Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with drivers

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.

My 350 won't let me take it's temperature

SpecialK — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:03:49 -0800

Another longshot hardware question, but not the wood table kind: I have an OLD Dell PowerEdge 350. I'm running OpenSUSE 10.3. I'd like to monitor system stats like processor temperature and drive status via the normal IPMI drivers. This should be possible; I can get it working on a 1650 using the drivers from Dell's linux website. It doesn't mention the 350 anywhere. Ideas?

How can I setup automated drop folder (hot folder) printing?

monsta coty scott — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:43:14 -0800

How can I setup automated drop folder (hot folder) printing? I would like a folder to be watched, and when a PDF gets copied to this folder it gets printed right away. I am running Vista x64 and our legacy office copier/printer doesn't have drivers available for this operating system. I have both PCs and an Apple Xserve available to setup hot folders on, so software for either system is an option, as is applescript.

Ideally I would like a series of folders setup for different print options. So if I drop a PDF into folder 1 it prints letter size, drop a PDF into folder 2 and it prints ledger.

I've seen graphic RIP systems with this functionality, but this is a bit overkill and expensive for my basic needs. Does anyone have software or script suggestions for such a task?

I've fallen into a Motor Vehicle Rabbit Hole

jimmyjimjim — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:34:49 -0800

When you find yourself in a life-harming situation due to a unique administrative hiccup in a government bureaucracy (and since no one's anticipated this sort of hiccup, no one's empowered to override it)....what do you do? I'd be immensely grateful to anyone with patience to read through and advise. I'm usually crafty enough to find a solution to any problem, but I'm stumped on this one.
I've lived in New York State for years, and recently moved to Connecticut. I maintain an office address in New York where I can get mail.
I need to switch my drivers licence from New York to Connecticut, but during the move, I lost my (NY) license. I went to New York dept of motor vehicles for a temporary license, and they said they'd mail me a permanent one. Connecticut won't switch my license unless I give them a full one...they won't accept the temporary. So I awaited the permanent one for weeks. Unfortunately, it was mailed to an old address so I never received it.
I called New York dept of motor vehicles and they confirmed it had been returned to them in the mail. I asked them to send it to my current New York address, and they noticed something in my record. According to their computer, I surrendered my New York license two weeks ago and currently hold a Connecticut driver's license. I have NO idea where they got this idea, and my mind breaks (zen enlightenment!) every time I ponder it. I've never successfully submitted anything to Connecticut motor vehicle (again, they need a full license to do the switch) and Connecticut has confirmed to me that I'm nowhere in their system.
I went directly to a New York motor vehicle office to sort it out, but was told this is what the computer says, and unless I can PROVE I'm unlicensed in Connecticut, New York will not give me a license.
Frantic, nearly hysterical at this point, I returned to Connecticut motor vehicles, and begged/pleaded for them to give me a written statement attesting to my non-existence as a Connecticut driver. But they have no mechanism for proving to anyone that a given person is NOT in their system. There's no form for that! They could only print me up a driver's abstract, which shows I have no VIOLATIONS in Connecticut. That won't cut it.
So I'm between unyielding bureaucracies. NY won't license me. Connecticut won't license me. I'm essentially an unlicensed driver with no options whatsoever. No one in the system has ever anticipated this unique situation, so there's no mechanism to override it.
What would you do?
One option: apply for a fresh new Connecticut license, take a driving test, etc etc, along with the 17 year olds. Problem is it will take weeks to apply for a test appointment (must be done via mail), wait for the date, and finally pass through the bureaucracy. And I NEED to drive! Also, I suspect there will be a question on the application asking whether I've ever held a license before...and, being disinclined to lie, I worry I'd find myself straight back in this loop.

Please help me make my computer forget that I ever plugged my phone into it!

omair — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:05:37 -0800

How can I uninstall a driver, and keep it uninstalled? I don't want Windows to keep installing it every time I plug my phone into the computer. I want it to be like the very first time I plugged it in -- when Windows had no idea what driver to install. I plugged in my Pocket PC (UT Starcom PP6700 running Windows Mobile 5) with a USB cable to my WinXP SP2 laptop. When it came time to find drivers, it didn't find any automatically. This was because I made the mistake of not having ActiveSync installed already. In fact, I completely forgot about ActiveSync until much later. Confused at that moment as to why this computer was not finding the drivers, I googled for the driver myself, downloaded it from some website, and installed it. The driver installed fine, but examining the device in Control Panel, I see that the computer says "cannot start the device - Code 10". Of course, ActiveSync, now installed, doesn't see the device.

I have tried many things to get this driver uninstalled, and to use the drivers that come with ActiveSync, and the tech support people at work have spent hours on it as well, but I cannot get the phone to sync over USB. I use IR now for that reason. I would like to be able to use USB though, so that it can charge the battery.

I believe that the problem lies in the fact that I can't get the old driver uninstalled. My phone works on every other computer I have plugged it into since then. Just not mine. Because, as soon as I plug it in, the "Add New Hardware" icon in the system tray appears, and it finds the original driver I installed and uses that.

I tried deleting the files from the System32\drivers directory, and the \i386\drivers, but when I plug the phone in again, the driver re-appears from somewhere. (rndismp.sys and rndismpx.sys). Where is the computer finding the files from? How do I get Windows to stop its automatic install of the drivers for my phone, and just stay on the first page of the Add New Hardware wizard? (Or better yet, to try and use the ActiveSync directory's drivers).

Other stuff that didn't work:
Uninstall the drivers in the control panel, and click 'scan for hardware changes' (just reinstalls the same drivers)
Click on "update drivers" in the properties and choose the ActiveSync drivers (says that the ones I have installed currently are the latest and best ones)
Removing the drivers while computer is in Safe Mode.

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated, even if they might not make sense. I am just running low on different things I can try to get this to work. So whatever you can think of, please! Thank you for all your help.

Help me find a driver backup application that can be scripted to run without prompting...

doomtop — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 17:51:39 -0800

Help me find a driver backup application that can be scripted to run without prompting... I am looking for an application that can backup and restore hardware drivers on a Windows-based PC. Much like this program: http://www.driver-soft.com/

The catch: I need it to be able to be run unattended or run as part of a batch script. Although it would be acceptable to give a prompt when there is an error, etc.

I am looking for a way to bundle this functionality into a script that will prepare a PC for OS re-installation and then restore all needed files, etc. after re-installation.

Free or pay-for are both acceptable.

How do I fix ialmdnt5 display driver?

anticlock — Fri, 25 May 2007 17:23:21 -0800

ialmdnt5 display driver periodically stops working, how do I fix it? windows xp.

Any thoughts on reinstalling dell drivers?

TrueVox — Fri, 11 May 2007 18:56:23 -0800

I'm trying to reinstall Windows XP, but I'm running into driver issues. I'm using a Dell Inspiron E1405 that I want to dual boot XP and Feisty Faun on (I want to go Linux full time, but I needs my WoW, and I can't get Wine to be friendly with my Video Card). I'm running into driver issues. I was smart enough to back up all my drivers from my previous installation, but it's not working very well to reinstall them. I run into this issue were even though I saved them all (using a program called DriverMax), they won't reinstall properly. I can get most of 'em, but my sound is still funky, it says my wireless is working, but it won't connect, and there's three unrecognized "System" devices. Do dells have some funkieness with their drivers?

Anyway, I just want to get this right so I can install Ubuntu. I'm sick of swaping out HDD's every time I wanna do something different.

Thanks a lot!

Vista - Code 39 On Most Devices

nervestaple — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 03:45:28 -0800

Windows Vista - nearly all devices report "Code 39", corrupt or missing drivers. About a week or two after I installed Vista Ultimate on my laptop (Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2), I booted one day to find my USB mouse not working, the LED wasn't even on. I then realized all USB devices were dead (external hard drives, camera, etc.) Using the touchpad, I tried to search for the problem online, only to find the network adapter was missing. Looking at the Device Manager, it showed three categories of devices all reporting Code 39 - corrupt or missing drivers. All network cards - wireless, modem, ethernet, all sound devices, and all USB devices. The USB devices are now only listed as 6 iterations of "Universal Serial Bus" followed by an identifier string. I'm not sure what the pattern of non-working devices is, but all that seems to be working is the keyboard, touchpad, DVD drive, and LCD. I uninstalled all of the faulty devices from Device Manager, then restarted, to no effect. It searched for the new drivers, but then reported "Failed" and back to square one. I disconnected all USB devices and rebooted, to no effect. I attemped installing different drivers over top of the Code 39 ones, to no effect.

So, I boot up Ubuntu from a LiveCD and all of the Code 39 devices work perfectly. So, it can't be that any of these devices are fried. After searching online, I've found squat - except a seemingly more common Vista problem where CD/DVD drives report Code 39 - except my DVD drive is fine.

The Vista install DVD doesn't seem to have an option for repair installation, so I'm preparing to format and reinstall unless someone can rescue me.

How do I handle this (latest) speeding ticket?

CommonSense — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:45:40 -0800

Got a speeding ticket that may cost me my license. But wait! Happened in State A, I live in State B, and my license is from State C, where I used to live. And there are small errors on the ticket. Is there hope? I have a nasty habit of speeding, and I was caught doing so (again) this past Sunday, on I-66 in Fairfax County, VA. I currently live in Baltimore, MD, but still have a New Jersey driver's license, having moved from NJ to Baltimore a year ago. (Yes, I know I was supposed to have gotten a Maryland license by now; I have no real excuse except for sharing in the universal hatred for going to a DMV branch and feeling my life pass me by). Just to make things more fun, I was driving a Virginia-plated and registered car belonging to my parents. I think that covers all the various jurisdictions.

Now, I currently have ten (count 'em -- ten!) points on my NJ license, all but one for speeding (the other one was failure to follow a traffic device). It takes 12 to get your license suspended for 30 days, though NJ will give you the option of going to defensive driving school if you want to keep your license, and they'll also remove three points after you complete it. If I'm convicted of Sunday's offense in Virginia -- which my silent radar detector confirmed that the officer didn't have a radar reading for (oh, did I mention radar detectors are illegal in VA, but mine was right there in plain view, and yet he didn't even acknowledge it?), then NJ will assess me two points; they give two points for any out-of-state moving violation, regardless of what it is. That would take me to 12 and a "notice of scheduled suspension," meaning I either give up the license for 30 days or take the driving course. If I have to face that choice, I'll do the course . . .

BUT . . . what if I go get my Maryland license NOW? Now, I had assumed that Maryland would "import" my points from New Jersey, so I'd start off the bat with points on my MD license. But according to Maryland's MVA website, they'll just "record the information" about my convictions elsewhere but NOT assess points! (See the first FAQ on this page for detail. It almost seems too good to be true, but I could see how it might be, given that it's a pain in the ass for one state to have to deal with interpreting points and violation codes/terminologies for 49 other states and DC all the time. And apparently MD doesn't opt for the "just give 'em x number of points for any moving violation, regardless" approach that NJ does.

My trial date in Fairfax is May 15, 2007. I can just mail in payment or do it on the web, thereby admitting guilt and getting hammered with another two points by NJ; I can hire a lawyer and hope he/she can get this dismissed, thereby keeping me hanging on a thread but still with my license in NJ; or I can first go get my MD license (hopefully virginal and point-free), wait a few days for things to settle down, THEN pay my Fairfax ticket by mail/online, which will cause them to send the conviction info to NJ, but since NJ will (by then) no longer be my state of license, it will either disappear in a black hole or (if they feel like doing the extra work) be sent on to MD, which will, at worst, give me my first two points on an otherwise clean record.

A couple of quick notes that may qualify as technicalities on Sunday's ticket: First, the officer wrote down my NJ address, which is on my NJ license, EVEN THOUGH I told him I now live in Maryland. He still went back to his car, filled out the ticket, and wrote my NJ address, KNOWING it's not my current address.

Second, he put my race down as white, even though I'm (an admittedly light-skinned) Indian (of the south Asian variety). This was an eyeballed thing on his part, because "race" isn't on my license. But my name is very obviously Indian.

Could a good lawyer -- or maybe even me, in person -- get this dismissed on either of the two technicalities above? Or should I just say screw it and get the MD license? Or something else?

And yes, I know: "Slow the hell down, jackass!"

Make my resolution greater, please?

TomMelee — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 12:51:41 -0800

Dell laptop question, is this all the resolution I can get? Certainly not! So I work for Habitat for Humanity, and we're getting ready to open a ReStore. (Google it, I'm afraid to self link.) I recently purchased a new Dell laptop for our local store, and it's great, except that the default max resolution sucks!

You can go here to see the system: http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/latit_d520?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

It's the one on the right, with a few more upgrades, including windows vista basic. Anyway, the max listed resolution is 1024x768. Surely, SURELY there has got to be a way to get it higher than that? It's driving me crazy! Is it just because it's Vista and there aren't great drivers for it yet?

Any advice is welcomed, thanks in advance!

Get me a license, quick!

mhz — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 19:05:58 -0800

What's the best location for a driving test in New York? Does anyone have any experience at the Wantagh location? I've got a bit of a problem:

I need to schedule a driving test in New York State on or before April 16th. I'd have scheduled it earlier, but I just received the required 5 hr course certificate.

Also: with Passover coming up, my regular restrictions on Saturdays are expanded to include April 2,3,4,9&10.

Currently the only thing I found available is the Wantagh location, and I've booked it. Is it an 'easy' site?

Apparently the Staten Island sites are easy, but they're not available within my limited timeframes.

So, just general reviews of NYS driving test locations, along with specifically the Wantagh location, and with a preference to relative closeness to the 5 boroughs.

Thanks!

Will Vista-Native drivers work in XP Pro? Y/N

SlyBevel — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 10:52:52 -0800

I have a client system that has Vista preinstalled. The client wants XP Pro on the system. It's a laptop, and the manufacturer (HP) only provides Vista drivers. Will the Vista drivers work in Windows XP? Is there a hardware-equivalent HP system that is the Windows XP version that I can get drivers for to use on this one? It's an HP DV6235NR. Thanks!

OS2 Print Drivers

battlecj — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 11:21:12 -0800

I'm looking for an original copy of the IBM OS2 Warp Version 3 program on 3.5 inch disks for a reinstall of the print drivers (omni.drv- HP Deskjet 500) They were placed on disk 2 to 4. The original program contained 21 floppy disks. Any assistance or ideas would be appreciated? At my work (neurologists' office), we can no longer print any results from evoked potentials testing. It appears support for this OS2 that we need ceased on 12/31/2006 and we're having trouble finding these drivers. We can only load the drivers from floppy disks. We looking for the IBM OS2 Warp Version 3 program on 3.5 inch disks for a reinstall of the print drivers
(omni.drv- HP Deskjet 500) They were placed on disk 2 to 4. The original program contained 21 floppy disks.

Does anyone know where we can obtain these? Thanks in advance.

Transfering Drivers?

matthelm — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 08:55:31 -0800

Main hard drive is about to die...New hard drive ready... Is there some way to copy drivers for video card, sound card, printer, etc, from the current OS hard drive to my external hard drive and then put them on my new hard drive with the newly installed windows? I just don't want to reinstall all the drivers again!...just curious...

Drivers license query

furiousxgeorge — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 11:51:07 -0800

Where online can I look up how many points are on my Pennsylvania drivers license? Pay services are fine, the penndot site offers a record of violations, but not points, for some reason.

Scanner Opinion needed

DonM — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 07:56:40 -0800

Windows XP does not support (no drivers) an Agfa Snapscan 1212 Scanner because it is operates through the parallel port. Would the scanner work if I purchased a USB to parallel printer cable even though I would have to rely on the Win 98 drivers or is it a lost cause for this scanner.

Display problems with a Sony Vaio PCG-C1VE

tomcosgrave — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 05:58:47 -0800

My girlfriend has acquired a second-hand Sony Vaio PCG-C1VE laptop. The OS is Windows XP. Her problem is that she can't get the display out of 640x480. She's looking for display drivers, specifically video drivers and monitor drivers if such things exist - she can't find them anywhere. Has anyone got any ideas?