Dot-matrix printer problem

[LoneSome]

I have a strange problem while attempting to print to a wide carriage
dot-matrix printer (I know it is quite medieval, but I do have no choice :
I'm not the one who decides on which printer must be used for reports and
there are over 9,000 statements of account forms left on continuous
paper...).

When I try to print on it, on large paper, all of the output is truncated to
8.5 inches wide, even though I did selected the correct paper size and
orientation, the paper form has been correctly created and selected. It is
for use in a VB 5 app I've written. Moreover, the same thing occurs within
Microsoft Word 2000 : when I select the correct paper size (14 X 8.5 inches,
correct orientation) Microsoft Word accepts this paper size, there is no
mention about exceeding printer margins, but the output doesn't exceed 8.5
inches wide.

I've made these tests with Epson DFX-5000+ driver, Epson DFX-8000 driver,
Epson FX-1050+ driver, Epson Generic 9-pins driver and the lousy Generic
text-only printer driver.

I suspect there is a problem with Windows NT/2000 drivers, since my app
prints very fine using Generic text-only printer driver and Epson
printer-driver.

Is there any solution except downgrading to Win98?

Thanks in advance!

 

[LoneSome]

I forgot to mention that all drivers used on this computer (Windows 2000
Professionnal) are the most recent Win2000 drivers (or NT).

I forgot to mention also that I've tested my app on a Win98 machine, and the
output was then perfect, but the same app got its output truncated on the
Win2000 machine

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "LoneSome" <[email protected]>

| I forgot to mention that all drivers used on this computer (Windows 2000
| Professionnal) are the most recent Win2000 drivers (or NT).
|
| I forgot to mention also that I've tested my app on a Win98 machine, and the
| output was then perfect, but the same app got its output truncated on the
| Win2000 machine

Have you tried a "custom paper size".

 

[Bob I]

Is the DEFAULT printer set for paper of the correct width? The problem
you describe will occur if the default printer is only capable of
printing 8.5 inch wide paper. Try making the "wide paper printer" the
default printer and then test again. This issue is common to all NT
based system, and does not occur in the "DOS" based systems.

 

[LoneSome]

Yes... custom paper size has been tried; I've also used the specific
papersize form I've created using Win2000 print server properties. Word
still can't print using full width, eventhough Word accepted the selected
paper size on the dot-matrix printer.

 

[LoneSome]

I will try your solution this morning (EDT), and I'll tell you ASAP if it
works; however, making the dot-matrix printer the default printer will cause
pain in the ass to the person who works on this computer, since she will
have to use this printer only twice a month!

If it works, I could perhaps "manually" switch the default printer on
entering and exiting the application which needs it...

 

[Bob I]

We have the same issue with clerical staff and plotters. Change the
default printer, run the app, close the app, change the default printer
back.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "LoneSome" <[email protected]>

| Yes... custom paper size has been tried; I've also used the specific
| papersize form I've created using Win2000 print server properties. Word
| still can't print using full width, eventhough Word accepted the selected
| paper size on the dot-matrix printer.

What exactly is the printer ?

What exactly is the printer-driver being used ?

 

[LoneSome]

Drivers tested, with exactly the same problem : output truncated to 8.5
inches wide...
Epson DFX-8000
Epson DFX-5000+
Epson 9-pin generic driver
Generic text-only (TTY)

The printer is a Epson DFX-8000

The only work-around found is to delete "Windows 2000 Professionnal" and
install Windows XP Home Edition. As far as we discovered this morning,
Windows XP Professionnal Edition has exactly the same problem, diagnosed
exactly the same way, using Word 2000 : printer set to one of these
models/drivers, paper size set to 11 or 14 inches wide, and output truncated
without warning. However, Print Preview correctly shows the page.

 

[LoneSome]

It did not solve our problem; must I restart the computer with the large
printer set as the default printer, or changing the default printer
"on-the-fly" should have been working ? In our case, changing before
entering Word 2000 did not give me any benefit.

However, using exactly the same steps as with Windows 2000 Pro, I've done
the same testing using Windows XP Pro, which failed exactly as Windows 2000
did; however, Windows XP Home Edition did the job very fine, and let us
print on full paper width.

Conclusion : Could Microsoft professional solutions be messy, and home
solutions more reliable ?????

 

[Bob I]

That is somewhat odd. I would expect XP Home and Pro to work exactly the
same as they would have the same drivers. As for the default printer
change, no computer restart necessary. Only had to "open" the
application AFTER the printer change. If the application was open during
the change then closing and reopening was necessary to allow full width
printing. This is with 2000 and XP Pro, not tested on XP Home.

 

[LoneSome]

I will do a byte compare of the drivers, but I do expect (as you do) that
both drivers be identical.

In fact, I'd rather suspect OS files for that difference of behavior (GDI ?
perhaps UNIDRV but unlikely ?).

The strangest part of it is the fact that the process is quite straight
forward (and identical) on both OS (XP Pro and XP Home), but the result are
very different... but print preview in Word 2000 (on both OS) shows the
right output, however.

I've been told that the core OS for 2000 Pro and XP Pro is Windows NT-based,
but XP Home core is closer to Win98 and ME (except that, opposite to ME, it
is stable and reliable, event with SP2 -> personal experience).

Thanks for the feedback; I continue to investigate on that issue,
eventhough I've accidentally found a workaround : the client business still
hopes to standardize the OS installed.

 

[Bob I]

Wishing you the best in your investigation.