DOS printing still broke

[David F]

Yes, I checked out his site. It is a locally connected printer, via
plain old lpt1. As he says, I should have to do nothing. It should just
work (as it has for years). Nothing to pool, just one printer connected
to the computer, so can't do the second approach. Local, not networked,
so "Net use lpt1 ..." does not work--even tried it ==> goofy results.

Sooo, tried upgrading the printer driver. Did not work. Deleted printer
from Printers and Faxes folder. While trying to reinstall, Windows
"Found new hardware" and setup the driver right away. Still does not
work.

Also, I cannot print from either cmd prompt or command.com prompt by
copying to printer. I.e., "copy filename.txt prn". On another WinXP
machine this does work. So I don't think it is simply a problem with the
DOS ap. It is a problem with Windows itself.

So I'm baffled. Where to go from here?

David F.

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

What is the LPT setting in the BIOS?

Cari
www.coribright.com

 

[Davide Guolo]

David,

Yes, I checked out his site. It is a locally connected printer, via
plain old lpt1. As he says, I should have to do nothing.
...
So I'm baffled. Where to go from here?

Printfil can solve your problem (but it is a commercial software).

Regards,
Davide (Guolo - Printfil author)

 

[David Frohmader]

Computer management/Device Manager/Ports/ECP Printer Port(LPT1):
General tab: Enabled
Port settings tab: Never use an interupt is checked; Enable legacy plug and
play detection--Not checked; LPT port number: LPT1
Driver tab: version 5.1.2600.0 Dig sign: MS WinWP Publisher
Resources tab: I/O range: 0378-037F; I/O range: 0778-077F

Thanks, David

 

[David Frohmader]

The settings are identical to a Win2K Pro box in another office. It prints the
same ap just fine. It seems something is broken under the hood. There must be
a way to remove and replace the components of the driver, unless it is a
registry issue. Maybe it takes an expensive call to MS?

David F.

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

You need to check the LPT setting in the BIOS! Read your PC manual for
details of how to enter the BIOS on your particular PC. It's a keypress on
startup, but exactly which key to press varies from PC to PC.

Cari
www.coribright.com

 

[David Frohmader]

Duh! In the BIOS, yeah, right... (Dell Optiplex, press F2 at boot)
Mode: PS/2
I/O address: 378h
Changed it, then back again, saved, booted, tried to print again => same
results: Nothing prints

Booted from a floppy disk to DOS 5, copied a file to printer:
"Copy 'filename.ext' prn" => it printed, so its not a hardware or BIOS issue
Can't do that from either a command.com or cmd.exe prompt

Thanks,
Still hoping to avoid an OS reinstall David

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

PS/2.... er, that's normally a mouse port.

Not LPT?

Cari
www.coribright.com

 

[David Frohmader]

BIOS/Integrated devices/Parallel port/(mode options=PS/2, AT,EPP,ECP)
Checked another machine, same config. Appears default Dell setting on this
model Optiplex.
Another tech mentioned could be trouble with 16 bit Windows subsystem. Is
there a way to replace this component w/o a complete reinstall?

Thanks,
David

 

[David Frohmader]

Well, I finally discovered a solution for this problem, thanks to misc
people--MS Support and a friend. Since someone named Lanny emailed me for the
solution, I thought I would post it here. Maybe someone else will find the
answer by a google search.

Hi Lanny,
So how did I fix it? Ran chkdsk. It has worked fine ever since. Apparently
NTFS does not repair all clusters on the fly. Check kb to find out how. I did
it from the gui, from Explorer, right click drive C, then tools (maybe). It is
there. If I did it again, I would reboot and do it from a command prompt. Does
maybe F8 get you there when booting? Not sure. The gui approach does not tell
you what is going on. I assume the command prompt way works as in the olden
days.

After days of futility I called MS. Eventually we did this:
Delete the printer in the Printers and Faxes folder.
Right click My Computer, Manage, Select Device Manager, Expand Ports, delete
the printer port (right click, delete)
Reboot, Windows replaces LPT1, then adds the printer that was deleleted. MS
tech wanted me to change the Port Settings for LPT1. Right click, properties,
port settings tab.

Well, this worked for one day, then the problem came back. Running chkdsk has
resolved the problem permanently--at least so far.

Good luck,
David