The merger created years of internal strife, but saved $2.5 billion and gave HP a commanding market share in personal computers and computer servers. In line to become HP’s chief financial officer, Mr. Clarke left the company abruptly in 2003, saying he was tired of waiting for the job. HP termed his exit “mutually agreed to and appropriate.”

After the unceremonious departure from HP, Mr. Clarke became something of a corporate mechanic, shaping up companies with layoffs and other cost-cutting, and working closely with private equity and venture investors. He became chief executive of Travelport just before it was acquired by the Blackstone Group, and managed the initial public offering of Orbitz, which Travelport owned. He came to Kodak last March, having been contacted by a headhunter retained by the private equity groups that bought most of Kodak’s debt.

Kodak reappeared on the public markets in September 2013, though the bulk of the company is still owned by private equity and investment firms, including BlueMountain Capital Management, Franklin Resources and Serengeti Asset Management.

“We invested in Kodak because it was, and is, an attractive, asset-rich, operational turnaround story with exciting technologies centered on digital printing,” Jody LaNasa, the founder and managing partner of Serengeti, wrote in an email. Serengeti, which indicated it will hold on to its Kodak assets for a long time, was the only one of the major firms to respond to a request for comment.

With about $750 million in cash, a 2014 net loss of $114 million and possibly more losses this year, the company needs to find partners to help develop and sell what Mr. Clarke thinks Kodak can offer. Among his partners for future business is Bobst, a $1.3 billion Swiss company that makes machinery to manufacture cardboard boxes. Bobst is interested in using Kodak’s digital printing technology to personalize packaging, said Jean-Pascal Bobst, the chief executive. “It could be revolutionary for corrugated boxes.” Other partners include a printing company in Utah and a machinery company in Rochester that is owned by a refugee from the old Kodak and is working on the touch screens.

Much of the technology, like the packaging sensors, existed inside Kodak long before Mr. Clarke arrived. Last summer, Mr. Clarke created a new division, Kodak Technology Solutions, to incubate more businesses.