[Dead] c284e refurb

[Wombat Daddy]

Hi all! I have been given two c284e. One has less copy count, and has a stapler/finisher. However it has an issue at startup, with "enter serial number" and call service representative. The reason these machines are with me is because KM here no longer supports them. I have a use for them, and would rather keep them out of landfill.

I determined the serial number gripe was because the battery had failed on the motherboard (I've been a computer techy since 1994, so easily replaced that!) I also removed and checked the 320GB WD disk. I could read some of the ext3 partitions, but others were corrupt, and the drive failed SMART extended test. So I will replace it with a SSD.

However, now to the questions:

1. I cannot access service mode. The Menu->Counter-> Keyboard->Stop-0-0-Stop-0-1 is simply ignored. How do I get further?
2. From reading through this forum it would appear that I require a USB stick with the right firmware on it to reinitialize the SSD. Where do I find this firmware and voodoo?
3. Will an almost-same-size SSD (275GB) do the job? The WD had 60GB unused non-partitioned space on it anyhow, so there's more that can be used in the SSD.

TIA

[Synthohol]

1: hold down panel reset while turning it on, it should boot into trouble reset mode and the s00s01 should work from there. pending jobs in the queue will prevent you entering service mode.
2: you can initialize and format the hdd in service mode if needed, installing the latest firmware usually wont hurt.
3: 320g hdds are like 10 dollars. i wouldnt use anything smaller. the copier will make several partitions on it with roughly 170Gb in vacant space but thats what the machine expects, anything smaller could lead to unwanted trouble codes. if using a used drive put it in a computer first, wipe ALL the partitions, create a single partition but do not format it. once in the copier it should boot and ask to format the HDD, you can do a logical format in admin mode or service mode. physical format not needed, takes too long
then install firmware and movie data. make sure the HDD is set to "installed".
if using an SSD never select physical format, there are NO platters in an SSD so there is no "blocks" to move around, everything has its own memory cell so physical format of any SSD will just wear it out unnecessarily.

[femaster]

I've never dealt with an SSD in place of a standard HDD before, but as far as standard HDDs go, the copier only uses (or expects) 250GB. Copiers came with 250GB or 320GB drives (when the 250GB drives were no longer obtainable). When a 320GB was installed, only the first 250GB was utilized. I'm not sure how the copier would respond to 275GB, though I would hope that it would be smart enough to just utilize the 250GB that is expects.

[Synthohol]

i would only see 250G drives in monochrome machines. honestly have never used or seen a 250g in a color box.

[femaster]

I remember a bulletin about it. It start with the 3-series machines (223, 283, etc.)if I am remembering correctly. They couldn't source the 250GB drives any longer, so they were forced to move to 320GB drives. They ended up releasing a bulletin and a firmware update as the older machines that originally had the 250GB drives would fail to properly format the 320GB drives when they were fitted into the older machines as replacements.

[ThisPete]

I remember a bulletin about it. It start with the 3-series machines (223, 283, etc.)if I am remembering correctly. They couldn't source the 250GB drives any longer, so they were forced to move to 320GB drives. They ended up releasing a bulletin and a firmware update as the older machines that originally had the 250GB drives would fail to properly format the 320GB drives when they were fitted into the older machines as replacements.

That sounds familiar to me too..

[Wombat Daddy]

1: hold down panel reset while turning it on, it should boot into trouble reset mode and the s00s01 should work from there. pending jobs in the queue will prevent you entering service mode.
2: you can initialize and format the hdd in service mode if needed, installing the latest firmware usually wont hurt.
3: 320g hdds are like 10 dollars. i wouldnt use anything smaller. the copier will make several partitions on it with roughly 170Gb in vacant space but thats what the machine expects, anything smaller could lead to unwanted trouble codes. if using a used drive put it in a computer first, wipe ALL the partitions, create a single partition but do not format it. once in the copier it should boot and ask to format the HDD, you can do a logical format in admin mode or service mode. physical format not needed, takes too long
then install firmware and movie data. make sure the HDD is set to "installed".
if using an SSD never select physical format, there are NO platters in an SSD so there is no "blocks" to move around, everything has its own memory cell so physical format of any SSD will just wear it out unnecessarily.

Thanks so much, that's got me a little farther. Into Trouble Reset mode, and it wants a password...is there a default? Or was this set by the original tech 15 years ago?
Where do I find the firmware?

[Synthohol]

the default is usually wapawapawapawapa or just wapawapa.
pretend you are texting it gen-x style

[Ziggy]

the default is usually wapawapawapawapa or just wapawapa.
pretend you are texting it gen-x style

Or Boomer style 😂

[copier tech]

Hi all! I have been given two c284e. One has less copy count, and has a stapler/finisher. However it has an issue at startup, with "enter serial number" and call service representative. The reason these machines are with me is because KM here no longer supports them. I have a use for them, and would rather keep them out of landfill.

I determined the serial number gripe was because the battery had failed on the motherboard (I've been a computer techy since 1994, so easily replaced that!) I also removed and checked the 320GB WD disk. I could read some of the ext3 partitions, but others were corrupt, and the drive failed SMART extended test. So I will replace it with a SSD.

However, now to the questions:

1. I cannot access service mode. The Menu->Counter-> Keyboard->Stop-0-0-Stop-0-1 is simply ignored. How do I get further?
2. From reading through this forum it would appear that I require a USB stick with the right firmware on it to reinitialize the SSD. Where do I find this firmware and voodoo?
3. Will an almost-same-size SSD (275GB) do the job? The WD had 60GB unused non-partitioned space on it anyhow, so there's more that can be used in the SSD.

TIA

If you don't know the history of this device & since it was serviced by KM they may have set a CE password.

I would use the NVRam tool to reset the device back to factory default settings this will also clear the CE password.

[Synthohol]

it would be total overkill to use the reset FW, simply request a code to reset the password.
https://www.copytechnet.com/forum/te...48#post1625054