HP Laserjet 5L don't print the right thing

[Thibault]

Hey,

I have installed a new printer, an HP Laserjet 5L, on my Windows 98
computer. The problem I have is that my printer can't seem to print what I
send to it. It only print short lines of strange characters, using all the
paper until there is no more left. The connection works well (I have tested
it with an other cable), the driver seems to be the right one (HP Laserjet
5L / PCL), the printer was given to me by a friend so I don't know if it is
in good condition. Apparently it's ok. Where do you think the problem comes
from, please ?
Thanks a bunch !

Thibault

 

[Dave]

I have installed a new printer, an HP Laserjet 5L, on my Windows 98
computer. The problem I have is that my printer can't seem to print what I
send to it. It only print short lines of strange characters, using all the
paper until there is no more left. The connection works well (I have tested
it with an other cable), the driver seems to be the right one (HP Laserjet
5L / PCL), the printer was given to me by a friend so I don't know if it is
in good condition. Apparently it's ok. Where do you think the problem comes
from, please ?
Thanks a bunch !

Are you sure you installed the correct driver?

The symtoms you describe usually indicate printing from Windows using the
wrong printer driver or failure of a data line somewheer in the path, eg
parallel port, cable, printer. You ned to eliminate each possability.

Have you tested it with plain text from a DOS prompt, *before* windows
loads or from a DOS boot floppy? Just press the print screen button a
couple of times or type:

dir > prn: <enter>

a couple of times.

Do you know that the PC's parallel port is ok? tested with another
printer?

HTH

Dave

 

[Thibault]

Are you sure you installed the correct driver?

I wasn't, so I updated it from the web and now I'm sure it's the right one.

dir > prn: <enter>

I tried this but the dos boot disk I have done doesn't seem to work fine :
it appears that Windows 98 starts to run, then runs dos. I'm upset. I have
done it with a format a:/s in dos mode, and I only have the command.com file
on the disk a:, but Windows 98 is in memory anyway.

Do you know that the PC's parallel port is ok? tested with another
printer?

Yes, I'm sure this is ok, because my old printer was connected to it and it
worked fine. This printer is now out of order because of a problem with ink,
but nothing in relation with the port or the cable.

Do you have other suggestions ?
Thank you for your help : now I know what to search, whereas I was lost when
I posted this message.

 

[Thibault]

Ok, I have finally done it and it printed the right text. So in DOS mode it
works. There's only one problem in DOS : it prints the text two times on the
same paper sheet.
So in Windows, it must be a problem with the driver, you're right. Do anyone
know where to download for sure the right driver for my printer please ?

 

[Thibault]

Apparently I needed to install the pack of fonts on the hp website ; with
the "lj622" driver, it all works fine. Thank you very much Dave !

 

[Dave]

Apparently I needed to install the pack of fonts on the hp website ; with
the "lj622" driver, it all works fine. Thank you very much Dave !

I'm glad you found it ok. It looks like timezone differences and a busy
day for me meant you found it all without any extra help. Well done.

It would have been nice to chat with you earlier this evening. I was
having trouble setting up an old IBM pc for a customer and the BIOS setup
was in French! I got it set up ok eventually

Dave