Tools

Gmail Chat Bug: Excessive CPU Usage when Chat is blocked

Gary Pronych — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:15:00 GMT

For those of you using Gmail and the integrated Gmail chat client you could be affected by this bug if access to the Google talk server is blocked by a firewall or another method.

The past 2 weeks I noticed that Gmail is using 100% of one of my processors when I am at the office.
Access to the Google talk servers is blocked at our firewall so my Gmail integrated chat client is disabled when in Gmail, at least that is what Gmail tells me.
See the attached picture on the right.

However, when the integrated chat is expanded (+) it uses 100% of one processor even though it reads 'chat is disabled'.
If I collapse the chat module (-) this problem goes away, processor usage goes to normal levels.

I assume the Gmail chat client is unneccessarily trying to connect to the chat server even though the client is 'disabled'.
Fail!

I have posted this bug on Google forums and I will update this post once I have been notified this has been resolved.
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/gmail/thread?tid=4ba2c7660e1a21d6&hl=en

For now, if your chat client is disabled, collapse the feature or else you will be running with one less processor.

*Gmail integrated chat client expanded

I have confirmed this a problem with
- FireFox 3.5.2
- Chrome 2.0.172.43

Gary Pronych

Tether your BlackBerry for Internet Sharing

Gary Pronych — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:20:39 GMT

There is some confusion in how-to setup a BlackBerry in tether mode to share internet with your laptop or PC so I would like to share my setup process.

Overview:

Since you are already paying for a data plan why not take advantage of this data connection when you are away from home? Hotels and other facilities can charge you $15+ per day for Internet access.
BlackBerry and other hardware providers allow you to tether your smart phone as a modem to your laptop or computer.

Keep in mind that your tethered modem will not operate any faster than your data plan.
GPRS and EDGE will give you 2G speeds of approximately 56 – 114 kbit/s depending on signal strength; which will be similar to a dialup modem connection.
3G can provide up to 14.4 MBit/s download and 5.8 MBit/s upload.

RIM has provided instructions on how-to connect to the Internet using a GPRS, EDGE or UMTS smart phone as a tethered modem.
I had to make some modifications to these instructions to allow my smart phone to properly allow tethered access to the Internet. It is possible that each smart phone provider has slightly different setup so these instructions may not work for you.
These instructions work on the Rogers Canada wireless network, in particular, a BlackBerry Curve 8300.
These instructions should work with other data devices in tether mode.

Setup:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 1) Download the Software
Do this first, Download the BlackBerry Desktop Software 4.1 or later which will install the USB and virtual com ports.
Otherwise your computer will not discover your mobile device.

The desktop software will allow you to copy files to your smart phone such as MP3, videos and load applications.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 2) Setup an APN (If Required)
Task 2 of the RIM instructions states you need to setup an Internet APN (Access Point Name), some data providers may not require an APN.
I found an APN is not needed as part of the Rogers wireless network. Do not setup an APN if you use Rogers or else your tethered modem will not work.

If you do not know your Internet APN or have connection troubles, contact your service provider.

To Set up Internet APN
From your PC:

Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel
Double-click Phone and Modem Options
In the Phone and Modem Options window, click the Modems tab
Select Standard Modem and click Properties
In the Standard Modem Properties window, Click the Advanced Tab
In the Extra initialization commands field, type the following: +cgdcont=1,”IP”,”your Internet APN”
ie. +cgdcont=1, “IP”, “Internet.com”
Click OK
In the Phone and Modem Options window, click OK

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 3) Configure Dial-up Network

Windows Vista

Click Start.
Select Connect To.
Click Setup a connection or network.
Click Setup a dialup connection.
In the Dial-up phone number field type *99#.
Type the user name and password provided by your service provider.
In the Connection Name field type BlackBerry (or any name you wish).
Click Dialing Rules.
Make sure the APN profile created in Step 2 has been selected (if required), and then click OK.
Select Connect to establish an internet.

Windows XP operating system

Click Start > Settings > Network Connections.
Double-click New Connection Wizard. The New Connection Wizard opens.
Click Next.
Select the Connect to the Internet option. Click Next.
Select Set up my connection manually. Click Next.
Select Connect using a dial-up modem. Click Next.
If the Select a Device screen appears, select the Modem - Standard Modem check box. Click Next.
In the ISP Name field, type a name for your connection. Click Next.
In the Phone number field, type *99#. Click Next.
Indicate which users will have access to the connection. Click Next.
Type the user name and password provided by your service provider. Click Next.
Click Finish.
In the Connect window, click Properties.
In the Properties window, verify that Modem - Standard Modem appears beneath the Connect using heading, and then click Configure.
In the Modem Configuration window, clear the Enable hardware flow control check box and make sure none of the other check boxes are selected. Click OK. In the Properties window, click OK.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 4) Connect to the Internet using Dial-up Network

Power on your BlackBerry smart phone and connect it to the computer / laptop.
Open BlackBerry Desktop Manager.
Click Start > Settings > Network Connections > <name of your new connection>.
Type the user name and password provided by your service provider.
Click Dial.

The user name and password for the Rogers Wireless network is
user name: wapuser1
password: wap

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Troubleshooting:

There are all sorts of posts on various forums looking for setup instructions and APN values.
Be sure to contact you data phone provider for APN settings, it is very likely they will offer you very little to no support on this setup process (I have been told by family and friends).

Common problems I found are
- APN issues
- Desktop Manager must be running in order tether your device

Happy Tethering!

Gary Pronych

ClickOnce: Restore a Previous Version of an Application

Gary Pronych — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:37:09 GMT

As a standard, we use ClickOnce to deploy all of our applications.

I don't want to get into all the benefits as I have discussed some in a previous post.

To summarize my scenario, I do software development for a 24 x 7 x 365 manufacturing plant.
Our systems must always be online and we must provide after hours support.

This week, one of our developers deployed an update to his end users.
It was not until 7 PM that the end user determined there was a significant bug in the application that could cause a mill delay. (Bad!)
I was on call and I was not at all familiar with this application, luckily the developer notified the team of this update and the fixes included. The bug was a part of one of these fixes, so I knew I could rollback to the previous version so the end user can continue his job and this new bug can be resolved during the next business day.

As a developer, you may consider something like
'grabbing the source code for the previous version, build it, and deploy'; which can be time time consuming.
With ClickOnce, you have 2 easy to use options.

1) Change the Version on the Client
- Ask the end user (or remote control) to navigate to the CONTROL PANEL -> ADD REMOVE PROGRAMS
- Scroll down the list of applications until you find your application name, in my case it is called RSA
- Click Change/Remove
- You will then have two options
a) Restore the application to its previous state
b) Remove the application from this computer

Select a) and the previous build will become the current version.
The caveat is the user must use Start -> All Programs -> Your Application Folder -> Your Application Name <RSA> to load the previous version.
They must run the application from the install folder to get the newest update.

This option works for a single client and is a temporary solution, what if a permanant rolback is required?

2) Change the Current Application Version
You have likely published a number of version of your application so you ClickOnce publish folder may look like this.

You will see in this picture, there are a number of <ApplicationName>_<version>.application files as well as folders.
There is only 1 application with the name <ApplicationName>.application, in this my scenario it is called RSA.application.

My latest build is 1_1_0_14, to restore to 1_1_0_12 I need to follow these steps
- delete RSA.application
- Make a copy of RSA_1_1_0_12.application and rename it RSA.application

The next time a user of this application attempts to load their application, they will be notified of an update. Once they select OK, they will be rolled back to 1_1_0_12.

Hope this helps,
Gary Pronych

Determine .NET Framework Version of an Application

Gary Pronych — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:39:31 GMT

I needed to find the version of .NET framework required for a vendor provided application in short order; there was no documentation (of course), the vendor was not available and the super user was not available.
Your typical support scenario.

When you try to run a .NET EXE on a computer that does not have the framework, your application informs you with a prompt along the lines of 'The Application Requires .NET framework version x.x'
If you have the framework installed, it does not prompt you (of course).

I figured it should be as easy as right clicking the EXE and selecting properties or something similar, but no.
The easiest way I found was by using the MSIL Disassembler ildasm.exe
If you have installed the 2.0 SDK you can find ILDASM.exe in this location

c:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\SDK\v2.0\Bin\ildasm.exe

The steps to get the .NET framework version are as follows:
1) Execute ILDASM.EXE from the SDK folder noted above
2) In ILDASM select the File | Open menu
3) Select the EXE or DLL you want to disassemble

ILDASM will now show you the file you selected in #3. You will want to double click the MANIFEST and it will load the manifest in a notepad-like editor.
The top line will read //Medata version: vX.X.XXXX
Where the X.X.XXXX is your .NET framework version.

See the image below

The Shortcomings of Windows 2008 Server Core

Gary Pronych — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:46:31 GMT

I spent a couple hours today installing Windows Server 2008 on my home server.
I have to admit, this was the easiest and fastest Windows OS software install I *EVER* completed.

My goal was to build a Windows 2008 Server as a VPC host using Hyper-V; I literally spent more time installing the Hyper-V Role than installing the Win2k8 OS (I suppose this is the benefit of Role based installations).
Do yourself a favor and download this utility (http://www.grc.com/securable.htm) to verify your BIOS is configured properly if you are going to use Hyper-V.
They do a good job in explaining WTF these features are, and how to enable them.

Now I had my VPC host running, my next task was to answer this question, 'What is all the buzz about Windows 2008 Server Core... and could it make my life easier?'
The simple answer (as a .NET user / developer)? No

The concept of a Server Core is solid;
- Smaller footprint, smaller attack surface
- Install only the features you need in the form of Roles

Why Server Core sucks?
1) I am a Windows guy, not a *nix guy, so the lack of GUI was going to make my life difficult
2) None of these features currently work in Server Core (Known Issues)

IIS-ASPNET
IIS-NetFxExtensibility
IIS-ManagementConsole
IIS-ManagementService
IIS-LegacySnapIn
IIS-FTPManagement
WAS-NetFxEnvironment
WAS-ConfigurationAPI

The key reason for issue #2 is explained as
'The Web Server (IIS) role does not support ASP.NET in Server Core installations.
Because there is no support for managed code, the following IIS features are not available in Server Core installations'

Now, read the second line carefully and say with me, "NO SUPPORT FOR MANAGED CODE".

Yes folks, that means all .NET code, ASP.NET, WinForms, SQL 2005... any and ALL products build on .NET.
WoW, I have to catch my breath... no .NET support on a Microsoft product; I might as well install Windows NT 4.
Well, at least Server Core 2008 supports ASP and PHP (!)... well, so does NT 4.

At least I can convert my VPC / Virtual Server 2005 R2 VHD's to be Hyper-V compatible.

ClickOnce: Winforms Deployment - Part 1

Gary Pronych — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:27:07 GMT

Currently my client has a number of WinForm applications in development.
When it came time to deploy these solutions to end users in multiple facilities, discussions of xcopy installations started.

Xcopy is not the best solution; in the past it has been servicable to meet this requirement, today we have better options.

Some of the flaws of xcopy deployment include
- Network connectivity required: if the PC is off it will not get the update
- Installation Lists: You need to know which PC's have your software for when updates are available
- Versioning: Some clients may be running different versions which could damage your data integrity
- Dependencies: If your software requires any components, you will have to create an installer for each version

Since Visual Studio 2005, including 2008, there is a feature built-in feature know as ClickOnce.
It is my experience is that this 'out of the box' feature is under utilized or developers are not aware that this feature exists.

ClickOnce Provides:
- Automatic Update: The application 'calls home' to check for the newest version, clients are prompted to update their version
- Rollback: The client can rollback using Add/Remove; the developer can also make the adjustments using the published version

You can publish an application can be publish to
1) A URL
2) File location including on your network

I won't get into the specifics of the options; they are pretty straight forward and there are articles on how to use the publish wizard.

But what if you have to deploy and manage a legacy application, or a vendor provided application?

Managing Other Windows Applications using ClickOnce

After my client started seeing the benefits of ClickOnce, the next question was, 'Can I use this for my vendor provided applications?'.
This is actually very easy to implement.

1) Create a new Visual Studio project
2) Copy your vendor provided components into your project
3) Call the application executable in your code
<code>
namespace AppLauncher
{
   class Program
   {
      static void Main(string[] args)
      {
         Process.Start("LegacyApp.exe"); //put your executable name here
      }
   }
}
</code>
4) Publish the application with the above publishing wizard.

Anytime the vendor provides an update, overwrite the project files, increment the publish version and publish the update.
Next time your end user executes the Launcher application, they will be prompted to update their application.

We have used this strategy for deploying applications to less than 20 internal users and it has worked well.
We looked into options of creating a 'Whats New' message on first load; which is something we may still look into for the future.

In part 2 of this series, I will describe some troubleshooting and advanced details that will assist you with ClickOnce.

How to Install: Subversion and CruiseControl.NET

Gary Pronych — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 15:39:33 GMT

Shaneo just posted 2 how-to articles that every development team should be using; Source Control and Continuous Integration.

1) Subversion Install Quick Tutorial
Subversion is a free source control management server that integrates seemlessly with Visual Studio.

2) CruiseControl.Net Install and Configure Quick Tutorial
CruiseControl.NET is an automated Continuous Integration server.
CC.NET automates the integration process by monitoring your source control repository.
Every time a developer commits changes, the server will automatically launch an integration build to validate the changes. This integration build will notify the developer if the changes integrated successfully or not.

Great articles Shane.