Resetting Android and Windows handheld devices

We’ve all had handheld device problems. Glitches, ads popping up when you don’t even have a browser open, apps continually crashing, error messages, and turning off and not turning back on are just a few. On more than one occasion, I have been going somewhere new using Waze, Google Maps or my All Trails app and my handheld device’s screen has gone black, and the device is unresponsive. Almost all handheld devices have sealed batteries, so you can’t physically remove them to reset the handheld device. So, how do you reset something that never truly shuts down?

Soft Reset

One of the scarier issues is when a cellphone or handheld device goes completely dark and the screen will not turn back on, or the device will not power up at all. Most of us keep a close eye on battery life and know that this is not the issue, and assume the handheld device has gone  to “Electronics Heaven”. Most of the time your handheld device can recover from this, until the day that it doesn’t. This phenomena is known as the “Black Screen of Death”. The handheld device will not turn on, there is no sound, and will sometimes not even show it is plugged in or charging.

The fix for this issue is the same for Android and Apple. Hold down the power button until the handheld device starts up.

Easy, right?

Make sure to hold the button for an extra long time. It always takes longer than you expect. If you are timing it, a minute should be good. If the handheld device still does not start up, you can send it to us for repair if it is a model we support. Possible causes are usually a bad main board or power button.

Windows 10

Bluebird Mobile Data Terminals

To perform a soft reset, your handheld device needs to be turned on. Press and hold the volume down and power button until your handheld device vibrates and restarts. Do not touch the screen while you are doing this, even if the slide dialog shows on the screen.

Instances when you may need to soft reset a Windows handheld device:.

• Apps fail to start
• The camera will not activate
• The unit starts to act strangely
• The device is running down the battery or getting warmer than normal

This forces the machine to reboot, which can resolve many software related issues.

Hard reset back to factory specs.

Before doing a hard reset, be aware that this will wipe all of the data off of your handheld device except what is stored in an external card. Pictures are usually the most important things to back up on your handheld device. There are many services to backup photos that enable you to save these. Google Photos, Amazon Photos, and Microsoft OneDrive are just a few. If you have an unlimited data plan I suggest turning on the option to use cellular networks to make sure you do not lose any memories due to losing your handheld device, or a catastrophic event, like running it over with a truck. If you are using an Android device, there is a way to backup all your data to an external SD card, if your device has one.

Hard resets revert the unit back to factory defaults. This is useful to free up space, take out most viruses, reset the screen lock password, and will occasionally fix boot issues, among other things. I suggest that you check for any software updates before doing a factory reset, if the device boots up. The update could fix the problem you are having, without losing your settings and data. The software fixes can always be viewed in the changelog.

Windows 10 handheld device hard reset

The best way to reset the handheld device is through the menus, but if you cannot get the unit to boot, it is frozen on the boot screen, or is looping on the boot screen, there is a key combination you can enter to activate the reset. This key combination is the same on all Windows 10 handheld devices.

1. Switch off the handheld device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Down button and either connect your charger, or hold the power button. When you see activity, release the power button, if it is being held. When the exclamation mark appears release the button Volume down button.
3. Now press the keys in the following sequence, there is a small window of time to input the key combination, so if it does not work you will need to power down the handheld device and try again: Volume Up, Volume Down, Power, Volume Down.
4. The handheld device will reset immediately and  a picture of two gears will show up. After this completes, the handheld device will reset and you will be able to use it again.

If the handheld device is unable to get to the “!” screen or still will not start properly it can be sent to us for repairs, if it is a model we support.

Android handheld devices

If you cannot get into the menus on the handheld device to perform a factory reset, you will need to go into recovery mode . Please note, Android OS 5 (Lollipop) uses Factory Reset Protection (FRP) to lock your handheld device and data if the device is stolen. If you are going through the apps/menus, you do not need to worry about the FRP, and this is also the proper way to wipe the device, if you are giving it to someone else or selling it.. In order to reset the handheld device you will need the user’s Gmail address and password to complete the process, or the handheld device will be unusable. There are ways around this but they are difficult and not always effective.

There are many different variations of Android handheld devices with many different key combinations to get into the recovery menu. For the Bluebird EF5000s, hold down “volume down” and “left scan” when starting the unit. To find the key combination for your specific handheld device, do a web search for “recovery mode” and your handheld device model (e.g. “Pixel 2 recovery mode”). Once you get into recovery mode, the handheld devices are almost all the same. Volume keys always move the selection to the next or previous item, and the power key selects what has been selected.

1. Enter recovery mode using the key combination for your handheld device.
2. Turn off the handled device and use the key combination required to put it in recovery mode. (See below for common key combos)
3. Use the Volume down button to select Factory Reset/Wipe Data and press power to select.
4. The device will ask you to confirm.
5. Once you have confirmed your choice, the device will reset, and the time this takes varies greatly between units.

Common handheld device key combinations:

• Samsung Galaxy S8, S9, S10,  &Note: Power, Volume Up, Bixby key(this key on the left below the Volume Down) or on older models Home key at the bottom, if there is no Bixby key.
• Nexus and Pixel: Power, Volume Up, Volume Down
• LG G Series: Power, Volume Down

If a hard reset fails to fix the issue please contact us so we can provide information on how to send us your device for repair.

Thank you for reading,  Check back soon!

How a Managed Inventory System can help you save time and money

As a parts buyer, you have a tough job.

The Service Manager wants you to find the highest quality parts at the most economical price point for next day delivery, regardless of how late they gave you the order. You’ve got to coordinate shipping between various vendors and the customers site or a hold location. And then there’s the headache of getting the defective part back from the field service engineer. Even if you do get it back, you still must deal with shipping the part out for repair and following up with the repair center to have it returned to you.

What if there was a way to make this process easier, thereby taking some of the stress off you? This is where an established Managed Inventory System can help. Let’s look at how the system works.

MANAGED INVENTORY SYSTEM OVERVIEW

At Midrange Repair & Parts we have developed a Managed Inventory System that can ease the daily burden of parts management.

The system starts with a seed stock of inventory to maintain the products your company has under maintenance. This seed stock is determined by the type of machines being maintained, the quantity of machines, and the common failure items for these machines. When we build a program for a customer, we’ll ask for this information and provide the customer with recommended stock levels. The customer will then transfer the appropriate quantity of inventory to our warehouse location for storage. We receive the items into a virtual warehouse for that specific customer, recording the part number, serial number and condition of each item. The condition of the item will indicate a status of defective, repaired, or unrepairable. As a customer you’ll be able to access our customer portal to check the status of all your inventory.

When you need one of your parts, you’ll send an order to your MRP Account Executive who will start the order process. They’ll create a Sales Order to ship the part to your customer’s site or to a hold location for your Field Service Engineer to pick up. They’ll also include an Authorized Return Shipment (ARS) label with the package and instructions for your engineer to return the defective part to our repair facility. The first time your seed stock ships out you’ll only be charged for shipping. If the part we ship was originally defective and we repaired it, you’ll be invoiced for the repair work as well as the shipping charges.

We’ll monitor the ARS labels and watch for your Field Service Engineer to return the defective core part. When it arrives, we’ll receive it back into your inventory as defective for future repair.

Once a week we run a usage report to monitor which parts were used in the preceding 30-day period. The report shows us what was used, what you have in repaired inventory, what you have in defective inventory and what items should be repaired. This ensures we always have 30-days part usage repaired and ready to ship. By the way, we can ship your parts as late as 6:00 pm Central Time Monday through Friday.

HOW THIS BENEFITS YOU

So, how does this make your life easier? Let’s look at how most companies handle their inventory problems.

Purchase Only – Some companies purchase the parts they need either outright or on exchange. If you purchase the part on exchange it’s on you to make sure your Field Service Engineer sends the board back to you. This means either you’re tasked with managing the core exchanges for your various vendors or you’ll need a co-worker to help you manage them. Neither way is efficient or cost-effective.

Additionally, if you purchased the board outright, you’ll still want to get the defective board back from your engineer. If it’s a popular or valuable board you may decide to send them out to be repaired, assuming you don’t have your own depot repair center.

Having your stock repaired as needed – Depending on the size of your company and the volume of your maintenance contracts you may have decided to manage your own parts inventory. Now you’re having to manage two inventories, one for good stock and one for defective stock. You’ll need to monitor your parts usage, project your future usage, determine what defective parts to send for repair and in what quantities and follow up with your vendors as to the status of those repairs. You’ll also need to track and receive the repaired boards as they come back to you and receive them into good usable inventory. This just adds more work to your already busy schedule as well as a variety of added expenses.

The first improvement you’ll see when using our service is in cost savings. Having your boards repaired can save you up to 75% over the cost of purchasing boards. You only pay for parts that ship which means you don’t have to outlay money for inventory until it’s needed while reducing exposure to inventory write-downs.

The second improvement you’ll see with a Managed Inventory System involves time and efficiency. When you entrust us to manage your inventory and your repairs, you’ll find you have more time to take care of tracking down those hard to find purchases.

We’ll keep track of all your parts, both defective and repaired. Your parts can be shipped at a moments notice until 6:00 pm CST Monday through Friday. We monitor your usage and repair your defective inventory accordingly. You’ll see a savings in both time and money within a very short time period.

Call your MRP Account Executive today and see what we can do for you!

P8000 Printers, Reliable and Flexible Print Solutions

If you do a lot of printing and/or are looking for a long-term solution, Printronix P8000 is the latest in Line Matrix printers. P8000 series are long lasting and do heavy-duty printing, offering 4 different speeds from 500 to 2000 Lines Per minute. The average lifespan of a line matrix printer is 7 to 10 years, delivering unmatched reliability, as compared to only 3 years for laser printers.

The P8000 series of printers handle up to 6 part continuous, fan folded, edge-perforation forms and a print width of 13.6 inches. New Ribbon Cartridge technology yields up to 30,000 pages per ribbon, and is less expensive than laser toner cartridges. Every P8000 uses the same cartridge ribbon, reducing inventory management costs and eliminates ordering and installation confusion. With a mean time between failure of 10,000 hours (25% duty cycle & page density), reliability and uptime are no longer a concern.

The Cabinet P8000 Line Matrix Printer delivers the most flexible design and adaptable functionality of any line matrix printer. With the Enclosed Cabinet model, you gain multiple options for paper handling including:

• Optional Rear Slide-Out Paper Drawer with ergonomic features, such as lifting handles that provide the user easier handling and better grip on full box loads
• Optional Front Paper Access, which is ideal for supporting operations in confined spaces
• Optional Expanded Doors to accommodate larger forms
• Our quietest printer for environments where noise is a consideration
• Configurations and printing speeds ranging from 500 to 2,000 lines per minute

The Open Pedestal P8000 Line Matrix Printer series also delivers flexible design, adaptable functionality and manageable savings. The Open Pedestal models combine a small rolling footprint with ease of forms retrieval:

• Compact enough to move around in just about any industrial environment
• Optional acoustic shroud offers comfortable noise reduction without impeding quick access to print jobs
• Seamless integration into your current workflow will enable you to reap the benefits from the improved reliability, productivity and environmental advantages
• Unmatched durability and superior print quality resulting from patented technologies and a choice of speeds to handle your company’s individual printing requirements and challenges
• Configurations and printing speeds ranging from 500 to 1,000 lines per minute

P8000 Printer Features Include:

Multiple Emulations

• Standard: LP+ (Printronix P-Series, P-Series XQ,Serial Matrix, IBM ProPrinter III XL,Epson FX-1050)
• Standard: ANSI
• Standard: PCL 2
• Standard TN5250/TN3270
• Standard: Graphics Emulation PGL & VGL
• Optional: IPDS
• Optional: DEC LG

Adaptable Functionality. The P8000 Cartridge series adapts to almost any supply-chain or back-office environment.

• Standard USB 2.0, Serial RS-232 and Ethernet connectivity
• Optional Parallel interface available
• PowerPrint™ delivers improved print clarity and print darkness on multi-part forms by increasing impact energy.  PowerPrint is a standard feature on P8000 printers with a 500 or 1,000 line-per- minute print speed.

Character Sets: 99+ character sets including ECMA Latin 1, DEC Multinational, IBM Code Page 437 and 850, OCR A, OCR B, UTF8 encoded Unicode

Character Styles: Bold, italic, double wide, double high, overstrike, underline, subscript and superscript

Fonts: NLQ Serif, NLQ Sans Serif, Data Processing, High Speed, OCRA, OCRB

Barcodes: 30 resident symbologies, including Code 39, EAN 8/13, UPC A/E, Intelligent Mail, Postnet, Royal Mail, Interleaved 2 of 5, PDF 417, Data Matrix

Printer Software: Printronix PrintNet Enterprise remote management software, SAP device support

Printer Drivers: Windows XP, 7, 8, 10; Windows Server 2003, 2008/R2, 2012, 2016; Linux/UNIX; SAP

Power Voltage: AC input range 100-240 VAC, 50/60 HZ

Power Consumption (typical)

• P8P05 / P8C05 / P8Z05 320 watts
• P8P10 / P8C10 / P8Z10 320 watts
• P8C15 475 watts
• P8C20 475 watts

Power Consumption (Standby): 5 watts

Operating Temperature: Environmental Operating Temperature 50° to 104° F, 10° to 40° C

Paper Parameters:

• Continuous, fan folded, edge-perforation
• Up to 13.6″ (345mm) printable width area
• Up to 6 part forms with thickness0.025” (0.64mm) max
• 3” (76mm) to 12” (305mm) forms length
• 3″ (76mm) to 17″ (432mm) width

Media Weight Single Ply

• 15 lb. Bond to 100 lb. Tag (56 to 163 gm/M2)
• For Zero Tear models:
  • 18 lb. Bond to 100 lb. Tag (67.7 to 163 gm/M2) for forms up to 12” (305mm) in width
  • 20 lb. Bond to 100 lb. Tag (75.2 to 163gm/M2) for forms up to 16” (406mm) in width

MTBF: 10,000 hours at 25% duty cycle and 25% page density

Consumable/Ribbons

• Extended Life Cartridge Ribbon: 30,000 pages

Page yield based on ISO LSA Page, 8.5″ x 11″ letter-size, approximately 5% coverage

Physical Dimensions

• Height: 40.5” (1028.7 mm)
• Width: 27″ (685.8 mm)
• Depth: 29″ (736.6 mm)
• Printer Weight: 200 lbs (90.7 Kg)
• Shipping Printer Weight: 265 lbs (120.2 Kg)

Acoustic Noise (dBA) per ISO 7779:

• P8205: 50
• P8210: 50
• P8215: 52
• P8220: 55

For more information please call us at 708-597-4222

www.themrpsolution.com

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Care & Maintenance of Printer Shuttles

Shuttle matrix printers are designed to be long lasting, heavy duty printers that can go for years of use between maintenance or failure. I have seen printers with print counts in the millions of pages. Although these machines are incredibly long lasting and well built, service and maintenance can add many more years of life to the devices. One of the most common issues with these machines is ink buildup in the print mechanism. This causes the frets (the part that actually presses ink to the page) to either stick or stop short of the page, causing voids in the print or poor print quality. With a few basic tools, (and occasionally an alignment tool, as noted below) breaking down and cleaning the shuttle mechanism is a simple procedure which will extend the usable life of the printer.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call Midrange Repair & Parts for technical support at 708-597-4222.

Hammer Bank Shuttle Assembly

How to Clean a Shuttle Frame Assembly Step by Step

Tools Required

• Phillips screwdriver
• 5/32 Allen wrench
• 3/32 Allen wrench
• T10 Torx driver
• 5/16 wrench
• 0.011 feeler gauge (at least 6 inches long)
• Rubbing alcohol
• Natural or plastic bristle brush (not wire)
• Paper towels
• Rubber gloves(optional)
• Alignment tool(only required for P5220dual, P7000 flat & cartridge models, and P8 Model 15 & 20)

Procedure

1. Turn off the printer and unplug the power cable.
2. Open the printer lid.
3. Open the platen all the way using the platen lever.
4. Remove the ribbon from the ribbon hubs and set it aside.
5. Using a Phillips screw driver unscrew the two captive screws holding down the shuttle cover.
6. Remove the shuttle cover and set it aside.
7. Unplug the four cables that connect to the shuttle frame assembly and tuck them out of the way.
8. Using a 5/32 Allen wrench unscrew the center captive screw, and the left and right side Allen screws, which hold down the shuttle clamps.
9. Place the left and right side 5/32 Allen screws, along with their washers, and the platen clamps aside.
10. Unlock and slide the tractors all the way out to the sides. Lift the shuttle out of the printer casting, being sure not to damage the ribbon shield on the tractor assemblies.
11. Set the shuttle, frets up, on the work surface which you will be cleaning it on.
12. Depending on the model of printer the ribbon shield and hammer bank cover will come in one of two styles. Style A: One piece which snaps on and is held in place by magnets, or Style B: two piece which is held on with T10 screws. Remove the ribbon mask and hammer bank cover.
13. Clean the ribbon shield and hammer bank cover using rubbing alcohol. Be sure to not bend the ribbon shield by applying too much force between the plates when cleaning the one-piece (Style A) assembly.
14. Once the ribbon mask and hammer bank cover are clean, lay them aside on a clean surface.
15. Remove the frets from the shuttle frame assembly. Depending on the model of shuttle, there will be 3 or 4 screws per fret. Also depending on the model, each fret will have between 4 and 20 hammer tips. Be aware that some shuttles require an alignment tool, and all the frets should NOT be removed at once. If this is the case for the machine you are working on, make sure to leave at least 2 frets fully installed at all times.
16. After removing all the frets, set them aside temporarily, and using a dry paper towel, wipe down the face of the shuttle frame, removing any inky buildup or debris. After you have gone over the hammer face with a dry cloth, wipe it down again with a paper towel which has been dampened with rubbing alcohol. The towel should not be too wet with alcohol as this may damage the hammer face coating. Once you have finished cleaning the hammer face of the shuttle, it can be set aside
17. Using a plastic or natural bristle brush, without any solvent, give each fret a quick once over, to remove any large debris or heavy ink buildup.
18. After you have brushed off all the frets, lay them all tips up and give them a light coat of rubbing alcohol. This will soften the remaining buildup on the tips of the hammer frets.
19. Using a natural or plastic bristle brush, go over the frets again, one at a time, scrubbing until there is little to no debris left on the frets. Additional alcohol can be used to keep the frets from drying out. Once all the frets have been scrubbed, wet them down with alcohol again.
20. Take a paper towel folded over a couple of times and wet it down with alcohol. Wipe down the base and back of the hammer frets first, and then wipe the tips off. Keep doing this until the fret comes away without leaving any ink behind on the towel. Be sure to apply a little pressure to ensure the tips are getting good contact with the towel.
21. Once you have cleaned the last of the ink off the fret be sure to set it aside on a clean dry surface to air dry.
22. After cleaning all the frets and the hammer frame assembly, clean up the work area to remove any inky waste like dirty paper towels or used paper which was placed on top of a work area, to prevent getting the parts dirty again.
23. Before replacing each fret onto the hammer frame assembly, first wipe down the frame assembly, then each individual fret with a clean paper towel to make sure no debris gets under any of the parts, as this can cause print quality issues.
24. If you are working on a unit that requires an alignment tool, skip to step 27. There are two guide pins on the hammer frame assembly that align each fret, and two notches on each fret to go over the pins, be sure to get these lined up when placing the frets back on the hammer frame. This alignment does not have to be perfect. At this point we are just getting the parts ready for reinstallation.
25. Thread in, but do not tighten down, all the T10 Torx screws that hold the frets into place for all the frets.
26. Using your “off hand” thumb, press the frets down against the guide pins, while tightening the screws which hold down the frets, using your “dominant hand”. The screws should be tightened in order, from right to left, as the frame assembly would sit in the machine.
27. Place all the frets on the hammer face that have been removed, and thread in but do not tighten the screws. Use the alignment tool to align the frets, and then tighten down the screws.
28. Once all the frets have been tightened down, place the hammer bank cover back on the hammer frame assembly, being sure to align the guide holes on the hammer bank cover with the pins on the hammer frame assembly. Look at all the hammer tips through the holes in the hammer bank cover. They should all be near the center of the holes in the hammer bank cover. If the fret is misaligned, the hammer tips will not be centered in the holes of the hammer bank cover. If this is the case, remove the hammer bank cover and the misaligned fret, then reinstall following steps 24-25. Recheck and realign, as necessary, until all the frets are properly installed.
29. After being sure all the frets are aligned, reinstall the hammer bank cover and ribbon mask. If this is a one-piece (Style A) hammer bank cover, it is held in place with magnets. If it is a two-piece hammer bank cover (Style B) it will be held down with Torx T10 screws. Also, if you have a two piece (style B) cover, reinstall the ribbon mask.
30. Reinstall the hammer frame assembly. Make sure the platen is in the fully closed position, then drop the hammer frame assembly back into place on the casting of the printer. Align the captive 5/32 Allen screw and thread it down but do not tighten it. Replace the two side 5/32 Allen screws along with the washer and shuttle clamps on both sides of the shuttle as well. Being sure not to tighten them down. Pull the hammer frame assembly towards the front left corner of the machine with your left hand and tighten down the center and right-hand screw of the shuttle, before letting the shuttle go. Tighten down the final screw to finish clamping down the shuttle. Be sure to install the 4 cables that go to the shuttle.
31. Perform a platen gap adjustment. No paper or ribbon should be loaded. Make sure the platen lever is closed all the way to the “A” position. Loosen the platen motor to keep from damaging the platen open belt. For this you will need a 5/16 wrench. Using a 0.011 feeler gauge, check for proper gapping at the left end of the hammer frame assembly by placing the feeler gauge in between the hammer bank cover and the ribbon mask. There should be slight tension on the gauge as you slide it up and down. If there is too much or not enough tension, it can be adjusted by turning the 3/32 Allen screw at the end of the platen. Clockwise to tighten the gap, counterclockwise to loosen the gap. Once the left end has been gapped properly, adjust the right side of the shuttle the same way. Then recheck the left side to make sure it hasn’t shifted. Once this is done, be sure to tighten the platen belt motor back down, being sure that the platen belt is tensioned.
32. Write down the hammer phasing number, which is on the hammer frame assembly, somewhere you can keep it handy.
33. Replace the shuttle cover.
34. Get the machine ready to test: Load paper and ribbon and plug in the power cord.
35. Run the following tests to assure print quality: “Burn In” under the printer mechanism test menu, to assure you do not have any light or dragging frets, “Underlines” from operator print tests to assure proper fret alignment. “Ripple Print” from operator print tests to assure proper phasing.

Thanks for checking out the blog, please check back soon for more!