations for this:

1. Some issue with the controller not accessing the harddisk correctly due to the mode switching. Maybe this only affects the boot partition since the BIOS might be interfering here. Seems a bit unlikely to me though.

2. During mode switching and/or when doing the surface test the filesystem of the boot partition got damaged.

> Anyhow, have you tried the SATA & PATA setting without a bootable cd?

> Just trying to boot normally? Also, if you flashed your BIOS, other settings

> may have changed? Doesn't flashing usually return the BIOS to factory defaults?

I tried all three settings and neither worked to boot windows. I used the bootable CD only to access the filesystem and check, and to run the HDD surface test from a rescue CD. My basic concern was to get the installed Windows booting.

> Since the case is now open, have you tried booting without anything connected to the mobo? Then connect

> the HDD and try to boot. If there isn't success, then you at least know the DVD drive isn't interfering. That's

> a fairly important thing to eliminate.

Will try to detach the DVD, and try again - just to make sure.

> I've seen PC's that have Windows with everything else, and an empty partition that is used as virtual ram space, or not used at all.

That's a good point. I used a bootable disk for a disk imaging software (I wanted to make a backup of the system partition before messing further with the Windows installation).

> If the HDD won't boot after trying some more things, set the BIOS to use the DVD drive

> as primary boot device and stick the bootable cd in it. It should boot to the cd. If it

> doesn't, there is a problem somewhere else. Possibly recheck connections and everything.

Booting from DVD drive is not a problem with SATA-only setting. It just didn't work with SATA & PATA setting.

Thanks for your hints. It's just a lot trial and error again, which is tiring

welo

I believe you! I don't have any personal experience on that matter.

Only thing that puzzles me is that quoted person was charged between 12 and 18 percent. Nowhere near the mentioned 2-3x.

But still, for a laptop I doubt it would make sense if costs are to be considered (shipment + taxes + possible warranty issues).

If you or a friend of yours can bring a laptop on the plain - that's a different story.

Also don't forget that you can re-claim the VAT if you leave Thailand. Don't know the exact rules here though.

welo

Forgot to add one screenshot...

<snip>

Does anybody know about Seagate's policies on warranty replacements? I mean if I keep getting bad blocks on this drive it is obviously faulty.

Anybody with specific experience in Thailand? Where to send, how long to wait, etc.

welo

It's not a 1 TB, series 11 is it?

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/seagate-7...iling,6844.html

No, it's a 250gigs drive!

The drive has always been detectable, and the BIOS hangup was definitely a BIOS issue not caused by the HDD. Even with HDD detached the BIOS would still hang.

Thanks anyway!

The screenshots show the BIOS options for IDE.

If I remember correctly it was set to SATA+PATA before, I changed it to PATA which caused the BIOS hangup.

Now I set it to SATA since there is no PATA device.

Interestingly if I set it to SATA+PATA the computer would not boot from a bootable CD, with setting SATA it does.

SeaTools dropped out of Long Test at 4x%. Saying the device does not respond. HDD Regenerator never has any problems like this. Maybe they use a different method to test the surface (built-in SMART vs generic)

welo

Having just come back from KL for a multi entry non O based on a Thai child:

I took, bank book, blue book with me named as the father, birth certificate with me named as the father, copy of rental agreement, copy of 670 GBP pension per month, letter from girlfriend requesting the visa issue.

I got a single entry because me and the mother are not married, they said they would only issue multi if I show a marriage certificate.

Thanks for your comment!

That is not good news! Other reports before indicated that one would get a Multiple Entry, even with less funds. I guess for a single entry it's not worth the trip if you can get a 60 days extension on any Permit of Stay with less paperwork.

In your case if you cannot get a 1 year extension (670 GBP is sadly just under 40000 THB at the moment) don't forget that you can do the 60-days on your Non-O if you need it.

I also wonder whether you could get a 2x TV at Vientiane and extend each entry by 60 days based on the child rule. Depending where you live and how easy you can do a border run this could be a good solution, too. Just speculating here though, /me not an expert

welo

I am running a Long Test with SeaTools right now. Will take another 3 hours or so until finish, so I cannot follow on your recommendations until this is finished.

Never heard about the AHCI option before. In the beginnings of SATA I used to supply a driver disk during setup and later I used streamlined install CDs that would have the SATA drivers included - at least so I thought. Maybe those later computers supported the feature you mentioned.

I booted up with a rescue disk and interestingly the C partition is wiped out (data is luckily on another partition). No idea what happened, but I don't believe anything I did could have wiped the first partition's content and leave the partition table working. So I assume it's just another symptom of the faulty harddrive albeit a strange one.

However, how can Windows boot to the Windows logo if there is no data on this partition!?! Have to check again...

I had fixed some bad blocks on this drive about 4 weeks ago (using HDD Regenerator) and had the owner already prepared that the drive is quite likely to fail soon. However, since the SeaTools didn't report a FAILED test I advised against sending it to Seagate for replacement.

Does anybody know about Seagate's policies on warranty replacements? I mean if I keep getting bad blocks on this drive it is obviously faulty.

Anybody with specific experience in Thailand? Where to send, how long to wait, etc.

welo

Used the "disable automatic restart on system failure" feature in Windows Boot Menu (F8) and got my blue screen:

*** STOP: 0x00000024 (...)

hurray, didn't see a BSOD for quite some time.. so happy to have them back

This actually indicates a problem with the NTFS file system. Since I started working on this computer because of a failing harddisk, this might not have anything to do with my BIOS issues after all..

welo

Of course you can always go with shipito and declare a lower value... Not sure it's worth it though. Check this out...

here is some of my last orders from shipito.com:

1. Amazon Kindle 2 ebook reader FEDEX INTERNATIONAL PRIORIITY (3 day delivered to bangkok) all costs inc shipping / insurance and shipito handling charge US$32.24

2. Apple iphone 3G FEDEX INTERNATIONAL PRIORITY (4 days delivered to bangkok) all costs as above US39.25

3. 2 3foot minidisplay port extension cables FEDEX INTERNATIONAL PRIORITY (3 days delivered to BKK US$29.12

You can use a cheaper shipping method with less secure / slower services but at those fedex prices it just does not make sense. Secondly the customs price u declare on the webpage with shipito.com is up to u. I put the value of the iphone as $100.00. Fedex charged me 600 baht customs. Ebook kindle I put value as $50.00 i got charged 200thb.

DISCLAIMER: I never used shipito myself, follow the link ontop of the quote to see the whole thread about shipping services from the US.

Woooha! This is crazy!

Company “A” imports goods into Thailand. The CIF value of the imported goods and applicable taxes and duties are as follows:

• CIF value of imports = 200 US$

• Import duty = 60 %

• Surcharge/Special duty = 10 US$

• Fee = 50 US$

• Interior tax = 10 %

• Excise tax = 30 %

• VAT = 7 %

Total taxes and duties = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 6 = 407 US$

Expecting a GPS receiver declared as gift within the next days... Let's see how that works out.

Status Update

Reboot after (complete) Power Disconnect (5 minutes and longer) did not work. Maybe it worked, but it didn't reset the problematic setting. I didn't see any message either indicating any reset.

CTRL-ALT-DEL didn't work for me either, couldn't get any speaker output to time the key acrobatic better, but didn't bother too long with it. Not sure why somebody would implement this key combination for entering the bios since it restarts the computer if not hit at the correct moment.

Used the hair-dryer to remove the stickers and open the case. 2 out of 3 stickers survived undamaged. While tampering with the stickers I found out that the PC has only 1 year warranty despite the big 3 year warranty sticker on the front.

Detached the SATA cables and power cables to HDD and DVD, but PC would still hang.

Removed the bios battery and used the onboard jumper to reset the CMOS data. Hurray! Bios hangup fixed! Entered Bios to reset the culprit setting.

However, Windows would not boot any longer. Shortly after the Windows Logo the PC just reboots. Awesome! Retried several times, also in Safe Mode, same same.

Loaded BIOS default settings, no change. Thought that maybe Windows is confused about the reshuffled hardware configuration data and disabled most devices in the bios. No change.

I am a bit pissed off now. All the troubles just because I wanted to disable SATA support to see whether the devices are really SATA and not PATA. Argh!

How come a simple setting like this can cause the BIOS to fail!?

Possible next steps:

• Reflash the original Lemel Bios (which is a way older version and has a Lemel startup logo), maybe there is an issue with the new Bios version
  
• Do a Windows Repair install. Problem: The PC used a modded Windows Setup CD (BunnyX) which I don't have at hand.
  

I would like to get Windows running again so my friend's daughter can backup her data. Of course now that the case is open I could attach the HDD to another computer for backup and check - have to use a external HDD case though since I only have laptops.

The situation is a bit annoying

Appreciate any input for the shortest way out of this mess!

welo

Thanks guys. Going to try that ASAP.

welo

Will try the CTRL-ALT-DEL again tomorrow.

I like the hairdryer solution, will definitely try that.

Will report back tomorrow.

Thanks, guys.

welo

OK, guys, you are great!

I am just in the process of updating the BIOS from CDROM. The EZFLash Tool couldn't find my USB thumb drive, but it detects the SATA DVD-drive. Hope that will reset the invalid setting, too.

...

Well, flashed the BIOS successfully, but EZFlash doesn't load the default configuration. Still cannot access the BIOS. Mpf...

I guess I will just open the case tomorrow and risk voiding the warranty. Most components have manufacturer warranty anyway, I doubt Lemel would add much to that anyway.

welo

Yes, guys! That's what I want to hear!!!!

Just tried your suggested key combinations, so far only ALT+F2 works. Problem is, how do I provide a BIOS CD if my DVD-drive is not recognised. The PC does not have a floppy. I don't have a USB floppy or CDROM to test if that works.

CTRL+ALT+DEL does not work. I am not sure what 'immediately after POST' means, so I tried at several different points. I think POST would be when the keyboard lights flash up, right?

ALT-F does not work either. Didn't find a CMOS-clear switch anywhere accessible from outside the case.

welo

Thanks to all of you!

I will report back when he was issued (or not) his next extension.

welo

Load windows 7 or put it in someone else's computer with vista or 7 will most likely install it and tell you what it is.

Do you have a (1) onboard Firewire chipset or (2) PCI Firewire Card.

If (1)

Try to find out the motherboard model, the brand and model is usually printed on the motherboard itself. Then google for this model. Either you can find drivers for this specific board or you find information on which Firewire chipset it uses

If (2)

Lookup the firewire chipset used on your card. Just look for the largest (usually square and flat) chip on your card. Then google for this.

When opening the computer case better detach the PC from the power source. Usually you should ground yourself before touching the insides of your PC, not sure where to do that in Thailand though with no electric grounding, heating pipes or metal water pipes in place

Just avoid touching the card and chips while examining to avoid electrostatic issues.

You could also try one of those driver packs & update utillities, but never used one before. something like this http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2008/0...ws-xp-computer/. Just try to make sure the program you download is trustworthy (google, check download.com, softpedia, filehippo, etc).

Most software I tested would only update software and drivers though and not identify missing drivers.

Maybe somebody knows a good tool?

welo

Basically you are right, but I assume you don't have too much experience with PC warranty issues, right?

Depending on the company you have to deal with warranty issues with PCs are mostly a time intensive and often frustrating experience unless the faulty component can be pinned down precisely and easily (for example a faulty DVD drive).

That's why I usually try to fix the problem myself and during this process check whether it is a software or hardware issue. If it's a hardware issue will find the exact problem to speed up the replacement process. Otherwise you might not see your computer for weeks and/or get lame excuses why they don't fix it (virus, software, blabla).

In the case of a faulty harddisk they will usually not recover the data on the drive when replacing it, or - in this special case - maybe just fix the bad blocks on the drive and NOT replace the drive since the Seagate Tools don't report the drive as faulty. I can easily do that myself in a fraction of the time.

The problem I have now could be easily fixed in 5 minutes by opening the case and temporarily detaching the hdd cable, but I don't want to void the warranty in case my friend needs the company support in the future. In Europe those stickers have actually become meaningless, the law does not allow to limit warranty in such a way since the owner is allowed to add hardware to the computer (another harddisk, RAM) if he has enough expertise. But I guess in Thailand the company will welcome any excuse not to fulfill the granted warranty. This is of course just an assumption and this is why I asked whether somebody has experience with Lemel support issues (since I see a lot of these PCs around).

welo

Hmm. Will be hard to fullfill the 21-days requirement on a 15-days Permit of Stay However, this guy reported he got a 60-days extension based on marriage on a 15-days Permit of Stay. Makes me confident that it will work out Seems converting to a Non-O and hence the 21 days are only applicable for 1 year extensions.

welo

Hi guys! This is a tough one!

While troubleshooting a friend's computer I disabled SATA support in the Bios. Now the bios hangs on startup and it would not let me enter the bios setup screen to revert the change (Keeps hanging at 'Entering Bios Setup...' after pressing DEL).

Clearly the Bios fails to initialize the attached harddrives (to be more precise: a SATA hdd and a SATA dvd). The obvious solution is to detach the drives, then enter the Bios and revert the change, BUT... this would damage all those nice little warranty stickers

The computer is a Lemel desktop and has 3 years warranty. The mobo is an ASUS P5GC-MX/1333 with AMI Bios rev 0312.

The bios option I changed had to do with PATA+SATA support (3 options: PATA only, SATA only, PATA + SATA) and I switched to PATA only since I wanted to disable the SATA controller.

Does anybody know a way of resetting the bios to defaults by software means only? Obviously I cannot set a jumper on the mainboard (warranty void). Is there any key combination to enter the bios prior to initializing the harddrives? Or to reset to bios defaults?

I thought about flashing the bios but the computer will probably hang before booting from USB.

Any other ideas?

Anybody has experience with LEMEL computers and warranty issues?

Thanks,

welo

It's been nearly a month since my last visa-run to Cambodia, nevertheless here my report...

• Used an agent from Poipet for 2500 THB - pickup at border on x + 2 (2 nights)
  
• Single Entry only
  
• No red stamp
  
• Visa on Arrival office on Cambodian side of the border is beeing rebuilt and temporarily relocated. See pictures below
  
• New bus terminal with publicly announced bus and taxi prices. More info below
  
• Applied for Cambodian eVisa and was issued one after 5 hours processing time
  

Agent

I had some friends come over to Thailand for visit and we timed our visit to Angkor Wat so I can do my visa run.

I used one of the semi-official touts on Cambodian side for 2500 THB. I had to fill the application form and provide a photo, and of course the passport. Pickup was 2 days later at noon time at the same place. No problems. The agent spoke good english and gave me his Thai telephone number so I could contact him to pickup my passport on arrival at the border.

Just ask the touts (that will approach you anyway) after you exit Cambodian immigration.

Advice: Bring a copy of your passport main page, and take a picture of your Cambodian Visa and entry stamp - just in case.

Cambodian Visa on Arrival

The VOA booth is beeing rebuilt and moved to a temporary building (container) just BEFORE the stone arc, still on the left road side, immediately after you do the health check. It's actually easy to spot but I was so conditioned to ignore everyone and everything around me and head to the old location that I missed it. I first ended up in one of the containers AFTER the old location on the right road side where one of the immigration officers had already prepared a staple of immigration cards to cash in on confused tourists. I then noticed the lack of any signs and left, finally spotting the relocated booth with the 'Visa On Arrival' sign mounted on the backside

Bus terminal

The bus terminal looks newly renovated and is proudly labeled 'International Tourist Terminal' with an area for 'arrivals' and 'departures'. Inside you find a shop and a little restaurant, a money exchange and a ticket counter with advertised prices for buses and taxis. Maybe it has been in place for longer already, but the tout told me that 'everything changed and everything is new and official now'.

Prices to Siem Reap are 9 USD for the bus and 12 USD for the taxi. The latter is for a shared taxi of course, not sure whether for 3 or 4 persons sharing (the price for 3 would be acceptable, for 4 people overpriced - 36 vs 48 USD for the taxi where Siem Reap to Poipet can be had for as low as 30 USD).

The bus is overpriced for sure. There are two different bus companies selling tickets with identical prices, none of them is one of the major bus companies that I know (GST, Paramount Express, Sorya, Mekong Express, etc.). I know that a ticket from Battambang to Poipet is 3 USD with one of those crappy buses, however, at the bus terminal the reverse direction costs 10 USD (interestingly the taxi to Battambang is the same price)! Even more interesting is the price advertised in Riel: 22.000 which is 5.50 USD?!

So to me it all looks like Poipet is still the place where too many people want to get their share of a simple bus or taxi ticket, and the money exchange scam (who needs Riel when even the ATMs hand out dollars?) is now institutionalised with a brand new money exchange booth.

eVisa

Checkout the forum to learn more.

Thanks for the feedback!

Seems he should be alright since he will have re-entered Thailand and this is what the 'once per entry' phrasing suggests.

I was also worried about entering without a visa on the Visa Exemption Rule which would in normal cases (tourist) just give you a 7-day extension, right? I thought that maybe you would get longer extensions only on proper visas (Tourist, Non-O,..), but it seems that this is not the case. Just for curiosity, can you get a 1-year extension when entering on the Visa Exemption Rule?

KL would be the way to go for a longer stay, but he plans to go back to Europe next year anyway, so the 60-days extensions will be more economic.

welo

A friend of mine just got his 60-day extension from immigration based on his fatherhood to his Thai daughter. He is unmarried and stayed on a Multiple-Entry Non-Immigrant 'O' obtained in Germany. He does not fulfill the criteria for a 1-year extension at the moment.

Immigration told him that after those 60 days he can exit Thailand and re-enter on the Visa Exemption Rule (15 days overland, 30 days at international airports) and apply for the next 60 days extension.

Can anybody confirm that this is indeed possible. I just want to rule out misunderstandings (since I haven't been at the immigration with him) and last-minute-changes-of-mind by uninformed immigration officers.

For him this would actually be pretty convenient and spare him a trip to a Thai embassy (not so) nearby.

welo

This is how Navteq is doing it (Article and Video)...

http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/making-navteq-maps-a1038.php

Nowadays they use a car packed with GPS, computers, cameras and other stuff, but just 5 years ago it was only a laptop and a GPS receiver.

OpenStreetMaps suggest several (less cost intensive) mapping techniques for volunteers working on their maps

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Mapping_techniques

welo

you are right. that makes sense. thank you so much. i'll do that.

why are these visas so complicated?

NikkiZoe,

you are doing right to do your 'homework' before entering Thailand, and you are very lucky that thaiphoon is so attentive and goes the extra step to provide you with correct information. Why do I say that?

I've just come back from a visit to Cambodia/Angkor Wat and at the border I met a very desperate backpacker from Slovenia that was refused entry to Thailand! VAO for Slovenian (to enter Thailand) are not available at the PoiPet/Aranyaprathet border crossing. The only option she had was to get a visa from Phnom Penh (either by going there herself or use the service of an agent and wait 2 nights in Poipet) or go to SiemReap and get an expensive flight to Bangkok Airport (where the VAO for Slovenians is available).

Considering that Slovenia is part of the EU for years and even part of Schengen area (25 EU countries that abolished all border controls between each other), it is understanding that Slovenian nationals are easily mislead to believe that the rules for other EU countries also apply to them.