Monthly Archives: December 2017

fixed : Passpartout The Starving Artist game for iOS

Posted on by
Reply

Question :

My children have seen all the raving YouTube-reviews about the painting game Passpartout The Starving Artist by Flamebait Games. Now they want to play the game themselves, but they don’t have a Mac or a PC…

Is there a way to play Passpartout The Starving Artist on their iPad ?

 

Answer :

Yes, there is an official iOS-version of the Passpartout The Starving Artist game for sale on the iOS App Store :

Passpartout The Starving Artist for iOS

…so now you can play the game, and paint with more natural motions than you problably could on your Mac  (especially if you have an iPad Pro with a stylus)

And you’re in luck : it runs not only on iPads, but on iPhones also 😉

more exactly : it runs on iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and newer, iPad mini 2 and newer, iPad Air & iPad Pro (and even iPod Touch 6th gen)

NOTE : if you are looking for Passpartout The Starving Artist for Mac, look here

Advertisement

fixed : budget friendly OBD2 dongle for my car

Posted on by
Reply

Question :

My car’s on-board computer system sometimes gives unexplained, rather random, error messages. Up until now, I went to the dealer garage to have my car’s on-board computer system be analyzed and reset. Recently I heard that I could buy an OBD2-dongle myself and read and erase error messages myself. That would be a real time (and money) saver.

Is there any budget-friendly OBD2-dongle that I can use with my iPhone ?

 

Answer :

Yes there are several OBD2-dongles available that can do the job for you. Just make sure that you keep these things in mind when choosing one :

  • make sure the OBD2-dongle is compatible with iOS (as some are only compatible with PCs or Android-devices)
  • make sure the OBD2-dongle’s connection is over Bluetooth LowEnergy a.k.a. BLE (since that’s the only way to be able to connect your iPhone to your regular WiFi-network (internet) and to the OBD2-dongle at the same time)
  • make sure the OBD2-dongle is based on the original ELM327 chip (most cheap Chinese knock-offs are based on problematic, unreliable clone chips)
  • make sure the OBD2-dongle is compatible with the software you are planning to use with it (not every OBD2-app connects equally good to every OBD2-dongle & if you need to erase the error messages, most FREE versions won’t do so you will usually need the Pro version)

One of the cheapest reliable OBD2-dongles I’ve found is the TONWON OBDII Pro Bluetooth BLE4.0 for about €26,- ;

buy it on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.de

And do not forget to get an accompanying iOS-app :

most interesting for the budget-wary is Car Scanner ELM OBD2 Pro for about €5,50

(or the more expensive OBD Fusion at about €11,- or even the €20,- OBD AutoDoctor that even has an additional Mac-version)

…so buying into this DIY-solution is cheaper than having your car’s on-board computer system reset only once !

enjoy !

fixed : SPL-C ERROR page printed by Samsung printer

Posted on by
Reply

Question :

when I tried to print to my Samsung printer via my Home-network today, the spooling process was very slow, then hung, and then a printed page rolled out of the printer with this text only :

SPL-C ERROR – Disconnected from Host. Please check the connection and try again.

POSITION : 0x3dc5 (252981)

SYSTEM : src_5.59/os_hook

LINE : 1978

VERSION : SPL-C 5.59 05-04-2012

So I restarted the printer, made sure there wasn’t any paper stuck, and tried again. This time I the spooling process was very slow again, hung again, and a similar page rolled out of the printer with this text :

SPL-C ERROR – Disconnected from Host. Please check the connection and try again.

POSITION : 0x15ea5 (89765)

SYSTEM : src_5.59/os_hook

LINE : 1978

VERSION : SPL-C 5.59 05-04-2012

So despite the difference in ‘position’, the problem remained.

What can I do to solve this ?

 

Answer :

This seems to be a weird bug popping up on some Samsung printers connected to Macs once in a while. To solve this problem, do this :

  • quit any printing jobs that are active
  • shut down the printer (take the power cable out)
  • on your Mac, go to System Settings > Printers & Scanners
  • there, delete the problematic printer (by selecting it in the list and clicking the minus-button)
  • then, restart your Mac
  • switch the printer back on (reconnect the power cable)
  • login on your Mac
  • go to System Settings > Printers & Scanners
  • add the printer to the list again (by clicking on the plus-button, and selecting it from the printers found)
  • then close the System Preferences and try printing your document again

That’s it !

enjoy 😉