April 10, 2014

Spilled water bottle in a mac book air

This is not a test. It's only a story about what happened today to my mac book air.
Spilled bottle water on my macbook air.
No hard damage, it seemed. But the internal speakers don't work.Recommendation



  1. Do not keep water bottles and pc in the same bag
  2. Do not TURN on YOUR COMPUTER before driyng the water.Dry well, maybe with a hairdryer (in distance and ambient air), put the computer in a ventilated place and wait a few hours.
  3. Use keyboard protective films and neoprene covers. Neoprene is not waterproof but prevent the direct water contact


If your computer is on standby:

  • Dry the pc from drops of water. 
  • Check that there were no damages related to hardware fault (just like warnings or system alerts)
  • Turn on pc.
  • Check your system functions. Keys, screen video audio (jack and internal speakers). 

What happened to me:

  • The internal speakers did not work. Reason? Perhaps a few drops of water inside of the jack prevented the system to tell if earphones jack were inserted or not.
  • I cleaned with a cotton-bud the jack.
  • I opened video editing and conversion programs to increase the processor temperature and activate the cooling fans, hoping that this could dry the residual drops.
  • Rebooted, audio was ok. 

Good luck.

March 17, 2014

How To Update Arduino WiFi Shield (Windows)

Yes, I used Windows because strangely I got problems with my mac...
Ok, FORGOT all the procedures you read in internet.
Take note of these sites:

Procedure: (just follow the instructions in monkey-mode ;) )


0. Get a PC with Windows... 7 is better (yes... :( ) 
1. Install AVR-tool-chain 
2. Install AVR32 Studio 2.6 (2.6 is a must ,2.5 doesnt work with the AVR toolchain)
3. Install Flip 3.4.7
4. Connect your Arduino Wifi Shield with the jumper fixed on it (DFU programming) with the mini USB  Note: "Remove all connections from the pins" 
5. Go to Device manager->Other Devices->AT32UC3A DFU->Properties->Driver->Update Driver
6. Browse my computer for driver software->C:\Program Files (x86)\Atmel\Flip 3.4.7-> install it
7. Download the new firmware from official Arduino WiFi shield GitHub
8. Open AVR32 Studio 2.6 (WiFi shield should be connected)
9. Close welcome window -> Under the AVR targets -> create new target
10. under the Properties -> General tab -> Set the Name: AT32UC3 DFU
11. under Details tab -> Choose Debugger/programmer:USB DFU ->Device:AT32UC3A1256 -> Clock source: Internal RC oscillator ->Board: STK600
12. right click on the new target "AT32UC3 DFU"-> select "Program"
13. under the new window select the target path of the downloaded file from the GitHub
13a. optionally (this is the only mode worked for me) try to take the drivers from the arduino folder ARDUINO_DIR/hardware/firmwares/wifi-shield
14. Select the folder or the HEX file before pressing "OK"
      a)verify memory after programming
      b)Start executing after programming
      c)Erase flash before programming also
15. Program reporting can be viewed from the "Console" (lower left corner of the AVR32 Studio 2.6)