NATC 1-0 Printer from Hell

Contributed by Guillaume Foutry

There is a saying that printers come from hell as they have an unparalleled capacity to generate troubles and frustration. At NATC, we have become expert at fixing them.

However, we stumbled upon an exceptional case that required us to do the following:

1. Perform initial troubleshooting/diagnose
2. Order spare parts from HP Support Center
3. Download the Firmware of the printer from HP website
4. Reinstall or upgrade the firmware of the printer
5. Trying to install the firmware on the printer (did not work)
6. Come up with new solutions: Replace DC control board; Replace communication board (formatter); Load the firmware of the printer on the SanDisk (which is a memory card also functioning as a hard drive through the formatter of the printer).
7. Order suggested parts (formatter)
8. Replace parts (DC control board and formatter)
9. Load the firmware of the printer on the SanDisk
10. New issue: Toner Collection Unit needs to be installed
11. Remove the toner collection unit of the printer (included the toner collection unit sensor and the toner collection unit gear) to reset them
12. New issue: One of the cables of the DC control board was unplug
13. Switch off printer, plug the cable and re-start the printer
14. Victory: the printer now functions properly!

We made it!

As you can see fixing a printer is a proper battle that requires expertise, patience, resilience and ingenuity. Things we have plenty of at NATC. If you have issues with your printers, do not waste your time on it. Bring it to us and we will be happy to fix it for you. 

Update on Naomi Meh - "Help NATC Save a Life"

Dear friends,

As you know, NATC sponsored the medical treatment of a young Liberian woman, Naomi Zeinabu Meh, by sending her to India. The girl was suffering from acute pain and given the pure lack of medical care in country, it was not clear what was wrong with her. She even had a leg amputated unnecessarily by doctors at Firestone Hospital. We knew Naomi as an employee of NLTC (NATC's predecessor) and seeing her awful condition decided to send her to India for diagnosis so at least to figure out what was wrong with her. Naomi was sent to India in October and has undergone diagnosis and treatment. 

We blogged about the case "Help NATC Save a Life" previously and sought contributions from friends and community members. 

We are pleased to inform you that NATC has finally managed to pay off the remaining hospital fees and have brought Naomi Zeinabu Meh safely back to Liberia on 21 March. The total  hospital bill was 510,000 Indian Rupees (USD 10,250.00) and we managed to pay off almost all of it although there is a pending amount of 70,000 Rupees (USD 1,400.00). Naomi was discharged from the hospital after Haresh's daughter, Ms. Kamna, signed a personal bond. We also spent USD 2,500.00 on her travel expenses. 

A local Mumbai pharmacy (Bandra Medical) donated the medications just before Naomi left India which was worth USD 120.00. These are medicines to be taken for long-term. 

Copies of the Discharge Card from Nanavati Hospital, Dr Barve's Report as well as various receipts are available on request.

Naomi was in India for a total of 5 months during which - as you can see from the reports -  Naomi was given extensive medical treatment for the TB and radio therapy for the carcinoma (the tumour in her pelvic region). The doctors have advised excision of the tumour at a later stage when her lung condition permits and when the finances are available. 

Noami visited us in the office last week and she really looks much healthier and she told me she is in much less pain. 

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude for the moral and financial support you gave us without which we would not have been able to see this through. 

If you would like to ask us any more information, please feel free to do so. Let's hope that Liberia's state of medical care improves. 

Sincerely,

Farzana and Haresh

Laptop Battery

Contributed by Haresh Karamchandani

Image from 21 Ways to Improve Your Laptops's Battery Life

We imported 5 units of HP2000z laptops from HP, USA for supply to an NGO client. These are competitively priced laptops (We got them for US$384.98) and supplied the client after adding cost of freight, clearing and forwarding.

Yesterday the client called me and complained that they had opened up 3 out of the 5 laptops for use but all 3 had “Battery Problems”. I questioned him as to what exactly is the problem and he replied that the batteries were not charging at all!

I immediately called up HP support and gave them the laptop serial numbers and product numbers. I got a very cooperative tech agent on the telephone and he remained with me on the telephone for more than an hour helping to troubleshoot the problem and eventually resolve it:

The first thing he asked us to do was to remove out the battery and the power adaptor from the laptop. We did that. Then he said that we should keep the power on button pressed for about 30-45 seconds even though there was no battery or power adaptor. We did that.

Then he said we should insert the battery back into the Laptop and plug the power adaptor back. We did that. Then he said we should put the laptop on by pressing the power button and at the same time as the laptop booted we should continuously tap on the F10 key. We did that.

Then he asked us what we could see on the screen. We could see nothing! The screen was blank! Then he asked us whether the keyboard lights were on, yes they were on. Then he asked us if the light on the power pin area was on, yes it was blinking. He then asked us to switch off the laptop. We did that.

Then he said that we should restart the laptop, but this time we should do it normally without pressing any F10 key. We did that. This time, the laptop booted and the screen lit up with the Windows 7 logo!

Then he asked us to check the battery icon on the bottom right hand side corner to see whether the battery was charging. Indeed it was! It showed 41% at that time. And about 5 minutes later it showed 51%.

Then he asked us whether we could see HP Tech Support on the screen. Yes we could and he asked us to click on that. Then he asked us to go to troubleshooting and then to Battery/Power. We did that. We saw a remark: battery performing normally, but the power adaptor needs to be plugged in. The power adaptor was plugged in. I asked him why we are getting this remark. He said that was absolutely perfect and in order. He said that we would not get this remark if the battery charge % was over 75%. We continued to charge the battery and 10 minutes later it was over 75% and again did this check. There was no remark!

Then he advised that it would be a good idea to calibrate the battery regularly. This is how the calibration is done: Charge the battery till it is 100%. Then remove out the power adaptor and use the laptop until the battery is fully drained out and the laptop turns off by itself. Then charge it again to 100% and repeat the same. Do this 3 times. He said that this procedure is advisable and will help calibrate the battery and keep it healthy and in good shape.

NATC supplies Laptops and Accessories to clients and also provides on-site support and warranties. This client just enjoyed the support! Another happy NATC client.