This web page contains random bits related to things technical -
mostly having to do with repair/fixing of things - that don't fit
anywhere else on my
web site.
A few words of caution/warning:
Please be aware that these observations/fixes worked for ME
and may NOT work for you!
If you try any of these things, you are doing so at your
own risk! I cannot be held responsible if you do any of these and
break something or cause some sort of injury or damage! It is up
to YOU to do your own research and take appropriate precautions
to avoid equipment damage, personal injury or any other sort of similar
situation!
In some cases these cases are rather technical and may expose one
to potentially dangerous voltages: Do not do this unless you are
qualified to do such work, and if you do, take appropriate precations!
These items are in no particular order and could be on about
any topic, but
are usually related to things technical - such as problems (usually
camra/computer-related) that I've had and have been able to
solve... finally.
I appologize in advance for not having pictures of these
things! In retrospect, it would have been a good idea!
Some of these were done so long ago that my memory is a but fuzzy
and what is found below is based on my (often sketchy) notes.
When doing internal repair of any electronic/electrical device,
you should remove the battery/disconnect the power before working on it!
You can email me for questions, but I don't know if I'll be able
to offer any more help than what is on this page!
Adobe Flash will install without error, but won't
work on
Firefox or Seamonkey.
Problem: Under Seamonkey and Firefox (on XP) you can
seemingly
install Adobe Flash 10.x successfully (that is, there are no errors at
all) but it doesn't really
get installed.
Symptoms:
You go to a web page that tells you that to look at content,
you must obtain the Flash plug-in. You do this - and it installs
without error - but when you go back to a page that requires flash it still
says that
it's not installed.
Apparent reason:
This problem was solved by following the advice on
this
web
page.
What seems to have been the problem is that the installer did
not have operating system's permission to create the "plugins"
directory
pointed to by the %APPDATA% system variable. By manually creating
this directory and copying files to it, Adobe Flash started working
properly for both Firefox and Seamonkey.
It is not yet known if updates will be successful, but I
now know how to do this manually!
Sony TRV730 camcorder throws a "C:31:something" error
when loading a tape.
Problem: My Sony TRV730 D8 (Digital 8mm) Camcorder
gave a "C:31:42"
(or similar) error. When a tape was installed, it would try to
load it - but then start chiming quickly and eject the tape, showing
this error on the screen. Sometimes, it may work just fine, but
it became increasingly unreliable over time.
Temporary fixes:
Smacking the cassette door with your hand as hard as you
dare! This
would often clear the error for a while - but it would eventually stop
working.
Blowing a hair dryer into the tape compartment.
It had
been reported that "warming up" the components would "fix" this
problem. I tried this and it was hit-and-miss and its efficacy
wasn't demonstrable. If one did do this, care had to be taken to
prevent heat damage (e.g. melting) of plastic parts.
Moving the take-up reel manually. It seemed that
simply turning the take-up reel a turn or two before loading the tape
would increase the likelihood that it would work properly. When
ejected, this reel is gently locked into position and it was suspected
that this reel wasn't unlocking during tape loading. Later,
removing the tape compartment cover and watching the tape load
dispelled this mistaken idea - although it did seem to work
sometimes...
Eventually, the tape would not load. The camcorder
could still be used to take stills and to record video to the memory
card.
Permanent fix (for me!):
There is a flat ribbon cable that connects to the bottom of
the scanner assembly (e.g. the tape drum.) It was observed that
this cable had half-fallen out of its connector, causing intermittent
control/signals to the rotating drum, resulting in the error.
The camcorder was partially disassembled - something that is NOT
for the faint-of-heart. I have some experience in disassembling
and fixing such things, so it was a bit intimindating, but the
disassembly process was carefully documented in notes and sketches and
only proceded as far as necessary.
This cable connects to a main board that is behind the
scanner assembly - that is, when the LCD display is closed, the display
would be facing this connector: This connector is near the top
edge of this board, somewhat rearward of the "hot shoe" on top of the
camera.
This cable was simply (and carefully!) plugged back in!
It's been long enough ago that I don't remember exactly what sort of
connector was used, but two types are commonly found:
Friction fit, no release tab: The cable simply
pushes into its contacts, held only by compression of the springs
within the connector.
Friction fit - with a release tab: This is what I think
is on that particular cable. In that case, one has to release the
connector by sliding (or lifting up) the locking tab, at which point
the cable may be easily inserted - followed by
re-locking this tab to secure this cable. If the locking tab
doesn't move, don't force it!
Why did this occur? The cable itself was under a bit of
stress, being folded backwards from the scanner assembly behind
it to interconnect the circuit boards. Over time - with handling,
jostling and temperature changes,
the cable slowly worked its way out from the connector, causing a loss
of connection.
Since I re-seated the cable, my circa-2000 TRV730 camcorder
has continued to work just fine!
Other comments:
There are MANY reasons why your Sony camcorder may throw
errors when loading tapes. I perused other web pages to determine
what the possible causes would be and checked them out, but to no
avail. It was due to experience with other cameras/camcorders -
and the fact that I had nothing to lose - that I finally checked to see
if the cable was falling out: It was! Some of these
problems included:
At least one version of camcorder has a problem with a
plastic piece falling out near the rubber pinch roller. People
have reported using a piece of the tube from a ball-point pen to
fabricate a replacement piece. That was definitely NOT the case
with this camcorder.
Clogged heads on the camcorder. If you have a lot of
old tapes laying around and have decided to play them, this could
happen to you. The best way to clean the heads is to use the appropriate
cleaning solution and swabs that are specifically designed for cleaning
this type of camcorder, but these products are getting harder to
find. I have had good luck with the standard "dry" head cleaning
tape - BUT:
These tapes are abrasive on purpose: They
literally "sand down" the heads and drum very gently to remove "crud"
from the drum. Excessive use will prematurely wear out the drum!
They should be used sparingly - that is, as
little as possible!
The may/may not apply to YOUR camcorder - Sony or otherwise.
If your camcorder has a problem other than the above, I
really can't help you - sorry!
Camera Images on a Sony DCR-HC42 camcorder start to get
erratic/flaky and then finally disappear.
Problem: Images through the lens - as seen through
the electronic viewfinder, saved as still images on the memory card, as
seen on the flip-out LCD, and video recorded on tape
get flaky, but playback works fine. They may get noisy, dark,
distorted, off-color, etc. This condtion may be
affected by pushing on the
camcorder's case - particularly in the recessed portion where the
flip-out LCD goes in - or it may be affected for better or worse by
smacking the camcorder firmly. Previously-taken images stored on
the memory card (when the camera was working properly) look fine.
Cause:
The flat ribbon cable from the imager fell out of its
connector! (Sound familiar?)
Fix:
To fix this, the side cover of the camcorder (with the
flip-out LCD) was carefully removed. The cable coming from the
imager unit was observed to have partially dislodged from its connector
and it was re-installed.
I'm sorry that I don't have more details about this:
This camera failed in this manner just after it was out of warrantee -
which was several years ago - and more-specific details are a bit
fuzzy. Again, the same care described for
the fix for the TRV730 (above) was used when disassembling and
reassembling the case and re-installing the cable in its connector.
As happened with the cable in the TRV730, this cable, too,
was under a bit of "spring" which caused it to slowly work out of the
connector over time due to handling and temperature differences.
If your camcorder has a problem other than the above, I
really can't help you - sorry!
Images on a Polaroid X530 camera started to get
erratic/flaky and then finally disappeared.
Problem: Images from the LCD viewfinder - and those
saved on the memory card - started to get noisy, distorted, and finally
disappeared.
Cause:
Would you believe - a cable from the imager to the main board?
Fix:
Removing the bottom cover of the camera allowed me to see
that the ribbon cable that connected the imager/lens assembly had
partially dislodged. Simply putting it back in place fixed
things! The same precautions about re-installing cables mentioned
above apply
The "Take Picture" button on a Nikon Coolpix L5 camera no longer
works - or it only works sometimes.
Problem: The camera no longer (reliably - if at all)
takes a picture when you press the button. Everything else works
fine, though.
Cause:
The small ribbon cable that goes from the sub-circuit board
just
under the "take picture" button on the top of the camera and connects
to the main board (behind the
LCD) fell partly out.
Fix:
This cable just fits in the connector with friction and was
carefully
pushed back into place. If one is very careful, one need to lift
the back completely off the camera as this connector is accessible from
the top. It is necessary to remove all of the screws: IIRC,
there are two on each side and at least three on the bottom, near the
tripod mount.
When removing the back panel enough to access this connector,
note that there are some very small (black/red) wires that connect to
the LCD's
backlight: Either be VERY careful not to break them, or unsolder
them to allow one to work on the board.. (They go to spots near
the bottom of the board labeled
"BL-" and "BL+" and are the black/red wires, respectively.)
There's another flat ribbon cable that connects the LCD to
the main board. If you need to unplug this cable, note that this
is locked into place: To unlock this cable, carefully slide the
beige piece (the color may vary) toward the bottom of the camera (away
from where the cable plugs in) on each side and the cable may be
more-easily be removed. Note that this lock piece does NOT lift
up, but slides backwards to release the cable. Some other
connectors in this camera hold the cable in place only with friction,
while yet others have a locking mechanism that slides toward
the cable to unlock it.
When reassembling, make sure that the slide switch knob just
above the LCD aligns with the switch on the main board or else you
won't be able to move it
back and forth! It's easiest to slide it all of the way to one
side before taking off the back, and then making sure
that the button is in that same position
when you put it back together.
The longer screws holding the back on go in the side with the
shiny, chrome strip. (There are screws on both sides and along
the bottom.)
The camera's back lifts off the bottom edge first and is
hooked into the top edge. It may be reluctant to disengage, so be
careful NOT to break anything!
The "guts" of the camera may lift out from the front of the
camera: Be careful if this happens as other parts/buttons may
come loose/out of alignment.
As with any camera with a flash, there may be high voltage
present near the flash unit. If you touch this, you may get a nasty
shock - and the current may flow through you, into some of the camera's
circuitry and blow it up! (It may not do you any good,
either!) These voltage are generally present in the
upper-left corner of the camera - behind where the flash is located, on
the main board.
If your camera has a problem other than the above, I really
can't help you - sorry!