For a long time my last post here was about my laptop, and even though
I have changed jobs, locations, and interests, I did not find anything worth sharing.
Now, having re-published a few posts I wrote on Reddit to my blog, I'd like to
close the loop on some of the projects I have been working on in the past.
MediaFire/duplicity
Due to copyright attribution requirements and potential conflict of interest,
I stopped contributing to MediaFire Python Open SDK
and the duplicity backend. This resulted in the MediaFire backend
removal from duplicity.
I no longer have access to the original MediaFire/mediafire-python-open-sdk repository.
For some time in 2019 I have been tinkering with the first generation version of WD MyCloud which ran on
Comcerto2000 platform (AKA FreeScale/NXP QorIQ LS1024A), and had some success with booting the 3.19 kernel,
described in my WD Community post).
While I got most of the board working, the networking performance was awful, and after a few weeks I gave up.
OpenStreetMap
Almost no involvement with the project since we left Michigan.
This blog
I disabled the commenting system provided by disqus, and feel free to write rye@ an e-mail.
Both Gen 1 2014-2015 and Gen 2 2016+ Chevy Spark models have a variant of Jatco JF015E.
Originally 2014 Sparks came with transmission software that was always shifting to the low gear, causing shocks, resulting in premature belt and pulley metal wear. An update was issued for CVT firmware to prefer staying in high gear on deceleration (PI1309). 2015+ Sparks are coming with this update preinstalled. This is now a normal behavior and can't be changed.
CVTs on all 2014+ Spark models are not sealed. They are serviceable and you should perform the maintenance at least every 45K miles unless you drive on the highway all the time.
CVT performance is heavily influenced by the state of the fluid inside. Deteriorated fluid will cause the belt to slip producing shudder. No, this shudder won’t disappear on its own, it will only get worse.
Shudder is different from slow smooth acceleration, which is a feature of this transmission.
Fluid is not the only thing that can go wrong, so contact your dealer if you have transmission concerns. If you are driving a 2014 model and did not get the CVT TCM update at the dealer, the chances of transmission damage increase, so there is a campaign for 2014-2015 model year vehicles to replace damaged transmissions.
I've been meaning to look into the performance of MY2016 spark for the past two years, so I finally sat down, went through the documents and used a wonderful site https://www.carspecs.us/calculator/0-60 to finally come to the conclusion.
Before we start, note that I am in no way a car enthusiast, so if you see glaring omissions or errors, please comment, and again this is specific to MY2016+, earlier model years have different engines and, probably, transmissions.
Anyway, the conclusion is:
Your Chevrolet Spark is slow because it has a relatively low power engine and it weighs a lot (for good reasons).
The following is based on official service documentation, personal experience and research driven by desire to know every little bit about this first car of mine. Sharing this because it may be interesting if this is your first car, but it may explain things in general. This post is specific to US MY2016+ models.
TL;DR: Air in the car generally:
is sucked in through the vents from under the windshield,
into the compartment behind the glove box,
through the filter which you should regularly replace,
then blower motor turbine,
through an “Evaporator Core” if AC is present,
a “Heater Core”,
the vents into the main cabin,
and goes outside through the pressure valve in the trunk area.
Just a heads up that if you bought your 2016 Chevrolet Spark before May 2017, then the LG BYOM2 infotainment system can be updated by your dealer to the 05.02.2017 build to:
Fix Android Auto audio and voice (navigation prompt) stream separation, so that you'll be able to set music and navigation volume separately.
Fix loss of Bluetooth audio at the start of stream (very noticeable in navigation, turning "In 1 mile turn right" into just "e turn right").
No longer show the second USB input in source list.
Remove simultaneous CarPlay/Android Auto mode (not sure whether that's an upgrade).
Possibly other fixes.
BYOM2 - Bring Your Own Media v2 system was running on Sparks from 2016 to 2018, then replaced for model year 2019 by INFO3 system running a version of Android.
Laptop 2: Display flickering, completely locks up if moved. LCD Panel replaced,
MB replaced, locks up on any key pressure (when Intel drivers are running), won't return
to working state on reboot until powercycled enough times. Disassembled the laptop and put electrical
tape over the "bumps" under the motherboard. Fan and heatsink replaced, attempted to replace LCD panel again
due to brightness gradient, the "new" panel had all bottom clips broken.
Chances are you using Google Maps for all your navigation needs. Why shouldn't you?
Once upon a time I had to provide my modem to a Comcast representative
so that they could disconnect it from my account. I looked up the nearest
Comcast location and embarked on a journey. The Google Maps pin was pointing to a
non-residential building, so I blindly trusted Google to guide me to the
correct location. Upon arriving at the building under a light rain, I was
surprised to find out it was actually a public pool/Department of Conservation
and Recreation (DCR) office. I wasn't the first one to get there by mistake, so I
was redirected to the end of the road, just a couple blocks away.
Please note that I did not own a car, and no buses were going that route, so
a couple of blocks away (half a mile, 800m) turned into a 20 minute walk under
what turned to be an umbrella-bending thunderstorm.
Having returned home, I decided to notify Google of the wrong marker
location. I sent a request explaining the issue. A few days later I
received the notification that my case was closed and no action taken since not
enough proof was provided. I tried the second time, but something did not work
quite right then either.
Since I started driving, I've missed a number of turns because the map did not
match what was on the ground, Google Maps would announce "Arrived" when
my destination entrance was concealed by the trees and there was a whole parking lot
between us, we've been guided through that Casey Overpass WIP site where left
turn is a suicide because you don't see oncoming traffic. I started to care
deeply about those things, but I can't influence a corporation to care about a
small misplaced road.
So now I fix things myself. And when a number of naviqgation
applications pick these changes up, I can benefit from having an accurate map at
my disposal.
So the first application I downloaded related to OpenStreetMap was OsmAnd.
OpenStreetMap is highly addictive. You think you start with fixing the data for your neighborhood and a couple of days later you are modifying routing configuration on a major highway. You've been warned.
I've gone crazy. For almost two months I did not read any of my RSS feeds, I stopped posting much to diaspora/twitter, I bought a rangefinder, began to look suspicious, and talked to a lot of people.
In the end of April 2016, we moved from Boston (MA) to Farmington Hills (MI)
for work reasons. I wanted to take my potted flowers with me, so flying was
not a suitable option, and that's when a crazy idea came to mind: what if we
drive? The distance between the cities is around 840 miles (we could only go
through US), so covering it in two days seemed reasonable.
We had broken the route down into 7 parts (3 on the first day and 4 on the
second), added some buffer (although not a lot) and hoped for the best.
Unfortunately, when packing our things into the moving container, we faced a
problem: two large pieces of furniture – the wardrobe and the dresser – did
not fit, so we had to find ways to get rid of them. This took several hours
away from our packing time, and as a result, we were not rested enough on the
morning of departure (especially Roman). Eventually, we were lucky to get a
huge car that fit the dresser (yay!), but we left Boston two hours later than
we had planned.
The huge car (Toyota Sienna)
The last cup of coffee in Boston (Simpli Bar & Bites)
Our planned intermediate stops were cafes and gas stations.
First leg: Boston MA – Albany NY (173 miles)
Planned time: 10AM - ~1PM
Actual time: 12PM – 3:10PM
Biker parade (?) when leaving Boston
Second leg: Albany NY – Syracuse NY (120 miles)
Planned time: ~2PM - ~5PM
Actual time: 4:39PM – 7:35PM
This part we decided to cover by smaller roads so that the drive is less
monotonous and more scenic.
When we got to Syracuse area, Roman was already very sleepy and tired from the
sun shining into his face, so we decided it's safer and wiser to spend the
night there and deal with the lost time the next day. So we canceled our motel
in Buffalo and headed to a Hilton in East Syracuse.
A Red Robin special burger with buns made of ramen – tasty but quite messy
The second day was much more productive.
Third leg: Syracuse NY – Buffalo NY (146 miles)
Planned time: ~6PM previous day - ~9PM previous day
Actual time: 10:15AM – 12:50PM
Fourth leg: Buffalo NY – Erie PA (105 miles)
Planned time: ~10AM - ~1PM
Actual time: 1:40PM – 4:35PM
Turns out there are a lot of vineyards in New York and Pennsylvania
When we arrived in Erie, we had to decide whether we are going to stop in a
hotel once more or make an effort and arrive in Farmington Hills the same day.
Roman was in an optimistic mood, so we decided to make the last stop at a toll
road service plaza instead of a cafe to save time. Our original plan included
stops in Cleveland and Toledo instead, so there was no planned time for this
modified leg.
Fifth leg: Erie PA – Amherst OH (132 miles)
Actual time: 6PM – 8:14PM
Sixth leg: Amherst OH – Farmington Hills MI (146 miles)
Actual time: 8:55PM – 11:25PM
Total distance: 822 miles
Total time driving: 10 hours 20 minutes
Our original planned arrival time was ~9PM, so we did pretty well in general,
there was very little traffic even with all the road work. We did learn several
things though:
Buffer for stops should be bigger, especially if they are not counter-serve cafes.
Not getting enough sleep and being dressed too warmly has a big impact on the driver's endurance.
Stops every 2-3 hours make the trip far more pleasant than with longer intervals.
Not all the gas stations that are on a map actually exist :-)
Fuel in Massachusetts is cheaper than in other states that we passed. Or was cheaper, anyway.
