HDMI Audio output not available

Preface: This was originally drafted in September 2020, and is only being published ~2 years later. I can’t remember my exact mood when I drafted this article, but apparently it was one of those days. It was also not the first time I’d experienced this issue. I hope posting it here will allow me to not experience this issue again, and help someone else who befalls a similar misfortune.


I hate everything. That’s right. Everything! ARGH! Cue continuos shouts into the void.

Issue: Laptop won’t output audio over HDMI. There is no setting anywhere that seems to allow you to output to HDMI, even though you could swear you’ve done it before. Also every ‘solution’ on the internet tells you to do something you’ve already done or change a setting that doesn’t exist.

Device: Asus FX502VM, Windows 10, GeForce GTX 1060

“High Definition Audio”, it’s all I wanted

Steps to resolve:

  • Uninstall everything Nvidia related. Everything. Clean clean clean.
  • Install whatever version of Nvidia graphics drivers you want. Make sure to install the Nvidia GeForce Experience.
  • Login to the Experience; do an update from within the Experience. For the Game Ready Drivers! Whatever that means.
  • During installation you’ll hopefully see mention of “HD Audio drivers”. Don’t know why they weren’t installed earlier. But /care.
  • Success.
  • Cry. etc

Nike+ SportWatch – DO NOT BUY

tl;dr: The software this watch (and the Fuel Band) requires to work correctly has been discontinued by Nike. The watches are no longer worth anything. Don’t buy one. – link to Nike announcement. If you’re looking for an alternative try the Garmin Forerunner, or even a Huawei Watch.

In 2013 I bought a Nike+ SportWatch. It’s nothing amazing, but at the time it was a well-priced GPS watch which let me track my running and cycling (kind of). It’s major drawback at the time was that the only way to get data off the watch was to sync it with the Nike+ servers by plugging it in to USB and using their proprietary software. This wasn’t a major issue. But now it is.

I’ve since upgraded to a WearOS watch with built in GPS, so I can just run the Strava app. As such I gave my watch to my wife. Recently she plugged it in to upload the data. Trying to sync results in a “Couldn’t connect to NikePlus” message. Clicking help results in a “Forbidden” page access message.

What you see when you click Help in the Nike+ app

Eventually after searching a bit I find out that Nike have decided to discontinue support of the watch. Nike+ Link. For most products this would be okay, you’d still be able to download a GPX file to your PC and upload it to your service of choice. But Nike+ software never offered this feature. And in shutting down their servers they have completely abandoned their customers.

Message on Nike+ support page

To an extent I can understand this. They stopped manufacturing devices in 2015, and can’t be expected to support them forever. What I can’t excuse is that they failed to offer an alternative, when a very simple one exists. The original software effectively downloaded the data to a PC, compiled it into a GPX file and uploaded it to the Nike+ servers (source). They just never made that GPX file available to the user. But this is the perfect opportunity to do this. As opposed to dropping support completely.

What is further concerning is that people continue to sell the product on E-bay without providing warnings about the product’s obvious problem. Likewise on Amazon.

In 2014, Leendert van Duijn and Hristo Dimitrov published a paper titled “Information retrieval from a TomTom Nike+ smart watch“. In this paper they documented some of their efforts to intercept the communication and figure out the comm protocol the watch uses. They made some inroads, but didn’t fully decrypt the data.

Using their guidelines I’ve managed to download what I believe is data from a run, but have no way to decrypt it. I hope someone else is able to figure it out and make this perfectly acceptable watch useful again.

Fake News makes me sad

While some of the blame for the surge in fake news belongs with organisations such as Facebook; it seems unfair to put it all on them. It’s up to us to do something as well. Mainly educating those around you who may inadvertently share such material.

Over the last few months I’ve come across a few articles to trigger this post. I don’t post much to Facebook, but tend to scroll through my feed several times a week. And with the amount of messed up stuff happening around the world, it’s making it harder and harder to discern what’s fake and what’s real. For whatever reason, it seems to be on Facebook where I notice most of these articles. Whether it’s just because of the number of ‘friends’ I have, or another reason, I see less such posts on other sites I frequent.

The first article I came across had the headline: “Your baby in you can also get pregnant if you have sex while you are pregnant – Minister of Health warns SA women on women’s day”. Now are ministers take a lot of flack for a lot of reasons. Often warranted. But some statements are too unbelievable to be true, which is generally my first indication.

The article is published by a website called “News at Last”. If you really want to check them out, their current domain is newsatlastsa(dot)online. Not believing this could be true, I checked out the website, and did some googling and searching of other news websites. No one else was reporting this. Based on this information, and the lack of any credibility or supporting evidence on the News At Last’s website, I deemed this fake news. Their only contact details are an email address on a domain that WebAfrica have listed as suspended.

More recently was an article published last week by HIN News – hinnews(dot)com. Apparently it stands for Happenings In Nigeria, but their logo looks like someone tried to poorly Photoshop the BBC News logo. Their Facebook page has a concerning million+ followers and likes.

I googled BBC news, and saved the first image. The HIN logo is a pixel for pixel copy of the BBC logo, besides the off-centred and off-colour text edit.

The article in question was titled “Breaking!!FARM MURDERS: US President Threatens To Intervene If South Africa Does Not Come Up With A Solution To Farm Murders.” Ignoring the two exclamation marks, the article was brief and ended with the author’s personal opinion on the matter. Odd for what one would suppose is an unbiased objective report on something that happened.

But it didn’t happen. Well not as far as I can tell. Nor can I find any reputable news site reporting anything related. While I’m about this, I’m going to throw Gossip Mill Msanzi, gossipmillsa(dot)com into this boat as well. They seem to be offering up the same garbage as the others, and whether intentionally or not, no credible news site should be posting articles without verifying the source.

The biggest problem, is these sites intersperse these fake articles with hoards of actual articles which they lift from larger news organisations, attempting to give them a credible appearance on first glance.

I don’t know what the answer is, but I implore everyone to take an extra look at those news articles. Especially the ones with the lovely clickbait titles. It’s hard to know for sure, but if you can’t verify it’s legit, rather don’t share it until you have reason to believe it’s true. On the same note, if you have friends and family posting articles which you know to be false, call them out on it. It doesn’t have to blatant and rude. Send them an email or PM, telling them you think an article they shared isn’t real and the reasons you think this.

I like to think that most of the people I know wouldn’t intentionally post false information, and approach them with that attitude. I want them to think twice next time a similar article comes up.

Thoughts from an African in the USA

We’ve been in the US for quite a while now. And there’s so much I’ve wanted to write about, but a new article for each one seemed extreme. So after being a draft for about three months, I’ve finally been able to put together this mega-post on all the random things that pop into my head.

Take note that I am making direct comparisons to my experiences in California, and living in South Africa. California is not the US. Also these are not all bad, they’re just observations, some of them are even good. And in no particular order, they are:

Twisty light switches


I have an odd hate for these. All your bedside and desktop lamps have these twisty knobs on them to turn on and off. Why not a switch. I like switches. I know what to do with switches. And to turn these switches on or off, you turn it in the same direction. Surely it would make more sense to turn it on one way, and turn it off the other way? But no, turning it the other way does nothing.

Shower controls


To date, I’ve found shower controls around the world fairly standard. You have some control over how much hot water, and how much cold water you get. Not in the US. In the US you get X amount of water, and are only allowed to decide how hot or cold it is. So there’s no having a nice hot blast of water, or just dripping a little out. You get X. Come on man, where are we living?!

Smoke alarms


They’re everywhere, we have three in our house (and have only set one off, we’re not sure how)! The only rooms not covered are the bathrooms. I’m not sure of the exact reason why they’re so smoke-alarm happy, but it probably has something to do with all the very flammable gas being piped everywhere, and the heavy presence of wood in their buildings. The smoke alarms also detect carbon-monoxide.

But they’re seriously loud. I nearly had a heart-attack when our one went off by itself. I put earplugs in just to test the one in the above video. And we have three different ones. I was quite impressed to see that our Kidde Smoke Alarm talks to us.

The Coleman gas canister

I actually quite like these. They’re very popular. Much like Cadac is the go to brand in SA, Coleman has it sorted in the US. Any skottel, portable BBQ or other mid sized gas powered device makes use of these little canisters. They’re a set size, and work on anything. More than that you can buy them almost anywhere. No need to find a camping goods store, just go to your local Target, or corner cafe. They can be refilled from larger propane tanks too.

Electric plugs

okay it’s a little dirty

I’m iffy on these. They’re different, but I guess not bad per se. What I don’t like is their live and neutral pins are different sizes. Why?! Many small things like chargers are built the same size to avoid annoyance, but our lamps for instance only go in one way! Come on man!

Class action lawsuits

These come in the post, they’re advertised to you on billboards, on the radio, on TV. Everywhere. Law firm sues big company on behalf of 100 plaintiffs, then once a verdict is given, they are allowed to go find more people who may have been affected, and bring them in as part of the case. Law firm obviously gets a bigger settlement from it, and it’s right that people are properly remunerated if they are wronged, but often we’re talking about $10 or $20 per plaintiff. For example (source):

Consumers who received automated or pre-recorded call or text on their cell phones from Wells Fargo regarding overdrafts on a Wells Fargo account between April 21, 2011 and December 19, 2015 may be eligible for a pro rata share of the $30 million settlement. The company reached a settlement over allegations of violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Do I really deserve money because Wells Fargo phoned me. Sure punish them. But yeah.

Marketing

Marketing in general is huge. I regularly see planes flying overhead with banners advertising something. Billboards, benchboards, bus stop adverts are all updated with regularity, showing the latest movies and TV series. Adverts also regularly feature prominent movie and TV personalities.

Online, my twitter feed receives far more adverts than it once did. I assume just because less people are paying for adverts aimed towards people with location South Africa, than Los Angeles. I’ve also been doing a lot of writing, and researching online products. As such I’ve had to start using Incognito mode more, otherwise my Facebook, Twitter and YouTube just fill up with adverts for the products I’ve recently been browsing on Amazon

Then there are also the pharmaceutical adverts, they’re mainly restricted to TV (which we don’t have), but they are still odd to watch, where adverts for all kinds of drugs are placed, encouraging you to discuss these products with your GP.

Cellphone contracts

Prepaid packages are rare. Most of the big companies don’t offer a traditional prepaid package where you load $20 and pay per SMS and phonecall. Instead you sign up for a monthly contract, and just pay in advance. But that package is by default unlimited local phone calls and SMSs. It’s no wonder no one uses WhatsApp. Why would they when they can just SMS indiscriminately. The rate is also fairly flat between providers since porting gained public attention. Only price differences come in when selecting how much data you want. Discounts are also offered for family packages.

Also every, single, freaking, provider locks their phones to their network.

Internet

It’s wonderful. It’s fast. At home our flat came with included Wi-Fi, and although I’d like an ethernet cable, I’m not complaining:

Halloween & Thanksgiving

Halloween was fun. Everyone dresses up. Everyone. Even on campus during the days around Halloween people were dressed up. The 7-11s put up signs requesting people to remove their masks when entering the premises.

It was fun. People put a lot of effort into their costumes, have parties, and generally just have a good time. Trick or treating is apparently also still big, in the more residential neighbourhoods. Also pumpkin carving. That was fun.Thanksgiving was fun too. A few weeks after Halloween, things kind of just flow from one to the next. It’s a great friends and family holiday, full of traditional food, like mac ‘n cheese. And more traditional food like Turkey and Pumpkin Pie. And while people don’t dress-up for this one, marketers go crazy, and you get all the pumpkin flavoured coffees, beers and other paraphernalia emerging.

Live shows!

LA is great for this. There’s always something happening. And every time there’s a show on at one of the big venues (which is most of the time), it’s a band you know or recognise. Those odd bands and comedians you knew back home, who would never tour to SA, they tour to LA. Or they live in LA.

Now all we need is some more money to go to more events.

Helicopters

Normal day in LA. Two helicopters and the Good Year blimp. My eyesight is way better than my phone’s camera.

They’re everywhere. This is partially LA specific. At any single time, there are at least two police helicopters hovering over LA, ignoring news and personal helicopters. It’s the police helicopters that tend to fly lower and hover. While you’re trying to sleep. I think it’s started to blend into the background noise of the city, but every now and then I notice it and get annoyed.

ITAR

The American government doesn’t trust foreigners. Especially when it comes to anything semi-related to rockets, which includes the entire aviation field. As such if you’re not a US citizen you require a special ITAR clearance to work in the aviation, military, or space industry. This is a lot of extra work for a company, and many couldn’t be bothered. As such I’ve been greeted with many a job application, that on the first line, lists as a requirement, that you are a US citizen. This has nothing to do with work eligibility.

Petrol

Firstly their octane ratings are all wrong (more about that here). Secondly they sell at least three different octane ratings at every gas station. Thirdly they call petrol gas (-oline), when clearly it’s a liquid. Fourthly diesel is hard to come by within a city, like many gas stations don’t sell it. Fifthly fuel prices can differ by over a dollar per gallon within the same city. Sixthly you have to pump your own gas (I actually really enjoy this. It’s great)

Driving

Driving is fine. People in LA tend to drive fast and in a rush (compared to CT and EL). It’s not a problem (not like them driving on the wrong side of the road). However, the law states that you are allowed to pass a vehicle that is in the fast lane, by driving in one of the slower  lanes (pg38 2016 CA driver handbook). They do advise that if you are in the fast lane and being passed, you should move to a slower line, the phrasing being (pg65 2016 CA driver handbook):

the best thing to do is move into the right lane, when it is safe, and let the vehicle(s) pass.

That is an advisement. Not a law. There is a new law that says in a single lane road, a vehicle must turn out if a line of 5 or more vehicles forms behind them. As they don’t make use of the ‘yellow-lane’ to allow overtaking.

But basically a lot of drivers drive slowly in the fast lane which results in people in a hurry weaving through the 5 lane traffic, in and out, and people flying past on your right, because they don’t want to wait for the slow driver in front to pull over. This is contrary to many other countries where it is a law to get out of the way of faster moving traffic.

They have got the Right on Red thing going for them, which is great, and should be made law in SA as well. If you’re turning at a traffic light, and do not need to cross moving traffic to do so, you are allowed to turn against a red light, if safe to do so.

You can read more about this here, as I just got my CA licence.

Popcorn
You know like at the movies? They soak them in butter. Icky, oily, butter. I guess it tastes nicer, but now my hands are covered in greasy oil. Also, no salt shakers. Apparently that’s not how it’s done. They offer tiny little salt sachets, but you have to open like 5 or more to get any kind of taste. No other flavours either really. Just butter.

Self-Checkout Terminals

Yes, yes, yes. Saving me so much time (and some awkwardness). There’s always an open terminal at the self-checkout aisle in the grocery stores. They’re wonderful. I don’t have to stand in queues. Don’t have to interact with the admittedly very nice cashiers. I can just do my thing and be on my way.

Apparently PnP in Ottery are running a trial with these. Last I heard it wasn’t going too well.

Money

I’ve never been a fan of cash, not at home, not anywhere. But the Americans confuse it all by making all their notes look almost identical. That is, similar size and same colour. When you do find ones that are different colours, they’re just different prints of the same note. And don’t get me started on their coins. Although I like quarters. They’re pretty cool as far as coins go.

Then Credit-Cards. You want to pay with a CC at a restaurant. They bring you the bill, and tell them you want to pay by card. They take the bill and your card away from you, then come back later, return your card to you, and you leave you with a slip on which to write the tip. Then once you’ve left, with your card, they go back to the terminal and add the tip into the final amount that gets debited. This is normal. This is standard.

And don’t get me started on EFTs. Such a thing does not exist. If I owe my friend John $20, I either have to give it to him in cash, or write him a cheque. Or use one of many online, non-bank affiliated services to send him money (such as PayPal). I can do a wire. But, the bank will usually charge me $10 per wire. Many companies will at least pay employees by Direct Deposit, which at least avoids any fees, but this seems to not be in the domain of the average Joe. Or John. Or John’s friend who just wants to pay him.

Buying Alcohol

The drinking age in the US is 21. This is not a problem as I am 27. What is a problem is that everyone asks for ID. Everyone. Buying wine from your local supermarket. ID. Going into a bar. ID. Sitting in a restaurant. ID (well they’re a little more slack). So this is not a problem in and of itself. What is a problem is that they don’t like SA driver’s licences, or even our fancy new ID cards. No. If you don’t have a US government issued ID, you need to show them a passport. Which means I have to carry my passport around with me everywhere. Which I don’t like doing, and its big and bulky, especially if you’re heading out to for the night. I also often forget it at home, and then am left unable to purchase alcohol.

This was only part of the motivation to get a CA driver’s licence. Some licences even state the year the person turns 21 to save the bouncer some effort.

End

That’s all I can think of at the moment. I won’t even get started on the politics. I added an extra five points to this yesterday, so feel it’s time to stop. I’m sure I’ll start another article and build it up over the next few months for a part 2.

But in between all the complaints, and differences, it’s very similar to home. We haven’t experienced in kind of culture shock, and are enjoying ourselves in the very fair LA.