tirsdag 23. september 2008

The Driver from HELL!!!! [part 5]

Hello HP Total Care.

I have read the instructions given in your link and that link does not help my situation, but it does make it clear that some important files are missing. Description of my findings:

"Solution one" did not work. Still no printer.

The "Solution two" provides the exact same prosedure as I have been performing about 11 times already. There is still no HP printer listed, even though I have re-installed the updated driver 11 times.

"Solution three": the Digital Imaging Monitor is up and running. However, the process "HPQSTE08" is not listed in the Task Manager nor in the System Configuration Utility.

"Solution four": The "HPZPML" driver is not listed in the Services window.

"Solution five": This procedure has been followed 11 times, still no improvement (see several previous mails)

Hope this helps in solving my problem!
Sincerely,

Toonoisy

søndag 21. september 2008

Pressemelding ang. Toonoisy og -rm

Hei,

jeg, Toonoisy, og typen min, -rm, bekrefter herved at Kirken er reservert den 20.juni 2009 kl 14.30. På denne dato og dette klokkeslett går jeg i sid kjole inn i Kirken, mens en pyntet -rm står og venter på meg framme hos presten. 

Vi skal gifte oss!!!!

-

Antrekk:
Brud (Toonoisy): kjole som passer anledningen (Les: detaljer diskuteres ikke her, da -rm leser bloggen og han skal ikke ha peiling på hvilken kjole jeg skal ha)
Brudgom (-rm): mørk grilldress med detaljer som matcher serviettene den kvelden.
Gjester: Pent antrekk, gjerne kjoler og dress. Bunader er også godkjent. Badetøy kun etter nærmere avtale.

Mat:
Ja. Kanskje litt kake etterpå.

Musikk:
Forslag mottas med takk, fortrinnsvis arrangert for korps, banjo og kazoo.

Gaver:
Se fullstendig liste som gjøres tilgjengelig innen 3 mnd.

onsdag 17. september 2008

The Driver from HELL!!!! [part 4]

Hello Toonoisy, 

Thank you for contacting HP Total Care. I gather from your email that you have tried all the troubleshooting steps and the #No HP Device detected# issue still unresolved.

I understand your concern and I am happy to assist you in troubleshooting the issue.

Toonoisy, I suggest you to try the steps mentioned on the following HP webpage to troubleshoot the issue further. 

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&docname=c00762521

NOTE: Clicking the link may give an error indicating it is invalid. If this occurs, copy the portion of the address on the remaining line(s) and paste it at the end of the address showing in your browser until the complete address is displayed in the Address box. 

I want to be sure the troubleshooting steps provided in the website resolve the issue. If the issue continues, please reply to this message with the results. We will be glad to assist you further.

You may receive an e-mail survey regarding your e-mail support experience. We would appreciate your feedback. 

For information on keeping your HP and Compaq products up and running, please visit our Web site at: http://www.hp.com/go/totalcare 

Sincerely, 
[some other guy] 
HP Total Care

---------

= "Your pc is FUBAR, try this semi-comforting link instead"

tirsdag 16. september 2008

Korps slår andre aktiviter

... i kostnader for foreldrene.

Bare se her!

Sett at du har to eller tre barn, og alle spiller fotball. Tre treninger i uka (ja, noen barn har det nå til dags), fotballstevne i helga og grønnske til tusen. Har yngstemann kamp på vestkanten kan du vedde på at eldstemann har kamp på østkanten. 

Med korps slipper du alt det strevet: er bare å kjøre de til øvelsen der alle øver samtidig, drikke litt kaffe og spise kake med andre foreldre og kjøre barnet hjem igjen etterhvert. Én gang i uka, pluss at barnet har med seg instrumentet på skolen en annen dag for å øve i kulturskolen rett etter skoletid.

Det blir jo selvfølgelig dugnader, men de er det ikke så mange av. Noen korps arrangerer loppemarked med stor gevinst, andre selger lodd/blomster/julekalendere. Mens andre igjen tar betalt for konsertene sine.

Dugnader må til, særlig siden korpsenes viktigste inntektskilde (spilleautomatene) ble fjernet.

mandag 15. september 2008

The Driver from HELL!!!! [part 3]

Hello [some guy],

I have now followed your steps, and again to no success.
I have used the numbering you provided to keep a logical order.

The first attempt:
1. Disconnect the USB cable from behind the computer.
 - The HP printer was disconnected and turned off.

2. Uninstall using the downloaded file
- I could not find the folder 'HP Web Release' in c:\windows\temp and thus became unable to finish this step

3. Delete the Imaging folder.
- Could not find the 'Imaging' folder in C:\Program Files nor in C:\Program Files (x86). 
- Could not find the 'Imaging' folder in the Register Editor

4. Disable Firewall and Anti-Virus software from Windows XP.
- Disabled both

5. Reinstall the software.
- Downloaded and installed the driver you provided. The installation stalled at two points: 1) The main installation window read "Waiting for setup to finish" (Step 5/8). A new window popped up saying "Cannot install this hardware. There was a problem installing this hardware: HP Photosmart 3200 Series. An error occured during the installation of the device. The printer driver is unknown. Click Finish to close the wizard." At this time, the printer had been connected, turned on and was busy maintaining itself (indicating it on its display and making mechanical noises). Some time after I clicked "Finish" in the new window, the installation program confirmed that the printer was installed successfully and continued its progress. 2) The installation program seems to hang at "Configuring your product" (Step 4/4 of that part, 96% of the entire installation). The KBps declines at about 1 KB pr sec from over 500 KBps to about 200 KBps, before the installation window disappears without any confirmation that installation is complete. I have also mentioned this before, but this time I happened to watch as it disappeared.

The second attempt:
I un-installed the HP programs using "Add or Remove Programs". The results were identical to the first attempt except from these points:

- Logged in as THE Administrator, and not with an admin account.
- Found the 'Imaging' folder in C:\Program Files (x86). Deleted it.
- Found the 'Imaging' folder in the Register Editor, after also opening the HP folder. Deleted it. There were several other folders within the HP folder too, but I left them un-deleted.

The third attempt:
Did not un-install using "Add or Remove Programs". I could still not find the 'HP Web Release' folder in c:\Windows\temp, and thought it unneccessary to try the installation again - as nothing could be done differently from the first and second attempt.

My private and probably-not-accurate conclusion:
It seems the printer is too busy maintaining itself when the installation program tries to communicate with it. This results in the program giving up, blaming the 'unknown driver' and sending a false message to the rest of the program saying "Everything is OK, continue". As the installation program tries to configure the printer (which, it seems, has not been installed properly), it does not know what to do, stalls for time and eventually collapses while whistling an innocent tune and walking away casually (pretending nothing happened). 

Hope this helps in analyzing my problem. I am impressed at how quickly you reply to my emails, and it is my own time restraints that keeps me from replying just as quickly. Well done, HP! :-)

Sincerely,
Toonoisy's real name

The Driver from HELL!!!! [part 2]

 Hello Toonoisy, 

Thank you for contacting HP Total Care. 

I gather from your E-mail that the issue still persists even and you have tried three times to install the software driver for your unit.

I understand the importance of the matter and look forward to provide you the appropriate information regarding this.

Toonoisy, in order to further isolate the cause of the issue I recommend you to please perform the steps given below and verify the results

1. Disconnect the USB cable from behind the computer.
2. Uninstall using the downloaded file
3. Delete the Imaging folder.
4. Disable Firewall and Anti-Virus software from Windows XP.
5. Reinstall the software.

The detailed steps are given below:

=== omitted due to lengthy and detailed technical gibberish not suitable for this blog ===

Please perform the steps given and if the issue still persists or if you have any difficulties or concerns please get back to us with the results and will be glad to assist you further

If you need further assistance, please reply to this message and we will be happy to assist you further. 

Have a great day!!!

Sincerely, 
[some guy]HP Total Care

tirsdag 9. september 2008

The Driver From HELL!!!!

Hello HP Total Care helpdesk person,

In addition to my failed attempts described in the previous mail to you, I have now tried three times to un-install and re-install the HP drivers - without success: 

First, I downloaded the driver for Win XP 64-bit and un-installed the remaining HP-programs on my PC. Then I deleted the folder "Digital Imaging" from "C:\Program Files\HP", rebooted the system and installed the freshly downloaded driver. When the installation was almost complete, an error message popped up saying "C:\Windows\System (or something similar, I forgot to write it down) has caused a problem and the PC will restart in 60 seconds", counted down and finally restarted - still without finishing the installation of the HP driver.
The full name of the file I downloaded is: "AiO_071_000_201_000_CDA_Default-Full_Network_Euro3_64.exe"

Second, I un-installed everything again and found I had missed deleting the folder "Digital Imaging" in "C:\Program Files (x86)\HP", so I deleted it as well as double checking the "Digital Imaging"-folder was deleted from C:\Program Files\HP". Rebooted and used the same download as the first time to try installing it again. This time, the installation seemed to be successful, but there was no message saying "Installation complete" or confirming it had been done properly. As I opened the HP Solution Center, I got the error message: "No HP devices have been detected. HP Solution Center will close now." Also, somewhere along the way the following error message, titled "Found new hardware wizard" appeared during the installation: "Cannot install this hardware. There was a problem installing this hardware: HP Photosmart 3200 Series. An error occured during the installation of the device. The printer driver is unknown. Click Finish to close the wizard." I also checked the "Printers and Faxes"-folder, but the only printer there was Microsoft XPS Document Writer. 

The third time around, I used the link provided in your previous mail and got the following error message: "The Operating System on this computer is not supported. The installation cannot continue until this is resolved. Current OS: Windows XP 64 bit. Supported: Windows 98 (or Windows 98 Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 2000, Windows XP. Action required: Click Cancel to exit this software installation. Install this product on a computer that is running one of the supported Microsoft operating systems or refer to your computer's documentation for information on upgrading your computer's operating system."
The full name of the file you suggested is: "aio_support_en@mail.support.hp.AiO_071_000_201_000_CDA_Default-Full_Network_AmericasEuro1com.exe"

As you are probably aware of by now, this has been a long and annoying process - especially because the printer driver worked quite well before I moved (see previous mail) and the fact that you provided the wrong driver. I wrote two times that I use the 64-bit version of XP and the helpdesk employee should have paid more attention to that vital detail. This time around I expect my problem to be answered by someone familiar with the 64 bit version of XP and its tendency to have problems with drivers. 

Also, you would do good in noting that XP 64 bit-users have two Program Files-folders. One at C:\Program Files for programs compatible with 64 bit, and one at C:\Program Files (x86) for programs not compatible with 64 bit. The driver seems to use both paths to create a HP-folder.


Thank you for helping me solve my problem.
Sincerely,
Toonoisy's real name

mandag 8. september 2008

Lyden av hakkende tenner

Det er høst, det er så og si første gang jeg er på telttur siden 80-tallet, det er 10 stykker av oss og det er natt. I lavvoen ligger vi side om side. Noen la seg allerede en time etter det ble mørkt, mens vi andre fortalte historier, vitser og prøvde oss på å synge nesten helt til midnatt.

Jeg er redd for edderkopper, spøkelser og mørket - og jeg har sett Blair Witch Project.

Jeg finner soveposen min,  klynger meg til det lille lyset fra lommelykta og kryper (med én ledig hånd) inn i posen som skal holde verden ute noen stakkars timer. Vel nede på luftmadrassen oppdages det at jeg ligger for nært lavvo-duken, og dermed må jeg, fortsatt med en hånd rundt lyset, knote meg opp igjen, dytte madrassen nærmere midten og legge meg ned igjen uten å lage for mye bråk. Dømt til å mislykkes, altså.

Men jeg får det da til på et vis...

Så ligger jeg der og merker at drikken som kom inn i stad, må ut nå. Do-treet er 100 meter ut i mørket, forbi to falne trær og under mange som ikke har falt. I følge Discovery Channel er natten tiden for rovdyrene, så jeg bestemmer meg for å vente til i morgen - det burde jo gå lett...?

Så begynner lydene.

Etter å ha filtrert bort snorking og pusting fra de andre i lavvoen gjenstår det et sett med lyder jeg ikke er vandt til. Det høres ut som en blanding av knurring og kattemaling. Det er rett utenfor plastduken og den går ikke noen steder. I bakgrunnen hører jeg bølgene mot stranda, men knurremalingen er gjennomtrengende. Så vispes det på duken. Det høres ut som noen tar hånda og stryker på duken. Fram og tilbake, visj og vusj, visj, vusj. 

Noe rører seg.

Jeg hørte det i gresset, helt tydelig. Var det en labb? En pote? En hov? Så kommer den fantastiske fantasien min i sitt rette element og bilder av ulver, bjørner og mannevonde elger kommer på netthinna mi. National Geographic sine programmer om "How did they survive?" flyr gjennom hodet og alle lydene blir med ett varsler om nær forestående fare. Pulsen min stiger og mistanken blir bekreftet.

Glidelåsen til lavvoen går opp.

Utenfor høres et skikkelig basketak. Kvister blir trampet på og drept. Noe(n) grynter. Trampingen fortsetter lenge, før glidelåsen til lavvoen atter en gang høres. Noe er i teltet, noe roter med noen andre sin sovepose - og jeg ser ikke hva det er.

Det blir stille igjen.

Så hører jeg brummingen, knurringen, malingen igjen. Den er der fortsatt, som et lite helikopter eller en megasvær bille - garantert ute etter meg. De kan lukte frykten min. Svisj, svusj, svisj, svusj. Bølgelydene minner meg på at jeg må virkelig på do (hvorfor drakk jeg så mye?), men jeg er jo fortsatt mørkeredd og lydene hjalp liksom ikke på det.

"Shh... Det går bra"

Typen min vet jeg ikke liker det her og han holder rundt soveposen min. Snille typen. Han varmer litt, men jeg fryser ennå. Får ikke helt til å snurpe igjen alt i toppen, så kaldlufta kommer smygende inn over skuldrene mine. Han prøver å varme meg, men det hjelper ikke.

6 timer senere.

Det kjennes ut som jeg ikke har sovet noe, kroppen verker, nesa er nummen og nå  jeg virkelig på do. Endelig ble det lyst igjen. Jeg hutrer på meg ytterbuksa og en ekstra genser og hopper bortover til do-treet. Alt går unna kjempefort og jeg hopper tilbake for å vaske henda i isende kaldt vann. Inne i lavvoen venter typen min og han vet råd: bruke soveposene som liggeunderlag og dyne og varme hverandre direkte (gjennom ullundertøy, selvfølgelig. Hva tror du om meg?). 4 timer senere våkner vi og er varme og gode. 

Så sov jeg endelig godt allikevel.

Brummingen viste seg å være trådene til lavvoen som vibrerte i vinden, visj og vusjingen var de løse trådene sin dans og det forferdelige monsteret som bråkte utenfor teltet var Kenneth som så at bålet ikke var helt slokt. Så han slokka det. Hardt.

Alt i alt en trivelig tur, men jeg synes fantasien min finner opp litt vel mye for tiden.