2013/11/30

Sony viao - Windows 8 brightness issue solved

This post describes an easy method to solve the issue related to the 'display brightness auto-adjust' function in Windows 8 loaded Sony viao laptops.

The issue:
-The display brightness dims to 5% automatically within seconds, even if it is set to dim after 10 minutes.
-Changing/disabling the adaptive brighness in Windows 8 (as mentioned by howtogeek) could not solve the issue.

The solution (laptop used: Sony viao SVS1312 series):
1. Go to VIAO apps and click on the VIAO control center (if you are on the desktop, bring the cursor on the left-bottom corner for 'star' option where you can find the VIAO control center thumbnail)
2. In the VIAO control center, click on the 'Image Quality' menu and find the 'Display Brightness' option
3. Click on the 'Display Brightness' button from 'on' to 'off' (the green colour will change to grey)

That's it. Now you can adjust the screen brightness by clicking on the battery icon on the system tray and adjusting the values.
Write your comments if these steps did not work for you.

2013/11/24

Ubuntu 13.04 dual boot with Windows 8 (secure boot & UEFI) succeeded

This post is an update of my earlier post, where I mentioned the issues associated with installation of Ubuntu to dual boot with Windows 8 pre-installed laptop (Sony Viao SVS1312).
After my previous attempt, as my Win8 was corrupted, leading to a completely new installation including data loss, I was bit disappointed about this secure boot and UEFI setup that microsoft arranged with the manufacturers. Especially Windows 8 pre-installed laptops, there was no way out to install any Linux distros which does not buy this 'secure boot signature' from Microsoft.

The following two ubuntu pages were very helpful in my case. A detailed reading of these pages could solve most people's problem in this regard.
1) installing-ubuntu-on-a-pre-installed-windows-8-64-bit-system-uefi-supported
2) UEFI

Finally I got some time to try once again, but this time I recorded the whole process and made a video out of it. Thanks to camstudio, audacity and virtualdub (opensource softwares) for wonderful help through these softwares.

See the video and share it. Make sure to back-up your windows 8 before any installation attempts. Please comment your results.


Some thoughts:
- Previously I was even failed in my attempt using Ubuntu 13.04 64 bit DVD, which definitely has the secure boot+UEFI key in it. Now I suppose, that could be since I had more than (or equal to) 4 primary partitions already in my hard disk.
- Or I disabled the secureboot, before running the 'boot-repair'.

- Or I simply messed up the manual partitioning in Ubuntu live mode.

I think it's a safe bet to,
- first shrink your current drive and make one block of free space in the hard disk (8 - 20 GB minimum) and let Ubuntu do the partitioning and installation automatically.


2013/11/20

Immune sytems, T-cell activation

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2013/11/11

GIMP and Inkscape tutorials in YouTube

VOK Studio launched a youtube channel which will upload tutorial videos on GIMP and Inkscape for beginners.
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