Month: December 2022

NEW MACBOOK PRO

After having problems with my old (2014) MacBook Pro, I have replaced it with a new 13 Inch MacBook Pro with M2 CPU, 512 GB Hard Drive and 8 GB RAM.

The old one was starting to have issues. Not only was I prevented from upgrading to the latest OS, but the screen had a big dull patch. Previously, I had the keyboard replaced and problems with the touch pad had re-developed. Also, I dropped my Apple mouse and broke it.

So, I took advantage of the Boxing Day sales and got a new one.

I could still boot the old one (using another USB Mouse) and Apple has made the set up and transfer to the new machine easy. It is just like upgrading to a new iPhone. After you connect to the same Wi-Fi network, the transfer is done over Wi-Fi.

I did not have any problems, but after being stuck on an old version of OS X, there were some new features that had me scratching my head – but nothing too serious.

One thing to be aware of – The 13 inch model only has 2 X USB C ports (and a headphone jack) – nothing else including no power plug on the 13inch model – you have to use one of the USB C ports. Both are “Thunderbolt”, so a dock works well.

The 14- and 16-inch models have the headphone jack, a card reader, a HDMI and 3 X Type C Thunderbolt ports plus a Mag Safe power plug. These versions also have better specs BUT are much dearer. They don’t have any USB Type A, so you would still have to buy a dock or adaptor.

The shop where I bought it (The Good Guys) was sold out of USB C portable external drives (for Time Machine). As a result, I thought about this and decided to get a dock to connect to one of the USB C ports. I got one from Office Works that has 4 X USB 3 Type A ports, a HDMI 4 K port plus one USB C port that can be used for power. The price was about half of a USB C hard drive, and I could keep using my existing USB 3 Type A Time Machine hard drive.

As it has about 20 hours of battery life, the lack of a separate power port on the 13inch model is not a great problem, but it is good to have the dock so that I do not tie up a USB C port for power and can also use this USB C port for multiple purposes.

Immediately, I was attracted by two features that were not on the old MacBook. The first is, it has a fingerprint reader. I set this up immediately and use it all the time. The second is also good. Even if you shut it down, as soon as you open the lid, it re-boots automatically.

AND I must mention that Siri is alive and well. When I say “Hey Siri Open Excel” she obeys promptly. Unlike the disappeared Cortana on Windows.

Everyone raves about the M2 CPU, but the way I use it, I can’t see any difference – but that is just me. However, this is my new toy. My Surface Pro 7 (SP7) is now officially neglected- although the facial recognition and touch screen, that my SP7 has but not on my new MacBook, are hard to neglect.

I did try to do a wipe and reset of the old one to give it to someone. However, I had no luck. It just would not work. I took the old one apart (#) to remove the battery and hard drive. I transported the battery (along with another spent rechargeable battery) to the council dump. The local council has free battery disposal at their Waste and Recycling Depots. You often hear of garbage trucks catching fire from people putting these types of batteries in the rubbish bin.

(#) I have a full set of different screw bits so I can undo most screws.

 

FURTHER COMMENTS See – https://whysun.com/computers-and-the-internet/macbook-pro-continued/

 

NBN SCAM CALLS

I received 3 phone calls yesterday supposedly from NBN trying to arrange for a “technician” to call with a new modem and advising that the “old” modem/connection box will stop working in 7 days.

With any new scam, I try to lead them on to find out what the angle is. Alas, I am not as skilled as those YouTube people who can lead them on for hours.

By what I can make out, they must be calling numbers in suburbs earmarked for the FTTP roll out. Refer my previous post https://whysun.com/computers-and-the-internet/nbn-upgrade-to-fttp/

First up, you can hardly understand them – thick foreign accents. But they start by telling you that your old modem / NBN Connection Box will stop working in 7 days and you need a new model. Then they try to arrange a time for a technician to call with the new modem. I haven’t managed to get past this point, but I bet that once they have made a time for a “technician” to call they will then start asking for money / personal information / banking information.

REMEMBER NBN WILL NOT CALL YOU See https://www.nbnco.com.au/learn/protect-yourself-from-scams – From this page

· nbn will not call to confirm an appointment and ask for payment to secure your booking, or ask you to pay the postage costs for new hardware.

If you want to be kept up to date, subscribe to the NBN news letter using this link

https://www.nbnco.com.au/residential/upgrades/fttp-upgrade-with-higher-speed-tiers

Under – Check to see if you can upgrade to nbn’s fast fibre today – Type in your address and check – after which, a section will appear for an email address.

PS4 Error Code CE-34878-0 – Continued

Please refer to previous post about this topic.

It has happened again with Tomb Raider (Definitive Edition) on my PS4 (Pro), also at the same place when I was about 83% completed (Shipwreck Beach).

This time I was able to launch the game but when I clicked “Continue” and selected the related “Save”, it would not load and the above error code was displayed.

I had another Save on the drive and it loaded OK.

I re-read the suggested fixes but the only solution was to delete that particular “Save” and start again or use the old “Save”- but the old one was 100% complete.

During my investigations, I looked at the price of the game on X Box and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was on special at AUD $6-23 (marked down from the usual AUD$25).

You can’t even buy a glass of beer at this price, so I bought it on Xbox. I have started replaying it and, as I can remember where everything is, I am progressing very quickly. After a short time I am at 45% (start of Shanty Town) with all maps up to Shanty Town 100% complete. It won’t be long until I get up to the point where the errors occurred on PS4 (Shipwreck Beach) and I will add to this post at that time.

Although the game has had bugs in the past, they have been reported on PS, Xbox and PC. Therefore the problem is probably not the PS4.  I have never had any problems with any other game on PS4. Also I was careful to check for updates both for the game and PS4 before I started. There was an update for the game.

This time I got the parachute fall first time (see previous post) but I had to have half a dozen goes at the “Hall of Ascension” Tomb.

FINISHED

I have now finished the game. The only glitch was at the escape from the Solarii Fortress where Lara jumps onto the helicopter. The game froze but a reboot of the Xbox solved the problem.

The secret is to find the treasure maps for each section and it helps when you can remember where things are.

Be sure to return to the Tomb of the Lost Adventurer in the Coastal Forest map well before you get to the point of no return. There is a wall in a cave that can only be blown open with the grenade launcher and you will also need the shotgun to get all the stuff. Behind this wall is another cave that has large amounts of ammo and weapons upgrade parts. I recommend you do this when you get the grenade launcher (and shotgun). You will then be able to upgrade weapons and replenish ammunition before the final fights.

P.S.

This is a great game. Don’t be put off by the problems – which are not confined to the PlayStation.

It is a game that I have no problems with replaying. In fact I enjoy it more knowing where everything is.