Baslinux mailing list

[sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org>]

On Thu, 8 Dec 2005, Anthony Albert wrote:

> On 8 Dec 2005 at 17:04, sindi keesan wrote:
> > On Thu, 8 Dec 2005, Anthony Albert wrote:
> > > On 7 Dec 2005 at 22:35, sindi keesan wrote:
> > > > QMS finally called back while I was here and explained that the flash rom
> > > > (eeprom?) on the 'controller' (motherboard) is bad ('image checksum
> > > > error') and no, we can't solder in a new one with a soldering iron, but I
> > > > can buy a replacement controller.  They named two wholesalers.
> > >
> > > Ahhhh... this explains much.  Though, I would bet that you could
> > > replace it with a sufficiently skilled touch.  However, you'd probably
> > > need to find another printer of the same model first, from which you
> > > could download the contents of the flash, to program the new one before
> > > soldering it into place.
> >
> > They implied that it could not be soldered by hand. But my partner fixed
> > three dead motherboards by replacing capacitors and two of them still
> > work.  I thought the rom (is this the CMOS?) is usually socketed.
>
> It might be socketed (EPROM & EEPROM often are), but if it's plain ROM
> or flash, then most likely, it's surface-mount soldered, which can be

They said it was flash rom.  The only two things on the board which don't 
appear to be surface soldered are the lithium battery and a VALOR FL1012 
which has something to do with ethernet.

What would the flash ROM look like?  These other chips look connected by 
metallic spiderweb.

> done by hand, but which is very tricky, as the leads are usually half
> the size, and spaced closer together, as compared to "standard" sized
> sockets, etc.   It is quite easy to damage the board past the point of
> repair if you're not practiced at it.

> > The shipping on a dead printer would be rather high but maybe someone will
> > sell just the board.  I found a site where people were giving away various
> > HPs 'for refurbishing', or selling refurbished laser printers newer than
> > this one for $100-300.  Probably all mono.
>
> Most likely they are.  Monochrome laser printers aren't too difficult
> to come across - many businesses discard them when they start getting
> unreliable, it being easier to replace them than to repair.

This one is color.

> [SNIP]
>
> > > HP printers (and most lasers), when hooked up to the parallel port,
> > > will work pretty much like line printers, if all you're feeding them is
> > > plain text.  In DOS, you can do "copy file1.txt lpt1: " and it'll print
> > > out okay.
> >
> > Great, I will try printing text with it first.
> > It does PCL (no mention of 5) and if you add something optional, also ps.
> > Is PCL what the deskjets use?
>
> I believe that the Deskjets use PCL, yes.  The Deskjets do not use PS,
> last I knew.

My other two HP laser printers use pbmtolj, as do the deskjets (you need 
to specify -r 300 because default is 75 dpi).

pbmtolj filename.pbm > /dev/lp0 should print graphics

First I need a long fat extension cord to another circuit on the sunporch.

Can't put the printer on the sunporch because it needs to be 50-90 F and 
it has gone down to 4F here at night.  Maybe I can put the thing under my 
desk to keep me warm if I find two neighbors to help move it.

> Anthony Albert
> ===========================================================

Sindi