EMRFD Message Archive 5069

Message Date From Subject
5069 2010-09-08 07:42:00 Tim N750 is now U2J
Having poked through Digikey and Mouser online catalogs, it looks like the U2J dielectric code is now more commonly used than "N750" but both are the same thing.

Both Digikey and Mouser have small selections of through-hole U2J/N750's in stock but your search will be more fruitful if you use U2J.

Mouser also stocks some polystyrene caps which by my reading of the graphs, seem to have a nominal tempco of negative 150 ppm/C. Oddly, the folklore a few years ago was that nobody was making polystyrene caps anymore.
5070 2010-09-09 01:20:39 R Wall RFSim99 won't install under Windows 7...
Hi everyone,

I've purchased a new Windows 7 laptop computer. I went to install RFSim99 under Windows 7 but it won't install. Has anyone had any luck installing RFSim99 under Windows 7? Does anyone know of a simular program that will load and simulate s-parameter Touchstone files, and will also run under Windows 7.

Thanks for your help,

Roderick Wall, vk3yc.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
5071 2010-09-09 10:42:14 Jim Smith Re: RFSim99 won't install under Windows 7...
Hi Rod,

Seems its just the install part of RFSIM99 that's the problem with
Windows 7.

I installed it using Windows XP onto a usb memory stick, the plugged to
usb stick into the Windows 7 (64) box and it ran ok.

73

Jim - G3ZQC

On Thu, 2010-09-09 at 18:20 +1000, R Wall wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I've purchased a new Windows 7 laptop computer. I went to install RFSim99 under Windows 7 but it won't install. Has anyone had any luck installing RFSim99 under Windows 7? Does anyone know of a simular program that will load and simulate s-parameter Touchstone files, and will also run under Windows 7.
>
> Thanks for your help,
>
> Roderick Wall, vk3yc.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
5072 2010-09-09 13:08:36 R Wall Re: RFSim99 won't install under Windows 7...
5073 2010-09-09 13:10:28 R Wall Re: RFSim99 won't install under Windows 7...
Hi Jim,

Thanks I'll try that and see if it works.

Thanks,

Roderick Wall, vk3yc.


5074 2010-09-09 17:22:29 R Wall Re: RFSim99 won't install under Windows 7...
Hi Jim,

I installed RFSim99 onto a SD memory card using a Windows XP computer. Transferred the SD memory card to the Windows 7 computer. Copied the RFSim99 folder from the SD memory card to the Windows 7 computer and it runs OK.

Now I can simulate N2PK VNA roofing filter Touchstone s-parameter files in RFSim99 in my new Laptop.

This is a trick I won't forget, thanks,

Roderick Wall, vk3yc.


5075 2010-09-09 17:41:51 Jim Miller Re: RFSim99 won't install under Windows 7...
Likely with a name like RFSim99 it dates back to 1999 when 16bit installers
were common. They no longer work in Win7-64 and may not in Win7-32.

jim ab3cv

5076 2010-09-10 10:13:29 ehydra Re: RFSim99 won't install under Windows 7...
Jim Miller schrieb:
> Likely with a name like RFSim99 it dates back to 1999 when 16bit installers
> were common. They no longer work in Win7-64 and may not in Win7-32.

Registry and Installer are the devils in M$. Never understood why
implemenatations brains can be so stupid there.
And there is no really need for that devils. Other progs show that.

RFSim99 is good and free. Unfortunately never updated.


- Henry

--
ehydra.dyndns.info
5077 2010-09-10 11:35:22 Jim Smith Re: RFSim99 won't install under Windows 7...
Hi Roderick,

Pleased it worked for you as well. I also ran it successfully using a
Windows emulator (Wine) under 64 bit Ubuntu OS - so presumably a very
'well behaved' Windows program.

73

Jim - G3ZQC

On Fri, 2010-09-10 at 10:22 +1000, R Wall wrote:
> Hi Jim,
>
> I installed RFSim99 onto a SD memory card using a Windows XP computer. Transferred the SD memory card to the Windows 7 computer. Copied the RFSim99 folder from the SD memory card to the Windows 7 computer and it runs OK.
>
> Now I can simulate N2PK VNA roofing filter Touchstone s-parameter files in RFSim99 in my new Laptop.
>
> This is a trick I won't forget, thanks,
>
> Roderick Wall, vk3yc.
>
> snip...
5078 2010-09-10 20:43:31 drmail377 Re: RFSim99 won't install under Windows 7...
Hi Roderick,

Try installing old software in Windows 7's WinXP compatibility mode:

If I'm not mistaken; if your laptop hardware can support it there is a WinXP compatibility mode in Win7 - but only in Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate versions. To use WinXP compatibility mode in Win7 your CPU must support hardware virtualization, which is termed AMD-V or Intel VT‎ technology.

As of writing time though, small cheap "Atom" powered netbooks will not support Win7's XP compatibility mode as their CPUs do not have hardware virtualization support, plus they usually come with WinXP or Win7 starter.

To check if your hardware supports virtualization, there are a couple of free tools I know of:

1. Securable by Steve Gibson of Gibs
5079 2010-09-11 00:15:40 R Wall Re: RFSim99 won't install under Windows 7...
Hi David,

Thanks for your help and information. The version of Windows that I have is Windows 7 Home. The CPU is a Intel Core i5 430 which may have "hardware virtualization" I don't know. The sales person was pushing me to purchase antivirus, Windows Office, extended warranty and everything else they could think of. Think I can upgrade to the next version of Windows 7 for around AUD$199.00 but if the CPU can't handle XP compatibility then it is not much use. I'll run the programs that you suggested and see if the CPU is OK.

I have RFSim99 running so I happy for now, but I may find there are other XP programs that I may want to run.

Thanks for your help,

Roderick Wall, vk3yc.



5080 2010-09-11 06:41:22 k5nwa Re: RFSim99 won't install under Windows 7...
There two separate features that you are lumping as one;

"Compatibility mode" is a feature that allows some programs to
install and run that would not run otherwise, vitualization is not
required for this feature and it works in all versions of Windows 7.
This you change by right clicking on the install program and
selecting which OS do you want compatibility with, you should also
select "run as administrator" to increase you success at installing
old software. This works on most old software but not all.

<
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Make-older-programs-run-in-this-version-of-Windows
>

"Xp Mode" is another compatibility option, it boots an actual copy
of Xp to run software that demand Xp. In the beginning it required
that you have vitualization mode, but that is no longer required with
an addon, but with a cost of running slightly slower. This is the
software that will only work on the more advance versions of Windows 7
<
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/windows-xp-mode
>

At 10:43 PM 9/10/2010, you wrote:
>
>
>Hi Roderick,
>
>Try installing old software in Windows 7's WinXP compatibility mode:
>
>If I'm not mistaken; if your laptop hardware can support it there is
>a WinXP compatibility mode in Win7 - but only in Windows 7
>Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate versions. To use WinXP
>compatibility mode in Win7 your CPU must support hardware
>virtualization, which is termed AMD-V or Intel VT‎ technology.
>
>As of writing time though, small cheap "Atom" powered netbooks will
>not support Win7's XP compatibility mode as their CPUs do not have
>hardware virtualization support, plus they usually come with WinXP
>or Win7 starter.
>
>To check if your hardware supports virtualization, there are a
>couple of free tools I know of:
>
>1. Securable by Steve Gibson of Gibson Research will tell you...
>
><http://www.grc.com/securable.htm>http://www.grc.com/securable.htm
>
>2. CPU-Z is a utility to extract all sorts of system info...
>
><http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php>http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
>
>BTW, I don't run Win7. I dropped back to WinXP after the Vista
>debacle and have been happy ever since.
>
>Best 73's, David WB4ONA
>

Cecil
k5nwa
< www.softrockradio.org > < www.qrpradio.com >
< http://parts.softrockradio.org/ >

Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
5081 2010-09-11 16:04:02 R Wall Re: RFSim99 won't install under Windows 7...
Hi k5nwa,

Thanks very much for shining the light
5082 2010-09-11 18:47:47 drmail377 Re: RFSim99 won't install under Windows 7...
Hi Again Roderick,

Cecil is correct, there is a difference between XP Compatibility Mode and XP Mode, the latter of which is run in a virtual machine. XP Mode's virtual XP should be most compatible with a stand-alone version of XP.

I just found out that as of March 2010 Microsoft removed the hardware assisted virtualization requirement to run XP Mode in Windows 7 Professional or higher (XP Mode via virtualization is disabled in Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Starter versions).

This page has some good information on WinXP Mode with links to getting started:

http://lifehacker.com/5497316/windows-xp-mode-no-longer-requires-virtualization-hardware

Same link here:

http://bit.ly/bIP6S8

You can upgrade from Windows 7 Home Premium to Professional for $89.99. Microsoft recently re-introduced the Windows 7 "Family Pack" which gives you three Windows 7 Professional upgrades for $149.99 I'm not sure if the offer is good outside the U.S. Upgrades are done online via Microsoft's "Windows 7 Anywhere" Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/anytime-upgrade/home-premium.aspx

some say if you call Microsoft on the phone and moan and groan to the sales person about how they didn't tell you there was no XP mode, they may give you a significant discount on your Home Premium upgrade - be assertive, ask to speak to the supervisor and tell them you're a class-action attorney.

When you refer to your laptop having a "430" CPU, I presume you have one of the following two processors:

Intel Core i5-430M Processor (3M Cache, 2.26 GHz):

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43537

Intel Core i5-430UM Processor (3M cache, 1.20 GHz):

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=49023&code=i5-430UM

The i5-430M/UM is a mid-range modern (c.2010) Intel laptop CPU. Both of these processors provide hardware assisted virtualization via Intel's VT-x technology. Higher-end i7 processors support Intel's VT-d technology which provides more security for input/output under virtualization. Intel's server CPU's take VT-d's I/O security further with VT-i technology. Confused yet? Yeah, me too...

So; your i5-430M/UM processor should support Win XP mode with hardware assisted virtualization in Windows 7 Pro or higher.

You "may" be able to run a virtualized version of Windows XP on your Windows 7 Home Premium machine if you are willing to run a software-only virtual machine that isn't from Microsoft. Some software virtualization solutions are free/open-source.

Some popular virtualization solutions are: VirtualBox, VMWare, Parallels, Xen, and QEMU, (there are many others). Take a look at VirtualBox first, it will supposedly run on Windows and it is now free/open-source via Sun Microsystems (now owned by Oracle). But I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft did something to prevent you from running a version of Windows using non Microsoft virtualization software on Windows 7 Home Premium though. If something like WinXP via VirtualBox works enough on Win7 Home Premium you save $89.99, but it may be too slow. Give it a try and let us know what happens. Or maybe someone else on this Group has already tried.

http://www.virtualbox.org/

Another possible solution would be to run Linux or BSD and run Windows XP applications in Wine. You should be able to find a liveCD Linux distro with Wine. Most popular distos are available in LiveCD format these days. Plug the live CD in, set your BIOS to boot from CD, reboot and install the WinXP application under Wine and run it. See if the LiveCD version of Ubuntu or Mepis Linux have Wine on them by default. If they don't then adding Wine via the online package system should take only a minute or two. Here are a couple of customizable small liveCD Linux distros that support Wine (and thousands of other packages) via custom build systems.

www.slax.org

www.slitaz.org

A closing comment: For at least the next couple-few years, IMHO steer clear of any 64-bit version of Windows for your laptop or desktop system. I know that's a sweeping statement, but in-general 64-bits requires around twice the memory to yield real benefits, and there are still significant compatibility issues with 32 bit application software and hardware drivers. Use 64-bit systems in servers or math intensive workstations, not on general purpose desktop or a laptop machines.

Best 73's, David WB4ONA