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All Posts (562)

• 

  Published on

  2024-04-23 8:19 p.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  WindowsWindows11DevEnvironment

  "Critical Error - Your Start menu isn't working"

  Well this one was a doozy. My Start Menu stopped working. And that wasn't nice as I kind of need that. Anyway. Found a couple of ways to try and fix this. One even worked. Wrote them down for your reference (and mine, to be honest). Find them below. (I asked Bing Chat to create me a picture of BSOD on Windows 11, but the article illustration is what it came up with - it's not what I asked for, but it IS topical) Problem The problem was simple, yet annoying. Let me explain.

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• 

  Published on

  2024-04-16 7:24 p.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  Certificates

  How to export a CSR you've created on Windows?

  Another thing that I run into every now and then is creating CSRs for different customer environments. Since the requests often end up being a bit complex with a lot of SANs (Subject Alternative Names), crafting them with OpenSSL (or other console tools) is a bit laborious for my liking, and I usually just end up generating the CSR in DigiCertUtil or some other UI tool. And boom - you get a CSR you can copy-paste and send out to the customer/partner/provider. But what if you need the file later?

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• 

  Published on

  2024-04-09 7:51 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  AzureDevOpsPowerShell

  How to output all Environment Variables in Azure DevOps with PowerShell?

  This article explains how to list all "Environment Variables" (that's pipeline variables, job / stage variables, predefined variables and even local script variables that are mounted on to the agent as Environment Variables) using PowerShell in Azure DevOps.

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• 

  Published on

  2024-04-02 12:53 p.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  AADEntraIDPnPPowerShellSharePoint

  CSOM suddenly throwing exceptions when trying to access list contents in SharePoint? A weird fix.

  This article explains one possibly reason why some C# code, powered by CSOM, suddenly stops working and can't access a SharePoint list anymore that it could before, throwing annoying and misleading exceptions like "The list is not DocumentLibrary, VersionPolicies is not supported" instead. Oh - and of course, there's a fix as well. Well, possibly a workaround? But at least it'll get you going.

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• 

  Published on

  2024-03-26 7:07 p.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  MSBuildPowerShellDevEnvironmentVisualStudio

  "Predefined type 'System.Object' is not defined or imported" and other System namespace stuff missing in your solution?

  This article will explain how to fix an annoying situation, where Visual Studio fails to find any System types or other "basic" stuff you're pretty sure your project should have, automagically, out-of-the-box, without you doing anything. Stuff that comes with .NET. Stuff that should just work . But life isn't always that simple. Problem & Background So I recently had a Windows Update brick my machine, and after reinstalling I was missing, well, practically everything.

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• 

  Published on

  2024-03-19 2:47 p.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  GraphQLIISPostman

  How to import GraphQL schema to Postman in Windows?

  This article explains a stupid workaround for fetching a GraphQL schema into Postman when Postman doesn't want to accept it. You might run into this issue if you: (a) use Postman, (b) on Windows and (c) need to import a GraphQL schema. I guess nobody else does, though? But I did. And I wanted to make it work. Background Postman is helpful for querying different APIs, storing your earlier requests and sharing them with your team members. But it doesn't always work as expected.

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• 

  Published on

  2024-03-12 4:47 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  AKSAzCLI

  How to fix "NoRegisteredProviderFound" when trying to run any aks az cli commands

  This article explains how to fix an error "NoRegisteredProviderFound", which is thrown by az cli's aks commands when you're trying to run pretty much any aks commands in PowerShell/Terminal. Read on to join me on a journey to discover how a fresh install of the Azure CLI can simply randomly be broken! Background So here's a weird one for y'all. Some time ago, a botched Windows Update caused me to try and fix my laptop by updating it to Windows 11.

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• Published on

  2024-03-05 4:44 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  WindowsWindowsUpdate

  How to fix annoying mouse/touch device input lag on Windows 11?

  A couple of weeks ago I posted about a really annoying issue - persistent mouse/touch device input lag on Windows 10. It was driving me crazy for an afternoon before I found the right Windows Update package to uninstall, purge, cleanse in hellfire, ship right back to Microsoft (with an angry letter attached to it), and finally block said update from ever getting installed again.

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• 

  Published on

  2024-02-27 4:51 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  MicrosoftTeams

  How to install the Classic Teams for Business client?

  This article explains briefly and straightforwardly (and in a frustrated tone, the reasons of which you might already know) how to install the Classic Microsoft Teams for Business client, instead of the "new" client. I doubt the method will work for very long, but we'll see. Background The new Microsoft Teams client is great. It's shiny. It has some of the bells and whistles of the old one. And it's faster (most of the time). You should probably use it, unless it doesn't work for you.

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• 

  Published on

  2024-02-20 6:39 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  RegeditWindows

  This simple registry key will make your Windows computer 11.5% faster!

  A'ight, it's a clickbait title, but it's also almost true. See, if you're like me, you're also sick and tired of Windows shoving Edge and Bing down your throat every time you search for something on your PC or click a system link? Do you want to find your files and apps (and only YOUR files and apps, not someone else's stuff) without having to wait for Windows to load a bunch of irrelevant web results and MSN news stories?

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• 

  Published on

  2024-02-18 11:57 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  SharePoint

  How to remove files in a SharePoint library?

  This article explains how you can remove a big batch of files from a library using either the UI or PnP PowerShell. And when I say "big", I mean, roughly, "as many as possible", without removing the library or touching the folders in it. I'm not trying to speedrun SharePoint, here, I'm just trying to get rid of some files without resorting to shortcuts. Please join me on this adventure!

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• 

  Published on

  2024-02-06 6:33 p.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  npmtslibTypeScript

  How to solve "error TS2354: This syntax requires an imported helper but module 'tslib' cannot be found." when running npm build scripts?

  This article explains a solution to another dumb issue I ran into when checking out someone else's repository and trying to build and run the solution. I'm calling the issue "dumb" because it's not like I'm practicing rocket surgery here. And the solution isn't particularly high-flying either. Then again, neither am I - I'm just trying to add a couple of null checks to a widget that keeps crashing. But let's get to it.

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• 

  Published on

  2024-01-30 6:18 p.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  GooglecolabPythonStablediffusion

  How to solve 'Mountpoint must either be a directory or not exist' in Google Colab workbook?

  This article is about how to fix a common error in Google Colab notebooks when trying to mount a Google Drive, and you just get an error along the lines of 'Mountpoint must either be a directory or not exist'. I'll explain the reason for the error, and provide several solutions ranging from stupidly simple to normally simple. Yeah - no space surgery available in this article.

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• 

  Published on

  2024-01-23 2:37 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  DellSdioWindowsUpdateDriverIssues

  How to fix catastrophic mouse/touch device input lag on Windows 10?

  Did you start experiencing weird input lag on your Windows 10 PC starting some time early 2024? This lag would take 1-6 seconds, during which your mouse and/or touch devices (touch screen or touch pad) would be completely unresponsive. Keyboard would work, though. Good. That means I wasn't the only one. 😅 Don't get me wrong! I'm sorry you have issues with your computer.

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• 

  Published on

  2024-01-16 5:01 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  DockerDs423plusHomeAssistantSynology

  How to update RAM on Synology DS423+?

  Time for something completely different: Hardware stuff. In this article, I'll explain how to upgrade Synology DS423+ NAS's RAM memory, which super-cheap RAM memory I used, and a little bit about how I ended up with this device in the first place. Anyway. Let's get to it. Background A while back, I realized I need to update the machine hosting my Home Assistant Docker container.

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• 

  Published on

  2024-01-09 7:55 p.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  DockerWSL

  How to work around Docker failing to access WSL on Windows?

  So, I'm an occasional developer (and a frequent scripter), so I occasionally need to, well, develop stuff. And quite often I need Docker for packaging whatever I'm trying to push out there, or possibly to run someone else's containers on my machine. But sometimes, Docker is more pain than gain. And this, dear reader, was definitely one of those times. So, what was wrong? Problem Alright, so my Docker was having some trouble with WSL.

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• 

  Published on

  2024-01-02 7:46 p.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  RussiaukrainewarYearReview

  2023 Year Review

  I've made it a tradition to post something about the last year just after the New Year's, so here's another look back at the last 12 months. Next Tuesday, we'll be back to the regularly scheduled programming! In 2021 I promised a new article every Tuesday. In 2022 I managed that, and in 2023 too (although just about), but I have to admit I've pretty much used up my backlog of unfinished articles at this point...

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• 

  Published on

  2023-12-26 2:09 p.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  AzureDevOpsYAML

  How to make sure your pipelines run as scheduled in Azure DevOps?

  This article explains in very brief terms - it is Christmas and I'm enjoying my 2-week-long European vacation, after all 😉 - how to make sure your Azure DevOps (YAML) pipelines fire on schedule. Because by default, they won't. And I'll explain to you why that (kind of) makes sense! Problem I've mentioned it before, but my employer is a pretty heavy user of Azure DevOps. You wouldn't believe the amount of plumbing a global SaaS product like Omnia requires - but let me tell you, it's a lot.

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• 

  Published on

  2023-12-19 6:15 p.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  HomeAssistantHomeAutomationYAML

  How to pick the cheapest hours of electricity using Home Assistant?

  Time to write about Home Assistant for a change! I've been using the home automation platform for a couple of years now and while it's immensely powerful, you also run into all kinds of issues. I could rant in length about one weather station or how difficult it is to get some stuff working on Docker on Windows (and maybe I already have!), but overall it's incredible how many complex things you can do just like that.

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• 

  Published on

  2023-12-12 4:45 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  PowerShellWinGet

  How to fix "The term 'winget' is not recognized as a name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or executable program." in Windows?

  This article explains how I fixed Terminal / PowerShell being unable to locate my winget when I was trying to install something with it. This was quite unexpected as I knew for sure I had installed winget, and I had also used it before successfully. But alas, things break down and need fixing. And here's how to fix this particular issue. Problem Let's take a quick look at the actual problem first.

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• 

  Published on

  2023-12-05 2:58 p.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  AzureDevOps

  Azure DevOps suddenly not letting you manage Environments ? Sorry, it's for your own security!

  This article explains how to get around new security limitations (did I say "limitations"? I meant "features") in Azure DevOps to make it tolerable to configure your Azure DevOps Deployment Environments. Because the recent changes to Azure DevOps have made it, quite frankly, intolerable. But - let's take a step back before we take the required 15 steps forward (or sidestep the whole issue - now that's what I call a proper shortcut, and I'll share it with you too).

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• 

  Published on

  2023-11-28 6:31 p.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  WindowsUpdate

  How to manually install Windows updates?

  This article explains how to install Windows Update whenever your Windows Update service is broken. Which seems to occasionally happen. And while you can run a ton of scripts to fix it (and a lot of guides online just tell you to click "Check for updates" manually, which is kind of funny to me, but ok), the actual thing that worked for me was way simpler. Read on to find out more and possibly laugh at me. Anyway. Background I have a Windows PC that I don't use often.

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• 

  Published on

  2023-11-21 6:00 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  Trello

  How to restore an old version of a Trello card?

  This article explains how to easily(?) restore the description (or any other field) of a Trello card. This might come in handy, and the UI for this isn't exactly obvious (read: it's nonexistent). Background If you're like me, you're a heavy (if a bit reluctant) Trello user. Using it all day long, you will before or later run into a situation where you mistakenly (or due to a technical glitch or stupid design) remove the contents of a card and are unable to restore them.

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• 

  Published on

  2023-11-14 8:30 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  PowerShellWinGet

  How to fix winget when it's throwing a "0x8a15000f : Data required by the source is missing"?

  This article offers a couple of different ways to fix the "0x8a15000f" error that winget might throw at you in seemingly random situations. It's a great tool, especially for headless scenarios on Windows, but this was an odd one and required a less obvious fix. AI-powered summary: Winget Error “0x8a15000f” Solutions Encounter the winget “0x8a15000f” error? This guide offers solutions.

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• 

  Published on

  2023-11-07 9:19 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  Hacktoberfest

  Hacktoberfest 2023 - another year, another Hacktoberfest

  This article is a quick one about my annual tradition - participating in Hacktoberfest, the "month-long celebration of open-source projects, their maintainers, and the entire community of contributors.

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