Free change your ROM - Free to repair already happening!

As I wrote in the headline Free to repair is already happening in several countries. 

I would like to advocate for Free to change your ROM to whatever you want and be able to relock your bootloader, so the device will work with banking and other fincial Apps that refuse to work with unlocked bootloader. 

After all its your phone, and like on computers you should be able to install whatever OS you want, right, and you have a right to be secure! 

Unfortunately manufacturers only allow their own ROM to be installed, and only support it with updates for a couple of years, while there are custom ROM's that would work perfectly well and securely on your phone, but the manufacturers will not support this because they want you to buy a new phone every 3-4 years - adding to the worlds e-Waste problem.

I am deeply against adding to the worlds e-Waste problem, and truely believe in renewing old hardware with alternative software, in this case a custom ROM.

If we can push manufacturers and Governments to "Free to change your ROM" and still be able to lock the Bootloader, then You can blow new life into your old phones and reuse them.

Those who want to buy new models can do that, and the rest of will still be happy with our old. one!

So please link to this article and post it anywhere you can think of, so we can get the ball rolling 😉

I hope it will catch on, I know Google and many other manufacturers will be against this because it will hurt their bottom line, but we should have a right to do this!

Warning about buying from Walram shop!

The Walram shop, which only have shops on Shopee and Lazada, no website or physical address, advertise with 3 years warranty on the Walram Ram modules.

This is a claim that is a lie, its just a sales gimmick because they have no intentions of upholding this warranty.

As a technician and Blogger who had this happen to me, I feel compelled to warn everyone else about this store.

I did thorough testing of the Ram modules after buying them using Memtest86, but it turns out that one module has good ram chips but bad circuitry, as when inserted it randomly cause laptop to be unable to power on, and when removed the laptop work fine, 2 months now without incident. 

The reason why it passed Memtest86 perfectly, is that Memtest86 only test the ram chips, not the other components on the Ram PCB.

I brought this to the shop on November 24 2025 and they claimed to escalate to the other department, and then everything stopped. 

No more contact and every time I since have written their chat, its just being ignored.

So as I said avoid buying from this store, if the product is defective they just ignore RMA or Refund requests.

Walram store on Shopee

Walram store on Lazada

I have have filed a grievance with Shopee, who has done NOTHING to rectify the situations, even though I requested that they contact the shop, they have not. 

Shopee claim that a shop acting like this is not tolerated on Shopee, yet this seem to just being talk and no action. So even if you buy from a shop in Shopee Mall, you are actually not safe!

What is RELIABLE internet?

Most who read my blog and who know me, know that I have extensive knowledge about Computers and Network which include various forms of internet connections🙂

I started with dial-up, and worked my way through ISDN and Cable internet connections, even did Mobile Broadband through various carriers. 

So for a couple of years I have tried Fibernet through Converge ICT Solutions, starting with a 50Mbps connection that were quickly upgraded to 100Mbps and as of now 200Mbps.

Cabled internet in a country like the Philippines or just worldwide, is not really what you would call reliable, because its prone to various problems like wear of the cables, trees falling down, rats biting the cables, and heavy rain fall.

As I writting this, my Fibernet has no connection, I am using mobile data. 

Which brings me to the point, there is no 100% reliable connection, yes mobile data(Mobile Broadband) is working for me right now, but its incredible slow, and I am lucky if I can 4Mbps inside my house(its raining outside so I am not so eager to go out and find a better signal).

So you might ask, what about satellite internet like Starlink? 

Well, its not 100% reliable either because it can be influenced by weather conditions just like the other connection options, and its still very expensive. 

But it does not have cable problems, as its wireles, but you do need power for the modem, so a brownout will cut the connection to the internet. 

But that might change in the future, since they now have solution for your phone to connect directly to the satellite without extra hardware or software - IF your mobile carriers are willing to go into business with Starlink😉

As I see it, satellite internet might be the better and most reliable connection yet, but it has to become less expensive than current options, before people will switch to it. 

Mobile carriers and Fibernet companies could also switch delivery method to Microwave technology or Laser(this one is seriously fast, but needs a clear line of sigth or it will not work, so birds, bats and anything else flying could cut the connection). And again power interuptions will disconnect the internet connection

We have to have patience, until technology gets better and in Asia this is developing really fast, and hope that the internet supply companies will keep up with the development😉

Thank you for reading and Happy Holidays 😁

Skype has retired, what happened to my Credit?

As most of us know by now, Microsoft has retired Skype, but for many this gives the question to what happened to their Skype credit!

You can't get a refund from Microsoft, getting money out Microsoft, has always been a challenge and they still hold on to their refund policy which expires 14 days after the purchase of the credit, meaning that long time credit can't be refunded - Whether this is legal or not, is not something I will discuss here. 

How to access your Skype credit? 

You have 2 options :

1. Install another Microsoft product called Microsoft Teams Free and import all your Skype information into it(It will not import everything) then from the menu you can use Skype dailing pad(Same as below) . 

2. Use Skype Dailing Pad web portal here

https://calling.web.skype.com/

The link will open in a new Window. 

The latter is a very limited version of Skype, and will not show your contacts name, only the phone numbers, so I hope you can remember who is what and has which number! 

I asked Microsoft what happens after you have used all your credit, the answer is that then you are done. There is no option for private users to continue making calls through Skype Dailing Pad and no option to buy more credit, only Business users will have that option. 

More here

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/skype

The link will open in a new Window. 

Microsoft, what happened to make the Earth greener?

In their enormous arrogance and stupidity, Microsoft has made it not possible for more than 400 million Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11, because Microsoft has decided that only the people with certain hardware installed can upgrade. Otherwise these people would have to switch to another OS or buy New hardware.

Hardware requirements here :

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ph/windows/windows-11-specifications

Everyone is focused on the upgrade problem, that they miss the consequence of Microsofts arrogance - We already have a huge problem with Electronic Waste, EU has before taken sanctions against major players in the IT World, but somehow missed this one.

What do you imagine is going to happen to the Electronic Waste problem if Microsoft is allowed to continue on this course?

Above I mentioned 400 million Windows 10 users, but that is not all, there are still millions of users running older versions of Windows, but because of business agreement with Microsoft they still get security updates - That is, until 2025.

After 2025, they most likely will not, and have to join the Windows 11/12 wave.

I will not focus in the ways around the hardware requirements of Microsoft, that is not what this article is about.

I wrote this article, because I see the future problem that everyone seem to have missed, an enormous increase in Electronic Waste ending up in landfills and poluting our earth further.

Before, IT devices for the most could be recycled, upgraded or refurbished, even reused running Linux, and it made the world a whole lot greener, but the hardware requirements of Microsoft makes this not possible any more. The hardware they demand, has to be implemented by the manufacturer of the device, people can't just upgrade to it!!

Meaning they have buy new!

The old devices, will most likely end up in a landfill because people can't, like they could before, sell it. 

Nobody wants to buy these devices, because they have no future. 

Even if its possible to sell to someone who will run Linux on the devices, in the future Linux also have evolve, because of this move from Microsoft to make Windows the only operating system that matter(and that is the only reason for this move, to create monopoly), if they get their way security systems in the world will no longer accept other OS's like Apple or Linux unless having the before mentioned hardware, and these older devices become obsolete/extinct.

US, EU and the rest of the wolds Governments have to stop this. It is not only a breach of Fair business trade, a try to create monopoly - Microsoft has tried this many times before - but also an enviromental crime against Earth!

There are other ways to make Windows 11/12 more secure, TPM 2.0 and newer hardware is not the only option, Microsoft could like before make different versions available to the public. There are software that can do the same as TPM.

Also, the demand for other newer hardware is ridiculous, it has already been proven by those that circumvented the hardware requirements using registry tweeaks or rufus and now run Windows 11 on very old devices. So these requirements are basically only in the software, and can be coded out!

A TPM 2.x/xxx(future) USB/m.2/pci device routed by software, could be created as a key that anything secure needed to go through in order to get access to internet, like money transactions(upgradedable through firmware updates) - I believe CIA and other Intelligense services are already using something like that for their field agents to securely "Call home" or access their databases. 

Some banks and Government also use this for verification of Digital ID's(Danish MitID as an example). 

This way, it would still be hardware security, and older devices would not end up in the landfills, because this would be an addition to existing systems, not a total replacement. 

Do NOT let Microsoft do this!

There is no benefit for the world, its purely for Microsoft, because they got scared when they saw people leaving Windows for other OS's like Linux, Android or Apple, and thereby loosing revenue in sale of Windows license and DVD's, Apps, Ads, and Programs, not to forget their own devices! 

Creating a monopoly(which is against the law in most countries) is the way Microsoft try to force all other OS's out. 

And if you let them do this move, that is EXACTLY what is going to happen!!!! 

Linux Fresh install - Just plain out dumb!

 

This is not a question but a statement!

What put me off Linux soo many years ago, were that First you install and set up everything to your liking, then whenever you have to switch to a new version, everyone says fresh install, which means you loose everything you did to make it look and act the way you wanted it.

And I went "What? That is stupid"!

And today its still stupid!

Yeah, most distro can upgrade to newer version by command line or through software(Why I chose Linux Mint) - But people still say "Its better with fresh install"!

This makes me angry, it is true that fresh install might be more stable, and people most likely have Written down their steps to set up their system again - But people, its a stupid way and you will never get those hours back!

We are in 2024 and no one has figured out to do this in a safe way so fresh install is not needed? That is why many people choose Windows(Not good choice, but better than this stupid sh. t), instead of Linux.

In my days as a supporter I did things the right way, I often heard "fresh out of College" so called IT support, tell customers to just do reinstall for any problem and I mean any problem. Because that would shorten the time of the call and the supporter could get more calls in a day.

My call log were not as good as the "Just reinstall guys", but I got to be the manager of Compaq, HP(not same company as that time), and Packard Bell accounts. These were business accounts, reinstall were the last option, as the field engineers, architects and other specialist couldn't afford to loose their data and I would fight to the last drop of blood for those guys, and my company knew that.

To this day I see more and more "lazy support", because todays IT is Quantity over Quality.

I call this fresh install lazy IT!

Rolling distro is not much better, but at least they got the upgrade working!

That your system might catch fire and burn down because of an bad upgrade(because these days nobody check their updates before posting them), that we are used to from Windows and Mac, these days everyone makes backups(Right😉).

Demand more of your distribution and if they can't handle it, change to something else!
Yes, its free, but I take pride in doing something the right way, shouldn't the makers of your distro do the same?

Or is it a race to be at the top of distrowatch? 

Firmware problem on many newer ThinkPads

Many dealers in the Philippines are not aware of this problem or don't care enough to keep themselves informed, this problem is from 2019 up until 2024.

If you have stock of these models you better read on. You need to update the firmware immediately, if you have not already done it.

Or you will end up with systems that can't be repaired and Lenovo don't care about out of warranty laptops. You should also contact all the customers that you sold these models to and make sure the Firmware get updated or you might end up with a lot of angry people who want refund! 

Symptom

Systems may experience any of the following symptoms:

USB-C port not working

Intel Thunderbolt controller not visible in the OS/Device Manager

USB-C or Thunderbolt docking stations not visible or having connectivity problems

HDMI output not available

System battery not charging with a USB-C power adapter connected to the USB-C port

Intel Thunderbolt pop-up error message

Intel Thunderbolt safe mode error message

BIOS Thunderbolt communication error or hang during POST

These symptoms may occur after 6 to 12 months of typical usage.

Applicable Systems

P43s (Type 20RH, 20RJ)

P51 (Type 20MM, 20MN)

P51 (Type 20HH, 20HJ)

P51s (Type 20HB, 20HC)

P51s (Type 20JY, 20K0)

P52 (Type 20M9, 20MA)

P52s (Type 20LB, 20LC)

P53s (Type 20N6, 20N7)

P71 (type 20HK, 20HL)

T470 (Type 20HD, 20HE)

T470 (Type 20JM, 20JN)

T470s (type 20HF, 20HG)

T470s (type 20JS, 20JT)

T480 (Type 20L5, 20L6)

T480s (type 20L7, 20L8)

T490 (Type 20N2, 20N3)

T490 (Type 20RY, 20RX)

T490 (Type 20Q9, 20QH)

T490s (Type 20NX, 20NY)

T570 (Type 20H9,20HA)

T570 (Type 20JW, 20JX)

T580 (Type 20L9, 20LA)

T590 (Type 20N4, 20N5)

X1 Carbon 5th Gen - (Type 20HR, 20HQ)

X1 Carbon 6th Gen - (Type 20KH, 20KG)

X1 Carbon 7th Gen - (Type 20QD, 20QE)

X1 Carbon 7th Gen - (Type 20R1, 20R2)

X1 Yoga 2nd Gen (Type 20JD, 20JE, 20JF, 20JG)

X1 Yoga 3rd Gen (Type 20LD, 20LE, 20LF, 20LG)

X1 Yoga 4th Gen (Type 20QF, 20QG)

X1 Yoga 4th Gen (Type 20SA, 20SB)

X1 Tablet 3rd Gen (Type 20KJ, 20KK)

X280 (Type 20KF, 20KE)

X380 Yoga (Type 20LH, 20LJ)

X390 (Type 20Q0, 20Q1)

X390 Yoga (Type 20NN, 20NQ)

Yoga 370 (Type 20JJ, 20JH)

https://support.lenovo.com/ie/en/solutions/ht508988-critical-intel-thunderbolt-software-and-firmware-updates-thinkpad