Tim Beynart

Google Chrome Blue Screens Win 7 x64

Tim — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:36:35 +0000

Google Chrome is one big fail on Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit. I loaded it up, used it for debugging a Flash app from Eclipse, then tried to apply a theme. The google theme page did nothing after I clicked on a “load theme” button (Jeff Koons, btw) and about 4 seconds later I was looking at a blue screen. Something I haven’t seen yet on Win 7. Way to go, Chrome.
So I decided to try to run Chrome as an admin. This was not as straightforward as you might think, since the application is not installed to Program Files like every other Windows application on Earth. God knows why, but Google chose to install Chrome in my user profile AppData directory. You cannot select an alternative location when installing. I figured I would just move this directory to Program Files where it belonged, but Chrome would no longer start if moved from it’s original install location. At this point I was one step away from abandoning this b.s.
I started it up one more time as an admin and got another blue screen before it even loaded.
And that was the final step. Goodbye Chrome.

By the way, Chrome does not sandbox the Flash plug in, so all the hype about having each tab in its own thread is worthless for Flash Player lock ups. If Flash Player shits the bed, it requires restarting just like FF and IE.

Enable Number Pad in BootCamp/Windows

Tim — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:30:19 +0000

For weeks I have been wondering why the number pad on my aluminum Apple keyboard never works when booted into Windows. Turns out the “clear” key above the 7 acts like “Number Lock” for a normal keyboard. Well, I am a dumbass. Thanks go to this forum: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=402009

SSDs and Windows 7

Tim — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:54:16 +0000

I just ordered a Lenovo T500 and an OCZ Agility Solid State Disk, so I am looking forward to geeking out with my new gear. I have been reading up on SSDs, and here is one of the best articles I have found regarding Windows 7:
http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/05/05/support-and-q-a-for-solid-state-drives-and.aspx
also, Anandtech.com sets the standard for SSD informational articles:
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3531
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3631
and this little gem about the generation 2 Intel X25 (which I could not justify, $185 for the OCZ vs $290 for the Intel):
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=750&type=expert&pid=1

Flex Builder WTF

Tim — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:54:24 +0000

The Flex Builder properties palette only allows a “default application” class to be set in the default (a.k.a untyped) package. WTF.
So, you have to manually edit the .actionScriptProperties file to get the friggin built in compiler to work.
This was not fixed in FB 4 Beta.
I do not appreciate Adobe making architecture decisions for me. Boooo.

Example .actionScriptProperties with manual update:

mainApplicationPath="com/foo/bar/Main.as"version="3"> ... ...

Here is a screenshot of the palette not working:

Adobe compc ant task fails with multiple compiles

Tim — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:01:37 +0000

I have an ant task to generate a dozen swcs from a pile of source code. The compc task Adobe ships with Flex SDK blows up after about 7 compiles. Weak.

Here’s the stack trace:
[compc] Error: PermGen space [compc] java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: PermGen space [compc] at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method) [compc] at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:675) [compc] at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:124) [compc] at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:260) [compc] at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$100(URLClassLoader.java:56) [compc] at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:195) [compc] at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method) [compc] at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:188) [compc] at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:316) [compc] at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:251) [compc] at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClassInternal(ClassLoader.java:374) [compc] at macromedia.asc.embedding.LintEvaluator.getWarningDefaults(LintEvaluator.java:3141) [compc] at flex2.compiler.as3.Compiler.processCoachSettings(Compiler.java:1145) [compc] at flex2.compiler.as3.Compiler.(Compiler.java:177) [compc] at flex2.tools.API.getCompilers(API.java:234) [compc] at flex2.tools.Compc.compc(Compc.java:258) [compc] at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) [compc] at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39) [compc] at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25) [compc] at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:585) [compc] at flex.ant.FlexTask.executeInProcess(FlexTask.java:283) [compc] at flex.ant.FlexTask.execute(FlexTask.java:225) [compc] at org.apache.tools.ant.UnknownElement.execute(UnknownElement.java:288) [compc] at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor3.invoke(Unknown Source) [compc] at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25) [compc] at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:585) [compc] at org.apache.tools.ant.dispatch.DispatchUtils.execute(DispatchUtils.java:105) [compc] at org.apache.tools.ant.Task.perform(Task.java:348) [compc] at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Sequential.execute(Sequential.java:62) [compc] at org.apache.tools.ant.UnknownElement.execute(UnknownElement.java:288) [compc] at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor3.invoke(Unknown Source) [compc] at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)

OSX: Time Machine breaks Web Sharing

Tim — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:49:07 +0000

If you do a reinstall from a Time Machine backup, then Apache 2 will not startup. This is because the logs are not restored. You must recreate the log directory in Terminal:
$ cd /private/var/log $ sudo mkdir apache2
And Voila! Back in business.

Hoarding Sparks

Tim — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:10:14 +0000

In case you didn’t know, Miller decided to quit making Sparks. You can read about this terrible decision here. They cease production Jan 10, 2008.
Well, my brother decided to stock up… with 20 cases.

Flex Builder -clean on OSX

Tim — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:29:45 +0000

This one had me stumped for a while, since I am a longtime Windows guy. Every now and then you need to run the “-clean” option on the command line to get Flex Builder (née Eclipse) to behave. In OSX the actual application is hidden in an “.app” package, so you have to insert the following in Terminal:
/Applications/Adobe\ Flex\ Builder\ 3/Flex\ Builder.app/Contents/MacOS/FlexBuilder -clean
I am sure this is a big “duh” for Mac people.

Hello World.

Tim — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:22:15 +0000

I finally capitulated and began writing in a blog. Welcome.