« Posts tagged Drivers

Short: Mopier HP Printers Make Me Sad

March 15, 2011 / posted in "It's a Feature", Short, Troubleshooting / 2 Comments

After setting up a few users on yet another HP Laserjet P4015dn, one person complained that when they told Microsoft Word to print 10 copies (or any number, really) only 1 copy would actually print. The printer wouldn’t report any errors, and neither would the computer – everything would just report normal.

A closer look revealed that the printer driver had Mopier Mode enabled. As per HP, this mode is used when the printer has an EIO hard disk installed. If the printer doesn’t have one, it will only print one copy. To disable Mopier Mode, do the following:

  1. Open the (Devices and) Printers Control Panel.
  2. Right-click on the printer, and choose (Printer) Properties.
  3. Click the Device Settings tab.
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the list, and change “Mopier Mode” to “Disabled”, then click OK.

Easy, right?

TL;DR Version: If your HP Printer is only printing one copy when told to do more, make sure Mopier Mode is disabled in the Printer Properties.

Solution: Mouse Cursor in Windows 7 Disappears

August 13, 2010 / posted in "It's a Feature", Troubleshooting, Windows / 2 Comments

I reinstalled Windows 7 on my MSI Wind U123 today because of a number of problems with sound input and PulseAudio on Fedora 13 that I couldn’t be buggered to fix. After the install, I ran Windows Update as normal, rebooted, and then noticed that my mouse cursor was gone. I could still click around and select things, so I knew the mouse was working, however I couldn’t see it.

Searching Google proved worse than useless. The two best solutions listed were to either enable pointer tails (annoying) or lower the hardware acceleration level on your video card. Although true that both of these options will work, they both suck.

The real fix? Install the correct video drivers. As it turns out, when I ran Windows Update I accidentally selected the Intel Graphics driver update, which caused the problem. After downloading and installing the correct driver direct from Intel the cursor suddenly reappeared. Magic!

TL;DR Version: If your mouse cursor disappears, go to your video card manufacturer’s website and get the drivers from them.