Fixing a stuck CD/DVD tray

It’s really a long time the last time that I used my DVD drive from my old desktop computer (bought in 2000) to read some CD/DVD.

But for some reason the CD tray just doesn’t want to open. So I decided to remove it from the pc to give a better view to the inside of this hardware.

It was easy to remove it from the pc, but I can’t seem to open it completely to reach the inner part to see how the hardware is working in order to search for the problem. (Maybe I was afraid of breaking it)

So I searched on Internet and I found out that all process that I was doing was unnecessary.

To open the disk tray, you can just do a manual eject.

1. Search for a pinhole in the front panel of the CD/DVD drive;
2. Then just use a paperclip or something similar and insert it inside the hole (with force if need it);
3. Magically you will see your disk tray open up by itself.

This is a really simple way to solve the problem temporarily, but it’s annoying to go this way every time you need to use the disk drive.

Eventually I found a really interesting video that show you how to disassemble completely the DVD drive. In addiction it shows what’s the problem of the drive and a simple way to solve it.

It’s really a must see to all people who have the same problem and want a lasting solution.

Sources:

• Open a Stuck Drive on Your Pc
• How to Fix a stuck CD Tray

Firefox “save and quit” option

I don’t even remember from which version of Firefox that the useful option of asking you if you want to save the multiple tabs you opened before closing firefox disappeared.

At first I didn’t even care much about it, but in the few times that you need it, it’s really annoying not having with you.

In the end I found out that you just need to change some parameters of  Firefox to display it again.

You need to do the following actions:

1. In the address bar type about:config. It will show a warning messages but it’s okay so just click the button to enter in the configuration page;
2. Search for the variable called browser.warnOnQuit. If it has value false, then double click on it to change its value to true. In this way if you have multiple tabs opened, when you are going to quit Firefox it will display a message asking the confirmation of closing Firefox (This is really useful to me because quite often I click by mistake the quit button);
3. Search for the variable called browser.showQuitWarning. Change this value again to true. This will activate the “save and quit” option.

Tips:

• To reach the required parameters, you can just type the name of these in the filter bar.
• If you can’t find some of these variables, you just need to create them by yourself. (Right click inside the page and then select new and eventually boolean)

Sources:

• firefox 4 0 come abilitare lopzione salva ed esci prima delluscita del browser 
• salva ed esci
• save and quit option has disappeared

Brothers printer: error message “unable to clean”

Recently I just got in my hand a not working Brother printer. The model is MFC-215C Usb Printer.

The error that it shows whenever I plug it was “Unable to Clean” and something like search in the manual for instructions to solve the problem.

The User Manual, like always, was useless because in it was written this error however it suggests you to remove any significant thing/dirt that could block the printer. Obviously there wasn’t anything like that.

After some research on the internet I finally found out that the problem was the internal ink absorber box that is too full. So the solution was to clean it or replace it and then reset the purge count.

To make the printer works again the important part is to reset the purge count.

The part about cleaning or replacing the internal ink absorber box is optional (however it would better to do so to avoid the leak of ink when the ink absorber box can’t work anymore). To reach the internal ink absorber box you need to dismantle the printer. When I have time I will upload a new post to show how to dismantle this printer.

The machine counts all purge (cleaning) operations in order to prevent the internal ink absorber box from overflowing with purged ink. So whenever the counter reaches 6400 an internal “Machine Error 46” is generated. Further purge operations are prohibited, and therefore the printer becomes unusable.

The error “Unable to Clean” can be generated by many different internal error codes. So to be sure that our error is because of the internal “Machine Error 46” first we need to ascertain it.

First, with the printer turned off (by pulling out the main cable), hold down the Menu/Set key. Then re-insert the main cable into the machine (power on) always holding down the bottom. The internal Machine Error Code will be displayed.

After verified that it’s an internal “Machine Error 46”, the correct procedure is to dismantle the printer and then replace or at least clean the ink absorber box. Eventually reset the purge counter to zero.

Let’s suppose that the ink absorber box can be used again without the problem of overflowing of the ink, so we proceed to reset the purge counter.

First we need to enter the maintenance mode of the printer. To do so we can

• FAX models with numerical keypads: Press the Menu/Set, *, 2, 8, 6 and 4 keys within two seconds. (if you fail to complete the correct key sequence within two seconds, press the Stop key to try again).
• Other (non-FAX) models: With the printer turned off, hold down the Menu/Set button and re-insert the main cable.

To be sure that we are inside the maintenance mode we can see all four photo/copy/fax/scan lights flash (and on the display shows “maintenance mode” if there isn’t any error that overwrite these two words).

1. Press the 8 then 0 keys. It will call up the machine’s log information list;
2. With the Arrow keys we scroll through the log information list to reach the purge counter;
3. Press the 2, 7, 8, and 3 keys in this order to reset the purge count to zero;
4. Press the Stop/Exit key to return to the initial stage of the maintenance mode;
5. Press the 9 key twice to return to the standby state.

Now the printer will work again.

NB: With different model there might be some differences about the keys to push to enter the maintenance mode and to set the numbers. To see the small changes of keys you can search in the source which contains also the keys sequence for model dcp – 115c.

Source: need reset purge counter due error 46

Customized Icon For Removable Devices

I don’t know why,  but today, when I just connected my USB to my computer, I couldn’t stand the usual image/icon used as default by Microsoft Windows.

After that I decided to convert some image found online to replace the USB icon.

To make this possible you just need :

1. to create a simple file called “autorun.inf” ;
2. and obviously an image that you want to use to replace the default icon.

These two files need to be put in the root of your USB.

Tip: If it’s annoying the view of these two files, after you are happy about the result, you can just hide them by changing their attribute in hidden/not visible.

The file autorun.inf can be created by just using a text editor which contains these lines:

[autorun]

icon = name of icon to use

After “icon = ” you can just type the name of the icon that you want to use. Or in the case the image is not in the root, you can just type the correct path.

Example:

icon = iconname.ico

icon = folder\subdirectory\..\iconname.ico

The typical size of the icon is  16×16 pixel, 32×32 pixel and 64×64 pixel all could be with 4, 8 o 32 bit of colors.

You can use a software called IconFX to create your personal icon. It’s a shareware program so you can use it for 15 times, after this the save option will be disabled.

Instead, if you have Photoshop you can save your image as “.ico” after installing a simple plugin open source called ICO (Windows Icon) Format. Just put the file “ICOFormat.8bi” you downloaded in the folder C:\Program Files\Adobe Photoshop XX\Plug-ins\File Formats\ . Be aware that the path written may be different with yours because of different OS and version of Photoshop.

The simplest method that is free and quicker than creating an image yourself is to convert an image (that you have or you find on internet) to “.ico” by using a free online service as Bradicon!. It’s really simple. You just upload the image you want to use and wait for few seconds to let the service finishes to upload and converts the image for you, then you can just download it and use it.

NB: After writing all these things in the file autorun.inf be sure to save it as “autorun.inf” and not as “autorun.inf.txt”

Then you just need to put the files autorun.inf and nameimage.ico in the root of your USB and from the next time you reconnect it to your computer, it will be displayed with the icon you just specified.

Further consideration:

The file autorun.inf could include other commands that could be useful.

• label = name of your devices

The command label is used to specify the name which you want to be displayed for your removable device.

• open = name_of_application.exe

The command open will run the specified executable application. It could be .exe, .msi, .bat

• shellexecute = name.htm,       shellexecute = namefile.txt,       shellexecute = https://xiaonosekai.wordpress.com

The command shellexecute will open the specified file that could be a document, an internet page, a video, a music, etc… Be sure that in the system where you let it open these files, the OS has the appropriate software to open these files.

Sources:

• Autorun.inf, What is it?
• Aggiungere l autorun alle memorie removibili
• Creare icone partendo da immagini o foto per le cartelle del nostro pc

Bootable USB drive of Windows

In the case where you can’t use the DVD drive to read your copy of Windows Vista or Windows 7 in order to install this OS into your computer, an alternative solution is to create a bootable USB drive of these OS.

In this way you can install Windows using a USB and at the same time you also gain the advantage of a better speed because of the velocity of reading and writing of USB.

So to start you need:

• a USB at least of 4GB
• a DVD installation of your OS (Windows Vista or 7) or in alternative a copy image of your OS that you will need to mount later to access to its files

The first operations are:

• Connect your USB to your pc and then Format your USB in FAT32 file system with also the option quick activated;
• Now open Command Prompt Window as the administrator in order to gain high privilege to the operations. To open it you can click Start->All Programs->Accessories->Command Prompt(right click on this and select run as the administrator). Or you can just open Start and then type “cmd” then right click on cmd.exe and select run as the administrator.
• In the Command Prompt Window you have to type the command “diskpart” to launch this program;
• Again type “list volume” and it will show a list of all drives in your system. From this list you should verify what number and letter is assigned to your USB because these will be needed later. In my case the number is 5 and the letter is H.

• Now you need to type “select volume #” (where # is the number of your USB drive);
• And after type “active“;
• Now you can exit from this program by typing the command “exit“. Don’t close the Command Prompt Window because you will need it again soon.

Now we need to make the USB bootable. In order to do this we will use the bootsect utility inside the DVD installation. To do this:

• You will need to insert your DVD installation of your OS in your DVD drive or if you have an image copy then you should mount it. Also you need to find which letter is assigned to it. In my case it’s the letter G.
• Now in the Command Prompt Window you must change the directory to that of the DVD installation. To do this you simply type “G:” or in your case the letter you have obtained;
• And after type “cd boot“;
• Then you need to type the last command that is “bootsect /nt60 H:” where the letter H should be changed according to the letter you have obtained before that indicate your USB drive. If there isn’t any problem you should see a message of successful operation.

The last part is really simple. You just need to copy all the files inside the DVD installation to your USB. At the end of this operation you have now a bootable USB with the copy of your OS inside it.

UPDATE:

1) I noticed that if you have Windows Vista retail ( meaning without SP1 installed) then the USB that you created will not work or you can’t even complete all the tutorial because there is some small bug that is needed to be patched with SP1.

2) for lazy people or, better, for those that encountered the aforementioned problem, you can try using some free tools that will create for you your bootable USB:

– UNetbootin (Universal Netboot Installer)

– Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool (official tool provided by Microsoft)

 

Sources:

• how to create bootable usb drive to install windows vista
• Installation without DVD