Free wifi at Premier Inn

While staying at a premier inn I wanted some IP based communication to do my online biddings. The premier inn are all decked out with dozens of access points configured in channel groups 1,6,11 so there is good coverage throughout. When connected you are greeted with a portal page that allows you to pay for online time at a great cost. Happily they provide a one time 30min of free internet, once the 30min is up it logs you off and demands money.

Problem:
The only way you can be uniquely identified on a dynamically addressed network is by your mac address.

Solution:
To continue getting 30mins free internet you can change your mac address and as far as the portal is concerned you are a new user.

On windows this can be done with SMAC.

On linux either manually from the terminal with:
Ifconfig wlan0 down
ifconfig wlan0 hw ether 11:22:33:44:55:66
Ifconfig wlan0 up

On mac you will need to buy it a present. Then read this from osXdaily

Please check the laws in your area on modifying mac addresses.

quick and easy Dell fix

Brief:
The repair of a dell laptop. The title is a lie, it started as a quick fix but turned into something far greater than you can ever imagine, too extreme? It went smoothly.

So laptop arrived on my doorstep with a power supply and no explanation. The owner was a friend and unable to shed any light so I was left to draw my own conclusions.

Analysis:
Boot up........damn password protected, two options available to use from my usb bootable "katana". Since I knew it was running Windows XP I could either run "Ophcrack" and see if it can get the password with its rainbow tables or edit the SAM file in the windows directory to remove the password. I chose the latter as it would not disclose the private password and it could be reinstated after the job was finished.

Boot up......every thing seems fine, check the logs....good. Right well ill do some cleaning.

Fix:

• Antivirus up to date
• chkdsk -R
• Defragmentation 
• Antivirus full disk scan
• Malware scan

My work here is done ill leave it on charge and return it later. Boot up.....what? There is no power, the power supply is switched on.

Analysis:

Ill start with the power supply.

IEC lead - plugged into another device. It works. plugged it back into the laptops block.

Power supply output - Multimeter on the power jack and receiving the correct voltage stated on the block.

This only leaves one area to test. The problem is going to be the power in jack or the charging circuit, either way access to the mainboard is needed which means the laptop needs to get naked.

Fix:
Getting to the mainboard was relatively simple, the dvd drive was removed, expansion slot covers and all screws on the underside except the hinges. The back then slips off. With the mainboard exposed i get the multimeter out and check for continuity from the jack connector to the board. It was found the center pin was faulty, visual inspection found there was a dry joint on the connector and some play. I got the solder iron out and fixed that. Before putting it back together i tested the continuity again and then plugged in the charger. Success, screw it back up and job done.

Additional:
The customer no longer wanted it so it was decided it would be a gift for my father so that I could Skype him. The box was running windows XP but was running dog slow, I wanted to put Linux mint on it as it is lightweight and I can tailor the services that it needs. Before Windows was wiped a full disk backup was done using my friend clonezilla which kindly transferred a compressed copy to my storage server. The Windows cd key was nowhere to be found and I used a tool on katana to grab that and keep it safe.


Stay dramatic

Dramatic Desktop support - return of the PIXEL

HP G61 laptop repair

Brief:
This job was close to home, my other half’s laptop. It all started when she reported that a file was clicked on and said some funny stuff that made her think it had a virus. I was away on a jobs when the call came in so I insisted that it was to be kept off the network and shutdown until I can look at it.

Problem:
suspicious behaviour.

Analysis:
The laptop was put into safe mode and scanned with its anti-virus software. A trojan was found and a few bits of malware.

Fix:
Removal of said evils claimed in the anti-virus software. Additionally a pre boot scan was done to look for rootkits and full disk scan.

Additionally:
The new family friend stig the cat then decided that he wanted to play on the keyboard and pulled off some keys. In trying to put the letter 'k' back on a metal tab failed and meant the key would not seat properly. The keyboard then acted strangely and would type random characters without been touched.

Fix:
First I removed the keyboard by removing the screws marked 'kbd' on the back of the laptop. Two screws visible from the back, one screw behind the battery, one screw behind the memory cover and one screw behind the wireless cover. Being careful with the tabs around the edge of the keyboard it comes out with ease. I removed the ribbon cable and looked for damage or dirt, after a shake for anything loose and clean I replaced it to see if the problem was still there. No luck, pricing for a new one was around £60 so I looked on ebay for a used on and found the right one, checking the spares number on the back of the keyboard, I picked one for £15 including shipping. It arrived a few days later and was immaculate with no sign of use, I attached the ribbon, booted the computer and it worked great, pushed the keyboard back in being careful not to pinch the ribbon, put the screws back in. Job done.