Recipe 3.16. Troubleshooting Local Printing Problems


Problem

You cannot print to a local printer.

Solution

  1. Test the parallel port driver and the hardware. If the printer is connected to an LPT (parallel) port, see whether you can print from a command prompt.

    If the printer is not a PostScript printer, type dir > lpt1 at a command prompt and press Enter. You may have to do this more than once to fill the print buffer on some printers.

    Page-oriented printers (for example, laser printers) generally do not start to print until a form-feed PCL command is sent or until more information than just a page is present in the buffer.

    Running the dir > lpt1 command from the C:\Windows directory will fill the page buffer.

  2. If you can successfully print from a command prompt (step 1 above), the parallel port driver and the hardware are working correctly. This eliminates the Graphics Device Interface (GDI) and the driver as possible causes. If the output is printed to the printer from the dir command, the print driver or printer configuration is probably the source of the problem.

  3. Check the documentation for your printer to determine if it requires a plain LPT port, and EPP, or an ECP parallel port configuration. This configuration must be set in the system BIOS to match the printer. Windows will detect this configuration change and install the appropriate driver for the port.

  4. See whether the printer cable meets the IEEE 1284 specification. If the cable does meet the specification, the cable itself is marked accordingly.

  5. Make sure that no devices other than the printer are connected to the port and that no scanners, switch boxes, and so on are between the computer and the printer.

Discussion

Local printer ports can be a bit tricky if they are not configured properly or use the wrong cable to connect them to the PC. There are four hardware configurations possible in the system BIOS for most the LPT/parallel ports Normal or Output Only, Bi-Directional, Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP), and Enhanced Capability Port (ECP). Normal or Output Only is typical for most older dot-matrix and laser printers that do not communicate ink or toner status back to the PC. ECP mode is typical for later model laser and ink-jet printers that tell the PC about toner or ink status levels. If you have the correct printer driver installed, printing problems can be resolved easily with the proper port setting and cable.

See Also

Excellent references to resolving printing problems can be found at http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000248.htm and http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=ca&docname=bpy20814



Windows XP Cookbook
Windows XP Cookbook (Cookbooks)
ISBN: 0596007256
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 408

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