On investigating a bit on the Internet, I could find some info which brought my TV back to normal. In fact, the software update wasn’t complete and the TV was waiting for user input to continue. This seemed a total non-sense as this process is nowhere documented by Samsung. This is what I did:

DISCLAIMER: The author of this article & woikr are not responsible for any damage/malfunction caused to the TV by following the instructions written below. Please continue at your own risk.

1. Switched on the power supply to the TV.
2. When the boot logo appeared and disappeared, I pressed “MUTE” “2” “5” “8” “EXIT” buttons (in sequence) on the remote.
3. Finally, a screen appeared which said “Upgrading software”. Once this was complete, the TV automatically came into normal state.

This is a guest post by Rajnish Jain. Rajnish is a product development enthusiast having around 12.5 years of experience. He enjoys solving complex technical problems and has worked on wide range of technologies including Open Source frameworks, Unix (shell scripting) & embedded device programming.

When you purchase a Samsung Smart TV (UA40D5500RR, for example), depending on the model, it may or may not support inbuilt Wi-Fi function. If it doesn’t, then Samsung recommends using WIS09ABGN USB WiFi adapter to let your TV connect to a Wireless router. Samsung has priced this USB adapter at a very huge cost (around INR 6,000) and any other adapter is not recognized by the TV. WTF?

I tried not to fall prey to this monopolistic approach by the company and put myself on work to find out a hack so that any Wi-Fi USB adapter is accepted by the TV. I found this wonderful link which helped a lot.

DISCLAIMER: The author of this article & woikr are not responsible for any damage/malfunction caused to the TV by following the instructions written below. Please continue at your own risk.

Few facts first:

1. WIS09ABGN uses a chipset which is RT2870. This manufacturer of this chipset is Ralink Technologies.
2. The Samsung Smart TVs internally run Linux OS (which version, which variant is immaterial for this post here).
3. Every USB device has these two properties (apart from many others):
   • VID – vendor identification
   • PID – product identification
   • Samsung TVs have built-in intelligence that if the Wi-Fi adapter that’s plugged in doesn’t have Samsung specific VID/PID values, the TV will reject it.
4. Samsung specific VID/PID values that the TV is expecting are:
   • VID: 04E8
   • PID: 2018
5. I found this info (and the chipset info) here.
6. The same page (http://wikidevi.com/wiki/Samsung_WIS09ABGN) tells us that the WIS09ABGN is running rt2870sta driver based on Linux.
7. To be able to use any Wi-Fi USB adapter with Samsung TV, all you need to do is change that USB device’s VID/PID values to 04E8 : 2018 (Values assigned to Samsung Electronics Co.)

So, to begin with, we need a USB adapter which is based on Ralink’s RT2870 chipset. A quick search on Google and Ifound this one: Edimax EW-7718Un. I could find this one on ebay.in for INR 999/- and quickly ordered it.

Upon receiving the Edimax dongle, I started towards modifying the required values. These values reside on EEPROM (e2p) of the chipset, so changing them means you need to issue commands that modify the values on e2p. However, e2p ioctl is generally not available by default, so you will need to modify the driver code, compile it, and then change the values. This is explained below.

We now already know that we need to deal with Linux OS. So, we need a Linux box wherein our USB adapter can be plugged in and its properties can be seen and modified.

For this, instead of looking for a Linux based box, or creating a new partition in my laptop’s hard drive, I chose to go in for USB flash drive based environment. That is, without changing any configuration of my Windows XP based laptop, I can get a new OS to play around with.

1. Start your Windows based computer.
2. Plugin a USB flash drive into it.
3. Follow the instructions at http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download and make your USB drive bootable with ubuntu, preferably version 10.04.
4. Once the flash drive is ready, restart your computer, change the boot sequence in BIOS so that it boots from the USB drive and you will get into a new world of ubuntu.
5. Once the system comes up, plug in your USB adapter, open the command terminal and type:
   1. # lsusb
   2. You should be able to figure out this string for your Edimax EW-7718Un adapter:
      7392:7718
   3. These are the VID/PID values assigned to this USB device. And this is the task in hand – to replace these values with 04E8:2018.
6. Plug out the adapter.
7. Now is the time to first download the relevant driver. Open Mozilla Firefox browser (which comes installed by default with ubuntu), and download the driver from this location:
   1. http://www.ralinktech.com/en/04_support/license.php?sn=5021
   2. You can enter any name and e-mail address in the boxes that appear on this link. Why are we downloading the driver? Because, to change the VID/PID values on EEPROM of the USB adapter, we will need to issue the following commands:
      • # iwpriv ra0 e2p 208=04E8
      • # iwpriv ra0 e2p 20A=2018
   3. But by default the e2p ioctl is missing for us. So, we will customize the driver code to introduce e2p ioctl and then the above command will do us the trick.
      NOTE: If the above sequence of commands (with USB adapter plugged-in) works for you then you are done. You don’t need to follow the rest of the tutorial.
8. Un-package the driver in a folder, say DRIVER_ROOT. Make the following changes to driver code:
   1. # cd <DRIVER_ROOT>/os/linux and open config.mk file.
      Make these changes:
      # Support ATE function
      HAS_ATE=y
      # Support Wpa_Supplicant
      HAS_WPA_SUPPLICANT=y
      # Support Native WpaSupplicant for Network Maganger
      HAS_NATIVE_WPA_SUPPLICANT_SUPPORT=y
   2. While in the same folder, open usb_main_dev.c file and add this code:
      MODULE_LICENSE(“GPL”).
      It should now look like this:

      MODULE_AUTHOR(“Paul Lin <paul_lin@ralinktech.com>”);
      MODULE_DESCRIPTION(“RT2870 Wireless Lan Linux Driver”);
      MODULE_LICENSE(“GPL”);
      #ifdef CONFIG_STA_SUPPORT
      #ifdef MODULE_VERSION
      MODULE_VERSION(STA_DRIVER_VERSION);
      #endif
      #endif // CONFIG_STA_SUPPORT //

9. Now we are ready to compile the driver code. You need the relevant compiler and helper tools and libraries for doing so. On the command terminal, issue these commands:
   • # sudo apt-get update
   • # sudo apt-get upgrade
   • # sudo apt-get install build-essential
   • # sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)
10. While in DRIVER_ROOT, issue the following commands:
    • # sudo make
    • # sudo make install
    • # sudo rmmod rt2870sta
    • # sudo rmmod rt2800usb
    • # sudo rmmod rt2x00usb
    • # sudo rmmod rt2800lib
    • It may happen that the last 4 commands don’t do anything, or print a warning like “driver not found”. I don’t remember the exact warning message, but this means that we are trying to remove a module (rmmod) that doesn’t exist.  Double check that no ralink specific module is now in the memory:
    • # lsmod | grep rt
    • You shouldn’t see any of the modules mentioned in the last 4 commands above.
11. Now, load your custom driver module in the kernel:
    • # sudo su
    • # insmod <DRIVER_ROOT>/os/linux/rt3070sta.ko
    • At this stage, if you insert your USB adapter and watch, the e2p specific ioctl will be listed.
12. Now, plugin your USB adapter (Edimax EW-7718Un, for example) and issue the following commands from the command terminal:
    • # sudo su
    • # iwpriv ra0 e2p 208=04E8
    • # iwpriv ra0 e2p 20A=2018
    • You may need to plug out and plug back in your adapter for the above commands to be successful.
13. We are now done. You can verify the modified values by using the lsusb command. Plugin your Wi-Fi adapter into your Samsung Smart TV and it will fool the  TV to think that a Samsung specific stick has been plugged in. Enjoy!

Please note that the driver code doesn’t compile on version of ubuntu later than 10.04. If you have a reason to use a later version of ubuntu, you will need to make changes to some more .c files of the driver code because some of the libraries used have been renamed in the newer versions of ubuntu.

Do you have a gazillion icons cluttered across your windows desktop? Do you wish you could organize them logically? Then Fences is for you.

Fences is a free program that helps you organize your windows desktop and can hide your icons when not in use. The app lets you group icons together in whatever fashion you like and lets you rearrange the groups anywhere on your desktop. There is also a paid pro edition which lets you do certain more stuff, but we will focus on the free version for this post.

Features:

• Fences allows you to create shaded areas on your desktop that you can place icons in. You can label them however you wish, and move/resize them anywhere on the desktop. Pre-included layouts help speed the process for new users.
• Creating a fence is as easy as right click and drag.
• Double click blank space on your desktop, and all your icons will fade out. Double click again, and they’ll return. We think this feature is so useful and unique, that we’ve applied for a patent on it. You can even pick icons and individual Fences to exclude!
• Take and restore snapshots of your Fence layouts for backup, or for when you are doing different tasks. Change your resolution for playing games and Fences will keep them in the same relative spots. In the Pro version of Fences, the "snapshot" feature has been enhanced to automatically take and keep recent snapshots on hand, ensuring your desktop layout never gets lost.
• Fences runs on all of Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. On Vista and Win7, both 32bit and 64bit versions are supported. Since Fences uses nearly no system resources, having the operating system is its only requirement.

Screenshots:

You can download fences here.

It is so lame that LG still prefers to have a Windows PC USB upgrade when Android 2.2+ supports "Over the Air" upgrades. Other companies like HTC have adopted that right after 2.2. This is a lesson, LG has to learn to improve it’s sales.

If your phone is Operator Locked, verify with your operator if the Android 2.3 upgrade is available for your phone (depends on the region too). If your phone is rooted, first look up if the phone can be rooted after upgrading to 2.3 and if it’s safe to upgrade from 2.2 rooted.

Steps to Upgrade to Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

1. Download the LG Mobile Support Tool (Supports Windows OS only)
   This tool is later used to keep a track of all the software updates for your phone and to download the actual update. This registers itself as a start-up program which can be removed.
2. Set up Language and Country for the tool to get a list of supported phones.
   Open LG Mobile Support Tool and set Country and Language to India and English respectively. If you’re from another region, please update accordingly. This plays a major role to check for a software update for your phone.
   
3. Download the USB Drivers and LG PC Suite IV
   Go to Menu "Customer Support" and open "Application, Manual & USB Driver Download"
   Double click and download – PC Sync and USB Driver.
   
4. Disconnect the phone and Install the USB Driver and LG PC Suite.
   After download, the files are available at C:\LGP500 folder. The USB driver is an exe file and the LG PC Suite would be inside a zip file. The LG PC Suite is a parallel application to the LG Mobile Support Tool which helps users sync the phone data to a PC.
5. Backup using LG PC Suite
   You can setup contacts, calendar, bookmarks, photos, videos and SMS sync based on your need. I’ve only selected contacts, photos and SMSs for my phone. Wait for the Sync process to finish. There is also a way to setup Phone Sync over Bluetooth (Only phone sync, not the OTA Android update).
   
6. Start Upgrade
   Open up LG Mobile Support tool and connect your Phone back to the USB Cable. The software should recognize your phone and suggest that you’re eligible for a software update. Ensure your phone battery is decently charged (>= 70%) and proceed.

7. Upgrade Process
   The phone should show a yellow background with a message "Emergency Mode" for a few minutes. During this process, keep an eye on the desktop software which gives you status messages on the software upgrade process.

   After the upgrade is complete, the phone was powered off (That’s weird) – So I powered it ON and for almost 5-10 mins it was stuck on the Android animation.
   Scared the hell out of me, It did sit on that for like 10 mins and then booted into the OS when I was about to pull out the battery to force hard reboot.

8. Upgrade Process Complete
   There is a very simple wizard which asks if you wish to continue to add email account details. I found out that none of the data was wiped off, the upgrade process retained all my contacts/settings and all the other apps with one exception.
9. Restoring from back up
   I didn’t have to restore any thing from backup, except I now notice that they removed the previously bundled DioDict Dictionary Application. In case you are missing contacts/apps. You’d have to restore back data using the LG PC Suite.
10. Missing Anything?
    LG hasn’t removed most crappy applications like "Infant Vaccine Tracker" from the 2.3 upgrade too.
    LG – Are you kidding me (again)?

So What’s new in Android 2.3 Gingerbread?
For the whole list of features, you should check this out. I personally liked a few

• Improved text editing, you finally have a neat way to move the cursor between letters.
• Gingerbread keyboard which I’ve been using on Android 2.2 as well.
• Seems fast enough (No performance difference between 2.2 and 2.3)
• Internet calling – Supposed to have better SIP Integration, so that you can initiate internet calls right from the contact book.
• There are other new features which can’t be observed on the LG Optimus P500 – supports more cameras, NFC etc.

Android 2.3 looks like this

  

This would probably be the last Android update that LG is going to roll out for this budget (but really popular) Android phone. So, don’t expect a Android 4.0 – Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade.

A common problem faced in households with WiFi is that the signal strength is not strong enough to cover the whole house. The problem is much more annoying when you live in a multi storied home. There are a few solutions to fix this issue:

1. Place the router at the most appropriate location
   It is extremely important that you place the router at a location which is equidistant from all the places you are gonna access the WiFi from. In a typical Indian home, this can be living room or a gallery between the bedroom doors. This way, you should get signals almost everywhere. If the router is placed at a corner in your home, you can also put up some DIY parabolic signal reflectors.
2. Flash your router with dd-wrt
   DD WRT is an open source router firmware which will unleash a lot of extra features in your otherwise “dull” router. This firmware has options to increase the signal strength. More the signal strength, more the coverage. However, this option may not apply to everyone as dd-wrt is not compatible with all the routers in the world. However, it is compatible with most famous ones. So chances are, yours is in the compatible list.
3. Buy another WiFi router and configure it as a repeater
   This one needs some investment although is probably your best bet. You can configure most routers to join a WiFi network and repeat it. So, you can place the 2nd router at a location in the house up till where you are getting some signals and then configure it to repeat the WiFi network. This way, you will get signals wherever you want in the house. Although, check if the router you are buying supports this feature. My personal suggestion will be to get the Apple’s Airport Express WiFi router. Though a bit costly at $99 (INR 6510 in India), it gives you the ability of connecting a USB printer & a pair of speakers which you can use to listen to songs over AirPlay if you have any iDevices in your home or iTunes on your computer. I have been using one to eliminate the ethernet cable in my home theater setup to my Xbox 360 and it has been working wonderfully without any hassles.

There you go. If you follow any of the above steps, you should be able to boost the WiFi signals in your home. Do let us know about your experience.