by WebKeyDesign | Jul 20, 2026 | Apple, Mac OS X, Microsoft, Networking, Tech Notes, Windows
There is nothing more frustrating about the tech world than having to support printing. Unlike computers, tablets, and mobile phones, the printer seems to be the last reminder that the world is not entirely digital. The printer is in fact a mechanical device that requires attention to detail. It is the one device that I can think of that I use the least but which breaks down just when I need to use it. It will break because I use it too much or not enough! The printer has spinning rollers and ink cartridges and it moves paper, but if the paper is too moist or not enough, or wrinkled, or folded, or too thick then you have a paper jam. What I am trying to say is that your printer is needy, it wants your attention or else.
I decided to replace my Lexmark printer, because all it really did at this point is swallow paper and refuse to print. The replacement ended up being a Canon color laser printer that I found on sale on Amazon. This time, I went with a color laser and decided to give Canon a shot at being the home office printer. First you should know that all printer software is terrible. I install printer drivers for Lexmark, HP, Epson, and Brother and it is all equally confusing on Windows and MacOS. The main difference between the Canon and the Lexmark printers is the noise. The Lexmark is rather quiet when it spins up every now and then. The Canon sounds rather loud and you can hear it from another room when it wakes up and prints. I did run into two issues with the Canon. The first issue was that I was unable to update the firmware on the printer, the other was my fault. I forgot what code I setup for the security of the printer and needed to reset it back to factory settings.
Factory Reset
For the reset, you must be at the printer and use a special sequence to put the printer into Service Mode. This is not at all in the manual. For Service Mode:
- Press Home
- Press 2
- Press 8
- Press Home
Now you can do a Factory Reset from the menu options.
Firmware Update
For the Firmware Update, you will need to download it from the Canon Support site or you can update the firmware from one of the options on the printer itself, by going through the menu options. I preferred to download the update from the site, connected a laptop to the printer via USB, and then ran the firmware update tool as administrator in Windows.
The problem you run into is that the utility never sees your printer. It is not explained in the manual that you must go to the printer and first setup the printer to be in firmware update mode. Once it is in this mode, then the utility will see the printer and update it. Again, this is not explained in the manual from what I can tell.
Firewall Recommendation
This is more a tip for anyone who has a network printer like this. You should block the printer from the internet using firewall rules on your router. Block the printer’s network IP completely or block these specific ports for your printer’s IP address:
- Port 631 UDP and TCP
- Port 443 TCP
This will prevent hackers from communicating with your printer and printing all sorts of stupid stuff.
Additional Links
by WebKeyDesign | Oct 11, 2024 | In Stock, Out Of The Box
For my next project, I started thinking about building a home NAS (Network Attached Storage) server. I thought it would be an interesting project and allow me to reuse some hardware that I have on the shelf. I am in no hurry to complete this project, as I have to concentrate on other projects that I cannot ignore. As usual the problem that you run into when selecting hardware, you often find that what you want is out of stock or it is only made by one company and that company is most likely in China. There are a few computer cases that are specifically for building a NAS server, however most of them are not impressive or are are costly for what they offer. Newegg and Amazon both sell computer cases from JONSBO and I specifically liked the N4 case, which was unavailable in the USA from either retailer. AliExpress.com also sells JONSBO products. I have never bought anything from AliExpress and finding credible online reviews is not easy. Hence this is a review of my shopping experience with AliExpress.com and not the actual JONSBO case. I will eventually do that later.
AliExpress Similar to Amazon
The first thing to know is that AliExpress is similar to Amazon. It is a marketplace of different sellers, all selling the same product. If you have the model number for what you want and the company name who makes it, it is pretty easy to find multiple links for the product. The price will vary dramatically and remember that you are buying a product that is in China that has to be shipped to you directly, so shipping charges and import fees will apply. If you are buying something for a couple of hundred dollars, you might not pay much, however if you are purchasing something that is moderately expensive, then it might not be worth it. You would be better off comparing the prices to Amazon if they carry the product. Since what I was interested in was under two hundred dollars, I decided to go ahead and purchase the case.
I searched through all the product listings that I could find for the JONSBO N4 Case and found a link that appeared to be from JONSBO, the actual company, and not a reseller. They included free shipping as well. Note, you have to be extra careful at time of purchase, because the product page lists multiple cases, and I specifically wanted the N4 black model. Double-check that in the Cart page you have selected the correct model and or product.
Buying anything from China directly is confusing, because the companies do not always accurately translate into English their product descriptions and or websites.
Once I completed the order, then you wait. This is not Amazon Prime shipping, because the warehouse is literally across an ocean and multiple states!
Shipping Experience
The order was completed on August 28th at 10 PM US Central time. This is the email confirmation that I received right away.
To track the package, I checked the AliExpress Order Tracking page and here is what it looked like eventually:
The Order Tracking is not accurate. I actually received the package on September 25th. There is a tracking number that is provided did not link to anything, so I checked it manually and found that this was a FedEx number and I was then able to track the package from FedEx.
The Box
Upon inspecting the box, I noticed it stated N3 and not N4. Inside the box, there was an N4 computer case. Much like other companies that make a small number of products, the box is designed for one model, but they ship everything in the same box. I have bought computer speakers and found that they used the same box. You had to check the package label or open the box to make sure you got what you ordered. Here is what the box looked like in my garage.
by WebKeyDesign | Oct 4, 2024 | Apple, Networking, Software
It is quite common to hear that you need to use a VPN any time you are on a wireless network. Your typical free wireless network at the mall or your favorite coffee shop is not encrypted in any way. If you travel, you can rest assure that hotel wireless internet is terribly insecure, just because you never know if there is someone in the next room sniffing all your packets. Lastly, the internet service provider for the hotel is not to be trusted at all. However, VPN companies themselves can be shady and there is not a good way to verify who can be trusted with your internet communications. It is possible for technically minded people to spin up a virtual machine and provide their own VPN service, but this requires some effort and virtual machines costs can add up. In the end, I decided to go ahead and pay for a dedicated VPN service.
iPhone with Windscribe VPN
My VPN usage is primarily for my iPhone and so I am not going to go into any detail about using Windscribe on a Mac or Windows machine. Needless to say, Windscribe provides multiple clients and setups for all your devices. I chose Windscribe VPN because of their reputation and my initial experience with their free trial. I pay for a yearly plan, so that I can keep my costs down. Anything beyond a year for a service seems to be a gamble. No one wants to sign a 5 year lease, so don’t do it for software as a service either!
The iOS app allows you to connect to a variety of locations. I specifically choose the Chicago locations and select Wireguard as the protocol. My experience with iOS and VPN apps is that once you plug in your phone to charge, iOS will close out your VPN after a period of inactivity. This means I have to open the Windscribe app and establish the VPN connection. You can create rules that exempt your home wireless network or other wireless networks you trust so that the VPN is bypassed. For the most part I keep Windscribe on for all connections, wireless and Verizon cellular. I know for a fact that if you do not use a VPN and are on your cellular network, that a telecommunications engineer can actually see all your data in real time, (if they connect to the cellular tower device). If you have a VPN, you might as well use it all the time.
No VPN Allowed
Now there are some exceptions, when you cannot use a VPN connection and you might want to turn it off. These are annoying to say the least, but there is not much choice.
Some eCommerce sites do not allow VPN connections. The website will most likely give you an HTTP error such as 404 with a message that proxy connections are not allowed. I have had this issue with Lowes.
Warehouse stores and my Verizon cell service do not work well. Often when I am at Menards, Lowes, or The Home Depot, I will get zero bars and if I try to use the in store WiFi, they do not allow VPNs and so my choices are to walk out to the outside yard of the store and use my cell service or choose an insecure store wifi network.
I do have to say that Target and Walmart have great WiFi and their mobile apps make it very easy to scan for in-store prices.
The other exception is at home when I have apps that need to connect to the WiFi network to see local devices. My Sonos speaker is a good example of this. I want to stream Spotify to my Sonos, and so I can either make an exception rule for my home WiFi or just turn off the VPN.
Block Stuff
Windscribe offers a variety of blocking options. Turning some of these on will save on bandwidth and also keep you safe from malware. Windscribe describes this feature: R.O.B.E.R.T. as a customizable server-side domain and IP blocking tool.
Turning on any of these options is account specific and will apply to your other devices as well. Note there is a link at the bottom of the screen that takes you to your account, where you can specify your own custom rules.
Final Notes
I recommend Windscribe as a VPN option for your iPhone. Overall it has worked well for me and my kids.
by WebKeyDesign | Mar 13, 2024 | Out Of The Box, Tech Notes
Since I work from home now, I started to try and make everything in the home office as quiet as possible. I replaced the fluorescent light ballasts with new ones that do not buzz. In fact, when replacing one of the ballasts, I found that it was actually burned out! I swapped out the tubes as well with new LED ones. The next thing was to tackle the tower Windows Server box that sits in the office. I took the case completely apart and installed all new Noctua fans except for the CPU cooler fan. The fan power control for the motherboard was still too noisy, so I used a Noctua fan controller instead to power most of the fans to be slower. This reduced the noise and I was able to work in a quiet office for several months. What eventually cropped up was the power supply started to make some fan noise. This Windows Server runs all the time, so some components can fail over time.
The Power Supply
This is actually the second XFX power supply. The original XFX 850 failed after a couple of years. I sent in for warranty and received a new replacement. In the mean time I purchased this model:
XFX ProSeries P1-1050-BEFX 1050 W ATX12V 2.2 / ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Now after a few more years with the 1050, it started to whine and make fan noise when the tower would heat up. Trying to get warranty service for slight fan noise, will probably be hard and this power supply is out of warranty at this point. It has been running for 9 years!
WARNING! POWER SUPPLY HAS ELECTRICITY AND CAN HURT YOU!
Do not do this if you do not know what you are doing. It is best to just buy a new power supply if you are not proficient with electronics.
Disassembly
I disconnected the power cord from the power supply, then held the power button for a couple of minutes on the computer to discharge some of the electricity. Next, I disconnected all the computer cables from the power supply and unscrewed it from the tower case. After this, I unscrewed the main screws and carefully opened the power supply. The HA13525H12F-Z fan is partially glued to the case, so I recommend a plastic tool to detach it.
Once I had it opened, I did not detach the fan power line to the supply. After using a can of compressed air to clean off the dust, here is what it looked like:
The power supply and fan were not as dusty as what I thought it would be. Make sure you do not touch the blue capacitors as they may still have a charge. You can google the fan model number HA13525H12F-Z if you want to replace it with a new one. For me, I just want to see if I can keep the original fan after some maintenance. A replacement fan would most likely be $25 or more and so it would be easier to just buy a new power supply.
This is perhaps one of the easiest fans to work with. It literally snaps apart and once you have it disassembled, you can clean the inside with some cotton swabs and a bit of rubbing alcohol. Be careful, as you do not want to break any of the copper coils.
What I noticed is that there really was not much lubricant left, so this can explain the whining sounds. I used some sewing machine oil and a bit of Permatex Anti Seize lubricant. Less is more in this application, because you do not want any oil or lubricant spilling out. Clean up any excess and check it once more, after snapping the fan back together.
Conclusion
After this maintenance, my fan noise is now gone and I hope to get a few more years out of this power supply. Another plus is that I kept more electronic waste from the landfill.
by WebKeyDesign | Feb 16, 2024 | Microsoft, Tech Notes, Windows
Last weekend, my son returned to me the used HP EliteBook 840 G3 laptop that I had gotten him for college. He no longer was using it and it was buried in his old bedroom under some of his belongings. He did tell me that the laptop no longer started and that it had a low battery screen. Once I had some time, I inspected it and sure enough, the laptop would not even light up the display and so it seemed it was dead. I spent a couple more hours trying to figure out what it was. I opened it up and tried a variety of options, such as removing the internal battery and disconnecting the CMOS battery. Nothing seemed to work. I even connected an external display to see if that would work.
3 Long, 2 Short Beeps No Display
Finally, I removed both memory SODIMMs and found that it was one of the SODIMMs that was bad. The original Samsung memory would cause the computer to startup with the 3 long beeps, followed by 2 short beeps. The second SODIMM was a new Corsair module that I had added when I bought the laptop originally. Apparently the HP BIOS will not display a screen if one of the memory modules is bad. I have only seen memory go bad one other time on a Dell server. However, I assumed that if the memory module was bad, the BIOS would still boot and display an error. HP does not do that.
I ordered a new 8GB SODIMM and a new battery. The original battery would not charge, so that definitely needed to be replaced.
The laptop was on Windows 10, so I decided to wipe it and install Windows 11. Since this is an old laptop, HP no longer supports it and so the HP Support page will not list any updates for Windows 11. However, I the laptop runs Windows 11 fine. There is a Windows Updates issue where it keeps trying to install the Conexant driver.
Additional Notes
For the issue with audio driver Conexant, I had to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter and force that particular update to no longer show up in Windows Update. Audio is working on the laptop, so the installed driver works fine.
The other issue I noticed was that the battery would not charge past 78 percent. For this, I had to go into the HP BIOS, hit F1 and choose to go into the setup. Under the Power Management, you have to choose to allow HP to manage the battery and then it will charge to 100 percent. The default option tries to save battery cycles.
This laptop also had the LCD screen replaced. The screen ended up going bad shortly after I originally bought it. In all this laptop has lasted a lot longer than I expected. I am not fan of the HP BIOS and I know the Dell Latitudes are pretty cheap when bought used, but they tend to run hot. Next time I will probably try to get a Thinkpad.
There is nothing more frustrating about the tech world than having to support printing. Unlike computers, tablets, and mobile phones, the printer seems to be the last reminder that the world is not entirely digital. The printer is in fact a mechanical device that requires attention to detail. It is the one device that I can think of that I use the least but which breaks down just when I need to use it. It will break because I use it too much or not enough! The printer has spinning rollers and ink cartridges and it moves paper, but if the paper is too moist or not enough, or wrinkled, or folded, or too thick then you have a paper jam. What I am trying to say is that your printer is needy, it wants your attention or else. 
Since I work from home now, I started to try and make everything in the home office as quiet as possible. I replaced the fluorescent light ballasts with new ones that do not buzz. In fact, when replacing one of the ballasts, I found that it was actually burned out! I swapped out the tubes as well with new LED ones. The next thing was to tackle the tower Windows Server box that sits in the office. I took the case completely apart and installed all new Noctua fans except for the CPU cooler fan. The fan power control for the motherboard was still too noisy, so I used a Noctua fan controller instead to power most of the fans to be slower. This reduced the noise and I was able to work in a quiet office for several months. What eventually cropped up was the power supply started to make some fan noise. This Windows Server runs all the time, so some components can fail over time. 
Last weekend, my son returned to me the used HP EliteBook 840 G3 laptop that I had gotten him for college. He no longer was using it and it was buried in his old bedroom under some of his belongings. He did tell me that the laptop no longer started and that it had a low battery screen. Once I had some time, I inspected it and sure enough, the laptop would not even light up the display and so it seemed it was dead. I spent a couple more hours trying to figure out what it was. I opened it up and tried a variety of options, such as removing the internal battery and disconnecting the CMOS battery. Nothing seemed to work. I even connected an external display to see if that would work.