Dell Printers Doesn't Update Printer Driver

Issue exists on Dell 924, 944 and 964 printers wherein the user is unable to update the existing printer driver. The main reason for this whenever the user attempts to update the driver using the "Update Driver" button; the driver may just install a second copy or mirror of itself. This results to a second printer object with just a different name, normally "Dell Photo AIO Printer 9XX (copy 1)." and it automatically appears as default printer.

Dell's resolution to this as per the Dell's community forum website is to manually delete and rename the duplicate printer entries from "Printers and Faxes" option in Control Panel. A system reboot is necessary for changes to take effect.

After the restart, manually update the driver on the Dell Printer Solution Center as below:
* G11a, A02 for Photo All-in-One 924 printer.
* WebNet944EN32, A00-01 for Photo All-In-One 944 printer.
* G5A32-WP English, A01 for Photo All-in-One 964 printer.

The workaround should resolve the issue. For more of Dell technical updates and resource, logon to support.dell.com or go to Dell's Community Forum.

Dell Touchpad Stops Functioning after Windows Update

Users encounter non-functioning touchpad after a Windows Update called: IdeaCom Technology Inc IdeaCom Touch Screen. Both affect Windows XP and Vista platforms. Moreover, there have been reports with multiple system manufacturers who are experiencing this issue.

To fix this, follow the following steps to undo the update (these are keyboard strokes in case the user can no longer his/her touchpad or doesn’t have any external mouse available):

1. For Vista: Press the Windows logo key to open the Start menu and then type device. For XP: Press the Windows+R to open the Run window and then type devmgmt.msc and press Enter.
2. In Vista, use the Down arrow key if necessary to select Device Manager from the search results list and press Enter. (If XP, skip to step 4.)
3. If you see a UAC prompt, press the Left arrow key to move the focus to the Continue button, and then press Enter. (Step 3 only applies with Vista)
4. Press Tab to move the focus into the device list. Use the Down arrow key to move to the Human Interface Devices category, press the Right arrow key to expand that category, and then use the Down arrow key to select the IdeaCom device.
5. Press Enter to open the shortcut menu for this device (or use Shift+F10, which is the universal keyboard shortcut that simulates a right-click, and then use the arrow keys to select Properties from the menu and press Enter).
6. From the Device dialog box, press Ctrl+Tab to move through the tabs until the Driver tab is visible.
7. Note that the R is underlined on the Roll Back Driver button text, indicating that it is an accelerator key. Press Alt+R to begin the driver rollback.

Plugging an external mouse should allow cursor movement. If the customer has a mouse, then perform the following steps after plugging in the mouse:

1. Open My Computer and go to the following location: C:\windows\system32\drivers.
2. Find a file named idcphid.sys and rename it to idcphid.old.
3. Now uninstall the IdeaCom HID Touch Screen (PS/2) driver under Human Interface Devices in Device Manager.
4. Restart computer.

That should completely remove the Windows Update and should revert to original touchpad/mouse properties before the update.

Type 1 and OTF Font Issues with nVidia Graphics Cards

A lot of users who have nVidia Graphics cards configured with their computers experience problems with Type 1 or OTF fonts. These nVidia GPUs cannot load any Type 1 or OTF fonts and the said issue even happens with TTF fonts, although very rare.

For users with a desktop system, they can just download the CUDA driver and usually it resolves the issue however but there is still no driver for portable nVidia video solutions. Here is a workaround from Adobe that will work for either desktop or portable:

Disclaimer: Export a backup copy of the registry before creating this key.

1. Click Start, Run, and type regedit. Click OK.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager. Click on the Memory Management folder.
3. Right click in the open right pane. Choose New, DWORD value. For the name, call it SessionImageSize.
4. Right click the new value and choose Modify. Give it a decimal value of 20.
5. Close the Registry Editor. Reboot the system.

The Type 1 and OTF fonts should now open/install without any problems. Dell engineering is still waiting for nVidia to release a video driver update to fix the said issue.

Dell Mini 9 Blues: Desktop Icons Don’t Stay in its Assigned Position

Users may notice that their desktop icons won’t stay in their assigned positions instead they shift back to their original positions after a system restart. This is mostly experienced with Dell Mini 9 installed with the Windows XP operating system having a default screen resolution of 1024 x 600. Symptoms with Dell Mini 9s shipped with the Ubuntu operating system has not be replicated so far.

Dell engineering points Dell Mini 9’s BIOS version A03 as well as the earlier BIOS versions to be the main point-of-failure.

To fix this, just logon to support.dell.com and download BIOS version A04 or later, whichever is available. The recent BIOS have been recently updated by Dell engineering to address not only the desktop icon issues but also issues with its wireless, battery and power, and Ubuntu.


For more info, check out the topic posted in the Dell Community Forum and read through the discussions.

Source: http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19220588/19420756.aspx#19420756