Category Archives: Insider stuff

Adding Ancient Dell Printer Gets Interesting

Oho! How the time flies by when I’m not looking. I tried to install my Dell color laser printer — Model 2155cn — on the Toughbook FZ-55 this morning, only to get the “Driver is unavailable” error in Printers & scanners again. “Hmmm…” I wondered: “How old is that thing anyway?” Turns out it made its debut in 2011, and I bought it in 2012. Like the original Apple LaserWriter I bought in the late 1980s (and kept until I bought this one) this is one indestructible beast. Thus, I must observe that for Windows 11, adding ancient Dell printer gets interesting. Simply put: Windows no longer includes these drivers in the OS distribution!

How Adding Ancient Dell Printer Gets Interesting

So now I finally understand why I’m seeing this error in Settings. You can see it, too, in the lead-in graphic. Amusingly enough, it shows up right below the device info for the 2155cn that I just installed minutes ago, courtesy of the Dell 2155 Application for Windows, which I found at the Dell Support pages. Dell calls it the 2155cn/cdn Color MFP Software Suite and Driver.

When I look at the list of supported OSes, 11 is absent — though it does mention 10, 7, Vista and XP. It bears a release date of March 2014, too. This information, along with the settings error message, is what finally clued me into what’s going on here. This darn printer is so OLD that MS doesn’t find it necessary to include its drivers amidst the thousands of newer devices it does support. This explains what was going on for my post from last week Dell Printer MIA.

Here Comes Nothing, Printer-Wise

Interestingly, MS is switching over to the Mopria printing protocol, under the umbrella of Universal Print. It will no longer provide new drivers from printer makers starting next year (2025: see this fascinating PC World item “MS is killing 3rd-party printer drivers in Windows 11“).

So, pretty soon this won’t matter. For older printers — like the Dell 2155 cn — the only option will be downloading from the maker’s website. For newer printers that are Universal Print/mopria-savvy, things should “just work.” Maybe I need to buy a new printer so I can see about that! LOL…

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Toughbook System Disk Explored

Examination of the disk layout and structure for the Panasonic Toughbook proved both interesting and informative. I used the free version of DiskGenius.  With the Toughbook System Disk explored — it appears as Disk 0 (HD0:) — I observed an interesting and useful disk layout, as you can see for yourself in the lead-in graphic above.

Reporting on Toughbook System Disk Explored

There are five (5) partitions on this disk, as follows:

1. EFI Partition (260 MB)
2. Microsoft Reserved (MSR: 16 MB)
3. WindowsBitLocker Encrypted (NTFS: 450.7 GB)
4. Recovery (WinRE: 990 MB)
5. OEM Recovery (OEMRCV: 25.0 GB)

What makes this disk layout interesting is that Partition 5 is basically a map and a replacement for all partitions. It includes a complete version of Windows 11 (Media.1) . It also uses SWM files (partial WIM files, and something new to me) to offer a variety of install and image files from which to build appropriate replacement images.

This feeds into a BIOS level repair utility from Panasonic that can rebuild the disk from scratch, in much the same way that the WinRE utility typically supports a “Factory reset” capability. This one, however, will work even in the absence of a working Windows image. Indeed, Panasonic also offersRecovery Media to perform the same function without reading anything from Disk 0 (via download, as explained below, or for purchase through the website).

Partitions 1-4 are basically a standard Windows 11 disk layout. Partition adds Panasonic’s own twist to this scheme, and provides an alternate means to reset a Toughbook to factory defaults that include this OEM partition. WinRE will rebuild the disk, but will leave this ultimate partition (5) alone.

Insights from Manuals and More

in a section entitled “About the Partition Structure” the Operating Instructions manual says:

Do not add or delete partitions in Windows 11, as the Windows area and recovery partition must be adjacent to each other in Windows 11.

I also found a link to Panasonic Japan for a Recovery Image Download Service. There I found links to an instruction manual and a recovery disk creation utility. Note: access to a valid model and serial number for a Toughbook PC is required to download and use this tool. Section 3.2  explains the recovery process which drives Panasonic recovery from a BIOS selection “Recovery” that rebuilds all partitions on the system disk.

Good to know!

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KB5034441 Partition Work Kills Reflect Backup

There’s a very good reason why I run my Macrium Reflect backups at 9 AM. I’m usually at my desk, so I can see it fire up and –eventually — complete successfully. This morning, I noticed the backup had failed pretty soon after it started up. What I wanted to see shows up above in the lead-in graphic — namely “Image Completed Successfully.” Upon investigation, the reason for failure was a missing partition. Indeed, I’d deleted it to make room to expand my WinRE partition. That’s why I call this post KB5034441 Partition Work Kills Reflect Backup. Now, I’ll explain…

Why KB5034441 Partition Work Kills Reflect Backup

KB5034441 appeared on January 9 for Windows 10. It works some Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) magic and also rebuilds the WinRE partition on the sys/boot disk. Alas, it wants an additional 250MB of partition space. That’s usually not available in most existing recovery partitions, so it’s necessary to resize that partition to make room for the new additions.

This is where things get interesting for me. I run a daily backup on my sys/boot (and key data) disk(s). Because I made room to grow my existing WinRE partition — using reagentc /info to identify it, and MTPW to give it more space — I first deleted partition 6 on that drive (an older, now ununsed WinRE partition). Because my Reflect Macrium drives image backups from a partition map, killing Partition 6 on the drive made the XML backup schedule diverge from the actual disk layout. When that happens, out of an abundance of caution, Macrium Reflect refuses to image that changed  layout.

Fixing the Backup Backup (Failure)

All I had to do to fix the problem was to define a new backup schedule with the proper partitions ticked off on the boot/sys drive. But before I could do that, I had to notice the old backup definition was no longer working. Of course, I also deleted the no-longer-working definition file as well.

That finally happened this morning and I got a new backup completed shortly thereafter. I’m sure glad nothing blew up in the meantime. As you can see, my last successful backup (before today) occurred on January 12 — one week ago. Dodged a bullet, that time.

KB5034441 Partition Work Kills Reflect Backup.backfiles

Notice the second date in the descending series of files. It’s a week old. Ouch! {Click image for full-sized view.}

Learned an important lesson, too: if the partition map changes, the backup definition file must be changed to match. Otherwise, Macrium Reflect image backup won’t work! Because I rely on daily image backups to haul my fat out of the fire, that’s uncommonly good to know and understand…

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X1 Extreme Graphics Driver Delirium

I guess it just happens every so often. Right now, Lenovo Vantage is nagging me to upgrade graphics drivers — both Intel and NVIDIA — on my 2018 Vintage Thinkpad X1 Extreme. (Internals: i7-8850H CPU, 32 GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, dual Samsung OEM SSDs.) But Lenovo Vantage wants me to run an Optimus display driver and GeForce Experience wants a GeForce Game Ready Driver. The back-n-forth is leading to some X1 Extreme graphics driver delirium. What’s a body to do?

Surmounting X1 Extreme Graphics Driver Delirium

In a nutshell the problem is this: when I update to the Optimus driver, GeForce tells me to update to the Game Ready Driver, When I go the other way round, that flips so Lenovo Vantage tells me to get back on its track. I don’t do a lot of heavy-duty graphics on this laptop, and I’ll be darned if I can tell any difference.

I asked Copilot: “What’s the difference between running a GeForce Game Ready Driver versus NVIDIA Optimus Display Driver on a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti with Max-Q Design?” It says: battery and easy switching between discrete and integrated GPU for Optimus, versus gaming performance and support for newest games for Game Ready Driver.

Dilemma dehorned: I don’t play games and I do switch back and forth between the Intel UHD 630 and the discrete GPU. But I had to finagle a bit to get the status from Lenovo Vantage you see above, where it tells me “No updates available.” Deets follow next…

Both Intel and Optimus Must Update

Something about the update package from Lenovo was successfully updating the GeForce driver, but failing to do the same for Intel. How could I tell? Two ways:

  1. The Update package did not run all the way to completion.
  2. The driver version for the Nvidia device matched that for the Lenovo update package (31.0.15.3770), while that for the Intel UHD 620 was lower (update version was 27.20.100.9316 but the running version ended in 8967 instead). Oops!

Because the Lenovo installer wasn’t finishing up (and the Intel Driver & Support Assistant was cheerfully oblivious), I exercised the download package’s offer to extract its contents to a folder. Then I went into Device Manager, right-clicked into “Update driver” and turned it loose on the Intel folder in the unzipped file archive that extract created for me. It took a while to complete, but this worked.

So now, I’ve got the latest Optimus drivers for my X1 Extreme and it’s all good. Here in Windows World, if you’re willing to stop and think about what you’re doing, there’s nearly always a way to fix such issues. Done!

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Dell Printer Driver MIA

Just as we were ready to call it a night, “the Boss” came downstairs from her office cubby. Said she “I can’t print like I usually do.” Upon investigation, Word showed her default printer as: Microsoft Print to PDF, instead of the Dell 2155cn printer right next to her desk. “Uh oh,” I thought: “That can’t be good…” And sure enough, when I went into System → Bluetooth & Devices → Printers & Scanners, I saw the tell-tale status “Driver unavailable.” Yikes, the Dell Printer Driver was MIA. What to do?

Return to Action When Dell Printer MIA

Fortunately, I’ve been down this road before. When my quick attempts to access the device showed me only the link between the Boss’s Dell OmniPlex D7080 PC and the 2155 was affected, I knew what to do.

Yep: just as the status line showed, the driver had crashed and burned. Hence: unavailable. So I removed the printer from the lineup. Then I used the “Add a Printer or scanner” facility to bring it back onto the D7080. Fortunately, that worked without my having to visit the Dell website to grab a new driver download. With its associated software and tools, that takes longer to install and set-up.

Device Manager was apparently able to locate and install a working replacement driver without any extra help (or effort) from me. After printing a test page to make sure things were working once again, I printed the red velvet cake recipe that the Boss was trying to output. Sounds — and looks — yummy.

Remove & Replace to the Rescue — Again!

Just yesterday morning, I blogged about using uninstall/reinstall to fix an issue with the brand-new PowerToys “Command Not Found” facility. Last night, I used the same approach to take a broken device driver out of play, and bring in a new and working replacement.

Hmmm. Seems like this R&R strategy is one that comes in handy for all kinds of interesting Windows issues. Let’s keep that in mind, shall we?

 

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Do-Over Fixes Persistent CNF Error

Holy Moly! I’ve been enjoying the workout involved in getting PowerToys “Command Not Found” (CNF) facility installed on my PCs and VMs.  My latest adventure has been dealing with what happens when the Command Not Found module is itself not found. It might not be recursive, but it is amusing. After numerous  futile tries to fix the PowerShell Profile or change its associated path, I simply uninstalled CNF, then re-installed it afresh. That’s how I learned a do-over fixes persistent CNF error.

Why a Do-Over Fixes Persistent CNF Error

Examine the intro graphic above. It asserts that the CNF module “was not loaded because no valid module file was found in any module directory.” A search did turn up a module with the matching name (using Voidtools Everything) but something apparently went wrong with the file transfer, because this error message popped up anyway. I can only conclude that means it was invalid (inoperative). That said, all the PS path info on this machine matched that on my other PCs, so I’m confident it was never the problem.

I’m pretty sure that’s why a do-over fixed things. When I uninstalled the munged version, all that stuff got deleted. When I installed afresh, the new copy of the module worked and the PS profile change did, too. As you can see in the next screencap it shows that the profile was loaded (top lines). Then I type “vim” to show that CNF intercepts this missing item and tells me where to go to find it. Problem solved!

The old “remove-replace” operation fixes baffling Windows errors. Here, you see profiles loading and CNF working after same.
[Click image to see full-sized view.]

There’s No School Like the Old School

In my three-plus decades of working with Windows I’ve seen my share of odd and interesting errors. Sometimes, things don’t work on the first try. But the uninstall-reinstall sequence — which I like to call the old remove-replace operation, hearkening back to my shade-tree mechanic days — will often fix otherwise mysterious and unexplainable errors or failures.

At least, it worked for me this time with the odd invalid module error for Command Not Found in PowerToys. A small triumph for common sense, here today in Windows World.

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Interesting CNF Side-Effect

Last Thursday, January 11, I blogged about the new PowerToys Command Not Found (CNF) facility. This weekend I stumbled upon what I call an “interesting CNF side-effect.” I rattled off the “cls” (clear screen) command, but missed the last character and typed “cld” instead. The lead-in graphic shows what happened. Cool!

What IS the Interesting CNF Side-Effect?

When the CNF sees a string that doesn’t match uninstalled or already-known commands, it suggests “the most similar commands” as shown in the intro graphic. That’s a sure-fire indication that something went wrong on the data entry front. I’m amused that the “cls” command string — a closer match than the change directory, or cd, command — doesn’t come up in the suggested alternatives.

But hey! To me this behavior is a bonus above and beyond the entirely helpful impetus to let users enter commands they know they want to use, and bring them aboard through the CNF facility. In this case, it’s a nugatory command that doesn’t exist because it’s a typo.

I quickly learned to see this effusion of text as a clear sign that I goofed somehow. That’s what makes it useful to me. Hopefully, you will find it equally useful.

The Joys of PowerShell and WT Increase

Everywhere I look, I see plenty of evidence that the Windows Terminal and PowerShell teams are working hard to make these tools more friendly, powerful and useful. The integration of Copilot is something I’m just starting to dig into and appreciate in the same vein (but on steroids).

All I can say is “Keep up the good work, folks!” Their efforts are making my life more fun and more interesting. They’re also encouraging me to make more and better use of a terrific toolbox when working with Windows. I’m jazzed!

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Bringing Up PowerToys Command Not Found

PowerToys v0.77.0 made its debut earlier this week. A cool new facility also showed up — namely, Command Not Found. This nifty PowerShell module “detects an error thrown by a command and suggests a relevant winget package to install, if available.” You can see that capsule summary in the screencap shown above. What I have learned is that Command Not Found requires installation, but also carries some dependencies as well. Thus, Bringing up PowerToys “Command Not Found” tool involves a little more work than other new items added in the past. It’s all good, though…

Steps in Bringing Up PowerToys Command Not Found

As you can see in the intro graphic above, Command Not Found (CNF) must be manually installed before it does anything inside PowerShell. This is simply a matter of clicking the install button shown at mid-right in that image.

And there are a couple of buts (pre-requisites, really):
1. Right now, CNF works only with PowerShell v7.4.0 or higher. If it’s not installed and running, that must be fixed.
2. CNF also relies on a PowerShell Gallery module named WinGet Client Module (ID: Microsoft.Winget.Client). Interestingly winget does not install PS Gallery items, but there’s a button in the PowerToys console shown above that will handle this for you. After it’s installed, you can check the CNF install logs or use the Get-InstalledModule cmdlet (another PS Gallery item).

Bringing Up PowerToys Command Not Found.winget-client

The Get-InstalledModule cmdlet displays all PS Gallery items in your profile.

If you’ve not yet defined a PS profile, this installer will report its absence. But don’t worry: running the CNF installer creates one for you. Thus, once you get past the pre-requisities (dependencies) and install CNF, it’s almost ready to use. You’ll need to refresh the current PS profile so it brings CNF into the runtime environment for Windows Terminal/PowerShell. The easiest way to do that is to close Windows Terminal, then open it again. When you type an unknown command into the prompt, PS will offer to install it for you as long as it can find a valid source. That’s what you see in the next graphic:Bringing Up PowerToys Command Not Found.vimcheck

The vim utility is uninstalled on this PC, so CNF shows potential install strings. [Click image for full-sized view.]

Note: Demitrius Denelon used vim as his example in touting this new capability for PS users, so I had to find out what it was. As its name led me to suspect, it’s a modified version of the ancient “vi” text editor that you can run inside PS. Use winget show vim.vim to see more info.

Cool New Tool

This is a great new addition to PowerShell. This heightens my willingness to experiment with and learn about new cmdlets. Now I know if I bang on an uninstalled PS Gallery item, this facility will tell me how to install it so I can use it right away. Mmmm good!

 

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Windows 11 Disks & Volumes Info

Here’s something I didn’t know. Through System → Storage → Disks & volumes, Windows 11 makes all kinds of storage device info available. Indeed, such Windows 11 Disks & Volumes info (see lead-in graphic) even includes “Drive Health” for suitably-equipped devices. Let’s explore a little bit more about what that means. But first, take another look at the graphic above.

Digging Into Windows 11 Disks & Volumes Info

What can you see in this graphic? The first section shows disk info for the internal SSD, a 1 TB Kioxia NVMe. It also shows bus, target and logical unit number (LUN 0) data. There’s a Status field that shows the drive is online. Next, a Health section shows remaining life, available spare, and temperature. Finally, Partition Style shows up as GUID Partition Table (GPT). Previously, garnering this info required accessing Disk Management and Device Properties. Fabu!

In fact, if you click on Advanced Disk Properties, the same Properties page you can access through those other utilities comes up. But to me, that’s not what’s most interesting. Turns out, older USB attached devices (USB 3.x, in my local case) do not show the Drive Health section. That only works for USB4 devices (including Thunderbolt 4 items, as USB4 is a strict subset of TB4).

Now I Get It, Yet Again

Once again, I’m seeing a tangible improvement in transparency and usability when plugging in newer and more capable (but also more costly) USB4 peripherals. Even on laptops like the 2022 vintage Lenovo ThinkPad P1Gen6 Mobile Workstation (which still relies on the Thunderbolt Controller not a USB4 Host Router) these benefits convey.

As I said before in an earlier blog post “NOW I get it.” The value of the new interface is starting to come ever clearer. When I talk to the Panasonic engineers in a few minutes, I hope I will learn more. Stay tuned!

{Note Added 4 Hours Later] None of the engineers or developers I talked to was conversant with the switchover from Thunderbolt to USB4 Host Router at the hardware level. They’re floating a discreet inquiry to the Japanese engineering team to find out more. When I get more info, I’ll share it here (or in a new post, as things unfurl). Again: stay tuned!

 

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Incase Takes Over MS Branded Keyboards

Last year, MS announced it would stop making its company-branded mice and keyboards. As somebody’s who’s been using MS keyboards since Homer was a pup, I was naturally concerned. But those concerns were allayed last week. That’s when peripheral maker Incase announced it would sell those products as “Incase designed by Microsoft” items. Indeed, Incase takes over MS branded keyboards as part of that deal. As you can see in the lead-in screencap, that includes my beloved Natural Ergonomic 4000 (top center).

When Incase Takes Over MS Branded Keyboards, Then?

The announcement isn’t completely clear about exactly when this cutover will occur. When MS announced they’d  exit this segment of the hardware business (they’re sticking purely to Surface branded hardware going forward), they simply said they’d sell out of existing stock. Methinks Incase will need to ramp up and get going before the new incarnations of the old MS-branded items will reappear for sale.

Currently, my fave model under the old brand goes for about US$400 on Amazon. The last time I bought a pair was in 2020, and I paid US$108 for 2 of them from Newegg. I still have one unopened in the original box, but the one I’m typing on right now is about ready to be retired. It still works like a champ, but the keycaps for A, S, D, C, V and M are worn to invisibility, and many of the other right- and left-hand main keys are spotty at best. And I’ve spilled at least three coffees on this puppy over the past 3-4 years…

Hopefully, Incase Restores Rational Pricing

Most other vendors are selling ergonomic keyboards in the US$35 to $70 range (I just checked at Newegg). I’m hoping that means when Incase turns the tap back on they’ll fall somewhere in that range. If and when that happens, I’ll order another pair of keyboards. When I need a new one, I always order two, so I’ll have a spare in case something goes wrong with the one I put in service first. Fingers crossed.

At any rate, I’m grateful Incase took over these venerable mice and keyboards from MS. Hopefully, I’ll keep clacking away at the same layout until I decide to hang things up for my own retirement. Even then, I’m sure I’ll keep at least one around for old time’s sake.

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