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1 Help needed trying to recover an old guide
This guide has been sitting in my unpublished guides since 2015 due to some issues I cannot fix without a printer being available to document. The usual issue applies - this printer was retired years ago and I no longer have it. I am evaluating my guides for recovery, archival (meaning one final full guide edit by me and that's it) or considering it a "dead guide". This is one of those guides I feels is on the edge of being "dead", but also has potential for recovery.
Since I no longer own this printer, I am putting this out there for anyone who has a printer who can help. As I no longer have it and it does not make sense to source a printer out for a guide like this, I would much rather put the word out there and let someone who still has one of these to take new pictures for me. It does NOT mean I am no longer considering it "archived" - it will still be considered archived guide but this is the final piece in the puzzle to potentially save this guide.
I have looked at the pictures from this guide and compared them to the guide I made that covers printhead cleaning from the (Photosmart Plus B210a printhead cleaning) guide. I was able to borrow for the printhead removal step, but that's all I can do this with.
I am going to need a new set of images for:
- Search picture
- open scanner unit
- closed scanner unit
- LCD messages (New ink should be used to ensure the right message comes up. You will need two sets; genuine and aftermarket with a new chip.)
If you want to take a complete set (including ink cartridge replacement) that's fine. I borrowed them to avoid needing a set of images, but if the scene isn't right then you're more then welcome to take a complete set of pictures.
How will credit be handled?
Credit is handled automatically by iFixit. You will be listed as a contributor to the guide.
If you want a specific name mentioned in the extended intro (and I have enough lines left to do it; I'm limited to 60 lines and such credit will take away one line from being usable) I am willing to do this. I'll do my best to give you such credit, although it may not be feasible without compromising the guide.
Why not just buy a printer (or take one someone is getting rid of)?
I did this for the Photosmart B210a guide because the procedure to save the cal data is on the difficult side - it's not something I want a contributor to risk doing because it's very likely to be screwed up if you have never done it that way before. Anyone can replace ink cartridges, so I don't see the point to buying a printer or saving this guide if money invested into a printer is going to be involved.
Once I am done the printer will not only be shelved, but I will probably end up throwing it out after using it for 1 guide. It's not a wise investment for a guide like this. It's not out of the question if it's free or very cheap, but I'm not actively going to look.
How long is this offer available?
I posted this on 8/2/17. I am offering this for 1 month, so 9/2/17 is the cutoff date. This is slightly over 1 month, so there is a fair amount of time to change it or make me an offer.
Once the month passes, the guide will be considered "dead". This will be the end for this guide, and I won't retract it once I consider it "dead".
The guide I need pictures for is here: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/(Archived)+...
Update
Does anyone have one of these printers (or has access to one and/or willing to buy one)? I'm just getting an idea what the odds of someone revising this guide are. It seems rather low if the current response is a hint.
Right now there are 23 days remaining to help me fix this guide before I give up and consider it dead.
Update 2
There isn't much time left. As I write this update (8/16/17) there is only 2 weeks and 3 days to revive this guide. If I do not get anything by 9/2/17, it's dead and I won't open the guide up again for someone to help fix it.
Update 3
OOPS! I forgot to close off the guide on 9/2/17. Anyway, the offer is now over and it is considered a dead guide. I tried to save this one, at least.
Is this a good question?
Hey Nick! I'm going to come up with a post for our social media accounts and try to find someone with the printer and try to convince them to contribute. Fingers crossed!
by Kelsea Weber
I suspect my C4780 guide will have to be handled the same way if it's worth trying to save it. I had a chance to get a C4680 from the curb I got my B210a from (the C4680 just deletes WiFi so I could have hid the badge and crossed my fingers hoping nobody notices) but the printer did not have ink. Even if it was permanently clogged and I had to deliberately hide the badge, permanently clogged ink is better then having none. I could have given the person I'd probably inevitably hand the torch to for the alignment steps (the head is part of the cartridge, so every new cartridge needs to be aligned) with a serious head start by covering 95% of the procedure.
I had access to 564 ink that costs nothing so the B210a was worth taking, but I didn't think it was worth spending ~$20 for ink on a printer I'm going to use for a guide and probably recycle anyway, which is why I left the C4680 for someone else. Now if I come across one with both ink cartridges (even if they are old) then I might be able to justify taking a printer for one guide.
The main problem with printers is the ink costs more then the whole printer, so a lot of them come with empty ink or the ink was traded in for a credit and the printer was thrown out and you don't even get a chance to try your luck with the cartridges they left in the printer (if you care about refilling). If it had ink I probably would have taken both and used it as a inkless scanner, as I have done with these inkjet printers with worthwhile scanners for a while.
by Nick
If someone responds, feel free to mention me so I can do what I need to on my end.
by Nick
Ya'll tuggin on my heartstrings. Saving the unsaveable. If you remind me, I'll look into buying one off eBay and dismantle with pictures. Though I feel like, I don't want credit, the non ifixit guides aren't looked at as much...
by iMedic
@theimedic Take a look at it and decide what you want to do. If you think it isn't worth it, that's fine. At this point, I've looked into reviving it a few times and it's never made sense when I look at the costs to save the guide. The main issue is the cost to revive it is high, since it's going to need more then one item for a full recovery. There's no point in pulling heartstrings - if someone can do it, then more power to them. It's just a ink install guide, so nothing major is being lost if it can't be done. If you don't think it makes sense, let me know so I know what happened.
Specifically, this is what you will need:
* Printer (Varies/probably free)
* Ink (Aftermarket/~$10 on eBay)
* Ink (Genuine/Depends on if standard or XL is purchased; you probably only need one)
I have also added you to the invited member list so you can continue to evaluate it (and made it available to Master Techs). Just so you know, it'll be made private again on 10/25/17. Unless something major happens to this guide and it's presentable, I'm probably not going to bother trying to save this guide a 3rd time. This guide is notorious for being bad, and it's also a printer related guide so that also makes it much more difficult to get help from another person. I never felt like it was worth putting too much time into because it's both for a printer (disposable) and it needs a lot of time and money invested.
by Nick
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