Monthly Archive for December, 2009

Logitech Z5500 suddenly dying – blown IC

Published on December 25, 2009 in 5.1, blown, cirrus logic, insight, logitech, problem, sale of goods act, surround sound and z5500. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

A few years ago, Rachel bought me a fantastic Christmas present; a Logitech Z5500 5.1 surround sound system from Insight UK. It was great for gaming, films, and music. Earlier this year it suddenly died on me – everything seemed to be functioning correctly on the display, except there was no sound.

Fast-forward several months, and I opened up the control pod to take a look inside, and the cause of the malfunction was immediately obvious; the Cirrus Logic CS42526-CQZ had blown – DOH!

Logitech Z5500 Dead - CS42526 - CQZ

A quick search on Google shows I’m not the only person with the Z5500 suddenly dying (for various reasons), and here’s  someone with exactly the same problem as me.

I wonder if Logitech is aware of this problem? Additionally, perhaps it might be possible to get it repaired under the Sale of Goods Act: “the key time span is six years. That’s how long goods may be covered by the Sale of Goods Act.”

I’ll contact both Logitech and Insight to see what they say, and report back here.

Finally, the IC itself costs less than £10, so of the above fails, perhaps I can find a friend with the tools and skill necessary to replace surface-mount components.

[Update: It's fixed!]

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Snow in Sussex

Published on December 19, 2009 in arctic, photography, snow, south downs and sussex. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

Sussex is currently lying under a blanket of snow, with the councils thoughtfully neglecting to grit the footpaths, which have now become dangerous sheets of ice. Brilliant.

As I’ve recently moved closer to the South Downs, this snowfall was a great opportunity to wander over the downs with a thermos flask of freshly ground Monmouth Coffee beans from Coffee@33, and to take some photos of this rather picturesque area.

Here’s a photo of the area before the snow:
The Adur and South Downs

Here’s one with several inches of snow:
DSC_5943

At the top of the downs there were drifts everywhere, some of which were several feet deep. You can see the surface snow being blown around in this video:

Of course, not all drivers know how to drive in this weather, such as the refuse truck driver who thought it was a great idea to speed along a one-track icy road, almost hitting me and another car. The driver than managed to get the truck stuck, and blocked the road for several hours:
The driver of the refuse truck almost hit me and the car in front of it

Another driver thought it would be a good idea to speed along the road too, and unsurprisingly ended up in the ditch:
Car in ditch

Anyway, nobody was hurt, and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the area. The rest of my photos can be found on Flickr, or have a look at the slideshow here (hit the button in the bottom-right for full-screen):

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Flash game mentioned in Edge Magazine

Published on December 18, 2009 in 2d, actionscript 3, casual gaming, flash and games. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

This is rather nice; a game I worked on earlier this year is favourably mentioned in Edge magazine (yes, Edge): “…while Littleloud Studios’ Minutemen, a Watchmen tie-in, was arguably far smarter and more elegant than the official videogame”

:)

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