Just not too long ago, I had an assignment whereby I needed to virtualize some OSes on my laptop. Despite the fact that my Lenovo Y430 was well equipped with the technology to run Intel VT (it’s a P8600 Processor), things didn’t go as smooth sailing as I wish they would be.
What could be wrong? I’d thought it was just a simple switch I needed to flick in BIOS just like on my mum’s HP Computer. It wasn’t as simple as that. Lenovo has decided that IdeaPads don’t need VT since they’re for entertainment and not work purposes, hence they left the setting out in BIOS. How smart of them.
So I was paying for something, but I couldn’t use it to the maximum extent of the processor’s power because Lenovo said so. I’m not giving up there, and certainly some people aren’t too.
Too bad for them, I found a thread on a forum where someone gave relatively vague instructions as to how to enable VT on the Y430. It wasn’t a simple process, but it was all worth it, and thankfully, I understand Chinese – the original thread was written in Chinese.
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I’ll write a quick guide here on how to do it, in English. Here’s the original source: http://bbs.pcpop.com/090603/5442969.html (via http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/IdeaPad-Y-and-U-series-Laptops/Y430-and-Intel-VT-Technology/td-p/181901)
I don’t know if they’d work across all BIOS versions, I was using the latest at this time of posting. This is the “2009-06-15 BIOS Update”. You can get the BIOS update at Lenovo’s Support Site.
I will not provide support for this technique of enabling VT. Do it at your own risk! I don’t think Lenovo encourages this either.
Items that you’ll need to perform this task: A Thumbdrive that you are willing to format.
Downloads that you’ll need to make to perform this task:
First and foremost, install the formatting toolkit by HP.
Next, extract the MS-DOS Boot Files somewhere.
Place the thumbdrive into your computer. Launch the formatting toolkit.
Note that this will format your thumbdrive.
Select your thumbdrive, then select the option that let’s you choose the source files to format to. Locate the boot file folder and select it, then let your computer format the thumbdrive.
Once done, copy syncmos.exe into the thumbdrive.
Now boot your computer and have it load the USB Drive, this is done by hitting F12 repeatedly and selecting boot from USB.
It’ll load the MS-DOS prompt.
Type:
"SYMCMOS -LBIOS.TXT"
Now press the power button on your computer and turn it off, then boot it up into Windows now.
In your thumbdrive, there will be a file called BIOS.txt. Open it in notepad.
Search for REG-0369 and change the value from [0000] to [0001].
Make sure the file is still in your thumbdrive after editing it. Restart your computer and load the USB drive to go back into MS-DOS.
Now type:
SYMCMOS -ubios.TXT
Turn off your computer now and boot it up again.
Congratulations! VT should be enabled.
This month can’t get any better.
I can’t think of anything positive that happened so far.
- Lecturer walked in the other day, said that we’ll have extra lessons on 26th November from 4-6pm. If anyone bothers to remember what that day is… *sigh*
- Phone decided to break down on me a week ago. I can’t call using my phone now, have to use my dad’s N70 which I’m totally uncomfortable with. On a positive note, I can SMS and surf the web using my N78.
- Have to rush out some website by the end of next week – thanks to waiting for information and my own mishandling.
- Failed my exam. Now I’m either going to owe the school $0, $132.65 or $300+. Seemingly just bad luck. I left for the test center 1 hour 30 minutes earlier, took a bus there. But in an unfortunate spate of bad luck, I was caught in a jam at 2pm in the day. Walked 1km back to the next main junction, tried to find a cab, but none would pass by for some next 10 minutes. When I reached the test center barely on time, I answered the questions, not knowing that I can’t review my answers after I went to the next question. I had a few questions which I didn’t think of doing since I thought I could go back to it, but alas, I can’t. After the 48th question and it auto submitted, my thoughts were: “what the fuck is this shit”. At least the least I could do now is to tell the others who are taking the exam after me about this stupid flaw…and so much for being the guinea pig again.
- Last but not least, iPod Nano got stolen – or at least I think it got since I still can’t find it at the usual places I place it. To make things better, I don’t even know when it was stolen or how.
- …and probably a whole of lot of problems that I don’t feel like writing here at all or I can’t think of them at the moment.
I don’t want to survive for the rest of the month anymore. This is so not my month and my week. What the hell is wrong?
Life sucks.
…so I was reading my Ethics Textbook for some clue onto how I should write my Ethics Essay, and I came across this interesting short story on the second chapter:
“A large company was hiring a new CEO. The four leading candidates worked inside the company so the board decided to ask each candidate a very basic question.
The comptroller was brought in.
“How much is 2 plus 2?”
“This must be a trick question, but the answer is 4. It will always be 4.”
They brought in the head of research and development, an engineer by training.
“How much is 2 plus 2?”
“That depends on whether it is a positive 2 or a negative 2. It could be 4, zero or minus 4.”
The brought in the Head of Marketing.
“The way I figure, it, 2 plus 2 is 22.”
Finally, they brought in the legal counsel.
“How much is 2 plus 2?” they asked.
He looked furtively at each board member.
“How much do you want it to be?”
Anyway, I hate the module on Ethics – not because I’m unethical, but every way I think that I can write the article. I feel it’s not right.
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I want to redesign this blog, but I’m just lazy. Too many things on my hands. Haven’t even got time to write a good article or two up here.
所谓，旧的不去，新的不来。。。
I’m going to part with the piano that has been with me for the past nine years in less than 12 hours. The new owner is going to collect it and have it delivered to her house.
It’s the piano that I first started playing with, the piano that I went for my first exam with, the piano that I played my first piece on, the piano that I always complained of having heavy keys that require much effort to hit…and, its been around us for almost an entire decade.
Despite all its flaws, its age and everything about it, I still like it. All the memories that it has created for the past nine years. It was a second hand piano when we bought it, possibly already at least ten years of age by then, so it’d make it at least nineteen now. It’s still doing good and fine, except for a few strings having broke recently.
It was expected to be gone, we already delayed the selling for months, or even years. The piano wasn’t that adequate for a student learning and preparing for piano exams, it was more for the casual player – but I still managed to sit through 9 years with it, going for most of my exams with it. We bought it to see if things would work out, and things did, but the piano stuck to us longer than expected.
Sometimes I wish the piano was sold or given away to someone I knew, instead of some stranger on the market, so that I could go back to it every once in a while, and play on its ever so heavy keys that I’ve gotten used to by now.
I haven’t been the most diligent player at the piano – I’m not at it everyday, nor do I spend even an hour at it most of the time when I do play it. But when it’s gone, I’ll certainly miss walking into the house, and seeing a piano with a soothing wooden touch staring right at me. It’ll be replaced by something else soon. I’ll certainly miss playing on the piano with much effort. I’ll miss playing on the piano and complaining about its heavy keys. I’ll certainly miss its unique tone, richness and voice. I’ll certainly miss it.
Hopefully it’ll have a new lease of life with the new owner…and maybe, for all I know, I’ll might just see it again in future. Nine years isn’t a long time, nor a short time for a piano – however the memories with it were deep enough to etch an image in me.
Goodbye! So long, and thanks for all the fish for the past nine years! Enjoy the new companionship…
。。。但我不舍得旧的去，也不喜欢新的来。