John Wick: Chapter 2(2017)

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John Wick: Chapter 2(2017)

Quality : HD
Title : John Wick: Chapter 2
Director : Chad Stahelski.
Writer :
Release : 2017-02-08
Language : English.
Runtime : 122 min.
Genre : Thriller, Action, Crime.

Synopsis :
Movie ‘John Wick: Chapter 2’ was released in February 8, 2017 in genre Thriller. Chad Stahelski was directed this movie and starring by Keanu Reeves. This movie tell story about John Wick is forced out of retirement by a former associate looking to seize control of a shadowy international assassins’ guild. Bound by a blood oath to aid him, Wick travels to Rome and does battle against some of the world’s most dangerous killers.

John Wick: Chapter 2(2017)

HP HDX16 won’t boot; blinking lights (NK133AV)

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I got in an HP HDX16 laptop from a customer that wouldn’t turn on at all. The hard drive light would blink orange and the CAPS LOCK and NUM LOCK lights would continually flash. (It would do that for a few seconds, turn off, then stay on with the blinking lights continually actually.) Removing the hard drive, DVD drive and RAM didn’t help. I took out the hard drive and successfully copied over 100GB of data, so that wasn’t the problem.

With the help of a laptop repair expert, we determined that the motherboard was destroyed by heat an electrical problem confined to an area about 3 inches square. (Upon further inspection by another electrician, he thinks this was an electrical malfunction of some sort. Both guys that looked at it thought the board had been fixed in some way, probably at the factory before it was sold to the end user.) In the picture below (click on it to see a high quality picture), you’ll see burn marks on the board and some of the chips are actually off center from getting too hot and moving (PQ15, PQ14,PQ11 as marked on the board):

The motherboard is HP 519592-001, which as of today is easily found on eBay for under $200.  In this case, the power jack was not working well and adding the cost of the repair itself, the customer elected not to repair it (wisely). A big concern to me is how it got too hot in the first place. I would imagine that the same thing would just happen again.

Please comment if you’ve had this problem, as I didn’t find much in my own searches prior to writing this.

2012 Toyota Camry dash noises, rattles

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My 2012 (2013 will surely be affected) Toyota Camry Hybrid XLE is so noisy with rattles and clunks inside. (For the roof clunk problem, view this post.) The most annoying rattling comes from the glovebox, near the keyhole. If I push on the keyhole, the noise stops. However, sometimes it will rattle above the clock/radio area and sometimes near the drivers side.

Here is a video with the noise at it’s worst:

Please comment if you have similar problems and ESPECIALLY if a dealer is able to fix it or if you fix it yourself.

I took my car in about 5 times to work on this rattle and it only got worse after each visit. Because of this and the roof issue, I got rid of the car.

ATX 2012 Network Installation error

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I am working with an accountant on installing ATX 2012 tax software (from CCH) with one main Windows 7 64-bit machine the accountant uses (that will be the “server”) and a second Windows 7 64-bit computer that a helper uses during the heavy tax season.

Following the user guide, I choose Network (not Stand-Alone), and choose a folder in which I shared to “everyone,” but I get the error message: “The location you selected is not available to other workstations on the network. Please select a different location or create a a shared location and try again.” I can access the locations that I tried on the other computer, but no matter where I choose, it won’t do it.

The user guide says, “Unlike stand-alone installations, network installations cannot be installed to the default Program Files directory. You must select another directory, such as a mapped or local drive.” So the guide says I should be able to, but it won’t work.

In early January I went ahead and ran the Stand-Alone installation to get it working, figuring that I would fix it when I went onsite. On January 22, I called ATX support at 11:30am. After waiting about 15 minutes to talk to a first level person, she said I needed to uninstall ATX and reinstall with the “Custom” option, not Stand-Alone. I told her there is not “Custom” option, just “Network”. She insisted that I choose “Custom.” Sensing that she had probably never installed ATX in her life, I hung up and gave it a shot. Then I ran into the problem above again. I called back and got a first level person again quickly and she didn’t seem to know anything about this error and had a very hard time typing it all in her computer very fast. After consulting with some others, she said I needed to talk to a “tech.” Since I was onsite billing the customer by-the-hour, I asked how long it would be; she replied that it would be an hour. Being that now the accountant had no ATX installed, I figured that I better wait.

After 17 minutes, the call dropped. Ugh. I cal led back, got back in line again — from the back. I searched their knowledge base, but couldn’t find anything like this problem. I logged into their customer forum site and found other that did have this problem. No solution was given, and it didn’t look like anyone from ATX bothers to read or reply to any of the posts. One user did a workaround method of mapping a network drive to a network name of a directory on his own computer, which worked. I considered this, but ATX would not work if the router was disconnected or failed, so I chose not to go that route.

I waited about 1 hour 45 minutes on hold (with repeated messages to go to the website to look for help to common problems and them telling me that the call was VERY important to them), but needed to leave to get to my next appointment. I left the call on hold anyway. FINALLY, 2 hours 22 minutes in and a technician answered. I have a tremendous amount of patience, but when he told me that this is a known issue that they were working to fix with a new release, I lost my temper.

In the end I apologized for yelling at him and said that it was not his fault, but I was extremely angry at ATX for how poorly the company is run and how they have treated me. He told me that uninstalling and reinstalling with the Network option would not work (terrible advice by the first level), as many hidden directories need to be deleted.

Just checking myatx.com today, I see this: “The target date for the 12.5 update is Monday, January 28th.” I’ll try it and report here with my finding.

ATX, why:

  • do you not tell your first level group about known issues so I don’t waste billable hours of my customers?
  • do you not post on the customer forum when they run into known issues?
  • do the first level group sound like they’ve never done a day of tech support in their lives?
  • do you not give the ability to give a call back phone number and have technician call when I’ve wait the unreasonable amount of time that you require? Do toll-free bills matter to you?
  • do you not tell me how many people are waiting in front of me so I know whether I should wait or not?
  • do you not give me the ability to schedule a time in advance with a technician?
  • do you not hire more real technicians for the months of January and February?

[UPDATE 2/13/13] Since this post, I’ve been reading the forums popular with ATX users:

https://community.atxinc.com/forums/default.aspx?GroupID=9

http://www.atxcommunity.com/

and it’s obvious that I wasn’t alone. I’ll be surprised if ATX makes it to 2013 Tax Year.

In my case, sadly, I setup both computers as Standalone and they can’t shared anything. But it works, albeit slower than last year. CCH really blew it badly and I hope they pay a big price for running their company so poorly.

iPhone 5 searching – won’t connect to cellular network at all

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Last night my iPhone 5 started to lose my connection to AT&T. I am in downtown Pittsburgh on the 9th floor, so I’m in no fringe.. I turned off LTE when it started happening and it would switch to 4G, but that quickly stopped working, too, and it just shows “Searching…” Sometimes now it will show 4 bars for 10 seconds, then 1 bar, then Searching.

I read some discussion about the issue and:

  1. activated Airplane mode and deactivated
  2. turned off the phone and booted it back up, with no success
  3. did a Network Reset (Settings > General > Reset > Network Reset), but that did nothing other than delete all my wifi network passwords.
  4. did a hard reset by holding in the sleep and home buttons for a while
  5. popped out the SIM card with a paperclip (right side of phone) and pushed it back in
  6. swapped the SIM card

Here are some threads with similar issues:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1452223

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1450043

Here’s what it looks like:

20120929-083535.jpg

CONCLUSION:

After visiting an AT&T store in Cranberry Twp, PA and swapping the SIM card with no change whatsoever, we have concluded that there is a problem with the iPhone 5 connecting to any SIM card. Thanks for the good experience there, Roger.

To check to see if this is your problem go to Settings > General > About and check to see if you have a ICCID line:

My ICCID line will appear if it shows AT&T in the top left, but disappears when it says “Searching..”

(If you have this happen, make sure to show the Apple Store tech as this is the smoking gun.) So, my iPhone 5 can’t read the SIM card. Now the question is whether this is isolated of will show itself like a timebomb. Is it SIMgate??

Next I went to the local Apple Store and Play Store Download Matt did some quick diagnostics and didn’t find any known issue, so he pulled out on the 16 specially-packed non-retail iPhone 5s in stock for this type of situation. He had me backup to iCloud, restore on the new one and off I went. Despite taking some time, AT&T and Apple really took care of this well.

PLEASE COMMENT IF YOU HAVE THIS PROBLEM AND WHETHER REPLACING THE SIM WORKS.

[UPDATE 3/17/13] Here is a site with some good suggestions on what to do if you have this problem. If the ICCID is gone, I suspect replacement is your only cure.

Dell Latitude E6430/E6530 Frequent Crashes & Blue Screens

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I decided to recommend the latest and greatest Dell Latitude to my client a month ago, the Latitude E6530. I know the E6520 is reliable and stable, but I figured I’d go for the next generation of processor and USB 3.0. Well, that was a mistake. Ever since I put 4-5 hours in prep time to get it ready, it crashed over and over — about 5 times per day. It would generally just restart on it’s own and leave a crash dump. Sometimes it would happen when it was idle, sometimes when it was in use.

I called Dell (thankfully I bought ProSupport), and they redirected me to a special team of 10 technicians that are in charge of support for brand new models. The agent didn’t seem to have seen this issue before. We checked all the drivers and updated a few, although most drivers were still at “A0”, which means the first release. The problem continued. I changed the settings so that the computer didn’t sleep or hibernate at all, but it would still happen while using it. The tech recommended that I reformat the hard drive and start over. To me, that it like someone going to the mechanic with a stalling problem. The mechanic looks at it and recommends removing everything in the engine compartment and putting it all back in. I would think that they would want to get to the bottom of what is causing it.

So, on my own, I swapped the RAM I put in with the OEM RAM and disabled the USB 3.0 controller in the Device Manager. I did have the wireless mouse receiver and HP OfficeJet 6700 plugged into the USB 3.0 ports, so I moved those to the USB 2.0 port on the back and the eSATA port, respectively.

That did it — perfect for 5 days. I went back and re-enabled the USB 3.0 port and moved the HP back to it and it crashed multiple times that day. I’m headed back to reinstall my RAM.

Sadly, Dell could be learning from this and working with Intel to remedy it, but nope. PLEASE, if you have this problem, too, comment!

[UPDATE 8/14/12] FASCINATING! Check out this comment where the same exact issue is reported, but only on the Latitude with an HP OfficeJet 6700! So, is this an HP problem or Dell driver problem??

[UPDATE 8/18/12] This is quite fascinating and disturbing: “Make sure your not plugging the USB into a USB 3.0 port. HP printers don’t work with USB 3.0 connections and that can keep the computer from seeing the printer.” – HP support site (thanks Jason)

 

Using a problem called WhoCrashed, here is the crash information:

On Thu 8/2/2012 10:41:12 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\080212-14632-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Thu 8/2/2012 10:41:12 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\memory.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: iusb3xhc.sys (iusb3xhc+0x63F2B)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\iusb3xhc.sys
product: USB 3.0 Device Driver
company: Intel Corporation
description: Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: iusb3xhc.sys (Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver, Intel Corporation).
Google query: iusb3xhc.sys Intel Corporation KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

On Thu 8/2/2012 10:29:53 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\080212-15350-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F1C0)
Bugcheck code: 0x3B (0xC0000005, 0xFFFFF80002C059BC, 0xFFFFF88007C2BE80, 0x0)
Error: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that an exception happened while executing a routine that transitions from non-privileged code to privileged code.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Wed 8/1/2012 6:19:25 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\080112-15568-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Wed 8/1/2012 4:06:57 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\080112-40716-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Tue 7/31/2012 2:29:22 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\073112-14679-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F1C0)
Bugcheck code: 0x3B (0xC0000005, 0xFFFFF80002C049BC, 0xFFFFF88007F4DA80, 0x0)
Error: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that an exception happened while executing a routine that transitions from non-privileged code to privileged code.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Tue 7/31/2012 1:09:42 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\073112-21980-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: tcpip.sys (tcpip+0x63D7B)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\tcpip.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: TCP/IP Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.

On Mon 7/30/2012 4:28:03 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\073012-26582-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Mon 7/30/2012 3:25:56 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\073012-15662-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Mon 7/30/2012 1:44:15 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\073012-14024-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Sun 7/29/2012 7:22:41 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\072912-13462-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Sun 7/29/2012 4:34:18 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\072912-12620-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Sat 7/28/2012 10:18:09 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\072812-15210-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Thu 7/26/2012 10:54:52 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\072612-13260-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

On Thu 7/26/2012 4:33:53 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\072612-13509-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F190)
Bugcheck code: 0x1E (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.

Conclusion

18 crash dumps have been found and analyzed. Only 15 are included in this report. A third party driver has been identified to be causing system crashes on your computer. It is strongly suggested that you check for updates for these drivers on their company websites. Click on the links below to search with Google for updates for these drivers:

iusb3xhc.sys (Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver, Intel Corporation)

If no updates for these drivers are available, try searching with Google on the names of these drivers in combination the errors that have been reported for these drivers and include the brand and model name of your computer as well in the query. This often yields interesting results from discussions from users who have been experiencing similar problems.

 

2012 Toyota Camry roof clunking

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In my new 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid XLE (here is the first report I’ve seen from a 2013 Camry owner), there is a terrible clunking, clicking or popping noise coming from the roof around the sunroof, particularly when going over bumps or turns, particularly when the car torques. (This is in addition to many loud dash rattles.) The dealer says that Toyota knows about it now and is working on a fix, but no estimate was given for when. I took it to the dealer September 2012 and the service bulletin finally was released in October 2013. Please comment if you are experiencing the same thing and what you are doing about it. (Oh, and I just hit 9,000 views of this post on January 2014.)

Here is a recording I made one hot day. I’d like to make a video of the noise, so if you can capture a video of the sound at its worst, send it to me in an email using the address on my home page or comment.

Here are some reports from other owners of the same thing:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/310-7th-generation-2012/418639-2012-camry-xle-roof-noise.html

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/310-7th-generation-2012/427628-2012-camry-se-moonroof-knocking-noise.html#post4021184

http://www.schiffner.com/my-2012-toyota-camry-is-a-lemon-and-toyota-doesnt-help/

ADVICE FOR UNTOUCHED CARS:

My current advice would be to have the service rep type into your record that you have a terrible clunking noise in your roof at the next scheduled service appointment (as long as you are under warranty for a while). Start a log for yourself to record everything that happens with dates, mileages, names and comments from the dealer.

[UPDATE 3/9/13] Here’s an interesting comment written by the technician working with a Toyota field tech, “found welding slag in between the seam of the moon roof opening and in between the pinch welds. during body roll and over bumps the slag would creek and make noise. removed headliner and moon roof assembly to access and clean out the space between the spot welds on the pinch weld opening of the moon roof. inserted shim stock and in between the space after cleaning out the slag and also installed felt in between the roof and folded over section of the opening. was helped by FTS to properly install the shim stock, reassembled and verified repair”. In my talking with a tech, they don’t provided enough shims for all of the welds, so they can only do some and in some cases they spray foam in the roof, like mine.

[UPDATE 2/1/14] From Toyota Nation forums. Toyota finally released a service bulletin: TSB-0151-13. When you go to the dealer, tell them about this TSB and ask whether they have experience doing the repair. I would only have someone do this repair that has successfully performed at least one or two. It is a long and difficult repair that can go horribly wrong. I would talk to the service manager as well to tell them about what you know from this site and that you would like him/her to supervise the job and make sure it is done right. Assume that your car will be ruined and plan accordingly by protecting yourself and being ready for arbitration. Many have gone that route and have been successful, but you must prepare.

ADVICE FOR “REPAIRED” CARS:

DOCUMENT EVERYTHING! Write notes based on every visit, every conversation, every person’s name, every comment, everything. You may need it in arbitration and/or trial. Other than that, I’m not really sure what else to suggest. If it’s not fixed after the first time, there are too many stories on this blog of it getting worse after bringing it back over and back, not to mention the headliner and trim damage. Based on my reading of this article, it looks to me like Toyota could lump this problem into a minor noise problem rather than a substantial defect, which may make it hard to win a Lemon Law case. If we could prove that this is a safety hazard (in the event of an accident), we may have a better chance at winning a trial or getting publicity. I just don’t see any way we could prove that. I think it could be proven that it hurts the value of the car, but that would probably be an uphill battle, too. For some reason, we must go through arbitration before taking Toyota to trial and those that have gone to arbitration that have commented here have gone silent, so a non-disclosure agreement must be forced upon them for any kind of settlement.

FOR 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 CAMRY OWNERS:

Since I’ve gotten some comments about 2007-2011 roof noise, I did a little bit of research. Here is my advice for you: Toyota does know about this problem and they have a kit and instructions on how to fix it (despite what the dealer might tell you). Tell the service rep to look up this service bulletin on Toyota’s TIS website: T-SB-0088-12. It describes the problem well and gives full instructions on how to take the roof apart and fix the problem. I’ve heard that it is a very difficult job and some dealers might not want to do it. This should be covered under warranty if you are under the 36 months/36,000 miles. If the service rep is unhelpful, talk to the service manager. If they don’t help, call up Toyota corporate to complain. Just make sure to get it in the records before the warranty is up.

THE END

I found this whole situation hopeless with the roof problem that seems to be unfixable, the dash rattle that the dealer couldn’t fix, my check engine light came on and my fancy JBL touchscreen intermittently would go dark. My car is A LEMON pure and simple. I traded it in the fall of 2013 for a 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid. The Fusion feels like a 10 year leap ahead in technology and interior design, albeit smaller inside. I feel much relief getting rid of this piece of crap. Shame on Toyota for handling this so poorly and slowly and not fixing the problem on the assembly line early.

Verizon DSL 40% packet loss – NOBODY CAN FIX

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Some users in a medium sized office told me their internet was very slow, so at first I thought it was just because they were far from the Central Office. However, they showed me what they meant and it was really slow. I did some ping tests and found that 40% of the packets were dropping.ir-leasing.ru

[Jul 12, 2011] Thankfully, they have two internet connections in this office (the backup being a 768Kbps), so I put them on the backup and started testing the modem. In looking at the transceiver stats, it looks like the lines were better than I thought, but the packet loss was the same while plugged directly into the modem. As much as I didn’t want to, I called Verizon’s Business DSL tech support and described the problem. Jessica didn’t understand the problem because the line test was fine. She kept wanting me to run speed tests (despite me saying my problem wasn’t speed), but they wouldn’t run because it would fail the latency test. While she was talking with someone else for a while, I connected my own modem that I carry with me and configured it. I had the same problem with packet loss, which I told her. A few minutes later, she said she had approval to send out another modem. I questioned her as to why she would send out a modem if I just tried another one and it didn’t make a difference. (Of course, the modem showed up the next day despite me telling her not to send one.) She had the bright idea of having me to a browser optimization. I politely shot that one down along with her other thoughts that didn’t make logical sense. She finally agreed to send the ticket to the MCO (Maintenance Control Office) and she said they would call me within 24 hours.

[Jul 13, 2011] After 24 hours of waiting, I called and talked to Dianey to find out why no one called me. She informed me that it was a 24-48 hour window. That’s nice. At 9pm EDT, Sherry called me to find out the problem (her ticket said the internet was slow). I had to explain over again that it wasn’t slow. She said she would dispatch someone out to the office that next morning.

[Jul 14, 2011] The Verizon technician called me the next morning to find out the problem. I explained and he said he would switch the card that our circuit is on in the LightSpeed (in between the far CO and our office). He did that and I asked him if he would go to the office and test it. He said the ticket didn’t allow him to go on-site. How nice.

[Jul 19, 2011] I returned to the site and tested the pings and found the same 40% packet loss. This time I spoke with Dee at Verizon DSL tech support who decided that she needed to start from scratch. I told her from the beginning that it was a dry loop with no phone service and the modem was isolated, etc. She did do a test while I was running a speedtest (was able to run them) and said that she saw the problem that I was talking about. She then asked me to remove any other phones and filters. I politely told her once again that it is a dry loop plugged directly into the modem. (Repeating what you’ve already said is a given with any VZ DSL phone call.) She said she would send a technician two days later and they can run special tests on-site that they can’t do.

[Jul 21, 2011] I received a call from a call center informing me that they couldn’t make it and wanted to know if they could come the next day. I said it was fine.

[Jul 22, 2011] George, the Verizon technician came to the site and called me. I informed him of the problem that the line tests were fine, but that packets were dropping and that I thought it was an equipment problem in the CO or LightSpeed. He then ran a few tests and said he didn’t find any problems. I explained the packet loss again and he said I’d need to talk to Verizon DSL tech support about that.

I couldn’t hold back any longer. I proceeded to get very angry and describe how terrible Verizon’s support structure is and how they are now losing yet another customer. Thankfully Comcast is available there now.

In summary, Verizon’s DSL isn’t working properly and no one in the company has any clue how to fix it.

VERIZON,

Maybe someday you will care about your DSL customers and if you decide to, here is what you can do:

Until you fix these issues, I will actually recommend all of my customers to cancel their Verizon DSL and switch to a competitor.

QuickBooks 2011 Automatic Credit Card Billing – LOST!

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I just replaced my computer and installed QuickBooks Pro 2011 on the new computer. I moved my data files and checked to make sure that the automatic/recurring credit card billing information was there — and it was. However, I looked yesterday and found it is all gone!! I went through this before and don’t want to do it again!

I called, waited for 45 minutes and spoke with a lady that said there was a technical problem and they will fix it for me on their end. We’ll see…

[UPDATE 6/6/10] On Sunday afternoon, 6/5, I received a phone call and email from Patrick at Intuit apologizing for the missing recurring credit card data and informing me that they restored everything to how it was a few weeks ago.  The email included a special email address for the issue and the voicemail included a way of calling for expedited service. All my recurring credit card charges happened on the correct day and everything seems to be back to normal.

I lost my QuickBooks Automatic Credit Card Billing data

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I upgraded my QuickBooks 2006 to 2008 on May 29.  On the following Monday (June 1), I was reviewing my automatic credit card billing through the integration via Intuit Payment Solutions/Innovative Merchant/whatever-they-are.  All my automatic credit card billing was gone!  Being that they were supposed to hit on June 5, I called on Monday for support.  The only nice thing about their phone support is that a live person answers everytime..   I got transferred to support and they had never heard of my problem.  I had someone call me back and he reset something in QuickBooks, but the customers’ charges were still missing.  He said that they did get reports from other customers and that they were working on a solution.  I called over 6 times over the next week, left two polite messages with the same technician, with no return call.  On June 5, since the tech wouldn’t call me back, I asked for tech support and the person told me they were still working on it…  That’s helpful.

I’m very happy to report that I received a satisfaction survey in my email about my support call.  Ha!  I reported honestly how I felt..

Finally, this morning the tech left a message saying that I installed QB on June 1.  Since it was past the sunset date, all the data was deleted.  I called back and left him a message saying that I have logs to prove that I installed it on May 29 and that I was very unhappy that he wouldn’t return my calls and that I was very unsatisfied with his company that they would be so dumb as to delete customer data.  (I bet the problem is not of deleting, but of them not being able to figure out how to fix it.)

I stayed home this morning and spent hours organizing my credit card forms and reentering all my auto credit card charges.  That was fun.

Message to Intuit: people hate your company, they hold their nose while using your products (except for older versions).  Stop making products (QuickBooks, Quicken, TurboTax) that get worse rather than better.  Give us the option to pay an annual fee to keep older versions working and only come out with new version when you actually need to.  Oh, and give the people in charge of Innovative Merchant and kick in the pants for me.

(This is an excerpt from my full post about QuickBooks mandatory upgrades.)