Guides

Guides, DIY, and How-to’s
Welcome to the guides section of our blog. This catagory is reserved for a lot of the technical things of what we love doing throughout our day to day existence. Some of these deal with some DIY projects we’ve done while others is just our own experience with certain pieces of hardware. Feel free to browse around as there may be something of interest to you.
Accuracy and update CRC.
As a kind note: Many of these guides are based around the personal experiences of those who run s-config.com and may not reflect the correct way of doing something. If you have any problems with what you are reading you can drop a comment in the article or contact us for any modifications or corrections.

Mayflash Tigergame Xbox joystick driver.

July 2, 2024December 29, 2017 by S-Config

Mayflash Original Xbox Driver Installation Tutorial title.

Enter the Mayflash / TigerGame driver as the Alternative to XBCD.

The reason why we looked into the Mayflash / TigerGame driver is a few years back we did a blog about the original Xbox controller and how to get these relics from the past working on your Windows 10 box. It worked, however, it quickly became the most commented section on our blog and for those who commented there I want to say "Thank you!" Your input makes a very important impact on how we do things on our site, what works, and what doesn't. It's apparent that there are a lot of you guys out there that love your old-school hardware.

Wico Retro gaming joysticks – Disassembly and Repair.

February 23, 2020October 24, 2017 by S-Config

Wico Joysticks are now up for repair.

We're going to repair a Wico Joystick which is almost vintage at this level. In the early days of gaming ranging from the 4-bit consoles of the Atari 2600 all the way up to the 16-bit consoles of the Amiga Computer, the DB-9 Joystick was the most universal gaming device you could own. This is a quick entry showing how we are able to get these refurbished for another possible 10-15 years of service. Also, we're going to try not to suck at it as well.

Video transcoding with FFmpeg

July 2, 2024May 10, 2017 by S-Config

Using the FFmpeg command line to convert MP4, OGV, and WebM video.

This quick guide goes through some of the details on how we convert some videos using FFmpeg. The video conversion is really important for those who are hosting their own files and not relying on a third-party site such as YouTube or Vimeo because you are looking for the most compatible video standards that offer the best quality at the lowest bandwidth so that not only your server is happy but the users that visit your site.

FFmpeg is awesome in respects that since it's open-source it's a binary that can be compiled on a remote server that you own and begin converting videos on the spot if necessary and if you have the CPU power to do it.

You could even run FFmpeg on a Raspberry Pi if you wanted to wait a few years for the results!

The real drawback is FFMpeg is a pure command line with no GUI which may scare some people away. But the fact that it's not GUI also means that it can run on just about any modern OS in the world. We have other blog articles talking about GUI video conversion later on for those who are interested.

Ouya and AOSP Android 5.0 Kodi Krypton

November 9, 2023April 22, 2017 by S-Config

Keeping your Ouya alive with Android 5.0

I wished that the Android 5.0 scene on the Ouya matured a little more prior to making this tutorial. Upon originally doing the CyanogenMod tutorial. I came to the realization of being hit with walls of bugs, questions, and comments most of which we frankly couldn't answer. However, with the crushing progression of Kodi/XBMC moving onward toward v17 Krypton. People are asking for a tutorial on how to make their Ouya still relevant.

GIMP using thermal printed labels

June 27, 2024January 31, 2017 by S-Config

Using GIMP for some sweet thermal printer action.

GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. In this little tutorial we're going to show you that you don't need to purchase a stupidly expensive program in order to print labels on your thermal printer! That we are just going to use one free (yet incredibly powerful) photo editing program.

Previously, Previously

Razer Deathadder Chroma 2014 mouse – Disassembly and Repair

October 31, 2019December 6, 2016 by S-Config

Razer Deathadder Chroma 2014 mouse repair title.

Now a Razer Mouse has appeared on my bench!

Now there's a Razer Deathadder Chroma 2014 mouse sitting on my bench! It is fitting that right after repairing a Razer Keyboard that there is now a mouse to go with it. Yes, ladies and gentlemen along with all of the boys at sea. We will be diagnosing and disassembling it. Hopefully repairing it! Note: The model of the razer mouse is: RZ01-0121 Read on if you want to see more!

Make WordPress default to WebM first. MP4 and OGV last!

August 24, 2021November 12, 2016 by S-Config

WordPress does not want to default to WebM out of the box.

Since I did a blog about WebP minus well do one about WebM. As some of you may know that I run a hybrid video/regular blog we use WebM because it's the latest and greatest. Back when I was running with the Angular theme that included its own version of MediaPlayer.js and all was good because the WebM files were being referenced first and foremost. That changed when I reverted back to a more standard WordPress theme that relied on the out-of-the-box MediaPlayer.js which is totally fine except for one problem.

Default WordPress HTML5 video player grabs MP4's first. Not WebM.

Razer Blackwidow Chroma 2014 – Disassembly and Repair.

June 8, 2023October 28, 2016 by S-Config

Mechanical keyboard repair fun with the Razer Blackwidow Chroma 2014 edition.

Well, the day finally happened when it is time to service a Razer Blackwidow Chroma 2014 edition keyboard. For those who don't know what this type of keyboard is Razer makes a mechanical keyboard with the probable slogan "by gamers for gamers." It sounds so pretentious that they had to defend that statement in Popular Mechanics. However! My article is not going to bash the Razer keyboard because in this case, it was not Razer's fault. During this article, you will see the tear-down, diagnostics, and repair of just one Razer Blackwidow Chroma 2014 keyboard. Program complete and enter when ready. Read on!

Photoshop and Thermal Label Printing

June 15, 2024October 10, 2016 by S-Config

How we use labels when printing with thermal printers around the home/office.

A while back I did an article about thermal printer repair and I want to show you how I actually use it with printing labels. In the previous article, I was mostly focused on what to look for when you're going through old equipment and how to repair some of these older but great machines, and all of the common defects that I have seen throughout the years. I still have my thermal printers and I use them for eBay. Lately, I had a reader e-mail me asking me what thermal programs do I use to print the labels that I do. Well, you're in luck. Because I want to show you how to make a terminal printer work for you. Read on.

Previously

HP ScanJet 6300c FlatBed Scanner – Disassembly and repair.

October 31, 2019October 5, 2016 by S-Config

Our ScanJet 6300c had some minor issues but we're back online.

We just want to show you some quick pictures and guide on how we fixed my Hewlett Packard (HP) ScanJet 6300c to be as good as new again. The unit is approaching 16 years of age and is no longer officially supported by HP due to a planned obsolescence model that many newer companies now adopt. (some would say that HP was the leader in making hardware useless in a matter of years.) Perhaps that's being a little too hard on a company. We scan a lot of physical copies of art sketches as you can plainly see by going to the sketches section of our site.