Skip to main content

Screen Color Calibration


configure softwares
gimp: edit->preferences->color management->try to use system monitor profile
firefox: about:config -> gfx.color_management.mode -> 1
 
test pages


I bought a spyder 4 express and would like to try dispcalGUI on my surface pro, so I have to install Argyll CMS's driver, which is not signed.

For windows 8, one option to disable driver signature enforcement is through "advanced startup settings", which lists a few options after a restart, and you can press f7 or 7 to disable it.
However for my surface pro, it refused to recognize my keyboard, no matter it is a bluebooth keyboard, a usb wireless keyboard or a normal usb keyboard.
I guess a touch/type cover might work, but I don't have one.

Another option is to enable test mode (bcdedit -set testsigning on), before which you should also disable secure boot in the bios setting 
(shut down the device, hold the volumn up key before pressing the power button and release it when you see the surface logo)
However in this case, any signed driver could be installed, but unsigned drivers are still rejected.
For windows 7, there are words that you may use dseo13b to hack, but no luck for me on windows 8.

I had thought about using my Linux VM to do the calibration, which is running under Hyper-V, but unfortunately Hyper-V does not support USB forwarding.
I'd even thought about other VM softwares, but according to the Internet, it might not work. (because VM may not access the graphics card)

Another solution came into my mind is to boot up the device with a Linux on a USB stick, then I'll be able to do whatever I want. 
But there is only one USB port on Surface Pro, and I'm not sure if USB boot or Spyder would work behind a USB hub.

Finally I gave up.

Other possible solutions:
- Sign the driver with WDK, with your own certificates
- Install Linux and free the power of the device


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Determine Perspective Lines With Off-page Vanishing Point

In perspective drawing, a vanishing point represents a group of parallel lines, in other words, a direction. For any point on the paper, if we want a line towards the same direction (in the 3d space), we simply draw a line through it and the vanishing point. But sometimes the vanishing point is too far away, such that it is outside the paper/canvas. In this example, we have a point P and two perspective lines L1 and L2. The vanishing point VP is naturally the intersection of L1 and L2. The task is to draw a line through P and VP, without having VP on the paper. I am aware of a few traditional solutions: 1. Use extra pieces of paper such that we can extend L1 and L2 until we see VP. 2. Draw everything in a smaller scale, such that we can see both P and VP on the paper. Draw the line and scale everything back. 3. Draw a perspective grid using the Brewer Method. #1 and #2 might be quite practical. #3 may not guarantee a solution, unless we can measure distances/p...

Hardware Password Manager

[Updates 2025-01-20] The original blog post assumes that all passwords are stored in one password manager, and the password manager either unlocks everything or nothing (e.g. Keepass). After discussing with friends, I realized that if I use something like pass , and I use a hardware GPG token, I can actually store and sync all encrypted passwords to all devices, because I will only decrypt the passwords on demand, and the computer will not see the GPG private key. The compromise is that the computer will see the list of all password entries (e.g. accounts), as well as a few other issues . I've been using Keepass for many years. I don't use online password services because I cannot fully trust them. Besides, I may not always have Internet connection, which is why I also don't use a self-hosted service. Everything has been working fine, until I turn my paranoid knob to the max. Here's the thought experiment . The Imaginary Scenario Let's say I have 100 PCs for differe...

ESP32S3: Flash Encryption and Secure Boot

Flash encryption and secure boot are useful security features for ESP32S3 chip. While not perfect, they definitely make it harder to extract the secrets in the chip. However, it is tricky to enable both features at the same time. The topic is actually discussed in the official documentation: ESP32S3 Security Features Security Features Enablement Workflows Especially, the second one mentioned it is recommended to enable flash encryption before secure boot. But I still find the documentation confusing. In the end I was able to successfully enable both, here's my findings. My Understanding After my adventure, here's what I think could have worked. WARNING, this is untested. Follow  Security Features Enablement Workflows : Burn all the keys, as long as their purpose eFuses and read/write protections Burn other security eFuses, but DO NOT burn ENABLE_SECURITY_DOWNLOAD in the middle, which is mentined at the end of the instruction for both flash encryption and secure boot. Burn...