Tuesday, December 28, 2010

HP p2015 printer jam light

HP printer p2015 doesn't function - get's stuck during boot with the jam LED on.  This status is not listed in the manual.  It indicates the formatter board (Q7804-60001) has failed.  The formatter board is on the left-hand side - remove the side panel by using a flat screw driver to unclip the panel at the rear of printer.  To confirm that the fault is the formatter board there is a button hidden in the frame below the formatter board - pressing this button causes the printer to print a series of straight lines without using the formatter board.

A common method for repairing the formatter board is to bake in the oven to repair dry solder joins:
1) Pre-heat oven to 176degC
2) Place formatter board on some aluminium foil for support, then place onto baking tray with components facing up.
3) Bake for 8 minutes, then remove and allow to cool.
4) Re-connect the formatter board and test printer again.

See: http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums/laser/48992

Monday, December 20, 2010

Disable DHCP on VMware Server 2.0.2 HostOnly networks

Various solutions exist on the Internet for solving this issue, but they have some issues:
1) Edit the /etc/vmware/vmnet1/dhcpd.conf file
   - unreliable because it gets over-written if vmware-config.pl is executed.
2) Edit the /etc/vmware/locations file
   - unreliable because it prevents vmware-mgmt starting services.

3) My solution: Edit the file /usr/lib/vmware/net-services.sh
Find the line: 
 if [ "$dhcp" = 'yes' ] && vmware_find_comma "$services" 'dhcp'; then
Change to:
 echo "**DHCP service disabled in /usr/lib/vmware/net-services.sh**"
 if [ "$dhcp" = 'yesX' ] && vmware_find_comma "$services" 'dhcp'; then

This causes vmnet-dhcpd to never be started.