1
May
2010
PS3, S/PDIF output to computer
Recently posted this on a forum but I figured this might be a good place as well:
Goal:
5.1 output from my PS3 through my computer.
Why? I don’t have any other way to output to 5.1 from it without spending money (receiver + different speakers).What I have:
First gen PS3, HDMI and TOSLINK cables.Monitor has HDMI -> analog stereo output
Problems: Constant low hum (monitor has bad quality output) and only 2.0 sound. This requires the monitor to be on HDMI output to passthrough audio as well.This motherboard. It has a Realtek ALC888 chip. I also have the separate bracket for TOSLINK in.
Problems: This can do stereo but no DTS/Dolby, but it fixes the buzzing problem. It can also play when the monitor is on different output.And a Creative X-Fi Extreme Audio card.
This has S/PDIF in, but I am not spending $100+ on the options they have to actually use it. Instead I am trying repin the gigabyte bracket and have it connect to this card. It does have DTS/Dolby decoding
So, the gigabyte manual says that the bracket has three pins.
1. red – Power
2. yellow – SPDIF_I
3. black – GNDSo I switched black and yellow to match up with this pinout diagram of the creative card (top left, +5V, GRN, SPDIF0 IN)
Plugged that in and… nothing. I can hear feint popping when I switch audio output devices on the PS3, but the Creative card never shows a signal (“Unknown or invalid signal”, just like when disconnected).
Any help or insight would be appreciated, thanks.
P.S. I think I may have destroyed any input on my sound card by fooling around with this. My microphone no longer works on that sound card 
3
Mar
2010
Back to Chrome
I was outside the CSClub today, studying hard for that CS246 midterm when a conversation about Firefox’s stagnation broke out. Many points about it having an incredibly old base and just not being so great compared to Chrome.
So I looked back at why I switched away from Chrome the last time I was using it.
- Too much RAM usage on my netbook with Windows 7
- No bookmark syncing, Xmarks wasn’t working at the time
- Missing many add-ons I loved in Firefox
And effectively all these problems have been solved. My netbook is now running Ubuntu, Xmarks works and google has their own built in syncing with google docs and there are many more add-ons (like ad-blocker) so I’m not missing any functionality. Not to mention that Chrome feels like a faster browser and uses less vertical space by default.
So I’m back with Chrome. I might look like a google fanboy but I think of it as the same as I think of Logitech. I didn’t decide to buy a Logitech mouse (or three), keyboard, speakers and headset because I’m in love with the company. I chose it because those were the best products at the time. Google makes some really nice products, so I will embrace them.
7
Sep
2009
Patch Tuesday
I just wanted to mention something that a lot of people don’t know about, Patch Tuesday. That would be that scheduled Microsoft patched are sent out the second Tuesday of every month. The only exception is that critical patches become available as soon as possible.
Why does this matter? Well if you don’t want to run automatic updates you can make a note of the second Tuesday of every and just run Windows Update then instead of always having a background process.
29
Aug
2009
Restroom/Bathroom/Washroom
Three lovely words to describe where humans do their dirty business, and none of them actually describe what is actually done.
Restroom: If anyone things their resting while in there, I have to wonder what I’ve been doing wrong. I think this word is much more appropriate for a bedroom where you can get some real resting done. This really isn’t appropriate in language today.
Bathroom: Does it have a bath in it? About 50% chance in a house, no chance in a restaurant. Are you going to use it? Maybe 20-25% of the time in a given day but I usually don’t need to actually say “I’m going to the bathroom to have a bath.” when it is much simpler to say “I’m going to have a bath.” and location is implied. (Note: I don’t take baths, but I don’t want to call it a showerroom either.)
Washroom: Yes, it is part of the process. A very important part I might add. And you can just do a wash by itself. But it does NOT represent the majority of the going ons in the “washroom”. But this does seem to be the best choice to describe the room while still avoiding all the actual subject.