DevinCollier.com

My mother has an iMac that she loves. I have a MacBook Pro and wanted to communicate with my mom using iChat since I have poor cell reception in my home. At first, I looked into getting her an iSight camera off of eBay. For anyone that has tried looking for a cheap used iSight has quickly found themselves looking for an alternative camera because those iSights are very expensive. They are still selling near retail price. Apple has since discontinued them which left little alternatives to purchasing a new computer.

My first option was to use an older Sony DV Camcorder. At first, it seemed like a good idea, however it just wouldn’t work due to the size and the type of setup required in order to get it to work. Who wants to have a tripod on their desk next to the computer? When iChatting with them, you’ll never really see the person on the other end look into the camera. They would always be looking elsewhere (like at the monitor for example).

Then I stumbled upon a blogpost that mentioned any UVC compatible webcam would work with iChat if the Mac had OS Tiger 10.4.8 or later installed. Since manufactures don’t really show that specification on the box or website, you have to hunt it out or look for reviews by people that have tried it out. I finally found the Logitech QuickCam Deluxe for Notebooks Webcam from buy.com that was free after rebate. I choose this model for a few reasons. First, it would end up being free after rebate, you can’t go wrong with free. Next, it had a built in microphone which was nice in case it didn’t work with the Mac and could be used as a webcam for a windows based computer without the need for an additional microphone. Lastly, it was small and UVC compliant, so it should fit nicely on my mother’s iMac.

When my mom tried it out, iChat recognized it immediately and set the camera to the default capture device. The microphone also worked right out of the box. I set my mom up with an AOL instant message account and we were chatting away within minutes.

I’ll have to admit that the quality isn’t as nice as the iSight built into my Macbook Pro, but it was decent and very usable. The manual focus lens on the Logitech is easy to turn and makes the picture as clear as possible with the given built-in lens. Overall, I’m impressed with the quality and ease of setup. The camera was relatively cheap (free) so I can’t complain.

Pros: Easy to setup (with a mac). Clip to attach webcam is a nice addition for an older iMac G4. Built in microphone a plus. Inexpensive.

Cons: Some distortion in low light conditions.

From looking at my keyword search logs, I’m finding more and more people interested in a technician’s secret for toner. I’m not sure if it’s regarding whether or not to refill toner, if remanufactured toner is ok to use in a printer, or if printer techs like me have dirty secrets to unveil. So for this post, I’ll answer some of the most common questions I get asked about toner cartridges. If you have questions about toner and/or cartridges, please feel free to comment on this post or submit a question.

Q: Does using remanufactured toner cartridges void my HP/Toshiba/Brother warranty on my printer?

A: The Sherman and Clayton Anti-Trust Acts of 1914 prohibit a manufacture to void the warranty on a product they sell because you don’t use their specific, brand name, over priced, high margin product. As an example, when you need an oil change, getting your car serviced at the dealership is generally a little more money. Going to a local shop can save you money, but it doesn’t void your car’s warranty. This same principle is applied to cartridges (and ink too). You’re welcome to use any toner cartridges you wish and it will not void your warranty unless damage to the printer is caused by the use of a bad cartridge or remanufactured cartridge. This is usually a rare occurrence though. Out of the many years I’ve spent working on printers, I’ve never seen a warranty issue be rejected due to not using OEM (original equipment manufacturer) toner.

Q: What is the difference between remanufactured and refurbished toner?

A: Marketing mainly. There is no set standard for “remanufactured” or “refurbished”. Most retailers of aftermarket toner will tell you that their toner is remanufactured meaning that more went into manufacturing the toner cartridge then just filling it with toner. Essentially both names mean the same thing though. Sometimes techs will call the toner “remans” or “refurbs”, but it really comes down to the company that you purchase through. Don’t pay attention to what they say their cartridges are, look for yourself or ask good questions to find the right cartridge.

Q: Can I just refill my toner cartridge and be ok?

A: That’s a tough question to answer depending on what type of cartridge you have. It would be safe to say that the bigger the cartridge, the more likely you will need to exchange or buy a new cartridge. This is mainly due to two parts, the drum and the PCR. Both of these parts will wear out before the toner runs out which causes you to buy a new cartridge anyway. Toner generally does not work like ink cartridges. Ink cartridges generally have a print head inside the printer which makes it possible to just fill up the ink and get by ok. Toner cartridges have a lot more parts to them and generally can’t be “filled” without future issues.

Q: Is remanufactured color toner cartridges just the same as black and white cartridges?

A: Not really. I’ve had a lot more problems with the color cartridges being “off color” and leaking to really not make it worth selling or supporting these. There are a few models that look ok, but they are the minority. This is a reason why color is so much more than black and white.

Recently, I tried to install an old Zebra Eltron 2543 and 3844 parallel thermal label printer on an office computer. I found that no matter what I tried, I always ended up with the generic error message of, “Unable to install printer. Operation could not be completed.” When trying to install other printers, I found the same error message popping up right after I clicked on the finish button.

To solve this problem, I attempted the following (all of which did not work):

• Downloaded the most current drivers
• Try alternate drivers
• Change the driver in already installed printers
• Try to print to the newly installed printer with an already installed printer
• Restarted multiple times
• Made sure all Windows updates were installed
• Booted into safe mode and tried to install printer
• Installed the printer successfully on another computer

After all this, I was ready to format and reinstall Windows. I decided to check out Microsoft’s site to see if there were any known issues with my printer or computer. I stumbled upon a knowledge base article that really helped fix this problem, and I’m sure it can help fix many other printer driver related issues.

Here are the steps to take to completely remove all printers on your computer. I like to think of this as a “clean reset” of the printing functionality in Windows XP. These steps involve touching the registry. If you’re not comfortable with going in there and making changes to this portion of the operating system, I wouldn’t suggest it.  I make no warranty that these steps will fix your issue.  I strongly recommend making a complete backup of the entire registry before beginning.

1. Startup your computer is safe mode. This is done by pressing F8 when you first turn on the computer until you see the Windows menu. Select “Safe Mode” and wait until the computer is finished booting up.

2. Delete all files and folders out of these two locations.

• C:\Windows\System32\Spool\Printers
• C:\Windows\System32\Spool\Drivers\w32×86

3. Open the registry editor. To do this, click Start, click Run, type “regedit” in the Open box, and then press OK.

4. Locate and expand the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows NT x86

There should only be the following two subkeys (delete the rest):

• Drivers
• Print Processors

5. Expand the Version-x subkeys, and then delete all the printer driver entries.

6. Locate and then expand the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors

There may be a bunch of different subkeys in this place. These are the only ones that should be there, delete the rest:

• BJ Language Monitor
• Local Port
• PJL Language Monitor
• Standard TCP/IP Port
• USB Monitor

You can also delete any extra ports that were created but are no longer needed at this location in the registry if you wish.

7. Check to see if the Print Spooler service is running. To do this, follow these steps:

• Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.
• Expand Services and Applications, and then click Services.
• In the details pane, right-click the Print Spooler service, and then click Start (if it is stopped).
• Exit Computer Management.

If this service doesn’t start, you may have other issues. Head to the link at the end of this article. That that KB page, there is a link to work out printer spooler problems.

8. After all these steps are done, go ahead and restart the computer and try and add a printer. It worked great for me. Hopefully this will help out anyone with that annoying, “Operation can not complete” error.

These steps are a tech’s abridgment of this Microsoft KB article (324757)

Hewlett Packard has a great reputation for producing the best printers money can buy. Lately, Brother, Dell, Xerox, and Lexmark have given them a run for their money with low cost printers and ideal solutions. As a printer technician for many years, I’ve compiled a list of the most common flaws with printers developed by HP and how to get the problem solved quickly and accurately.

Number 10

HP LaserJet 3015/3030/3050/3052/3055 Series Scanner

Symptoms: HP was looking to target the consumer with a small all-in-one machine. They look sharp, take a standard toner, and use very little desk space. Underneath the hood though is poor scanner design. The flatbed or scanning portion on these machines fails often resulting in garbled faxes or copies. It also reports strange errors not recorded for reference in the manual.

The fix: HP has released several firmware updates for these models. If you have one, be sure to update it to the latest release. You can check what release you have by printing a configuration page. The latest firmware as of this writing is 20070331. If the firmware doesn’t fix the printer (which happens half the time), a new shiny scanning assembly is required. The install is difficult and usually costs more then purchasing a new printer.

Number 9

HP LaserJet 4101MFP Series Internal Hard Drive

Symptoms: This beastly machine is a true workhorse. Scanning, printing, faxing are all strong points in this model. Many 4101MFP and 4000MFP’s suffer from an error 49.FF81. When this happens the printer’s main functions are suspended.

Solution: The problem really means, “my hard drive died, and I can’t do anything without it!” If an unsuspecting tech looks up the required part from HP, he or she will see a huge price tag associated with it. Replacing the hard drive in the J6054 or J6054b hard drive enclosure will fix the problem and get you up and running again. Anyone can easily find an IDE 10GB 2.5″ hard drive on eBay and then remove the old drive and install the new hard drive, and then initialize it in the printer. It’s a shame that the entire printer rests on on the fact that there needs to be a hard drive working at all times.

Why did the hard drive fail in the first place? As most computer techs know, all hard drives are rated to fail at some point in time. If it never spins down, the motor will eventually die which caused the error in the first place. After replacing the hard be sure to download and install updated firmware which automatically spins down the hard drive when the printer is in standby/sleep mode.

Number 8

HP LaserJet 1300/1150 Series Fuser

Symptoms: The HP LaserJet 1300 series printers offered faster speeds over its predecessor (the 1200). Along with the faster speeds came a plague of problems that rendered this printer obsolete a lot faster than it should have. After a random amount of printing, the end user may notice that the right or left side of the page looking really poor and ripped tan fragments coming out the paper output.

Solution: Unfortunately, these printers experience a common fuser problem (the part that seals or fuses the toner to the paper). The side bushing wears out prematurely causing the fuser sleeve to tear. The printer doesn’t know there’s a problem and continues to print mangled output. The only solution is to install a new fuser (which may fail again). It’s a tough process and usually the printer isn’t worth the cost of repairing it.

Number 7

HP LaserJet 1000, 1012, 1200, and other “host based” printers

Symptoms: Recently upgrade to Windows Vista? You may notice that if you had any of these “host based” printers, you can no longer print since HP hasn’t (as of this writing) released any drivers. A host based printer is generally a cheaper printer where the computer does all the work, and then sends the information to the printer in a print ready format. Older or more expensive printers translate computer information to printer information. It’s much faster that way but requires more resources. Without proper drivers for your computer (or operating system), the printer just can’t print.

Solution: One of the tricks to getting any device working with a new operating system is used a generic or compatible driver. What you’ll need to do, is going onto HP.com find the XP driver for your printer, then download it, and install BEFORE you connect your USB printer. After installation, connect your printer, and select “have disk” when it prompts you for drivers. You should be able to select the driver for Windows XP. If that doesn’t work for your model, your only choice it to wait for HP to release new drivers.

Number 6

HP LaserJet 4200 Series Fuser (again)

Symptoms: Users of the 4200 series will enjoy the fast printing speeds, increased paper capacity, and an intuitive new menu structure. Unfortunately, like the 1300 series printers, these puppies had a serious issue with the fuser. Users would notice unreadable printout and a plethora of fuser fibers or strips that would fall out of the printer.

Solution: Even after a brand new fuser is replaced in these machines, it still failed. HP sent a notice to its users about a recall (since expired) on these fusers. The only fix is ensuring that the replacement fuser is OEM and very recently manufactured. This is because of a bushing on the side that caused repetitive failure. HP should have extended the warranty on the fuser a bit longer since it’s such an expensive part to replace.

Number 5

HP LaserJet 4600 Toner

Symptoms: The HP 4600 series printers introduced a revolutionary technology that enabled high speed color laser printing. Instead of a rotating carousel, the color cartridges are stacked on top of each other allowing the paper to quickly flow through the printer. There was a minor hickup with the toner cartridges in the 4600 series printers though. Some cartridges (especially the magenta) would fail and cause all future printouts to have a pinkish (or blue/yellow) hue on one side.

Solution: The problem would still return after a toner cartridge is replaced. The printouts would look great for the first hundred pages and then the valentine’s day themed printouts would return. The secret to correcting this issue is actually a firmware update. Head to HP.com and download the latest firmware and install it as soon as possible. If there is currently a toner issue with the printer, those also need to be replaced after the update. The sad fact, though, is that each one of those cartridges can almost buy a new consumer grade laser printer.

Number 4

HP LaserJet 4si and weathering adhesive

Symptoms: The good old HP 4si was a monster of a machine that can really crank out the paper. It was a very expensive printer that was way ahead of its time in terms of printing technology. These beastly machines provided excellent performance and reliability for many years. Only recently have users noticed strange jams occurring that are hard to fix. When printing, the top of the text or images slowly moves down as the pages print. A one or two page document would print fine, but a five or more page document would result in poor quality prints and a “ghost” or “mystery” jam.

Solution: Out of the thousands of pages tested in HP quality labs, I assume this problem was overlooked because it requires a lot of time to produce these symptoms. The problem lies in the fact that the adhesive holding the felt pad which strikes a solenoid that is responsible for paper input gets a little too sticky and would cause a slight delay with each new piece of paper going in the printer. The problem would only effect larger print jobs and leave the on-site printer technician baffled. The fix is just to take some goo-gone and remove the adhesive and felt pad. The jams will disappear and the 4si will provide many more years of dedicated service.

Number 3

HP LaserJet 2600 Transfer Belt

Symptoms: The HP LaserJet 2600 printer is a great machine that HP is currently selling. Although the toner cartridges are a bit small, the performance and small footprint make this printer an ideal solution for small businesses and homes. The major problem with these printers is not apparent right now, but will be in a few years. Color laser printers require certain parts to be changed out in various intervals. Toner is every 2,000 pages, rollers are every 20,000 pages, and a transfer belt is every 30,000 pages on most lower end models. The problem with the 2600 series printers is that the transfer belt is extremely hard to change and requires the service manual and a few hours of time for first timers. When the printer requires a new transfer belt, consumers will see the price tag associated with the repair and buy a new printer. I predict that we will see a load of these on ebay soon with no buyers.

Solution: Part of the solution is prevention. If you know you are going to print massive amounts of color laden pages, perhaps a bigger color laser printer may be a better option. The transfer belt is easier to change plus the toner lasts much longer. If you find yourself needing to change the transfer belt in a 2600 printer, checkout the weekly ads for Staples, OfficeMax, and Office Depot and pick up a new one.

Number 2

HP LaserJet 3200 Firmware, Rollers, and more

Symptoms: The HP 3200 series multifunction printer was a great step up from its old brother the 3100. Speed was increased, memory bumped up, and it had potential to really shine. Unfortunately, this model has a plague of problems to this day. Users will starts to notice that paper will start to feed more than one at a time due to a separation failure. If that issue hasn’t started, the firmware on these models seem to deteriorate for some reason. Users will notice 69.X errors often and after a while, the machine will be inoperable. To top that off, the scanning separation pad also wears quickly.

Solution: Luckily these three problems can be solved. First, HP issued a firmware update to fix most of the 69 type errors. I’ve installed an updated firmware only to find that those errors continued depending on the model type, but it’s a good idea to update firmware. Second, most HP LaserJet part retailers carry separation kits for these printers. They include a feed roller, separation pad, and alignment pads. Getting them installed in the printer is not for the faint of heart. It takes some time, but can be fixed allowing you to squeeze a few more years out of the printer. Originally HP sent out these small kits that only included a separation pad. It was a piece of cardboard that you would stick in the paper input and essentially “glue” a new pad to the old one. This fix lasted a few hundred pages because the feed roller would soon thereafter wear out and the printer could no longer pick up paper. Lastly, a separation pad for the scanning portion of the printer can also be purchased and installed in minutes.

Number 1

HP LaserJet 5L, 6L, 1100, 3100, and 3150 Series Printer’s Separation Pad

Symptoms: Out of all the repairs I’ve done in the last 5 years, this one has been the number one failure. As mentioned earlier in this article, gravity fed laser printers (not just limited to Hewett Packard) experience a failure of grabbing the paper and feeding more than one sheet through at a time. Most of the time, the printing area is off, jams occur, and the end user is forced to feed a sheet of paper at a time for all print jobs.

Solution: The real problem with these printers is the material in the separation pad. It just doesn’t hold up past 10-15,000 pages. I’m not sure how these printers made it through quality assurance, but truly fixing them involves replacing not only the separation pad, but the feed roller, and two guiding pads. It’s not an easy or fun fix, but many tutorials are available online and there are plenty of third party HP part resellers that know exactly what to include in the “sep-pad-kit”. Don’t fall for HP’s “fix” that involved sticking a cardboard square into the paper input and gluing an additional separation pad to the existing pad. It only lasts for a thousand pages and wears out the feed roller prematurely.

A list of all currently available iPhone applications:

Scriptures by ReadScriptures.com
	Cost: $14.99 Pros:Lots of content, quick menu system, reliable application Cons:High Price (14.99) Bottomline: Buy only if you need the content
The Scriptures by Lee Falin
	Cost: FREE Pros: Simple menu, good search functionality, low cost (free) Cons: Not as much content as other applications Bottomline: Get this app!
Scriptures by TwoDesk Software Company
	Cost: $9.99 Pros: Includes basic content Cons: Offers same content as free application, no search functionality Bottomline: Steer clear

UPDATE (August 28, 2008): It looks like our good friend Lee Falin has released a free version of the scriptures. It’s up on the iTunes app store and is currently version 1.0.3.

UPDATE (August 11, 2008): Thanks for all your responses regarding the poll. There is a new LDS application coming out soon offered by scriptureapp.com. I’m part of the beta team combing through the bugs. It will be cheaper and add a lot more functionality then the current applcation available on iTunes.

I’ve also received some questions as to why I would want to charge for the scriptures. Shouldn’t they be free? I’d love it if I could spend 60-100 hours developing an application and have it be free to everyone, however, I just can’t afford that amount of time.  I’ve decided not to offer a free or low cost version of the scriptures due to the fact that people believe I would be making a profit (see comment at the end of this post) and there already is two alternatives out there. I’ll keep this post updated when the other LDS application is released.

UPDATE (August 1, 2008): The LDS Scriptures application went live today on iTunes. We’ll see how well this application is received from users for a little while. I may consider making a lite version of the scriptures soon if time permits.

UPDATE (July 27, 2008): Looks like the app store is live. Our friends at ReadScriptures.com are releasing a new application as soon as Apple approves their application for $15.  I’ve been asked by many people to write an application or provide means to get the scriptures on the iPhone and iPod touch relatively cheaply (or free).

Please make your vote count by taking this poll below. If there are enough people that want an alternate application I’ll seriously consider beginning development. Please note that many people don’t realize the work it takes to create a “free” application. It costs a minimum of $99 just to register the application with Apple. Then there is the cost of the computer (Leopard required), and obviously the time of the developer(s). I would estimate the time to develop an LDS scriptures application to be around 60-80 hours. Lastly, I have no idea about copyright since the scriptures is not my work. Besides creating a new scriptures application though, here are some alternate options that are possible in the mean time.

• Use the application bookshelf in the app store ($5), I can put up the scriptures as downloadable ebooks
• If your iPod Touch or iPhone is jailbroken, I can put up a repository on Cyndia similar to the repository created for the installer program

Also, I’m considering creating a program similar to “ward tools” where church leaders can have quick access to membership records on either the iPhone or iPod touch. Please leave a comment on this post or leave me a note through my contact form.

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For older versions of iPhone and iPod Touch users:

I’ve created a repository to allow any user to quickly add the standard works to their iPhone or iPod touch quickly and easily without the need to have Edge or Wifi access. They are in the form of eBooks and use the “Books” application.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Jailbreak your iPhone or iPod touch so you have access to the “Installer” application.
2. Make sure you have the “Books” application installed.
3. Within the installer, add “http://www.devincollier.com/ebooks” as a
new repository/source. Tutorial can be found here.
4. I’ve put the standard works in the “eBooks - LDS” category. Install each one
and enjoy.

UPDATE: I have tested “plucker” files from the lds.org website and have found them to cause the books application to really slow down. Also, some characters look really weird and it’s hard to navigate through the text.

UPDATE 2: It appears that the latest version of the “books” application in combination with 1.1.4 firmware breaks the location of the ebooks. Since application will be coming out within a month, I’m going to wait before I fix these issues. These ebooks will be still be up, but may not work with your iphone.

Most MacBook and MacBook Pro users are unaware of a great way to upgrade an internal hard drive. My MacBook came with a standard 5400 RPM 80 Gigabyte drive. I recently wanted to import my photo library and have it with me at all times which required over 20 GB (which I didn’t have).

On Black Friday this past year, Staples put a Western Digital 120 GB “pocket” drive on sale for 49.99. I purchased this drive, used some drive cloning software, and switched the two. Now I have an extra 80 GB to store my files plus I have a USB 2.0 spare drive which is perfect for backing up most of my valuable data.

Here’s the steps to upgrade:

• Purchase an external 2.5″ SATA drive. I like the western digital drives because of how easy it is to open the plastic case. Be sure you chose a SATA (or serial ATA) drive and not an older IDE drive.
• Look up your computer on ifixit.com for a tutorial on how to switch the drive (MacBooks are much easier to upgrade than the MacBook Pro).
• Download Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner to transfer all files from one drive to another.
• Switch the drives and select your new startup disk so there isn’t a slight delay when the computer starts up and looks for a previous drive.

Enjoy the extra space!

Recently HP stopped including full starter cartridges with its 2600 series color laser printer. They joined Canon, Brother, and Epson in the sense that each of these companies only include starter or “half full” cartridges. They say this increases sales of cartridges, a cash cow for any ink or toner company. Looking over HP’s specifications on newer color laser printers, it appears only the lower end of the printers (1600 and 2600 series) only include starter cartridges.Word to the wise. It was common practice that resellers would purchase these color laser printers and strip out the toner to sell though online auction sites. Be care if you think the price of a printer with no toner is too good to be true. Purchasing 4 color toner cartridges can be costly and possibly more than just purchasing a new machine.

I’ve received many complaints from a few customers about toner they recently purchased on an online auction site. The auction showed a picture of genuine HP toner sealed in the box. The contents of the auction description showed no indication that this wasn’t OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) cartridges for sale. A few days later when the toner arrived, the seller of this auction sent remanufactured cartridges. Although I don’t condemn using remanufactured cartridges, if you pay for OEM cartridges, you should get them. To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, be sure to do the following:

• Make sure you communicate with the seller of the auction before you purchase or commit to buy them.
• Check the feedback rating of the seller
• Ask other buyers from this seller if possible
• Read the fine print of the auction, if you don’t see it, ask the seller what the fine print is
• If it’s too good of price to be true, it is.

I’ve just posted a tutorial on PrinterHacks.com on how to easily connect your JetDirect network based printer up to a home network. Of course, there are many different configurations and setups out there, but I did my best to tackle all the bases and at least cover the concepts. In the future, I plan to provide Microsoft Windows Vista screen shots.

Tutorial: How to Setup an HP LaserJet Printer with the Built-In JetDirect Network Card

I recently was asked about a deal at Provantage.com. It appears there was a pricing mistake and most of their HP LaserJet printers had a price tag with the rebate already taken off. The customer could then submit the original rebate and get a deal of the century (nearly free after rebate). So are these rebates valid? Has anyone received a rebate back from HP in a timely manner? Most people I know don’t mess with the rebates, but some go through the fun process of getting the UPC labels, forms, and praying that HP receives the rebate and processes it immediately. Just a note to those individuals seeking to find that HP LaserJet “free” after rebate, it hasn’t happened yet, and probably won’t anytime soon.  Prices are, however, falling quickly, so cross your fingers.