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Disappointed with the Razer Onza

// May 29th, 2011 // No Comments » // Blog, Gaming, mistical.com, News, Reviews, Tech

So today is the day where I no longer use the Razer Onza yet alone any other future Razer product.

I preordered the Onza the minute it was made available for preorder back in January 2011. I had been waiting to play with it for over a year since it was announced. It was finally shipped to me just over 2 months ago. I loved it at first, but will not even bother to love it anymore. Read on as to why.

I was actually told to contact Min-Liang Tan on Twitter via email, the CEO of Razer, week ago about my issues with the Onza. I was actually going to email a lot of what I said below in an email to them, but decided not to. Why? Because I do not feel as if these issues have been fixed, not only does my brother’s controller and girlfriends have the same issues but people online around forums and other comments elsewhere have reported the same issues as mine or similar. Plus I would be without the controller for who knows how long aside from using the main Xbox 360 controller.

Now that that has been said, I will get to the main reasons why I am disappointed with the Razer Onza, Razer and just overall think the product is terrible to purchase.

• 1st issue (big issue/main problem): The left joystick will always stop you from running in games. To be more specific, games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops, where when the left joystick is clicked, this allows you to run. It is always a damn problem, usually a hit or miss each time you use it, for me, it has frequent use. I have tried disconnecting and reconnecting the controller to regain control of the left joystick but that does not work. The only time it starts to work right for a short while it when I have shut down the Xbox 360 and turned it back on.
• 2nd issue (big issue/main problem): The right joystick (very rarely the left joystick) will sometimes physically get stuck in a position. The position it nearly always gets stuck in is towards the right and slightly downwards, think of it getting stuck around the 0 degree angle towards 320 degree. It actually gets stuck, it does not move back into position if I let go over the joystick.
  
  This does not happen on a constant basis but I can almost always get it to happen and it will normally happen about 6 times (guessing) over a course of around a 5 hour gaming session.




• What happens in-game with this above, 2nd, issue?
  I use the controller for all games, but its main purpose is for each Call of Duty title online/multiplayer, right now it is Black Ops. When the right joystick gets stuck, it causes me to spin in the game until I physically remove the joystick from being stuck at that position.
• 3rd issue (minor problem): The X button feels like it has begun to act like it has worn out when it is touched/pressed. It feels different when “touched/pressed” versus the other Y, B, A buttons that feel perfectly when pressed/touched. I hope this makes sense.
  
  It has not rendered the X button inoperable though, it still works just fine and the response time just does not feel the same anymore over the last 31 days of usage when pressed.
• 4th issue (minor problem): After the first week of using the controller, the sticker on the back containing the serial number among other information has started to peel off. I have tried to stop this process from happening but with no luck. I definitely try to avoid touching that area but I do have big hands and I cannot just constantly think about making sure I am not touching it and have to play the game. How I use the controller is how I hold the controller too, so I cannot just easily change how I hold it, it should never start to peal off within the first week anyways.

I would personally suggest to avoid purchasing the Onza controller. I also do not see them fixing the above issues anytime soon, and even if they did, I am sure people like myself and others who have had these problems are screwed anyways.

So with that said, what issues have you had with your Onza controller? Do you still use it? Please comment!

My Next Android Phone

// February 19th, 2011 // No Comments » // Android, Blog, mistical.com

I normally don’t upgrade to another phone until at least 2 years later. I always purchase I phone that will last me 2 to 3 years at a time but it is hard to pass up such a phone as the Galaxy S2.

This is likely going to be a pretty big upgrade in some ways, small in others, when compared to my current Galaxy S phone, the Vibrant. I just hope that Samsung can provide us with more frequent updates on the T-Mobile version than what they never did for the Vibrant.

Linksys WUSB600N v2 on a Hackintosh

// January 13th, 2011 // 6 Comments » // Blog, Guides, mistical.com, Tech

I recently just put a cheap, but also great hackintosh system together while also dual-booting with Windows 7. It is my first hackintosh, however, not my first Mac.

This post will explain how to get the Linksys WUSB600N v2 to work with your Hackintosh build. There is just 1 minor problem that exists with this wireless usb device, and that you will have to replug it in each and everytime you either restart/boot or awake from sleep. Otherwise, I’ve had absolutely no other issues and no disconnects or slow speeds.

Real quick, here is my build specs for the hackintosh running Snow Leopard 10.6.6:
GIGABYTE GA-H55M-S2V Motherboard
Intel Core i3-550 Clarkdale 3.2GHz Processor
XFX nVidia GT240 1GB DDR5 Graphics Card
G.SKILL 4GB DDR3 Dual Channel Memory
Samsung Spinpoint F4 HD322GJ/U 320GB Hard Drive

Now you will first need to install the Mac drivers for an Ralink RT2870, which is what is inside of the Linksys WUSB600N v1 and v2 (version 2). You can grab those from downloading them at Ralink’s website.

Now as of this post, I am using driver version 3.0.3.0. These work great, I’ve heard of success with earlier drivers as well though I never tried those nor did I ever obtain links to them. If you are having any issues with later drivers after 3.0.3.0 then please contact me, I will be able to provide you with driver version 3.0.3.0 if you are unable to find them.

Once you have these installed, restart OS X.

Once you have restarted OS X, open Terminal. Follow and type the following commands correctly and then press the enter key after each line listed below.

cd /System/Library/Extensions

chmod -R 755 RT2870USBWirelessDriver.kext

chown -R 0:0 RT2870USBWirelessDriver.kext

cd

cd /System/Library/Extensions/RT2870USBWirelessDriver.kext/contents/

sudo nano info.plist

At this point, you will be asked your administrative password, type it in and continue the following:
Look for the following line below, you will find it faster by using the page down shortcut ctrl+v.

Linksys – RT2870 – 2

Then right under this key, find this line (integer)

<integer>113<integer>

Then change the value of 113 to 121.

<integer>121<integer>

That will be the only line you need to edit and touch in this. Now press the following keys to save what you just did.

ctrl + o

Make sure to use the exact same file name, info.plist, as it will already say. Then ctrl+x to exit out.
There are just 2 more fine steps and you will be able to use a wireless connection!

cd

sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions

Now restart your computer, as I said earlier, you will more than likely have to unplug and plug back in the Linksys WUSB600N device as well as each time you restart/boot or awake from sleep.

You will use Ralink’s Wireless Utility to connect to your network. Save a profile so you do not have to constantly keep typing your security key as well. You may close Wireless Utility once you are connected, you do not need to leave it open.

Special Thanks go out to aldeem over at InsanelyMac for most of this guide, and then myself for the rest of it and additional information.

Remove Layar from Samsung Vibrant (or other devices)

// September 30th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // mistical.com

I usually do not mind bloatware to begin with, and I almost never use them either anyways. But after a while, you just want a clean device after having a while to play with it. Especially a Samsung Vibrant for how great this phone is, not just the screen.

I just wanted to take the time and explain to you how you can remove Layar and other “bloatware” applications that either T-Mobile, AT&T or others provide to you with your Galaxy S phone (Vibrant, Captivate, etc) if you want them gone for good. Now you will need root to do any of this. Rooting your phone is extremely easy and safe.

There are many methods to root your phone, you can look over at the XDA forums for easy ways to do it for your device. One quick method to root is by using the One Click Lag Fix app found in the Android Market. Do not let the name fool you, and you do not need to use the lag fix to get root either. You can unroot with this app or any other app, at anytime. Though there is no reason to unless you are sending the device back to T-Mobile or your carrier.

You can remove most bloatware with Titanium Backup which is free in the Market. You could also use Root Explorer however that is not free in the Market. So if you are in this same scenario and do not want to pay for Root Explorer than this easy method will work for you. You can also back up all of these apps with Titanium Backup in case you ever decide to want to use these again and want them back.

When you are removing applications, make sure you know what exactly you are removing. I take no responsibility if you remove something you should not that could lend up to messing up your phone or bricking it.

Use Terminal Emulator if you do not already have it, if not, you can grab it from the Market. Then in Terminal you are going to type of the following:

su
rm /data/app/com.layar.apk
rm /system/app/Layar-samsung.apk

Then there you have it, you have successfully removed Layar. You can actually use this method to remove other apps as well if you are unable to uninstall them in Manage Applications in your phone or with apps such as Titanium Backup.

If you are unsure of the application name, you can use this ‘ls’ command to find it.

su
ls /data/app/
ls /system/app/

Sniper: Ghost Warrior Walkthrough

// August 2nd, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog, Gaming, Guides, mistical.com

Here is the Sniper: Ghost Warrior Walkthrough that I created. You can either watch it below, or you can easier select which Act’s or Chapter’s you are having trouble with from the playlist.

Modern Warfare 2 Resurgence Map Pack Video Preview in HD

// May 25th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog, Gaming, mistical.com

Alan Wake – Episode Three: Manuscript Pages Locations Guide

// May 23rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog, Gaming, Guides, mistical.com

Here is the locations for all of the Manuscript Pages in Episode Three created by me. Split into two parts. Watch in High Definition. By collecting 25, and all scripts that are not found in Nightmare mode and then all 106 of these, you will earn yourself 3 achievements.

Alan Wake – Episode Two: Manuscript Pages Locations Guide

// May 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog, Gaming, Guides, mistical.com

Here is the locations for all of the Manuscript Pages in Episode Two created by me. Watch in High Definition. By collecting 25, all regular and then all 106 of these, you will earn yourself 3 achievements.

Alan Wake – Episode One: Manuscript Pages Locations Guide

// May 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog, Gaming, Guides, mistical.com

Here is the locations for all of the Manuscript Pages in Episode One created by me. Watch in High Definition. By collecting 25, all regular and then all 106 of these, you will earn yourself 3 achievements.

Alan Wake – Episode One: Coffee Thermoses Locations Guide

// May 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog, Gaming, Guides, mistical.com

Here is the locations for all of the Coffee Thermoses in Episode One created by me. Watch in High Definition.