exfat partition extending & android file compatibility

 im just posting this for posterity because it was a pain to google for a clear answer, & maybe this will help someone else in the future.

i was trying to figure out why a 4tb external ssd i bought would be discoverable on my pc but not my phone or tablet.

some searching told me that it was either incompatible file system, or lack of power.

i bought a powered hub & was able to discover the 4tb ssd (formatted as ntfs) on my tablet. without the hub, it would cause constant restarting of the tablet due to power draw overload.

i also had a new 1tb sd card that i wanted to clone onto, & discovered that while the tablet can read an external ntfs drive, the sd card formatted to ntfs was deemed unacceptable & prompts a reformat dialogue, inviting a change to exfat.

i found that new sd cards inserted into the tablet first were automatically formatted to exfat.

my pc had no problem reading either exfat or ntfs sd card as flash storage.

i also found that new sd cards come with an unallocated partition proportionate to the drive size, i.e. 1tb had a 64mb unallocated partition, 512gb had a 32mb unallocated partition. apparently  this is meant as a sort of ram or temp storage for the card in the event that the main partition is completely filled.

Samsung Notes File Management Nightmare

 i thought this needed its own post, but it goes along with the previous post about android migration.

i had over 600 notes in the samsung notes app v.2 from 2019, i intentionally never updated my phone for 5 years because EVERY SINGLE FUCKING TIME SOME DIPSHIT DEVS ROLL OUT UPDATES IT FUCKS EVERYTHING. 

for 5 years i had flawless function, clean & intuitive but practical & unobstructive interface. no unnecessary permissions or mandatory privacy invasions or straight up data larceny.

then when my phone was clearly at the end of its rope, i went through the process of migrating to a new device. most hurdles were surmountable, but when it came to samsung notes, .....another story.

i was able to back up to samsung cloud, but then couldnt import, THEN COULDNT DELETE FROM THE CLOUD & SAMSUNG CUSTOMER SERVICE DIDNT HAVE THE FIRST CLUE OF HOW THEIR SOFTWARE WORKS. probably because the dipshits update the fucking thing every 3 hours.

then i was able to export as pdfs, but it obliterated my carefully curated notes folder system & discarded all my notes titles.

then when i went back to my old phone to explore other options, the samsung notes app had somehow force updated COMPLETELY ON ITS OWN! 

that meant that now all my notes were not compatible with the new app without converting.

i was able to create backups in the form of .sdoc files, but literally NO OTHER SOFTWARE can open these. i converted one to a .zip as a test, which revealed the binary .dat files that make up the .sdoc, but no other program can translate those .dat files besides the fucking OLD VERSION of samsung notes.

i then tried to uninstall the new samsung app offline & install a backup .apk i made of the original samsung notes, but the app update planted some bug in my old phone that restricts it from installing the old app again...........

FUCK SAMSUNG SO MUCH. ill never use samsung notes again.

i have to sit & convert AND RELABEL all my PDF backed up notes, one by one on PC, but after that ill only be taking notes in .odt or .docx format on Collabora Office or Dark Note for the foreseeable future, the only non-data collecting non-ad spewing free office/notes apps ive found these days that support clear custom destination file exports.

Android to Android new phone transfer experience

 I've had maybe 4 phones in my life, the first was a TracFone, the next x2 I just went to the dealer for, paying for a new phone + activation fee.

My latest phone is a Samsung a15, coming from a Samsung j7.

After chasing a red herring concerning microsim vs nanosim, I realized that the j7 was switched to nanosim in its last 2 years of production, when I bought one. I kept reading that I would need to obtain a nanosim when I already had one, since most or maybe all typical modern phones use nano.

I'll mention I briefly tried to use a tcl 10l first, but it had shutter lag, & wouldn't let me save a pro photo setting template. To top it off, it was not fully compatible with MetroPCS. So I diverted to the Blu g84. The blu g84 did not have flash available during pro photo mode, & also would not allow split screen ratio adjustment in landscape mode. it also had some weird bug where it wouldnt accept my sd card as formatted, making me back it up, reformat, then repopulate (more on that in a second). pain in the ass. obviously it also wouldnt run samsung apps so i impetuously deleted all 600 of my samsung notes after backing up to pdf, only to realize it didnt save the titles of the fucking notes so i now have 600 untitled notes & i ended up using a samsung device anyway so none of it was necessary. 

The first hurdle was getting apps/data to transfer. I tried Bluetooth tether, cord tether, wifi direct tether, quick share tether, NFC tether, Samsung backup, Google one backup, Google drive backup, (ill never use Microsoft OneDrive). They were all failures.

What finally worked for me is using the file manager app from playstore to manually make an APK portable of each app I wanted. many of my favorite apps like hancom office & wavepad are incompatible with new phones.

To get my contacts & SMS i used dropbox backup but I had to use a specific backup & restore app from playstore on both phones.

Then another hurdle, when I tried to insert my old SD...the newer android couldn't run it & asks me to FORMAT IT.

I managed to not accidentally delete everything & made a basic image file + copy/paste clone of the SD. I used macrium reflect & it worked great & it was easy.

Then I formatted the SD in the phone, popped it back out & brought back over the files that weren't system files. (this was for the blu g84, i could have skipped this entire problem if i had just gone for the samsung a15 off the bat).

Finally, I bypassed the activation fee by going on mymetro & manually entering the new IMEI code from the new phone.

I also picked up a handy tip, at one point early on, I was stuck on a frozen boot & learned that holding power+volume up for a long time bypasses the freeze & opens the reboot/reset menu.

 

I had to find other new essential apps, Openweather for live weather, 

VLC for mp4 & mp3, 

Collabora office for Rtf, Docx, Word, & Pdf reading/editing, 

& Dark Note as a better version of samsung notes with actual export tools & dynamic/intuitive visual organization. No ads, no iaps, doesn't send or collect your data & they're free. That's fuckin hard to find.

Also, fuck Microsoft so hard & their subscription scams.

A major fucking annoying afterthought about the samsung a15, & apparently all the new samsung stuff, is that you cant shut off the camera shutter sound or assign a different sound like you used to be able to. a fucking basic function once again fucked up by dipshit devs.

i found a workaround by creating a mode/routine where the entire phone is set to silent during camera use. 

a fucking pain in the ass again to do something that should have just been a single button option in the camera settings. not to mention no other camera app is compatible even if you completely remove the current camera through an adb editor.

bionic hand poseable artists model

 apparently there is a knockoff version of this hand model being produced with really no marketing divisor. 

searching on aliexpress i bought the knockoff because it was cheaper by half, but realized when i received it that the palm was out of proportion to the larger fingers.

i looked a little closer & ordered the more expensive one for a side by side comparison which noone else has done.

its easier to make a fist with the knockoff but the original could be remedied by shaving a bit of plastic off of the index pad (havnt done yet, picture is the unmodified version).

the original has a sturdier, heavier base.

the knockoff base mount falls out of the wrist seemingly by design intentionally or otherwise.

the knockoff has more exaggerated lateral palm flex, but that could be incidental due to missing linkage of the thumb crotch & pinky pad.

the original has better, unrestricted wrist movement.

in the end i decided to keep both because the knockoff looks like it could be a more feminine hand while the original seems more masculine, both could have their uses.

Dual zone piezos for edrums

 The ekit i bought a while back was made from a chopped up acoustic kit. I had originally made some placement mods since some of the toms werent loud enough & the piezo just wanted to be further from the rim.

When i bought them, the triggers looked like this, x2 of them still do:

Literally just an L bracket, with a big washer screwed on it. The foam pad underneath the piezo oversized, the top foam just a chunk of what looks like backer rod. The rim piezo duct taped to the bottom of the drum (lifting tape with a screwdriver tip there),

& It works... It still works, i only opened them again because i thought i heard a loose washer or something buzzing on hits.

Im planning on relocating these further counter clockwise & further away from the rim toward the center like these older mods i did.

These are also fine, but i though since i was in the neighborhood, i might take another pass to see if i could improve/simplify the bracket design, maybe replace the top foam.

I saw someone use a round makeup applicator, i thought that was sorta clever.

This is the 1st attempt on a tom , not sure why i didnt just get a longer L bracket. I think i just wanted to use up some old aluminum or maybe didnt wanna spend any cash:

Theres not really a reason why it should go all the way across... It dips in the middle because i had limited foam i was using for bottom support. 

This was my 2nd attempt on another tom:

I still got the placement i was after, i shave a piece of foam to adjust height but it cant go higher without stacking. But ideally it should never have to adjust. I guess maybe if the top foam compresses with time but this backer rod foam is so porous i dont think it has enough mass to even register compression until youre like, half crushing it.

I set the height approx 2mm above the rims:

I performed a dissection on one of my roland pdx100 pads. 

First off, fuck roland for selling this for nearly $300...the internals are less than $20 & this shell is injection molded plastic probably $2 at most & the mesh head is probably another $20. Youve made your money back on the initial plastic body cad design after selling like x5 of these at their retail price...anything after that is just insulting the consumer.

A fucking cell phone only costs like $80 & has way more technology & uses than this thing.

Anyway, i wanted to compare the wiring to the custom toms i had & upload decent pics for posterity since i had a hard time finding any online.

         

Roland uses a pcb jack but it doesnt appear to have any additional resistors or caps etc, there are only x3 pins coming through the pcb & i have to expect those to be the sleeve, ring, & tip pins.

Not even a nice bevel jack...

Theres no markings on any of it besides the part number which brings up no results online. I found a similar pcb jack from goedrum & their schematic looks almost intentionally confusing... 

In summary, both piezo brass backing wires go together on one pin, im not sure which pin but its probably the sleeve. I dont know a reason why they would share a ring or tip pin.

The x2 ceramic wires go to seperate pins. Im not sure which, but i think these would be ring & tip, but i have less of a clue to which is which. If i had to guess id say the head piezo ceramic is on the tip.

I already cant trust the diagrams i found online because they show the brass of one piezo sharing a pin with the ceramic of the 2nd piezo...clearly that isnt the case here, so either the diagrams are wrong, or someone at roland fucked up my wiring even though the pad still works...

The alesis wiring is actually a closer fit, they show the brasses sharing a pin. Are alesis making pads for roland now or what?

So i remembered why i made those funky aluminum "brackets" back then, i couldnt find any slotted brackets at any hardware store & the snobby douchebags that work there told me they dont exist.

I was doing idle research when i found these, vertical blind headrail brackets. 

The screw spread is approx 3/4"-1" (bottom) hole is slotted. 

That would leave it approx 1/8" lower than the aluminum brackets i custom cut/installed, so basically perfect, i could make up that difference with the foam at the top or bottom.

Roland TD27kv2 drums ekit; replace stock clutch with drop clutch, muffle hihat clomp noise, adjust phones gain.

 I had to pack away my acoustic kit when covid was a thing & had to buy an ekit. A homebrew frankenstein kit off craigslist. It had a dm10 module & the worst excuse for a hihat.

I always got into a bad mood when the hats would constantly glitch right when i find a groove. I finally decided to buy a better ekit with supposedly the best hihat around.

However, right out of the box i had new issues.

First: apparently, they tried to make the clutch on the hats permanently installed with a set screw & threadlocker.

I got rid of that fucking thing right the fuck away.

The set screw is not a hex at all, i had tried 2mm, 2.5mm, 5/64, 3/32, eventually i realized it was a T8 star/torx bit. I also heated their threadlocking liquid with a lighter for 15 seconds.

The wingnut section of the clutch then spins off counterclockwise with no tools. You have to force past the 2 bad threads damaged by the set screw...but a few fwd/bwd rotations will smooth it out some.

I installed my Dixon Magnetic clutch, which fit perfectly. The hats have the same concave triangle shape under the hole as the other cymbals, but since theres those x2 left & right cables attaching it to the bottom hat, it was never going to spin anywhere, a thick small felt takes up the gap just fine, compressing into shape.

The slosh spring doesnt fit on these though, they did on my single alesis hat pad.

I modified a 3/4ODx1.25H compression spring to be wider at the base, reducing max load & crush height. I used a thin 3/4ID nylon washer under that but it was actually closer to 9/16 so i had to ream it with a dremel to .7 since the plunger was .69 & i wanted to avoid wobbling. I added a thicker 3/8ID nylon washer above the spring snug to the hh stands' stem, with a thin soft felt to top it off.

Left is the dixon slosh spring, right is the store bought spring unmodded, center (installed) is the modded spring final assembly.

I called a few spring companies to inquire about a professionally fabricated version, but most didnt answer the phone, some said they couldnt do it, one asshole said he'd make it for $700 each.

heres a simple demo vid i made, (not trying to show off any chops so fuck off) first is the acoustic sound with no module sounds, the 2nd is the same vid with no acoustic & all module sounds.

2nd: the clomping of the 2 piece hihats was loud as shit. I can differentiate the thunk of the pedal vs the top hat hitting the bottom hat because ive used different hats on this same pedal.

There was one guy online who glued triangles of foam on the bottom lip but he says it was a failure. 

My solution was a fucking 1st try homerun. I was looking at my sweatband laying nearby the kit & thought i could make a big sweatband for the bottom hat to dampen the noise.

I did a little research & looked at my options online & a local fabric shop after almost making the prototype out of a microfiber terry towel (probably would have worked but i only had white & wanted to use black to minimize contrast on the kit).

I wanted something fluffy but elastic, i ended up finding a black sherpa fabric with 1way stretch!

I traced the bottom hat 2x, cut both pieces out, cut out the centers, leaving x2 approx 2" rings, then sewed those together with a single backstitch -nap facing out (i didnt sew it inside out so there wouldnt be a bunched up seam along the hat edge).

It completely eliminated the clomping when footing/chicking the hats, & didnt affect playability at all, if anything, it improved the feel (the rubber on rubber sent a frictiony vibration down through the stand).

The stand does have its own noise, & i think the slosh spring needs some fine tuning so it doesnt accidentally rub against itself while fully compressing because my bends werent machine perfect, but its still way quieter than NOT having the sherpa wrap on it..

3rd: the fucking cymbals with the concave triangle design around the mounting holes require special triangle rotation stop mounts...these mounts are permanently glued or molded to the shitty balljoint tilter arms on the stock rack stand... roland does sell removeable versions for a stupid profit, but i found a 3D print file online for free, & i have a 3D printer, so i made those myself. I bought m3 hardware to install them on my cymbal stands. it would be better in resin, i only have a filament printer & sort of opened a tiny seam by tightening the 1st one too much.

(These cymbals have a stupid layout design, theyre actually heavier on the "back" end, the opposite side of the sensor half of the pad. This means theyll tilt AWAY from you unless you turn the tilters damn near sideways...)

As long as you dont overtighten them, theyre fine. & i can always print a replacement in 30 mins.

4th: the phones output was quiet as hell.. the alesis dm10 used to hurt my ears if i had it above half. 

I went into the Output settings & found i had to increase the phones gain by 10db! Just to drown out the acoustic noise of the kit!

however, when i connected to my daw for the 1st time, i found i had to raise the usb master out gain +15db to get decent level on pc, & to set it up to hear live monitor from pc to play with layered tracks i had to turn the phones gain on the td27 output settings back down to normal (0db) because the monitor volume coming back from pc was not attenuated like it sounded direct from the module.

i tried to remove signal compression from the phones in output settings path but that wasnt the problem & didnt really change it at all.

5th: the snare & hihat cables are like a mile long, they couldve just been like 6 inches. even for a left hand setup im pretty sure you would still keep the snare & hat near the module. 

the cymbal & tom cables are too short by a few inches, a little more length would have allowed for some rack wraps/cable management. as it is, each cable just barely reaches the damn pads like high tension wires. i would have loved to trade all the extra length from the snare/hats to the other pads.

i also confirmed the cable snake 1/4 plugs do work with non-roland piezo pads. i really dont like the puny roland toms/kick.

i kept my custom wood shell kick & dual zone toms.

The stick noise on the new hats is comparable to the noise of the kick beaters, but its so much more realistic & less glitchy than the alesis pad i was using, im enduring it for now.

i read someone suggest holes in the hats would reduce closing resistance & air pockets. after playing for a while, i dont think drilling holes in the bottom hat would affect the feel or sound enough to notice while playing. the person suggesting that didnt try it as far as i could tell.

I couldnt help but expand the kit a bit, its basically the same setup as my acoustic kit setup of choice. 

I added a china cymbal & split the aux1 input between x2 splashes. 

I separated the pad as H/R off, assigning different instr's to each. 

I found that i still got a different sounding edge/bow sound on each splash! What a cool surprise, i thought id only be able to get x1 of the dual triggers on the splash to register on each split of the input.

I also found that setting that split input (aux1) as a "pad2 parameter", instead of the automatically selected "cy12ct parameter" yields better threshold/gain presets.