Ricoh Afício MP5002 & MP6002 Error SC899-00 & SC555-00

     This Ricoh issue has been addressed in a few different ways so you might considering using your browsers find feature to get to the most appropriate section or at least start reading from the bottom up since I've written updates as we figure more out about the problem.  Also, just to get you back up and running as quickly as possible, see the Instructions for clearing SC899-00 & SC555-00 error messages, below.

     Our new Ricoh Afício MP5002 printer is have a problem printing PDF files from Google Apps in Microsoft Windows using Mozilla Firefox and, we think, Google Chrome with the Adobe Acrobat browser Add-on.  The "Adobe Acrobat" Add-on/Plug-in is installed to your browser(s) when certain Adobe products, such as Adobe Acrobat Pro or Adobe Reader, are installed to your computer. If you have the bad version, which appears to be v10.1.3.23 of the Adobe Acrobat Add-on/Plug-in, when you print a pdf it results in a printer error SC899-00 which completely locks up the printer.  Sometimes the printer will just lock up and not even display the error message.  Unfortunately, Windows tries to keep printing the file and prevents you from resetting the printer, it will just error out again immediately after reboot.

     Initially, to fix the issue you would have to figure out who has the bad Add-on/Plug-in version and delete the print job from their local Windows print queue, for that specific printer.  Sound impossible?  Well, it almost was.  Luckily, we had made the banner page option on, by default, in the drivers.  When someone printed with the bad Add-on/Plug-in, the printer would print the banner page just before it locked up.  This allowed us to track who had the issue and troubleshoot it.  Lucky for you we have determined a work around and it is simple.  Updating to the latest version of Adobe Reader, Xi at the time of this posting, fixes the issue.  I would blame Ricoh for writing bad drivers or blame Adobe for writing a bad version of their plug-in but since we know what the issue is and how to fix it who cares. :)

Notes:

• After updating to Adobe Reader Xi you should have an "Adobe Acrobat" Add-on/Plug-in version of 11.0.0.379 or higher.
• Versions of the Adobe Acrobat Add-on/Plug-in older than 10.1.3.23 do not appear to have this issue.
• If you are running Adobe Acrobat you will have a different browser Add-on/Plug-in so you are probably not be effected by this issue unless you also run a version of Adobe Reader that has updated your Add-on/Plug-in to the bad version.
• It appears that this problem may also effect the printing of other document types in Chrome.  This may be due to how Chrome handles other document types before it allows you to view or print them and maybe it uses the same Add-on/Plug-in, I don't know.  Rarely we saw this error when other document types were printed, not just pdfs.

Update: After many months of working with Ricoh we have only resolved this issue on the MP5002s. It appears to be pdfs or documents that are rendered as pdfs by a browser plug-in, such as documents viewed from Google Docs, which cause the printers to fail. Below is a way to clear the error but Ricoh is unable to provide us, after several firmware updates, a fix for this issue. Ricoh has gone as far as to send a couple techs out to try and capture network traffic for diagnosis but the errors don't appear when they stop by to do a capture. We did our own capture and have recently provided the data to Ricoh but have yet to hear back from them or get a newer firmware fix for this. It is Ricoh's belief that this problem only exists within our school but I now have proof that others have this issue, so thanks for posting.

Instructions for clearing SC899-00 & SC555-00 error messages:

1. Unplug the printer network cable
2. To enter service mode press, in order, [Reset], [1], [0], [7], [clear] holding down the [clear] button until the “SP” menu appears.  You can enter service mode even when the SC899-00 error message is showing. 
3. Press the “System SP” button.
4. In the new menu, expand the portion labeled “SP-5XXX.”
5. Scroll down several pages until you see “5801 -> Memory Clear” and expand this section.
6. Click on subsection 8 labeled “Printer Application” and then click on the “Execute” button on the right-side of the screen to clear the printer’s memory.  A confirmation message will then appear, click “Execute” on this message to proceed.  Do NOT select subsection 1, labeled “All Clear,” and click on the “Execute” button as this will also erase all of the accounting codes from the printer (If you use accounting). 
7. The printer will then tell you it needs to be powered off to finish the process.  Restart the machine and the error message should be gone.
8. Keep in mind that if the user who sent the document which caused the 899 error is still connected to the network and has not cleared his/her local print queue the document will simply be sent to the printer again, causing another 899 error.  So, after clearing the error you must find the offending computer/user and clear the print job before plugging the printer back into the network.

Update 2:  I've recently had another user who printed a .pdf file from Internet Explorer and crashed our 6002 with an 899 error.  I've tested it from within IE, from Acrobat Pro and from Acrobat Reader, running the latest versions of each.  The printer crashes regardless of how this file is printed.  We have contacted Ricoh but they have not sent a tech. out to capture the error, as it occurs.  If you want a copy of the .pdf to test with, msg me.

The Problem as it stands: When certain pdfs are printed the printers are not receiving an end of file token, probably due to a poorly created file.  The current firmware isn't written in such a way to handle this and results in the 899 error.  We believe Ricoh changed the printer firmware on the 5002s to somehow get around this.  The development for the firmware is all done in Japan so I can’t say that this information is completely accurate.  This is what our tech. heard from the Ricoh representatives who came out to repair our printers.  This information may also include problems associated with error code SC555-00, so I'm adding that error code to the title of my blog.

Sprint Mobile Plan Discounts, at the moment ^^

     Let's face it, the only reason any of us choose Sprint as our mobile carrier is because they offer some great discounts and also great plans at a great price.  It certainly isn't for their horrendous customer service and definitely not for the poor coverage and lack of 4G.  Anyhow, enough bagging on Sprint and on to why I continue to use them.

     I recently lost my 25% discount, which was based on being an employee of a discounted credit union.  I didn't work for that credit union but was able to get the discount by simply calling them up.  I lost my discount because I finally upgraded my phone after many years to, what else, an iPhone 5.  Sprint has gotten wise with their discounts and are now requiring proof of eligibility when you upgrade your phone or renew your contract.  Since I don't work for the credit union, any longer (Wink Wink), I'm no longer eligible for that discount.  You get the point.  So below is what I found that is currently available by simply using your AIM/AOL (America on Line) or affiliated University email address.  Update: There is also a 25% discount for Farmers Agents and for Waste Management (WM) employees.  You basically get 15 - 25% off your existing plan!

     To get the discount simply go to Sprint.com and click on the link at the very bottom of the page under the heading "I want to", that is really hard to find, that says "Get an employee discount".  You can try my embedded link too, I hope it save you some time.  After you click on the link enter your AOL/AIM address in the format as Me@aim.com and then choose the company your are affiliated with (Wink again) from the drop down box that appears on the next page.  You can also put in a university address (Alumni address - Wink Wink) try any .edu address you might have.  See below my snapshots of the discounts and companies for which discounts are offered.  After making your selection you will be sent an email with a link that takes you to the discount page.  Just follow Sprints instructions from there.

     I hope this works out for you as well as it did for me.  It sure is nice to work at a University these days and get 18% off my entire Sprint bill.

Weka - Cannot open csv file saved from Excel

When saving or exporting a file from Excel as a Comma Separated (delineated) file .csv to open in Weka data mining Java based software a similar error will occur.

File 'C:\path to file\FileName.csv' not recognised as an 'CSV data files' file.
Reason:
wrong number of values. Read 6, expected 19, read Token[EOL], line 1987

Although your error message will have a different read, expected and or line number the issue may be caused by data in your file that includes a single quote or double quotes.

To fix this issue, simply do a find/replace of all single ' and double " quotation marks and then save the file as a .csv again.  When you open it into Weka it should now import/convert without errors.

You might also make note that Weka does not have data file size limitations.  It is however limited by the amount of memory you allocate to Java for it's use.  If you're working with very large data files you will want to increase the amount of memory allocated to Weka in the runweka.ini file.