2022 Civic EX Canadian version review

Good,

• It has heated front seats and steering wheel.
• Handling is agile.
• Good fuel efficiency.
• It has remote start without subscriptions.
• The car does not seem to be connected to cellular networks.
• AC control has physical knobs.
  

Bad,

• Lane centering does not work as well as Toyota.
• No wireless phone projection.
• No auto-dimming rear view mirror option.
• No Aux audio input port.
  

Ugly

• Steering wheel controls are complicated. It has toggles, wheels, and buttons.
• Seating position is low. I can see part of the hood even at the highest position.
• Only the two front door windows support one-touch up/down.
   

Switch Fedora 41 from GRUB2 to systemd-boot

Fedora uses GRUB2 boot loader by default. I want to switch to systemd-boot. Below are the steps. All executed with sudo.

Run ls /sys/firmware/efi to ensure the system was booted in EFI mode. Stop if the path does not exist.

Run bootctl status to confirm that system-boot was not the boot loader.

Run df -h to ensure the EFI system partition's free space is larger then /boot's used space.

dnf install -y systemd-boot

mkdir /efi

nano /etc/fstab
Move the /boot/efi mount point to /efi. Remove the line of /boot.

systemctl daemon-reload

umount /boot/efi

umount /boot

mount /efi

mkdir /efi/$(cat /etc/machine-id)

bootctl install

cat /proc/cmdline | cut -d ' ' -f 2- | tee /etc/kernel/cmdline

nano /etc/kernel/install.conf. Put these two lines
BOOT_ROOT=/efi
layout=bls

kernel-install add $(uname -r) /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/vmlinuz 

dnf reinstall kernel-core 

Reboot. Run bootctl status to confirm that system-boot is the boot loader.

If everything works, delete grub.

rm /etc/dnf/protected.d/{grub,shim}*

dnf remove grubby grub2\* memtest86\* 

 

 

Forward SMS from Android to iPad

The goal is to forward short messages received on a Pixel 4 running Android 12 to an iPadOS 18 device over the Internet.

1. Install Bark on iPad.
   
2. Follow this tutorial to set up a URL like https://api.day.app/<some_random_chars>/. The random chars are the push key.
   
3. Install SMS to URL Forwarder on Android. The app can be downloaded from F-Droid.
4. Add an entry in the SMS to URL forwarder app
5. Set sender to *
   
6. Set webhook URL to https://api.day.app/<some_random_chars>/
7. Set the JSON content to {"title": "%from%", "body": "%text%"}
8. Click test
9. Save the entry if iPad receives a notification.
   

Extend a BTRFS filesystem on LUKS protected partition

My computer's root partition is a BTRFS sub-volume inside of a LUKS encrypted partition. Its space is running low. Fortunately the SSD has unallocated space after the LUKS partition.

Steps,

1. run parted /dev/nvme0n1
2. type resizepart to resize the LUKS partition
3. type q to quit
4. run cryptsetup resize {name_of_the_dm} -v to grow the LUKS volume.
5. run btrfs filesystem resize max /

Credits

• https://blog.tinned-software.net/increase-the-size-of-a-luks-encrypted-partition/
• https://btrfs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/btrfs-filesystem.html

2024 Honda Civic sport test drive impression

Good,

• Interior materials feel nicer than competitors like Corolla.
• Good driving dynamics
• It has proximity key entry and key-less start. 
• And it can lock doors automatically when you walk away.
• It has adaptive cruise control and blind spot indicators.
  
• Key fob is compact and lightweight.
• The rear view camera has dynamic guidelines.
• Physical AC knobs are easy to use.
• The whole interior is black, including the headliner.
• It does not have a sun-roof.
• The infotainment system has physical buttons and volume knobs.
  

Meh

• No sun-glass holder in the sport trim.
• No auto-dimming rear view mirror.
  
• Fully manual driver seat.
• No wireless phone screen projection.
• 2.0L NA engine does not have much power.
  

Bad

• It has auto start-stop.
• The steering wheel controls are confusing. It has buttons, wheels, and toggles. See the picture below.
  
• The 7-inch infotainment screen is small and has a very wide bezel.
• The 7-inch infotainment screen is dim even at the highest brightness.
• The MSRP of 26k is expensive for such a compact sedan.
  
• The salesperson was extremely rude as if I should beg him for the car.
• The dealer has a $500 mark-up.
• The dealer does not have any 2025 models.
  

Qodosen DX-286 portable radio review

I bought a Qodosen DX-286 portable radio at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3V3H356 for 80 USD + tax.

I compared it with a tecsun PL330 last evening.

Good,

• The tiny speaker is surprisingly loud and deep. Better than tecsun PL330.
  
• Stellar performance in FM band. It clearly received 38 stations without pulling out the antenna. While tecsun got only 19.
• Good MW performance. It picked up 15 stations. Tecsun got 12 stations.
  
• It decodes FM RDS/RBDS.
• It uses a widely available 18650 battery and can charge the battery through USB.
• The build quality feels nice.
• The tuning knob has good tactile feedback.
  
• It is extremely compact.
• It has many powerful settings.
• The LCD display has good viewing angle and even backlight.
  

Meh

• It does not receive SSB or air band. But I have other radios for these.
• It is power hungry thanks to the TEF6686 chip. The quiescent current in FM band is 200 mA.
  
• The 18650 battery is not included in the package.
• I wish the RDS info could be displayed on a dot-matrix with more characters.
• Buttons serve multiple functions. I must not lose the user manual.
• The English user manual has a few translation errors.
• The noise floor in FM is higher than PL330's.
• The radio mutes for ~100ms between tuning, probably due to DSP.
• The buttons do not have a bump on 5, making it hard to use in the dark.
• It takes ~1 sec to boot.
  

Bad

• The "world" clock setting is counter-intuitive. IMO, the correct order is to set UTC time and then choose the local timezone.
• The kickstand feels flimsy.
• Charging port is micro USB, not type C. 
• The volume control is weird. The volume knob is a potentiometer. The MCU reads its output to set the actual volume.
• The carrying case is a waste of plastic.
  

A teardown of the radio is at https://www.shouyinji.com/thread-2518-1-1.html

Jay Allen's review at https://radiojayallen.com/qodosen-sr-286-am-fm-sw-high-performance-portable/

Note that DX-286 is an improved version of SR-286.

2023 Nissan Rogue SL review

I rent a 2023 Nissan Rogue SL FWD for a week on a trip. Here is my review.

Good,

• The engine is quiet even though it has only three cylinders. 
• The engine has enough power to haul four adults.
• It has good fuel economy. I averaged about 28 mpg.
• Handling is agile among all SUV that I have driven.
  
• It has features like,
• powered lift gate
• comfortable powered seats
• wireless phone screen projection
• three zone AC
• four USB ports for charging
  
• proximity key entry
• adaptive cruise control with lane centering assist
• parking sensors
• 360 degree camera
• The instrument cluster has two analogue gauges and a LCD display. The trip computer is easy to use.

Meh

• The KR15DDT engine has complaints of reliability issues.
• Only the driver's window supports "one touch" up and down.
• I don't like the gear selector. I often shift into manual mode by accident. 
• The lane centering feature does not work well on curvy roads.
• The driver seat's lumbar support cannot be adjusted vertically.
  

Bad

• Proximity locking and unlocking uses the same button on the door handle. So it is hard to tell if the door has been locked or unlocked.
• Adaptive cruise control sometimes (once every other day) disengages on its own.
• There is no audible alarm when the car is moving and a door is unlocked.