Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with drivers

Sun Type 6 Keyboard in Windows

gzimmer — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:35:11 -0800

I came into possession of a Sun type 6 keyboard and want to see how much use I can get out of it in Windows. Having dedicated cut,copy,paste keys is just awesome. After exhaustive googling, i've seen others asking about drivers come up empty. There was a half english half japanese website that I found that tried but only got about halfway.

Is there any software that I can use to see what keys windows is even seeing as a first step to using them in macros or such?

Why is Windows XP freezing and refusing to shut down?

ZsigE — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:20:52 -0800

Windows XP freezes, audio has disappeared and returned, system hangs on shutdown...my PC has suddenly taken a turn for the worse, and nothing I've tried seems to be helping. So...help? I'm running XP Home on a self-built PC (Asus M2A-VM HDMI motherboard, AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000 dual core processor, ATI Radeon HD 3600 graphics), which has been running happily for just over a year. Today it started behaving oddly - Firefox hung while I was opening a new tab, followed by the entire PC freezing so completely that I had to hold down the power button to switch it off. On reboot, my sound had disappeared - subsequent reboots showed that all my audio devices had vanished.

Shutdowns no longer work (I get to the "Windows is shutting down" screen and then it sits there apparently indefinitely). The PC dual-boots Ubuntu, so I tried that - the sound was fine, so it's not a hardware problem, and I can shut down from there with no problems. When I went back into Windows, my audio devices had mysteriously returned, but shutdowns were still broken, and it still hung intermittently.

I dug out the motherboard install CD and reinstalled the chipset, audio and LAN drivers. I then went to Asus's website to look for updated versions - found reasonably new audio drivers, which then crashed halfway through installation. So none of that seems to be helping.

Subsequent hangs seem to have come on gradually - Firefox stops responding, followed by whatever I click on. In one case, I saw Firefox die, then the Start menu, then the whole taskbar, then Google Desktop, then Launchy, then the keyboard (Num Lock stopped switching its LED on and off). Ctrl-Alt-Del added the usual icon to the system tray, but the window didn't appear.

Basically, I'm stumped. I've seen fewer crashes in Firefox since disabling all its extensions, but I doubt that was the initial cause. Any ideas as to which avenues I could try next?

Sharing Is Caring?

murtagh — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:54:25 -0800

Sharing a printer between an iMac (with printer driver installed) and a Windows laptop without installing any drivers on the laptop: can it be done? I have an iMac running OS X Leopard. My sister is using her work laptop. Unfortunately, her company has disallowed (blocked) installation of any new software on the laptop, which includes printer drivers. We need to share the printer between the iMac and the laptop. The iMac, to which the printer is connected, has the printer drivers installed.

Can the printer be shared between the iMac and the laptop without installing any drivers on the laptop?

The printer is a Canon Pixma MP145.

Please tell me this is possible (or any possible alternatives). Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Where is this powder coming from?

JakeWalker — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:48:56 -0800

What is the name of the technology that produces powder (that verifies authenticity, I suppose) when you bend a drivers license or other ID card? My friend has a New York Drivers License (maybe not the newest one, but still pretty new). If you bend the license, it releases a kind of powder, presumably to verify its authenticity. I'm really curious about the technology (and not because I'm trying to make a fake ID, it is just an interesting technique), and I'm having a hard time googling for more info. Does anyone know what this security technique is called? What other states use it? Where I can find out more?

I forgot about the ticket because of all my drinking...

apetpsychic — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:53:50 -0800

So I probably have a warrant out for my arrest on a very old (3 years ) ticket for possible public consumption, in New York City. I want to take care of this, but what repercussions can I expect? Do I go to the courthouse and turn myself in? Will my fine be exorbitantly higher than the ticket? Additionally, I need to renew my license in Brooklyn before my upcoming birthday. Would I be able to do this if I do in fact have a bench warrant? This is my first "I screwed up" question, so please take it easy on me! Thanks!

I need an international drivers license.. on the double!

nakleh — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:53:41 -0800

Has anyone from the US ever had to apply for an international drivers license? I'm a dummy and didn't realize it supposedly takes 4-6 weeks to get one! We learned from the DMV you MUST get them through AAA [which is weird, but whatever].

I'm leaving on August 14th for Israel [staying 8 days, want to rent a car for the entire stay there] / then off to Paris [staying 9 days, need to rent a car for 3] and don't have 4-6 weeks to wait. Can anyone offer some advice or personal experiences obtaining one? We found a few places online that say they can expedite for a fee, but they all look shady.

I live in NYC, and have a valid US drivers license. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!

Can an expired US driver's license help me get an Ontario license?

pravit — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 16:10:53 -0800

Can an expired US driver's license help me get an Ontario license? I'm a US citizen living and working in Toronto. I have an expired US driver's license (from New Mexico) which I held for four years. I'm unable to renew my US license since New Mexico currently requires you to renew in person, and I'm not going back anytime soon. How should I go about getting an Ontario license? Will I have to start from the bottom, or does my expired US license and driving experience count for anything?

The US license has been expired since August.

When I say draft I mean draft!

DiscourseMarker — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:51:14 -0800

How can I get my HP printer to work correctly with my MacBook Pro? I have a new, HP Photosmart C4580 all-in-one printer connected to a wireless network. In the room I have an Intel iMac and a MacBook Pro, both running 10.5.6. I added the new printer to both computers, choosing the same driver from the list (C4400 series, as there was no C4500 series choice).

Here is my problem: I can change the settings on the iMac with no difficulty, and when I set it to draft, the printer actually prints in draft mode. However, nothing I do on my laptop seems to get the printer to print on draft. Even when I change the settings on the printer menu to draft, the printer is not printing draft (and is therefore wasting precious ink) when printing from the MacBook Pro. I also cannot get the printer menu to save any of my settings on the laptop - for example, it always defaults to HP Premium Photo paper instead of plain paper.

I have completely uninstalled all HP software from the MacBook Pro and installed the Apple HP drivers direct from the Apple website.

This is driving me absolutely insane. Help!!!

Cannot install Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0.

tangyraspberry — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:03:41 -0800

Cannot install Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0. My wife bought me Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 which I only recently got around to trying to install, however, upon attempting, I'm getting a "could not find any audio drivers" message. Any thoughts or ideas. Thanks in advance.

Zebra label printer. Mac OS X. Solution?

reeddavid — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:19:40 -0800

Need OS X print drivers for the Zebra Z4000 thermal label printer. Does anyone have a working solution cheaper than this $225 driver from Peninsula Group in UK? CUPS does not support zebra (and besides, I need some product-specific functionality in order to configure the size, length and type of labels). This printer was discontinued in 2004 and was replaced with the Zebra Z4MPlus, which was subsequently replaced by the Zebra ZM400. I can't find Mac drivers for any of them besides the aforementioned expensive option. I think Endicia might be able to print postage labels on this printer, but I want to be able to print from other applications as well.

Can I leave Virginia behind?

bluejayk — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:59:30 -0800

My Virginia driver's license was suspended because I let the insurance on a car I own there lapse for several weeks before I unregistered it. This was several years ago, and I live in CA now and have a (as far as I know) legal driver's license for that state. I need to renew the CA license soon, am I going to have a problem? All these problems with the car and insurance happened after I was already out of state but keeping the car in a family member's garage. I already got a valid CA driver's license (and I guess canceled my VA license in the process) before this happened.

I'd prefer to clear up the problem with VA, but they want $600 "statutory fee" plus certification of insurance even though I don't own a car now (which would cost a couple hundred dollars a year, I checked). So I'm inclined just to say screw them, but I don't know if this will interfere with my renewal. I'm hoping that since there were no accidents or moving violations involved nothing is going to show up. I don't want to do anything illegal. Will CA let me renew normally?

A very boring question about renting a car.

cmonkey — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 08:56:29 -0800

I have a valid German drivers license which I have held for less than one year. I also have an expired US drivers license that I drove with for 8 years. How much of a hassle am I going to run into renting a car in the US? I've read that car rental companies require their customers to have a valid drivers license issued more than one year prior. I don't have that, but I do have a valid drivers license and an expired license that shows that I have been driving for more than one year. Is this going to turn into trouble at the rental car desks?

Video causes my HP dv6000 (dv6810us) to restart after watching fro 30-45 minutes, motherboard or video card dying?

unclezeb — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 23:26:19 -0800

HP laptop video card issues filter: Video problem with my HP dv6000 (dv6810us) - artifacts appear then increase while watching Hulu, after 30-45 minutes the computer freezes then restarts. Pausing the video then letting the computer sleep for a couple minutes resolves the issue for another 20 minutes of video watching, then it repeats ... bad integrated video? Bad VRAM? Evil monkey? I got my HP dv6810us on ebay about 5 weeks ago, no problems, in great condition ... until yesterday. While watching a video on Hulu (using Firefox with IE tab extension, but same problem with using Internet explorer independently) the video slowly beings to show artifacts, eventually becoming fuzzy and with bizarre patterns on the screen. If I keep the video playing the computer freezes then restarts and reports a hardware error in the error log.

I have tried using k-lite mega codec, Vista Codec Package.

I have tried using IE rather than Firefox with the IE Tab extension.

I have tried replacing the video drivers with old HP versions, generic nvidia 7150 drivers, the laptop2go.com drivers (current), and rolling back to those originally installed.

I have tried watching while observing the GPU temperature ... it gets quite hot (55 degrees C).

Is it possible to expose the thermal compound / gell / grease /paste to replace it with a more efficient type/brand (i.e., Artic Silver, etc)?

If so, would I need a grease/compound or paste?

Any other suggestions beyond "replace the motherboard because the integrated video card is dying"?

Finally, any ideas on where to call or look on-line to determine if my computer is still covered by the warranty? (~5 months old, I have the original receipt though I'm not the original purchaser)

Laptop running Windows Vista with all updates, 3gb ram, not overclocked. Google desktop running in background, AVG anti-virus (cleansed of Norton), essentially all OEM specs and parts.

Thanks again mefites!

My scanner won't work with my mac--help!

leesh — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:43:07 -0800

My ancient scanner isn't playing well with my Macbook. This specific model (Microtek 4850) doesn't have drivers for Leopard yet (if it ever will), and the Tiger ones don't work. Do I have any options here, or do I need to shell out for a new scanner? I'd really like to not have to spend money on a new scanner--I'm about to move and don't have a job lined up--but I really really really want to scan a bunch of old photos in (so I can unload some of my many heavy photo albums). Is there any way to use the scanner with the mac without the driver? Is there some other program I can download?

If not, can anyone recommend an affordable scanner that will actually work with my computer?

Driving me insane

idiomatika — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:34:40 -0800

Dull computer question: I just reinstalled Windows XP Professional onto my laptop computer. Two devices in the Device Manager display the dreaded yellow question mark. They do not appear to be on the driver support disc that came with the computer. These two items are: "Network Controller" and "PCI Device". Does anyone know where I could find suitable drivers?

Who is 14F1? What is device 2720?

carsonb — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:26:51 -0800

My PCI Simple Communications Controller has bitten the dust. When I start up my crusty eMachines T2682 classic desktop computer these days I get the good ol' WinXP Found New Hardware Wizard prompting me to install drivers for my "PCI Simple Communications Controller". Sadly it cannot locate said drivers, and it turns out that "PCI Simple Communications Controller" is Device Manager-speak for "WTF is this?"

As this computer has failed bit by bit I've become more adept at reading tech forums, and as usual they've dealt me a cryptic clue to this puzzle. I learned that Device Manager deals out very little info about "PCI Simple Communications Controller", but what little it gives can be used to find drivers to reactivate the ? device. The Device Instance Id is
PCI\VEN_14F1&DEV_2720&SUBSYS_200014F1&REV_00\4&29817089&0&10F0
which, I believe, details the device vendor as "14F1" and the device itself as "2720".

Vendor 14F1 is listed as Conexant Systems Inc., a modem chipset manufacturer. However, for the life of me I cannot find their device 2720. None of the pci id lists that I've read match that device with vendor 14F1.

What am I missing? What is this mysterious device?

Maybe relevant: During video playback the audio snaps in and out, at random. I have not reinstalled Windows lately. I upgraded to SP3 a few weeks ago, then immediately reverted to a restore point. One of my RAM sockets has gone bad, the computer freezes occasionally, and I think the whole mobo might be dying. Is this some extension of that growing problem, or is there a local solution?

I ask this last because, while I know I need a new computer and will be purchasing one when the wallet is ripe, I'd like to use this opportunity to learn some about how computer guts work and what to do get them to work when they don't. Percussive maintenance only goes so far.

Why aren't there universal 32->64 bit driver translator/emulators?

Mokusatsu — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:37:56 -0800

Why aren't there universal 32->64 bit driver translator/emulators? 64 bit versions of Windows require 64 bit drivers for printers, scanners and other devices. Many people upgrading to a 64 bit computer have had to retire perfectly good hardware simply because of lack of 64 bit drivers.

One way around this is to set up a 32 bit guest OS in a virtual machine and then run your devices from the guest OS, i.e. you can install your printer on a VMWare (or other type) virtual machine with XP or Vista 32 bit (or perhaps a Linux distro) and transfer your files to the guest OS when you want to print them.

Clearly the virtual machine is able to pass on commands to the device either via the host OS, or bypassing it altogether. This seems to me to be a proof of concept for a universal driver translator.

My question is, would a 64 bit emulator program doing essentially the same job as the 32 bit virtual machine be possible? Basically it would be a virtual machine with a stripped down OS that does nothing more than run 32 bit drivers on a 64 bit host.

If it is possible, how come such a program hasn't been written yet?

I'd willingly pay $100 for such software instead of updating my hardware, because running a full blown 32 bit guest OS purely to scan or print things is a bit of a hassle. I'm sure thousands of people would, and the existence of such software would remove one of the major objections people have to getting a 64 bit OS.

Where art thou Os X print drivers for x7350?

strangelove — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:53:46 -0800

Is there any hope for me in using a Lexmark x7350 printer with OS X? I am unable to find suitable print drivers, and the interwebs suggest there are none. Thanks!

When can a terrible driver's license photo be a serious issue?

Ian.I.Am — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:58:21 -0800

Are there any situations where having a ridiculous driver's licence photo will be more than a laugh? (Or: How I Learned to Abandon my Ego and Self-Image.) I just finished taking a course in Michigan to get my motorcycle endorsement. Once I completed my riding test this morning, I thought I'd go immediately to a nearby Secretary of State's office to take the written test and get my official endorsement.

Idiotic me, I didn't think about the fact that I'd be getting a new license altogether; hence, a new photo. By the time we'd gotten to that point, there didn't seem any turning back. The SoS CSR wasn't the most helpful, and was noticeably unfriendly.

Long story short, I ended up with a license photo that literally looks like I've either never bathed or have serious drug issues. I don't mind a laughable license photo, but this looks like I've just left rehab, unsuccessfully.

This is my primary means of photo ID. Are there any situations when this will present a problem? I'm about to be a senior in college (architecture) and will soon be on the job hunt.

Reporting bad/dangerous drivers

Workingtill85 — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:40:00 -0800

Is there a way to report dangerous driving that you see on the road? e.g. speeding, weaving in and out of lanes.. or just wait and hope the police catch up with them eventually? If I have a reason to believe this bad driver is going to cause an accident - is there a way to report them? I live in the Chicago suburbs.

Firewire Won't Detect Camcorder

muckster — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:48:53 -0800

Totally boring firewire question: I had to reinstall windows xp, and now the system won't see my camcorder. It's a Panasonic GS-120 connected through firewire to an HP desktop running a slimmed-down version of SP2. In the device manager, I see a "Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller" with up-to-date drivers, but plugging the camera into either of the firewire ports doesn't bring up the plug-and-play notification. I'm using a 6-to-4 pin cable. The same camera is detected without problems when I connect it to a Vista laptop with a 4-to-4 pin cable.

I searched pretty hard for drivers etc but googling this stuff is a complete mess. Thanks for any ideas on what to try to fix this.

The single most important question you'll answer today

Diskeater — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:23:13 -0800

What to do when you're behind someone that pulls way ahead of a Stop sign? This question has bothered me for a long time and no one in my life knows the answer.

There are a number of intersections with Stop signs between the main road and my apartment....at least four. The drivers around here have the tendency to drive past the Stop sign and stop about one to one and a half car lengths away from the Stop line (not sure what it is called, but the line on the road used to indicate where you are actually supposed to stop while at a Stop sign).

If I'm behind someone that does this, I'm now stopped at the Stop line where I'm supposed to be but they've pulled ahead of the Stop sign and then stopped. What do I do when it is my turn to go thru the intersection? Pause longer or pull ahead and then stop, as they did?

I'm reluctant to pull ahead and then stop because almost I and almost all of my friends have been pulled over by the police for not stopping where we were supposed to and I want to avoid getting a ticket.

Ram with a View

Iteki — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:43:07 -0800

Going to try "downgrade" my new laptop from Vista to XP. Most painless method? Software to identify all drivers or other methods? The providor (Packard Bell) doesn't offer downgrade disks it would appear, and while the support page for the unit describes most (all?) the drivers they have for Vista, I am thinking there might be a simpler alternative? I googled for driver identifier software but what didn't seem dodgy seemed to be pay. I am terrified of missing something and not knowing what the yellow question mark refers to. For the actual install I am gathering that booting with the XP disk in is the business?
All hand-holding appreciated, and sorry for the lame title.

I need 64-bit drivers!

omnipotentq — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:43:32 -0800

I've got an Inspiron M1730 on the way, and I need 64-bit drivers for XP. Okay, so, my old Inspiron XPS Gen 2 just died tonight...sort of. It's crapping out enough that I don't trust it at all, and I'm barely able to make a backup of my data now. (I make nightlies, but I'm a data fiend, so I want everything that's on it from today, no matter what the cost.)

Thankfully, I was blessed enough that tonight, right after it broke, someone gave me the funds to buy an M1730, which I've had my eye on for months now. It's now on its way (or, rather, being built - whoo!) and my plan is to install the 64 bit edition of XP on it when it arrives, since I hate Vista and want to take advantage of all 4GB of delicious, yummy ooey gooey RAM. Now, there are drivers available for the regular version of XP on Dell's website, but are there 64 bit versions available? If so, where would I find them? (Please, no Linux snarks. I fully intend on installing some flavor of Linux on it as well, since I'll have 400GB of hard drive space to play with. I'm not that much of an MS sellout. )

(Yes, I could go look this up myself, but golly gee, I am just so flipping excited about this laptop that I can barely sit straight, and I'm giddy with glee, and I wanted to share that joy with Mefi while asking a question. Please humor me? :) )

Need help printing to work printer from macbook

jlowen — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 13:24:55 -0800

How do I make my Macbook (leopard os x) play nice with the Ricoh Aficio 2232c printer at work? My macbook is my main work computer. After much googling, I just can not find any definitive answers and can not seem to print to the office's Ricoh Aficio 2232c.

I do have have a PC in my office that I can access if it helps.

Right now my printing process is as follows.
1. Save document to be printed as pdf.
2. VNC over to PC, access macbook harddrive via SMB sharing, find file, and print.

I am hoping there is a much easier way to accomplish this. Preferred method is just direct printing from macbook, but would also accept some kind of utility on the PC that watches a certain folder and auto prints anything dropped into it.