Nexus Root Toolkit

Nexus

Most will know my liking for anything Android, My current phone is the Nexus S by Samsung. Although the phone is getting on a bit it is still well supported by Google and I have used Jellybean 4.1 on the phone now for months. (waiting for 4.2)

For those that want to upgrade to Jellybean the process is quite easy,  if you have anything from the Nexus range. Google provide the images here  online for a manual update which for the new user can be challenging. Or personally I prefer a free tool called the Nexus Root Toolkit found @  Wugfresh  It takes a lot of the hard work out of upgrading your phone.

Be aware though upgrading will wipe your data so backup whats important to you. Google does a good job at restoring saved apps though the Play Store.

Have updated the Nexus S to the latest image available for Android 4.1.2 (JZO54K) from the  4.1.1 build.
Change log for those interested here Also have the phone rooted now which for those not sure what that is, it allows you root level access to the phone to give you access to the phones features which are normally locked. As an example being able to delete annoying factory apps, over clock the CPU and also load different ROM's if required. Personally I have supported the above tool with a donation as the developer has done a sensational job. Normally the manual process or Unlocking, Rooting and Loading different ROM's can be a hit and miss operation and also have a possibility of bricking your mobile (Stuff it basically).

Anyway am happy for now, phone is going well, next will probably be an upgrade when I can afford it to the Galaxy Nexus from Samsung from Kogan ... and flash the latest build. An S3 would be awesome but a bit out of my reach for now.

Our Solar

For those interested in Solar stats from our residence at Underwood I have setup an account with
PVOutput its a free service allowing you to upload data from you Solar array via a computer to their web site. 

Managing to stay in credit so far, so no power bill from our Energy provider  System is from Positronic being 3 KW in size consisting of 12 X 250w ET panels with a Xantrex 2.8 KW Inverter.

Have added a Widget to the right for your viewing pleasure, will open a graph on the PV Output Website with our latest Solar stats.

Record day on the 12th of October ....19KWh @ 50 cents a kw

Program that runs on my EeePC for uploading data to PVOutput. SGT Solar Inverter

Xantrex 2.8 KW Grid Tie Solar Inverter. Has been a reliable unit so far. Only issue has been the LCD display, it was missing numbers in the display module which Positronic is replacing. Even though the unit is mounted externally it isn't exposed to direct sunlight to often. No noise from the unit at all so overall quite happy with the Xantrex.

Backup iTunes

Well just thought I would share some info in regard to backing up your iTunes music. Not being a huge Apple fan I have scoured web pages on how to go about this process and have till now had 2 attempts both of which were unsuccessful. When I say that the music is still saved but haven't been able to recover with the library file as mentioned here and the metadata that goes along with it.

The latest system backup came about from an email from Apple which stated Em's iMac had a faulty hard drive installed and was being recalled .... great thanks Seagate.

Anyway  no doubt Apple fans have already mastered the backup process but for those not so educated in the Apple side of things follow the instructions below for a successful backup.Pretty easy to understand really .... what I missed initially was the correct folder that contains the library files, without backing up correct folder you will NOT have library files that are required to restore the backup.

As an example if you look at the below pics the folder you need to backup is the one before the one that contains the music ... so instead of just backing up the iTunesMedia Folder copy the one before that called iTunes. That contains the library files.

 Mine below as an example, check your folder name nay be different depending on your operating system.

Click here for the link to the Apple web site on the complete process.